Malla Moe and the founding of a nondenominational mission in Swaziland, 1893-1902

Abstract

This article examines the early years of the career of Malla Moe (1863-1953), a Norwegian who served in the Scandinavian Alliance Mission of North America (SAMNA) and played a key role in the opening of its field in Swaziland during the 1890s. Thematically, emphasis is placed on this lay missionary’s decision to join the SAMNA’s initial band of personnel who were commissioned to Southern Africa, her itinerant evangelism, her evolving attitudes towards the Swazi people and early delegation of responsibility to Swazi colleagues, and the impact of the Second Anglo-Boer War on her ministry. It is demonstrated that Moe, together with a small number of Scandinavian and English fellow missionaries (the majority of whom were women and unordained), responded creatively to the challenges of a hitherto largely unevangelised field and developed close ties with the Swazi, Afrikaans and other people in Swaziland.