Having seen pictures of that part of the Kenya countryside in which we are particularly interested one marvels at the lush green foliage and the abundant crops in the fields, in contrast with the bare, sandy, burnt appearance of large parts of Malawi and Zimbabwe. The proximity of the great expanse of Lake Victoria ensures that there is no shortage of rain, and an abundance of food.
In one part of Kenya where our young men hold services the people have already built a school, a building to be used as a clinic, and a pastor’s house, awaiting a pastor to occupy it, and begin missionary work among them. Such is the interest that in another district the people have donated a large tract of land where the church has set up a preaching station. A church and a school have been built.
However, one must not anticipate what Donald MacDonald and his wife, Dr Christine will have to tell us of the prospects of missionary work. It is a remarkable fact that the way has been opened up for us, in the Lord’s Providence, to develop missionary work in Kenya among a people who are most ready to welcome the missionary. The great need is for the blessing and guidance of the Most High, and for young men eager and willing to participate in so great a work.
At Mbuma the skill and strength of David Ndlovu and his men have been tested to the utmost in two different operations. The first was the necessity for a new generator in the hospital. The generator was secured, but the agents in Bulawayo assured David that a hoist was absolutely necessary to remove the generator, which weighed around five tons, from the lorry. There was no hoist available, but with ingenuity and the greatest possible physical effort the generator was transferred to the engine room.
Three weeks later, a huge water tank was transported from Bulawayo to Mbuma, a distance of one hundred and twenty miles. The same problem presented itself. After many hazards and difficulties, and wires snapping, and other small catastrophies, the tank was put in place without mishap, and to the great relief of the workmen and the entire staff. We owe a great deal to David and his men and to a kind Providence that no one was injured.
There has been an outbreak of measles in the hospital, the first for some time as immunisation has been effective until now.
In cuttings from the “Bulawayo Chronicle” sent in a letter by Miss Katie Macaulay it is recorded that five million people have registered as requiring food, almost half the population of the country. Eight hundred thousand children under the age of five require supplementary feeding.
The water situation in Bulawayo is still serious. The government has not been able to grant foreign currency to purchase the pipes and equipment necessary to bring the water from the Nyamandhlovu aquifer.
There will be sympathy throughout the church for the Rev and Mrs Ndebele and family over the death of their daughter, Zodwa, who was ill for a considerable time. Mr Ndebele went to Kenya to meet the Rev D. B. MacLeod despite his keen anxiety over his daughter. “In all their afflictions He was afflicted.” J.N.