In the early 1830s, Chief Moshoeshoe I (1786-1870), leader of the Basotho -people, invited members of the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society (PEMS) to establish a mission station in what is now Lesotho.
So was born the Morija Mission and its iconic red brick church that went on to survive more than 160 years of turbulent history to become the second-oldest building in Lesotho.
LESOTHO'S FIRST MISSION STATION
In 1824, during the Difaqane (the forced migrations brought about by the violent expansion of the Zulu Kingdom), Moshoeshoe I occupied his mountain fortress Thaba Bosiu. It was from here that he amalgamated members of the displaced communities into the Basotho nation.
Less than a decade later, in 1833, Moshoeshoe I welcomed the missionaries Thomas Arbousset, Eugène Casalis and Constant Gosselin (also an artisan) to establish a PEMS mission station at the foot of the Makhoarane plateau south of Thaba Bosiu.
The mission site, overlooked by towering sandstone cliffs, was called Morija in honour of the Biblical Moriah, the site of the Temple of Solomon. As the mission began to establish itself, the Basotho referred to it as Selibeng sa Thuto (wellspring of learning) due to the educational opportunities it provided, especially to the Basotho elite.
This story is from the Farmer's Weekly 7 & 14 April 2023 edition of Farmer's Weekly.
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This story is from the Farmer's Weekly 7 & 14 April 2023 edition of Farmer's Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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