Moffat Mungazi
Dr Willie Shumba
Correspondent
ON December 18, 2024 at 8.20pm, Mrs Brenda Anne Griffiths (née Hurrell) departed from earth to be with Christ.
The question that might come to some readers is who Brenda was, and of what relevance she was to Zimbabwe?
Brenda Griffiths was a British missionary who came to then Rhodesia, and was a teacher in Penhalonga, Nyanga and Harare.
Though this article is meant to be an obituary on Brenda Griffiths, her story would be incomplete without the mention of her late husband, Peter who passed away earlier on October 12, 1993.
The couple were faithful servants of Christ who never sought publicity, and yet sowed great seeds of nation building for the independent Zimbabwe. This is also the story of many missionaries in Zimbabwe whose stories might never have been read.
The Elim Pentecostal Church established two mission centres in then Rhodesia, at Penhalonga on the border with Mozambique, and another in Katerere, Nyanga. In the 1950s, both the Elim centres in Penhalonga and Nyanga focused on opening and offering primary school education in the Eastern Highlands bordering with Mozambique (then Portuguese East Africa).
In the 1940s and 1950s, remote rural areas were out of the reach of colonial government in terms of development and provision of social services such as health and education.
Brenda was born on November 8, 1932 in Essex, England, and trained as a teacher. During a visit to the United Kingdom by the head of Elim Pentecostal Church in Rhodesia, Dr Cecil Brian, Brenda responded to a call he issued to serve in Rhodesia as a teacher to African education.
After soul searching and prayer, the words in the Bible from Acts 7 verse 3: “Go out from your land and from your kindred, and go into the land that I will show you,” captured her heart.
The young, trim, attractive and urban Brenda Hurrell sailed to Rhodesia, arriving in Penhalonga on February 10, 1957.
Brenda was not known for adventure and her missionary journey to Rhodesia was solely to serve God. It was also against natural instincts because, at that time her church preferred men rather than women for mission work. Common sense would tempt one to think that the young British lady would not fit into a teaching and missionary job in rural Rhodesia.
Three years later, following further appeals by Dr Brien, another young Elim missionary teacher, Peter Griffiths, from Wales, sailed to Rhodesia to take up a teaching post at Elim Penhalonga.
By that time, Brenda had moved to Katerere. Against all odds, and despite mission policy that discouraged love relationships among recent arrivals, Brenda Hurrell and Peter Griffiths married on December 13, 1963 at Elim Mission Church in Penhalonga. It was a wedding in an African Church that served the black community.
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That was unusual at the time, but that reflected the characters of both Peter and Brenda. It showed their commitment to work with the African community, regardless of the colour bar at the time.
One of the songs for their wedding, sung from a Shona/Manyika hymnal was “Ungatora Hako Pasi” which translates that, “while others choose the world and its joys, on our part, we will take Jesus whose grace is overwhelming and sufficient for all.”
Through the leadership and vision of Dr Brien, Elim Pentecostal Church opened a secondary school and appropriately called it Emmanuel which means: “God with us.” The secondary school commenced, at short notice and with bare resources, in January 1965 with 30 Form One learners. It had to utilise some facilities from a nearby Manjanja Primary School. The couple were among the pioneer teachers, and Peter was to become the principal of the secondary school.
Within a few years, the secondary school had assembled a team of capable national and missionary teachers.
Brenda and Peter taught various subjects, including Bible Knowledge, Biology, Science and Art.
The pioneer Cambridge O-Level Class wrote its exams in November 1973 and produced 100 percent passes, with 17 learners obtaining First Class Division, while 13 had Second Class.
To be taught Bible Knowledge by either Brenda or Peter made Cambridge O-Level exams a walkover and most learners were assured of an A or B pass!
In the 1970s, the school established itself and became a leader in Christian teaching and providing solid education and independent thinking for its African learners. It had a holistic approach and gave attention to the total being of its learners, that is, spiritually, physically, socially and academically.
It gained a reputation among other well-known schools, it had an affordable cost structure and had facilities to assist those who could not afford fees. Though in the remote north-east corner of the country, it attracted learners from all over the country. The school maintained a high academic record, and it churned out a number of its learners to other institutions of higher learning, the private sector and the public service.
Today, the school that started from humble beginnings has its former learners serving in Zimbabwe, in the region and internationally.
On a lighter note, the two had nicknames. Brenda was called “Nhoro” due to her majestic style of her walking steps that resembled that of a relaxed antelope. Peter earned the nickname “Mudhara”, and this was due to his fatherly figure as principal of the school. Both were aware of the names and these were accepted in good humour.
At the height of the liberation war in 1977, the school relocated from Nyanga to Vumba, near Mutare, while other mission activities remained in Nyanga. It was considered the school provisions would be more accessible near Mutare.
While the Griffiths’ were on a yearlong furlough and study leave, the school lost 13 of its missionary teachers and families who became victims of the war and perished on June 23, 1978.
Peter had to temporarily return to Rhodesia to close the school and negotiate placements of his learners to other schools.
In 1979, the couple returned to Zimbabwe and relocated to Harare.
Peter worked hard to move the school back to its original site in Nyanga, seeing it reopened in 1981.
Peter had then been engaged by the Ministry of Education to do curriculum development, while Brenda took up a teaching post at Chisipite Senior Girls High School.
Over the following years, Peter and his Curriculum Development Unit published 25 books in Religious Education and Divinity for both primary and secondary schools. These were as follows: 12 Faith in Action book series; five books on school assemblies including an Assembly songbook; four books on the Synoptic Gospels, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Luke and one entitled the Road to Freedom and four A-Level Divinity Books on the Acts of the Apostles, 1 Corinthians, I Thessalonians and Colossians.
While in Harare, Brenda and Peter attended Northside Community Church. The story of Brenda and Peter represents only a small window of the role mission schools played in providing education for the Africans who were greatly disadvantaged before independence.
Today, 60 years after its foundation, Emmanuel High School continues to shine in Zimbabwe and beyond.
In remembering the lives of Brenda and Peter, it is an opportunity to remember with gratitude, the role and contribution that this couple made towards African education. It was a life of hard work, sacrifice and total commitment to the service of God and his people.
Brenda and Peter are survived by two grown-up sons, Stephen and Paul and several grandchildren.
A thanksgiving service for the life of Brenda Griffiths was conducted on January 15, 2025 at St Andrews Church close to London.
Dr Willie Shumba attended Emmanuel Secondary School between 1973 and 1976
Online Reporter