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immi STORYVolume 9 Januory 1969 NumberSprings of Water from the Rock"by Don Stoll

where, obvious ly , the most criticalneed ex i s t ed .

Those were the d ay s t hat hospitalpatients were seen carrying their ownwate r a ro und in Coke bottles or claypots. Those were the days that hospi ta lto i le ts and show ers could be f lushedand cleaned only once or twice per day.Those were the days when the secondarystudents were forced to carry water inbuckets from an old government wel l amile away to their school kitchen sothat food could be prepared; and thenin the evenings, after classes, they hadto go back to the well with soap andtowel to wa sh t he ir bodies an d c lo thes .Those were the days when the missiona ri es used t rucks, lorr ies , and privatecars to haul hundreds of gallons of preciouswater to keep the mission work going.Those were the days that bapti sms hadto be postponed because there was no

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"And God said . . . Behold, I willstand before t hee t he re upon the rockin Horeb, and thou shalt smite t he rock,and th ere shal l come w ater o ut of it ,that the people may drink. And Mosesdid so in the sight of the elders of Israel."The 17th chapter of Exodus describesa dramatic moment in th e l i fe o f thechildren of Israel as they journeyed inthe wilderness of sin. Having made campat Rephidim, they suddenly found themselves facing disaster. There was nowater, cither for the people or for theircattle. As soon as they realized theirpredicament, the chi ldren of Israe lcomplained toMoses, their leader, whoserelationship with the Lord Almightymade it possible for him to draw uponGod's everlasting strength and supply.Moses fol lowed th e Lord's instruct ions,and a great miracle was accomplished.

That was long ago , and today Mosesis no longer around to make intercession

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for God 's people when t rouble comes.Moreover, His people a re sca tt ered a llover the world, fa ci ng and overcomingevery imaginable obstacle in their marchto th e Promised Land because o f f ait hin Christ t he Lor d, t he Redeemer whomGod s en t .

In 1966, Mashoko Mission was confronted with a cri t ical s it ua ti on , n otentirely unlike that which the Israelitesfaced long ago at Rephidim. The entireMatsai Tribal Trust Land, in which th emission is located, had experiencedsuccessive years of drought and subnormal rainfall and, as a result, the twoexisting bore-holes which had suppliedwater for th e mission commun i ty forseveral years, were going dry. In orderto prevent the pumps from burning outin a dry shaft , the pumps were shut downexcept for a few hours each day. Thelittle amount of water which they didbring up was piped to Christian Hospital

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(continued from page 1)water to fill the baptistry. Those werethe days that saw gardens wi ther anddie, the land become parched and dusty,nerves on edge, the strain beginning totell, and some were asking, "Is it reallyGod's will that His people camp here,and build this mission station on a heapo f s tone and s and?"

Then came the miracle! In June of1966, EmmaStoH's parents, Mr. and Mrs.Stanley Henderson of Lebanon, Ohio,vis i t ed Mashoko and saw the cr i t i ca lsituation. They envisioned the possibility of challenging the Lord's churchesin America to rise up and build a newwater system that could save the missionwork. Soon after returning to the States,the Hendersons were contacted by theCrusaders Sunday-school class of theTraders Point Christian Church, Indianapolis, Indiana. This congregation hadbeen suppo r t i ng the S to ll family atMashoko since 1963 and were deeplyin te res ted in and concerned fo r the work.Now the Crusaders Class, composed ofyoung married couples, was looking fora mission projec t, and the serious watershortage at Mashoko was an irresistiblechallenge. Byron Young, energeticpresi-dent of the class, along with EdwardSimon, teacher and minister, soon hada committee set up to promote a nationwide campaign to raise funds to meetthe need. They called it the "Pumps andPipes for Mashoko." The campaign wasto commence in January, 1967, with thehope that a total of $8,000 could be raisedby the end of the year . It was a bigundertaking for a small class of two or

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three dozen people. But they knew thatGod was abl e if they would work as ifeverything depended on them and prayas if everything depended upon God.

The response was exc i t i ng andgratifying. From the e as t c oa st to thewest, contributions came from 19 states ,from large congregations and small, fromgroups and individuals, from Christianbusiness men and from Bible colleges.The money was faithfully received, andrecorded and acknowledged by the classtreasurer, Mrs. James Bai ley. Early inSeptember, a check for SI,000 was sentto Fort Victoria Standard Bank, Rhodesiaand deposited in the mission's bore-holeaccount. Amazingly, in just nine months,the "Pumps and Pipes" campaign hadraised wel l ove r th e goa l of S8,000. Toth e Crusade r s Cla s s i t seem ed lik e amiracle, especially when the record bookshowed that the T ra de rs P o in t Churchhad cont r ibu ted one-f if th of the amountt h emse lve s !

Meanwhile, back at Mashoko, actualconstruction of the new water system wasunderway. A 500-foot deep bore had beendrilledprevious to the fund-raising effort,and a s soon as th e missionar ies on th ef ie ld were assured that the money wouldbe coming for the pumps and pipes, dheyhad con tr ac ted Hea sman Engineers inFor t Vic to r ia to calculate th e needs an dsubmit recommendat ions fo r the newsystem. Actual const ruct ion of the14,000-gaIIon reservoir at the bore-holesite and a brick and s tee l house for th epumping station, was begun in June of1967, under the watchful eye of RobertSmith, principal of Mashoko SecondarySchool. Much of th e credit fo r th e suc

cessful installation and completion ofthe project goes to Mr. Smith. He waswilling to assume this responsibil itydespite his heavy, demanding schedulewith the educational program. He supervised work crews, ordered equipmentand materials from Fort Victoria, payedthe bil ls , e tc ., unt il help came with thearrival of the John Ross family in October. John was able to take charge ofthe building and maintenance aspect ofthe mission program, so Bob Smith breathed a sigh of relief.In add i t ion to the tons of sand,gravel , brick and building stone whichwen t i nto the reservoirs, engine houseand pump pla tforms , hundreds of bagsof cement, reinforcing iron, one mi le oftwo-and-one-half-inch polye thy leneplastic pipeline, and, mos t impor tant ,two 15-horsepower Lister diesel engineswer e h au le d out from Fort Victoria. Oneengine was ins ta lled to turn the mono-pump, pulling the water up 400 feetfrom th e subte r ranean r ive r wh ic h f low edquiet and deep beneath the earth ands tone . The other engine was needed topush the stream through the mile of pipeup 350 f ee t h igher to the giant stonereservoir on top of the kopje behindChristian Hospital. From there, the watercould flow down by g rav i t y in to thehospital, school and homes. Total costof the water project came to $9,000, justslightly more than the amount receivedby the e ffor ts of the Crusaders Class.As fa r a s the missionar ies a nd A fr ic anChristians living and working atMashokoMission were concerned, i t was a won-

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MUDUMBUS-GOD'S OPPORTUNITYIt is Friday a fternoon and the long

procession winds it s way through themain corridor o f th e Mashoko Chri s t i anHospital. It is reminiscent of the PiedPiper of Hamelin, only the leader inthis case is a nursing student dressedin pink w ith a new white cap on he rhead. Beh ind her t ra il , no t children, butwomen with n ic e round tummies ofvarying sizes. As they pass the dutyrooms of each ward, heads pop ou t andvoices inquire the purpose of this grandmarch. The smiling women chatter gailyand answer, "Bioscope!" The groupturns right at the Male Ward veranda andheads fo r t he c la ss ro om . When a l l th ewomen are sea ted and half th e room i sf il led, t he class begins.The little nursing student interpretsas the Sister explains the slides. Thewomen see slides o f the ir f ema leanatomy, the baby in the thi rd month ,fourth month, and each month up to termand the changes in growth that it makes.They also see simple pictures of thedelivery, care of the cord, and care ofthe "soft spot." The latter are Importantbecau se bush women are often taughtto put ashes on the cord with very undesirable results. They also put a mixture on the "soft spot" or fontanel tomake i t ha rden . The wom en a re t o ldwhat unusual signs they should tell thedoctor about or come to the hospital for,such as unusual bleeding in their lastt r imes te r .

T he women chatter to each otherabout each picture and are much moreresponsive than when the classes werefirst started. They have intelligentquestions to ask and listen attentivelywhen the explanations a re made. Theywan t to know wha t i t means when th eSis te r has t old them the previous dayin Wudumbu Clinic tha t the baby is inthe wrong position. They l augh at themselves easily and like to be teased.They laugh at the p ic tu re of themselveswith tummy pushed out and back caved in .

Next it is s to ry time. The littlestudent wants to as k if any of the ladiesremembers last week's story. One womanresponds and briefly tells all the mainpoints of last week's story. Today'sstory is "God's Bridge." It is a littlelong and their span of attention is short,but they are very attentive. The storytells of a great and turbulent r iver witha man beckoning on the o the r side(Christ). The man has provided a bridge(the cross), but each one who comesinsists on building his own bridge and

washed away. Finally one man comeswho admi t s to h is s in f u lne s s and t r ie sno other bridge but Christ's and succeedsin reaching the other side. The womenare asked if they have al l acceptedChrist and wha t this implies. One womanin the front says "no" and hangs herhead shamefacedly. She is not ready tomake a decision. Our little nursingstudent is a Christ ian (Martha Mzizi),and sh e offers prayer for their souls.

Class is over n ow, and th e womenclap their hands and call, "Tatenda(thank you), Sister. Zvaka naka (verygood)." Now the procession winds it sway ou t through the main corridor andacross the yard to the hut where thewomen spend their last month of pregn an cy .Next week ' s c l a s s wil l be he ld in

this hut. It is getting to o ho t to pack40 or 59 people into the classroom. Thec l a s s e s wi l l conce rn nutrition andgeneral c l e an l i n e s s with the ai d ofattractive charts supplied by the Pub licHealth Service. Nutrition is importantb ec au se th ese women do no t have aproper diet for themselves or their children. Many ea t only sadza which is acorn meal cooked to the consistency ofcorn-meal mush. They often nurse theirb abi es until they are 18 months old.When the baby is taken off the breast(when the next baby is born), he mayonly receive sadza to eat. The result iskwashiorkor a type of protein mal-

Sister Dorothea Pa r k e r ' a n d Ma iGwinji present new mother at Mashoko

by Dorothea Parkernutrition peculiar to Africa . I havepapers on weaning that explain in Shonawhat should be added gradual ly to thediet. Protein foods like nuts, flying ants,and beans are readily available. Themothers themse lves need to be encouraged to ea t more protein foods as wellas vegetables and fruits.Some of these women may deliverbefore the next week 's class.They willhave a different class. They will betaught in the mate rn i ty ward how tobathe their baby and keep him cleanand free from illness. They will be taughtagain how to care for the cord, burp thebaby, care for the "soft spot."

To en cou r ag e cleanliness andthoughtful care of the new child, wegive each woman who delivers at thehospital a layette . This layette consistsof a receiving blanket, long gown, shortgown or shirt, three diapers, two pins,an d a bi b (hot weather) or booties (coldweather). Only the women who deliverin the hospital receive these. We have50 to 60 deliveries a month so you caneasily se e how fast th ey go. Thi s yea rwe have been sho r t of baby things,somet imes fo r a month or more. We hadto a sk th es e women to come back fo r abundle, and then sometimes we sti l ldid not have them. During the winter itwas expecially hard to turn them away.The layette has another interestingand useful purpose that illustrates howmuch the women appreciate receivingthem. If they make a mess out of the PK(lavatory) or their ward, they are toldthey wil l not receive any more layettes.This ha s surprisingly good results even in the pediatric ward. Most of th ewomen who ar e staying with their babiesin the pediatr ic ward will eventually bematernity pat ients aga in . These womenhave babies about every two years. Sothey al l are interested in layettes.

It is a privilege, and a very satisfying one at that, to work with these naturaland una f f ec t ed women. Our rapportimproves with each new class. Praythat God will grant them not only knowledge for their physical well-being butunderstanding that will save their souls.(Editor's note: A// par cel s of babyclothing should be addressed tolAashokoChristian Hospital, P . 0., Washoko,Rhodesia . Because of customs regula'tions in Rhodesia, they should no t beaddressed to Miss Parker or any othermissionary individually. Sincere thanksto a l l who s how t he ir love and conce rn


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Attacked!!by Kenny Messman

I remember th e incident well. It hasnow been more than tw o mon th s sinceit happened, but my memory of theexperience is stil l vivid, for one cannever forget being attacked by a wilda n ima l .1had been living in the home of theDr. Robert Walker family for two weeksand had been working pretty steadilywith Dr. Walker in the Hippo ValleyChristian Hospital. One morning aftermaking rounds at Rufaro, Dr. Walkersuggested that we tgke the afternoonoff and drive to the Sparrow Ranch tose e some wild game. What a great idea!I had been in da rkes t Africa fo r tw oweeks and had no t even s e en one wildanimal, so I gave my hearty approval tothe suggestion.By 2:30 Dr. and Mrs. Walker and Ihad set ou t on our safari for wild game.Oh, I must no t forget l it tl e J ohn. Wetook him a long too I suppose forprotection. Within forty minutes we hadreached the gateway of t he Spa rrowRanch. 1 was appointed to open thegate in order that Dr. Walker might drivethe car through. I performed the dutyquickly, no t knowing how near thesewild animals might be to the gate. Iwasn't about to take any chances bylingering.

We drove just a few hundred yardswhen we spotted some wild animalsdrinking at a water hole. I pointed mymovie camera at the beasts to capturethe thrilling moment for future reference.There were baboons, w i l d e b e e s t s ,buffalo, impala, and waterbuck. We drovea bi t further and came upon an elandthat was very close to th e road . Mrs.Walker a s su r ed me t h a t the e l and washarmless, so I hopped out of the ca r andwalked to wi th in 20 fee t in order totake pictures. I dashed back to the car,ready to drive on to the next wild beast.We drovearounda sharp curveandspottedanother peculiar-looking beast whichstood sleek and graceful in the middleof the road. We drove c loser fo r somepictures, and the beas t spotted ourvehicle. Our animal a d v i s o r , Mrs.Walker, told us to roll up our windowsbecause this an imal had a reputationfor charging cars. How could such alovely animal do that? Nevertheless, Iheeded Mrs. Walker ' s advice . Dr. Walkerignored the warning. Then like a flash,in a twinkl ing of an eye, the beast beganrunning full speed toward our vehicleand proceeded to jump onto the hood.

A YOUNG MAN by Robert E. SmifhAn African township (or loca tion)

is an area, sometimes widi in the confinesof a city itself, but usual ly located onthe outskirts of a large city, containingdwellings for Afr icans , businesssections, entertainment spots (mainlyconsisting of beer halls) . In t he vernacular of our longhaired friends, these areusually "real swinging places." Yethere is where the churches are also, asthey should be.

Umtali probably does not have qui teas much "action" at Sakubva Townshipas there is at Harari Township in Salisbury, but it isn't exactly a secluded,quiet little spot ei ther. There are plentyof places for a young man to go, lotsof trouble for him to get into, and moreth an adequat e oppo rtunit y to get hi shead al l twisted from being in a beerpot too long, as the saying goes. Sinis present in its most deceptive andfatal forms, and it isn't far away fromthe teacher's col leg e t ha t th e youngman attends. Many of hi s buddies comerolling in night after night with theirtummies full of beer, and as he puts it .

"Happy as Haile Selassie."But Wednesday night there is prayermeet ing, and Saturday night there isChristian Endeavor, which he startedon his own initiative. Sunday morningthere is a Bible class that he teaches,and on occas ion he even f il ls the pulpi tof th e Sakubva Chur ch o f Christ . Bes ide sthat, he has to hi t the books, and hereally doesn't have time for t hi s o thernonsense tha t goes on around him.

Elected to the post of deacon byhi s fellow-Christians in this independentChurch of Christ (some of ours at homehave noth ing on this one), JamesMwadzingeni is quite a young man.Primary education at Mashoko; secondary at Dadaya: a Cnrist ian educationdoes mean quite a b it , f ol ks , and weare happy to say that James is no t onein a mi ll ion. This is a story that couldbe repeated quite a few times with di fferent names and different places. Praisethe Lord,and pray for James* continuedsuccess and good work. And pray forour work a t Christian education a tMashoko .

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James Mvvad/ingeniful legs into t he met al of the hood. Wewere stunned or should I say frightened a t the spectacle of destructionwhich was t ak in g place r ight before oureyes. In a desperate attempt to fleefrom the attacking animal, we drove inreverse bu t were pursued by the determined and obviously qui te i ncensedbeast. What a way to die, and I had beenin Afr ica only two weeks! Dr. Walkerput the car in f ir st gea r, put the accelerator to the floor, and drove full speeda hea d. F in al ly, t he fe roci ou s beastslipped off the hood, and we drove madly

yards before finally giving up the battle.Wedrove until ou t of sight of the enemybefore stopping to inspect the devastat ion tha t had befa l len u s . The hoodw as b at te re d and b en t and th e fe nd erlikewise. The metal grill in front ofthe ca r had two holes in it , marking thespot where th e c laws of the animal hadpenetrated. We were speechless, ye t ab it a mu se d. How could we eve r te l l ofthis experience? Would anyone believeus? Would o ur f e ll ow miss iona r ie s t h inkwe had gone "off our rockers" to tellsuch a tale? Would you believe thatth e animal was an os t r ich!? !


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IF BUIIDINGS COULD TALK . . .If buildings could talk, I am surethey would have an interesting tale to

tell. Many of the buildings at Mashoko,because of their design and construction,have been very versatile. 1 am going tole t one of them tell it s story in the firstperson as an illustration."Mr. Pemberton and his family cameto Rhodesia in 1956. He took o ve r th eschools that had been started by theNew Zea l and churches o f Chri s t .Because of government requirements,h e h ad to bui ld a domes t i c s c i ence c l a s sroom, and that is when I came into being.At this t ime t he Pembertons were livingat Dadaya, and Mr. Pemberton traveledto Mashoko four days each week, livingai Dadaya t he o th er three."Fortunately, orunfortunately, therewas not a suff i c ien t number o f s tuden t sstudying domestic science, so I becamea home for the Pemberton family whenthey moved permanently to Mashoko inMarch, 1957. It was my happy privilegeto provide the first shelter for their youngest son, Robert Lee, born during thist ime ."Kven though I was strongly builtand had a roof (but no ceiling), I do notthink they could have been too comfortable, because, you remember, I wasintended for a classroom, so they hadtomake roomdividers with drapes, exceptfor one smal l area blocked off separatelyfor a kitchen. However, I was happy forthem to remain with me until May, 1959,when they moved to their nice homebui l t on th e h i l l s i d e ."Besides providing shelter for thePemberton family, I was called upon asa banquet hall and con fe rence roomduring their stay, which was a bi t muchfor a one -room building!

"In May of 1959, there was greatexcitement as preparations were made

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for me to have another family. Dr. DennisPruet t with h is w ife and four chi ld renmoved in for a stay of 15 months.

"They, too, had the same problemsof a family living in one room, no matterhow good that room was. And then whenguests arrived and had to be fed ands h el te re d a l so . . .

"The P ruet ts d id bui ld a house, butthey gave it to the nurses as they thoughtthe single girls needed one more thantheydid. Finally, however, theirpatienceand hard work were rewarded, and theymoved i nto t he ir l ovel y home overlooking the hospital."Mr. Berry Kennedy was the next tomake use of me , and this time for a differen t funct ion. The small area, previously used by the families as a kitchenwas now turned into an office, and thelarger section was classroom space forthe Bible college. Mr. Gwinji made thedesk s fo r th e c la ss ro om . H i s wife wasone of the f ir s t order lies at th e clinic,and is still a loved member of the hospitalstaff. Many anx ious hea rt s and headshave struggled with examinations withinmy walls.

"Almost a complete cycle wen t by.On Mr. Pemberton's return from furloughhe once again made use of my services,although not as a home, I am thankfulto say. I do not think I could have putup with four grofr/i children, my sideswould surely have burst! He took overthe office from Mr. Kennedy. That is,until his secretary arrived, when anotherwall was put in, and I provided officespace for him and hi s amanuensis.

"All this time, of course, t he B ib lecollege was still conducted in the mainarea. I was sorry to se e these studentsleave in January, 1966, when the Biblecollege was moved to For t Victoria."What pos sibl e u se could I now be

by Sy/v/o Menhinickto th e mission? The question was soonanswered, and these have been my happiest years. For the first time I had aceiling. An extension with raised platform was put in, providing a place fort he cho ir . Yes, I am now the chapel ofMashoko Mission. Mywalls were painteda pal e b lue , with deeper blue drapes.Twice every Lord's day people enter togather around His table, and every weeknight the secondary students meet fordevotions. It is grand to be able tosupply a p l a c e of worsh ip , and I amcontent in the knowledge that I havebeen able to fill such var ied needsbecause 1 was constructed wel l andstrongly in the first place."

Only too often we hear the derogatoryphrase "only a mission" when it shouldbear the dignity of a proper title, because,after all, i sn ' t the mi s s i o n f ie ld t hefurther outreach of the Church, worthyof the very best, seeing that it is beingca r r i ed on in H is n am e ? One o f thereasons for thi s phrase is that in manyinstances temporary buildings have beenput up, perhaps through lack of funds;These t empora ry erections have thehabit of becoming permanent and soonare a shoddy eye-sore, ever in need ofrepair.

At Mashoko it has been our policytoconstructgood, stronghomes, schools,and hospital. Hxpensive at the beginning, but this practice ha s paid off inthe long run. It is a thrill to travel somany miles through the bush and comeupon the sturdy buildings of Mashoko.Salesmen, government officials, visitorshave al l commented on this fa ct, an d anew concept ha s grown concerning missions, gaining respect from al l types ofind iv idua ls .

We have not done this to bring gloryand honor to ourselves (and nothingcould hav e bee n accomplished withoutyour support) but to give praise to God.He gave the very best He could in HisSon, Jesus Christ. Dare we give less ,whether it be in buildings, service, orour own l i v e s?

The Central Africa Story is publi shedmonthly for t he Cen tt al Africa Mission,Churches of Christ by Mission ServicesAssociation at 509 West Jefferson,Joliet, Illinois. Second Class Postagepaid at Joliet, Illinois 60434.Volume 9 Januory 1969 Number 1


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^^0^ Suck H tk& iKmcjxiom cMeaif^" by Martha Raih"And they brought young chi ldren

to him that he should t ou ch th em : andhis disciples rebuked those that broughtthem. But when Jesus saw it , he wasmuch displeased, and said unto them.S uff er th e l i t t le children to come untome , and forbid them not: for of such isthe kingdom of God." Mark 10:13, 14.

Mashoko w i th o u t c h il d re n would bel ike s ad z a wi t hou t r e l i sh! There i s acontinuous stream of lovely children ofall ages coming to the hospital. Onedoes not have a great difficulty communicating with t hem, for even with thelanguage barrier there is always the"universal smile" tohelpgetacquainted.Sometimes the children stay for manyweeks. Then when they are ready toleave, I find myself with mixed emotionshappy that they are well and able togo home, but sad to say good-bye, knowing 1 may never see them again. Butth e l ine of b e au t if u l c h il d re n is neve r

ending,and in a few days there are newfriendships to enjoy.

Augustine Makuku, the chaplain,does a good work with al l of the patients,but I am especially pleased to see himtake a genuine interest in the children.He teaches them Bible stories, English,Shona, and many songs.Sometimes theysing for our morning ward devotions.Augustine laughs and says, "Today wewill have a message in song by theMashoko Christian Hospital PrimarySchoo l Cho i r. " One of h is f av o ri te s a n done I like too is , "Walk in the Light ofGod." They sing it in Shona and English.Our days are made brighter by theirsmiling faces, an d they make Mashokoa really l ively place with their gamesand singing.

Jesus often called attention to thecon t r a s t b etw ee n wh at th e wor ld va luedand w ha t w as of r e al v a lu e . He s aw theprecious worth of a dear child and theneed to teach him the way of life.

WANTED : NURSESThis is Rhodesia calling callingfor nurses who perhaps want a change ,

who perhaps want a little adventure outof l ife, but who primarily feel tha t theywant to do His will because they lovetheir Lord. If you want this, the missionfield is the place for you.I'm saying "Rhodesia is calling,"for as CentralAfrica Mission is growingsteadily, there aremore and more medicalclinics being established, where nursesa re n eed ed .

A s M ash ok o i s t he "mo th er " of th emedical work, I'll start with the needhere. In December of 1969, DorotheaParker wil l be leaving to go back to theStates. In early 1970, 1 am due to gofor furlough. In August, 1970, MarthaRaile is due to go home. When al l threeof us are to go in the near future, whois going to carry on with the nursingend of things? Do I hear volunteers?At Chidaraoyo Chris tian Hospita l ,Madonna Burget is planning her furloughin early 1970. She needs someone thereto carry th e torch (shades of FlorenceNightingale) while she is gone. And I'msure she'd feel a lot happier about goingon fur lough if t he re were two there toreplace her (for Madonna does the workof two, constantly). Now since Chida-moyo's doc to r, Dale Erickson, is overseeing the medical work at Binga (wherePennin gt ons are lo cat ed ) I'm sure anu r s e could be ut i l ized t he re .

by Sara SfereAt Chiredzi, where Mary Bliffen ha s

been working since January, 1964, theycould u se three or four American nu r s es .As it has been, they 've had to hire threeRhodes ian nurses to do some of thenecessary supervising at clinics, andthis is expensive.

A ll this comes from an o ld handthat's been around. I'm fifty years ofage, now, but going s tr ong, and I wantto tell you t ha t I 've had more satisfaction out of my work on the mission fieldthan any phase of nursing I 've done and 1 spent almost ten years in the U.S. Air Force Nurse Corps.But I'm not say ing to do as I did,and wai t t il l y ou 'r e past forty to cometo the mission field. I'm suggesting thatif you want to se e what it is all about,sign up for a three-year term, and itmay be the most enriching three yearsof your life. You may want to return tothe field; you may not. After your firsttour, you may want to look for a matein the States who would be willing toreturn with you. Or you may be luckyan d find one on th e mission field, assome have .

So , if you are not really satisfiedin what you' re doing now, and don'tknow why, search your heart and God'sWord,praying that He will show you theanswer. I feel that He will if you will

Binono. Hi s mother was a T. B.patient lor several months.SPRINGS OF WATER(continued from page 2)derful miracle. Now Christian Hospitalcould have w ater aro un d th e c lock. Insurgery, the drug room, x-ray, maternity,the laundry, kitchen wherever it wouldbe needed, water wa s available at th eturn of a tap. Down in the secondaryschool block, showers were installedin each dormitory, the science and ar tlaboratory were connected to the watersystem, and better arrangements for thekitchen were made. No longer were thetiresome bucket brigades necessary. Atthe missionary homes, children andgrown-ups could end t he day in a tub ofhot water; gardens could bloom again;life as a whole became easier; and mi ssion personnel were able to concentrateon the business at hand. The baptistrywas always full and in constant use . Thework of the Lord and His kingdom onearth prospered.

John Ross made a final inspectionof the pumps and pipes and then orderedthem t u r n e d on fo r th e f i rs t time inFebruary, 1968. Not nearly as dramaticperhaps as the day Moses lifted up hi srod and smote the rock bringing forthwater in abundance, but to the Christianpeople working for th e Master in therocky, sandy bush country of Rhodesia,Africa, it was just as significant. MayGod be praised for His eternal concernand loving p rovi sion for the needs ofHis people.i s t el li ng you to GO, write or call DaveWilliams, First Church of Chri st , Gray-son, Kentucky 41143, or Marvin Matthews, Mt. Healthy Christian Home,8097 Hamilton Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio


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HILDREN S Ar t i c l e s Ch i l d r e nORWERMashoko Monkey Bars

cOur daddy is superman! Aren' t a lldaddies? Since coming to Mashoko a

year ago, we haven't had much money nothing new for mission kids the worldover, eh? Daddy always says, "Wait andwe'll see," when we ask for things. Wedon't think God expects the "littlemissionaries" (as we' re c al le d) to dowithout al l kinds of t oy s, and ne ith erdoes "super Daddy."

We a ll helped a few weeks ago asDad began to hack away at some of thetrees away from Mashoko. Since freet ime i s s ca r ce or r at h er n o n -e x is te n ton a mission th e size of Mashoko, i t

by The four J. E. Rosses via Momtook several weeks for our project totake form. But, with God's help, thebeautiful African weather, and Daddy'spatience, we built a playground fromth e t imber a round us. We have a sand-pile dug 18 inches into the ground, ase t of monkey bars, a log teeter-totter,and two big, big swings. The Africanchildren play with us in our shady playground, and we can witness that youcan us e the tools God gives for fun andfor learning about Christian sharing andlove . All th e Mashoko "l i t t le missio i>-aries," and many of our African friendsplay in harmony thanks to God's supplying the materials and our daddy's work.

- v ' SaON

Mm enlivllle, gnig454S9FAHi.axeMn. EllonFUnbacl. Tiam OfRouU1, Bi 76 F* Hi. md Mu, ttllton 0- LeajUnnout^, Oieton97]61 jMt. Mr.. Tkom" nmrmui WtilUnion, llMnoli S2477FA Hi, ino Mrj. J. R. Peiuon, Jl,llOi Tk i i Ur- udMr. . Jui II. Vu CumDtnalMt, l l l ln s i t 6U32 U6 NtiUi Lttayitia Bsuloiid

SAu smnn* missionei n.c . 341. HighianMiai is tuiy, Rhoda i l aIk. ud Mr*, ifffy SiailfcFA Mr. an0 Mra. Veroen Ueerf

Route ISprinfilleld. Kanluehy 40069

SINOI A MISSIONP. 0. BK 20 7SiAOia. Rhadas iaUr. ut f Mrs. ]>a|cMaiâ(1FA Mrs. Noina Perry

2310 Gra c e S t r ee tBdise. ltf*ô 33702Z.iMUtlZI MISSIONP. Bai

Oett, Rhodes iaMr, sad Mrs. Ja< 'L I'cnaiiîoaFA Mrs. Eunice SmithB O 36 SLaifo. Florida 33S41


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The Central Africa Storypublished monthly for theCent ra l A fr ic a M is si on

Churches of Chris tby Mission Services PressBox 368, Joliet, Illinois 60434Edited by Wende ll Freeman

TreasurerMr. F red E . Dunn

32 West Bellisle DriveAkron, Ohio 44319Cha irma n Boa rd o f Directors

Mr. David J. WilliamsBo x 747Grayson, Kentucky 41143

Newly-capped nursing student.

Outpatients Mashoko


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(gM

February 1969 Number 2

SINOIA: PROBLEMS AND PROGRESSA little boy climbs down from hi s

high chair a ft er br eak fas t and makesknown hi s plans for building a houseduring the day. With hi s little hammer,a few nails, some blocks of wood, anda big imagination, he goes to work toprovide housing for the family. We areamused at his efforts, bu t he continueswith a ll confidence tha t he is equal tothe t ask before him.

I am ce r ta in tha t be fore God wemust appear as the little boy when weset out to do the work ahead of us ,thinking that we a re s uff ic ie nt o f ours e l ves . "So then nei ther i s he thatp la nte th anyth in g, neither he thatwatereth; bu t God that giveth theincrease. Fo r we are labourers togetherw ith G od." I am ce r ta in that each ofGod's labourers must realize how helpl e s s he would be i f h e had to s t andalone relying upon hi s own strengthand wisdom to accomplish the task befo re him.

Four times in the eight chapters ofI and II Thessalonians Paul says, "Wegive thanks to God always for you all."Paul was keenly aware that the help ofh is "fe l low- laboure r s" was an es s ent ial in th e Lord ' s work. And more thanthis, P aul knew that it was "God thatg iveth the increase." Even so we reali z e t ha t o ur e ff ort s would be a s vainand fruitless as those of the little boyment ioned above were i t not fo r ourfe l l ow- l aboure r s in Rhode s i a a n d a r o un dthe world, and, above all, the blessingof God who gives the increase.

MOUNT DARWIN. Some three tofour years ago a Brother Sithole movedfrom hi s home to begin a new life farm

he arrived at hi s new farm, 40 milesfrom Mt . Darwin and about 200 milesfrom Sinoia, he found no church in th earea. He started preaching and teaching the Word of God, and soon soulswere being won to the kingdom of Godin tha t a rea . When Brothe r Ziden Nut tand I vis i t ed B r ot he r S i th o le fo r th efirst time about a year ago, we werethr i l led. A t tha t t im e th ere w ere abou tone hundred Chri s t i ans and f ivechurches in an area of about fortymiles. Since that t ime we have enjoyedvisiting the bre th ren there and seeingthe progress of their work. Four members of the cheif's family have accepted C hris t th ree o f them h is s o n s and a group meets at the chief'svillage. The church at Noro Township,close to Sithole's farm, ha s been granted a lo t on which t hey p lan to build apermanent meeting place for the church.

*

by Dale MarshallMANGULA. The church at Mangula

Mine s t a r t e d when som e Chr i s t i a n sfrom Dadaya moved to Mangula to findemployment. (A lmost eve ry chu rch inthe Sinoia area ha s been started bypeople who moved into the area fromDadaya and started doing the Lord'swork.) The church had a difficult beginning with lack of strong leadership. Inthe last two years, however, severaldifferent trained African evangelistshave led in the Mangula work, and itha s grown from five to ten in the se rvices to eighty to a hundred in attendance. Because Mangula is a miningtown, the church there has had sometrying t imes. There have been problemsin obtaining and retaining a room inw hich to meet . The work of t he c hu rc his somewhat under the power of themining authorities, and th is ha s createdsome problems b ecau se o f a lack of


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cooperation. The mine works sevendays a week, and this makes for difficu lt ie s , s ince the Christians a re neverable to meet togethT as a group at thesame time. In the past few months thegrowth in numbers has been small, bu tt he re h av e b e e n d e fi n it e a d v a nc e s madespiritually in the lives of the Christianst h e r e .Mangula is located 45 miles almoststraight north of Sinoia.

TENGWE. About fifty miles northwest of Sinoia, in a European farmingarea called Tengwe Block , is anotherchurch resulting from the efforts of aman who moved t h e r e to be the " b o s sboy" on the European farm. The groupat Tengwe is small, about thirty-five,because the Afr ican population on aEuropean farm is made up of the farml abourers only. The "boss boy" is theA fr ic an w ho i s s e t o v e r a l l th e Africanlabourers, and th is l ead er at TengweBlock has done a good work for theLord t h e r e .

NUMBER FOUR DAM. The churcha t Number F o u r Dam i s o n e o f t h e o ld e rcongregations in the Sinoia area , beingabout eight years old. Brother MigaChikanda, an elderly African evangelistfrom the Dadaya area, l ived at NumberFour Dam and had a sizeable group ofChristians meeting together there. Butwhen Brother C h i k a n d a l e f t NumberFour Dam to live at Chidaraoyo, wherehe now lives and serves th e Lord, th ework at Number Four Dam began to gobackwards, as no strong leadership hadyet been developed among the Christians there. In December of 1967, wher.Brother Edgar Kwenda finished hi sstudies at the Bible College, he wasaccepted by the church at Number FourDam as the ir evangelist . A house hasb e e n b u i l t fo r B r o t h e r K w e n d a a t Number Four Dam, and a permanent meetingplace is nc v just being finished a t th atplace. The growt h of the church at

^ in

Ml. Silhole, leader of the churches in the Mu Darwin area, standingb e s i d e h is n ew b ar n.

Number Four Dam h a s b een sm all innumbers during the past year, but agood, solid foundation is being laid byBr ot he r Kwend a a s h e s e r v e s th e L o r dt h e r e .ZOWA. One of the main thingsAfrican churches lack is strong leadership a leadership with basic knowledge of the teaching of the Scriptures.This is one reason we have been willingto cooperate with the churches in helping them to ge t African evangelists whoc a n t h e n i n s t r u c t t h e C h r i s t i a n s . T h echurch at Zowa ha s wanted an evangelist since I first visited tha t p lace overtwo years ago. Through a series ofevents they were able to provide forone and then theywere not able. Finallythings worked out in a way that CephasBere was accepted as evangelist there.Now he and hi s family are living in thevillage of one of the Christian familiesat Zowa. The church has been granteda lo t where a permanent place of worship will be built and where housing

for the evangelist will be provided. Inthe short time Cephas has been at Zowathere ha s been renewed zeal among theChristians there, and several havebeen added to Christ. There is greatpotential for the church in the Zowaarea.Cephas has visi ted nearby reserveswhere there are no churches, and hehas been very pleased with the reactionto h i s e ff o rt s. Z owa i s 45 miles southw es t o f S i n o i a .

FARM WORK IN THE SINOIA AREA.There is a great o p p o r t u n i t y toevangelize among the African labourersemployed on the European farms in thei m m e d i a t e S i n o i a a r e a . Within a n a r e aof 25 miles of Sinoia we are workingwith t w e l v e Farm S c h o o l s . T h e se a re avery poor quality school that are simplybetter than nothing. Usually the farmergives hi s labourers permission to havea school, and they ge t and pay a teacherabout five dollars to twenty dol lars permonth to t e a c h t he ir c hi ld re n how toread, write, do suras, speak English,and the very basic things that will behelpful to the chi ldren. These teachershave a poor eighth-grade education, sothey are not able to do a lot . There ar emany problems that a re impossi bl e tosolve in th e Farm School work, bu t wefeel that the African people who liveon the European farms are educationallyand spiritually th e mos t neglected people in Rhodesia. We se e a real need, sowe are doing what we can to help educationally and spiritually, with the mainemphasis, as far as we are concerned,on th e spiritual.

Because of the many insurmountableproblems in the Farm School work, wehave been tempted to give it up many


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ka^Rolyn AmmeRman Wpites 3^B0ut.Growth Among the Women at Chidamoyo

One morning we were awakened at6:00 by women singing hymns. As thewomen approached our house, we lookedout the window and saw about fiftyChristian women marching and singingas they wen t quickly up the road. Ourhearts rejoiced at the sound of themusic and at the realization that theyhad grown in their Lord so much. Theyand many others had been singinghymns mos t of the night.

Thi s i nc id en t o ccu rr ed during ourthree-day Chri sti an ral ly when theReggie Thomas Team was with us .During this same rally, on Saturdaymorning we held a women's session,and once again I realized the greats tr ide s the se C hris t ian women havebeen taking in their faith. Also, wecould see a growth in numbers as 400women filled the building that morning.Three of the older women spoke to,exhorted, and inspired al l of us. Themeeting was one of the greatest joys Ihave had since coming to Rhodesia.Being sentimental, I looked back tofive years ago a nd saw Hele n Nut t andmyself as we began our first meetingwith a few women at Chidamoyo. Ithought of t he very few Christians thenand compared the "then" to "now" withal l t he w o nd er fu l C hris tia ns th at a renow a part of Christ 's church in theChidamoyo area.

Of course, we now have many moremissionary women to help in our program of women's meetings held weeklyor every other week. In this past yearour ladies' meetings have grown fromtwo to ten, each in a different area

where the church a l so m ee ts each

Lord's Day. Mrs. Carol Ke ll ey has twomeetings. Madonna Burget helps with agroup 38 miles from tlic mission. Shealso helps lead the meeting which isheld at Chidamoyo, in which al l of themissionary women share, Ola Marion,besides teaching our missionary children, helps with three ladies' meetings.She also ha s two similar meetings withthe Chr is tian g ir ls of our area, I amhelping with four groups, one of thesebeing 90 miles from the mission.Since sewing is a part of al l of ourmeetings, we al l find ourselves busywith bolts of materials, cutting, tracingdesigns for tablecloths, and so on.Cooking Is also being taught to manyof the groups, and this is great fun(usually) cooking cakes, cookies, puddings, and so on, in a big iron pot overan open fire. Mrs, Sue Alice Ericksonwas very interested in this, and shedesigned, changed, and created recipesto be used for this type of cooking. Shespent many hours t ry ingout the recipesand ha s willingly shared her resultswi th o the r s .Again, the greatest impressionreceived from the groups I work with istheir tremendous growth. F iv e y earsago when our meeting started at Furechi,no one would attempt any kind of leadership. Now, two women lead jointly,and many women of the group are chosento give the l es son. Thi s procedure isfollowed in many of the groups. Cons idering so many are uneducated, theydo a remarkable job. Many Christiansare now attending the services on theLord's Day , and many h ave be en le d to

f- '- i

C'hrist through these meetings. AtFurechi, also, we learned recently thatmany of the women had been liavingano ther B ib le mee ti ng each Thursdayfor quite some time, 'J1iis kind ofgrowth is certainly encouraging,

A few days ago, on going to Badza,I w as told I w as to have th e l e s son . Wehad been absent the week before, traveling with my parents from America, andthe leader had forgotten to tell me that1 was to give the lesson. My first reaction was, "Oh, I am not prepared." Butin mymind I started preparing. When thetime came for th e lesson, the leaderstood up and said, "Since Mai Gay (asI am called, the mother of Gay) was no ttold about the lesson, 1 will teachtoday." Iwas so shocked, but overjoyed,because this is the growth in leadershipfor which we have been praying. Thisleader, Mai Charles, had not been prepared to teach any more than I, yet wasvery wil ling to take the responsibility.This kind of leadership among thewomen I had not witnessed before .

Last Saturday the child of our headteacher died, and we were al l saddened.Within a few hours though, the housewas f i l led ins ide and outs ide withChrist ian women and men. And a s wewitnessed thei r quie t serving that day,God was su rel y rej oi cing over theseChristians. No loud mourning and crying were heard, but only quiet singingof hymns and soft crying with the mother.Now the signs of growth are becoming evident: their ability to teach, towin others to the Lord, to call in th e

(Coti/ivued oif Poge 5]

When Karolyii'w parents wesre visiting in Afritra, theChidamoyo vvomen c-ame to express iheir joy at seeing her


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Tender Loving Care

Hetasani, when he was first broughtto Mashoko Christian Hospital.We f i rs t saw Hetasan i in our

outpatient department in June 1968. Hewas carried in by hi s father, and lookedmore dead than al ive . He w as so emac iated that hi s arms and legs looked likesticks protruding from a swollen body.The history of Hetasani, g iven by hi sfather, revealed he had been sick forseveral months before seeking help. Hesaid Hetasan i was around nine years

of age, that hi s mother had died, andthe mother's relatives were caring forh im when he be c ame i l l .

He was given a routine examinationin our outpatient department, thenadmi t ted to the ward fo r fur ther s tud iessuch as X-ray (chest), sputum studies,blood tests, and urinalysis. He wasadmitted to a private room on th e ma leward, and for several months wedespaired for hi s life. He just didn'tseem to have th e w ill to l ive . ButHetasani's father stayed right with him,ever pat ient , eve r lovi ng his son. Hehelped the nursing students in caringfor him, and when Hetasani f i rs t s tartedto show an interest in food, he patientlyfed him. The nursing students had beentold to show Hetasan i a lo t o f T .L .C .(tender loving care). And this t hey d id ,just doing little ext ra things for him,such as putting him in the sun on anice warm day.

T he f irs t d ay that Hetasani smiled,we al l felt like crying for joy. It wasalmost our f irs t inkling that he definitelywould ge t well. Progress was slow atf ir st , but now (almost s ix months later)he is about ready to leave the hospital.

by Sara StereHe is a leader of a group of child

ren who arc in the T.B. Ward. Mr. Makuku,our evangelist for the hospital, hasdubbed Hetasani "Captain." Sometimesthe children will sing a special songduring our morning devotions, andHetasani is called the captain of thegroup. He smiles and plays happilywith the other children all day long.As he goes home, perhaps in early 1969,please send a prayer up tha t those whowill be caring for Hetasani will showhim lo ts o f T .L .C .

Hetasani, after six months of T.L.C.

!)4de^ed to. ... A FRASURE FIRSTby Joyce Frasure

My husband. Dr. James Frasure,and I came to Mashoko in May 1968.Since then we have encountered manyfirsts in ou r lives. The re was th e firstday Dr. Jim went to the hospital tobegin work, the first time I go t to fillou t the hospital food order, the firsttime Dr. Jim did a Caesarian Sectionat Mashoko, and many more. But ou t ofal l our firsts, there is one which holdsa specia l place in our hearts. This wasthe birth of ou r first child. Most mothersremember the birth of their fi rs t ch ildvividly. I, too, will remember thisspeci al event in our lives. On August27, 1968, at 6:15 p.m. at MashokoChristian Hospital I gave birth to myf i r s t ch i ld .Being a registered nurse, I alreadyknew about labor and delivery, but onlyfrom the "book" s tandpoint . Also, Iknew about the possible complications.I cannot say that I did not think about

of pregnancy, bu t al l my anxiousmoments were forgo tt en when I firstsaw Michae l Scot t .

I stayed at home for the first eighthours of labor, and then went down tothe hospital. The Africans were al lgathered at the door when I arrived.They wanted to se e the doctor's wifecome to have her baby. Dr. Gloria Cobb,my sister, took me right away to theroom where 1 would be staying afterdelivery and then about two and one-hal f hours l a ter I was taken to theoperating room (the delivery room)where Mike w as bo rn.

I r emember most of my labo r anddelivery because I had asked the doctors not to give me any medic ine thatwould "put me out." I wanted to beawake to se e my first baby immediatelyafter he was born. They did give me ashot to help ease my discomfort and

and a local anaesthetic at deliverytime. Nurses Sylvia Ross and SaraStere were there to help, and that theydid. At 6:15 p.m. little Mike finallycame forth and took his f i rs t b rea th ,and I took my first sigh. Dr. Jim heldMike up so I could se e him, and I knewit was al l over . The labor and deliverywas al l over, that is. Th e life of ourson had just begun and so ha s thechanging, f eeding , bathing, an d no-sleep routine for Mom.

That day I prayed many times forstrength to deliver Mike, and today Ipray for the strength and wisdom tocare for him . Bi rt h is truly a miracle!And the l if e thus produced is a miraclethat only God could perform.

As I sit here looking at this littleblessing from God and thinking of thejoy he has brought to our lives, I canonly praise God and say "Glory to God


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SECRETARY'S HOLIDAYCome with us on a Secretary'sHoliday two days in Fort Victoria.Mary Margaret Grider and I take time to

visit Zimbabwe and Kyle Game Reserve.We left Mashoko Mission on Sundayafternoon, after "Sunday Tea" whereall of the missionaries join together toea t an d talk. We arrived in Ft. Vic a tAlice F is h ba c k' s " fl at " a nd u nlo ad edthe van. We then piled into Alice's carand went to church. After church wemade our plans for a Monday morningvis i t to Zimbabwe.

The alarm went off , and we enjoyeda few more winks of sleep before wedragged out of bed. After making a fewstops for the missionaries back atMashoko, we started ou t on the highwayto Zimbabwe. It is approximatelyeighteen miles from Ft. Vic over striproads. We missed th e turnoff, whichwas plainly marked, but for us thatwasn ' t hard to do . We drove on unt i lwe saw Lake Kyle, and then the lightbulb li t up, and I knew that somethingwas wrong. After stopping and admiringt h e b e a ut if u l l ake an d th e s a i l boa t s onit , we turned around and t ried aga in tof ind Zimbabwe . Th i s t im e we w ere successful and made the proper turn of fthe highway.

Zimbabwe is enchanting. The history of it s beginning is still being"dug" for. No one knows how it cameto be there, who built it , where theywent to from there, or where they camefrom in the first place. But from thestructure of the city it is very evidentthat it was built by very intelligentpeople. We walked through the curioshop and, after finding out our pursescouldn't stand the prices, we proceededon to t he mu se um . There i s a col lec t ionof ar t ic les found in and near th e ru insshowing part of the civilization of thattime. Things found there showed thatt he peopl e traded with, or came from,some o f th e t r ibes found i n t he n or th ernparts of Africa, China, and Egypt.Carvings of the Zimbabwe Bird werefound here. No o ne kno ws i f th e birdactually existed, bu t it is now thenat ional bird of Rhodes ia . From th emuseum we went to a model village.There they had rep licas of huts of di fferent people in the village such as thechief, witch doctor, and an averageinhabitant. The people in that timemust have been quite short, since I hadto bend almost double to get throughthe door. Mary Margaret, who is only5'4", didn't have nearly the head prob

they buried the chief after cooking hisbody. They had special huts for almosteverything. It was very educational aswell as enjoyable, but it was soon timeto h ea d b ac k to to wn .

We arrived at the print shop, pickedup Alice Fishback, and had lunch. Thatafternoon we shopped and looked untilabou t 4 o 'c lock . When we were inBelmont Press looking at books, curios,and enjoying ourselves doing nothing,Alice walked up and sa id, "Guesswhat? We're going to Enkeldoorn."Mary Margaret and I didn't have theslightest idea what she was talkingabout and said so . She then told usthat Don Poorman, Bob Smith, an d MarkPoorman had blown their gasket. Afterwe stopped laughing we got ready togo to the rescue of the men. Enkeldoornis approximately ninety-two miles fromFt. Vic. Th e men were on their way toSalisbury and needed the parts to ge tthe ir car fixed. After driving there andhaving dinner with them, we gave themechanics some "help" until we gotthem back on their way to Salisbury.Let this be a warning to al l bosses:be sure to know where your secretaryis in case you blow your gasket.

The next morning Mary Margaretand I slept in until 7:30. We did somemore window shopping and had luncha t th e f la t . Tha t a f te rnoon we l e f t For tVictoria for Kyle Game Reserve. Wegot there at 3:45 and were warned thatthe park closed at 6:00 p.m. We startedoff, keeping in mind that we had nomap of the park bu t that Alice said shehad never gotten lost there. Don't youbelieve i t; Mary Margaret and I can anytime! I think we saw every animal thatthey have there. Did you know that anostrich ha s brown eyes? Just as k MaryMargaret. We had one try to ge t a liftinto town with us, in the front seat.After going over Ostrich Loop andReebok Drive, we found ourselves onwhat we thought was the way out. Wesaw another sign that said BuffaloLoop, and not having been on it , wemade a sharp r ight . Sure enough, therewere buffalo on Buffalo Loop. Therewere also zebra, gnu, hippo, rhino,kudu, and all sorts of animals, even thehuman kind. At 5:15 we spotted a fencethat bordered the game park. Since thepark c lo ses a t 6:00 sharp we thought wehad better start on our way out. Thedrive to the gate seemed to take hours!The speed limit in the park is 26 mph.

by tAarilyn Richardsthought that wc might have to spend thenight in the rest huts. But the Lordt akes care of fools and women. Wc madeit to the gate at the stroke of six.In the process of t el li ng Aliceabout ou r adventure, wc discoveredthat wc had seen a few things that sh ehad never seen, although she has beenthere several times. You see, th efences of the r eserve are marked, supposedly so you'll know where you are:one with diamond-shaped markers, onewith circles, and one with rectangles,with the lake bordering the fourth side.We had seen al l four boundaries, bu twould you belie ve that Alice didn'tknow there were any markings othert han the diamond shapes?

We made i t b ack in to town in t imefor me to meetmy boss, who was on hi sway to Chiredzi from Salisbury. Aftergoing over a few things with him, MaryMargaret, Alice, and I went to see abilingual flick (movie). It was in Afrikaans and English, Afrikaans being thelanguage spoken in South Africa. Eventhough we do not speak Afrikaans, theactions and fac ia l expressions made itvery plain what was going on. We addedour own words to go with the actionsand laughed just as hard as those whounderstood what was being said.A Secretary's Holiday may no talways be what ours was, but you canalways be sure to have fun and Christi an f el lowsh ip with others of likeprecious faith, whether you are a nurse,doctor, mechanic, printer, teacher,preacher, or secretary. So next time wetake a holiday, won't you join us? Justmake your reservations well in advance.The van only holds so many people.Love to have you join us on our nextSecretary's Holiday!

GROWTH AMONG WOMEN(continued from page 3)villages for various reasons, and tohelp others in need. These ar e some ofthe joys we receive seeing wonderfulChristians growing in Jesus Christ, andhaving the opportunity to grow witht hem.

The Central Africa Story is publishedmonthly for the Central Africa Mission,Churches of Christ by Mission ServicesAssociation at 509 West Jefferson,Joliet, Illinois. Second Class Postagepaid at Joliet, Illinois 60434.Volume 9 February 1969 Number 2


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A class at Angwa Farm School.SINOIA: PROGRESS (continued from poge 2)

times, but we ar e thankful that thiscourse was not fo l lowed. We dec idedeither to get In and try to do somethingor ge t out, so we got in. We calledtrained African evangelist, VangaSixpence, who was working at Mangula,and gave him the responsibility of overseeing the work of the Farm Schools .He is able to visit each one once everytwo weeks and several every week. Her ides h is bicycle two hundred to threehundred miles every week doing thiswork. Sixpence visits each place oncea month on Sunday to lead with the Sunday service . Besides the twelve farmswhere there are schools, we now havet hr e e a d di ti on a l farms where th er e a rechurches but no schools. Of course, ourmain goa l is t ha t s ou ls be saved andeverything that is done is done withthis in mind. We have been very happywith the progress of the Lord's work inthe farms under the leadership ofBrother Sixpence.

SINOIA AFRICAN CHURCH. Therehave been many serious problems overthe past two years in the Sinoia church.But we thank God for the change thathas taken place in the last few months.Lyman Mlambo is the evangelist of theS in oia ch urch . H e i s th e o ldes t of theevangelists with whom we work, beingabout thirty years o ld . Brother Lymanis a quiet but very firm man, and wehave appreciated hi s efforts very much.Because of the many problems CephasBere had lived with in Sinoia, it wasfelt by al l concerned that it would bebest for Cephas to leave the Sinoiawork as soon as these problems wererelatively settled. For this reasonBrother Lyman rep laced Cephas inSinoia in November, 1968. The atten

added to the church each week. Thereare about forty adults attending theLord's Day services at present, plus anumber of ch il d ren . The re is an Africanpopulation in Sinoia of about si x thousand, and we look forward to seeingthe church grow in numbers and inspirit. As a r esul t o f the two years ofproblems, those who have stayed withthe church through these have formed avery strong foundat ion upon which thework in Sino ia c an be b ui l t .

SINOIA EUROPEAN CHURCH.Whenthe European effort was first beingmade, we were concerned as to whatthis would do among the Afr ican bre thren . We h av e b ee n t hr ill ed to find thatas the European work progresses, theAfrican Christians are just as happyand thrilled about the growth of theLord's work among the white people ofRhodesia as they are about growthamong their own people.We did not anticipate getting intothe work among t he European peoplefor a few years, bu t it was only a fewweeks af ter we moved toS inoia that wewere having home Bible studies withEuropean people. Again the main lackis strong Christians who are reallydependable, and we are happy to reportt ha t a ft er a lmos t two years we a re a bleto se e spiritual growth. Early in thework we went many times for servicesjust for ou r family, bu t now the churchha s grown in numbers to a Sunday morning attendance of around forty. Westarted with a Bible study on Sundaymorning, and now we are having Sundaymorning Bible study at 9-00, worshipservices at 9-50, Sunday evening se rvice at 7:00, mid-week prayer meetingand Bible stud y at 7:30 Wednesday

evening at 7:30, and a men's meetingthe first Tuesday of each month. Wehave been most pleased with the progress of th e European church, and weknow that i t i s th e resul t of hundredsof prayers brought before the throne ofGod in behalf of this effort. Twenty-seven people have been baptized intoChri s t . The roost re ce nt w as the w ifeof the government compensation officerin Sinoia with whom we have been working for almost the full two years. Justrecently two of our most dependablefamilies moved away from Sinoia. Something like this is always diff icult whenthe group is so small. But we ar e mostpleased to know that the one family isworking with t he chu rch at Gwelo andis making a real contribution to theeffor t t he re .

I would l ike to c lo s e this ar t i c leby again thanking God for al l of youwho arc doing your part to make thesethings possible, even as Paul wasthankful fo r th e Thes sa l on i ans andtheir fa i th fu lness . Also we want t om a k ethe same request Paul made of the people of Thessalonica, "Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of theLord may have free course, and beglorified, even as it is with you: Andthat we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: fo r al l men havenot fai th ." (II Thessalonians 3:12)

Stephen, Brenda, and Heidi MarshalL

The annual meeting of theCentral A fric a M is si on w ill b e heldon Tuesday, March 25 at Grayson,Ky. All forwarding agents, missionaries and in te re st ed per sons areinvitedl

A special meeting for forwardingagents and recruits will be heldMonday evening, March 24 at 7:30.


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"My Wish Is to Work for God"A Biography of Timothy Hiambelo

by Vfendefl FreemanOver fif ty African children enjoyed

, drinking Cokes , eating candy, and singing songs at a Sunday school Christmasparty. The man responsible for thatvery successful party, and, in fact, forthe thriving Ascot Sunday School itself,is Timothy Hiambelo. His constantwish is to be able to serve his Lord,and he ha s certainly done this in manyways throughout hi s lif'^.

Timothy was born at Hillside,Bulawayo, in 1908. His father was anu nt ra in ed m i ni st er with the LondonMissionary Society. The family's firstcon t a c t wi th th e C hu rc h o f C hr is t w asthrough F. L. Hadfield, the p ioneer NewZealand missionary.

Fur t he r con t a c t w ith the chu rchcame during Timothy 's years at school.He was educated at Hopefontein, andthen at Old Dadaya. He was under theinfluence of Mr. Phillips at Dadaya.After passing the sixth grade, Timothytaught at a night school in Bulawayo.Working men came to study first andsecond grade subjects.

Next Timothy went to Salisbury forfurther education at Howard TrainingInstitute. Here he passed hi s eighthgrade work, a teacher training course,and an evangelical course taught by anondenominational preacher. Upon completion of h is c ou rs es , he taught atPlumtree under the Salvation Army.

Timothy mar ried Hilda Sitole in1937. Today they have 11 children.The oldest is Davey, 20, who is working at a grocery and helping with Sunday schoo l and preaching duties. AfterDavey come Duma, Lillian, Sabelo,Mpiyabo, Mbizo, Dadane, Senzene,Tokozile , Loyiso, and Jonathan. I hadthe privilege of naming Jonathan lasty ea r .

In 1943, Timothy was working atOld Mashoko under the supervision ofBrother Ga rf ie ld T o dd . NIr. T odd m adeTimothy the supervisor of schools intha t a rea and the preacher in charge ofsix untrained evangelists. There wereplenty of opportunities to preach tolarge crowds of people. He used abicycle for transportation over sandpaths. He was paid $15 a month for hi swork .

After th e work at O ld M ashoko,Timothy found employment in a department s to re and p reached on weekends.He has been with Meikles , Rhodesia'slargest chain of stores, for many years.

Gwelo, Timothy went ou t with them overthe weekends to their preaching points.Timothy baptized for Mr. Gruver.Wherever he has gone, he ha s said,"Why shouldn't I raise this place andmake i t a Church o f C hr is t c en te r? "Preaching is the most impor tant item inh is hea r t .

At present, Timothy is workingfull time at M ei kl es , b ut this has no tdampened hi s ardor for Christ. He ispreaching at two locations in Gwelo,teaching a Sunday school class, andserving on the Church Committee inthe capacity of secretary. He uses hisown "pocket money" to travel, going byt ra in to Somabula, 20 miles from Gwelo.Since he started there last July, he ha sbaptized 22 into Christ. He has takenothe r Gwelo Chri s t i an men with him onthese trips to encourage them in leadership for Christ. Timothy has takencorrespondence courses in ChurchLeadership and New Testament Doct rine offered by Robert Mills in SouthAfr ica ,

Timothy not only preaches aboutChrist, but he tries to know and helpthe people among whom he is working.As an e xam ple , one of the men atSomabula had a chi ld w it h a n ea r infect ion. The fa ther took th e chi ld to betreated locally, but the trea tme nt w asunsuccessful. Timothy then brought thechild to Gwelo and kept him at his ownhouse while the child was being caredfor at a government clinic. Th e t re atment ha s been entirely successful, andthe child will soon be home again. Thisis only one small examp le ou t of a lifegiven to the service of Christ ando t he r s .We are happy to have TimothyHiambelo a s a fe l low-labourer inChr i s t in Gwe lo .


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The Central Africa Storypublished month ly for theCentral Af ri ca M i ss io n

Churches of Chris tby Mission Services PressBox 368, Joliet, Illinois 60434Edited by Wendell Freeman

o Treasurer

Mr . Fred H. Dunn32 West nel l is le Drive

Akr on, Ohi o 4 43 19Chairman Board of Directors

Mr. David J, WilliamsBo x 74 7Grayson, Kentucky 41143

Edgar Kwenda, Minister.

V

aft at Binga.

t. ' UmJ*46*.w j f sy r-T

Dewure.


17/101

ImpalaVolume 9

On the 11th of September in 1890,a small band of p ioneer s s tood a top akopje, or hill, and surveyed the surrounding countryside. These men hadtraveled some 1,600 miles over rugged,roadless terrain inhabited by lion, elephants, and other wild game, and wereeager to find a place to settle. RobertMoffat had bee n the f ir st whi te person toactually live in Rhodesia when hefounded t he Inyat i Mission some thirtyyears before, but these men were to beth e f ir st r ea l s e t t l e r s .As these pioneers looked out fromkopje, they could see the MakabusiRiver and a beautifu l green valley closeby, and off to the north lay the humpbacked Mount Hampden, which had beenexplored earlier and found to be waterless . I t was a t th is t ime that th e dec ision was made that the valley theylooked upon was the better site, andthey named the place "Salisbury" afterthe man who was then prime minister ofGrea t Br i ta in .

Today Salisbury is a beautiful citysituated at an a lt itude of 4,831 feet andhaving one of the f inest c l imates in theworld. One does not have to go fa r ou tof Salisbury to find hot (100 degreesand over) temperatures, but Salisburyitself ha s magnificent weather. In Maythrough July the temperatures can godown to near freezing, and without central heating it does ge t somewhatuncomfo rt ab le , b ut a ft er all, we musthave something to complain about!

The population of Salisbury istoday approximately 380,000, of whichsome 93,000 are whites. Since Salisburyis the capital of Rhodesia, as well asbeing the largest city, it is also the

STORYMarch 1969SALISBURYjobs to Salisbury from other parts oft he count ry . This fact has emphasizeda growing need in our mission work herein Rhodesia. As people come under theinfluence of our mission preaching inother parts of the country, many areconver ted. Fro m tim e to t im e som e o fthe se new Chr i s t i an s h av e b ee n t r ansferred to o th er locations, o ften t o Salisbury, and to date there has been littlefollow-up work wi th these new Chris-,t i a n s .

Our weekends are spent workingwith th e Umtali church some l6 5 milesto the southeast of Salisbury and ourweekdays concerned with "gettingJerry through medical school." Thus ithas been that our fami ly ha s not beenable to answer the growing need for a

K - " l! ^1^.

Number 3

by Jerry and Marietta Smithspecific work in Salisbury. Dr. OwenDunlap and his family have recentlymoved to Salisbury to help begin thiswork, and we hope in the near future tohave a full-time minister laboring inthis area. Again we see the age-olds tory, "The Laborer s a re Few."One interesting recent developmentwe'd like to tell you about has beenthe opportunity to teach Bible to handicapped children in a government school.The c hi ld r en are boarded at th e schooland are taught according to their capabilities. Marietta and Mary Jo Dunlapare teach ing two classes four morningsa week, an d also Bib le schoo l on Sunday afternoons. The Bible schoolclasses usually number around 45children. {Continued on page 2)

L- . V 'T' .s 'aI . II* . .V-.-- ; . ii

I i I*


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SALISBURY (continued from page 1)At the end of a teaching week, the

chi ldren l ik e to dramat i ze th e Bib lelessons t hey have learned. It is fascinating to watch these children as theyact out t he stories. Some are so terriblycrippled they can scarcely move about.One little boy can only move about bybeing placed in an old wagon, which hepropels by pushing a wheel with onehand while steering with the other.Many hobble about on crutches, and arefurther burdened by frail legs heavy withbraces, whi le one little girl is able to

A

get about only by pushing a dol l buggy.In one of these Bible dramatizations"King Herod" was a young boy who hadonly two short wooden stumps for legs.

When you first see these littlechildren, your heart cries out in pity.But after seeing them do so many thingsfor themselves, and seeing the way theyhelp one another, even though so badlyhandicapped, one feels very ashamed fordoing so little with a strong, healthybody.

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For our Sunday afternoon Bibleschool we are trying to bring a bi t ofentertainment to the children by way off ilmstr ips, f lannelgraph, puppet shows,etc. (We are a lway s in need of morevisual a id s. ) T he se chi ld ren have solittle variety in the ir l ives from day today that Sunday afternoons have becomethe highlight of their week. It h as alsogiven us much pleasure to be able toteach them God's Word and to pu t a bi tof c he er i nt o the i r l i v e s .

m


19/101

A GIFT FOR MR. KUREBWAAre you a careless reader? If youare, I have by now received credi t forsomething I did not do. From the titleof this a rt ic le , you may have gottenthe idea that I have given a gift to Mr.

Kurebwa, but this is no t the case.Mr. Kurebwa i s one of th e most

active evangelists we have working forthe Lord in Rhodesia. The days arefew and fa r between that do not findhim out calling, teaching, or preaching.Not only does he work at a furious pacein his own area of Gutu, but he is verylikely to be found evangelizing mostanywhere in the country. It is thril lingto se e someone a s ac t iv e as Mr .Kurebwa, and all the more so when youknow that he is blind. Lack of eyesighthas cer ta in ly done very little to slowth is man down.

Being so much on the go, Mr.Kurebwa frequently ha s to as k the tiraeof day, and so he was naturally overjoyed when Doug Johnson presentedhim with the gift. On his way back toRhodesia from furlough, Doug purchaseda beautiful braille watch. This watchhas a hinged crystal, and ha s raiseddots in place of numbers, enabling thewearer to " f ee l " th e t ime.

Rise Up and Buildby Charles Kelley

Just before the rains in Rhodesia,building becomes of primary importanceto the African people. Every manbecomes a bui ld ing contractor, and themembers of the family are the builders.Using poles, mud, and grass, new housesare built, and repai rs are made on oldones. Repa ir s may be only a new grassroof. This is usually done every threeyears, depending upon the grass used.

Because everyone is busy makingthese preparat ions, it is natural that atthis time the chu rch groups b egin tothink about bui lding a shelter-protectionfrom the sun and rains. Many tend toturn to t he missionary to ask him for abuilding. It would be easier for us justto put out the money and h ire s omeoneto build these buildings, bu t we haveno t done this. The cost would be verylittle, but we have endeavored toencourage the people to take theresponsibility of bui ldi ng t he ir ownmeeting p laces. T his ha s proven tohelp in making the congregationss t r onge r .

I went with Doug to present thewatch to Mr. Kurebwa. Typically, hewas not at home but had gone to aneighboring village to teach aboutChris t . When we did locate the evangelist and Doug presented him with thegift, Mr. Kurebwa was so delightedthat he grabbed Doug around the waistand jumped up and down. This presenteda reasonable f acs imi le o f two bearsdancing!

Let's hope Mr. Kurebwa doesn'tbecome a c lo ck w a tc he r now l ik e somany others. I am sure this will nothappen, because, in spite of his blindness, Mr. Kurebwa ha s an abundanceof insight and vision. Nevertheless,this was a very wonderful gif t presentedto Mr. Kurebwa by Doug Johnson unless you are a careless reader.

#> . I

Doug Johnson presents a braille watch lo John Kurebwa.It is not as simple a cask as it

might seem. Most groups are simplybuilding a roof shelter. To begin-with,permission to build must be obtainedfrom th e headman of the a rea . Sometimes thi s presents difficulties if theheadman objects for some reason.Then, the grass and poles must begathered, and somet imes this meanscarrying the mater ia ls s ever al m il es .

Probably the easiest part is the actuale re ct io n o f th e she l te r .And so , the church houses are built .They may not have steeples, or bells,or lovely educational plants, or any ofthe things that are so common toAmerican church buildings, yet they areevery bi t as filled with God's presenceand w ith His love a s th e Chri s t i ansmeet there to worship.

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One of lh


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Muuon P(i)4Mklehy Charma Dunlap

How is a teenager's life different inSalisbury, Rhodesia, than in America?Until one can find employment or attendschool, most of the time is spent doingsmall mission projects which varygreatly each day .It all begins early in the morningabout 6:30 a.m. One is awakened by abicycle bell announcing the arr ival ofthe African milkman. He rides a bicyclewith a front carrier holding the milkcooled only by the morning air. Afterone ha s purchased the glass-bottledmilk for two tokens per quart , the morning continues on with a hearty breakfast of Honey Crunchies (Africa'sanswer to Kix) lavished in unhomoge-nized milk and accompanied by a glassof fre sh o range juice ( in February) .Then morning devotions are carried ou tto make the day go just a little b it b etter.

A daily two-mile bicycle ride downto the Picadilly Centre for a loaf ofunwrapped bread and a newspaper, helps timu la te the mind for a day's work.Work begins when the correspondencereceived the previous day is answered.Then plans for the morning class atJairos J i ri Rehabil i tat ion Cen tr e mus tbe reviewed. This could be tracingpictures for coloring or making puppets.

The trip across town to the schoolis kept lively by many African pedestrians walking in every conceivablefashion a long the roadside: some withbabies on their backs, suitcases ontheir heads, and yes, even carryingfurni ture .

For the next 45 minutes, thephysically handicapped African children at Jairos Jir i are in complete blissas th e Bible stories ar e t ol d a nd actedout by themselves.

The d ay is broken at 10:00 a.m. fora tea break which one soon gets usedto bec ausc i t i s th e c us to m in Rhode s i a .Any time during the day the Afr icanmailman may ride upon his bicycle andring his bel l for someone to retrieve thehome-addressed mail . Unt i l dinner a t1 :00 p .m., one may turn out a masterpiece in th e k itc hen, sewing room, orstudy. Usually a good many books areconsumed a t th is t ime.After dinner a trip may be madedowntown to pick up the mail at thepost o ffic e box or to purchase somemuch-needed articles, like food. Therest of the afternoon is spent bathingflea-bitten pets, babysitting, napping.

playing musical instruments, listeningto Salisbury's one station on the r adio,and writing letters.

The typ ical evening of home entertainment may begin after a deliciousmeal of fish and chips (french fries).Sometimes tape recordings are made tosend home, or maybe last year's re-runsa re w atc he d on a f ri en d 's r en te d TV.Outside entertainment consists of goingto flicks (movies), visiting missionaryfriends, and attending few and farbetween sport s event s. Basebal l, basketball, and football are greatly missed,and so far, cricket and soccer gamescannot be substituted.

Life as a whole is very much thesame except for a lack of good outsideen te r ta inment . This i s where the missionaries can help to show youngpeople that Chr is ti ans can have fun.Interesting church activities are nowin the planning stage.

Religion has been so steeped intradition here, it is thought of as something dul l and s tuffy. This preconceivedidea can be changed by making Christlive again in the hearts of everyone.Mission possible through Christ.

Carolyn Smith agrees that her lifein Rhodesia is much th e same as in th eU.S.A. only a few minor differences.(This small difference is a poisonouspuff adder. P lease notice how muchCarolyn is enjoying this Hhodesianamenity.)

in Your Facc?by John Ross

What does i t take to be a missionary?Perhaps, the ability to lie st il l whilegrease drips in your face! This crossedmymind as I spent hours under the verytired and sick "big generator" eng ineat Mashoko these past weeks. The bigChristian Hospital; our boarding school;t he m i ss ion homes for th e missionaries ,African teachers, and workers, dependon this generator to supply electricityfor the many facets of mission life afterdark. The hospital especially must haveelectricity: the il l must be seen to becared for; th e suction machines need tobe available on call, as do the operating theatre lights. So if you are "theMaster's Mechanic," and duty demands,being a missionary means the abilityto li e and le t grease drip in your face.

Some three months ago, we beganto have serious problems with theengine that runs the "big generator." Inursed it along for several weeks hoping to make it last until the boardingschool hol iday, so I cou ld have time totear it down and repair it . However,the 220-yard dash record has j us t beenbroken, for one evening the lightsbegan to dim a la rmingly and f licker(it's a bi t over 220 yards from myhouse to the generator house, andSylvia says I made it in about 20 seconds). I made it just in time to see abig puf f of smoke and a hiccup as theengine died, never to run again.

I did tear it down, made a lovelyparts list, and then the fun began. Iended up in Bulawayo for three days,running everywhere imaginable searching for parts. Due to sanctions and theunde te rmined age of the engine, Ireturned to Mashoko in despair. I hadnot reckoned with the faith of my co-worke rs in Chr i s t a s our mis s ion mendecided to give it a decent bur ia l, andli ke r eal ly good businessmen for theLord, not to waste another penny onthis obviously well-utilized but worn-out eng ine. We ordered a new engine,and by the time you ar e reading this,the lights will be back on at Mashokob rig ht er t han ever. The missionariesare some $2,100 poorer, but the lightso f th e m iss io n a re on to wi tne s s to ourAfrican brethren , "Here l ies a Christ ianMission, hence help for the soul, body,and mind." Who cares if a l i tt le greasedrips in your face from t ime to time?


21/101

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22/101

A Visit to the Medical Missions of RhodesiaMy five-month visit to Rhodesia

began on June 10, 1968, when I boardeda giant TWA je t airliner. Two days and10,000 miles later, I arrived in Salisbury, Rhodesia, where I was greetedby Dr. Jerry Smith and Dr. Gloria Cobb.The following day Dr. Cobb took me300 miles to Hippo Valley (Chiredzi)where I was to spend my first month inRhodesia working with the Dr. RobertWalker family.

Hippo Valley is one of the moreprogressive parts of Rhodesia with it svast sugar cane and citrus fieldsstretching over many miles of well-irrigated land. Despite its progressive-ness, there are still many diseaseswhich r avage the African population ofthe Valley. By the end of my first week,I was able to say that I bad learnedmore about tubercu los i s than I hadlearned in three years in medical schoolin the States. I watched many Africanssh ive r wi th ma la ri a a nd a fe w died withthe disease despite our best therapy. Iexamined many frail and emaciatedAfrican children who were sufferingfrom malnutr it ion. 1 was soon appalledat the ignorance of the Africans with,regard to their physical health, for manyof them presented themselves at theHippo Valley Christian Hospi ta l withfar advanced, neglected diseases.

My work with Dr. Robert Walker wasfilled with many emergencies. One nightwe were cal led to th e Rufa ro cl in ic tose e a woman who had recently givenbirth to a baby, and was hemorrhaging.The wcMnan required eight units ofblood (one of which was ray own) andthree hours of surgery to save her lifefrom what would have been a fatalhemorrhage. One week later we spokewith this woman as she walked in th emorning sunshine and she said, "I .hankyou doctors, and I thank God for savingmy life and making it possible for meto enjoy the sunshine again." This wasonly one of many experiences fromwhich I received a great sense of rewardand sat is fact ion .

The Hippo Valley exper ience wasnot al l medical. I shall never forget theday I went with the Walker family tose e some wild game on a nearby ranch.Our game viewii lg was abruptly interrupted when an ost ri ch a tt acked ourcar and nearly demol ished it. Theother miss ionar ies o f R hodesia s t i l laccuse Dr. Walker of fabricating thestory, but hi s vehicle still bears the

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Kenny Messman examines a patientat Mashoko Christian Hospital.The second month of my visit to

Africa was spent at the Mashoko Christian Hospital where Dr. James Erasurean d Dr . Gloria Cobb serve as medicalmissionar ie s. The Mashoko Hospitalha s 120 beds, but usually the inpatientsnumber in excess of 120, whi le t he outpatients number over 100 per week.

There were exciting experiences atMashoko too, especially since I hadassumed the roll of "baby del iverer"soon after my arrival. One night I wascalled to the hospital for a delivery andwithin thirty minutes 1 had delivered anAfrican mother of a seven-pound babygirl. Soon after this delivery, an Africangirl ran into the room shout ing, "Thereis a woman who is ready to deliver inthe hut. You had better come rightaway." We quickly grabbed our necessary sterile equipment and dashed 400yards through the dark bush to the hutwhere the patient was staying. I wasgreeted by about twelve women whosat around afire in a smoke-filled room,acting as though nothing ou t of the ord inary was happening. 1 quickly spottedthe patient, who was lying in one corner with a frightened look on her face.Examination of the patient by torch(flashlight) revealed that there wasstill time to ta ke h er to the hospital, soa stretcher was fetched and the patienttransported through the bush to theLabor and Delivery Room. Within twentyminutes, I had delivered th e secondbaby gir l of the evening.

While at Mashoko I had opportunityon many occasions to preach to theAfrican secondary students (ninth andtenth grade). Preaching to the 130 see-

by Kenny Messmanondary students was much like preachingto American teenagers, for the studentsal l speak English. Most of th es e students were already Christian and willserve as messengers of the Gospelwhen they leave Mashoko to return tothe various parts of Rhodesia fromwhich they have come. This is one ofthe major ways through which theMashoko missionaries spread the Gospe l in Rhodesia.

The Chidamoyo Christian Hospital ,unde r d ire ctio n o f Dr. Dale E r i c k sonand Madonna Burget (R.N .), was myplace of work during ray third month inAfrica. I was most impressed with theevangelistic efforts of Chidamoyo. Inaddition to the bedside witnessing ofDr. Erickson and Madonna Burget, thereis a hospital African evangelist namedMr. Togarepi whose preaching has wonmany of the patients to Christ. On Sundays the Chidamoyo missionaries alltravel to surrounding villages alongwith African interpreters to preach theGospe l, a nd it is not unu sual to findthat many of the Christians in thesevillages were won to Christ whilepatients in Chidamoyo Christian Hospit a l . One phase of Dr. Erickson's workinvolves flying one da y a week toBinga, a small town along the greatKariba Lake about 135 miles fromChidamoyo, and treating patients in theBinga government hospital. I found thisto be an interesting flight each weekwhile at Chidamoyo because theAfricans around Binga are quite diff e ren t from the r e s t o f t he African t r ibesw ith w hic h 1 had had c on ta ct . T h es eAfricans are called the Batonga peopleand are known throughout Rhodesia asthe tribe whic h w ea rs bamboo st icksthrough their noses and knock s ou t thefour front teeth of their t eenage girls.The Batonga are indeed among the mostprimitive tribes of al l Africa. The JackPennington family serves as Christianmissionaries to these people.One of our interesting medicalproblems at Chidamoyo was a teenagegirl who had been stabbed in the abdomen by her angry brother. The girl'sintestines were protruding from hers tab wound when she arrived a t th ehospital. Our four-hour operation torepair t he damage was successful andthe girl subsequently made a rapidrecovery. This girl had only one weekearlier become a Christian, and so wewere especially happy for her return to


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VISIT TO RHODESIA (continued from poge 6)Following my Chidamoyo vis it , Ireturned to Mashoko for my final two

months i n A fr ic a. Mashoko was in themiddle of a measles epidemic and thePediatric Ward was full, with manypatients lying in the floor because therewere no t enough beds. The next fewweeks were frustrating ones, as Dr.Frasure, Dr. Cobb, and I watched manychildren die with measles despi te thebest therapy that we could offer. Theres is tance of th e African ch i ld ren i s solow and the ir nutri tion so poor thatmeasles overwhelmed many of them. Toadd to the problem, many of the children had b een trea te d with Afr i canwitchdoctor medicine prior to beingbrought to us and by then it was farto o l at e. T h er e were s eve r a l occas i onswhen th e mothers misunde r s tood themeaning of our medicine and accusedus of k il li ng the ir babies, who wereusually near death when brought to us .Fortunately, however, most motherswere appreciative of our efforts in thename o f Chr i s t .

While a t Mashoko the fin a l tw omonths. I was able to preach on numerous occasions to the secondary studentsand to go ou t to the African villages tohold services for the struggling congregations. At one village, namedChimunhu, there were gathered togetherabout fifty peop

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