A Liberian prophet in a white robe walked along the coast in 1913 and baptised tens of thousands: William Wadé Harris

In 1913, a tall man in a white robe and turban, carrying a cross, a Bible and a calabash of water, walked out of Liberia along the coast. In less than two years, he baptised tens of thousands of people.

William Wadé Harris was born around 1860 in Liberia, a member of the Grebo people. He was raised partly by a Methodist minister, became a teacher and interpreter, and worked for the Episcopal mission. He was also involved in politics and was imprisoned for supporting a political cause against the Liberian government.

The vision

In prison around 1910, Harris said the Angel Gabriel appeared to him in a vision, calling him to be a prophet and to preach Christ to people who had never heard the gospel. After his release, he adopted a white gown, a turban and a simple cross, and began his mission.

The walk

In 1913, Harris walked east into Côte d’Ivoire, then a French colony, and along the coast into the western part of the British Gold Coast, reaching as far as the Axim area. He preached in simple terms: abandon fetishes and idols, worship one God, observe the Sabbath and follow the Ten Commandments. He baptised converts with water from his calabash.

Crowds followed him. People burned charms and ritual objects. Estimates suggest he baptised between 100,000 and 120,000 people in about eighteen months.

Expulsion

The French colonial authorities grew alarmed at the size of his following and expelled him in 1915. He returned to Liberia, where he continued to preach until his death in 1929.

What followed

Harris told his converts to wait for teachers who would come with the Bible. When Methodist missionaries arrived in Côte d’Ivoire years later, they found many thousands of people ready to join. The Harrist Church, an independent African church, also grew from his followers and remains active in Côte d’Ivoire.

In western Ghana, Harris’s preaching left communities that later joined Methodist and other churches.

Legacy

Harris is regarded as one of the most successful evangelists in African history. He preached without a church organisation, money or foreign support. His ministry showed that Africans themselves could lead mass movements of Christian conversion.

He walked the coast with a calabash and a cross. The churches that grew in his footsteps now count their members in the hundreds of thousands.