East African Journal of Traditions, Culture and Religion Understanding African Socio-Cultural Context: Contemporary Challenges to Christian Missions in the 21st Century.

Heuristically, the paper seeks to understand the religious perception of Africans otherwise regarded as the indigenous people and their contact with the missionary message. It adopts a historical, hermeneutical, and critical interpretation of some preconceived ideas about Africans as well as their reactions to the gospel message. It discovers that the introduction of the faith was done with clear intentions; slavery and economic exploitation, prejudices, and hence the demeaning attitude and bastardisation of the rich socio-cultural background of the people. However, the wisdom of the continent paved the way for the accommodation of messages. The paper concludes by recommending the following as some of the way forward: the messenger bearing the message should seek to know the socio-cultural background of African tradition, the Jesus’ attitude of non-condemnation should be adopted as a global standard for all missionary volunteers to present-day Africa in order to put on record the right perspective about the people and lastly, African


INTRODUCTION
from shore to shore, till moons shall wax and wane no more. From north to South the Princes meet to pay their homage at His feet While Western empires own their Lord, and savage tribes attend His word (Isaac Watts, 1674-1743. The lyric above was joyfully performed and sang by missionaries in the churches in Africa, among a group of people whom they felt were savages, people without the knowledge of God whose total way of life was described as a fetish. Songs evolved by Christian in Eurocentric culture based on their nationalistic spirit and racial pride. These songs and many more are now being disregarded by Africans whom they considered as benighted. Ray (1976), therefore, took a bold step alongside scholars of African descent in setting the records straight about a people whose origin and contribution to the ancient world cannot be denied. In affirmation of his purpose, he mentioned the possibilities of intellectual smuggling of Christian terminologies which he vehemently warned against in understanding African religious history which is exclusively the preserve of the people.
The history of the people has suffered greatly even though the continent was the home of civilisation and sustainable development; a key region with an abundance of wealth and people of affluence in the Fertile Crescent, a home of refuge to the patriarchs. These facts were almost denied to the continent until the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. African explorers, missionaries, and agents of the colonialists were vectors who once actively served as agents of degradation of the continent. The sole aim of the hazy scribbling of African history was to give a false account void of adequate research about the nature of the African religious belief system and to earn cheap commendations of their masters. Evan-Pritchard (1971) dares to make the difference in his account about the people whose history was based on inadequate information and records targeted at cultural assassination as a bunch of bizarre beliefs. This form of underreporting, therefore, justifies the claims by the sit-at-home reporters that the people are savages: the direct opposite of Western civilisation. Ray (1976) noted that Thomas Jefferson Bowen and David Livingstone were among the few missionaries who attempted something different by adopting a phenomenological approach in understanding the African worldview. However, they were among the few who dared to make a difference as missionaries though they later falter and fell largely due to the overbearing influence of their home missions. Imasogie (1985) noted that the second epoch of the peoples' history drew the attention of some scholars within the 19 th Century. They include Lang Andrew, Archbishop M. Soderblom, and Fr. W. Smith. The major contention was based on the overstatement of the peoples' belief which depicted the continent as salvage, people without culture and the knowledge of God; the aforementioned concluded that there could be no people who do not have the knowledge of God. The Psalmist declared: "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hand… there is no speech or language where their voices are not heard" (Psalm 19).
While few scholars affirmed the biblical text, yet the obvious was argued against and highly contended. Boje (2010) inferred that the earliest missionaries goofed in their perception about Africans, whom they regarded as being without the knowledge of God. He added: Enuna ri funa, ono yi hwere vwe irhioke? Meaning, 'The clear firmament, who sweeps it daily'? This adage among the Urhobo people clearly attested to the peoples' clear knowledge about who is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. Mbiti (1991) corroborated Boje, he noted that the revelation of God in the religious life of the people could not be separated from other activities; hence the religion is part of their everyday activities.

Early Missionary Enterprises in Africa
In the West Africa sub-region, Babalola (1988) noted that the Portuguese missionaries who made their entry into the region were trade-oriented; their primary mission/task of evangelising the people became secondary. The interest of the political gladiators was economic; hence the missionary's encounter with Muslims in North Africa and the non-Muslims in West Africa was greatly opposed.
The reasons for the resistance though attributed to the over-bearing economic mindedness and exploitation of the people, the bottom line was on the wrong attitude of the missionaries. He added that the Portuguese had a catholic variety in mind but the people were alienated from their cultural roots. Among the Muslims, they struggled with the challenge of animism and polytheism while among the Yorubas, they dismantled the elaborate political system which made for independent self-rule; remember Oyo Empire. The people had a different age-grade system in place for coordination and control with the Oba/ Chiefs as the leaders of the people. Among the Urhobo people also, we have gerontocracy which is still present with the people to date. The system of self-rule was misconstrued by the Portuguese who wrongly interpreted African culture and way of life to be animistic and the people polygamous.
The introduction of the Portuguese language and culture was to facilitate trade while the people remained impoverished economically.  noted that Africans though very religious yet not gullible. The Marxist opium ideology soon met its waterloo as the indigenous people reacted against the attitude of the early missionaries.  noted that since the missionaries were not truthful to themselves, the people found it more difficult to believe in their teachings. Ray (1976) noted that the missionaries regarded African religions to be animistic, barbaric, fetish, among others hence, Africans in their wisdom and God self-revelation, decided not to adopt a foreign religion thereby losing their sacred positions within the society. Boje (2010) added that the missionary teachings were antagonistic; they condemned virtually everything which they did not comprehend about Africans because they felt superior. While they moved about with guns and bullet-proof singlet, Africans simply used concoctions as a medium of protection, an African equivalent for protection.
Another reason advanced for the cheap failure was the undue economic advantage over the people without substantial compensation in return. The articles in trade include women/girl slaves, ivory, pepper, and Bini clothes. Thus, the people perceived the depletion of the population of women and girls as a major threat to the labour force more so; they read meaning to the missionary's involvement in the slave trade as a mark of deviation from the salvific message of freedom in Christ. They came to buy cheap labour force for themselves using the Bible in disguise; Jesus would not have sent them but their home government (Isiorhovoja, 1957).
The Luo women resisted the missionaries because their gospel message was against the household type in Africa. While they were against polygamists, they had mistresses and brothels to resort to for sexual satisfaction. Consequently, the women-led protest to protect their marriages, homes and families from being eroded by 'missionary culture' which was unfounded in Africa (Barrett, 1968). Achebe (2008) from his literary pen gave the vivid account of Okonkwo the hero of the play and his defence of his people against missionary attitude couched in the gospel message backed up with the power of gunpowder. Ordinarily, the women would not have protested, but they must protect their homes. The thesis of the Aba women riot was on missionary cum colonialists taking over the economic power from the people while enslaving the men and male youths, alienating them from their cultural practices.
The success recorded in Warri in the 1570s by the missionaries from Sao Tome was not inculcated into the endeavours of the future missionaries to Africa by the home government. Through the enlistment and training of the Crown Prince as well as his eventual return, gave the footage to the heart of the people in receiving the gospel. Onibere (2005) argued the gospel preached in foreign language among the indigenous people remained deceit, the people of Africa are friendly and consequently, the language should be learned and used as the medium of communication. Consequently, Adamo (2005) argued in favour of vernacular hermeneutics as an answer to the peoples' need because there is power in the spoken word, especially in the mother tongue.  disregarded the missionaries' attitude towards African traditional medicine which they regarded as idolatrous and fetish. He berated the selfish knowledge that is only oriented towards orthodox medicine. He argued that before the advent of the missionaries, Africans being natureoriented, used several herbs and shrubs in the area of health and wellness; hence, Africans used roots, herbs, shrubs, and other God-given mediums to heal and cure ailments.  avers those herbs and potent words are a powerful medium in African traditional medicine.

Reliving the Niger Expedition in Modern Mission
The motioned idea by Thomas Fowell Buxton in 1840 was divine and helpful; though greatly criticised by the British parliament, the call for a reexamination of the missionary endeavours among Africans vis-à-vis the interior region brought about succour and leveraged the missionary task in building hope, confidence as well as acceptance. The expedition was jointly undertaken by the Church Missionary Society (CMS) and Basel Missionary Society (BMS), brought about the needed revolution in Missionary activities in place of the usual exploitation; they gave back to the society (Babalola, 1988).
The enlistment and engagement of Ajayi Crowther in 1841 and his adoption by Dr. and Mrs. Davey for further education was an act of giving back to society. Like the adoption and training of the Crown Prince of Itsekiri by the Portuguese, the benevolence shown to Crowther gave birth to the African Agency. Other missionaries built on this noble gesture; consequently, every other denomination and missionary benefited from Buxton's idea about the reconstruction and development of Africa in modern mission terms.
Ajayi Crowther, the slave from Sierra Leone remained the useful vessel for the spread of the gospel from Badagary into Nigeria interior and especially among the Yorubas. The agitation for effective authentic indigenous theological expedition among Africans by Adamo (2005) is only a re-enactment of the needful; the vessel of Crowther alone made it possible for the expansion of the gospel; hence the Roman Catholic was forced to adopt vernacular homily in the churches and among the people with whom they work. Barbara (1985) in her remark, stated that: I am very happy both to learn and to live with the people with whom I serve as a missionary. My greater comes through my ability to speak to language and to freely interact with my mother and mama; they made alive the Urhobo language even though at first, I do not seem to have been fluent. My Teacher, Elder Gilbert O. Isiorhovoja was very patient with me and he made me a missionary indeed, now I really appreciate the Urhobo cosmology; their understanding of the universe is closest to that of the Jews.
From the confession of a missionary, the home mission can do more among the churches because the seed is being sown directly through personal contact. This effort should be reversed in order to develop manpower for and among the indigenous people. Through this process, a new frontier would have evolved to bring about the new platform of interaction.

Valued Tenets of African Religious Beliefs
From the foregoing discussions on the derogatory and benighted classification of the indigenous people, there is so much to be learned notwithstanding the level of disregard and abandonment. Oduyoye (1979) attested to the multireligious background of the African society as well as the influx of missionary religions as we have in other parts of the world. While decrying the failures of Westernisation and modernisation in meeting the needs of religious needs of Africans, she added that missionary religions and technology have proved to be inadequate in meeting the peoples' needs. This gap thus calls for some form of creative syncretism if ever Christianity must have a leeway among the people. This is to create a direct link and interactive point with African culture.
Africans like every tribe expresses belief in the divine origin of the universe even though there are a diversity of creation accounts, yet they all point to a divine Being who is not created. The sole task of mankind as expressed in the Bible is that of a steward of the earth, the role of man in response to His creator. However, this privilege has been greatly abused as we exploit the environment to our own advantage. The closeness of Africans to nature should have remained enigmatic yet unique to the people in response to God's goodness and instruction to mankind. The maintenance of sacred grooves, recognitions of spirits beings, and other living creatures formed a major part of the belief system, which is largely related to ecology in the Christian tradition.  argued that the development of ecology in Western science is a direct response to the African practice of sacred grooves, plants, and some species for the sake of religious veneration and posterity.

Bridging the Gap to Christianizing the Indigenous People
In the gospel of John, Jesus bridged the gap between the Jews and the Samaritans. Ordinarily, the Jews had ridiculed the Samaritans, not minding the close association and common ancestry. John 4:1-26 formed a very long periscope, a dialogue between the woman and Jesus. Morris (1985) in his text note avers that it became a necessity on Jesus' mission to transcended geography and physical boundaries in the proclamation of the gospel message instead of having to go across the Jordan. The truth here is that the Samaritans in a mathematical sense are a proper subset of the Jews; they were carried off by the King of Assyria and the Babylonians and much later settled in the land of Samaria.
The discrimination was great, they were branded as mixed blood; they abandoned their identity on their return from the exile and returned to the worship of Yahweh. They were denied the privilege of making significant contributions toward the building of the temple. Amidst rejection, they found it fascinating to embrace the gospel being preached by a Jew (Easton, 1978).
From the long pericope, Jesus knowing all these did not align himself with the problem; rather, he proffered a solution by removing the barriers to effective Christianising of the Samaritans. Firstly, He ignored the stigmatisation of the Samaritans: They are of mixed blood. This implies that only the Jews are of pure blood, the true descendants of Abraham and therefore superior, while others are inferior. Amidst globalisation, the monopoly of knowledge has been broken and therefore all known forms of physical barriers should be done away with.
In 1990, certain Missionary tourists came to Delta State and the lady was filled with this mentality of being superior while some others are inferior. In her conversation with children, she said they are like little monkeys. She was not wrong in her conversation with other children because that was the mindset. It was, however, a mild drama as a Black woman responded by calling her a pig-skin creature. A Southern Baptist Missionary who walked into the scene spoke the native dialect and the woman immediately heaved a sigh of relief because she found in the missionary a sister and friend not minding the skin colour. That is the power of language at work (Majoroh, 1991).
Secondly, there are been changes in the religious life of the people. The Samaritans, while under captivity may have been forced to worship other gods, but on their return, they have resorted to the worship of Yahweh at Mt. Gerizim. It was only Jesus that knew the changes that have taken place in the life of the woman through the dialogue. Peel (1978) added that not only religion had undergone changes, but ethnicity, carriers, rural and urban settings have changed and these call for a new approach to mission and missionary approach in reaching the unreached people. The development of religious groups like the Samaritans among Africans calls for a close and detailed study before casting aspersions on the group/religion as we had in the case of African Traditional Religion (ATR), ATR Medicine, and the knowledge about the Supreme Being.
Thirdly, there is a greater need than ever to study parallels between religions as a way of building on the points of commonalities in propagating the message. Jesus drew the woman's attention to common ancestry (our forefather). Suppose the indigenous people had no knowledge of the gospel; what are the points of symmetry? These are the basis for biblical interpretation among the aborigines, the indigenous people that have a greater universal undertone. Adamo (2005) in his argument about the Aladura churches, noted that the integration of the African indigenous practices into the gospel message brought about acceptance and the growth of the church.
Fourthly, the need for physical objects of faith in the process of conversion from the background cannot be denied; water served the purpose here. It became the contact point for interaction between the two of them. While the woman only concerned herself with the physical, immediate use of the substance, Jesus saw beyond that need in her; she was driven by the challenge of getting water from a deep well without the usual aid. Contemporary efforts should be geared towards making use of the available medium to cultivate the gospel; the church has shied away from golden opportunities for mission engagement.
Fifthly, systematic exposition from the known to the unknown. This approach was by Jesus in the pericope while explaining common ancestry "Jacob's well" to the woman. The patriarch who dug the well from whence the woman came to draw. In Acts 17:22-26, Paul also adopted the same approach in dealing with the people of Athens who erected an altar to the unknown gods. It became the entry point for him to preach the gospel. "… Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you" (Acts 17:23). Paul demonstrated a very unique knowledge of the local content. There is no theological vacuum and as such, every step made in bringing the gospel into contact with the indigenous people should not seek to alienate the people in any way. When Jesus finished his exposition, she became the first indigenous female evangelist to the Samaritans. Little wonder therefore that the earliest missionaries sought after indigenous people to work with as pioneer partners.
Lastly, there is the need to critically understudy African/ indigenous people's cosmologies. The nature of the African worldview matters so much if ever there must be a breakthrough in reaching the desired goals. The tripartite world of the Africans has semblance with the Old Testament patriarchal tradition. Hebrews have the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all these are patriarchs long dead yet their names served as a medium in petitions and prayers. Among the Urhobo people, libations and drink offerings are similarly offered to Ese mo and Erivwi rode for protection in like manner. Also, the African concept of the Supreme Being is not any different from the biblical idea except for the medium/intermediary.

CONCLUSION
The task of reaching out to the unreached people in the 21 st Century is an enormous one. It requires a concerted effort on the part of the church with her salvific message. However, once beaten twice shy the saying goes. Consequently, for the church to sustain the christening process, which otherwise may have been marred by earlier failures or oversight, there is the need for carefulness, thoroughness, patience, and diligence on the part of the messengers bearing the message.
The local language and culture of the people should be closely examined as a factor in reaching out to the targeted audience, who may not be heterogeneous but homogenous in nature. Among Africans and other parts of the world, they are not divorced from their religion which actually points the people to God. The act of surface condemnation without prior knowledge can only breed resistance and denial of the gospel proclaimed.
Can anything good come out of Nazareth? This quotation has remained the centre point in biblical consideration of the rejected, weak and small tribes (savages) otherwise perceived to be less valuable. Africans have been of great influence since the Old Testament; such an account should serve as a springboard for launching deeper evangelistic outreaches to the most remote parts.
Lastly, the Pauline expository approach has proved to be effective. It helped in appraising the religious inclination of the people. His adequate conceptualisation of the people's needs for worship gave him the courage and boldness to address and lead them in the right direction.

RECOMMENDATIONS
The following recommendations are based on the study: • The task of reaching out with the gospel is not meant for naive persons who otherwise may not have been trained for the job, the messenger should be well knowledgeable, ready to publish the message so that the earliest missionary pitfalls are not repeated in the 21 st Century.
• The messenger should seek to make the message relevant within the social context of the people. The socio-cultural context calls for adequate knowledge hence the need to have a working knowledge of the worldview of the people. More so, there is a lacuna between the peoples' background and the gospel message; hence the challenge of being syncretic has remained the problem of the church missionary/evangelistic endeavour; the King Saul life pattern.
• Investment in Christian Education and Discipleship should not be underscored in modern mission. From the background, the lot invested in Crown Prince became the answered prayer as well as that of Ajayi Crowther. Though the missions have adopted this measure in the past, there are yet modern opportunities of doing it again.
• The friendly approach of Jesus in meeting and engaging the woman is remarkable. The bearer of the Christian message should be patient, not minding the number of times/hours it may take to record success. A Samaritan woman changed a lot of the city dwellers. The complaint about huge financial involvement in missions' activities only reveals or shallow knowledge over the value of a soul.
• Sharing personal testimonies and experiences has also proved to be valuable. Among Africans, they believe more in the practical personal account given. D.T. Adamo attested to this fact from the church perspective. However, among the Urhobo people, there is a strong belief in the power of words. Testimonies shared are spoken before witnesses whose faiths are rekindled in Christ. The former missionary attitude of preaching faith in Chris while using safety devices such as bullet-proofs runs contrary.
• Casting aspersion on the immediate behaviour of the people which was the way of the missionaries towards the Africans can only lead to a dead end. Africans were condemned then for using various musical instruments during worship but today, not only has it become the order of the day but a universal phenomenon.
• Love as a weapon in the 21 st Century. There is the need to permanently bury the latchet and let love lead. Without love, reaching out remained an impossible task, but Christ demonstrated his love towards us.