Happy 164th CMS Igbo Missions Anniversary
Matt. 4:16 KJV:- The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
One of the greatest events in world history is the coming of Christianity to Igboland on July 27, 1857, exactly one hundred and sixty-four years today. Christianity emanated from the early European invasion of West Africa in the early fifteenth century, when Christian priests traveled with traders to spread the message of the gospel to Africa, which the white men regarded as a Dark Continent. As the saying goes, the church followed trade.
Series of expeditions were sponsored by the British government trooped to Africa, basically to trace the source and end of the River Niger. They were also to explore trading possibilities in the interior of the continent. Thus, in 1841, the Government commissioned three ships – the Albert, Wilberforce and Sudan. They were to explore and chart Rivers Niger and Benue, with the Church Missionary Society (CMS) actively involved in the preparations for the great expedition.
Two men from Sierra Leone, Reverend J. Schon, a linguist and Samuel Ajayi Crowther, a catechist and ex-slave boy of Yoruba parentage, accompanied them.
At that period, the CMS had established a firm root in Freetown, where the first Missionaries were sent out by the society in 1804.
However, the first expedition of August 1841, when the group entered the River Niger, was a failure. Within few weeks, malaria killed fifty-four out of the one hundred and sixty-two white men that participated in the journey.
In spite of this hazardous experience, Samuel Ajayi Crowther led a team of Native Missionaries into the Niger valley.
He was sent to Abeokuta to work with Reverend Townsend in 1854 and subsequently accompanied Dr. Baikes expedition in a trip regarded as a huge success.
Also, in 1857, Reverend Ajayi Crowther and J.C. Taylor, along with a number of catechists, joined Macgregor Laird for an expedition, sponsored by the British Government. Reverend Crowther had a definite commission from the CMS to establish the Niger Mission. The Niger Mission, which began in 1857, as an African initiative, started at the Christ Church, Onitsha. After negotiations with the Onitsha reigning Monarch, Akazua, the British established trading posts in the town and the Mission station started.
The Onitsha Monarch allocated land for the headquarters of the Mission station. Reverend Taylor, an ex-Igbo slave who was a convert from Sierra Leone, established the first mission in Igboland. He built schools, preached the gospel, taught and visited people, as well as healed the natives. On June, 1864, Reverend Samuel Ajayi Crowther was consecrated a Bishop in Canterbury to expand the Mission in Nigeria, confirm and ordain new priests.
Today, after one hundred and sixty-four years of Christianity in Igboland, one can rightly say that the visit of the Missionaries was worth it. The twenty-seven years of Bishop Crowther’s episcopacy witnessed tremendous development and rapid expansion in the work of the Niger Mission.
For instance, murder of twins, burial of slaves alive with the dead masters, sacrificing of maidens to appease the river goddess and many other superstitious and obnoxious practices in Igboland were stopped. This is a big plus for the missionaries. Again, many Niger Missions were established, including schools and seminaries, while the training of priests all over Igboland was heightened.
Today, millions of people in government, professionals, and captains of industry, owe their education to the missionary schools. Also, the clothes we wear, the level of education, grassroot development, technology, the hospitals, and the food we eat are all evidence of the gospel.
Luke. 1:79 KJV :- To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Author: Most. Revd. Prof. G. I. N. Okpala
CMS- Church Missionary Society
