Society, Conversion, and Frustrations in the CMS and LMS Missions of Unyamwezi, Western Tanzania, 1878-1898

Abstract

This paper examines conversion strategies and unexpected results in the missions of Church Missionary Society (CMS) and London Missionary Society (LMS) in Unyamwezi, western Tanzania, between 1878 and 1898. Western Tanzania attracted Catholic and Protestant missionaries in the second half of the nineteenth century. Of all the pioneer missionaries, Catholics and Moravians established themselves in the region. Consequently, their education and health institutions received a considerable scholarly attention. Although these missionaries established themselves in the region, the works of the CMS and LMS, notwithstanding the popularity of their medical services and education among the Nyamwezi people, ended in frustration. They subsequently closed their missions after two decades of fruitless missionary work. This paper, therefore, presents this unanticipated outcome of the CMS and LMS missionaries whose conversion strategies had marginal impact on attracting the Nyamwezi people to Christianity. The paper situates the missionaries’ failures within the context of the social world of Unyamwezi, namely indigenous beliefs and practices, slavery, and porterage; these affected evangelisation in the two missions of Urambo Kilimani and Uyui.