The Arrival of Christianity in Ghana
Learn about how the Basel Mission introduced Christianity to Ghana
The Basel Mission establishes in Ghana
The Basel Evangelical Mission Society was founded by both Basel Calvinists and Lutherans from Württemberg, Germany. It was active from 1815 to 2001 when it transferred its operations to a successor organization, 'Mission 21'. The Presbyterian Church of Ghana was established by missionaries from the Basel Mission, Switzerland.
The First Gold Coast Missionaries (2020-11-16) by Basel Mission ArchivesHeritage and Cultural Society of Africa Foundation
Basel missionaries for Christiansborg perish on arrival
The first missionaries were sent to the then Gold Coast in 1828 at the behest of the Governor of the Christiansborg slave trading fort, after the Danish slave trade was abolished in 1803.
The only surviving missionary is cured by a herbalist
They all died of malaria and other tropical diseases including a medical doctor who was supposed to take care of them, with the exception of Andreas Riis who arrived with 2 others on 21st March 1832. He defied Danish authorities and consulted a traditional herbalist who cured him. He worked at Christiansborg Castle and eventually became the chaplain.
Escaping to the hills of Akropong
In defiance of the Danish Governor, Riis established a mission inland in Akropong on the recommendation of Afro-European, George Lutterodt who advised that it was cooler and the lack of European influence made missionary work easier because they had set a bad example on the coast.
Mission impossible for Andreas Riis
After initial resistance, he was granted permission by the Danish Governor and King Nana Addo Dankwa I to settle in Akropong. But Riis was recalled to Switzerland in 1839 because he failed to make any converts to Christianity. According to oral tradition the King suggested that he would have more success if he could show them black people who read the bible.
Basel Mission recruits from Jamaica
In 1842, the Basel Mission organized for Riis and his wife to sail for Jamaica to recruit former enslaved Africans as missionaries for Africa. These were members of the Moravian Church, a Protestant denomination which had evolved in Germany and spread in the Caribbean because it coexisted alongside the institution of slavery.
The 'Back to Africa Movement'
This was during a period when the ‘Back to Africa Movement’ was prevalent amongst freed enslaved people in the US and the Caribbean. In April 1843 Riis arrived at Christiansborg from Jamaica with 24 free, formerly enslaved African Christians who helped him establish the Presbyterian Church in Ghana and the Osu Salem Presbyterian Boys’ Boarding School.
They translated the bible into local African languages and developed a lucrative network of agricultural and trading enterprises. In 1850 the British bought the Danish slave fort, Christiansborg Castle from the Danes and in 1854 levied a poll tax on the residents of Osu.
When the locals resisted paying the poll tax, the British forces bombed the town for two days using the warship “HM Scourge,” which destroyed the existing school building and many homes in the town.
Alexander Clerk arrives in the Gold Coast
Alexander Worthy Clerk was a trained Jamaican Moravian Missionary and the descendant of enslaved Africans. Slavery was abolished in Jamaica in 1838. He arrived in the Gold Coast in 1843 at the age of 23.
First deacon of the church in Akropong
He was the first deacon of the Presbyterian church in Akropong and was initially put in charge of teaching the children of the West Indian settlers. He married Pauline Hesse, the granddaughter of Lebrecht Hesse, a Danish physician, in 1848 and they had 12 children, 2 of whom died at birth.
Mission 21, Basel Mission Archives
