The London Missionary Society and the development of the Ngwato Christianity with special reference to Khama III (1857 to 1923)

This study examines the impact of the London Missionary Society on the Bangwato of Botswana from 1857 to 1923. The latter possessed a common language, culture and religion with other Tswana ethnic groups and were ruled by a democratic government headed by a King. This societal structure played a vital role in the development of the Ngwato Church. Failure by the missionaries to recognise the importance of these cultural processes, meant that they did not see the need to contextualize Christianity, which resulted in a series of conflicts. Although the reaction of the missionaries was varied it was generally influenced by a superiority complex.The study shows that the L.M.S. adopted two major proselytizing traditions. These are represented by two great pioneer missionaries among the Tswana - Robert Moffat and David Livingstone. The former was culturally conservative, apolitical and evangelical. His methods and approaches largely attempted to impose a western type Christianity on the Ngwato. He rejected the pre-colonial and pre-Christian Ngwato customs and traditions without any proper assessment.Although the Livingstonian tradition also demanded that the Tswana society altered in order to accept the missionary message, the task was to be achieved through both formal and informal processes of education, acculturation and political involvement.Khama, the Ngwato king, wanted kingly power and Ngwato cultural heritage to survive the impact of the cultural imposition and consequently strove to preserve them by controlling the church, the schools and the missionaries themselves. This provoked the resistance of those missionaries, who argued that the church should only be ruled from Above and not by earthly rulers. They also refused to adapt their education system to the Ngwato cultural standards and objectives because it was their key proselytizing agent.While Khama clearly understood the implications of the Gospel, he also saw Christianity as a weapon with which he could defend the political and economic sovereignty of his country. Despite this he was often suspicious of some missionary activities which he considered as attempts by the latter to serve the political interests of their home governments.The overall thesis of this study therefore argues that Ngwato response to Christianity was influenced by their cultural heritage and past. The process of cultural transformation or rather contextualization led to the development of a form of Christianity, which responded to people's daily needs and realities