The Development and Impact of Missions in Southern Rhodesia: The Philatelic Exhibit

This is the most comprehensive exhibit of missionary mail from any country. It presents, for the first time, the depth and richness of missionary contributions to Rhodesia’s social and historical development, including its educational and healthcare institutions. By extension, it offers insight into missionary development in other countries.The exhibit traces the broad arc of mission development, beginning with background information (the missionary movement, native peoples, and colonial expansion), the initial founding of missions, evangelism, the establishment and expansion of hospitals and schools, the training of local pastors, the political turmoil of the 1960s-70s, and the rise of the indigenous church. The exhibit concludes with the post-independence African church and the new role of “religious workers” (vs. “missionaries”) coming alongside to support the local churches. Within each period up to Zimbabwean Independence, the exhibit is organized into sub-chapters on New Missions and the principal missionary activities of Preaching, Teaching, and Healing. There are also sub-chapters on Women Missionaries and Mission Administration.It also highlights the key roles missions have played in the history and development of Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). This involvement began with missionary Robert Moffat of the London Missionary Society, who was among the first Europeans to travel to the Rhodesias and befriended the King of the Ndebele people in 1834. He later established the first permanent mission station at Inyati in 1859. Missions began to flourish after the suppression of the Ndebele-Shona Uprising in the late 1890s. Although their primary focus was evangelism, missions also established some of the earliest schools. Until Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, mission schools were the only source of education for native Africans. Missions also established some of the earliest health clinics and hospitals and were the mainstay of rural African healthcare during the colonial period.In addition, missions were instrumental in establishing several postal routes and post offices to serve them. A post office was opened at the Mount Selinda (Silinda) mission station (established by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions) in 1893, and the mission's co-founder, Dr. W. L. Thompson, served as its first postal agent. Other post offices established primarily to serve missions include Craigmore (serving Chikore Mission), Old Umtali (today, Old Mutare), and Mutambara, all established by the Methodist Episcopal Church.Its in-depth coverage is remarkable: every known church or missionary society active in Southern Rhodesia (present-day Zimbabwe) is represented, with coverage of approximately 100 individual missionaries serving at over 60 Rhodesian mission stations.The exhibit also highlights the growth and expansion of mission schools and hospitals, the training of African pastors, the rise of local churches, and the eventual transfer of control to local authorities. Nearly all missionaries were withdrawn by 1977 during the “war of liberation,” and 37 missionaries and their family members were murdered. Since Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, mission stations have been under the control of local African churches.Much of the information is based on original research, including correspondence with missionary families and church archivists. Read more