The colonization of Africa greatly helped Christian missionaries to bring their faith to the African nations. As early as when the Dutch were settling in South Africa Christian missionaries took advantage of the political turmoil to bring people to the faith. They also used free education to promote the Christin faith believing “literacy, hard work, time consciousness, democracy, and self-discipline… necessary components of Christian living” (49). This also made them acceptable to the local governments as they brought a higher level of learning to the people for no charge. The African missionaries were even more important in this time though as they understood the cultures of their people and those such as Harris converted thousands of people. The AIC was also very important in this time and had a more African view of Christianity believing that “acceptability of polygamy,…importance of saints and ancestors,… miracles were common, and the significance of dreams and visions” (51)”. In the post-colonial age this unique African view of Christianity became even more important as many local leadership positions were filled by Africans as many missionaries fled during WWII. These churches were much more focused on the Holy Spirit of Christian faith. In 1971 Gatu called for the stop of all missionaries in Africa and while this did not happen it did signal to the West that Africa was becoming independent and no longer needed guidance from foreign missionaries. In fact they found that where indigenous religions were strong Christianity too flourished.
Ubuntu is a term that means ‘that every human life has value and that all human beings are interconnected”(64), this term has been very influential in helping Christians in war torn and apartheid ruled countries. In a way that is very different from how Western Christianity deals with problems, African Christianity focuses more on forgiving those who have wronged them and helping them heal their souls. In Liberia Christian women came together to stop the war and after to heal the souls of the children soldiers, who had done many crimes against them, in order to rebuild the lives of the children. In South Africa, Tutu stressed to his people the forgiveness of those who had committed crimes under apartheid. In this way Ubuntu helped to bring the communities in Africa back together and heal them fully as opposed to the continuation of violence.
The West has a lot to learn from African Christianity as it pertains to both persecution and forgiveness. While the West does not stand up well to times when they are emotionally being persecuted many in Africa risk their lives to be Christian and accept it willingly as part of the faith. African Christians also forgive those who have wronged them more readily, there was much less stress on forgiving the Nazis than there was forgiving those who took part in the apartheid and in the wars of northern Africa. African believers seem to walk closer in the faith than those in the West, and develop a closer connection within their communities.