Bridging the Gap, Breaching Barriers
The Presence and Contribution of (Foreign) Persons of African Descent to the Gaboon and Corisco Mission in Nineteenth-Century Equatorial Africa
- History & Biography
- Evangelism & Missions
- Publisher: Pickwick Publications (Wipf and Stock)
- Published: 2021
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Publisher's Description
From its very beginning, in June 1842, the Protestant Mission in Gabon included men and women of African descent--African Americans, Americo-Liberians, and West Africans--all teachers and advanced students from the Cape Palmas (Liberia) Mission, who transferred with the mission to its new location on the Gaboon estuary. All came voluntarily and wholeheartedly. They served as teachers, evangelists, preachers, and printers, building the early foundation of Christianity in Gabon. Many eventually returned to their homelands, but others stayed for the duration of their lives, assimilating into the local community. This book celebrates the contribution of persons of African descent who served with the mission from 1834 until 1891, a time of complex and controversial race relations in America, which seeped into mission relations overseas. Private missionary correspondence and journals reveal the interrelationships, roles, and contributions of these individuals, and also the underlying perceptions of nationality, race, and gender. One must grieve the injustices evident in the stories, yet marvel at the giftedness, faith, determination and commitment of those who served, often with no official recognition. I introduce you to Mr. B. V. R. James, Lavinia Sneed, Charity Sneed Menkel, Mary Harding, and others--may their stories inspire you!
Endorsements (2)
“Bridging the Gap, Breaching Barriers is a significant contribution to mission historiography, both in substance and method. Cloutier has plumbed the depths of private documents, letters, and diaries to tell the story of people of African descent and women, whose substantial and often heroic contributions to the life of the mission were eclipsed, if not hidden by official mission documents and reports. In this amazing story I felt like a detective sleuth discovering remarkable people in mission who had been completely forgotten if not removed from the official mission record.”
“Mary Cloutier’s important study of the American Protestant mission in Gabon reveals all too clearly the way American struggles over race and gender shaped the mission’s life and work. She draws on a careful reading of mission reports and mainly white missionary letters and diaries, but she has also listened for the ‘hidden transcripts’ of Africans—especially ‘Bible women’—who did much of the evangelization around the Gabon estuary. The result is a fascinating and tumultuous story of complex men and women who were part of a larger US and African story.”
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