WHAT IS MISSIONARY INVOLVEMENT?

Definition: a person sent on a religious mission, especially one spent to promote Christianity in a foreign country

MISSIONARY INVOLVEMENT IN AFRICA

Christian Missionaries in Africa began in the 19th century and they were some of the first to start exploring Central and Southern Africa. This helped with the spread of Christianity in Africa.

WHAT WERE THEY LIKE IN THE 1900s

People would become missionaries as early as 16 years old, but only if volunteered. If accepted into the missionary, they would most likely have to leave their family and home country.

WHAT DID THEY DO

A missionary's life was typically very busy with building a religious environment. They spent their time making sure every one was fed and overseeing all the goods the missions needed. Missionary work in Africa worked with the economic and political colonization of the continent.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT

Most, if not all, leaders who fought for freedom or independence, were taught everything they knew from missionaries. At the time of colonialism in South Africa, missionaries taught people when governments were forbidding it.