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Wesleyans and the Lutherans often co-operated, there were sometimes
conflicts. Carl Stech (Lutheran) and George Lowe (Wesleyan) used to
exchange hostile correspondence 304 and their conflict manifested itself in
the Blouberg-Makgabeng area when Solomon Maloba broke away from the
Lutheran station of Leipzig to establish his own station. Samuel Modiba,
who had been a Lutheran helper on the Derben outstation under headman
Manaka, also left the Berlin society service and joined the Wesleyans,
taking the majority of the Derben Christians with him when he got
permission from Kgoši Kibi of the other section of the Bahananwa, to settle
in his domain 305 . It must be borne in mind that Maloba and Modiba were
both first baptised as Wesleyans in Natal, and their reversion to that
denomination was not surprising. The introduction of Wesleyan teachings in
the Makgabeng area led to further religious identity creation as the converts
were not only Christians, but further identified as either Wesleyans or
Lutherans.
Apart from their rivalry and competition for Black converts, the Wesleyans
and the Lutherans had different ways of operation. The Berlin society which
had been well established by the time the Wesleyans arrived in the
Makgabeng area, had developed a network of mission stations. With their
training institute, they were known to be relatively reluctant to employ
304 Ibid, pp. 2 – 3.
305 KAZB: BMG, SA: Das Eindringen, pp. 2 – 3.
174