Challenges Faced by the Missionaries: A Case Study of Mill Hill Missionaries at Kibabii Catholic Mission, Kenya 1903 to 1970

This is a microcosm of missionary experience in Africa. The missionaries originated from Europe. They were motivated by two main reasons to come to Africa, namely evangelization and modernization. To set the foundation and continue building on it was dependent on the response from the particular community. In their struggle and determination to introduce and sustain Catholic evangelization they were faced with many challenges. This paper highlights the challenges experienced by the Mill Hill Missionaries as they established Catholic evangelization in Bukusuland. In their plan and projection, Kibabii Catholic Mission was to be established as the Mother Church from where Mill Hill would spearhead the advancement of Catholic evangelization in Bukusuland. The emergence of challenges they experienced in the process of Catholic evangelization are accounted for by the explanation that the host community, namely Bukusu people, were not a dormant community. There were many dynamics at play in the community that brought about these challenges. The challenges then give us an insight into what the missionary work of evangelizing the African communities entailed. Reflections on the challenges condition us to think about the benefits and relevance of the sacrifices expected from actors to realize the mission of the Church. Conclusively, Missionary determination to overcome the challenges brought forth the expected results namely, establishment of Catholicism in Bukusuland. Additional benefits then blossomed from Catholic tools of evangelization, especially introduction of formal education, which accelerated the cultural, social and economic transformation of Bukusuland.