A Visit to a Church in South Africa
By R. C. Porter
LEAVING my home at the Cape, December 16, after having traveled nearly three days by rail, a distance of over six hundred miles, I arrived at Bethlehem. Here I met Brother Louwrens, who took me to his large farm, fifteen miles out in the country. This was Friday evening, and I had now reached the Heisterbach church. Our first meeting was held that night, too, and some of the brethren and sisters were in from a distance of from seventeen to twenty-four miles. On Sabbath forenoon we had another service, and also one in the afternoon, the afternoon service being followed by a social service, in which all took part, even the small children. The ordinances of the Lord’s house were celebrated, and at eight o’clock in the evening I again spoke. The next morning at six o’clock the church quarterly meeting was held. The tract society was freed from debt, and a cash fund started for future orders. At the close of this meeting, I held a meeting with the native brethren, and we laid some plans for their work. The next day Brother John Venter took me in a cart thirty miles across the country to visit an isolated family of Sabbath-keepers. We reached the farm at noon, but were disappointed to find the house vacant. We drove to the next house, and learned there that our brother had but recently moved to another house on the same farm. As we had thirty miles farther to go, in order to reach another lonely family of Sabbath-keepers, we could not retrace our steps, but decided to visit this family on our return. We missed our way ten miles in the afternoon, where two roads seemed to go in about the same direction. This caused us ten miles’ extra traveling, and delayed us so that we outspanned within about a mile of our journey’s end, and spent the night with a prosperous Dutch farmer. He entertained us royally, and we slept that night on an old-fashioned feather bed. The next morning we went on our way, and were soon at the end of the forward journey. We traveled seventy miles the day previous, passing through fifty wire fence-gates, forty of which I opened and closed; others we found open, and left them so. We were disappointed on our arrival at Brother Kaster’s home to find him absent; but we had a good visit with his family, and arranged an appointment for a later meeting. The next morning we started on our return journey, staying the first night with the brother and his family whom we missed on the outward journey. We had traveled one hundred thirty miles by team to visit two lonely Sabbath-keeping families, but we felt well paid for the trip.