spirit and healing in africa - University of the Free State

3.1 MODERN MISSIONARY MOVEMENT
The introduction of Western medicine in African countries has its origin mainly in the era of the
modern missionary movement. The modern or Protestant missionary movement arose in the
nineteenth century when spiritual revivals swept across Europe, England, and America, and
turned ‘awakened’ believers into a transnational movement characterized by its passion for
evangelism. The movement generated mission societies and non-denominational voluntary
organizations that “banded themselves together to win the world for Christ” (Rouse & Neil
1993:309). The explosive emergence of American, British and European missionary agencies
was thus fueled by the desire of many Western believers to reach out to those who were not yet
aware of the Christian faith. Offering medical care for those who were ill turned out to be one of
the avenues to successful evangelism and medical practices always had an impact on the lives of
those whom they encountered. Sometimes this influence was visible and obvious, sometimes the
presence of medical missionaries seemed to be less overt. In any case, “health services in
postcolonial Africa owe a substantial debt to the pioneering, sustained efforts of Christian
medical missions in the colonial era” (Good 2004:xiii).
The various Christian medical missions were embedded in the modern missionary movement.
They played their part in “that new phenomena (sic) of the nineteenth century, the
interdenominational or undenominational missionary society” (Neill 1986:214). However,
although medical missions cannot be regarded separately from the modern missionary
movement, their relationship with the broader movement always remained an ambiguous one.
The development of medical missions seemed not to agree with the original intention of
Christian missionary societies, but needed to be taken on board if the missionary movement
wanted to have a wider impact in those countries that were unaware of the Christian faith.
The period of missionary exploration coincided with rudimentary medical practices by
missionaries. The early missionaries generally travelled around, and interacted with the local
people they encountered. With their medicine case the missionaries attracted more attention than
they could have hoped for, and they responded to the need they saw. Even though the
missionaries’ medical activities were amateurish and ad hoc, they drew attention to a situation
that had not yet been considered by most missionary agencies, that is, the medical treatment
provided by missionaries created an opening into the local communities. By using therapeutic
resources to find a way into African cultures, the missionary societies had started to follow the
example of commercial companies (such as the British East India Company). The employment
of qualified physicians seemed to be worthwhile, for they became part of a strategy that led to
successful results in terms of the overall mission. During the first decennia of the nineteenth
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