How did the Harris movement spread Christianity in western Africa?

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new religious movement As the leader of Peoples Temple, Jim Jones was notorious for instigating a shocking mass murder-suicide, the Jonestown Massacre, in 1978.

The Harris movement was the largest mass movement toward Christianity in West Africa, initiated by the Liberian prophet William Wadé Harris.1

Following a vision in 1910, Harris traveled along the coast preaching his message, eventually reaching Ghana by 1914. His method of spreading the faith involved encouraging followers to discard traditional ritual and magic objects, adopt the sabbath, and build churches. He promised that white teachers would eventually arrive to provide formal biblical instruction, which led his followers to wait in anticipation for organized missionary support.1

The movement’s impact was significant:
* Mass Conversion: An estimated 120,000 people were baptized under his influence.1
* Institutional Growth: Established denominations, including Methodists and Roman Catholics, gained thousands of converts in western Ghana, while British Methodism expanded into the Ivory Coast by 1924.1
* Independent Churches: Many converts formed their own religious organizations, such as the Church of the Twelve Apostles and the Églises Harristes, which continue to have a substantial following today.1