The Rhineland Mission Society expanded its operations in Namibia during the decades after the 1870 peace. Herero ovahona increasingly requested missionaries in order to gain political influence and access to long-distance trade. The society opened or reoccupied stations in central Namibia, as well as along the coast and in the south.

The missions developed into locally oriented social networks. They ran educational institutions, established the first hospitals for Africans, supported farming businesses and maintained mission stations. Nama missions, working among communities already familiar with Christianity, encouraged conversion and church-going particularly successfully, while Christianity also made significant inroads among Otjiherero speakers.

The society’s influence extended into education and relief. Its Herero membership grew from 150 in 1869 to 983 in 1876 and 1,448 in 1883. The Augustineum at Otjimbingwe, founded in 1866, educated children sent by Herero leaders. Mission stations also sheltered poor communities, including impoverished Damara and Swartboois at Omaruru, while the Damara station at Okombahe supported a settled community producing mealies, pumpkins and tobacco and keeping goats and cattle.

Missionary work was closely connected to commerce. In the 1870s, long-distance trade expanded sharply; Palgrave reported ten stores in central Namibia and as many as 120 wagons trading there in 1877/78. In 1869, Friedrich Fabri established the Missions-Handels-Aktien-Gesellschaft, which imported arms and alcohol and exported hunting products and cattle, despite prohibitions from mission headquarters.