• 1806 to 1867 – English Missionary Societies in Great Namaqualand •
.
First phase of Christianisation in South West Africa
With the arrival of missionaries from Europe, the people in the area of South West Africa (present-day Namibia) experienced another tremendous surge of change. The Christianisation of South West Africa can be divided into two phases.
Phase one began in 1806 and was carried out by English missionary societies: the London Missionary Society (LMS) and the Wesleyan Missionary Society (WMS). Both focused on Greater Namaqualand (present-day southern Namibia). Phase two began with the arrival of the German Rhenish Mission in 1842.
The pioneers of this first phase were Oorlam groups, who had already encountered the Christian faith in the Cape Colony. One could say that they brought missionaries, sent by the LMS, with them.
On the one hand, the Oorlam chieftains valued them, primarily because they facilitated their access to European traders. On the other hand, they saw them as rivals for authority within their own group.
Missionaries condemned raids (‘komandos’) to seize livestock. However, livestock was a crucial economic and political asset in the arid south of present-day Namibia. Livestock was used to buy tobacco, clothing and pots, but above all, weapons, ammunition, horses, and oxcarts – for defense and for future raids.
The first mission station was founded by Abraham and Christian Albrecht of the LMS in 1806 in |Aixa-aibes (Khoekhoegowab: ‘hot bath’; today: Warmbad). A second station was established further northeast near Heirachabis. Both were located in the territory of the !Kamiǂnûn (Bondelswart Naman) near the Gariep/Oranje River in southern Namaqualand, present-day southern Namibia.
LMS: Mission stations Warmbad (5 years) and Bethanie (8 years)
First phase of the Christianisation of South West Africa (present-day Namibia)… Photos: Title page from the 1760 Cambridge edition of the King James’ Bible, source: Wikipedia, and portrait of missionary Johann Heinrich Schmelen (1776 – 1848), source: Wikipedia
However, as early as 1808, the LMS abandoned Heirachabis. Warmbad likely fell victim to the conflict between Bondelswart Naman and Afrikaner Oorlam. In 1811, Captain Jager Afrikaner and his son Jonker destroyed the station.
Sent by the LMS, the German missionary Johann Heinrich Schmelen joined the Oorlam families of the Boois and Frederiks. He accompanied them in their search for a new home in Greater Namaqualand. These families formed the core of the later !Aman-Oorlam under the leadership of Captain Jacobus Boois.
They settled at |Uiǂgandes (Khoekhoegowab: ‘permanent spring that cannot be blocked with a stone’; Afrikaans: Klipfontein) in 1814. The Kai|khaun Naman (‘great defenders’; also |Awa-khoi = ‘red people’) living there, under Gaob Amraal Lambert, granted them settlement rights.
Schmelen named the place Bethanie (Hebrew: ‘House of the Poor/Sick’ or ‘House of Figs/Dates’). His Nama wife, Zara, later translated the four Gospels of the Bible into Khoekhoegowab with him. Schmelen’s house is considered the oldest surviving building in Namibia constructed by Europeans.
In 1822, Schmelen gave up and left Bethanie. This was due to a chronic lack of funds, droughts, and locust plagues. In addition, there were conflicts between Schmelen, Oorlam Captain Piet Vlermuis, and the !Kharakhoen (Fransman) Naman living further west.
The main issue here was probably the arms trade, which Schmelen initially controlled. However, as early as 1815, Vlermuis had opened up a new route through which he could obtain weapons directly. Later known as the ‘Southern Bai Road,’ this road led to ǃNamiǂNûs (Angra Pequeña; later Lüderitz Bay).
WMS: Mission station Warmbad from 1834 to 1867
An initial foray by the Wesleyan Missionary Society (WMS) ended in 1825 during the reconnaissance phase north of Warmbad. Missionary William Threlfall was murdered in a robbery.
From 1834, the WMS was active in Warmbad, from 1842 in Leonardville, and briefly in ‘Concordiaville’ from 1844. This refers to the town of |Aeǁgams (Khoekhoegowab: |Ae = hot/fire, ǁgams = water/spring), founded in 1840 by Jonker Afrikaner. He also called it Winterhoek; today it is Klein Windhoek.
However, like the LMS, the WMS also struggled with a lack of financial support. Both ceded the field to the Rhenish Missionary Society (RMS). See the article “1842 to 1900 – Rhenish Missionary Society in South West Africa” in this section (‘Namibia’s Past’) of this website.
The LMS handed over its last mission station, Bethanie, to the RMS in 1840. The WMS ended its work in Greater Namaqualand in 1867 with the hand-over of Warmbad.
.
Sources:
With additional, unverified and, in some cases, contradictory information from Wikipedia articles:
# ‘Missionsgeschichte in Namibia’.
# ‘Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft’, Rhenish Missionary Society.
# ‘London Missionary Society’.
# ‘Bethanie (Namibia)’ – German version, English version.
# ‘Warmbad (Namibia)’ – German version, English version.
# ‘Heinrich Schmelen’ – German version, English version.
0 Comments