Page 150 - LD215 History of the Church in Africa A4 final

A History of the Church in Africa

Christ. One was an older lady who had been Schmidt’s cook. She still
possessed a New Testament, wrapped in a sheepskin that he had given
to her as a gift. The missionaries baptized new converts, who were
descendants of those who had chosen to follow Christ a half century
earlier (Hastings, 197). This is a tremendous illustration about the
power of a true witness.

Great Britain occupied the Cape in 1795, and the British were
prepared to welcome missionaries from other faiths. In the same year,
the London Missionary Society (LMS) was formed. Congregationalists,
Anglicans, Presbyterians, and Wesleyans united in organizing a mission
to the nations. One of its principles was to allow each missionary to
choose the form of church government under which he would serve.
The result was that the LMS played a major role in spreading the gospel
to Southern Africa.

Christian Jacob Protten (1715–1769) represents another example
of Moravian missions. He was the son of a Danish merchant and an
African mother. Early in life, he was sent to Denmark for training.
Assisted by the King of Denmark, he secured an education in theology.
Shortly thereafter, he was commissioned by Count Zinzendorf and the
Moravians as a missionary to the Gold Coast in West Africa. For a time
he served as a chaplain and teacher. As Kpobi asserts: “Protten was
one of the first missionaries to try and reduce the Ga language into
writing, producing a translation of the Shorter Catechism and the Lord’s
Prayer and some parables” (141). It appears that Protten was committed
to evangelism and education and the spreading of New Testament
Christianity in Africa.

Evangelical Awakening
European church history records a great spiritual awakening in the
eighteenth century that was destined to play a role in African missions.
Englishman John Wesley (1703–1791), among others, was used of the
Lord to bring about this awakening. Wesley was the fifteenth child of an
Anglican clergyman and a godly woman. While Wesley was at Oxford,
he joined others in a systematic study of Scripture, fasting, and praying,
as well as visiting the sick and prisoners. Wesley became the leader of
the group. Because members of the group were so regular in their
methods, they were named Methodists. Wesley was never fond of the

::: 140 :::