Page 147 - LD215 History of the Church in Africa A4 final

The Gospel and New Beginnings

and Indonesia to meet this need. Paas expands on the clash of cultures
that resulted:

When the Boers started penetrating deeper into the territory, this
led to a series of Khoikan-Boer Wars. After a period of military
resistance, most of the Khoikan either escaped Boer influence
by withdrawing into the interior, or they were forced to work for
the Boers. Gradually they adopted much of the Dutch culture,
including the Dutch language. (64)

The Dutch, especially Van Riebeeck and his community, aligned
with the Reformed branch of Protestantism, which exhibited superior
attitudes. From the earliest days, relationships with the local population
were not good. As Shaw asserts, “Van Riebeeck was convinced that the
Khoisan were without a conscience and probably without a soul” (1996,
120). Approximately half of the Dutch community could neither read
nor write. In the beginning, they were served by non-resident ministers
who traveled to and from the East Indies. In 1665, the first resident
clergyman arrived and built a church. He began the custom of baptizing
some of the children of the slaves, and by 1685, the church declared that
baptism made the slave free.

In the latter part of the seventeenth century, a group of Huguenots
from France, who had been persecuted because of their Protestant
beliefs, joined the Dutch. Although they were assimilated quickly, their
ministers were forbidden to preach in French. According to McCarter,
“The salaries of the ministers were paid by the Dutch East Indies
Company. In 1795 the colony had seven Dutch Reformed congregations
and ten ministers” (quoted in Latourette 1970, 246). Later, German
Lutherans joined in the community; however, due to conflicts, the
Lutherans formed their own church in 1799.

Moravian Missions

One notable exception to the lack of missionary work following
the Reformation was the Moravian movement. The Moravians may
be considered some of the earliest Protestant missionaries. In 1722,
Moravian refugees, who had been persecuted, founded a spiritual
community called Herrnhut, on the estate of Count von Zinzendorf. They
were joined by people from Germany and other countries, and they

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