Christian History articles from August 2003

Christian History archives from August 2003

Did you know? The rapidity of Africa's twentieth-century "baptism" was stunning. There's no better place to see the future of the global church.
August 1, 2003... As of 1880, the vast majority of Africa remained mysterious, elusive, and untouched by the West. But by the turn of the century, Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, and Italy had carved up nearly every one of Africa's 10 million square miles and...

Anatomy of an explosion: it's an indelible image: the white missionary venturing into deepest Africa. But the real story is what happened when African converts relayed the gospel message in their own words.(Introduction)
August 1, 2003... This is not a tidy story. Great advances in the church never are. Taking a close look at the explosion of Christianity in twentieth-century Africa, we meet a remarkable group of colonial-era (roughly 1890 to World War II) apostles who were...

Bishop before his time: Samuel Ajayi Crowther's consecration as the first African Anglican bishop looked like a great leap forward for the church. But the talented ex-slave soon collided with the roadblock of racism.(Biography)
August 1, 2003... And he never saw his family again." For the millions of Africans taken as slaves between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, this sad statement is their story. But not so with Ajayi. In 1821, the 13-year-old member of the Yoruba tribe,...

The brilliant career of Joseph Kiwanuka: over the protests of a divided church, the scholarly Ugandan priest became the first African Catholic bishop. Just three years after his death, 12 more Africans would follow in his footsteps.(Biography)
August 1, 2003... Tulidde Buddu--we have eaten Buddu; we have made it our own!" The cry spread through the ranks of the native Ugandan Catholic clergy on a bright day in May 1939, when the news broke that Joseph Kiwanuka, a young Ganda (ethnic Ugandan)...

"The prospect terrified me ..." Apolo Kivebulaya, a convert from Islam, bravely preached to witch doctors, hostile chieftains, and Pygmy tribes.(Biography)
August 1, 2003... The Ugandan mother had given birth to twins--and for her people, this signaled impending sorrow. Someone else in her family would soon die. She must hide the children from sight so the village would not share her misfortune. Then, baptized...

A soul of fire: William Wade Harris--a Liberian activist--left an unsuccessful local ministry to blaze a wonder-working evangelistic trail across the Ivory Coast. In 18 months, he baptized 100,000 converts.(Biography)
August 1, 2003... In 1910, a middle-aged African sat in a jail cell in Liberia. Locked up for political activism, he now found his mind turning to God. He little suspected something was about to happen that would make him one of the most effective evangelists...

African Apostles.(A Christian History Timeline)(Chronology)
August 1, 2003... Featured Evangelists Crowther, Samuel Ajayi 1808-1891, b. Osogun, Yorubaland (Nigeria) Johnson, James "Holy" c. 1836-1917, b. near Waterloo, Sierra Leone Mokone, Mangena Maake 1851-1931, b. Sekhukhuneland, Northern...

A hunger for holiness: East Africa's second generation Christians faced that age-old spiritual problem--dullness of hearts. Simeon Nsibambi's message of a "victorious life" sparked a revival that continues today.(Biography)
August 1, 2003... His dream was to study abroad. So he applied for a scholarship, finished filling out the form, and placed the envelope carefully in the mail with the posting of that letter, in ways he could not imagine, he was about to become the leading...

The people's prophet: Simon Kimbangu's brief but powerful ministry inspired faith in Central Africans and fear in white authorities. Imprisoned for stirring up the Congolese people, Kimbangu became the catalyst for Africa's largest independent church.(Biography)
August 1, 2003... Simon Kimbangu was an infant when he received a blessing from a Protestant missionary and nearly 30 when he heard the divine call: "I am Christ. My servants are unfaithful. I have chosen you to bear witness before your brethren and to convert...

Supernatural faith: known for their fidelity to prayer and confrontation with the spirits of indigenous religion, West Africa's Aladura churches grew from the radical faith of a group of visionary leaders.(The Gallery)
August 1, 2003... Faith moves mountains--and cultures. For the West African Aladura Christians, spiritual things--whether holy or, in the case of native religion, hostile are as tangibly real as the landscape, and those who pray in faith can expect tangible,...

Keeper of the names.(Josiah Ositelu (1902-1966))(Biography)
August 1, 2003... Josiah Ositelu (1902-1966) was too mystical for the Anglicans or even other Aladura leaders. But out of a long career as a witch-busting evangelist, he founded a far-flung Aladura church. "I will give you the key of power like Moses, and...

Elder and statesman.(Isaac Akinyele (1882-1955))(Biography)
August 1, 2003... Isaac Akinyele (1882-1955) was above all a holy man--a man of impeccable character who gave liberally of his wealth, judged impartially, and exercised authority with loving care. Isaac Akinyele grew up in an Anglican family in the Yoruba...

Wonder worker.(Moses Orimolade (1879-1933) )(Biography)
August 1, 2003... As with many African church leaders, the ministry of Moses Orimolade (1879-1933) had its origin in a vision. From outside the CMS mission church, the pastor could see a strange phosphorescent glow lighting the interior. Singing like that of...

Missionary mother-hen.(Christianah Olatunrinle (c. 1855-1941))(Biography)
August 1, 2003... Christianah Olatunrinle (c. 1855-1941) took the difficult step of destroying all the images of her protector spirits. Then she preached her way across Nigeria, with the message of a God above all spirits. Like Isaac Akinyele, Christianah...

A transatlantic alliance: two South Africans changed their country by linking their church with an African American church.(Mangena Mokone and Charlotte Maxeke, African Methodist Episcopal Church)(Biography)
August 1, 2003... Mangena Mokone and Charlotte Maxeke--uncle and niece--wanted nothing more than to see South Africa transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. But they chafed under white denominational structures. Joining others who proudly held up the banner...

A leopard among the Bannas: Mahay Choramo faced down hardship and violent opposition to minister to the murderous nomads of Ethiopia's southern frontier.(Biography)
August 1, 2003... His name means leopard, but after 50 years of ministry in southwestern Ethiopia, he would rather be known as "Mahari"--merciful. Now in his eighties, Mahay earns 300 birr (less than $40) a month as an itinerant evangelist in this hot and...

Go tell it! Many are telling the continuing story of the African church. Here are some of the best renditions.(Bibliography)
August 1, 2003... When we study the history of the church in twentieth-century Africa, we come face to face with that most exciting, fluid, and sometimes confusing thing: history in the making. Many of the stories of African Christianity in this period are just...