Page 13 - Number 2 2021 Volume 74

Ida Z. Chilembwe – Pioneer Nyasa Feminist

“…the world will not go forward as it should till women have been
taught and have learned to take the place God has ordained for
them as man’s helpmeet – his equal, not his slave”.

David Stuart-Mogg

Ida Chilembwe flanked by two members of the Providence Industrial Mission (PIM).
1
John Chilembwe cited biblical authority in respect of his wish for PIM women to
cover their hair.

Any appreciation of Ida Chilembwe’s life is, of necessity, inextricably
interwoven with that of her husband, Pastor John Chilembwe, about which so
much more is known and has been written during the past 100 and more years.
Nevertheless, despite an abundance of testimony on John Chilembwe’s inspired
life, his leadership and achievements in the missionary field, culminating in his
abortive rising against British colonial aspirations in January 1915, details of his
family life and personal domestic arrangements remain at best fragmentary and,
in significant part, speculative.

1 1 Corinthians 11: 2-16 (King James version).