Barotseland by W. H. ANDERSON

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Oct 30, 1907

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 33, No. 44.

Barotseland.

By W. H. ANDERSON

OUR work here has been among the Batokas more than among the Barotses. If their great need is what appeals to us as Christians, then we ought to do much for them. To us, home and mother mean a little of heaven on earth. They have no home and are early sent away by their parents to be cared for by strangers. They live in miserable huts, shared with calves, sheep, goats, and fowls. They sleep on a mat of reeds fastened to four posts, with a fire beneath in the cold season. Few have blankets. They do not use the skins of animals for a covering. Many dispense with clothing altogether, night and day. They are lazy and improvident. In times of famine they starve with stoical indifference. When there is an abundance, they eat to gluttony. They plant little, depending on game and herds for food. They are licentious in the extreme. Without God or hope, they are perfectly satisfied. And this is the condition of many in the Dark Continent.

To introduce habits of industry, to teach morality, and to let the glorious Gospel of Christ shine into these darkened hearts is the task before the missionary. He must bring discipline to bear on those who have always followed their own impulses. He must teach temperance to gluttons and drunkards. Truth must be told by lips that have always been taught to lie. God must be made known to a people who are so ignorant of Him that they have no word to express the idea.

Who will do this? Do we love our brother as Christ has loved us? Will we do for him what Christ has done for us? We need money to erect church and school buildings. We need men to penetrate farther into the interior to establish memorials for God. We need the outpouring of the Spirit of God as on the day of Pentecost to finish the work in this generation. Who will lend a helping hand?

W. H. ANDERSON.