The birth of Protestant education in East Africa : sampling Johannes Ludwig Krapf (1810-1881)

Abstract

Christian education, as in the Latin educatus sum, is basically to nourish, nurture and guide everyone in the truth of the Gospel regardless of age, gender, denomination, status and/or background. In this article I intend to highlight how Christian education (and theological education in general) was shaped and reshaped by the pioneer Protestant missionary in East Africa Johannes Ludwig Krapf in the nineteenth century. Krapf tried to carry out his role despite the challenges that he faced. In view of this, the article attempts to show the importance of various methodologies in Christian/theological education, including biblical translations, working closely with the local people and the use of schools as mediums of Christian/theological education. The history of Protestant Christianity as it was propagated by Krapf shows that early theological education in Africa was problematic because its pioneers had to devise different approaches as the context demanded. This article is based on the premise that since the Church is always a teaching community, the early missionaries’ work in Africa was a teaching ministry right from its inception. In this article, I therefore seek to demonstrate that even though there is room for improvement, Christian/theological education in Africa today should follow the same trajectory that was propounded by Krapf and others. As we seek to reconstruct our African history, Krapf’s pioneering efforts of indigenisation will have to be brought back to our agenda.