The Contribution of two outstanding women – Vehettge Tikkuie & Wilhelmine Stompies – to the founding of the Moravian Church in South Africa
The history of Vehettge Tikkuie 1739-1800
The first reference to this remarkable Khoi woman in the history of the Moravian Church in South Africa is found in the 1 February 1739 entry in the Diary of George Schmidt, the first Moravian Missionary to South Africa.
George Schmidt was an enthusiastic pietistic German missionary who came to South Africa in 1737. His purpose in coming to South Africa was to “win souls for the Saviour” and would not interfere with worldly matters such as making slaves rebellious. Schmidt taught the indigenous people the Dutch language, he taught them to write and read including agricultural skills.
Vehettge Tikkuie lived in the Western Cape part of South Africa in the eighteenth century and was a member of the indigenous Hessekwa Tribe. It is assumed that she was married according to the Khoi-Khoi tradition, to Jaktie Tikkuie who belonged to the Chainokwa Tribe. They lived along the banks of the Riviersonderend River which provided grazing for the cattle of the Chainokwa and Hessekwa indigenous clans.
Subsistence farming as hunter and shepherd, digging for roots, cutting bulrushes for making mats and huts were part of her semi-nomadic lifestyle. With some of the other inhabitants she attended Schmidt’s classes to learn how to read and write. From the diary of George Schmidt we learn that Vehettge was a bright and eager learner. She was intelligent and probably the first indigenous woman in the early 18 th century from the Overberg region who could read from the “Dutch ABC – Book” and from the New Testament.
Her knowledge of scripture and her ability to read and write often brought her into disrepute with family, friends and fellow clan members. This conflict caused her much misery and distress and she would share these situations with the missionary. His reactions were that it was her own fault and that she had a bad and sinful heart. This frustrated and confused her even more and she would leave his classes to return to the kraals to dance and take part in the clan rituals. After a while she would develop a feeling of guilt and return to the missionary to confess that she was wrong and felt ashamed of her behavior.
According to Bredenkamp (1987:136) Schmidt’s missionary outreach was aimed at leading his followers to holiness by keeping them in a perpetual condition of self-reproach. This made life untenable for her and could suggest that Vehettge had inner conflicts over her own indigenous religion and the pietistic religion of the missionary that could have had a negative influence of her self-image. The missionary had no or little understanding of this inner conflict and could therefore not identify with the tension she experienced and her desire to leave the classes.
Vehettge went back time and time again because she was interested and eager to learn. One could only assume that she had the unconscious expectation that the missionary’s teaching would address her inner conflicts.
An outstanding day in her life is 4 April 1742 when she became the first female to be baptized by the missionary. Schmidt first baptized three men and finding no other suitable male to baptize he chose her. First she confidently answered his questions and then he baptized her and gave her the name Magdalene. Vehettge soon realized that the baptism had no magical influence on her life. The problems of the past did not disappear. The missionary never used Vehettge to help with his missionary tasks.
When George Schmidt was forced to leave in October 1743 because of pressure brought to bear on him by the Cape Dutch clergy, he left the work in the hands of two of the men he had baptized. Soon after his departure the men abandoned their task and Vehettge Magdalena Tikkuie stepped forward and continued with the pastoral work. She diligently taught the Khoi-Khoi people to pray and to read from the Dutch New Testament given to her by the missionary when he left. For almost fifty years
she continued to be a missionary to her own people.
When the subsequent missionaries Marsveld, Schwinn and Kϋhnel arrived in 1792, 49 years later, they found Vehettge, alias Magdalena, with her flock and the Dutch New Testament she received from Schmidt on his departure, which she treasured in a sheepskin. One of her learners was requested to read from Matthew 2. Although old and frail she continued to assist the new Missionaries and encouraged her people to put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour. Mother Lena can be regarded as the first female Evangelist in the history of the Moravian Church in South Africa. She died on 3 January 1800, five days before the first Moravian church building in
Genadendal was inaugurated. She was the last living link between Schmidt’s congregation and the renewed mission initiative.
The story of this outstanding woman of destiny, Mother Lena of Genadendal, deserves to be told from generation to generation as an invaluable contribution of the development of Mission endeavours of the Moravian Church in the Western Cape of South Africa.
The history of Wilhelmine Stompies 1816 – 1863
Christian Ignatius la Trobe visited South Africa in 1816 while he was the Secretary of the Moravians in Great Britain. He had plans to revisit and revive the establishment of a Mission station among the Xhosa-speaking people in the Eastern Cape. The then Governor Lord Charles Somerset had a favourable disposition toward the Missionaries.
La Trobe met Wilhelmine, a baptized Xhosa woman of the Ngqika tribe who stayed at Genadendal, apparently as a maid to the missionaries. She was deeply concerned about her own people in the Eastern Cape and requested La Trobe to send missionaries to her people “who were in the dark, ignorant of God” La Trobe assured her that he had been commissioned to inquire about the practically of establishing a Mission in the Eastern Cape where she was from. The governor however informed him that it would not be safe at that present time while the war lasted.
A new station was founded in 1818 called Enon. Wilhelmine accompanied the missionaries to Enon. She was of immense help to the Missionaries as an interpreter. In Enon she met and married Carl Stompjes. When the war broke out the station was destroyed. It was rebuilt but the work did not progress well among the Xhosa people as only Khoi-Khoi people settled there.
Hans Peter Hallbeck, a Swedish theologian was appointed by the Mission Board to serve as Superintendent at Genadendal. In a letter dated 19 March 182, the Governor informed Hallbeck that the Thembu Chief has expressed the wish that a Mission Institution be established among his Thembu people in the Eastern Cape. He had the desire that his people be instructed in the principles of the Christian Religion, and were taught the skills of agriculture and various useful trades. Hallbeck was very pleased with the prospect of establishing a Mission Station. In June 1827 Hallbeck set out to explore the area and found it feasible and practicable.
The Mission Board established a Helpers’ Conference whose task was to evaluate and make recommendations regarding the Mission work. The request to start the mission work among the Thembu people with all its difficulties of language, culture, tribal tensions and territorial clashes was accepted as a call from God. The Board was eager to get the work started but did not know anybody who would have the “mind and heart” for such an undertaking except WILHELMINE STOMPJES who had the heart and the gifts for such an enormous task. They expressed the hope and the desire that she would be willing to accept the call to serve with the main object to win souls for the Saviour. She was a faithful servant of the Lord and accepted the call.
On 15 March 1828, almost a year after the request came, the Missionaries Johannes Lemmerz and Friedrich Hoffman together with their wives arrived in Enon and was joined by Wilhelmine and Carl Stompjes and others to continue with the journey to the Thembu territory. On 20 May 1828 they arrived at the new site, where they gathered singing hymns and knelt in prayer to rededicate them to the service of the Lord. Huts were built and tents erected. Only a few Thembu people attended the Sunday services. Wilhelmine acted as interpreter and with her strong witness she had a great influence on the people and more people joined the services.
The Missionaries and their co-workers suffered great losses as they were attacked by wandering splinter groups. They were advised to leave for a while by the soldiers who came to their rescue and promised to protect the property. The government established a military post and they returned to continue with the mission work.
The work prospered. A school was opened, a storehouse erected and in August 1929 a new church was consecrated.
The tension and animosity among the tribes continued with cattle stolen and people killed. Distrust also arose between the missionaries and the tribal chief. He came with his armed men to attack. They were invited by the brethren for a conversation that soon led to a dispute. Wilhelmine entered the room and placed herself between the two parties urging the brethren to leave at once. She reprimanded Chief Maphasa sharply that he had come to men of peace with the intent to kill. She demanded that they leave immediately and they left without doing any harm. He came back days later to settle the matter in a peaceful way.
Through her non-violent and peace seeking determination she saved the lives of the brethren. Her resoluteness through her courage and love was born of the strong faith she portrayed. As time went on she became the closest co-worker of the brethren. Wilhelmine continued to have a strong influence on the people and led many to faith.
During January 1830 a great thunderstorm and torrential rain destroyed the church and many homes. It was decided to abandon the present site and move northwards to a newly selected one. Hallbeck decided to call it Shiloh, a place where the Mission station is still situated today. The work grew slowly but surely. Wilhelmine assisted at the school and with translation work. She was chosen to be one of the first five “national/indigenous” assistants to help with the pastoral work being co-responsible for house visitations and the spiritual life of the congregation. She encouraged the people to contribute towards the furtherance of mission work. The work expanded and new stations were founded.
In 1850 the Eighth Frontier war broke out and had a terrible detrimental effect on the work of the missionaries. This led to the destruction of the mission stations Shiloh and Goshen. The inhabitants had to leave. It was a sad day for Wilhelmine to depart from the congregation and all the people to whom she was so deeply attached.
Between the years 1851 and 1854 Shiloh and Goshen were reconstructed and the missionary endeavours resumed. During the early months of 1853 the life at Shiloh Mission began to normalize and the congregations grew. Although she was getting older Wilhelmine was still strong in faith and a dynamic force in the missionary endeavour. She requested more missionaries to work among her people.
She even wrote to Germany to add to the importance of the work where people not only could hear the word of God but also be employed in useful labour. She was also of the opinion that the brethren had a great influence in caring for the environment. The work continued under testing times and trails for the new Christians and Mission work. The missionaries also experienced the animosity of the white farmers in the surrounding areas that were not happy that the indigenous people were receiving the Christian faith and education.
During this period the first converts of the missionaries, those first Christians who had been involved in the mission work since its commencement forty years previously, passed away. Wilhelmine Stompjes died on 9 July 1863 at the age of 75 years.
Her death was a great loss as she had lived for the Lord and the Mission. Her prayers had been that all Xhosa people be brought to faith in Jesus Christ. The Lord granted her the privilege to see and experience how the Gospel gradually found its way into the Xhosa- speaking world. With a warm, bold and courageous heart she would speak of the love of God in Jesus Christ. She could even influence the proud chiefs with her strong and admirable character. All her gifts and talents were freely given in the service of the Lord and with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit many were brought by her to rejoice in Jesus as Saviour.
The history of this remarkable woman of zeal and determination should always be remembered by generations to come for her invaluable share in promoting the Gospel in the founding years of the Moravian Mission work in the Eastern Cape of South Africa.
Angelene H. Swart
26 February 2019
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bredenkamp, H.C. 1987 Vehettge Tikkuie, alias Moeder Lena van Genadendal. (1737-1800) Quarterly Bulletin of the South African Library,41 (4)
Bredenkamp, H.C. & Plüddemann,H.E.F 1992. The Genadendal Diaries. Vol 1( 1792-1794) Bellville:Universiteit van Wes-Kaapland. Krürger, B. 1966. The Pear Tree Blossoms:The history of the Moravian Church in South Africa(1737-1869) Genadendal: Genadendal Drukkery.
Nielsen, W.S. 1999.The Twin Blossom of the Pear Tree Bears Fruit. The history of the Moravian Church Eastern Province, South Afrca. Swart, A. H. 1996. The story of Vehettge Tikkuie in Digging up our Foremothers: Stories of women in Africa. Edited by Christina Landman. Unisa Press. The Western Cape Instituut for Historical Research 1981:Dagboek en Briewe van George Schmidt 1737-1744 (Diary and Letters of George Schmidt 1737-1744)