Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Pastoral Concern over so called ' legal' abortions in Namibia

HOW SHOULD WE THINK OF  UNBORN CHILDREN  THAT ARE TERMED  'NON-VIABLE',  AND  FOR WHOM DOCTORS  SUGGEST A  THERAPEUTIC ABORTION'?   
(With particular application  to  Anencephaly  / Holoprosencephaly)


[A talk given to our church on 06/ 08/2008 - by  Pastor  Joachim Rieck] This talk was given  in response  to the distressing news  given to  a  family in our church whose child was  diagnosed in the womb with HPE.  A wide  range of doctors were consulted  in Southern Africa  and their  immediate response was, "abort!"  We  are happy to report that  this family chose to  carry this child to full term, despite this very poor diagnosis. 

Little Rachel  was born on the 30th October 2008.  Against  all human expectations she has done  well, and she has reached all her milestones, and today, almost  a year later  she is on the verge of walking. 
This is nothing but the hand of God, and a wonderful  answer to the  prayer  of  her parents and the church.This also happened to  remind the medical  fraternity   that they are not God! 

Twice in a relatively short time span, parents associated with our church have  received the devastating news that their unborn child‘s brain development is abnormal.  Apart  from the devastating news  that these  two sets of parents  had both been  subjected to, there comes now the additional  suggestion, “abort this child -  it is not viable”. The  common reasons given  are,    
  • should this child be born  its quality of  life  will be poor“  
  • the medical costs will be very high” 
  • you have to think of yourselves and your quality of life! “  
In both these cases mentioned, the suggestion by medical practitioners has been therapeutic abortion.

It also might be worth while mentioning that the devastation and the shock are not limited to the parents alone. Close family members and friends suffer from similar shock and hurt. In the process the influence of family members may have a strong bearing on whether or not that child will be aborted.

Let me make my own position clear...

I am not a medical practitioner. I am a pastor – a shepherd of souls.  As such I cannot make a medical diagnosis or perform surgery.  I am not trained in this area. Therefore I must respect medical doctors and their expertise.  I must listen to them when they describe the symptoms and when they make a diagnosis (which may not always be right)[1]
So, while  the  medical practitioner  may make an accurate diagnosis,  he or she  does not  always make a good prescription  - particularly in  such cases  where  severe brain disorder  is concerned.

The standard prescription  I am afraid to say in such a case in Namibian medical practice, is abortion.

As a pastor, I am called to deal with life.  I am called to protect life and respect life.  My duty is to instill hope in hopelessness. My motto must be “while there is life, there is hope - who knows what God will or can do?[2]. And ultimately I    believe that life and death is in God’s hands (Job 1:21). My work is that of a healer and not of a destroyer.  The only destructive work that I must be involved in is the destruction of sin – in whatever form  that may appear. My work is therefore “pro-life“.

In this paper   I  will seek to  help you  to  understand the prognosis  of   children in the womb with  brain disorders, and then come  look at the  theological prescription  to such situations.

Describing  the  2 kinds of brain disorders  which I have had to deal with

a. Anencephaly is a distressing condition of infants whose brains have failed to develop during gestation beyond a very rudimentary stage.

b. Holoprosencephaly [3]  is a birth defect that occurs during the first few after conception. It  is a disorder in which the brain does not grow forward and divide as it is supposed to during early pregnancy.  This brain malformation can range from mild to severe and is classified into four types:
  • Alobar (severe)--where the brain is not divided and there are severe abnormalities.
  • Semi-Lobar (moderate)--where the brain is partially divided and there are some moderate abnormalities; where there are two hemispheres in the rear but not the front of the brain.
  • Lobar (mild)--where the brain is divided and there are some mild abnormalities.
  • Middle Interhemispheric Variant (MIHV) -- where the middle of the brain (posterior frontal and parietal lobes) are not well separated. 
Children diagnosed with HPE may have a small head (microcephaly), excessive fluid in the brain (hydrocephalus), variable degrees of mental retardation, epilepsy, endocrine abnormalities, or abnormalities of other organ systems such as cardiac, skeletal, genitor-urinary, and gastro-intestinal. Mildly affected children may exhibit few symptoms and may live a normal life.  Facial deformities are often present in many children diagnosed with HPE. 

How common is this defect?

It is estimated that HPE affects between 1 in 5,000-10,000 live births. Since many pregnancies with a fetus diagnosed with HPE end in miscarriage, the frequency of HPE among all pregnancies may be as high as 1 in 200-250.
Current studies indicate that only 3% of all  such children  with HPE survive to delivery and the vast majority of these infants do not survive past the first six months of life.

A Common Question:  Is  such a child ‘viable’?

The question  which is almost always asked   in such a case is this, “Is it possible that the child with only a rudimentary brain is in fact "brain-dead" and therefore not a person, but a "living corpse" in whom only residual life remains?

Let me take the worst case  scenario  - anencephaly  -  the condition whereby  the  unborn child only has a brain stem.   Such a child has a very  poor prognosis. These children most often  die in the womb, and if not , then  during  child birth or very soon thereafter. Here’s the point. The child  may have a poor prognosis, and  it will in fact die (as we all must, some time),  but  the greater fact is that  the  infant with anencephaly  exhibits physiological life in the womb! 
The unspoken assumption  by many  is that  life  and viability  only begins  outside of the womb. I  will  challenge that assumption  philosophically, and more importantly theologically.

1. The Philosophical challenge  

What  does  'brain dead'  mean ? [4]

The standard definition of "brain-death", based on our present state of knowledge requires, that to certify human death, we must be certain that the total brain be dead.

Infants with anencephaly, even when they totally lack the cerebral hemispheres, still may have a brainstem or other rudimentary brain tissue, and thus their whole brain is not dead. It is true  that they may be  capable of little more than most elemental and primitive reflexes, and thus from a common perspective  be considered as non-viable. However, the fact that the infant with  such brain disorders faces early death does not prove it  to be   a non-person (or a child without a soul)   any more than if it were an adult dying with severe brain damage.

It is a well known fact that the human body can continue to function physiologically with little actual input from the brain. The unity of a living human organism is not dependent on the action of any primary organ, such as the brain, but on the interaction of other essential parts (e.g. heart , lung , liver , kidneys etc).

It is not at all clear, however, how a system of many organs can regulate itself so as to act in a unified way without some primary organ that is the principal regulator.
The clinical data are much better explained by noting that a complex organism has many levels of organization.
Thus in sleep the brain ceases to play so great a role in regulating physiological function as in the waking state, while the lower levels continue to function in relative independence. What is decisive however is that without the brain, the higher specifically human functions of thought and will and of voluntary bodily actions cannot take place.
Thus total brain-death, with its absolute elimination of even the possibility of specifically human function is the best criterion of human death.

By this criterion the infant with anencephaly is not dead, but is a living person  similar  to a person  in the "persistent vegetative state".  The total brain is not dead  and since the living child with anencephaly cannot be safely judged to have suffered total brain-death, he or she must be treated as a person with the rights proper to such.

 2. The Theological Challenge: 

The Sola Scriptura   principle:  What does God’s Word have to say on the matter?

Is the Bible authoritative and sufficient for counsel in these matters? Historical Christianity says “yes!”. I submit the following theological reflections:

a. All of life is theological.  A key principle in Christian theology is that man and his life are from God (Gen. 1: 26, 27). Man is created by God and must live by the rules of His design. This means that the principle of life belongs to God, and may not be taken by any man. This constitutes the   6th commandment (Ex. 20:13).  The only exception for a man to be killed at the hands of another human being,  is for murder (capital punishment) [5] .

b. Sickness / death / abnormalities are a result of man’s fall (Gen. 3). 
Such deformities are  a part of being a fallen human being.  Every human being and not just anencephalic babies are subject to this rule.   Think about the even worse fact that through sin we are all deformed in our spiritual relationship to God and in our character! Think about the fact that our bodies will weaken (become abnormal) sometime, and we shall die!

c.  Christ is  the Redeemer from sin   
In this  life  God, through Christ,  redeems  fallen mankind from  the curse of sin. He justifies His people and calls them righteous.However, we continue to live in our fallen bodies until death. How does God help us to live in this body of sin?  Paul answers this question in Romans 7:25,  “Thanks be  to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord!”  

How does Jesus deliver us in the pain of our present fallen-ness? The answer is that He gives us grace in our trials (e.g. Matt. 11:28; 2 Cor.  12 :9). This means  that  He may not deliver  us from  sickness / abnormalities / death,  but  that He delivers us in  these things,  through  death into eternal life, at which time we shall receive our  perfect resurrection bodies[6]

Psalm 23 tells us that God walks with His people through the valley of the shadow of death. These are not just sentimental thoughts. They are theological facts and certainties. 

d. Further Theological Reflections:

(i)    Scripture is pro –life.  Life begins at conception. Life and death as being in God’s hands (Job 1:21), not ours. Even physical handicaps  are  from God(Ex. 4:11; Jn.9:1-3)

(ii)  Scripture speaks of unborn children in the same language as those already born. The  child  has a soul  and identity in God’s eyes  ( e.g. Ps.  139

(iii) There is a difference between killing (abortion/ euthanasia) and letting die (switching of respirators etc).

(iv) God’s providence tends to bring unusual situations into our lives.  These happen because God may have a greater purpose through our trials   e.g. the sanctification of His people (e.g.  Hebr.  12: 1 - 13). Therefore we must be careful that we do not trespass against / or ignore  God’s providences, which are always directed towards His greater glory and ultimately for our own comfort (Rom 8: 35-39)

FURTHER ISSUES   TO CONSIDER:

1. Medical Issues
  • Is the mother’s life presently in danger so that abortion becomes a necessity?  No! In fact, studies indicate that a legal abortion has a higher risk factor than child birth[7].
    • Is therapeutic abortion   really therapeutic?  (see emotional/psychological  issues  below ) 
    • The tendency of  medical practitioners towards  immediate (short term)  ‘pain relief’, without  adequate  consideration of  the long term effects  spiritual/ emotional factors  is of great concern.
    • The blessing and curse of modern medicine: The blessing of being able to intervene; but the curse of knowing ahead of time what the prognosis will be.   If there were no sonar equipment, this would not have been an issue.
    •  The child   is not on the same level as a tumor or an appendix that must be removed. In an abortion, what is it that dies? Tissue or Human Life?

      2. Emotional/ Psychological Issues
      • The mother’s   emotional life if she were to abort needs to be considered.  The history of women that have aborted (even in such desperate cases) is associated with emotional trauma – if not in the short term, then in the long term.  
      • Pastorally speaking it is better to carry   the living child to full term, and then deal with death. This promotes a healthy conscience and promotes healthy grieving.
      • The question of motives:  Why does one wish to have an abortion?  Is it merely because it is inconvenient? 

      3. The support structures for families with severely handicapped children
       
      • The role of the church. The Christian church  in history  has been the major agent  of  help  and  compassion  for parents  with severely   handicapped children  (Gal.  6:2). Nothing has changed. The church remains God’s most useful tool for compassion.
      • Prayer:  This is not the very least we can do! It is the very first! The church will pray and fast that God’s will be done. We may be sure that whatever comes from our Heavenly Father’s hands will be best for us. In this regard it is not even wrong  to   pray  for healing. In this regard  see  David’s prayer for his  desperately sick child -  2 Sam.  12: 13-23. Hope in God  remains a fundamental pillar of  the Christian life.  The point is that God  remains sovereign, and whatever He gives is good.


      [1] In a new study, researchers at Kennedy Krieger Institute have found that a significant number of children with severe brain disorders are being misdiagnosed, potentially affecting treatment and outcome.  The study, published online in the March 2004  issue of the American Journal of Medical Genetics, looked at 104 children diagnosed with holoprosencephaly, or HPE, a rare condition in which the brain does not grow and divide into hemispheres as it should during the first few weeks of pregnancy. Of 255 children referred to the study with a diagnosis of HPE, upon brain scan review, 19 percent actually had other types of brain disorders, and not HPE.   For further info: webmaster@kennedykrieger.org  
      [2] See  2 Samuel  12: 1 -23.  David’s son born to Batsheba   would die  by God’s decree.  Yet against all hope  David hoped  for  his newly born  son’s life. He therefore prayed and fasted  to that end. God  chose to take the child.   The point is that  it is right for a parent to go on praying until God’s will is made certain.
      [3] This information is  taken from  the internet: The Carters Center s for  brain research on Holoprosencephaly and related malformations.
      [4] Most of this material was gleaned from  an Internet  article  “ Moral Principles Concerning Infants with Anencephaly”   by Fr Benedict Ashley, P.P.---  “BeNotAfraid.net”  
      [5] Ex 21:12 ; Lev 24:17 ; Rom 13:4
      [6] 1 Cor 15 :42-44
      [7]  Quoted from “PhysiciansforLife.org “  an article by  Dr Lance Radbill :Abortion is a surgical procedure, and like any surgical procedure, it can have serious risks. A Swedish study indicated that legal abortion is more dangerous than childbirth because the maternal death rate from legal abortions was 39 per 100,000 abortions while the maternal death rate from childbirth was 14 per 100,000 live births.

      Wednesday, October 7, 2009

      Missionary Pioneers in Namibia : Martin Rautanen (1845 - 1926)

      Dr Martin Rautanen

      The written history of South West Africa (today, Namibia) has spanned barely more than 200 years. In many ways South West Africa was spared for many years from the colonialisation attempts of the European nations due its remote and inhospitable location and distance from major trade routes.
      Europeans had been known to have traveled in these remote areas - particularly hunters, explorers and Portuguese slave traders. A fourth category of Europeans to set foot on our soil were the missionaries. The first missionary society in our country was the London Missionary society (1806 –1830). The Wesleyan (Methodist) Missionary society operated between 1820-1867, the Rhenish Missionary society   between 1842-1957, and the Finish missionary society  between  1870 – 1954.

      Our focus will be upon the Finish missionary society, and its most prominent missionary, Martin Rautannen, whose life work spanned 50 years, and who lies buried at Olukonda- the tribal land of the Ndonga people, in Northern Namibia.

      Professor Matti Peltola (who is my major source) says that Rautanen together with Carl Hugo Hahn (1818-1895) are the most influential missionaries to have worked in the present Namibian territory. Kalle Elonheimo, a contemporary Finnish preacher named Martin Rautanen “the apostle of the Ovambos“, hence the title of my biographical sketch. The Ovambo people named him “Nakambale “ – the man who wears the hat.

      Early childhood

      Martti RAUTANEN (1845-1926) as he was properly known, was born in Novasolka, Finland (near the border with Estonia) on November 10, 1845. His father died while he was only 11 years old. It appears as if he drank himself to death. His mother struggled to raise the three children of which Martin was the oldest. Martin Rautanen recounts that his mother had to shed many tears, but the hard life lead her to trust in Christ, and she was truly converted. Thus she was able, with God’s help to carry her burdens. He never heard her complain - on the contrary, she always praised God and diligently prayed on her knees. She was instrumental in leading her son into the true faith. His mother died at the ripe old age of 83 in 1906. He described her as a “priesterliche Mutter” - a pastoral mother! His mother was a mission minded believer. It appears that this had rubbed off on young Martin.

      In August 1862 the Mission magazine of the FMS carried the announcement: “Next October a Mission School will be opened in Helsinki and those who wish to become missionaries are requested to send their applications to the board. The School will admit young men between 15 and 25 years of age. They are required to have, an awakened conscience, a good knowledge of the chapters of Christian doctrine, talents and good health.”

      The Missionary society would take care of the costs, and thus poverty was no hindrance. Rautanen, starting in 1863, spent 5 years in the Training School for Missionaries. Apart from Bible subjects, they learned languages like German, Latin and Greek. Contrary to popular expectations he eventually proved to be an outstanding linguist. He spoke Finnish, German, Ndonga, Herero, Dutch- Afrikaans, English and Russian. He could also read Latin and some Greek. He eventually translated the New Testament and a large part of the Old Testament into Oshindonga. At the Training School they were also taught practical subjects like wagon making and tailoring. Music was also considered an important subject.

      By 1867 it was known where the young men would be sent. The annual meeting of the Missionary society in June 1867 determined that they would be sent to the Ovambo people south of the Kunene river. All this was initiated by Carl Hugo Hahn, a Baltic –German missionary,  in 1861. Hahn was a friend of Rautanen’s principal, Sirelius.

      At this stage Carl Hugo Hahn had been working among the Herero people for almost 20 years and happened to be on furlough at this time when he appealed for Finnish missionaries to be sent to this territory. The question arose whether Martin Rautanen could be included in the group. Rautanen’s progress at school had been slow because of his humble background. He had also started at the School one year late. He was eventually included because he did show some promise. Contrary to popular opinion (particularly the opinion of his principal, Sirelius) Martin Rautanen also became the most outstanding amongst his contemporaries.

      He and 4 other men were ordained at St Nicholas Cathedral in Helsinki in June 1868. On June 24th, 1868 they left Helsinki. Spending a few months in Germany in Barmen (under the auspices of the Rhenish Missionary society 9 Finish mission workers and 9 Rhenish missionaries left on October 1868 by ship for Cape Town.

      On December 30th 1868 they arrived in Cape Town. They stayed in Stellenbosch for a month. Immediately they began the study of the Herero language - which would be useful, for the Herero and Ovambo dialects are related.

      The next stop on the long sea journey of the Finnish missionaries, was Walvis Bay – a natural harbour and the gate to South West Africa. This happened on the 14th February 1869. At that stage it was only a natural harbour. There was no infra structure and there were no people living there. Upon arrival they had to fix some of the desolate buildings that had been left there by early traders and hunters, and had to wait for three weeks before word was brought to Carl Hugo Hahn at Otjimbingwe, who arrived on March the 5th with 8 ox-wagons. The Finish brothers being all good musicians greeted him with their  trumpets, “A mighty fortress is our God”.

      Eventually they arrived in Otjimbingwe,  Carl Hugo Hahn's mission station,  on 23rd April. They were to stay in Hereroland over a year before they journeyed to Ovamboland.

      Martin Rautanen and one of his colleagues became boarders in the household of the widow Johanna Kleinschmidt. She was the daughter of Johann Heinrich Schmelen (1777 -1848) the best known pioneer missionary of the London Mission society – the first missionary society operating in Namibia. Schmelen had married a Nama lady by the name of Zara. She was a devout Christian and she taught him the difficult Nama language and helped him in his translation work. He founded the mission station at Bethanien in 1814. Four children were born from this marriage.
      Johanna was the second child, and she eventually married Franz Heinrich Kleinschmidt who was a missionary in Bethanien and then  started  the  mission station in Rehoboth. Following his  sudden death,  his widow Johanna, along with her children went to live in Otjimbingwe.

      The main occupation of the new missionaries was to study Herero under the leadership of Carl Hugo Hahn.  Hahn felt that Rautanen, a slow learner,  did not make good progress in language studies. Some of his colleagues made far better progress. In the meantime Rautanen fell in love with the youngest of the Kleinschmidt daughters, Friederike (Frieda) Kleinschmidt, who at this stage was only 15years old.  As one might may imagine, the young couple had a tough time to persuade  Carl Hugo Hahn (Frieda’s guardian), who at this time was entirely opposed to Rautanen's proposal to Frieda. He declared,  “The Finns will not take even one of his daughters”.

      In the meantime Rautanen and his colleagues learned the basics of mission work in Otjimbingwe and by the beginning of 1870 they had mastered a good deal of Herero so that Hahn gave them an opportunity to do gospel preaching among the Herero under chief Kamaherero in Okahandja.

      It was on Friday the 27th of May 1870 that the Finnish missionaries finally left for Ovamboland. Hahn was supposed to go with them,  having visited Ovamboland  2 earlier, on occasions. Several kings knew him, and he had promised them to send them missionaries. However, at that time he was needed for peace negotiations between the Nama and the Herero. An English hunter, Frederik Green who had been travelling and exploring the country for about 20 years offered to help. They arrived in Ovamboland on the 9th of July 1870 ( a 2 ½ month trek) at Omandongo close to the place where King Shikongo shaKalulu had his court. The King came to meet the travelers the next day and agreed to have the missionaries. This  mission station was called Omandongo.  July  1870 is seen as the date of  the start  the Finnish Gospel mission in Ovamboland.

      Ovamboland 1870 -1874: First Challenges

      Omandongo became the first base of the Finnish mission in Ovamboland. The first group of missionary workers in Ovamboland consisted of 6 ordained men and 2 laymen. It  is  sound mission policy that pioneer missionaries should be sent as teams and not as individuals. Apart from providing a variety of natural and spiritual gifts, they also serve as an encouragement to each other.

      The missionaries started their mission amongst 4   tribes of the Ovambo people,

      (i) Omandongo mission station among the Ndonga people under king Shikongo 
      (ii) The Elim Mission station among the Kwambi under king Nuyoma 
      (iii) Rehoboth mission station among the Ngandjera under king Theya and
      (iv) the work among the Kwanyama people.

      Rautanen started his missionary work at Elim among the Kwambi’s in 1870. Two years later he was forced to leave the territory of King Nuyoma. In fact, all the mission stations except Omandongo were abandoned by 1873, and for the next 30 years the Finnish mission was focused on the Ndonga area.

      Some further comments are necessary here. Starting  the missionary  work in Uukwambi, under king Nuyoma was a real challenge. The Ovambo  kings did not invite the missionaries for the sake of the gospel, but for political and economic gain. When this did not happen, the kings were disappointed, and actively worked the missionaries out of their tribal areas. The kings were also  generally known for consuming too much alcohol and  slave trading – something which missionaries, like David Livingston, actively resisted.

      Portuguese traders brought king Nuyoma alcohol in exchange for slaves. Peltola comments, “Because of missionaries, Nuyoma had diminished his open slave trade. However, this only lasted for a short while, until the missionaries were forced to abandon the work."

      Martin Rautanen decided to move to the Ngandjera in May 1871 under king Tsheya. Some little anecdotes from Rautanen make interesting reading as he deals with this pagan king. Once when he wanted to buy an ox from the king, he got the answer, “ Omukwetu (my relative) we live in the same house. My oxen are your oxen and your oxen are my oxen."  Rautanen added to this,  “And may the Lord then also grant that my God would be your God".
      In another instance, Rautanen was preaching upon Psalm 36:6,7,  upon God’s love and righteousness, when the king started to laugh loudly and disturbed the service. Rautanen stopped him and said that in God’s eyes there was no difference between a chief and a herdsman and he ordered Theya to be quiet.  It needs to be said that Rautanen was never disrespectful to the kings. Quite on the contrary, he was among them as a humble servant.

      Rautanen was a true Lutheran in recognizing that Christians were still the kings subjects, and therefore  he regarded himself as a loyal subject of the king. We also need to understand that, on this occasion the king, congregation and Rautanen were sitting under the word of God, and thus under the authority of the King of kings. Earthly kings must be silent when the King of kings speaks by His word. 
      This story reminds me of another king,   James the 6th of Scotland,  who was notoriously rude when attending worship services. The Presbyterian minister Robert Bruce was preaching, and in his usual manner, king James began to speak to those around him. Robert Bruce paused, and the king fell silent. The minister continued preaching, and the king started talking again. The preacher stopped him and addressed him directly, saying, ”When the lion roars all the beasts of the field are quiet’.The lion of the tribe of Judah is now roaring in the voice of His gospel, and it becomes all the small kings of the earth to be silent”

      In the meantime Rautanen had received permission from his mission society to marry Frieda Rautanen, who had by now turned 18. On September the 11th, 1872 Carl Hugo Hahn married them in Otjimbingwe. Martin’s home-language now became German, since Frieda was German speaking. We did already mention that he had exceptional language skills and spoke Finnish, German, Ndonga, Herero, Afrikaans, English and Russian fluently.

      Upon returning from his honeymoon, Rautanen and his young bride returned to Ngandjera (or “Rehoboth” – named after the mission station that his father in law Kleinschmidt had founded in central Namibia) only to find that his mission station had been vandalized. King Tsheya of the Okandjera, as in the case of king Nuyoma of the Kwambi’s had made life very difficult for missionaries, for the missionaries seemed to offer no prospect of improvement in economics (liquor and slaves). We had already observed that the kings, by and large, were fond of drink and some were habitual drunkards. The Portuguese had a lot to do with this, for they exchanged alcohol for slaves.

      The Finnish missionaries did not condone this, and neither were they  in favour of engaging in politics and trade. They had come to preach the gospel. In fact, some of the Finnish missionaries were so poor that they had to beg the king for food at times. One aspect that apparently comes out time and again in Rautanen’s diaries is that their mission was chronically under-supported for the task at hand.

      These poor white missionaries did not suit the kings. There was nothing to be gained from them – except … the gospel, which at this stage they did not want.

      The Portuguese slave traders suggested to the kings at times that if they allowed the missionaries to continue to influence the peoples minds, their lucrative trade would cease. This brought the Finnish mission work into great jeopardy. Rautanen  had to withdraw from the Ngandjeras and subsequently  settled in Omandongo, where the mission work began  at first among the Ndongas. This was in July 1874. 

      1874 - 1885 

      In the 1870’s the European colonial powers started the “Scramble for Africa“. In Namibia the British took possession of Walvis Bay on the 6th March 1878, and the Germans sought to bring the rest of present Namibia under  its influence in 1884. 
      We move on rapidly through the developments of this period. In Ondonga, the chief missionary area of the Finnish mission, three men ascended to the throne in rapid sucession after king Shikongo who had invited the Finnish missionaries to Ovamboland had died in 1874 of alcohol poisoning.
      He was followed by king Kambonde I (1874 - 1883), who was succeeded by king Iitana yaNkwiyu (who ruled for less than a year i.e. 1883-1884) and who was succeeded by king Kambonde II or (Kambonde kaMpingana) whose rule lasted a quarter of a century. Kambonde II died in October 1909.

      The first spiritual breakthrough came in 1882 when 6 young men asked to be baptised - that is, after 12 years of gospel labour!  The situation in  the Namibian mission field is comparable to the Baptist missionary  William Carey’s experience in India, having laboured for 7 years without a single convert!

      King Kambonde Mpingana brought a total change of attitudes of the people towards the Finnish mission. This can be attributed to the fact that the new king had confidence in Rautanen. Rautanen had a very special relationship with this king  as he became his personal friend, adviser and physician. Some of the chief's family believed and were baptized.

      1883 was the year of the founding of the Omandongo congregation - the first congregation among the Ovambo people. However, this period of spiritual advance was not unaffected by sorrow. On the 4th of May 1880 the Rautanen’s firstborn, Heinrich, died. In fact, only three of the Rautanen’s  9 children  would reach the age of majority.  Six  of the children  would die before their parents. The Rautanen’s were well acquainted with grief, and yet one never gets the feeling that Martin or Frieda became  bitter against their  God. They continued to love, serve and worship God with all their heart. When Ludwig, their fourth child became very sick, Martin wrote in his diary, “At half past five in the afternoon our Lord took him in his arms. ‘Lord teach us to say from the heart, “The Lord gave, the Lord took away, may the Name of our Lord be praised.”

      We ought to be greatly humbled by such faith. We modern people do not know how to deal with death any longer – mainly because we do not want to  acknowledge that God is the Giver and Taker of life. Death becomes a lot more bearable when we understand that our lives are in God’s hands. The Rautanen’s understood that in the taking of their children’s lives, God was still the good and faithful God. In the midst of such losses Martin and Frieda frequently battled themselves with severe bouts of malaria and other sicknesses, which made them weak and often unproductive for weeks, if not months. Martin Rautanen himself nearly died in 1890. The words of Revelation 12:11 were true for these missionaries, “They did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death“.

      1885 - 1900

      In June 1880 the Rautanen’s moved to Olukonda – the place where Rautanen would live for over 40 years. King Kambonde 1 who was often sick (due to excessive alcohol intake) came to regard Rautanen as his personal physician. However, as already mentioned, Rautanen’s influence  became particularly significant in the life of Kambonde II, the king who reigned for almost 25 years. Rautanen, as observed earlier,  always treated the king with respect. The king soon learned that the Christians were his most faithful subjects.

      Back in Finland  after 23 years

      The time had now come for Rautanen to go on furlough in his native Finland. Not only had he not been home for 23 years, but his family’s health had deteriorated so much that they desperately needed a break. King Kambonde II did not want to let Rautanen (or Nakambale, as he was called) go, but he  nevertheless left on February 18th, 1891.

      The sea journey from Cape Town to England which lasted over 2 months by sailing ship now lasted only 19 days due to the fact that sailing vessels were being replaced by steamships. They arrived in Helsinki in June 1891. Sadly, the mission did very little at that stage to welcome him back home. One gets the impression that the mission was very removed from its missionaries. But what joy it was for them to meet their oldest son Reinhold, whom they had sent to school in Finland  six  years earlier. And what joy it was to meet his aged mother Annikka Rautanen again after 23 years of separation. Once it was known that he was back in Finland, Martin  Rautanen had plenty opportunities to speak about the mission, and the meetings were generally packed. He mentions that at Tyrvaa there were 15 000 – 20 000 listeners! He had brought a good number of displays from the Ovambo culture and traditional way of life,  and this attracted the interest of a good number of Scientific societies, who asked him frequently to speak. He was even made a member of the Geographic Society in Finland – a rare honour bestowed on a non-academician.

      In the meantime Frieda his wife gave birth to a little daughter who was born sickly and who died after 5 weeks. At the beginning of 1892, the Rautanens made preparation to return to Africa. Three of the four children would remain in Finland to do their schooling under the care of one of their fellow missionaries, Bjoerklund, who had chosen not to return with them to Ovamboland. Only little Frieda would accompany her parents. They returned to Ovamboland in October 1892. 

      By now Germany had begun to make its official claim on South West Africa. Portugal made an agreement with Germany  in 1886,  fixing a boundary line between German South West Africa and Portuguese Angola. This boundary would divide the Ovambo tribes. The Ndongas were not affected, but the line certainly divided the Kwanyamas.

      Major Theodor Leutwein became the first governor for German South West Africa in 1894. It is interesting to note Rautanen's feelings upon this development. In writing to his mission director he said,
      God willing the German government does not come to Ovamboland for a long time, for if earlier there came much godlessness with white people to Ovamboland, then the Germans will bring a disgusting kind that even the heathen are ashamed. Their main sin is revolting adultery and dissipation”.

      Rautanen based these comments on observations he had made in Hereroland, where the German influence had grown considerably over the years.

      King Kambonde II in conversation with  Rautanen  on the legality of the German intention to seize their ground was amazed that the German’s did not obey God’s word – “ you shall not covet your neighbours possessions” (Ex. 20:17). Rautanen explained to him that the fear of the Lord did not depend upon learnedness or unlearnedness, but that it was manifested in one’s love for God. Then he turned the conversation about the brevity of one’s life and the life to come. Rautanen always sought the spiritual welfare of others before their material welfare. He explained to the king that the coming of the Lord was at hand, and that the gospel had to be preached to all nations, including the Ndongas. And he urged the king to receive the Word of God personally.

      1900 – 1920

      The new century saw the Germans establishing themselves in South West Africa. In 1904 a tragic thing happened.  On  the 12th of  January  Herero Chief Maherero gave an order to kill all white people except missionaries, women and children. His instructions were not carefully followed, and as a result over a hundred people were killed, among them 5 women. The Ovambo’s were very tempted to join the uprising, but Kambonde II adopted a cautious approach, while another Ovambo  chief,  Nehale sent about 500 men against a small German garrison at Namutoni on the edge of the Etosha Pan. The Germans, despite the fact that they were only 7 men in that fort dealt Nehale a severe blow, and escaped the following night.

      The next tragedy happened as  the Germans engaged the Hereros in battle at the Waterberg under General Lieutenant Lothar von Trotha, chasing the Hereros into a dry  waterless  wasteland, where many  Hereros perished of thirst. This is known as the “Herero genocide” – often referred to in current political discussions - in which current political leaders of the Herero demand a restitution  from Germany.

      Generally speaking the Ovambos did not rise up against the Germans, and the reason for this was ascribed to Martin Rautanen,  who urged Kambonde not to get drawn into a bloody war with the Germans. The Ovambo tribes were joined to the German colonial empire without firing a single shot. Thus  they were ruled by the Germans until 1914,  when the first World War broke out  and  when the Germans had to surrender to the British / South African regime. In this time Rautanen  frequently excercised a peace-making intercessory role for the sake of the people which he loved. It goes without saying that he loved the Ovambo more than the Germans!

      1920 – 1926

      A few concluding remarks  need to be made about the last few years of Rautanen’s life. He celebrated his 50th anniversary on the mission field on the 8th of July 1920.He  resigned in 1919 as field superintendent, a task which he had performed for 35 years. His son Reinhold  Rautanen was subsequently  tasked by the Mission society with the job as Field superintendent.

      Martin Rautanen was decorated by his country, Finland with the order of the White Rose,  in recognition of the outstanding contributions which he had made in the mission field. He was  however unwilling to wear the decoration. This was entirely in character with a man who sought God’s approval far above the approval of men.

      In 1925 the first Ovambo pastors were ordained. On that occasion Rautanen preached from the text, “Be assured that I am with you always, even to the end of the ages" (Matthew 28:20).  He related how the mission had begun with the clearing of a plot of land in Shikongo shaKalulu’s time. He asked them in that sermon,
      Where were your fathers and mothers at that time? In the darkness of paganism. And where are they now? Workers in the Kingdom of God. Man’s strength and wisdom had not brought it about, but  by Him who says,  'be assured, I am with you always.'” 
      In his diary he wrote afterwards, “Lord, I thank  You  that  You  have  allowed my dear Frieda and me to see this day…

      Thus it was that Ovamboland became Martin's home on this earth. He did not wish to go anywhere else when he was retired. He was able to work for so many years,  as only very few people  do, in the history of Christian missions.

      One of his closest co-workers Albin Savola reminisced about their years together and he said,  “ For 3 years I sat at the same table with Martin Rautanen. For me these were lessons of a lifetime: Diligence, punctuality, trust in the future and a childlike faith in the Saviour…” .

      In his 80th in 1925 year Martin Rautanen was granted an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Helsinki.

      He  died at Olukonda on  the 19th of October 1926, and he was buried there. 

      One of the missionaries recalls how on a moonlit night an Ovambo man stood at Nakambale’s grave,  very deep in thought. Then he said, “Truly, he loved us very much”.

      Vital lessons from  Martin Rautanen’s life

      1. Martin Rautanen was a devoted believer who had learned a passion for missions from his mother. This illustrates the importance of 2 Timothy  1:5 – the importance of godly parents who diligently  teach their young ones.

      2. Despite being an unpromising candidate in the beginning (being of humble origin) he proved to be the most persistent missionary of all the Finnish missionaries sent into the South West African mission field. He excelled in linguistics and in perseverance. This  reminds us of the fact  that our Lord Jesus chose 12 disciples  who were mainly poor  and uneducated men for the great task of gospel preaching. How God shames the wise and the learned through the humility of the cross. (1 Cor. 1: 26-31) 

      3. He was a Christ-centered man of the word and of prayer. This reminds us of the mark of an apostle (Acts 6:4). He was uncompromising in this work and commitment to the gospel. Many demanded that he should give more attention to matters like orphanages and schools and other humanitarian schemes. Rautanen was not readily drawn to this sort of work , for he knew that the work of the true missionary  was in the work of prayer and the preaching of the gospel. Everything else would follow from this. All other work needed to be built upon this foundation.He often clashed with his superiors and colleagues who sometimes were influenced by modernistic thinking on this matter. 

      At one meeting where his fellow missionaries addressed the importance of schools for the Ovambo nation, Rautanen asked them, “ What do we aim at with our schools and what are the means to reach it?" His answer to the first question was, "to lead people to Christ and to His congregation."  His answer to the second question  was, “With the Word of God”. It is the only means of the missionary work, according to the command of our Saviour. We have to present Christ both in our sermons and in our schools. All other things like geography and arithmetic etc are secondary matters…“. This matter remained a concern for Rautanen as his years drew to a close. In a letter to the Mission director in 1924 he writes,“In many mission fields education is in fashion now and is worshipped. There are many subjects in education that are not the gold of the gospel , but like wood grass and straw, which will burn on the last day… “. This does not mean that he was narrow-minded in his interests. He was keenly  interested in languages (philology), ethnology, botany and even climatology. He was a member of the Geographic society of Finland. But  he was supremely  a God-centered, Christ centered man. Life for him began with Christ.  

      4. Martin  Rautanen’s chief contribution  lay in the translation of the Oshindonga Scriptures. He believed that the people whom he loved and ministered to  should have the Scriptures in their own language. His translation of Matthew was published in 1891, then followed Mark (1892), Luke (1895), John (1896) and the Acts (1897). The complete New Testament was published in 1908. The whole Bible was available in Oshindonga in 1924. Rautanen also contributed considerably to a mission journal, Osondaha, which had appeared in Oshindonga since September 1901. In recognition of his achievements he was awarded an honorary doctorate in theology by the University of Helsinki in 1925.

      5. He was radically committed to the people whom he ministered to. His life was incarnational. He lived very humbly among the people he preached to. He respected the authorities of the kings, even when he radically disagreed with them. By and by he won the battle of faith, and before long the gospel had taken hold of many people. Today the work in Ovamboland rests on this  gospel foundation.  

      His radical commitment to the Ovambo people is seen especially in  his reply  to a friend in Finland, who wanted him to stay a little longer on his furlough in Finland . He said to him, “May God protect me from that. I have two fatherlands like everybody else. You have heaven and Finland, I have Finland and Ovamboland.” 

      Martin Rautanen  was a rare kind of  missionary. And in Christ-like fashion  (though in a much lesser sense)  he gave his live for those he came to save.






      ON THE PURPOSE AND USE OF THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS IN THE CHURCH

        In the last century, particularly in the in the 1980’s and 90’s the subject of spiritual gifts was hotly debated. John Wimber (1934-1997)...