The Conversion of Yosiya Kinuka and the Beginning of the East African Revival

The East African Revival, arguably the most influential revival movement of Africa in the twentieth century, originated from an Anglican mission station in northern Ruanda in the 1930s. This article examines the revival in its early years and demonstrates how the revivalist spirituality was prompted by the conversion of Yosiya Kinuka, an African member of the Ruanda Mission medical staff. Highlighting the African initiative in the revival, this article critically assesses previous historical analyses of religious conversion in the colonial context and argues that the conversion of Kinuka served as an archetype that shaped the character of the revival as primarily a conversionist movement.