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EARLY WOMEN MISSIONARY ENDEAVOUR IN NIGERIA

Toyosi Babalola (M.A U.I, B.A Uniosun)

2015

Introduction

Interactions between Africans and foreigners date back remote antiquity. Basically four

sets of Europeans visited the continent each with a different purpose, mission and

strategy. They consisted of Explorers, Traders, Missionaries, and Administrators. The

missionaries, who happen to be the major pre-occupation in this study, were the ones

that lived and co-habited with the grass root people of the varying societies in which

they found themselves, serving them and extending to them message of the gospel.

The early Portuguese missionaries were the first at attempting to Christianize the

people of Benin dating back to the 15 century but did not make notable progress. Theth

very minute achievements they recorded waned and disappeared even before they

settled down in the country. Nonetheless, it gave them insight to the area as promising

for missionary activity. Subsequently, the European merchants began commercial

interactions with the people of Nigeria from then upwards. However, the substance of

trade was always unpredictable as it continued to vary per-time and as the market

dictated. In the 16 century and for over 300 years, slaves were the major exportingth

items from Africa to Europe and the Americas. It became the mainstay of the economy

of major African towns and cities at that period. Then came the historical watershed of

the 1807 abolition of slave trade with efforts from Britain to ensure that the illegal

trading in human resources be swapped for legitimate trade in natural resources. With

that, food items and cash crops became the object of exchange.

The 1807 event stated above marked the dawn of a new era and ushered in a new

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course of historical occurrences that were to determine significant happenings that

would change the continents history in subsequent years. One major feature of this era

was the several African slaves that were set free from the shackles of their slave

masters in Europe and the Americas, settled and significantly dotted major cities on

the African continent. Sierra Leone had the largest population of already converted

returnees who settled largely in Freetown, its capital. Again, most of these slave

returnees were already living the Christian life and culture since they had been

converted. Hence, on getting back to their various home towns, they were blistering

their new found way of life – Christianity, its culture and civilization. In Nigeria as

elsewhere on the continent, these fervent and devoted returnees sent messages back

to the west, requesting for “labourers” because the harvest was indeed ripe for the

evangelization of the country. In 1841 specifically, some returnees who had now

settled in Nigeria wrote two letters to Rev. Thomas Dove, the Superintendent of the

Wesleyan Methodist in Sierra Leone, asking that missionaries be sent to them. The1

CMS received similar requests as well. The responses of the CMS and the Wesleyan2

Methodists, alongside other factors resulted in the opening of Christian missions in

Yorubaland. The official onset of Christianity is given to the evening of September 23,

1842, with the Methodist Missionary Society, through the pioneer works of Thomas

Birch Freeman and wife, plus Mr. and Mrs. William De-Graft who commenced work at

Badagry. The first service was held under Agia tree in Badagry and from there,3

Christianity spread like wild fire to major parts of the country. On Monday, December 5,

1842, Freeman extended his missionary work to Abeokuta with the help of Alake

Sodeke. This, with the arrival of another young missionary Henry Townsend catalyzed4

1 Tasie, G.O.M. 1978. . Leiden: Brill. p. 15Christian Missionary Enterprise in the Niger Delta, 1864-19182 Ajayi, J.F.A. 1965. . London:Christian Missions in Nigeria, 1841-1891: The Making of a New EliteLongman, pp. 31-35.3 Okegbile, D. Sept. 23, 2012. 170 years of the Church in Nigeria- Beyond the present. The PunchNewspaper.4 Alake Sodeke was the Egba monarch at this time who invited the missionaries as instruments to

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the early mission effort and the foundation of Christianity in Nigeria was laid.

No doubt, missionary effort was the vehicle through which Christianity rode into the

uttermost part of the world. But in Yorubaland, the missionaries did not have a smooth

drive because of the on-going internecine wars, keeping in mind that Ibadan was an

active participant in the wars. Besides it was a relatively new town having just been5

founded in 1829 as a war camp. Hence, the atmosphere of the town was not

welcoming to strangers, most especially the missionaries. This in turn hampered the

progress of missionary activities and created a storm which they eventually weathered

through diplomatic strategies, thereby facilitating their settlement in Yorubaland for the

commencement of the evangelization process. Worthy of note also, is the invitation of

the Egba monarch to the missionaries. Even though it may have been underplayed in

literatures, it was a notable incidence that paved way and flung open the complicated

and arduous doors of the Yoruba nation. Soon, all other large towns began to see

having missionary attention and backing as a form of political prestige. With the fact

that the missionaries supported the Egba so much even with financial aid and made

them “ ”. As a result, other towns of Oyo, Ijaye, Ogbomoso,the sunrise within the tropics 6

Ilesa, Ibadan and many more opened up for missionaries.

GENERAL SURVEY OF WOMEN’S MISSIONARY ACTIVITIES

achieve his own political and social aspirations. However, his motive was not known to the missionariesuntil later. See Ayandele E.A. 1966. The Missionary Impact on Modern Nigeria 1842-1914: A political andsocial analysis London: Longman, p. xviii.5 thDuring the greater part of the 19 century, Yoruba land was engulfed in series of fratricidal wars. Thecentre-stage in those wars was taken by Ibadan and its ambitious warriors. The end for which Ibadanaimed at was to establish for themselves in Yoruba land, an empire that would succeed the collapsedold Oyo empire. For details on the wars see Ajayi J.F.A. “19 century Wars and Yoruba Ethnicity” inth

Akinjogbin, I.A. (ed.) 1998. , Johnson, S. 1921.War and Peace in Yorubaland, 1793-1893 History of theYoruba’s from the Earliest times to the Beginning of the British Protectorates. Lagos: C.S.S. Bookshop.6 Ayandele, E.A. 1966. Missionary Impact on Modern Nigeria 1842-1914: A Political and Social Analysis.London: Longman, p.10

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The history of missionary activity in Nigeria is replete with ample activities of men. It7

has fallen victim of not paying adequate attention to the labours and significant

contributions of women folks on the mission field. We mainly read and hear about the

works of Thomas Birch Freeman, Henry Townsend, Thomas Jefferson Bowen, David

Hinderer, Ajayi Crowther and the likes. Which brings up the question – where are the

women missionaries in history? Why has their contributions not been noted or perhaps

given adequate attention? Answers to these questions will surface in the subsequent

part of this paper.

Globally, women have engaged in laudable task in the church and society at large, and

the history of missions in recent years is beginning to unveil the tremendous impact of

women in the evangelization of all parts of the world. Before the 19th century, as it has

been established earlier, men had largely dominated the missions field, leaving out

women interested on the basis that women did not have the physical strength and

wherewithal to participate in mission activities. Resultantly, women groups and

organization had to settle for the supportive and listening roles in the church. Even

active Catholic Sisterhood came into prominence in the late 19th century having been

in the background for years. In cases where women even worked as relatives (wives,

sisters or daughters) to missionaries, their works were not given equal recognition as

the men’s. This situation was tied to the refusal of main missionary societies to employ

women as missionaries in their own right until the late 19 century, thereby makingth

many scholars to downplay women’s engagement with missionary activities through

history. It was not until the period between 1858 and 1887 that the societies began to

7 General history of missionary activities (mainly of men) have been adequately discussed in literatures,see Onwuka, D.K. 1962. . Ibadan: I.U.P., Crowther, M. 1962.Origins of the Niger Missions 1841-1891 TheStory of Nigeria The Planting of Christianity in Africa. London: Faber and Faber, Groves, C.P. 1964. Vol.1-4. London: Luther worth press.

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recruit women as missionaries.8

The reasons why foreign missionary societies did not initially recruit women was

rooted in women’s position within evangelical protestant denominations during the

early 19 century. The work of missionaries was understood to be - preaching of theth

gospel, the translation and publication of the Holy Scriptures and the establishment of

schools. Midley explains in her work on9 Female Agency in the Early 19 Century Britishth

Empire that it was acceptable for women to undertake the second and third of these

key activities but the first, which was the most important, was exclusively reserved for

men. The Roman Catholic church and all mainstream British protestant sects;

Anglican, Baptist, and Wesleyan Methodist, excluded women from preaching the

gospel as at the time they set up Foreign Missionary Societies. This acted as a

powerful inhibitor to the official employment of women as full missionaries. Hence the

exclusion was definite; only men could gain formal qualifications of a full missionary,

only men could become the salary employees of Foreign Missionary Societies, and

only men could perform the core component of a missionary’s role – preaching.

However, from earliest times, missionary societies have recognized the benefit of

recruiting married men as missionaries, hence, as early as there were foreign

missionaries, there were missionaries’ wives. Only that the latter were not directly and

officially employed nor paid by missionary societies. They were just to provide the

necessary backing for their husbands to do mission work effectively. But in giving

support, their importance began to surface especially in the development of education

and modeling the Christian ways to indigenous women. Their roles began to expand to

include taking charge of work among women under the supervision of their husbands.

8 thMidley, C. 2006. “Can Women Be Missionaries? Envisioning Female Agency in the Early 19 CenturyBritish Empire”. . Vol. 45, No. 2, p. 4Journal of British Studies9 Founding constitution of the Baptist Missionary Society as quoted by Stanley, History of the Baptistmissionary society, p. 233. In Claire Midley can Women Be Missionaries? ….. p. 5

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Not being satisfied with this, the women started going out, to engage in intensive

personal witnessing. Therefore instead of preaching to a crowd of “unbelievers”, these

women preached on a one-on-one basis, directly winning the one next to them over to

the Christian fold. Patterson was so impressed with the contributions of these early

women in direct mission that he noted that;

Despite the fact that they were not counted asmissionaries in the early days, the women who came toNigeria set a record for courage and devotion that hasseldom been equaled. Like the women of the bible whowere the last at the cross and the first at the tomb,missionary women have been in the fore front ofservices and suffering throughout history….10

Furthermore, the importance of having women missionaries on the field was further

articulated in the following words by another writer Gollock;

No mission is rightly worked until the equal evangelization of thesexes is possible. Religion has its stronghold in the home wherewomen hold sway, and unless they are reached efficiently (i.e.the women, ), the men will be hindered in theemphasis mineprofession of Christ, the children will be easily steeped inbigotry, and superstition. To do this work, a large number offoreign women missionaries and native women helpers arerequired to carry on evangelistic educational and medical workamong women. Women workers are therefore, absolutelyessential…11

In particular, the CMS articulated the potential worth of missionary women in terms of

a number of inherent characteristics that were considered inevitably helpful to mission

10 Patterson, I.N. 1957. . Nashville: Convention Press, p. 57.Continent in Commotion11 Gollock, G. 1898. p. 127 cited in Fitzgerald T. 2004. “To Unite Their Strength withMissionary at Work.Ours” Vol. 39, No. 2, p. 149.Journal of Pacific History

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work. They relied on married women to play an adjunct role and epitomize the ‘ideal

Christian wife and mother’ to the native women. That was why Jean opined in her

essay that;

If African homes are to be truly Christian homes, if Africanwomen are to be truly Christian women, they must have womenmissionaries who can be among them as women amongwomen, and teach them about the intimate things of a woman’slife in a way that no man can possibly do.12

Gradually, the situation began to improve for women in mission enterprise. Their worth

and contributions was soon found to be very effective and sometimes more effectual

than official public preaching. It also became apparent that missionary wives despite

their preoccupation with other domestic duties still made some impact, missionary

bodies therefore started discussing the possibilities of employing single women

specifically to develop Christian educational work among young indigenous girls on a

more expansive scale than did missionary wives. Changes began to be seen from the

1860s when women’s names appeared for the first time in the church’s official

missionary list. The mid-19th century marked a major turning point in missionary

enterprise. Women started to get officially employed as professional missionaries and

not just as mere accomplices. They could go and live “free” on mission fields, and

could do their work as they deemed fit and even get paid doing what they so much

desired. A significant feature of this period was that women were found visibly present

and persistently vocal in great numbers especially in Europe and America. The London

Missionary Society (L.M.S.) was the first to send a single woman, Miss Mary Newell, to

the mission field in 1827. In fact, of the 327 European missionaries who served in13

12 Delombard, J. 1991. “Sisters, Servants, or Saviours? National Baptist Women Missionaries in Liberia inthe 1920’s” Vol. 24, No. 2, p. 323The International Journal of African Historical Studies13 Callaway, H. 1983. “Review of Caroline Oliver’s Western Women” , Vol.Colonial Africa in African Affairs82, No. 328, p. 433-435.

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Papua in 1874-1914, 115 were women . The Sacred Heart Mission (S.H.M.) which14

employed more than half the missionaries that period also had the largest number of

women: 65 sisters served in Papua before 1914, of the 74 Anglican missionaries, 28

were women, the Methodist mission had 22 female missionaries, the London

Missionary Society (L.M.S.) had none, but there were 29 wives of L.M.S. missionaries

and 18 Methodist missionary wives.15

By the 1880s, not all missionary bodies had adapted to the ongoing change. However,

the combination of requests for women missionaries from the mission field, coupled

with the arising general pressure of public opinion towards the emancipation of

women, led other mission like the C.M.S. to change its policy. 3 ladies were sent to

East Africa, 10 were sent to Palestine, between 1891 and 1900, 388 women were

accepted and arrangements for their training were made. By 1907, the CMS supported

not less than 450 women missionaries working worldwide. With that development,16

women organizations began to spring up; the Christian Women’s Band for Missions

was founded in Cincinnati in 1874. There was also Women’s Missionary Society of the

United Brethren (WMSUB). These societies began to employ single women

missionaries many of which became prominent in mission work and some even stayed

celibate. These new crop of missionary women began to produce tremendous result

where men failed. By the beginning of the 20th century, women missionaries were

more than half of the total number of missionaries exported from Europe and America

to China and India. Africa was also not left out in this development. Women

missionaries sailed down the shores of the African continent from the mid-19 centuryth

onwards. Mary Slessor was a notable one who being a Scottish Presbyterian became a

14 Langmore, D. 1982. “A Neglected Force: White Women Missionaries in Papua. 1874-1914”Journal of Pacific History Vol. 17, No 3. p. 138.15 Langmore, D. 1982. “A neglected force: white women missionaries in Papua. 1874-1914”…..p 13916 Prevost, E. 2008. “Married to the mission field: Gender, Christianity and Professionalism in Britain andColonial Africa, 1865-1914” . Vol. 45, No. 4. p. 804Journal of British studies

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single woman missionary to Nigeria serving in Calabar. Her contribution was quickly

felt among the numerous children she saved from twin killing. She walked the forest

path barefooted, caring for the sick and the needy. She also became official district

magistrate, settling local disputes according to native law and customs. Slessor

initiated technical training in what became known as the Hope Waddell Institute. With

utmost zeal and compassion, she served for thirty-eight years in Nigeria. Laurena17

Davis Bowen also came as a missionary wife, accompanying her husband in 1853 to

the dreaded West Africa which was known as the white mans grave. They moved from

town to town spreading Christianity. Mrs. Bowen launched the commencement of18

formal education as a strategy of evangelization in Orile Ijaye on January 2, 1854, when

she began to teach a young Yoruba girl, by name Mosibi, in reading and sewing.19

Equally important is the service of Alma Rohm, the longest serving American

missionary to Nigeria from Southern Baptist Convention. She was awarded the title of

Emeritus Missionary after having spent fifty-four (54) years in Nigeria.20

The impacts of these women missionaries were becoming more prominent and even

the Catholic Sisters were not left out. In 1924, a Catholic missionary in the southern

part of Nigeria Bishop Shanahan founded the congregation of Holy Rosary Sisters

(H.R.S.) of Killeshandra to promote the education and elevation of women and to run

the various medical services on ground at that time. The services of women

missionaries were needed to fill the much felt vacuum that men could not fill, and

founding that group was a good idea because it turned out to be a great success. The

17 Proctor, J.H. 2000. “Serving God and the Empire: Mary Slessor in South-Eastern Nigeria, 1876-1915”Journal of Religion in Africa Vol. 30, Fasc. 1, p. 4518 Cliff Lewis, C. 2000. “Woman on Duty: Lurana Davis Bowen and the Missionary Spirit” GeorgiaHistorical Quartely Vol. 84, No. 3, p. 42719 Bowen Papers: Diary Entry of January 2, 1854 in Ajayi, S.A. 2010. Baptist Work in Nigeria 1850-2005: AComprehensive History Ibadan: Book Wright Publishers, p. 14820 Mark, K. 2004. “The Baptist Standard” Retrieved November 13, 2014 from,www.baptiststandard.com/archives/44-2004-archives.

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Holy Rosary Sisters were an inspiration to the women among whom they lived and

worked. Their success ushered in the creation of another women’s missionary group,

the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart Sisters (I.H.M.) in 1937 with about 157

professed Sisters. The Holy Rosary Sisters (H.R.S.) engaged in the apostolate in a big

way. They set up child welfare clinics, maternity homes, hospitals, and learning

centres. They trained nurses and spread the knowledge of health measures. All these,21

they started doing in collaboration with indigenous women who had shown interest in

mission work and wives of indigenous ministers. With all these aforementioned

activities, women missionaries indeed set out to change the course of mission history

despite the fact that conditions for bringing about such changes were not favourable.

They brought to the mission fields the much needed characteristics that were naturally

lacking in the male folks. As aptly expressed by Elinor and Barbara;

“Woman’s historic responsibility for protecting life has

endowed her with a set of adaptive characteristics: a strong

nurturing impulse that extends to all living things, a highly

developed capacity for intimacy, that foster her need for

relatedness, a tendency to integrate rather than separate, an

ability to empathize”…..22

It must also be stated that monetary reward was not the driving force. It was the call,

the passion, the sense of responsibility to save the “lost souls”, and to extend the love

of their Christ to all. For these women, the missionary vocation was a call to serve.

They were motivated by a profound sense of “call” and were prepared to stick to it even

without sufficient financial compensations or material benefits. In almost all

21 Arinze, F. 1971. “The Great Apostle of Southern Nigeria”, , Vol. 22, No. 6, p. 317.The Furrow22 Elinor L. & Barbara M. 1985. The Feminization of America: how women’s value are changing our publicand private lives Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc. p. 4

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missionary societies when they began to even pay women missionaries, there was still

a difference in the remunerations of men and women missionaries. Their salaries

reflected their huge inequalities. Men were paid five hundred dollars annually while

women were paid three hundred dollars annually. That notwithstanding, the women23

continued the work tenaciously. The drive resonated from their calling, to bring hope to

the sick, and to proclaim the good news to the less privileged and forsaken, just as

Christ did and instructed his followers to do.

As a way of concluding, it is worthy of note to state that Christianity today in Nigeria

cannot be solely credited to the early foreign missionaries’ effort alone, even though

they played a key role in pioneering it. Undeniably, they sowed the seed, as it has been

established above. However, the seed that was sown was groomed, nurtured and

re-planted by indigenous women missionary groups, who took up the “call” from where

the pioneers stopped.

Bibliography

Ajayi, J.F.A. 1965. .Christian Missions in Nigeria, 1841-1891: The Making of a New EliteLondon: Longman

Arinze, F. 1971. “The Great Apostle of Southern Nigeria”, , Vol. 22, No. 6The Furrow

Ayandele E.A. 1966. The Missionary Impact on Modern Nigeria 1842-1914: A political andsocial analysis London: Longman

Callaway, H. 1983. “Review of Caroline Oliver’s Western Women” Colonial Africa in AfricanAffairs, Vol. 82, No. 328

23 Lewis, C. 2000. “Woman of Duty: Lurana Davis Bowen and the Missionary Spirit”. The GeorgiaHistorical Quarterly Vol. 84, No. 3, p. 474

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Cliff Lewis, C. 2000. “Woman on Duty: Lurana Davis Bowen and the Missionary Spirit” GeorgiaHistorical Quartely Vol. 84, No. 3

Crowther, M. 1962. . London: Faber and Faber,The Story of Nigeria

Delombard, J. 1991. “Sisters, Servants, or Saviours? National Baptist Women Missionaries inLiberia in the 1920’s” Vol. 24, No. 2The International Journal of African Historical Studies

Elinor L. & Barbara M. 1985. The Feminization of America: how women’s value are changingour public and private lives Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc.

Gollock, G. 1898. p. 127 cited in Fitzgerald T. 2004. “To Unite TheirMissionary at Work.Strength with Ours” Vol. 39, No. 2Journal of Pacific History

Groves, C.P. 1964. Vol. 1-4. London: Luther worth press.The Planting of Christianity in Africa

Johnson, S. 1921. History of the Yoruba’s from the Earliest times to the Beginning of theBritish Protectorates. Lagos: C.S.S. Bookshop.

Langmore, D. 1982. “A Neglected Force: White Women Missionaries in Papua. 1874-1914”Journal of Pacific History Vol. 17, No 3.

Lewis, C. 2000. “Woman of Duty: Lurana Davis Bowen and the Missionary Spirit”. The GeorgiaHistorical Quarterly Vol. 84, No. 3

Mark, K. 2004. “The Baptist Standard” Retrieved November 13, 2014 from,www.baptiststandard.com/archives/44-2004-archives.

Midley, C. 2006. “Can Women Be Missionaries? Envisioning Female Agency in the Early 19th

Century British Empire”. . Vol. 45, No. 2Journal of British Studies

Onwuka, D.K. 1962. . Ibadan: I.U.P.Origins of the Niger Missions 1841-1891

Patterson, I.N. 1957. . Nashville: Convention PressContinent in Commotion

Prevost, E. 2008. “Married to the mission field: Gender, Christianity and Professionalism inBritain and Colonial Africa, 1865-1914” . Vol. 45, No. 4.Journal of British studies

13

Proctor, J.H. 2000. “Serving God and the Empire: Mary Slessor in South-Eastern Nigeria,1876-1915” Vol. 30, Fasc. 1Journal of Religion in Africa

Tasie, G.O.M. 1978. . Leiden: Brill.Christian Missionary Enterprise in the Niger Delta, 1864-1918p. 15Okegbile, D. Sept. 23, 2012. 170 years of the Church in Nigeria- Beyond the present. The PunchNewspaper.