Zimbabwe Mission
EACH LETTER that comes from the Mission speaks of the sadness felt over David Ndlovu’s death. David died a few days after the Mbuma communion, following a lengthy illness and as he was being taken to the hospital in Bulawayo. He was buried near his home at Lutsha, a few miles from Mbuma. There was a very large gathering of men, women and children (someone suggested about one thousand all told), some of whom came a long distance. Rev and Mrs Mazvabo and two elders travelled two hundred miles from their homes in New Canaan.
Everything was organised in a very orderly way. Rev. P. Mzamo gave a solemn address on Revelation 7:13, 14, “And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said unto me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Mr Mzamo warned most solemnly that there is a heaven and a hell, and how necessary it is to be prepared for heaven by being washed in the blood of the Lamb.
Last February, Mbuma Mission Hospital took delivery of a new ambulance. The previous Landrover ambulance had been involved in an accident late one evening as it was transferring a patient, an expectant mother, from Mbuma Hospital to Bulawayo Hospital. An ant-bear ran against the side of the vehicle, distracting the driver and causing him to lose control. The back door opened and the patient was spilled out, but mercifully no one was hurt. Sometime later the patient returned from Bulawayo and came to the hospital to show her lovely, healthy baby.
In John Tallach Secondary School at Ingwenya, there is a dire need for teachers, as was stressed by its Head Teacher, Miss Marion Graham, in conversation recently during her furlough at home. Miss Etta MacLennan has retired, and two others of the European staff are due to retire at the end of this year. Anyone who has a degree which includes teaching subjects such as English, Mathematics, Geography, etc., and who is interested in mission work, would be welcomed very much there, even if only for the short period of two years. Most people who go to work there find it a most interesting and rewarding experience, whether in education or health care.
Kenya Mission
WE WERE delighted to receive a letter from Sengera, Kenya, telling us of the friends there, and of the work being done. The staff have been extremely busy, having little time even for meals. The hospital has been given a new name: Omarembe Health Centre, ‘Omarembe’ meaning ‘peace’. The nursing sister who writes says that the hospital would not have opened in mid-April had it not been for Mr Ian MacLean’s expertise in supervising the completion of the building programme. The staff are very grateful to him.
All went well on the opening day, Monday, 17th April, after many preparations, including the interviewing and selecting of prospective staff. Their first patient was an old asthmatic lady, who in the late afternoon insisted she was feeling better and wished to go home. Nothing would persuade her otherwise. The first babies to be born there were twin girls, and they were appropriately named Truus and Christine after Sister Truus and Dr Christine who were in attendance.
The hospital has a ten-bedded female ward, a four-bedded labour ward and nursery, a six-bedded post-natal ward, an eight-bedded male ward and a ten-bedded children’s ward. There is also a theatre for minor operations, two examination rooms, medical dressing rooms, a laboratory and more besides.
There is a very great need for trained nursing staff, both from within Kenya and overseas. Two Kenyan health workers are employed, and it is hoped that the Kenyan nurse-midwife, who had been there as a locum for five weeks, may return at a later date. Besides the nursing staff there are patient attendants, laboratory workers, a clerk and domestic staff.
So far, there is no electricity at Sengera, although the Mission has already paid 1.8 million shillings to the Electricity Board for power to be installed. (There are about 100 Kenyan Shillings to £1 sterling). Water from the tanks under the building is pumped by hand twice daily into the upper storage tank. “Patience is required,” they say, as they wait for the Board to take action.
The church is about a ten-minute walk away from the hospital, at the foot of a steep hill, so it is not so convenient for the patients and some of the staff to be at the services on Sabbaths. It is hoped that there will eventually be a service in the hospital each Sabbath.
The letter closes with these words: “We value your prayers for the work that has been begun in this densely populated part of Kenya.”
J. N.
Dr. Christine MacDonald
SINCE the above news items were written, Dr. Christine MacDonald has had to be flown home from Kenya at very short notice because of severe illness. She was taken to the Tropical Diseases Hospital in London where, in the kindness of the Lord, she made good progress and is now convalescing. It was necessary, of course, that her husband, Mr Donald MacDonald the Administrator of the Kenyan Mission, come home with her and their baby daughter.
Because of these circumstances, Rev. John Goldby has returned to Kenya to work on the mission for five weeks until 9th August. Our prayer is that he would be preserved and helped in his going to assist the Mission in its present difficult situation.
N.M.R.
Report of Visit to Ukraine
Rev. G.G. Hutton
ON MONDAY, 17th April, Mr Alistair MacRae and I set off from Inverness in a 7 ton van laden with 1186 Russian and Hungarian Bibles, 4800 Gospels of John and 60 Russian New Testaments. Additional literature included 1700 Shorter Catechisms in Russian and 2700 gospel tracts. We also carried a considerable selection of English literature, including Bibles and theological books. While our particular mission was to distribute sound versions of the Scriptures and good reformed reading material in Hungary and Ukraine, we also took a large quantity of donated clothing and food, and some medicines, for many of the poor and deprived people with whom we expected to come into contact.
Having crossed by ferry from Dover to Rotterdam, we then drove through Holland, Germany and Austria before entering Hungary. There we delivered a number of Bibles and quantity of food to some grateful friends. The Bibles were for use in a gypsy church, a member of which came a long distance to meet us and collect the Bibles. After spending a night in the Hungarian city of Miskolc, we headed for Kiev in Ukraine, for which the major part of our load was destined.
Just more than a week was spent in Kiev, including three frustrating days overcoming many difficulties with customs officials and bureaucrats before we were allowed to distribute our goods. The problems with the officials however, were compensated for by the warm welcome and gratitude of the people to whom we brought help. While in the Kiev region, we endeavoured to preach the Gospel through an interpreter to a congregation of around thirty in a large hospital and also to a small gathering of people in a private home in the city of Borispol.
While our efforts appear to be such a small contribution to meet such an extensive need, we trust that the Word of God, which remains among the people long after we have left them, will prove in their experience to be indeed the “power of God unto salvation”. Only the mighty arm of the Lord can break the power of the idolatrous Orthodox Church and destroy the residual influence of atheistic Communism in this part of the world. It is to Him we look for the fulfilment of His own promise, that His glory shall yet fill the whole earth.
In the kind providence of the Lord we returned safely to Inverness on 4th May, thankful for His gracious help in carrying out our tasks, and for His loving care over us during the thousands of miles of often difficult and trying driving conditions.