1
TumainiUniversity
MakumiraUniversityCollege
The Problem of Dependence in the MoravianChurch in Tanzania -Southern Province
by
Clement Donard Fumbo
A research paper submitted to the faculty of theology in partial
fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of
Bachelor of Divinity
Makumira, Tanzania
May 2004
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
With great respect and deepest gratitude, I wish to acknowledge all the assistance, forbearance and cooperation accorded to me by colleagues, friends and relatives during the entire period of my academic scholarship. However, I have to mention just a few for their distinguished service, especially in my research work.
I start with my deepest thanks to my beloved family, namely, my wife Violet and our four children; Allan, Beatrice, Charles and Daniel. I believe without their enduring love, patience and tolerance of my long absence from home (2000-2004), I could not have finished my theological studies and this paper.
Then, to my friend Rev Peterson Lwinga of Dar-es-salaam, Rev Peter Kimilike, Charles Mwaikole, Justin Mungure and Dr Andrew Kyomo of Makumira, I give a word of thanks for the inspiration in spirit and the kind support they accorded to me.
To the professional advice received from my research advisor, Rev Godluck Kitomari; research instructors, Rev Auli Vahakangas and Dr Sylvester Kafunzile; language advisor, Ms Nancy Stevenson; together with the whole Faculty of Theology of the Makumira University College; I give my sincere gratitude.
Finally, I give thanks to the MCT- Southern Province authority for sponsoring my studies.
Above all, I give my greatest, deepest and heartfelt thanksgiving to God Almighty who inspired me to choose the topic of this paper and enabled me to do the writing of it. I know it was God’s grace and mercy that gave me the courage to accomplish this research as it is presented. However, for any errors and shortcomings pertaining to the work I take sole responsibility.
Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABBREVIATIONS
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Statement of the Problem
1.2 Aim of the Paper
1.3 Scope and Limitations
1.4 Sources and Methodology
1.5 Definition of Terms
2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE MORAVIAN CHURCH IN
TANZANIA - SOUTHERN PROVINCE
2.1 The Coming of the Herrnhut Mission
2.2 The Herrnhut Missionary Approach
2.2.1 Preaching the Gospel
2.2.2 Health Care and Material Support
2.2.3 Provision of Education
2.3 People’s Response to the Christian Mission
2.4 Administration and Financial Dependence
3. FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF
DEPENDENCE
3.1 Dependence as a Historical Problem
3.1.1 Effects of Colonialism
3.1.2 Colonial System of Education
3.2 The Nature of the Church and Her Leadership
3.2.1 African Leadership
3.2.2 Poor Strategic Plans
3.2.3 Lack of Participation of the Africans
3.3 Good Management
3.4 Stewardship
3.5 Poverty
4.0 IMPACT OF DEPENDENCE
4.1 Lack of Autonomy
4.2 Lack of Integrity
4.3 Lack of Accountability
4.4 Partnership or Donation – a Recipient Relationship: “The Aid Syndrome”
4.5 Unsustainable Mission (Conflicts, Schisms, lack of Contextualisation etc.)
5.0 REMEDY FOR DEPENDENCE
5.2 Good Governance
5.2.1 Responsibility
5.2.2 Transparency
5.2.3 Accountability
5.3 Holistic Mission
5.3.1 Stewardship Teachings
5.3.2 Self-Supporting, Self-Governing and Self-Propagating
6.0 CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Oral Sources
Written Sources
Reference Material
APPENDICES
Appendix I
Appendix II
Appendix IIIa
Appendix IIIb
ABBREVIATIONS
AACCAll Africa Conferences of Churches
App. / AppendixArt. / Article (s)
C.f., c.f. / Confer, compare
Ch. / Chapter (s)
Cor. / Corinthians
Dr
e.g. / Doctor
Exempli gratia, for example
ed(s). / Edition; edited by: editor (plural: eds)
Eph. / Ephesians
et. al. / Et alii, and others
etc. / et cetera, and so forth
Ex. / Exodus
ff / Following
fig. / Figure (plural: figs)
Gen. / Genesis
i.e. / Id est, that is
Mal. / Malachi
MCST / MoravianChurch in Southern Tanzania
Math.
Mt. / Mathew
Mountain
MCT / MoravianChurch in Tanzania
MCT-SP / MoravianChurch in Tanzania Southern Province
MCSWT / MoravianChurch in South Western Tanzania
MOTHECO / Moravian Theological College
Ms
MUCO / Miss
MakumiraUniversityCollege
Neh. / Nehemiah
p. / Page (plural: pp.)
Rev / Reverend
Rom. / Roman
TANU
Thess. / Tanganyika African National Union
Thessalonians
Tit. Titus
v. Verse (plural: vv.)
VETAVocational Education and Training Authority
vol. Volume (plural, vols.)
1
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Statement of the Problem
The Southern Province of Moravian Church in Tanzania (MCT-SP), which is now over 100 years old, is the oldest among the four Moravian Church Provinces in Tanzania. The four provinces are the Southern Province (since 1891), the WesternProvince (1897), the SouthWesternProvince (1976) and the RukwaProvince (1986). Despite its being the oldest, the MCT-SP is still dependent on foreign aid for its operational costs. Many reasons are given for this situation, although so far, no thorough research has been done to find out the real causes of dependence, which is now one of the major problems facing the MCT-SP.
The MoravianChurch in Tanzania Southern Province (MCT-SP) started in 1891 in Rungwe, in southern Tanzania. The mission work in this area was pioneered by the missionaries from Herrnhut (Germany) who started their mission work on the slopes of Mt.Rungwe.[1] This church was officially registered as the MoravianChurch in Southern Tanzania (MCT-SP) in 1966 about 75 years after the coming of the pioneer missionaries.[2] Although the reason for this delay in registration is so far not clear, some people presume that this delay was due to the unrest caused by World War I and II.[3]
The MoravianChurch in Tanzania-SouthernProvince (MCT-SP) covers the East and Coast areas of Tanzania, which are Dar-es-salaam, Coast, and Morogoro government Regions. It also works in some parts of Rungwe, Kyela and Ileje government Districts in Mbeya Region and in some places of Ruvuma and Iringa government Regions. At present, the MCT-SP has a total of 72 parishes and mission areas with a number of about 45,760 members. Despite this great achievement and its wide extension, the MCT-SP has economic independence of only 41.8% of its budget and a dependence of 58.2% of its budget on foreign aids according to 2002 records.[4]
The trend shows that the MCT-SP is expanding well geographically and the number of Christians is increasing but its internal source of income is still below 50%.[5] The reality is that this church cannot run its activities properly without foreign aids.[6] What then is the real cause of this economic dependence of the MCT-SP? Another question that comes to mind is how sustainable is the foreign donation on the MCT-SP. Is it an effective and positive help to the growth of this church? What effects are caused by this economic dependence of the MCT-SP to her entire role of serving the people of God?
The MCT-SP foreign donors have set a policy since 1999 to cut down their aid by 10% every year. This policy was put on exercise in the year 2000.[7] This situation creates other serious questions: How far had these donors prepared the MCT-SP for their withdrawal since they have been contributing for so many years?[8] What strategies are taken or have to be taken by the MCT-SP to tackle the problem of dependence, especially when the donors will completely withdraw their support?
The situation of dependence shows that since the beginning, members of the MCT-SP have not been prepared enough to run their church independently especially economically.[9] It seems that the importance of self-support of the church has not been given sufficient emphasis.[10] Did the foreign mission agencies intentionally, make the MCT-SP remain solely dependent on them? Or, is this situation of dependence an outcome of mismanagement, poverty, or lack of accountability of the MCT-SP herself?
If the primary purpose of the MCT-SP is clearly defined to be the proclamation of the Gospel and the promotion of self-reliance among its members, what then is the real cause of her economic dependence? What are the effects of the economic dependency of the MCT-SP on her mission and evangelism roles? What should the MCT-SP do to get rid of her present economic dependence? These questions convinced the researcher to carry out this research in order to find some possible solutions.
1.2 Aim of the Paper
The aim of this paper is to find out the causes, effects, and remedies of the problem of economic dependence on foreign aid of the MoravianChurch of Tanzania, Southern Province (MCT-SP). This problem of the MCT-SP’s economic dependence seems to be one of the great barriers to self-reliance in the MCT-SP. Therefore, in order to accomplish the above aim, the paper will find out and suggest some possible ways that may lead to self-reliance in order to get rid of this problem of economic dependence.
1.3 Scope and Limitations
This research work is limited to the Southern Province of the MoravianChurch in Tanzania. The MCT-SP has three districts, namely the Central District comprising the Rungwe government district and part of Ruvuma Region; Eastern District comprising Dar-es-salaam, Coastal and Morogoro Regions; Western District which covers Ileje government district; and Southern District comprising Kyela government district. The research covers all of these areas.
The research is limited to the problem of ‘economic dependence’ because it affects the whole province and is a burning issue in the MCT - SP. However, the paper does not intend to analyse the economic statistics of the MCT - SP, but rather it is limited to the economic situation of this particular church. The paper will also concentrate on the effective use of the three “selfs” of the church’s aim, which are to be self-governing, self-propagating and self-supporting as a way towards full independence.
1.4 Sources and Methodology
In regard to methods of doing research, the paper used unstructured interviews (the oral interview method), observation, and studying from appropriate documents available.[11] The researcher used the qualitative, hermeneutic method of analysis for the evaluation of the data gathered.[12]
The researcher managed to interview about 40 informants of various levels of education, profession, occupation, gender, and age. The MCT-SP head office officials such as the Bishop, Chairman, Secretary General and the Treasurers, were included in the first place in gathering the required information for this work.
Library materials such as books, journals and magazines were also used for more analysis of the whole issue of economics and the economic crisis. The Internet, particularly the website of the World Mission Associates (WMA), was of great importance since the Moravian church in Tanzania is included in the Internet.
1.5 Definition of Terms
A Congregation “is a gathering or assembly of persons who worship and do religious instruction; a religious community, such as …the Christian Church.”[13] In this paper, the term ‘congregation’ and ‘parish’ will be used interchangeably to mean the same thing.
Christian Stewardship is a human being’s wise use of God’s resources. Christian stewardship is the practice of the systematic and proportionate giving of time, abilities and material possessions based upon the conviction that they are from God in Christ’s redeeming love.[14] Both meanings are applicable in this paper.
Dependence in this paper is used to mean the characteristics or signs of being unable to support oneself independently. Thus, the dependence problem of the Church means the church has failed to support itself and therefore seek help to satisfy her needs.
The term Indigenous people in this paper is used to mean ‘local people’.
A Steward is an official who controls the affairs of a large house, household, overseeing the service at the master’s table, directing the household servants and controlling the household expenses on behalf of the Master.[15] In our case God in Jesus Christ is our master and a Christian is a steward.
2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE MORAVIANCHURCH IN
TANZANIA - SOUTHERN PROVINCE
2.1 The Coming of the Herrnhut Mission
In January 1891, a treaty was signed in the town of Halle in Germany between the Berlin Mission and the Herrnhuters (Moravians) who both intended to establish evangelism in the area of the Nyasa Corridor in southern Tanzania. The Moravians and Berlin Mission bound their agreement as follows: They set the boundary at 34ο degrees longitude and westward to the shores of Lake Tanganyika as the mission area for the Moravians (approximately following northwest of the river Mbaka).[16] The other part from that point was given to the Berlin Mission, which covered the eastern part of the Rungwe government district east to the Indian Ocean.
Following this agreement, the Moravians in the spring of 1891 chose four young men for its overseas mission work. These were Theodor Meyer (teacher), Theophil Richard, George Martin and Johannes Haefner. After a period of preparations at Herrnhut between the summer of 1890 and 1891, these young Moravian missionaries left for Africa on 16th April 1891. They started their journey by ship named the ‘Kanzlar’ from Naples and arrived at Quelimane (Mozambique) on 20th May 1891. On 24th June 1891, they arrived at Karonga (Malawi) and proceeded to the Southern part of Tanzania with the assistance of the missionaries of the Free Church of Scotland (FCS) then called the Presbyterian Church of Malawi. They arrived in the area of Kapugi near TukuyuTown in southern Tanzania, which was ruled by Chief Kalalamuka, on 3rd July 1891. Later Meyer and Richard proceeded to the Northeast of Chief Kalalamuka’s territory leaving behind Haefner and Martin at Kapugi.[17]
On 21st August 1891 these missionaries arrived at the place we now call Rungwe in Chief Mwakapalila’s territory. They settled at a high and relatively healthy spot inland on the southwestern slope of Mt.Rungwe and built their first station at Rungwe where they built their first missionary house. In the meanwhile, another group of missionaries came to Rungwe including John Kretschmer and Traugott Bachmann. By the end of 1894 the first worship building was inaugurated.[18]
At first, these missionaries did not have converts but they had many attendants who were serving them. They used to invite people to attend worship services and allowed them to ask questions. However, it took two years before the missionaries started to preach because of the local language which was difficult for them. They used these two years to learn the people’s language - the Nyakyusa language, which later became the media of communication between the indigenous people and the missionaries.[19]
The mission work continued well though slowly and more new mission stations were being opened prior to the expansion of the existing ones. Some of the first, famous mission stations were Lutengano and Ipyana built in 1894, Utengule, 1895; Mbozi, 1899; Isoko, 1900; Ileya, 1906; Mwaya, 1907; and Kyimbila, 1907.[20]
2.2 The Herrnhut Missionary Approach
2.2.1 Preaching the Gospel
The first and primary aim of the Herrnhut missionaries was to preach the gospel and win people for Christ. Rev Mwaiseje pointed out that the missionaries based their preaching on spiritual matters and moral conduct in accordance to the Christian faith.[21] According to Wright, these missionaries dealt also with the issue of race that was forming distinctions between nations and ethnic groups. Wright adds that, despite working among several races, Europeans, Asians and Africans, the Moravian missionaries maintained their doctrine of equality according to the teachings of their MoravianChurch.[22] This approach helped very much in developing a good, close relationship between various people and the Moravian church.[23]
The effort to abolish slave trade qualified the missionaries to be easily accepted by people. They confidently approached the chiefs who were leading figures in slaves held by the Arabs and discouraged them for this ruthless trade. It was through the efforts made by Christian churches, including the Moravians, which contributed to an official abolition of slave trade in 1822 by the Sultan of Oman.[24] The field area under this research, which was among the areas disturbed by the slave trade, became one of the areas which benefited from the abolition of the slave trade.
2.2.2 Health Care and Material Support
In addition to preaching the Gospel, the missionaries also provided some material needs to people. Provision of material needs became one of the main missionary approaches used by Herrnhut missionaries. Material things brought by the missionaries such as clothes, food and the like chiefly attracted the indigenous people.
The missionaries also introduced food crops such as cassava; potatoes, maize and cash crops such as coffee, cocoa fruits and many more which became important African crops. The greatest beneficiaries of these presents were the chiefs and the new Christian converts. This key material element was a condition for mission work.[25]
Some of the Herrnhut missionaries suffered epidemic diseases. They became victims of African infectious diseases and thus needed medical care and treatment. For example, on 10th September 1891, one of the missionaries known as George Martin died after becoming ill with fever and was buried in the presence of his fellow missionaries in a funeral ceremony dominated by traditional rituals. Therefore, the missionaries built hospitals and health centres such as IsokoHospital, Rungwe Health Centre, and Ipyana Leprosy Centre, which benefited both the missionaries and the local people. In this way, the Christian converts and other indigenous people came to a full realisation that the missionaries were people of God sent to serve them.[26]