OPEN DOORS IN AFRICA

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, Cal. · Jun 21, 1905

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 31, No. 25.

OPEN DOORS IN AFRICA.

THE hearty welcome given to missionaries by the natives of Africa, and their willingness to be taught Gospel truth is well shown in the following communication of Miss Maude Cretors to one of our exchanges:

There is a great need of more Spirit-filled workers in South Africa. My heart has been greatly burdened of late, as I look out over the fields, and see many thousands of souls who know nothing of Jesus. There are a number of missionaries along the coast, but many, I fear, who have not been saved themselves, and as the heathen can not see Jesus in their lives, it makes them harder to reach, than if they had never heard the Gospel.

We enjoy kraal (village) visiting very much. The native huts are built of wattle and daub covered with grass; being round they look much like hay stacks outside. The only opening is a small door about three feet high from the ground. They build a fire inside the hut to do their cooking. The only place open for the smoke to escape is through the door. A few weeks ago three of us with some native helpers went kraal visiting, walking twenty miles from Beulah Mission. We lived among the natives, sleeping on native mats, eating their food. They were very kind to us; quite a number sought the Lord. We could not retire early at night, as they would bring us our supper about nine o'clock, then they would gather inside the hut and watch us eat. Besides a crowd of natives, there were a number of goats and chickens, sometimes a calf, and half-starved cats watching us. We had no table, but a mat on the ground floor, so we had to watch the cats, or they would run over the food. It was wonderful the grace and good appetite that God gave us on this trip. O, how He blessed our souls, as we told them about Jesus. Altho our beds were the ground, yet we never rested sweeter in our lives. Praise God. When we left, quite a number followed us for several miles carrying our bundles for us. O, it is so blessed to pour out our love and lives for these heathen for whom Jesus died. It pays now, and we know it will pay in eternity.