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UNIVERSITY OF GHANA 

COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES 

 

 

THE IMPACT OF THE BREMEN MISSION IN THE VOLTA REGION OF GHANA 

 

BY 

 

LETICIA ODURO ASANTE 

(10350741) 

 

THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN 

PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MPHIL 

FOR THE STUDY OF RELIGIONS DEGREE 

 

DEPARTMENT FOR THE STUDY OF RELIGIONS 

 

 

JULY, 2018



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DECLARATION 

This is to certify that this thesis is the result of the research undertaken by Leticia Oduro Asante 

under the supervision of Rev. Dr. Abraham Nana Opare Kwakye and Dr. Rose Mary Amenga-

Etego towards the award of MPhil Religions in the Department for the Study of Religions, 

University of Ghana.  

………………………………..                                              …………………………                            

LETICIA ODURO ASANTE      DATE 

(STUDENT) 

 

……………………………………                                        ……………………………  

DR. ABRAHAM N.O. KWAKYE                                                     DATE 

 (SUPERVISOR)    

 

…………………………………….                                      ………………………… 

DR. ROSE MARY AMENGA-ETEGO               DATE 

(SUPERVISOR)  

  



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DEDICATION 

I dedicate this work to the Triune God for His protection and guidance during the study period 

and to my parents, Mr. John Oduro-Asante and Mrs. Margaret Oduro-Asante. 

  



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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

I begin this order of acknowledgments with a profound appreciation to the Almighty God for 

blessing me with good health, wisdom, knowledge, understanding and an enabling academic 

environment to embark on this study.  

My sincere appreciation to the Volkswagen Foundation under the Post-doctoral grant directed 

by Dr. Wazi Apoh, Head of Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, University of 

Ghana, Legon for sponsoring this MPhil programme. 

I owe a debt of gratitude to my supervisor, Rev. Dr. Abraham Nana Opare Kwakye for his 

supervisory role and guidance and his timely warnings and suggestions which has made this 

work reach this far. My deepest and unreserved gratitude goes to the co-supervisor and my 

academic mentor, Dr. Rose Mary Amenga-Etego. I am forever indebted to you for the 

opportunity given me to undertake this project. 

I am profoundly grateful to Prof. Elizabeth Amoah, Rev. Dr. Ossom-Batsa and Dr. Nicoletta 

Gatti for their constant encouragement and for showing interest in my academic progress. I 

thank the Head of Department, Hajj Sulemana Mumuni and all the faculty members of the 

Department for the Study of Religions.  

I am equally grateful to the pastors, leaders, and catechists of the Evangelical Presbyterian 

Church, Ghana in all the communities for making time for me to interview them despite their 

busy schedules. Special thanks to all the traditional leaders especially, Togbe Appiah and 

Togbe Adra for permitting me to ask questions during the interview. My heartfelt gratitude 

goes to Togbe Akyem Foli V, Chief of Amedzofe, Rev. S.K.H. Dzandzo, Ag. Principal of E.P 

College of Education, Amedzofe, Mr. G.K. Attipui and Mr. Joephery Wuaku for providing me 

with very useful literature for the work. 

I am thankful to Rev. Fr. Godwin Kornu, Parish Priest of Our Lady of Assumption Catholic 

Church (OLA), New Achimota for his spiritual guidance and encouragement. To Mr. Michael 

Asamoah-Duku, your prayers, advice, encouragement and above all your financial support 

cannot be quantified. You painstakingly read through the whole work and offered very 

insightful suggestions. Daddy, may God bless you. 

I cannot forget my parents Mr. and Mrs. Oduro-Asante for their prayers, advice and constant 

encouragement in good and bad times during this study. To my siblings Andrew, Emelia, 

Gertrude and Enoch, I appreciate your love and support.  

Special gratitude goes to Mr. Ernest Fiador for assisting me throughout the field work in all the 

six communities. Your dedication and commitment are very much appreciated. I thank all my 

colleagues for their encouragement.     

 

 



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ABSTRACT 

The arrival of the North German Missionary Society, also known as the Bremen Mission, in 

the Volta Region of Ghana was greatly significant. Their contact with the people of the Volta 

Region marked the birth of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana, and other 

developments in Eweland. The study offers a missiological perspective of the influence of 

diverse activities of the Bremen Mission in early German missionised and colonial 

communities of Peki, Keta, Waya, Anyako, Ho and Amedzofe in the Volta Region. 

The study adopted missiological and historical methods for data collection and assessment. 

These methods were used to recount the history of the Bremen Mission and their encounter 

with the communities under study. Additionally, the methods helped in examining how the 

missionaries communicated the Gospel message to the indigenous people in their historical and 

socio-cultural milieu. Interviews were conducted to gather relevant information to augment the 

documentary sources. For the purpose of the study, contemporary photography was used to 

help in the assessment of the impact of the Bremen Mission in Eweland. 

The study uncovered that, as part of the Bremen Mission strategy for the growth of the mission, 

the missionaries selected some indigenous people who were empowered through education and 

professional training. It also discovered that the zealous efforts of the Bremen missionaries 

with support from the indigenous agents, brought change to the Volta Region through 

Christianity, western formal education, cultural transformation, and empowerment of women, 

among others. It also indicated that the development and standardisation of the Ewe language 

contributed significantly to contemporary Ewe identity in Ghana.  

 

 

  



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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

DECLARATION .................................................................................................................... i 

DEDICATION ....................................................................................................................... ii 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................... iii 

ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................... iv 

LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... viii 

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................... ix 

CHAPTER ONE .................................................................................................................... 1 

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1 

1.0 Background of the Study ............................................................................................. 1 

1.1 Statement of the Problem ............................................................................................. 4 

1.2 Aim and Objectives of the Study ................................................................................. 5 

1.3 Research Questions ...................................................................................................... 6 

1.4 Methodology and Methods of Data Collection ............................................................ 6 

1.5 Literature Review......................................................................................................... 8 

1.6 Theoretical Framework .............................................................................................. 17 

1.7 Scope of the Study ..................................................................................................... 21 

1.8 Structure of the Study ................................................................................................ 21 

1.9 Significance of the Study ........................................................................................... 21 

CHAPTER TWO ................................................................................................................. 22 

THE BREMEN MISSION IN THE VOLTA REGION (1847-1917) ................................. 22 

2.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 22 

2.1 The Establishment of the Bremen Mission ................................................................ 23 

2.2 Bremen Mission in Ghana- A Brief History .............................................................. 25 

2.3 The Early Mission Stations ........................................................................................ 27 

2.3.1 The Bremen Missionaries in Peki ........................................................................... 27 

2.3.2 The Bremen Missionaries in Keta ........................................................................... 30 

2.3.3 The Bremen Missionaries in Waya ......................................................................... 32 

2.3.4 The Bremen Missionaries in Anyako ..................................................................... 34 

2.3.5 The Bremen Missionaries in Ho ............................................................................. 35 

2.3.6 The Bremen Missionaries in Amedzofe ................................................................. 37 

2.4 Missionary Policies and Guidelines ........................................................................... 39 

2.4.1 The Congregation Serving as a Witness ................................................................. 39 

2.4.2 Study of Language and Culture .............................................................................. 41 

2.4.3 Concern for the Whole of Life ................................................................................ 42 



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2.4.4 Civil Authority and Colonial Power ....................................................................... 44 

2.4.5 Preparing Congregations for Self-Government ...................................................... 46 

2.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 48 

CHAPTER THREE ............................................................................................................. 49 

CHALLENGES IN THE MISSION FIELD........................................................................ 49 

3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 49 

3.2 Unfavourable Weather Condition .............................................................................. 49 

3.3 Language Barrier ....................................................................................................... 50 

3.4 Opposition from Indigenous Priests........................................................................... 52 

3.5 Resistance of the Indigenes ........................................................................................ 54 

3.6 Financial Difficulties ................................................................................................. 58 

3.7 Missionaries and Colonial Governments ................................................................... 59 

3.8 The Ashanti War ........................................................................................................ 64 

3.9 World War I ............................................................................................................... 67 

3.10 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 72 

CHAPTER FOUR ................................................................................................................ 75 

THE IMPACT OF THE BREMEN MISSION IN EWELAND .......................................... 75 

4.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 75 

4.1 Education ................................................................................................................... 76 

4.1.1 Western Formal Education ..................................................................................... 76 

4.1.2 Seminary Education ................................................................................................ 77 

4.1.3 Vocational/Technical Education ............................................................................. 81 

4.2 Religion ...................................................................................................................... 88 

4.3 Culture........................................................................................................................ 97 

4.3.1 Inculturation ............................................................................................................ 97 

4.3.2 Rites of Birth ......................................................................................................... 102 

4.3.3 Puberty Rites ......................................................................................................... 103 

4.3.4 Widowhood Rite ................................................................................................... 106 

4.4 Language .................................................................................................................. 109 

4.5 Agriculture ............................................................................................................... 112 

4.6 Healthcare Delivery ................................................................................................. 114 

4.7 Architecture.............................................................................................................. 116 

4.8 Negative Influence ................................................................................................... 118 

4.9 Gender Dimension of the Bremen Mission in Eweland .......................................... 121 

4.9.1 The Gender Dimension of the Bremen Missionaries ............................................ 122 

4.9.2 The Gender Dimension of the Indigenous Agents in Eweland............................. 125 



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4.9.3 The Contribution of the Indigenous Agents to the Evangelisation of Eweland ... 127 

4.10 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 134 

CHAPTER FIVE ............................................................................................................... 136 

SUMMARY,  FINDINGS,  RECOMMENDATIONS, AND CONCLUSION ................ 136 

5.0 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 136 

5.1 Summary .................................................................................................................. 136 

5.3 Findings.................................................................................................................... 139 

5.4 Recommendations .................................................................................................... 141 

5.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 143 

BIBIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................ 144 

APPENDICES ................................................................................................................... 152 

Appendix A.  Interview Schedule for Church Leaders ...................................................... 152 

Appendix B. Interview Schedule for the Traditional Leaders ........................................... 153 

  



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LIST OF FIGURES 

Figure 1. 1: Map showing the study areas ................................................................................. 2 

 

Figure 2. 1: The first mission house at Keta ............................................................................ 31 
 

Figure 3. 1: The tombs of the fourteen missionaries who were buried at Anyako .................. 50 
 

Figure 4. 1: Mawuli Secondary School.................................................................................... 85 

Figure 4. 1: Bible Cass Women singing and the traditional drums being played .................. 101 

Figure 4. 2: Administration block of E.P. College of Education, Amedzofe ........................ 117 

Figure 4. 3: The old chapel at Ho and the new chapel at Peki ............................................... 118 

Figure 4. 4: The missionaries and their wives at Keta ........................................................... 122 

Figure 4. 5: The deaconesses at Keta teaching the children .................................................. 124 

Figure 4. 6: The indigenous leaders with Mr. and Mrs Beveridge in 1923 ........................... 128 

Figure 4. 7: The sewing machine and the cooking pot used to teach the women .................. 132 

Figure 4. 8: Some ordained women Ministers of the E.P. Church ........................................ 133 

 

  



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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 

 ARS                    Apostle Revelation Society 

 CEM                   Christ Evangelical Mission 

 DC                      District Commissioner EPC                     

 EPC                    Evangelical Presbyterian Church 

GEC                   Global Evangelical Church 

 LPC                    Lord’s Pentecostal Church 

NGMS                North German Mission Society 

 PECBK              Presbyterian Evangelical Church of Buem Krachi 

 UFC                   United Free Church 

 WASSCE           West African School Certificate Examination 

 WBCM               Women’s Bible Class Movement 

 WCS                  White Cross Society, 

 WW I                 World War I 

 YMCA               Young Women’s Christian Association 

 

 

 

 

 

  



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CHAPTER ONE 

INTRODUCTION 

1.0 Background of the Study 

The introduction of Christianity into the African continent dates back to the first Century AD, 

shortly after Pentecost.1 Yet, Christianity entered the Gold Coast, now Ghana, on 20th January 

1482, through Roman Catholic Portuguese explorers and traders at Elmina.2 This first attempt 

did not yield any significant results since economic consideration was their primary focus and 

not evangelism.3 Nevertheless, their return in 1880 yielded tremendous success.   

Christianity gained root in Ghana in the nineteenth century with the arrival of mission societies 

such as the Basel Missionary Society (1828), the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society 

(1835), and the North Bremen Missionary Society (1847).4 Ansre asserts:  

These societies were inspired by the Pietist Movement and the Christian 

Awakening which occurred in the 17th and 18th centuries and spread wide in 

Europe and USA. These movements were themselves the result of the 

Reformation which had taken place in the early 16th century but which had many 

long-lasting effects.5  

The people of Eweland had contact with Christianity in the mid-nineteenth century with the 

arrival of the North German missionaries also known as Bremen missionaries. This society was 

rooted in the liberal foreign trade of Bremen. Its overarching goal was to evangelize to the 

people and win them for Christ.6 According to Kodzo Gavua, the Bremen Mission, among 

others, were inspired by the biblical verse Mathew 28: 18-20 to spread the gospel to the 

                                                           
1 Jonathan Hildebrandt, History of the Church in Africa (Ghana: African Christian Press, 1996), p. 5. 
2 Hans W. Debrunner, A History of Christianity in Ghana (Accra: Waterville Publishing House, 1967), p. 17,  

Cephas N. Omenyo, Pentecost Outside Pentecostalism: A Study of Development of Charismatic Renewal in the 

Mainline Churches in Ghana (Netherland: Boekencentrum Zoetermeter, 2002), p. 45. 
3 S. K. Odamtten, The Missionary Factor in Ghana’s Development 1820-1880 (Accra: Waterville Publishing 

House, 1978), p. 23. 
4Omenyo, Pentecost Outside Pentecostalism, p. 48-59. 
5 Gilbert Ansre, (ed.), Evangelical Presbyterian Church: 150 Years of Evangelization and Development, 1847-

1997 (Ho: E.P Church Press, 1997), p. 18. 
6Werner Ustorf, Bremen Missionaries in Togo and Ghana: 1847-1900 (Legon: Legon Theological Studies Series, 

2002), p. 2.  



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heathen, win souls for the Kingdom of God and convert the infidels to Christianity. 7 The arrival 

of the Bremen missionaries in 1847 marked the birth of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church 

and other missionary activities in Ewe land. Initially, they settled at Peki but later expanded to 

Keta, Waya, Anyako, Ho, and Amedzofe, all located in the Volta Region of Ghana (see fig. 

1.1).  

 

    Figure 1. 1: A Map Showing the Study Areas 

    Source: Author, 2018 

                                                           
7 Kodzo Gavua, “The Religious Factors in the Administration of German Togoland” in Wazi Apoh and Bea Lundt 

(eds.) Germany and Its West African Colonies: “Excavation” of German Colonialism in Post-Colonial Times 

(Berlin: Lit Vergleg, 2013), p. 120. 



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The main tool that aided the missionaries in their evangelization was the establishment of 

schools. This initiative was not without problems, but, they fervently carried on irrespective of 

the difficulties encountered.8 They were zealous about spreading the Gospel to the indigenes. 

The presence of the missionaries had a tremendous influence on the religio-cultural practices 

of the people. The missionaries regarded some indigenous beliefs and practices that were 

associated with the dead and exorcism of witchcraft as demonic and idolatry9, and as such they 

dissuaded the people from these indigenous religious beliefs and practices and persuaded them 

to turn to the Christian God. Some accepted the Christian faith and were able to detach 

themselves from everything associated with the traditional religion. Gavua notes that “pastors, 

catechists and other functionaries of the Missions preached against the indigenous religion by 

associating it with evil and engaged in the seizure of converts’ portable personal deities and 

shrines.”10  

Whilst some ardent believers of traditional religion remained adamant, quite a number of the 

indigenes accepted the Christian faith by the efforts of the Bremen missionaries. The Christian 

converts were prevented from participating in any form of indigenous music, dance, and 

rituals.11 Particularly, traditional drumming and women’s dancing were considered 

inappropriate. This was because, in the Ewe religious tradition, women had a way of shaking 

and wriggling their bodies while dancing which the missionaries regarded as immodest.  

Therefore, the participation of converts in such traditional, religious and cultural practices was 

sternly forbidden.12 

                                                           
8 Kofi Dorvlo, “The Contributions of German Missionary Evangelism and Education in German Togoland” in 

Wazi Apoh, Bea Lundt (eds.) Germany and Its West African Colonies: “Excavation” of German Colonialism in 

Post-Colonial Times (Berlin: Lit Vergleg, 2013), p. 123. 

(Accra: Asempa Publishers, 2008), p. 53.   
10 Gavua, The Religious Factors, p. 140. 
11 Gavua, The Religious Factors, p. 140. 
12 Gavua, The Religious Factors, p. 140. 



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In view of the fact that the missionaries came from a pietistic tradition, they ensured that new 

converts were trained in a pietistic order. The transmission of the Christian faith to the 

indigenous people constitutes the most important legacy the Bremen missionaries gave to the 

people of the Volta region. The contact with the indigenous populations among whom the 

Bremen missionaries lived, worked and proselytized must be of interest to us if we are to 

understand the changes that occurred due to their missionary activities. The study seeks to 

provide an understanding of the nature of the influences that ensued as a result of their 

interactions across time. 

1.1 Statement of the Problem 

Quite a number of scholarly works exist on the activities of the Bremen Mission in the Volta 

Region. However, one can say that the activities in the early German missionised and colonial 

communities, and their influence on the local populace from religious perspectives have not 

been adequately studied. 

Although scholars such as Spieth,13 Debrunner,14 Meyer,15 Ustorf,16 Dorvlo17, and Gavua18 

have offered historical insight into the Bremen Mission activities, their works are largely 

focused on education, healthcare, architecture, craftwork, and agriculture. Similarly, Apoh19, 

                                                           
13 Jakob Spieth, The Ewe People: A Study of the Ewe People in German Togoland (Ghana: Sub-Saharan 

Publishers, 1906). 
14 Debrunner, A History of Christianity in Ghana. 
15 Birgit Meyer, Translating the Devil an African Appropriation of Pietist Protestantism: The Case of the Peki 

Ewe in Southeastern Ghana 1847-1992(Amsterdam: Doctoral Dissertation, 1995). 
16 Ustorf, Bremen Missionaries in Togo and Ghana. 
17 Dovlo, “The Contribution of German Missionary.” 
18 Gavua, “The Religious Factors.” 
19Wazi Apoh, The Akpinis and the Echoes of German and British Colonial Overrule: An Archaeological 

Investigation of Kpando, Ghana (An Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Binghamton University, 2008).  



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Ladzekpo,20 Dogbey21, and Mensah22 have examined the tangible and intangible archaeological 

remains of the German colonial activities, which included some of the Bremen missionary 

works in the colonial communities.   

It is against this background that this study examines the religious perspective of the influence 

of diverse activities of the Bremen Mission in the early German missionised and colonial 

communities of Peki, Keta, Waya, Anyako, Ho and Amedzofe in the Volta Region. These six 

early communities of the Bremen Mission, Peki to Amedzofe, are fundamental for the 

understanding of the pioneering phase of the Mission’s activities. Amedzofe became a pivotal 

point for the Bremen missionaries because of its altitude which provided low temperature and 

a mosquito-free environment which was conducive for their health.23  The warm reception of 

the people together with the favourable climatic condition made it possible for them to be 

firmly established such that it is still an important religious space of the Evangelical 

Presbyterian Church, an offshoot of the Bremen Mission. 

1.2 Aim and Objectives of the Study 

The aim of this study is to examine the impact of the activities of the Bremen missionaries at 

Peki, Keta, Waya, Anyako, Ho, and Amedzofe in the Volta Region.  

The underlying objectives are: 

1. To identify the tools employed by the Bremen missionaries in their activities. 

2. To find out the roles of the local agents in the Bremen missionary agenda. 

3. To examine the legacy of the Bremen Mission in the selected communities.  

                                                           
20 Joseph Y.E.H. Ladzekpo, The Bremen Mission Heritage in Amedzofe (An Unpublished MA Thesis, University 

of Ghana, Legon. 2013).   
21Vincent S. Dogbey, Historical Archaeology of German Colonial Heritage at Ziavi, in the Ho Municipality, Volta 

Region Ghana (An Unpublished MPhil Thesis, University of Ghana, Legon, 2015).  
22 Moses K. Mensah, Bremen Missionary Interactions with the Peki: An Archaeological Perspective (An 

Unpublished MPhil Thesis, University of Ghana, Legon, 2017). 
23 Ladzekpo, The Bremen Mission Heritage in Amedzofe,  



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1.3 Research Questions 

The research seeks answers to the following questions: 

1. What were the various tools used by the Bremen missionaries in their activities? 

2. What were the roles of the local agents in the Bremen Mission agenda? 

3. Are there any legacies of the Bremen Mission? 

1.4 Methodology and Methods of Data Collection 

This is a qualitative study that makes use of both the missiological and historical approaches 

to research. Missiological Research Methodology is the systematic, dynamic and integrative 

manner of conducting research in the missiological study.24 E.D Steter argues that 

fundamentally missiological research is guided by specific questions aimed at seeking to 

understand the culture and society in which the church is situated.25  Grunland and Meyers 

share a similar view that the value of integrating the methodology of Social Sciences with the 

missiological study is that of understanding the culture of a group of people in order to better 

proclaim Christ to and amongst them so that they become Disciples of Christ.26 This 

methodology is carried out by formally specified procedures designed to gather, measure and 

interpret data. The purpose is to equip the church to minister in ways that are not only spiritually 

meaningful but also in ways that are situational and structurally beneficial for society at large.27     

According to E.H. Carr, history is “a continuous process of interacting between the historian 

and his facts, an unending dialogue between the present and the past.”28   He points out that the 

study of history is a study of causes and that the historian continuously asked the question 

                                                           
24 Enoch Wan, Rethinking Missiological Research Methodology: Exploring a New Direction (Published in Global 

Missiology, Research Methodology Oct. 2003 www.globalmissiology.net), Assessed, 2nd October, 2017. 
25 E.D. Stetzer, What is Missiologist?: The Theology, Tools and Team of a Missiologist 

(http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2013/june/what-is-missiologist.html June 10, 2013), Accessed, 2nd 

October, 2017.   
26 Grunlan and Mayers (1988: 21-22), cited in Wan, Rethinking Missiological Research Methodology, p. 4. 
27 Stetzer, What is Missiologist? 
28 E. H. Carr, What is History?, 2nd ed. (Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1987), p. 30. 

http://www.globalmissiology.net/
http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2013/june/what-is-missiologist.html


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‘Why’? People who read or write about past events must desire to know why they happened. 

The historical method examines past events or combination of events to arrive at an account of 

what happened in the past.29    

The missiological and historical approaches employed enabled a detailed description of the 

background to the emergence of the Bremen Mission and the histories of the communities 

under study. Additionally, it helped in examining how the missionaries communicated the 

Gospel message to the local people in their historical and socio-cultural milieu. 

The two approaches made use of both primary and secondary sources of data. The sources for 

the primary data included interviews. In each of the communities, both traditional and church 

leaders were interviewed in order to solicit information concerning the influence of the Bremen 

missionary activities in the communities. Both structured and unstructured forms of interviews 

were adopted by the researcher.30 Under the structured type of interview, a list of questions was 

formulated in order to help provide answers to the subject under investigation.31 However, the 

unstructured form of interview was used where the researcher deemed it appropriate. This 

helped the researcher to ask “probing questions which call for explanation and further 

clarifications on unclear issues” from the archival documents.32 It also enabled the researcher 

to ask follow-up questions from the respondent’s answers. Additionally, places of historical 

significance were visited to gather relevant information for the purpose of the study and 

contemporary photography was also used.  

                                                           
29 Historical Research: Answers to review Questions, www.scribd.com/document/11330516/Ch15-Answers  

(Assessed 7th September, 2017). 
30 Tom K.B. Kumekpor, Research Methods and Techniques of Social Research (Accra: SonLife Services, 2002), 

p. 188, Emmanuel Asante, Research and Writing: A Brief Guide (Accra: African Christian Press, 2000), p. 46. 
31 Kumekpor, Research Methods and Techniques, p. 188. 
32 Asante, Research and Writing, p. 47. 

http://www.scribd.com/document/11330516/Ch15-Answers


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The secondary sources of data comprised the review of some published and unpublished 

materials such as journal articles, archival records, books, newspapers, Ph.D./MA/MPhil 

theses, internet sources and other materials that are related to the work. 

1.5 Literature Review 

In this section, the study engages in a discussion with scholars in the field of mission and 

historical studies. Two categories of literature were reviewed. The first category is scholarly 

works that focus on mission. The second category of literature looks at the historical 

background of the Bremen Mission activities in the Volta Basin. 

 Scholarly works reviewed under Mission include; Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in 

Theology of Mission by David J. Bosch, Contemporary Missiology: An Introduction by J. 

Verkuyl translated and edited by Dale Cooper and Mission in the 21st Century: Exploring the 

Five Marks of Global Mission edited by Andrew Walls and Cathy Ross. This review broadens 

our knowledge of the meaning of mission and why people embark on mission. It brings out an 

understanding of the various motives that inspire people to participate in mission. Equally, it 

reveals that mission is not only about proclaiming the gospel but also responding to the needs 

of society or humankind.   

Bosch in his book Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission33 discusses 

mission in two parts – biblical foundations of mission and historical paradigms of mission. The 

biblical foundations of mission, on one hand, address the New Testament models of mission 

whereas the historical paradigms of mission, on the other hand, look at the paradigm changes 

                                                           
33David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 

1996).  



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in missiology with emphasis on the six epochs suggested by Hans Kung.34 Among the themes 

he dealt with are missio Dei and mission as evangelism.  

In the introduction, Bosch gave the traditional understanding of mission and how the word 

“mission” had been used differently in various ways. The term “mission” presupposes a sender, 

a person or persons sent by the sender, those to whom one is sent and with an assignment. Thus 

the one who sends has an authority to do so.35 The traditional understanding of mission has 

been revised in the course of the twentieth century. Bosch asserts that mission had been 

understood in a variety of ways during this period. For example, it is interpreted in 

soteriological terms as the saving of individuals from eternal damnation. Culturally, as 

introducing people from the East and the South to the blessings and privileges of the Christian 

West. Equally, in ecclesiastical terms, mission was understood as the expansion of the church 

or a specific denomination.36  

Karl Barth at Brandenburg Missionary Conference in 1932 mentioned that mission was an 

activity of God himself.37 It was at the Willingen Conference of the IMC in 1952 that the idea 

of missio Dei was fleshed out. Mission was understood to be derived from the very nature of 

God.38 This idea was put in the context of the doctrine of the Trinity and not Ecclesiology or 

soteriology. From here, mission was then understood as the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit 

sending the church into the world. The church thus becomes an instrument to carry out God’s 

mission to the entire world. Since God is the fountain of love, participating in missionary 

activities means that one is taking part in the movement of God’s love towards humanity.39 The 

missionary activities of the church cannot be claimed as identical to the missio Dei. Instead, 

                                                           
34 Bosch, Transforming Mission, p. 181. 
35 Bosch, Transforming Mission, p. 1. 
36 Bosch, Transforming Mission, p. 389. 
37 Bosch, Transforming Mission, p. 389. 
38 Bosch, Transforming Mission, p. 390. 
39 Bosch, Transforming Mission, p. 390. 



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they can only be authentic in so far as they reflect participation in the mission of God. They 

must be deeply rooted in what God himself initiated. 

Bosch defined Evangelism as “the proclamation of salvation in Christ to those who do not 

believe in him, calling them to repentance and conversion, announcing forgiveness of sin and 

inviting them to become living members of Christ’s earthly community and to begin the life of 

service to others in the power of the Holy Spirit”.40 It is also the act of spreading the gospel. 

To attain a holistic mission, evangelism and the provision of social services must go hand in 

hand. The church’s mission to the world is not only to proclaim the gospel but also to serve, 

love, preach, liberate, heal and protect humanity.  

Consistent with the foregoing discussion of Bosch’s work, the Bremen missionaries came to 

proclaim the Gospel and established the Christian faith among the Ewe people. They also 

embarked on some social services that helped to address the needs of the people. In spite of all 

the deaths that were recorded, coupled with the various challenges they encountered, the 

mission was sustained and was fruitful. Accordingly, the missionaries were only participating 

in the divine task of God but did not own the mission. 

Verkuyl41 identifies pure and impure motives as the two main motives for engaging in mission. 

He mentions that pure motives should be the deepest motivations for communicating the 

Christian faith throughout the world. The first motive is that of obedience. It is a motive which 

comes from a duty towards the will of God (1 Cor.1:17, 9:16; Gal. 2:7). In accordance with 

this motive, Zahn, the Bremen Mission Inspector, refused to extend the missionary work on 

Eweland to the Togoland when told to do so by the German colonial government. One of the 

                                                           
40 Bosch, Transforming Mission, p Bosch 11. 
41 J. Verkuyl, Contemporary Missiology: An Introduction, Translated and edited by Dale Cooper (Grand Rapids, 

Michigan: William B. Eerdman’s Publishing Company, 1978). 



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reasons for his refusal was that it was not the will of God to send teachers to Togoland.42 The 

second is the motive of love, mercy, and pity. It is a motive that has strongly received biblical 

accents. The motive of doxology is an expression of praise to God’s name. The missionary 

responds in this regard in praise of God’s name. For example, when Lorenz Wolf arrived at 

Peki, on the first day, he disregarded his tiredness and preached to the people on Psalm 22:23. 

Based on this scripture he showed the people the plan of God’s salvation.43 The fourth is the 

Eschatological motive which is the motive of God’s kingdom. It was an important motive for 

the pioneer missionaries.44 This motive inspires Christians to yearn for the kingdom so as to 

bring those outside the faith to experience the kingdom of God. The motive of haste, which is 

the fifth motivation, is closely related to the eschatological motive. Here the pioneer 

missionaries had a strong drive to get the message out quickly in their missionary journey. So 

burning was their zeal that despite the many deaths of their colleagues, the surviving Bremen 

missionaries remained unfazed in their determination to preach the gospel in Eweland. The 

final motive is Personal motive. Paul makes a statement in 1Corinthians 9:23 that “I do all for 

the sake of the Gospel, that I may share in the blessings”. This motive is very significant in the 

missionary task. In his conclusion, Verkuyl recommends that pure motive should be the basis 

for an authentic mission for the proclamation of the word of God to the whole world.     

The impure motives identified by Verkuyl include Imperialist Motives, Cultural Motives, 

Commercial Motives and the Motive of Ecclesiastical Colonialism.45 In this context, he 

described imperialism to mean the attempt by one state to use another state or people as a means 

to achieve its own goal. According to Bosch, colonialism and mission were interdependent; 

                                                           
42 Eugene Grau, ‘Missionary Policies as Seen in the Work of Missions With the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, 

Ghana’, in C.G. Baeta (ed), Christianity in Tropical Africa (London: Oxford University Press 1968), p. 69. 
43 Agbeti, West African Church History, p. 149. 
44 Verkuyl, Contemporary Missiolosy, p. 167. 
45 Verkuyl, Contemporary Missiolosy, p. 168. 



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thus the right to have colonies come with the duty to Christianise the colonised.46  Cultural 

motive refers to the intention or the attempt to introduce one’s culture to another. The mission 

work was closely connected with the transfer of missionary’s culture. During this period, 

mission was regarded as transmitting the values of Western culture. Commercial motives, in 

the words of Verkuyl, became an accessory motive and a point in the “propaganda” for 

mission.47 Further, promotional literature written by missionaries made an appeal to the 

commercial interest of its readers.48 This illustrates a statement made earlier by S.K. Odamtten 

that economic consideration was the primary focus of the early missionaries who came to the 

Gold Coast.49 Verkuyl pointed out that, it is very important for one to inspect the ties between 

mission and commerce; certainly, the historical record shows that these missions were closely 

linked with commerce or motivated by commercial intentions.50 

Ecclesiastical colonialism motive, on the other hand, deals with the imposition of the model of 

the Mother Church on the Native Churches.51 Stated differently, it is the urge to export one’s 

own confession and church order to other territories.52 The above discussions clearly indicate 

that there have always been pure and impure motives that influence missionary tasks in the 

field of mission. 

In contrast to Verkuyl’s assertion, the records available do not indicate that the Bremen 

Missionaries ever showed any tendencies that commercial motives were part of their 

motivation to bring the gospel to the Ewe land. This was made clear in Wolf’s declaration upon 

arrival at Peki that: “I am not going to buy slaves nor do I have in mind to rob people of their 

                                                           
46 Bosch, Transforming Mission, p. 227. 
47 Verkuyl, Contemporary Missiology, p. 172. 
48 Verkuyl, Contemporary Missiology, p. 173. 
49 Odamtten, The Missionary Factor, p. 23. 
50 Verkuyl, Contemporary Missiology, p. 173. 
51 Verkuyl, Contemporary Missiology, p. 173. 
52 Bosch, Transforming Mission, p. 5. 



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land”.53 However, the only occasions when they sold some of their estates to the local people 

were when they were in financial crisis and they did so in order to pay their workers.54 In 

another instance, financial challenges led the Bremen missionaries to grudgingly accept to sell 

goods for Siedel in the Blengo area as a condition for receiving credit.55 In all the cases, survival 

was the reason rather than commercial intentions. Also, the motive of ecclesiastical colonialism 

was minimal as the Bremen missionaries sought to establish an indigenous church with its own 

liturgy and polity, and which was to be self- supporting and self- governing. This was achieved 

in the Ewe Presbyterian Church which later became the Evangelical Presbyterian church. These 

motives serve as the benchmark to identify the authentic motive of the Bremen Mission in their 

missionary journey. 

In the edited volume Mission in the Twenty-first Century: Exploring the Five Marks of Global 

Mission,56 Walls and Ross identified the characteristics of mission in the Church as the 

proclamation of the Good News with its associated teaching, baptising and nurturing of new 

believers, loving service in response to human need, transforming unjust structures of society 

and safeguarding the integrity of creation.57 In her introduction, Ross acknowledged that the 

five marks presented do not embrace everything that should be said about mission. However, 

they outline the parameters of a holistic concept of mission and offer a starting point for on-

going reflection.58 The marks of mission as propounded by different authors and edited by 

Walls and Ross in this book are useful for this study by serving as a theoretical frame of 

reference. It is used as a basis for evaluating the impact of the Bremen Mission on the 

communities of their operations. 

                                                           
53 Agbeti, West African Church History, p. 84. 
54 Ustorf, Bremen Mission in Togo and Ghana, p. 118.  
55 Meyer, Translating the Devil an African Appropriation, p. 60. 
56 Andrew Walls and Cathy Ross, (eds.), Mission in the 21st Century: Exploring the Five Marks of Global Mission 

(London: Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd, 2008). 
57 Walls and Ross (eds.) Mission in the Twenty-first Century, p. xiv. 
58 Walls and Ross (eds.) Mission in the Twenty-first Century, p. xiv. 



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Various reviews of the historical background of the Bremen Mission activities in the Volta 

Region include; John K. Agbeti, West African Church History-Christian Mission and Church 

Foundation: 1482-1919; Gilbert Ansre (ed.), The Evangelical Presbyterian Church 150 Years 

of Evangelization and Development 1847 – 1997; Birgit Meyer, Translating the Devil an 

African Appropriation of Pietist Protestantism: The Case of the Peki Ewe in South-eastern 

Ghana 1847-1992, and Translating the Devil: Religion and Modernity among the Ewe in 

Ghana.  

Agbeti recounts the history of the North German Missionary Society (NGMS). their aim of 

coming to West Africa in general, and Gold Coast in particular, focusing mainly on the 

missionary activities at Peki and Keta in the Volta Region. He asserts that the missionaries 

encountered difficulties in their missionary work in these areas. These challenges included a 

language barrier which was further complicated by the content of the gospel message that was 

completely new to the people, ill-health that resulted in the death of many of the missionaries, 

opposition and rivalry from traditional religious priests and leaders, and financial constraints.  

He enumerates the achievements of the missionaries from 1853-1919. In 1855 the first seven 

converts were baptised. Secondly, some indigenous people were trained to become effective 

agents and collaborators in the missionary effort. Agbeti emphasises that without the assistance 

of the African agents the missionary work could not have progressed in this period. He 

mentions that John Wright, one of the African agents from Teshie, was a remarkable 

personality during the period.59 He was made a catechist and was placed in charge of a 

congregation in 1863. The third achievement was that between 1882 and 1912 the first eight 

African pastors for the Bremen Mission were ordained. Agbeti’s work is relevant to this study 

because it gives information about the history and achievements of the Bremen Mission and 

                                                           
59 Agbeti, West African Church History, p. 160. 



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also the problems the missionaries encountered in the Eweland. It also outlines the 

contributions of the African agents after World War 1. However, his work only covered up to 

1919. This work goes beyond this period up to the present time.      

Ansre discusses extensively the history of the Bremen Mission activities in the Volta Region. 

Like Agbeti, Ansre offers information about various challenges the missionaries faced. In spite 

of these challenges, the church was able to thrive. Also, he describes the contributions which 

the Church made towards the development of the society as well as the welfare of the 

indigenous people.   

Ansre focuses his attention on the history of the beginnings, growth, and development of the 

missionary Church that came to be known as the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and is 

therefore essential to this study. Furthermore it provides accounts of the religious activities as 

well as other social services undertaken by the church, dealing with the church’s practical 

exhibition of love for God and mankind. The exhibition of such love was made visible by 

activities, projects and programmes carried out by the Church. Closely linked to this was the 

Church’s role and quest to provide both secular and theological education to the people.60  

Education thus served as an indispensable tool in the growth and development of the Church 

as well as the country. In this way, the contributions of the Church are mentioned as a religious 

duty that goes, in the long run, to bring about social development. The Church’s role in bringing 

education to the people manifested in the establishment of schools including teacher training 

institutions as well as seminaries to train pastors to lead the local church. The church also tried 

over the years, to provide social services in its area of influence.61  Ansres’s work is essential 

to this study because it gives an in-depth discussion of the beginnings, growth, and 

development of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC). It provides accounts of the 

                                                           
60 Ansre, Evangelical Presbyterian Church, p. xi.   
61 Ansre, Evangelical Presbyterian Church, p. 205.   



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religious activities as well as other social services undertaken by the church. Ansre’s work will 

help the researcher to present the history of the Bremen Mission activities in the Volta Region 

as well as the contributions of the Church to society and the welfare of the indigenous people. 

The present study provides updates to Ansre’s two decade old work.   

Meyer in her book Translating the Devil an African Appropriation of Pietist Protestantism: 

The Case of the Peki Ewe in South-eastern Ghana 1847-1992 gives a historical account of the 

Bremen Mission and that of the people of Peki. She establishes how African Christians have 

practically dealt with Western impositions in their own fashion. She concentrates on the local 

appropriation of the Christian faith in an African context. She states that African Christianity 

is not merely an extension of the missionary impact, but rather a product of the encounter 

between missionaries and Africans.62 She mentions that the Bremen missionaries came from a 

Pietistic tradition and thus nurtured the new converts along the pietistic way. Wolf defined the 

stance of Pietism to the people of Peki when they presupposed their contact with him was of 

economic significance: “Though Pietists considered trade a civilising strategy and thus 

favoured the presence of European goods in Africa, they associated the pleasures of their 

consumption with the ‘broad path’”.63 This indicates that the Bremen missionaries may have 

preached against one’s attachment to material things to the detriment of giving heed to the 

Gospel message. 

Meyer’s Translating the Devil: Religion and Modernity among the Ewe in Ghana presents to 

us the strategies that were used in the Bremen missionaries’ attempt to make proselytes out of 

the traditional worshippers. They approached this through evangelisation, education, 

agriculture and the establishment of segregated Christian villages called Kpodzi (‘on the 

                                                           
62 Meyer, Translating the Devil an African Appropriation, p.1. 
63 Meyer, Translating the Devil an African Appropriation, p. 59. 



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hill’).64 These initiatives had an impact on the socio-economic life of the people. In addition, 

Meyer mentioned Wolf’s evangelism strategies as follows: learning the native language, 

starting a school, preaching the Gospel, treating the sick and dealing with representatives of 

political and religious leaders.  

Meyer’s works are important to the study because they give a detailed historical account of 

Peki before the arrival of the missionaries and deal with the developmental activities of the 

Bremen missionaries among the people of Peki. They also provide information on the E.P. 

Church in the Volta Region. This thesis, which examines the impact of the Bremen Mission in 

the Volta Region of Ghana, with focus on the first six communities will not only provide 

additional in-depth data but also, picking up from Meyer’s more than two decades old works, 

illustrate the enduring nature of their legacy. 

1.6 Theoretical Framework 

The study employs Walls and Ross’s (eds.)’ “Five Marks of Mission”65 which, in Ross’ view, 

form a good working basis for a holistic approach to mission.66 The marks include: proclaiming 

the Good News of the Kingdom; teaching, baptising and nurturing new believers; responding 

to human needs by loving service; seeking to transform unjust structures of society; and striving 

to safeguard the integrity of creation as well as sustaining and renewing the life of the earth.67  

Proclamation in Biblical times constituted a formal public announcement from royalty.68 It also 

refers to “the activity of the messenger conveying an important message which had been given 

                                                           
64 Birgit Meyer, Translating the Devil: Religion and Modernity among the Ewe in Ghana (London: Edinburgh 

University Press, 1999), p. 8. 
65 Walls and Ross, (eds.), Mission in the 21st Century).  
66 Walls and Ross (eds.) Mission in the Twenty-first Century, p. xiv. 
67 Walls and Ross (eds.) Mission in the Twenty-first Century, p. ix. 
68 Ken Gnanakan, “To Proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom (i)” in Andrew Walls & Cathy Ross, (eds.), 

Mission in the 21st Century: Exploring the Five Marks of Global Mission (London: Darton, Longman and Todd 

Ltd, 2008), p. 3. 



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to him either orally or in writing.69 Jesus began his earthly ministry after he had made a 

proclamation in Luke 4:18-19.70 This is the good news Jesus preached. The Christian 

community is what it is today because of the sacrificial commitment of missionaries who 

offered their lives for the proclamation of the gospel.71 The churches must, therefore, give what 

they have to the world so that others may have fellowship with them. The Bremen missionaries 

first began to proclaim the Good News of the kingdom to the people of Peki. 

In the Great Commission, Jesus commanded his disciples to go and make disciples of all 

nations and to teach them to obey everything he had commanded them.72 Thus, the church does 

not only exist to proclaim the good news but also to teach, baptise and nurture new believers.73 

Egbunu points out that the medium for the lasting transformation of converts is teaching.74 He 

continues that, the divine priority attached to teaching makes discipleship imperative for people 

who respond to the gospel. Baptism, as the initiatory rite at the point of conversion, makes the 

new convert step out of his old life and become identified with the death and resurrection of 

Christ (Romans 6:3-5).75 When new converts to the Christian faith are not steadily nurtured 

through the study of scripture and prayer, they easily get swayed from their faith when faced 

with challenging circumstances. The missionaries sought to accomplish these tasks by 

establishing schools to teach the indigenous people and to impart knowledge and skills which 

                                                           
69 Gnanakan, “To Proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom (i),” p. 3. 
70 The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me 

to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight for the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the 

year of the Lord’s favour (RSV). 
71 Gnanakan, “To Proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom (i)’’, p. 10.  
72 Ande Titre, “To Teach, Baptise, and Nurture New Believers” in Andrew Walls & Cathy Ross, (eds.), Mission 

in the 21st Century: Exploring the Five Marks of Global Mission (London: Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd, 2008), 

p. 37. 
73 Emmanuel Egbunu, “To Teach, Baptise, and Nurture New Believers” in Andrew Walls & Cathy Ross, (eds.), 

Mission in the 21st Century: Exploring the Five Marks of Global Mission (London: Darton, Longman and Todd 

Ltd, 2008), p. 25. 
74Egbunu, “To Teach, Baptise, and Nurture New Believers”, p. 25.  
75 Egbunu, “To Teach, Baptise, and Nurture New Believers”, p. 29. 



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helped to improve their lives. Through their teachings, new converts were baptised into the 

Christian faith. 

Furthermore, the ‘manifesto’ of Jesus76 reveals that mission is not only about proclaiming the 

gospel and teaching but also to respond to the needs of humankind. “To respond to human need 

by loving service”77 is offering services that enhance human welfare. The greatest 

commandment, according to Jesus is, ‘love of God and love of neighbour’ (Matthew 22:34-

40).78 This obliges the church to express love and affection to the poor, the marginalised and 

the less privileged in the society. The missionaries responded by setting up healthcare facilities, 

digging wells for potable water and offering other humanitarian acts of mercy alongside 

evangelism. Loving God and loving neighbour are not sequential but a single act and hence 

what we do to the poor in the society is a test of what we are as people of God.79  

According to Steurnagel, a holistic mission must aim at responding to unjust structures of the 

society, focusing on the whole of creation at peace: “Transforming justice from a biblical 

perspective is incarnational. It touches the very heart, feelings, and wounds of those who are 

victims of injustice.”80 God is the God of justice and justice must manifest in the life of the 

poor, the oppressed, witnessing their liberation.81  The church’s mission is to work for justice 

in a world where the weak are often oppressed by the wealthy and powerful. For example, the 

Bremen missionaries considered some practices such as ritual murder, widowhood rites, and 

belief in witchcraft of the Ewe people to be wrong and inhuman. Victims of such practices had 

                                                           
76 See Luke 4:18-19. 
77 Melba Maggay, “To respond to Human Needs by Loving Service” in Andrew Walls & Cathy Ross, (eds.), 

Mission in the 21st Century: Exploring the Five Marks of Global Mission (London: Darton, Longman and Todd 

Ltd, 2008), p. 46. 
78Maggay, “To respond to Human Needs by Loving Service”, p. 46.   
79 Maggay, “To respond to Human Needs by Loving Service”, p. 52. 
80 Valdir Raul Steuernagel. ‘’To Seek to Transform Unjust Structures of Society’’, in Andrew Walls & Cathy 

Ross, (eds.), Mission in the 21st Century: Exploring the Five Marks of Global Mission (London: Darton, Longman 

and Todd Ltd, 2008), p. 62, 69. 
81 Steuernagel. ‘’To Seek to Transform Unjust Structures of Society’’, p. 72. 



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to go through various tortures at some shrines or witch-hunting grounds to prove their 

innocence.82 They found these practices to be against the Christian teaching and therefore 

strove hard to thwart such practices among the Christian converts. 

Humanity’s God-given mandate to safeguard the integrity of creation and to sustain and renew 

life on the earth83 makes it clear that it is everyone’s responsibility to be a steward of the earth. 

The Bremen missionaries’ cultivation of plantations on which new crops such as teak, mango, 

coconut, and pear were introduced can be understood in this regard.84 Still, as DeWitt puts it, 

“Much as we strive to be stewards of the garden, we also strive to be stewards of God’s 

creation”.85 Pope Francis in his Encyclical, Laudato Si, supports this understanding, critiquing 

the destruction that humanity is rendering to the environment and the whole of creation: 

We are not God. The earth was here before us and it has been given to us…. Although 

it is true that we Christians have at times incorrectly interpreted the Scriptures, 

nowadays we must forcefully reject the notion that our being created in God’s image 

and given dominion over the earth justifies absolute domination over other creatures. 

The biblical texts are to be read in their context, with an appropriate hermeneutic, 

recognizing that they tell us to ‘till and keep’ the garden of the world (cf. Gen 2:15). 

’Tilling’ refers to cultivating, ploughing or working, while ‘keeping’ means caring, 

protecting, overseeing and preserving. This implies a relationship of mutual 

responsibility between human beings and nature. Each community can take from the 

bounty of the earth whatever it needs for subsistence, but it also has the duty to protect 

the earth and to ensure its fruitfulness for coming generations (#67).86 

The five marks of mission are significant because they provide a yardstick for examining the 

activities of the Bremen Mission within the study area.  

                                                           
82 Ganusah, Christ Meet Ewe-Dome, p. 53. 
83 Calvin B. DeWitt, “To Strive to Safeguard the Integrity of Creation and Sustain and Renew the Life of the 

Earth” in Andrew Walls & Cathy Ross, (eds.), Mission in the 21st Century: Exploring the Five Marks of Global 

Mission (London: Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd, 2008), p. 84. 
84 Ansre, Evangelical Presbyterian Church, p. 205.   
85 DeWitt, “To Strive to Safeguard the Integrity of Creation”, P. 90.  
86 Kevin Cotter, Summary of Laudato Si, Pope Francis' Encyclical on the Environment, 

(https://focusoncampus.org/content/summary-of-laudato-si-pope-francis-encyclical-on-the-environment-

eb60806a-fe2c-41fc-8723-4ffdc631f8612015), Assessed 4th September, 2017. 

https://focusoncampus.org/content/summary-of-laudato-si-pope-francis-encyclical-on-the-environment-eb60806a-fe2c-41fc-8723-4ffdc631f8612015
https://focusoncampus.org/content/summary-of-laudato-si-pope-francis-encyclical-on-the-environment-eb60806a-fe2c-41fc-8723-4ffdc631f8612015


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1.7 Scope of the Study 

The study covers the period from 1847-1917. That is, from the arrival of the Bremen 

missionaries to the departure of the last German missionary during World War 1, with a special 

focus on their activities in the early German missionized and colonial communities of Peki, 

Keta, Waya, Anyako, Ho and Amedzofe. The work gathered information on the activities 

undertaken during these periods. The study discussed and assessed the influence of those 

activities in the communities from the beginning of the Bremen Mission contact to present.  

1.8 Structure of the Study 

This study has five chapters. Chapter one introduces the study and provides its background, 

statement of problem, aim, and objectives of the research, research questions, literature review, 

and theoretical framework. Also discussed in the Introduction are the study’s methodology, 

scope, and significance. Chapter Two discusses the Bremen Mission in the Volta Region. 

Chapter Three examines the challenges in the mission field. In Chapter Four, the study analyses 

the impact of the Bremen Mission in Eweland. The final chapter provides a summary, findings, 

conclusion, and recommendations. 

1.9 Significance of the Study 

The study is expected to contribute to the literature on Missions and West African Church 

history with specific reference to the Bremen Mission in Ghana. Again, this research reveals 

some contextual evidence, which serves as a contribution to studies in Christianity and African 

culture. Finally, the work serves as data for further research.  

 

 



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CHAPTER TWO 

THE BREMEN MISSION IN THE VOLTA REGION (1847-1917) 

2.0 Introduction 

Many Christians have responded in varying ways to the Great Commission of Jesus Christ in 

Mk. 16:15.87 The North German Mission Society (NGMS) in fulfillment of this divine directive 

established a special group in Hamburg dedicated to proclaiming the gospel to parts of the 

world where it had not reached. The primary focus was to go to Africa to preach the gospel for 

the salvation of souls. A German composer and missionary, G. Dauble, describes the perception 

of Germans about the people of Africa: 

We hear unceasing wailing across Africa: Proceed, come to our rescue.  

The land of Africa is endowed with riches but the people are deep in sin 

Shall we look on for them to destroy in sin?  

Never! We shall preach 

The word of life freely to everybody 

Until they all come to Christ.88  

 

The Bremen missionary, Bernhard Schlegel, also commented on the false and wrong European 

conceptions about Africans that, “the Negroes are lazy, stupid, fetish-ridden and without 

history” by saying that:   

It is one of the aims of mission to destroy these wrong conceptions. It is for this very 

purpose that we have come to Africa, and therefore I regret no labour, no headache, 

and no sickness if only I can get to know this people, its language and history.89 

 Indeed, these were some of the reasons that compelled the Bremen missionaries to go to the 

West Coast of Africa to spread the Good News and to win souls for the kingdom of God, to 

embark on social services that would help develop and transform the indigenous people and 

discover the potential in them.    

                                                           
87 “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation” (RSV). 
88 Dorvlo, “The Contribution of German Missionary”, p. 119. 
89 Debrunner, A History of Christianity in Ghana, p.141. 



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This chapter examines the origins and formation of the NGMS. It also describes the encounter 

of the Bremen Mission with the people of Peki, Keta, Waya, Anyako, Ho and Amedzofe - the 

early mission stations. Finally, it discusses the missionary policies and strategies that sought to 

ensure godly living in the non-Christian setting.  

2.1 The Establishment of the Bremen Mission 

The Bremen Mission was established in the north German town of Bremen in 1836. Similar to 

the Basel Mission, its beginning can be traced to the Deutsche Christentums-Gesellschaft 

(German Christian Society) founded in the Swiss city of Basel in 1780. It was established 

originally as a Bible study and discussion group and also to publish good Christian literature.90 

In 1819, the Bremische Missionsverein (Bremen Mission Association) came out of this 

society.91 The representatives of these associations, by a written agreement, decided to form 

the NGMS in the north German town of Bremen.92  

In June 1835, the Protestants in Germany held an open meeting in Stade during which it was 

agreed that all Protestant Mission Societies in Germany should be invited to form one NGMS 

which would send workers abroad.93 Subsequently, in April 1836, the Lutheran and Reformed 

Protestants in Hamburg came together to form the NGMS.94 The mission was one of the several 

societies established in the early part of the 19th Century with inspiration from the Pietist 

Movement and the Christian Awakening in the 17th and 18th Centuries.95 

                                                           
90 Jon Miller, Missionary Zeal and Institutional Control. Organizational Contradictions in the Basel Mission on 

the Gold Coast, 1828-1917 (Grand Rapids), p. 14, Abraham N.O. Kwakye, “Mission Impossible becomes 

Possible: West Indian Missionaries as Actors in Mission in the Gold Coast” in Interkulteurelle Theologile 

Zeiteschrift Furl Missionswissens Chaft, 42 Jahrhgang (2016) p. 223. 
91 Burton I. Goddderd: The Encyclopaedia of Modern Christian Mission (Tholmes Nelson and Sons, Toronto, 

London, New Jersey, 1967), p. 490, McWilson K. Atakro, Indigenous Leadership of the Ewe Church in Ghana 

and Togo (1847-1945): The Case of Reverend Andreas Aku, Robert Stephen Kwami and Robert Domingo Baeta 

(An unpublished PhD Dissertation, University of Ghana, Legon, 2008), p. 66.  
92 David N.A Kpobi, Mission in Ghana: The Ecumenical Heritage (Accra: Asempa Publishers 2008), 82. 
93 Ansre, Evangelical Presbyterian Church, p. 18. 
94 Ansre, Evangelical Presbyterian Church, p. 18. 
95 Ansre, Evangelical Presbyterian Church, p. 18. 



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The NGMS originally began in Hamburg and later moved to Bremen since both towns were 

geographically located in the northern part of Germany.96 Ustorf argues that the mission’s 

headquarters was relocated from Hamburg to Bremen because the society did not have a 

mission house and so held meetings in rented places or in the private houses of its affluent 

members. The leadership of the NMGS comprised influential traders and pastors from the 

upper class of Bremen.97 Their motivation for organising and partly financing the mission 

emanated from their conviction that the expansion of the kingdom of God was a task for every 

true Christian.98  

In order to train people for missionary work, a mission school was established in 1837 at 

Hamburg by Rev. Johan Hartwig Brauer, the first Inspector of the Society. The school began 

with four students but increased to ten by 1846 with the majority being farmers, artisans or 

traders.99 They were trained for four years. Meyer asserts that unlike the committee members 

of the Mission Society, the missionaries who were recruited did not belong to the upper classes 

but were mostly farmers, craftsmen or petty traders with only basic education. Many of them 

came from southern Germany, especially Wurttemberg, which was well known for the vitality 

of its Pietist tradition.100 The selected students were expected to be between eighteen and 

twenty-four years old, not married but healthy males with unimpeachable conduct who were 

willing to obey orders in the mission school as well as later in the mission field.101    

The first batch of five missionaries was sent out by the mission to New Zealand and India 

which were the mission society’s original target. Later, they included West Africa. The rule 

that governed missionary work in Africa was a call of willingness to suffer and rejoicing in 

                                                           
96 Ganusah, Christ Meets the Ewe-Dome, p. 34. 
97 Birgit Meyer, Translating the Devil: Religion and Modernity, p. 29.   
98 Meyer, Translating the Devil: Religion and Modernity among the Ewe in Ghana, p. 29.  
99 Agbeti, West African Church History, p. 81, Kpobi, Mission in Ghana, p. 82, Cephas N. Omenyo, Pentecost 

Outside Pentecostalism, p. 59. 
100 Meyer, Translating the Devil: Religion and Modernity, p. 29. 
101 Meyer, Translating the Devil: Religion and Modernity, p. 29. 



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death, as implied by Franz Michael Zahn, the Mission Inspector (1862-1900) when he 

addressed the students who had completed their studies and were ready to be sent out: 

We take your willingness to mean that, trusting in the grace of the Lord, you are willing 

to give up even your life, if it is demanded, and in the power of God to fight perhaps 

even more difficult fight against the temptations to bad temper, fretfulness and 

faintheartedness with which the climate makes missionaries familiar.102  

This indicates that the willingness to embark on a mission is not borne out of coercion but a 

readiness to suffer and to sacrifice oneself. No wonder that despite the frequent deaths of their 

colleagues and other challenges on the mission field, more missionaries were willing to take 

up the mantle to spread the gospel to win more souls into the Christian faith.  In 1847, the 

mission planned to embark on a mission in Gabon as a way of extending their activities to the 

West Coast of Africa.103  

2.2 Bremen Mission in Ghana- A Brief History  

The first group of missionaries to come to the Gold Coast were part of the trainees at the 

missionary school in Hamburg.104 On 5th May 1847, the society sent four missionaries to the 

Gold Coast, namely, Lorenz Wolf, Jens Graff, Luer Bultmann, and Karl Flato. They were 

originally meant to go to Gabon. Richard Foli ascribes the transit at Cape Coast by the Bremen 

Missionaries to a lack of direct sea route linking Germany and Gabon.105 Upon their arrival, 

Wolf and Bultman went to Gabon to explore mission opportunities while the other two 

missionaries stayed at Cape Coast based on the advice of the veteran Wesleyan Methodist 

missionary, Thomas Birch Freeman. 

                                                           
102 Ustorf, Bremen Missionaries in Togo and Ghana, p. 112. 
103 Ganusah, Christ Meets the Ewe-Dome of Ghana, p. 35.  
104 Confidence W. Bansah, Salvation at the Crossroad: Christianity and Ewe Indigenous Religion in West Africa 

(Accra: SonLife Press, 2013), p. 84. 
105 Bansah, Salvation at the Crossroad, p. 24. 



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Wolf was not allowed to stay in Gabon by the French government, which was in control of the 

country at the time.106 It was said that: “The Government was jealous of the influence of the 

missionaries, and opposed them, less perhaps as Protestants than as disseminators of Anglo-

Saxon influence and culture”.107 As a result, the French officials disallowed Protestant mission 

work in Gabon although the missionaries found the Africans friendly and were described as 

more effective in terms of conversions than the Catholic missions. When the Gabon mission 

proved unsuccessful, Wolf returned to Cape Coast. Unfortunately, Bultmann and Flato passed 

away at Gabon and Cape Coast respectively.  

Wolf and Graff left Cape Coast to Christiansborg to seek counsel from the Basel missionaries 

in respect of untapped mission fields to engage their attention.108 They were advised and 

encouraged to turn to Eweland. The old Danish coastal town of Keta would have been the most 

suitable area among the Ewes to begin the mission.109 However, according to Agbeti, Keta had 

been bombarded by the Danes due to the Anlo opposition against the attempt to halt the slave 

trade between the Portuguese and the people of Keta.110  

While contemplating the advice of the Basel missionaries, the two missionaries came into 

contact with Nyangamagu, son of Tutu, Togbui Kwadzo Dei, Paramount King of Krepi,111 who 

was then studying at the Basel Mission school at Christiansborg. Their interaction with the 

prince inspired them to establish a mission station at Peki. Abraham N.O. Kwakye argues:  

According to Peki tradition, Nyangamagu’s stay in Christiansborg had influenced his 

esteem for European missions. Several decades of Danish presence in Christiansborg 

together with the few years of Basel mission influence had transformed Christiansborg 

into an active and prosperous commercial town. This had highly influenced the young 

Krepi prince who hoped that his father’s country would experience similar prosperity 

                                                           
106 Ganusah, Christ Meets the Ewe-Dome, P. 35. 
107 Ganusah, Christ Meets the Ewe-Dome, P. 35. 
108Agbeti, West African Church History, p. 81, Ansre (ed.). Evangelical Presbyterian Church, p. 20.  
109 Abraham N.O. Kwakye, “Encountering ‘Prosperity’ Gospel in Nineteenth Century Gold Coast: Indigenous 

Perceptions of Western Missionary Societies” in Andreas Hauser (ed.), Pastures of Plenty: Tracing Religio-

Scapes of Prosperity Gospel in Africa and Beyond (New York: Peter Lang GmbH, 2015), p. 222. 
110 Agbeti, West African Church History, p. 82. 
111 Agbeti, West African Church History, p. 82. 



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with the mission. His studies at the Christiansborg institution also exposed him to 

Western education which he deemed necessary for the future development of the 

kingdom.112 

This indicates that economic expectations and hopes for other benefits might have been the 

reasons why the indigenous people welcomed the missionaries. Kwakye continued that the 

message the prince sent to his father might have caused the people of Peki to conclude that the 

coming of the missionaries to their community would “mark the beginning of the 

transformation of their society from a simple village to a prosperous and famous commercial 

center like Christiansborg”.113 Therefore, after consultation with his father, Nyangamagu 

assured the missionaries that his father was ready and willing to receive them for mission work 

to be done in his kingdom. This paved the way for the arrival of the Bremen missionaries in the 

Volta Region. 

2.3 The Early Mission Stations 

2.3.1 The Bremen Missionaries in Peki 

On 9th November 1847, Lorenz Wolf and his entourage left Christiansborg for Peki. He arrived 

at Peki on Sunday 14th November 1847. According to Agbeti, Wolf was given a warm welcome 

by the chief and his people for which he indicated in his report home that, ‘they were too 

glorious for a poor missionary’.114 This might have been so because of the benefits they 

anticipated to get from the missionary. He began his work the same day when he preached to 

the people based on Ps. 22:23115, showing them in simplicity the plan of man’s salvation in 

Christ.116 In line with his mission, Wolf intended to gain souls for the kingdom of God.117  He 

interacted with the people of Peki, making them understand that the purpose of his coming was 

                                                           
112 Kwakye, “Encountering ‘Prosperity’ Gospel,” p. 223. 
113 Kwakye, “Encountering ‘Prosperity’ Gospel,” p. 224. 
114 Agbeti, West African Church History, p. 83. 
115 I will tell of thy name to my brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will praise thee (RSV). 
116 Agbeti, West African Church History, p. 84. 
117 Meyer, Translating the Devil an African Appropriation, p. 59. 



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for peace, not to buy slaves or to rob people of their land.118  This assurance was necessary in 

view of the slave trade that was rampant at that time. To this Wolf expressed:  

I am not going to buy slaves nor do I have in mind to rob people of their land. I come 

a long way from a country where there are only white people. I wish to show you the 

source of happiness: the true God. I wish to proclaim him from whom come all good 

gifts and who sent his son into this world of ours.119  

Wolf’s intention, therefore, correlates with Verkuyl’s example of pure motives – the motive of 

Love, Mercy, and Pity120 which define the motivation of the Bremen missionaries towards their 

missionary task. Thus, despite the numerous deaths and the many difficulties encountered, the 

missionaries persisted in communicating the gospel message to the people in love and mercy. 

The missionary agenda was the preaching of the good news, but the people of Peki were more 

interested in the socio-economic benefits they could gain than the gospel.121 In order to 

disabuse the minds of the people from their expected gains, Wolf made known to them 

Pietism’s stance that material things were the equivalent of the ‘broader path’122 that leads to 

destruction.  

Towards enhancing the missionary work, Wolf asked for a mission house to be built for him 

and with the assistance from the indigenes, his new home was completed on 14th January 

1848.123 This house differed in size and form from the usual Peki houses.124 This was because, 

in his (Wolf) view, the ‘unhealthy’ weather condition of Africa had to be offset for by houses 

of European style.125 As a result, all the mission houses, chapels, and schools built by the 

missionaries in the areas they operated were of the same European architectural structure and 

design.  Kpobi states that ‘the mission station established by Wolf with local support became 

                                                           
118 Meyer, Translating the Devil an African Appropriation, p. 60. 
119 Ganusah, Christ Meets the Ewe-Dome of Ghana, p. 36.  
120 Verkuyl, Contemporary Missiology, p. 25. 
121Kwakye, “Encountering ‘Prosperity’ Gospel”, p. 224.  
122 Meyer, Translating the Devil an African Appropriation, p. 59. 
123 Ansre, Evangelical Presbyterian Church, p. 24. 
124 Meyer, Translating the Devil an African Appropriation, p. 60. 
125 Meyer, Translating the Devil an African Appropriation, p. 60. 



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the nucleus of transformation that would eventually extend to many other towns and villages 

of the Ewes.126 Indeed, most of the indigenes emulated the missionaries’ style of building and 

constructed their houses with the same design. Moses Mensah mentions that “it is interesting 

to see how early Peki wattle and daub architecture gradually gave way to building patterns 

similar to the stone and wood style introduced by the Bremen Mission”.127 

As Wolf was alone in Peki, more missionaries were dispatched from Bremen to assist the 

mission work. Two missionaries, Friedrich Groth and Friedrich Hermann Quinius arrived on 

3rd March 1849 to support him. In the following year, Miss Koroline Deist - Wolf’s bride - also 

landed at Peki.128 Consequently, Wolf was invited home as a result of ill-health and constrained 

financial status, without gaining a single convert, according to mission statistics.129 By 1851 

Wolf together with his wife, Groth and Quinius left Peki. Wolf died upon arrival in Hamburg 

harbour and was buried there in April 1851.130  

This notwithstanding, Wolf’s death and the departure of his colleagues did not end missionary 

work in the Volta Region. In 1852, Wilhelm Dauble, Johannes Menge, Quinius and his wife 

were sent to Peki to continue the work began by Wolf. They passionately committed 

themselves to the mission, but similar to their predecessors their effort did not produce any 

substantial results. Unfortunately, in March and April 1852 Quinius’ first son and Menge died 

and were buried in Peki.131 

The unfavourable climate, which had a tremendous effect on their health, coupled with the 

threat of wars between Peki and the Ashanti-Akwamu alliance in 1852 made the work difficult 

                                                           
126 Kpobi, Mission in Ghana, 83. 
127 Mensah, Bremen Missionary Interactions with the Peki, p. 45. 
128 Ganusah, Christ Meets the Ewe-Dome of Ghana, p. 37. 
129 Meyer, Translating the Devil an African Appropriation, p. 60. 
130Agbeti, West African Church History, p. 86. 
131 Agbeti, West African Church History, p. 87. 



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for the missionaries at Peki; they decided to transfer the mission station from Peki to the coastal 

areas of Keta.132 They were also convinced that the geographical location of Keta would be 

favourable for them as compared to Peki because they thought that it would be easier to get 

supplies from Accra and also be in regular touch with Germany if they were stationed in 

Keta.133 

2.3.2 The Bremen Missionaries in Keta  

The Bremen missionaries Dauble and Plessing set themselves up at Keta and landed at 

Dzelukofe near Keta on 2nd September 1853. They then walked half an hour journey to Keta.134 

Keta was an important trading port between the fourteenth and twentieth centuries. The town 

caught Danish interest because they felt they could establish a base devoid of interference from 

rival European nations there.135 Additionally, besides a factory and a warehouse, the town also 

had a fort which had a garrison of 30 soldiers under the command of Governor Evans.136 The 

Governor allowed the missionaries to stay at the fort while they looked for land to build their 

own house. With the support from some Africans trained at Cape Coast, they constructed their 

first mission station137 (see fig 2.1). 

                                                           
132 Ansre, Evangelical Presbyterian Church, p. 27. 
133 Agbeti, West African Church History, p. 88. 
134 Ansre, Evangelical Presbyterian Church, p. 27.   
135 Emmanuel K. Akyeampong, Between the sea and the Lagoon (Oxford: James Currey, p. 46.   

http://en.mwikipedia.org/wiki/keta), Assessed 16th September, 2017.   
136 Dorvlo, “The Contributions of German Missionary”, p. 124. 
137 Dorvlo, “The Contributions of German Missionary”, p. 124. 

http://en.mwikipedia.org/wiki/keta


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                 Figure 2. 1: The first mission house at Keta 
                  Source: Bremen Mission Archives.  

The missionaries presumed that since Keta was located along the coast, it was going to have a 

positive influence on their health. However, to their amazement, there was little discernible 

difference in conditions from the inland Peki. Dauble died on 26th December 1853 after a short 

illness. Bructcschin arrived at Keta on 6th January 1854 to assist Plessing who was ostensibly 

also on his deathbed. The news of his colleague’s arrival made him recover speedily and the 

two continued their work with fresh hope.138 

The chief of Anlo ordered his subjects not to offer any help to the missionaries, because they 

had not paid him a courtesy call upon their arrival, this created  some difficulties for them.139 

The missionaries admitted their gaffe and offered a subsequent apology which led to steady 

progress in the mission work. The evangelisation work did not yield much result because the 

local people did not accept the missionaries wholeheartedly. However, the mission witnessed 

some positive outcome in 1855 when the first seven converts were baptised after seven years 

of missionary work in Ewe land.  

                                                           
138 Ansre, Evangelical Presbyterian Church, p. 29. 
139 Agbeti, West African Church History, p. 89. 



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Agbeti observes: 

The missionaries had laboured for seven years, buried seven of their members during 

this period and now had won seven souls for the Lord: Thus after many years of 

disappointments, the missionaries had the encouragement that their labour had begun 

to bear concrete fruits.140 

There is the need to mention that Wolf’s sole objective was to win souls into the Christian faith. 

Although he did not witness his goal come to fruition before he passed on, he needs to be 

commended for the bold step taken towards the salvation of souls, most especially that of John 

Ababio, the only Ewe among the seven new-baptised converts who was a native of Peki, the 

first mission station of the Bremen Mission. 

In a bid to win more souls, the missionaries planned to travel inland to take the good news to 

the indigenous people there. However, they were prevented by the Anlo chief who claimed that 

the hinterland was reserved for the great Anlo deity (Trͻga) and the people living there should 

not be exposed to the gospel of the missionaries.141 They were later allowed to preach in those 

areas and they went to other places beyond the Keta Lagoon. Their work there did not yield 

positive results as compared to that of Keta. The missionaries continued to travel further inland 

and towards the north and finally entered Adaklu Waya.  

2.3.3 The Bremen Missionaries in Waya 

The missionaries were attracted by the Adaklu Mountain in the vast Savanah Plains.142  They 

entered Asadame, Avenor, Mafi and other towns but the leaders of the land and the people did 

not accept them.143 They travelled further until on 26th January 1855, the two missionaries 

Wihm Brutschin and Hans J. Steinmann together with their interpreter John Wright reached 

Waya from Keta.144 They spelt out their mission to the chiefs and elders of the town. Upon 

                                                           
140 Agbeti, West African Church History, p. 90. 
141 Dorvlo, “The Contributions of German Missionary,” p. 125. 
142 Ansre, Evangelical Presbyterian Church, p. 34. 
143 Paul Wiegrabe, Ewe Kristo Nutimya 1847-1936 (USA: St. Louis, 1936), pp. 12-13. 
144 Debrunner, A History of Christianity in Ghana, p. 128. 



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hearing it they received the message with joy and assured them of their support.145 Due to this 

reception, they requested for a piece of land from the chief of the town, Togbe Komla Asbeve 

(Lablulu) to open a mission station. After having a brief interaction with the people they left 

for Keta with the intention of returning to Waya later.146  

A year after, in January 1856, the missionaries returned to Waya to begin their missionary 

activities. They brought with them some trees to be planted at Waya. On that same day of 

arrival two of the trees - mango and pear - were planted. Rev. Francis Djofoxeh, the District 

Pastor of Adaklu-Waya, reports that: “It was quite recently that the pear tree fell due to heavy 

wind and the mango tree being the only surviving tree of the missionaries, also fell last year 

(2016).”147 He added, “I ate the last fruit from the mango tree and after a week the tree fell”.148   

The missionaries began the construction of the mission house since they had already acquired 

the land and through the assistance of the indigenes, were able to build the mission house 

together with a chapel and a school.149  They began fervently with the preaching of the gospel. 

Two other missionaries, Christian Hornberger and Wilh Lemgo at this time joined their 

colleagues to continue the work. The former was a scientist who stayed at Waya and later went 

further inland to establish a church at Atakpame, while the latter worked as a teacher and 

evangelist among the people of Adaklu.150  

As a result of the cordial relationship between the missionaries and the people, there was a 

peaceful atmosphere for the missionaries. This paved the way for them to make Waya the center 

for their mission work. They journeyed from Waya to Peki, Keta, Anyako and many other 

                                                           
145Ansre, Evangelical Presbyterian Church, p. 34.  
146 Evangelical Presbyterian Church Adaklu-Waya: 150 Years Anniversary Brochure (2006), p.7. 
147 Francis K. Djofoxeh (District Pastor of Adaklu Waya), Interview, 21st November, 2017, Adaklu –Waya.  
148 Djofoxeh, Interview, Adaklu –Waya. 
149 Ansre, Evangelical Presbyterian Church, p. 34. 
150 Evangelical Presbyterian Church Adaklu-Waya, p. 9. 



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places for their missionary activities.151 It is recorded that by 1886 quite a  number of the 

indigenes in Waya had joined the Christian faith.152 The work at Waya grew well which elated 

the missionaries.  

When the missionaries became convinced that Waya had been firmly established, they moved 

further to establish a station at Anyako. This initiative became important because it was realised 

that Waya needed an intermediary station on the inland side of the Keta Lagoon.153 Again, it is 

recorded that when the Keta Lagoon dried up, the shortest route on foot to Adaklu was through 

Anyako on the northern shores of the lagoon.154 Therefore, it was necessary for the missionaries 

to set up a station at Anyako. 

2.3.4 The Bremen Missionaries in Anyako 

Heinrich Knecht and his team arrived at Anyako on 14th April 1857. The chief and his elders 

gave them a warm welcome.155 Land was acquired and with the support of the people, a house 

was built and used as a residence and a school. In 1858, they received assistance from Johann 

Mansfield, a missionary described as a master builder and built a second house. It was a two-

storey building which made it unique among the structures in Waya. In 1858, the first-ever 

synod meeting of Keta, Waya and Anyako was held in this building.156 

However, the construction of the storey building sparked some suspicion in the people against 

the missionaries. Their fear that the missionaries would place canons from Keta on the second 

floor of the strange building and wage war on the town revealed a mistrust which may have 

                                                           
151 Evangelical Presbyterian Church Adaklu-Waya, p. 8. 
152 Evangelical Presbyterian Church Adaklu-Waya, p. 10. 
153 Debrunner, A History of Christianty in Ghana, p. 128. 
154 Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Anyako: A short History of Anyako E.P. Church 150 th Anniversary 

Celebration Brochure (2007), p. 14. 
155 Wise K. Treve, Religious Conflict and Its Impacts on Society: A Case Study of Global Evangelical and 

Evangelical Presbyterian Churches in Anyako (An unpublished MPhil Thesis, Kwame Nkrumah University of 

Science and Technology, Ghana. 2013), p. 50. 
156 Evangelical Presbyterian Church Anyako, p. 28.  



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existed from the beginning.  The indigenous people rejected the missionaries and everything 

they sought to introduce. Generally, missionaries who came to Africa were viewed with 

suspicion in their areas of operation. According to Treve, even before the missionaries could 

settle at Anyako there were rumours that the missionaries were buccaneers in disguise. So, if 

they were allowed to settle at Anyako they would raise armies to join with Danes in Keta with 

other neighbours in Adaklu Waya to attack Anyako. However, through the intervention of some 

good-hearted people at Anyako, the chiefs and his subjects finally accepted the missionaries in 

good faith.157 

When the indigenes realised that the missionaries were not the same as slave raiders, they 

established such a close relationship with the missionaries that the missionaries remarked that 

leaving Anyako would be as difficult as having one‘s heart removed from one’s chest.158 The 

missionaries did not toil in vain in Anyako. After ten years of missionary activity (1857-1867), 

they were able to baptise fifteen converts (youths) to the Christian faith.159 Spreading out from 

Anyako, the missionaries decided to open another mission site at Ho.  

2.3.5 The Bremen Missionaries in Ho 

When it became evident that Waya was not suitable as a mission station,160 the missionaries 

explored the surrounding areas, travelling to Agotime, Agu, Ho, and Peki in search of a more 

suitable site. The tribal war between Agu and Agotime ruled these two towns out and Peki was 

found to be too far from Waya.161  The missionaries chose a good place near Kordibe where 

the air was favourable but the landowners refused to sell the land to them. An indigenous priest 

in the town was instrumental in their rejection claiming that the gods and the missionaries could 

                                                           
157 Treve, Religious Conflict and Its Impacts on Society, p. 50. 
158 Treve, Religious Conflict and Its Impacts on Society, p. 50.  
159 Wiegrabe, Ewe Kristo Hame Nutinya, p. 20. 
160 Debrunner, A History of Christianity in Ghana, p. 128. 
161 Debrunner, A History of Christianity in Ghana, p. 128. 



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not in any way stay together.162 On 27th November 1858,  the missionaries acquired a piece of 

land and opened a mission station at Ho.   

The establishment of the mission station and the development at Ho was much quicker than at 

other places.  They went there based on these words: “the last shall be the first!”163 The chief 

of Keke, Morte Kofi, regularly advised his subjects to accept the gospel of the missionaries and 

jointhe Christian faith. Contrarily, he himself refused to be converted164 without any known 

reason. The missionaries regularly travelled from Ho to the other towns for evangelism 

accompanied by the students in the Mission school at Ho. When the missionaries visited Klefe 

the people assured them and said, “If the people of Ho have accepted the Gospel, they would 

also accept it.”165  

According to Ansre, the opening of the Ho station marked the end of the pioneering stage of 

the Mission’s activities and the beginning of the expansion.166 Nonetheless, after the Asante 

war in 1874, the people of Avatime were also introduced to the Christian religion. Some 

indigenes of Avatime migrated to other areas in the country to escape the war. While in exile, 

two men from Gbadzeme encountered the Basel Missionaries at Mayera and Abokobi near 

Accra and were baptised.167 When they returned home after the war, they established a 

Christian community. This was the community that the Bremen missionaries visited during one 

of their travels and saw the Amedzofe hill and Mountain Gemi. This attracted them to visit 

Amedzofe and they subsequently considered establishing a station there.   

                                                           
162 Wiegrabe, Ewe Kristo Hame Nutinya, p. 20.  
163 Wiegrabe, Ewe Kristo Hame Nutiny