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A History of the Church in Africa

two thousand. Over the next decades, seventy-four thousand
recaptives would join them. (1996, 143)

While most of the recaptives embraced Christianity, some continued
to hold their Islamic faith as well as a mixture of Yoruba folk religion.
Shaw describes the evolution of their unique culture:

Whether Christian or Muslim or traditionalist, the recaptives built
their own distinctive culture in Sierra Leone (called Creole) and
shaped their own unique language, Krio, which like their culture
was a mixture of indigenous and Western elements. (1996, 143)

Sierra Leone became a base for missionary activity. In 1799, the Church
Missionary Society was founded by missionary-minded evangelicals in
the Church of England. Initially, the society tried to recruit Englishmen
to go as missionaries, but the response was disappointing; so they
turned to German Lutherans. In 1804, the Church Missionary Society
commissioned Melchior Renner and Peter Hartwig to work among the
Susu of Sierra Leone; however, the two found it difficult to work together.
As Sanneh notes:

Peter Hartwig abandoned the missionary vocation, disappeared
into Susu country, not to convert but to become a slave trader. He
was not the last missionary to find slave-catching more appealing
than soul-seeking. (1983, 60)

In spite of this reversal, the Church Missionary Society persevered
and sent additional missionaries.

The Colony (Sierra Leone) successfully started a number of schools.
Perhaps the best known was Fourah Bay College, launched by the Church
Missionary Society in 1827. The purpose of the school was to train African
pastors, teachers, and missionaries. In 1841, Henry Venn became
Secretary of the Church Missionary Society. His writings showed unusual
insight into missionary methods and especially self-reliant church policies.
He knew that training Africans would strengthen the church for tomorrow
by providing indigenous leadership. The Church Missionary Society
started an Industrial School and a Grammar School in 1845 where

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