Educating the African Natives
By Will H. Hurlow
WE are glad to report steady advancement in the Nyasaland field. There are more calls coming in for schools than we can supply. Our teachers are full of courage, faithful, and eager in their work. Our schools are full, many having to be supplied with assistant teachers. The Bible classes are well attended, the register showing a regularity of attendance which indicates a real desire on the part of the members to learn of Jesus. IN TOUCH WITH NATIVE LIFE
My trips to the out-schools have been of great interest and educational value to me, as they brought me into close touch with life in the native villages. I have been surprised to see the progress of the children under native teachers, especially in memorizing the Bible. Little, half-naked boys and girls learn a verse each morning, and they were able to repeat all they had learned for a month, giving chapter and verse. But the necessity of white supervision is very apparent. In one village, our native teacher had adopted radical means to secure attendance at his Sabbath meetings. As the people persisted in working in their gardens on the Sabbath, he went around the village on Friday evening and quietly took away all their hoes. So, not being able to work, they attended service. Of course I was soon able to show him the inconsistency of such compulsory Sabbath keeping. Last month, nineteen of our students were baptized, several hundred natives, among whom were some teachers from a neighboring mission, witnessing the scene. A number of candidates are now ready, and there will be another baptism in a few weeks. A keener desire to be faithful to the Lord's requirements is seen in the church members, the present-day events impressing them that time is short; and they are eager to go out to warn their own villages. All together, we feel that our labors are bearing fruit.