Matandani Mission, Nyasaland
By S. M. Konigmacher
YESTERDAY I returned from a trip among my farthest outlying village schools. These schools are located near the Portuguese line, and are surrounded by Catholic schools. Usually I take some lantern slides with me, but this time I was unable to do so, as the slide carrier was broken on the last trip, and I had no tools with which to fix it. At this season of the year it is rather uncomfortable in the bush, as it grows very cold at night, and there is a certain kind of grass that has a seed which is as sharp as a needle. If these seeds work their way through the clothing, I can assure you one feels the points. We got some of the natives to hoe out the paths near the mission. In many places the village people have hoed paths from one village to another, and the unfortunate native who has not paid his taxes has to work it out hoeing on government roads or working in other ways. So in some places we find fairly decent paths, but the forerunner of the gospel finds all kinds of paths and streams to follow and ford. It usually takes five days to visit these four schools and return. So I had my lunch box packed, my bed and blankets tied up, and some food brought to take for the boys. It is usually best to take some flour for the boys, as it may be that after a hard day's trek we get to a village and can find none, and the time is past for pounding it out in the hollowed trees used for the purpose. By steadily pushing forward we reached the Wamkuru Madzi (the Big Water) late in the afternoon. After the boys had a bath, we pushed on again and arrived at the first school about sundown. Many of the natives were away at work to earn money to pay the taxes, so only a few came to the school the next morning. It being a hard trip to the next school, we broke camp early, and I sent the boys on ahead with the loads while I stayed a little longer with the school. On climbing the mountain, we passed through a beautiful gorge, then through a fine planting district, and on into a lovely grove of large bamboos at the foot of another ridge of mountains. When we came to the large shed of Mr. Buist, the boys came out to greet me. This is the planter who kindly granted my boys permission to work and keep the Sabbath. Many of the boys were our schoolboys. They were eager to receive the tracts printed in their own language. I had two with me, "The Second Coming of Christ" and "Who Changed the Sabbath?" As I passed by their improvised huts, the women also came out, some to beg medicine for their wounds, and some to get tracts. In climbing the mountain, we found at one place a rock in the path as large as a house. It took some engineering to get around it. We arrived at Akonkoma as the sun was going down, and found the school still in session. It is a fine school. Even the older women were reading the Gospels. They come to school with their children in their arms. The next morning at dawn, I, with my boy Yefeti, went over the mountains to see the other schools, leaving the carriers to rest till our return. At Tambani I called the chief and all the people to the compound, and tried to get them to rebuild the school and come more regularly to it. Then at the second school I left a young man in charge, as the other teacher was transferred because he had taken a wife in that district. A prophet, you know, is without honor in his own country, and a native teacher has no honor in his own village. He is subject to the wishes of his mother-in-law to a very great extent. On our way down the mountain, I slept in a small village where they begged me to establish a school; but I could not promise definitely, as there were only about fourteen who would come, and our operating expenses are already about as large as we can carry. Farther on I passed through one of my villages and found the people dancing. I asked them why the children did not go to school. They said, "It is too far; we want a school in our village." I told them that if they had the strength to dance, they could go to the school where it was. As we came to a village near by, I asked the people if they were my people or if they belonged to the Catholics. I was more than pleased to hear them say "Anu" (yours). I had the head man call them all together, and we had worship in the courtyard as the sun was sinking in the west. Taking our leave of these people, we pushed on in the night. The boys got lost, and after a hard walk we found a place to sleep in a village under the Catholic mission control. When my cot was prepared, the natives came in to visit with me. They knew me, but I did not know them. Afterward they told the boy that they wished they had our school. Bright and early the next morning I visited the school near Neno, and then rode on to the government station, where I received a little mail. As we passed by one of my traps, we could see that22that a leopard had been dancing around on the top of it and had stolen the fowl, but we did not get the leopard. As we neared the mission, the children raised a cry, "The donkey! the donkey!" and came running to the stream to get a ride to the house. Sometimes, four climb on, three black ones and one white one. We can feel the protecting hand of God on these hard treks, in bringing us back safely, and in protecting the dear ones while I am away on my Father's business. Moses has gone on a trip through Portuguese territory near here, to preach and scatter literature among the boys on this side of the border who have learned to read. Pray for us and our people.