Category: Rhodesia

American Board Mission

Mount Selinda

The American Board Mission (ABM or American Board) opened its first mission in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) in 1893. Two years earlier, ABM missionaries Rev. Wilcox and Dr. W.L. Thompson were on an exploratory trip from South Africa.  As fate would have it, on the boat to Beira, Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique), fellow passenger Cecil Rhodes overheard them talking about a site for a mission.  He responded by giving them a track of land on Zimbabwe’s eastern boarder.  On subsequent arrival to the designated area, the missionaries mistook the native African enunciation of the Chirinda forest as Silinda and called the mission site the Mount Silinda (Selinda) Mission.

Rev. and Mrs. John Marsh, arriving at Mt. Selinda in 1924, provided the following description:

“[W]e soon realized that the Mission was located in a U-shaped clearing which was surrounded by those soaring trees of mahogany…  They covered Mt. Silinda to the south and Gungunyana to the north, and the bottom of the U to the West.  But the U opened to the East upon a great view of the Zona valley, through which ran a small stream, which had its origin in the forest. … The Mission buildings were distributed on the grassy hillsides of the U clearing or opening. The road running down through the U to the school buildings in the center, and eventually the beautiful brick church.  … It was a fair-sized self-contained community.”

A significant early contribution of the American Board in Zimbabwe was establishing medical facilities and providing medical care to the surrounding area.In 1912, the dispensary became a full-fledged hospital, “Willis F. Pierce Memorial Hospital” (Mt. Selinda Hospital).

Another contribution was in the area of agriculture. Emory D. Alvord, a trained agriculturist, joined Mt. Silinda in 1919 and introduced western farming practices including use of fertilizers and irrigation schemes. In 1926, he left the mission to take up the position of Director of Native Agriculture for Southern Rhodesian.

Mail service to Mt. Selinda was initially every two weeks by postal runner to Melsetter (letters prior to 1924 often have a Melsetter a back stamp).  A branch post between Melsetter and Mount Selinda was established in 1897.  That same year Dr. Thompson, who had been appointed postal agent, received the first Mount Selinda date stamp canceler.  It incorrectly spelled Silinda – “Selinda,” and despite protests from Dr. Thompson, subsequent cancelers continued to use both spellings. In time, “Selinda” became the dominant spelling.  Motorized mail service began in 1929.

Today, under the direction of the United Church of Christ in Zimbabwe (UCCZ), Mt. Selinda comprises a church, primary and secondary schools with boarding facilities for boys and girls (Mount Selinda High School), farm, the Daisy Dube Children’s Home and the Willis F. Pierce Memorial (Mount Selinda) Hospital.

Covers

• 1910-1919
• 1920-1929
• 1930-1939
• 1940-1949

Facilities

• Industrial Department
• Medical Department
• Mount Selinda Training and Practising School
• Mount Selinda Institute

References

• The Journal of the Rhodesia Study Circle No.261 – Mark Loomis
• Missions in Southern Rhodesia – Paul S. King
• Friends of Chikore and Mt. Selinda Missions (www.fomaonline.net)
• 104th Annual Report of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions – 1914 (PDF) 
• www.globalministries.org

Contributors

• Mark Loomis
• Paul Peggie
• James Gavin

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American Board Mission

Chikore

Rev. and Mrs. Wilder of the American Board Mission (American Board or ABM) opened Chikore Mission in 1895.  Chikore is located in Manicaland Province, Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), 18 miles northwest of its sister mission station at Mount Silinda (Selinda).  Chikore initially consisted of three farms on a total 18,000 acres on which were located eleven kraals (small villages) and a small school.

Dr. William T. Lawrence joined Rev. and Mrs. George Wilder at Chikore in 1900.  Dr. Lawrence soon opened up a small hospital there and would go on to serve in Zimbabwe for the next 46 years.  A Secondary School was opened at Chikore In 1955.

Before 1927, letters to or from the Chikore Mission were generally mailed through Mt. Selinda. A post office was established in the small village of Craigmore, a little over a mile from the Chikore Mission, in 1927. Thereafter, missionary mail was generally posted at Craigmore, with service by runner from Chipinga (24 miles away).

In the 1960s and 1970s, missionaries from the American Board (now known as the United Church of Christ – UCC) promoted racial integration of education and hospital services and many publicly opposed the policy of apartheid.  This resulted in the deportation of three UCC missionary families in the 1960s. One of those families was Rev. and Mrs. Abbott (at the time Chikore Mission school superintendent) who were deported in 1966.

“One source of trouble for the school and mission station at Chikore where Mr. Abbott and his family were located, was the racial integration of the entire establishment. Chikore had six missionary teachers and 18 Africans.  The secondary school program was headed by an African and was “integrated as much as possible.” This didn’t sit well with the European community at Chipinga, 25 miles away, he explained. “They didn’t like the secondary school because they felt we were educating the Africans beyond their abilities.”.

Today – The United Church of Christ in Zimbabwe (UCCZ) operates a school and 50-bed hospital at Chikore serving a remote area of Zimbabwe consisting of 44 villages.

Stationery

• 1944.02.24 – 16925
• 1943.02.25 – 15277
• Arthur J. Orner – Chikore Via Mount Silinda
• Arthur J. Orner – Chikore P. O. Chikore

References

• Friends of Chikore and Mt. Selinda Missions
• The Journal of the Rhodesia Study Circle No.261 – Mark Loomis
• “Churches Combat Rhodesia Regime”, Courier Journal, January 21, 1966

Contributors

• Keith Harrop
• Mark Loomis

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