ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book introduces a mission which from the beginning declared a sympathetic and enlightened interest and respect for African customary beliefs and practices. It argues that missionary understanding and appreciation of African traditional cultures had often been undervalued. The book shows, in missionary circles at the time strong disapproval was being expressed of the harshness and injustice during pacification. But no effective public objection was raised, for example, against reprehensible Portuguese, French, and Belgian colonialist methods. The book shows how missions often sought benefits from colonial governments and in return worked to make converts docile and submissive to foreign rule. It distinguishes several categories of missions as regards their connexion with trade. These are those which set up industrial missions, training artisans; those engaged in agricultural production; and those in which mission personnel was involved in separate trading ventures.
