Revival Seeds Germinate Part 1, 21 February 2021

Reviva Seeds Germinate Part 1 “We must begin to believe that God, in the mystery of prayer, has entrusted us with a force that can move the Heavenly world, and can bring its power down to earth.” – Andrew Murray “Much more is wrought by prayer than this world dreams of ...” – Alfred Tennyson Table of Contents Chapter 1: Revival Seed in the 18th Century Chapter 2: Confrontation between Religions Chapter 3: An Early Revival Model Chapter 4: Revival Trailblazing Chapter 5: Early Revival Stimulation Chapter 6: Education in Revival Stimulation Chapter 7: Result Producing Networking Chapter 8: North American Influence Chapter 9: D.L. Moody in Enltakesgland Chapter 10: Run-Up to the Big Cape Revival Chapter 11: The Big Cape Revival Takes Off Chapter 12: Curbs of Spiritual Renewal Chapter 13: Other Missiological Issues Chapter 14: Diverse Bickerings Chapter 15: Cape Revival Fruit Appendix The Legacy of Lamin Sanneh, Colonial Missionary Main Abbreviations ANC - African National Congress APO - African People’s Organisation CCM - Christian Concern for Muslims CCFM - Cape Community FM (radio) CSV - Christelike Studentevereniging DEIC - Dutch East India Company DRC - Dutch Reformed Church (NG Kerk) Ds. – Dominee (equivalent of Reverend) DTS - Disciple Training School LMS - London Missionary Society OM - Operation Mobilization PAGAD - People against Gangsterism and Drugs SACC -South African Council of Churches SAMS - South African Missionary Society UDF - United Democratic Front UNISA - University of South Africa UCT - University of Cape Town UWC - University of the Western Cape V.O.C - Vereenigde Oost Indische Compagne = United East India Company WCC - World Council of Churches WEC -Worldwide Evangelization for Christ YWAM - Youth with a Mission Z.A. Gesticht - Zuid-Afrikaanse Gesticht (South African Foundation) Introduction God's 'higher ways' are better than our ways! This faith notion came into play in my life again and again. The first significant time was via encouragement by the ‘Watchword’, a Bible verse from the Moravian textbook for some January day in 1963, just after I had finished senior secondary schooling. It was Isaiah 55:8-9: “'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” This was a nudge for my parents to send me to college by faith for teacher training. Fast forwarding to mid-2019, I started praying about whether I should also get certain material that has been on my computer for a long time into the open, perhaps in printed form. I wanted to be sure though that 'His higher ways' would over-rule, not rushing into anything which would be merely a good idea. I prayed for concrete confirmation by the end of July 2019 that I should move towards that goal. I was blessed when, early on 1 August 2019, I saw a phone number that I could call. It was the number of Anneline of Sela Publications. When I phoned her, I expressed my own doubts about the suitability of the title. She responded that she had completed a painting, a photo of which she would like to send to me. When I saw it, I was over-awed! The painting on the cover of this book is the reproduction of Fertile Ground by Anneline de Hout. It looks very much as if I had ordered someone to paint something that would fit to the title Revival Seeds Germinate! It encouraged me to proceed to the next step to get it printed or initially published as an E-book. In due course however, the original revision of Seeds sown for Revival was expanded to such an extent that I decided to move toward a publication in three parts. I attempted to highlight how some Spiritual Dynamics at the Cape have also been seeds towards revival. (Spiritual Dynamics at the Cape is an unpublished manuscript from which I have been able to draw researched material substantially.) This three-part treatise is my endeavour to overhaul Seeds sown for Revival, adding more autobiographical details and other material that I had researched or that came to my attention later. With believers in different places I have been yearning for a big revival that has been prophesied to start here at the Cape. We expect this to impact the whole African continent, and possibly even further afield. Part 1 is basically Church Historical, containing revival-related snippets of the 18th and 19th centuries. Part 2 narrates Cape-based 'revival seed' with a part of my personal journey that included a lengthy sojourn in Europe. Part 3 takes up the story at my return to the Cape in January 1992 with my family. When I left South Africa the first time in January 1969 as an immature rebellious young man, I had no clue of the gruesome reality of the persecution of Christians in certain countries. Already on the ocean liner, the Pendennis Castle – the most economical means of travel between South Africa and Europe in those days - a correction came my way in the form of a small booklet, written by Romania's Pastor Richard Wurmbrand. I had bought Tortured for Christ just prior to my departure. (Voice of the Martyrs, the agency founded by Pastor Wurmbrand in support of the persecuted Church, has released a movie based on this booklet.) In Part 2 of Revival Seeds Germinate one can read of some of the moves behind the scenes, such as prayer and actions that helped to bring an end to the harsh Communist repression of followers of Jesus behind in what was called the 'Iron Curtain'. By January 1969 significant correction had already transpired to my own thinking in respect of the subtle indoctrination of the South African racially segregated society. I had been perceiving that missionaries were 'White' as a rule. Seeing myself as a short-term missionary going to Germany, I was initially scheduled to be there for a year. That stint was ultimately extended to just under two years, during which a romantic relationship ensued. I knew that this could result in my exile from South Africa due to an apartheid law. (I loved my country quite intensely so that the possible marriage to a German young lady plunged me into a big dilemma.) In some poor unsuccessful compromise, I tried to get Rosemarie reclassified as a 'Coloured' so that we could live together here in South Africa. The Father dealt thoroughly with my racist prejudicial expectation that my future wife had to be a 'Coloured' South African. I was hoping to spare myself the destiny of an exile in this way. (I put ‘Coloured’ consistently between inverted commas and with a capital C when I refer to the racial group. To the other races I refer as 'Black' and 'White' respectively, with a capital B and W, to denote that it is not normal colours that are being described. In a country as ours where racial classifications have caused a lot of damage, I am aware that the designation 'Coloured' has given offence to many people of the racial group into which I have been classified. I will be referring to South African Indians when I mention the other major racial grouping of the apartheid era.) Picking up the theme of God's 'higher ways' in my life, they were sometimes linked to deep pain in the lives of other people. I came to learn that adversity and suffering seem to be among God's prime instruments to bring about significant change in the lives of people and even in countries. Leukaemia and the ultimate passing away of my teenage hero were for instance part of the run-up to my calling into ministry in 1968. Twelve years later the same sequence, namely the same type of cancer and the death of my only sister resulted in a six-month stint in South Africa with my wife Rosemarie and our two eldest children - by special permission of the apartheid government. It has been quite a humbling experience to discern divine over-ruling in my life. I made some grave mistakes that had tragic consequences and intense pain for many people around me. God thankfully rectified my errors sovereignly. How glad I am that He did not answer my prayer for a possibility to avoid the life of an exile. (I thought arrogantly and naively that I could contribute much better towards racial reconciliation inside South Africa, rather than if I would live abroad.) In God’s divine wisdom, my exile possibly contributed in some way towards political change in the country. This simultaneously helped enabling me to return to the Republic of South Africa with my family in 1992. Revival Seeds Germinate is the culmination of many years of research, a passion that stretched over many years. This book is in one sense a revision of Seeds sown for Revival and, therefore, repetition in this version of the earlier edition was inevitable. In another sense this version is substantially different; including having much autobiographical material in Parts 2 and 3. I have included information in this book from hitherto unpublished manuscripts like Honger na Geregtigheid, and Some things wrought by Prayer and Spiritual Dynamics at the Cape. A significant addition is material taken from my studies about the biggest Cape revival to date.1 Andrew Murray's work was important seed sowed into the history of the prayer movement. Germination would be evident in following generations. Having seen copies of Seeds Sown for Revival landing into the hands of foreigners, I have chosen to distinguish between a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) and other English-speaking churches, by retaining the title ‘Ds.’ before the name of a DRC pastor. It is the abbreviation of dominee (derived from the Latin dominus meaning Lord). This is the equivalent of Rev. (Reverend) in English in practical terms. I thank God especially for a wonderful wife and supportive children, whom God has used in different ways in my life. I am also grateful for oral information that I have been able to collate over the years from so many people. Individual acknowledgement would be impossible. I wish to thank all of those involved generally, but nevertheless very cordially. A special note of thanks is hereby extended to Wendy Ryan, a believer from Trinidad (West Indies) who edited the manuscript in the early stages. Wendy came into our frame at just the right moment with invaluable advice when I started contemplating getting Seeds Sown for Revival printed as a book. I met Anthea Abraham, a Cape journalist in the course of an effort to get 'Devil’s Peak' the mountain peak above the Mother City of South Africa renamed to Dove's Peak. She suggested that I get a more competent authority to look at the historical content before any further move towards publication. My long-time friend Henry (Jatti) Bredekamp obliged without any ado. (He is an emeritus professor of the University of the Western Cape. There he had been leading the Institute of Historical Research for many years till he retired early, to be appointed the first 'Black' CEO of the Iziko Museums of SA, including the prestigious SA Museum.) His thorough editing took me not only back to the proverbial drawing board, but ultimately also to earlier manuscripts that I had posted on the internet. That would bring about a significant delay in the effort towards publication. I took this delay in my stride because I have been wary all along of getting any material printed, which would only feature on library shelves. When the draft of what I considered to be a fairly final version of the manuscript, Marlene Gildenhuys, a dear friend, connected me to Ms Margaret Stephens, a member of the Mowbray Baptist Church. (Marlene has been the pivot of a prayer group that started at that venue in 2018. From October 2019 Margie proof-read the version in her possession which, however, was worked on quite a lot since then. The present version needed another bout of proof reading, for which Marlene immediately obliged graciously. The Corona virus and the lockdown from 26 March 2020 suddenly gave me extra time, during which I could attempt to bring the project to some conclusion. For bibliographical detail and the origins of quotations the reader is referred to unpublished manuscripts such as Spiritual Dynamics at the Cape, Mysterious Ways of God and The Mother of the Nation. Along with other titles, this material is accessible at www.isaacandishmael.blogspot.com. Ashley Cloete, Cape Town, March 2021 Chapter 1 Revival Seed in the 18th Century The Portuguese name Cabo de bona Esperance, in English Cape of Good Hope, dates from the days of exploration in the 15th century when European monarchs of Spain and Portugal sent maritime explorers into uncharted places in search of wealth. The first European mentioned in their sources to see the Cape was the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias, who named the place based on his experience of storms at sea there Cabo das Tormentas. His King, Joao II, later changed it to Cabo da Boa Esperança (Cape of Good Hope) because of the great optimism engendered by the opening of a sea route to India and the East. The Hope Giving Cape In the spiritual realm, the ambivalent role of the Cape was highlighted from its pristine beginnings in this way. The Dutch had already intended in 1619 to create a half-way station here between Europe and the East and the British also had similar ideas in the interim. The shipwreck of the East Indiaman Nieuwe Haerlem in 1647 resulted in decisive input. The shipwreck of the Nieuwe Haerlem in 1647 gave decisive input. In a report to the directors of the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oost Indische Compagnie, VOC) after their involuntary extended stint at the Cape, two of the stranded crew – Janzoon and Proot – provided a surprising motivation in their Remonstrantie for the establishment of a halfway refreshment station in Table Bay. Contrary to prevalent European perceptions, their document projected a favourable impression of the indigenous people that they encountered. The two Remonstranten of the VOC expressed a wish that such an establishment would of-fer an opportunity to bring the gospel to the indigenous Khoi. The favourable impression of the Cape indigenous people on them during those few months in Table Bay, motivated the two Dutch survivors of the wreck, to see the Khoi in a positive light as potential candidates for 'the magnifying of God’s Holy Name and for the propagation of the gospel.' Thus, the two Dutchmen unintentionally became, in my estimation, the first activists who fought for the human dignity of the First Nation of our country. Different Approaches It is interesting to compare the approach of the different nations in their contact with the Khoi. The Portuguese was in confrontation during which Vasco da Gama was wounded. After D'Almeida was killed in a conflict in 1510, the Portuguese did not stop at the Cape any more. The English tried to settle the Cape, by dropping bandits, who also picked up conflict with the Khoi. Except for the Dutch captain who hanged the Khoi leader Coree, the Dutch castaways under Janssen proved the most successful in their initial relationship with the Khoi, and it set the cause of history in the Cape of Good Hope. Even more significantly, a century later the first real missionary initiative in the fight for dignity and justice for the so-called Hottentots (Khoi) came from the Herrnhut-based missionary Georg Schmidt. His landing in Table Bay as pioneer preacher to the heathen in 1737 was preceded in 1652 by the establishment of a VOC refreshment station under the command of the trader Jan van Riebeeck. Under him the VOC servants and slaves had to serve passing fleets between Europe and the Company’s colonised territories in the Far East with provision by 1737. The Cape had developed into a vital supplier of fresh food to voyagers passing the Cape of Good Hope on the long voyage around Africa when the missionary Schmidt stepped ashore. In the spiritual realm this could be regarded as a harbinger of the redemptive history of the Cape, to nourish people from the nations in many ways. Initially, however, the opposite was the de facto reality. Strong drink played a central role in the popular culture and leisure of the first settlers of the Mother City. Moral Degradation at the Cape Alcoholic beverages were available from the earliest beginnings. Strong drink played a central role in the popular culture and leisure of the first settlers of the Mother City, which became known as 'The Tavern of the Seas ...and the Brothel of the Oceans'. Dutch sailors had a reputation in Europe for being excessive drinkers. The widespread alcoholism in Cape colonial society thus has some early roots in this way. Add to that the 'dop system' of remuneration whereby farm workers received wine of inferior quality in exchange for their labour. The situation was, thankfully, checked and corrected to some extent by the pious French Huguenots [Refugees] who arrived from 1688. They brought with them divine blessings. The love and zeal for Christianity among those colonists became however zeer lauw en flauw (very lukewarm and timid) in due course. The example set by the first Cape clergymen, accountable to the Dutch Reformed Classis (Presbytery) of Amsterdam, also left a lot to be desired in matters of the faith. A grave moral deterioration soon became apparent among the Table Bay settlers. Nachtigal, a highly rated historian who reported 18th century mission relations, summarized the period 1685 until 1736 aptly, using the phrase ‘the estrangement between colonists and Coloureds’. He highlighted this as a hindrance to further missionary work. It appears that the churches on the countryside - Roodezand (Tulbagh), Drakenstein (Paarl), Stellenbosch and Zwartland (Malmesbury) – took much longer to baptise and admit people of colour to communion. The churches on the countryside took much longer to baptize and admit people of colour to communion. Slavery as a Part of the Spiritual Battlefield It is no co-incidence that a battle of unseen things was revolving around slaves at the Cape from the outset. The slaves who came to the Cape in the 17th century turned out to be an important part of the ideological battleground of the forces in the spiritually unseen world. The teaching of the zieketrooster (sick comforter), who was usually not theologically trained, was often problematic. Yet, the sick comforters did play a role in setting a standard at the Cape that would substantially influence the religious life at the Cape. Pieter van der Stael, who came in 1656, was described as ‘doing the work of an evangelist.’ Van der Stael was very zealous for the gospel, opening a school for slave children. He also tried to explain the Christian faith to the indigenous beach rangers. It is interesting that this sick comforter already introduced fasting and prayer during the winter of 1656. Such serious sickness abounded that ‘the council considered this being beyond doubt a punishment inflicted upon them for their sins.’ Thursday, 29 June 1656, was set aside as a day of prayerful fasting, where the early Cape inhabitants beseeched the Almighty to have mercy on them. The VOC was concerned throughout its rule that religious instruction should preferably be restricted to the slave lodge. Initially the zieketrooster was entrusted with this task, but later others like Jan Pasqual from Batavia and the freed slave Margaret, two teachers for the boys and girls respectively, continued with the ministry. Racial Prejudice Entrenched Slavery as such was already in existence in biblical days. It has been a major tragedy of Christianity that Paul’s teaching was completely ignored, namely that Christian slaves had to be regarded as brothers and sisters (e.g. Philemon, verse 16). European colonists came to the Cape with racial arrogance as a rule. The prowess of Western civilization served to entrench racism, which had already been prevalent for centuries. The Greek classification of ‘Hellenes and barbarians’ were fairly neutral, with hardly any racial connotation. This was replaced by ‘Christians and heathens.’ The former were Europeans and the latter the indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa and all new areas that were discovered. A definite prejudice evolved. A ruling from Pope Paul III was needed, via his edict of 1537, to clarify that Indians were human! And yet, ‘Bushmen’, ‘Hottentotten’ and slaves at the Cape remained sub-human in the eyes of Westerners. A theology developed in which racism was rationalized and defended. Thus, dark-skinned people were distinguished from 'Whites' because they were said to have been created with the animals on the sixth day. Hence, they were excluded in this warped thinking from the Garden of Eden, which was a 'White' paradise! Slavery Reconciled With Christian Norms A sore point, and consequently a matter for confession, as the effect of slavery on family life at the Cape. Between the 15th and 18th century, very few people in Europe and North America had ethical problems with slavery. The inhuman practices of slavery were regarded as reconcilable with Christian norms in spite of the views of early critics, such as the Spanish priest Alfonso de Sandoval in 1627. Furthermore, influential high-ranking people like Queen Isabella of Spain and Queen Elisabeth I of England also had their reservations about the trade in human beings. On the other hand, a Dutchman, Reverend Godfried Udemans, wrote a theological justification for slavery, having received payment from the West Indian slave trading company. This could thus be seen as an early variation of Prosperity Theology. This justification enabled the merchants to ride roughshod over the concerns about the negatives of the slave trade. The demonic teaching was so pervasive that a 'Black' minister, Jacobus Capitein (1717-47), who had been abducted as a slave from West Africa and who thereafter studied at the renowned University of Leiden, defended the practice of slavery. Through the lack of international communications, sensitivity to the inhumanity of slavery broke through only relatively slowly. The system of slavery at the Cape was similar to that practised in other colonial societies. The slaves played a significant part in the internal economic development from a small refreshment station to a relatively established economy by 1795, when Britain became the colonial power at the Cape. Slaves and Religious Persecution The early history of Islam in the Mother City of South Africa runs parallel to the practice of slavery and the extension of Dutch commercial interests in the East. The first known Muslims were brought to the Cape as slaves in 1658, i.e. only six years after Jan van Riebeeck landed here. These Muslims, who were predominantly from the island of Ambon, were called Mardyckers, indicating that they had been free people, i.e. not slaves before they came to the Cape. Even before they left their home soil, many of them had turned to Islam in solidarity with their fellow Ambonese - in opposition to the oppressive Reformed (Dutch) colonizers there. They were promptly discriminated against. As a component of Dutch colonial policy, their religious practices and activities were severely restricted. Any attempts to make converts to Islam were met with the threat of a death sentence. The Cape Mardyckers from Ambon worshipped with a very low profile. The Dutch East India Company (DEIC/VOC) – backed by their rulers in Holland - fought Islam in the East by military means. When rebellious Muslim religious leaders offered stiff resistance in the Indonesian Archipelago, the developing refreshment post at the Southern tip of Africa provided a handy place for the banishment of political convicts. A Stellenbosch academic suggested that ‘racism as a racial ideology owes its origin in our Western cultural history to attempts at a moral justification of slavery as a social institution’. From this basis it naturally developed in South Africa to a defence mechanism and justification for racial prejudice and apartheid, namely ‘the preservation and safeguarding of vested (in this case 'White') interests.’ The Negative Application of Calvinism The Afrikaner tradition ‘Boeke vat’, the reading of the Bible and prayer before or after supper, was a custom brought from Holland by the early colonists. In earlier centuries it was not unusual to hear the singing of psalms in some houses before daylight or in the evening. It is not clear when the habit started to deteriorate to such an extent that the farm workers were required to stand in the doorway leading to the voorkamer (the lounge) at these occasions. Being agriculturalists from Holland, the absence of summer rains called for adjustments. Praying for rain would become a regular tenet of religious life at the Cape. Although the lives of their slaves were also influenced by the absence of rain, the farmers probably seldom invited their workers to join in these prayers. The uncertainties of storms, plague and fires were calamities which could be attributed to sinfulness. Public days of prayer were held at such occurrences. From a fairly early stage the slaves were not allowed to sit in the pews among the Colonists. They had to sit separately in the church, for example next to the pulpit on the sides or at the back of the church. This was indicative of their lower status. There was also quite a strong undercurrent developing over the years: colonists believed that the Bible was not meant for the Khoisan and slaves. ‘Dutch Calvinist settlers believed themselves to be saved and the heathen, by definition, to be pre-destined to another place’. Worse was the distorted interpretation of Calvinism that took root at the Cape. The colonists’ faith drew much of its inspiration from the 'Old Testament', but they did not see their presence at the Cape as an opportunity to serve the indigenous population and the Muslim slaves. These Europeans derived from Scripture a special destiny as a people with their model being the Israelites. They had to conquer the land – at the expense of the indigenous Khoi who were the descendants of Ham, who were cursed and in their unbiblical interpretation the Hamites were destined to be only hewers of wood and drawers of water. In their view the Muslim slaves had a pagan creed, which they as good Calvinists despised. On that score that religion was fit for slaves and men of colour. On the other hand - in the words of Van Imhoff, a Governor-general on behalf of the Dutch India company in 1743 – they as Europeans preferred ‘to be served rather than to serve’, considering it debasing ‘to work with their own hands’. Start of a Prayer Chain in Germany Seen against the background of the religious intolerance of the time, the first missionary enterprise by the Moravians was a miracle. The start of their endeavour occurred as a direct result of prayer. It developed out of the revival in the German village of Herrnhut in August 1727, after the laborious counselling and prayers of Count Zinzendorf. He had talked and prayed at length with the quarrelling role players of diverse backgrounds in this newly formed village on his estate in 1721. They came from different church backgrounds, and the bulk of them were Moravian and Bohemian refugees from Catholic persecution. The Holy Spirit prepared the hearts of estranged believers from the different factions. The infighting of Herrnhut believers brought the village Christians to the brink of open confrontation. A split was imminent when divine intervention set in. The Holy Spirit prepared the hearts of estranged believers from the different factions in the Lutheran congregation of Berthelsdorf (the village adjacent to Herrnhut) on 13 August 1727, where they went for Holy Communion. Tears of remorse and repentance were streaming freely in that service. Many were revived, including children. (The 17th of August is still used among Moravians as the date to commemorate this.) On August 27, a few revived members of the congregation started a remarkable ‘hourly intercession.’ Forty-eight believers committed themselves to pray every day in pairs for an hour at a time. That developed into a prayer chain, setting an unparalleled world record, continuing for 120 years. Forty-eight believers committed themselves to pray every day in pairs for an hour at a time. A Slave As God’s Divine Instrument According to recorded tradition the prime nudge for the start of a Moravian missionary movement was Count Zinzendorf’s encounter with a Christian slave at the coronation of Denmark’s King Christian VI in 1731, whose spouse was the German Sophia Magdalene. The Holy Spirit was evidently at work when the multi-lingual Count did the very unconventional thing of speaking to Anton, a slave from the Caribbean island of St Thomas. Anton came there for the coronation with his aristocrat owner. The devout slave immediately challenged the Count, mentioning his compatriots back home who had not yet heard the gospel. Zinzendorf, the founding leader of the Herrnhut community on his estate, invited Anton to join them there to repeat the challenge in his revived East German congregation. There Anton appealed to the Moravian believers to help liberate his relatives and countrymen who were in double bondage – physically and spiritually. The slave, Anton, appealed to believers to help liberate his relatives and countrymen. Anton challenged the congregants to take the gospel to the Caribbean island. He highlighted that his slave countrymen were overloaded with work. There would be no time for sharing the gospel except during working hours. Any missionary would have to emulate the Master to become a slave and servant! Herrnhut Believers Touched In the revived Herrnhut congregation the believers were touched by Anton's appeal. Not even the awesome suggestion that potential missionaries would have to share the slave lifestyle could hold the eager congregants back. The very next year, in 1732, the first two missionaries left for the Caribbean island St Thomas. They were the first of many from the village of Herrnhut, going to different parts of the world during the following decades – backed by the 24-hour prayer chain at home. Count Zinzendorf’s encounter with a Christian slave from the Caribbean was thus the cause of the greatest missionary movement the world has seen since the times of the apostles - and coming from a single congregation at that! Count Zinzendorf’s encounter with a Christian slave missionary movement since sparked the greatest the times of the apostles! At the beginning of the following decade an evangelical awakening in England that came about through John Wesley and George Whitefield. This was a direct result of Moravian influence. From Herrnhut they left to spread the gospel in the New World, particularly North America, where the East German missionary movement coincided with the first Great Awakening in the English colonies of North America of the 1730s and 1740s. Stepping Down As a Custom? The socialization of Count Zinzendorf with Anton, a slave at the Danish court of King Christian VI, was definitely not an one-off occasion. It was part of his life-style to converse with kings and slaves alike, whoever came across his path. For almost a decade the Count had been ‘on everyday terms with artisans and peasants’, confirming his instinctive conviction that spiritual gifts are independent of social rank. Zinzendorf legally renounced his titles in the US in the 1740s because he found them an impediment among the colonists. Benjamin Franklin was present at the ceremony, which was conducted in Latin in front of the Governor of Pennsylvania. Zinzendorf was possibly the only European nobleman in those days who socialized with 'Indians', visiting their leaders as equals. Though Count Zinzendorf did not promote the abolition of slavery, inside the Moravian Church slaves were truly equal. In Bethlehem, PA, at the single sisters' house you could find a German noblewoman, a Delaware 'Indian', and an African slave sharing the same dormitory room. Where else in the world would that occur at that time? And Zinzendorf endured much criticism for allowing women to preach and to hold roles of leadership in the church. The example of Zinzendorf was also emulated outside of Moravian confines. The Dutch missionary van der Kemp, who was no stranger to the Moravian settlement of Zeist before he came to the Cape, would be a model for contextualisation. The German Karl Gutslaff would perfect the model, dressing himself like a Chinese national to gain entry into China. Gutzlaff started off in Indonesia after being commissioned by the Dutch Missionary Society. His strategy was to train Chinese refugees as evangelists and missionaries for entering the proud Chinese mainland. At this time China would not permit missionaries to enter any more in the wake of the Opium War during which missionaries played a sad role, having been involved in opium smuggling. Gutslaff, who found his way to Hong Kong, later also had the vision to train nationals of that country to reach the Chinese millions in the interior. He trained Hudson Taylor, who started the China Inland Mission. Evangelical Beginnings in the Mother City At the time, a first noteworthy evangelistic effort at the Cape had been mooted by the retired Dutch Reformed Ds. Henricus Beck of the Groote Kerk in 1731. After having retired officially, he succeeded in gathering a group of evangelical believers from time to time in fellowship in the early 1730s. One of the first foundations was laid for missionary work in today’s Cape Town. The widow Aaltje van den Heyden played an important part in the missionary work to the slaves after the death of her husband. One of Beck’s church members, the widow Aaltje van den Heyden, played an important part in the missionary work to the slaves after the death of her husband in 1740. She supplied the bulk of the funds for the erection of the Zuid-Afrikaanse Gesticht, or oefenhuis (practising house), an institution where believers could be discipled. That facility would tremendously influence the religious life at the Cape during the next decades. A Spiritual Giant Georg Schmidt of Count Zinzendorf’s community in Herrnhut arrived in July 1737 in Table Bay without a male companion – contrary to Moravian missionary practice – as the first European missionary to South Africa. Some researchers believe the young Schmidt was sent to minister among the ‘Wilden’ at the Cape in ‘punishment’. Nonetheless, his departure from the shores of the Netherlands happened providentially with the approval of the VOC directors. On his voyage to the Cape, various sailors were touched and converted by the powerful first Moravian evangelist at the Cape of Good Hope. Spadework for Revival The pioneering labour of Ds. Beck provided the spade work for the energetic Georg Schmidt to start lively Christian groups after he arrived at the Cape. In a few months Schmidt had a small congregation of 47. He was, furthermore, in contact with 39 other 'White' colonists. Georg Schmidt refused to be side-tracked through conversions among the colonists, preferring to go to those people who had not heard the gospel at all. His sense of purpose is demonstrated by the fact that he moved on from the city to the Overberg (literally meaning over the mountain) already in early 1738, to evangelise the Khoi. Hardly anybody at the Cape expected him to make headway among the 'Wilden'. Particularly in the Overberg region of present-day Genadendal he performed his mission work. Schmidt laboured for about seven years mainly among the Hessequa Khoi. Schmidt's Visit to the Town Before the settler community of VOC officials, including the clergy, had been made aware of Schmidt’s progress in evangelizing his flock near the Sergeants River, the tributary of the Zondereinde River, the lonesome missionary made a special visit in February 1741 to Cape Town to greet his friend and benefactor, Captain Johannes Tobias Rhenius, who was about to leave the colony permanently. Schmidt’s next visit to the town happened in March 1742. This time he had invited Wilhelm, one of his five Khoi converts, to accompany him to Cape Town. Count Zinzendorf encouraged Schmidt to baptize his converts at the river ‘where you shot the rhino’. During this visit Schmidt found in his mail in Cape Town a letter of ordination despatched by Count Zinzendorf, who encouraged him to baptise his converts at the river ‘where you shot the rhino’. Emulating Philip, the apostle, he stopped at a place where there was running water after Wilhelm had indicated the wish to be baptised. There he baptised him, giving him the name Jozua. One of his first converts, the Khoi woman Vehettge Tikkuie, is today in the collective memory of the Moravian Church still honoured as the iconic Moeder Lena of Genadendal. Considering Schmidt’s initial male prejudice against the opposite sex, some believe he had been pleasantly surprised by her Christian-like answers to his 'catechism' type of questions. Schmidt obliged to bless her conversion with the Christian tradition via a change of name. From that moment the heathen Vehettge adopted her Christian name Magdalena. This was in memory of the woman who had been the first among the followers of Jesus to have seen Him alive on the morning of His resurrection, after seeing His crucifixion on a hill outside Jerusalem and the burial in haste in a guarded tomb before dusk the same day. The spiritually revived Magdalena proceeded to spread the Good News of her resurrected Christ for decades. The spiritually revived Magdalena proceeded to spread the Good News of her resurrected Christ for decades. Schmidt guided her with a Dutch ABC manual and New Testament to become more literate in Bible reading. So, when half a century after Schmidt’s frustrating departure from his flock, some kept on living in hope till they passed on or migrated elsewhere. The Cape clergy appointed by the Classis (Presbytery) of Amsterdam were accountable to both the Classis and the trading company’s officials locally. They hardly had any regard for the social status of the Herrnhut missionary; the more so after he could only lay claim to his status as minister of religion by way of the hand-written letter of ordination that Schmidt received in 1742 from the head of his church, the Count Zinzendorf. The Groote Kerk leadership asserted in their findings about his christening of the first five Khoi mission Christians, that by the performance of such an act, Schmidt had defied them. The baptism of the five became the death knell of his ministry instead of the coronation. Cape residents described the impact of Schmidt’s ministry to Nitschmann and Eller, two Moravian missionaries en route from Ceylon in 1742. In their assessment they stated that Georg Schmidt had accomplished in three and a half years ‘what others would not have affected in thirty years’. However, the baptism of the five became the death knell of his ministry instead of the coronation. The final departure of Georg Schmidt from Baviaanskloof on 30th October 1743 from the mission town’s kerkwerf heritage site is located today. In summary: the missionary life of Georg Schmidt in the Cape of Good Hope typifies in a powerful way what the British poet Tennyson said: 'much more is wrought by prayer than this world dreams station he had founded on 10 February 1738, started in prayer on his knees where the mission of...' With this faith in prayer he sailed on the afternoon of 5 May 1744 from Table Bay, hoping that he would return one day. He continued praying for his flock in Africa until the hour of his last breath on his knees in the East German village of Niesky on 1 October, 1785. Three Moravian pioneer missionaries, with a purpose to revive his abandoned mission, encountered an ageing Oude Lena three days before Christmas 1792 near Sergeants River. They were profoundly amazed, finding a Dutch New Testament still in her possession. Chapter 2 Confrontation between Religions The history of the faith of Islam at the Cape of Good Hope and its relationship with the institution of slavery under VOC and British rule respectively, had from the start been intertwined with the commercial and political world order of the colonial era. The Cape as a Place for Political Convicts It seems that the vast majority of slaves were initially open to the gospel, but sinful attitudes - including materialism and racial prejudice on the part of the Dutch colonists, along with authoritarian denominationalism of the Church - played into the hands of satan. Many slaves became Muslims as a result. In all fairness to the belief that the arrival of Muslims is concomitant with the establishment of Islam at the Cape of Good Hope from the late 1600s, it can be said that it resulted from a series of Muslim leaders' military resistance to VOC rule. Ultimately this led to their banishment as political convicts and religious prisoners to the far-away Cape of southern Africa. The first religious prisoners came with the batch of slaves from the East that arrived on the East Indiaman Polsbroek from Batavia on 13 May 1668. Orang Cayen Versus the VOC The graves of prominent Muslim leaders who died in exile – saints of the Islamic faith - evolved in due course into shrines, called Kramats. A plaque at the Constantia Kramat was placed there to remind visitors that the leading men were called Orang Cayen, i.e. ‘men of power and influence.' They were viewed as particularly dangerous to the interests of the Company. These Orang Cayen immediately befriended the slave population at Constantia, teaching them the religion of Islam; and held secret meetings in the Constantia forest and on the mountain slopes. The VOC’s somewhat sterile church had no credible message for the slave population. The cold rational Dutch Reformed brand of Christianity was apparently no match in the spiritual battle for the hearts of the many slaves who were still open to the gospel. The VOC’s somewhat sterile church had no credible message for the slave population. In fact, also in Europe a lingering belief in magical potions and witchcraft still existed at the begin-ning of the eighteenth century. Shaykh Yusuf, an Islamic Sufi resistance leader, whose real name was Abidin Tadia Tjoessoep, came to the Cape on the Voetboog in 1694. After his noble resistance against the Dutch, Tjoessoep was regarded as a ‘kramat’ - a saint. It has been reported that an early imam (Islamic priest) at the Cape foresaw prophetically - soon after Shaykh Yusuf’s death in 1699 - that a ‘holy circle’ of shrines would come about. The Islamic prophecy suggested that all Muslims who live within the Holy Circle of special tombs would be spared fire, famine, plagues, earthquakes or tidal waves. While the local churches of the early colonial period were not even aware of the presence of these unseen occult forces, the religion of Islam gained ground at the southern tip of Africa as from 1694 with the arrival of Shaykh Yusuf from Indonesia. The Shaykh, a former resistant leader of noble descent in his homeland, was interned with 49 followers on the farm Zandvliet of the Dutch Reformed dominee (minister) of the Groote Kerk, Ds. Petrus Kalden. Evangelistic Neglect There is no evidence that Ds. Kalden made any attempt to share the Christian gospel message with the Muslim community on his farm at present-day Macassar near Somerset West. This was at quite a distance from the VOC colonial town, with only 18th century transport at his disposal. Ds. Kalden was among the first European persons keen to master the difficult Khoi language. Nevertheless, Ds. Kalden initially had a heart for missions, hoping to propagate the gospel. He was among the first European persons keen to master the difficult Khoi language with its click sounds, with the avowed object to be ‘of service to this heathen nation who still abide in such dark ignorance’. In fact, Kalden asserted that he wanted to study the language ‘om dit volkome te bemeester’, to master it fully. When he returned to his homeland Holland, he took a Khoi with him to be baptised there. Materialism As the Vogue In New Testament times Paul, the prolific epistle writer, had already discerned that materialism is idolatrous by stating that greed is a form of idolatry (Colossians 3:5). The Dutch started the refreshment post at the Cape out of economic considerations. Profit was the big word and materialism was the vogue. Already from the very early pioneering days the colonists and their clergy who came here, had only material gain in mind. Thus one finds a school for slaves five years before there was none for the colonist’s children, although there was no lack of children of schoolgoing age. The explanation has to be sought in the capitalist or materialist politics of the rulers’. For the same reason, the slave children at the school, which was started in 1658 by the ziekentrooster, were taught to get a maximum of service out of them. Already in 1709 the Danish missionary Johann Georg Böving, who, on his way from the East, spent three weeks at the Cape. He discerned how materialism operated like the thorns of Jesus’ parable, choking the gospel seed. ‘The greatest hindrance … he believes to be the … colonists, who oppose the evangelisation of their slaves on the ground that those who have received Christian baptism, cannot thereafter be bought and sold’ (Cited in du Plessis, 1911:48). The motives of slave mothers for the christening of their babies were hardly ever spiritual. The over-riding motive was often that this meant that they would have to be freed later because the custom forbade them to be separated from their mothers in a re-sale. Fraud was very much a part of their practice. In fact, it was regarded as no sin and it entailed no disgrace to rob the East India Company. The leader of the settlement at the Cape, Jan van Riebeeck, was found guilty in this regard before he came to the Cape. The founder received general clemency. Thus Du Plessis, the very reliable Stellenbosch church historian found no problem with the fact that Van Riebeeck used brandy and tobacco to lure slaves to attend the first school, which he started a few years after their arrival. The teaching of the slave children was however also expedient, because they had to be taught at least some Dutch, to be of better service to their masters. Van Riebeeck probably knew that children pick up a language more readily. Slavery seems to have exacerbated the materialism among the early colonists. The ambivalent example set by Jan Van Riebeeck was quite pervasive. A student of his diary noted that he was nevertheless quite pious. ‘Op elke onderneming word Gods seën gevra en vir elke geslaagde werk word Hom lof gebring.’2 On the other hand, Van Riebeeck was unscrupulous and dishonest. This ambivalence was passed on through the generations. In the 20th century many a South African farmer would be attending church regularly, giving his tithes and gifts for mission work generously, while his workers were paid starvation wages at the same time. Even more bizarre is the 21st century variation. In churches where ‘Prosperity Theology’ is taught and practised, money is occasionally thrown on to the stage, but in the same congregation there are poor people who might not have a meal the very same day – with little hope that the church would care for them. From Materialism to Grave Moral Degradation It is especially unfortunate that Ds. Petrus Kalden, who started off with a vision to reach the indigenous Khoi with the gospel of the New Testament, would later be accused of running a plantation rather than a parish. When he engaged in farming to augment his salary, the pervasive influence of worldly materialism seems to have reduced his love for the spiritually lost. Politically and denominationally it would have been very difficult for the DRC dominee of the Netherlands to show compassion to a Muslim leader banished to his Zandvliet farm estate. Although the accusation against Kalden was not sufficiently substantiated, he was one of very few clergymen at the Cape who had to be recalled for neglecting his duties as a pastor. (He was subsequently dismissed by the DEIC, although he received two ‘baie eervolle getuigskrifte’ – very laudatory testimonials - from the Cape church council). Kalden had become the victim of a sad smear campaign by his ‘strydlustige kollega’, his belligerent colleague Ds. Engelbertus Franciscus Le Boucq. The latter cleric was not positive towards evangelistic and missionary work anyway. The new pastor, Johannes d'Ailly, found matters in the church completely different as it had been purported to be in smear. Ds. Kalden was falsely accused and he had been actually faithful in his ministry. The Dutch colonizers, along with uneducated and economically poor Germans, speedily sunk into grave moral degradation. A Challenging Islamic Response The same year that Georg Schmidt had to leave the Cape, a Muslim imam (priest) by the name of Tuan (meaning teacher) Said Aloewie of Mocca in Yemen was brought to the Cape. Along with other local imams Tuan Said apparently countered the potential effects of Schmidt’s mission work in the Cape District of the colony: Tuan Said was described as a ‘Mohammedaanse priester’ who was sentenced to life in chains. He served a sentence of eleven years on Robben Island before being brought to the port city where he became a policeman, which ironically enabled him to masquerade as a kaffer (infidel). Tuan Said reportedly had access to the slave quarters, propagating the faith of Islam there. When the sentences of the religious and other convicts expired - for having opposed the colonial rulers - a few of them returned to Indonesia. The majority stayed on at the Cape. When freed, these convicts formed part of the community of ‘Vrijezwarten’ (free 'Blacks'). They were the people, next to the religious convicts, who were greatly responsible for the consolidation of Islam at the Cape of Good Hope. The freed religious convicts met in homes for Islamic prayer meetings. Together with other slaves the freed religious convicts met in homes for Islamic prayer meetings. Several of them possessed property, were financially independent and formed a small Muslim clerical class. The ‘ulemma’ (clergy), made up of imams (priests) and shaykhs (learned men) were led by the Tuans. They propagandised the religion in adverse conditions at a time when only the Dutch Reformed Church was officially allowed to propagate their faith freely. Christian Slaves Not to be Sold In 1775 approximately half of the population, estimated at 12,000 in the Cape colony, were slaves of whom the bulk were Muslims. This was a matter of concern for the VOC officials in Cape Town who tried at the time to control their increasing numbers by way of Council Policy. Such decisions were promulgated as placaaten (decrees). One such a placaat of 1770 prohibited the sale of Christian slaves. This favoured slaves ironically. Some slave owners interpreted the placaat as a threat to their pool of labour, believing that their slaves would become free if they were baptised. On the other hand, in the wine farm owners’ community, Muslim slaves and later wage labourers, were preferably entrusted to work in the wine cellars. Their religious culture sanctioned the consumption of alcohol strictly. In trade terms this was a bonus for the wine farmers. Ds. M.C. Vos refrained from baptising his slave. Local colonists followed his example. How pervasive the implementation and effect of the 1770 decree was, is illustrated by the Batavian born Ds. M.C. Vos. The pious Vos ministered in the DRC congregations the Zwartland (Malmesbury), Caledon and Tulbagh. He then still, however, refrained from baptising his slave Maart of Mozambique. Local colonists who would claim themselves to be true Christians, followed the example set by the respected Ds. Vos. A Second Christian Spiritual Giant Another Dutch Reformed minister of the Groote Kerk, Dr Helperus Ritzema van Lier, called to the congregation in 1786, influenced mission history worldwide significantly. Very much ahead of his time, Van Lier opposed slavery and fought within the constraints of his Cape Calvinist oriented theology for the human rights of the indigenous Khoi, while he attempted to learn their language. He found fertile ground for the cultivation of the heathen mind at the Cape with the moral and active support of a group of believers, including Pietist Lutherans. Some of them were profoundly influenced by the impact of the lonely Georg Schmidt’s short mission campaign. Van Lier himself, who heard during his Groote Kerk ministry about the first Moravian missionary’s legacy near the Sergeants and Zondereinde Rivers, was seemingly impressed from what he heard from oral sources. He was present at the deathbed of one of the missionary’s converts. There Van Lier observed how the Khoi believer died ‘in volkome rus en vrede van sy siel en in vertroue op die Here’ (Died in complete rest and peace and in trust in the Lord.) It made such a deep impression on him, the highly educated dominee of the Groote Kerk, that he mentioned this in a letter to his uncle, Professor Petrus Hofstede. At that stage, Prof. Hofstede of Rotterdam was still an ardent opponent of the Moravian brethren. A Cape Town based missionary prayer circle started meeting from 1788. Local Influence of the Prayerful Van Lier A Cape Town based missionary prayer circle of about sixty persons started meeting from 1788, later twice a week for the outreach to the ‘heathen’ and slaves. These Evangelicals counted among a worldwide leading force of like-minded Christians of that time. At the Cape of Good Hope, they focused on prayer, their mutual edification, as well as religious teaching to slaves and the colonised Khoi. A local periodical (the Zuid-Afrikaansche Tijdschrift) wrote: ‘When people were still discussing in many parts of Europe whether slaves and heathen should believe and whether they could be taught, they had already started with that work in this Colony.’ This was a time when the visionary Dominee van Lier were already succeeding in bringing about radical change in the attitude of many Cape European believers towards slaves, free 'Blacks' and the colonial Khoi-San. At times it seemed as if Van Lier would jump from the pulpit. The colonial historian, G.M. Theal, narrated that when the young dominee Van Lier was preaching, people hardly dared to sleep in church because ‘at times it seemed as if he would jump from the pulpit’. Furthermore, his preaching was full of earnest appeals and ‘women were often moved to tears, and sometimes fell into hysterics’. An Advocate for Missionary Action The influence of the Moravian Bishop Spangenberg’s ‘Idea Fidei Fratrum of Kort begrip der Christeljke leer in de evangelische broedergemeenten’, published in 1778, had a notable influence at the prayer meetings. Van Lier saw to it that other writings, like the reports of Moravian mission work around the world, were frequently read at the group’s prayer meetings. Dr. Van Lier advocated for missionary action, pleading for the establishment of a Dutch missionary agency in the colony. Dr. Van Lier continued to advocate for missionary action, pleading for the establishment of a Dutch missionary agency in the colony and for missionaries to come and work under the auspices of such a religious body. According to him, three enterprises were called for, namely ‘one among the Hottentots in the Colony, one among the Bantu in the East, and one among the indigenous peoples to the North’. From Idolatry to Ancestor Worship An interesting Biblical context of the request relates to the Old Testament of Israel whose God warned against idol worship. This deification was performed, as a rule, on the ‘high places’. The idol worship was performed on ‘high places’. Often idolatry was linked to ancestor worship. Nevertheless, the Jews (and later also Christians of the Middle East) ignored these warnings and got into all sorts of bondage because of their disobedience to their Lord’s divine instructions. Often, they combined idolatry with ancestor worship. The Israelites had to refrain from idol worship, including that of ‘sacred’ stones and trees in their frequent disobedience to God. In due course, buried saints were regarded as mediators between man and God. This belief grew to immense proportions, especially in Roman Catholicism, where the birthdays of saints are still commemorated worldwide. (As a rule, the New Testament calls only living people saints). In Egypt, the shrines of revered Coptic Christians very soon became places of prayer. Muslims copied the practice of building shrines when the Musselmen conquered North Africa. Ancestral worship at the shrines became part and parcel of Folk Islam, which has the anomaly that Jesus is rejected as mediator, while the deceased in the shrines are being called upon for help in times of distress and need. In Cape Town, these shrines (called Kramats), which are the graves of Muslim leaders, are specially frequented before pilgrims leave for Mecca. Ancestor worship at the shrines became part and parcel of Folk Islam. Islam rejects the notion that Jesus, the 'Prophet', was the Son of God incarnate in human form and the only mediator between the Holy God and human beings. As mentioned earlier, the shrines or graves in Cape Town are named kramats of revered Muslim leaders. The biblical prohibition of ancestral worship was watered down and almost nullified in South Africa in the 1990s. (In the secular government after 1994, ancestral worship became increasingly prominent, especially after it had become known that Mr Thabo Mbeki, the vice president at the time, and later the State President, appeared to have fairly close links to sangoma’s (witch doctors). In the belief system of the latter, ancestral worship is quite central.) Luther Saw the Need of Spiritual Warfare Martin Luther, the influential Reformer of the Church in sixteenth century Germany, believed so much in the reality of the existence of the devil that he reportedly had thrown his ink pot at satan appearing to him in the castle where he took refuge from the powerful Catholic Church rulers, with approval of the Saxon prince. In this respect the Lutheran famous hymn, ‘A mighty fortress is our God’, typified his belief in the realities and the need of spiritual warfare. In similar vein, the Herrnhuter Count Zinzendorf’s teaching of the ‘Streiter-Ehe’ (warrior marriage) viewed his own marriage as part of the spiritual battle where no sacrifice is too great in the light of Jesus Christ’s Cross on Calvary Hill. William Booth and his Salvation Army typified evangelization in terms of spiritual warfare. By the late 19th century, however, hardly anyone except William Booth and his Salvation Army typified evangelization in terms of spiritual warfare. One of the exceptions was the founder of Worldwide Evangelization for Christ (WEC International), C.T. Studd. He was deeply influenced by this concept of waging spiritual warfare. Significantly, the earlier name of the mission agency was the Worldwide Evangelization Crusade, striking a profound memory of the Roman Catholic Church of the late Middle Age wars against Jews and Muslims. (The legendary memory of those Christian crusades from the eleventh century might have motivated C.T. Studd to invent missionary terms like ‘prayer batteries’ and ‘chocolate soldiers’ that melt in the heat of the spiritual battle.) Visible Evidence of Spiritual Warfare Unseen occult forces were at work at the Cape via the introduction of kramat rituals in its early days of colonial rule. Evidently by the beginning of the 1770s these forces assumed, from a missionary perspective, an intense spiritual warfare with the promulgation of a Placaat of India. This had to protect the status of slaves who had been baptised. Colonists actively encouraged the slaves to become Muslims so that they could still be sold, preferably with a profit. The decree was counter-productive at the Cape when the colonists actively encouraged the slaves to become Muslims so that they could still be sold, preferably with a profit. Interestingly, for contextualising later spiritual warfare at the Cape, Shaykh Nuruman of Batavia was banished to Robben Island and again released a few years later. Shaykh Nuruman handed talismans in Malay script to runaway slaves after his arrival on the mainland in 1779. In due course this Islamic clergyman acquired the reputation that he not only gave advice to slaves, but that he could also prophesy the future and protect them from evil. His fellow slaves immediately came to recognize him as a 'Wali’, a person with special supernatural gifting. He evidently wielded occult power at a time when the Church at large had little clue of what was transpiring in the mindset of Cape slaves who believed in the shaykh’s unseeable world. Occult forces were thus now also operating at the Cape via Islamic talismans, which included Qur’anic verses sewn into garments. A Decade of Spiritual Clashes Regarding the beginnings of the first Lutheran Church in Cape Town, permission was only granted by the VOC Council of Policy in 1779 to function officially as a Protestant congregation. The Lutherans started with services the following year, 1780. This represents a landmark moment in the African spiritual realm of the colonial world. In 1786 another major 'clash' of invisible spiritual powers possibly transpired with the arrival of two Church leaders representing opposite spiritual forces. The evangelical Dr Van Lier joined the Groote Kerk team as alluded to earlier, while Ds. Meent Borcherds was a freemason who became the main force in opposition to mission work from the town of Stellenbosch. In the spiritual realm, the reply of the main 'opposition' to the revival that followed the Van Lier ministry came via an Islamic master teacher. Tuan Guru is still revered among Cape Muslims. He was brought to Robben Island as a prisoner in1780 from Tidore, a flourishing Muslim Sultanate in the Moluccas. He had a thorough understanding of Islam, in contrast to other Capetonians who came from Indonesia. One of his first accomplishments was the writing of the Qur’an from memory for the use of the Cape Muslims. In 1781, while he was imprisoned on Robben Island, Tuan Guru also wrote M’arifatul Islami wal Imani (Manifestations of Islam and faith), an Islamic manual for day-to-day living. Tuan Guru’s sacred memorial shrine can still be visited at the Tana Baru cemetery in Bo-Kaap. An Oscillating Spiritual Scale Achmat of Ternate, another Muslim hero, died in 1788 on Robben Island, coincidentally the year when the missionary prayer group of about 60 people organised themselves voluntarily around Dr van Lier to campaign especially for the salvation of the ‘heathen’ in colonial Cape Town, meaning both the slaves or free 'Blacks', as well as persons of Khoi-San descent. The missionary prayer group of about sixty people organized themselves to campaign for the salvation of the ‘heathen’. The Zuid-Afrikaansche Zendinggesticht in Long Street ofthe late 1790s to 1800s originated from this missionary prayer fellowship. Dr van Lier formed this group that started at the Zendinggesticht in Long Street. The prayerful people had a concern for the slaves and the downtrodden. The monthly (later weekly) prayer meeting may not have discerned the looming danger however, namely that of the unseen occult powers coming via (folk) Islam and freemasonry. Was it mere co-incidence that the youthful Van Lier died in 1793, the same year in which Tuan Guru was released from Robben Island? To Tuan Guru a renewed prophecy of a ‘holy circle’ of kramats (shrines)has been attributed. (The grave of Shaykh Mattara, who died on Robben Island in 1754, was one of the first shrines of the circle.) Tuan Guru, the founder of the first mosque of South Africa in Dorp Street, Bo-Kaap, established Islam at the Cape firmly. Apart from the group of evangelical Christians, the gospel outreach to slaves/Muslims figured very low on the list of the priorities of the first Cape churches. Impact of Prayer Europe and America By the end of the 18th century devout prayerful people of Western Europe, followed relatively soon by evangelicals of 'White' Anglo Saxon Protestants of North America, experienced an unprecedented zeal for the propagation of the Christian gospel among the ‘heathen’ of the world. A crucial inspiration for the voluntary religious campaigns that led to evangelical missionaries spreading out all over the worlds mission fields, germinated from the 24-hour prayer chain of the Herrnhutters from 1728. Religious campaigns germinated from the 24-hour prayer chain of the Herrnhutters from 1728. The effect of William Carey’s book, An enquiry into the obligations of Christians to use means for the conversion of the heathens (1792), was quite pervasive in Britain and North America. Intensive prayer preceded the revival of 1792-1820 there, when no less than 12 mission agencies came into being. In London and Rotterdam two interdenominational missionary societies were founded in 1795 and 1797 respectively. Both had links to the Cape. The spiritual hunger of the Khoi at what its first missionary Schmidt described as am Sergeants Rivier, has been attributed to the prayers of the Americans during the second Great Awakening there. Such a view does not give due credit to the effect of the seed of the 24-hour prayer watch of Moravian communities of Europe and North America, nor to Schmidt’s unceasing prayer sessions in his European home country until the moment he died in 1785. This would lead to a resumption of his mission there. (In 1805 the name of the mission station changed officially to Genadendal, under Dutch Batavian rule of the early 1800s.) International Impact of Van Lier Dr Helperus Ritzema van Lier was an 18th century Dutch Reformed visionary of evangelical Revivalism. It all started when he heard in 1790 of the VOC opinion makers’ interest to consider favourably the spreading of the gospel to a range of its different territories in the colonial world. He immediately wrote to his uncle Professor Petrus Hofstede, volunteering to be the South African collector of the 50,000 guilders of capital needed for such a missionary project in the Cape colony. Almost single-handedly the young preacher set the evangelical world ablaze. Van Lier’s letters from the Cape were very influential indeed. He wrote his testimony as six letters in Latin to Rev. John Newton in England. They had been sent to him under the pseudonym ‘Christodulus’, (slave of Christ). Newton got Van Lier’s story published. The influence of divine grace in Van Lier’s life seems to have made a lasting impression on Newton, a former slave trader in the Atlantic slave trade. (Lauded for writing the popular hymn ‘Amazing Grace’, Newton had by then joined the slavery Abolitionist movement in England.) A profound objective of Van Lier’s letters revolved around the appeal to influence people of note. He hoped to achieve a resumption of the abandoned work of the pioneer George Schmidt. Van Lier’s correspondence had a significant effect on evangelicals in Europe. Along with William Carey’s book of 1792, An enquiry into the obligations of Christians to use means for the conversion of the heathens, the foundation for a missionary society at the Cape was laid. Perhaps, the same also happened respectively at the founding of the London, as well as the Rotterdam missionary societies in 1795 and 1797. Van Lier joyfully welcomed the three new Moravian missionaries to his table after returning from sick leave. Against this backdrop, Van Lier joyfully welcomed the three new Moravian missionaries - Christian Kühnel, Hendrik Marsveld and Daniel Schwinn - to his table after returning from sick leave. The youthful dominee’s days were, however, numbered as he became critically ill not long thereafter. Tragically, Van Lier was not around to see the actual founding of the South African Mission Society (SAMS) in April 1799 at the Zuid-Afrikaanse Gesticht. He died of tuberculosis in March 1793, at the age of only twenty-eight. A major evangelical strategy of the ministry of Dr van Lier was that of missionary outreach through local Christians. At different homes and further afield the gospel was spread by people who were impacted by Dr Van Lier, long after he had passed on. Unwitting Government Aid to Islam Jacob Abraham De Mist arrived in February 1803 as governor of the ‘Batavian Republic’ on behalf of the new French regime at the Cape. He clearly saw a threat in the expanding missionary activities. It is striking that the liberal governor De Mist promulgated an ordinance, decreeing tolerance for all religions on 25 July 1804, thus allowing the Muslims to start a new mosque, the Palm Tree mosque in Long Street. However, those clerics who preached the message of the Cross, soon experienced the brunt of De Mist’s real spiritual source. De Mist was a grand master freemason. Seen from that viewpoint, it was thus not really surprisingly that Rev. Aart van der Lingen - the Dutch missionary linked to the Z.A. Gesticht - was forbidden by De Mist to preach and to give teaching to the slaves. His governor colleague Janssens, though more sympathetic to the mission cause, issued a proclamation on 20 February 1805 along similar lines ‘for the work of missionaries ... to proceed into the interior... at such a distance beyond the boundaries of this colony... that their schools have no communication with the inhabitants... either Christians or Heathens’ (Cited in J.W. Hofmeyr et al 1991:71). In the same proclamation, Janssens articulated how the missionaries were regarded, or shall we say labelled? In the terms of reference for their work among the Khoi, the Moravians were told specifically ‘not to seduce any Native or Bastard from the service of their master to their institution’. Islam had been spreading at quite a rapid pace at the turn of the 19th century. In 1793, soon after Tuan Guru’s release from Robben Island, a madressa (Qur’an school) was started in Dorp Street, Bo-Kaap. A year later the first mosque was a fact. The efforts of the Islamic religious school at the Cape and the missionary endeavours of the Imams did not go unnoticed. The need for a missionary among the slaves at the Z.A. Gesticht in the city was felt as a pressing need. The hopes were high for a change in fortunes with the second military occupation by the British in 1806. The SAMS decided to put before the new government their plan to call a missionary. It would take fifteen years after the opening of the Z.A. Gesticht building before its pulpit was supplied with a regular missionary, Rev. Jacobus Henricus Beck. Chapter 3 An Early Revival Model Count Zinzendorf and Dr Andrew Murray could be described as the respectively spiritual giants of the 18th and 19th centuries. Andrew Murray is known to have been deeply impacted by Zinzendorf and the Moravians. I deem it appropriate to go back in history to give some more information of what had happened in Herrnhut and the effect of the 1727 revival, before Georg Schmidt came to the Cape. Count Zinzendorf, born in 1700, was prayerful already from his childhood days. In an autobiographical report he recorded how he would speak to the Lord for hours while he was still a toddler. ‘In conversation with him, I was very happy and thankful for what he has done for me through his incarnation’. Already before he was three years old, he not only loved to hear about the Lord, but he started chatting to him, a practice he continued throughout his life. Zinzendorf practised Umgang mit dem Heiland right to the end of his life. An Intimate Relationship With the Lord Like the biblical men of prayer, Count Zin­zen­dorf had an infectious intimate relationship with his Lord. ‘Umgang mit dem Heiland’ (communication with the Lord or better still, intimate communion with the Lord) became almost an over-used phrase in the East German village of Herrnhut. Thus he regarded 1754 (six years before his death) as a silent liturgical year. Around that time he told the children at Herrnhut: ‘I have enjoyed this close personal interaction with Jesus for fifty years and I feel the happiness’. Significant is also that the image of ‘front soldiers’ that included the yearning for martyrdom went into the background in the 1740s with Zinzendorf and his close companions, in favour of resting in the work done by Christ. Not so much their activism but their being at the feet of the Lord next to their communion with him became increasingly important. Brother Andrew actualized this position in our days in the light of religious pluralism: ‘Christianity is not a religion. Christianity is a way of life. It is walking with Jesus. I can do that in any country. I can do that under any political regime.’ Some Special Features of Herrnhut Moravianism The first Moravian refugees brought with them the concern for the persecuted church in their homeland. This soon rubbed off on all the inhabitants of Herrnhut. Thus the Swedish academic Arved Gradin helped to encourage the persecuted Protestants in France en route to the Orient. Count Zinzendorf not only integrated this concern for the persecuted into the ethos of Herrnhut, but it also became part of a challenge to see to it that the gospel would be brought to the most unreached groups in the world. Readiness to suffer in different ways - including imprisonment because of your faith - and even to die for the cause of spreading the gospel - was part and parcel of Moravian DNA. Care for the under-dog permeated the life of all early Moravian settlements. It was natural that they would take it up for those people groups that were threatened with extinction like the indigenous 'Indians' in North America and the Khoekhoe at the Cape of Good Hope. This they performed through work of social and educational upliftment rather than through political involvement. Missionaries were requested to respect the indigenous culture wherever they would serve, and not lord over them. They expected the Holy Spirit to be constantly in the process of advancing the work of redemption. Another special feature in which other denominations took centuries to catch up is gender equality. That females were treated as equals and even allowed to preach was generally not appreciated at all. That children could be around at synods is probably still unthinkable in our day and age where church practice has moved so far away from other straight forward biblical tenets. (Democratic procedure has by and large become the norm, rather than asking what Jesus would do or praying that God would guide them about something where the Bible is not clear.) Children and Young People Divinely Used Zinzendorf discerned like few before or after him how strategic it was how children and young people have been used since biblical times. Isaac and Joseph had God’s hand on their lives since boyhood. Moses and his siblings were evidently well trained. Every Sunday school child knows the story of the birth and dedication of Samuel to the service of the Lord as a boy, while the unknown girl in the service of the high-ranking soldier Syrian Naaman possibly does not belong to average Sunday school repertoire. Many Jewish children down the centuries will have heard of young Esther’s commitment and willingness to put her life on the line to save her people. The commitment and faith of the teenager exile Daniel with his three friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are known around the world. That the revival amongst the children started in the girls’ hostel of Berthelsdorf, the neighbouring town of Herrnhut, is not so surprising when one considers how Count Zinzendorf prepared it through prayer. After a visit there he complained to his wife that the nine girls there were so shallow. He cried to the Lord on their behalf intensely. When he subsequently used a hymn about Jesus who can change hardened hearts on 26 May 1727, the Holy Spirit touched them. The next day he also sent to them Mr Klumpe, a faithful teacher, to guide them. The Role of Children in the Herrnhut Revival Susannah Kühnel, a girl of eleven, became the leader of a revival among children. A special role is to be attributed to a teacher, Mr Krumpe. Jacob Liebich, one of the pupils and a neighbour of the Kühnel family, told about Mr Krumpe and this time: 'He never failed at the close of the school to pray with us, and to commend us to the Lord Jesus and His Spirit during the time of our amusements. At that time Susannah Kühnel was awakened, and frequently withdrew into her father's garden, especially in the evenings, to ask the grace of the Lord and to seek the salvation of her soul with strong crying and tears. As this was next door to the house where we lived (there was only a boarded partition between us), we could hear her prayers as we were going to rest and as we lay upon our beds. We were so much impressed that we could not fall asleep as carelessly as formerly, and asked our teachers to go with us to pray. Instead of going to sleep as usual, we went to the boundaries which separated the fields, or among the bushes, to throw ourselves before the Lord and beg Him to turn us to Himself. Our teachers often went with us, and when we had done praying, and had to return, we went again, one to this place and another to that, or in pairs, to cast ourselves upon our knees and pray in secret.' Amid such fervour the events of August 13th took place. The children at Herrnhut were stirred. For three days Susannah Kühnel was so absorbed in thought and prayer that she forgot to take her food; and then, on August 17th, having passed through a severe spiritual struggle, she was able to say to her father: "Now I am become a child of God; now I know how my mother felt and feels.' Anna Nitschmann and Susannah Kühnel were two of four young girls who were extremely revived. That must be regarded as a part of the general revival. Mr Klumpe's witness contributed significantly to the revival, so that on 18 August all the girls in the hostel of Berthelsdorf prayed throughout the night. Through the testimony of Susanna Kühnel more girls came to the Lord in the days hereafter. The Count joined them (once-off or at most occasionally) for prayer on Hutberg, the nearby hill top. Also boys were touched as the narration of Jacob Liebich testifies. By 23 August the revival had also spilled over to the boys completely, leading to the beginning of the famous 24/7 prayer that started on 27 August with 48 believers. On 29 August the girls were having a prayer meeting on Hutberg from 10 p.m. until 1 a.m. that could be heard in the town, while eight to ten boys were in prayer at another location. In 1728, long before the actual mission work started out from Herrnhut, the young men were busy with training as ap­pren­tices and with study, preparing for mission service. Two years later also the single sisters followed suit, congregating in a separate building. A Fourteen Year Old Chief Female Elder! When the time had come to select a “chief elderess” for the women in the bustling community of Moravians at Herrnhut, four names were put on slips of paper. Quite surprisingly there was also that of Anna Nitschmann. Only 14 years old, she had already demonstrated leadership among the girls and the single women. They gathered together as usual for the drawing of lots. That was used to discern the leading of God. But she was so young! Had there been a mistake in this case? Count Zinzendorf strongly advised Anna to refuse the daunting responsibility. But the young peasant girl respectfully reminded the nobleman that she was accepting the appointment as from the Lord. Just as the surprising choice of the shepherd-boy David proved decisive for Israel, so the choice of young Anna Nitschmann would be for the Moravians. Six weeks after this election, Anna led 18 of the “single sisters” to devote themselves so thoroughly to Christ that even marriage would take second place. This commitment was a major one, signalling a serious desire to serve the Lord. This “single sisters” group would grow over the following decades, providing a stream of courageous missionaries. Later, Anna became part of the “Pilgrim congregation,” a group of spiritual warriors ready to go anywhere to spread the name of Christ. Her missionary travels took her to numerous countries, also to America, where she helped in the founding of Bethlehem and Nazareth, Pennsylvania. She also ministered effectively among various 'Indian' groups there. Utilizing the Zeal of Young People When Paul and Barnabas set out on their first missionary journey, they took the inexperienced John Mark along as their assistant (Acts 12:25, 13:5). Later Barnabas took young John Mark as his partner in mission work. This could have been just the encouragement Paul needed – he had a tiff with John Mark on their first trip - to utilize the gifts of the young Timothy, entrusting to him leadership responsibilities. Zinzendorf and the Herrnhut fellowship were pioneers in utilizing the energy and zeal of young people. Even before some of them came to Herrnhut, the youthful believers were fearlessly involved in the spreading of the Gospel. The 18-year old David Nitschmann, one of the clan that would impact Herrnhut intensely in the next few years, went around the Moravian environs of Kunwald with others from his age, speaking about what they had experienced, spreading the fire in this way. In 1731 Martin Linner, a seventeen year old, became the ‘Älteste’ - the elder - for the bigger boys. The bare-footed youngster had the trust of the congregants Before Melchior Nitschmann was elected as one of the first four chief elders of the church, Zinzendorf had reservations. The bare-footed youngster was not even known to the Count, but he evidently had the trust of the congregants. Zinzendorf was humble enough to be the first to kiss his hand von ganzem Herzen (wholeheartedly) when he met him for the first time in his life. In 1728 Melchior Nitschmann went to Moravia with Georg Schmidt where they were arrested while they were fellowshipping with local believers. Melchior died in prison the next year. Martin Linner, who had proved himself as very capable when he was an elder of the single men at the age of seventeen, became one of the four chief elders, although he was still in his twenties. When the Herrnhut fellowship decided to choose only one chief elder in 1730, he was chosen. In spite of his lack of formal education and experience, he impressed many. Zinzendorf reported: ‘I was ashamed like a little dog that I could not do it like him when I saw how the dear Linner preached to the Count of Lichtenstein in such godly simplicity. Never have I seen the Count more patiently and at ease as when he sat there listening to Linner. He is normally very much prejudiced against us’. To be on the same level as the poorer brethren, Linner would never sleep in a bed. In spite of being quite sickly, he slept on the floor throughout the year, winter or summer. On 21 February 1733 he died. Still in their twenties, Tobias Leopold and Leonhard Dober were ready to go to St Thomas as the very first missionaries. Leupold was however turned down by the lot. Two years later Tobias Leupold led a team of fourteen brothers and four sisters to the neighbouring island of St. Croix, only to die there half a year later. Leonhard Dober, who was not much older, was recalled from St Thomas to be the chief elder after the sudden death of Martin Linner, arriving in Herrnhut in February 1735. Matthias Stach led the pioneering missionary outreach to Greenland when he was only nineteen years old, doing it so effectively that the Moravians could confidently hand the work there over to the Lutheran Church. Georg Israel, a disabled tailor, who survived a shipwreck in 1740, was given leadership responsibility for the work on the island St Croix where he died three years later, only 27 years old. David Nitschmann, the carpenter, Dober’s eventual partner to St Thomas, spied the land, returning to Herrnhut to report what it was like. Before he was forty years old he was inducted as the first Bishop of the Moravians on 13 March 1735, prior to the Count. After passing a theological examination in Stralsund, Count Zinzendorf became an ordained Lutheran minister in Tübingen. He was inducted as Bishop in 1737, a mere 37 years old. The present thrust is now led by third world missionaries The phenomenal growth of Youth with a Mission, Operation Mobiliz­ation and many mission agencies of modern times like All Nations International can be attributed to their willingness and ability to challenge and harness young people for mission work, albeit that mistakes were made – and still are - due to inexperience. But this has not deterred them to carry the Gospel to the ends of the earth. The present thrust is now often spearheaded by Asians, Africans and South Americans. Teaching to Moravian Missionaries Before we go back to the situation in the Overberg with the fruit of the ministry of Georg Schmidt, I deem it appropriate to the teaching all Moravian missionaries had been receiving. Die Boten (the messengers) knew that God had worked on the Heidenseelen (Heathen souls) long before them, that they were always only second. They recognized that the real missionary was Christ and His Spirit: 'The hearts of the Wilden must first be prepared.' They expected the Holy Spirit to be constantly in the process of advancing the work of redemption. Therefore the missionaries were requested not to disregard the indigenous culture. On the contrary, they did a great deal to maintain and preserve foreign languages and customs. Usually the missionaries also adapted themselves personally to the way of life of the natives or even adopted it. There is ample evidence that Moravian missionaries were extremely critical of the supposedly superior culture of the Christian West. Armed conflicts emanating from Europe repeatedly, however, destroyed the mission's work. The bulk of the Herrnhut Moravian missionaries were simple craftsmen and not educated theologians. With the few exceptions it was understood that they would always be addressed (and treated) as a Bruder (oder Schwester), using Du among same sex folk and the respectful Sie (thou) across the gender divide. The craft work was intended to give the missionaries local economic independence and also to give them easier access to the Gentiles. Zinzendorf wrote to Georg Schmidt in 1736: 'Let yourself be used everywhere zur leiblichen Arbeit, for physical work, until you get love and acceptance in the hearts.' Chapter 4 Revival Trailblazing The iconic Mother Lena of Genadendal, alias Vehettge Tikkuie of the Overberg region, is not only the first indigenous female convert baptised in Africa, but Oude Lena could also be viewed as the first female church planter worldwide. Mother Lena could be regarded as the first female church planter worldwide. When the above-mentioned three missionaries arrived a few days before Christmas 1792 at her Khoi hut near Sergeants River, they would have heard about her. The ageing convert was reading regularly from the Dutch New Testament that Schmidt had left in her care before he was pushed to abandon his Moravian mission in the early 1740s. It is also the heritage site from where the Moravian story would have been told for generations that Oude Lena gathered her small group of Georg followers and believers, discipled by him. A Trail Blazed for the First Cape Revival It is hardly known in our country’s missionary history that soon after their arrival the very first known ‘proper’ Cape revival occurred in 1793 – shortly after the three missionaries from Herrnhut had begun resuscitating the faith sown by their late Brother Schmidt who had passed away in 1785 in Niesky. His brethren recorded in their diaries of a Khoi man who told them about a dream he remembered about their coming to be shortly, thereafter, personified in Marsveld, Schwinn and Kühnel. Khoi-San Converging on Baviaanskloof Their diaries, of which some of these went up to 1796, were published by the UWC’s Institute for Historical Research, frequently made reference to Khoi in search of a new spiritual identity and desiring to know more, wanting to accept the Lord into their lives and wishing to be baptised. Evidently the Holy Spirit had prepared these people. Daily the missionaries were overwhelmed by questions of a spiritual nature, such as ‘What must I do to be saved?’ The diaries narrated instances of Khoi dreams and visions which suggested them being prepared by the Holy Spirit, mentioned so many times in the Bible, and then streaming from almost everywhere like a powerful magnet to Baviaanskloof. Some colonists testified ‘...this is God’s work, no one can hinder it though many are trying.’ Strikingly, some who came to faith in Christ also sought protection against satanic forces, as one of the Genadendal inhabitants recalled once: 'I remember what my late father used to say, exhorting us children ‘to take notice and follow those people who would once come from a distant country.' They would show them an arrow way of faith in the true Toiqua (= God), by which they might escape from the fire.' Diverse Opposition to the New Missionaries An anomaly is that through the ages, opposition to the gospel has stimulated the spread of it. The respective colonial governments at the Cape had one thing in common – their opposition to missionary work. In the opinion of the authorities, missionaries were meant to serve the state, full stop. Christian missionary endeavour had to be transpired as far away as possible from any colonial settlement. The colonists also opposed all missionary work, feeling themselves morally condemned. They were also envious because of the education given to people they had regarded as inferior. Many colonists were not enchanted by a migration of indigenous people to the Moravian mission station. The same Khoi person asserted: ‘the farmers were angry and told us that they meant to sell us as slaves but I remembered my father’s words, and would not be prevented from moving to Baviaanskloof’. Ds. Meent Borcherds of the Stellenbosch DRC congregation and a colleague of Dr H.R. van Lier, was in the forefront of a sinister plot against the revival of Moravian mission work at Georg Schmidt’s mission station. The rationally minded European missionaries were not ready for the indigenous African mind. The Holy Spirit prepared the Khoi of mainly the Overberg in divine ways for their evangelisation by three missionaries from a foreign land. However, the rational European missionaries were possibly not up to the challenge of grasping the indigenous African mind of their mission field. In this regard, the Moravian missionary Johann P. Kohrhammer complained in 1799: ‘The Hottentots are great dreamers and we have much trouble to direct their minds from many deep-seated prejudices, that they have imbibed concerning the interpretation of dreams and visions.’ However, even if these missionaries had been trained to handle these dreams and visions, it would have been difficult to implement the teaching of biblical checks to see whether the dreams and visions were in accordance with Scripture. Only a few Khoi converts could read the Bible in the early days of the Moravian ministry in Genadendal. Genadendal Under Threat … And Saved The ministry to a budding community of believers was confronted already from the early mid-1790s with two intersecting political and dogmatic challenges: a constantly failing corrupt VOC colonial government on the brink of collapse and a hostile settler population of the mainly Calvinist religious tradition. The last Cape governor of the VOC, Abraham Sluysken (1793-1795), took office with an unrealistic focus on military defence to prevent Napoleon’s revolutionary France invading the Cape of Good Hope. Within this context, Sluysken’s fragile government continued to hinder the work of the three missionaries, for instance by refusing permission to build a church in 1794. The British naval and military invasion brought an end to Dutch East India Company rule of the Cape of Good Hope. This also mirrored a particular experience of the mission community’s military and religious history of the time. The mission station was gradually resembling a Herrnhut-like Moravian village, while a tiny short-lived revolutionary 18th century Nationalist movement – with its own flag – emerged in the Stellenbosch, Swellendam and Graaff-Reinet districts. The radical Nationalists of the colony drafted a set of demands to the authorities of the repressive VOC regime at the Cape. Apparently one of their demands stated that the VOC disallow the three missionaries to continue their Bible teaching and schooling to their Khoi converts. The VOC disallowed the missionaries to continue their Bible teaching and schooling. The Nationalist petitioners argued that many colonists were ‘van onderwijs... verstoken’ (had been debarred from education and were therefore more or less illiterate). It was regarded, therefore, as ‘...niet billijk dat de Hottentotten wijzer werden gemaakt dan zij’ (not fair that the Khoi would become wiser than them). There was even talk of invading and destroying the Moravian mission station amidst an intensifying global war situation because of Napoleon’s military rise to dominance, in Europe and elsewhere in the world after the French Revolution. At the tense Cape of Good Hope of the 1790s the Battle of Muizenberg formed part of this colonial inspired world drama of conflict. Before the battle erupted the missionaries in Baviaanskloof were wholly unaware of the imminent drama developing at sea near Simonstown and where the pandoeren, the Khoi soldiers of the mission community, who fought in the Battle of Muizenberg, were also stationed as a contingent of the VOC military forces. The three missionaries heard rumours of the Nationalists' threat to expropriate their farm Baviaanskloof. The three missionaries nonetheless heard rumours of the Nationalists' threat to expropriate their farm Baviaanskloof and decided to act speedily. The Dutch speaking Brother Hendrik Marsveld was hastily despatched to the Castle of Good Hope for an authoritative legal opinion on the land issue. He returned with discouraging news. In Cape Town Marsveld had heard that the Company (Here XVII) in the Fatherland wanted the missionaries to go to the Bosjesmannen (San) instead. Subsequently the mission station and its immediate surrounds were considered crown land. In the meantime, the three Brethren could continue their mission work in Baviaanskloof. The situation had become very tense on the mission. Rumours of an imminent raid on it by colonists were circulating in the Overberg, causing the missionaries to, seriously, contemplate abandoning the station. Responding to this threat, they fled to Cape Town on 3 August 1795. The missionaries returned when it seemed as if the danger of an imminent rebellion had abated. The VOC regime was replaced by British military rule under Major-General James Craig. The men of the new military order did not back down from using force in keeping the Nationalist movement and its supporters at bay. Spiritual Dimension after the War With the return of the pandoeren to their mission station, some of the soldiers who had been fighting in the Battle of Muizenberg, told the missionaries Marsveld, Schwinn and Kühnel that bullets were flying around them ‘like sand’ with none of them hurt. This could have been an exaggeration as suggested in a publication, which stated nevertheless: ‘From their perspective, it was a great miracle to have survived the English onslaught’. The return of the soldiers secured the survival of the struggling mission station. The return of the soldiers to their families secured the survival of the struggling mission station, which soon became the biggest town apart from the Mother City, more populous than Stellenbosch. Some 200 believers of Baviaanskloof who had been gathered into the Church of Christ – out of more than 800 who had settled there by 1798 – were taught to call their superiors ‘brother’ and ‘sister’, as it was the custom among Moravians everywhere. The noble Lady Anne Barnard, wife of the newly appointed Secretary of the British Cape Colony, Andrew Barnard, was deeply impressed and moved spiritually when she observed in May 1798 how one of the ministers would address his congregants with ‘his voice even and natural as mijne lieve vrienden (my beloved friends). (The typical Dutch Reformed sermon usually had a special intonation, not in a natural speaking voice at all!) Lady Anne Barnard was deeply impressed how one of the ministers addressed the congregants as mijne lieve vrienden. Church Opposition and Dissent The Dutch minister Meent Borcherds and his Stellenbosch church council had initially no such admiration for the mission community in the early 1790s. After the arrival of the three Moravian missionaries in 1792, the Stellenbosch Kerkraad petitioned the VOC government ‘that the further extension of this sect (Moravians) might be opposed…and the (three) missionaries directed to withdraw to a district in which no Christian congregation was yet established.’ Two members of the Church Council, the elder Groenewald and the deacon Desch, took exception to the petition. They even dared to put their protest to paper, noting that Baviaanskloof is ‘sufficiently distant from the church of Stellenbosch.’ This nevertheless did not deter Borcherds and his church council from objecting a few years later against the ‘sound’ of the Genadendal church bell well over 50 kilometres away on the other side of a mountain range. Ds. Borcherds’ stance, however, changed after his study of the Moravian Bishop Spangenberg’s doctrinal exposition, Idea Fidei Fratrum, even to the extent of apologizing to a visiting Moravian brother for his earlier behaviour. Ds. Borcherds’ stance did change, apologizing to a visiting Moravian brother for his earlier behaviour. A Minister with a Heart for Slaves and Khoi Dr. Michiel C. Vos had been called by God independently as a juvenile, after wrestling with God in prayer in such places as the stone quarry at the foot of Signal Hill. His ‘heart was grieved at the neglect of the immortal souls’ of the Cape slaves. Ds. Vos went to the Netherlands for theological studies. In March 1794 he returned from there. He had been touched there anew by the Holy Spirit, to return to his home country to minister and be unofficially spiritually in-volved in the lives of slaves and free 'Blacks' and perhaps Khoi. He served in Roodezand (Tulbagh), but his influence got felt all over the Boland districts. In the Mother City itself, the widow Machteld Smit(h) performed a similar role to that of the iconic Mother Lena of Genadendal. Machteld Smit(h) performed a similar role to that of the iconic Mother Lena of Genadendal God indeed used the widow, a product of the deceased Van Lier, as an important role player with Ds. M.C. Vos in the propagation of the gospel. The visit to Baviaanskloof by Ds. Vos in January 1797, taking along Machtelt Smith and other mission friends, caused a notable change of public opinion. A few weeks later, farmers told the Moravian brethren in Baviaanskloof of a revival there, reportedly sparked by this visit. Change of Heart Among Colonists Very encouraging for the mission community, Christians from the colonist sector were now requesting permission to attend worship services at Baviaanskloof, some of whom had ostensibly been ready to destroy the mission station around the time of the Battle of Muizenberg. Farmers further afield even approached the missionaries to come and settle among them. Farmers further afield even approached the missionaries to come and settle among them This explains in part the start of the mission station Elim in 1824, near Cape L'Agulhas on the southern tip of the African continent. It is suggested that some of these farmers introduced family prayers for the whole community on their farms. This caused the Khoi to prefer these evangelical-minded employers to other farmers. As alluded to earlier, another initiative of a change of heart led to the South African Missionary Society (SAMS) formally constituted in 1799. Their directors and members led in religious services. They also started collating Christian books and Bible commentaries and set up a library for the use of the workers in the colonial metropolis. Along these lines of rudimentary Christian oriented education, the training of slaves for missionary work began. One such a slave was called Maart. He was the slave of Ds. Vos, the ordained DRC minister of the Roodezand (Tulbagh) congregation. Machtelt Smith influenced many undoubtably. In this regard, this female evangelical bought a plot in Tulbagh on which a meeting house was built for missional outreach to the less privileged. In that space she was able to gather between 150 and 180 souls on Sunday afternoons. Ds. Vos would be the preacher on those occasions, with the widow taking charge of further instruction to converts touched by the dominee’s ministry. Machtelt Smith did much of the pastoral work after Ds. Vos had left Roodezand (Tulbagh). She continued his pastoral work there as the powerful maid servant of her Lord. Mini Revival in Roodezand Cape missionaries working under the patronage of the SAMS were not ordained in the Groote Kerk or the sanctuary at Stellenbosch. They were ordained in the church of Ds. Vos in Roodezand. Against this backdrop and for practical considerations, a first Cape missionary of the SAMS was inducted in the home of Machtelt Smit(h) on 3 October 1799, in the presence of forty-seven SAMS members. Harmen Voster, a missionary and a widower, who married Yda de Jongh in 1802, assisted Machtelt Smit(h) to keep the evangelical fire burning in Roodezand, that was later renamed to Tulbagh. A year later the young missionary volunteer, John Irwin, found the Christians there ‘in a cold and indifferent state’. God used Irwin powerfully, notably among children and young people, so that a small revival erupted there. Harmen Voster reported the following in 1803, referring to the activity of John Irwin: ‘Many young people among the Christians ... were entirely converted by an English missionary … They wept and cried, 'What shall we do to be saved.' Voster's report is confirmed in a letter written by Machtelt Smit(h) to the LMS missionary Johannes Kicherer, who was in Holland at this time. She wrote: 'in onze heidensche gemeente is mede een algemene opwekking.' (among our heathen congregation there is a general revival'.') New Cape Missionary Societies The German Martin Melck and Dr Jan Morel were two evangelicals at Stellenbosch with a direct link to Dr van Lier. Melck had already been instrumental in the beginnings of the Lutheran Church in Strand Street in the Mother City, when he started with secret services in a ‘warehouse’ in 1774. (Although there were many Germans at the Cape by 1700, they were not permitted to have their own church.) Meuwes Janse Bakker settled in Stellenbosch after he miraculously survived a shipwreck off the coast of South America. He decided to devote his life to missionary work among the ‘heathen’ at the Cape, buying a house in Dorp Street in 1798. Bakker immediately taught a few slave children there. When the South African Mission Society (SAMS) started at the ZA Gesticht in the Mother City, he and the deacon, J.N. Desch, became the correspondents in Stellenbosch. Desch conducted, at his own cost, a school for slave children - after the Church Council adopted the resolution that ‘slave children also shall be instructed in reading and in the elements of the Christian religion.’ In spite of the reluctance of Meent Borcherds, their dominee, Meuwes Bakker was supported by the Church Council, becoming in no time the SAMS missionary in Stellenbosch. Slaves attended the afternoon services in the home of Meuwes Bakker Slaves attended the afternoon services in his home, which soon became too small. Bakker left for further training in missionary work in Holland the next year, returning in 1801 with one special goal: that his property would be used for the extension of the Kingdom. That became the beginning of the Rhenish Mission, where P.D. Lückhoff was a prominent missionary. (The school he opened at Stellenbosch in 1832 for slave children was attended by 20 'Whites' by 1842). In the same year the Stellenbosch Mission Society was started, only two years after the SAMS and the Tulbagh Mission Society. The crown of Van Lier’s ministry was when South Africans went to the mission fields. The Crown of Van Lier’s Ministry The crown of Dr van Lier’s ministry was surely when South Africans went to the mission fields themselves, albeit that Ds. M. Vos, who went to Ceylon (today called Sri Lanka), cannot be regarded as one of Van Lier’s 'trophies'. (Ds. Vos, the first missionary of South African origin going to a foreign field, stepped into the legacy of the mission-minded Dr van Lier, albeit there seems to be no evidence that the two met personally.) Cornelis Kramer was the first Cape Christian to offer his services for missionary service. Originally, he wanted to proceed to Holland to study for the ministry, but the call to accompany the missionaries who were proceeding northward seemed so clear, that he dropped his original intention, joining William Anderson where he helped starting the mission station Klaarwater. That mission station became the focus of the missionary work amongst the Griquas. The name of the settlement was changed later to Griquatown or Griekwastad. Jan M. Kok was the next Cape missionary of the Van Lier era and the first ‘Coloured’. He had to fight against racial prejudice because he was the son of a German colonist and a slave woman. He had to overcome many other obstacles before he could be sent to the Briquas (or Bechuanas as they were subsequently called). Kok’s heart was ‘aglow for Jesus’ in the Ceder Mountains and he took up missionary work on his own initiative. A mixed-bred missionary displayed tenacity and perseverance. The mixed-bred missionary displayed tenacity and perseverance. It would seem that Jan Kok had decided to embark on his mission without waiting any longer for authorisation from the South African Mission Society (SAMS) or for official permission to cross the colonial boundary. After several attempts, Kok did finally obtain permission to accompany the British missionary Edward Edwards. Mr Truter, a DRC church elder for many years, admired the ‘extempore expounding of the gospel in the desert from an illiterate man.’ Kok became the first known ‘martyr’ of Southern Africa, murdered by two of the workers, apparently because of a dispute over remuneration. The SAM pioneered in compassion, giving Kok’s widow a pension of twelve shillings per month from their meagre funds. Counter-Attack of the Colonial Church The majority of the materialistic colonists, sadly, rejected slaves outright, even in the Groote Kerk and the Lutheran Church. With labour at a premium, the farmers were of course quite concerned when they saw Khoi departing for Baviaanskloof. The prejudice was easily fed that the mission station ‘was fast becoming a refuge for the idle, the discontented and the thieving’. At the same time, it appears that the missionaries did very little to lessen the distrust. To set the record straight, it should also be mentioned that the Moravian missionaries had ‘a host of well-wishers’ in Cape Town. There was for instance Hendrik Cloete from the farm Constantia, who travelled all the way to Baviaanskloof ‘and by his kind mediation procured some relief for the Brethren from obnoxious Government regulations’. An article made provision for the involvement of women at policy level. The South African Mission Society (SAMS), which was started on 22 April 1799, had the authorities and conservative Christians at the Cape against them in opposition from the outset. Article 12 of its constitution – according to which membership was open to non-reformed believers and women – rubbed conservative church elements up the wrong way. Article 11 even made provision for the involvement of women at policy level. This enraged many colonists. Ma(a)nenberg and the directors were careful not to organize meetings for ‘heathen slaves’ on Sundays because it could clash with the other church services or it could inconvenience the slave owners. The charismatic-energetic Henricus Ma(a)nenberg, the first missionary of the SAMS - though sent by the London Missionary Society - could build on the sound foundation laid by the believers who were influenced by Dr van Lier. A contemporary Mission Society that started at this time which had quite a few links to the Cape was the Church Mission Society (CMS), that was founded in Aldersgate Street in the City of London on 12 April 1799. (In a 'Society' of believers in Aldersgate Street the Wesley brothers and Georg Whitefield had been impacted significantly by Moravians.) Most of the founders were members of the Clapham Group of activist evangelical Christians. They included Henry Thornton MP and William Wilberforce MP. The founders of CMS were committed to three great enterprises: abolition of the slave trade, social reform at home and world evangelisation. An Early Protest March The Mother City saw various political marches over the centuries. The first was probably the one in 1808 when slaves were led in protest by two Irishmen. Oppressive legislation led to a cycle of violence and repression. Slave consciousness of injustice and awareness of the abolition of the slave trade in other parts of the world influenced significant slave revolts in the Cape Colony. The first ‘mass movement’ against slavery and oppression in the Cape occurred in 1808. Stories of slave uprisings in the Americas and the Caribbean, and news of the abolition of slavery also circulated at the Cape, reaching different people including those who were enslaved. This inspired an ethnically mixed group of people such as a slave tailor named Louis from Mauritius, two Irishmen, James Hooper and Michael Kelly; another slave, Jeptha of Batavia and two more slaves, Abraham and Adonis. This group was later joined by another Indian slave and two Khoi men. This group planned to march from the rural districts of the Cape, gathering slaves on the way to Cape Town. Upon arrival they hoped to seize the Amsterdam Battery, turn the guns on the Castle and then negotiate a peace deal which would involve establishing a free state and freedom for all slaves. On the evening of 27 October 1808, Louis arrived on horseback on the farm Vogelgezang, just north of Malmesbury, dressed as a visiting Spanish sea captain. Hooper and Kelly rode up by his side, disguised as British officers. The disguised band managed to convince the absentee farmer's wife to hand over all their slaves into the hands of the 'military' party, give them food and a place to sleep. The next morning the party proceeded from farm to farm, persuading slaves and Khoi servants to join them. There was surprisingly little violence, given the magnitude of the insurrection. Soon the group swelled to 300 mutinous slaves and servants. News of the revolt soon reached the Governor of the Cape, who ordered Infantry and Cavalry to ambush the insurrectionists at Salt River just outside the city. The ambush worked as 326 marchers were captured; 47 were put on trial, including the leadership group of Hooper, Kelly, Louis and the two Khoi leaders. Nine were found guilty of treason and sentenced to be hanged, including Louis of Mauritius and James Hooper. Chapter 5 Early Revival Stimulation In the previous chapter we noted a pervasive ownership of slaves in Cape society under VOC rule. The slave ownership of particularly Ds, M.C. Vos, as the master of an intelligent slave Maart of Mozambique, suggests an ambivalence in social relationships. Ds. Michiel Vos was this slave’s master though passionate to see the spreading of the true gospel to the heathen at the Cape of Good Hope. The DRC minister educate his slave apparently so well that the London Missionary Society (LMS) contemplated using Maart in his native country Mozambique as a missionary to his people. Spiritual Deterioration A strong British force, comprising the 72nd and 83rd regiments, garrisoned at the Cape after the second British occupation in 1806, following the brief Batavian Dutch period from 1803. However, the soldiers John Kendrick and George Middlemiss couldn’t find a serious Christian among the 1,000 men. They were mocked for their boldness. Middlemiss became Cape Methodism’s first leader, described as an 'exhorter preacher’. At that stage Cape Town was given over to wickedness and immorality and nick-named as the ‘Paris of the South’. One wonders how the spiritual deterioration became possible when only half a generation earlier the result of the work of Dr van Lier was referred to as little short of a revival. It is hard to believe that Kendrick and Middlemiss were merely looking at the wrong places. Supernatural Intervention We have seen how Khoi were supernaturally drawn to Baviaanskloof after the arrival of the three Moravian missionaries in 1792. In the case of the other indigenous Cape people group, the San, called the Bosjesmannen or Bosjesmannetjes, divine intervention was no less spectacular. In order to reach the people described as ‘a race that stood at a lower stage socially and religiously than any other race upon the surface of the globe’, God initially used a devout colonist, Floris Visser, an excellent field-cornet. He was described as ‘a man of character and piety, whose custom it was, even when journeying, to gather his companions and then to offer prayer and sing a psalm both morning and night.’ The San people were deeply impressed by the devotion of Floris Visser and his fellow Boers. Soon they expressed an earnest desire to get to know the God of the Dutchmen. Visser promised to assist them, suggesting that they go to Cape Town to present their request there for a teacher or a missionary. Two ‘Bushmen’ and a Koranna arrived in Cape Town at the very time when the first four missionaries of the LMS set foot on the shores of Table Bay. This can be regarded as the pristine beginning of the significant work for which Robert Moffat would become known throughout the British Empire. When the Church and the colonists at the Cape started becoming disinterested in reaching out in love to the slaves yet again, God intervened – surely because of the prayers of the faithful few elsewhere, such as evangelicals in Britain, Germany and the USA. An Earthquake Rocks the Cape God sometimes uses natural disasters to shake people out of their indifference and lethargy. An earthquake on 4 December 1809 at the Cape caused not only an eight-day revival and a significant increase in evangelicals, but it also imparted a new urge towards missionary work among the slaves. An earthquake imparted a new urge towards missionary work among slaves During the earthquake not a single person was killed, but the people fled in fear and watched horrified when the city was shaken as if by the fury of a giant hand. The Methodist military officer Kendrick wrote on 20 November 1810 that it as the greatest thing that could have happened as soldiers and civilians turned to God in prayer and pleaded for mercy. Many persons were led to think seriously about the salvation of their souls. Significant Results of the Earthquake A weekly prayer meeting was started every Saturday evening in addition to the monthly one. Kendrick mentions revivals at Cape Town and at Wynberg at this time. By 1812 there were 142 men in the Methodist Society ‘all of whom experience the love of God shed abroad in their hearts’. The 1809 earthquake impacted the South African Mission Society (SAMS) in many ways. Jacobus Henricus Beck, a Cape colonist who had joined the SAMS, was deeply touched by the earthquake. Before long he was on his way to the Netherlands, Scotland and England for theological training (Later he became the first pastor of the congregation formed at the ZA Gesticht.) Another Cape colonist who was moved deeply by the earthquake was Martinus Casparus Petrus Vogelgezang. He was a teacher, who subsequently went for missionary training. Rev Vogelgezang would become a powerful preacher and church planter at the Cape. Scottish Ministers at the Cape After failing to recruit Dutch clergy, Lord Charles Somerset, the Cape governor, set out to counter the Dutch church influence by bringing in Scottish Presbyterian pastors. In this endeavour he succeeded quite well. By 1837 twelve of the twenty two Dutch Reformed ministers at the Cape were Scots. The likes of the prayerful Andrew Murray, father of the famous namesake, effectively curtailed Somerset’s well-meant but bigoted nationalism. Due to their influence, the Cape became possibly the first bilingual society outside of Europe. In 1822 Andrew Murray (sr.) arrived in Cape Town accompanied by Dr Thom and some of the other recruits, His marriage to the sixteen-year-old Maria Stegmann of Cape Town in 1825 would also aid his settling-in process. In the rural Karoo town of Graaff Reinet where he ministered, he prayed faithfully for revival in his church for 38 years. Shortly after Andrew Murray (sr.) married Maria Stegmann, her mother died. Her young brother, Georg Wilhelm Stegmann (affectionately known as Willie), was thus more or less deprived of both his mother and sister. Because he fretted for Maria, the Murrays agreed to raise him and oversee his education. When the time came for him to attend secondary school, Andrew Murray sent Willie to his brother in Scotland. There Willie came under the influence of several renowned revival preachers. Andrew and Maria Murray later also sent their own two sons John and Andrew to study in Scotland where they graduated with M.A. degrees in 1845. Thereafter they left for Utrecht for theological studies and to learn cultured Dutch. Back at the Cape, Andrew Murray (jr.) would become the greatest theologian of the 19th century nationally, one who would even impact the Church globally. In due course he built up a large ‘Coloured’ congregation there. Because he had the Lutheran congregation to care for - in addition to St Stephen’s - Stegmann invited young teenage males from the Groote Kerk to help him evangelize his ‘Coloured’ flock. In due course they too were also not only brought into the kingdom via his anointed preaching but also enthused for evangelism and missionary work. A localized awakening broke out at St Stephen’s on 5 November 1843 which did not last very long. Four services were held every Sunday with Ds. Stegmann and Dr Adamson serving at two apiece, starting with the exposition of the Psalms at 8.00h. On top of this there was also Sunday School at 14.00h. Impact of Ordinance 50 of 1828 In the same year of the earthquake, the Earl of Caledon’s 1809 proclamation on behalf of the Khoisan made a deep impact on society. William Wilberforce Bird, a colonial official, called the decree the ‘Magna Carta of the Hottentots’. It met the demand for labour on the farms at the same time. In practical terms this was very unfavourable to the Khoi, who became enserfed as farm labourers, worse off than slaves who at least had monetary value. The 'Magna Carta' had some problematic clauses from a modern point of view, but it was nevertheless in a sense a precursor to the Ordinance 50 of 1828, a document in which the background contribution of Dr John Philip, who arrived in 1819 to be the superintendent of the work of the London Missionary Society, was significant. The latter ordinance equated all races, also repealing the restricting pass laws that the ‘Magna Carta’ had introduced. ‘Gelykstelling’ of all races was very difficult to swallow for Dutch colonists. This ran parallel to the Anglicizing policy of Lord Charles Somerset, the governor at the Cape from 1814. The bulk of the farmers were themselves furthermore ‘in a state of mental and spiritual neglect’, understandably resenting the establishment of a school at which the children of those whom they despised, now received an education which was denied to their own children. The Compassionate Ministry of the LMS The compassionate work of London Missionary Society (LMS) missionaries like Rev. James Read, Dr Johannes van der Kemp and Dr John Philip, the Cape leader of the LMS, on behalf of the underdog slaves, had the moral power of biblical truth on their side, but they were often opposed by their missionary colleagues. Unfortunately, all too often they were compared with what the Moravians had achieved in Genadendal. The marriage of Dr van der Kemp to a slave and the moral failure of Rev. Read made not only these two missionaries very suspect in the eyes of many a colonist, but simultaneously all missionaries got a bad name. The battle that raged at the Cape around the Khoi and the slaves, had worldwide ramifications. The battle that raged at the Cape around the Khoi and the slaves, in which Dr Philip and Dr Van der Kemp were big role players, had worldwide ramifications when their contribution aided the cause of the abolition of slavery. Dr Philip discerned that the outlawing of the slave trade in 1807 caused the price of slaves in Cape Town to rise, and that this had resulted in the ‘enserfment,’ or slavery of the Khoisan people. The clear support of Van der Kemp and Philip for the freedom of the slaves, whom the farmers were regarding as their precious 'property', caused immense resentment towards all missionaries. Whereas the earthquake of 1 December 1809 at the Cape was quite clearly divine intervention that countered the moral decay at the Cape, the opposition of William Wilberforce to the slave trade stimulated and encouraged Dr Philip. Lord Charles Somerset, the governor at the Cape from 1814, prohibited the Methodist missionary Barnabas Shaw to preach. It is not clear whether Shaw actually preached to slaves. He did preach to soldiers ‘with the knowledge of the governor’, but Somerset probably decided not to make an issue out of that. Shaw preached, prepared to be imprisoned. Lord Charles Somerset was known to be an adversary of Dr Philip, who arrived in 1819 to be the superintendent of the work of the London Missionary Society. After he had been only two years in the Cape Colony, Dr Philip boldly resolved to demand the amendment of the entire legal and civil status of all persons of coloured, instead of seeking to correct individual acts of oppression or injustice. In Ordinance 50 of 1828 Dr Philip had a big hand. This piece of legislation equated all races, also repealing the restricting pass laws that the ‘Magna Charta’ had introduced. The Khoi were now free to offer or withhold their labour and therefore to improve their condition through their right to abandon bad masters and cling to good ones. The colonists only had eye for the negatives, because the immoral elements among the Khoi indeed stole, cheated and trespassed. Nevertheless, Ordinance 50 of 1828 is a landmark in South African social history. In their eyes the missionaries, and Dr Philip in particular, were the culprits in creating tension between the masters and the workers. Lord Charles Somerset invited Scottish clergy to come to the Cape. He aimed at countering the Dutch influence, by bringing in British Presbyterian clergymen. The likes of the prayerful Andrew Murray, the father of the famous namesake, effectively curtailed Somerset’s bigoted nationalism. Cape Moves to Get Slavery Outlawed In 1823 the Governor Somerset issued a proclamation announcing the amelioration of slavery. Slaves were given the right to marry and to be baptised as Christians. Witness of Christian slaves became acceptable in court; slave children under the age of ten were not to be sold. During Dr Philip’s visit to England in 1826, he met the evangelical parliamentarian Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton. The latter had close links to William Wilberforce, the staunch fighter for the complete emancipation of slaves. In his subsequent correspondence with Buxton, Dr Philip linked the slave issue to the situation of the Khoisan in the Cape Colony already in his first comprehensive report on the LMS stations, although he made a distinction between the problems with the Khoisan and those pertaining to slaves. Ordinance 50 of 1828 and last not least the publication of Philip’s two-volumed Researches in South Africa were major factors in the run-up not only to the Great Trek of colonists to the interior, but also to the final emancipation of slaves worldwide. In the British Parliament Wilberforce continued to get slavery as such banished completely. Conversely, Dr Philip’s writings helped Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson to get the final legislation passed. This ultimately abolished slavery in the British Empire. Another Blessing in Disguise In 1837 Martinus Vogelgezang applied to be ordained, but he did not find favour with the Dutch Reformed Church authorities. Not having obtained the expected university theological training (in Holland), they referred him to the ruling for missionaries. ‘onder geene andere wijze, en onder geene andere bepalingen... dan betrekkelijk het ordenen van zendelingen’ (in no other way and under no other rules than those regarding the ordination of missionaries). This condescending attitude was indicative of the general view by the church with regard to mission work. Indifference to mission work is still rife in the great majority of churches. It is definitely no complement that many of them see behind all missionary endeavour only competition for the funds of the church. In the spiritual realms, the church ruling of Martinus Vogelgezang would influence the Cape in no uncertain way. This was a blessing in disguise. On 17 October 1738 Rev. Vogelgezang resigned from the Dutch Reformed Church to start the first denominationally independent fellowship. The evangelist Vogelgezang preached the gospel among the Muslims with great zeal Undeterred by the rebuff from the Church of his day, the evangelist Vogelgezang preached the gospel among the Muslims with great zeal. Vogelgezang used a version of ‘tent-making’ - i.e. working in some vocation while doing missionary work. He operated initially simultaneously from his shoemaker’s shop in Bo-Kaap's Rose Street. In the course of time, the zealous Vogelgezang planted a few churches, bringing the gospel to the Muslims with much authority and conviction. In the criticism of the local newspaper De Zuid-Afrikaan with its close links to the established church, an element of jealousy seems also to have played a role after Vogelgezang’s success in Bo-Kaap. After the abolition of slavery in 1838, there was a rush of freed slaves to the city. Many deserted their former owners in the agricultural areas. The bulk of these newly urbanised freed slaves turned to Islam. Support from the colonists in the mission work was not forthcoming at all. It does not credit the churches at the Cape that hardly any effort was made to reach the slaves at the Cape with the gospel up to 1838, apart from what was done at the Z.A. Gesticht. A lack of perseverance was prevalent, combined with a tendency to go for softer targets than the resistant Muslims. And not much changed thereafter. All the more the stalwart work of individuals like Vogelgezang has to be admired, even though his initial approach to the Muslims was quite offensive. Missionary Diamonds Formed Dr Helperus van Lier, the mission-minded minister of the Groote Kerk, suggested three forays of missionary endeavour. One of these was outreach to the Eastern Cape. The Dutch born Dr Johannes van der Kemp, leader of the first four LMS pioneers, led this attempt as he mastered the difficult Xhosa language quickly, ministering to the Ngika (Gaika) tribe. From this tribe at least two missionary diamonds were formed out of the black coal of oppressive colonial history. One of the most memorable of these diamonds formed, was the influence of missionary work on Ntsikana. Born in 1780, he was said to have heard a sermon by Dr van der Kemp as a child. Around 1815 Ntsikana, already a married man, became a Christian, starting an evangelistic ministry immediately thereafter. He commenced by conducting two daily meetings in his homestead where there was singing, praying and preaching. Ntsikana composed at least four hymns, the first Christian ones in Xhosa although he could neither read or write. Imbibed by the Spirit of Jesus, he was a rebel in the best sense of the word. He had a special ability to bring about change, filling old concepts and images with new content to lead his people in the new faith. Ntsikana’s pacifist advice to his folk was however rejected by many, including Ngika, their chief. They felt that the source of his advice was a new strange God, not their traditional one. Xhosa-speakers from the Eastern Cape became inhabitants of Genadendal during this period. In 1809 Lt.-Colonel Richard Collins was given authority to enforce British authority on the region. In order to achieve this, he thought that 'Blacks' should be pushed back across the Fish River. Those 'Blacks', who wanted to remain in the Cape Colony, should be directed to a Moravian settlement. The callous Collins even recommended that the mission station Bethelsdorp should be broken up since it was ‘designed for the benefit of the Hottentots rather than that of the Colony’. A Special Missionary Diamond In the wake of the wars on the eastern frontier of the Cape Colony, a group of Xhosa-speakers from the Eastern Cape became inhabitants of Genadendal during this period. A Gaika woman, whose husband had deserted her, was such a missionary 'diamond'. She was one of the first ‘Blacks’ to be settled in Genadendal. There this woman, who later got the name Wilhelmina, became a follower of Jesus. In Genadendal, the missionary spirit took hold of Wilhelmina. Soon she urged the Moravians to start independent work among her own people. In Genadendal she was appointed as nurse-maid to the children of the missionaries. Wilhelmina taught the missionaries’ isiXhosa, so that they could later bring the gospel to her people. Wilhelmina also assisted with the teaching of the little ones at the ‘Kindergarten’ of Genadendal, setting out to teach the missionaries’ children the fundamentals of isiXhosa, so that they could later bring the gospel to her people. Johann Adolph, the son of Johann Gottlieb Bonatz, one of her learners, later became one of the missionary pioneers among the Xhosa in the Ciskei. Wilhelmina, who subsequently married the Khoi believer Carl Stompjes, ploughed the soil for the equality of women, by doing work for which females would normally not have qualified. She was one of the first female translators of missionaries worldwide. Perseverance and Zeal Through sheer perseverance and zeal, Rev. Barnabas Shaw put the Methodist Church/Wesleyan Mission Society on the Cape map. After initially being prohibited to preach, he ultimately ascertained from the Colonial Secretary and Lord Charles Somerset, the Governor the assurance that there would no longer be any objection to the start of a Methodist mission in the town in 1819. (He had left in 1816 to start mission work in Namaqualand at Leliefontein and Kammiesberg. The next year, Rev. Edward Edwards joined him in Leliefontein.) Rev. Edwards was subsequently appointed to pioneer ministry in the growing town. Services started in a hired hayloft in Cape Town’s Plein Street, where congregants first had to pass behind the heels of horses before climbing an awkward ladder into the loft. A more comfortable venue was a hired wine store in Barrack Street. During a visit from Leliefontein, it was felt that Shaw should remain in the town. He stayed for two solid years during which the importance of Cape Town was increasingly recognised as a growing missionary base. Cape Town was increasingly recognized as a growing base for missionary work. In zeal for preaching, Barnabas Shaw had no match. On a typical Sunday he preached six times in English or Dutch. Through his endeavours three Methodist Church circuits evolved, namely Cape Town and the two suburbs Wynberg and Simonstown. His diverse endeavours included an evening school for children and adults in addition to the Sunday school, a free day school and a small library for the improvement and entertainment of soldiers irrespective of race. Very interesting is the vivid description of the day school: ‘Here the aged are learning to spell with spectacles; and babes who can just waddle to the school. Here are the children of heathens, Mohammedans and Christians; children who are the descendants of parents of all the four quarters of the globe…’ Chapter 6 Education in Revival Stimulation De Oude Lena provided the basis for sound teaching at Genadendal in general. The village owes its first school building to Sir John Cradock, the Cape Governor. Being an educationist himself, Cradock endeavoured to increase and improve the schools in the colony. He supplied the Moravians with a booklet An Account of the Progress of Joseph Lancaster’s Plan for the Education of poor Children. The system devised by Lancaster - to instruct a great number of children inexpensively - remained the basis of the Moravian mission schools for a long time. A Breakthrough: Indigenous Teachers The Unity Elders Conference in Germany, which governed the Moravian missionary work internationally, decided to send Christian Ignatius La Trobe, the Secretary of the Moravians in Great Britain, to inspect the work at the Cape. Among his friends were Rowland Hill of the London Missionary Society, and the evangelical parliamentarian William Wilberforce. Lord Charles Somerset’s unfriendly attitude turned into emphatic support. Ignatius La Trobe was a cheerful Christian and full of enthusiasm for the missionary work. He could ‘negotiate with people like Lord Charles Somerset on the same level, but also converse with an illiterate Hottentot in a simple and brotherly fashion’. When he visited Lord Charles Somerset, La Trobe won his favour at once, turning his unfriendly attitude towards the Moravians into emphatic support. The difficulties with Groene Kloof (that later got the name Mamre) were solved and permission was granted to build a church. La Trobe recommended to the mission leaders in Herrnhut that an English-speaking brother be sent to the Cape. This had great positive results. Hans-Peter Hallbeck, a Swede who had been working in England, revolutionised work in South Africa, taking Genadendal Moravian missionary work to another level. A Revolutionary Contribution Hans-Peter Hallbeck became the Moravian superintendent at the Cape in 1817. The contribution of Hallbeck in the field of education was completely revolutionary when he made use of intelligent learners to assist him. Thus, he used Maria Koopman, the wife of the local Khoi captain and a gifted young girl who, unfortunately, later drowned in the Sondereind River. Hallbeck initiated the establishment of a training school at Genadendal where indigenous leaders could be guided towards the development of a Khoi Moravian Church in British South Africa. He not only adopted an orphan, Ezekiel Pfeiffer, but also trained with him another boy, Wilhelm Pleizier. The two Khoi teenagers did so well that Hallbeck decided to train these two skoolmeesters (school masters) to become teachers to their own people in a colonial context. An Infant and Primary School Started In September 1831, an infant school started in Genadendal with Hallbeck, Pfeiffer, Pleizier and a German female as teachers. The gifted Ezekiel Pfeiffer was soon transferred to the primary school which at that stage had been manned only by missionaries. Some of the neighbouring farmers applied for the admission of their children to the school. Hallbeck was so impressed at the quality of the teaching at the school that he suggested that the children of Moravian missionaries should no longer be sent to Germany (as it was the custom internationally). Pioneers of Teacher Training Apart from a few companies and factories which were started at Genadendal, the Moravians also pioneered the training of teachers in South Africa in 1838. Hallbeck raved about Ezekiel Pfeiffer in 1834, praising his ‘grote getrouwheid as onderwyser… asof hy hom by vernuwing aan die Here toegewy het’ (great faithfulness as teacher… as if he committed himself anew to the Lord.’) No wonder that Pfeiffer was among the first to be appointed to train new teachers when the Moravians started the first Kweekskool (Seminary) for persons of indigenous descent in 1838. Theological training was an integral part of the programme. Theological training was an integral part of the programme. The emphasis was on church planting rather than church building. Trained students left for places all over the colony, including Eastern Cape districts. Thus, Johannes Nakin started with Samuel Mazwi at the school at Shiloh in the Eastern Cape in 1854. (There Nakin’s dynamic mother-in-law Wilhelmina Stompjes, and the education pioneer Johann Adolph Bonatz had taught.) Johannes Nakin became the first isiXhosa speaker to be ordained as a pastor, albeit only in 1883. Hallbeck’s ideas for the empowerment of the indigenous believers were quite revolutionary, also in preparation for tertiary training at the South African College in Cape Town, which had started a few years prior to that. He proposed that the children of missionaries would be trained together with selected ‘Coloured’ children in South Africa in the interest of the local church. The Genadendal Seminary influenced the country profoundly. The Genadendal Seminary influenced the country profoundly. Teachers trained there would be spearheading ‘Coloured’ society in all walks of life. (Especially in the field of education and church music the Moravian influence would impact Cape 'Coloured' society throughout much of the 20th and into the 21st century). Hallbeck's Quiet Tactics Opposing Slavery The Moravian missionaries stayed clear of public debate over slavery and oppressive laws, cleverly theologising around it. Thus, Bishop Hans Peter Hallbeck called slavery the blackest of evils, which he thought would certainly lead to the destruction of any country. But the brethren did not feel themselves called to fight it publicly. ‘To become slaves to the slaves and free men to the free, in order to win some for Christ’, was their motto. This was an ingenious application of 1 Corinthians 3:19. Furthermore, Hallbeck regarded oppressive laws as great evils. He did not remain quiet about the pass laws, but refrained from publicly opposing them in the newspapers. Slaves were conveniently pointed to their duties in subordination and obedience. The pastors at the Cape lacked the courage to challenge the colonists with the Pauline teaching that they had to see the believers among the slaves as family in Christ. Instead, the slaves were conveniently pointed to their duties in subordination and obedience. This sad fact represents a major tenet of debt towards Cape Muslims; vital aspects of the gospel have possibly thus been unwittingly withheld from them. Moravian Connivance with Injustice The Moravians became an unwitting partner to the enserfment of the Khoi because farm labour around Genadendal, like elsewhere in the Overberg, was mostly done by Khoi converts who could be hired for limited periods. At the same time land tenure passed more and more into the possession of the colonists. Traditional Khoi communal land rights continued to be disregarded like in the VOC period. Farmers came to hire seasonal labourers from the mission station. Neighbouring farmers came to hire seasonal labourers from the mission station particularly, for which their remuneration was mainly in kind: food and – four times a day – wine! The Gospel Made Practical All sorts of ministries of compassion emanated from the churches at the Cape, some of which were linked to mission agencies. The Genadendal Moravian missionaries succeeded in making the gospel very practical, assisting the indigenous inhabitants to make the difficult transition from a nomadic to a more settled life. A field of usefulness was opened in 1823 from an unexpected area. The lepers in South Africa were a community for whom no one cared initially, until Lord Charles Somerset initiated a leper asylum at a place called Hemel-en-Aarde, between present-day Caledon and Hermanus. Initially their religious needs were seen to by the DRC dominee at Caledon, who asked for relief. J.M. Peter Leitner left Genadendal to take care of this outreach. The ministry was subsequently taken to Robben Island under the missionary Johan Lehmann in 1844. A country known for wickedness thus also has deep roots of biblical compassion. Every inhabitant of the nineteenth century Genadendal had a vegetable garden adjoining his dwelling. The brethren encouraged simplicity, urging the Khoi to spend their meagre earnings on proper clothing instead of on wine and tobacco. Furthermore, a forest was planted west of the graveyard, and when new missionaries arrived with other skills, new branches of industry were started like a joinery and a forge. Some inhabitants practised their own trade. There was a cartwright and blacksmith, a cooper, a transport-rider and the owner of a hand-mill. Others were competent masons. Midwives from Genadendal (and Groene Kloof, later called Mamre) had a good reputation, and were called by the wives of the farmers. When the postal service was improved in 1806, two men from Genadendal were appointed to carry the mail across the country. At Genadendal the economy flourished during this period. The mill, the smithy, the cutlery, the garden, the vineyard and the shop contributed to income. At Genadendal the Economy Flourished The work expanded significantly under the brilliant Swedish superintendent, Hans Peter Hallbeck. He tried new branches of economic activity to create opportunities of employment for the inhabitants. Under the supervision of Hans Peter Hallbeck and a Khoi captain, trees were planted. It was laid down that the timber would be sold at half-price to the residents. The profit would go to poverty relief. Another Revival in the Overberg Then, by 1828, a spiritual revival in the Overberg started among married church members of Genadendal – almost like in Herrnhut (Germany), a century earlier. The married Moravians offered each other forgiveness, committing themselves to live henceforth in submission to the Lord. The Genadendal revival of 1828 fanned out among the neighbouring farms. Participation in worship on any normal Sunday increased considerably. The post-1828 period also marks a time of industry and social empowerment for Moravian converts at the Cape. In Genadendal many inhabitants learned to do skilled work in the various branches of the Moravian Mission. Whenever possible, Hallbeck passed responsibilities to the congregants, in order to release the missionaries for their spiritual duties. The management of the guest house at Genadendal was entrusted to a married couple from the settlement and an inhabitant of Groene Kloof, the second Moravian mission station, succeeded Peter Leitner in the joinery. (The missionary was requested to start up the work among the lepers at Hemel en Aarde; a ministry which moved to Robben Island from 1845 to 1868.) An Extraordinary Country Library The teaching at Genadendal was dynamic. Already in 1832, six years before the start of a teachers’ training school there, the Cape of Good Hope Literary Gazette reported that the village had ‘the best country library, perhaps, that may be in the colony’, with a section apiece for German, English and Dutch. The library did not only possess a reading room, but it also had loan facilities. As a result of the dynamic teaching in Genadendal, almost the whole town population was literate and leesgierig (eager to read). In 1838 the missionaries recorded: ‘Our lending library is in a brisk circulation … for as soon as one book is brought in, it is immediately issued to fresh applicants’. Indigenous Protest A direct result of the library and the desire for learning was that the inhabitants picked up that they had civil rights. In The Cape Standard it was argued that the missionaries exploited the inhabitants. In August 1850 one of the inhabitants, Titus Vergele, wrote from the Mother City in a beautiful handwriting3 that he had done some research in the City Library. Vergele came to the conclusion that the mission station belonged to the Khoekhoe. He requested his friend Johannes Jass to call the inhabitants together so that they could stand up for their rights. On 19 September of that year a four man delegation from Genadendal went to Cape Town with a memorandum to the Department of the Interior, complaining that the Mission is not prepared to protect them against the neighbouring farmers who wanted to take their property once again. The same year the missionaries wrote to Sir Harry Smith, the governor, requesting that the authorities should inquire into legislation to protect the inhabitants. This was probably one of the first instances in the country where the indigenous population started their own protest in the form of a memorandum. This resulted in a commission of inquiry in 1851. A proposal was made that the mission station should be given only in trust to the Superintendent of the Moravian church. This happened indeed on 15 February, 1858. Disturbances and Rebellion Prevented Two very talented brethren operated at Genadendal at that time. Both of them came from the educational field. Carl Kölbing, had been teaching at the Moravian Secondary School in Niesky (Germany) before he started in Genadendal. Disturbances and rebellion at the mission stations could have developed into ugly situations. Kölbing took a broad view, not regarding this as ‘retrogression of the spiritual life’. He discerned that many people, who had formerly obeyed the European missionaries without contradiction, were now more outspoken. Kölbing realized that the political changes had released forces which possessed not only negative, but also positive potential. Kölbing probably underestimated the negative forces, which were not counterbalanced by spiritual vigour and prayers from around the Moravian world as his predecessors had still enjoyed. In Herrnhut the 24-hour prayer chain was petering out. Another dynamic personality at Genadendal was Benno Marx, who became the principal of the training school and the organist in 1855. Indigenous teachers operated in all Moravian schools by 1859, with the exception of the girls’ departments at Genadendal and Mamre. Subsidies were gradually granted for the existing schools. Both he and his assistant Andreas G. Hettasch studied at the institutions of Lancaster in England – the world leaders in education at the time - before coming to South Africa. A Breakthrough Regarding Race Issues? At the 1829 Cape Dutch Reformed Church synod a profoundly significant resolution was passed: All church members would be admitted to the Holy Sacrament of Communion ‘without considering colour or background’. Furthermore, race would not even be allowed as a subject for deliberation at synods. Instead, it had to be regarded as ‘a hard and fast rule, based on God’s Word’ that no person should be barred on racial grounds. No person should be barred on racial grounds. That watershed synod decision of 1829 was, however, subsequently watered down significantly. European Individualism The individualistic European concept of society came into vogue in the late 18th century. Indeed, a view became customary that is contrary to the New Testament principle and practice of full sharing that is so near to traditional African communal customs. The early missionaries also understood much better to incorporate their converts in the spreading of the good news. George Barker examined five women in 1816, prior to their baptism. He discovered that ‘not one of them attributed the beginning of the work of grace in their hearts to the preaching of the missionaries, but to their own people (Hottentots) speaking to them’. In fact, if the missionaries had been more open to learning something from the so-called ‘primitive’ African communal lifestyle, interesting dynamics might have developed. Pastors approached the slaves with the European mentality of superiority. A tragic tendency transpired in the preaching of the gospel in general. The pastors approached the slaves with the European mentality of superiority, which could hardly have given them credibility with the indigenous people and slaves. Furthermore, discrimination was the order of the day, also in the church. A condescending attitude towards the natives was the common pattern. Cape Churches Working Together At the Zuid-Afrikaansche Gesticht, ‘Lutheranen, Gereformeerdes en andere’ were worshipping together, while they had the common goal of reaching the spiritually lost with the gospel. The controversial English Cape governor, Lord Charles Somerset, definitely did not intend this when he invited Scottish clergy to the Cape. He obviously want-ed to counter Dutch influence by bringing in the British Presbyterian clergy. In this he succeeded quite well, because twelve of the twenty-two Dutch Reformed ministers at the Cape were Scots by 1837. The likes of the prayerful spiritual icon Andrew Murray, father of the famous namesake, effectively curtailed Somerset’s well-meant but bigoted nationalism. Due to their influence, the Cape became possibly the first multi-lingual society outside of Europe. (The African Theater (or Komediehuis) on Boereplein in Bree Street there were performances in four languages Dutch, English, French and German). The endeavour of missionaries sparked the working together of Cape churches around the time of the slave emancipation in 1838. These missionary efforts effectively slowed down the expansion of Islam. The cordial harmonious relationship between churches seems to have been operating for quite a few years. A special feature of the mission effort of the early was the relative lack of denominational rivalry. Thus, services of the Anglican Church were first held in the Groote Kerk. The Presbyterian Dr James Adamson and the Lutheran Rev. Georg Wilhelm Stegmann engaged in combined endeavours. Soon after his ordination as a Lutheran minister, Stegmann not only felt the need to do something for the slaves, but he also started with a ministry in Plein Street. He was asked by Dr Adamson to join him in the outreach to the ‘Coloureds’. In the ministry of Willie Stegmann his heart for the lost shone through, especially for the Muslims. At St Andrew’s, Adamson would preach in English in the morning and Stegmann in Dutch during the late afternoon service. In this endeavour believers from different church backgrounds served together amicably. Stegmann became a regular preacher at the St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Green Point. The Covenant of Blood River Even though the Covenant of Blood River took place in faraway Natal, it had an impact on the rest of Southern Africa. Few historians discerned the spiritual roots at work, namely that it was also opposing the liberalism, which had moved into the ranks of the church. Ds G.W.A. van der Lingen of Paarl was one of very few indeed who withstood that tide. It is no surprise that he became God’s instrument for ushering in the blessed Pinksterbidure, the tradition of prayer services between Ascension Day and Pentecost that became such a blessing to the Dutch Reformed Church. The Covenant of Blood River was opposing the liberalism, which had moved into the church. The Voortrekkers were devout Christians with a firm belief in the calling that God Almighty had given them in Africa. Many of them were however deluded en masse by a distorted exposition of Scripture for their own situation, applying Yahweh’s promises to Israel fallaciously for themselves. The devout and spiritually mature Andries Pretorius, who was almost immediately elected as their military commander, chose the mixed-bred J.G. Bantjes as his journal writer. This demonstrates that he was not as bigoted as so many of his compatriots in respect of racial mixing. Pretorius discerned that humbling before God was necessary even before they could proceed to the serious matter of making a covenant. In a fighting speech he pleaded with the combined meeting to remove anything which could cause disunity. He emphasized again and again ‘Eendrag maak mag’ (unity empowers). According to Bantjes, Andries Pretorius discussed the possibility of a covenant with Sarel Cilliers, a devout elder, who was later given the task to formulate the covenant. It is striking that they promised in the ensuing covenant that they wanted to establish a temple to his honour, if the Lord would give them victory over the enemy. Pretorius, who was a builder by trade, was happy in the emphasis in the formulation that they would establish a spiritual temple rather than ‘building a church’. At the church service on 9 December 1838, Sarel Cilliers used Judges 6:1-24 to draw attention to the fact that Gideon was called to save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. For a whole week till the evening of 15 December the seriousness of the covenant with God was repeated at the evening devotions. The victory against tremendous numerical odds reminded indeed of Gideon’s diminutive army defeating the Midianites. Even more significant was the spiritual impact on Southern Africa. The Mfecane, during which an estimated two million Blacks were killed in inter-tribal fighting of Southern Africa in the early 19th century was more or less brought to an end at this occasion. One does not have to think much to realise that this changed the history of the country very profoundly. Pioneers of Charity at the Cape The wives and daughters of evangelical reformers were the pioneers of charity in nineteenth century Cape society. Against all odds, these Christians played a more prominent role than was customary in Cape public life. Prejudice against the ‘weaker sex’ abounded even more here than in Britain. It is quite surprising to find that even within the family of the liberal fighter for the rights of Khoi and slaves, the missionary Dr John Philip, the same prejudice prevailed. One example is his daughter Eliza, who was forced by her father to give up her ambition to become a teacher ‘since she would fail to gain the social virtues desirable in a young woman’. Nevertheless, many missionary wives and daughters worked as teachers or ran the business of the mission, albeit generally unacknow-ledged and usually unpaid. Jane Philip broke ground for the liberation of women. Jane Philip, the wife of the superintendent, broke ground for the liberation of women. She was paid, for doing the bookkeeping of the London Missionary Society, a work customarily performed by men. Ms Philip also founded the Bible and Tract Society, which distributed religious literature to the poor, and played a key part in establishing mission schools in Cape Town. Chapter 7 Result Producing Networking The final enactment of the abolition of slavery on 1 December 1838 caused a tidal wave of goodwill among colonialists at the Cape. Among some of them there was a sense of relief in spite of financial losses due to flaws in the implementation of the British Act of its parliament. In this regard Petrus Borcherds, a Cape magistrate, also tried to justify slavery at the Cape by asserting: ‘I think ... slavery existed (here at the Cape) in its mildest form’, but added ambivalently that there was ‘something so repulsive in that state of bondage and so contrary to the principles of justice… that slave emancipation ...was a great blessing... a tribute of infinite value to humanity’. The well-known late twentieth century journalist Allister Sparks, who was also a scholar in his own right, showed very convincingly, however, why it is a myth that South Africa’s system of slavery was ‘more benign than those of other slave states.’ The Actual Emancipation of Slaves The Church situation at the Cape was far from a bed of roses. A special event to highlight the actual emancipation of the slaves was organized at the Scottish Church - as St Andrew’s was generally known. It was reported that the organized Presbyterian mission to the slaves started on 1 December 1838, i.e. the date of the official emancipation. After the slave emancipation quite a few Muslims turned to Christ. At the start of St Andrew’s Mission – after the slave emancipation – quite a few Muslims turned to Christ in the period after 1842. This was a result of possibly the most fruitful Church/Mission co-operation and outreach at the Cape for centuries. A Heart for the Lost In the ministry of Ds. Georg Wilhelm Stegmann his heart for the spiritually lost shone through, especially for Muslims. He was described as fiery in spirit, powerful in the Word and a hero in prayer. He was furthermore typified as a man ‘met sy gebedsworsteling en herlewingsgees' (a man with agonising prayer and a revival spirit.). This is illustrated by words from Stegmann’s diary, cited in the same article: ‘Oh, how heavy does the case of the poor deluded Mohammedans hang on my mind... Oh Lord, how long, how long shall they continue in darkness ... open the door, send out Thy servants.’ Apparently, Stegmann had some notion of spiritual warfare. It is reported that the conversion of souls was the primary goal of his ministry, and that he was a ‘warrior of God and an attacker of the strongholds of Satan.’ The Lord used Stegmann’s powerful preaching to convict the congregation on 5 November 1843 in such a way that a church member, evidently over-powered by the Holy Spirit, exclaimed aloud towards the end of the sermon 'Lord, have mercy!' and fainted. A hush fell over the church A hush fell over the church and thereafter the whole congre-gation burst out in tears in a typical revival scenario. Stegmann was self-critical enough when the near revival appeared to have been stifled a few months further on. He took the blame upon himself when he conceded in August 1844 with regard to the spiritual warfare: ‘What a havoc Satan has been making in poor St Stephen’s lately, so that with my own inward corruption and the perverse walk of many... I am ready to sink down.’ Unity as a Prayer Priority St Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage in North Africa from 248-258 CE, already saw the importance of the unity of the church, yet allowing for plurality. He wrote: ‘The church is a unity, yet by her fruitful increase she is extended far and wide to form a plurality; even as the sun has many rays, but one light; and a tree many boughs but one trunk, whose foundation is the deep-seated root... So, also the Church, flooded with the light of the Lord, extends her rays over all the globe; yet it is one light which is diffused everywhere and the unity of the body is not broken up... yet there is but one head, one source...’ After Jesus’ ascension, his followers were united in prayer (Acts 1:14a). The Greek word homothumadon, which has often been translated as ‘of one mind’, indicates a common purpose, a common goal, an emotional and wilful agreement. ‘Of one mind’ is a characteristic of New Testament leadership. This unity in prayer formed the natural base for the revival at Pentecost. Yet, also after Pentecost they continued to act ‘of one mind’ (see Acts 2:45,46; 4:24; 5:12; 6:2; 15:25). The new-found unity was grounded in their trust in God, which minimized all possible differences. Thus, the meeting of believers, which ideally should include pastors - primarily for prayer to get God’s mind for their city or town - should in my view be a top priority. World Leaders in Church Co-operation The South African branch of the Evangelical Alliance was the first outside Europe. This was the start of a worldwide movement. Cape Evangelicals assembled in Cape Town in 1842 to work out a strategy to reach the lost of Southern Africa. Gerdener records how ‘concerted action had arrived.’ Denominational co-operation at the Cape had few equals world-wide Denominational co-operation at the Cape had few equals world-wide, forming a powerful dyke against liberalism which reared its head at the Cape already in the 1850s. South Africans were among the world leaders in church co-operation when the Evangelical Alliance was formally started in 1857 in Cape Town. In fact, at this occasion the founders declared that an Evangelical Alliance existed in the Mother City in all but name already in 1842. The South African Evangelical Alliance thus functioned long before it kicked off formally in England and six years before it started in Germany. They referred to the move when pastors of different churches had a weekly prayer meeting a few years after the slave emancipation. When the Jewish background Dutchman Ds. Frans Lion Cachet started serving at St Stephen’s in 1858 a pastors’ breakfast had been operating, where the ministers at the Cape rotated the hosting of the event every fortnight. Significantly, Cachet met the prominent 'Black' minister Rev. Tiyo Soga at one of these occasions. Rev. Soga would assist Cachet to be ordained. Raving about these pastors’ breakfasts, Ds. Cachet recorded for the sake of his compatriots in Holland: ‘May we have something of this nature in the cities of our fatherland; how the brothers would learn to understand and value each other’. The start of the Evangelical Alliance in Cape Town led indirectly to the opening of the Stellenbosch DRC Kweekschool in 1859. At this occasion Professor N. Hofmeyer complained that no effort was made to bring all Christian leaders of the country together. A committee organized a conference fairly quickly. Influence of Genadendal The example of Genadendal had ramifications throughout the country. Wherever possible, all new missionaries from different societies were taken to Genadendal to show them what the Moravians had achieved there. The other two German-based mission agencies (the Rhenish and Berlin Mission Societies) were soon sending their converts to Genadendal where theological training was an integral part of the curriculum. The Rhenish Mission Society probably profited the most from the influence of Genadendal. Wupperthal in the Ceder Mountains was started on the same principles with various branches of industrial work, notably the manufacturing of shoes. Rev. J.G. Leipoldt, an early missionary there, laboured with great patience and forbearance among the 200 Khoi who were settled at the station. In 1840 a time of revival and spiritual refreshment dawned on that mission station. A time of revival and spiritual refreshment dawned on Wupperthal. Soon there was not a single hut in Wupperthal in which there was not someone who had found inner peace through faith in Jesus Christ. During the early part of 1842, no less than sixty adults were admitted to baptism at Wupperthal. The revival spread to the neighbouring farmers. Gray and Grey at the Cape The education and training of indigenous people was being advanced from the 1850s by two influential men whose surname sounded the same – the Governor Sir George Grey and Bishop Robert Gray. Robert Gray became the dynamic first Anglican bishop of St George’s Cathedral, arriving in 1848. Sir George Grey came to the Cape as Governor a few years later, in 1854. Bishop Robert Gray visited Genadendal shortly after his arrival. He was especially interested in the teacher training school, considering soon hereafter whether Anglican students could be trained there. He planned to establish mission stations among the 'Blacks', with a missionary, a teacher, an artisan and an agriculturist for every station, combining spiritual and temporal education such as the Moravians were involved with. Bishop Robert Gray started the mission station Abbotsdale near Malmesbury in 1870. Prince Victor, the German ruler who did so much for the indigenous people through his generous gifts to the Genadendal training school and who offered to finance the extension of the institution to double the intake, died. With that the opportunity to develop a large non-denominational training centre at Genadendal, had passed. Bishop Robert Gray made his own arrangements, establishing Zonnebloem College in the Mother City for the sons of 'Black' chiefs. Lovedale Matches Genadendal The Presbyterian missionaries and others had moved further afield. Lovedale in Kaffraria, as the area around the Kei River was called, was started on behalf of the Glasgow Board. Rev. John Ross and a lay missionary John Bennie laid the foundations in 1824 of the mission station Lovedale, named in honour of Dr John Love of the Glasgow Missionary Society. This mission site identified as a venue for a special educational effort on behalf of the Eastern Cape natives, was planned in the mould of Genadendal of the Herrnhuters. Lovedale became a prime educational institution. Thanks to the efforts of the Free Church of Scotland, which took over in 1844, Lovedale became famous as a prime educational institution, known for prominent scholars who were teaching there and especially because of the attendance of ‘Blacks’, who subsequently became political leaders in various independent states of Southern Africa. Lovedale is situated near to Fort Hare in Alice where in due course a University evolved in the 19th century. A major breakthrough transpired when a young 'Black', a prodigy of Lovedale, was subsequently trained in Scotland, returning in 1856 as Rev. Tiyo Soga. He was the first South African of colour to be ordained as a minister, ahead of Carl Jonas, the first Moravian, who hailed from the mission station Elim near the L'Agulhas tip of Africa. 'Whites' Streamed To Hear a 'Black' Preacher Cape Town had the rare experience of 'Whites' clamouring to get a seat in church to listen to a 'Black' preacher. The occasion was the visit of Rev. Tiyo Soga. On Sunday, 16 September 1860, the Presbyterian pastor preached at Caledon Square in the morning and in the evening at St Andrew’s to overflowing congregations. Rev. W. Thomas, his host during his stay, was the minister of the church at Caledon Square. Twice Rev. Soga occupied the pulpit there. ‘The chapel was crowded to excess, and great numbers were not able to gain admission.’ Rev. Thomas gave a glowing testimonial: ‘I know not how it was, but the presence of our friend ever suggested to me the names of Cyprian, Tertullian and Augustine and others of North Africa, embalmed in the memory as among the noblest men of the primitive Church, and as the first-fruits unto God of the rich harvest which this continent has yet to produce’. The vision of the Methodist missionary, Barnabas Shaw, of a chain of mission stations, inspired many believers in that era, assisting the missionary cause in Southern Africa profoundly. The vision of a chain of mission stations inspired many believers. Early Stirrings in the Eastern Cape and Natal The idea is widespread that the revival which started in the Western Cape in 1860, marked the first stirrings of the South African revival. But it started earlier, in 1857, in KwaZulu Natal and the Eastern Cape. Bennie Mostert made an interesting observation about a sovereign move of God, noting that the revival among the Zulus in 1857 started at precisely the same time as the revival in New York. 'There is no way that the missionaries among the Zulus could have had any knowledge of the revival in New York.' Some missionaries that experienced the 1857 revival in New York did however come back to resume their work in Zululand and amongst the Xhosas. Joseph Jackson, a Methodist minister, testified: '...the Spirit fell upon them in such an overpowering manner that they could not depart, but continued in prayer till the break of day.' Rev. Aldin Grout wrote from Zululand: 'We are witnessing a shaking of the dry bones in the Esdumbini Valley ... several young men came to say ... your preaching has touched our hearts, we have decided to abandon heathendom and serve the living God.' Rev. Grout was possibly reaping the harvest of seed sown over many years. On the website of the African National Congress the following is mentioned about his influence:' 'The intimacy between Rev. Aldin Grout and the local Zulu community turned Groutville into a Christian community. Initially the number of African converts was small. But the intimacy of the pastor and the community gave the latter an opportunity to inspect and assess it over an indefinite period. Thus an increasing number came to accept western Christianity. Those who did not do so, appreciated its value and respected it. And perhaps more significantly, neighbouring Zulu chiefs allowed the development of this new Christian society among their people. The revival amongst the Zulus resulted in extraordinary praying, tremendous conviction of sin, immediate conversions and enthusiastic evangelistic outreach. In 1856 a 12-year-old Xhosa girl started to prophesy that all animals must be destroyed and all food be consumed. On 18 February 1857 a miracle would happen: Cattle would come out of the ground, food pits would suddenly be filled, dead warriors woud arise and all the tribes of Africa would drive the Europeans into the sea. The Xhosas acted on these prophesies and the result was mass starvation and many among them died. Families killed one another for food. Clans of thousands of people were nearly wiped out. This situation created an unprecedented openness for the gospel. A Pivot in a World-Wide Move of God Although not generally acknowledged, a pivot in the world-wide move of God was Rev. William Taylor. He taught in a school in rural Virginia before being accepted in 1843 by the Baltimore Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church as a candidate for the ministry. In 1849 Taylor was sent as one of the first two Wesleyan missionaries to California where he became known in the frontier town of San Francisco for his forceful street preaching, and for his work among seamen. When a seamen’s ‘bethel’ was burned down in 1856, Taylor was given leave by the California Conference to raise money for the building debt. He was personally liable. In 1857-61 he conducted religious revivals in mid-western and eastern America. Known as ‘California Taylor’, he attracted many by his ‘almost vehement nervous energy’ and by his informal ‘Yankee’ preaching. Whilst preaching in Canada, Taylor was told of Australia as a likely field for evangelism and, after travelling to Great Britain, Palestine and Egypt, he arrived in Melbourne in June 1863, igniting fires of revival ‘down under’. He also visited other Victorian towns, generating an outburst of religious exaltation in the colony. The Revival in KwaZulu Natal and the Eastern Cape God chose to use Rev. William Taylor in the Eastern parts of South Africa that was invaded by hordes of beggars in the wake of the killing of cattle of 1857. He went there after ministry in other continents. He travelled on horseback from town to town and God granted special favour with many conversions among th English-speaking churches. The first real revival movement began among the Xhosa-speaking people. Taylor used a highly gifted interpreter, a young chief called Charles Pamla, travelling through the Transkei and Zululand to preach the gospel. The Xhosas gave Taylor a name meaning 'The blazing Firebrand'. As a method, he would call for a moment of silent prayer and then asked seekers to come forward after preaching. When Taylor left, Pamla took those sermons and preached them from kraal to kraal. As a result, revival came to those regions, especially amongst the Xhosas. Through these two men revival was brought to many places in KwaZulu Natal and the Eastern Cape in 1858. At Healdtown several hundred fell on their knees crying, sobbing and grfoaning over their sins in the chapel. The news about the revival in the Eastern Cape spread and thousands came to the meetings. Many came under deep conviction of sin, followed by joyful praise when they broke through in deliverance and assurance of salvation. Under the preaching, people would fall on their faces and start to cry out for mercy. In this period revival broke out in Grahamstown. Almost all the local churches were affected. ‘Soon the whole area from P.E. to Port Alfred and the Fish River was in the throngs of revival.’ Large crowds came to church every night. Soon the whole area, even up to Port Elizabeth and East London, was affected. People of all races were impacted. If there was not a building available, people would meet in the open. Missionaries in the Transkei reported that thousands of Xhosas turned to the Lord. One mission reported 600 new members within one month and crowded church meetings. 'Black' and 'White' together were feeling the presence of God. One of the results of this revival was a strong interest in missions. Missionaries travelled as far as the old Rhodesia4 and Zambia to preach the gospel. Revival fires also started to burn in Botswana. Messianic Jewry – an Ally of the Cross Considering that the historical Jesus was a Jew, one could have expected Jews to become followers of him more readily. However, Jews have difficulty to recognize him as their promised Messiah. The anti-Semitism and persecution over the centuries – all too often perpetrated by people who professed to be Christians – combined to form a major obstacle. The emperor, Constantine, had already caused a rift when he gave special privileges to Christians by making Sunday the official day of rest in AD 321. The schism was widened at the Council of Nicaea, which Constantine called in 325 CE. 5 Two Jewish converts are recorded to have been baptised at the Cape as early as 1669. Many Jews of that era who professed their faith in Jesus openly, did it out of convenience or duress. Everybody who came to the Cape at this time either had to be or become a Protestant. The constitution of the Dutch East India Company required this from all its employees and settlers. By the turn of the 19th century, restrictions on Jewish people were relaxed. On 26 September 1841, seventeen Jewish believers celebrated the Day of Atonement. A week later the first congregation ‘Tikvath Israel’ (The Hope of Israel), was established at the Cape. Two Jewish Brothers Enrich the Cape Jan and Frans Lion Cachet, two Messianic Jewish brothers, enriched evangelical Christianity at the Cape profoundly. After the sudden death of Rev. Vogelgezang at the Ebenhaezer Church in Bo-Kaap's Rose Street, Ds. Frans Cachet took over there after a short stint of Ds. Stegmann. This fellowship was at this time linked to the Congregational Church. Ds. Frans Lion Cachet initiated the remarkable innovation of teaching Arabic to the learners. Teaching folk to write, this was possibly one of the beginnings of Afrikaans, written in Bo-Kaap, but using Arabic letters. This was a display of keen insight since the Arabic script was common at the time among the Muslim slaves. Ds. Frans Cachet also had evening classes with the intention of enabling the children and adult learners to read and understand the Qur’an and to judge for themselves. Ds. Frans Cachet intended to enable learners to read, understand and judge the Qur’an for themselves. Ds. Jan Lion Cachet, his brother, was originally a teacher who later became a professor of Theology. Jan Lion Cachet became one of the stalwarts in the battle for the recognition of Afrikaans. It is significant that this warrior, who was born and bred in Holland, had to remind Afrikaners that the language of Holland was not feasible in this part of the world. He did this at a time when the Afrikaners were about to give up the fight for their language. It is tragic that some Afrikaners subsequently idolized Afrikaans, building a monument for it in Paarl. In terms of spiritual warfare, we discern how easily satan can turn a worthy cause into idolatry. A Special Clan The Solomon clan was one the most distinguished families at the Cape for decades, many of them involved with the philantropic movement, in which Christians and Jews worked cordially side by side. The Solomon clan was one the most distinguished families at the Cape for decades, many of them involved with the philantropic movement, in which Christians and Jews worked cordially side by side. The bulk of the Solomon clan turned to Christianity – without however severing their Jewish roots. Henry possessed a good knowledge of Hebrew and Arabic, devoting himself to various religious and philanthropic causes, including social work among the Cape Muslims – notably together with the Rev. Joel Rabinowitz, another gigantic Jewish personality at the Cape.(Abrahams, 1955:40). Henry and Saul Solomon became apprentices in the printing trade. Saul joined George Grieg and Co., booksellers and printers. (George Grieg joined John Fairbairn and Thomas Pringle in the fight for freedom of the press. The first newspaper of South Africa appeared in Cape Town in 1824, the South African Commercial Advertiser. Fairbairn and Pringle successfully fought the dictatorial moods of Lord Charles Somerset, even though the first newspaper was not granted a long life-span. Their endeavours achieved freedom of the press for the Cape Colony and South Africa when it was still a luxury in other parts of the world.) The two Solomon brothers worked together in a printing firm in which Saul became a partner. The two brothers took over the firm which became known as Saul Solomon and Company, succeeding in getting the contract for printing the Government Gazette in 1841. In 1857 they became the printers of the first Cape daily newspaper, The Cape Argus, which they took over in 1863. Saul influenced public opinion for many years as editor. A Rare Breed The physically diminutive Saul Solomon, a product of the Lovedale educational heritage of the Glasgow Mission, became a prominent politician. He hosted at his home Cetschwayo, the Zulu king who was defeated by the British in 1879. Saul was instrumental in starting many of Cape Town important institutions. He had to stand on a box when addressing Parliament. He was possibly the greatest Cape Jew ever. Having been trained alongside people of colour, ‘his leading characteristic was his desire to champion any section suffering under any disability whatsoever – civil, political, or religious… He was an earnest and powerful protector of the natives, and was frequently referred to as the negrophilist member…’ (of Parliament). Against the background of the traditional legacy of the deceit and lies of politicians, he was known to have ‘less cunning but more foresight.’ Already in 1855 it was said of him: ‘If ever he loses the support of his constituency … it will be in consequence of his being too truthful to his convictions and too uncompromising to expediency’. Saul Solomon was offered the Premiership of the Cape Colony in 1871 when it received responsible Government, but he refused. The breed of the Jewish background Christian, who was linked to St George’s Cathedral, was rare indeed. The Griquas – a Proud Indigenous Group Of no other indigenous people group is there arguably such a rich documented history as the tribe that came to be known as the Griquas. The group was converted to Christianity by missionaries of the London Missionary Society. We recall how the first Cape colonist Cornlies Kramer joined William Anderson to start Klaarwater, later renamed Griquatown. Their two Griqua leaders, Andries Waterboer and Adam Kok II, later had a dispute after which Kok left to start Philippolis near to present day Colesberg in the Karoo. (This settlement, founded in 1823, was named after the missionary John Philip.) Klaarwater became the focus of the missionary work amongst the Griquas. The land occupied by the Griquas was steadily infiltrated by 'White' colonists, leading to the displacement and consequent impoverishment of the Griquas. They were forced to move in a second Great Trek in the early 1860s, in which about 3000 of Adam Kok III's people relocated from Philippolis to 'Nomansland', later named Griqualand East. Twenty years later, their dreams of abundant grazing for their cattle and sheep, and an independent existence, free of colonial control, were dashed. From 1874 they came under Cape magisterial rule. The death of Adam Kok III in 1875 signified the effective end of Griqua political independence east of the Drakensberg. With 'annexation'- the process of land incorporation into the Cape colony - came confusion over titles to land. Many Griqua folk sold in panic or were swindled out of their properties by 'White' speculators. The loss of their lands reduced them to rent-paying tenants on 'White'-owned farms. A Towering Figure We highlighted the special roles of the Moravian missionary Georg Schmidt and Dr Helperus van Lier of the Groote Kerk in the 18th century, noting also how the contribution of Dr Philip impacted the abolition of slavery worldwide. The towering personality of the second half of the 19th century and into the early part of the 20th century was undoubtedly Dr Andrew Murray. Andrew and his brother John had been impacted by a revival atmosphere while studying in Utrecht in the Nether-lands before their return to South Africa. The two brothers became members of Het Réveil, a religious revival movement opposed to the rationalism which was in vogue in the Netherlands at that time. Both brothers were ordained in The Hague on 9 May 1848 and returned to the Cape. An interesting impact from the Cape was Nicolaas Hofmeyr and Jan Neethling, two young men who got converted under Willie Stegmann’s preaching in the city. By the time they started studying in Utrecht, they were fiery evangelicals who had also embraced Stegmann’s missionary zeal. When they teamed up with Andrew and John Murray, it was not long before the foursome had established an inseparable bond of friendship. God would use this mutual support group in the coming revival. These four stalwarts would also become pillars of strength to initiate missionary work from the Dutch Reformed Church. They also played a significant role in the start of the Kweekschool, a theological seminary in Stellenbosch in 1859. Before we look at his role in the big Cape revival and its aftermath, we move to North America from where the revival at the Cape was profoundly impacted. Chapter 8 North American Influence The revival in North America from 1857-1858 played a special role in the run-up to the one at the Cape in 1860. It is appropriate to highlight a few giants of the revival there. Charles Finney was a revolutionary with innovations in preaching .Phoebe Palmer takes a very special place in this regard with her role in the Holiness movement, an important catalyst of the revival. Dwight L. Moody was a good friend of the renowned Andrew Murray, the Cape revival giant. Preaching Innovations The highlight of Charles Finney's evangelistic ministry was the 'nine mighty years' of 1824 to 1832, during which he conducted powerful revival meetings In 1856 revival broke out in Rochester (New York) when Charles Finney conducted a campaign there. There the place was shaken to its foundations. Twelve hundred people united with the churches of the Rochester Presbytery. All the leading lawyers, physicians, and businessmen were impacted. Forty of the converts entered the ministry, and the whole character of the town was changed. As a result of that meeting, revivals broke out in 1,500 other towns and villages. In the same year God used Finney also in Boston, where he preached predominantly in the Park Street church. Charles Finney was known for his innovations in preaching and religious meetings, such as having women pray in public meetings of mixed gender. He also developed the “anxious seat” (a place where those considering becoming Christians could come to receive prayer). Finney’s presentation of the gospel message reached thousands and influenced many communities. Over 500,000 people responded to his public invitations to receive Christ. Finney was personal, homespun, dramatic, and forceful, and his revival lectures are still studied by Bible-believing preachers, teachers, and evangelists. Under his ministry more than 80 percent of his converts stayed true to God even after 20 years. I can not think of any other evangelist that even comes close to this success. There must be something special about this man and his message. In addition to becoming a popular Christian evangelist, Finney was involved with the movement for the abolution of slavery in America, denouncing it frequently from the pulpit. In 1835, he moved to Ohio where he became a professor and later president of Oberlin college from 1851 to 1866. Oberlin became an early movement to end slavery and was among the first American colleges to co-educate 'Blacks' and women together with 'White' men. Start of the Palmer Ministry Phoebe Worrall married Walter Palmer, a physician, who was also a devout Methodist, in 1827. The couple became interested in the writings of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. They developed a particular interest in Wesley's doctrine of Christian perfection, which is the belief that a Christian can live a life free of sin. In 1837 Phoebe Palmer and her sister began women's prayer meetings every Tuesday afternoon. By 1839 the Tuesday meetings had become so popular that men were requesting to participate. Eventually, word of these great prayer meetings ignited similar gatherings around the country, bringing Christians of many denominations together to pray. Phoebe soon found herself in the limelight as the most influential woman in the fast-growing religious movement in America. A Variety of Believers in Prayer Many people from all walks of life, including clergy, began to attend these meetings. They became a spark for the revival of Methodism in the United States. In 1839 Walter Palmer retired from his physician's practice, joining Phoebe in the ministry. In the 1840s Phoebe and Walter Palmer began an itinerant ministry where they spoke at churches, camp meetings, conventions and conferences throughout the north-east of the United States and Canada. Both were speakers at these meetings, although Phoebe became the better known of the two. Her fame spread as she wrote several books over the years. At her urging, missions began. An estimated 25,000 Americans were converted due to this influence. Revival in Hamilton (Ontario, Canada) Prayer movements were growing in Ontario, Canada. The spontaneous revival in Hamilton soon swept through the entire community and a large part of the nation. All denominations reported a rise in membership over the following years. The revival in Hamilton soon moved into New York and to a large part of the United States. This became known as the Third Great Awakening or the Businessman's Revival. The New York Christian Advocate and Journal reported on November 5, 1857 about the extraordinary revival in Hamilton in Canada West, where twenty to forty-five professions of faith were being made daily, and one hundred were made on the previous Sunday: 'The work is taking its range . . . (with) persons of all classes. Men of low degree and men of high estate for wealth and position; old men and maidens, and even little children, can be seen humbly kneeling together, pleading for grace. The mayor of the city, with other persons of like position, are not ashamed to be seen bowed at the altar of prayer beside the humble servant.' Run-up to the 1857/8 Revival in America In New York Christians heard about the Canadian revival just a week before the bank collapse of 1857. The ensuing bewilderment was seed for revival. In the middle of September 1857, Jeremiah Lanphier, a 48-year old businessman, began passing out many flyers in New York City. He invited believers to attend a weekly prayer meeting every Wednesday from noon until 1 o’clock in the North Dutch Reformed Church on the corner of Fulton and William Streets. Jeremiah Lanphier invited believers to a weekly prayer meeting. ‘This meeting is intended to give merchants, mechanics, clerks, strangers and businessmen generally an opportunity to stop and call on God amid the perplexities incident to their respective avocations. It will continue for one hour; but it is designed for those who find it inconvenient to remain more than 5 or 10 minutes, as well as for those who can spare a whole hour. Necessary interruption will be slight, because anticipated. Those in haste often expedite their business engagements by halting to lift their voices to the throne of grace in humble, grateful prayer.’ Shortly before noon on September 23 he opened the doors of the church. Out of a population of over a million, only one man showed up for the beginning of the meeting – Lanphier! At 12.30h, he heard the footsteps of one man climbing the stairs. Within a few minutes, a total of six men had joined Lanphier to pray. The next Wednesday there were twenty; the third week the prayer-meeting was attended by between 30 and 40 men. The meetings were so encouraging that it was decided that they would meet daily. The next day, the crowds had again increased. By the following Wednesday, October 14, over 100 attended. Many came under conviction of sin. A Significant Year for the Palmer Couple 1857 proved to be a significant year for Phoebe and Walter Palmer. After the bank’s collapse, many business people took their lunch hours to pray and seek God. Walter and Phoebe Palmer came to hold what turned out to be very successful meetings. Returning to the US, they were delayed in Hamilton, Ontario. On 8 October the Methodist ministers convened a prayer meeting at which sixty-five people attended. A great number of these people pledged themselves to pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. That night, Phoebe Palmer felt that God was about to move. On the evening of 9 October, a larger crowd met in the basement of the John Street Methodist Church. The meetings hereafter were made up mostly of exhortations and testimonies. Many testified of conversion, while those who were already Christians testified to an entire dedication of heart and life to Christ. A Book With a Massive Influence When Uncle Tom's Cabin was published in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U.S. The main character,Uncle Tom, is portrayed as a dignified, intelligent, God-fearing man. It is said to may have helped lay the foundation for the Civil War. Here is a brief summary of the book. Uncle Tom's Cabin tells the story of Uncle Tom, depicted as a saintly, dignified slave. While being transported by boat to auction in New Orleans, Tom saves the life of Little Eva, whose grateful father then purchases Tom. Eva and Tom soon become great friends. Always frail, Eva’s health begins to decline rapidly, and on her deathbed she asks her father to free all his slaves. He makes plans to do so, but is then killed. Tom's new owner is the brutal Simon Legree. Tom, now undergoing the cruelest conditions of plantation slavery, urges two female slaves, Cassy and Emmeline, to escape if they can. But when Cassy asks Tom to come with them, he refuses, choosing instead to share the suffering of his fellow slaves. Tom absorbed Legree’s violence, keeping the superstitious Legree unsettled enough to allow Cassy and Emmeline to escape. Simon Legree has Tom whipped to death after he had refused to divulge the whereabouts of certain runaway slaves. Tom maintains a steadfastly Christian attitude toward his own suffering, and Harriet Beecher Stowe imbues Tom’s death with echoes of that of Christ. The book was banned as abolitionist propaganda in the southern states, and a number of pro-slavery writers responded with so-called 'Anti-Tom literature.' These novels portrayed slavery from the southern point of view, in an attempt to show that authoress Stowe exaggerated her depiction of slavery's evils. In a variation of the theme, however, travelling "Tom" became popular was depicted in the South,as a submissive complicit buffoon, happy in his enslaved condition – a stereotype that anti-apartheid activists also abused in South Africa. Emulating the above, anti-apartheid activists and proponents of Black Theology have been distorting the main character in Uncle Tom's Cabin in a rather unfair and cruel way. Instead of the Christ-like personality in the book, that led to his death by a wicked slave owner, people of colour were misled to understand our Uncle Toms in the apartheid era to be docile, more or less passive cap-in-hand collaborators with the oppressive government. Seed Germination of Slavery Abolition Abolition of slavery was passionately advocated in the mid-19th century. The anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin flew off the shelves. Seventeen printing presses ran 24-hours a day to keep up with demand, making it the best-selling novel of the 19th century. The reform impulse united the nation, but abolitionism would split the American people soon. The revival that started in 1857/8 surely contributed to some correction. By 1865 it had succeeded in embedding its goal in the Constitution by amendment, though at the cost of a civil war. At its core lay the issue of 'race', over which Americans have shown their best and worst faces for centuries. When it became entangled in this period with the dynamics of American sectional conflict, its full explosive potential was released. An interesting aside is that the same issue which bedevilled human relationships in South Africa over the same period, would operated in the opposite direction a century later. This chapter highlights the influence of the North American awakening on the Cape revival. The Defiance Campaign that started in 1949 in South Africa, in which committed Christians like Chief Albert Luthuli played a prominent role, inspired Civil Rights leaders like Dr Martin Luther King in the US. (Both of them would become Nobel Peace Prize recipients, with Dr Desmond Tutu in the same vein later.) Phoebe Palmer in Britain In 1859 Walter and Phoebe Palmer went to the British Isles where they often spoke to crowds of thousands. In 1863 they returned to the United States, using the Guide to Holiness Journal to communicate their views. At one point they had forty thousand subscribers. Phoebe was its editor from 1864 until her death on November 2, 1874. It became one of the most popular religious journals in the United States. It promoted holiness, healing, and in later years, an experience of the Holy Spirit. Phoebe Palmer was also deeply concerned about social ills. She was an ardent supporter of the temperance movement and one of the founding directors of America's first inner-city outreach, New York's Five Points Mission. As a prominent religious female, she was met with suspicion. Phoebe Palmer actually agreed with critics that it was not right for her gender to engage in women preaching, 'technically so called.' But, she added, 'it is in the order of God that women may occasionally be brought out of the ordinary sphere of action and occupy in either church or state, positions of high responsibility.' Such an example inspired other women like Catherine Booth of the Salvation Army. Phoebe Palmer inspired other women like Catherine Booth of the Salvation Army. Though she considered herself only a simple 'Bible Christian' who took Scripture very seriously, Phoebe Palmer’s ministry gave rise to denominations like the Church of the Nazarene, the Salvation Army and the Pentecostal Holiness Church. When Catherine Booth of the Salvation Army read Phoebe Palmer’s teachings, they had a profound impact on her and she incorporated them into the Army's foundations. Phoebe Palmer also worked with believers who started missions, opened an orphanage, and fed the poor. A Methodist Episcopal Legend... Francis Asbury (August 20 or 21, 1745 – March 31, 1816) was one of the first two bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. During his 45 years in the colonies and the newly independent United States, he devoted his life to ministry, travelling thousands of miles on horseback and by carriage to those living on the frontier. Asbury spread Methodism in British colonial America. At the age of 22, Asbury was ordained by no less than Wesley as a travelling preacher. Typically such positions were held by young, unmarried men, known as exhorters. In 1771 Asbury volunteered to travel to British colonial America. During the first year he served as Wesley's assistant and preached in 25 different settlements. ...Together with 'Black Harry' In 1780, Asbury met the freed slave Henry 'Black Harry' Hosier, a meeting the minister believed 'providentially arranged'. Hosier served as his driver and guide and, though illiterate, memorized long passages of the Bible as Asbury read them aloud during their travels. Hosier eventually became a famous preacher in his own right, the first African American to preach directly to a 'White' congregation in the United States. Harry was born into slavery sometime around 1750, and was freed at some point in his early life. He was illiterate but had such a gift for memorization that he could quote entire hymns and passages of Scripture from memory. Harry began his ministry with Asbury by travelling through Virginia and the Carolinas. He was originally brought along by Asbury to preach to the 'Black' people who came to hear preaching as Asbury went from town to town. Soon it became clear that Harry’s masterful preaching skills were attracting 'White' people as well. In fact, when Asbury would finish preaching, he would announce that Harry would be preaching to the 'Black' people soon after, and many times the 'White' people would stay to hear Harry as well. Free-born Garrettson, another preacher who often rode with Harry, wrote in his journal of Harry's preaching, "...I have never seen so tender a meeting in this town before, for a general weeping ran through the assembly, especially while Harry gave an exhortation." Toward the end of his life, Harry became an alcoholic. However, he repented to the Lord, was delivered, and amazingly continued preaching with the same power as before. Harry's life shows us what it can look like when the power and anointing of God rests upon us, and we choose to let Him have His way. Even seeming roadblocks, like illiteracy and the racial tensions of the 1800s cannot stop the power of God from going forth from one who is willing. We can also rest in the knowledge that even when we fall into sin, through repentance we can be delivered and still used mightily by God. Another Spiritual Legend Another American spiritual legend that can be linked to the Cape revival movement is Dwight L. Moody, an evangelist connected with the Holiness Movement. He was in many ways the complete opposite of Andrew Murray who grew up in an evangelical home environment with prayerful parents. Dwight Moody’s Sunday School teacher stated: 'I can truly say, … that I have seen few persons whose minds were spiritually darker than was his when he came into my Sunday School class; and I think that the committee of the Mount Vernon Church seldom met an applicant for membership more unlikely ever to become a Christian of clear and decided views of gospel truth, still less to fill any extended sphere of public usefulness…'. Dwight Moody began to minister to sailors, later to gamblers and thieves in the saloons. In 1857 Dwight Moody began to minister to the sailors in Chicago's port, and later to gamblers and thieves in the saloons. After the American War of Independence Dwight L. Moody made revivalism the centre of his activities in Chicago, founding the Moody Bible Institute. Wings to the Sunday School Movement D.L Moody gave wings to the Sunday School movement as possibly no one before him, using unconventional ways. His innovative style grabbed attention. A witness of his efforts recalled: I saw the man (Moody) standing up with a few tallow candles around him, holding a Negro boy, and trying to read to him the story of the Prodigal Son and a great many words he could not read out, and had to skip. I thought, 'If the Lord can ever use such an instrument as that for His honor and glory, it will astonish me'. To attract poor urban children to his Sunday School he bought a little Indian pony and offered rides. As a result of his tireless labour, within a year the average attendance at his Sunday school was 650, while 60 volunteers from various churches served as teachers. Targeted Outreach to the Unchurched The Protestant mainline churches were growing rapidly in numbers, wealth and educational levels, throwing off their frontier beginnings and becoming centered in towns and cities.Each denomination supported active missionary societies, and made the role of missionary one of high prestige. Across the nation ‘drys’ were now propagated, the prohibition of alcohol. The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union mobilized Protestant women for campaigns against liquor, pornography and prostitution. It also sparked the demand for woman suffrage, that females may also be allowed to vote. All the major denominations supported growing missionary activities inside the United States and around the world. Billy Sunday (1862-1935), was a professional baseball player from 1883 to 1891 for Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia teams. He was converted through the street preaching of Harry Monroe of the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago. Billy Sunday left a $5,000 a year salary as a baseball player for $84 a month in a ministry position with the YMCA. He was an evangelist from 1893 to 1935. It is estimated that over 300,000 people made decisions to receive Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord as a result of his preaching. Chapter 9 Moves In and From Britain With its close links as a British Colony, it was only natural that revivalist moves there would impact the Cape. We noted already how Willie Stegmann was sent to study in Scotland and another decade or so further, the two Murray sons were at Aberdeen University. Andrew Murray – like D.L. Moody - was closely linked to the Keswick movement which started in England in 1875. In spite of many deficiencies, the book The Higher Christian Life by William Boardman,, stimulated the movement that would be promoted via the well-known Keswick Conventions. The first of them was a tent revivalist campaign in Keswick England in 1875. The Haldane Revival Robert Haldane became concerned with the evangelisation of Europe. A passion found him in the city of Geneva in 1815. Robert Haldane was sitting on a park bench by the lake of Geneva when he got into a conversation with some university students. They were studying for the ministry, but they were clearly not converted. Haldane invited them to his flat in the old city, not far from the great church once pastored by John Calvin. There they participated that winter in what we would call a Bible study. Haldane taught them from the book of Romans, on which he would eventually write a great commentary. The following year Robert Haldane visited the continent, operating first at Geneva and afterwards in Montauban. He lectured and interviewed large numbers of theological students with remarkable effect; among them were César Malan, Fréederic and Jean Henri Merle d'Aubigné. This circle of men spread the revival of evangelical Protestant Christianity across the continent of Europe, impacting France, Germany (Die Erweckung) and the Netherlands (Het Reveil). Through conversion and missionary impetus the effects of this revival were felt as far afield as Italy and Hungary. Each of those young men was soundly converted through that study and became effective leaders in the revival that followed. It seldom happens that a great work, in which co-operated effort is required, the same family which produced the originator should also produce the effectual seconder of the movement. From this general rule the family of Haldane of Airthrey is an honoured exception; for while Robert was building churches across Scotland, his younger brother, James, was ably preparing the way by preaching in its most destitute localities, and reviving that religious spirit which had sunk for years into cold apathy and indifference. The Haldane Revival had impacted Scotland by the 1840s deeply when it was marred by theological controversy. By this time it had however already influenced Holland intensely. There Jewish background Isaac da Costa would carry the baton of the Réveil, the spiritual renewal that swept through Europe, opposing the rebellion of the Enlightenment. Effects of the Awakening in Britain One of the first effects of the awakening in Britain was deepened interest and sympathy with the poor, the suffering and the people that lived on the periphery of society. Elizabeth Fry (née Gurney) (21 May 1780 – 12 October 1845) was a major driving force as a dedicated Christian and philanthropist behind new legislation to make the treatment of prisoners more humane, and she was supported in her efforts by the reigning monarch. At the age of 18, young Elizabeth was deeply moved by the preaching of William Savery, an American Quaker. Motivated by his words, she took an interest in the poor, the sick and the prisoners. She collected old clothes for the poor, visited those who were sick in her neighbourhood, and started a Sunday school in the summer house to teach children to read. The combination of evangelism and social upliftment was characteristic of the types of initiatives that started in those days. The lasting work of the Salvation Army that was started through the labours of William and Catherine Booth is a well-known example. The Prince of Preachers God had started to forge something special at the time of the Industrial Revolution which caused a downward spiral in spiritual life. Thus, the Baptist church in New Park Street, one of the six largest in London, that held a heritage few churches could claim, had dwindled by 1850. Times had changed. New Park Street was now what we would call an inner-city church. It was located in the midst of a filthy industrial district which was hard to reach. What had once been a growing congregation of 1200 had ebbed to a group of around 200. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, born on June 19, 1834, got converted during a sermon of a Methodist preacher on the countryside when he was seventeen. Hereafter he would spend time in some ministerial training but he never attended any formal theological school. He also served, preaching to a small Baptist congregation near home for about two years at Waterbeach. The country boy had not been called to stay in the country, however. God was about to unleash Charles Haddon Spurgeon on the greatest city in the British Empire. After being invited to preach at the Baptist church in New Park Street a few times occasionally, young Spurgeon was asked to pastor this once influential congregation in 1854. In spite of his own doubts about his age, a 20 year old Charles Spurgeon became the pastor. So great was the impact this novice preacher made on the people at New Park Street and the city of London that by 1855 it was evident a new church building was necessary to accommodate their growing numbers. While the building was progressing, the congregation was forced to rent the Exeter Hall to meet in. This was considered scandalous to many of the more high church types. Churches did not meet in public buildings in those days. Such growth was not without its critics. Some pastors in London claimed Spurgeon was a glory-hound while local newspapers issued caricatures of Spurgeon as an egotistical and uneducated buffoon. Regardless of the obstacles, the work flourished. No sooner had the congregation returned to their new building, when they realized that they had not built it large enough. They decided to worship at the Surrey Music Hall on Sunday nights. Tragedy Struck On 19 October 1856, ten thousand people were crammed into the Hall to hear Spurgeon preach, with another ten thousand outside. That evening tragedy struck. Not long after services began, someone yelled, “Fire!” Not long after services began, someone yelled, “Fire!” The panic that followed caused the deaths of seven people. For several weeks pastor Spurgeon secluded himself in depression over the event. As always, however, God uses even the worst of events to bring about His purposes. This event and those that followed over the next few months led to the greatest chapter in Spurgeon’s ministry. In 1856, the congregation of New Park Street met to discuss the building of a new sanctuary. In keeping with his vision for London, Spurgeon and the congregation voted to change the name of their church to Metropolitan Tabernacle. The years of service at New Park Street and Metropolitan Tabernacle would prove astounding. Doctrinally, Spurgeon was unique, proving that belief in the sovereignty of God does not cool evangelism but rather inflames it. He always preached to sinners, calling them to repentance and salvation. Though he didn’t often have what we would call revival meetings, he invited D.L. Moody to preach in his church and Ira Sankey sang at his funeral. Because Spurgeon held to the tenants of Calvinism while being warmly evangelistic it seemed he was often shot at from all sides. Some Calvinists called him an Arminian and many Arminians called him a hyper-Calvinist. These attacks mattered little to Spurgeon. What he longed for was what earlier Puritans had ardently prayed for. He longed for God to pour out His Spirit on His people. He was always calling the church to true revival. Above all, Spurgeon was a preacher of the Word. Not the shallow, self-serving allusions to the Word we hear today. He was passionately tied to the whole counsel of God. In The Greatest Fight in the World, he said, "The Word is like its author, infinite, immeasurable, without end. If you were to be ordained to be a preacher throughout eternity, you would have before you a theme equal to everlasting demands." That undying allegiance to God’s Word brought great triumph in Spurgeon’s life. D.L. Moody in England In June 1871 Moody met Ira D. Sankey, the gospel singer, with whom he soon partnered. The hymns of Ira Sankey were especially influential at this time. On a trip to England in 1872, D.L Moody became well known as an evangelist. He preached almost a hundred times and was linked to the Plymouth Brethren. He preached almost a hundred times and came in touch with the Plymouth Brethren. On several occasions he filled stadiums of 2,000 to 4,000 capacity. In the Botanic Gardens Palace a meeting pulled between 15,000 to 30,000 people. Moody was the first to bring a managerial mentality to revivalism. Organisation and advertizing were key elements that would revolutionise campaigns in the 20th century. This turnout continued throughout 1874 and 1875, with crowds of thousands at all of his meetings. The famous London Baptist preacher, Charles Spurgeon invited Moody to speak and promoted him as well. When he returned to the United States, crowds of 12,000 to 20,000 were just as common as in England. Northfield became an important location in evangelical Christian history in the late 19th century as Moody organized summer conferences which were led and attended by prominent Christian preachers and evangelists from around the world. He preached almost a hundred times and came in touch with the Plymouth Brethren. On several occasions he filled stadiums of 2,000 to 4,000 capacity. In the Botanic Gardens Palace a meeting pulled between 15,000 to 30,000 people. Moody was the first to bring a managerial mentality to revivalism. Organisation and advertizing were key elements that would revolutionise campaigns in the 20th century. Turnouts like this continued throughout 1874 and 1875, with crowds of thousands at all of his meetings. The famous London Baptist preacher, Charles Spurgeon invited Moody to speak and promoted him as well. When Moody returned to the United States, crowds of 12,000 to 20,000 were just as common as in England. Northfield became an important location in evangelical Christian history in the late 19th century. Moody organized summer conferences which were led and attended by prominent Christian preachers and evangelists from around the world. In 1877 a student department of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) was formed to direct efforts more specifically toward Christian work on college and university campuses. Luther Wishard, the first collegiate secretary of the YMCA, had a great personal interest in foreign missions. His influence did much to tilt the student YMCA in that direction. A Gifted Hymn Writer and Music Teacher Philip P. Bliss was one of the greatest hymn writers of all time. During the summer of 1869, Philip Bliss happened to pass by a church one evening where Dwight L. Moody was having a Gospel Campaign. He decided to go in and listen to the message. That evening, D. L. Moody was without a musical director, and the singing from the audience was rather poor. However, Philip’s voice rang out above the others to such an extent that it attracted the attention of Moody, who sought out Bliss and urged him to come to his Sunday evening meetings and help with the singing. This he did. In 1873, D. L. Moody wrote to Bliss from England, and then later from Scotland, urging him to become his music director. Bliss declined. Not long afterwards, though, he did decide to commit himself to full-time evangelistic ministry. Philip Bliss joined Major D. W. Whittle, a popular evangelist of the day, and a preaching/singing team was born that would long be remembered, even after both had passed from this life. Their first gospel meeting was held in Waukegan, Illinois, on March 24-26, 1874. It was during this meeting that Philip Bliss sang one of his most famous hymns -- Almost Persuaded -- which had a tremendous effect upon the crowd. Someone present would later write, “The Holy Spirit seemed to fill the hall” when Bliss sang that particular hymn. The day after the meeting, when Bliss reflected upon how powerful the impact was upon the audience, he knelt in prayer and vowed to God to surrender everything so that he might serve Him fully. The Story of the American Hymn records about Almost Persuaded: ­ “it is said to have brought far more souls to Jesus Christ than any other song he ever composed”. A Special British Follow-Up In 1873, Dwight L. Moody and his co-worker, Ira Sankey, began a three-year evangelical mission of the British Isles. A thirteen-year-old boy named Stanley P. Smith was one of those impacted at the start of this campaign. In 1879, Stanley Smith entered Cambridge University. Edward Studd had become a Christian in 1877, when a friend took him to one of Moody's meetings. After Edward Studd accepted Jesus, he devoted the remaining two years of his life to bringing the gospel to anybody and everybody. He opened his home for weekly Christian meetings and invited Christian speakers to speak and all of his friends and neighbours to listen. He also took his servants to listen to Moody. He worked doubly hard to evangelize his three sons. A Blind Hymn Writer of Note Hymn writers played a special role in revivals. Count Zinzendorf was a prolific hymn writer with a special gift to dictate hymns as they were sung. The hymn 'Sonne der Gerechtigkeit' (Son of Righteouesness) was written by Christian David who felled the first tree for the start of Herrnhut. This hymn is still a favourite in German-speaking countries. As a hymn writer during the American awakenings, Fanny Crosby - arguably the greatest English hymn writer in the history of the Christian Church - deserves special mention. Frances Jane Crosby (1820 – 1915) usually known as Fanny Crosby, was best known for her Protestant Christian hymns. Blind for all of her life, Fanny Crosby, one of the greatest hymn writers ever, witnessed over 8,000 of her poems set to music and over 100,000,000 copies of her songs printed. As many as 200 different pen names, including Grace J. Frances, were given to her works by hymn book publishers, so that the public wouldn’t know she wrote such a large a number of them. Fanny Crosby produced as many as seven hymn-poems in one day. On several occasions, upon hearing an unfamiliar hymn sung, she would inquire about the author, and find it to be one of her own! Born in a one-story cottage, her father, John, was never to be remembered by Fanny, for he died in the twelfth month of her life. When Fanny was six weeks old, she caught a slight cold in her eyes. The family physician was out of town. Another country doctor was called in to treat her. He prescribed hot mustard poultices to be applied to her eyes, which destroyed her sight completely! Fanny never felt any resentment against him, but believed it was permitted by the Lord to fulfil His plan for her life. Her wise mother set about immediately to prepare her daughter for a happy life, in spite of this great handicap. Ira Sankey did more than any other single individual to popularize and immortalize Fanny Crosby’s songs. The great crowds who thronged the Moody-Sankey revivals sang her songs until they became part of the heritage not only of that generation, but also sung around the world ever since. A Special Aftermath Charles T. Studd became a household name throughout Great Britain through his cricketing prowess. In due course he was regarded as the greatest player to have ever played the game. In November of 1883, Charles' younger brother George was dying. Charles loved his brother dearly and he was stricken with grief. But God used this event to change his life. Miraculously, God restored George's health and at the first opportunity, Charles went to hear D.L. Moody. While listening to God's Word, Charles's heart was opened. Cricket did not matter anymore; only a relationship with his Saviour, and the Lord Jesus was paramount. Charles T. Studd said, 'There the Lord met me again and restored to me the joy of His salvation. Still further, and what was better than all, He set me to work for Him, and I began to try and persuade my friends to read the gospel, and to speak to them immediately about their souls.' God would use C.T. Studd in a much way greater than the cricket player could have ever imagined. He took several of his teammates to hear Moody preach and they were converted. Seven young men yielded their lives to Jesus. They made the most of their situations for the sake of telling others about their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, even though their individual positions meant nothing to them because of the joy and meaning they had found in Jesus. Charles Studd now had only one desire; to win souls for Christ. He joined the Moody mission and spoke at meetings, along with his brother Kynaston Charles Studd had only one desire: to win souls for Christ. Influence of Hudson Taylor At this time the influence of Hudson Taylor, the radical pioneer missionary in China had been making itself felt in Britain quite significantly. At his forced return to Britain in 1861 when he became very ill, recruitment of new missionaries for the unreached millions of the Far East was his top priority. In two areas of missionary endeavour Hudson Taylor was a special pioneer, namely what came to be known as contextualisation and complete dependency on God alone for financial provision. With regard to the former, he made a radical decision (as least for Protestant missionaries of the day): he decided to dress in Chinese clothes and grow a pigtail (as Chinese men did). And when the Chinese Evangelization Society, which had sponsored Taylor, proved incapable of paying its missionaries in 1857, Taylor resigned and became an independent missionary; trusting God to meet his needs. The new mission agency, which he called the China Inland Mission (CIM), had a number of distinctive features: its missionaries would have no guaranteed salaries nor could they appeal for funds; they would simply trust God to supply their needs; furthermore, its missionaries would adopt Chinese dress and then press the gospel into the China interior. Between Hudson Taylor's work ethic and his absolute trust in God (despite never soliciting funds, his CIM grew and prospered), he inspired thousands to forsake the comforts of the West to bring the Christian message to the vast and unknown interior of China. Though mission work in China was interrupted by the communist takeover in 1949, the CIM continues to this day under the name Overseas Missionary Fellowship (International). Missionary Recruitment Seven young men, who would later become known as the Cambridge Seven, including C.T. Studd and Stanley Smith, went to Hudson Taylor in London together, offering themselves for missionary service in China. The seven were scheduled to leave for Chins in early February 1885. During a farewell tour, these seven young men toured the campuses of England and Scotland, holding meetings for the students. God used them to bring revival throughout Great Britain. God used the seven young men to bring revival throughout Great Britain. C. T. Studd was essentially a 'cavalry leader'. In that capacity he led several splendid charges. C. T. and Stanley Smith led the Cambridge Seven to China. Ten years later C. T. toured the American Universities at the start of the Student Volunteer Movement. In 1910 he initiated the campaign for the region between the Nile and Lake Chad (the largest unevangelized region in Africa at the time).' Three years later he and his wife Priscilla pioneered the Heart of Africa Mission that became a revival instrument in what was called the Belgian Congo. 6 God used the Cambridge Seven to shake the foundations of a sleeping church in England and awaken her to the gospel of salvation and world mission. Their influence even went across the Atlantic to the United States and also ultimately also came to the Cape via Andrew Murray and the Keswick Movement. At this time a life of holiness was not preached at the Cape, as this was regarded as overdrawn. Backsliding became the order of the day. In due course, the term ‘born again’ became suspect. The Keswick Convention at the Cape became an important corrective for decades with its emphasis on holiness. Because of the prevalent lifestyle of racial segregation, the effect was however limited. (In the meetings at the Groote Kerk people of colour had to sit separately.) We need to go back in history to see how things developed at the Cape in the decades prior to that, notably in the run-up to the great Cape revival of the early 1860s. Keswick and Andrew Murray The life of the well-known Dr Andrew Murray was preaching and teaching. In 1879 he became ill and his throat was impacted. He lost his voice and began the two "silent years". These years moulded Murray in a new way. He surrendered everything to God. He came to a place of deep humility and love for God and for others. In 1881 he went to London to Bethshan, a faith cure home, that was linked to the Keswick movement. Andrew Murray was completely healed there and never had trouble with his throat again. From that point on he knew that the gifts of God were for believers today, and taught and wrote about it. In 1882 he attended the Keswick Convention. Eventually, in 1895, he became a featured speaker. Murray began an extensive schedule of travelling and speaking. Twice he was in car accidents that left him with a limp. These God chose not to heal. Eventually he focused on writing books. Between 1858 and 1917 he wrote over 240 books and tracts. Many of these are considered classics and are still in print today. His books have touched a multitude of people. We need to go back in history to see how things developed at the Cape in the decades prior to that, notably in the run-up to the great Cape revival of the early 1860s. A Welsh Revival with Pentecostal Ramifications In the Welsh Revival of 1904 approximately 100,000 people joined the movement. Internationally, evangelical Christians took this event to be a sign that a fulfilment of the biblical prophecy of Joel 2:23–29 was about to take place. Joseph Smale, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Los Angeles, went to Wales personally in order to witness the revival. Upon his return to Los Angeles, he attempted to ignite a similar event in his own congregation. His attempts were short-lived, and he eventually left First Baptist Church to found First New Testament Church, where he continued his efforts. During this time, other small-scale revivals were taking place in different places. By 1905, reports of speaking in tongues, supernatural healings and significant lifestyle changes accompanied these revivals. As news spread, evangelicals across the United States began to pray for similar revivals in their own congregations. Origins of the Pentecostal Revival Charles Fox Parham (1873 -1929) was an American preacher who was instrumental in the formation of Pentecostalism. In 1898, Parham moved his ministry to Topeka, Kansas, starting a healing home there. The 1930 biography on Parham acknowledges that he, 'deciding to know more fully the latest truths restored by the latter day movements', took a sabbatical from his work at the healing home in 1900. While he saw and looked at other teachings and models when he visited the other works, most of his time was spent at Sanford's work in Ontario, Canada. From Parham's later writings, it appears he incorporated some, but not all of the ideas he observed there, into his view of Bible truths (which he later taught at his Bible schools). Parham started Bethel Bible School in Topeka, operating the school on a faith basis, not charging tuition, depending on God to supply the needs of the school. Prior to starting his Bible school, Parham had heard of at least one individual in Sanford's work who spoke in tongues and had reprinted the incident in his paper. He had also come to the conclusion that there was more to a full baptism than others acknowledged at the time. By the end of 1900, Parham had led his students at Bethel Bible School through his understanding that there had to be a further experience with God, but had not specifically pointed them to speaking in tongues. While Parham's account indicates that when classes were finished at the end of December, he left his students for a few days, asking them to study the Bible to determine what evidence was present when the early church received the Holy Spirit. The students had several days of prayer and worship, and held a New Year's Eve "watch-night" service at Bethel (December 31, 1900). The next evening (January 1, 1901) they also held a worship service, and it was that evening that Agnes Ozman felt impressed to ask to be prayed for to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Immediately after being prayed for, she began to speak in what they referred to as 'in tongues', speaking in what was believed to be a known language. One of Parham's students was William Seymour, an Afro-American who was born as the son of slaves in Centreville (Louisiana). As a grown man he attended the newly formed Bible school founded by Charles Parham in Houston (Texas) in 1905. It was here that he learned the major tenets of the Holiness Movement. He developed a belief in glossolia (speaking in tongues) as a confirmation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He later moved to Los Angeles to minister in churches. As a consequence of his new found Pentecostal doctrine he was removed from the parish to which he had been appointed. Looking for a place to continue his work, he found a run-down building in down-town Los Angeles located on Azusa Street, and preached his doctrinal beliefs there. The result was the Azusa Street Revival. The current worldwide Pentecostal and charismatic movements are generally agreed to have been in part the result of Seymour's ministry and the Azusa Street Revival. The revival is considered by historians to be the primary catalyst for the spread of Pentecostalism in the 20th century. Run-up to the Azusa Street Revival The Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles, California was led by William J. Seymour. It began with a meeting on April 14, 1906, and continued until roughly 1915. The revival was characterized by ecstatic spiritual experiences accompanied by speaking in tongues, dramatic worship services, and inter-racial mingling. The participants received criticism from secular media and Christian theologians for behaviour considered to be outrageous and unorthodox. Seymour not only rejected the existing racial barriers in favor of unity in Christ, he also rejected the then almost-universal barriers to women in any form of church leadership. In 1905, William J. Seymour, the one-eyed 34 year-old son of former slaves, was a student of Charles Parham and initially an interim pastor of a small holiness fellowship in Houston, Texas. Neely Terry, an Afro-American woman who attended a small holiness church pastored by Julia Hutchins in Los Angeles, made a trip to visit family in Houston late in 1905.While in Houston, she visited Seymour's church, where he preached the baptism with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues, and though he had not experienced this personally, Neely Terry was impressed with his character and message. Once home in California, Terry suggested that Seymour be invited to speak at the local church. Seymour received and accepted the invitation in February 1906, and he received financial help and a blessing from Parham for his planned one-month visit. William Seymour arrived in Los Angeles on February 22, 1906, and within two days was preaching at Julia Hutchins' church at the corner of Ninth Street and Santa Fe Avenue. During his first sermon, he preached that speaking in tongues was the first biblical evidence of the inevitable baptism in the Holy Spirit. On the following Sunday, March 4, he returned to the church and found that Hutchins had padlocked the door. Elders of the church rejected Seymour's teaching, primarily because he had not yet experienced the blessing about which he was preaching. Condemnation of his message also came from the Holiness Church Association of Southern California with which the church had affiliation. Seymour and his small group of new followers soon relocated to the home of Richard and Ruth Asberry at 214 North Bonnie Brae Street. 'White' families from local holiness churches began to attend as well. The group would get together regularly and pray to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. On April 9, 1906, after five weeks of Seymour's preaching and prayer, and three days into an intended 10-day fast, Edward S. Lee spoke in tongues for the first time. At the next meeting, Seymour shared Lee's testimony and preached a sermon on Acts 2:4 and soon six others began to speak in tongues as well, including Jennie Moore, who would later become Seymour's wife. A few days later, on April 12, Seymour spoke in tongues for the first time after praying all night long. News of the events at North Bonnie Brae St. quickly circulated among the African American, Latino and 'White' residents of the city. For several nights, various speakers would preach to the crowds of curious and interested onlookers from the front porch of the Asberry home. Members of the audience included people from a broad spectrum of income levels and religious backgrounds. Hutchins eventually spoke in tongues as her whole congregation began to attend the meetings. Soon the crowds became very large and were full of people speaking in tongues, shouting, singing and moaning. Finally, the front porch collapsed, forcing the group to begin looking for a new meeting place. Chapter 10 Run-Up to the Big Cape Revival Prior to the 1860 Revival, the Cape Colony was a spiritual wilderness. In the first 150 years of Dutch rule only five Dutch Reformed congregations had been established, all within a 130 Km radius of Cape Town. Most of the colonists had no access to pastoral guidance or opportunities for religious services. Among other ecclesiastic denominations the situation was worse. Cape Efforts to Stimulate Revival As early as 1847, the Cape Dutch Reformed Church synod recommended that prayer meetings be held at least once a month in every congregation, but they were very poorly attended. Ds. Gottlieb van der Lingen, the minister of the Dutch Reformed Church in Paarl, yearned for revival. He had made a detailed study of past revivals. Reports from the 1857 Prayer Revival in America began to arrive at the Cape. Some were also coming in from the British Isles. Ds. Gottlieb van der Lingen had been rather sceptical of the early reports from America that he initially claimed to be nothing more than ‘church and spiritual quackery’. This changed in due course. He would hereafter share his heartfelt longing at Presbytery for this blessing, saying in 1858: 'Oh, if it would behove Him to pour out the Spirit of brokenness in prayer and the Spirit of Godly peace as … in North America'. Rev. John Murray, brother of the famous Andrew, ultimately became a co-founder of the Kweekschool, the Dutch Reformed Seminary at Stellenbosch in 1859. On this occasion Professor Nicolaas Hofmeyr complained that no effort was made to bring all leading Christians of the country together. Ds. Jan Neethling had arrived in Stellenbosch to take a post as pastor of the local Dutch Reformed Church a year earlier. This was the beginning of what became known affectionately as the triumvirate – 'a tribute to the harmonious way they tackled religious and educational ventures as a coordinated threesome'. A Call to Prayer The father of Andrew Murray prayed for revival when the great theologian was not yet spiritually ready. A remnant of the believers had their hope of revival renewed. This fresh hope led several Dutch Reformed Church pastors to issue a new call to prayer in 1859. A call to this end on behalf of the South African Evangelical Alliance was issued in August 1859 by Ds. Abraham Faure (DRC), Rev. George Morgan (Presbyterian) and Rev. James Cameron (Methodist). In it they stated 'that a revival in our faith is necessary and earnestly desired; it is a fact that no one who is at all knowledgeable about the conditions of the churches in this Colony can deny. That such an awakening can occur through the abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and that the gift of the Holy Spirit is promised in answer to prayer, are truths that are clearly taught in Scripture.' The three pastors invited their minister colleagues to preach a series of sermons on the character of God, the role of the Holy Spirit and the need for both corporate and private prayer for the outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit. They wrote: 'We earnestly beseech you to faithfully and fervently pray one hour every week, with others, or alone, that God by His Grace may visit our land and give us the blessing of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.' An 85-page booklet of Andrew Murray (jr) entitled De Kracht des Gebeds (The Power of Prayer) was widely circulated throughout 1859. Several articles on prayer and revival were published in De Kerkbode and De Wekker. Prior to his arrival in Worcester, Andrew Murray wrote in a letter to his brother: ‘My prayer for revival ...is so much hampered by the increasing sense of unfitness for the work of the Holy Spirit... Pray for me, my dear brother’. Apathy Challenged The effect of this booklet was limited because the material was not read by the rank and file church member. The average person in the pew remained disinterested and unresponsive. While many of the pastors were enthusiastic about prayer and revival, the average person in the pew remained disinterested and unresponsive. Yet, God’s spirit worked in diverse ways. Around May 1859 at one of the quarterly visits of Ds. William Robertson in Montagu, where there was as yet no resident Dutch Reformed minister, he shared about the revival in America. Thereupon a prayer meeting was established there. (Prior to May 1860 the weekly prayer meeting at both Montagu and Worcester seldom had more than three or four participants.) In the meantime, akin to two blind women who ushered in the well-known revival on the Hebrides, islands linked to Scotland, a dedicated intercessor in Worcester ‘treaded a footpath to a hill outside the town to pray more effectively.’ In spite of the hopefulness of the remnant, the majority were still very sceptical of the potential for a revival. To address the lack of corporate prayer and the prevailing scepticism, a committee at the Stellenbosch Seminary organized a Church and Missionary Conference fairly quickly, due to take place in Worcester on April 18–19, 1860. Worldwide, the conference on revival was one of the first of its kind. Delegates from the Dutch Reformed, Congregational, Lutheran, Methodist, Moravian and Presbyterian Churches met for the epoch-making conference in April, 1860. Three hundred and seventy preachers and laymen from different denominations attended. Worldwide, the conference on revival was one of the first of its kind. The unity displayed there can be regarded as an important catalyst to the Cape revival. Even after the April conference, the call to prayer was still answered by very few, and it was then that God, 'in His mercy, imparted the gift of prayer so that His requirements in this regard could be met.' For an example, it was in the town of Calvinia that an indescribable urge to pray came upon the community. This was very out-of-the-ordinary, because for many years this community was most reluctant to unite for prayer. The Revival Run-Up in Worcester The 1860 revival of Worcester that started in the church where Dr Andrew Murray was the minister, has been described as the result of teamwork. His father, Ds. Andrew Murray (Sr.) had prayed for revival every Friday evening since 1822. By 1860 he would have prayed for 38 years. The gifted young dominee Andrew Murray, who had just come to Worcester prior to this, would be impacted during the revival, along with thousands in the Western Cape. Andrew Murray played a foundational role in chartering the history of South Africa's prayer movement. The younger Murray appears to have matched his father as a prayerful minister of the Word. The golden ray of prayer illumined all Andrew Murray did. About his life the secular Dictionary of South African Biography wrote: ‘The golden ray of prayer illumined all he did...He believed that nothing that was amiss and demanded correction could not be corrected or endured by prayer.’ This is confirmed when one takes a closer look at the titles of his 250 books. There one finds titles like De Kracht des Gebeds (1859), Pray Without Ceasing (1898) and The Prayer Life (1912). He also published a volume in 1885 called De School des Gebeds. There he highlights the power of intercessory prayer as a great gift from the Father. God listens to those he loves, and works all things for their good. Andrew Murray had the vision of winning Africa for Christ. This goal motivated his desire to pray and live a life that was totally surrendered to God. In his book With Christ in the School of Prayer Murray presents New Testament teaching on prayer and encourages the reader to move past simplistic prayers that are ineffectual. He longed that the Church would know that God rules the world by the prayers of His saints, that prayer is the power by which satan is conquered. He believed that through prayer the Church on earth has tremendous authority even over heavenly powers. Firmly living from this belief, Murray inspired the Church to access the powers of heaven through prayer and to bring the gospel to the world through the power of the Holy Spirit. Murray's words were important seeds sown into the history of the prayer movement. Germination would be evident in following generations. His personal vision of 'Africa for Christ' would eventually become the aim of the Transformation Africa movement. A significant contribution to the 1860 Worcester revival came from the nearby town of Rawsonville. From approximately 1850 onwards, two ladies in this town had been praying regularly for revival. Sparks That Prepared the Revival At the historic Worcester conference of April 1860, the Presbyterian minister Dr James Adamson set the tone with a report at the Conference of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in America, noting also the conditions conducive to revival. Rev. Andrew Murray (sr.) was so overawed by the topic that he burst into tears. A passionate prayer by his son stirred the hearts of many, so much so that it has been suggested that this was a spark that helped to trigger the revival. Following the Worcester Conference on April 18-19, 1860, delegates returned to their home towns with a renewed desire to pray for revival. They immediately joined the already established prayer groups. These prayer meetings met up to three times daily. People began sharing their faith, and many were saved Chapter 11 The Big Cape Revival Takes Off Montagu was the first place to experience spiritual renewal. A prayer revival began in the Methodist Church where meetings were held every night and on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, sometimes as early as 3 a. m. People who had never prayed publicly before, began to do so. Young and old cried to God for mercy and continued until midnight. People from the Dutch Reformed Church left their own prayer meetings and crowded into the Methodist Church. Prayers for Revival and Cries for Mercy An anonymous author gave a report of what took place during the times of prayer: 'When he [the Lord] started to wander amongst us, how intense were the prayers for revival and the cries for mercy! ‘I am lost,’ cries one here. ‘Lord help me,’ cries another. It was impossible to calm them. Extraordinary scenes were witnessed in those days. Anxious cries were uttered, heavy with fear. Heart-rendering testimonies of conversion were heard. Visions were seen ... Here in corporate prayer, elsewhere in quiet dwellings, even behind bushes and rocks, on mountains and in ravines, men, women, grey heads, children, gentlemen, servants – all crying for mercy. And none of this was expected by anyone, nor prepared by anyone, nor worked up or preached by anyone. It was all the Spirit of God; and not for a few hours or days, but months long. Oh! Blessed days!' There was also great conviction of sin and confession. People flocked to the early morning prayer meetings in Montagu. By May 1860 there were three prayer meetings every day. There was also great conviction of sin and confession. People came even from Worcester, Wellington and Paarl to observe and experience the phenomenon. Within a matter of weeks, the whole town was revived. For weeks, the village of Montagu experienced great conviction of sin. Strong men cried out to God in anguish. Six prayer meetings were taking place throughout the village. The report reached Worcester, and prayer meetings began there as well. The Worcester Revival Began on a Farm The revival in the town of Worcester did not begin in the church. It began on a farm where people had been faithfully meeting in prayer each week for several months. Andrew Murray, the pastor at the Dutch Reformed Church in Worcester at this time, visited this farm. He was very much opposed to emotions being expressed. He also loathed services where the minister could not control what was taking place. The 'Coloureds' on the farm were the ones first to experience the revival. The scene witnessed by Murray had unexplainable manifestations. The Holy Spirit had so powerfully descended upon the farmhouse that people were crying out for mercy and falling to the ground merely by touching the doorknob. News of this revival at the farm spread and those folk from neighbouring farms began attending the prayer meetings. For three months the family farm was forced to stop their farming activities to help the influx of inquirers seeking salvation. Another Special Worcester Event Andrew Murray was inducted in Worcester on 27 May 1860. Soon thereafter the revival broke out in full force. The role of young people has to be highlighted. The fervent prayer of a young farm girl provided another spark to ignite the revival The fervent prayer of a young farm girl provided a special breeze to fan the revival embers. During the youth prayer meeting in the church hall, a 15-year-old unnamed 'Coloured' girl called for a song before her prayer, as was the custom. She cried out the name of the song, 'O, how I love Jesus!' During her prayer, a sound came from afar, getting increasingly louder until the building felt as if it was shaking. Everybody hereafter prayed simultaneously, almost oblivious of the other participants. While the young people of the Dutch Reformed Church knelt in earnest prayer, one of the church elders passed by. Hearing the noise, he ran to fetch their new pastor. Each person seemed so burdened by his intolerable weight of guilt, sin and shame, that they continued to call upon God for forgiveness and cleansing. When Andrew Murray entered, wearing his clerical robes, he found the room alive with spontaneous prayer. The young minister was clearly agitated. He paced the room, calling loudly, 'People, silence!' But the prayer did not stop. Murray shouted again, 'People, I am your minister, sent from God! Silence!' The young people, traditionally obedient and respectful, could not be silenced. It was as if no one heard him. Everyone continued praying, calling on God - in some cases rather frantically or hysterically. Murray directed the youth pastor to call a hymn. No one sang the song. The young people, traditionally obedient and respectful, could not be silenced. Prayer continued unabated. Andrew Murray then proclaimed, 'God is a God of order, and here everything is confusion!' With that, he left the room. Spontaneous prayer gatherings occurred nightly. Simultaneous intercession replaced long refined and eloquent traditional prayer. Fervent gatherings continued into the early hours of the morning. Help Arrives After 43 years, Ds. J.C. de Vries reported what happened after that Sunday night at the outbreak of revival amongst the young people: 'After that the prayer meetings were held every evening. At the commencement there was generally great silence, but after the second or third prayer the whole hall was moved as before, and everyone fell to praying. Sometimes the gathering continued to three in the morning. And even then, many wished to remain longer. Returning homewards, some went singing through the streets. The little hall was soon too small, and we were compelled to move to the school building, which also was presently full to overflowing, as scores and hundreds of country-folk streamed into the village. On the first Saturday evening in the larger meeting house, Rev. Murray was the leader. He read a portion of Scripture, made a few observations on it, engaged in prayer, and then gave others the opportunity to pray. During the prayer which followed on his, I heard again the sound in the distance. It drew nearer and nearer and in a sudden moment the whole gathering was praying... Rev. Murray descended from the platform and again moved up and down among the people, trying to quiet them.' Andrew Murray was not yet ready to accept this phenomenon as the Holy Spirit’s work. The pastor sought to restore order. Andrew Murray was not yet ready to accept this phenomenon as the Holy Spirit’s work. At this juncture, the Lord intervened to assist Murray. A stranger had been standing at the door, observing the meeting. As Murray once again sought to use his authority to silence the prayer, the stranger tip-toed forward, touched the clergyman gently, and said, 'I think you are the minister of this congregation. Be careful what you do, for it is the Spirit of God that is at work here. I have just come from America, and this is precisely what I witnessed there'. Andrew Murray Joins the Revival Murray’s father had prayed for 38 years for revival in his congregation of Graaff Reinet. The younger Murray echoed those prayers. His sermons had been lamenting the deadness of the Church. He preached about the Holy Spirit. Yet, when the Spirit brought revival, Andrew Murray did not recognize it. He even sought to quench the Spirit’s move. Was it because the Spirit’s manifestation did not match his pre-conceived theological concepts? One writer suggests, 'Could it be that his ego was hurt because the moving of the Spirit had not happened as a result of his own preaching?’ Was he offended ‘that he had not been present...to guide it’? The encouragement of the visiting stranger was what Andrew Murray needed. At last he recognized that the Spirit was in control. There was no need for human restraint. From that time, Andrew Murray joined the revival whole-heartedly and he was greatly used. The lives of many were permanently transformed. Nominal Christians committed their lives to the Lord. From Murray’s own congregation in Worcester, fifty young men offered themselves for the ministry of the Word. Previously it was almost impossible to find men for Christian service. That circumstance was a watershed in Andrew Murray’s ministry. We cannot dictate the Spirit’s move. Rather, we must yield in co-operation. He learned that the Holy Spirit, just like the wind, blows where it wills (John 3:8). We cannot dictate the Spirit’s move. Rather, we must yield in co-operation. We cannot engineer revival, nor can we manipulate the Spirit. The lessons that Andrew Murray learned from this experience permeated all of his subsequent teachings and writings in books such as The Spirit of Christ and The Full Blessing of Pentecost. An Eyewitness Account One of the pastors who experienced the revival, Servaas Hofmeyr, the Dutch Reformed minister of Montagu, was inducted there on 29 September 1860. He, being the younger brother of Ds. Nicolaas Hofmeyr, wrote: 'Before the days of revival the situation of our congregation was lamentable. Love of the world and sin; no earnestness or heartfelt desire for salvation; sinning and idleness were the order of the day for most … when the Lord started to move among us. How intense were the prayers for revival and the cries for mercy! Anxious cries were uttered, heart rendering testimonies of conversion were heard. Visions were seen… Corporate prayer, even behind bushes and rocks, on mountains and in ravines, men, women, grey heads, children, gentlemen, servants all kneeling on the same ground crying for mercy. It was all the Spirit of God, and not for a few hours or days, but for months.' Farm Workers Impacted A written account of the 'Coloured' farm workers near Worcester described them as: 'debased and shrivelled with drink and drunk all day long, sullen wretched creatures…' It was in this, the least expected quarter that the revival hit most powerfully. Repentance, renewal and rebirth followed. Devotion was deepened, vision widened. On remote farms, people experienced conversions. Early in the morning and late at night people would come singing to God’s house. Repentance, renewal and rebirth followed. Devotion was deepened, vision widened. Cases of heartfelt conversion occurred daily. What was very special about the Worcester events was the divine correction in respect of societal prejudice. God had to teach the Cape Church that he also wanted farm workers and those on the outskirts of the Church to enter the fold. 'God chose to bless those on the fringe of society who had most likely not been baptised or even entered a church.' Revival Fires Spread from the Boland Within weeks several prayer meetings started, none knowing about the divine movement in other places. Hettie Bosman, a teacher from the Karoo, was visiting Worcester. She had been praying for revival for years. During a special prayer meeting she fell unconscious and was carried to the parsonage where Andrew Murray prayed for her. She rose with an extraordinary experience of joy. (Later she married Alexander McKidd, a pioneer missionary, taking revival with her to the mission field.) The Stellenbosh Seminary, started by John Murray and Nicholas Hofmeyr in 1859, could hardly cope with all the new students after the revival. It is striking that the Worcester revival also spread from the conference of Christian leaders to different denominations. Fifty days after the Worcester conference, the churches which had sent delegates experienced the special move of the Holy Spirit. Within months the move of God spread to Wellington, Swellendam and even to Cape Town, more than 100 kilometres away. The next year the revival moved eastward across the Karoo and to the Northwest as far as Calvinia. God at Work in Paarl – a special Case There was no clear working of the Spirit in the Boland town of Paarl initially. The churches there still experienced dryness. Ds. G.W. Van der Lingen, the Pastor of the Strooidak (Straw Roof) Dutch Reformed Church had been longing for revival in his church. Paarl decided to heed the global call of the Evangelical Alliance to participate in a corporate prayer week of 1861 that took place annually in January. Already before this prayer week, the Holy Spirit had moved amongst some young girls, who had responded to an invitation to come and hear ac-counts of the Worces-ter revival. When the speaker re-called the events, high-lighting the role of young people, the meeting burst into simultaneous prayer. The following week, the movement gained momentum among other young people in Paarl. Revival Swept Through the Town During the week of prayer in January 1861 revival swept through the town. There were heart-rending pleas for mercy and soul-wrenching confessions of sin. Members of the Paarl congregation experienced lengthy periods of wrestling with self-examination, repentance and surrendering all to God. There were great cries for mercy and ultimately many tears of thankfulness and joy. Rev. Van der Lingen exclaimed, 'How many years have I not served God as a servant? But what a great difference is serving Him as a servant and serving Him as a son! I only now understand the freedom.' When the January week of prayer drew to a close, all those who had participated in it felt the urge to continue to meet for communal prayer. Crowds that had streamed to prayer gatherings increased daily, as did places allocated for prayer. The congregation feared His presence would decrease. They looked for ways of preserving the blessing. On 6 February 1861, Rev. Van der Lingen arranged a special meeting of approximately 100 prayer leaders of his congregation (including women and children) to discuss their concerns. After experiencing the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit and His quickening power, the congregation was fearful that His presence would decrease over time and eventually stop. They wanted therefore to find ways of preserving and spreading the blessing. At Van der Lingen’s suggestion, it was decided to divide each district into small cell groups that aimed to meet as often as possible. In conjunction with this new approach, he developed a set of guidelines which covered topics for discussion and prayer. He hoped to give everyone the opportunity to pray in public and to claim God’s promises and even greater blessings. A great number of extraordinary experiences occurred, and many people were seen to be living in tremendous fear and distress, just like those who had received a death sentence. They became aware of the evil things that they had done in their lives. One man said, 'In the past I knew that I was a sinner, but now I can feel it.' Rev. G. van der Lingen told them that conviction of sin was not enough; they had to seek Christ and His forgiveness until they knew that they had received forgiveness, to move into a life of joy and victory. Pentecost in Paarl 1861 By May 1861 there was once again a yearning in the Strooidak congregation to come together for communal prayer and plead for a special blessing. It would appear that the vision of cultivating God’s presence was beginning to dim in some quarters at this time. In one home cell group, Gideon Malherbe, son-in-law of Rev. Van der Lingen, suggested that cell groups should come together each evening for communal prayer during the ten days between Ascension Day and Pentecost Sunday. They intended to follow the example of the first Christians, who had met regularly for prayer whilst waiting in Jerusalem to be baptised with the Holy Spirit. Just like these early Christians, they too would plead for the promise of the Father. Without seeking Van der Lingen’s approval or participation, this cell group published an invitation in De Kerkbode (the denominational periodical) for all existing prayer groups in Paarl to participate in corporate prayer from 9-19 May 1861. Ds. van der Lingen was at first reluctant to join the meeting. There was a gradual build-up of expectation during the week, mingled with cries for mercy. Rev. van der Lingen finally relented. He would hereafter become God’s anointed vessel of blessing on Pentecost Sunday, 1861. The prayer meetings of May 1861 were well attended. On Pentecost Sunday, there was great expectancy in every heart at the Strooidak church, and they were not disappointed. During the morning service, nothing happened, but during the afternoon service, there was a powerful presence of God when Rev. van der Lingen prayed. He had a supernatural experience with the Lord while he was standing in the pulpit. As Ds. van der Lingen started to pray, he cried with tears of deep emotion. Initially, the congregation could not understand what was happening. Sometime later, Ds. van der Lingen explained, 'While I was on my knees, and prayed that God would fulfil His promise, I saw snowflakes moving up to heaven, and then suddenly lightning came out from the throne of God. Then, the Mighty One, with His garments dipped in blood, positioned Himself between the snowflakes and the lightning to protect the people from the lightning.' Initially, he did not understand the meaning of this vision, but he realised that the snowflakes were the prayers of Christians that could not be accepted by God without the blood and intervention of the Lord Jesus Christ. A powerful revival broke out, which has been described as the beginning of a ‘second’ revival in the Southern and Western Cape. A year later, it was Ds. van der Lingen himself who suggested that the congregation should meet for communal prayer during the ten days between Ascension Day and Pentecost. When this news began to spread to neighbouring congregations, they too decided to follow Paarl DRC’s example. Over the next few years, more and more congregations joined in. Widespread 10 Days of Prayer The increasing attendance at prayer events coincided with an exceptional interest in worship services. The role Ds. van der Lingen played in the awakening is significant, operating on the periphery initially. He had to step aside to let God speak through His Holy Spirit. While he had done little by way of organising prayer meetings himself, the fact that his congregation had done so much on their own accord, had made a deep impression on him. In one of their prayer initiatives, he was requested to speak at a conference of the Evangelical Alliance. The essence of his address at this occasion was that revival should not be expected to emanate from pastors, but from the Holy Spirit after persistent and persevering prayer. As a direct result of this, the 1867 Dutch Reformed synod advised all DRC congregations to conduct ten days of prayer in the run-up to Pentecost Sunday every year. Soon afterwards, the Methodist Church adopted the same concept. In due course the Pinksterbidure would impact the nation far and wide. A New Wave of Blessing The Evangelical Alliance nudge for a week of prayer from 5 to 13 January 1861 had a positive result in diverse places. During this week the Cape was on its knees big time. In response, God sent a new wave of blessing. The revival moved to Beaufort West in that month where prayer meetings were soon held four times a week, often lasting all day. Meetings were held on the Lord’s Day in different places - in homes, under a tree, at farmhouses. The church was too small for the crowds. God’s grace was flowing so widely that farmers in the remotest areas were touched. The revival spread to other towns in no time, even to Bloemfontein - hundreds of Kilometres away. Missionary activities arose like mushrooms. It was reported how a man of Calvinia left his home, supported by other Christians, to go and live among the 'Coloureds' so that those ‘neglected’ folk could also hear the gospel. In Calvinia itself Ds. Nicolaas Hofmeyr and missionary Rev. van der Rijst had been praying for revival for years. While Ds. Hofmeyr was the minister there, he could not motivate his congregation initially to attend prayer meetings. During his six-year ministry he could not persuade a single parishioner to attend a prayer meeting at the newly built church, not even once! In addition to the resistance to prayer he also battled against an intense opposition to missionary work. The Holy Spirit Swept Away Resistance At the revival, however, the Holy Spirit swept away the fierce resistance. Spontaneous prayer meetings started in the congregation, growing as a movement without the help of the clergy. Within weeks, several prayer meetings started, none knowing about the other, yet they shared the blessing of revival. Revival in the Mother City Like Count Zinzendorf, the founder of the renewed Moravian Church, Andrew Murray had a great love for and interest in children. The very first book he wrote was Jezus de Kindervriend (1858). At the Cape, the Dutch Reformed Church found an opening for ministry with the families of the fishermen of Roggebaai near to Green Point, where they opened the second church school on 15 April 1861. Originally written in Dutch, Dr Andrew Murray’s booklet Abide in Christ was a daily devotional for a month. It was meant as a manual and guide for the many converts in Worcester, when Murray saw them gradually becoming less committed. A Cape Impact On the Christian World Andrew Murray would impact the Christian world like few before or after him. The pattern of thirty-one or fifty-two chapters (intended respectively for daily use during a month or once a week for a year) was a favourite with him, a model emulated by many to this day for devotional diaries or prayer books. Abide in Christ would spark a revival in China.) Andrew Murray served as the minister of the Groote Kerk in the Mother City from 1864. In February 1865 he started services in Roggebaai every Thursday evening with a ‘full house’, and also in Van de Leur Street in District Six. Soon a parish of the mother church was started in Hanover Street, at that time called Kanaalstraat. For the parishes of Roggebaai and Hanover Street the services could not be long enough in duration. Satan had to react, trying to split the church. An unbiblical theological liberalism infiltrated South Africa at this time. This happened amongst other things when a book appeared, De Moderne Theologie, written by Ds D.F. Faure. He was the founder of the Free Protestant Church. Andrew Murray replied in 1868 with a series of thirteen sermons. The home of every Christian should be a mission station. A Clear Link to Missions At the 1860 conference in Worcester, an interesting view was expressed which said: ‘the home of every Christian should be a mission station’. Certainly, the revival of 1860 had a clear link to missions in its aftermath. In what was perhaps a first worldwide, the conference was conducted in two languages, Dutch and English, on alternate days. The Holy Spirit made believers aware of their Christian responsibility towards their domestic servants and farm workers. They responded actively by giving liberally for outreach programmes. Per capita, South African Christians gave more to missions than any other country in the world in that specific period. Revival of 1874 A second revival took place in Montagu in 1874 which was even more powerful than the one of 1860. The 1860 revival was one that involved deep conviction of sin on the part of the Christians. The 1874 revival was noted for its joyful praise and worship. This revival of 1874 also spread to many other towns. Thus, a revival broke out in 1875 in the far away town of Soutpansberg among the children on a mission station. The Holy Spirit came with such power that they did not eat or sleep for three nights. This revival soon spread to adults and 'Black' tribes located in that area. A report went out that old people, witchdoctors, and even murderers wailed like children. The scenes were narrated as having been 'indescribable'. Missions: the Prime Function of the Church? The most glorious result of the 1860 revival was the post-revival missionary drive, an upsurge of missionary zeal. Missions and evangelism got off the ground big time. Two of the eleven missionaries recruited in 1860 by Rev. William Robertson were willing to serve as missionaries beyond the Vaal River. Missionaries soon travelled as far as Zambia and Zimbabwe (then called Northern and Southern Rhodesia respectively) to preach the gospel and establish mission stations. Andrew Murray and three other young dominees, namely P.K. Albertyn (Zwartberg, Caledon), J.H. Neethling (Prins Albert) and N.J. Hofmeyr, wanted the church to move forward in reaching the lost. At the Church synod of 1857 the three young ministers were given the challenging task as a commission to examine the matter and report back to the synod. With no money and personnel available for missions, some synod members tried to silence the three young colleagues because of these restraints. The report of the three young ministers took the breath away of older members. However, the report of the threesome 'took the breath away of some of the older members.' They challenged the synod in no uncertain terms that missions should be the prime function of the church. The three were thoroughly vindicated when, because of the revival of Worcester and surroundings three years later, no less than fifty young men volunteered for ministry. Within ten years, twelve mission stations were established in and beyond the Cape Colony, in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Malawi, and as far as Sudan. One of Andrew Murray’s men, Petrus le Roux, became a missionary to the Zulus. He was ordained in 1893 as an Eerwaarde, i.e. as a Dutch Reformed missionary at Wakkerstrooom in the Eastern Transvaal. Within seven years Le Roux had 2000 members, attributing his success to ‘good, earnest, native preachers’. Spiralling of Missions from the Cape The first missionary conference took place in Genadendal in 1865. Twenty participants of the Rhenish, Berlin, London, Dutch Reformed and Moravian churches gathered there. On 21 September 1871 Andrew Murray accepted a call to the Boland town of Wellington. During the years that followed his intense missionary zeal led directly or indirectly to the founding of at least five missionary societies. In 1872 Andrew Murray suggested regular missionary conferences with all churches and missionary societies. Hereafter such conferences with delegates of five denominations, plus mission societies, were held at different centres. Such conferences took place in alternate years at different towns of the Western Cape until the South African War. The first of triennial General Missionary conferences was convened in 1904. It was very much prepared through prayer. One of Andrew Murray’s classic statements of the early twentieth century is that 'God is a God of missions.' He wrote powerfully in his booklet The Kingdom of God in South Africa (1906): 'Prayer is the life of missions. Continual, believing prayer is the secret of vitality and fruitfulness in missionary work. The God of missions is the God of prayer.' Andrew Murray summarized the link between the Holy Spirit and missions in the same booklet as follows: 'No one can expect to have the Holy Ghost unless he is prepared to be used for missions.' The General Missionary conferences contributed significantly to the world event in Edinburgh in 1910. Missions was the automatic outflow and the overflow of their love for Christ The Love of God as Proper Motivation We should not forget the repeated warning of Andrew Murray: ‘The missionary problem is a personal one.’ It is not the sheer effort which will get missionaries to the fields, but the love of God personified. He allowed His Son to die for our sins. Andrew Murray took the cue from the Herrnhut Moravians: ‘Get this burning thought of personal love for the Saviour who redeemed me into the hearts of Christians, and you have the most powerful incentive that can be had for missionary effort’. Their missionary endeavour was the automatic outflow and the overflow of their love for Christ. It was to satisfy Christ’s love and express their own love that they brought to Him souls that He had died for to save. This somehow also puts a question mark behind some modern day worship services. All too often the love to Christ is expressed vocally, but the logical follow-up, outreach to the lost, is conspicuous by its absence. Learning from our Forefathers! Andrew Murray became arguably South Africa’s foremost theologian of the 19th century. He discerned the danger of a fading of the effects of the 1860 revival. This led him to write one of his most important works, Blijf in Jesus (later translated as Abide in Christ). He was a man of rare gifts and deep spiritual insight. Nevertheless, for a short time Andrew stubbornly opposed the long-awaited answer to his father’s prayers. When personally confronted with revival manifestations in his own church, he opposed them. His experience warns us not to be dogmatic about what is of the Spirit and especially when it does not fit our own pre-conceived ideas. An outsider had to warn Andrew Murray not to resist the work of the Holy Spirit. Do not Quench the Spirit! New forms of expression can make us as believers uncomfortable. We tend to quickly condemn an unfamiliar practice as of the flesh and not of the Spirit. In rash judgement, we risk repeating Andrew Murray’s experience in his encounter with the Holy Spirit. Let us heed the biblical warning: Do not quench the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19). We must be willing to learn from the experiences, insights, and errors of our spiritual forefathers, to be prepared for the next move of God. The application for revival is clear. If satan is duplicating the outward signs of the Holy Spirit’s presence, or if others are mimicking it, we should not try to put a stop to any of these displays, in case we crush the legitimate work of the Holy Spirit as well. Rather, we should leave it to God to discern the true fruit and to burn what is not of everlasting worth on the Day of Judgement. George Whitefield, the famous revivalist, interpreted this passage in a similar way. When Wesley criticized him for allowing unruly manifestations, his answer was: 'If you try to stamp out the wildfire and remove what is false, you will equally and simultaneously remove what is real.' A Cape Catalyst of Missions Andrew Murray continued to be a blessing to the nation, having founded the Bible and Prayer Union in 1883. The main object of this venture was to encourage members of his church to read the Scriptures daily and to pray regularly for specific causes. The organization published Uit de Beek, a daily devotional booklet, of which Andrew Murray was the editor for 40 years. The link between prayer and missions became concrete when the Goodenow Hall was built in Wellington in 1886. Here the annual Western Cape Keswick holiness meetings would be held for many decades. In the same year Murray was also the catalyst for the Ministers’ Missionary Union, where pastors pledged 5 to 20 pounds sterling as an annual contribution. How fitting it was that his nephew, Andrew C. Murray, could be sent as the church’s first missionary of the new era to Nyasaland (today’s Malawi) in 1888. In the Cape General Mission, which was started in 1889 with Dr Andrew Murray as President, there were people from different denominational backgrounds from the outset. Andrew Murray was closely involved with the South Africa General Mission until the end of his life. From the beginning the Mission agency was a dual enterprise, intending to reach both the 'White' and 'Black' sections of the population. In the main towns of the country they would labour among the neglected 'Whites'. The Mission agency was blessed with spectacular growth. After only five years the original six workers had increased to sixty-eight. The Crowning of the Andrew Murray Legacy Dr Andrew Murray was divinely used once more by God in the run-up to Patrick Johnstone’s Operation World, a book which influenced prayer for missions worldwide in the twentieth century probably more than any other book. Johnstone acknowledged this in the preface to his magnum opus. In The Key to the Missionary Problem Andrew Murray advocated weeks of prayer for the world. Patrick Johnstone said in an email: ‘As far as I know this was not taken up earnestly until 1962 when Hans von Staden, the Founder and Director of the Dorothea Mission, inspired the launching of a whole series of Weeks of Prayer for the World in both Southern Africa and also Europe.’ Operation World was South African-born, but then went global. It was these Weeks of Prayer that made the provision of prayer information so important, and led to Von Staden’s challenge to Patrick Johnstone to write a booklet of information to help in these prayer weeks. Von Staden also proposed the name ‘Operation World’. Johnstone concludes: ‘So the book was South African-born, but then went global.’ Johnstone’s book brought united prayer into focus like no other before it. Chapter 12 Curbs of Spiritual Renewal In this chapter we take a few steps back in history as we examine some curbs and hindrances to spiritual renewal in earlier decades. We will show how these hindrances reduced the effect of the gains of prior revivals. I propose the dearth of prayer for unity as a prime curb, noting that unity of the Body of Christ has always been a basis of revivals. The Dearth of Prayer for Unity The Church at the Cape (and in the country at large) seems to have failed to follow the pattern of Jesus in making prayers for unity a priority. Jesus deemed it fit to pray in His high priestly prayer for His disciples and for those who would believe in Him because of their message, ‘that they may be one’ (John 17:21). It is surely no exaggeration to state that all sorts of disunity in the body of Christ is tantamount to crucifying Him once more. We should take it to heart that believers in Jesus have to be in unity, ‘so that the world will believe’ that God sent Him. Slaves Perceived as Property As we have seen, the slaves were perceived as property at the Cape. Even otherwise exemplary missionaries/clergymen like M.C. Vos not only owned slaves, but these Christians were also subtly influenced by their prejudicial upbringing. In due course London Missionary Society (LMS) leader Dr van der Kemp directed new missionaries to a certain Mr Krynauw rather than to Ds. Vos, since he considered the latter ‘to be not altogether free from the common … (colonist) prejudices against the heathen nations.’ Cape Pastors possibly lacked the courage to challenge colonists that they had to regard slave believers as family in Christ. The pastors at the Cape possibly lacked the courage to challenge the colonists with the Pauline teaching that they had to regard the believers among the slaves as family in Christ. Instead, the slaves were conveniently pointed to their duties in subordination and obedience. This sad fact represents a major factor of debt towards the Cape Muslims. Vital tenets of the gospel have thus been withheld from them. Negative Attitudes Towards the Khoisan We have noted how the authors of the Remonstrantie, Leendert Janzoon and Nicolaas Proot, two of the stranded crew of the Nieuwe Haerlem in 1647, saw the potential of the indigenous Khoi. Unfortunately, this was not appreciated, let alone developed. Instead, mutual animosity and skirmishes became the order of the day. Added to this, there were the negative views passed on by colonists. Du Plessis, a prominent early Stellenbosch Church historian, refers to the ‘inveterate propensity of the Hottentots to steal and plunder’. However, in the primal Khoi society theft was severely punished. The thief would be beaten over the back till blood flowed down the body. The Dutch incited Khoi to steal from English ships and set a bad example with bribery in bartering. Bad Teaching of Colonists The historian, Spilhaus, points to another side of theft by Khoi, noting that the Dutch were inciting them to steal from English ships and also setting a bad example with bribery in bartering. Spilhaus concludes that it must have been difficult for Khoi to appreciate the enormity of theft as a crime in European eyes. The reputed and devout Swedish Moravian missionary Bishop Hans Peter Hallbeck gave a critical but honest summary of the early Khoi and the influence of Western culture on them. ‘Some bad habits, such as stealing, adultery and lying, had been unknown to their forefathers, and had developed only from their contact with the Colonists’. The vast majority of Cape slaves seems originally to have been open to the gospel, but sinful attitudes – such as materialism on the part of the Dutch colonists and authoritarianism by the Church – smothered opportunities for their potential to be developed. Fraudulent and Materialistic Ambition Fraud belonged very much to the accepted practice. In fact, it was regarded as ‘no sin and entailed no disgrace to rob the East India Company’. Jan van Riebeeck, the founder of the settlement at the Cape, was found guilty in this regard before he came to the Cape. He had no scruples to use ‘valsch geld’ (false money). The founder and commander boasted how he intoxicated the Khoi and subsequently robbed them of their cattle and their land. The bartering practices that he applied to acquire land and livestock from the indigenous population were ethically very problematic. Materialistic ambition was part and parcel of the cultural baggage that was imported from Holland. Thus, no less than the influential early Cape governor Simon van der Stel, who came to the Cape in 1679, probably only married his wealthy wife Johanna Six to pursue a career in the V.O.C. Simon van der Stel treasured profit and ambition. This was demonstrated in the wish, which he expressed in a letter to his son, Willem Adriaan, the incoming governor. Through their attitude to the indigenous people, along with the example of malpractices, the Van der Stels – father and son - made a mockery of the gospel. Perpetuating a Bad Custom Willem Adriaan van der Stel was merely perpetuating a bad custom. When he became governor, ‘avarice was the prevalent vice of men in high places...’. In due course, ‘cunning and cheating were looked upon as virtues rather than vices’ among the colonists. Although he was recalled as governor, there is no record that he was punished for his corruption. Vergelegen, the farm acquired through his practices was never put up for sale. Instead, Adam Tas and other men who protested against the corruption, were punished instead. It is likewise quite unlikely that Nkandla, the palace-like villa of former President Zuma, that came into existence in a similar way, would be considered for re-sale and the funds returned to the state! A legend goes back to the time of Willem Adriaan van der Stel of a Dutchman with the name of Van Hunks that had the beating of no less than the devil itself in a smoking competition. There is definitely something 'fishy' about the fact that earlier names of the mountain peak towering above the city, Windberg (Wind Mountain) or Duivenkop (Doves' Peak) became corrupted to Duivelskop (Devil's Peak). Repressive Denominationalism Protestant missionaries opposed Roman Catholicism in different parts of the world. An agreement had been reached after the 30 Years War, which ended in Europe in 1648: cuius regio, eius religio. This implied that colonial powers could enforce their national religious denomination on the countries that they had colonised. Therefore, no other churches except the Dutch Reformed Church were allowed to operate at the Cape. One of the worst examples of denominational discrimination worldwide was practised at the Cape in respect of Catholics. Three Catholic priests, the first of whom arrived in October 1805, were requested to leave the Cape at the British re-conquest of the colony the following year. Muslims were merely tolerated and Judaism was trampled upon. Other religions were even worse off. Muslims were merely tolerated and Judaism was trampled upon. The late teachings of Martin Luther, the great reformer, were completely anti-Semitic. Adolf Hitler would abuse that for the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany. The Dutch Reformed Church saw itself as the new Israel that replaced the Jewish nation. (This was nothing special. Replacement Theology had already been floating around for centuries. In the second century AD the Samaritan Justin Martyr and Bishop Ignatius of Antioch pioneered that notion. Emperor Constantine gave the fairly close proximity of Judaism with biblical Christianity the death blow. He did this via his alignment of Christianity with the worship of the sun!(Christians were however already persecuted by the syna-gogue leaders soon after the Pentecost in Jerusalem of 33AD.) Thereafter, the Emperors Nero (Reign October 54 – June 68 AD) and Diocletian (ruled 284–305) persecuted Christians viciously, but it was Constantine who inserted a deep wedge between Christianity and Judaism in 321 AD. Doctrinal and Language Discrimination The French Huguenots, who arrived at the Cape after 1688, were Protestants and therefore spiritual relatives of the ruling Dutch Reformed Church. But even they were originally not allowed to use their language for worship. (In France the Huguenots had been persecuted by Catholics.) After the Huguenot pastor Pierre Simond had protested successfully against the language ruling, Simon van der Stel, the Cape governor, branded him a rebel. The Lutherans needed almost forty years of petitioning for their own brand of worship. Although there were many Germans at the Cape by 1700, they were not permitted to have their own church. (The regiment stationed at the Cape after the 30 Years War in Europe contained 398 Germans out of a total of 420 soldiers. It took the Lutherans almost forty years of petitioning until they were finally allowed to bring their own minister to the Cape and have their own brand of worship in 1779). Moravians Regarded as ‘Criminals’ Georg Schmidt, the Moravian missionary, was the first cleric outside of the Reformed ranks to minister at the Cape. Theal notes that Schmidt initially experienced, 'nothing but kindness' from the government at the Cape. He was however seriously handicapped after Ds. G. Kulenkamp, an Amsterdam minister, issued a pastoral letter of warning against the views expressed by Count Zinzendorf, the leader of the Moravian movement. (Zinzendorf envisaged fellowship of all who accepted salvation through Christ.) Kulenkamp’s letter branded the Moravians a mystical society. According to him, the Moravians were sprea-ding dangerous opinions under the cover of pure simplicity. Those colonists who were proud of what they considered as the pure doctrine of the Dutch Reformed Church, frowned upon the free attitude of the Moravians towards other confessions. Schmidt was expected to refrain from starting a new church at Baviaanskloof through his missional work, although the colonial church officials believed 'less in the possible con-version of the Khoi than in the conversion of the devil', to quote Schmidt’s own words. He was merely tolerated, as long as he worked far away from company settlements. Worldwide, the Moravians kept a low profile, working in remote places. It is quite telling about the religious intolerance of the time that missionaries of this church group were regarded and treated as ‘criminals’ for attempting to serve indigenous and other people of colour. The basic objection against Georg Schmidt was that he had no relationship to the Dutch Reformed Church. Prof. G.B.A. Gerdener, a Dutch Reformed theologian, recorded Schmidt’s reactions to these ‘whisperings’ that were intended to halt his work. That was typical of that generation of Moravians: 'More than ever Schmidt sought the guidance of the Lord of the harvest and declared that this guidance demanded that he should not only continue, but renew his efforts with even greater vigour.' Cape Freemason Origins The origins of freemasonry can be traced back to the Baal culture of Nimrod in ancient Babel. The Cape connection came from Amsterdam with the HERE XVII (the directors of the VOC, the Dutch trading company which was in control at the Cape). The Cape of Good Hope Freemason Lodge - established in 1772 - was only a stone’s throw from the Groote Kerk. Occult forces were bombarded right into the front row of the church establishment, e.g. when Anton Anreith and Louis Thibault, the influential freemason sculptor and architect respectively, were involved with many church buildings at the Cape. (A secret pact with the devil is the foundation of the freemasonry movement). High degree Freemasons serve a god known as the Great Architect of the Universe, known by his secret name of Jah-Bal-on. The Cross of Jesus is the common enemy in many religious movements. (Whoever was responsible for the plaque that was placed in the Constantia kramat, was possibly not aware of these links when among other things the Nazi swastika was included. This is basically a deformed cross, a caricature). Freemasonry was intertwined in Church matters in the 19th Century In Dr A. A. Cooper's book, The Free Masons of South Africa, one is struck how much freemasonry was intertwined in Church matters and in the state leadership of the 19th century. The idolatrous and diabolic origins of freemasonry were possibly not known at that time. Johannes Truter, a chief judge with close links to the Z.A. Gesticht, was known as a prominent freemason. The witness of the Church in South Africa with regard to secret societies was effectively blunted through this link. The Opposition of the Dutch Authorities Jacob Abraham De Mist arrived in February 1803 as governor of the ‘Batavian Republic’. He clearly saw a threat in the expanding missionary activities. Subsequent opposition by De Mist turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Directors of the SAMS opened their homes for the teaching of slaves. Yet, De Mist and Jan Willem Janssens, the Batavian governors, were initially quite ‘tolerant’ in religious matters. In fact, De Mist jotted down some progressive notions before he took office in his Memorie over de Caab, 1802. Thus, he suggested that the ‘aborigines’ of the Cape, should be employed on a voluntary basis and paid a good wage. However, already on 7 July 1803 De Mist brought De Goede Hoop masonic lodge under the aegis of the mother lodge of the Netherlands with himself as the Grand Master. No missionary was allowed to operate at a site less than three days’ journey from an established congregation. The True Work of a Missionary? It is not surprising that De Mist opposed evangelistic activity in the city. He insisted that the true work of a missionary should be among the heathen, far beyond the borders of settled congregations. He promptly decreed that no missionary should be allowed to operate at a site less than three days’ journey from an established congregation. All missionary work in the town was prohibited. In a special paragraph on the Herrnhutters (the Moravians) his hidden agenda comes through, showing how religion was abused. First of all, the Khoi should be happy, then they must be taught to be dutiful. But then his true colours came out – the Khoi had to become ‘gehoorzaam aan het Gouverment’, loyal and obedient to the government. De Mist expected the Moravian missionaries to subdue the Khoi, to make them subservient citizens of the Cape Colony. The subjugation of natives was standard practice in the colonialism of that age. Du Plessis, a Stellenbosch church historian, suggested that ‘the spirit of antipathy displayed by the Government could not but act as a wet-blanket upon the earnest aspirations of the (Gesticht) Directors…’ The links of Freemasonry to satanism have become known in recent years. The ruling in the Church Order of De Mist was progressive, stating that the church doors had to be open for all races, for slave and free alike. But he went too far. A humanist liberal spirit was prevalent, with the name of God not even mentioned in the Church Order of 25 July 1804. That Janssen and De Mist allowed three Roman Catholic priests to operate at the Cape was nevertheless tantamount to a breakthrough for religious tolerance. Freemasonry in the Cape Church Anton Anreith, one of the leading figures in the secret freemasonry of the Cape in the late 18th century, made his presence felt in no uncertain way. His architectural work affected even the inner precincts of the first two Cape churches, the Groote Kerk and the Lutheran Church. The pulpit of the latter church was Anton Anreith’s sculpture masterpiece, including lions with huge paws - which is freemason symbolism. Herman Schutte, another freemason, did the church design and he was also a builder. The obelisk structures of the Groote Kerk resemble a freemason temple. That the Dutch Reformed Church leaders were so much involved with the secret Afrikaner Broederbond in the 20th century is no co-incidence. The obelisk structures on the exterior of the building that replaced the original Groote Kerk made the early Christian sanctuary of the Cape resemble a freemason temple. (A sad feature of the Church was that there appears to have been not a single dissenting voice for many decades in respect of the freemason influence). Ds. Meent Borcherds, who became a minister in the Moedergemeente in Stellenbosch in 1786, had the all-seeing eye of the freemason order, of which he was a member, installed in his parsonage La Gratitude. Therefore, it is no surprise that he initially opposed evangelical missionary work fiercely. The secret Afrikaner Broederbond is very much a variation of an old theme. The Afrikaner Broederbond of the 20th century is very much a variation of an old theme. The organisation which started with such laudable goals by three teenagers for the upliftment of Afrikaners, had an Achilles heel right at the beginning, by going secret only two years after it started in 1918. Two other influential secret organisations, the Ossewabrandwag and the Afrikaner Orde, would operate in due course - also with dual membership. The origin of the concept in Afrikaner society that one had to be a Freemason or a member of the secret Broederbond if one wanted to get somewhere in society, is probably to be found in these roots. (In fact, it was well-nigh impossible to get into the upper echelons of the National Party, which ruled from 1948-94, without Broederbond connections. The Freemason influence did not end with them because President Nelson Mandela was also a 33-degree Freemason.) Prayerful Actions Oppose Divisive Doctrine The practice of the Moravians and the London Missionary Society (LMS) to ordain Christian workers distinctively as missionaries, received a negative slant. In the Dutch Reformed Church missionary work was clearly regarded as something inferior. The interpretation of Revelation 2:15 that hierarchical structures are basically divisive, and something that God hates - or the positive variation as the priesthood of the laity - was not widely known. At the same time, the pioneering SAMS almost dissolved itself when its ministry was assimilated into the Dutch Reformed Church towards the end of the 19th century. The old scourge of racism nipped the evangelistic spirit in the bud. An artificial and unbiblical differentiation between Christian action and evangelistic outreach brought a rift in the missionary movement. In South Africa the old scourge of racism nipped the evangelistic spirit in the bud. Doctrinal Bickering and Traditionalism Eroded Revival Seed. Other spiritual forces possibly also opposed biblical faith down the centuries. Carnality and doctrinal bickering helped to stifle revival seed. Thus, division unhappily arose through disputes with the Calvinists after Methodists believers had actually built a stone sanctuary in Burg Street. Traditionalism may also have already played some role, something which would be bringing many a denomination to its knees in the 20th century. Thus, we read how the Methodist Society under George Middlemess ‘kept the usual observance of the Methodist evangelical revival, such as love feasts, class and band meetings, and watch night services.’ This would have been a copy of the Moravianism established by Count Zinzendorf. (The Herrnhut revival of 1727 is still commemorated all over the world in the month of August, with a lot of traditionalism. Many a Moravian started a spiritual relationship with the Lord at some children's festival. This is the commemoration of the reveil in 1727 among Herrnhut children.) The conversion to Islam was enhanced by their exclusion from Christianity. A Doubling Effect of Bickering? It is beyond our full understanding whether doctrinal Bickering could not also have a doubling effect. That the apostles Shaul (Paul) and Peter had serious differences and that the former even parted ways at some stage with Silas resulted in an increase of ministry has been suggested since times immemorial. That only God knows in matters like this is not a glib expression at all. His ways and thoughts are really different than ours. We will never know how much damage was caused by the printed differences of theologians. It would however still be safe to say that it would have been better if they agree to disagree as George Whitefield initially tried to do in his correspondence with John Wesley. Sadly, Wesley would get involved in internal bickering with one of his Meethodist generals. While serving as a Methodist preacher John Bennet not only served as an itinerant preacher, but he was one of the architects of the early Methodist movement. Bennet was highly influential in the introduction of the first annual Methodist conference, not only providing the idea for such a conference, providing a detailed account of that meeting. Bennet is also credited with establishing the first Methodist Circuit Quarterly Meeting on Tuesday 18th October, 1748. Under Bennet's supervision, such Quarterly Meetings were introduced elsewhere and became a key feature of Methodist organization. Bennet's Calvistic views stood in sharp contrast with Wesley's Arminiasm, ultimately leading to Bennet's departure from Methodism. In 1752 Bennet, after a fierce debate with Wesley, seceded from the Methodist Church in Bolton, Lancashire, taking a large segment of the Methodist society with him. Revival-Negating Prejudice and Arrogance Slaves experienced rejection also at the church. The conversion to Islam was greatly enhanced by their almost entire exclusion from Christianity. By 1800, those benches in the back corner of the Groote Kerk (the major Capetonian church building at that time), which had been reserved traditionally for the use of slaves, remained unused. The saying went around that ‘de zwarte kerk is de slamse kerk.’ (The 'Black' church is the mosque.) Stuff just as bad was happening at the farms. The Khoi labourers who came to Genadendal had been told by some of the farmers that they were not equal to them (the farmers) and that it was therefore impossible for them to enter heaven. The negative attitude of the farmers however made the Khoi inquisitive. In the Genadendal Diaries of the missionaries one can read in the entry for 5 September 1794 about the Khoi: '...they have heard the farmers say many bad things about us... So, they wanted to come and see and hear for themselves.' Although clearly opposed by Dutch Reformed Church leaders as early as 1829, the prejudice and arrogance that some Europeans had imported, negated the early revivals at the Cape. Prejudice and arrogance of some Europeans negated the early revivals at the Cape. Sour Grapes? Maart, the slave from Mozambique who was blessed ‘with strong intellectual endowments’, responded so well to the five years of Christian teaching under Ds. M.C. Vos that the LMS thought of educating him ‘... to accompany some other missionaries to... introduce into his native country ...that gospel which brings healing and salvation in its wings’. The missionary, Henricus Maanenberg, was forced, however, to suspend instruction to Maart because of a ban on teaching reading and writing to ‘heathen’. The blame for the ban should possibly not be laid solely at the feet of the secular authorities. It is reported that Ds. Christiaan Fleck, one of the Groote Kerk ministers, also complained that Maanenberg wanted to teach slaves: ‘want daartoe hebben we hier geen afzonderlike zendelingen nodig... terwijl van kerkenraadswege daartoe perzonen zijn aangesteld’ (for this we do not need special missionaries... because the church council has appointed persons for that purpose.) One suspects sour grapes at Maanenberg’s success. De Mist’s reaction to the memorandum handed to him by the directors of the SAMS may have influenced Maanenberg to resign. He was so discouraged by the antagonistic attitude of De Mist that he withdrew from the work to live outside the city. A small start was made to train refugees and send them back to their own people. Historical Guilt Maart and other slaves from his native country Mozambique pose a historical guilt, a challenge to South African Christians of our day and age. A small start has been made to train refugees from that country and sending them back to help their own people, including the bringing of the gospel to the unreached. The SAMS directors were eager to get the gospel to the slaves. They appointed Aart Antonij van der Lingen as the new missionary to the slaves already on 6 April 1803. He was however promptly forbidden by De Mist to preach and to give teaching to the slaves. De Mist asserted that he feared a split in the Christian community. Missionaries were only allowed to operate three dagreizen (days of travelling) from existing churches and congregations. At this time Stellenbosch, Drakenstein (Paarl), Zwartland (Malmesbury), Wagenmagers-vallei (Wellington) and Roodezand (Tulbagh) were already flourishing congregations. Three days of travelling from all these places would have taken Van der Lingen deep into the interior. While De Mist was on an official journey into the interior, the SAMS directors approached his colleague Janssens about the consecration of the new sanctuary. The Z.A. Gesticht, the inter-denominational church in Long Street, was formally taken into use on 15 March 1804. It is said that when De Mist heard of the Z.A. Gesticht church building being erected in his absence, he cried in fury: ‘May fire from heaven consume it.’ A colonist responded in 1824 in the Nederlandsch-Zuid Afrikaansche Tijdschrift: ‘But what he wished as an evil has come upon us for good. The fire of God has indeed descended and (as we trust) has melted many sinners’ hearts.’ After seeing the orderly village, De Mist spontaneously renamed it Genadendal. The work of the Moravians at Baviaanskloof continued to impact the Cape. The critical De Mist appears to have gradually become a quiet supporter of the Moravian mission work after his visit to the Overberg. After seeing the orderly village with over 200 houses, he spontaneously renamed it Genadendal. It was indeed much more fitting to be known as a valley of grace than as a glen for baboons. The Earl of Caledon’s 1809 proclamation on behalf of the Khoisan made a deep impact on society. It met the demand for labour on the farms at the same time. In practical terms this was quite unfavourable to the Khoi, who became however enserfed as farm labourers. Influence of Jean Jacques Rousseau One of the reasons for the negative view of the government and colonists was the overdrawn uncritical acceptance by Dr Johannes van der Kemp of the unbiblical philanthropic ideas of Jean Jacques Rousseau. He derived from Rousseau's writings that the Khoi were free men, with all the rights and privileges of free citizens (almost without sin?). Dr van der Kemp, the first superintendent of the London Missionary Society and his colleague at Bethelsdorp, James Read, married Khoi women, to the chagrin not only of the rank and file colonist. Dr George Thom, the predecessor of Dr. Philip at the Cape, became an important adversary, with little sympathy for the missionary work in Bethelsdorp, regarding the station to be a ‘nursery of indolence and filth.’ In a problematic interpretation of the teachings of Rousseau, Dr van der Kemp – decades before Hudson Taylor's mission in China - would discard hat, shoes and stockings, frequently returning from some journey to a distant village with his feet lacerated and bleeding. (Hudson Taylor made contextualisation known by wearing the clothing of the Chinese.) Negative Legacies of LMS Work Dr Philip caused much of the strain that later missionaries had to experience. He had barely been in Cape Town when he made rash assertions, which rubbed colonists and the authorities up the wrong way. Complaints mentioned by him in a letter to the Acting Governor, Sir Rufane Donkin, proved to be unfounded. The clear support of Dr Johannes van der Kemp and Dr John Philip for the slaves and the indigenous Khoisan caused intense resentment towards all missionaries. Dr Philip undermined his own efforts by the manner in which he presented his case. He exaggerated things here and there. This was (ab)used as one of the causes of the Great Trek, as expounded by the Voortrekker leader Piet Retief in his manifesto. All LMS emissaries of the gospel were hereafter suspect in the eyes of the colonists, while the Moravian mission at Genadendal became the model. This diabolic situation was a direct result of Dr Philip’s harsh criticism of the colonists. Not so long before him the Moravian missionaries had also been villains in the eyes of colonists - accused of ‘corrupting the Khoisan and encouraging laziness’. The absolute distancing of themselves from politics was a tradition of the Moravians. This was not always helpful, making it difficult for the LMS missionaries to make a clear prophetic stand on ethical and racial issues. Because of their a-political stance the Moravian missionary work set the precedent for the unbiblical notion ‘not to mix politics with religion.’ The run-up to the emancipation of the slaves were among the main causes of the Great Trek into the interior. Piet Retief, a Voortrekker leader, stressed this in his published manifesto in the Graham's Town Journal. Anna Steenkamp, a less known Voortrekker, highlighted the fact that the missionaries put people of colour on an equal footing with them. This was obviously an important Afrikaner grievance and reason for the Great Trek. Dr Johannes van der Kemp and Dr John Philip failed to translate the biblical message of the brotherhood of all believers. That Paul encouraged Philemon not only to take back the run-away slave Onesimus, but also to regard him as a brother, was probably hardly noticed, let alone highlighted. Had they done this, it might have made Ordinance 50, which made Khoi and slaves equal to the colonists before the law - more palatable. In the view of the colonists the financial losses incurred due to the emancipation of slaves was the result of the lies and distortions of Dr Philip and his LMS cronies. Gains achieved by pastors and missionaries were eroded by Cape colonial domination. The other side of the coin was that the LMS missionaries regarded the civilizing of the ‘primitive’ indigenous peoples as a significant motive in the spreading of the gospel. 'White' domination seemed to be primary, with colonial expansion an important cause of their ministry. The earlier part of the nineteenth century has been described as ‘the rise of British hegemony in colonial society’. Gains achieved by pastors and missionaries working together in the first decades of the 20th century were eroded by the colonial domination at the Cape. A Sad Saga With a Happy Ending The Stellenbosch church historian Johannes Du Plessis recorded the sad saga of a Khoi tribe, the Afrikaners, that was driven from their indigenous grazing fields between Table Bay and the Berg River to the Northern Cape by the advancing Dutch colonists. (It is interesting that this tribe thus called themselves Afrikaners long before colonists of Dutch origin called themselves ‘Regte Afrikaners’.) When tension increased between 'Whites' and Khoi, the Afrikaner-Oorlams tribe also started resisting the master-servant attitude towards them. The Government declared Jager Afrikaner - their chief - an outlaw, setting a price on his head. The intelligent chief attempted from time to time to secure a truce with the authorities, but with a lot of blood on his hands, the Government could not even contemplate negotiation with him. The Khoi chief became notorious as an outlaw in secular history. There were however quite a few extenuating circumstances. (In recent years the New Dictionary of S.A. Biography contributed much to the change of the negative image of indigenous leaders like Jager Afrikaner.) Probably because of a combination of factors, like Jager Afrikaner’s military expertise and the unwillingness of the cattle farmers to take part in punitive expeditions, next to his elusiveness, he was left unpunished. Hereafter Jager Afrikaner tried to secure a truce with the government of the Cape Colony from his hide-out once again. A biblical act of compassion transpired when the early LMS missionaries and the new addition to the team, Robert Moffat, ministered lovingly to the notorious Khoi chief. Under the labours of LMS missionaries, Jager Afrikaner became an exemplary follower of Jesus. The old chief soon became an ‘unswerving friend’ to Moffat. The latter was radical enough to take his notorious friend along to Cape Town in 1819. One needs little imagination to appreciate the sensation caused when the missionary arrived in the city with the man who had once been the terror of farmers and natives alike. Robert Moffat introduced a notorious Khoi chief to Lord Charles Somerset. Moffat introduced him to Lord Charles Somerset, who was duly impressed, presenting Jager Afrikaner with a wagon valued at £8. Divine Over-Ruling Johannes van der Kemp blazed a trail for a better understanding between the Dutch Reformed Church and the missionaries when he stuck to his calling to serve the indigenous people groups, refusing to become the pastor of Graaff-Reinet. In a compromise, his colleague Aart Athonij van der Lingen, who had been refused permission by the Freemason governor De Mist to work among the slaves at the Cape, became the Graaff-Reinet minister. Hereafter various missionaries sent out by the London and Rotterdam Missionary societies ended their days as pastors of Dutch Reformed congregations, blessing that denomination with an evangelical stamp of commitment to the Word of God. At the same time the gulf between the pastor of the ‘White’ church and the mission churches was somewhat lessened and the negative attitude of the colonists towards the missionaries from abroad also decreased. Afrikaners were inclined to use derogatory terms to describe their language. Another divine over-ruling element to prepare revival was, ironically, the anglicization attempt by Lord Charles Somerset, the Cape governor (1814-26). Bad Seed of British-Dutch Rivalry Other factors which added to the Great Trek arose from a desire by Dutch-speaking folk for freedom from British domination. Close to this desire there was the Trekker vision of a Calvinist republic in which neither 'aliens’ like the British nor people of colour would be eligible for a meaningful role in the life of the community. (They regarded themselves as Afrikaners, to whom African soil was dear. Of course, they were still too bigotedly blinded to regard the native 'Blacks' and Khoi as Africans). Thankfully, Lord Charles Somerset was initially opposed by liberal minds, notably by John Fairbairn, who not only discerned that the interest of Dutch and British Capetonians had lost their original distinctions, and he began to define a common colonial identity as early as 1825: ‘Whatever we are, whether born … in England or in Africa, … we are all Africans’. At this time, the seeds of British-Dutch rivalry would germinate and develop into resentment, ultimately even to enmity and hatred by the end of the 19th century. The anglicizing of Cape society moved fast during Somerset's rule. The British asserted their dominant social position through education, high culture and commerce. This was especially the case in education. ‘From the Scottish superintendent-general of education through to the ill-paid teacher of the schools of industry or model infant schools, the majority of teachers were British. An Ambivalent Dr Philip Dr Philip’s role in the proclamation of Ordinance 50 has sometimes been exaggerated. John Philip however definitely played a crucial role in the run-up to this ordinance and he became a prime mover both in the eventual formal abolition of slavery in 1834 and in its implementation at the Cape in 1838. Yet, this decree dramatically changed the legal standing of the Khoisan, putting them on an equal footing with the colonists. It is doubtful if William Wilberforce would have been able to succeed with his pioneering in the battle against slavery without the support from the Cape. Dr John Philip unwittingly paved the way for apartheid, according to the highly regarded Professor Eric Walker, when to some extent he ‘as a convinced segregationalist’... opposed indiscriminate mixing of races.’ This was however not accurate in my view. The motive of Dr Philip was solid, rather to be regarded as a precursor of Black Consciousness, opining that the Khoi would ‘never become civilized until they stood on a legal equality’. Tension Between Mission Agencies As deplorable as it was that Dr Philip gave ‘partial and mutilated extracts from official documents’, it has to be seen as unfortunate in historical hindsight that Rev. William Shaw deemed it fit to publish the correspondence between him and the LMS superintendent in the heat of the battle. The issues at hand were definitely not fitting to be fought about publicly. It merely tarnished the image of two great missionaries. Dr Philip was however hypocritical in a sense. The LMS – as all mission agencies – accepted big land grants, albeit that this land was not taken forcefully from the indigenous people groups. (The war situation in the Eastern Cape was different of course. The strategy of Dr Philip - to identify with the underprivileged and defending the rights of the indigenous peoples in the face of an advancing land grabbing colonial power - was surely in line with the teachings and example of the Master himself.) It is disgusting to read that the editor of a church magazine ‘exerted his utmost ingenuity to excite the indignation of British Christians against the Wesleyan Missionaries’. Rev. Shaw and his Methodist colleagues would however have done better to leave the defence over to people from outside their fold. The mission cause undoubtedly suffered because of the tension as a result of the polemics fought out in the public domain. The trading in ivory gave missionaries a bad name as the lackeys of the British imperial rulers. Evangelism Via the Barrel of the Gun? The gospel was castrated in other ways. The trading in ivory and other commodities would give missionaries a really bad name as the lackeys of the British imperial rulers. The criticism of atheists and Marxists, who asserted that indigenous people were approached by missionaries with the gun in the one hand and the Bible in the other, has a ring (sting?) of truth to it. The Anglican Bishop Gray was perhaps the most honest in this regard. He bluntly conceded in his correspondence with the Secretary of State, the Duke of Newcastle: ‘We have taken possession (justly or unjustly is not now the question) of a new Territory. From it we have thrust out the Heathen and planted ourselves in’. His views on the release of Xhosa chiefs from banishment might even have assisted the conditions of their release in 1869, namely a big tract of land in Kaffraria to each one. This had nevertheless little effect because when the chiefs returned, they found their people dispersed, the bulk of their land confiscated and their power gone. Many Cape missionaries were more interested in winning souls for their own denomination than bringing people to living faith. Imperialist World View of Missionaries The majority of missionaries at the Cape definitely had an imperialist world view, being more interested in winning souls for their own denomination than bringing people to living faith. This obviously had a negative effect on Muslim outreach. This may be one of the causes of the cowardly mutual tolerance, which prevails to this day: ‘You have your religion, I have mine.’ The latter attitude - combined with indifference of Christians - effectively prevented them from sharing the gospel with their Muslim neighbours in areas like Bo- and Onderkaap (the later District Six). A negative factor was the emphasis on spreading ‘civilisation’. Thus, one found that even within the confines of the S.A. Mission Society (SAMS) this was stated as the motivation for mission work. None less than Dr James Adamson of St. Andrew’s was quoted as saying that mission work was necessary for the civilizing and conversion of the world. We note the order, which would have been typical of the general sense of priorities: civilisation before conversion. The indifference of the Church led to the deduction that the Islamic Allah and the God of the Bible are identical. The afore-mentioned attitude and indifference of the Church led to the fallacious deduction that the Islamic Allah and the God of the Bible are identical. That the 'New Testament' portrays God as Jesus’ Father, clearly distinguishes Him from the aloof Allah of the Qur’an who has no Son. Chapter 13 Other Missiological Issues We now take a closer look at other missiological issues and hindrances of the ministry at the Cape down the years. Destruction of Indigenous Culture? Humanist anthropologists have been claiming that mission work has been destroying the indigenous cultures. To some extent, this has indeed happened at the Cape. However, with regard to the Khoi, the contrary is more true to fact. The pioneering work of Georg Schmidt probably saved the local Khoi from extinction. One can safely assume that the pioneering work of Georg Schmidt probably saved the local Khoi from extinction at that time. In fact, word got around so widely about this aspect of the Moravian work at Baviaanskloof, that Schwinn - one of the three Moravian missionaries who arrived in 1792 - was asked to come and assist Johannes Kicherer and the London Missionary Society (LMS) work at the Zak River so that the Khoi could retain their land. (The work there, the northern extremity of the Cape Colony at that time targeted the San, but was ultimately abandoned.) It is true that missionaries hardly gave any encouragement for the indigenous people and slaves to read or interpret the Bible themselves. Yet, there was also the occasional exception. In one of his sermons, Rev. Morgan of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church acknowledged class distinctions in the early church, but he stressed that ‘they were utterly repudiated and condemned by the Apostles, and in the Church of Christ there is to be no discrimination. Rebuttal of the Charges of Anthropologists One of the best responses to these charges came from Prof. Lamin Sanneh of the tiny West African country Gambia. I draw in the following lines extensively from an article of Wanjiru M. Gitau in which he notes that: ‘Prof Sanneh observed that missionaries in a 1987 essay entitled ‘Christian Mission and the Pluralist Milieu: The African Experience’ ‘went out with all sorts of motives, some of them unwholesome’, yet, ‘what stands out is the emphasis missionaries gave to translating scripture into vernacular languages’. They confidently adopted local languages, a new and bold move for the era, and in so doing they were affirming local cultures as vessels to carry the gospel of Christ. They wrote grammars, translated the Bible, started schools, taught people to read and write, collected and preserved local wisdom of stories, proverbs, and axioms. They adopted the pre-existing names for God and reinterpreted traditional cosmology in light of Christian faith. The self-interested colonial settlers were never going to undertake such a project. In fact, in the environment in which missionaries were operating, colonial overlords rated indige-nous cultures extremely low on the Darwinian evolutionary scale, and whatever they could not use in the service of colonial interests, they were prepared to destroy...' Sanneh systematically examined Christian history to demonstrate that the pattern observed in missionary work is in fact the same process of transmission of Christianity across time. Far from destroying indigenous cultures, missionary work catalysed the preservation and stimulation of these cultures. Missionaries helped to preserve languages that were threatened by rising lingua francas. Their grammars, dictiona-ries, primers, readers, and systematic compilations of proverbs, stories, and customs also furnished the scientific community with documentation for modern study of cultures. In turn, as converts came to have alternative readings of the translated scriptures, particularly of the Old Testament, and to discover the alignment of the Old Testament world with the local cultural customs, communities all over Africa used the gains of mission to offset or fight back against colonial domi-nation; in this, mission work itself had the impact of equipping the nationalists themselves with a language of resistance. In his article, which can be found in full as an appendix, Wanjiru Gitau concludes his summary of Sanneh's essay Christian Mission and the Pluralist Milieu: The African Expe-rience: 'When faith in cross-cultural mission work was on the verge of being shattered by cynical scholarship, his deep dive into the subject brought a bold and irenic appreciation of mission history as the hand of God at work after all, and that recali-brated the faith of many to re-engage vigorously in practical work of witnessing to the kingdom of God in our day. As we anticipate new challenges for the faith, may we too borrow a leaf from this man that now rests with the cloud of witnesses, and be witnesses of our own times.' Dearth of Positive Witnessing The well-known dictum of the 2nd century North African theo-logian Tertullian that 'the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church, seems to have gone lost in the colonial missionary expansion, although the bold 18th century Moravian missionaries had given actuality to it, by taking their coffins with them to new fields of service, ready to die there. The missionaries took their coffins with them to new fields of service Deep into the 20th century, the martyrdom of Jim Elliot and four other missionaries on January 8, 1956, by Aucas revived the notion. Jim Elliot penned a noteworthy journal entry on October 28, 1949: He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. (This was not completely new. Jim Elliot was basically re-wording what a 17th century English non-conformist preacher Phillip Henry had said. However, Jim Elliot underscored it by giving his life for the cause of the gospel.) Closer home, Werner Groenewald, South African missionary of Incontext Ministries, said something similar before he and his two teenage children became gospel martyrs in Kabul, Afghanistan. In October 2016, Werner spoke at a conference on the subject of “Counting the Cost for Christ.” He ended it by saying, “We die only once. It might as well be for Christ.” A few weeks later, on November 29, that became tragic reality. Division Along Racial Lines After 1820, a few mission agencies converged on the Cape, every one of them importing their own brand of Christianity. Within a few decades, District Six (formerly Onderkaap) and Woodstock had many churches. The increase of missionaries also had a negative side effect. Racism and denominationalism combined to get new churches started. Racism and denominationalism combined to get new churches started. Racially inspired congregations began to spring up. In due course the Dutch Reformed Church had a 'White' congregation in Aberdeen Street in Woodstock, with a 'Coloured' fellowship just down the road a stone’s throw away. The Methodist and Congregational Church both had a similar situation with different congregations in due course for the respective race groups very close to each other, long before there were prescriptive apartheid laws. The language and race issue ultimately caused a division at St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church. Soon it became clear that the differences were much deeper. A dispute arose between the Dutch speakers and the English part of the church. The former group consisted mainly of people of colour. Tensions grew when the Dutch-speaking members felt that they were not enjoying the same benefits as the ‘White’ English-speaking members. Church Apartheid is Born It is sad that church authorities at the Cape appear to have been the instigators of racial prejudice. Even though a separate school for colonist children had been started in 1663, there were still slave and Khoi children in all the schools at the Cape until 1876. The germ of apartheid seems to have been spread from a complete identification of the Dutch Church with Israel. The replacement theology that was generally taught, regarded the Church as the new Israel. This also developed into racial superiority in respect of all other races, which made missionary work redundant. The great commission of Jesus to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28: 19-20), was by and large ignored. Just like the Jewish racial prejudice, which did not discern that the issue at the heart of the divine prohibition of racial mixing was racism, the Dutch Colonists regarded it as divine injunction to keep themselves separate from the ‘heathen nations’. At the time of the emancipation in 1838, the slaves were still rejected at the first churches – in spite of De Mist’s progressive Church Order, but in Onderkaap (the later District Six) mixed congregations were started. The Methodists had a congregation as early as 1837 with 200 'Whites' and 150 ‘Coloureds’ on its roll in 1854. That this racial breakdown is specifically mentioned, suggests that the apartheid spirit could have crept in somewhere between 1837 and 1854. The Swellendam Dutch Reformed Church actually requested racial separation in 1845, but this was not granted to them. It seems that Adamson and Stegmann were different from contemporary clergymen. They were completely accepted by people of colour. The Centenary Record of St Andrew's men-tions ‘the unsatisfactory arrangement’ as a reason for the dis-content that developed after Rev George Morgan, successor to Dr Adamson, joined the mission to the slaves. Rev. George Morgan was clear in his preaching: 'wherever a Christian church is planted …it is the duty… to extend the blessings to all classes of men without distinction'. The racial tensions deteriorated nevertheless. The people of colour left en masse. Haasbroek, a Dutch Reformed theologian who wrote a dissertation on the mission among Muslims, mentions the concrete reason for the discontent: The slaves were not happy with Rev Morgan. The split that occurred at St Andrew’s in 1842 was possibly the result of personal rivalry between Stegmann (supported by Adamson) and Rev Morgan. At a time when the missionary work was flourishing, there was division in St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church. Adamson had more or less been forced to leave the church. Morgan promptly refused Stegmann permission to preach at St Andrew’s. Carnality Hits Church Unity for a Six Before the appointment of Rev. Morgan, Dr James Adamson was in Scotland in his absence. Ds. Georg Stegmann served as minister for St Andrew's as well. He was thus pastor for both the Lutheran and Presbyterian churches at that time. Rev. George Morgan was appointed as the successor of Dr Adamson in 1841. He was proficient in the Dutch language and consequently could take a more active part in the teaching and preaching activities at St Andrew’s Mission. Morgan, the new minister, wanted to preach every alternate Sunday at the much better attended evening services, but Stegmann was not willing to share the pulpit with him. The German appears to have been unreasonable, apparently insisting to officiate at the services of St Andrew's as he had done during the absence of Dr Adamson. Morgan promptly refused Stegmann ‘toegang tot die kansel’, permission to preach at St Andrew's. A serious fued ensued. After Adamson’s return from overseas, he sided with Stegmann. Hereafter Stegmann was ‘as’t ware verplig’, more or less forced to leave the church. (Dr Adamson had left to concentrate on the tertiary Mathematics lecturing at the South African College School, where he had become a pioneer.) The African Theatre on Boerenplein became a school for freed slaves. The African Theatre on Boerenplein had fallen into disuse by 1838. Dr Adamson resolved to use it as a school for freed slaves. To this end he raised funds both in Scotland and at the Cape to purchase the building. Racial Segregation Enshrined Soon meetings and school classes were held for slaves during the week at the premises of the former theatre in Bree Street, that was also called the Komediehuis. (This was the first theatre of South Africa.) On 20 April 1842 a ‘vergadering van ontevredenheid’ (a meeting of dissatisfaction) took place at this venue, where also church services were held. Stegmann encouraged the slave component of the congregation to return to the Scottish church but only one person did. The rest refused. The damage of disunity had already been done. The building, which was by now envisaged as a separate church for freed slaves, called forth the anger of the colonists. Being their former theatre, where now slave children were being taught, the colonists were enraged. One of the first protest marches of 'Whites' at the Cape ensued. Hereafter, the church was pelted with stones. (It is said that the church, the only Dutch Reformed Church that bears the name of a saint, was called after the first biblical Martyr, because dissatisfied folk stoned it on a certain Sunday, while a service was in progress.) The church was stoned by dissatisfied folk on a Sunday, while a service was in progress. Yet, the services at St Stephen’s were not exclusively attended by slaves. Ds. Frans Cachet, Jewish-background minister who came to faith in Christ in Holland, had a short stint at St Stephen’s after Stegmann had left the post vacant. About this time, it was mentioned that the main service was in the evening, attended by ‘blankes en kleurlinge’ ('Whites' and ‘Coloureds’). In the wake of this tussle, church segregation was enhanced at the Scottish church. Nearly all the Dutch speaking Lutheran teachers of St Andrew’s Mission joined Stegmann to start a congregation at St Stephen’s. (Stegmann may also played a divisive role when he started St Martini for German speakers in Long Street. Understandably, the Germans were not happy because the sanctuary in Strand Street that had been started by their compatriots and ancestors, were taken over by Dutch speakers.) On the other hand, Stegmann and Adamson also established a number of mission endeavours hereafter in and around Cape Town which they called the ‘Apostolic Union.’ A missionary association was begun at St Andrew's in 1848 with two separate parts, the one ‘White’ and the other ‘mixed’. Ostensibly, the reason given in the report of 13 October 1848 was practical, because the converts from the 'Heathen’ 'were not sufficiently acquainted with English to derive edification from religious services in that language.' Even though a separate school for colonist children was already started in 1663, there were still slave and Khoi descendants in all the schools at the Cape until 1876. Without giving any motivation, a Cape historian of Cape education wrote about the movement to separate on racial grounds that it was ‘…veral die kerklike owerheid wat die wenslikheid en noodsaaklikheid van so’n stap ingesien het’. (… especially the ecclesiastical authorities which saw the feasibility and necessity of such a step.) The Language and Race Issue The seed sowed by Ds. Gottlieb van der Lingen, the Pinkster-bidure man and the son of a London Missionary Society (LMS) missionary pioneer, in opposing the anglicization of Cape society, had dire results. Thankfully God divinely over-ruled Van der Lingen's bigoted and nationalistic vision. Instead of attempting to safeguard the culture of the elite, two of the recruited Dutch teachers, Arnoldus Pannevis and Cornelis P. Hoogenhout, became staunch fighters for the Bible in the language of the poor, the kombuistaal of inferior Dutch, which would ultimately become the Afrikaans language. Dutch teachers became staunch fighters for the Bible in the language of the poor. Because of the economic depression of the 1860s and 1870s, many English-speaking folk left Cape Town for greener pastures in the interior. The diamonds and gold were glittering! Eventually, on 31 October 1878, St Andrew’s Mission which was started in 1838, closed down. Yet, missionary work as such did not cease. A new venture, St Andrew’s Sabbath Morning Fellowship, was started in 1876. They hired a hall in Bloem Street where Xhosas were evangelized. In due course this flowed into the Presbyterian outreach which started in 1893 in Ndabeni. Internal Bickering of Religious Leaders The precedent of the bitter infighting between the Groote Kerk pastors Le Boucq and Kalden at the turn of the 18th century, which led to Ds. Petrus Kalden being recalled to Holland, had many repeats at the Cape. It was not helpful for good relationships when Ds. J. Beck of the Z.A. Gesticht invited Ds. Abraham Faure to come and preach at his fellowship there regularly on his ‘free’ Sunday - with a full retinue of disgruntled Groote Kerk church members! The Anglican Church had their own version of doctrinal bickering at this time. In England the Oxford Movement called for an examination of the Catholic roots of the denomination. Rev. George Hough, a civil chaplain, who had started to minister at the Cape in 1813, preached a sermon on fasting in Lent. Some members found that too Roman Catholic. Hough’s High Church teaching on baptism caused a rift between himself and Mr Lamb, his subordinate. Hough believed and taught ‘baptismal regeneration’, that one is born again at christening as an infant. A nasty quarrel ensued. Rev. Hough left the Cape in 1847, but not before a number of lay workers resigned from St. Georges Cathedral because of the teaching of baptismal regeneration which they regarded as a Catholic relic. They started the Holy Trinity Church in Harrington Street in 1846. (Subsequently the fellowship relocated to Vriende Street in Gardens.) Liberalism As a Source Of Dissension It is sad that religious disputes ‘formed almost the bread and butter of Cape Town lawyers’ from the 1850s. The Dutch Reformed Church had internal quarrels, which came to the fore at the 1862 synod where Dr Andrew Murray was elected moderator for the first time. The liberal dominees Thomas Burgers and D.P. Faure tried to infiltrate the synod with unbiblical concepts and with an appeal to the Supreme Court. Dr Murray did a grand job in holding the synod together as moderator Dr Murray did a grand job in holding the synod together as moderator. Ds Faure disagreed totally with some doctrine. It was however far from charitable how colleagues like Hendrik C. V. Leibbrandt were looked upon as criminals because they supported their colleague. All of this led to the great schism the following year, which finally resulted in the formation of the Free Protestant Church in 1868. Leibbrandt subsequently be-came the keeper of the Archives. (This benefited the country. His meticulous research and publication of documents rectified many a myth.) Theologians In Fierce Rivalry Robert Gray became the dynamic first bishop of St. George's Cathedral, arriving in 1848. He was however too radical for many church members when he called a combined synod of clergy and laity in his diocese Cape Town in 1856. A number of laities disagreed with the holding of the synod. Six congregations of the evangelical tradition refused to be represented, including the Holy Trinity congregation of Harrington Street. John William Colenso was a British mathematician, theologian, scholar and social activist. He became the first Anglican Bishop of Natal. Bishop Colenso was ahead of his time in many ways. He thus ‘advocated revolutionary and unpopular missionary policies’, asserting very firmly ‘that the Christian gospel possessed definite social implications.’ Contrary to Robert Gray, he was convinced that African religious traditions and customs should not be rejected lock, stock and barrel. Rather, Colenso hoped to ‘leaven African culture and its social system with the gospel. What was needed was the transformation of African society, not the detribalisation of individuals by turning them into black Europeans’. The transformation of African society was needed, not the detribalisation of individuals. Bishop Colenso, who had a genuine heart for missions, unfortunately got entangled in bitter theological disputes, which led to a schism in the Church of England in this country. Bishop John Colenso differed with Archbishop Gray liturgically and theologically. He was finally deposed. He went overboard, heretically denouncing much of the Bible as untrue. (The resulting schism led to the well-known hymn The Church's One Foundation). This rift finally led to a new denomination, the Church of England in South Africa (CESA), as opposed to the Church of the Province of South Africa (CPSA). The initial split was sparked by Bishop Gray’s inflexibility in accepting that certain congregations might feel more comfortable in worshipping God in a different, a less liturgical way. (In due course the role got reversed when the St James CESA congregation of Kenilworth under Bishop Frank Retief became known as typical biblically conservative values and views at the end of the 20th century. What could have been a spectacular move of church unity between the Anglicans and the Dutch Reformed Church in 1870, faltered because of the too liberal view held by some ministers. The Episcopal hierarchical system became a major stumbling block. Especially the Episcopal hierarchical system turned out to be a major stumbling block. The Reformed Presbyterian tradition would not allow for the recognition of bishops. Jewish-Christian Polemics In 1873 Ds. Frans Lion Cachet pleaded in the Cape DRC Synod for a mission to be started to the Jews, his people. He moved to the Cape village of Villiersdorp in 1876. He found a ‘deep sea of love’ for the Jews among Dutch Reformed ministers, elders and deacons, even among the most distant congregations. The passionate plea of Frans Lion Cachet was however regarded as a provocation to the Jews. Notably, there was ‘violent opposition on the part of the Rabbi.’ The letter of 30 October 1876 to the Cape Argus of Rabbi Rabinowitz was definitely not cordial, accusing Ds. Cachet of condescension and ‘casting doubts on … his motives.’ Ds. Cachet’s reaction was however not in the spirit of Christ either. The ‘lively correspondence’ between Christians and Jews – perhaps one should rather say polemics - continued in the Cape Argus for over a month. The result of the controversy was that by 1876 favourable conditions for Messianic Jews to win their cultural compatriots over to faith in Yeshua had passed somewhat. It was hereafter left to Gentiles to lead searching Jews to faith in Jesus as their Lord and Messiah. Only in 1894 the resolution was passed by the synod that: ‘… the time has come for the DRC to pay its debt to Israel by commencing its own mission to the Jews’. Islam at the Crossroads In the period after 1842 significant inroads were made into Islam by the mission work, especially by Rev. Stegmann at St Stephen’s, by Rev. Vogelgezang in Bo-Kaap's Rose Street and later by the Anglicans at St Paul’s (Bo-Kaap) and St. Mary’s (Woodstock). Internal bickering by Muslims and a power struggle by Bo-Kaap imams were not helping the Islamic cause. Islamic growth seemed to have ground to a standstill at that point in time. Internal bickering by Muslims and a power struggle by Bo-Kaap imams were not helping their cause either. Between 1842 and 1876 only three mosques were built in the whole of the Western Cape and none of them could be attributed to genuine growth. The religion was all but knocked out in the Bo-Kaap when personality disputes rocked the mosques (The many mosques in the ‘slamse buurt’, the original ‘Malay Quarter’, is a sad legacy of this bitter infighting). The doctrinal differences were given a formal tinge on 27 February 1844 when the Nurul Islam Mosque in Buitengracht Street became a Shafee congregation, less than 50 meters away from the Auwal Mosque of Dorp Street, due to some family quarrel. The rescue of Islam came from outside, in the form of reprieve from Christians. The Rescue of Cape Islam The rescue of Islam came from outside, in the form of reprieve from Christians in a surprising combination. European Christians unintentionally brought with them the baggage of racial and religious superiority, which did not stop at the church door. This happened literally after the arrival of Archdeacon Nathaniel James Merriman in 1849. (He was scheduled to start his ministry as leader of a new diocese Grahamstown, to minister in the Eastern Cape among the British settlers and their descendants.) Merriman described how at St Georges Cathedral two or three Muslims ‘with their red handkerchiefs on their heads’ came out of curiosity to see the new arch-deacon, but ‘the attendant official turned them out and shut the door in their faces!!!’ Carnal responses of the local newspapers made martyrs out of the Cape Muslims. Various epidemics, e.g. of smallpox, brought Islamic numeric growth almost to a halt at this time, but the opposition to health measures and the carnal responses of the local newspapers made martyrs out of the Cape Muslims. This functioned as glue to them after they had been quite divided. The resusci-tation of Islam was aided by racial prejudice. The hatred and prejudice of rank and file 'Whites' knitted Muslims together to fight for the survival of their religion at the Cape. The churches were too occupied with their own internal issues to see the need of bringing the gospel to the ‘Malays’ who were perceived to be inferior. At this time, the ministry of the South African Missionary Society (SAMS) suffered due to a lack of funds. The need for a special mission to the Muslims was nevertheless definitely felt and a sub-commission was specially formed for this purpose. Speaking on behalf of this sub-commission, Rev. G.W. Stegmann insisted on a final decision in 1873. But this did not happen. Yet, Muslims were still coming to faith in Christ. In the annual report of the SAMS of 1875 it is mentioned that 7 of the 18 new members to be confirmed were Muslims. It is ironic that Christians have saved Islam from extinction at the Cape again and again, directly and indirectly. This started at this time via someone from the ranks of the SAMS. A Good Expression of Biblical Christianity Against the background of the general negative attitude held by 'Whites', including the majority of the missionaries and clergymen, a lay Christian, Mr Petrus Emanuel de Roubaix, towered above the rest with regard to the loving outreach to Cape Muslims in the second half of the 20th century. De Roubaix practised much of what biblical Christianity is all about. Kollisch, a contemporary, notes that public newspapers and other records of his time would show that De Roubaix ‘most cheerfully rendered his aid whenever required, ... it was a matter of general surprise ... that as a Christian...he should give such support and assistance to a class of people belong-ing to an opposite creed.’ Mr de Roubaix, a director of the SAMS and a Cape parliamentarian, practised genuine com-passion for Muslims. He intervened to get money from Turkey to complete the building of a mosque in faraway Port Elizabeth, which was opened on 1 June 1866 (The actual building of the mosque was commenced in 1855). The philanthropist De Roubaix’s ‘indefatigable zeal in the cause of civilisation and progress’ was known and praised. New Life for Cape Islam De Roubaix brought in Abu Bakr Effendi, an imam from Turkey, to try and stop the doctrinal fighting in the mosques. Effendi was however nowhere the final answer when he caused doctrinal disunity himself. The name of the Shafee Mosque in Chiapinni Street that was built in 1876, reminds one of the Shafee versus Hanafee doctrinal struggle. This was caused by Effendi. (His greatest contribution was probably the writing in Afrikaans of the Bayan al-Din, a religious text, written pho-netically in Arabic script.) Abu Bakr Effendi injected new life in Cape Islam. In spite of being so controversial, Effendi injected new life in Cape Islam. Under his influence there was an increase in religious services and ‘a stronger feeling of brotherhood was engendered amongst Muslim boys… and conversion to Christianity practically stopped’. The Rise of Afrikaner Nationalism The birth of Afrikaans is sometimes described in a very positive way as an outcome and fruit of the 1860 revival. That is misleading. The idolising of the language and the rise of Afrikaner Nationalism were two less glorious indirect results of the revival. Pannevis was driven by a passion to see the Bible translated into the language spoken by the slaves. Arnoldus Pannevis, a Dutch schoolteacher who came to the Mother City in 1866, noticed that the people at the Cape were speaking a language which was quite distinct from Dutch. He was driven by a passion to see the Bible translated into the language spoken by the slaves and many other people. However, he was met with derision for his idea to have the Bible translated into a patois, a kombuistaal. Pannevis’ plea with the British and Foreign Bible Society was flatly refused: ‘We are by no means inclined to perpetuate jargons by printing them.’ Pannevis taught at the Paarl Gymnasium, the pet of Ds. Gottlieb van der Lingen, an ardent proponent of Dutch culture. An internal struggle ensued at the ‘Strooidak’ (Straw Roof) Dutch Reformed congregation of Paarl, where two parties disagreed around various issues. Ds. Stefanus Johannes du Toit was called to the new congregation that was formed in the wake of a feud among local believers. A former pupil of Arnoldus Pannevis, Ds. S.J. du Toit had just finished his theo-logical studies in Stellenbosch. Among the members of the new Noorder Paarl congregation there was an extraordinary number of poor people, many of them were ‘Coloureds’. Idolising of Afrikaans Race hardly played a role when the Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners (GRA) was founded in Paarl for ‘true’ Afrikaners. Ds. S.J. du Toit defined them as those with an Afrikaans heart. (Du Toit, the driving force of the first thrust for the propagation of Afrikaans, also distinguished those with an English and those with a Dutch heart.) Ds du Toit was joined in this venture by the Dutch teacher Casparus P. Hoogenhout in the founding of the GRA. When it was discerned that an Afrikaans Bible would be useful for some 'Whites', Pannevis’ idea suddenly was good enough to pursue. When the GRA discerned that an Afrikaans Bible would be useful for lower class 'Whites' as well, Pannevis’ idea suddenly was good enough to pursue. The Genootskap’s official mouthpiece, Die Patriot, written in Afrikaans, gave the fledgling language a decisive push. Ds. Du Toit left the Cape in 1882 to head the education department of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, later known as the Transvaal. He described Afrikaners as all those of predominantly Dutch or Huguenot descent. Ds. Du Toit excluded not only all people of colour, but also the British background South Africans and the German Lutherans. On an ideological level Ds. S. J. du Toit pushed the language movement into an exclusivist direction. This had a tragic by-effect. Afrikaners would make an idol out of Afrikaans, even building a monument for it in Paarl. In due course Afrikaners would speak of their language to be the heavenly one. Be it as it may, Ds S.J. Du Toit's pioneering contribution in translating a few Bible books from the original Hebrew, remains a great contribution. The brilliant ‘Onze Jan’ Hofmeyr, who started the Afrikaner Bond in 1881, was alienated by the exclusivist trait propagated by Ds. du Toit. He preferred an organisation that would unite Afrikaner and English farmers. He could however not stop or even slow down the downward spiral of tension between Brit and Boer that would culminate in the South African War. (The spark of the war was the Jameson Raid, that was spawned by envy and the greed of British Imperialism, exemplified by the battle to grab the gold fields of the Reef.) Dents in Andrew Murray’s Legacy Competition, bickering by religious leaders and denominational rivalry all but cancelled the gains of the revivals of 1839 and 1860-61. The pattern of racial overtones has plagued the Mother City ever since, grieving the Holy Spirit and opposing a spiritual breakthrough. It seemed that Andrew Murray, the great man of God, did not sufficiently discern the danger of racial prejudice. The 1857 DRC synod tragically agreed to accept racial separation because of the 'weakness of some'. This motion was tabled by no less than Andrew Murray himself. It implied a complete about-turn of the 1829 decision not to divide the denomination along racial lines. What a disaster their decision would lead to in the long run, even though separation was allowed voluntarily! An improper message was conveyed. (It seems as if there was not a single person of colour among the one hundred and forty-five missionaries that left the Mission Institute in Wellington over the years.) The decision paved the way for the ‘Coloured’ sector of the denomination, the Sendingkerk, to be sent on its separate way in 1881. (Ambivalently, the 'Coloured' St Stephen’s congregation of Bo-Kaap was accepted as a member at this same 'White' Dutch Reformed Church synod, with the understanding that there would always have to be a 'White' dominee to represent them at the ring (circuit) and at synod.) In the Cape General Mission, started in 1889 with Andrew Murray as President, there were people from different denominational backgrounds from the outset. The mission agency was blessed with spectacular growth. Petrus le Roux, one of his disciples, mentioned that the 'good, earnest, native preachers' came from the Methodist and Anglican churches. Dr Andrew Murray had unintentionally sowed the seeds of racial segregation when Dutch Reformed theologians abused his a-political stand. Murray was branded in a negative way as a pietist. Murray’s Legacy Undermined Murray’s legacy of interdenominational networking was se-riously undermined in yet another regard. Initially deeply influenced by Andrew Murray on divine healing and holiness theology, Petrus Le Roux was later impacted by American Zionists from Illinois. Their emphasis on three-fold immersion in the Snake River of Wakkerstroom introduced bickering how-ever around the number of immersions in believers’ baptism. In the baptism by immersion, divine healing and the practising of the gifts of the spirit would become doctrinal issues that led to church splits and rifts. In the attitude towards people of colour there was still quite a lot of goodwill among ‘Whites’ at the turn of the 20th century. A problem was that even radical thinkers among them hardly ever consulted people of colour. The ‘natives’ were regarded as inferior, their culture despised. Paternalism was rife. Bigotry Breeds Hatred For all the positive values of unity and bilingualism that people like 'Onze Jan' Hofmeyr and the Afrikaner Bond stood for, they were countered by the worst tenets of British imperialism, personified by Cecil John Rhodes. (The same Afrikaner Bond however excluded all people who were not 'White'.) The anglicising policies of Lord Milner at the turn of the 20th century could hardly miss its mark. (The Nazi treatment of Jews under Hitler would however later dwarf what he did.) That Milner's regime prohibited children to speak Afrikaans more than three hours at school or face punishment with a placard 'I am a donkey. I spoke Dutch', plus other measures like the brutal concentration camps where thousands of women and children would die, could not be easily forgotten. That Afrikaners resented anything British for decades thereafter, is all too comprehensible. Precursors of Spiritual Warfare New tenets of spiritual warfare started when Andrew Murray brought the issue into focus through his emphasis on prayer and the interest he aroused in the work of the Holy Spirit. Revivals in different parts of Africa were initiated from Cape Town after Murray’s founding of the South African General Mission in 1889. Revivals in different parts of Africa were initiated from Cape Town. Spencer Walton of the South African General Mission (SAGM) and Andrew Murray organized conferences at Wellington. This became known as the South African version of Keswick (The SAGM was later called the Africa Evangelical Fellowship (AEF). After attending a Keswick Convention in England in 1935, Mr A.J.A. Rowland, a member of the Cape Town Baptist Church, took the initiative to start the Cape Keswick Convention in 1937. (This annual convention continued for over forty years, with Rev. Roger Voke responsible for the organization of many conventions during the last years of its existence at the Cape.) Paternalism Breeds Secession Paternalism among 'Whites' in their treatment of people of colour gave rise to the secessionist ‘Ethiopian Movement’. The ‘Ethiopians’ have been typified by the sentence: 'We have come to pray for the deliverance of Blacks'. They wanted to be liberated from racial oppression. The ideological link went back to the Ethiopian eunuch of Acts 8 and the church which developed in that country, without assistance of Western Churches. The term ‘Ethiopian’ was derived from the concept that the first indigenous church on African soil started in Ethiopia. The first indigenous church on African soil started in Ethiopia. The ‘Ethiopian’ movement started in different parts of South Africa as breakaway congregations from the Methodist Church. Disillusioned by the imperfections of colonial society, they withdrew from ‘White’-dominated structures to form exclusively African organisations. Their aim was to throw off the shackles of 'White' domination, to regain their former independence, while retaining at the same time what they considered to be the best elements of European civilisation. Harmonious Religious Relations According to Dr Issy Berelowitz, a prominent Jew who grew up in District Six in the early 20th century, there were no less than nine synagogues there. That part of Cape Town was seen as the heart of Jewry in the Mother City in the first half of the 20th century. Poor East European immigrants are known to have lived in the area between Chapel Street and Sir Lowry Road. ('White' children, including many a Jewish learner attended the Chapel Street Primary School till 1948 when apartheid legislation stopped that. In strange irony the school now has a Mus-lim principal with more Xhosa learners than from any other race.) The religious-wise tolerant and multi-racial character of that part of the growing metropolis is demonstrated by the fact that Buitenkant Street had a synagogue, the Tafelberg DRC and the (Coloured) Methodist Church in close proximity to each other, along with many other churches and mosques. The Liberman Institute in Muir Street was a beacon of light. The first Jew to become a mayor of Cape Town was Hyman Liberman, who was in office from 1904-1907. He had a compassionate heart. When he died in 1923, a big sum was donated from his bequest for a reading room and other facilities in District Six. The Liberman Institute in Muir Street became a beacon of light. From there not only a library operated, but UCT students in the Social Sciences also did their practical work there. The building provided a neutral venue for many a meeting in the struggle against apartheid. A legacy at the Cape was that there was a cordial harmonious atmosphere between Cape Muslims and Jews until the end of the 20th century, very much so in District Six. Christianity, Judaism and Islam co-existed side by side amicably until the advent of Group Areas legislation. Even today many Muslims are still working with and for Jews without any feelings of rancour, although isolated radical elements within the Muslim community have been trying to stir up anti-Jewish sentiments from time to time. Chapter 14 Cape Revival Fruit The lessons learned during the Cape revival helped prepare Andrew Murray for his future role in the influential Keswick movement. He attended the Keswick Convention in Britain for the first time in 1882. In 1895 he was asked to speak at both the Keswick and Northfield Conventions in the US. Murray was warmly received at these conferences and was later responsible for bringing the Keswick movement to South Africa. The Keswick Movement as Indirect Fruit The Keswick Convention was itself the indirect fruit of the wonderful season of awakening in England, America and South Africa. The revival touched at least four different con-tinents, bringing with it a renewed faith and vision for personal holiness and the Spirit-filled life. It was this liberating message that soon became synonymous with Andrew Murray’s personal ministry. The Keswick Convention united the emerging European Holiness movement and helped to channel the fire and energy of what became known as the 'Third Great Awakening'. However, the Keswick Convention did much more than merely unify and preserve the remaining fruit of this great revival. With a clear call to personal holiness through faith in Christ, the Keswick movement helped to prepare a new generation for the next move of God. The Keswick movement helped prepare a new generation for the next move of God. Many missionary mobilizers regarded the Keswick Convention as one of the finest 'hunting grounds' for the best missionary recruits. The influence of that generation’s Spirit-filled ministry watered the seeds that would contribute to the next gene-ration’s harvest. A Grossly Underrated Missionary At the Cape, Anglican Bishop Robert Gray died in September 1872. The new Archbishop, William West Jones, was positively inclined to the importance of the outreach to Muslims. He recruited the German-born Dr John Mühleissen Arnold. Bishop West Jones wrote about him: ‘He is a fine old man, full of energy and self-denial. ... The Church is crowded every Sunday, and his simple earnest preaching is working wonders’. Outreach to Muslims and Jews have been the Cinderella’s of Church and missionary endeavour down the centuries to this day. It is therefore not surprising that one finds very special contributions in these areas of missional effort hidden in relative anonymity. Dr John M. Arnold, an exceptional but completely underrated missionary, worked in Papendorp, that was later renamed Woodstock. He died in 1881, after being in the Cape for only six years. Other reports show that Dr Arnold significantly impacted Muslims in his short stint. Because he was in charge of Muslim work over the whole Peninsula, this militated against his making an even bigger impression amongst the adherents of that religion in Papendorp (Woodstock). It is rather strange that one finds only scant reference to the profound missiological and theological work of Dr Arnold prior to his coming here. Hardly anybody pointed to his monumental book on Islam, the third edition of which had been printed in 1874, just a year before he came to the Cape. It is all the more remarkable, because only very few books on Islam had been written in English before his great work. He was an exceptional researcher, unearthing less known facts about the life of Muhammad, the supreme Islamic prophet such as the fact that Muhammad had not been circumcised and not buried within twenty-four hours after his death.7 Dr Arnold could quote from the fake gospel of Barnabas in Spanish. That Arnold was an Islamic scholar of note is demonstrated by the fact that he could quote from the fake gospel of Barnabas in Spanish at a time when an English translation was not yet freely available. Arnold gave a very knowledgeable view, namely that 'the interpolation of this spurious gospel by a Muslim hand is too palpable to deserve a word of comment or argument.' Evangelism Takes Off in the Mother City The Salvation Army had a ‘hot’ welcome in the Mother City. A month after their arrival on 4 March 1883, Major and Mrs Francis Simmonds lit a fire in Cape Town, along with Lieutenant Alice Teager. Initially, they were vilified by Cape society. For example, young men would turn up in droves to attend their services, some of them intending to disrupt the meetings. The newspaper Lantern complained that the new group was bringing the gospel in unfamiliar ways, 'degrading the dearest sensibilities of the Christian Faith… to the commonest and vulgarest of music-hall tunes, the women glib in blasphemy and mouthing in illiterate dialect the most daring orations to appropriate music-hall gesture and demeanour.' The salvos of the Salvation Army were pretty effective because a mere two months later, three hundred new converts gathered in a hall in Claremont. This was revival stuff! The salvos of the Salvation Army were pretty effective. The evangelistic outreaches of the Baptist Church, which started in 1876 with nine members, first peaked at the end of the 19th century. Apart from the 'White' churches from the denomination which started in Mowbray, Claremont and Wynberg, two daughter congregations got off the ground as the result of mission work in Jarvis Street (Bo-Kaap) and in Sheppard Street (District Six). No less than the 'Prince of Preachers', Charles Spurgeon, was involved in the training and sending out of the first Baptist ministers to the Cape. Women in Spiritual Renewal at the Cape A rare feature of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century was that women spearheaded missionary work in South Africa when the men lacked vision. All too often, women had been playing a big role in spiritual renewal behind the scenes. All too often, women had been playing a major role in spiritual renewal behind the scenes. A Cape-based missionary agency actually owes its existence to a woman, Mrs Martha Osborn. She was thoroughly impacted by the Holy Spirit after her conversion during a meeting of D.L. Moody. Her husband became seriously ill soon after his retirement, and eventually died. A newspaper report about the presence of ‘dens of the lowest description’ among British soldiers in Cape Town gripped her. This became Martha Osborn’s call to missions. She sailed from England in 1879 to devote herself to work among the Cape soldiers. Martha Osborn started evangelistic missionary work in Cape Town, Natal and Zululand. She founded a Sailors’ Home, a Ladies Christian Workers Union, the Railway Mission and the South African Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA). In 1890 Martha married George Howe who had been working alongside her with a similar vision. During the South African War, the couple established no less than twenty-seven Soldiers’ Homes. The Emancipation of Women Prepared The author of The Romance of the three Triangles opined that the work of the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) ‘had its inception in the mind of God’. The Ladies Christian Workers’ Union was formed in Cape Town at the suggestion of Mrs Martha Osborn. In August 1884, during a visit to the Mother City by Dr Andrew Murray for evangelistic services, this organisation was formally established under his chairmanship. At one of the Ladies’ gatherings the role of young women and the best way to help them was discussed. Osborn’s sister succeeded in gaining the interest of many Christian friends. The women continued to pray, asking God for further guidance. There was an urgency now to find a suitable venue to which they could invite young women. For weeks they prayed to this end. At this time the affluent Bam family of Cape Town had sent their two daughters to Germany for schooling. During their stay there, both girls contracted Typhoid Fever, and subsequently died from it. In this time of grief their father heard indirectly of the desire of the Ladies Christian Workers’ Union to befriend young women in Cape Town. He wrote a letter in which he expressed his desire to devote the house, which was the birthplace and home of his deceased daughters, to the work that the Ladies Christian Workers’ Union had in view. A basis of faith became the framework for YWCA membership and ministry. At a meeting on 6 May 1886 it was decided to inaugurate the work of the YWCA. From its inception, the building was dedicated for use by young women as a safe place. It was also intended as a place of rest for Christian workers and missionaries coming to town. A basis of faith became the framework for its membership and ministry. A week of prayer demonstrated their utter dependency upon God. The dependency upon God was epitomised by a week of prayer, first used in the second week of November. Later the second week in March became the week of evangelism. Dependency upon God epitomised a week of prayer. When special needs arose, it was quite normal that the leaders would call for ‘quiet days.’ ‘It has always been the great desire of the members that the organisation should never lose the spirit of waiting on God to know how and for what to pray. On 5 June 1901 the committee of the former union resolved to discontinue using the name Christian Workers’ Union. It had by then done its job to instil dignity and self-confidence in many a young woman. Calling of a Prophet Andrew (Andries) Abraham Stockenstrom Le Fleur (1867-1941) grew up in the OFS in knowledge and understanding, astounding many leaders of his day with his great wisdom. Already as a teenager Andrew le Fleur astounded many leaders of his day with his great wisdom. He received his calling from God on the 9th of May, 1889. His father was the Private Secretary to Lady Kok, widow of Adam Kok III, who was ruling over a faction of the Griquas in Kokstad. According to Griqua folklore, while looking for his father’s asses for three days in succession and not being able to find them in the Lesotho mountains, he suddenly heard a voice calling out of a stone: 'Andrew, Andrew, Andrew... I am the Lord God speaking to you, Go and gather the dead bones of Adam Kok and call them as one nation, so that they can be my people and I their God. Behold the two asses you are looking for, are just on the other side of this hill. Go and tell your father what I command you to do, and tell him that Lady Kok will die at eight o’clock tomorrow morning. These two signs will open the minds of you and your father, so that you will know that it is the Lord who has spoken to you, and that the word of Ezekiel be fulfilled.' Andrew found the asses, and a healthy Lady Kok died at eight o’clock sharp on the next morning, the 10th May, 1889. (The biblical Saul, on a similar mission of looking for asses, would become the first king of Israel, 1 Samuel 9:3ff). The next step in Le Fleur’s calling was his marriage to Rachel Susanna Kok, the youngest daughter of Adam (Muis) Kok 1V and domestic of the missionary Dower of Kokstad, in 1896. After the death of Adam Kok III, the Griquas, now lead-erless and in total disarray, a faction decided on the husband of the young Rachel Andrew Le Fleur, to be their leader. In due course he assumed the title of Paramount Chief of the Griquas. Andrew le Fleur would become the most prominent indigenous Khoisan leader of South Africa. Andrew le Fleur, who became lov-ingly known to his followers as Die Kneg (Servant of God), already be-gan his career as a revivalist in the mid-1890s. Tackling the land issue in various ways and foste-ring a united Gri-qua identity by spiritual means, he would become the most prominent indigenous Khoisan leader in South Africa. Andrew le Fleur spent his life campaigning for the restitution of land that the Griquas lost when the British colonial authorities annexed Griqualand East. He sought to unite people called Griqua, Nama and 'Coloured' under the Griqua banner. An Exceptional Orator Andrew le Fleur distinguished himself as an exceptional orator among contesting factions as a protest and resistance leader. Through his insatiable hunger for justice and equality in an era where oppressive colonial laws destroyed the morale of his people, Le Fleur collided with the authorities who mis-interpreted his strong non-violent stand at times as revolt and incitement. Andrew Le Fleur reorganized the strewn Griqua remnants into a new nation. Andrew Le Fleur, after being chosen as Griqua chief, started 'collecting the dead bones of Adam Kok.' He travelled the length and breadth of the country, reorganizing the strewn Griqua remnants into a new nation, forming treaties with 'Bantu' tribes, and trying to convert other 'Coloured' tribes to the Griqua cause. He would not allow disappointments to deter him. His love for the Lof, the inspirational praise songs, made him strong. The many meetings he held, soon led to the authorities branding him as an agitator. He was taken to court in Kokstad, accused of causing an uprising, and subsequently sentenced to 14 years hard labour. He was sent to prison in Cape Town on the 5th May, 1898. Three angels appeared to him in his cell, and said: 'We are the three angels who appeared to Father Abraham when he was about to offer his son on Moria. Fear not, for we are sent by God to lead the way.' This eventually led to him prophesying 9 years before his sentence was due to expire, that he would walk through the prison doors as a free man on Friday, 3 April 1903 at 3 o’clock. The prophesy was fulfilled to the minute. When Andrew Le Fleur walked out of prison a free man he did so while singing, ‘The Lof’. A Meritorious Tradition Maligned Right from the beginning, in the 1750s, Adam Kok I, the leader of the Griquas, had a non-racial look on matters. He included anyone, regardless of race, who accepted their values which were basically Christian. Andrew Le Fleur dreamed of an independent Griqua homeland, believing that the Griqua and other people of colour should not wait on the goodwill of 'Whites' but uplifting themselves through hard work with God's help. Internationally Andrew (Andries) Abraham Stockenstrom Le Fleur would not get recognition near to what Nelson Mandela would get at the end of the 20th century. The stature of this remarkable man of God would remain fairly unknown even here in South Africa; maligned because he attempted to get stability for his nation in an independent homeland in SA. (The homeland policy of the Apartheid government left a bad taste for a meritorious idea that was implemented in an unfair and grossly discriminate way.) Appendix The following article has been taken from the Lausanne Global Analysis, (May 2020 Volume 9 / Issue 3 ): The Legacy of Lamin Sanneh, Colonial Missionary Impact, World Christianity, and Muslim – Christian Dialogue By Wanjiru M. Gitau On 6 January 2019, theological academia around the world was rocked by the sudden and unexpected passing of Professor Lamin Sanneh. Born in an ancient African royal family in 1942, in Gambia, a small country in the western-most part of Africa, Sanneh grew up as a Muslim and converted to Christianity in his late teenage years. Throughout his life, he held an impressive portfolio of academic achievements and appointments. At the time of his passing, he was the D. Willis James Professor of Missions and World Christianity at Yale Divinity School, a position he had held since 1989. He led numerous other initiatives, one being a flagship project on Religious Freedom and Society in Africa. The Sanneh Institute at the University of Ghana in Accra was founded in 2018 and named in his honour. It seeks to resource academic institutions in the advanced study of religion through curricular design, faculty development and research. Sanneh also had an impressive record of publications as author, editor, or co-editor of books, monographs, and peer-reviewed journal articles. Reassessing the Impact of Missionaries during the Colonial Era. One of his landmark writings, published by Orbis Books in the American Society of Missiology Series is entitled, Translating the Message: The Missionary Impact on Culture.[2] The book went through 13 printings. In it and related essays, Sanneh dissociates Christian mission from the ideological claim that missionaries were imperial agents, and mission work was an extension of the colonial empire. Much of the colonized world had achieved independence in the late 1950s and the 1960s. In the immediate post-colonial backlash, it was argued that mission work was the willing instrument of colonial administrators and settlers. Missionaries had been set loose to introduce a false piety, weaken resistance, and prepare natives to acquiesce to colonial control. As agents of western cultural alienation, they enabled settlers to annex African land with ease. By the late 1960s through the 1980s when Sanneh was coming up in the academic ranks, Western liberal academia had joined this vitriolic censure of missionary work. Among mainline church circles, the shadow of this censure exacted a heavy price of guilt on mission agencies. Educational institutions, hospitals, and development initiatives that had been founded by missionaries were facing lethargic malaise in their diverse social roles. A caustic attitude in African churches that were founded by missionaries hampered religious enthusiasm and conversion. Sanneh adds a biographical note to the dilemma when he tells how both a Methodist and a Catholic missionary were reluctant to baptize him when he chose to convert from his Muslim faith into Christianity. All that negative characterization of Christian mission was not only paralyzing the spread of the gospel in Africa but also dismissing the real significance of hundreds of years of Christian mission across Africa and elsewhere. Sanneh turns the narrative of missionary complicity in the colonial project on its head. This postcolonial backlash is vital to understanding Sanneh’s prodigious writing and distinguished career as a historian, scholar of World Christianity, and advocate of interreligious dialogue. Sanneh turns the narrative of missionary complicity in the colonial project on its head. He does not deny that some missionaries were problematic in their individual attitudes towards local cultures. What he does is to show that there is a lot more to the story, and that has to do with the nature of the gospel itself. He assesses the 2000-year historical transmission process, and the local contexts in which missions were conducted and concludes that vernacular translation is the primary, critical, leavening, or catalytic action in the spread of the Christian faith. The Christian message can be expressed in any language and interpreted into any culture. Therefore, translatability is the key to the spread of Christianity to new cultures across time, as has happened across Africa, Asia, and Latin America over the last 200 years. Professor  Lamin  Sanneh  at  the  Yale-Edinburgh Conference In a 1987 essay entitled ‘Christian Mission and the Pluralist Milieu: The African Experience’,[3] Sanneh observes that missionaries ‘went out with all sorts of motives, some of them unwholesome’, yet, ‘what stands out is the emphasis missionaries gave to translating scripture into vernacular languages’. They confidently adopted local languages, a new and bold move for the era, and in so doing they were affirming local cultures as vessels to carry the gospel of Christ. They wrote grammars, translated the Bible, started schools, taught people to read and write, collected and preserved local wisdom of stories, proverbs, and axioms. They adopted the pre-existing names for God and reinterpreted traditional cosmology in light of Christian faith. The self-interested colonial settlers were never going to undertake such a project. In fact, in the environment in which missionaries were operating, colonial overlords rated indigenous cultures extremely low on the Darwinian evolutionary scale, and whatever they could not use in the service of colonial interests, they were prepared to destroy. Sanneh systematically examines Christian history to demonstrate that the pattern observed in missionary work is in fact the same process of transmission of Christianity across time. Far from destroying indigenous cultures, missionary work catalysed the preservation and stimulation of these cultures. Missionaries helped to preserve languages that were threatened by rising lingua-francas. Their grammars, dictionaries, primers, readers, and systematic compilations of proverbs, stories, and customs also furnished the scientific community with documentation for modern study of cultures. In turn, as converts came to have alternative readings of the translated scriptures, particularly of the Old Testament, and to discover the alignment of the Old Testament world with the local cultural customs, communities all over Africa used the gains of mission to offset or fight back against colonial domination; in this, mission work itself had the impact of equipping the nationalists themselves with a language of resistance. In ‘Disciples of All Nations: Pillars of World Christianity’,[4] Sanneh explores the missionary nature of the Christian faith: the freedom of early Christians to embrace other languages such as Greek, Latin, and Coptic, and so enabled the critical moment of transmission of the gospel from its Jewish beginnings, setting it free to go into all the world. The willingness of early Christians to identify with the Gentile movement freed the disciples from obligations to maintain a geographic centre at Jerusalem. Every single phase of geographical and cross-cultural expansion of Christianity reflects similar patterns. Christianity does not primarily depend on a fixed language or culture and has no exclusive geographical frontier; it thus comes as a liberating message to every person and culture. Pioneering studies in World Christianity One of Sanneh’s easily accessible primers on World Christianity is entitled Whose Religion is Christianity: The gospel Beyond the West,[5] a dialogical text about the cross-cultural expansion process. He defines World Christianity as the wide variety of indigenous responses to Christianity as it takes shape in societies that had no previous bureaucratic tradition with which to domesticate the gospel. The process is distinctive. First, compared to Islam, Christianity does not have a fixed centre or a fixed language. Second, the process of reception, appropriation, and reinterpretation is more significant than the work of missionaries, because the Holy Spirit works in this manner to revitalize the gospel and revitalize recipient cultures. These matters are easily taken for granted; yet, in the environment in which Sanneh’s work grew, Christianity was alleged to be a foreign religion in non-Western countries. He and scholars such as Andrew Walls and Brian Stanley have helped scholar-theologians navigate the postcolonial moment. This underscores the task of the theological scholar in our time: to discern how the animating issues in the present socio-political realm connect with what Hervieu-Leger refers to as chains of memory — the expression of believing and belonging within a much larger reality than immediately discernible in current context and experience, and the memory of continuity within the expansive community of faith.[6] In so doing, theological scholars should guide Christian communities to discern the signs of the times, like the sons of Issachar (1 Chron. 12:32) who understood their times and knew what Israel needed to do before advancing God’s redemptive purposes. He defines World Christianity as the wide variety of indigenous responses to Christianity as it takes shape in societies that had no previous bureaucratic tradition with which to domesticate the gospel. Along this track I find the theme of translation useful in rethinking the continuing expansion of Christianity in our day. In Megachurch Christianity Reconsidered: Millennials and Social Change in African Perspective,[7] I use Sanneh’s translation theme to arrive at a fresh appraisal of megachurches in our world. Sanneh’s translation principle helps to show that megachurch type of Christianity is thriving because it is making the gospel intelligible – freshly translating the gospel – to the metropolitan and cosmopolitan demographic. Whether they know it or not, megachurches are re-enacting translation to a vastly changed world, thereby creating a home for a generation that would otherwise feel homeless in a rapidly changing world.[8] Readers of Sanneh’s other varied works are inspired by his deep inquiring mind, his subtle humour, his wide-reaching historical inquiry, his anthropological knowledge of the local cultures of his experience. All converge into this rich repertoire of social and theological insight that enables him to assess the contemporaneity of a whole range of issues and personalities that frame the interaction of the Christian religion with the world. This, in fact, is the essence of the study of World Christianity, a field he and Andrew Walls have pioneered. As an interdisciplinary field, World Christianity is cultivating insight into processes of conversion, transmission and translation, appropriation and reception of Christianity all over the world. Promoting Muslim-Christian dialogue Another significant trajectory of Sanneh’s work involves Muslim-Christian dialogue in Africa. Sanneh was born and raised to a Muslim society, and even after he converted to Christianity, he retained strong relationships with Muslims, commoners, and scholars alike. Several of his books have moved discourse about Christian-Muslim relations in Africa from assumptions rooted in competition, rivalry, and conflict. Sanneh shows how the two religions have historically engaged in a creative dance in west Africa. In Beyond Jihad: The Pacifist Tradition in West Africa Islam[10], he argues that, contrary to the perception that Islam spreads by violence, historical inquiry shows that Islam has been successful in Africa not because of its military might but because it was adapted by Africans through the agency of pacifist clerics, scholars, healers, and Islamic teachers. A Witness in his Time Abraham Heschel in his 1962 classic, The Prophets, writes that in the common imagination, we think of prophets as people who foretell the future, who warn of divine punishment, and who demand social justice. Yet core to their work is how the totality of their impressions, thoughts, feelings, and their whole being becomes a voice and vision that sustain the community’s faith in God’s current and ultimate involvement in history. Prophecy too, is not merely the application of timeless standards to particular human situations, but also an interpretation of a particular moment in history, bringing a divine understanding to human situations. Such a man was Lamin Sanneh, a witness in his time. When faith in cross-cultural mission work was on the verge of being shattered by cynical scholarship, his deep dive into the subject brought a bold and irenic appreciation of mission history as the hand of God at work after all, and that recalibrated the faith of many to re-engage vigorously in practical work of witnessing to the kingdom of God in our day. As we anticipate new challenges for the faith, may we too borrow a leaf from this man that now rests with the cloud of witnesses, and be witnesses of our own times. Endnotes 1. ‘About The Sanneh Institute,’ The Sanneh Institute, accessed 28 January 2020, https://tsinet.org/history ↑ 2. Lamin Sanneh, Translating the Message: The Missionary Impact on Culture (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1989). ↑ 3. Lamin Sanneh ‘Christian Mission and the Pluralist Milieu: The African Experience’, Missiology: An International Review, Vol.XII, No.4 (October 1984). ↑ 4. Lamin Sanneh, ‘Disciples of All Nations: Pillars of World Christianity’, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008). ↑ 5. Lamin Sanneh, Whose Religion is Christianity: The gospel Beyond the West (Grand Rapids: William B Eerdmans, 2003). ↑ 6. Danièle Hervieu-Léger, Religion as a Chain of Memory (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2000) ↑ 7. Wanjiru M. Gitau, Megachurch Christianity Reconsidered: Millennials and Social Change in African Perspective (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2018) ↑ 8. Editor’s Note: see article by Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, entitled, ‘Megachurches and Their Implications for Christian Mission,’ in September 2014 issue of Lausanne Global Analysis, https://www.lausanne.org/content/lga/2014-09/megachurches-and-their-implications-for-christian-mission. ↑ 9. Editor’s Note: see article by Ida Glaser, entitled, ‘How Should Christians Relate to Muslims?’ in May 2017 issue of Lausanne Global Analysis, https://www.lausanne.org/content/lga/2017-05/christians-relate-muslims ↑ 10. Lamin Sanneh, Beyond Jihad: The Pacifist Tradition in West Africa Islam (New York: Oxford University Press, 2016). ↑ 11. Abraham Heschel, The Prophet (New York: Harper & Row, 1962). ↑ Glossary Afrikaners: 'Whites' of primarily Dutch descent, whose home language is Afrikaans. Apartheid: A formal system of racial segregation, forcefully implemented by the National Party after it came to power in 1948, it entrenched 'White' domination in virtually all sectors of South African life. Bo-Kaap: The geographical area of the Cape Town City Bowl, which borders the lower slopes of Signal Hill. It is sometimes also erroneous referred to by parts of the area, viz the Malay Quarter or Schotse Kloof. Ds.: The abbreviation of dominee, the pastor of an Afrikaans-speaking Reformed congregation. It is derived from dominus, which means. master; sir; a title of respect formerly applied to a knight or clergyman, and sometimes to the lord of a manor. Kramats: The graves of Islamic saints of the faith evolved into shrines. Khoi: (Formerly known as hottentotten or khoi) and San: (Formerly called Bushmen): The indigenous first nation people of Southern Africa.