In December 1988, Dr. Ronald Lawson embarked on his second international trip to interview Seventh-day Adventists around the globe. Just as he had done in 1985, he arranged final exams which wouldn’t leave him with a pile of papers to grade, and set off before Christmas.
The uncertainty of foreign travel had made for a lonely previous international trip, so this time Lawson brought company. His friend Obed Vasquez assisted with the interview work throughout the trip, hoping the experience would help him decide whether to change careers from chemistry to sociology. In roughly a year, Lawson and Vasquez would visit three continents. On the first leg of the trip, they traveled through much of Africa, making stops in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi in East Africa before moving across the continent in what was then called Zaire — now
the Congo — and then continuing northwards in West Africa to Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire,
Burkino Faso, The Gambia, and Senegal.
Follow Lawson as he travels across the globe using the interactive map below!
One of the first trends Lawson noticed in Africa was the church leadership’s emphasis on growth
through evangelistic campaigns, typically lasting 2-3 weeks. This approach became commonplace starting in 1982, when SDA President Neal C. Wilson began the “1000 Days of Reaping” goal to motivate evangelistic campaigns. Between 1980 and 2000, Adventist membership in the Africa divisions increased from 760,745 to 3,860,785. Before this, missionary work in Africa had operated much more slowly, by placing people interested in Adventism in classes that lasted as long as three years. Although the new evangelistic campaigns resulted in rapid growth, new members seemed to hold shallower commitments to their faith.
This map shows the regional evolutions in the percentage of total regional membership over the last 75 years. While a heavy concentration remains in the South Africa-Indian Ocean Division, countries like Tanzania and Kenya have also grown in overall membership share.
During his visit, Lawson was informed that many of the recently baptized soon ceased attending Adventist services. In Kenya, Lawson noticed that almost 4 times as many people claimed to be Adventists on the census than those listed on church membership rolls. Local church leaders seemed more concerned with internal church politics and pleasing General Conference leaders with exciting reports of rapid growth than with retaining converts. Even in Ghana, where the rapid growth was described by Lawson as “very real,” there was evidence of padded church rolls with members being counted twice or thrice because of disorganization.
Some new converts did not adhere to the typical Adventist beliefs and lifestyle. In Rwanda, reports of alcoholism and sexual harrassment among church layleaders were widespread. Different understandings of appropriate forms of music for church services divided some congregations in Nigeria, where older members had been taught drums were paganistic while young members did not. In Kenya, there were 3,000 people seeking baptism at the end of a short campaign and the church staff did not have time to confirm whether the converts fully understood Adventist doctrines. Later they realized that they had baptized many polygamous converts, who would not normally have been eligible for baptism.
Many African Adventist churches struggled financially due to the poverty of the members and
their widespread lack of trust in the leadership, who were seen as materialistic. Those elected to
the highest positions in many of these countries were privileged, often living in high-quality
homes that had been built for missionaries during the colonial period. They would focus closely
on engineering their re-election, for a change of leadership would condemn them to returning to
“native housing.”
In Kenya, Lawson noted that giving and tithing were low due to poverty and cynicism concerning leadership and how funds were used. Many churches were in poor shape, and the lack of resources also made it hard to attract pastors. Church leaders were also highly political, as they openly campaigned for positions, bought votes, and placed unqualified friends in positions of power. In Uganda, where a 20-year civil war had left the economy broken, members were either too poor or too untrusting of the church to contribute.
In some cases, African Adventists felt estranged by or suspicious of their church due to tribal politics. Many Ugandan members expressed concerns about corruption, and the political and tribal ambitions of leaders there constantly threatened fractures. In Rwanda, where a “royal family” dominated church positions and protected its members in the regional organizations, church leaders were so distrustful of all local leaders that national-level leadership remained in the hands of missionaries from foreign countries. Dominance by the “northern clique” had left southern Adventists feeling cut off from influence.
In Burundi, the government accused the church of neglecting the in-power Tutsi tribe, as most converts were Hutu from rural areas. Lawson noted that missionary leaders were out of touch with the region’s political sensitivities. The government used the Sabbath as a symbol of non-cooperation and an excuse to take action against the church, which it saw as a threat to stability. Ultimately, the church in Burundi was closed and pastors were jailed, although Tutsi at the mission did not suffer problems.
In the next post, we will follow Lawson to the next leg of his 1989 trip, as he proceeded through Europe.