Sunday Gospel - The Methodist Mission as pioneer of western education in The Gambia

From 1824 to the end of 19 century was marked by intensive missionary activities in The Gambia particularly in Bathurst and MacCarthy Island. The period can justifiably be termed an era of exclusively christian education on the Island and its surrounding mainland. Missioneres, without exception, use the school as a means of converting the benighted African to christianity via education.

The early christian schools were, without doubt, an adjunct of the church. For this reason, education for both children and adults became a primary objective in their evangelical programmed.

The Society of Friends led by the Quaker educationist, Hannah Kilhma, as the first missionary group that preceded the arrival of the Wesleyan Missionaries in The Gambia. Rev. John Morgan of the Wesleyan Mission (later to be called Methodist), arrived in Bathurst on the 8 February 1821. He and Rev Baker opened a missionary station at mandinary in Kombo North.

After abandoning the Mandinari station, Rev. Morgan joined Major Grants survey part to choose a site for the establishment of a Military Outpost in the Upper River. after taking possession of Janjanbureh island in 1823, Grant allocated the Wesleyan Mission a piece of land parallel to Fort George. In 1824, Rev. Morgan opened a station and was in charge of it until 1825 when illness forced him to return to Bathurst.

The station was not fully operative until 1831 when Rev. William Moister arrived to replace him as the new manager. Rev. Moister started the construction of a school - church complex which was not completed up to the time of his departure in 1833. The building was completed by his successor, Rev. William Fox and was opened in 1835. This historic date makes the Georgetown Methodist Church the oldest functional Methodist Church in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Meanwhile, after a decade of hardwork and a devoted pastoral duties, Rev. Fox departed and was succeeded by Rev. Samuel Symons, a young englishman from cornwall in the United Kingdom. When he and Rev. Dove took charge of the Mission in 1843, Rev.

Symons opened a second mision near Fort Campbell locate at the eastern end of the Island where he moved and lived. Unfortunately, the young Rev. Symons was suddenly attacked Jellow fever which took his life in 1844 at a youthful of 29 years. his tomb has recently been identified and reconstructed by the Methodist Mission serving as interpretation of the history of the Wesleyan Mission on MacCarthy Island.

The Methodsit Mission should be commended and credited for making the most important contribution to the early development of Western education in Bathurst and Georgetown.

In August 1832, two hundred liberated Africans (170 men and 30 women and children arrived in Georgetown from Freetowan most of whom were transhipped by warsips of the British West African patrol. The creole immigrants were brought in the new British settlement of Georgetown primary to resettle and be trained in order to acquire skills that woudl enable them improve their destitute lives and recover from the trauma of the horrors of slavery and slave trade.

In realization of the necessity to educate and evangelize the new immigrants, the Wesleyan Mission opened an elementary school in 1835 and had also introduced a model farm project where most of them were enlisted for training. The georgetown Methodist school is the oldest school, next to only the one at Lobson Street in Banjul.

As the foundation of the development of Western education in Janjanbureh, the historic school had made a notable contribution to the social and economic advancement of the community. As the touch bearer of the development of Western education in The Gambia, the Methodist school had offered early educational opportunity to many Georgetownians and others from teh surrounding districts.

The Wesleyan Mission model farm project

A contribution of historic signiicance undertaken by the Wesleyan Mission was the establishment of a model farm project.

The project was instituted to provide skills training for liberated Africans and sons of native rulers. In 1836 a 600 acre farm land was allocated by government to Dr Robert Lindoc from Southampton in the United Kingdom. The philanthropist was encouraged by Rev. Morgan in a proposal intended to induce pastoral fulas to stop wandering habits and settle with their herds on MacCarthy Island. Dr Lindoc’s non-sectarian mission failed to achieve its purpose because the pastoral fulas were less attracted to the island as there was not enough pasture for their herds to graze.

Meanwhile, in 1838, the Wesleyans took over the 600 acre land to establish an agricultural project. The energetic Rev. fox became the first suprintendent of the institution. The trainees were instructed in modern techniques of farming, brickmaking and military training. In 1841, Rev. Foxcompleted the construction of a model village where trainees and instructors used as place of residence.

The Lindoe village, is locally called ‘Foday Banku’, (the mission land) was named after Dr Robert Lindoe. The model village had 12 brick houses containing six four-roomed cottages.

The success of the agricultural project did not only help to improve the quality of life of the traumatized creole immigrants, but had also played a significant role in the social and economic development of the entire community. The military training had helped to produce a strong militia readily on call for military service in times of emergency to reinforce the small regular forces at teh garrison.

The training in brick making had introduced new styles and design of permanent buildings which helped to modernize the new British settlement of georgetown. The widespread adoption of groundnuts and rice production on MacCarthy Island had also been speeded up by the training of new technigues offered on the model farm. For almost three decades of its existence, the project made significant successes in shaping a brighter future for the community of Janjanbureh.

But inspite of the achievements, it encountered various types of problems which culminated in its decide and final closure in the 1860s. the with drawals of sons of native rulers as well as the sporadic raids and distrubances from the natures of the mainland were exacerbate by a succession of natural calamities that affected the lives of both the trainees and their instructors.

Before Rev. Fox depature in 1843, sickness and deaths had tremendously reduced the number of instructors leaving his successor, Joseph May, with only three youngmen. In 1844, the island was ravaged by a swarm of locusts causing near famine conditon and damaging what was left of the mission farm. The final closure of the model village and the farm project had coincided with colonial government orders for the withdrawal of the British garrison in Georgetown in 1866.

The descendnts of the liberated Africans and the community of Janjanbureh owe profound debt and gratitude to the pioneering missionaries and those who came after them. These selfless men and their families devotedly sacrificed their lives in spreading the gospel and western education amongst the benighted Africans.

However, the successes of their pastoral duties would certaine role contributed by African preachers, teachers and interpreters whose unremitting efforts facilitated the pastoral duties of early european missionaries. Foremost among these Africans were:

Thomas Joiner (a mandinka griot, sold in Karantaba, bought his freedom in America and traded in Goree in 1810), John Cupidon, Pierre Sallah, Amadi Gum, William Joof and Jack Macumba.

These selfless men, al former slaves, but bought freedom from their masters in Goree were educated and brought in The Gambia by the Wesleyan Missionaries inorder to assist them to educate and evangelize their fellow Africans. As an ex-pupil of the Georgetown Methodist primary school, I cannot end this article without paying special tribute to my teachers and the priest of the church (1949 - 1961), Rev. JC Coker who died in 1975 (God bless him).

The caring headmaster and a devoted priest was the longest serving Methodist Missionary in Georgetown. His devoted pastoral duties had immensurably helped to consolidate the church and the christian community. As an educationist, headmaster JC Coker played a pivotal role in laying a strong foundation in promoting western education in Georgetown. His legacies remain lingering in their minds.

*The author is National Assembly Member for Janjangbureh.