Mutira Mission (1907-2011): the birth of a Christian empire in East Africa

Abstract

The tiny Mutira village in the then Ndia Division, Kirinyaga County of Kenya, East Africa, began as a Church Missionary Society (CMS) station, between 1907 and 1908 after Rev AW McGregor bought land from the locals. The mission work could not however take place until the end of 1912, as resistance by some dissatisfied locals forced the European mission team to temporarily abandon Mutira mission and migrated to the neighbouring Kabare and Kigari missions. This article begins by surveying the political history of Kenya, from 1895 when it was made a British protectorate and from 1920 to 1963 when it was made a British colony, and also during its post independence times (1963 onwards). The article sets out on the premise that the birth of Christianity in Africa during the 19th and 20th centuries came after a painful labour. In other words, European missionaries, with the help of a few Africans, who midwifed this painful birth deserve our special attention, as it is through them that a Christian empire was born in Africa.