Mission Work in Malawi

Essentially, mission work in Malawi began with Scottish explorer David Livingstone's journey into the interior of Africa as a medical missionary.  Livingstone sought to proselytize indigenous African groups while seeking to end the slave trade that was rampant in Africa and traveled across much of Africa.[1]  

The Journeys of Livingstone in Africa between 1851 and 1873
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Map_livingstone_travels_africa.jpg

Livingstone first arrived at Lake Malawi in 1859 on an expedition and advocated the spread of Christianity in order to "counteract slave trade activities".[2]  Many important Christian missionaries eventually followed along the slave trade routes having an impact upon future generations of missionaries, including those today.

Traditional denominations such as The Church of England, Presbyterians, and Roman Catholics followed Livingstone moving in to the newly discovered Lake Malawi area continued to spread the message of the Gospel.[3]  Smaller Christian groups at the time such as "Baptists, Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the churches of Christ" were not looked upon as favorably yet continued to make their mark.[4]

While Christianity has had the largest effect on Malawi with 79.9% proclaiming Christianity as its religion,[5] Islam holds a slighter yet firm position, as well.  Sunni Islam, which is the largest branch of Islam[6] arrived with the "Arab and Swahili traders who traded in ivory, gold, and later on slaves beginning in the 16th century".[7]  Islam has had a substantial impact on Malawi becoming the second most popular religion at 12.8%[8] and, in fact, every major city in Malawi is now the home of a mosque.[9]  This may be due to the fact that part of Islam's attraction lies in that it is not all that different than many of the indigenous religions of Africa.  Islam did not interfere with local or native customs such as polygamy[10] so it was natural that the leniency in certain areas of the religion would be parallel to what the Malawians were already accustomed.

Mosque in Zomba, Malawi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Zomba_Mosque_1.jpg

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1 Jerry Cutter, "Malawi Early History," (1991), accessed November 27, 2014,       http://www.newtestamentchurch.org/OPA/Articles/1991/06/OPA19910605.htm, ¶ 3.
2 World Heritage Center, "Malawi Slave Routes and Dr. David Livingstone Trail", accessed November 28, 2014, http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5603/, ¶ 13.
3 Ibid, ¶ 5.
4 Ibid, ¶ 6. 
5 CIA World Factbook, "Malawi," accessed November 28, 2014, http://www.ciaworldfactbook.us/africa/malawi.html, ¶ 12.
6 Wikipedia, "Sunni Islam," accessed November 28, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunni_Islam, ¶ 1, last updated November 19, 2014. 
7 Wikipedia, "Islam in Malawi," accessed November 28, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Malawi, ¶ 1, last updated June 18, 2014.
8 "Malawi", ¶ 12. 
9 "Islam in Malawi", ¶ 1.
10 Augstine Msiska, "The Spread of Islam in Malawi and its Impact on Yao Rites of Passage, 1870-1960," The Society of Malawi Journal 48, no. 1 (1995): 62, accessed November 28, 2014, http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/stable/29778728?seq=14, ¶ 1.