The East African Revival ( lg, Okulokoka) was a movement of renewal in the Church in East Africa during the late 1920s and 1930s. It began on a hill called

Gahini Gahini is a village and sector in Kayonza District, Eastern Province, Rwanda. It is situated on a hill, at an altitude of 1,520 metres (4,990 ft) above sea-level, close to the eastern edge of Lake Muhazi and by road from the capital, K ...

in then Belgian Ruanda-Urundi in 1929, then spreading to the eastern mountains of Belgian Congo,

Uganda Protectorate The Protectorate of Uganda was a protectorate of the British Empire from 1894 to 1962. In 1893 the Imperial British East Africa Company transferred its administration rights of territory consisting mainly of the Kingdom of Buganda to the Bri ...

(British Uganda),

Tanganyika Territory Tanganyika was a colonial territory in East Africa which was administered by the United Kingdom in various guises from 1916 to 1961. It was initially administered under a military occupation regime. From 20 July 1922, it was formalised into a L ...

and

Kenya Colony The Colony and Protectorate of Kenya, commonly known as British Kenya or British East Africa, was part of the British Empire in Africa. It was established when the former East Africa Protectorate was transformed into a British Crown colony in ...

during the 1930s and 1940s. The revival reshaped the

Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

already present in East Africa and contributed to its significant growth from the 1940s into the 1970s.

Christianity before the Revival

In the 19th century, East Africa was largely colonized by European forces: the Germans in Tanganyika, Rwanda, and Burundi and Britain in Uganda and Kenya. Christian missionaries first began their missionary work in Uganda, then named Buganda (home of the

Baganda The Ganda people, or Baganda (endonym: ''Baganda''; singular ''Muganda''), are a Bantu ethnic group native to Buganda, a subnational kingdom within Uganda. Traditionally composed of 52 clans (although since a 1993 survey, only 46 are official ...

or Ganda people), in 1877. The elites were quick to convert, and experienced high martyrdom in 1885, sparking the initial growth of Christianity in Buganda and the region.

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

took root in this region faster than in many of the other colonial regions during this time, and the

Church of Uganda The Church of Uganda is a member province of the Anglican Communion. Currently there are 37 dioceses which make up the Church of Uganda, each headed by a bishop. Each diocese is divided into archdeaconries, each headed by a senior priest known ...

was established around 1893. The Church was established with equal participation of the European missionaries and African converts. The early Church of Uganda and the Christians in the area were disproportionately rich and prosperous at the time, echoing the elitism in British and North American Protestant churches. A branch of the

Church Missionary Society The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British mission society working with the Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as mission ...

, the Ruanda Mission, evangelized in Ruanda-Urundi, which became a Belgian territory under a League of Nations mandate following the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. This mission group was essential in the spread of the revival. During the early 20th century, some members of the Church of Uganda became dissatisfied with the ways in which sin was being handled and how modernity had affected its practices. The initial fervor that led to the spread of Christianity in the region reached a lull as time progressed and corruption within the Church emerged.

The Revival

Spread of the Revival

Corruption prompted some members to seek a method to renew the faith and the community. There is no event that marked the start of the revival movement in East Africa, but Simeon Nsibambi is seen as one of the key initiators of the movement. Nsibambi learned and taught in the church in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

, Uganda for a time, though he was settled in Gahini, Ruanda. Nsibambi brought his dissatisfaction with the sin of the church leadership and his search for revival from Uganda to Rwanda, and the revival movement began to take root in northern Rwanda. Many argue that the relationship between Joe Church, the pioneer of the Ruanda Mission, and Nsibambi in 1929 in Gahini was the official spark of the revival movement. The movement was largely grassroots, spread through the formation of small groups of people and through personal relationships. Many accounts from individuals involved in the movement cite the power of the Holy Spirit as essential for the success seen by the revival. The movement, spearheaded in part by the Ruanda Mission, was able to cross borders into multiple countries because the church in the

Kigezi district Kigezi District once covered what are now Kabale District, Kanungu District, Kisoro District and Rukungiri District, in southwest Uganda. Its terraced fields are what gives this part of Uganda its distinctive character. Kigezi was popularly known ...

in southwest Uganda was placed under its jurisdiction. This allowed the movement to spread further back into Uganda.Two additional places to which the revival spread were

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

and

Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania Main ...

. The revival moved into Kenya in 1937 as the Ruanda Mission sent a team to

Kabete Kabete is a neighbourhood that located along the border of Nairobi and Kiambu counties. It is located less than outside of the capital city of Nairobi. According to the 2009 census, the Kabete area has a population of 140,427. As part of the Nair ...

, outside of

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...

. The message of unity across racial divisions was especially important to the spread of revival throughout Kenya. William Nagenda was sent with a team and Joe Church to Tanganyika to spread the mission in 1939. The continuation of the East African Revival was heavily dependent on the movements of individual people revitalizing the enthusiasm for the Anglican Church that had already been established in these former colonies. All of these factors led to the increase in the growth of Christianity in the region following 1940.

Principles

The major characteristics of the new religious attitude and zeal in the East African Church was the practice of the public confession of sins. This activity in response to the corruption and hidden sins of the clergy seen in the Church before revival brought together the community in a unique way that built greater community that reignited the Church.

References

External links