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Africa. In the Makgabeng area, as already shown in the previous chapters,
the missionaries arrived in the second half of the 19 th century. The mission
of the missionaries in Africa was to spread the Gospel and “deliver” Blacks
from what was perceived as their heathen, barbaric and backward ways. To
a certain extent, the missionaries succeeded as some sections of Black
communities embraced Christianity. These converts constituted a new kind
of identity, not only in Makgabeng, but all over South Africa.
Today in the Makgabeng area, the main Christian denominations include
Zion Christian Church (ZCC), which has two branches of the dove and star
emblems, the Wesleyan (Methodist), Lutheran, International Pentecostal
Church, Apostolic and Bazalwana churches. The ZCC with its two sections,
was introduced in the Makgabeng area in the 1940’s 645 . The early converts
to ZCC in the Makgabeng area included Binas Ramoroka, Mphaka Setumu,
Abiel Mojela and Ikgetheng Steven Setumu 646 . The Lutheran denomination
had its roots with the arrival of the Berlin Society missionaries in the late
1860’s in the Makgabeng area. As already indicated in the previous
chapters, early Lutheran missionaries in Makgabeng area included Beyer,
Herbst, Stech, Sonntag, Franz and Jackel. Lutheran missionaries built
dominant congregations in the Makgabeng area with people such as Simon
Setumu as original Black converts. Philemon Setumu and Bethuel
645 Interview, Binas Ramoroka, Early Dawn village, 10 March 2003.
646 Ibid.
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