Legacies of Missionary Techniques from African Expeditions

European and American missionary letters emerging from the African continent during the 19^th century reveal much about the regular routines of many African tribes, in some cases serving as predominant sources of information about so-called “dark continent.” In places like the Gold Coast and the Cape pioneer missionaries paved the way for successive generations of missionaries to follow, eventually opening the door for the presence of settlers and soldiers in the regions. At the time the missionary habits of mapping safe travel routes, recording common customs, forming relationships with local power brokers, and taking stock of geopolitical capabilities were invaluable assets to European colonial powers.

Many of the same missionary techniques are still taught today, in publications like Tradecraft: For the Church on Mission by modern missionaries McCrary, Crider, Stephens, and Calfee. Mapping regions, identifying tribes, recording schedules, and establishing relationships are all Biblical principles that the book applies to modern college campuses, calling upon past experience in regions such as Africa for guidance.

This paper examines three writings: the first by British missionary Samuel Crowther about missions work along the Niger, and the two others by American missionaries George Champion and Francis Owen about the Zulu king Dingane. These specific types of information present in these reports as well as the techniques used to acquire said content are compared to a recent Christian publication to argue how missionary techniques have remained consistent across the past two centuries while also building upon past experiences.