Nigeria

History of the Church Missionary Society by Eugene Stock – 4 Vols

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Eugene Stock [1836-1928], The History of the Church Missionary Society. Its Environment, Its Men and Its Work, 4 Vols. Eugene Stock’s comprehensive History of the Church Missionary Society runs to 2,740 pages and 4 Volumes. My thanks to the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide for providing a set of these volumes to scan. These titles are in the pubic domain.

Eugene Stock [1836-1928], The History of the Church Missionary Society. Its Environment, Its Men and Its Work, 4 Vols. London: Church Missionary Society, 1899-1916. Hbk. pp.504 + 659 + 912 + 665. [Click to visit the download page for this set]

Table of Contents, Volumes 1-3

  • Preface
  • Author’s Preface
  • Outline of the Work
  1. The Great Commission
  2. Missions Before the Reformation
  3. Missions After the Reformation
  4. The Eighteenth Century and the Evangelical Revival
  5. Africa and the East – Waiting
  6. The Missionary Awakening
  7. The New Society and its Early Struggles
  8. The First Missionaries
  9. Africa and India: Struggle and Victory
  10. Forward Steps
  11. Rousing the Country: The Associations
  12. C.M.S. and Other Societies
  13. Sierra Leone: The White Man’s Grave; The Black Man’s Life
  14. The Finished Course
  15. India: Entering the Opened Door
  16. Insular Missions: New Zealand, Ceylon, West India, Malta
  17. The Eastern Churches: Reports for their Revival
  18. The Outlook After Twenty-Five Years
  19. The Personnel of the Period
  20. The Environment of the Period
  21. India: Changes and Development
  22. India: Progress of the Missions
  23. The Negro on Both SIdes the Atlantic, Enslaved and Free
  24. Greek, Copt, Abyssinian, Zulu, Maori, Australian, Cree
  25. Henry Venn; And Survey of Men and Things
  26. The Society and the Church
  27. The Colonial and Missionary Episcopate
  28. New Zealand: The Bishop, the Colony, and the Mission
  29. New Enterprises in Africa: Niger Expedition, Yoruba Mission East Coast
  30. The Opening of China
  31. The Society’s Finances
  32. The Jubilee
  33. The Environment: Church Developments – Anglican
  34. The Environment: Church Developments – Evangelical
  35. The Society at Home
  36. Some Recruits from the Universities
  37. Islington College and its Men
  38. Church Organization: The Church of New Zealand
  39. West Africa: Three Missions and Three Bishops
  40. East Africa: The Missionaries and the Explorers
  41. Jerusalem and Constantinople: Jew, Turk, Christian
  42. India Under Dalhouse; and the Missions in the North
  43. India: The Missions in the South
  44. India: The Punjab – For England and For Christ
  45. India: The Mutiny – Its Victims and its Lessons
  46. India: The Great Controversy – Neutrality or Christianity?
  47. India: Missions After the Mutiny
  48. Ceylon’s Isle
  49. China: In Time of War and Tumults
  50. The Great Lone Land
  51. An Anxious Period: In the Society, and in the Church
  52. The Period: More Church Developments
  53. Salisbury Square
  54. Candidates of the Period
  55. The Native Churches: Self-supporting, Self-governing, Self-extending
  56. Ebb-Tide in Africa
  57. The Niger and its Black Bishop
  58. The Islands: Mauritius and Madagascar
  59. India: Rulers and Bishops of the Period
  60. India: Babus, Brahmos, Borderers
  61. India: Agencies Evangelistic and Pastoral
  62. India: Death and Life
  63. India: A Flag for Christ in the Punjab
  64. China: New Mission and Old
  65. The Land of the Rising Sun
  66. Lands of the Utmost West: Manitoba; Metlakahtla
  67. New Zealand: War, Apostasy, Fidelity
  68. Henry Venn’s Latter Days
  69. The Environment: Church Movements
  70. The Environment: Evangelistic and Spiritual Movements
  71. The Society: Missions, Men, Money
  72. The Society: Home Influence and Organization
  73. Africa: The Flowing Tide Again: Ilala – and After
  74. Uganda: The Call and the Response
  75. The Crescent and the Cross: Missions in Mohammedan Lands
  76. India: Dioceses of Calcutta and Bombay
  77. India: Diocese of Lahore
  78. India: Diocese of Madras
  79. India: The Hill Tribes
  80. India and Ceylon: The Bishops and the Society
  81. The Far East: Advance in China and Japan
  82. The Far West: The Church among the Red Indians
  83. The Epoch of 1880-82
  84. The Environment: Ecclesiastical, Controversial, Spiritual
  85. The Society A New Era of Progress
  86. Three Memorable Years. 1885, 1886, 1887
  87. Controversies Within and Attack from Without
  88. Recruits of the Period: Men and Women
  89. High Hopes and Sore Sorrows: West Africa and the Niger
  90. High Hopes and Sore Sorrows: East Africa and Uganda
  91. British East India; The Company, The Government, and the Missions
  92. India: The Men and their Work
  93. India: Some Features, Episodes, Incidents, and Controversies of the Period
  94. Lands of Islam: Egypt, Palestine, Arabia, Persia
  95. In the Indian and Southern Oceans: Ceylon, Mauritius, New Zealand
  96. China: Onward, Inward, – and Upward
  97. Japan: The Nation, the Mission, the Church
  98. The Red Indian Missions: Patterns of Zeal and Triumphs of Grace
  99. Missions at Congresses and Conferences
  100. Seven Years of the Policy of Faith
  101. The Church, the Society and the Cause
  102. The Society: Candidates, Controbutions, and the Three Years’ Enterprise
  103. The Four Years Abroad: Africa
  104. The Four Years Abroad: Asia
  105. In Memoriam
  106. Repice, Circumspice, Prospice

Sketches of Children’s Lives in Northern Nigeria

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A.M. Locke, The Stable Door. Sketches of Child Life in Northern Nigeria.This little book was written to provide an insight into the work of the Church Missionary Society among children in Northern Nigeria. My thanks to Redcliffe College for providing me with a copy of the book to scan and to the Church Mission Society for their permission to place it on-line.

A.M. Locke, The Stable Door. Sketches of Child Life in Northern Nigeria. London: Church Missionary Society, [1935]. Hbk. pp.74. [Click to download the complete book in PDF]

Contents

  • Foreword
  • Introduction
  1. The Road to “Bethlehem”
  2. The Children Who Come
  3. How Some of Them Came
  4. Of “Bethlehem” Itself
  5. The Day’s Work
  6. “Bethlehem’s” Fields
  7. Increasing in Stature
  8. Growing in Humour and Understanding
  9. Growing Pains
  10. A New Birthday
  11. What Will They Become?
  12. “Immanuel… God With Us?”

Foreword

Most people at home know that there are a large number of missionaries of various denominations working in Africa, and that a good deal of mission man-power is concentrated upon schools. It may be that some people think that too much time and energy are devoted to this side of the work, and that more ground could be covered if missionaries confined themselves to evangelization. Those who are of that way of thinking should be convinced by reading this little book that the school, and especially the boarding school which starts with quite small children, is the most effective instrument which the missionaries possess if they wish their work to be lasting.

It is not easy to write about a school in any country; the daily round appears so trivial, and nothing really thrilling ever happens in a well-organized school. Miss Locke’s little sketches, however, of the kindergarten section of the C.M.S. school at Zaria give the reader real insight into the daily life of her little community, and into the thoughts and actions of her young charges.

Incidentally he will see for himself that she is obviously the right sort of person to be in charge of it, so full is she of understanding, kindliness, and humour.

Miss Locke’s book is attractively illustrated and will, I am sure, appeal to a variety of readers. [Continue Reading]

Thomas Birch Freeman, Son of an African

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F. Deaville Walker [1878-1945], Thomas Birch Freeman. The Son of an AfricanThomas Birch Freeman [1806-1890] was a English Wesleyan Missionary to the Gold Coast of West Africa (Modern Benin, Ghana, Toga and Western Nigeria). His father was African and his mother English. The Evangelical Dictionary of Christian Missions notes that:

Freeman was instrumental in starting churches and schools throughout two great African kingdoms, the Ashanti and the Dahomey, where the gospel was unknown. While he never learned the local language, he made friends of powerful Africans who said, “He understands our customs.” He was the first missionary to visit the great cities of gold, He also observed the brutal atrocities of the slave trade that he fought. He was a peacemaker among Africans and between England and African kingdoms. [p.372]

My thanks to Redcliffe College for providing a copy of this book for digitisation. This book is in the public domain. Further bibliographic resources on this missionary can be found on this page.

F. Deaville Walker [1878-1945], Thomas Birch Freeman. The Son of an African. London: Student Christian Movement, [1929]. Hbk. pp.221. [Click to download the complete book in PDF]

Contents

  • Author’s Preface
  • Map
  1. The Son of an African
  2. The Call of Africa
  3. Outward Bound
  4. The Gold Coast When Freeman Landed
  5. The Valley of the Shadow of Death
  6. Establishing rthe Gold Coast Mission
  7. Through the Forest to Kumasi
  8. Received by the Ashanti King
  9. In the City of Blood
  10. A Year of Hard Work
  11. Five Months in England
  12. New Hopes, New Sorrows
  13. Clearing a Path Through the Primeval Forest
  14. Planting the Church in Kumasi
  15. Progress and Trials
  16. To the Slave Coast and Abeokuta
  17. With the King of the Dahomey
  18. Fourteen Busy Years
  19. Sixteen Years in Retirement
  20. Freeman in Old Age Returns to the Work
  • An Epilogue
  • Index

New Frontiers for the Sudan Interior Mission in Africa

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C. Gordon Beacham, New Frontiers in the Central SudanC. Gordon Beacham of the Sudan Interior Mission wrote this as a text-book on African Missions. Remember that at the time of writing Sudan referred to a great swathe of Central Africa from Nigeria eastwards and not just to the modern country of that name. My thanks to Redcliffe College for providing me with a copy of this book to digitise. This book is in the public domain.

C. Gordon Beacham, New Frontiers in the Central Sudan. Toronto: Evangelical Publishers, 1928. Hbk. pp.157. [Click to download complete book in PDF]

Contents

  • Introduction
  • Preface
  1. Frontier Land
  2. Branding For Beauty
  3. Cannabalism
  4. Primitive Economics
  5. Primitive Economics – Continued
  6. Wedding Rules
  7. Wedding Belles
  8. Music and the Dance
  9. The Growing Generation
  10. The Death Wail
  11. Religion
  12. African Spirituality
  13. The Witch Doctor
  14. Witchcraft
  15. Traditions
  16. A Pioneer Mission Station
  17. “Make to Yourself Friends”
  18. Language Study
  19. A School Among the Cannibals
  20. Preaching the Gospel
  21. Primitive Morals
  22. Some Apologetics for Missions

Preface

Prior to the World War, the Sudan Interior Mission had established over a dozen stations in the central part of the British Protectorate of Nigeria extending inland as far as the head of the Bauchi branch of the Nigerian Railroad. From that point the view for extension was eastward, and in 1915 the Rev. R. V. Bingham, General Director, and Dr. A. P. Stirrett, Field Secretary, made a journey for the purpose of looking out new territory. Two hundred miles beyond they found the Tangale tribe, and returned with a plea for new workers for it. In response to that appeal, the Rev. John S. Hall and I were commissioned the following year to open a station in that region, hitherto untouched by missionary effort. From our experiences among the Tangales and their neighbors has developed the material embodied in this book. [Continue reading]

Calabar and its Mission

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Calabar and its Mission - Title page

Calabar is located in south southern Nigeria and was notable first as a centre for the West African slave trade and later for Christian missionary activity. Hugh Goldie provides a history of the missionary work carried out there up to 1890. The copy of the book kindly provided by Redcliffe College for scanning has an inscription dated Feb. 1980 (shown above) from William Anderson (who served there from 1849) to a Mrs McGregor.

Hugh Goldie [1815-1895], Calabar and Its Mission. London & Edinburgh: Oliphant Anderson & Ferrier, 1890. Hbk. pp.328. [Click to download complete book in PDF]Hugh Goldie [1815-1895], Calabar and Its Mission

Contents

  1. The Country and the People
  2. The Form of Government and its Administration
  3. The Religion of the People
  4. Calabar During the Slave Trade
  5. The Origin of the Mission
  6. The Entrance of the Mission
  7. The Establishment of the Mission
  8. The Establishment of the Mission – continued
  9. The Progress of the Mission
  10. Laying the Foundation of the Church
  11. The Extension of the Mission
  12. The Extension of the Mission – continued
  13. Exploration
  14. The Language, and What has Been Done in it
  15. Folk-Lore
  16. Mission Work and its Methods

Preface

Advancing years indicating that I must soon lay aside the work in which I have been so long engaged, some of my brethren made the request that, as I had been connected with the Mission since its commencement, I should make a record of its history.

Not being now able, in our rude country, to discharge the more active duties of the Mission, I had it in my power to comply with their request.

The history of the Mission is very much the beginning of the history of the country, which has just now taken an important step, in requesting to be taken up as a British colony. [Continue reading]

Pioneering for Christ in the Sudan – Johanna Veenstra

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Johanna Veenstra [1894-1933], Pioneering for Christ in the SudanJohanna Veenstra tells the story of her life of service in Africa. Note that Sudan at that time referred to huge tract of land stretching across the centre of Africa and not just the boundaries of the modern nation of that name. There are a number of unique photographs contained in this volume which I have attempted to reproduce as clearly as possible. My thanks to Redcliffe College for providing me with a copy of this book to scan. This title is in the public domain.

Johanna Veenstra [1894-1933], Pioneering for Christ in the Sudan. London & Edinburgh: Marshall Brothers Ltd., [1926]. Hbk. pp.190. [Click to download in PDF]

Contents

Farewell
The Call to Service
Preparation for Service – I
Preparation for Service – II
“In Journeyings Often…”
The Call of the Sudan
Getting Acquainted
Entering the Cannibal District
The Power of Spirit Worship
The Moral Life of the Dzompere
“In Perils in the Wilderness – I”
“In Perils in the Wilderness – II”
The Task of a Pioneer Missionary
The Dispensary Work of Lupwe
The Boarding School at Lupwe
Evangelistic Work
First Fruits
The First Convert From Among the Dzompere
“Suffer the Little Children to Come”
A Few Questions Answered
Problems and Difficulties
“Is it Nothing to You?”

Preface

When coming home for this second furlough, there was not even a remote desire in my heart to write a book and tell of my experiences during five years of service in the Dark Continent; I have never thought myself capable of performing such a task; and even now I hesitate to set this work before the public.

One day this summer our kind Director of Missions, Dr. H. Beets (Christian Reformed Church), approached me on this subject of writing a book. At first his suggestion made no impression whatsoever upon my mind. Later on I was confronted with the fact that I was compelled to refuse many invitations to speak in the different churches and tell of the Lord’s work in the Sudan. For lack of time it became impossible to travel about in so many states of the Union and in Canada, to reach all the people interested in the spread of the gospel in this needy field. A physical complication – overstrain of the vocal cords – also forced me to limit the amount of speaking appointments. [Continue reading]

 

Edith Warner of the Niger

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G.T. Basden [1873-1944], Edith Warner of the Niger. The Story of Thirty-Three Years of Zealous & Courageous Work Amongst Ibo Girls & WomenEdith Warner was a contemporary of Mary Slessor and also served in Nigeria amongst women and children. My thanks to Redcliffe College for providing me with a copy of this book to scan. This title is now in the Public Domain.

G.T. Basden [1873-1944], Edith Warner of the Niger. The Story of Thirty-Three Years of Zealous & Courageous Work Amongst Ibo Girls & Women. London: Seeley, Service & Co. Ltd., 1927. Hbk. pp.91. [Click to download complete book in PDF]

Contents

  1. A Contrast and a Call
  2. From Liverpool to Lagos
  3. Arrival in Onitsha
  4. The First Seven Years
  5. Removal to Iyi-Enu
  6. Permanent Quarters
  7. St. Monica’s
  8. East and West of the Niger
  9. Vacation Ventures
  10. Personal Narratives
  11. The Last Tour – and After

Chapter 1: A Contrast and a Call

Many there are who have read the inspiring story of Mary Slessor, of Calabar. If we were asked for the briefest description of her personality the reply might be summed up in the one word “character.” Now if you can contemplate a character, prompted by similar impulses, yet completely opposite in expression, you will be able to form a fair idea of the personality of Edith Warner, the subject of this memoir.

One of the marvels of the universe is that no two things are precisely alike. But totally unlike dispositions, equally with diversities of gifts, have their place in the service of God.

It would be difficult to find two women more diverse in upbringing and temperament than Mary Slessor and Edith Warner. Both were saturated with the one idea of uplifting the women and children of Nigeria. They laboured within 150 miles of one another for over thirty years on entirely different principles, and both accomplished work which will stand as a foundation for the future welfare of those for whom they lived and toiled.  [Continue reading]

 

Rowland Bingham’s History of the Sudan Interior Mission

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Rowland V. Bingham [1872-1942], Seven Sevens of Years and a Jubilee. The Story of the Sudan Interior MissionFollowing on from the last post, here is the Jubilee Story of the Sudan Interior Mission (now the Serving in Mission [SIM]) as told by its founder, Roland V. Bingham [1872-1942]. This book is in the public domain. My thanks to Redcliffe College for providing a copy for scanning.

Rowland V. Bingham [1872-1942], Seven Sevens of Years and a Jubilee. The Story of the Sudan Interior Mission. Toronto: Evangelical Publishers, 1943. Pbk. pp.122. [Click to download complete book in PDF]

Contents

  1. The Seven Years of Death and Darkness 1893 to 1900
  2. The Seven Years of Barrenness, 1900 to 1907
  3. The Third Seven Years, the Beginning of Fruitfulness, 1908 to 1914
  4. The War Years and the Beginning of a Great Harvest, 1915 to 1921
  5. Seven Years of Enlarged Vision and a Larger Call, 1922 to 1928
  6. Victory in Carrying the Gospel to the Moslems, 1929 to 1935
  7. The Eclipse in Ethiopia and Its Passing, 1936 to 1942
  8. How We Became Interdenominational
  9. Speed Up
  10. The Finished Work, the Completion of the Church’s Task

Foreword

Mrs Bingham has honoured me in suggesting that I should write a foreword to this book which was completed by her late husband so shortly before he was called to celebrate his Jubilee in the presence of his Lord, Whom he served so long and so faithfully.

It is both a difficult task and a delightful privilege. The exigencies of this World War No. II have prevented me from perusing the manuscript, since it was too precious to risk sending across the ocean, and I must, therefore, imagine what is contained in the book. On the other hand, whatever Dr. Bingham may have written will be for the glory of his Lord and for the furtherance of His work among the peoples of the Sudan; and I have no hesitation whatever in recommending to the reader a most careful and prayerful perusal of its pages.

I have known Dr. Bingham for many years and we have had many times of sweet communion together. I can recall no occasion when the subject of our conversation has not been the extension of Christ’s Kingdom. He was essentially a man of vision, lifting up his eyes and beholding the fields white already to harvest-calling for immediate action in the gathering of more and more of that harvest. [Continue reading]

Mary Slessor The Dundee Factory Girl by J.J. Ellis

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J.J. Ellis [1853-?], Mary Slessor. The Dundee Factory Girl who became a Devoted African MissionaryThe story of Mary Mitchell Slessor’s [1848-1915] work in Calabar, Nigeria was truly remarkable, as Andrew C. Ross notes in the Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions. [p.624.]:

Her life is an example of Christian inculturation, but regrettably it was trivialized by a romantic “white queen of Okoyong” attitude toward her in Britain.

J.J. Ellis [1853-?], Mary Slessor. The Dundee Factory Girl who became a Devoted African Missionary. Kilmarnock: John Ritchie, n.d. Hbk. pp.80. [Click to download in PDF]

Contents

Foreword

  1. A Young Christian who was old enough to win souls
  2. A Loyal Missionary with Ideas and Visions of her own
  3. A Bold Pioneer who greatly dared for Christ; A Call for Courage in our Work for God
  4. A Good “Ma” who was also a Great Queen. A Proof that Love always conquers
  5. A Poor Woman who was enriched by what she gave above; A Sure method of securing True Wealth

Chapter 1

“One of the deepest instincts of our ·nature teaches the preciousness of severity,” said John Addington Symonds, but it is hard to believe him while the soul stings with injustice, hardship, or pain. Mary Slessor born at Gilcomston by Aberdeen, 2nd December, 1848, was educated under the harshest conditions, but she was kept sweet by the love of God in her frail mother. She had few advantages, and many crushing difficulties, but she shows what can be done by those who have few chances, but who are Christ’s, and are willing to be nothing, that He may be glorified. First the lassie was brought out of nature’s darkness and at once set to work to carry the light to others, and all her days she went forward carrying the lamp to show everyone the way to happiness and peace.

Her father was a shoemaker, and at times sober, kindly and tender. But he lacked a saving interest in Christ, and before long became a victim of the drink sin. Gradually the octopus arms tightened their grip, and the more they grasped the less the deluded man desired to be free. Mary’s mother was one of those sweet, frail women for whom a bad man has a fascination. The mothering instinct is useful but it can be perverted as it was in this case, for that husband grew the worse the more he was loved.  [Continue reading]

Reflections of a Pioneer Missionary by William R.S. Miller

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Reflections of a Pioneer Missionary by W.R.S. MillerWilliam Miller [1872-1952] was a Church Missionary Society Missionary to the Hausa people of Northern Nigeria. He spent 50 years working in that country and assisted in the translation of the Bible into the Hausa language. My thanks to the Church Missionary Society for their kind permission to place this book on-line.

W.R.S. Miller [1872-1952], Reflections of a Pioneer. London: Church Missionary Society, 1936. Hbk. pp.227. [Click to download complete book in PDF]

A bibliography of other works by and about William Miller is now also available.

Contents

  1. Introductory
  2. The Team and Their Preparation
  3. The Situation in 1900
  4. Slavery in Northern Nigeria
  5. Seeking a Foothold
  6. Hausa, Fulani, and Pagan
  7. The System of Indirect Rule
  8. The Beginnings of the Misison at Zaria
  9. Mission and Government at Zaria
  10. The Story of an Experiment
  11. Aliyu: Prince, Emir, and Exile
  12. Building for the Future
  13. Marriage Customs and Problems
  14. Moral Standards
  15. Racial Relationships
  16. Language and Literature
  17. Conclusion

Epilogue
Index

Foreword

Dr. Miller has asked me to write a foreword to this book, and I do so with very real pleasure.

To those who have lived and worked for any length of time in Northern Nigeria, as missionary or government official, no introduction of its author is necessary. Indeed, his name will long be remembered by Africans and Europeans alike.

By some he may be remembered chiefly as a great linguist. He says that he conceived it to be his duty to learn to speak Rausa so that some day he should not be detected, when speaking in the dark, by a native of the country. He was commonly reputed to have achieved that standard of proficiency in Hausa-speaking, and he is probably the only European of whom it could ever truly have been said. Others may have had as great or even greater knowledge of the language from a philological standpoint, but he, to an extent achieved by no other European, had the power to express his thoughts in the Rausa manner, to clothe them with the appropriate words and phrases, using just the right tone and faultless pronunciation. [Continue reading]