Book Review
EMQ » January–March 2019 » Volume 55 Issue 1
The Big Surprise: A History of the Christian and Missionary Alliance in the Congo 1885-1908
By Rene Holvast
Global Vaults Books, 2018
Calgary, Alberta
454 pages
ISBN: 978-1387765553
USD $19.12
Congo has left in a deep imprint on the minds of the administration, faculty, and students of North Park University where I teach. One of our own, a medical doctor, Paul Carlson was killed at a hospital in Congo, on November 24, 1964. My own time in Congo, with orphans and girls who were raped by opposing militia, has left a deep impact on my life as well.
How do you reach out to people who have been destroyed time and time again?
This book is a history, based on primary sources, of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) missionary work in the Bas-Fleuve region of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908.
Rene Holvast describes how the first C&MA mission was actually a failure. In 1885, the first C&MA missionaries carried with them a certain kind of North American Gospel. They were deeply impacted by the revival under the teaching of A.B. Simpson, emphasizing the Fourfold Gospel: Christ the Savior, Sanctifier, Healer and Coming King. The third focus, Christ as Healer, became central to the work of the missionaries. However, this also led to a de-emphasis of medical missions, and led to the ill health and subsequent death of the missionaries.
Holvast describes how the missionaries had a love-hate relationship with the Belgian Colonial powers. One missionary reported, “The fact remains nevertheless true that the government has been [an] instrument in the hands of God . . . Leopold’s policy may prove [to be] the heavy hand of God in His mysterious dealing to liberate the people from their still greater bondage of indolence, tribal slavery, fetishism, and insubordination” (p. 282).
Holvast further goes on to describe the negative relationship between the C&MA missionaries and the Roman Catholic missionaries. The latter had a privileged status with the Colonial State of King Leopold II. Both the State and the Catholic Church persecuted the C&MA missionaries. This, according to Holvast, led to positive changes in the C&MA missionaries’ attitude towards, and relationship with the Congolese people.
New Congolese leaders, both male and female, emerged after the First National Convention in Yema in October 1907. They completed the translation of the Bible into Kifioti. This gave the common people access to the Word of God, independent of expatriate missionaries. Colonial oppression under Leopold and his close relationship with the Catholic Church turned the local people towards the Congolese C&MA. The Congolese Christian and Missionary Alliance became a strong indigenous denomination. However, this happened after the missionaries had returned to the USA due to health, the political situation, and other reasons. This permitted several prominent Congolese leaders to emerge, significantly strengthening the Congolese church. Holvast calls this “The Big Surprise.”
The emergence of indigenous Congolese leadership provides a good lesson for missions and non-profit organizations which may be tempted to impose on the majority world churches western models and strategies. Western missions must have a collaborative relationship with their sisters and brothers from the majority world. Western missions must learn from them. Only then will missions continue to experience “the big surprise.”
Reviewed by Boaz Johnson, Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies, North Park University, Chicago, IL, USA
