Series: I. Records of the International Council

Arrangement: Alphabetical by folder title

Date range: 1938-2006. There are many records that greatly pre-date the formation of the present international council, which was formed in 1972. The duties of both the international conference and the central field council were taken over by the international council and many of the files of these bodies came to the council’s office. The post-1985 materials all relate to either the Training in Ministry Outreach (TIMO) or to AIM’s medical, church-planting or development projects in the southern part of Africa.

Volume: 8.3 cubic feet

Boxes: 31 to 36, 125-129

Geographic coverage: Australia, Great Britain, Canada, Central African Republic, Comoros Islands, Congo, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawai, Mozambique, Namibia, New Zealand, Reunion island, Rwanda, Seychelles Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, United States Type of documents: Most of the materials in this series are from the international office in Nairobi. These include correspondence, reports, newsletters, clippings, and minutes of meetings. Correspondents: Richard Anderson, Keith Bakker, Erik Barnett, William Barnett, John Bokeleale, Alan Checkley, E. L. Davis, Jonathan Dawn, Ralph Davis, Ian Hays, Dick Lasse, John Linquist, Nikolao Oling, John Pickett, J. Pienaar, Norman Thomas, Abednego Vuni, Maurice Wheatley

Subjects: The files deal with all aspects of the mission’s work, particularly since the mid 1970s. This includes recruitment of missionaries, raising of financial support, administration, support services, attitudes toward other missions, and relations with colonial and national governments. But the two topics for which there are the most information are development and relations with the Africa Inland Church in various countries and the specifics of AIM’s missionary work: evangelistic, nurturing, educational, medical, etc.

Descriptive limits: The material in this series in the container list and to some extent in these scope notes are described to the folder level. Note: The processing of this collection is periodically updated with recently received accessions from AIM. All processing done after 1998 is at the box level. Therefore the researcher needs to be aware that in general the pre-1970 records are described in much greater detail than the post-1970 records.

Notes: The records in this series consist of the records of the International Council, the highest governing body of AIMI. This council is made up of representatives of the sending or home branches and the field councils. The international general secretary is chosen by this group and acts as chief executive officer for the entire mission. The headquarters for the international office were in Nairobi until 1986, when they were moved to London.

Several files contain records that go back to the mid-1950s and earlier. These mainly deal with administration of the mission and coordination between the various home offices and fields. Folder 32-3 contains copies of the constitution and by-laws as they were revised over the years. Examples of the mission’s methods of reaching decisions can be found in the central field council files (folders 31-23 and 31-24), the inter field conference and council material (folders 32-4, 32-5) and the files of the international council (folders 32-6 to 32-11). Thus, for example, folders 31-23 and 31-24 contain plans for the 1955 diamond jubilee of the mission; lists of central field council members; some notes on the history of the mission by D. M. Miller; minutes of the international conference of AIM in Rhode Island; the policy on outside affiliations of AIM workers; discussions on the allocation of resources, a draft of a proposed missions manual; brief description of all major projects and situations in the late 1950’s; continuing discussion on church/mission relations; reports on the effects of Congo crisis on church work; field secretaries reports and extensive reports from the 1968 meeting. A good overview of the mission can be gotten by studying the material in folder 31-25.

After World War II, the mission tried various ways of developing some kind of overall governing structure for what had become a very complicated organization. Folder 33-1 contains correspondence about problems that arose over the predominant influence of the United States home council and director, Ralph Davis. The first international council of home and field representatives was held in conjunction with the mission’s diamond jubilee in 1955. Records of the event are in folder 31-23. Material concerning the second international conference are in folder 32-11. There is a good description of the historical background to the formation of the international council in folder 32-10. The documents of the actual formation of the council and the election of Norman Thomas as the first international general secretary in 1972 are in folder 32-6 and those about the setting up of the Nairobi office election are in folder 32-7. Folder 32-10 includes position descriptions for various members of the international staff. In 1972 AIM hired the Christian Service Fellowship (CSF) to do an evaluation of the mission, concentrating on future ministries, qualications needed for missionaries, financial implications, and administrative structure. This file contains the CSF report as well as the results of extensive surveys and interviews conducted with missionaries, board members, and others associated with AIM. Folder 32-6 contains some of the surveys filed out by AIM nurses as part of this overall process. Folder 32-9 includes an organizational chart for the mission, ca. 1978. Folder 32-8 has a statement on the mission’s policy on divorce and remarriage. An updated policy statement is in folder 122-12.

In the late 1970s, several divisions were set up within the mission to provide needed services to members. These included air transportation, banking, supplies, technical support, and property. They were all a part of International Services and folder 34-2 contains reports on the work of the different departments as well as an organization chart. More on the work of the air transportation section, called AIM AIR, can be found in folders 31-1 to folder 31-9. These include a 1978 operations manual (folder 31-1) which describes procedures for landing, emergency situations, search and rescue, training, accepting passengers, etc.; statistics on number of flights, costs (folder 31-2); memos concerning cooperation with other missions (folder 31 3); flight information and statistics for Kenya (folder 31-4) and the Central African Republic (folder 31-5); work with Centre Medical Evangelique (folder 31-7, folder 105-2); relations between AIM AIR and Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) (folder 31-7); minutes of the board of directors including reports of director of AIM AIR, and budgets, minutes of Air Serv starting in 1978 (folder 31-9). Folder 33-7 has materials on cooperation between AIM AIR and MAF in Kenya which deal with the reasons for MAF cutting back its services in that country in 1980. See also folder 32-15. Folder 33-6 documents the work of Afromedia and Maturity Audio Visuals. Folder 103-2 contains a report on the efforts of another organization, Wycliffe Bible Translators, to orient their new members to life in East Africa by means of what was called the Kenya Safari.

A large portion of the collection consists of the correspondence of the international general secretary (IGS). Although this material is throughout the series, his particular correspondence with different councils and other groups are concentrated in folders 32-12 to 34-1. These include material from the central field director, chairperson of the inter field council and the United States home director, all of whom had formal or informal responsibilities later taken over by the IGS. E.L. Davis (Inter field committee), Ralph Davis (United States home council), Norman C. Thomas (first IGS), and Richard Anderson (his successor) have material throughout this series, particularly Anderson. (Also interesting in terms of Anderson’s leadership are the tapes of his talk to an AIM home council meeting about challenges and opportunities, T353-T355.) The contents of these files are described topically throughout the rest of this description.

Several files contain records of the various home or sending offices. Folder 33-1 has material on the relationships between the councils. All of the sending councils are represented in these files: Australia (folders 31-11 to 31-13), Canada (folders 31-17 to 31-19, 32-13), Great Britain (folders 31-14 to 31-16, 32-12), New Zealand (folders 31-12, 34-15, 34-16), South Africa (folders 35-2 to 35-4), and the United States (folders 33-22, 33-23, 36-3 to 36-7). Typically these files contain the minutes of the sending council, deputation reports, decisions on mission candidates, newsletters to missionaries in the field and prayer letters back from them, questions about cost of living allowances, reports on the situation in countries where the workers of a particular council are stationed and correspondence between members of the international council, copies of constitutions and/or by-laws. The Australian files (folder 31-11) have some correspondence about living conditions in the Sudan, the effect of the change in the mission caused by the creation of the international council and a report by Alan Checkley (whose correspondence is also throughout this series) on a trip to Hong Kong, Korea and Singapore to talk with mission leaders in those countries about sending missionaries to Africa. Folder 32-9 contains a report by British home director Wheatly on his visits to Holland, Germany and Switzerland to investigate the possibility of cooperation with various continental mission boards. The Canadian files (folder 32-13) include a copy of the mission’s policy on speaking in tongues and a model for the contract, or alliance, between a sending council and the international council. The South African files (folder 35-4), in which J. Pienaar is a frequent correspondent, includes newsletters in both English and Afrikaaner. The United States files include reports on the council’s inner city work with young blacks in Newark, New Jersey. (See also tape T347 and photo file: AFRICA INLAND MISSIONS - URBAN MINISTRIES) The files of the United States council makes up subseries IIB of this collection.

The files for the various field councils also contain similar types of material: field director reports, minutes of the field council, assessments of needs, evangelism, church planting, medical work, educational work, literature work, relations with the AIC, relations with the government. The more unusual topics in materials that relate to each field are described briefly below, except for church mission relations, which is dealt with in a separate paragraph.

Central African Republic (folders 31-21, 32-14): Description of travel of missionaries to and from Sudan; effect on the mission of independence of CAR from France in 1961; questions about the AIM’s medical policy and method of starting new hospitals, 1971 goals for the training of nationals, report by Dr. Joyce Nsubuga on medical care at Zemio station, strategy for dealing with sleeping sickness at Zemio. Field director John Linquist is a frequent correspondent. Folder 31-21 has some very early minutes of the joint Congo, Uganda and French Equatorial Africa field council. Folder 101-3 contains a decade’s worth of information about another significant school in central Africa, this one not started by AIM. It was the Bangui Evangelical School of Theology (BEST) in Bangui in the Central African Republic.

Kenya (folders 32-3 to 33-4, 34-3 to 34-9): Survey of mission work in the north coast area (folder 32-3); negotiations with the colonial government to open a station and prison work among the Turkana people and material dealing with work in Turkana district (folder 34-9); rescue of a lost Peace Corp party ca. 1969 (folder 34-9); reports on famine relief and public health among the Turkana people (folder 34-9; see also folder 102-5); papers on social-psychological aspects of the Turkana people (folder 32-3); cooperative project between World Vision and AIM to help improve agricultural production among the Turkana people (folder 32-3); report on mission work in the western area of Kenya and work that others, such as Pentecostals and Seventh Day Adventists, were doing there (folder 32-3); historical notes on Moffat Bible College (folder 33-2); orientation booklet for new missionaries (folder 33-3); 1954 policy on food relief among Kikuyu as affected by the Mau Mau crisis, a program from the independence celebrations at Kisumu in 1963 (folder 34-4); several other reports on the Mau Mau crisis (folder 34-4); 1958 revision of by-laws (folder 34-4); the development of Scott Theological College (folders 34-4, 34-19); policy on women teachers at Scott (folder 34-19); complaints about anti intellectualism at Scott and in AIM generally (folder 34-19), report entitled "Crisis of Church Leadership in Africa" (folder 34-19); letter to Jomo Kenyatta congratulating him on election success in 1963 (folder 34-4); Rift Valley Academy reports; additional Rift Valley historical documents (79-2) (see oversize folder OS11 for lists of RVA attendance in the early 1930s); 1972 report on the Pentecostal movement in Kenya (folder 34-5); 1979 report on hand over of property to AIC (folder 34-5); information on the eightieth anniversary. Folder 33-12 includes information on coordination of AIM and Sudan Interior Mission in Kenya. Erik Barnett is a frequent correspondent.

Sudan (folders 33-13, 33-14, 35-5 to 7, box 83): Notes on the beginning of AIM work in Sudan; impact on mission of political events leading up to independence; 1957 history of the field by Harold Amstutz; departure and return of missionaries because of rebellion in the late 1950’s (folder 35-6); government regulation of Catholic and Protestant missions and churches (folder 35-6); the Missionary Societies Act, which openly allowed evangelizing in specific places and AIM’s response (folder 35-6) expulsion of AIM in 1963 (folder 35-7); martyrdom of pastor Gideon Adwok (folder 35-6); return of AIM in 1972 as the Volunteer Service Group (VSG) working first through AIM, then through AIC (folders 35-6, 33-13; see also folder 122-1); reports on Sudan situation by AIC director Nikolao Oling and his successor, Abednego Vuni (folders 35-6, 33-14, 33-24; see also the Sudan field minutes in folder 97-7 and the Sudan correspondence and other materials in folders 107-3 to 107 5 in subseries IIB; complaints about Vuni (folder 35-14); the five-year plan of AIC adopted in 1975 (folder 33-14); public health needs in southern Sudan (folder 34-13); membership of AIC in a group affiliated with the World Council of Churches; deteriorating political situation in Sudan in 1983 and responses of VSG (folder 33-14). Folder 35-5 documents the development of the Sudan Evangelical Council (originally called South Sudan Evangelical Council). This council included Sudan mission organizations as well as the Anglican Church Missionary Society. Records describe the preparation of gospel materials in colloquial Arabic and other languages, cooperation between the churches, evangelistic efforts, and relations with Muslims. See also folder 32-10. Box 83 contains correspondence, reports and other materials from the Africa Committee for the Rehabilitation of Southern Sudan (Across), of which AIM was a member. (See also Slide set S26 and tape T358.)

Tanzania (folders 33-15 to 33-17, 35-8 to 35-10): A history of the relationship between the mission and the AIC up to 1968 (folder 33-17). Folder 31-22 also has information on this topic. The files of the Tanzania field make up subseries IIIA of this collection.

Uganda (folders 33-19, 33-20, 35-14 to 36-2): All files have material on political conditions and their effect on mission work. Folder 32-7 has a 1975 report on Idi Amin’s government and its attitude toward Christianity. There is also a good deal of information on AIM’s medical work, particularly at Kangundo Hospital. Folders 36-1 and 36-2 document the mission’s cooperation with various relief agencies, such as Samaritan’s Purse and World Concern, to get needed food, equipment and Bibles into the country. There are reports on the situation in various parts of the country. Folder 33-26 has information on Uganda refugees in Zaire.

Zaire (folders 33-25,33-26, 36-9 to 36-12): Efforts of home councils to maintain contact with the Congo field in the 1960s when there was continuing fighting in the newly independent nation (folder 36-9); description of independence ceremonies in the Belgian Congo (folder 36-9); question of affiliation of the AIM with the Congo Protestant Council (folder 36-10); reports on the Congo crisis and minutes of the Congo field council in exile, set up after missionaries had to flee the coun-try (folder 36-10); additional material on the mission’s activities during the Congo crises of 1960 and 1964 are in box 85; plans of Congo Protestant Council leader John Bokeleale to form a united church in the Congo of all denominations (excluding missionaries) and opposition from conservative pastors and missionaries (folders 33-25, 31-22); the visit to the U.S. by Bokeleale; reports on ways to integrate mission areas; report on 1972 law which restricted freedom of churches in relation to government (folder 33-25); formation of the Communaute Evangelique au Centre de Lafrique (CECA) (folder 33-26); family planning project (folder 33-26); Uganda refugees in Zaire (folder 33-26); attempt by Unevangelized Fields Mission, AIM, and Mission Evangelique d’Oubangui to start a school to train Congolese pastors (folder 36-12). Efforts resulted in the North Congo Theological Seminary, later moved to Bunia and renamed the Institut Superieur Theologique de Bunia. Material in file documents planning, attempts to reach a common doctrinal statement, proposed curriculum, and news from alumni. Purpose of the school was to turn out evangelical ministers to oppose drift to liberal Christianity. See also folders 72-2 and 74-3.

Besides these well-established fields, there were other areas into which AIM had only recently moved or where they were working in cooperation with another mission or where no decision had been made as to whether to stay permanently. These areas are described below.

Cameroon (folder 33-9): Reports on the situation of the church in that country and what niche AIM might be able to fill.

Comoros Islands (folders 31-26 to 32-2): Basic political, cultural and economic information on the islands (folder 31-26); plans for evangelistic work (folder 31-26); information on contacts with Muslim population (folder 31-26); work of AIM’s Volunteer Service Group (folder 31-26); pullout in 1978 (folder 31-26); return to island of Mayotte (folder 32-1); reports from Dick Lasse (folder 32-1); leprosy work (folder 32-1); information on expenses (folder 32-1); agreements in French between VSG and Comoros government (folder 32-2); translation work in cooperation with Wycliffe (folder 32-2); the medical work of William Barnett (folder 32-2), minutes of inter island committee describing all the activities taking place on the islands and relations with the government (folder 32-2). Folders 33-8 and 33-10 contain information on Charmoudine Mhoudine, a native of the islands who was sent to Europe by the mission for further training. See also folder 32-10.

Ethiopia (folder 33-9): Reports on the situation of the church in that country and what niche AIM might be able to fill.

Ivory Coast (folder 33-9): Reports on the situation of the church in that country and what niche AIM might be able to fill.

Madagascar (folders 34-10, 34-11): Reports by different mission groups on the church in Madagascar; development of a project in which AIM would help the indigenous Bible society develop a plot of land, which would raise the agricultural expertise in the area and provide support for part-time evangelism; analysis of the project by World Vision; participation of Volunteer Service Group; disagreements between AIM workers and local pastors over how fast things could be done.

Malawi (folder 33-5): Letters from pastors in Malawi asking AIM to start a work there. Material on Roman Catholic missions in the country.

Mozambique (folder 34-12): Reports from Africa Evangelical Fellowship and others on the situation in the country and relations with the Marxist government; investigation by AIM of the possibility of having a work there. See also folder 32 10.

Namibia (folder 34-13): Work of Africa Evangelical Fellowship in that country, possibility of cooperation, correspondence with J. Pienaar of AEF in South Africa, reports on the general political and economic conditions in the country and the attitudes toward the Gospel. Additional material can be found in folder 69-3.

Nigeria (folder 33-9): Reports on the situation of the church in that country and what niche AIM might be able to fill.

Reunion Island (folder 34-17): Background material on the island; reports on AIM’s educational work and church planting; information on cooperation there with Africa Evangelical Fellowship and the Swiss Missionary Association.

Seychelles Islands (folders 34-20, 35-1): Agreement between government and Volunteer Service Group; starting of a ceramics training center on Seychelles; reports on activities.

Zambia (folder 34-1): Possibility of seconding workers to the Evangelical Church of Zambia.

The files contain a good deal of information of the relationship between AIM and other Christian organizations. Folder 31-22 contains a copy of a 1958 report from the Accra assembly of the International Missionary Council on how to integrate church and mission and particularly how to integrate the council with the World Council of Churches. The meeting set up procedures for carrying out that integration. Other materials show the objections of AIM, as a member of the Congo Protestant Council. The same file includes an address by Bishop Lesslie Newbigin of the International Missionary Council on Africa and the place of missionaries there; a report on the All Africa Christian Youth Assembly held in 1963; a report on the All Africa Conference of Churches, 1963; minutes of the Evangelical Alliance in Congo in 1969 including reports on serious disputes within the Congo Protestant Council and opposition to the Alliance by John Bokeleale, secretary of CPC, and opposition of Alliance to proposed changes in the CPC; the consolidation in 1970 of AIM and the Eglise Evangelique du Congo Oriental; and the reaction of evangelicals to the formation of the Church of Christ in Congo. Additional material on this movement can be found in folder 33-25. Further material on AIM’s relationship to the WCC is in folder 82-7

Folder 32-11 includes the minutes of a conference on evangelical fellowship and ecumenicity held in Kenya in 1962. The meeting included delegates from AIM, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (Howard Jones), World Gospel Mission, Methodist Church, Navigators, Pentecostal Assemblies of East Africa, Gospel Furthering Fellowship, Berean Mission, Friends Mission, and AIC. The delegates discussed the danger of religious liberalism and the need for united action and cooperation. Other material relating to relations with specific organizations has already been referred to above. For example, coordination with the SIM on work relating to the Somali people in Kenya is described in folder 33-12, including correspondence with Ian Hays and John Pickett. SIM is also referred to in folder 35-5. Missionary Aviation Fellowship is mentioned in folders 31-7 and 33-7.

AIM seconded some of its missionaries to work with the Africa Evangelical Fellowship and this relationship is covered in folders 34-12, 34-13, 34-17, and 83-8. Folder 31-22 includes a letter from Africa Evangelical Fellowship director H. Gordon Legg on close parallels between AIM and AEF on church/mission relations and asking about AIM’s plans for future cooperation with AIC. Folder 32-15 contains correspondence about cooperation with the Christoffel Blinden mission, which gave money for AIM work and helped build a hangar for AIM AIR, which could be used for CBM workers.

Other examples of cooperative efforts are in folders 35-5 and 36-12. Folder 32-11 includes a 1972 proposal for a merger between North Africa Mission and AIM. The changing relationship between the AIM and the AIC as a whole and in particular countries is a major theme of these materials. The AIC has been referred to many times already in this description. Perhaps the file with the most information on the church/mission relationship is folder 31-22. Besides material already mentioned, it contains a memo on how the movement to independence in Kenya in 1958 was affecting the mission and the Africa Inland Church; relationship of the Church Mission Society to churches in Kenya and Uganda; various policy statements passed by the central field council on church and mission; the newsletter of the Christian Council of Kenya, by Paul Fueter; memorandum by Philip Henman, chairman of the international conference, on the inevitability of an independent church in Africa and the need to prepare for it; negotiations between AIM and the Eglise Du Christ Au Congo (AIM); effect of Congo crisis on planning; opposition of field councils to adoption of principles, outlined by Henman, by home councils without consulting the central field council; and suggested agreement between church and mission in Kenya. Reports on the development of AIC in Tanganyika and the desire of the church leaders for more control and independence; notes of the AIC staffing committee. Minutes of the AIC from 1945 on are in folder 32-4. Other important files to consult are folders 32-4, 32-6, 32-11, 33-1, 67-6, 87-5 and 92-4.

Folder 34-18 contains records about Rift Valley Academy, where missionary children were educated. Documents cover such topics as the seventy fifth anniversary celebration of the school, fees, education of British students, and the policy on admitting non missionary students. Folder 32-6 also contains reports on the school. Additional historical material about the school, financial records, syllabi, school board minutes, etc., are in folders 79-2, 91-1, and in Oversize Drawer OS11.

Boxes 125, 126, and 127 contain material on the Training in Ministry Outreach (TIMO) project. This was a project initiated by AIMI General Secretary Richard Anderson to recruit young seminary and Bible school graduates to work with AIM missionaries in the field for periods up to a couple of years; the program’s objective was to provide training for Christian workers in cross-cultural ministries and expanding the mission’s capacity to beginning churches. Usually teams of four to ten people (usually consisting of married couples) were assigned to a worker in a new AIM field for one to two years to work as a team in planting and developing churches. Box 125 contains material on the history and purpose of the project (folders 125-1,8), training manuals (folder 125-9), correspondence between AIM home councils and the workers they had sent out as TIMO team members (folder 126-2), and the project newsletter (folder 125-3). Reports from the leaders and the individual team members are in boxes 126 and 127. Besides describing their specific situations, the reports also give a idea of the daily life of an American or European Christian missionary in East Africa at the end of the 20th century. Teams were sent to either survey or begin churches among the Luo (folders 127-2,3,4), Avokaya people (folder 126-6), the Duruma people (folders 126-11, 127-1), the Asian population of Nairobi (folder 127-12), the Tugen people (folders 127-15, 16), the Wanyambo (folder 127-17) of Kenya, the Bara people of Madagascar (folder 126-7), the Datooga people (folder 126-8), the Digo people (folder 126-9), the island people of Lake Victoria (folder 127-6), the Rangi or Warangi people (folder 127-19), the Wadatoga or Wataturu people (folder 127-19) of Tanzania, the Comorians of the Comoro Islands (folder 127-5), the Sotho or Basotho people of Lesotho (folders 127-7,8), the Mwani people of Mozambique (folder 127-11, see also folders 129-4 ), the Herero, Ovambo, and Damara people of Nambia (folder 127-13), and the Mayotte Island people (folder 127-10). There is also material on a proposed TIMO project among the Somali people (folder 127-14).

Up until the late 20th century, almost all of the AIM’s work had been in East Africa. But then the mission began developing mission fields further south, often in cooperation with African churches or other foreign mission agencies. AIMI set up a Southern Office to oversee this work. Boxes 128 and 129 have folders with the files of this office. Mostly the file consists of letters and e-mails from AIM workers in these countries, describing their recent activities as well as problems and opportunities in their fields. The AIM outreach include church planting, theological education by extension, educational work (such as the Higher Evangelical Seminary of Lubango or ISTEL, see folder 128-2), development projects, and medical missions. Most of the work was in Mozambique (folders 128-6, 129-1 through 129-5), but there are also files for Angola (folders 128-1,2), Lesotho (folder 128-3), Madagascar (folders 128-4,5), Reunion Island (folder 129-6), and Seychelles Islands (folder 129-7). Folders 128-1,2,6 and 129-1,2,3,4,5 contain many documents relating to the work of AIM’s home council in Brazil, the Missão internacional o interior da África, which supported Portuguese-speaking missionaries in Angola and Mozambique. A good idea of the daily activities of AIM’s workers in Mozambique can be had from their monthly prayer calendars in folder 129-2. A chronology of the first twenty-years of AIM’s work in Madagascar can be found in folder 128-5.

Series: II. Records of the Sending Countries (often called home councils)

Subseries: A. Records of AIM - United States (Note: The Archives does not have the records of the AIM branch from any other sending country)

Arrangement: This subseries is divided by the archivist into four smaller subseries: Council Files, General Files, Inland Africa Files, and Personnel Files. The folders are arranged alphabetically according to folder title. The material within each folder is arranged chronologically.

Date range: 1900-2009

Volume: 64.42 cubic feet

Boxes: 1-27, 67, 70-92, 94-124

Geographic coverage: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Congo (Zaire), Central African Republic, Comoros Islands, the International Council of the mission, Kenya, Nambia, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, United States. The vast majority of materials deal with the Congo, Kenya, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, United Kingdom (Great Britain) and the United States Type of documents: Minutes, correspondence, memoranda, reports, financial records, statistics, questionnaires, personnel files, manuscripts, manuals, constitutions, by-laws, newsletters.

Correspondents: Significant correspondents are mentioned in the notes below for the four subseries (1,2,3,4) of this subseries IIA.

Subjects: This subseries shows the work of the mission from the perspective of the United States branch. Numerous topics are covered by the documents in this part of the series, from the career of Theodore Roosevelt to the 1997 evacuation of missionaries from Zaire. Most materials, however, deal with either the Christianity community in the various African colonies, later nations; the tasks of AIM missionaries, or the overall administration of the work by the various home and field councils. There is a great deal of information on the policy making process of the mission, its governance, the tasks its missionaries performed, and its cooperation with other mission groups. There is a little, although not a great deal, on the financial side of the mission, including the raising and apportioning of funds.

There are not many records from the first fifteen years of the mission’s existence. Boxes 26 and 27 consist mainly of personnel files, films, and photographs, along with a few miscellaneous items in the general files. The folders are arranged alphabetically by titles which were partially supplied by the archivist.

Descriptive Levels: The processing of this collection is periodically updated with more recently received accessions from AIM. All processing done after 1998 is at the box level. Therefore the researcher needs to be aware that in general the pre-1970 records are described in much greater detail than the post-1970 records. The materials processed earlier were often described to the item level, the material processed later is described to the box level.

Subseries: A1. Council Records

Arrangement: Alphabetical by title

Date range: 1915-1972

Volume: 10.25 cubic feet

Boxes: 1-8, 63-69, 94-97

Geographic coverage: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Comoros Islands, Congo (Zaire) , Central African Republic, Great Britain, Kenya, Namibia, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, United States. The vast majority of materials deal with the Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and the United States

Type of documents: Mainly minutes of council meetings, a few other types of documents such as reports, financial statements, correspondence.

Subjects: The Council files contain the records of governing bodies at various levels of AIM, particularly the minutes of meetings. Descriptive limits: The processing of this collection is periodically updated with recently received accessions from AIM. All processing done after 1998 is at the box level. Therefore the researcher needs to be aware that the general the pre-1970 records are described in much greater detail than the post-1970 records. The materials processed earlier were often described to the item level, while the material processed later is described to the box level.

Notes: This subseries contains largely notes and minutes and some reports relating to the U.S. home council’s relationship with the entities within the mission, namely the other home councils that send missionaries to the field, the field councils that govern the activities of missionaries in particular countries, the Africa Inland Church or its equivalent in various countries, and the central administrative of the mission, the international council and the staff of the international office. It also documents the activities of local committees within the United States, sometimes called the district committees.

The Home Councils’ records, besides dealing with the questions of support and personnel selection, also deal with general policy questions, the revision of the constitution, directing the staff, coordinating the work in the various fields, and coordinating its activities with other AIM home councils. The American Home Council also dealt with matters concerning the AIM’s Media Retirement home in Clermont, Florida. Besides the American Home Council (folders 1-13 to 1-66 and 4-31 to 4-53), the collection also contains materials from the Australian, British, Canadian, European, and New Zealand Home Councils. The South African committee (folders 7-5 to 7-10, 67-2, 67-3) functioned in most ways as a home council. Since this is a collection of the records of the American Home Council, most materials in the other home council files concern matters being discussed between them and the American Council. Some of the files contain the mission’s annual reports, with statistics on missionaries such as marital status, education, appointments, religious affiliation, etc.

There are field council files from the Central Field Council, Congo (Zaire), Central African Republic (French Equatorial Africa), Comoros Islands, Kenya, Namibia, Seychelles, Sudan, Tanzania (formerly Tanganyika), Uganda. The material in the files deals with various practical problems the missionaries faced in allocating resources, enforcing mission policies, dealing with colonial governments, cooperating with other missions, etc. Field councils (and home councils) also contain materials on the question of to what degree and how quickly authority should be given to African leaders and the mission churches nationalized. Besides dealing with AIM’s activities, the field council records contain a great deal of information on the changing political and social climate in Africa. Some examples: the Congo council correspondence gives a vivid picture of the upheaval in 1960 and 1961 that necessitated the evacuation of all missionaries in the area (folder 3-25); folder 68-5 includes a report by Byang Kato on the Congo church and its relations with foreign missionaries, liberal and conservative foreign churches and Congolese Evangelicals; Kenya files have reports on the sect called Ruandaism which was hostile to the mission’s work (folder 6-42); and the material in folder 5-135 which deals with the controversy over membership in the Christian Council of Kenya (CCK) as they involved the AIM, the Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Mission (IBPFM), the International Missionary Council (IMC), the World Council of Churches (WCC), the government of Kenya, various mission groups in Kenya, individuals and supporting churches. The controversy appeared to revolve around and was earlier triggered by the IBPFM opposition to the CCK because of its presumed connections with the WCC and the subsequent refusal by the Kenya government of IBPFM’s request for a mission station site. Records seem to indicate the IBPFM interpreted government actions to mean they were compelled to join the CCK as a condition for approval. The matter reached a magnitude which not only affected the reputation of the AIM and other mission groups, it also involved the government at Kenya and the British government in London. There were also allusions to prevailing political conditions in Africa hostile to government and the British were careful to preserve mission prestige in that country. The same file contains a detailed study on the status of mission work in Kitui district in the 1940’s. Most of the files, however, contain only a few sentences clipped from meeting minutes about the particular topic of the folder. Such correspondence as there is was usually to or from the head of the United States branch of the mission.

The Central Field Council files (folders 2-21 to 2-83, box 68), and the Interfield Directorate files (folders 4-54, 4-55) deal with common problems of the work in Africa and joint projects undertaken by various fields. There are lists assigning priorities to resources and responsibilities, minutes on the relation with the African Church and discussion of personnel policies. Folder 4-55 contains several changes suggested by field men to a proposed new AIM constitution.

The International Conference materials (folders 5-25 to 5-63, boxes 63-65, 96-97) deal with relationships with other mission societies, responsibilities of home councils and field councils, allocation of resources, the spiritual life of missions, relations with the Africa Inland Church, etc.

There are also numerous files containing materials relating to the international administration of AIM. These include correspondence with the International General Secretary who served as the executive of the International Conference (folder 4-56 to 5-24). Similar material is in the files of correspondence with International Secretary Richard Anderson (folders 72-7, 73-1). These files include information on the procedure for establishing new home councils, the political situation in various African colonies and nations, techniques of deputation work, the publications of AIM, and (folder 4-57) the cooperation between evangelist Jack Wyrtzen’s work in Africa and AIM (see also folder 39-10). Folders 5-14 and 5-13 contain information on the Secretary’s visits to Africa and information on the political problems of the area. Folder 80-2 contains minutes and other materials from the debate over whether there should be African representation on the International Council. Folders 74-7, 74-8, and 111- 1 contain a newsletter put out by the International Council on AIMI’s activities and plans. There are also copies (in folder 96-3) of the minutes of International Services, which supervised many of the support services of the mission, such as housing, transport (AIM-AIR), maintenance, etc. There is more on AIM-AIR in folder 98 3 and folder 125-2. See also CD3 and slide set S30.

Besides the Africa Inland Church materials in folders 1-3 to 1-7, there is scattered information on its operation in folders 2-23, 3-11, 5-65 to 5-86, 7-12 and elsewhere. These folders describe the organization and operation of the Church in the various fields, and the growing pressure for increasing African control of the Church’s work. Later materials show the partnership between the mission and the churches in different countries. Folder 95-1, for example, contains minutes of the Eglise du Christ au Zaire, on which the mission and the Congolese churches started by the mission were represented. Folder 103-1 contains a 1965 AIM newsletter with information about the death of the secretary of AIC-Kenya, Jason Nguta. Bishop (formerly President) Wellington Mulwa was the first leader of the independent Africa Inland Church in Kenya. There is some material about his often tempestuous relationship with AIM in folders 34-5 and 87-5, among other places.

The Constitution of AIM was revised several times and each revision was a long process, since so many councils scattered over such a long distance participated. Folders 3-95 to 3-108 contain some of the correspondence reports, memos and minutes, which went into the revision process.

District committees’ materials are concerned with representing the mission in their area, prayer support, fund raising, and the interviewing of missionary candidates. All district committee materials are from the United States. Missionaries on the field often sent back reports to the district committee or committees responsible for the area from which the missionary drew his or her support. Examples of the types of material in the files include the statement of faith in the Los Angeles folders which all committee members were required to sign (folder 6-65); a report in the Minneapolis committee materials on the welfare of missionary survivors of the sinking of the Egyptian vessel Zamzam, which had been attacked by the German naval vessel Atlantis during World War II (folder 6-68) (see also folders 16-44, 15-43, 14-15, 14-21, 21-3, 21-4, 23-11, and 39-12); the techniques of examining missionary candidates in the Twin City folder (folders 7-108, 7-109); and the rules and regulations governing district committees in the Pennsylvania District committee materials (folders 6-75, 6-76). Additional district committees’ files are in box 67. See also the minutes and correspondence from the committees of Chicago (95-4), Los Angeles (folders 97-1 and 97-2), Philadelphia (folder 97-4) and Lancaster, Pennsylvania (96-7).

Subseries: A2. General Files.

Arrangement: Alphabetical by title

Date range: 1900-1981

Volume: 27.95 cubic feet

Boxes: 8-16, 26, 38-39, 70-92, 98-110, 121-122

Geographic coverage: Australia, Canada, Congo, Central African Republic, Great Britain, Kenya, Netherlands, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, United States. The vast majority of materials deal with the Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and the United States

Type of documents: Mainly minutes of council meetings, a few other types of documents such as reports, financial statements, correspondence.

Subjects: These are mostly, although not entirely, the files of the head and assistant head of the AIM’s United States branch. The topics covered in these files closely parallel those covered by the council files and in fact there is much duplication of documents. Usually the General files provide more detail than the Council files, since the latter often contains only minutes of meetings, while the former contains the background material.

Descriptive limits: The processing of this collection is periodically updated with recently received accessions from AIM. All processing done after 1998 is at the box level. Therefore the researcher needs to be aware that the in general the pre-1970 records are described in much greater detail than the post-1970 records. The materials processed earlier were often described to the item level, the material processed later is described to the box level.

There is material that the US branch used as reference material scattered all throughout these files. One interesting folder is 105-6, which include research papers written on the place of prayer in the African Christian church, the Nande conception of God (this paper is in French), and the Hurri Hills Grazing Eco-system project.

Numerous files contain information on part of the same constitution revision debate contained in council folders 3-95 to 3-108 mentioned above in the notes to Subseries IIA1. However, while the council files materials deal mainly with the revisions done in the 1950’s, the general files also deal with earlier revisions. Folders 11-11 to 11-12 contain information on some of the questions involved, such as whether the doctrinal statement should reflect a more evangelical view, whether the field councils have an influence equal to the home councils, the duties of the international council or conference and the faith basis of the mission’s support. There are also letters and memos from AIM staffers and board members giving their personal viewpoints, such as the petitions in folder 15-15. Folders 9-9 to 9-11 contain some of the reactions of the British branch of the mission to revision. Additional material can be found in folders 37-3 and 37-5. Many of the mission’s policy statements from the late 20th century of subjects such as funding African national workers, home assignment or furloughs, divorce, home schooling, hostage/ransom situations, and inactive missionaries can be found in folders 122-10, 11 and 12.

The many aspects of the domestic side of the American Home Council’s work are illustrated in the General files. The actual meetings and activities of the council are detailed in the correspondence the General Secretary had with the various council members, such as William Bustard (folder 10-4), Stephen F. Olford (folders 15-2, 105-3), Richard W. Seume (folder 15-40, 91-3), W. Earl Robinson (folder 15 31), F. Carlton Booth (folder 8-63), J. Arthur Reed (folder 15-26), Werner Von Bergen (folder 8-56, 92-3), Frank Venderveer (folder 16-34), H. Arthur Vogel (folder 16-35), Paul Taber (folder 16-16), Edwin Johnson (folder 13-6), and David L. Sunden (folder 16-12). Most of this correspondence deals with the setting up of meetings and agendas, but a few folders have information on other topics. Thus, Von Bergen wrote about his trip to Africa and his visit with the Australian home council and Reed, who was also treasurer of the organization for many years, corresponded with the General Secretary about financial matters. Folder 79-6 contains some of evangelist and educator R. A. Torrey’s correspondence dealing with various personnel and policy questions of the mission. Torrey served as president of the United States home council from 1911-1928.

Interesting also are the folders containing correspondence with home council presidents Harry A. Ironside (folder 13-4) and Howard Ferrin (folder 12-10) and between Richard Seume (folder 15-40, 76-1, 76-2, 91-3) and Ironside discussing his thoughts on the proposed 1949 revision of the mission’s constitution, his correspondence with Bob Jones, Sr., about Bob Jones University’s preparation of people for missions, and his request to be allowed to retire from the position. Ferrin’s files contain a summary of his career up to 1948, general information on the conditions in various African countries, a schedule of speaking engagements, suggested ways for raising support in the United States, his opinion on the adoption of a new constitution in 1951, and reports on the trip he took with F. Carlton Booth and Ralph Davis to Africa in 1948. Besides describing field candidates, the reports of this type include minutes of a meeting the AIM leaders had with local African Church leaders on education problems and the complaints of the Africans; a letter to the governor of the Congo province of Stanleyville describes the possibility of setting up a work among the lepers of the colony. Seume’s files are concerned mainly with routine matters of agenda and meetings.

Other files contain material from the staff or other employees of the home council and describe its domestic activities on behalf of the mission. Folder 12-7 contains the correspondence, mostly about finances, of business manager Ruth Johnson; folders 13-32 to 14-3 contain the deputation reports of Frank L. Longman which are typical of the deputation reports in several other files, in that they discuss possible candidates and describe visits to various churches in the Chicago area (he also writes about the work of Missionary Aviation); other deputation reports are in Robert Kerstetter’s files in folders 13-22 to 13-25. There are also several additional reports and notes on deputation work in folders 86-3 to 86-8. Folder 15-44 contains correspondence of AIM attorney Jacob Stam and concerns itself with such matters as audits, corporate records, constitution and by-laws revision, income tax questions, preparation of wills and settlement of estates; folders 16-6 and 16-7 contain the correspondence of Gerald Stover, which, besides dealing somewhat with his work on the home council, also concerns his work as director of the extension department and editor of Inland Africa; and folder 16-41 contains letters of another Inland Africa editor, Evelyn Woodsworth. The files of the district committees in box 66 show how these groups, responsible for a particular geographic area, interviewed candidates, represented AIM at different types of meetings, and looked after the mission’s interests in the area. An interesting set of materials are in folder 110-2 which lay out the plans the mission developed to deal with the supposed Y2K problem. This was the belief that computer codes might not be able to deal with the chronological change from 1999 to 2000 and that therefore many vital systems dependent on computer programing might shut down.

Several folders deal with the general secretary and council’s supervision of AIM’s property in the United States. Folder 8-54 contains a record of AIM’s acquisition and sale of a conference ground in Pennsylvania. AIM, along with J. Elwin Wright and the Interdenominational Association of America, became involved in the 1920’s in an idea of promoter James Hilton’s to build a missionary furlough home in Florida called Longwood Missionary Fellowship. This idea eventually fell through (folder 14-4), but AIM did eventually acquire property in Florida which it used for retirement homes for its missionaries. This property became known as Media. Folders 14-8 to 14-10 contain records on the purchase and establishment of Media (with several letters from George W. Frutchey), the comings and goings of various missionaries, the work of the Media committee which handled Media’s maintenance and local arrangements, expenses, and descriptions of the life at Media. The correspondence files of Ralph T. Davis (folders 11-14 to 11-16) contain information on the administration and activities of the retirement center as well, since Davis retired to Media and had responsibility for it. Folder 372- contains a report on the Peffly Trust. Folder 75-8 contains issues of the Media newsletter and folders 89-1 to 89-4 contain the U.S. Director’s about Media-related issues. Later developments at the retirement center can be traced in folders 103-9, 104-1 and 104-2, which include the minutes of the retirement center council. There are several additional files on property, including the acquisition of headquarters in Pearl River, New York, in box 106.

There are also several files (folders 100-2 through 100-12) on the activities of area representatives in the United States, who helped raise support for the mission, maintained contact with existing supporters, helped recruit new missionaries, and represented the mission at a variety of different type of events. Folder 101-5 contains correspondence of AIM campus representatives.

The general secretaries or home directors of the North American Home Council were for many years the de facto administrative heads of the entire AIM. Several files contain correspondence, memos, and other documents by and about the work of four of these men Henry D. Campbell (folder 10-5), Ralph T. Davis (folders 11-4 to 11-6) Sidney Langford (folders 13-27, 13-28, 39-3, 39-5, 74-4, 74-5, 74-6, boxes 83-92), and Peter Stam (folders 76-3, 76-4, 76-5). In addition, there is information on Campbell (folder 19-20) and Davis (folders 19-26, 20-1 through 5), as well as on Charles Hurlburt (folder 21-18), in their files in the personnel series. Although there is no correspondence file on Hurlburt in the General series, folder 12-46 contains some of his letters. They discuss morale of workers in Africa, the construction of Theodora Hospital in Kenya, discussion of policies of financial support for missions, a memo for new missionaries on how to adapt to the field, a letter on how to raise funds for the education of Africans, letters on the administration of AIM, and notes on his efforts to balance the mission’s government between home and field. Folder 74-4 contains a copy of a 1919 Hurlburt letter about the qualities needed in a missionary. Folder 15-15 contains some letters and petitions sent to the Home Council about Hurlburt’s resignation. There are a few documents about Hurlburt’s will, although not a copy of the will, in folder 29-9. Folder 9-9 contains some of the British Council’s reactions to Hurlburt’s resignation. There is a history of Hurlburt’s work with AIM in folder 83-1. The correspondence of H. D. Campbell deals with the resignation also, as well as with cooperation between AIM’s African schools and local governments, the relationship between home and field, the work with lepers in Tanganyika, financial support, the desire of the British Council for a separate area of work, and the practice of female circumcision in Kenya. Folder 15-17 contains some letters by Campbell describing various mission policies.

The files of Ralph Davis (11-14 to 11-16)contains material on the physical and mental needs of mis-sionaries on furlough, the activities in the African fields, advice on mission administration, and letters written to his widow settling details of his estate. See also folders 19 26 to 20 5. Photo album AIM IV contains many pictures of his early missionary career in the Belgian Congo from 1917 through 1920.

Sidney Langford’s files are voluminous. They deal with every aspect of the mission’s work in Africa and in the United States. (Langford was head of the United States branch from 1956 until 1977. In some cases, folders contain materials much later than 1977. These files were apparently used for reference and occasionally added to after Langford retired.) The documents include minutes of the various filed and international councils, discuss candidates for the international council; the relationship between home, field, and international councils; stewardship; mission administration; the media retirement center; the situation in various fields; letters to donors, the orientation, or candidate school; a description of his visits to Africa, particularly his visits in 1960 (Sudan and Congo), 1968 and 1970; and financial administration. AIM in the United States had an annual meeting at Keswick, New Jersey, for home staff, furloughing missionaries and trustees. Langford’s files contain information on several of these between 1960 and 1972 (folders 88-5 to 88-10). There are also several audio tapes of addresses given at these meetings. Folder 74-4 also includes talks he gave toward the end of tenure on the future of AIM in particular and African Christianity in general. Several other folders contain copies of conference talks, reports, and other research material which relates to the mission’s attempts to understand how African culture and missionary work would develop in the future. For example, folder 88-11 documents relations with the Catholic Church and ecumenicalism among missions. Folder 90-7 contains studies of first-term missionary failures, crises in African church leadership, the future of missions in Africa, and the development of medical work in the Congo. Similar materials are in folders 5-8 and 90-1. Also in the file are copies of "News Report from Africa" and an issue of the Australian edition of Inland Africa. Langford’s personal newsletters are in folder 90-2. His correspondence with Ralph Davies when Langford was still a missionary in Sudan is in folder 102-1. Other correspondence is in folders 101-15.

The files of home director Peter Stam (boxes 70-77, among other places) and assistant home director Ed Schuit (boxes 77-82) deal with all aspects of the mission’s work in the 1970s and >80s. This included helping to set overall mission policy through participating in the AIM’s International Council, recruiting and supervising missionaries, mainlining contact with supporters and raising funds. Some of the day-in day-out activities of the staff can be seen by reviewing the minutes of the staff officers committee in folder 81-14. Other material of interest includes materials from the debate over the question of African representation on AIM councils (folder 80-2), the missions’s policy on speaking in tongues (see also folder 108-2), the mission’s statement of faith and practice (folder 81-13, foundation proposals for AIM development projects in east Africa. Other material on fund-raising and stewardship can be found in folder 81-14. Box 76 and 77 contain various statistical reports on the mission’s activities. Two folders of minutes and reports from International Councils that Schuit apparently attended are in folders 87-1 and 87-2. Folder 102-4 contains evaluations, including self-evaluations, of the mission during Stam’s tenure. Folder 107-1 contains an almost complete set of the monthly letters that Stam sent to AIM missionaries to keep them abreast of what was happening in the mission.

Ted Barnett became director of the U.S. branch in 1987. The annual reports for the U.S. branch of AIM give a yearly review of its activity. They are in folders 98-4 through 99-4, but there are many gaps before 1983. There is a complete set of reports for the Barnett era, up to 2000. The correspondence of Barnett, can be found throughout boxes 94 through 110, including folders 102-3 and 108-4 to 108-6, which included correspondence with the U.S. council. Additional files containing reference materials and minutes for various AIM and outside organizations that Barnett was involved with are in boxes 121 and 122. These include files on development and fund rasing, the Evangelical Committee for Africa, histories of AIM, the mission’s involvement in the Interdenominational Foreign Mission Association, and other mission related organizations, and various policy statements. In addition to the files mentioned above, letters and memos of the general secretaries or home secretaries or general directors can be found throughout the collection.

An interesting item, found in folder 10-19, is a report by the Christian Service Fellowship describing AIM’s organizational set up and suggesting structural changes. There is more about the CSF in folder 105-7.

There is a great deal in the General files on cooperation between AIM’s American Home Council and other American Protestant organizations. One particularly interesting folder is 14-27, which contains a very complete set of documents on the founding of the National Association of Evangelicals and its relationship with the American Council of Christian Churches. Correspondents include Harold J. Ockenga and J. Elwin Wright. Also in this file and the next one is a speech by John Bolton on Christian unity and correspondence about an alleged bogus evangelist named Jerry Owens or Oliver Brinley Owens. Folder 39-6 contains correspondence with Jack Wyrtzen’s Word of Life organization. Other material on AIM’s continuing relationship with Word of Life is in folder 96-3.

The files on Moody Bible Institute (folders 14-23, 14-24) also have some interesting records in them. There are reports on various mission conferences, details on the arrangements for MBI president William Culbertson’s trip to Africa (more information on this in folder 11-13), a list of MBI alumni who went to work for AIM, correspondence from Kenneth Taylor of the Moody Literature Mission on aid for AIM’s literature program in the Congo, and a report by Clyde Taylor on his 1962 trip to Africa and the Middle East on Christian literature programs in other lands.

Some files relate to the Interdenominational Foreign Missions Association (IFMA), of which AIM was a founding member. Folder 12-51 contains some of the reports of standing committees for the year 1966. Folder 16-43 contains correspondence on the World Evangelization Crusade’s application for admission to the IFMA. One major factor in consideration of the application was analysis of the methods and goals of the Crusade’s founder, Charles Thomas Studd. There is a great deal in the file on Studd’s life and work. The Crusade’s director, Norman Grubb, is one of the main correspondents. Other material is included in folders 37-8, 37-9, 38-1 and 38-2. These files include a report from Arthur Glasser comparing the situation for missions in the Congo in 1960 with that in China in 1950; correspondence about the education of Africans in the United States; Clyde Taylor’s 1962 trip through Africa on behalf of the IFMA which included attendance at a conference on evangelicalism and ecumenicalism in Africa (see also folder 32-11); cooperation between the IFMA and the EFMA; possibility of cooperation between missions in southern Rhodesia; reports from Sudan Interior Mission, North Africa Mission, TEAM, South Africa General Mission; reactions to reported attempts of the World Council of Churches to unite all African churches into one organization under WCC leadership; reports on the All Africa Christian Council; disputes in the Congo Protestant Council; and regular reports from the Africa Evangelical Office on events in various Africa countries. Additional reports and correspondence of the Africa Evangelical Office can be found in box 83 and folder 86-11. In 1981 the mission did an extensive self-evaluation in response to a request that IFMA was making of its members. The data used for the evaluation is in folders 72-3 and 75-9 and provides a good picture of the mission at that point in time. AIM’s continuing membership in IFMA is further documented in Ted Barnett’s files from the end of the 20th century in folders 121-8, 9 and 10, including minutes of the board and IFMA’s Africa Committee.

Other files contain details of agreements AIM worked out with certain specialty service organizations, such as Gospel Recordings (later Global Recordings, folder 122-4), Helps International Ministries (HIM, which assisted with construction and later architectural design, folder 122-B6) , International Bible Society (folder 122-5), International Council on Missionary Kids (folder 122-7), Missionary Dentist (folder 14-18), Missionary Electronics (folder 15 16), Missionary Engineering (folder 14-19) (this group later joined together with the Missionary Aviation Fellowship), and the Associated Medical Mission Office (folder 8-46), among others. AIM also regularly responded to the Missionary Research Library’s request for information on its work. These responses are in folder 14-22, as is an interesting 1959 report on Islamic Africa by Pierre Benigus. There is also correspondence with World Relief (folder 39-7), World Vision (folder 39-8) Wycliffe Bible Translators (folder 39-9), and Zondervan Publishers (folder 39-13). Folder 122-9 has information from several years about AIM’s participation in the triennial Urbana student mission conference organized by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

In the 1950’s, there was criticism from fundamentalist supporters of AIM over the closeness of ties, if any, between the mission and liberal Christian organizations. The problem arose largely from the presence of both AIM and liberal Protestant mission representatives on councils in Kenya, the Congo, and other areas of Africa. As mentioned above, folder 5-135 has some material on this dispute, as do folders 15-27 and 16-42; folder 15-27 includes a statement of the policy of the Latin American Mission on the same problem, as well as letters from James Oliver Buswell, Jr., Howard W. Ferrin, John Bolten, J. O, Percy, and Carl McIntire. (See also folder 81-4 for material on McIntire.) Folder 16-42 includes some letters from constituents asking about AIM’s policy and a memo on the objections to a connection between AIM and the World Council of Churches. Folder 121-5 has reference materials that U.S. director Ted Barnett gathered about ecumenicalism.

More information on Christian ecumenicalism is contained in folders 11-22, 11-23, and 12-1, including classroom lecture notes on ecumenicalism, a copy of the constitution of the Association of Evangelicals of Africa and Madagascar (AEAM), reports on pressure to join Protestant Churches in Africa together, and reports on meetings held by evangelicals to oppose liberal ecumenicalism. Additional information on AEAM, including many reports by Byang Kato and Tokumboh Adeyemo, are in folders 70-1, 84-3 and 90-6. Folders 14-29, 14-30 and 14-31 contain some of the records of the National Council of Churches African Committee, which attempted to coordinate Protestant missions on that continent. Included in these files are the committee’s bud-gets, minutes of the commission on ministerial training in Africa, a letter by Newell S. Booth on the tense situation in Leopoldville, a list of where each mission’s Congo missionaries were located, summaries of the talks G. W. Carpenter had with American and United Nations representatives about the return of missionaries to the Congo, a 1956 report on the committee’s future program (this includes sections on the political, social, racial, and religious aspects of African life), report of a consultation held at Lake Munkambe in 1959 on the training of Christian clergy in the Congo, and reports on the Brussels Bureau and the Paris Centre. Theodore L. Tucker is among the cor-respondents.

The Paris Centre and Brussels Bureau were organizations set up jointly to benefit Protestant missionaries working in the colonies of Belgium and France. The Paris Centre provided accommodations for missionaries studying in that city. Also in the Centre’s files (folders 15-7, 15-8, 15-9) are reports on work in French colonies such as Dakar, a transcript of a talk by colonial administrator Henri Laurentie with representatives of American missions on the attitude of the French government toward mission activities, and a French governmental press release on the Marshall Plan and Tunisian nationalism.

The files relating to the Brussels Bureau (folders 9-14, 10-1, 10-2) include a great deal of correspondence by the two successive directors of the Bureau, H. Wakelin Coxill and Oscar Stenstrom. Besides annual reports on the Bureau’s work, the files contain material on the International Missionary Benefit Society, material on the Foyer African Protestant, a hotel for missionaries, plans for continuing education for missionaries, a discussion of Brussel’s educational policy in the Congo, a description of the debates in Belgium over an agreement between that country and the Vatican about the status of the Catholic Church in the Congo, and reports to mission boards on how other missions were coping with the 1960 Congo crisis. Also in these files are memos to missionaries on how to prepare for courses in European universities, a report on the courses on missions medicine offered in Belgium and a memo on the qualifications for practicing medicine in various colonies. Folder 10-3 contains correspondence about the Brussels International Exposition where the Bureau set up an exhibit on Protestant missions in the Congo, partly to counter the impression created by an exhibit at a previous exposition that most of the mission work in that colony was Catholic. Folder 16-15 contains correspondence about the Bureau’s attempt to counter the efforts of an organization called the Synod of the Union des Eglies to become the official voice in Belgium of Protestant missions.

In 1966, a group of evangelical missions held the Congress on Church’s Worldwide Mission in Wheaton, Illinois. Several AIM missionaries participated and folders 11-4 to 11-9 contain some of the records of the meeting. In the files are correspondence on the planning of the Congress; programs; copies of reports; papers by Lester P. Westlund, Tom Watson, Jr., Harmon Alden Johnson, Ruben Lores; and material on a continuing committee to carry on the Congress’ work.

Folder 14-12 contains correspondence, pamphlets, newsletters, etc. from several different missions including: American Mission to Lepers; Far Eastern Gospel Crusade; French Bible Mission; International Board of Jewish Missions; Hebrew Evangelization Society; Latin American Mission; Light of Africa Mission; a complete list of cooperating Baptist Missions of North America; Missionary Communication Service; National Holiness Association; Near East Missionary Fellowship; North African Mission; Pioneer Mission Agency; Pocket Testament League (see also folder 90-5); Slavic Gospel Association; Soldiers and Gospel Mission of South America; South Africa General Mission; South America Indian Mission; South American Jungle Fellowship; Sudan Interior Mission; Technical Assistance to Missions; Toronto Institute of Linguistics; Unevangelized Field Mission; World Missions to Children; and World Missionary Aviation Council. Folders 104-7 and 110-1 contains newsletters and other information from various ministries to Muslims in the United States and elsewhere.

The process of recruiting and preparing men and women for the mission field is described in many different folders. The deputation reports mentioned above describe the candidates who had been interviewed in various parts of the country. The deputation work handbook (folder 11-19) describes interview techniques. Standards for evaluating candidates are described in the handbook in folder 10-8 and in the minutes in folder 10-9, and the forms in folder 15-3. Folder 8-58 contains correspondence on the process of selection. An interesting set of correspondence in folder 8-60 discusses the desirability of accepting black Americans as candidates. (See also a brief discussion of the subject on tape T347; Newsletters of Montrose Waite and the Afro-American Missionary Crusade can be found in folder 8-40.) Material on AIM’s efforts to build a constituency among American blacks and find African American missionary candidates can be found in folder 122-2. More material on selection and orientation can be found in folder 89-9. A 1984 handbook for new appointee is in folder 100-1.

Some indication of the training that candidates received is conveyed by letters, notes, and curriculums in folders 10-10 and 10-11. Folder 12-3 contains reports on programs of tropical medicine offered in the United States and Europe, a memo on the qualities required to be a teacher in Africa, notes on how to prepare candidates to work in the Congo, and a summary of the results of a questionnaire sent to Bible colleges and institutions asking about programs they had for preparing missionaries. Correspondence with Moody Bible Institute (folders 14-23 and 14-24) and Bob Jones University (folder 8-61) also describe programs they had to prepare missionaries. The file on schools and colleges (folder 15-34) has some of this same information for the Bible Institute of Montreal, Hampden DuBose Academy, London College of the Bible, Providence Bible Institute, Riverview Academy, Toronto Institute of Linguistics, and the Westervelt Home and Schools. The material in folder 14-11 was intended for use in a master manual outlining AIM’s history, goals, structure, policies, as well as the qualities desired in a missionary. There is more information on the missionary manual in folder 89-6. Some other manuals can be found in folder 100-1 and 103-6. These include AIM International policy manuals from the 1980s and booklets prepared for missionaries on furlough, intended to help them adapt again to life in the United States. (Similar materials to help returning missionaries, called ARe-entry,@ are in folder 106-10. Samples of letters sent to candidates of the same era are in folders 101-6 to 101-9. Folder 105-6 contains position papers of the mission on women in ministry, adoption of children by single missionaries, and the AIDS crisis.

The question of what supplies a missionary should take to the field is partially answered by the lists in folder 15-5, which detail the clothing, equipment and other items needed by workers in different parts of Africa.

The costs of living on the field are extensively documented in folders 38-9 to 38-14, which contain information on the support funds provided by the mission over the years and how the formulas used for determining the funds for a missionary changed continually over a period of some fifty years. Another concern was the health of missionaries. John Frame, a doctor who was in Africa studying sleeping sickness, also consulted with AIM on ways to maintain the health of missionaries. Some of his notes and letters are in folder 71-8.

Going to Africa could be quite a problem, especially in time of war. Folder 37-6 contains some correspondence dealing with passport regulations and various minor problems that arose concerning the travel of missionaries immediately prior to and during World War II. The "City of Athens" was a naval vessel sunk by German submarines in 1917 during World War I. It was carrying AIM missionaries. Folder 10-21 contains newspaper accounts of the disaster and folder 26 3 has other information. Another World War later, a similar incident occurred when the Egyptian freighter Zamzam was sunk by a German naval vessel.

It, too, was carrying AIM missionaries. Folder 16-44 contains letters about the original travel arrangements of the missionaries, telegrams, and letters about the sinking, information about the AIM missionaries who were British subjects and therefore spent years in internment camps in occupied Europe and Germany, and details on the court case which took place after the war, in which AIM sued the shipping company which owned the Zamzam. The personnel files of the missionaries interned also include material on the sinking and internment. Folder 15-43 describes the efforts of AIM, after the United States had entered the war, to charter a ship to take all its missionaries at once to Africa together with workers from other missions. In folders 141-5 and 14-21 are lists which include biographical data on AIM missionaries, including their sailing dates for the field. Folder 39-12 has additional information about the law suit the mission brought against the shipping company that owned the Zamzam.

Once in the field, new and old missionaries often received circular letters from the home council. Folder 12-15 contains a letter sent to new workers intended to ease their adjustment. Folder 12-19 contains correspondence with guidelines on indoctrination for doctors going into mission medical work. The letters also discuss the formation of a medical committee on the home council.

The field directors also received circular letters, some of which are contained in folder 12-12. These letters discuss the need for editing articles to appear in Inland Africa, income tax information, a proposed Evangelical Fellowship of Central Africa, the possibility of a mission furlough home in Wheaton, Illinois, medical care available on furlough, types of statistical reports needed by the home council, prayer requests, etc.

AIM developed its own codes to communicate with its missionaries, partially to ensure privacy of communication and partly to lower telegraph costs. Some of the earlier code sheets are in folder 10-22.

Black and white pictorial directories of United States AIM workers from 1997 and 200 are in folder 105-9.

Some files contain general information about Africa. For example, folder 13-29 contains correspondence about the study and translation of African languages and discusses the work of Dr. A. N. Tucker, who was attempting to develop a new African orthography. The report in folder 14-22 on Islamic Africa has already been mentioned.. Additional materials on Islam is in folder 87-4. Also of interest is the manuscript of a book by John Riebe on the principles of Bible translation (folder 75-7).

Kenya was the first field of AIM and the location of many of its most influential schools, hospitals, and presses. Many folders contain information on the work there. The aptly named "Kenya Miscellaneous" file (folder 13-12) contains graphs on the progress of the work in Kenya, a paper on Church ordination policy, reports on the general situation in Kenya and the specific activities in the areas of medicine and education. There is also an interesting article about the Dini Ya Msambwa religious cult. Other miscellaneous items are in folder 103-1, including the program of the dedication of the Kijabe Church Hall, a 1989 report of the AIC on the training of African missionaries, and the program of the joint 2006 AIM/AIC annual Spiritual Life conference. There are also files with material about Kenya in, among other places, folders 103-2, 103-2, 111-5, 111-6.

Information on AIM’s educational efforts in Kenya: folder 15-32 contains a speech made by ex-president Theodore Roosevelt at the cornerstone laying of a school intended to serve as AIM’s Rift Valley Academy. Folder 13-17 contains correspondence between Howard Ferrin and Theodore Engstrom about the possibilities of founding a college in Africa, the beginning of AIM’s Scott Theological College. Folders 15-36 and 15-37 contain materials on the founding policies, budget, curriculums, and statistical make-up of the school. Folder 13-17 also contains information on the college and folders 16-38 and 16-39 contain documents gathered by Ray Wolfe for his thesis on Scott Theological College, on the Church in Kenya, overseas theological colleges in the growth of the Church, and the Church’s need for college trained leaders. Among his correspondents were Edward Dayton and Ralph Winter. Folder 16 40 contains letters discussing who should become head of Scott; see also folder 75-8. There is also some information about Pwani Bible Institute in Mombasa in folder 75-5. Folder 103-3 contains a 1937 pamphlet about the W. Y. Moffat Memorial Bible Training Institute (now Moffat Bible College) and several reports from the 1970s about the Pwani Bible Institute, Scott Theological College, the Missionary College at Eldoret, and Mombasa Bible Institute. (For more on Eldoret, see slide set S32 and tape T363.) The same folder also has a prospectus of AIM’s radio work, including a brief history.

Specific details on aspects of AIM’s work are in folder 13-13, which contains questionnaires filled out by missionaries about their activities. There are descriptions of the African Church, evangelism, medical work at the Theodora Hospital, work with women, the Masai tribe, the Kikuyu tribe, the Luo tribe, the Akamba tribe, and the Kamba tribe. There is also a description of the work at Githumu. More information on Githumu can be found in folder 12-38, which contains documents on a dispute between AIM workers and some African church leaders. Folder 39-14 has additional information on the founding of Githumu station. The folder contains a manuscript, probably by Margaret Allen Haggett, about the career of her father and mother Kenneth Watson and Ruth Ella Schneider Allen as missionaries in Africa with AIM (they later joined the Church Missionary Society). This included work at hospitals in Kijabe, Githumu, Kaloleni, Gahini, Nairobi and Mwingi as well as descriptions of Rift Valley Academy and the Mau Mau movement and much information on the daily lives of missionaries and their children. See also folder 79-5.

Some files contain information on cooperative activities with other religious groups. Folder 12-53 has details on a proposal that four workers of the Independent Board of Presbyterian Ministers work at an AIM station in Kenya. A memo defines how the work would be divided up. Folder 5 35 also has information on this group and the work in Kenya. AIM helped the Navigators begin work in Kenya by acting as their sponsor for the work there, as described in folder 14-32 which contains correspondence with Navigator leader Lorne Sanny. Folders 13-2 and 13-3 contain correspondence and minutes about International Missions Inc., including records on the cooperative plan by which IMI Missions were supervised by the AIM field council. Folder 26-4 contains an interesting letter about the cancellation of a Tom Skinner evangelistic crusade in Africa AIM had been planning. Additional information is in folder 39-10.

Folder 70-4 contains correspondence with the Christian Nationals Evangelism Commission, an organization that trained nationals in third world churches to be evangelists and missionaries.

The viewpoint of an individual missionary on her work is in folder 15-12, which contains a book manuscript and photographs about life in Kenya. Some other missionary viewpoints are contained in folder 13-10, including a letter by John Stauffacher describing the anti Christian activity of female circumcision.

[Note: Most files related to work in the area drained by the Congo River were filed by the Archives staff under ACongo,@ even if the folder is labeled AZaire.@] A large portion of the files about the Congo field concern the historical beginnings of the work, the relations of the mission with the Belgian government, and the political and social unrest accompanying the area’s change from colony to nation. Folder 12-45 contains a history of AIM’s work in the Congo by John Stauffacher. Folder 10-24 contains a 1911 letter by Stauffacher about the beginnings of the Congo work. Other records in this file include a detailed listing of missionary expenses in the Congo in 1927, a letter from R. Floyd Pierson on whether the area should be divided into north and south Congo fields, and the type of structure the field council should have, reports and statistics on the work in Aru, Bunia, Biasiko, and Usa and the Congo Aungba, a survey from the 1950’s of business relations between them, and reports on the Lugbara, Logo, and Pygmy peoples. There is information about the Institute Superieur Theologique de Bunia in folder 72-2.

The correspondence of the Congo field director in folders 10-31 to 10-33 covers such topics as complaints from the Christian Church in Mahagi Kasengu about the lack of higher theological education for their pastors, regulations on foreign aliens, proposals for AIM missions in the Congo to become an autonomous church, annual statistical reports on work done, personnel matters, the effect of the devaluation of the Belgian franc on missionaries, resistance to integration of AIM Church and mission, discussion of changes in AIM’s constitution, scholarships for African students, minutes of field council meetings, the tense political situation as independence neared, reports on the fighting in the Congo, reports from the field director in exile in Kenya after the missionaries evacuated, and descriptions of relations with the new government after the missionaries returned.

Besides the field director’s correspondence, general descriptions of the Congo work can be found in the manual in folder 10 28 and the reports in folders 10-29 and 10-30. A joint letter to missionaries from the summer of 1960 describes the situation in the newly independent nation (folder 14-13). The minutes of staff meetings at the Blukwa Station in the Congo (folder 26-1) show the daily tasks of a variety of missionaries, their expenses, the way they solved problems, and their relationship with the local churches. There is additional miscellaneous reports, etc., on the work in Congo in folders 101-13 and 101-14.

Certain specific aspects of AIM’s work are dealt with in other files. Folder 16-34 contains material on the printing press of Rethy and the damage done to it by a fire in 1948. Other material included discusses problems caused by the lack of operating capital and a 1954 report on the press and workshop. H. B. Cook is among the correspondents. Folder 10-26 contains memos and letters from Earl Winsor about educational programs at Rethy Academy (a school for missionary children) and proposals for teaching Congolese children. Folder 14-26 contains information on a movie AIM was planning to make about the Congo. Folder 25-27 holds the diary of A. Hortense Quinche, which is a three-year daily account of an AIM missionary stationed at Blukwa and Rethy Academy. Entries date from 1947 to 1949, but there is not an entry for every day of that period. Information found in the diary reveals the daily activities of the writer in addition to comments on local situations and people and relationships with other missionaries. Interspersed among the daily entries are scripture passages and poetry. Various miscellaneous material found at the back of the diary includes: Congo Field Council minutes from February 7-10, 1947, recipes, poetry, and a notation dated December, 1948, of requirements for missionaries working in the Belgian Congo.

AIM representation on the Congo Protestant Council, as mentioned above, caused problems for the mission because of the Council’s association with the WCC. Uneasiness about ecumenical implications is reflected in some of the documents in the Council’s files (folders 10-35 to 10-38). Other topics covered by these materials include dealings with the colonial government, Belgian directives on educational policy, participation of mission teachers in secular education, and conflicts between Catholic and Protestant missionaries. One interesting item is a copy of the constitution of the Council. Folder 10-27 contains correspondence about whether a Congo Evangelical Fellowship should be formed by evangelicals who would resign from the Congo Protestant Council. This folder also contains information on the Fundamental Independent Council in the Congo. The correspondence with the Congo Protestant Council (which later became the Church of Christ in the Congo) in folder 26-2 deals mainly with the relationships of foreign mission organizations with African churches. There is a great deal of reaction to comments made by CPC general secretary Jean B. Bokelaele about missionary paternalism and the need for an independent Congolese church. Also in the folder is information about evangelical leader Jean Perce Makanzu; a description of AIM’s agreement with the Eglise Evangelique du Congo Oriental (EVACO) to work as one organization in the Congo.

Another interesting set of records from this part of Africa concerns the Congo Protestant Relief Agency in folders 10-39, 10-40, 11-1, 11-2, and 11-3. The documents include materials on the founding of the agency, copies of proposed constitutions, minutes of meetings, reports of the agency’s secretary R. G. Metzger, a report on a visit in the early sixties to the Angolan Congolese border, descriptions by volunteer doctors of work they did for the agency and lists of the doctors involved. Correspondents include: David and Irene Stayer, Elson Mattson, Titus Johnson, Archie Graber, Buford S. Washington, James W. Stough, Andreas Herners, and Arthur Gerdes.

Folder 101-13 contains a number of miscellaneous items from the Congo field, including a copy a 1933 field manual, the 1959 constitution and the 1979 constitution of Egilise du Christ au Congo, a lengthy 1984 pastoral letter by Bishop Pierre Marini Bodho, bishop of the Egilise du Christ au Congo; documents on the situation of the church and the mission in Congo-Zaire in the late 1960s, early 1970s. Folder 101-14 has correspondence between the US field director and Bodho from the 1980s. Folders 110-3 and 110-4 contains a thick sheaf of documents about the military conflicts in the Congo in 1996-1997 and the mission’s temporary evacuation of its workers.

There is not nearly as much information on the mission’s work in Sudan. Folders 16-8 to 16-10 contain some of the correspondence and reports of workers in this field, including the field director, as does folder 8-42. Folder 16-11 contains an interesting memo debating the pros and cons of a union between AIM and Sudan Interior Mission. There is also some information on the work in folders 9-10, 9-11 and folders 107-2 through 107-5. (Further correspondence about AIM’s working relationship with SIM is in folder 107-5). Folder 107-2 contains 1) Eunice Herbold’s account of her experience as a prisoner in the Sudan in 1970 when she a group of AIM workers in the Congo accidently crossed the border in their plane and had to land, and 2) the account of other AIM missionaries living at Boma in the early 1980s and how they were affected by the Sudanese civil war.

There is a little more information on the mission’s activities in French Equatorial Africa, later called the Central African Republic. Folder 12-35 contains statistical summaries of activities and a map of the area as well as a report on the Zande people. Folder 12-34 contains minutes of meetings called to decide whether the area should be treated as a separate field. The correspondence in folder 12-33 discusses generally various problems of the work, particularly relations with government officials. Similar matters are dealt with in the documents in folder 10-13.

German East Africa, later Tanganyika and later still the nation of Tanzania, was one of the earliest areas of AIM activity. Folder 16-22 contains reports from the early days of the work there. Folder 12-45 also has notes on the early days. Later reports about medical activities can be found in folder 16-20. "Tanganyika Miscellaneous Correspondence" contains information on the purchase of property, the work of Mr. and Mrs. William May, educational activities, conflict with the Catholic Church, and the need to cooperate with the government. Folder 16-17 contains details on the work among lepers and the efforts by the colonial government to regulate work at Kolu Nidoto. Raymond Currier is among the correspondents. Some of the other files with information on this area include folder 16-4, which contains correspondence describing the new AIM workers arriving in the territory; folder 12-37, which contains material on a plan of Gideons International to place Bibles in schools in the territory; and folder 16-24, which contains an exchange between AIM officials and Tanzania’s embassy in Washington, D.C., on the mission’s work in the newly independent nation. A 1985 report on the medical department of the Africa Inland Church can be founder in folder 103-8. Other documents of the field’s history, including field bylaws from 1956 and correspondence from slightly later between Ralph Davis and a missionary in Tanganyika, possible the field director, about the changing relationship between the AIM and the AIC, are in folder 107-6. Folder 105-1 has full reports on the 1988 visit to the United States of Bishop Matthew Nyagwaswa of AIC-Tanzania. See also folder 108-1.

There are a few items on the work in Uganda in folders 16-31 and 16-32. Some of the topics covered by these records include whether there should be a separate Ugandan field, whether missionaries should be members of the Africa Inland Church, description of AIM work in the west Nile district and at Mvara Senior secondary school, and a report on the Lugbara people. More Uganda related reports, including a good deal of material about Idi Amin, are in folder 108-4.

More information on the African Inland Church, besides the files mentioned elsewhere, can be found in folder 8 39, which contains what are apparently notes taken during lectures on the Church’s organization, constitution and policies.

Children of missionaries and some Africans were educated at Victoria Academy (an elementary school in Tanzania) and Rift Valley Academy (a secondary school in Kenya) and Rethy Academy (a secondary school in the Congo). Folders 30-16 minutes of the Victoria School Board. Children traveling back and forth between the boarding schools and home had to escorted, which was the responsibility of the escort committee. Material in folder 29-1 describes their activities. Folders 30-6 and 30-12 contain documents about parents’ concern for the quality of education of these schools and the maintenance of a good moral climate, particularly at RVA. The latter folder also has information on a proposed restructuring of the school’s administrative structure and efforts to upgrade the professionalism of the staff. Additional records about RVA are in folder 79-2 and in 106-12 and 13. Folder 106-11 contains minutes of the Rethy Academy committee. The Timothy Christian Academy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was headed by an AIM worker. Folder 108-3 contains information on this institution. See folders 104-4 and 104-5 for information about AIM’s taking over of a ministry to MKs (missionary kids). Material from the International Conference on Missionary Kids (ICMK) can be found in folder 122-7.

Foundation proposals for various AIM special projects, especially those involving some kind of developmental aspect such as digging wells, are in folder 71-7. Folder 79-8 contains correspondence about the offer of a Samuel Asante, a radio broadcaster in Ghana, to help AIM start a work in that country.

AIM began a work among American intercity youth, which included starting a Christian grade school, Timothy Christian Academy. Almost two decades of reports from this program can be found in folders 108-3 and 109-1 to 109-4.

There are several folders containing correspondence exchanged between the United States home council and other home councils. Most of the material from the British Council is in folders 9-9 to 9-11 and 37-3. Besides the topics mentioned above, such as Charles Hurlburt’s resignation and the debate over constitutional revision, there is data on the personnel policies the council recommended to its workers; memos on the British Council’s desire for a separate field or a separate area within a field which it would alone be responsible for; the policy to be pursued by AIM relative to the International Council of Christian Churches; exchange of visits by American and British council members; a discussion (1954-1955) about the influence on Great Britain of Peter Cameron Scott; the desirability of using German missionaries; the future of the work in the Sudan; subjects candidates should study; and problems in the Congo. Correspondents include D. M. Miller, Thomas E. Lloyd, Phillip Henman, and Kenneth W. Thornberry. Folder 13-19 contains a proposal from the field that American missionaries share their funds with the British.

Two of the files from the Canadian office and home council (folders 10-6 and 10-7) deal mainly with book distribution and information on Canadian mission candidates. Folder 37-4 contains more varied information, mainly from Canadian home director Peter Stam. This includes a report on campus visitation, reports on individual missionaries, correspondence on the mission’s policy on baptism, a letter to Joe Bayly about the book Congo Crisis, relations with other home councils and the international council, report on Stam’s 1971 trip to Africa during which he visited all the fields and talked with many African leaders, and the 1964/65 annual statement.

One final interesting set of records in the General files are the manuscript histories of AIM. Folder 12-45 contains a manuscript by John Stauffacher, written in approximately 1913, on the origins of the mission and another one, also by Stauffacher, on the work in the Congo. A third manuscript was written in the early sixties and discusses the origins and development of AIM’s governing structure. An undated speech by a Mr. Hess also discusses the first days of AIM and the life and death of Peter Scott. (Additional material on Scott can be found in folder 83-1.) Folder 121-11 contains three histories of the founding of AIM, one by Sydney Langford. Also in the folder are copies and notes on the work in Tanganyika territory. Folder 12-46 contains some correspondence and reports from AIM’s early days including a letter from Hurlburt on low morale in the mission, another letter describing the founding of Theodora Hospital at Kijabe, a list from 1917 describing the status of the work and its future needs, and material on Hurlburt’s resignation. Folder 8-62 contains correspondence about books published about AIM; folder 13-9 contains reports on the preparation for AIM’s Jubilee celebration. Materials from the centenary celebration of the mission in 1995 are in folders 101-10 and 101-11. Folder 15-35 contains an interesting letter by a woman who grew up with Peter Cameron Scott, in which she records her recollections of him. (Folder 106-14 contains some early pamphlets about Scott, written after his death in 1896,) Box 79 contains additional historical manuscripts: there is Keith Richardson’s history of AIM (including a chronology) up to 1966 (folder 79-3); a history of the Litein, Kenya, station by Raymond Wolfe (folder 79-4), and a history of the Githua station by Peggy Allen Haggatt (folder 79-5). See also folders 72-3 and 75-9 for a snapshot description of the mission in 1981. Additional historical materials are in folder 83-1. Personal narratives of their experiences by missionaries Jane Amstutz, Olive Rawn, and Lester and Zetta Huber from the Congo and Sudan are in folder 105-8. Folder 105-4 contains some notes gathered by Rawn in 1992 from African Christians about the history of Christian work around Oicha, Congo. Folders 102-6 and 102-7 contain a variety of historic documents about AIM in the Comoros Islands, Kenya, Sudan, the West Nile district of Uganda, the Congo, and Mozambique. There is an interesting report by an AIC church leader about her attendance at the 1995 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) Forum in Beijing. There are a couple old newspaper clippings about AIM in folder 104-10. There is a list of early officers of the mission in folder 106-14.

Folder 26-3 contains various reports, notes, and other information about AIM’s early history, such as Bill Gee’s memoirs about being on the "City of Athens" when it was sunk; notes by Olive J. Rawn on the history of medical work and evangelism in the Sudan field; transcript of a phone conversation with Harold Amstutz during a political crisis in Nairobi; transcript of a commemorative service held during AIM’s Jubilee year in 1955 which includes a talk by Howard Ferrin on future developments in missions and east west relations; 1967 guidelines on steps to be taken during crises; typed histories of the AIM work in Tanganyika, Uganda, and French Equatorial Africa; an article about life at Rethy Academy; and a 1900 letter by Charles Hurlburt defining AIM’s purposes. Folder 102-7 contains a 1988 speech on SIM history by Sydney Langford, as well as transcripts of reminiscences by veteran AIM workers Florence Skoda, Erik Barnett, and James H. Propst. Folder 125-6 contains the issue of the Kenya field’s internal newsletter that celebrated the 100th anniversary of the mission in 1995, as well as photocopies of some documents from the early days of AIM.

Subseries: A3. Publication files

Arrangement: Alphabetical by title

Date range: There is some very early material in folder 17-2, but most of the documents fall in the period between 1951 and 1967.

Volume: 2.7 cubic feet

Boxes: 17-19, 39, 111

Geographic coverage: Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, United States

Type of documents: Materials in these files contain information for publication, such as listings of new missionaries, arrivals and departures in the U.S. and Africa, directories, birth and death announcements, resignations and retirement, etc. There are original drafts of articles and copies of the published Inland Africa, the magazine of AIM. There are in these files photographs, a few pieces of correspondence, and galley proofs from the printer. The photographs in this collection have been removed and placed in the photo series of this collection.

The collection also contains a microfilm copy of the American edition of the mission’s publication (Hearing and Doing from 1896 through 1916, Inland Africa thereafter) from 1896 through 1990. The first five reels are positive copies on 35mm film. The last reel, covering 1973 through 1990, is a negative copy on 16mm film. The microfilm of the last few issues on the last reel does not include the magazine covers. This microfilm set of the publication can only be used in the Archives Reading Room and is not available for inter-library loan.

Descriptive limits: The processing of this collection is periodically updated with recently received accessions from AIM. All processing done after 1998 is at the box level. Therefore the researcher needs to be aware that the in general the pre-1970 records are described in much greater detail than the post-1970 records. The materials processed earlier were often described to the item level, the material processed later is described to the box level.

Notes: Most of the material in this subseries refers to the production of the United States edition of Inland Africa, the magazine of the mission. The publication changed its name and became less elaborate in the 1980s. Some issues of the US edition of this publication, renamed AIM International can be found in folder 111-1. In this collection there are also some of the smaller in-house newsletters that various parts of the mission printed.

Of interest is the information provided by the publications as they relate to the mission activities of the AIM. There is information about the political developments in many parts of Africa and of the effects on missions and missionaries of AIM, such as the Congo crisis in 1960, the closed doors in Sudan in 1959, independence in Kenya, etc. Mention is also made of Billy Graham’s visit to Kijabe, Kenya, in 1960 with Cliff Barrows and the Wyrtzen Dawson Bollback Africa Crusade in 1968. Further information on this meeting is in folder 39-10.

There are some very early materials in folder 17-2 dating back to 1918, such as the correspondence from Hulda Jane to Mr. Youngken. An undated, but probably early draft of a prayer letter or leaflet with illustrations and galley proofs is also in this file, as is an early manuscript for a stereopticon lecture having as its subject the Africa Inland Mission (folder 18-32). Of related interest is the material in folder 37-1 about the founding of an AIM magazine entirely in Swahili, Afrika Ya Kesho. There are folders containing pamphlets printed by AIM about its activities in folders 18-34, 18-35, 19-1, and 19-2. Folder 39-14 has a manuscript about AIM’s work in Githua.

Box 111 contains some of these more recent newsletters, including Serving Together, the in house publication of the Kenya field and AIM Together, the general in-house newsletter for the mission.

Subseries: A4. Personnel files

Arrangement: Alphabetical by title

Date range: 1904-2009

Volume: 24.1 cubic feet

Boxes:19-27, 40-62, 93, 112-120

Geographic coverage: Central African Republic, Congo, Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, United States. Other African countries and countries in the Indian Ocean such as the Comoros islands are also referred to.

Type of documents: These files contain documents on the recruitment, careers, and resignation or death of many, but not all, of AIM’s missionaries. Many, but not all files, contain the initial application and reference forms on the candidate missionary, as well as periodic medical reports. All the files contain correspondence between the general secretary or home council and the missionary about his or her activities, furloughs, financial support, conditions in the field, etc.

Correspondents: Most of the correspondence in this subseries is between the United States home director and other US staff on one hand and individual missionaries on the other.

Subjects: Missionary recruitment, training, furloughs, assignments, sicknesses, retirement; administrative arrangements, relations between missionaries; activities of individual missionaries. Note: This guide includes a separate list of all the individuals for whom there are personnel files and/or those, such as Peter Stam or Richard Seume, for whom there are extensive files of their correspondence.

Descriptive limits: The processing of this collection is periodically updated with recently received accessions from AIM. All processing done after 1998 is at the box level. Therefore the researcher needs to be aware that the in general the pre-1970 records are described in much greater detail than the post-1970 records. The materials processed earlier were often described to the item level, the material processed later is described to the box level.

Notes: A very good idea of the daily life of the missionary can be acquired by going through these files. The examples in the description that follows comes from boxes 19-27, but the researcher must bear in mind that boxes 40-62, 93 and 112-120 contain additional personnel folders with similar materials. This guide contains a list of everyone for whom there are personnel files. (In case of AIM home directors such as Sidney Langford, all or most of their files can be found in subseries 2 of Series I.) The files of field directors (such as the records of Harmon S. Nixon in folders 23-13 to 23-15, William J. Maynard and Lee Downey in folders 20-12 to 20-13, John Stauffaucher in folder 24-16, John G. Buyse in folders 19-16 to 19-17, George Van Dusen in folders 25-4 to 25-10, and Emil Sywulka in folders 24-25 to 24-28, among others) are especially rich in detail. Some folders contain information on deputation work in the United States as well. For example, the personnel files of Austin Paul (folders 23-16 to 23-18) and William S. Pontier (folder 24-1) describe their work as deputation secretaries. Other files, such as those of Mary Beam and Betty Cridland, show the activities of area representatives in different parts of the United States (folder 112-1, 112-9, 113-1).

The correspondence in the personnel files parallels the concerns and topics discussed in the council and general files. For example, the files of Charles Trout (folders 24-30, 25-1) contain a great deal of information on mission strategy in the 1920’s and also on relations between Charles Hurlburt and the home council. E.M. Hurlburt’s file (folder 21-19) has documents which describe the challenges of medical work in Africa. Folder 22-9, one of the personnel folders of C.F. Johnston, contains letters which describe the death of Margaret Scott Wilson, Peter Scott’s sister and one of AIM’s first missionaries. Helen Virginia Blakeslee’s file (folder 19-12) contains a list of traits she felt a teacher of African girls needed. Laura Barr’s file in folder 112-2 also describes her experiences teaching African girls and women in the Congo. The folders of Walter and Clara Guilding (folders 21-3 and 21-4) and William and Lily Mundy (folder 23-11), among others, hold letters, postcards, and documents which describe the sufferings of the survivors of the Zamzam sinking and of their families. Roy Schaffer described his work among the Masai in his correspondence (folders 24-9, 24-10). Charles Propst, who was in charge of the physical plant in the Kenya field, described his very different responsibilities in his letters (folder 24-2). William L. Downey’s file (folder 20-10) contains a long memo on what he felt was the primary importance of there being a Christian influence in the colonial education system. The last of Hulda Stumpf’s files (folder 24-24) contains newspaper clippings and correspondence about her murder, which allegedly was connected with the controversy over the African practice of female circumcision. Additional newspaper clipping about her murder are in folder 79-1. Donald Ebeling’s file (folder 113-4) covers his years of work in Tanganyika, later Tanzania, and has an interesting letter about cooperation in Bible translation between AIM and SIL. Folder 113-4 Benjamin Weiss’ folder includes description of AIM activities in the Comoros Island (folder 114-11). Stanley Kline’s files contain reports from the Seychelles (folder 113-9). Folder 113-6 is not strictly speaking a personnel file, but the archivist included here because it is a detailed look at the life and ministry of an individual missionary. It contains copies of the prayer letters of Ellie (Rathie) Haase, Mostly to her friend Sally Olsen. The letters describe the early married life of Ellie and D. G. Haase, their travels in the United States and Canada, university education, joining Africa Inland Mission, and the her life, work and ministry at Rift Valley Academy in Kenya. They cover the years 1964 through 1990 and give a good picture of the life of an American missionary in the last half of the 20th century. Folder 117-3 contains the instructions the mission was giving candidates in 1965 on what life on the field was like.

Boxes 53-55 contain missionaries’ prayer cards and prayer letters from the latter part of the twentieth century. These are not strictly speaking personnel files but do contain a great deal of information on the daily activities of individual missionaries and their families. The cards and letters were sent to people in the United States who were providing prayer and financial support for a particular missionary. The card usually had a picture of the missionary and his or her address. It was meant to posted somewhere around the house where it could serve as a reminder of the missionary’s ministry. The letters were sent out at regular intervals throughout the year and described the missionary’s activities, opportunities, problems and prayer needs. Similar prayer letters from a later period are in folders 104-8 and 104-9. Folder 101-2 contains the prayer letters of Fred Beam, International General Secretary of the mission.

Other topics of interest documented in personnel files include folder 26-6, which contains information on Mabel Gingrich’s translation work; folder 21-8 contains Lillian Halstead’s translation of the Alur New Testament; folder 26-7, which contains a discussion of AIM’s baptism policy (folder 26-31 contains descriptions of the process of interviewing candidates for baptism); folders 26-8 and 26-9, which contain information on AIM’s work in African cities; folders 26-11 and 26-12, which include descriptions of deputation work in the United States, reports on the situation in French Equatorial Africa and the Belgian Congo, and information on the activities of various AIM stations and councils (folder 26-19 also contains information on deputation work); folder 26-20 includes letters about teaching in government schools in Kenya; folder 26-23 describes some missionary activity in South Africa; folder 26-32 has information about the meeting of the Tanganyika Field Council; folder 27-3 includes descriptions of child welfare work in the Belgian Congo; folders 27-4 and 27-5 have interesting reports about Mildred Olson’s work at a girls’ school in the Congo and at an orphanage. Of particular interest is the correspondence found in folder 27-7 about Dr. Douglas Reitsma’s expulsion from the Sudan after his protest against a government ban on his providing medical care for Sudanese. There is much of interest here on the subject of church and state relations as well as of the place of the foreign missionary in the indigenous church. Folder 27-8 contains a diary, in French, by missionary Gertrude Weber. There is another Weber diary in French and English, for the years 1924-1929 in French and English, in folder 61-1. Hopefully, these examples show how information in the personnel files supplements that in the General and Council files. In general, the personnel files illustrate how the missionaries dealt with evangelism, education, medical work, support, nationalism, Islam, and other matters on a grass roots level.

Of special interest is the correspondence of Ralph Davis (folders 19-26 to 20-5) which covers his work as deputation secretary, general secretary, international secretary, and retired person at Media. Summaries of his trips to Africa as general and international secretaries, information on the death of Dawson Trotman of Navigators, a letter written in 1953 to Henry Luce protesting a Life magazine issue which slighted missionary work in Africa, and his journeys around the United States are included in these files. In some cases, the records of the wife are included in the husband’s personnel file.

Boxes 115 and 116 contain what appears to be a simple pictorial file of pictures of the mission’s workers and leaders, maintained perhaps by the personal department, perhaps by the publications department in the 1960s up to around 1977. The file consists of pieces of cardboard with a picture or pictures of the individual taped to the cardboard and his or her name written on the board. Almost all the images are not actual phonographs, but pictures cut from a magazine, usually very small pictures. In many cases the picture has fallen off, in others, although a card was created, no picture was found to attach to it. Besides actual mission workers, folders 115-2, 115-6, and 116-3 contain pictures of members of the American Home Council and other friends of the mission. Pictures of Adead or retired@ missionaries are in folders 115-5 and 115-6. The titles of the folders in these two boxes are based on the title of the envelopes in which they were originally stored.

Series: II. Records of the Sending (Home) Councils

Subseries: B. Other Home Councils. At this time the Archives does not have the files of any other Home Councils.

Series: III. Records of Field Councils

Subseries: A. Records of Tanzania Field Council (Note: The Archives does not have the records of the AIM field council)

Arrangement: Alphabetically by folder title

Date range: 1888-1982

Volume: 3.3 cubic feet

Boxes: 28-30

Geographic coverage: Tanzania, the United States

Type of documents: minutes of the field council; the correspondence and reports of the field secretary; letters from the various sending councils (also known as home councils) and miscellaneous records of various stations, committees, and individuals.

Correspondents: Significant correspondents are mentioned in the notes Subjects: Mission activities of AIM in Tanzania, development of the Africa Inland Church in Tanzania

Descriptive Levels: The processing of this collection is periodically updated with recently received accessions from AIM. All processing done after 1998 is at the box level. Therefore the researcher needs to be aware that the in general the pre-1970 records are described in much greater detail than the post-1970 records. The materials processed earlier were often described to the item level, the material processed later is described to the box level.

Notes: The material in this series consists of the files of the Tanzania field of AIM. Naturally this material in many cases duplicates that in other series of the collection, particularly the files of AIM International. The folder titles are those used on the original folders, except for the heading "Tanzania Field." They were put in alphabetical order by the archivist. Tanzania was formerly called Tanganyika and some of the titles of councils and officers of the AIM change over the years. To avoid confusion, all records for the same country, organization, or office are called by the last title used.

If there is one predominant theme in these records, it is the development of the Africa Inland Church in Tanzania, its eventual independence from the AIM, and the relationship between the church leaders and the missionaries. Many of these records, especially official minutes and reports of the church, are in Swahili. Sometimes minutes of meetings between AIM and AIC leaders are in both English and Swahili. A very brief history and description of the church up until 1970 as well as church statistics can be found in folder 28-3. Additional historical material is in folder 29-11. Much of the early history of AIC can be found in folder 28-1, which has copies of the church’s constitution, memos from missionaries dated before the church was independent on the pros and cons of independence and how it should come about. There is also a copy of a ca. 1964 speech, by AIC-Tanzania bishop Yeremiyah Mahalu Kisula, about the relations between the church and the mission. Agreements on the division of work between the mission and the church in medicine, education, and evangelism as well as memos on disagreements can be found in folder 28-2. Other files contain information on arrangements to share or turn over the work in literature (folder 28-7), youth work (folder 28-10), and administration of hospitals (folders 30-1, 30-2). Folder 30-2 contains a great deal of information about the resignation of the field’s medical director C. L. Nelson in 1971 over perceived lack of support by AIM and AIC for certain medical needs as well as disputes over the way to determine the needs for new hospitals. AIC bishop J. M. Kisula was also involved. The development of means for coordinating the work of the two organizations can be traced in the minutes of the AIC executive committee (folder 28-6), which are Swahili, the minutes of the church synods (folders 28-8 and 28-9), also in Swahili, the minutes of the AIM field council (folders 29-4 and 29-5), and the correspondence of the field director (folder 29-6). Folder 29-6 also contains material on a letter the AIC wrote to the Evangelical Alliance Mission in 1962 about the possibility of that mission taking over some of the responsibilities of the AIM. AIM AIC relationships in 1960 in all the fields are the topics of a set of minutes in folder 28-2. These are the minutes of a conference of church and mission leaders held in Kenya.

Other files contain records which document the daily activities of the church. Folder 28-2 has reports about the church’s evangelists; folder 28-4 has statistics and reports on Bible schools; folder 28-7 contains the minutes of the executive committee of the Inland Press and some correspondence about the work of the press; and folders 28-8 and 28-9 include a list of pastors, statistics on membership of various churches, minutes of synods, and information on Emmaus Guest House. An interesting document is the handwritten paper in folder 28-3 criticizing WCC statements on the authority of Scripture.

There was an interdenominational council of Christian organizations in Tanzania called the Christian Council of Tanzania. Folder 28-14 contains records of this group. At first AIM missionaries represented the church on the committee; later AIC leaders did this. The place of private religious schools in the national education system was a major concern of the council and the subject of many of its discussions. There are also directories of the council members, reports on possible cooperation in the area of literature, education, theological training, and broadcasting. An interesting 1963 paper discusses the Christian contribution to a dynamic society in Tanzania.

The rest of the files in this collection contain the records of the mission in Tanzania. A good overview can be obtained by reading the minutes of the field council which contain reports on current operations, possibilities and problems, as well as issues relating to individual missionaries and stations. Other records that give a good overview are the minutes of the annual field conference of all missionaries (folder 29-3), the circular letters sent to all missionaries by the field director (folder 29-6), and their prayer sheets (folder 30-10) which list activities at every station. "South of Victoria," a newsletter in folder 30-13, is also helpful for the brief period it covers. It also includes some photographs. Folder 30-7 contains such miscellaneous items as a job description of the position of station missionary chairman, detailed staff listing for the field, and information on an evaluation being done by Christian Service Fellowship in 1969 of all of AIM’s work. An interesting set of letters are the documents in folder 29-9 informing the German colonial government of the appointment of a new field secretary.

Folders 29-7 and 29-8 contain much financial information, including audits of various schools and hospitals, yearly balance sheets, and bank balances. These folders also have also some statistical reports from individual stations on conversions, medical work, education, etc. The field conference files also often include the yearly budget sheet.

The early history of the work from the entrance of the mission into Tanganyika colony in 1909 is described in a manuscript in folder 29-11, which also has information about work among the Basukuma people, early letters on the proper conduct of missionaries, statistical reports, questionnaires on missionaries in the colony in 1942, and lists of personnel. Also relevant to the early history is folder 28-13, which has the by-laws of the mission as they changed over time; folder 29-9, which has material on the relations between the mission and the German and British colonial governments; folder 39-15, which has tax records and receipts of the mission; and folder 30-11, which contains copies of deeds and legal forms signed by the registered trustees, who were the official trustees of the mission in the colony and therefore the ones who had to sign most deeds for purchase of land, etc. This folder also contains simple survey maps for some AIM properties.

The minutes of the field council and conference and the correspondence of the field secretary, all mentioned above, give a good idea of the administrative structure of the mission. For example, the field secretary’s file (folder 29-6) contains correspondence about the assignments of particular missionaries, reports on expenses for various projects, travel conditions, relations between missionaries and between missionaries and Tanzanian Christians, reports on medical and educational ministries, doctrinal questions, etc. There is some material in folder 29-12 about the relations between the Tanzania field and the rest of AIM, but most of the information in this file is on general mission policy and is not particular to Tanzania. There is interesting information on the mission’s attitude toward speaking in tongues and on changes in the mission’s faith support policy. Folder 82-4 has similar material on glossolalia.

The relationship between AIM and other missions in Tanzania is touched on in various documents. The correspondence concerning the dispute with the White Fathers is mentioned above, as is the work of the Christian Council of Tanzania. Folder 29-6 has a letter written in reply to a request from the Evangelical Alliance Mission asking about the needs of and work among Asians in Tanzania. AIM had an arrangement with the Neukirchener Mission of Germany (originally the Waisen und Missionsanstalt E. V. Neukirchen vluyn Kr. Moers) for accepting their workers into Tanzania, where they functioned as part of the AIM staff. Folders 30-4 and 30-5 have materials on the beginning and development of this relationship. Most of the correspondence deals with the placement of individuals.

Several files deal with AIM’s educational work. Besides those mentioned above, folder 28-15 contains records of the education department, including reports from different schools on activities, teacher training, goals, integration with the national system, and a description of a riot at the Musoma Secondary school in 1968. Folder 30-3 has a 1967 list of the teachers assigned to various schools. Folder 28-12 describes the establishment of a network of Bible clubs and camps for youths.

Some information on AIM’s medical work has already been mentioned. Folders 30-1 and 30-2 includes a memorandum on the allocation of doctors and nurses to various stations; annual reports with patient statistics and expenses; reports from individual hospitals; minutes of the medical committee; a report on a typical patient and how he reacted to the care he received; minutes of joint meetings of the Kenya and Tanzania medical committees; guidelines for out clinics; a summary of major public health care needs; an agreement with the government on the running of a leprosariums; documents on the development of tuberculosis care; audits; a survey of nurses on their needs and motivation; reports from Kola Ndoto Hospital; and reports on possible sites for hospitals. There is a 1974 report on Kijabe Medical Centre and a 1978 report on Kola Ndoto Hospital in folder 103-8. Other material on the Kola Doto Hospital is in folder 103-5.

Folder 28-7 has information on the Inland Press and AIM’s literature work. (See also folder 108 1 for more on the press.) Folder 30-3 includes minutes of committees involved in television and film work. Additional information on efforts to use television for evangelism is in folders 70-2, 74-2, 75-6, 84-5, and 92-2.

Other materials describe the lives and work of individual missionaries. Folder 30-9 has copies of the prayer letters that missionaries wrote to their supporters in other parts of the world. Some of these letters cover a period of several years. In them, missionaries describe day-to-day activities and give examples of recent conversions or describe ways that AIM workers were helping the church. This folder includes letters from the following missionaries: Rusty and Carol Baker, Don and Anne Baker, Paul and Esther Beverly, Grace Bolton, Evelyn Brinser, Robert and Jeanie Cochrane, Bud and Mary Crook, Richard and Florence Dilworth, Josephine E. Downey, Olive L. Downey, Arnie and Dorothy Egeler, Harold and Beth Felton, Lillian and Edward Glock, Ivan and Florence Harris, Chuck and Ruth Hennigh, Charles and Laura Hess, Rod and Jane Highfield, Edna Jackson, LeRoy and JoAnn Judd, Norma Kelly, Tom and Jean Lloyd, Stan Maughlin, Florence B. McCapes, Florence Mikels, Margaret Neill, Clifton and Beth Nelson, Lucilda A. Newton, Jim and Gloria Orner, Doris Schafer, Bill and Virginia Stier, Laura Thompson, and Jan Walkinshaw. More letters by, from and to some of these missionaries can be found in folder 29-6.

More general information is in folder 30-7, including instructions for missionaries going on furlough, data on the cost of living, outfit lists (see folders 15-5 and 120-2 for additional outfit lists) for missionaries planning to go to colonial Tanganyika, a report on economic and social conditions of the Ukerewe district, and a statement on the mission’s policy on workers having affiliations other than AIM. More of the mission’s policy statements from the late 20th century of subjects such as funding African national workers, home assignment or furloughs, divorce, home schooling, hostage/ransom situations, inactive missionaries can be found in folders 122-10, 11 and 12. Folder 29-6 has a reply to a British council questionnaire on the cost of living. Folder 29-12 includes data on the support rates of missionaries and a position description of the international general secretary. Folder 30-14 has documents related to a motor insurance plan for AIM staff. Folder 30-17 contains material on the organization set up for missionaries’ wives.

Subseries: B. Records of Uganda Field Council

Arrangement: Alphabetical by title. Folder titles are from the original creator, not from the archivist.

Date Range: 1924-1996

Volume: 1 cubic foot

Boxes: 123-124

Geographic coverage: Uganda

Type of documents: Correspondence, reports, memoranda, minutes, financial statements

Notes: These are files kept by the Uganda field office of AIM. They were brought to the BGC Archives in 2007 by Phil Stough. They cover a brief period of the field office’s existence, mainly from the 1980s and 1990s, although there are several earlier items.

One prime theme expressed in the documents of this subseries is the relationship between AIM and the Africa Inland Church of Uganda. See, for example, folders 123-3,5, and 124-1, 6. These same folders contain material on the leadership and history of the AIC, particularly folder 123-3. AIM in Uganda also worked closely with the Anglican Church of Uganda (COU). AIM cooperated with the COU in an evangelistic film ministry (folder 123-6), as well as educational and medical ministries in the COU’s Madi/West Nile, Nebbi, and South Rwenzori Diocese (folders 124-6,7).

Exceptional items:

123-1: Materials relating to how missions were facing the AIDS crisis in Africa

123-2: Material about the work of AIM’s RRD (Refugee and Rehabilitation Development) department in the Sudan after missionaries were asked to leave by the Sudanese government, including plans for providing biblical training for church leaders

123-4: Materials about AIC-Uganda leadership, historical background on AIC in Uganda, leadership dispute in Busia, relationship of AIM to AIC in Uganda

123-5: A 1969 report on a church leadership conference in Kenya in 1969 that dealt with issues such as church and state, cooperation between denominations, the place of foreign missionaries

124-1: Minutes of joint meetings of the French Equatorial Africa, Congo, and Uganda fields of AIM

124-3: History of Kuluva Hospital

124-5: Also folder 124-4. Photocopied documents, on the culture of the Lugbara and Alur peoples. See also folder 124-6 for information on the Lugbara language

124-6: Material on consecration of AIC bishops in the district

124-7: Material on consecration of bishops in Nebbi diocese

124-8: Minutes of inter-field, Uganda and regional conferences of AIM workers; correspondence from the late 1960s about criticism’s of the Church of Uganda for its perceived closeness to the Roman Catholic Church

124-9: Memos and reports related to the security of mission personnel and property from armed conflict and criminal activity in Uganda in 1980s and 1990s; evacuation and emergency contingency plans

Series: IV. Audio Tapes

Arrangement: Audio tapes are assigned a number and arranged by number. The listing of the tapes in this guide is chronological. Letter from Africa programs mostly in order by program number, which are roughly chronological. Other tapes arranged in chronological order, with undated tapes at the end.

Date range: 1951-1992, n.d.

Volume: 352 tapes

Geographic coverage: Congo, Central African Republic, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, U.S.

Type of documents: Radio programs, audio portion of slide and tape programs describing the mission’s work, field conferences, sermons, Bible studies, speeches on topics of interest to missionaries, funeral services of missionaries

Subjects: Work of AIM (evangelistic, educational, medical, church planting, broadcasting, literature work) the development of the Africa Inland Church, the life of a missionary

Notes: See Location Record for more detail on individual items. The audio tapes are mainly from AIM’s radio program Letter From Africa, a brief (15 minutes) program which gives little vignettes of life on that continent and of AIM’s activities. A few tapes at the end were intended for use in conjunction with slides found elsewhere in the collection. Tapes T348 and T349 are of the funeral service of James Bisset, which includes both American and African evaluations of his life and ministry. Other tapes of missionary funerals can be found on T279, T350-T352.

Series: V. Films, Videos, CDs, DVDs

Arrangement: Films and videos are assigned a number and arranged by number. The separate listing of the films and videos in this guide is chronological.

Date range: 1941-2001

Volume: 20 films, 168 videos, 12 CDs, 4 DVDs

Geographic coverage: Kenya, Congo, Tanzania, Uganda

Type of documents: English language films made to explain all or part AIM’s work to audiences in the United States

Subjects: The evangelistic, medical and education work of the mission; reports on the activities of individual missionaries, the application of the TIMO program in various countries

Notes: See location records for more detail on individual items. A few of the videos are copies of AIM films made by the Archives staff, but most were produced by AIM.

Series: VI. Photographs, Negatives and Slides

Arrangement: Photographs and negatives are arranged alphabetically by folder title. Photo albums are assigned a title and number (AIM I, AIM II, etc.) and arranged by number. Slide sets are assigned a number and arranged by number. The listing of the slide sets in this guide is chronological.

Date range: 1895-

Volume: 49 negatives, several hundred photographs, 3 photo albums, 2665 slides

Geographic coverage: Congo, Central African Republic, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, U.S

Type of documents: Publicity pictures, snapshots, private scrapbooks, mission scrapbooks of missionary picturers, slides intended to be used as part of a slide and tape program.

Notes: There are two types of photographs: those of mission activities and those of missionary personnel. In each case, the folder title of the location record describes the contents. Folder 25-27 contains a scrapbook with pictures of AIM’s missionaries.

Some of the sets of slides were meant for use in conjunction with audio tapes. When the collection contains both the tapes and the slides, this is indicated in the description in the location record. The slide/tape programs were presented for audiences in America to give them an idea of what AIM did. Folder 129-8 contains scripts for the following slide-tape programs: AIM-AIR, Kijabe Means Outreach, and Africa My Home.