Page 134 - LD215 History of the Church in Africa A4 final

A History of the Church in Africa

local contact. Often it returned from such wary ventures still
effectively insulated against cross-cultural influences and with
more pronounced symptoms of its European condition.

Trading forts and castles built along the coast sheltered the early
missionaries, but at a price. The Church became an adjunct of the
commercial enterprise, unable—except perhaps for Warri, the
Congo, and Angola—to generate an independent confidence in its
own message, and suffering the side-effects of sudden changes in
the trading fortunes of the forts. True, it made inroads into ruling
circles, but its impact was marginal. The first converts, including
a few scheming rulers and trading clients, became infected with
African suspicions of European intentions. Isolated from the
castles and forts, these converts eventually lapsed from the faith.
The third and much more successful period of the Church in
Africa began in the second half of the eighteenth century, and
continued through much of the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries. (1983, 20–21)

True to the vision of Prince Henry the Navigator, his representatives
planted crosses wherever they settled. The Portuguese Prince was not only
interested in navigation and geographical knowledge but also in spreading
Christianity. One of the pleasant
surprises for the explorers was to
find gold along the coast of West
In A.D. 1482, Dioga Africa. This produced competition

da Azambuja led an among the Portuguese, Spanish, and
Dutch. By A.D. 1471, traders had also
expedition of traders found gold in the area of present-

and soldiers to settle day Ghana. They learned quickly
that gold represented incredible
in Elmina (Eldina). profits, and soon they were shipping
much gold to Europe from the Gold
Coast of Africa.

In A.D. 1482, Dioga da Azambuja led an expedition of traders and
soldiers to settle in Elmina (Edina). A priest helped them celebrate Mass,
which was the first ever to be held in Ghana. Sanneh quotes Debrunner
regarding this celebration: “The Mass was heard by our men and with

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