Stories

Education, Upbringing, and Discipline
Pietism and Discipline The Basel Mission (BM) was founded in 1815 and saw itself in the tradition of «good, old, sound Pietism».[1] Pietism was one of the most significant religious reform movements…

Reflections on Historical Entanglements and Cultural Sensitivity
“There is that great proverb — that until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.”[1] Chinua Achebe’s famous statement resonates deeply with the…

Ways of Remembering the Basel Mission’s Activities in Osu and Akropong
My research journey to Ghana in early 2024 started a semester prior, in the university classrooms of Basel. What caught my attention was that we were not only going to have a…

Tradition, Culture, Religion, and the Basel Mission in Osu and Akropong
During the excursion to southern Ghana, I intended to research how the Basel Mission (BM) evangelists encountered African tradition, culture, and religion and how converted Ghanaians continued practicing their traditional culture alongside…

The Women’s Fellowship. A Legacy of the Spouses of the Basel Missionaries in the Presbyterian Church of Ghana
Introduction The pioneers of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG), the Basel missionaries, entered the then Gold Coast on December 18, 1828. Their missionary work left many legacies that the PGC boasts…

African Agency in the Basel Mission’s Medical Missions through the Support of African Assistants
Introduction In general, missionaries are noted to have played significant roles in developing almost every aspect of African societies. As we acknowledge, it has become significant for African agency to be portrayed…

A Brief History of Missionary Medicine in Aburi
On the grounds of the Presbyterian Women’s College of Education in Aburi lay the ruins of Dr. Rudolf Fisch’s “Hospitälchen” (small hospital). Dispatched in 1885, Dr. Fisch was among the first missionary…

Sustaining Discipline in the Early Church: A Reflection on the Disciplinary Procedures of the Presbyterian Church of the Gold Coast.
Introduction One character trait believed to have been bequeathed to Presbyterianism from the early missionaries is “discipline”. It is mostly attributed to the Basel Mission (BM), the institution that founded what is…

A History of the Presbyterian Women’s College, Aburi
Amidst the patriarchal landscape of nineteenth-century Ghana, educational opportunities favored boys while relegating girls to domestic roles. Recognizing the importance of educating girls, the Basel Mission (BM) established the primary girls’ boarding…
![Memorial at First Landing Site Christiansborg (today's Accra): "In Blessed memory Of the Early Basel Missionaries Who first landed at Osu (Christiansborg) in 1828 and tragically died within months of arrival; And in Commemoration of The Site of the First Chapel of the Basel Mission [...]. Those gallant men made the ultimate sacrifice so that We might know and be drawn closer to God. May They Rest in Peace! [...] (my own photograph).](https://baselfo.ch/wp-content/uploads/memorial-at-first-landing-768x576.jpg)
Do we need a “Dealing with the Past” Approach? Navigating Divergent Views on the Basel Mission Heritage
The first Basel missionaries arrived at the Gold Coast (today’s Ghana) in 1828. They were forced to leave by the British colonial power during the first World War in 1918. They turned…

Chieftaincy: A Personal Encounter
Growing up in Ghana, I learned and observed the process of selecting and installing a chief. Because of the significance of the chieftaincy institution, the process for the selection and installation of…

Educational Legacies: Academic Excellence and Community Development
„Train the head to think, create, and philosophize“ (Prof. emeritus H. N.-A. Wellington) Following my enlightening trip to Ghana, I reflected on a poignant quote from Professor Wellington, a renowned architect and…