By Rev. R. MACDONALD, M.B., Ch.B.
SHORTLY after our combined Report was submitted to the Synod last year the Rev. J. Tallach proceeded on furlough to Scotland, and so an unique opportunity was furnished to our
people in Scotland to hear from one who has been engaged in the work of the Mission for the last eight years an account of the work of the Mission, and the progress made by the good hand of the Lord upon it. I, therefore, submit this Report for the year during which he has been absent in the confidence that it will be received with not less interest than similar Reports have been received in former years.
During 1932 some of our most esteemed Christian members have been taken away, and we feel their loss very much indeed. Mrs. Hlazo, wife of Chief John Hlazo, long associated with the late Rev. J. B. Radasi in the work of the Mission, was a woman of quiet and unassuming disposition, but about whom there was the fragrance of true piety. Many of her family are following their parents’ God and are to-day staunch members of the Church. She was laid to rest at the Mission. Peter Matabele, one of our Elders also passed away, holding fast his confidence to the end, and was laid to rest at the Mission.
While the Lord removes His people from among us we have reason to praise Him with thanksgiving that He still continues to countenance the work of the Mission, and that we are able to record that fourteen persons were received into membership as well as a considerable number baptised at Ingwenya. Despite the circumstances under which our people live, and the many temptations to which they are exposed only one case had to be dealt with in a disciplinary manner.
Together with the whole world our people are suffering from the effects of the depression. Last year owing to foot and mouth disease there were severe restrictions on the movement and sale of cattle causing much hardship. The quarterly collections, nevertheless, amounted to £13 17s. 10d. The rains were also late in coming and have to all appearances ceased, the last having fallen in January. The crops have failed and the prospects for this year are very black indeed. Several acres of the Mission ground are under maize but there is very little hope of any return.
None of our outlying stations have been visited during the last year as there has been no means of travelling. The motor car is old and had arrived at the stage when upkeep had become very expensive, and being of an obsolete model spare parts and even tyres had become impossible to obtain in this country. For this reason we decided that the Rev. J. Tallach, while in Scotland, should seek permission to collect money to buy another, a motor car being indispensable to the work being properly undertaken.
Ingwenya school was visited by the Native Development Department Inspectors in May 1932. The Report of Mr. Finkle on the academic work was very satisfactory, as was also the Report by Miss Rudd on the domestic and industrial work. The grants earned by the schools are not yet to hand. There will be a reduction of 15 per cent. for last year. The kraal schools, with the exception of Shangani, were not visited. The attendance of scholars in the various schools has been fair throughout the year. The generosity of some of the home Sabbath Schools and their teachers makes it possible for us to give prizes to the best scholars in each year. A substantial church-school building was put up at Induba to replace that destroyed by white ants, the expenses were met out of a collection among our people to which an opportune gift of £10 from an overseas friend was added.
Our people on Murray Farm are under notice to remove in May, which means that the school and church there will be closed from that date. At Morven also, where there used to be a considerable number of our people the process of depletion goes on. The above instances show how unsatisfactory it is to build schools on farms except in very exceptional cases. The number of scholars in the various schools during 1932 was 533.
The medical work followed the scheme previously adhered to. There were no epidemics in the Reserve and the general incidence of illness was not high. The number of patients seen in
consultation at the Dispensary was 1,800. There were comparatively few visits to kraals. The natives continue to avail themselves of the medical services rendered at the Mission and are coming more and more to put their faith in these services instead of in their own remedies.
We appreciate the fact that our people in Scotland are passing through hard times financially and we should be glad to be able to say that the time had come when they could rest on their oars and relax their efforts on behalf of this work. We look for the day when the Cause here will be self supporting and when the Native Church here will in their turn send out their own missionaries. But that day has not yet come. For the present we would ask for the earnest prayers and financial aid of every person of goodwill. We await the arrival of the Rev. J. Tallach and family and Miss Nicolson and wish them Godspeed on their voyage.