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GOSPEL TO THE NATIONS
The Vow of the Mustard Seed Order is to be Authentic (TRUE to Christ), Relational (KIND to people) & Missional (GOSPEL to the nations). This article explores the third of these pledges.
VALLEY OF GRACE:
The extraordinary impact of
the first Moravian mission in South Africa
Under the leadership of Zinzendorf, the Moravians were among the earliest pioneers of modern Christian missions. They went to places that no-one else would go, and to people about whom no-one else cared. One of the toughest environments they took on was the then Dutch colony of South Africa.
The colonists and their official state church considered the native South African peoples to be subhuman and incapable of receiving salvation. Into this hell of bigotry and brutality came 26 year old George Schmidt. He had already spent 6 years in prison as a teenager for attempting to encourage believers in Austria, watched a friend die in his arms, then overcome the hurdle of learning the Dutch language and passing an examination in theological orthodoxy in Amsterdam, so the scorn of the farmers and clergy hardly fazed him. He arrived in 1737, and set up Africa’s first mission station in the quiet valley of Baviaanskloof east of Cape Town. |
He had already spent 6 years in prison as a teenager for attempting to encourage believers in Austria so the scorn of the farmers hardly fazed him. |
 Schmidt built a house and planted a pear tree in the garden. He made contact with the local Khoi, a semi nomadic people who were already displaced and under severe pressure from farmers and settlers. He formed a school and taught them to read and write. He showed them how to farm and grow the food they needed to survive. In everything he gave quiet witness to the love of the crucified Christ. Five years later the first native believer was baptised in the Steenbrans river.
The clergy were outraged. Schmidt’s success in bringing prosperity, education, and faith to the native people struck at the heart of their own twisted theology. They manufactured a confrontation by raising technical questions surrounding Schmidt’s ordination, and then used their influence to have him expelled from the country in 1744. It would be fifty years before the Moravians were allowed to return to South Africa.
 On arriving back at Baviaanskloof in 1792, the 3 missionaries soon located the ruin of Schmidt’s original house. In the garden to their amazement stood a giant pear tree – the result of the tiny shoot that Schmidt had planted. Even greater surprises were in store. They soon made the acquaintance of an old woman named Magdalena. On finding out who they were, she introduced herself as one of the original believers who had been baptised by Schmidt. The light of faith still burned in her heart after 50 years. She drew out a small leather bag and asked if her daughter could read something from the New Testament. They listened astonished as this second generation native believer read to them from a bible given by Schmidt five decades earlier!
Within 10 years, the governor of the region was so impressed by progress at the settlement that he changed its name to Genadendal, which means “Valley of grace”. It grew to a community of over 1500, self sufficient in agriculture and cottage industries, with a literate population and a strong spiritual life. In 1838 the first teacher training college in Africa was founded there.
 In 1995, in recognition of its remarkable history, Nelson Mandela changed the name of the official residence of the President of South Africa from Westbrooke to Genadendal. In making the announcement, he expressed a desire that the office of President should also be “under God’s grace”. This has to be one of the most remarkable public tributes to the selfless faith and vision of the Herrnhut missionaries.
This article is adapted from Phil Anderson's forthcoming biography of Zinzendorf and the Moravians.
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