Chapter 3 Chapter 3 Proclaiming the Gospel or Politics? In addition to the youth organisations, another institution of Finnish society started to experience the African liberation struggle in a very practical manner. Almost all the Finnish population (approximately 90 per cent) belongs to the state church or other Christian movements in Finland. When measured by regular attendance in weekly church services, only a small percentage are practising Christians, many of them elderly persons. But the large membership has meant that many people who otherwise would not have come into contact with the reality of the African continent experienced it through the church. Its missionary work was carried out in the midst of the national uprising, in Ovamboland, in the territory of South West Africa.131 3.1 The Finnish Lutheran Mission in Ovamboland Of course I was delighted because the name of Finland was not strange to me as a Namibian, who was born and grew up in the northern part of Namibia, which is the part of Namibia where Finnish missionaries were very active since 1870. And in fact, the primary schools I went to, were schools organised and belonging to the Finnish missionaries in collaboration with the local people of the northern part of Namibia.132 The history of the Finnish mission is popularly known among the people of Namibia and Finland, but it also has an international reputation. In the history of Finland's relations with Africa, it has had a very special effect. In regard to liberation movements, and especially SWAPO of Namibia, the Finnish mission influence is without comparison. The role of the church-and especially the commitment of some of its servants-was instrumental in informing public opinion on the situation of the Namibian people. But the history of the mission's involvement is not without controversies and complications. For that reason, its activities will be given special emphasis in this study. Finland had done missionary work in Ovamboland in northern Namibia since 1870. The Finnish Missionary Society's work was started there on an initiative given by the Rhenish Mission from Germany, which had already started 131 When the missionary work began, the territory which later formed Namibia was legally no man's land. It was inhabited by various groups of African people. The area under discussion was not occupied by Germany until 1884, when it became known as South West Africa. 132. Interview with Nickey Iyambo, 20.8.1996. Pekka Peltola and Iina Soiri proclaiming the Gospel in the south western corner of Africa. The Finns started to work in the northern part of the territory, where only some explorers had visited before. The newly established Finnish Missionary Society-which was an independent association under the auspices of the Finnish Lutheran Church-was regarded by the Rhenish Mission as suitable for work in the primitive part of the area, where circumstances were extremely harsh. The missionary work was done in a region which long remained outside the direct domination of the emerging colonial power, Germany. Finnish missionaries, especially Martti Rautanen in his capacity as an important adviser to several Ovambo kings, contributed significantly to that fact.133 The colonial master of South West Africa after Germany was South Africa, which later consolidated its grip over Ovamboland. The main aim of missionary activities was to introduce the word of God in its Lutheran interpretation. Later on, a social and health service function was added. Especially during the Rautanen era, which stretched from 1870 until the 1920s, missionaries had a role as go-betweens in their relations with the colonists and Ovambos. Sometimes it was also hard to avoid taking a stand on political questions or relations between the rulers and the ruled. But the main principle was to practise a policy of non-interference and to build their own Christian community amongst the Ovambo communities. The work was never easy, because there was a continuous struggle for power and influence between the local chiefs, the white administration, and the foreign missionaries. The missionaries were mostly able to manage, because they put a lot of effort into adapting to the local circumstances as well as learning and developing the local language.134 They lived near the people as the only white people in the area, and gradually the locals learnt to trust them at least to some extent. 135 The missionary work was greatly challenged by the birth of the liberation movement SWAPO. At the end of the 1950s, the missionaries were worried by the unrest, which had broken out among the Ovambo workers and the first nationalists, in relations with the South African administration. Most of the missionary reports condemned the actions of SWAPO. They were afraid for the continuation of their work. They reported uncivilised manners and false accusations made by the uneducated natives.136 Nickey Iyambo, one of the early activists, explains the church's attitude: Because in the first place people did not know where the country was-something about Ambomaa, a little bit. But not really much in terms of the social and political difficulties the country was undergoing, because the duty of the missionaries was obviously to spread the good message of conviction and Christianity. It was not 133. Eirola, 1992. 134. The role of the missionaries has been studied and analysed by, e.g., Matti Peltola (1958) and Eirola (1992). Finnish missionaries collected and organised three local vernaculars-Oshindonga, Ukwanyama and Kuangali-in their written form. 135. VaisdIlt, 1980:231. 136 Juva, 1993:108-112. Proclaiming the Gospel or Politics? very clear to them whether they also had to look into social difficulties of the country, particularly the political arrangement. They thought that was part of the local politics and they were from a far land and they should not really spend considerable energy on political issues, but rather consider spreading the Gospel of faith.137 Worried by the tense situation, the Missionary Society decided to make an inspection in the area in 1961. The inspectors chosen were the chairperson, Dr Mikko Juva,1as (an academic historian and a theologist, who had been a member of the board since 1951), and the secretary of the society Aleksi Vallisaari. The delegation was hosted by the head of the mission in Namibia, Alpo Hukka. During the following seven weeks, the delegation familiarised itself with the situation in the territory, the conditions of the migrant workers, and the rural areas and people, as well as the mission stations and their work. Mikko Juva, who had been actively involved in the colonial question and had also come into contact with the liberation struggle through participating in the work of the international Christian and student organisations, had from the start taken a positive attitude towards the liberation movement. He urged the missionaries to take the movement seriously. To his disappointment, he did not manage to meet anybody from the movement itself, which he understood to be a result of the reserved attitude the Africans had towards all Whites and their institutions. The inspection trip itself did in the end have a profound effect on the future work of the local church. Mikko Juva was the first reformer in the Missionary Society circles. He had already met the head of the Evangelical Lutheran Ambo-Kavango Church (as the Finnish-formed local church was called) Leonard Auala, in 1959, when he was the first member of the Ambo-Kavango church who was allowed to travel to Finland. I had a discussion with him and I told him here in Finland, in safety and openly, that Finland has been for centuries under foreign rule, first Swedes and then the Russians, but when the time was ripe and we had had higher education, and the historical situation arrived, when we could declare our independence, we did it. And I'm quite sure that sometime in the future your country will achieve the same. ... So it was in such general ideologist tenrs I spoke to him, but Auala's reaction was a horrified one. And I understood it a few years later, when I learned what instructions Auala had received.139 Before the trip to Finland Bishop Auala had been given a lecture by the administrator of Ovamboland, emphasising that he must represent the views of the regime when he went to Finland. He had to promise on oath, in front of the policemen in the courtroom, that he would not say anything negative about the 137 Interview with Nickey Iyambo, 20.8.1996. 138 Mikko Juva became a Professor, then Rector and Chancellor of the University of Helsinki; and after that the Archbishop of the Lutheran Church of Finland. He was also, for a brief period, the chairperson of the Liberal Party and an MP. 139. Interview with Mikko Juva, 24.11.1995. Pekka Peltola and lina Soiri South African administration.140 Dr Juva, for his part, was of the opinion that as a student of history he knew something about how nations develop, and thought that it was wise to tell Auala that he should not be afraid to think of future liberation.141 He could not understand what a difficult situation he had caused for Bishop Auala at that time. But then neither the Finnish church nor its Southern partner was ready to regard liberation as a realistic issue. During the inspection trip, though, Juva found out at the Teachers' Seminars at Elim and Ongwediva that the younger students were very keen to learn more about the ideological and political ideas of the day, as well as problems of colonialism and the intellectual and national independence of the continent.