A Missionary Collection in West Africa
ELAT is an interior mission in West Africa. A missionary service held there is described in The Interior, as follows:— “At six o’clock in the morning the great drum sounded out the ‘first call’ for church. The African drum is a unique feature of African life. The Elat drum is placed on a platform some twenty feet from the ground, and, when properly beaten, can be heard for twenty miles. The sound was repeated at seven, at eight, and at nine o’clock. Every native for miles around who heard the drum knew the sound as accurately as if a trusty messenger brought the word. By nine o’clock every seat in the Elat schoolhouse was taken, and willing hands brought planks to place outside, where the worshipers could sit and hear and see the preacher. “At half-past nine, 1,531 persons, by actual count, were within sound of the sweet gospel hymn with which the service opened. “It was a strange audience which greeted the preacher. Every face bore evidence of interest, every eye was fastened on the speaker, and a more orderly, attentive congregation it would be hard to find. “It was foreign mission day, and the preacher’s theme was ‘The Widow’s Mite.’ During the sermon he used a forceful object-lesson. The measure of value in this part of Africa is the ‘kank,’ a stick of cassava, about fourteen inches long and an inch thick, done up in a plantain leaf. The cassava is a tuber, the root of a plant thought much of by the natives. The root is dug up, and soaked in water for many days, in order to remove certain deleterious ingredients. It is then crushed, and beaten very small, when, after a thorough washing, it is wrapped in plantain leaves, and is ready for use. The boys at the boarding-school at Elat are paid one halfpenny an hour for working in the gardens. The payment is made with one stick of cassava. “To illustrate his text, the preacher took a ‘kank,’ cut it in twain, then cut one half again in twain, and then cut the half of the half, and held up the small pieces as illustrative of the amount given by the poor widow. The audience watched and listened attentively, and then gave vent to their suppressed feelings in one great ‘Ugh, ugh, ugh.’ It was evident the point was understood and appreciated. “The great event of the morning was the offering. It was taken at the close of the service. A platform had been erected near the entrance, and the people were bidden to bring their gifts to the platform, where the native elders stood ready to receive them. With much eagerness, the crowd pressed forward. It took a good-sized wheelbarrow to carry away the plantain leaves after all the bundles had been opened. “More than five hundred separate offerings were given. Note that a few ‘kank’ constitute a fair day’s wage for a full-grown African man, and that the great majority of these fellow Christians of ours in Bululand are very poor. I have yet to see a Bulu house with either a chair, table, or lamp. Giving means something for these poor people. “The people were fully informed that their gifts would be used in sending the gospel to other lands than Africa. It is a long step from the raw heathenism of the average Bulu to the high-grade type of Christianity in the Elat church of foreign mission day.”