Missionaries in Central Africa

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universities Mission to Central Africa (UMCA):
missionary work in central Africa was a direct impact of Dr. Livingstone's expedition, for example, the University Mission in Central Africa (UMCA) was formed as a result of
Dr. Livingstone's reports in Britain. It attracted a lot support from the Anglican church.
This group pioneered missionary work in Nyasaland. It was led by Bishop Mackenzie who established the first missionary station at Magomero in Shire highlands south of Lake
Nyasa in 1861. The' attempts of this group were unsuccessful basically because of health
hazards, difficulty in communication, lack of essential- supplies from home and destructive
slave raids by the Yao people.
Livingstonia Mission;
Another missionary group which worked in Malawi livingstonia Mission established
Free Church of Scotland led by Dr. Stewart. These missionaries worked among central African societies such as the Amachinga, the Yao, and established their base at Cape Maclean, south of Lake Nyasa, where they established a number of Schools, health centres and built some roads.
By the end of 1871, the Livingstonia MiSSIOn had spread its activ ities to the Tonga people and in 1882 Dr. Stewart and Dr. laws attempted to spread their activities to the Ngoni remnants in central Africa. However, this idea was not receptive to the Ngoni people as
missionary work had interfered with their slaves, canle and food raiding activities in central Africa.
By 1889, the Livingstonia Mission was well established mainly as a result of the efforts of Dr. Stewart and Dr. Laws. Even the Ngoni had accepted the establishernent of schools and mission centres because of the cooperation between Dr Sterwart and Dr. Laws with the Ngoni leaders.
Blantyre mission:
The third group malawI was Blantyre Mission formed by the Church of Scotland. It
was founded In 1876 by Henry Henderson and started work among the Amagoehe community of Yao people The: were welcomed by Yao as allies against the Maseko Ngoni who were raiding them at their base.
At Blantyre. the rmsssonaries tried to settle the disputes between the Yao and Ngoni leaders The: also started plantations of coffee, tea, sugarcane and Tobacco. They 4 established Schools, medical centres, communication lines and Churches. Even their mission stations worked as centers for attraction of freed slaves and refugees.
The Dutch or Boer Mission:
Another missronary group that worked in Malawi was under the Dutch or Boers. This missiom was sent to malawiin 1888 under A.C Murry after a long workmg experience in South Rhodesia Their work \\'3$ mainly felt among the Mvera and Ndwinde people, and by 1890:; the) had started work among the Chewa people. They were also Involved in building Schools and churches but they were not very successful because of a limited support from home (Holland,
The London missionary Society:
The London Missionary Society abo established itself at Ujiji OIl lake Tanganyika in 1878 and expanded its influence to Lake Malawi. This missionary group pioneered the
Development ofroad network system between Nyasa-land and Tanganyika. In 1881, a
businessman called Stevenson gave some money for constructing a road between Lake
Nyasa and Tanganyika so that missionanes could get their supplies from the African Lakes Company established by David Livingstone which won an important step towards the development of missionary activities in Tanganyika, Malawi and Zambia
The death of Dr David Livingstone in 1872 was a turning Point to both History of East and Central African missionary works. Under the service of the Royal Geographical Society (R G S), David Livingstone died when he was still searching for the source of River Nile in the Swamps of Bangwcla in central Africa. During his moves, he had realized that East Africa had a lot of economic potentials and he witnessed the challenges of slave trade in the Interior.
HIS selfless determination made him a martyr who died In the struggle for civilisation. The
example of his life and death were a challenge to many people in Europe and this led to
the birth of Universities Mission to Central Africa (UMCA) and the Livingstonia Mission.
These two groups were responsible for the spreading of Christianity to Tanganyika,
Zambia. Malawi and Congo region