central africa story-1966-africa.pdf
TRANSCRIPT
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Vo(,
Donna Krcegar with Waiiisai.
"Sister, we have just admitted a
very sick child.Would you please come
down to se e her?" came Mai Si thole*s
voice over the telephone. I hurriedly
slipped on my uniform, grabbed my
torch (flashlight), and started down themoonlit path to Chri st ian Hospit al .
When I entered Ward Twelve, 1 found
Wanisai, a little girl of about eleven
years, who was unconscious, and obvi
ously crit ically ill. I called for Dr. Durr,who came to the hospital and began
examiningWanisai to discover the cause
of her unc on s c i o u s n e s s .
The symptoms sounded very much
l ike cerebra l mal ar ia , b ut t he only way
iPHcDiBSi A
CO Mg ^
STORYJuly 1966
WANISA Iwe could be certain was to do laboratoryt e s t s . I sen t one o f the s tuden t s fo r
Crispen Matukwa, ourfaithful laboratorytechnician, about whom you have read
in a previous issue. Meanwhile, Dr.
Durr did a spinal tap and a completephysical examination. While we worked
over Wanisai, he r mother sa t on th e
floor and watched us, not knowing or
understanding what we were doing or
saying, but having fai th that we wouldhelp Wanisai ge t well.
As we waited for the laboratory
tests to be completed, I learned this
story from MaiSithole. Wanisai'smotherhad started out from her village the
previous night, carrying Wanisai on herback to bring her to Christian Hospitalwhere sh e was sure sh e could get help.
She had walked fo r a lmost 24 hours
before reaching Mashoko. Can you
imagine walking for a night and a day,
over rough paths and road s, with an
11-year-oId child on your back? Onlythe l ove put by God in the heart of amother would have made her do it .
When the la bo rato ry tests were
completed, our suspicions were con
f i rmed. Wanisa i d id have ce rebra l
mala r i a . Dr. Durrs t a r t edan l .V . i n fus ion
with medications that very night. For
several days Wanisai hung between l ife
and death. At last she began to rouse
Number 7
by Donna Kreegar
and thrash about in the bed, and call
ou t fo r he r mei/ (mother). The students
p ut the mattress of her bed on the floorso tha t she couldn ' t fa ll out o f bed.
Her mother stayed by her side con
stantly.
Days went by, and soon Wanisai
was sitting up eating sac/za and drinking
tea. One day as Sister Burget was
walking the ward, Wanis ai ran out
to her, and smi li ng shy ly, asked,
"Sweetsie, Sister?"("Candy, Sister?").
It was then that I thought with a
l i t t le shudder , "What if Christian
Hospi ta l weren 't here? What if it had
been too great a sacrifice for Dr. Pruett
ando t he r s
t o l ea ve Ame ri ca t ocome
to
fa r away Africa to build and staff a
hospital for Christ? What if Christians
at home did not se e the need of sending
funds so tha t th e work o f Chris t ian
Hospital could go on? What wouldhappen to the little Wanisai's?
Weof Christian Hospital are grateful
for the privilege of serving Chr ist i n
Rhode s i a . We a re thank fu l for the
C h ri st ia ns i n th e S ta t e s whos e sac r i f i
cial giv ing makes possible our being
here. We enjoy working w ith these
humble people who have so little medical
knowledge and so great a medical need.
We feel that we are part of a team-effort
(Continued on page 8)
SECURE, READ, KEEP -
A DECADE IN RHODESIAThe Next issue of "The Story 99
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Caniiie Cooper makes a new friend.
Marictla Smith and a baby duiker.
''-4L •- ' 'v* su - —*
- • r . i
Larry Van Dyke wiili friend, JosephMalambo.
page 2
CHURCH AND STATE(Article Number Seven )
by Dr. A. C. Waiters
Returning to the story of the expan
sion of the church in Western Europe
we h a v e to r e c o r d t h e f a c t t h a t t h e
rea l organizer of the church in Englandw as Theodore o f T a r s u s . The r i v a l r i e s
between th e Ir ish a nd Roman c la ims
for the adherence of the English kings
was complicated by the f ac t th at there
were then seven kingdoms. In some of
them th e Irish monks were favored , and
in o th er s t he Roman monks. Theodore,
sent by Rome to be Archbishop ofCanterbury, was already 66 years ofage. A man of the East, he was well-educated in Greek an d Latin, in the
Bible, ast ronomy and mathemat ics .
His outstanding ability won the respect
of bodi parties, and the ir obedience .
Spared for over 20 years he was able
to c o n s o l i d a t e th e church a f t e r th eRoman pattern and, at the same time,to incorporate much of the Irish educa
tional s et -up. L indisfar ne and other
schools produced an English-bornministry, and a liaison with the Irishschool in Bangor and the Scottish
school in Bangor.
Within 100 years of the arrival atCanterbury of Augus tine , the English
church was sending it s own monks to
the Continent, after preparation in
th eir n ati ve land and in Ireland. The
missionary record of the Irish andEnglish missionaries in the next centuries was not to be repeated until the
19th century, when England and Scot
land le d the modern missionary move
ment.
It will be noted that mos t of the
missionaries of those times were monks.
The average Protestant may be apt tobe critical of this, bu t we have to con
sider the circumstances. Even today
the average missionary has some concern about hi s suppo rt while far away
from h i s home l a n d . I t i s a f e a t u r e of
this present century that we have
m a r v e l o u s l i n e s o f c o m m u n i c a t i o n
b e t w e e n t h e h o m e l a n d s a n d t h e m is
s io n l ands . (I have myself had a pe r
sonal talk by radio from the U.S.A.
with an American missionary in th e
Congo.)
When Will ibrord a r r i v e d on t h e Con
t i n e n t w i t h h i s m o n k s h e h a d n o l i n e
of communication firmly established
and in good order. He could no t depend
on getting support for hi s work from
h i s h o m e b a s e . What w a s n e e d e d w a s a
form of self-support in the m ission
land, an d a team of missionaries with
varying skills and able to grow their
own food on a s ui ta bl e p lo t was more
likely to be successful than just one
o r tw o men. T h e m o na st ic method h a d
m u c h in i t s f a v o r .
To secure the necessary site and
a measure of protection requi red the
goodwill of the barbarian king, and thi s
pattern had already been established
in England. So Willibrord took 11 com
panions with him and departed for
Frisia (part of modern Holland), wherehe received the aid of Pepin, the
Frankish ruler. He a ls o v is it ed Rome,
to seek the Pope 's b less ing. He was
con se cr at ed an Archbishop. Actually
the connect ion he had with Pepin made
him suspect to the Frisian people, but
h e c o n t i n u e d with h i s d i f f i c u l t t a s k
till the age of 81. By that time he sawChristianity well established in that
part of the Netherlands.
The next great , English missionary
was Winfrith, named Boniface by the
Pope, who gave him episcopal rank.He is ranked as the greatest missionary
of that age. He received hi s training inmonasteries in southwest England,
excelling in scholarship, Christian
cha racter , t each ing abi li ty , judgmenta n d a d m in i st r a ti v e s k i l l . In h i s G e r m a n
mission field he pur if ied the existing
C h r i s t i a n c o m m u n i t i e s a n d a l s o w o n
pagans to the faith. He destroyed
pagan temples and buil t Chr is ti an
churches. Some of hi s high-handed
actions he owed in part to his backing
from Charlemagne. By the end of the
eighth century most of the German
tribes had accepted bap tism. The re
s t i l l r em a i ne d t he S c a n d in a v ia n s a n d
t h e S a x o n s to b e w o n .
We must no t ove rl ook the part of
Charlemagne, who copied the Islamic
method of using armed force for th e
spread of the faith. Grandson of the
v i c t o r o v e r t h e M o s l e m s a t th e B a t t l e
o f T o u r s h e w a s r e w a r d e d fo r h is m i s
sionary activities by th e Pope crowninghim Head of the Holy Roman Empire.
From that time on the missionary method
was a mixture o ff er ee and quiet instruc
tion by missionaries. This, of course,
meant a fresh decline in the general
s tandard of Chris tiani ty.
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WHEN is a Missionary? with Rod and GabbyWell Gabby, how does it feel to be
a missionary?
Gabby: You've got it kinda mixedup, Rod. You're the missionary,
I'm the dummy —or did you think
it was the other way around?
No, no, of course not! But Gabby,
even though you're a dummy,
you're still a missionary.Gabby: Yes, and even thoughyou're a missionary, you 're still
a dummy.
Oh, you wouldn't know a mission
ary if you s aw one.
Gabby: Maybe not, but I know adummy when I se e one.
What I mean, is that a missionary
looks just like anybody else.
Gabby: You couldn't prove it byme — or by you either, for that
matter.
Why? What do you think a mis
sionary looks l ike?Gabby: Well, he's a little over
six feet, five in ch es tall and
weighs about 200 pounds, he's
bald-headed and has a bea rd , and
he's as ugly as . . .Alright, alright, that's enoughou t of you!Gabby: Say Rod, how does afellow know he's supposed to bea missionary?
How doe s a fe l l ow know he ' s
supposed to be a Christian?
Gabby: Whyeverybody is supposedto be a Chri s t i an!
And every Christian is supposed
to be a missionary. The Great
Commission was given to the
church, and every Christian is
supposed to help car ry out these
"Marching Orders."
Gabby: You make it sound prettyimportant.
It's the most impor tant business
in the world. It's a job for every
one.
Gabby: I was just wondering.Whatdoes a missionary do?
A missionary has many jobs and
does many things, but first of all,a missionary is someone who has
been given a jo b to do for someone
The Central Africa Story is publishedmonthly for the Central Africa Mission,
Churches of Christ byMission Services
Association at 509 West Jefferson,
Joliet, Illinois. Second Class Postagep ai d a t Joliet, Illinois 60434.
July 1966
July T966
* <e> . ' Sv
Gabby and Hod
else. He goes out to represent
someone other than himself, to
speak in their behalf .
Gabby: You mean hedoesn't speakfo r himse l f?
That's right; another speaksthrough him.
Gabby: Sounds like a dummy to me!That's not a very nicethingto say.Gabby: Wh) not! That's how Iwork. You speak through me; Idon't speak for myself.
Well, yes, in that way, a mission
ary is like a dummy — speaking
th e w ord s of someone e l s e . In th e
case of a Chris tian missionary,
which i s what we' re c on ce rn ed
with, he speaks for Chri st . Paul
said he was a fool fo r Chr i s t ' s
s ak e .
Gabby: What is the message amissionary carries?
It's the Gospel, the "good news"
that Jesus, th e Son of God, died
fo r our sins, was bur ied , and rose
from the dead on the third day;
the new s tha t God s o lo ve d t he
world that he gave hi s only begotten Son that whosoever be-
lieveth on Him migh t not perish,
but have everlasting life. Isn't
t h a t wonder fu l ?
Gobby: Yes, but I think we oughtto l eave o ther people a lone . After
all, the y've got their religions.
They're happy as they are.
Do you t hink the woman is happy
when sh e sacrifices a goat to
appease the angry demons? Doyouthink the father is happy when hepermits th e witchdoctor to murder
one o f his new tw in s b eca us e h e
be l i eves t ha t one of them is a
demon th at h as t aken th e form o f
th e othe r twin?
Gabby: At least he's sincere.
What about t he poor chi ld ?
Gabby: I guess he's sincerelydead .
Rod: Yeah. Sincerity is not enough.Gabby: But they've got a right totheir religion.
Rod: Gabby, before you became adummy, you were a tree out in theforest. Right?Gabby: Yeah, it was nice outthere — cool breezes, b irds , and
r ab b it s a nd s tu ff .
Rod: Youwere happy as you were, yetsome people came along and
chopped you down.Gabby: Yeah, they cut me to thequick.
Rod: According to what you say, theyhad no right to do that.
Gabby: Well, I'm sure glad they
did, though. A few days later, aforest fire came along and destroyed every tree that was left.
Rod: That' s the job of a missionary —to seek the lost, to warn them of
t he f ir e, and to tell them what to do .
Gabby: Just one last question:WHEN is a missionary?
Rod: Do you mean when is a missionarya missionary?
Gabby: Don't get so excited.Rod: I'm n ot excited.
Gabby: Then wTiy are you stut-te ring?
Rod: I'm not. Anyhow, if youmean whendoes one become a missionary,i t 's whenhe becomes a Christian.
You can't be anything more than a
Chr is t ian .
Gabby: I wish I could be a mis
sionary , but I don't know enough.I'm just a dummy.
Rod: Gabby, even though you're adummy, you can be a missionarydummy.Gabby: Well, I'd a lo t rather be amissionary dummy than a dumb
missionary.
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i i i
RICHARD HOSTETTER WRITES ABOUT
• UMTALI MISS ION
.J worship seating over 250 people hasbeen erected with funds from American "• f
A —churches . The Africansare now install- .. "VS
k * ing and paying for furnishings for this .. -• building. The congregation also voted te',V i
to share in the cos t of a sma l l four-
1967, a program of gradual withdrawal ] ^
Jof mission funds to the Sakubva church |. j/ 'will begin with the intention of this con- "
I .• - gregation eventually being completely *r:"«i*3tW"- '
. r .. ... self-supporting. , .1The Richard Hosteller family with
Umlali in the background.
In 1963, John Pemberton sent
African preacher Joshua Mafa into the
Umtali area to begin working for the
establ i shment of w hat is now SakubvaChurch of Christ. By the end of June
1965, when the Richard Hostetter family
arrived to work in th e area, Brother
Mafa had gat he red about 20 people
which regularly assembled under threetrees. Since this tim e, the Sakubva
Township congregation has multiplied
with more than 50 baptisms. A house of
A beer hall in Umlali .
Plans for the future inc lude using
any opportunity to disciple the area,
an d to w ork w ith t he se C h ri st ia n a s
semblies until we believe they are
ab le to cont inue w it ho ut o ur r e sou rces
and help.
The sam e s i tua t ion a s de sc r i b ed
by Livingstone is much the same today.
We have no miss ionar ies o r N ew Te s t ament congregations in Mozambique. But
now, since the middle of January 1966,
we have been working through our
Bible colporteur in a reserve near
Umtali, and have thus started the secondcongregation in this area c lose to theMozambique border. Fifteen peoplehave been baptized thus far. We have
our eyes upon a forestry developmentas the possible location for a third congregation, also near the Portugueseterritory. Perhaps, we dream, therewill be some eventual contact by
Afr icans who become Chr i s t i a n s in
Rhodesia with the Africans of neigh
boring Mozambique. We may never hearo f th is , but a t l ea st wc ar e grateful to
be winning people who are so strategi
cally located as to be possible Christianbridges to the people of Mozambique.
Only three miles separate Umtali,
the eas te rnmost c it y of Rhodesia,
from the Portuguese-governed-territory
called Mozambique {formerly called
Portuguese East Africa). This nation
an d Angola, colonized by the Portuguese
in the 1500*s, are ye t ruled by the
Page 4
Through the work of our Bible
colporteur, Rogers Mugoyani , a secondcongregation ha s now been established
in a reserve approximately 20 miles from
Umtali. Nearly 20 believers have been
baptized in this second work. Thepeople desire a school in their community and we will do what we are
able regarding their request.
In May of this year, a family was
baptized in a third a re a eig ht miles
from Umtali. We hope that this new
preaching point will develop into athird congregation.
. . . ^MOZAMBIQUE .—.
same European power. Roughly twice
t he geogr aphi ca l size of Rhodesia,
with approximately a seven millionpopulation, Mozambique is a very
underdeveloped count ry . Her African
people are, in general, more backwardthan those of Rhodes i a .
Religiously, the people of Mozam
bique are e ithe r anamis tic or Roman
Catholic. Since Portugual is a Roman
Catho li c nat ion, it is only natural that
Romanism is the only encouraged faith
Baptizing in a reserve near Umlaliwhere second congregation ol area hasbeen begun. The cow came uninvited!
o f her Afr i can co lon i e s . Mi s s i ona r i e s
o f n on -C ath ol ic c on vi ct i on s a re no t
permitted entry to work in these coun
tries religiously controlled from the
Vatican. In fact, it would be very
hazardous for any of the Rhodesian
African Christians to go across th e
border and preach that which was not
Roman Catho l i c doct r ine .
Between 1851—1853, missionary
David Livingstonevisited the territories
of Angola and Mozambique, after which
he wrote the following comments to his
brother, Charles:
I hoi'e a strong desire to scattersome Bibles among them, and perhaps
to do more. Hut ivilt the Portuguese
allow me?....I t is ten to one if they
toill allow me to land a box of Bibles. .
. .I t will be better not to publish any
thing about the state of the Awgo/ese
or also the p eopl e o f S\ozambique pe r
haps, for Rome t he Vat ican is vigilant,and w ou ld n ot hes i t a t e to ac t immedi
ately. if it were only to shut the door.I earnestly pray I may be permitted to do
something for the spread of the knoiv-
ledge of Christ here. — Letters of
Livingstone, Vol. 2.
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'All Things Work Together For Good'
During the rainy season Simon
Tembo, my interpreter and evangelist,
and I left Gwelo early in the morning
for a trip to the schools and churches
near Enkeldoorn. We planned to be back
in the late afternoon. Our last s top was
scheduled fo r th e Mhondoro chu rch, and
a visit with Beni Nykeyte.
Things were going well on the trip.
We had to spendsome t ime in selecting
children to attend the schools, and
s ince there w ere more c hi ld re n t ha n
places, this presented somewhat of a
problem. About 125 children wanted tobe i nc luded in the 45 places in the
first grade class. After attempting to
show the school committee t hat the y
should select the children to attend,
and upon their refusal , I tried to do my
be s t in th e se lec t ion. The f i r s t t e s t I
adm in is te red w as to se e which ones
were too young. Those who could no t
reach across the top of their heads
with the i r h an ds an d touch the i r ea r s
were e li mi na te d. T he second cu t was
made when those who had already
passed this grade (butwanted to repeat)
were to ld to move on to th e s econd
class. After over an hour of sorting, we
had the 45 limit. On my next visit I
le ar ne d t ha t th e s choo l commi t t ee had
me t again with the parents, and had
gone through the whole thing aga in .
After tha t they were satisfied.
By two in the aft ernoon we were
ready to leave for the Mhondoro church.
Noticing on a map that a road existed
through the farms which would maketh e tr ip much shorter, we decided to
try it. We had failed to calculate that
the last river might be in flood, or that
we might get lost. Both proved to betrue! Advice along the way turned our
"shor t -cu t " in to a tour of C entra l
Rhodesia! After driving about 60 extra
mi le s eve arr ived a t Mhondoro a t s un se t.
We visited and s ha red t he evening meal
and began our homeward journey.
About 9:00 p.m., and ten miles
from the Mhondoro church, the Peugeothad i t s f ir st f l a t t i re . We we re s t i l l in
th e reserve area, an d since I did not
expect to be t ra ve li ng at night, I wa s
unprepared for the emergency. "ALL
things work together for good"? With
only a box of safety mat ch es an d the
light of the headlights, the car was
jacked up an d the tire removed. The
spare wheel was then rolled up, ready
to be put in place when a shocking
and f righ tening thing was realized —the spa re would not fit! The wheel for
July 1966
by Richard Smith
Dick Smith's Peugeot.
the station wagon ha s five lugs while
the spare wheel which had come with
my new car wa s equipped for only
three. What were we to do? We had no
pump, no tire tools, no patching, nolight, and not much spirit for the task.
The night was very dark and threat
ening clouds passed overhead. The
road we were on was only two small
tracks through tall grass. Simon hadnever been in th e area , and I had been
on the road only onc e before, a nd that
during the day and during the dry season.
Having recently passed through some
gates which I thought I remembered, I
supposed that we were only about onemile from a farm house, and so we
locked the ca r and began to walk, Imust confess some of my thoughts were
no t th e m o st k in d to wa rd th e c a r d e a le r .
As we walked, however, my feelings
gave way to better thoughts, and God,
Who h ad w a tc h ed o ve r in o t he r d i ff i cu l t
situations would help us now. I soon
realized th at th e only thing to do wa s
u mi.i It
ft
The "good Samaritan" mentioned inthe story.
find tools, a pump, and a light, and we
cou ld then pu t the good tire and tube
on the wheel th at wou ld f it . If being
blind is one-half as scarey as that
walk, 1 could never afford to be blind.
After calling several times, and
knocking at the door of the f irs t hut
we found, we were able to raise th e
sleeping man. He dressed and took usup the road to t he house of the driver
ofthe farm. The Lord blessed us richly,
for he had a l ig ht and t oo ls. But the
man had to take the tractor to get the
pump, so with the l ight we returned and
removed the tire and tube and placed
the good ones on the good wheel, and
were ready for the pump when the man
returned. However, our problems were
not over, fo r the African driver who
went for the pump on the Ford tractor
sa id we cou ld n ot c ro ss the r iver fo r
it was too high and swift for the ca rto cross safely. Being the "good Samar
itan," he said he would return to th e
farm to get the bigger "M" Farmall topull us across. How grateful we were
to have this help, forniidway in crossing
th e river the back of th e ca r wa s swept
abou t th ree fee t downs t ream.
It was disgusting to have the flat
tire, and for awhile the error by the
dealer was almost maddening, bu t
feelings faded when I rea lized tha t
had the spare fit, we would have triedto cross the river and been swept
away. In the darkness the depth andswiftness were difficult to judge, an d
this was my first experience with high
water. Many have lost veh ic le s and
their lives in just such circumstances.
God knows our n ee ds e ve n before w e
know them. Who can sa y that He had
not saved that wrong spare for j us t s uch
a t ime?
The story might end here, but it
would no t be complete. What a thrill
just a few weeks later when I visited
the Mhondoro Church again, and saw
the man who had been such a help tous a ttending the church! Though no t
yet a Christian, the man ha s been
attending, and is being t augh t about
the Son of God. Truly we r ea li ze tha t
"God works in wonderful and mysteri
ou s ways," and "All things work together
for good to them that love God."
"Can ive doubt H is presence with us ?
Dare ive cease to give Him praise?
Place xve, al l our cares in Jesus,
Fo r we know His wonderful ways!"
— Wilma Smi th
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OUR SECOND THREE YEARS
At the conclusion of a second, ^ ^
three-year term, we are inclined to ^ jfy >41reflect on the course of our Rhodesian _ j 'V »ministry. And upon reflection, we feel tthat after the experiences of three : 7 ^years in the bush and the experiences ' ' I^hree years an urban we |^have come to possess a
sionary Certainly, there thas been an the knowledge |^ Iof those methods most likely toproduce ^^ iresults, the necessary ^ %.-
to implement them. And yet, when we _ ^f;
compare what has been accomplished C ^ •wVwith what yet remains to be done, we ^ I ^are humbled. I
Over the the our Y Ihearts have become wedded to this ^ I
her people. Their ^ H.
have become our problems, their burdens
our burdens and their succe s se s our
joy. It is well within the mark to say The Berry Kennedy Family.that thephrase, "Rhodesia —our home,"has become most meaningful to us. Such work is never easy nor pleasam, proven by the sense of peThis is only natural as our family but it is essential for the sake of those gained. It is difficult to attrabecomes more closely associated with who will follow after us in the work, to a service held, regardless©the customs and ideals of Rhodesia. The Lord of harvests has used us conditons, in the open.It is anticipated that upon our return to build numerically. While numbers It has also been a prito the States the childrens Rhodesian are not the vital issue, yet something assis t in building up an Afrjargon and accent will sound a bit would bewrong if therewere noadditions istry. Three of the four
peculiar to you. Also, the Kennedy to the familyof God. We have witnessed ministers were trainedatMashboys* talents will lie in the realms of substantial growth each year and the my teaching. It has been intecricket, rugby and soccer, rather than records available show the following direct these men in the morebaseball, basketball and football. Yes, statistics. There are six African con- aspects of their subsequent ithese three years of our second term gregations, having a total membership in Bulawayo. In the areashave served to Rhodesianize us to a of 800 and having 1800 enrolled in their organization, local autonomygreat degree. Bible schools. There will be another support, these men have show
In the second three years of our 200 souls added this year. growth.
missionary service, the emphasis has With the increase in numbers, the In retrospect, we mustbeen upon "building." And while it is need for phys ical facilities has become the second three years h;
true that we havebuilt upon thefounda- acute. A part of our program has been intensely gratifying. We loot
tion s l ai d by others, yet it has been the construction of church buildings, in spite of the present diffic
necessary, from time to time, to rein- The wisdom of assisting ihe African many more years of servicforce and even a lt e r t hose foundations. brethren in this endeavor has been independent and growing ]
Berry Kennedy Family.
proven by the sense of permanence
gained. It is difficult to attract people
to a service held, regardlessof climatic
conditons , in t he open.
It has also been a privilege to
assist in building up an African ministry. Three of the four Bulawayom in is te rs w e re t ra in e d a t Mashoko under
my teaching. It has been interest ing todirect these men in the more practical
aspects of their subsequent ministries
in Bulawayo. In the areas of church
organization, local autonomy and self-
support, these men have shown definite
growth.
In retrospect, we must say that
the second three years have been
intensely gratifying. We look forward,
in spite of th e present difficulties, to
many more years of service in anindependent and growing Rhodesia.
Building in numbers.
Page 6
Building needed facilities. Building an African ministry.
Ceniral Afrtco Sfory
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m ARC BACK ON THE FICID
As we looked ou t th e w i ndows o f
the airplane, we could see the lightningflashing off in the distance. Every now
and than the airplane would drop quicklyand thenrise again . There was the feeling of being on a roller coaster for
abou t t en m i nu te s.
We were tired and sleepy. Here it
was F riday night, February 11, and wewere coming to the end of our return
journey to our field of labor for th e
Lord. We had left Largo, Flor ida, just
five days before, had spent two and ahalf days in London, and had traveled
nearly 10,000miles on our return journeyto Rhodes i a .
Before we l e f t th e S ta t e s t h e r e we re
many people who expressed a concern
ove r th e future o f R h od es ia and a l l th e
missionar ies serving the Lord there.
Some expressed a fear that our liveswould be in dange r. Other Christians
presented other problems in an attempt
to sway our decision to return. There
were even those who suggest ed tha t
w e rema in in th e S t a t e s and t ak e a
church for th e time being. We would
h av e b ee n l e s s than human i f we wou l d
say tha t the ir reasoning did not temptus . It did, bu t no t for long.
The Lord had presented to us anopportunity not given to many people
in this day and time —the opportunity
to take the Gospel of Christ to a primitive people who had never heard it
before. What a blessing this had been,
and we knew i t co uld b e in the fu tu re!
For t h is r eason alone, we knew that we
would be the lose rs i f we did no t r e turn .
To f ind the Lord's will has always
been our desire. We had constantly
sought it while in the ministry in the
States, and we ha d s ough t i t concerning
our serving as missionaries in Africa.
We felt in the depths of our hearts tha tth e Lord wan t ed u s in th e Zambez i
Valley for awitness. If now, when thingsseemed to be a l i t t le difficult, we
t ur ned and fled, how would we ever be
able to encourage other s to le t theLord ' s wil l be done in the i r l ives? To
remain true to our calling, we have
r e tu rned .
As we flew from Tampa to NewYork City, to London, to Zurich, toLos Palmas, to Luanda, to Salisbury,
and f inal ly into Bulawayo, the questionwas constantly in our minds , "Are we
doing what the Lord wants us to do?
I s i t H is w i l l t h a t we r e tu rn t o the
Valley?" Remember, since we left on
furlough, Rhodesia had declared it s
July 1966
by Jack and Poggy Pennington
independence, a state of emergencywasprocla imed, a l l the nations to the north
in Africa were calling for the overthrow
of the white regime, England refused
to recognize the government, (as hadal l the nations of the world), and England
authorized trade sanctions against her.These questions faded from our
minds as we once again returned to ourhome on the banks of the Zambezi River
deep in the heart of the valley that ishome of the Batonga people. As we
began once more to proclaim the wordof the Lord to the people, as we beganagain to take care of their physicalailments and injuries, as we once
again began to work with the school
children and their teachers, as we beganonce more to visit in the villages of
people we have known in days gone
by, as we began again to see thosecoming forward to accept the Lord andHis word — yes, when these things
began to happen, we had the answer toour questions. We had done the right
thing; this was the Lord's will; He had
w an te d u s to re tu rn .
The opportunities for service givento your missionaries all over Rhodesia
are just as great today as they were in1956 when the Pemberton family arriveda s our f i r s t miss iona r i e s here . The re i s
a d e fi ni te n e ed for m ore t e a che r s from
th e S t a t e s . The re i s th e def in i t e need
for more medical personnel. There is
th e def ini te need fo r men and women
\d io a re t rue to th e Word of God and
a re w ill in g to witness for Him.
Yes, we are back on the field and
we are glad. We are looking forward to
the future with grea t antic ipa tion. We
know tha t there are s t i l l obs t a c l e s to
be overcome, defeats to be accepted,
but praise the Lord, there are also
victories to be won, souls to be saved,
and a crown to be gained.
"Y"" - r i
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fewhree Tonga school boys.
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Page 7
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The Central Africa Story
published monthly for the
Central Africa Mission,Churches of Christ
by Mission Services Press
Box 968, Joliet, Illinois 60434Edited b y T homas T hu rman
— O —
Treasurer
Mr. Fred E. Dunn
32 West Bellis le Drive
Akron, Ohio 44319
NOTICE
We have been informed by the Pos t
Office that by th e end of this year no
second class materials will be accepted
without the Zip Codes. It will be impossible
fo r Mission Services to correct t he Ho ri zon
mailing li st, a s well as those of th e many
missionary newsletters at the last minute.
Look at th e address on th e mailing portion
of t hi s pub li ca ti on . Does it include theZip Code? If you do not know your ZipCode, then call your Post Office NOW!
Send your complete address plus the ZipCode to Mission Services, Central Africa,
Box 968, Joliet, Ill inois 60434 —TODAY.
c. —* o : u
O N CO
TJ >
r rr * o— X m
z z o
• o w
33 — O)2 CD Cn— I r
CO m
(0 3
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c — O
3) Z rr
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CDO—.V
TheHILDREWfi
ORWER Articlesfo r
abou tChildi
EXPERIENCES OF A JUNIOR-AGE GIRL
by Norma Tfti»rmon
Diana Thurman teaching her classa t Dewure Mission.
Have you ever wondered what it
would be like to be a missionary child
and live in a far country? Let me tell
you someth ing about the life of an
average junior girl. Diana Thurman is
ten years of age and has lived inRhodesia for two-and-a-half years. She
can tell you some of he r likes and
d i s l i k e s .
Diana has had many adventures
which you would envy, I'm sure. She
has logged several hours in je t international flights. She has visited three
continents, crossed the equator, crossed
th e in te rna t iona l da t e l ine and unde r
s t and s be t t e r th e t ime zone s a s ou r su n
r i ses seven hours before i t does in
New York. She c an u nd ersta nd th e
earth*s revolution around the sun,
knowing that we of the Southern Hem
isphere have winter while you have
su mm er . Sh e h a s s e en Vic tor ia Fa l l s
and many Afr ican animals. She has
l earned to watch fo r snakes and s co r
p ion s but would surprise you with he r
knowledge t ha t t he mosquito is actually
th e mos t d r ead ed animal in Africa . She
would gladly trade places with you
each Sunday night as we take our
weekly quota of the bitter malaria
medicine. The chief things in the States
which sh e m is se s a re de luxe hambur
gers, ice cream sandwiches and tripsto visit he r grandparents.
Diana has a t tended four different
kinds of schools in five years. She
attended the first grade in America,
then at t ended ou r Amer ican s choo l at
Mashoko Mission, a Rhodesian govern-
Page 8
ment school (uniform and all) in Gwelo
and now is taking school by correspondence. Many children would be very
unhappy having their mothers for super
visors, but we are great pals and she
cooperates well. Like many of you,
she i s n ' t too fond o f a ri thm e ti c. How
would you like to learn to multiply
and divide in pounds, shillings, and
pence? And to make change using
tickeys, florins, and half-crowns?
You would be surprised how quickly
you would learn just how many sweets
can be purchased for a six-pence!
Diana ha s many hobbies similar to
yours such as r eading , s ewing, swim
ming and bicycle riding. One opportunity
which she has had, I would like to
share with you. EachWednesday morning
the Christians from nearby villages
meet at Dewure Mission for prayers.
The chi ld ren who are too young to be
in school come along, and Diana has a
Bib l e c l a s s fo r t hem. She h a s had a
lo t of experience at this as she has
a little brother five years old with
Viliom she has played and patiently
taught for several years. These children
cannot speak English and sh e knows
very little of their language so sheuses an interpreter. When she t ea ches
t hem a Bib l e v erse s he t r i es to l e a rn
i t in Shona along wi th them. Maybe you
would l ike to l ea rn o ne of the i r favor i t e
cho ru se s :
"Mu^oyo xvangu unojara sei,
Jesu unondida ndingaonga nei?
Mwoyo wangu unofara sei,
Vnofarisisa sei."
Sing it as the chorus of "In My
Heart There Rings a Melody."
WANISAI
(continued from page 1)
carrying ou t the Great Commission of
Chri s t . We bel i eve tha t we — those a t
home and t ho s e he re — s ha ll s ha re
Christ's p romi sed reward: "Come, yeblessed of my Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the
f ou nd ati on o f th e world. . . . I n a smuch
as ye have done it unto one of the
leastof thesemy brethren, ye havcdone
i t unto me ."
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Volume 6
A F f
} 3
STORYSeptember 7966 Number 9
Why Train Preachers?
Be ca us e o f th e L ost
Mashoko Bible College purposes to
t ra in Afr ican preachers of the Gospel.
We have already proven successful in
chis t a sk . We can do m ore i f th e m e an s
to do i t are in our hands. Why should
we train preachers? Is i t no t the best
way to mul tiply our effectiveness in
the work? When we train ten preachers
our effor ts a re spread into ten a re as a t
once. We can ourselves only be in one
place at a time. Mul ti tudes a re lost ,
and they stand in need of the Lord's
s a lva t i on . He re is th e b e s t answe r to
th is n ee d.
One day we climbed the hills here
in Rhodesia. As we climbed up higher
we could see the villages. There was
v il lage a fter v il lage of African homes.
It brought back a memory of the day weflew in by ai r and saw hundreds of
African villages with the people waving
their hands to us as we went by. Now
a s we s tood on the moun ta in w e could
se e some of these villages. This
Scripture came to mind, "How beautiful
upon the mountains are the feet of himthat bringeth good t id ings ." ( Isai ah
52:7) It would be an a nswe r to prayer
if the feet of t he preacher s tood uponevery mountain and in every village as
far as the eye could see.
We need preachers in Africa because
they ar e so few. This is on e reason
why we came to Africa. We would like
to put a preacher of the Gospel into
every village and city. The re are still
many who d ie w it hout Chri st . Othe rs ,
who have hea rd o f Him, have no church
to a t t e nd and no t eache r to i n s t r uc t
them. They need the p re ache r to plant
churches and to teach them the way of
by Cyril C. Simkins
the Lord. We sa y the truth when wesing!
"A hundred thousand souls a day
Are passing one by one away,
In Christless guilt and gloom.
Without one ray of hope or light.
With future dark as end le ss night,
They*re passing to their doom."
IL Because of the Scriptures
Secondly, we need preachers
because this is God*s way of saving
mankind. The Bible says, "I t pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to
save them that believe." (I Corinthians
1:21) The Bible goes on to say that
th is " fo o li sh n es s" i s wise r th a n th e
wisdom o f men. I t te l l s us tha t th e
preaching of the cross is foolishness
to those who are perishing, bu t to those
who are saved it is the power of God.
Whenthe making of preachers is foolishne s s to a man 's mind i t i s a n i n d ic a ti o n
that this man is per ishing and lost.
How do p eople get faith? We are
told by God that it comes throughhearing the Word of God . (Romans
10:17) The Word of God is to the Holy
Spi rit much like the sun is to thesunshine. Preaching this Word releases
the power of the Spirit into man*slife. It is the one sure way tha t God 's
Spirit can ac t upon the heart of anunregenerate man. It is t hi s act ion of
the Spirit in conversion that Jesus hadin mind when He said, "N o man ca n
come to roe, except the Father which
hath sent me draw him." (John 6:44)
The Spirit works through the Word toconvic t man*s heart. I t a wa ken s fai th
and draw s men to Chri s t . But this
Word comes th rough a preacher. "How
shall they hear without a preacher?"
Cyril C. Simkins, PresidenlMashoko Bible College
(Romans 10:14) "And how shall they
preach, except they be sent?" (Romans
10:15) The Word needs a preacher, and
the preacher needs to be sen t. Thi s is
the work of Mashoko Bib le Col lege .
The preacher is the most indispens
able man we ca n train. His work is a
partnership with God. He can never do
hi s work by himself. In fact, He isn ' t
th e one who doe s i t a t al l . God d oes it
through him. He cannot do i t without
God, and Grod does no t do i t without
him. The Scripture says that we ar eworkers together with God. God will
always do His part. What we need is
faithful preachers of the Word who wi llbe i n s t rumen t s in th e h and s of God.
The power of the preacher is no t
his own; it is from God. He handles
th e Word of God which in i t s el f is
quick and powerful and sha rper than a
two-edged sword. He must not be
ashamed of this Gospel, bu t be con
fident of its v alu e and strength. Com
pared to what he is preaching all the
wisdom o f man is infer ior . God said
{Continued on page 2)
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Why Train Preachers? (continued from page 1)
through Jeremiah, "Is not my word
like a fire? saith the Lord; and like a
h ammer t h a t breake th the rock in
pieces?" (Jeremiah 23j29) Itis powerful
to the casting down of the strongholds j|^K> iof sin. This cannot be done through lajlji^^ tm j |jth e words o f m en. "W hat is the cha f f
to th e wheat? saith the Lord." (Jeremiah
Because of th e People
Thirdly, we need preachers who ^ Bible college student preaching to aare African themselves. The African ^ Mashokopeople need to se e an example of faithamong their own people. They must be the lives of Africans the same as He
able to see what believing in Christ does through Europeans or Americans.doesforotherAfricans.lt is impossible When the people hear the Gospel infor themissionary to become an African, ^heir own language, and from their own
It is hardly possible for him to live people, they know that the church islike an African. He need not try, but taking root in this land.he must try to train Africans who don*t There is no more important workhave to become Africans and who which we do than the making of preach-already live like Africans except for The only thing that compares with
the sin. Hie missionary can bring the « is the preaching of the Cross our-Gospel, and he can plant die church. selves. In the long run the only guar-From this beginning it needs to grow antee the church has for its continuedditough the life that is within it. This life lies in men who are filled withChurch should produce African preachers the Word of God. The hope for theand evangelists just as it produces church's futuredoes not lie in organiza-American preachers and evangelists, tion orin the governments of the world.
The African preacher understands Its hope lies in men who have soundthe African people better than we ever doctrine and sound lives. Mashokocan . He knows their customs. He under- Bible College is doing what the Scrip-
stands their fear of the evil spirits, ture enjoins. It is committing soundAfrican peopleneed to see among them- doctrine to faithful men who shall beselves someone who is able to distin- able to teach others also. (II Timothyguish between good and bad customs, 2:2)
someone who doesnot fear evil spirits. Mashoko Bible College is beginningThe only way an evil spirit can be a building program to provide class-kept out of anybody's life is for that rooms and other facilities for the Biblelife to have Christ within it . college. These are much needed, and
The aim of the missionary should will increase our effectiveness in thebe to work himself out of a job. He training of African ministers. We needrejoices when African preachers carry your help. Will you remember this workon the work he has begun. He knows your prayers?that the Holy Spi ri t can work through ..—..—
One of the Bible collcge students baptizing a lady From his area,Turgwe.
Page 2
DOROTHEA PARKER
NURSE-RECRUIT
Miss Dorothea Parker, a native of
Pax ton, I ll ino is , is a nurse-recruit for
the expanding medical program of the
churches of Christ (Christian) in Central
Africa. Miss Parker is wel l prepa red
for he r anticipated mission work. She
attended Minnesota Bible College , andthen graduated from Eastern Christian
Institute at East Orange, New Jersey,
in 1951. She has wo rked with th e
"Go Ye" Chapel Mission and Elmer
Kile in New York City as a summer
worker for fou r summers . She i s a lso a
graduate of Orange County Community
College, Middletown, New York, in theclass of 1961, and is a licensed professional nurse. She has been employed
by Glen Cove Community Hospital,
Glen Cove, Long Island, New York,for the past five years.
tKe
,\^ATT. 21:9
j *
iiJi*
MISSIONARIES SHARE
ON RESURRECTION DAY
by Thomas Courtney
In a spirit of coope ra ti on and
fel lowship, the Berry Kennedy familyfrom Bulawayo, and Jack Pennington
from the Zambezi Mission drove manymiles through the bush to share with
the Courtneys in Resurrection Days e r v i c e s in th e Nuane t s i .
Several congregat ions gathered at
the mission school where Mr. Kennedy
brough t the morning message and Mr.Pennington t he ad dr es s of the after
noon. The picture above shows the
miss iona r i e s with s ome o f t he A fr ic an
Christians looking up at the camera.
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t h e Lit t le OoctOR
The night was hot and eve ryone in
the surgery was tired and wet with
per sp ir at ion. The l arge gener ator had
broken down aga in and we cou ld no t
use th e l i t t l e a ir condi t ioner in th e
operating theater."The baby' s heart ra te is awfully
slow," said S ara Stere as she bent
down over the tiny, minute-old African
child. Sara, a prematurely gray, ex-
Air Force nurse, appropriately called
"Captain," by her co-workers, had been
cleaning up th e baby which had just
been delivered by Caesarean Section.
The doctor, meanwhile, was placing
the last sutures required to close the
mo t h er 's a b domen.
"The baby's fingernails are getting
blue, and it s respirations seem s low,
doctor. Should I give it some adrenalin ?"
"No, just give it some oxygen,"
said the doctor. " It wil l be al l right."
The inc is ion was c lo se d now, and the
doctor applied the dressing and stepped
down off t he s to ol . You see the doctor
was just five feet, two inches tall and
needed a s t oo l in order to se e the
operating field.
It had been a rough day, for this
w as the s ec on d C a es ar ea n s in c e noon .
The day had seemed a little longer
because of the tension in the operating
room. Things are always a little strained
when you have a new doctor in surgery.
Our Doctor Pruettwas away in America,and we had on ly r ec en tl y met the new
doctor, bu t the operations had gone well
and we were a ll p leased.
The su rg eon is the captain of the
operating team in surgery, and it is not
an easy matter to come in as a stranger
and take charge. It also takes a great
deal of courage to leave f riends and
Dr. Kenoyer and some of her fellow-workers at Hippo Valley.
September 1966
by Dr. Jerry R. Smith
1 loved ones and security to t ravel alone
1 10,000 miles to a remote area to take
i up arms against a se a of t roubles such
t as malaria, bilharzia, leprosy, witch-
i craft and other condit ions foreign to an
American. It takes a lo t of courage to/ step into a s it ua ti on such as this,
t especially when you have only just
1 completed your hospital internship,
and especially if you are a girl.i Since her arri val in Rhodesia, Dr.
1 Gayle Kenoyer ha s proven herself time
t after time to be a very capable doctor,a tireless worker, and a very courageous
, Chris tian gir l.
; Gayle's home is in Hugoton, Kansas,
and as a child sh e was very active in
I the Girl Scouts. She attended Milligan
, College, and received her medical
' degree from the University of Kansas.
' While in college she wa s a Phi Beta
' Kappa member, and she interned at the
j Los Angeles Harbor Hospital. Recently
1 she was honored by being selected
r (a s was her co-worker at Hippo Valley,
1 nurse Mary Bliffen) as one of the Young• Business Women of th e World, an
organization headed by the wife of the
! P r es id e nt o f the U.S.A.
S ince her ar r iva l in t he fa l l of
1964, Dr. Gayle has been living at
j Hippo Valley and supervising thei medical work there. It is through the
labors of John Pemberton and Dr.
, Dennis Pruett that we have this tremen-' dous opportunity of service in the Hippo
I Val ley area. As the work in Rhodesia
grows, however, so do the responsibili-
! ties of these pioneer missionaries, andt he del egat ion of authority becomes
r mandatory. And so it has been that the
t mantle of medical responsibility inI Hippo Valley ha s fallen upon the
shou ld e rs o f t h i s " l i t t l e " doctor.
In my capacity as a dentist I have
been t rave ling from Mashoko to Hippo
Valley on Monday of every week for
two-and-a-half years. The only way to
appreciate th e tremendous amount of
work that goes on there is to actually
experience it . Week after week I have
seen the work load grow along with the
Sugar Estates and the town of Chiredzi
which is springing up in the area.
Try to picture in your mind just one
woman doctor and a missi on nur se ,
assisted by three par t- time Rhodesian
nurses, providing the medical coverage
for almost 1,000whites and over 60,000
Africans! Joh n and Marjorie Pemberton
live nearby and a re a lw ay s ready to
help, but it is Mary Bliffen and in the
Dr. Gayle Kenoyer
final analysis, Dr. Kenoyer who must
bear the medical responsibility for
th e a r ea .
It has become a common sight to
se e Dr. Gayle bouncing down the dusty
road at a rapid clip on her small
motorcycle enroute to one of the three
African clinics up to 15 miles away.
She has been learning to fly and seeras
to like to practive takeoffsand landings
with her motorcycle! In spite of th e
tremendous work load, Dr. Gayle is very
meticulous and thorough, and every
patient is treated as an individual. Her
day usually begins before si x and
extends well into the night, as she does
most of he r own laboratory studies. Then
more of ten than not the doc to r and the
nurse are up during the night with
medical emergencies. A few days at atime of t his schedul e are rough, but
day in, day out, seven days a week,
withou t a b reak i s more t ha n m os t men
can take, much less a small young
woman. The next time you have to
visit your doctor, and a re sitting in hi s
comfortable waiting room, remember
our work at Hippo Valley, and 60,000Africans being served by one, big,
l i t t le Chr i s t i an doctor in Rhodes i a .
The Central Africa Story is published
monthly for the Central Africa Mission,
Churches of Christ byMission Services
Association at 509 West Jefferson,
Joliet, Illinois. Second Class Postage
paid at JoUet, I ll inois 60434.
Volume 6 September 1966 Number 9
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THE PROFESSIONAL by Bob Smith
The guard executes a block; thehalfback knifes through the hole,neatly evades the safetyman, and scores
a touchdown. This is a scene you willsee many times this fall if you're a
football fan. The men knew their jobsand did them perfectly. Why shouldn't
they? They're professionals.The surgeon steps confidently to
the operating table; all instruments
prepared properly and arranged in thesequence of need. The rest of the
assistants carry out the surgeon's
commands with precision and speed.
Another life has been saved, and whyshouldn't it have been? These people
are professionals. Some have spent
more than a third of the average lifespan of man in preparation.
An author writes a text, spelling
out t he cor rect principles of using theEnglish language in a clear and concisefashion, easily understood, and there
fore very valuable to the student. The
author has spent hi s entire career
developing knowledge for compila tionand writing of the text. It is accepted
widely because the author is a pro
fessional.
We could go on giving examples of
careers of very capable people using
their particular talents in a specialized
The Don Poorman family
It is with a great deal of joy and
anticipation that we announce ou rintentions of becoming a part of theeduca t iona l work in Rhodesia .
The oppor tuni ty for evangelistic
soul winning through the school is
unique. It s influence on the community,
matchless. Evangelism through thesecondary schools is th e foundation forth e res torat ion of New Tes t ament
Christianity in Africa.
The growth of this work is incom
prehensible. To describe it is difficult.
h M
Part of a local congregation at Chircmwaremwa School
f ie ld of endeavor, but i t isn' t neces sa ry . l it tl e more than a babe in Christ him-
The one characteristic in the lives of self. If this man persists in the sharingal l these people has been willingness of the Good News with others, if heon the ir par t to discipline their minds,
hands, bodies, even their souls toperfect their part icular skills.
Several weeks ago one of the
African men in one of the congregationsbrought another man to t he worshi p
service with him. They had come to the
mission so that the man might be
con t inues to lead the kind of l i fe t ha t
will attract others to the Worthy Individual much good will be accomplished.
No matter how important or entertainingthese other skills which we practice
to perfection may be, nothing is more
important to God than the s oul o f man.
Are you a professiona l Chri st ian?
immersedfor the remission ofhis sins - you disciplined yourself for thisvital task of Christ ian witnessing?
nothing unusual exc ept that the one
bringing the prospective Christian was
Educa t iona l Worke r s fo r Rhodesia
To view it , as I did for 30 days this
past summer, is a spiritual splendor.
To participate in it, by both teachingand preaching, a joy. It s opportunities
are e n d l e s s .
We look forward, with thankfulness,
to sharing several years of experience
in the ministry, youth and camp work,secondary school teaching, counseling
and administration, andas an elementaryschool princ ipal with this excitingly
progressive country and continent.Both Don and Ruth a t t ended
Johnson Bible College, Minnesota
Bible College, and, later, Ozark Bible
College. Don's A.B. was granted byMinnesota Bible College in 1949. Both
also hold bachelor degrees in education
from Eastern Michigan University.
Don's M.A. is also from Eastern, with
post-master's work taken at Eastern,
Wayne S ta te Unive rs it y and Michigan
State University.
by Don Poorman
As we join in the educat ional part
of the evangelistic work in Rhodesia,
our need is for support and prayers —support, that we might go quickly,thereby heeding John Pemberton's
plea, "We really need you to come bythe end of this year —we are veryshort of staff"; prayers, that we might
be used effectively.Contact for speaking engagements
and information may be made direc tly
to th e Poormans, 5444 Kingston,Dearborn Heights, Mich. 48125. Their
phone number is area 313/565-4488.
All funds should be s e n t to the i r
forwarding agents, Dr. and Mrs. WilliamEly, 35570 Orangelawn, Livonia,
Michigan 48150.
He Calls — You Send — We Gol
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ABITS AND
1 HappeningsOF CHURCH GOING by Richard Hostetter
Manner i sms and forms o f church
services ar e not univ er sal ly th e same
among people who do not conform to aspecific "order of procedure" estab
lished by a heirarchy. Perhaps you
would be int er es ted in knowing someof th e c i rcumst ance s c ent e red around
our local church gatherings.
First, th e services do conta in the
recognized components of New Testa
ment worship, i.e., preaching, singing,
prayer, communion, and offerings. But
in mat ters where th e Bible has not
spoken there is much variety and
flexibility of act iv i ty .
Here, the peop le walk to churchservices. If they arrive late, most
kneel for brief prayer before taking aplace on the earth or a bench. Such
kneeling is difficult for mothers withbab ie s s tr apped on their b ac ks , so
they just sit and bow their heads.
There is absolutely no socializing or
nodding and whisper ing between the
late comers and tho se a lre ady present.
But such fraternizing is very robus t
af ter th e serv ice . No cold and formal
parade ou t of a building and "away
we go" to th e funny paper, T.V., etc.
Few, if any, people in th e reserves
have t imep ieces, and so a preacher
must get u sed to people arriving late,
even to coming at the end of the
service. We speak of a meeting forworship and teaching as "becoming a
good service" or "it became a goodserv ice ."
Hymn singing before the sermon is
usual ly very extended in order to giveopportunity for as many as possible toarrive in t ime fo r th e communion and
preaching. There is no specific time
fo r th e service to end. I have been to
gatherings which lasted over two hours,
while the next week they may last onlyan hour. While we a re speak ing of
singing, we must admit that i t varies inquality from poor to excellent. The
people are adept at learning to sing inparts and easily memorize t une s and
words. They r ea ll y love to sing and
ar e given oppor tuni ty o f choos ing or
spontaneously starting hymns in which
al l the people join. O ccasionally apreacher may expect to have a hymninterjected into t he mid st o f his sermon
delivery. This past Sunday while
speaking, I asked th e people to turn
in their Bibles to a certain passage
for reading, ^ i l e they were doing so ,
a woman started a hymn. All joined in,
September 1966
including myself. When the hymn was
finished (all stanzas are sung), 1
continued with th e sermon. The people
all say "Amen" in unison at the endingof public prayers also.
The seating arrangements arerather es tablished. I f possible, one or
two western style cha ir s a re provided
and reserved for the local preacher
and perhaps the guest missionary.
The men and older boys are seated
separately and occupy whatever seats
and benches a re a v ai la bl e. The men
are first in al l privileges (no problem
about women ruling and running the
Church). The women an d chi ld ren a re
n ot to ta ke a bench i f a man o r men are
present to take such places. I have
s een r a th e r we l l- e du c a ted women s i t
on th e ground while a place for her ona bench was occupi ed by a man whocould not read o r w rite . "Adam was
first," in the eyes of these people and
the women are no t marching in p ro te st
o r d i scon ten t.
There is only one cup used in the
Communion, especially in the rural
reserves. It is no t because of any
doctrinal convictions, but that in
div idua l communion s e rv i ces a re not
available. Every new missionary ha s adifficult time getting used to drinkingfrom a cup perhaps already used byover 50 people.
Preachers generally preach without
notes and t he sermons are very spon
t aneous . Thi s writer generally avoided
the reliance upon notes when preaching
in America and was grateful for having
done so because there ar e no pulpits
ou t in the reserves to la y them upon.
The wind could play havoc with notes
as it sometimes vigorously whips thepages o f one*s Bible. Not once in the
past year has a per son eve r come tome after a sermon and said anythingabout it —either complimentary or in
Baby Missionary
Mr . and Mrs. Richa rd Hostet t er
are receiving congratulations on the
birth of a daughter, Heather Faye,
bom on August 1 at Umtali,
Rhodesia. Her birth weight was
9 pounds 7 ounces. Mother and
daughter are both well.
criticism. I always believed that al l
th e kind remarks made in Amer ica
about one's sermon could not always be
true, and there is small danger of
conceit in the sermonizer's opinion of
h im se lf h e re .
One may expect almost anything tohappen during a service of worship ,especially when meeting outdoors. The
past Sunday whi le preaching, several
dogs were present strolling and sniffingamong the congregation. Hens withtheir broods scratched nearby, and about
a dozen cattle walked by. Also, we had
the service disturbed by three malemembers, beards and garb, from abizarre religious group called "Zionists." They arrived late and left
during the middle of the service.
Another Sunday, a delegation from the
"Apostles," another large indigenousAfrican group, believing in polygamyand other unusual and unscriptural
tenants, visited us while we were
baptizing. These people c la im to have
prophets among them. This day wehad one of their "so-called" prophets
in our midst. Soon, in our assembly, hestarted violently shaking his head,
twisting his staff and moaning and
screeching as if possessed (I believed
by the devil, not by God). Then hestarted to shout and proceeded to rush
pell-mell through the bushes, loudly
uttering unintelligible noises. Ourpeople just snickered and laughed while
watching him go, robe flying behind
him, holding his s ta ff with both handsabove hi s bearded head. Disconcerting,
to say the least!
Much more space could be used
describing many other happenings.For instance, on another Sunday wehad a man who had drunk too much
hwabwa (strong beer) wobble into ourservice. Taking a seat, he started
yelling loudly some polit ical opinions
and two of our men had to forciblylead him away while he kept looking
back and shaking his clenched fists.
One may expect most anything tohappen when going to worship overhere, but the mos t amazing and wonderful occuren ce is when we se e people
responding to the message of Christ,
their Savior. Knowing that through
their faith in, and obedience to . Him,
t hey wil l h ave the forgivene ss of sins
and everlas ting l ife, we recognize that
such is indeed a "happening." We pray
that such "happenings" will constantly
b e a "hab i t " !
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CHURCH AND STATE
(Article Number Eight)
much of that territory. The history books
never fail (nor must I in this art icle)
to mention the story of King Alfred the
Great, while a fugitive and in hiding ina peasant's home, being scolded by hi s
hostess for al lowing her cakes to burn.
He ultimately succeeded in retaining
hi s kingdom, signing the Treaty of
Wedmore, in which the Danes agreed to
make peace. They also agreed to bebaptized, but only after being assured
they would be allowed to retain their
conque s t s .
Othe r Northmen made a success fu l
landing in that part of France now
known as Normandy. They went e ven
further in assimilation by dropping
their Danish speech, and adopting that
of the French. A century later theirconquest of England would cause a
merger between the Anglo-Saxon and
the Norman-French tongues, till modemEnglish evolved.
What also had been evolving in this
period was the Feudal System. It
developed most fully in France, Ger
many, northern Spain, Italy, England
and Scotland, attaining i ts highest
s tage a ft er a few centuries. There are
still remnants of it surviving, although
in the New World it may be more diffi
cult to find it. The American emphasis
on f reedom s t r e s s e s th e i nd i v i dua l
rights of every man, but this standard
ha s not ye t been attained in many
countries. By the s igning of the MagnaCharta in 1215, King John conceded
the right of his barons to some things
• - e e a r - . • - >
by Dr. A. C. Woffers
he had been denying them. It has takentill this century to g rant women 's
suffrage even in the most en lightenedcountries; and there ar e some countries
where the practice of s lave ry has not
yet been abandoned.
As in the ninth century some of the
Northern pagans fled from Charle
magne's formof compulsory Christianity
so , seven centuries later, did America's
Pilgrim Fathers flee from England's
form of religious compulsion. Progress
for the masses has been a slow business,
and in no country, as a country, have
we yet a ttained to the Christ ian teach
in g on liberty or equality.
In the rapid development of our
social conscience we are apt to bepremature in enforcing our enlightened
ideas on those who have not yet grasped
them. We are disappointed in the results.
And as we look back on the Chri s t i an
story we ar e disappointed in i ts r esul ts
also. The way of utilizing state power
to promote the Christian interests is
no t the wayshown by Jesus of Nazareth,
either in His teach ing or His example.
When 1 began writing this series
I had the idea that 1 might require ayear (12 articles) to bring the study
up to modern times. Here I am at No. 8,
and I am only dealing in any detail
with th e n in th and t en th c en tu r i e s .
In that period a certain process
was repeated in Western Europe. Pagan
invaders overran the territories already
Christianized, and in their turn they
came under the influence of the peoples
they had conquered , sooner or later
accepting what was presented to them
as the Christian religion.
It was in t he yea r 800 that Charle
magne had been given by the Pope the
title of th e Holy Roman Emperor. This
gave t he head of the Roman Church the
political p ro tect ion he desired in hisr ival ry with th e church leader in Con
stantinople who had the protection of
the Byzantine emperor. This developed
into a cleavage be tw ee n th e Eastern
and Western churches, a cleavage whichhas continued to the present day.
Only in the last few years has therebeen even the beginning of a rapproche
ment, motivated a t le ast in part by the
common danger arising from the growingpolitical power of a non-Christian
c ommun i sm .
Not only was there the development
o f th e Great-Schism be tween Eas t and
West, bu t in th e West i tse lf there was
a struggle continuing through manysubsequen t cen tu ri es between the
heads of Church and State, sometimes
the one and sometimes the other being
in the ascendancy.
"After Charlemagne had been
cmwned emperor," to quote H. G.
Wells, "he required every male subject
above the age of twelve to renew hi s
oath of allegiance, and to undertake to
be no t only a good subject but a good
Christian. To refuse bap ti sm and toretract after baptism were crimes
punishable by dea th ." Perhaps never
again in t he h isto ry of Christianity
did the general spi rt iual s tandard ofso-called Christianity sink so low.
In the "evangelistic" drive directed
by Charlemagne throughout his empiremany of th e resi st ing e lements made
their way to the coast, and thence
escaped to other shores . It was in this
way that the D anish invaders arrived
in England and managed to conquer Evangelist Ghivigi baptizing in the Soli River
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OUR FIRST LOOK AT CH IDAMOYO
T he b la ck d ark ne ss o f th e Afr i can
night had closed in on us as we arrived
at the Chidamoyo Mission. Our fellow
missionaries, Ziden and Helen Nutt
and their two children, ha d met us in
Salisbury after our fast trip by je t
fromAmerica.
AsZiden pulled his
Volkswagen-size car in to the mission
and up the drive that leads to their
house, we were a weary bunch. We had
come the 200 miles from Salisbury with
four adults, four children, 26 chickens
(new baby chicks), luggage and gro
ceries inside the car, in th e trunk, and
even on top of the car. This was theKelleys' first view of ChidamoyoM iss ion . A s w e walked t oward th e
house and f inal ly inside, I inquired ifsomeone would kindly turn on the
e lect ri c l ight s. Then I remembered,
there is no electricity here. The room
got somewhat brighter then as our
friends lit a propane gas light.
O f c ou rs e I knew t h a t with a l l th e
darkness outside there wasn't any
use to ask about seeing more of the
mission until daylight. Bruce Ammerman
and his wife Carolyn camc to greet us .
So we did get to mee t ano ther fel low
missionary.
After several hours of visiting, weal l went to bed. I still could hardlywait to see more of Chidamoyo Mission.C aro l a nd I had heard and read much
a bo ut th is f ine miss ion .
As I stepped from the back door of
Ziden Nutt*s house the next morning
the ai r was c le ar and the sky a lovelyb lue . I cou ld see th e Ammerman ' s
house a short distance away and the
new nu rse* s hou s e which w as under
construction. Beyond this new house
was another building which I thoughtwas the m i ss io n 's c lin ic b ec au se the
Africans were already beginning togat her th er e. Of course, I knew by
ar t ic les I h ad re ad tha t there would be
some hymns sung and a Bible story
told after which the people would
r ec e iv e t re at me nt . What a di f f erence
from Amer ican c l i n i c s !
Stepping farther away from the house
and almost in the opposite directionof the small clinic building, I saw othernew buildings under construction. As
I walked up toward the const ruct ion
site, I knew instan t ly that this was th e
new Christ ian Hospital providing 100beds .
Continuing my trip around the
September 1966
by Charles Kelley
mission I could se e African villages
sca t te re d a l l a round . The schoo l
building was there with African children
coming from what seemed to be every
di rec t ion to a t t end s choo l . Th i s s choo l
I understood to be one of four granted
by the government. With present enrollment there a re a lmos t 700 in th e four
schools and 14 teachers who ar e pa id
by the government. I recalled too that
in each class one half hour is spent
io prayer and Bibl e study every day .
On Sunday at each one of the schools
the church meets for study and worship.
What I had heard an d rea d whi le in
the States is true. The Gospel of Christis being preached and taught. Well
over 1,000 precious souls have acceptedJesus Christ in the brief four-and-a-
half year hist ory of the Chidamoyo
Mission. Nearly 40 churches have beene s t ab l i shed a t th is t ime . C hris t h as
truly been lifted up among these 250,000African people. The prayers and
support of Christians in America have
uplifted t he labors of the Ziden Nutt
and B ruce Ammerman fam il ies and
others who have laid the groundworkin t hi s a re a of Rhodes ia .
As the f ir st weeks have passed, I
can s e e even more v i c t o r i e s fo r Chr i s t
at Chidamoyo. The fields are trulyripe unto the harvest an d the la bo re rs
have increased by two more missionaryfamilies. We pray that o th ers will
come to share in this great unbelievable
opportunity for teaching and preaching
Chr i s t .
I am privileged to se e what ha s
been done for Christ at Chidamoyo, buti t makes me rea l ize t ha t I have a task
to do in working with those here and
trying to open even greater opportunities
fo r Chr i s t in th i s a r ea .
i t !
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The Central Africa Steiy
published monthly for che
Central Africa Mission,
Churches of Christ
by Mission Services Press
Box 368, Joliet, Illinois 60434Edited b y T homa s Thurman
- O -
Treasurer
Ml. Fred E. Dunn
32 West Bell is le Drive
Akron, Ohio 44319
Shumo
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HILDREN'S
ORWERArticles
for
abou tChildi
SHUMO'S STORY
I would like for al l you boys and
girls to close your eyes for a fewmoments. Can you imagine what it
would be like to have to spend your
life with your eyes closed? That is howa blind person feels. I'm going to tellyou now about a blind boy at Mashoko.His name is Shumo (see picture at
left), and he is eight years old. When
he was just a baby, he go t sore eyes,but instead of taking him to a doctor
or a hospital, he was taken to thewitchdoctor. This man put something in
Shumo's eyes that caused him to go
blind. Recently, he also became il lwith tuberculosis and his parents, who
were not loving and kind like yourmother and daddy, brought him toChristian Hospital and deserted him.Not once in th e te n month s he*s been
here have they come to se e him. Fortunately, most African parents are no t
l ike t h i s .
Sometimes Shumo is very sad and
lonely and then he cries and cries.
But he ha s ano ther and very sweet
side to his nature. He loves God and
has memorized manyShona hymns which
he sings loudly and joyfu lly . One dayI heard him singing "God is love, Godis love" an d this t ime th e tears were
in my eyes.
Shumo loves to help our hospitalchaplain as he visits and talks to thepatients about Jesus. He also joinsthe chaplain in the singing of hymns
by Marjorie Van Dyke
for devotions over t he loudspeaker
each day. He has attended so many
baptisms that he can readily find hisway to the baptistry across the roadfrom the hospital without a guide. He
knows the hospital so well that youare am aze d to l earn he i s bl ind a s he
turns corners, walks down halls, and
f inds h is ow n ward and bed a s wel l
as everyone else'sl
Sometimes he is very mischievous
and even naughty, bu t he has becomequite a pet of al l of us. The nurses
have given him toys and clothes, andour family gave him a harmonica which
he enjoyed so much until it finallywent to pieces from so much use. Heknows r ight where our adminis trationoffice is an d m ak es a beeline fo r it
several times a day when he will use
the English words he's learning suchas : Tm hungry." "Give me sweets,""Give me milk (or perhaps an orange,
a mea li e o r a bun) ."
All is no t hopeless for Shumo as
he ha s a type of blindness which canprobably be cured by surgery. However,
the eye specialist has told us he mustwait for two more years. What will hisfuture be? We don't know, but we pray
th at h is lo ve a nd serv ice fo r the Lord
might continue and grow and th at h isphysica l eyes may gain the s ight tha t
hi s spirit already has. Will you pray
fo r Shumo?
^uroo singing hymns for patients at Mashoko Christian Hospital
Page 8 Central Africa Story
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I^OJ NOV 28 1
STORYVolume 6 October 1966 Number 10
MASHOKO CHRISTIAN SECONDARY
Although we are late arrivals on thescene of secondary education, we ar e
fully cognizant of the potential for the
Lord's work in th is area of endeavor .
Mashoko Christian Secondary representsthe second of the two secondary schools
to be granted to Central Africa Mission;
the other being our sister school in
Gutu , which is under the very capable
leadership of the Doug Johnsons.
After tw o ful l t e rms o f school we
can make these observations concerning
the work at Mashoko. There are young
people here who are capable of carrying
a college-preparatory curriculum to asuccessful conclusion, and of going
on from there to profitably undertake
university-level work- I do not believe
t hat there will be many earthshaking
scholars, but then my faith may be
small concerning this.
Certainly we can se e this potentialpresent — that of bringing many of
these youngsters to a ripening maturityconcerning their Christian faith. As
this po tent ial is developed they willbecome th e backbone of th e future
c hu rc h in this and other areas .
There isa
vital needfor
trained,
well-educated Chr is tia n t ea ch ers in
our schools and in government schools;
there is an equal need for this kind ofindividual in industry, witnessing by as trong Chri st ian life in the areas of
urban dev elopmen t. Th e Africa of
tomorrow w ill no t be the A fr ic a o f th e
bush reserve . This is just a passing
stage as were the days of the old West
by Robert Smith
in ou r not-too-distant p as t a s a nation.
It will take a special kind of individual
to resist the pull of the devil when he
i s r emoved from the envi ronment to
which he was so long accustomed.
We feel that these young people
are the kind who wil l respond to these
challenges. The group pictured here
was preparing to do some work after
classes. They spend about t en hours a
week performing such chores as gath
ering firewood for the dining hall,
pumping water necessary for cooking
and cleaning, caring for the classrooms,
and even digging ditches for t he wate rconservation program which is under
way. Their program is complete for the
development of soul, mind, and body.
The facilities and potential are
present at Mashoko for a fine secondary
work. The re a re some t hi ng s that are
necessary, however, before this can
be fully realized. There has to be
water available for bathing, and sani
tary facilities have to be improved. An
extensive water conservation program
is in progress and solutions to the
other problems are under active con
sideration. A laboratory is planned and
will be completed at the end of this
coming term. Many new ideas will bei ncorpora ted which will increase the
effectiveness of the lab , whi le keeping
the expense at a minimum.
O ne def in ite need a t both second
aries is a library containing books ofgood l it er atur e p re sent ing various
fields and subjects. There would be
Somes ludenls of Mashoko Christian
Secondary
few children in th e United States, even
in the mos t impover ished condi tions
who w ould no t have a c c e s s to a con
siderable amount of reading material.
Th i s i s no t t rue in Afr ica whe r e t h e r e
ar e thousands who have access to few,
if any, books. There are several ways
for a student to acquire a workingknowledge of English. One is hearing
good English , another is wri ting with
the proper supervision, and ano ther
very effective method is reading good
literature. Plans are being made at
both of our schools to open libraries.
Wc feel that this is a good step forward.This first year at Mashoko Christian
Secondary has been interesting and
challenging. We are looking forwardto many more productive years.
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION - THE HOPE OF THE WORLD!
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