Looking on the Fields
Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.—St. John 4: 35.
We moved into the new house early in 1903. This left the huts empty, for our increasing family of boys. As soon as the rains were over for this year, Brother and Sister Steigerwald and myself felt led to make a tour of exploration in the interests of the work. Matopo Hills or Mountains extend northeast and southwest for a distance of about sixty miles. Between the hills and Bulawayo there is a mission station and work had been carried on for some years, although there were at this time many raw natives to be seen. Through the hills and south for a long distance there were as yet no missionaries except our own, and as our mission was on the north side of the hills, we desired to go through them and explore some of the south side.
In June we arranged to make the trip, taking our large wagon on which was a canvas top, which was drawn by donkeys, consequently progress was slow. Three of our boys accompanied us. We were obliged to go west about nine miles before a road could be found leading through the hills. This wagon road was exceedingly rough and stony and very little traveled, and the donkeys slowly wended their way in and out among the hills which continually surrounded us and seemed to close us in. Frequently as the immense piles of rock seemed to stretch across our path in front and bar further progress, we would be led to exclaim, "Truly, there is no way out of this," but on we went and the way continued to open.
The tediousness of the journey was relieved by the exceeding beauty of the scenery as it gradually unfolded before our eyes. In the first of the trip are to be seen the immense bald hills of solid granite, similar to some in the vicinity of the mission. Soon the scene changes and the eye is greeted on every side by lofty ridges, consisting of immense boulders piled up in all sorts of fantastic shapes, by the Great Architect, and from out of every possible crevice grow trees and shrubbery of all sorts. The dark green of the foliage, interspersed with the varying shades of grey, yellow, red, and green of the rock, forms a picture of surpassing loveliness. Baboons, large and small, would make their appearance on the jutting rocks, as we passed along, and bark at these intruders into their peaceful domain.
As the hills abounded in game, and Elder Steigerwald was a good shot, we did not want for meat on the journey. So, while the donkeys were grazing, fires would be built and pot roasts and many sorts of delectable dishes would be prepared and eaten with relish. Natives are generally happy if they have plenty of meat to eat; so on this journey Tebengo declared that they would be longing for the fleshpots of Egypt when they returned to the mission. Next to meat, their favorite dish was Graham flour made into a loaf by means of water and a little salt, then baked in the hot ashes.
South of the hills we left the beaten track, which proceeds east to Gwanda, and started south to the open country, which is known as Mapani Land, named from the large amount of excellent hardwood Mapani trees which grow here. Very few natives were seen on the journey through the hills, but in this rich, open plain of the south there were numerous kraals. The natives received us gladly and readily consented to have services; and as there were no missionaries in this part of the country, many of the people had the privilege of hearing for the first time the Story of the Cross. On this trip we came to the home of Holi, a rich and prominent native. His wife is a daughter of King Lobengula and a sister of Ganukisa, who lived at the mission. Here we were very kindly received and Holi presented Elder Steigerwald with a fine fat sheep.
From this point we turned west and north through the hills by a different route. Along the way we visited some places of interest, especially the "View of the World," where Mr. Rhodes was buried. Thence we proceeded east and south to the mission. We had been absent about two weeks, had traveled over one hundred miles, and had had a most pleasant and profitable trip. It had also been a change from the labor and routine of the station.
Brother and Sister Doner had for some time been contemplating opening another station, and they concluded during this dry season also to make a tour and explore the country, as well as do evangelistic work. They made preparations to spend a month in this way, taking the wagon and several boys. Little Oliver, who was then only seven months old, also went along, thus early in his life learning what trekking in Africa meant.
They went south over the same route we had taken, and it was on this trip, if I mistake not, that the present site of Mapani Mission was selected. They spent a very delightful month and came home quite enthusiastic over the prospects of opening a new work and eager to launch out at once. Permission did not come from the Board, however, in time to open that dry season, and the work had to be postponed another year.
During this year word came that one member of the Executive Board had passed "over the river." Dear father died the latter part of March. It was a double loss to some of us; for we should now miss not only his fatherly letters, but the wise counsel that he gave in his capacity as a member of the Mission Board. He always seemed to have such a keen insight into the work, and wrote about it as if he had been on the field and knew exactly our surroundings.
Matopo Mission Church. Built by Elder Steigerwald in 1905.
The work at the mission continued to go along as usual, and two more united with the Church, and everyone found plenty of profitable employment. One feature of the work, not yet mentioned, but which always requires much of the missionaries' time, is medical work and the care of the sick. The natives accept the miracles of healing, mentioned in the Scriptures, without question, and the sick frequently asked the prayers of the missionaries. There were several instances of remarkable cases of healing without the application of medicine, when the native could be led to take hold of the Lord by faith. On one occasion a native came for Elder Engle, from a kraal about five miles distant, where a woman was very sick and had eaten nothing for several days. She was very low indeed and seemingly unconscious of what was going on about her and her friends were weeping. Brother Engle felt led to anoint her and pray for her. The next day they came to say that the woman was much better and was eating, and they declared that the missionary had raised her from the dead.
At another time one of our Christian girls was sick with such a disease that we knew we could not help her, and she desired prayer. We granted her request and she was healed immediately, even to our surprise. Some time after Brother Doner had come, an elderly native was quite ill with lung trouble, and his people had been trying in every way to heal him. They appealed to us, so we made the case a special subject of prayer and he was healed immediately, and told everyone that Jesus had healed him. A mother also wished us to pray for her child, who was very ill and seemed ready to die at any minute; it too was healed at once. Other instances of help might be cited; but we give these, because we see that He is the same Christ yet today and often shows His power, saying unto the sick, "According to your faith be it unto you."
Back View of Matopo Mission House, Showing Granite Hill Beyond.
Why He does not always choose to manifest His power in this way I know not. I am giving things as I found them. At first we were more or less loth to use medicine, and some of the early losses may have been owing to this fact. We believe also that He receives honor in helping the missionary make use of remedies to relieve the suffering of the sick. With the natives sickness is always the result of witchcraft or the influence of their ancestral spirits. If one can by means of remedies, under the blessing of God, show them that this is not true, he is doing much to overthrow some of their superstitious beliefs. So the sick are visited in their homes and ministered to, and many come to the mission for treatment. Sometimes the disease may be such as will not yield to treatment, but the gentle sympathy and the delicacy for the appetite are always much appreciated, even from some sources least expected. The missionary necessarily becomes physician and nurse to his people, and it brings him into contact with them and relieves their sufferings and thus paves the way for ministering to their spiritual needs. He who neglects this part of the work makes a grave mistake. Many missionaries, who had done little medical work at home, have by a willingness and desire to learn, become quite proficient in healing on the mission field.
Elder Steigerwald has been much used in this line of work. Many and various cases have been treated by him most successfully. In addition to the sick who come for medicine, there are generally some who remain for a time at the mission to be treated.
During this dry season, as usual, kraal visiting occupied much of my time outside of school hours, and many long and enjoyable trips were made to all the villages surrounding us. During these journeys the Lord was also reminding His messenger of some things that had been almost forgotten. He was showing the large fields yet beyond where the people were in pagan darkness and the Light of Life had not yet penetrated, and where missionaries and teachers were greatly needed.
In the Matopo Hills.
The reader of these pages will remember that our call had been to the far interior of Africa, where Christ had not been named. When Matopo Mission was started it was felt that here was my place to begin work, but that the time would come when the Lord wanted me to press on farther in the interior. This thought kept following me, and in the second year of our work at Matopo, on my speaking to a friend of the call to press on farther, the question was asked, "You do not intend to go alone, do you?" My reply was, "No, I do not think that will be necessary. Perhaps the Lord will raise up others who desire to go beyond the Zambezi." Also, while Brother and Sister Van Blunk were at Matopo, the question of going north was often mentioned, for their eyes were likewise looking in that direction.
As time went on, however, and the work at Matopo increased, I entered more and more deeply into it and became absorbed in my surroundings. The children and also the older people occupied a large place in my heart and crowded out for the time being all thought of anything else. The Lord had to take His own way of cutting me loose and again lifting up my eyes to the fields beyond, and I could not doubt but that His time was near at hand. On the other hand, what a struggle it was to be willing to leave these! He, however, showed me most strikingly one day that when I was willing to lose these children there were others waiting to be found; and when the work was given into His hands, He accomplished that which to me was impossible.
First, the pushing out of the work must be presented to the Board and the home Church and their consent and aid solicited. Permission was given to return to America, and as Conference drew near, it seemed as if the Lord's time had come for me to do this. Together with my colaborers, we made it a special subject of prayer, and felt that I was to start at once. So, on March 25, 1904, I left the mission for America. Sister Emma Doner, as she bade me good-bye, said weeping, "If I did not know of a truth that it was the Lord's will for you to go at this time I could not say good-bye." That was the last time I was permitted to look into her dear face. Brother and Sister Steigerwald, together with several of the boys, accompanied me to Bulawayo, where I took the train for Cape Town.
I shall not dwell on the events of that journey to America, for many things connected with it are too sacred to find way into public print. It is sufficient to say that it was a time of severe sifting and testing, but of such sweet fellowship with the Father, that I would not blot it out of my life, if I could. I learned, in truth, what that meant, "With God all things are possible." After it was over one of God's children greatly desired to hear of the trip home, and when told, he was quiet for a time; then he said, "I believe it was God's preparation for going farther into the interior. I believe the way will open."
America was reached just in time for Conference in Ontario. We were sorry to learn that Elder S. Zook, the Treasurer of the Foreign Mission Board, had in the meantime passed away in February. We greatly missed him who had always been such an able pillar in the Church and missionary work, for his farsightedness and wise counsel had smoothed the way in many a difficulty. The old fathers were thus passing away and the work was devolving upon younger shoulders, but they were equal to the task. The Executive Board now consisted of Brethren J. R. Zook, Chairman; Eli M. Engle, Secretary; and Peter Climenhage, Treasurer, two of whom had been connected with the foreign missionary work from its inception.
A report of the work from the field met with an enthusiastic reception, and it was requested that the churches all be visited and an account of the mission work be given. Permission was also granted for an appeal to be made for pressing the work on into the interior, both for workers and funds.
In the meantime Miss Sallie Kreider had gone to Africa to engage in mission work, and Elder and Mrs. John Meyers and Miss Lydia Heise had also gone there on a visit. Brother and Sister Doner, with some of the mission boys, had gone to Mapani to open a mission station in August, 1904. At first Brother Doner was troubled with fever, and much of the hut building fell to Ndhlalambi; then Sister Doner became quite ill, and Sister Kreider hastened down to assist in caring for her, but she passed away. Thus three precious lives had been sacrificed for the people and the work. Brother Doner was desirous of taking the body and laying it by the side of the others at Matopo. This was unusual in a hot climate like this, where interment is usually attended to at once, and the natives too object to carrying a dead body, so there was much parleying before they would consent to take hold of the bier and carry it. The way over the hills was much shorter, but it was also much more difficult. It was an exceedingly trying journey for all of them, and only the grace of God could have sustained them through it; but Brother Doner had the comfort and satisfaction of seeing his loved one resting in the little cemetery beside Sister Cress and Brother Engle.
Sister Doner's stay of over three years in Africa was almost a continual struggle, one might say, against disease, and heroically she bore up under it. Her constitution was naturally not very rugged, and this malarial climate aggravated her disease, as it is sure to do with any one who is not strong. She was afraid to write home and inform her friends of the condition of her health, lest they should insist upon her return to America, and that she did not desire. She loved the work among the heathen, and we believe she had her desire in laying down her life in their behalf, rather than return to America where she might have lived for a longer time. Little Oliver continued to thrive, but as Brother Doner's health was great impaired, it was deemed advisable that he return to America on furlough and, after placing Oliver with friends, regain his own health. So in the spring of 1905 he left for America, and Ndhlalambi was left to care for the work just started at Mapani.
In America the work was progressing; a number had volunteered for the foreign field, and four were ready to go to Africa at once; these being Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Frey and Misses Adda Engle and Abbie Bert. Over $2,000 had been donated toward pushing the work on into the interior. This was offered to the Mission Board, but they concluded that it was best to leave it in our hands toward the opening of the work. Of the four new missionaries who were going to Africa, none were pledged to the interior work except Sister Engle, but we still hoped others would be ready to go.
We reached Matopo Mission August 1, 1905, and rejoiced that the Lord permitted us again to return. Some very noticeable changes had taken place during our absence: Brother Steigerwald had been busy making improvements, and a fine, large brick church, with an iron roof, had been erected. This was much needed and it added greatly to the appearance of the mission premises. The women, about eighty in number, gladly offered their services free to put in a fine polished earthen floor. A number of the class members had been baptized, and Matshuba was doing well in the schoolroom, where Sister Kreider was also doing some teaching.
Mapani Mission, 1907.
Ndhlalambi had been holding on faithfully at Mapani Mission. A number there had accepted Christ and he had formed them into a class for instruction. It was thought advisable for Sister Engle and myself to spend the remainder of the dry season at Mapani and help in the work there, so we turned our faces in that direction. We were there two months and helped in the various lines of work and visited some of the people in the surrounding neighborhood. Some of the converts were very encouraging at that place. At the time in which the rains usually open we returned to Matopo. On the way down we had gone by wagon road, but on our return four donkeys had been sent down, two for pack saddles and the other two for Sister Engle and me to ride, and two boys came along to assist in the homeward journey.
Kwidine Taking His Aunt to Church. Matopo M. Hospital.
We left Mapani Mission at sunrise and took the shorter journey across the hills, the same path along which they had carried the body of Sister Doner the year previous. It was a most difficult trip for us and we had to marvel how they could have possibly made the journey. We were obliged to stop on the way and let the donkeys graze and eat, and did not reach the hills proper until afternoon. As the climbing was difficult and there were many trees and shrubs growing out from between the rocks, it was difficult for us to keep our seats, so we dismounted and walked. The pack saddles would frequently be nearly brushed off the other donkeys. Once one of the donkeys in attempting to go up a steep rock fell back and became fast in the rocks. The boys removed the load and carried it up; they then extricated the donkey and after much persuasion got it on the rock and again placed on the load. By the time we reached the summit, darkness had overtaken us and we were obliged to make the descent in the dark. We knew not where we were going, and were frequently in danger of broken limbs or becoming fast in the rocks. We were very thankful when at last at eleven o'clock we reached the mission without any serious accident. This was one of Sister Engle's first experiences in Africa, but from her composure through it all one would judge that she expected such things.
Christian Wedding Reception Near Matopo.
Ndhlalambi remained on at the work in Mapani most of the time for one and one-half years, and when Brother Doner at last returned there were some nearly ready for baptism. Not long afterwards thirteen were baptized there and proved faithful Christians.
Brother and Sister Steigerwald had now had four very strenuous years of work at Matopo and were in need of a change. So, while the new workers were at Matopo, the way was opened for them to go to Cape Town over the rainy season. Here they had a good rest and returned in April, 1906, quite refreshed, ready to take up their duties at their station. Brother Doner also returned from America at the same time and was ready to resume work at Mapani.
There had been some pupils attending school at Matopo Mission, from Mtshabezi Valley, south of the hills, but about fifteen miles east of Brother Doner's station. These had strongly urged that a mission be planted in their midst. Brother Steigerwald promised them to consider the matter, and at the opening of the dry season Brother Frey went to see that part of the country. He was much pleased with the outlook and felt led to open work there. This is the origin of Mtshabezi Mission which was started in July, 1906. The phenomenal success attending that work since helps to confirm the belief that it was a work of the Lord's own planting.