Misguided Missionaries Poem by John Sensele

Missionaries trekked to Africa in the nineteenth century
Where in the main missionaries spread the gospel
Although a few missionaries indulged the luxury
That mingled destruction, desecration and denigration of African religions as well.

Missionaries fell into the trap of abetting pillaging of mineral resources
Gold from the Gold Coast, diamonds from the Congo Free State, and copper from Northern Rhodesia
Resulting in economic impoverishment of colonies whose sources
Of revenue developed Britain, France, Germany, Portugal and rebellious Southern Rhodesia.

Missionaries of goodwill initiated formal education in Africa
Which yielded a literate and numerate pool of clerks, interpreters and catechists
Although a few missionaries colluded with colonialists in Jamaica
Robbing the colonized of a bright future and labeling the colonized animists and fetishists.

Missionaries imported Western capitalism and espoused unbridled greed
Where in several instances missionaries convinced Lewanika and Lobengula to sign
Treacherous treaties with cronies of Cecil John Rhodes and other Western adventurers whose seed and weed
Germinated into gargantuan gluttony, gangrenous governance and greed that never grew benign.