(Continued from page 224.)
What must have encouraged Mr. Radasi greatly in the early years of his work, too, was the addition of a number of Fingoes to the Mission. These men had been sent north by Mr. Cecil Rhodes, and some of them were already preachers of the glorious gospel. They gladly accepted all the standards of the Free Presbyterian Church on their admission, and have since stood faithfully by them. About the same time quite a number of Matabele from Koco joined, and thus a mission could be and was set up in that place. The following are the stations under Ingwenya Mission at the present day:—Ingwenya Head Station where isiXosa is preached; as the Fingoes are now only a handful here it is expected that isiZulu will soon be the medium; Cameron Station, seven miles from Ingwenya on the Fingo Location, where Mr. James Nombembe, the elder in charge preaches isiXosa; Que Que, a hundred and twenty miles from Ingwenya on a Farm, where Mr. George Hlazo, elder, preaches isiZulu; Lebeni, five miles from Ingwenya, on Gravesend Farm, where Mr. John Dwabengwa, elder, preaches isiZulu; Induba, five miles from Ingwenya, on a Farm, where Mr. Elijah Sijowanna, elder, preaches isiZulu; Morven, nine miles from Ingwenya, on a Farm, where Mr. Elijah Sandlanna, elder, preaches isiZulu; Mennels Farm, sixteen miles from Ingwenya, where Mr. Thomas Amazwi, deacon, is in charge under Mr. Dwabengwa, elder, the language again is isiZulu; Stephen’s Farm, twelve miles from Ingwenya, under Mr. Amos Ngombane, deacon, who is under Mr. Sijowanna, elder, the language again being isiZulu; Queen’s Kraal, fifty miles from Ingwenya, where Mr. Miki, deacon, speaks isiZulu; Murray Farm, twelve miles from Ingwenya, where Mr. Philimon who has been a member for five years speaks isiZulu; Mpengesi’s Kraal, six miles from Ingwenya on the Fingoe Location, where Mr. Robert Somkenewe speaks isiXosa; Mbroho’s Kraal, (occasional), where Mr. John Ntamo speaks isiZulu; and Inkai, on the Shanghai Reserve, ninety miles from Ingwenya, where Mr. John Ndiyamabombo, elder and paid missionary, speaks isiZulu*.
*This was written two years ago.—Editor.
Needless to say the mission work in the Dark Continent touched the hearts of not a few friends connected with the Church at home and abroad in civilised countries. The substantial and welcome donations of friends in Australia were forthcoming annually, whilst a few Sabbath Schools in Scotland regularly sent their collections to this foreign field. Other friends sent monetary gifts privately and still do. A Clothing Fund, too, was early inaugurated and to-day we have a number of ladies collecting materials which they forward to Mrs. Miller, Wick. From there the bundles are despatched to South Africa.
The visits to the Mission by the Church’s deputies, Rev. J. R. Mackay in 1909, Rev. N. Cameron (accompanied by Mr. Angus Fraser) in 1921, and the Rev. R. Mackenzie in 1929, greatly cheered the friends at the Mission.
During the lifetime of Mr. Radasi the mission stations grew in necessary equipment of buildings etc., as did our Church at home, out of nothing. The expenditure for the first twenty-seven years of our Mission amounts roughly to only ten thousand pounds. Yet to-day an annual sum of nearly double the past yearly average is fully necessary for the upkeep of the stations. Though in 1925 they could collect the sum of thirty-two pounds in the year, yet going back say to 1911 all that could be gathered was the small pittance of seven pound notes. The number of preaching stations and schools alone is nearly double to-day what they were when Mr. Radasi died.
As to the school work one might imagine that at first there would be quite a rush by young and old for admission. The popular idea, on the contrary, was that they should be paid to attend school. Were they not losing their wages through their entailed absence from manual labour? Another difficulty was that many, in order to attend school regularly, would have to leave home and settle beside the Mission, building their huts and providing their own food. Then of those who were near at hand some might attend at one period of the day who could not attend at another so that both day and evening teaching had to be taken up. As a rule the men were much keener than their wives on education.
In connection with the growth of the school population a few figures may be quoted. In 1910 the roll was at 70, in 1919 at over 100; in 1922, 320 for over five schools; in 1924, 365; in 1925, 366; in 1927, 401; in 1930, 478, and the latest returns show a roll of about 500 for eight schools. These schools have had to be staffed in the cheapest manner, and the struggle to do even this is most interesting. Mr. Radasi would open a school and when his pupils had arrived at a certain stage of advancement they were sent either to a Kraal School to teach others or to Lovedale for a three year course of instruction in order to become fully qualified by certificate. Of course while in these training institutions they usually required monetary assistance from the Church. The schools are inspected by inspectors who act under a Director of Education, and these, though, as a rule, praising the work done very highly have always been more or less the compelling force to better staffing. The present situation with regard to staffing is this. One of the schools has been for a few years paid the grant usually paid to Central Schools though it was not really such for it was only within the past year that the status of this school was raised. This necessitated the appointment of a white teacher, and one who would be qualified to give instruction in practical subjects like Woodwork, Agriculture, and Domestic Science. A hundred acres of land was promised by the government if agriculture were taught. After an unsuccessful attempt had been made to secure a suitably qualified male teacher in Scotland a female teacher was advertised for and the successful applicant was Miss Nicolson, M.A., who possesses a Scottish Training College certificate with a Domestic Science endorsement. In June, 1933, she sailed for Africa with her mother, and the raising of the status of the school at Ingwenya was really the first fruit of her going out. At present there is a Boarding and a Central School at Ingwenya, and Kraal Schools at Lebeni, Induba, Morven, Bembesi (Cameron School), Murray Farm, and Inkai, Shangani.
Kafir reading is first taught in the schools and then when a pupil is able to read his Kafir Bible he is presented with one by the Church. This he is expected to read later himself to his people at home. In this way the gospel is spread throughout a wide area which might not otherwise be reached. The fruit of this method, too, has now shown itself. After the Kafir comes the reading of the English Bible and English Bibles are distributed on the same terms. Arithmetic, Geography, and Writing have their places in the schools, and to these subjects, thanks to the Rev. J. Tallach, Mrs. Tallach, and Mrs. Macdonald housewifery, cookery, laundry, needlework, and basketry have been added. In connection with the industrial subjects it might be noted that the inspector first mentioned their absence in 1910.
The schools, like our missions, have not been without their opposition. It is clear proof and a high testimonial that the Truth is sounded in them. On one occasion the Methodists took away one of our teachers, and thus shamefully broke their promise to the teacher’s parent. One is not surprised to hear that they promised to make him a minister. On another occasion the Shangani teacher had the thatch of his roof destroyed during the night by the heathen. At another period two opposition schools were set up the one a mile and the other half a mile from our school but both had to close for want of pupils.
In the medical department of the work three stages are to be noted. In the capacity of doctor Mr. Radasi felt his weakness keenly. On one occasion he wrote to Scotland for a medicine book as fever was very common in the wet season. He had no training in this country in medicine and he regretted this. Mr. Tallach knew more, having attended medical classes in London. He went to Africa equipped with his knowledge and his medicine chest, and since then the Church has kept up the supply of medicine regularly. To encourage medical missionaries, as they would in the case of a white teacher also, the Government was willing to pay a large part of a medical missionary’s salary. Two years after completing his medical course Dr. Macdonald went out to Africa but not before taking a special course in tropical diseases at London University. Then after examination in books prescribed in divinity he was ordained by the Southern Presbytery at Glasgow on the 15th August, 1928. On 28th September, he set sail for the Dark Continent. On his arrival there he had a hospital and dispensary built, and in one year no fewer than two thousand patients consulted him. In his work he met chiefly with tuberculosis, malnutrition, and skin diseases. Sometimes as many as seven lay in hospital and few had to be sent past the Mission for treatment. After the holding of a school clinic the teachers carried out his instructions. It should be mentioned at the start that the Church was greatly indebted to Mr. Reid, Chemist, Wick, who for many years supplied medicine, etc., at cost price; and the Synod recognizing its indebtedness tendered its thanks to Mr. Reid.