Reuben Mzamo was born at Libeni, a station about three miles from Ingwenya Mission, in the year 1910. He belonged to the Fingo tribe and during the latter part of his life lived at Maqaqeni in the Fingo location, which lies between Ingwenya and Bembesi.
His father, Patrick Mzamo, was for many years an elder in the Ingwenya congregation and was known as a man of prayer and one to whom the Cause of Christ was very dear. A young man who is now a believer tells of how as a herdboys he often used to come across Patrick wrestling with the Lord in secret prayer among the thorn bushes which surround Ingwenya. He was at first awe-struck by the solemn sight of this man of God pouring out his heart before the Lord, but soon awe gave place to enmity and he resolved that he would put an end to the good man’s practice. In a place so much frequented by Patrick that the ground bore the marks of his knees, this young lad placed a number of large thorns facing upwards. He then hid among the bushes to await the coming of the man of prayer and to gloat over his pain. To his dismay Patrick knelt down, without any signs of discomfort, in the midst of the thorns and began to pray aloud with great earnestness. The young lad fled in terror from the spot and never again molested the man whom he now believed to be under the special protection of the Most High.
Little is known of Reuben Mzamo’s early life, but what can be gleaned suggests that the instruction and example of his godly father had little or no effect upon him for many a long year. He gave himself with abandon to the besetting sins of his people, especially to drunkenness. As a young man he attended church only once a year, usually on the Sabbath of a communion season.
At the age of twenty-five he became aware of the danger of his lost condition and began to reform his ways, giving up beer-drinking and attending the House of God with apparent interest and concern. His outward reformation, however, was of short duration; within a few months’ time he was again the companion of wicked men.
Reuben’s father was in the habit of calling his family around him each Sabbath evening and going over with them the sermons preached in the Ingwenya Church during the day. When he was thus engaged in the evening of a Communion Sabbath in 1937 and enlarging on the love of Christ in pouring out His soul unto death on behalf of unworthy sinners, the arrows of the Almighty pierced Reuben’s soul and from that moment he knew no peace until the Lord’s time came to bind up tenderly the wounds He himself had inflicted. It is not known what portion of truth, if any, was used by the Holy Spirit to bring peace to his guilty soul, but those who knew him well noticed that from that time onwards, the first three verses of Psalm 110 were specially precious to him. Soon after this experience, Reuben was received as a full member of the Ingwenya congregation and about five years later he was elected as a deacon.
In 1943 he was appointed headman of the Maqageni district and as such was responsible for the maintenance of law and order among his own people there.
It was during the closing years of his life that Reuben Mzamo really won the hearts of all at the mission. It seemed to some of us at least that he had been anointed with fresh oil about two years before the end of his life and we thought we saw in him something of the quiet dignity and depth of experience which characterised his worthy father. He left with the Radasi faction in 1953, but within a year he deeply regretted having done so. Early in 1955 he returned to the church of his father and in September of the same year he appeared before the session seeking restoration. After pointing out the evil of his having left the Church, the moderator asked Reuben if he had anything to say. His reply was, “I have nothing to say except that I heartily agree with all you have said about my wickedness in leaving this Church. Nobody can blame me more than I blame myself for having done so.” These words were uttered with great feeling. Several of the Maqageni people returned to the Church along with Reuben and we believe they were influenced by him to do so.
In 1956 Reuben Mzamo was sometimes called upon to conduct services at Ingwenya. He did so with great acceptance. Like his father, he was apt in the use of illustration. Speaking at a service held within a few weeks of his death, he used the following illustration: “When school children make mistakes in their exercise books, their teacher takes a red marking pencil and strokes out all they have done wrong. So the Lord Jesus washes away the sins and errors of His people in His precious blood, cancelling them for evermore.”
The visit in 1956 of the deputies, Revs. Sinclair and MacLean, brought Reuben much joy and refreshing. The melting of heart which he so obviously experienced on the Sabbath of the communion at which they officiated will not readily be forgotten by those who witnessed it.
Unknown to himself, Reuben had a serious heart condition for some time before the end. Although he often felt unwell, he did not realise how ill he was and continued his work as a thatcher, often cycling long distances to his work when he ought to have been in hospital. When at length he agreed to submit to medical treatment we hoped that with care and attention he would be spared for some years, but the Lord willed otherwise and in October, 1956, Reuben Mzamo entered, we believe, into the joy of His Lord. We miss him very much and our sympathy goes out to those who must miss him even more, especially his widow, a fine christian woman, and his brother, the Rev. Petros Mzamo.—Rev. James Fraser.