The contribution of the Matandani mission to Adventist work between 1908 and 1989 through evangelisation and education resounded in Malawi and beyond. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, students from Botswana, Uganda and Rwanda came to attend its industrial training school. In the periphery of the mission, a number of out-schools and churches were established and new mission stations opened. This study provides material and analysis of the history of the Matandani mission, tracing its origins, development and decline. It argues that its decline represents a useful paradigm illustrating the current status of many Adventist missions in Africa since the onset of the shift towards indigenisation.