Free Methodist Church: Lundi Mission

Free Methodist Church

Lundi Mission

The Lundi Mission was founded in 1939 by Reverend Ralph and Ethel Jacobs of the Free Methodist Church.  Lundi is located near Masvingo (formally Fort Victoria) in southeastern Zimbabwe.

In 1928, Rev. Jacobs, then in Portuguese East Africa, received a letter from Chief Sengwe. The chief asked Jacobs to come and give his people the gospel after some of his men had returned from church services in Johannesburg.  It was not until 1939 that the Jacobs began mission work at Lundi with plans for extending the work to the Sengwe area.

Daisy Frederick began a Central Primary School at Lundi in 1941. The school was upgraded in 1965 to include the first two years of high school.  The last two years of high school instruction were added in 1972.  As of 1975, the school had 208 students, most of which were boarding students.  Lundi Bible School, “after much difficulty and many hindrances,” was opened in 1957.  The first graduating class of the three-year program was in 1964.  Lundi Bible School later changed its name to the Wesley Bible School, which is now located in Masvingo. A mission clinic was opened in approximately 1947.

FMC missionaries serving at Lundi include Rev. Ralph and Mrs. Ethel Jacobs (mission founder – 1939-55); Daisy Frederick (1940-46); Rev. Eldon and Mrs. Florence Sayre (1946-76); Ruth E. Smith (1946-64); Rev. Tillman and Mrs. Gwen Houser (1948-81); Rev. Philip and Mrs. Carmena Capp (1958-76); Robert and Kitty Magee (1963-73) and Barbara Russell (1966-75).

References

• fmcusa.org
• Free Methodist and other Missions in Zimbabwe – Tillman Hauser
• A Sketch of Free Methodist Missions in Rhodesia, from the beginning in 1939 to 1975,” reprinted in Appendix 2, House, Tillman A, “Free Methodist and other Missions in Zimbabwe,” 2000 – Philip Capp

Contributors

• Mark Loomis
• James Gavin

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