Ghana Missions Handbook – Past. Present. Future.

25

CHALLENGES AND SETBACKS OF MISSIONS

IN GHANA

Godwin Kofi Ahlijah

Introduction These challenges included; the lack of understanding

E
of the existing traditional religion and culture, lack
ven though the early missionaries and the of relevant training of some missionaries who came,
work of missions, in general, have contributed especially in cross-cultural issues, syncretism on the
so much to the socio-economic and political part of the natives due to their religious predispo-
lives of Ghanaians, there were some challenges and sitions, and the challenge of keeping missionaries
setbacks that the missionaries had to grapple with. healthy and protected from tropical diseases. The
health factor is perhaps the most debilitating chal-
Prof. Omenyo succinctly captures these challenges in
lenge the early missionaries ever faced.
this statement:
“Western missionaries thus encountered the The Health Factor
African world view from a background of
Various factors were militating against Christian suc-
Christianity embedded in enlightenment, which
cess in eighteenth-century Ghana. The rate of mor-
is perceived as superior to that of the African.
tality among Europeans on the coast was the most
This attitude made the effectiveness of their challenging of them all.[1]
mission a nonstarter”.
From 1828-1838, the first decade of Basel mission
This concern was also expressed in Christian Baeta’s involvement on the Gold-Coast for instance, many
statement that: of their new missionaries were faced with extreme
health hazards. Eight out of ten missionaries dis-
“The fact that the evangelists and their hearers
patched died within months or very few years after
belonged to such glaringly different racial types; arrival.[2] If one considers the first 20 years about half
the fact that their cultural backgrounds were so the missionaries arriving died.[3]Jacobus Captein had
different, the unfortunate association of the col- a similar frustration when the headmasters Abraham
our black in the European superstition; the slave Suurdeeg and Jan Boying of the school he started in
trade, with Europeans being always owners and Elmina died shortly after taking over the school. This
Africans always the outstanding; the assump- finally brought the school to a premature halt.[4]
tions by the missionaries of a position of supe-
The disastrous loss of the entire first batch of four
riority vis-à-vis African, which assumption Af-
missionaries in 1832 caused the committee in Basel
ricans weakly and unprotestingly accepted; the
to appoint Dr. C. F. Heinz to evaluate the situation.
fact that the majority of missionaries to our parts Unfortunately, he also succumbed to fever after just
were connected with the movement known as pi- six weeks of arrival. For the next forty years, the lead-
etism; these and such-like factors determined the ership never gave a thought to sending a medical
policy, which was adopted by all missions prac- doctor to the field.[5] The causes were invariable: hep-
tically without exception, of non-amalgamation atitis, yellow fever, and malaria. At that time, how-
with, and aloofness from Africa culture”. ever, these tropical diseases had not yet been clearly

[1]
Debrunner, W. Hans: 1967.A History of Christianity in Ghana. Waterville Publishing House. 349
[2]
Schweizer A. Peter.2000: Survivors on the Gold Coast. Smartline Publishing House. Accra. 90
[3]
Schweizer A. Peter.2000:90
[4]
Kpobi, N.A. David.1953: Missions in Chains. Uitgeverij Boekencentrum, Zoetermeer. 151
26 Ghana Missions Handbook – Past. Present. Future.

identified. They were generally lumped together as ies, notably the Presbyterians, separated the Chris-
“tropical fevers”.[6] tians from the rest of the townsfolk due to many
groundless fears of contamination with ‘pagan’ in-
fluences. Hence, they lived in secluded part of the
Lack of Understanding of African Religion townships known as Salem.
and Culture
Another innovation, which the Christian churches,
By 1980, about half of Ghana’s population was on introduced concerned marriage. The new institu-
record as belonging to one or another of the Chris- tion refused to accept marriage performed accord-
tian churches, and although the nation could not be ing to the people's own customary law and practic-
regarded as a Christian country, the churches were es, and unless a couple married ‘in the church’, as
exercising a remarkable influence on society. But it was popularly described, that is, according to the
while Christianity brought the country’s people un- churches own ritual, they were denied important
doubted benefits, it also eroded the Ghanaian peo- benefits such as Holy Communion and Christian
ple’s ancestral customary practices, values, and way burial rites.[11]
of life.[7]
According to Larbi, the western mission agencies
As an institution, alien to the people and their re- coming from the post-enlightenment, rationalistic
ligions, introduced into the country by missionar- background, approached the missionary task from
ies with very different traditions and culture, this ideological frame of mind. For many in the
the Christian religion made radical inroads into receptor culture, Christianity was not accepted for
Ghana’s culture, beliefs, and other aspects of its religious value; rather, it was a religion that of-
her social heritage. Much of these, however, after fered material blessings. To learn to read, to learn
sounder reviews, have been found by leaders of the something of the ability of the European to control
Christian churches themselves not to be, after all, his environment and to evolve a superior material
at variance with the Christian faith and morals.[8] culture, factors which to the African were bound
with the white man’s worship of Christ, operated as
Instead of adapting the teachings and practices of
strong motives for announcing oneself as a baptis-
the Christian religion to suit harmless Ghanaian
mal candidate.[12]
indigenous values and practices, the early Christian
missionaries totally condemned them as ‘pagan’ Larbi further observes that the other extreme, which
and to be shunned by their converts, whatever they is the denial of the existence of the spirit-force
considered strange. This contrasts with the “Chris- (witches, sorcerers, fetishes, magic, charms, and
tianization” of the Roman, Greek, and Anglo-Saxon the local deities) in the missionary enterprise also
cultural practices. This situation arose largely from radically, undermined the work of the missions. In
the missionaries’ ignorance of the true meaning the process, they ended up producing “two-world”
and significance of certain local institutions and Christians with double allegiance.[13] Tite Tienou
practices. Some of their converts, particularly the confirms this in his book “The Theological Task of
over-zealous catechists and other evangelists, who the Church in Africa” that in practice and privately,
misled them to misinterpret the people’s ancestral all African Christians feel the tremendous burden
heritage, were also at fault.[9] of carrying at least two cultural loads: the modern
or so-called Western culture and the traditional.[14]
African Traditional Religion was labelled with neg-
ative and depreciative words like “superstitious” and
“magic”.[10] Consequently, the Christian missionar-

[5]
Schweizer A. Peter.2000: 90
[6]
Schweizer A. Peter. 90
[7]
Buah, F.K. 1998: A History of Ghana (Revised and updated). Malaysia: Macmillan Publishing.139
[8]
Buah, F.K. 1998. 139
[9]
Buah, F.K.139
[10]
Pobee, S. John.1991: AD 2000 and after; The Future of God’s Mission in Africa. Asempa Publishers. Accra. 72
[11]
Buah, F.K. 1998: A History of Ghana (Revised and updated). Malaysia: Macmillan.139
[12]
Larbi, Kingsley E. 2001: Pentecostalism: The Eddies of Ghanaian Christianity. Centre for Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies,
Accra-Ghana. 29
 Ghana Missions Handbook – Past. Present. Future. 27

Paternalism in organized church denominations rather than in

rugged missionary work which the African mission
Increasing financial paternalism and accompany- field demands. The effect was that Christian workers
ing Westernization of the gospel are the two most who were trained in the Bible schools plunged into
critical issues facing world missions today.[15] Pater- missions and were ill-equipped for the challenges
nalism is the interference of a state or an individual they faced on the field.[19]
with another person, against their will, and justified
by a claim that the person interfered with will be The new sending agencies in Africa, mostly from a
better off or protected from harm.[16] The analysis of Pentecostal background as a result of charismatic
paternalism involves a limitation on the freedom or revival in the institutions of higher learning, were
autonomy of some agent. modelled after faith missions of the early European
missions. These African missions, like the Pentecos-
Many mission agencies in Ghana have had to de- tals, did not grasp the need for training or patient,
pend on foreign support to operate and to maintain careful selection of missionary candidates. Further-
their missionaries. Subsequently, this has some- more, many of these new sending agencies were
times led to donors prescribing what their donations being led by directors who themselves did not go
should be used for against the real and most impor- through any form of training to prepare and equip
tant need on the ground. Increasing financial pater- them for their work, especially in cross-cultural set-
nalism creates dependency. It denies the wholeness tings.
of the individual and ultimately leads to his or her
bondage and suppression. There can be no genuine Most agencies did not require any form of training,
reciprocity between individuals or groups when one but rather saw the training period as a waste of time,
of them treats the other like a child. Unfortunately, while souls were perishing in heathen lands. They
due to various constraints, notably the economic felt that all that missionaries needed was knowledge
hardship, missionaries and mission agencies have of the Bible, to be able to tell sinners that Jesus loved
been trapped in this web of control by the donor them and that He came to save them from their sins.
agencies. This to a large extent has stifled the pro- Armed with Bible knowledge, Christian workers
gress of missions in Ghana.[17] moved out in faith and zeal to send many hundreds
of workers to mission fields in and around Africa.
Some agencies recruited indiscriminately, without
Lack of Relevant Training references to individual qualifications or the home
church, and without missionary training.
Indigenous mission societies that sprang up as off-
shoots of western missionary efforts in Africa, ei- Many missionaries have gone out not only without
ther saw little need for relevant missionary train- the necessary skills, but also without adequate field
ing, did not have the relevant missionary training supervision, mentoring, and appropriate care. In
or did not have the know-how to prepare the staff fact, in some cases, missionaries went out by them-
adequately before sending them out to the mission selves to unreached and very difficult areas. This
field.[18] The practice was to send anybody who had approach has done more harm than good. Some
the call for ministry regardless of the nature of the of these untrained missionaries crashed woefully
ministry, to a Bible school for training, where avail- and returned home broken. Others who managed
able. In most cases, the students of the Bible Schools to weather the storms and who stayed on “ruined”
and Seminaries were equipped for pastoral work the work and shut the door to subsequent missions.

[13]
Larbi, Kingsley E. 2001: 29.
[14]
Tienou, Tite.1990: The Theological Task of the Church in Africa. African Christian Press, Achimota, Ghana. 22
[15]
Kornfield, William J. 1997: What has our Western Money and our Gospel wrought. Editorial of Mission Frontiers (January-
February). Frontiers. Pasadena. 1
[16]
Dworkin, Gerald. 2002: Paternalism: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://mb-soft.com/believe/ indexa.htm
[17]
Dokunor, Sampson: President GEMA (Interview). 12-7-04.
[18]
Famonure, Naomi.2002: Doing Member Care Well; Member Care for African Mission Personnel. William Carey Library. Pasadena.
95
[19]
Famonure, Naomi. 95
28 Ghana Missions Handbook – Past. Present. Future.

Syncretism According to Larbi, anybody who knows African

Christians intimately would know that no amount
Paul G. Hiebert, who had served as a professor of of denial on the part of the church will expel the
Anthropology and South Asia studies at the Full- belief in supernatural powers from their minds,
er Theological Seminary defined syncretism as the and he becomes a hypocrite who in official church
mixture of old meanings with the new so that the circles pretends to give the impression that he does
essential nature of each is lost.[20] Syncretism is also not believe in these things, while in his private life
the process by which elements of one religion are as- he resorts to practices which are the results of such
similated into another religion resulting in a change beliefs.[25]
in the fundamental tenets or nature of those reli-
gions. It is also the union of two or more opposite The 21st-century edition of Operation World re-
beliefs so that the synthesized form is a new thing. It veals that over 64% of Ghanaians call themselves
is not always a total fusion but maybe a combination Christians, but only 40% have links with a church
of separate segments that remain identifiable com- and only 12% are regular church attendees. African
partments. Originally a political term, “syncretism” traditional world views and practices, the research-
was used to describe the joining together of rival er noted, have gone hand-in-hand with the claim of
Greek forces on the Isle of Crete in opposition to a being Christian.[26]
common enemy.[21]
African traditional religion practitioners, like the
Heibert explained that the major cause of syncre- Hindus, believe that all religions lead to God, imply-
tism is when the Christian message is translated ing thereby that there is no need to change from one
into the native forms without the thought of pre- religion to another.[27] It is therefore not surprising
serving the original meaning. He drew the line that much of the practical evangelical Christianity
between Syncretism and Indigenization, which is in Africa is described as being terribly syncretistic.
careful preservation of the meaning of the Gospel [28]
It was perhaps this frustration that led the Rev.
even as it is expressed in native forms.[22] Hendrik Velse to say that, “it was often a futile exer-
cise attempting to convert an adult whose links with
This was one of the major challenges that the ear- the traditional society were almost inseparable.”[29]
ly missionaries had to contend with; the syncretis- The syncretic lifestyle of the Efutu people could be
tic nature of African Christianity. Debrunner de- the reason why ten years after the massive conver-
scribed such as living in a partly disillusioned world sion at Efutu in 1503, nothing seemed to have re-
as semi-sophisticated bands of people, searching for mained.[30]
new ideals and new forms of religions. These people
remained Christians at heart, whilst at the same time The challenge of split allegiance or double allegiance
vigorously pursuing material advantage and suc- to two or more religious sects amongst the people of
cumbing to crude superstition -cruder than that of Ghana was further confirmed in Kwame Nkrumah’s
old pagans.[23] He quotes some Basel missionaries as autobiography published in 1959 when he wrote:
saying, “We suffer from the evil influence of lapsed “Today I am a non-denominational Christian and
Christians in Akwapim and of elements attracted by a Marxist socialist and I have not found any contra-
the possibilities of making money. Among the con- diction between the two.”[31] This, Pobee finds very
gregation, lack of discipline and conformity with misleading and a misunderstanding of what the two
the world is spreading…”[24] sects stand for.

[20]
Heibert, G. Paul. 1981: Perspectives on the World Christian Movement. William Carey Library. Pasadena. 378
[21]
Imbach, S.R. Syncretism: http://mb-soft.com/believe/indexa.html. Elwell Evangelical Dictionary.
[22]
Heibert, G. Paul. 378
[23]
Debrunner, W. Hans: 1967. 256
[24]
Debrunner, W. Hans: 1967.258
[25]
Larbi, Kingsley E. 2001: Pentecostalism: The Eddies of Ghanaian Christianity. Centre for Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies,
Accra-Ghana. 29
[26]
Johnstone, Patrick. 2001: Operation World. Paternoster Lifestyle. Cumbria. 274
[27]
Christian witness to Hindus [The Lausanne Committee for world Evangelism.] Perspective on the world Christian movement.-
edited by Ralph .D. Winter and Steven .C. Hamthorne). 645
 Ghana Missions Handbook – Past. Present. Future. 29

Challenges Today Fifth, although much has been learned about con-
textualization of the gospel, emerging short term
Commenting on the modern-day missionary mentalities foreshadow a de-emphasis on language
challenges, Todd M. Johnson in his publication, and culture learning, which are still the backbone of
“Christianity at 2000: Changes Today, Challenges the foreign missionary enterprise.
Tomorrow”, notes that; the challenges faced by new
missions of the 21st century are legion. The world of
AD 2000 is radically different from that of 1900. The Conclusion
overconfidence exhibited early by secular leaders
of the Enlightenment Project has been completely David Nii Anum Kpobi gave some reasons for the
deflated by the collapse of communism and gener- failure of some of the early missionaries and chap-
al loss of faith in science and the idea of inevitable lains. This was the fact that they worked under var-
progress.[32] ious constraints. Also, many of them simply had no
interest in evangelizing the local people.[37] However,
Johnson asserted that Christian theologians and there is no doubt that some of them were filled with
mission leaders who borrowed heavily from this genuine Christian zeal for the propagation of the
paradigm find themselves at a crossroads. Although Gospel.[38] These zealous ones, however, happened
some advocate an even stronger “modern” ap- to come at a time when trade offered more attractive
proach, many see the changing times as corrective benefits than preaching of the Gospel.[39] The Euro-
to the overconfidence of 20th-century strategies.[33] peans on the coast did not only become involved in
the gold trade; they also sought to control it. This
Some see the ethos of 20th-century mission creep- was no doubt, resented by the local people. It was
ing into 21st-century initiatives. First is the tenden- almost impossible for the Africans to distinguish
cy to convene big conferences with impressive slo- between the European trader and the missionary.[40]
gans, in which the implications of the slogans are
not always seriously addressed.[34] Closely related to this set-back was the method of
beginning evangelism from the Royal Court, with
Second, the hoped-for century of church union has the hope that when the King gets converted, the
become one of schism and lack of co-operation. masses would also follow. This strategy turned out
If anything, hundreds of new organizations have to be very intrusive to the Africans. It was perceived
emerged, each with its own independently stated as an attempt to dominate the political life of the
plans.[35] people. It was clear that they underestimated the
strength of traditional religions. The missionar-
Third, the number of missionaries available for
ies resented to some extent the very culture of the
frontier missions may be impacted by an increasing
people and considered drumming and dancing, for
uneasiness over the efficiency of Christianity in “al-
example, as serious offenses.[41] They held the view
ready discipled” peoples.[36]
prevalent at that time, that the Africans had no idea
Fourth, short-term mission efforts are now a driving about God, and would therefore gladly accept the
force in missions. Although this means that more Gospel without questioning.[42]
Christians are exposed to mission fields, it seems to
Agbeti’s appraisal in his book; “West African
be having the effect of injecting a short-term em-
Church History” confirmed that most of the early
phasis into long term church planting strategies.

[28]
Tienou, Tite.1990: The Theological Task of the Church in Africa. African Christian Press, Achimota, Ghana.22
[29]
Kpobi, N.A. David.1953: Missions in Chains. UitgeverijBoekencentrum, Zoetermeer. 146
[30]
Debrunner, W. Hans: 1967.A History of Christianity in Ghana. Waterville Publishing House.19
[31]
Pobee, S. John.1980 Kwame Nkrumah and the Church in Ghana (1949-1966). Asempa Publishers. Accra. 39
[32]
Todd, Johnson M. 2002: Doing Member Care Well. William Carey Library,Pasadena.35-36
[33]
Todd, Johnson M. 2002: Doing Member Care Well. William Carey Library,Pasadena.35-36
[34]
Todd, Johnson M. 2002:35-36
[35]
Todd, Johnson M. 2002:35-36
[36]
Todd, Johnson M. 2002:35-36
[37]
Kpobi, N.A. David.1953: Missions in Chains. Uitgeverij Boekencentrum, Zoetermeer. 48
[38]
Kpobi, N.A. David. 1953: 48
30 Ghana Missions Handbook – Past. Present. Future.

missionaries thought and believed that the African Thus from the foregoing, it may be concluded that
had no religion of his own. Consequently, they (the the Western missionaries risked their lives to come
missionaries) felt divinely called to take their West- to Africa because of the derogatory and poor image
ern Religion and civilization to Africa. they had about Africans.[45]

This Western derogatory attitude has been clearly They paid little attention to the socio-cultural fac-
articulated in this German hymn, translated into tors that play a very important role in missionary
Ewe, specially composed, for mission fields in India, communication. Not much was done to present
Africa, and non-Western countries. Christianity in a way that would appeal to the Afri-
cans. According to Kpobi, the uncompromising at-
Nu nyuigeowo so gbo
titude of Christian theology at the time was the rea-
Le nutomawo me. son for their attitude towards traditional religion.
Anyigbaya nyonuto He was, however, of the opinion that they would
Gake ameawo gble. have achieved more positive results if they had re-
Mawufedomenyonyo garded the African religion as a preparation for the
Gba go de wodzidzro coming of the gospel.[46]
Ati kple kpe wosubo,
Womenya Mawu O.[43]
Godwin Kofi Ahlijah is the author of “The Baton-
This verse may be paraphrased in English as: “In Addressing the Failures and improving the
those regions (Africa and India) the land is fertile, Effectiveness of Missions in West Africa.” He is the
but the inhabitants are corrupt; may they have a founder and Executive Director of Meaningful Life
share in God’s grace; they worship wood and stone, International, the CEO of the Doron Medical Center,
they do not know God (they have no religion).” and the Lead Pastor of the Harvest Mission Chapel
From this so-called depraved nature, the Western Assemblies of God Church. He also serves as the
missionaries, regarding themselves as superior peo- Director for Advocacy and Strategic Partnerships
of the Ghana Evangelical Missions Association
ple, felt called to deliver the Africans. Therefore,
(GEMA). He is a graduate of the University of Cape
they composed and sang:
Coast, the International Theological Seminary, and
Can we, whose souls are lighted the Ghana Institute of Management and Public
Administration (GIMPA) where he received Master
With wisdom from on high.
of Arts degrees in Theology and Governance, and
Can we, to men benighted Leadership respectively. He also obtained his Ph.D.
The lamp of life deny. in Organizational Leadership from Regent University,
Salvation! O salvation! Virginia Beach, USA. Godwin is married to Lenusia, a
The joyful sound proclaim, Family Medicine Specialist, and they are blessed with
a lovely daughter- Dorinda.
Till each remotest nation
Has learned Messiah’s name.[44]

[39] Kpobi, N.A. David. 1953: 48

[40] Kpobi, N.A. David. 48
[41] Schweizer A. Peter.2000: Survivors on the Gold Coast. Smartline Publishing House. Accra.79
[42] Kpobi, N.A. David. 48
[43] Agbeti, Kofi J.1986: West African Church History. Leiden E.J. Brill. Netherlands. 161
[44] Agbeti, Kofi J.1986: West African Church History. Leiden E.J. Brill. Netherlands.161; see also Methodist Hymn Book Number 801.
[45] Agbeti, Kofi J.1986: West African Church History. Leiden E.J. Brill. Netherlands.161; see also E.P Church Hymn book Number
166 in Ewe.
[46] Kpobi, N.A. David.1953: Missions in Chains. UitgeverijBoekencentrum, Zoetermeer. 48