The Livingstonia Mission

The Livingstonia Mission was the second classical mission to arrive in Malawi. It was named
Livingstonia in commemoration of David Livingstone. It was at first called the Free Church of
Scotland.
The Scottish churches sent missionaries to Malawi. Livingstone had been very disappointed by
the withdrawal of the UMCA mission to Zanzibar in1863 and he urged the resumption of the
mission work in the Lake Malawi region.
After Livingstone’s funeral Dr James Stewart, a missionary of Lovedale in South Africa,
proposed to the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland that a mission should be
established at Lake Malawi.
He appealed to rich businessmen, mostly in Glasgow, for financial support. He persistently
urged the Free Church of Scotland to found a mission where higher education and civilisation
would be offered to native Africans.
Thus, the objectives of Livingstonia Mission were threefold;
 to preach the Gospel
 to train the young to read and write
 to make the mission self-supportive by developing legitimate trade.
Livingstone believed that commerce was a vital tool in abolishing slave-trade. To him, the
creation of a cash-crop economy would have the additional advantage of uprooting the slave-
trade. He believed that, if Europeans were prepared to buy ivory, cotton and other products of
Africa in return for their own goods, it would no longer be necessary for Africans to sell their
own people to get the guns, powder and cloth they desired.

The Livingstonia Volunteers

The request of Dr James Stewart received immediate response and first group of
missionaries set off for Malawi on 21st May 1875 under the leadership of Edward Young
of the Royal navy.
Second in command was Dr. Robert Laws of the United Presbyterian Church. Other
volunteers included a carpenter, George Johnstone, an engineer and black smith, Allan
Simpson, a gardener Alexander Riddle, and William Baker, a sea man.
Robert Laws, a medical missionary, who was later to become the leading figure of the
mission, was the only ordained minister of the six men who comprised this party.
At Cape Town, the party was joined by two Malawians, Tom Bokwito and Sam Sambani,
whom Livingstone had freed from the Arabian slave-traders at Mbame village in 1861,
and had eventually been sent to Lovedale for studies. These men were very useful since
they acted as interpreters.
The party arrived in Malawi on 12th October 1875 in the area of chief Mponda in
Mangochi district. Mponda gave them permission to settle anywhere on his land. The
group however chose Cape Maclear for the following reasons:
 it had a good harbour
 it was sheltered from winds and was free from mosquitoes
 It appeared to be a healthy place
On 17th October 1875, the first station of the Livingstonia mission was established at
Cape Maclear.
In 1876, a second group of volunteers reached Malawi under Dr James Stewart who
succeeded Edward Young. Four African teachers and evangelists from Lovedale
accompanied him. These included:
 William Koyi
 Mapas Ntintili
 Shadreck Ngunana
 Isaac Williams Wauchope.
These people played an important role in the development of the Livingstonia Mission.
In 1876 Edward Young returned to Scotland, and Dr James Stewart took charge of
Livingstonia Mission.
In 1877, Dr Stewart left Malawi after heading the mission for 15 months. He was
succeeded by Dr Robert Laws who became the leader of the mission for fifty years.

Mission at Cape Maclear

The missionaries used the method of establishing a “Christian village”. They
encouraged Africans to come and live at the mission. By 1880 there were about 590
Africans, mostly refugees fleeing from slave traders. Others were Makololo who were
sent from Lower Shire for schooling. This move of creating a Christian village angered
the local Yao chiefs because it caused a shortage of labour. As well, the chiefs saw the
missionaries as exercising jurisdiction over their dependants.
The work of converting Africans at Cape Maclear did not prove successful. For five
years, there was only one baptised convert. This was Albert Namalambe who was
baptised on 27th March 1881. Furthermore, within five years, five missionaries, including
Shadreck Ngunana from Lovedale had died at Cape Maclear. Because of such deaths,
the site proved to be unhealthy. This influenced Dr Robert Laws to move the mission to
Bandawe in 1881. Albert Namalambe was left in charge of the mission at Cape Maclear.

Mission at Bandawe
In 1881, the mission was moved from Cape Maclear to Bandawe due to the problems it
faced. This movement also meant the movement of the headquarters of the mission.
At Bandawe the mission was welcomed by the Tonga people, who were about 60,000
who wanted protection from their rivals, the Ngoni. Their fortified villages were not safe
enough, hence they needed protection from the missionaries.
In 1887, Dr Robert Laws had discussions with the Ngoni Chief Mbelwa which prevented
the subjugation/defeat of the Tonga. The mission was considered as the third party in
settling disputes. Later, when protection
was given by the ALC, the people accepted it and could no longer differentiate between
the company and the mission.
It was in reaction to this behaviour that Dr Laws ordered that no civil jurisdiction should
be exercised by the mission. No one was allowed to live at the mission except the pupils
in the school and their teachers. Consequently the ‘Christian village’ approach was
abandoned and replaced by evangelisation and schooling in the Tonga villages.
The Tonga took advantage of the educational opportunities provided by the mission. By
1894, there were 18 schools with over 1000 pupils; in 1906, there were 107 schools with
over 3000 pupils. The mission gave them skills such as;
 carpentry
 brick laying
 sewing
 storekeeping
 printing.
The Tonga valued the mission because it gave them the techniques which were needed
for dealing with the new western oriented world. But for a long time
there were no converts. Traditional Tonga religion had deep roots amongst the Tonga
hence poor conversion rate. The first Tonga baptism took
place in 1889, and in the 1890s the number of baptisms increased. Nevertheless, unlike
the Yao, the Tonga lacked strong trade connections with the coast, hence were ready to
accept wage employment.

The Mission to the Ngoni

Despite of their political and military strength over the Tonga and others, the Ngoni soon
emulated the Tonga in their turn to Christianity. By 1880, the
Ngoni dominance started to weaken and tensions between the paramount and his
chiefs arose too. Because of this, Chief Mbelwa decided to have the missionaries to live
with him in order to separate them from potential rivals.
In 1882, William Koyi, a Lovedale trained Zulu evangelist who had joined the mission in
1876, managed to go to the Ngoni and set up a mission station at Njuyu. He was
accompanied by William Sutherland. For a few months, they lived at Mombera and
gained the confidence of both the chief and his subjects.
In 1885, another European missionary, Dr Walter Elmslie, joined Koyi and Sutherland.
The mission had some influence through evangelistic services and through employing
labour. Chief Mbelwa at first did not fully welcome the missionaries, but William Koyi,
having a Zulu background and being able to speak the language of the Ngoni chief,
opened communications. In 1886 Chief Mbelwa wanted missions in all
the divisions of the Ngoni area. This was impossible, but Mbelwa was promised a
station as soon as possible at Ekwendeni, where the mission station Ekwendeni was
founded in 1889. Later Njuyu became a sub-station of Ekwendeni.
Dr Laws and Elmislie tried to convert the high ranks, reaching first the patriarchal and
aristocratic structure of Ngoni society. This approach was changed with the coming of
Donald Fraser.
In 1889 another station was opened at Hora which was moved to Embangweni in 1902
and was called Loudon. Donald Fraser was the in charge of this station. From 1898 he
led a series of mass meetings in Ngoni country for baptism and Lord’s Supper. At these
meetings thousands were converted to Christianity.
Fraser encouraged many people to compose hymns in vernacular language. These
people included;
 Mawalera Tembo
 Charles Chinula
 Peter Thole.

The Move to Livingstonia

In 1894, the Livingstonia mission was moved from Bandawe to Khondowe in Rumphi district.
The place proved a good site because of the cool weather of the plateau. A good view of the
lake coupled with freedom from malarial attacks also attracted the missionaries.
It was here that Dr Robert Laws decided to rename the Free Church of Scotland the Livingstonia
Mission, in honour of Dr. David Livingstone.
Livingstonia became the headquarters of the mission. As a
consequence of the great educational response from the Tonga, Tumbuka and Ngoni, Dr Laws
set up the Overtoun Institution for the training of evangelists, pastors, teachers, clerks.
There was an industrial department that gave training to apprentices in carpentry, building,
engineering and printing. There was Central School that taught
regular schooling and trained certified teachers.
Above this there was one year theology course. Later on, four post-
primary courses were added, one for evangelists, one for store and office workers, one for
dispensary and hospital assistants, and one in arts.
Dr. Robert Laws, who was responsible for all these remarkable achievements was an
outstanding figure in the story of the missions. For 52 years, he was the
leader of great mission movement that developed from Cape Maclear.
Beside his theological and medical qualifications, Laws also taught people many practical skills
such as carpentry, building and engineering.
Today, the Free Church of Scotland is the Livingstonia Synod of the Church of Central Africa
Presbyterian. (CCAP).