Kolo, Basutoland by M. E. Emmerson

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Jun 8, 1911

Kolo, Basutoland

By M. E. Emmerson

M. E. EMMERSON

DURING the past year, my time has been mostly taken up with work connected with the mission station. It has been necessary to do considerable repairing on the place. When we came to Kolo, the thousand yards of wall surrounding the mission grounds was much of it fallen down; and the first two years the sheep and goats, which run at large in Basutoland, ate most of our garden, besides doing damage to the vines and fruit-trees. The dwelling-house was in such poor repair that when it rained, the water ran down the walls, and everything that it would damage had to be moved away from them. This made housekeeping difficult. Two other houses were weak, and showed signs of falling.

The dwelling-house has been substantially repaired inside and out, and the barn has been built in new on the weak side. About six hundred yards of good wall has been built, and seven hundred more is being erected. When this is finished, the place will be quite securely protected against all stock.

The old church is so poor that it is not worth repairing, so a new one is to be built, all of stone. Enough stone is cut to build a barn large enough to stall over thirty cows and calves. We have been very fortunate in securing thirty head of good dairy cattle, to support a boarding-school; but last winter was one of the worst the country has experienced. The dry weather set in about midsummer, and kept up until it was too late for the grass to grow. In consequence, hundreds of cattle died in Basutoland. The mission lost over twelve head of good dairy animals. This is a heavy loss, and we feel it keenly. Being new in the country, we did not know the uncertainty of crops; a lesson has been learned, and, though it was expensive, we shall try to make it worth the expense this year. It looks now as if this year would be just as dry as last; but we are prepared for it, as we have more than twenty-five tons of rough feed.

During the past year it has been necessary to enlarge the reservoir into which a spring from Kolo Mountain flows. The water-supply has not been strong enough to keep the garden fresh. The old reservoir held three hundred barrels of water; the new one holds approximately three thousand. This water-supply will enable us to grow enough green feed inside the mission wall to feed the cattle through the summer. It was a large task to undertake, as the reservoir had to be dug in solid stone.

We feel that these improvements will prove valuable in establishing the mission on a self-supporting basis.

Our cattle will support the school; and the school will raise up young men and women to carry the gospel of the soon-coming King to all Basutoland. It is not because we are engrossed in the affairs of this world that we are planning to place things on a self-supporting basis; our business is to preach the coming of Jesus; these other things we do to pay expenses. Our prospects for the school are good. During the past year, the number of students has increased from thirty to fifty-five.

The medical work has proved just as valuable as God's servant has told us it would. During the past year, over two hundred persons have come to the mission for treatment, and nearly all have been successfully treated. To God's name be all the glory. This work has done more to convince the natives that we are interested in their souls than all the rest that we have done. One old man, suffering from a bad cold, which had settled in the chest, said, when we offered to give assistance, “Will this white man help me with his hands?”

We gave the treatment, which greatly relieved the suffering. The old man said: “You must surely be a Christian; I have never seen this kind of thing before.”

Said another, after receiving help, “Well, we read in the Bible how that Christ did this kind of work, but we never saw it before.” This native was a member of the church.

Still another heathen said, “You are the kindest man that I have ever seen.” I replied, “It is not I; for I am doing only what God has told me.”

Christian people, in doing acts of kindness, do them not on their own account, but obey orders from their great Leader. Not to be kind is not only ill-treating our fellow men, but also openly disobeying God's direct command. Pray that we may always carry out the instruction of our great Leader in this respect.