Beyond Christianity

This article examines the history of German missionaries in the colonial Mbeya, a southwest region of Tanzania, from the 1880s to 1918. It explores how missionaries influenced political, social, and economic changes that had a profound impact on the lives of the local population. The article investigates the secular roles of missionaries, which, although they supported evangelisation, they were not directly non-secular aspects. In doing so, the article considers missionaries' efforts in education, health, agriculture, trade, and tax collection, which sometimes led to them working as colonial intermediaries in certain areas of Mbeya. Based on primary and secondary sources, the article argues that missionaries' works instilled technical skills and social knowledge, thereby playing a significant role in the development and shaping of people of Mbeya socially, politically and economically. These missionary activities have remained non-religious heritage to the people. The article contributes to the literature of secular missionary influences and heritage in the global South.