Christian Missionary

Fiction piece based on the village in the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe 

I am writing by the light of my candle for it is not yet morning. I was woken up by the cries of a lunatic woman who, as the villagers tell me, lives in a cave. It has been a fortnight since my fellow missionary Thomas and I have arrived in this village of Umuofia in Western Africa. Upon coming to this wretched place, I have learned that it is a place devoid of any sensible culture, let alone religion. What I have seen these past few days has been horrifying and nerve-wracking. I’d rather not think about it but it is my duty to record my findings as I journey into the task of bringing God into these people’s meaningless life. 

Another strange habit we find here is that the people of this land seem to worship the spirits of their ancestors. When we just arrived to this village from England, the people did not notice us at first. They were all concentrated on this event that I am told is an “Egwugwu”. At first it seemed like a dance or some other form of entertainment, but with closer attention I found that it was a trial. It was awfully strange. There were men dressed up as what I thought were monsters but, again the villagers have informed me, were actually ancestral spirits. They were judging the crimes of a man. This legal system surprised me. How could justice lay in the hands of these “ancestral spirits”?

When the village leaders finally noticed us, they provided missionary Thomas and I a place to live in. We tried to explain right away what our great purpose was, but communication was not easy. So therefore I decided to find out about their culture before introducing them to the gospel. From what I have learned so far, there seems to be a lack of culture in this place. I see no spirituality. I feel it even more necessary for our work to begin.

One of the leaders brought us to their home, which they call their Obi. There he introduced us to 4 women who I thought at first were his sisters. But with further gesturing, he explained that they were his wives. Here it is again, the need for this place to be cleansed of its unnatural traditions. After receiving the word of God, polygamy will no longer exist and these people will thank us.

The woman in the cave I mentioned at the head of this entry, from what the men of this place tell me, is the Priestess of an Oracle, Agbala, and that Agbala’s spirit, through the Priestess, prophesizes the future and gives advice to the people. The people fear her because of the power they think she possesses. I must say that they fear the wrong thing. I fear her myself but for reasons of my safety, but will have to eventually because she will be the first who we will give the gift of God’s word to.