ADA WOJIEWHOR ERINWO AND THE MAKING OF MISSIONARY HEROINE IN IKWERRELAND

Abstract

The planting of Christianity in Ikwerreland was phenomenal. It remains the success story of a heroine in a male chauvinistic society. This paper explores how Ada Wojiewhor Erinwo overcame patriarchy, harmful traditional beliefs and practices against women in a period when the visibility of women in mission and political discourse both in Africa, and elsewhere, was unthinkable. What were her struggles, strategies and resistance? How significant were her efforts in negotiating the gospel message within her socio-cultural contexts, thereby making the planting of Christianity in Ikwerre "her-story" and not “his-storyâ€. Utilizing ethno-historical and emic perspectives, the paper contends that the story of the Anglican Church in Ikwerreland is an indigenous discovery of Christianity; that is, the history of how the "ordinary people" - slaves, traders, artisans, ex-convicts, and "Bible women" shaped, appropriated, and reinterpreted Christianity among the Uvuawhu (Ikwerre) communities. The paper concludes that Ada Wojiewhor Erinwo images an icon of womanhood and heroine in the receptivity and growth of Ikwerre Anglicanism.