Johann Ludwig Krapf (1810-1881) was a Lutheran pastor with the Church Missionary Society (CMS) of the Anglican Church, and a pioneering missionary explorer and linguist. After being expelled from Ethiopia, Krapf developed a ground-breaking strategy for the heart of Africa through the Swahili Coast-a path that later explorers would follow. Krapf was also a gifted linguist and his work with the Swahili language and other Bantu languages was seminal and foundational for future Swahili studies.

This biography provides an introduction to Krapf’s life. It details his early flirtation with Christian mysticism and the development of a practical and passionate heart for the unreached Oromo people of East Africa. It follows his strategic missionary maneuvering and his indomitable courage and fortitude in the face of repeated setbacks. The loss of his wife and infant daughter just months after their arrival in Mombasa, left him broken. But his letter to the CMS Committee revealed a profound faith in the sovereignty of God and the nature of his mission in the world.

Tell the committee that in East Africa there is the lonely grave of one member of the mission connected with your society. This is an indication that you have begun the conflict in this part of the world; and since the conquests of the Church are won over the graves of many of its members, you may be all the more assured that the time has come when you are called to work for the conversion of Africa. Think not of the victims who in this glorious warfare may suffer or fall; only press forward until East and West Africa are united in Christ.