THE Members of the Foreign Missions Committee had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. and Miss Nicholson on the evening of the 18th day of October last at 5 Park Quadrant, Glasgow. As most of our readers know, Mrs. and Miss Nicholson are home on a well-earned rest from our Mission Station at Ingwenya, Southern Rhodesia, and the Meeting was convened for the purpose of extending a welcome to them.
The Convener of the Committee, the Rev. N. MacIntyre, welcomed the visitors in the name of the whole Church. In the course of his remarks, he said:—”Mrs. Nicholson was cordially included in the Committee’s welcome, because, though not officially on the staff at Ingwenya, she had given her highly-qualified services ungrudgingly to the Mission during the five years of her stay there. These services were greatly valued by the regular staff and also by the natives and he took advantage of this opportunity to thank Mrs. Nicholson most heartily for her self-denying interest and labours.
The work of Miss Nicholson was next referred to in highly appreciative terms. According to the report of the Government Inspector, the school at Ingwenya stood second to none in Southern Rhodesia. This is praise indeed and reflects great credit on the head-mistress.
Mr. MacIntyre expressed the mind of the Committee when he said that it had given them all great pleasure and relief to know that Miss Nicholson had decided to return to her work at Ingwenya for a further period of five years. It showed the real interest she took in her work that she is at present attending a course of Industrial Classes in Glasgow, which, he hoped, would be of great benefit to her in connection with her work in the future. In concluding his remarks the Convener commended both Mrs. and Miss Nicholson to God and to the Word of His grace. All the other members of Committee expressed the great pleasure it had given them to meet the visitors.
There were some samples of the work done by the native scholars shown, which indicated that the standard of workmanship was of a very high order. These included samples of raffia work, crochet, embroidery, various kinds of bead work as well as the usual writing and mathematics.
Another item of considerable interest was a small model of a native family kraal made by Mr. Tallach. There is one large hut, the abode of the parents; two smaller huts, one for the boys and the other for the girls. The cattle are kept in an open compound fenced by thorn-bush.
In the course of the evening many interesting topics relating to the Mission came under discussion. The work of those ladies in Scotland, London, Canada and elsewhere who had interested themselves in the welfare of the Mission are specially mentioned. Much good was being done in this way for which the workers out in the field were very grateful. It is a pity that this interest is not more general throughout the congregations of the Church. No doubt there are numbers who are really interested and who are prepared to help in a practical way but they do not know exactly what is wanted. Perhaps those who do know might give us some useful information on this point.
The ladies, assisted by the Rev. R. Mackenzie, provided a very fitting conclusion to a pleasant and interesting meeting by singing the 23rd Psalm in the Cindebele language. During the singing of the psalm the thousands of miles of mountain and sea separating Glasgow from Ingwenya seemed to melt away, and in heart and mind we were brought into very close and sweet fellowship with our people in Southern Rhodesia.—J. A. T.