In 1971, John Gatu, General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa, issued a famous moratorium on foreign missionaries and funds. The immediate reaction was strong and provoked a debate about mission that continues to this day. This article investigates Gatu’s motivation for such abrupt and controversial action and makes a case for considering the moratorium to be a milestone in mission history, marking the symbolic end of the colonial mission paradigm and the start of the postcolonial mission era.