MATABELE MISSION — ITS LOSSES AND ITS NEEDS.
By W. H. Anderson
From Mission Board Correspondence. AGAIN we are called to mourn the loss of the superintendent of this field. Elder F. L. Mead died in Kimberley, October 7. He was on his way to Cape Town to attend the council there. We are not yet informed as to the cause. When he left us, he was unusually well. Why he should be taken away at this time we know not. We can only say, “Thy will be done.” Our mission has lost an efficient superintendent. The cause has lost a devoted worker, and we here have lost one who has been a father to us. You all know what his work has been in the home land. I need not mention it. When he came here, this mission was having dark experiences. He put his whole soul and strength into the work, and succeeded in getting things started on a good basis. He staggered under the heavy burden, and had to go to Cape Town twice to regain his strength. As our work was rapidly expanding, and success attending our efforts, he rose above the heavy burdens that had been so wearing. He also divided the work so that it was being carried on harmoniously. That you may know some of the things he had in mind to present at the council, I will send you the last letter he ever wrote. It was written on the train the day before he was taken sick:— “ON TRAIN, Sept. 27, 1901. “DEAR BROTHER ANDERSON: We are going on very slow. Lay in Mafeking last night and Machudie night before last. Expect to stay in Vryberg to-night [at this place he was taken sick] and Kimberley to-morrow night. “When in Bulawayo, I called on Mr. Taylor [he is the native commissioner]. He gave his full consent for opening a school at Wankies, and a letter to take to the native commissioner who is to be stationed there next month. I see no other way but that you will have to go as far as Wankies with the boys the first of January, and remain with them a week or two. [I made a trip through this country in July and August. I went to the Zambesia and crossed it at Victoria Falls. This Chief Wankie expressed a desire for a school at his kraal, and sent two boys down with me to our school here. It is because of this that we plan to send two of our native teachers there the first of January.] “A gentleman with whom I am traveling has just returned from the Kafui River, north of the Zambesia. He says that the country beyond the Kafui is the finest in all Rhodesia. Many people live on the river. We ought to be up there establishing a main station at once. Then we should be pushing up toward Tanganyika and Nyassa.” From this you can see what Elder Mead had in mind802to present at the council. Seven years ago King Khama invited our brethren to establish a mission in his country. Seven years is a long time to wait. What answer can we give to God for our neglect? Our present situation is this: We have conducted three schools in native kraals this year, with an attendance of about seventy-five in all. The work has been very successful, and we have calls for three additional schools to be opened the first of January. At present I do not see how we can open but one, the one on the Zambesia. We have not a sufficient number of teachers trained to meet the demands. We have divided our work for the present as follows: Walter Mead will take the shop, and buy the shop goods and our provisions in town. Sister Mead will continue to act as treasurer and bookkeeper. Brother Riley, a colored brother from the colony, will do the building, and direct the boys in the farm work. Mrs. Anderson and myself will give our entire time and attention to the school. This is the best we can do at present. Our present need in this field is a superintendent, and two men with their wives, who can teach school. We can at present only go on with the plans Elder Mead had in mind. Briefly stated, they are these: Two men with their wives at the home station, conducting a training school for Christian workers who can go out into the kraals and teach the gospel. The superintendent should be free to explore the country, find openings for new stations, labor for the white population with whom he comes in contact, and work along such general lines. I do not think we have asked much. So please give all we ask. These workers should arrive here not later than April 1 of next year. W. H. ANDERSON. Mission Farm, Bulawayo, Oct. 17, 1901.