Among the expected delegates at the Synod this year will be the Rev. A. B. Ndebele and one of his elders, Mr Joseph Mazwi. They will be accompanied, we very much hope, by Mrs Ndebele.
In a recent letter, the Rev. A. B. Ndebele writes, “At the recent Meeting of the Presbytery the theme that prevailed was the expansion of the Mission influence in Zimbabwe. All the members of the Court were speaking of extending the boundaries of their own areas.”
Mr Joseph Mazwi has his home at Elibeni, three miles from Ingwenya. He preached many times, during the past eight years, at a Station opened by the Rev. A. B. Ndebele about 30 miles away, and known as Inyathi. Mr Mazwi had a natural as well as spiritual interest in this place as he had a son working there. The people are in process of building a church to accommodate 150-200 people. The congregation at present numbers 70-100. There have been five or six received as members over the years.
Our small preaching Station is some distance from Inyathi proper, which is justly famous as being the location of the first Christian Mission in the country, and where there is still a Church, and a large Boys’ School. It might be of interest to relate a brief history of the old Inyathi.
The first King of the Matabele left Zululand with his people early in the 19th Century, and after many skirmishes, travelled North and crossed the Limpopo River into what is now known as Matabeleland. During his progress north, Umzilikazi had heard tell of the wonderful Kuruman, where the renowned Rev. Robert Moffat had established an oasis in a spiritual desert. He preached the Gospel, taught school, had a magnificent garden of fruit and vegetables travelled in a house on wheels, a wagon, and loved the people.
In 1829 Umzilikazi determined to send some of his most trusted men 700 miles to Kuruman, to be his ‘eyes and ears’. They were amazed at what they saw, and after a stay of some weeks persuaded the kind-hearted Moffat to accompany them part of the way home in case they were attacked by enemies. They then prevailed on him to go all the way over the rough trackless country. The King was advised of their approach, and had a fearsome display of his formidable army prepared for their reception.
The King was completely won over by Moffat’s warm, courageous personality, and always treated the missionary with the greatest kindness. Moffat travelled the same long journey on at least three occasions to see Umzilikazi and his people. Sad to say, Umzilikazi never became a Christian, but he did, albeit reluctantly, give permission to Moffat to open a Mission Station at Inyathi in 1859, providing the site and promising protection. A son of Robert Moffat, the Rev. John Smith Moffat, and a number of other missionaries, and their wives and children made the long trek by wagon through rivers and waterless deserts, until they arrived at Inyathi, 25 miles from where we are now at Ingwenya. There they suffered incredible hardships, and for 25 years saw no spiritual fruit. However, in later years worthy missionaries who followed the pioneers, saw a harvest of fine Christian converts.
An additional preaching Station has been opened by the Rev. A. B. Ndebele in the opposite direction. It is known as the Insiza Resettlement area and Mr Ndebele writes of it. “It gives us much joy to speak of Insiza. The services are well attended and men, women and children listen attentively. Most of our elders are very pleased to be asked to go to preach at Insiza or Inyathi. These people have not heard before the teaching we seek to give them, and they show a freshness of interest. We preach Christ crucified and the Holy Spirit works with His Word.”
It has been a great pleasure to their many friends to welcome home Mr and Mrs Murray. They spent three weeks of their furlough in New Zealand, and saw there some friends who had visited Zimbabwe, and a few who had worked there such as Miss Jocelyn Cox, and the Hicklin family. Mrs Murray has a brother in Roturua.
Mr William Campbell and Miss Etta MacLennan are to attend the Young Peoples’ Conference, and to show slides and give a talk on the Mission. Miss MacLennan’s leave will soon be over, and although we will be sorry to see her go, we know she will receive a warm welcome, and her arrival will enable Miss Marion Graham to come home, D.V. J.N.