You have no doubt heard much about our head native teacher, Jim. At present he is up in northern Rhodesia. His father is expected to die, and Jim is waiting to bury him. I cannot tell you what a help he is to the mission, but will say he is at least worth a well-trained and experienced white worker, and in some ways he is much like a white person. He has a very great burden for the natives for whom we are working, which is saying much considering that he was brought to this country as a slave, he being of an altogether different tribe. I shall try to give you some idea of how great his burden is to see souls saved.
Photos by J. V. Wilson SOLUSI MISSION SCENES
Some time ago he was greatly troubled with his leg and could hardly walk. As he was teaching seven and one-half hours a day in our home school, he could not get out at all during school time. His leg gave him pain night and day, and he was very thin; but when vacation came, he set out to canvass the natives over thirty miles away, trusting in the Lord for strength. Although his leg had been paining him incessantly, as soon as he started out to canvass, the pain ceased, and his leg did not trouble him until he got back home again. He sold all his books, and traveled about one hundred miles. But that is not all. At a certain kraal where he did some canvassing, an old native took him into his cattle kraal and showed him two very nice young heifers, saying he could have them as soon as he sent somebody to get them. The Lord works in a marvelous way, and surely showed Jim he was pleased with his work. He is very anxious to canvass the whole of Matabeleland, and would have started in January had he not been with his father.
Before a native can canvass here, he has to get a license, which costs over fifty dollars. Jim said if the brethren could not see their way clear to buy him the license, he would sell one of his cows and pay for it himself, and also buy a donkey to carry his books for him. One might understand a white person's willingness to do so, but coming from a native it surprises us. Natives think more of their cattle than of their lives, and would almost rather starve than sell a beast to buy food. A few weeks ago I wrote Jim, telling him that Brother Walston was willing to get him the license. This is his reply:—
“I received your letter, and read it, and was very glad to hear the way was opened for me to get a license to canvass. The letter seemed to come from Jesus. The work of selling books is very great, and I love it as I do my food, and want to canvass the whole of Matabeleland.”
This is saying a great deal; for the natives do certainly love to eat. To give you some idea as to how much a native13really likes his mealie meal porridge I shall tell you what one of our native teachers asked me. We were talking about heaven, and he wanted to know if they would have their porridge there. He did not seem to care to go there if he could not have it.
In his letter Jim told how much he enjoyed reading his Bible. He says: “There is only one thing that gives me pleasure now, and that is the Bible. I read and study it hard every day.” Jim has a very remarkable mind for retaining the Scriptures. I have heard many persons, even some of our workers who have preached for years, say they wished they knew the Bible as well as Jim knows it. He can tell the familiar texts one would give for any point of our faith. He is always studying the Bible, and says the more he studies it the more he wants to and the more he sees the need of doing so.
You will notice one of the illustrations is of our water sled. I made it out of native wood, and put in a good pair of axles. It works well, and serves as a wagon. We have to use a good many primitive things here to cut down expenses, but they answer just as well as if they were modern. We have a very good spring about a mile from the house, and the boys inspan a team of oxen to the sled and bring up a tankful of water. We use the water for watering our trees in the yards, and for the children.
