Pioneer missionary to Southern Africa
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n 1895, William Harrison Anderson and his wife, Nora, were among the first missionaries the Seventh-day Adventist Foreign Mission Board called to found Matabele Mission (Solusi) in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). It was located on 12,000 acres of land granted to the church by Cecil Rhodes, head of the British South Africa Company, from the large swathe of Southern Africa the company had brought under its control. Previously, Adventist mission in Africa had been directed to white settlers. The establishment of Solusi Mission marked the beginning of work among the non-Christian, indigenous people.
The Andersons, along with George and Mary Tripp and their son, George, sailed from New York, United States, and were joined in Cape Town, South Africa, by Dr. A. S. Carmichael. From there, the group journeyed northward by rail to the mission station. When they reached the end of the line, they traveled another seven weeks by ox-drawn covered wagons.
A struggle for survival dominated their early years at Solusi. Torrential rains thwarted efforts to raise buildings. The Matabele rebellion against colonial rule brought the station under siege, necessitating risky night-time ventures by Anderson and Tripp to obtain supplies. Malaria killed Dr. Carmichael and George Tripp and his 12-year-old son.
When a group of missionaries arrived in 1899, malaria struck them as well. By 1901, all had either lost their lives, become disabled, or been driven away by the disease. Anderson alone had full responsibility for the mission, including the management of its farm and school.
In 1903, Anderson set out in search of prospective sites for mission stations. He journeyed northward into present-day Zambia, traveling 1,000 miles in four months on foot. He faced many perils, including a bout of dysentery that nearly killed him. Tensions between the Africans and colonial authorities remained a potential source for violent conflict. The authorities recommended that Anderson visit Chief Monze of the Batonga tribe, who had led an uprising a year before, and report any suspicious activity. Anderson visited Monze, but only to request land for a mission station. Though Monze had previously resisted Christian missions, he provided Anderson with a site perfectly suited for a mission station and industrial school. Anderson called it Rusangu.
In 1904, Anderson received news that his father had died. Granted a year-long furlough, he returned to the United States, where he spoke at various Adventist gatherings, rousing support for the work in Africa. He became known as one of Adventism’s best-known promoters of world mission.
When Anderson returned to Rusangu in 1905, he envisioned devoting two years to learning the local language and building the mission. Within a month, though, 40 young Africans arrived, pleading for an education. Anderson did his best to offer them basic instruction while overseeing the development of the buildings and farm. Rusangu became the center of a satellite system of self-supporting schools and produced many entrepreneurial farmers.
Anderson lost his wife, Nora, to black-water fever in 1908 and married Mary Elizabeth Perin in 1910. He served for 12 years as director of Rusangu Mission and then pioneered mission work in current-day Botswana until 1924. From 1924 to 1933, he was superintendent of the Angola Union Mission.
In 1934, Anderson began his final decade of mission work, serving as field secretary for the Southern Africa Division. This role, which involved opening new mission stations, teaching and encouraging church workers, advising new missionary recruits, and raising money, seems a fitting capstone to 50 years of ministry devoted entirely to the people of southern Africa.