Seventh-Day Adventist Church: Somabula Mission

Seventh-Day Adventist Church

Somabula Mission

The Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) efforts in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) expanded in 1901 with the founding of Somabula Mission by F. B. Armitage and his wife.

The Armitages, early missionaries at Solusi Mission, trekked 150 miles north to a 400 acre farm 22 miles from Gwelo (Gweru).  With the help of “native teachers” who accompanied them from Solusi, they were able to open a school and immediately begin teaching.  The Aldridges were forced to relocate to South Africa in 1906 after suffering from multiple bouts of malaria.  They were replaced by W. C. Watson and his wife.  In 1920, the then superintendent, J. N. de Beer, reported eighteen out-schools in a 100 mile radius.

The mission moved in 1923 and was renamed Lower Gwelo Mission.

References

• Origin and History of Seventh-day Adventists, Vol. Four – Arthur Whitefield Spalding
• Chronology of Seventh-day Adventist Education 1872-1972 – Watson J. Brown
• www.adventistarchives.org
• www.adventistdirectory.org

Contributors

• Mark Loomis