Early Black History in SBC Missions
A BRIEF HISTORICAL SURVEY OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN
INVOLVEMENT IN INTERNATIONAL MISSIONS[1]
By David Cornelius The historic involvement of African Americans in international missions may be seen as far back as the 18th century. "The foreign mission motif predates home missions in general among black Baptists. [1] From the time slaves began accepting Christianity, it was in their hearts to carry the Gospel of Christ back to their fatherland and to other parts of the world. According to historical records, African-American missionaries went not only to Africa in the18th and 19th centuries, but to Canada and the Caribbean islands, as well. Baptists have a rather extensive record in the area of international missions. Rev. George Liele (sometimes spelled "Lisle") and Prince Williams were pioneer African Americans in the area of international missions. By 1790, David George, Hector Peters and Sampson Calvert had all gone to Africa and had begun preaching on its West Coast. However, it was not until Lott Carey came on the scene that a more structured approach to international missions began to emerge. During the period between 1863 and 1895, African Americans continued seeking to "flesh out" what they believed to be their God-given mandate of sending missionaries to evangelize Africa. A number of outstanding African-American missionaries served in the tradition of Lott Carey, Colin Teague and Harrison N. Bouey,[2] moving these efforts forward. Among them were men such as Solomon Cosby and a Virginia-born preacher named William W. Colley. Colley is recognized as the only African-American Baptist to have served as an appointed missionary of both a white-administered missionary-sending agency and a black-administered missionary-sending agency. W.W. Colley was appointed by the Foreign Mission Board, SBC, in 1875 to serve in West Africa as the assistant to W.J. David, a white missionary from Mississippi. In November 1879, he returned to the United States with the conviction that more blacks should be involved in international missions, especially in Africa. He urged black Baptists to take an independent course in mission work and form their own sending agency.[3] Colley's effort is considered the primary force in the founding of the Baptist Foreign Mission Convention (BFMC) on Nov. 24, 1880. The BFMC became one of three conventions that merged in 1895 to form the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc., the first truly national convention of black Baptists in the United States.
[1]David Cornelius, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement (Pasadena: William Carey Library, 1999), 287-292.
The author uses the term "international missions" instead of the more familiar term "foreign missions."
[2]Bouey was appointed by the South Carolina Baptist Educational, Missionary and Sunday School Convention. That convention is now known as the Baptist Educational and Missionary Convention of South Carolina.
[3]For a list of possible reasons with explanations, along with a more extensive discussion on W.W. Colley's missionary ministry, see Sandy D. Martin's book, Black Baptists and African Missions: The Origins of a Movement, 1880-1915 (Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 1989), pp. 49ff.
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