by Rev. Donald A. Ross
It was a happy occasion when the Bulawayo Kirk Session met with the purpose of fixing a date for the opening of the Bulawayo Church and for the first Communion Season. It was decided that the opening of the Church and the Communion would take place during the same weekend. The Communion would begin on the 16th December, while the opening would be on the 18th December.
However there was still a considerable amount of work to be done. The Church building itself was completed and from all angles of approach it was a pleasing sight, but there remained the task of furnishing the church with pulpit and seats. There were also seats to be made for the hall and tables with seats for the dining room. To secure suitable material for the pulpit was a problem, but this was solved when we obtained, from a demolished building, a large door and door frame of old oak with raised panels which seemed to present itself as a possibility. With great care and skill the tradesmen by various means adapted the door to make a pleasing front for the pulpit.
Then there was the arrangement of the area outside the Church which involved a considerable amount of work. Due to the very heavy clay type of soil, which in wet weather becomes impossible to walk on, or to drive through, it was necessary to build a concrete road and paths with twelve inch foundations. There are also flower beds, various trees and shrubs planted, and an extensive lawn.
Eventually, after weeks of hard work inside and outside, the church and grounds were in order, and the dates prearranged at our Kirk Session were now approaching.
We began our Communion on the Thursday. During the Communion Season suitable sermons were preached by Rev. P. Mzamo and Rev. A. Ndebele. We also had the privilege of a Fellowship Meeting, when the men spoke of their experience and some ably described the marks we expect of believers, and those we reckon to be counterfeit.
On Saturday, sometime after our usual preparatory communion service, the service for the official opening of the Church began. The Rev. A. Ndebele took the main service. The substance of his address was, that we had great cause for thankfulness to the Most High in providing us with a place of worship; but we must remember that buildings were only places of assembly for worship and the building itself had nothing to do with an act of worship. The essential matter was to worship God in spirit and truth. To worship God from the heart.
Then the Rev. P. Mzamo addressed the congregation. His main point were; that in the kind providence of the Lord we now have a church in Bulawayo, and hoped that yet another would be built in the Bulawayo townships. He also mentioned how the people in Holland contributed towards the building of the Bulawayo Church. People who like ourselves work hard to make their livelihood, yet they put aside some of their money for the missionary work in Rhodesia. Our own people in Rhodesia should now endeavour by their contributions to build the next church in Bulawayo.
Rev. D. A. Ross then related some of the steps proceeding up to the present position. One interesting aspect was, that while negotiations were going on for a church site, we were granted a site which, some weeks later, and much to our dismay, was taken from us. However, some time afterwards, we were given our present site, and although we were greatly disappointed at losing our first site, in the Providence of the Most High our second site was twice the size of our first, and in a more accessible place.
Rev. Ross also noted the fact that such projects cost money, and although those who so wonderfully contributed towards the building of the Church were not present yet those were duly thanked (and we now convey our thanks by letter). Approximately two-thirds of the cost came from Holland, while one third came from various other sources such as Scotland, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and America. Were it not for such kind friends we would still be struggling to pay $27,000, but thanks be to God, there is not one cent of debt to our name. This is the doing of the Lord and wondrous in our eyes. Our meeting was then closed with prayer and praise.
During all the services the attendance was exceptionally high. From Shangani Reserve, where most of our people live, many came to attend the Communion Season. There were ninety people residing on the Church premises. The two halls which were intended as sleeping quarters, one for men and the other for women, had to be used for the women only, while the diningroom each evening was turned into sleeping quarters for the men. However this was still inadequate, so the loft above the diningroom, made primarily for storing tables and benches, proved useful as a sleeping room for the remainder of the men.
Some of our gatherings numbered almost four hundred people and on such occasions the Narthex proved its worth. Primarily built for over-spill, it was gratifying to know that although well over a hundred were outside the Church under this Narthex, they could hear distinctly all that was said.
On Monday came the day of Thanksgiving and of parting when all went to their separate homes, and it was sad to see what was a happy and we trust a profitable communion come to an end; and to say the least of it, it was a bit depressing when the following Sabbath we were reduced to our normal ranks.
One enlightening aspect of our Communion was the great number of people in and around Bulawayo who came for some of the Communion services, and yet never attend our regular services. This is a sad feature here as it is in Scotland, and it offers an opportunity for much pastoral work. However, for the short period those people attended our services, they heard the Everlasting Gospel which is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. One prominent aspect of the Gospel is that no matter what the background of a person is, the Gospel suits the needs of that person, be he Hindu, Roman Catholic, Ancestor Worshipper, Communist or one steeped in Pharisaism, the Gospel is not limited in that it cannot reach and cure the desperate and lost condition of such.
Some foolishly think that the Gospel is inadequate for certain groups, and seek to adapt the Gospel or to clothe it with the tinsel of Hymn-singing, guitar playing or rock and roll music, so as to suit the hearer.
Paul, when he met the Heathen of various nations, all with their own corrupt notions, met them with the Word of God in its purity. To the Heathen Philosophers of Athens, the worshippers of the unknown God, he preached the Gospel. To the Macedonians, the worshippers of Diana, he preached the Gospel. Each with their own warped and deeply embedded ideas of “truth”, and a far cry from “Thy word is truth”, yet by the pure Gospel, from the ranks of these wretched idolaters “some believed”.
Our hope is that since the Gospel was blessed to those so opposed to it, that the Holy Spirit will again and again do as He did then, make this Gospel effectual to wretched sinners for their salvation; and then with us too it will be recorded, “some believed”.