Missionaries

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Missionaries

Last night was a night to reflect on my time here in Uganda. One of the things that sat

heavily was how I felt about missionaries. I am not sure where to begin or how to word it

right. My interest in this topic has stemmed from the fact that through discussions with

non-missionary mzungus, I have found that there is a large, very tangible dislike of

missionaries. One man I met went as far to say that "You are either a mercenary or

amissionary, what side are you on?" I am by no means religious but I do respect the

ability to have absolute faith in a higher power.


Religion here in Uganda, especially christianity, is warped. The fanatisism regarding

religion is almost scary. Other than its name, that is about the extent to what western

christianity and Ugandan christianity share. If you are not christian, you are muslim. In

truth, no other forms of religion are well tolerated here. If you listen to people talk

about christianity, you cannot avoid the passion and utter devotion that is spoken with

each word. Grace is spoken at every meal, if you dont it is considered reall, really bad.

I have had some problems regarding such rituals.


In they eyes of many non-missionary white people, missionaries have been a large part of

the corruption that africa has faced and are the last thing that this place needs more of.

It would seem, with a general consensus, that the initial missionaries that came into

Africa, came with and preached on their own personal views about christianity. And this

where things started to go wrong. As I have listened and tried to understand many of the

conflicting feelings and beliefs about missionaries, one thing that has been a common

element among it all is the fact that when you come as a missionary you are already have

an alterior motive for coming to Africa; to help and to save the african people, with the

help of Jesus christ. The problem that stems from this is that, your idea of helping may

not be what the people need most. Food, clean water, medicines, education, medical care

and a safe place to sleep become conditional with believing in God. As you drive across

the eastern countryside, you can see countless number of abandoned churches and schools

that were predominantly built and run missionaries. As it was explained to me, many of

these places become abandoned due to the lack of funds in the communities. Well, these

communities are inhabited by some of the most destitute people in the entire country and

you expect to be paid?


I must admit that I have not had many good interactions with missionaries. My first fall

out with them occured on the plane coming here. I myself, admit that I am biased towards

missionaries in a negative way. I do believe though, that there can and are missionaries

that come to Africa with no other purposes other than to help, not even to spread the word

of God. For those individuals, I thank you.

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