Mpande's - University of Zululand Institutional Repository

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start rmssIOnary work among the Zulu people. Common among all
missionaries who came to KwaZulu were dreams of converting the Zulu
nation en masse to Christianity.
But during Mpande's reign the Zulu people mostly adhered to traditional
norms and values, believing that the spirits of the dead live long.
Ancestral honour and the worship of the Supreme Being called
Umvelingangi were pre-eminent and education of children was merely
informal, based on imitation and observation· 5
It could be argued, however, that while Mpande thought that missionaries
might strengthen his political position, ordinary Zulus were frightened by
the gospel that evoked terrors of damnation and hell. They were told that
non-believers in Christianity would be thrown in a fiery furnace where
they would burn eternally." Zulus who became proselytes of the
missionaries were pestered to recant by their neighbours.
Among the individuals who became proselytes was Mbulasi Makhanya, a
widow, in 1845. She, together with Dr. Adams established the
Arnanzimtoti church·' She contributed to the rapid spread of Christianity
in that she led prayer meetings and visited homes. This also hastened the
.5
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• 7
G.R.- Hance: The Zulu YesterdaY and Todav - twentv-nine years in South Afrigl, p.
112; Texts on Zulu Religion: traditional Zulu ideas about God. African Studies. VoL 6.
pp. 374.
S.N.A 1/3/9: Annual Report of Resident Magistnite Windham, 1859.
Missionarv Herald.. 1843. p. 77.