Gold Coast, West Africa
By J. J. DAUPHIN
I BEGAN school work in the village of Assamang, in the basement of a small house, with twelve or more boys. At first the people were greatly surprised to see me endeavoring to teach without knowing how to speak their language; and had one inspected the school at that time, he would have thought it could not last more than a month, because it was true that when I spoke to the boys, they could not understand me, neither could I understand them. Naturally no parent would send his child to a school where he could not understand the teacher's tongue. So the way to reach these people with God's Word seemed very hard for a time. Nevertheless I prayed that God would open a way for his Word to reach these poor souls. It happened that one day about a week after my petition to the Lord, as I was teaching, unexpectedly a man came in, and sat on one of the benches, quietly watching. At first I thought he was sent by the chief, and was waiting for some one to come to interpret to me. But no one came, and he remained until I closed school. He continued coming each day. At last he brought his son, and a clerk who interpreted to me. He said that he was surprised at me because I did not know their language, neither did they know mine, and yet I was trying to teach the boys. But by continuing to come to the school, he had found that the boys were understanding what I was trying to teach them. He said, “A native teacher of the language would not have taken so much pains to instruct them, nor would they have got more knowledge than this.” So he wanted his boy's name enrolled. After that many brought their boys to school. When I had acquired a little knowledge of the language, I began to hold meetings with the boys and the people of the town. Now we have six adult Sabbath keepers, and thirty-one boys and one girl are attending Sabbath school quite regularly. The people are so wedded to their fetish, or devil, worship that some used to leave the house at the time of divine service, fearing lest the words spoken to them about God might lead them to quit worshiping the devil and serve God. Once some of the schoolboys were conversing with some of the old men of the town. In their conversation the boys asked, “Why do you serve the devil instead of God who made you and the world and everything therein, who also sends the rain to make the plants grow?” In reply they said, “Because the devil is God's interpreter, therefore we serve him.” The boys then asked, “Did not God who made us, tell us to serve him, and keep his Sabbath? Had he wanted us to serve the devil, would he have told us that it is sin that made the devil to be in this world, and that those who follow him will be destroyed with him in the lake of fire?” At these words they went away. I think these boys will be used by the Lord to reach these people. Another instance: One of our schoolboys became very ill, and his father, after trying some remedy without satisfactory results, proposed to take his son to their fetish house to find out the cause of his sickness. The boy told his father that he had learned at school that God says that in time of trouble those who serve him shall be delivered, and that he alone has power to heal the sick, and he begged his father not to take him to the fetish house. The next day Brother W. H. Lewis came, and when the boy's father heard he was in town, he brought the boy to see what could be done for him. Brother Lewis told the father that the boy was very ill, and unless great care was taken he would die; he also promised to send his boys with some medicine for this boy, and gave me some instruction as to his care. Very soon the boys came with the medicine, and after about two weeks' treatment the boy got well. The next day one of this man's daughters became ill. Still believing in the fetish, he told his wife to take her at once to the fetish. The mother, with her firm belief in the ability of the fetish to release her daughter from illness, ran quickly with her to the house of their fetish. The mother was terribly disappointed, for after a few minutes' treatment instead of seeing her child get better, she saw her die. Truly, Satan has blinded these poor people. My heart is deeply touched with11their condition, and I believe, yea, know, that the light and power of this message can pierce the darkness that covers them, and I hope to see many who are honest in heart accept it and be saved when Jesus comes. Remember this people in your prayers.