Entire village converted to Christianity

[Source: Transmission, the quarterly newspaper of USPG, Autumn 2007]

Mass conversion challenges the western notion of personal conversion

It might sound strange to the ears of Christians in the west but, in Africa, it is not uncommon for an entire village to decide to convert en masse to Christianity.

Western evangelical Christians sometimes struggle with this idea because it seems to conflict with their understanding of personal conversion.

USPG mission companion Mark van Koevering, who is the Bishop of Niassa, in Mozambique, offered the following explanation. He said:

“Churches in the west tend to focus on the conversion of individuals, but in Africa there is a quite different perspective. It can be difficult for people in Britain to understand, but people in Africa have a more corporate view of life. An individual’s experience of life is very much dependent upon the experience of the whole community. As a result, decisions tend to be made as a group – this is largely because survival often depends upon people being united and pulling together, rather than going their own way. Similarly, the group’s survival often depends upon its relationship with the chief – so what the chief believes is extremely influential.”

Bishop Mark described how everyone in a village in the parish of Nacala, near Monapo, became Christians after hearing the gospel for the first time.

It happened like this. An Anglican catechist had visited a hospital where he prayed for a young boy, who went on to make a full recovery. The chief of the boy’s village heard about the boy’s recovery and invited the catechist to visit his village, where an open-air service was held. Following several hours of preaching, worship and prayer, the chief decided that the whole village should convert to Christianity.

Mark added:

“There is a tension between individual salvation and the corporate or communal nature of the Christian faith. I see it as both/and rather than either/or. It is not God’s will to call us independently of each other, but rather to bring us together into a single family or community. There might be a stepping out together – as happened in the village in Nacala – followed by a process of learning and maturing toward personal acceptance.”

USPG: Anglicans in World Mission, 200 Great Dover Street, London, SE1 4YB. Tel: 020 7378 5678, Fax: 020 7378 5650, www.uspg.org.uk, Registered charity number: 234518

Reproduced with kind permission of USPG: Anglicans in World Mission. USPG works with Anglican Churches in over 50 countries. For free resources, phone 0845 273 1701 or visit www.uspg.org.uk