CHRISTIANITY was introduced in Africa as early as the First Century AD, but it was only in the late 19th Century when colonialism was advancing that it increased its presence on the continent.
The presence of Jesuit missionaries like Gonçalo da Silveira, sent to Africa aged just 30, contributed to the decimation of African religion.
He reached Tete in November 1560 and from there, proceeded to the court of King Mwene Mutapa, a strong believer in the Mwari religion.
The king and his mother were converted to Christianity, but some Portuguese traders worked against Silveira.
Silveira was killed and the mission collapsed.
Another Jesuit, Depelchin, went north to Bulawayo and reached King Lobengula’s capital on September 2 1892.
He asked for permission to stay and won the king’s favour after repairing and painting the king’s wagon.
The remains of the Jesuit residence are still there, close to King Lobengula’s Kraal at Old Bulawayo.
The Jesuits struggled on, but made no headway in bringing the Christian faith to King Lobengula’s people.
In 1887, after King Lobengula moved to the current site of State House in Bulawayo, Father Prestage moved the mission to Empandeni, where he had obtained permission to start a school.
Empandeni still exists and also contributed to the destruction of the Mwari religion.
In 1886, Father Prestage eventually persuaded King Lobengula to allow him to start a school at Empandeni, but the new superior, Fr Alfred Weld, decided that a period of consolidation was necessary and ordered the withdrawal of all Jesuits from Matabeleland. 
Fr Prestage accordingly withdrew, but begged Fr Weld to allow him to return.
Fr Weld eventually gave in. 
His presence and influence also contributed to the demise of the Mwari religion.
In 1887, Fathers Prestage and Andrew Hartmann built up Empandeni and classes began at the school. 
The signing of the Rudd Concession, however, soured relations between King Lobengula and the Europeans.
The Jesuits withdrew for a while, leaving a caretaker in charge of the mission.
Another mission station was opened at Inyathi, close to Bulawayo, in 1859, by the London Missionary Society through Reverend Robert Moffat.
Inyathi Mission stands out in the history of Zimbabwe as having been among the first places in modern day Zimbabwe to have ‘seen the dawn of Western civilisation’.
It was also the site of mutual co-existence between the Kingdom of King Mzilikazi and the Western Missionaries.
Together with sister institutions, Dombodema High School (Mission) in Plumtree and Tennyson Hlabangane High School (formerly Hope Fountain Mission) at Hope Fountain, Inyathi High School is privately owned by the United Congressional Church of Southern Africa (UCCASA), an offshoot of the London Missionary Society (LMS).
It is pertinent to keep the following critical questions in mind:
l Why were missionaries so concerned about educating blacks?
l Why were missionaries against the Mwari religion?
l Why did missionaries see our traditional religion as evil?
l Who alienated the African from his religion?
It is also important to note that the concentration of missionaries in the southern part of the country was meant to completely destroy the Mwari religion whose roots were in the Matopos area, Njelele in particular.
There may have been many reasons for missionaries to travel to (Rhodesia).
Zimbabwe was a community culture of the indigenous people which fascinated European missionaries who came from individualistic cultures.
The introduction of Christianity made the mistake of believing that to become a Christian, people had to be alienated from their indigenous cultures.
Failure of the missionaries to respect rituals and traditions of the Mwari religion meant they were viewed with suspicion and their preaching unwelcome.
African religions, especially the Mwari religion, were treated as an evil which had to be destroyed.
This can be seen in the following quotation: “Once their children have gone to school, they begin to show interest in the strange religion of the white missionaries, religion which denies the truth of Mwari religious beliefs.”
Western missionaries believed that traditional religious beliefs and practices were inferior and traditional customs had to be done away with before the acceptance of Christianity.
This happened, but with resistance and gave for instance, rise to the process which can be seen as religious syncretism in religious beliefs today.
What religious commentators describe as a ‘form of schizophrenia’ was thus the result of having to disclaim the indigenous culture before converting to Christianity.
There is no reason to dismiss such attitudes as a thing of the past, however.
These same sentiments can be found in contemporary religious expressions and among the leaders of various religious groups.
The role of the missionaries in the destruction of the Mwari religion was also considerable in terms of cultural and political domination of the people.
Although the missionaries’ task was to make people accept the Bible and its teachings, Christianity was turned into an ideology used to convince people not to resist white domination.
Religion was used to legitimise, sustain and even promote political tyranny and oppression, as well as in other instances for reasons of political liberation of the people.
Missionaries and colonialism are inseparable.
Regardless of claims that missionaries regarded themselves as opposed to the colonial ideology, they were part of the colonial structure and brought with them religions, beliefs and practices which were alien to Zimbabwe.
The settlement of the Matabele people is inextricably entwined with the history of missionaries.
When the LMS sought to establish a mission in Zimbabwe, King Mzilikazi granted them land near his capital, enabling him to monitor their activities and forbade them to convert his people.
As such, Christianity did not spread among the Matabele until the fall of the Matabele nation in 1893.