A Marriage and a Harvest Festival
A Christian wedding--Grateful offerings--Christianity a great boon to
the women--Reunion--Various meetings--Lady missionaries conduct
services--Auction sale of the gifts--Changed lives--Mikula instructs
a stranger in the way of salvation--Rules for candidates and for
Church fellowship.
A few days after Mikula’s return he was married to the young woman for
whom he had built the brick house. In honour of the occasion the church
was prettily decorated with flowers, long streamers of vine-like
branches and palm-fronds. A bower was made by arching some palm-fronds,
and beneath this were placed two chairs, tied together, symbolical of
the future state of those who were to sit upon them.
The town was all agog with the excitement of the event, every seat and
standing place was occupied, and the doors and windows were crowded with
black but smiling faces.
This was the first time that a deacon-teacher had been married in their
town, and as the bride-groom was much honoured by Christians and heathen
alike for his happy, kindly, obliging disposition and straightforward,
consistent life among them, they had come in large numbers to his
wedding.
The bride was arrayed in a clean muslin dress of a bright but pretty
pattern--the gift of her white lady teacher as a recognition of her
helpful work among the girls during her stay upon the station. The
bridegroom was dressed in a nice blue loin cloth and white jacket, the
latter being the work of one of his neighbours who was expert with the
needle.
A fellow deacon had come from a neighbouring town to perform the
ceremony. A marriage hymn was sung and was followed by two teachers
asking for God’s blessing on those about to be married; then the deacon
read a translation of the marriage service, during which the bride and
bridegroom took each other’s hand and solemnly pledged themselves to one
another until death. Another hymn and prayer, and the benediction
concluded the simple but impressive service.
No sooner did the newly wedded pair emerge from the church than they
were greeted with cheers, shouts and a salvo of guns. Their progress
home took the form of a triumphal procession, all the folk vying with
each other in their expressions of pleasure, their exclamations of
goodwill, and the guns banged with such tremendous reports of jubilation
that it was a wonder they did not burst their sides.
Mikula invited his friends to a great feast of pig and cassava-flour
puddings, washed down with copious draughts of water, tea and coffee.
There was no wine, no drunkenness, and no debauchery; but a happy
merry-making that left no bad “after palavers,” and no unpleasant
headaches.
About three or four months after the marriage the native Christians in
Mikula’s town and district were very busy in preparing their harvest
thanksgiving offerings. Many of the women had hoed extra patches of
peanuts and cassava gardens, the crops from which, when matured, they
sold on the markets, and the proceeds were given to Mikula for the
coming festival. Mats, baskets and saucepans were made and sold for the
same purpose. The men also put by a certain portion of their “trade,”
and devoted the result to the same object. Others laid aside pieces of
cloth, hats, umbrellas and various other articles to take with them as
their gifts.
Mikula carefully noted all the moneys he received, and everybody
concerned was looking forward with eager interest to the arrival of the
letter that would inform them of the date of the coming religious fête.
At last the messenger arrived, the day was proclaimed, and those members
of the Church and their friends (for everybody--Christian and
non-Christian--was welcome to this festival) prepared their baskets of
food, their offerings, their children and their clothes for the great
event. As they travelled up to the station they met other contingents
coming from various districts, near and far. They chatted about the
news, compared their gifts, and the teachers and deacons consulted and
talked over the progress of “God’s palaver” at the different centres of
work.
Oh! wonder of wonders; the men helped the women in carrying the babies
and the loads of food, etc. A kindly service they never rendered in the
old days, for then the men swaggered along unencumbered, left their
women to trudge after them as best they could with all the impedimenta
on their backs, heads and in their arms--poor beasts of burden.
This Christian religion had certainly wrought a great change for the
better in the condition of the women. Instead of being treated with
contempt as inferiors, they were respected as equals; instead of
receiving the leavings of the men, they now sat at the same table to eat
with them; instead of being regarded as mere chattels to be borrowed and
loaned, ill-treated, cursed and killed, they were cherished as wives;
and instead of being mere children-bearing, farm-making, food-cooking
animals, they were now the companions of their husbands and the sharers
of their sorrows and joys.
It was early on Saturday afternoon when we arrived on the station. There
across the entrance to the ground was a red banner with these letters in
white on it: “TUKAIYISI” (= Welcome); and that was not the only welcome
our party received. The white men and their wives greeted us very
heartily, and showed us houses, and loaned us mats for our use during
our stay. The women quickly gathered about their lady teachers, and
questions, kindly inquiries, and answers were the order of the day. My
owner, Mikula, recognized, greeted and conversed with many of the young
men who were lads at school with him in the old days.
What a happy reunion! How longingly anticipated, and how fully
appreciated! Faces were missed there that were now present in the cool
glades that border the River of Life; and some few were absent, because,
through heinous sin, they had been cut off from the Church, and were
ashamed to show themselves at this Christian festival of gladness and
thanksgiving.
One white man had decorated the church with palm-fronds, plantain-trees,
festoons of creepers, flowers and flags. The station had been thoroughly
swept, the flags streamed from the apex of the church to the ground.
Another white man was looking after the comfort of the numerous
visitors, allotting to them their sleeping-places, mats, and utensils
for fetching water and cooking food. A third was receiving the numerous
gifts, noting the names of the donors and districts, and arranging the
offerings in front and around the platform.
What a miscellaneous assortment of gifts was there! Heaps of pumpkin
seeds and peanuts; numerous bunches of plantains and bananas; a pile of
oranges; pieces of cloth of various colours and qualities; umbrellas,
eggs, glasses, fowls, rabbits, parcels of native tobacco, mats--plain
and ornamented, kwanga loaves of native bread, pumpkins, calabashes,
bundles of native greens, tomatoes, garden eggs, boxes of gun-caps, tins
of gunpowder, and bottles of kerosene. Those who could not give garden
produce or pieces of cloth presented mugs, plates, wash-hand basins,
saucepans of native make, and European enamel-ware; those who had come
too far to carry their offerings in kind, had sold them on the local
markets and brought the results of such sales in francs and brass rods.
Native tailors, who had made jackets, dresses and cloths ready for
wearing, presented them as their share.
[Illustration: A CHRISTIAN WEDDING.]
[Illustration:
_Photo_] CHURCH COLLECTION AT WATHEN. [_Rev. J. H. Weeks_
The Collection consists of:--Tin of gunpowder, calabash of gunpowder,
bottle of
kerosene, eggs, matches, gun caps, a plate, umbrella, mat,
cloth, francs, brass rods--in all worth about £3.
]
Nothing came amiss, no gift was too small and no article too mean to
find its place among those free-will expressions of a people’s gratitude
to God--for the poor gave to the point of self-sacrifice, and the
comparatively rich gave in proportion to their wealth.
All through Saturday and Sunday every band of new arrivals gave in their
offerings. Some had carried their heavy gifts--weighing from thirty to
forty pounds--over hills, streams and swamps for three and four hours,
and came up smilingly to unload themselves; and with shy, apologetic
words they expressed themselves as sorry that the loads were not
heavier, but that was all they had to bring.
Sunday with its various services passed all too quickly for those who
had come such long distances to attend them. The early morning
prayer-meeting was well supported. A native deacon conducted it, and
very earnest were the prayers for a blessing on the missionary work that
was so zealously maintained in all the districts, nor were other
stations and missions forgotten before the throne of grace.
It was pathetic to hear their pleadings on behalf of relatives and
friends still in the darkness of heathenism; and surely the heart of God
has been very deeply moved by such prayers, for not a year passes
without scores of conversions and additions to the Church.
The afternoon service was crowded, and although the building seated over
seven hundred every place was occupied and the doors and windows were
filled with eager listeners as a slim man of medium height, who had
laboured among them for nearly fifteen years, preached freely and
fluently on their privileges and duties as Christian men and women. In
the evening a deacon-preacher took the service, and very eloquently did
he enforce the lessons given in the afternoon that as redeemed men and
women, ransomed by the precious blood of Christ, heirs of God’s eternal
glory, it should be their gladsome duty to pass on the blessings they
had received to those who were still ignorant of Christ’s salvation.
I ought not to forget the morning service that was conducted by a white
lady--the wife of one of the missionaries, a woman of large experience
in the work, of wide sympathies, and, from what I could hear among the
natives, a woman much beloved by them all for her unstinted labours.
“Why does a white woman take a service every Sunday?” I once heard asked
by a native in whose mental bank there were more sneers than kindly
thoughts.
“Well,” replied a teacher who was sitting by, “the white men practise
what they preach. They tell us to respect and reverence our wives, so
they respect and reverence theirs; they teach us to treat our wives as
equals, so they treat theirs as equals, hence they have arranged for a
white woman to take one of the two principal services every Sunday. We
have therefore always an example of what they inculcate that when God
made woman He took a portion, not from the head of man to show that she
should be over man, nor from the feet of man to show that she should be
under man; but from the middle to teach that she should be equal to
man--from near the heart to show that she should have his affection, and
from under his arm to show she should have his protection. My white man
told me that that was written by one of their famous teachers long ago.
They would have that to be the keynote of our treatment of women as it
is of theirs.”
Immediately after the service on Monday morning one of the white men
mounted a table and began to sell the various gifts by auction to the
highest bidders. The natives, both males and females, entered most
heartily into the contest. The auctioneer knew the value of the
different articles and was careful to let nothing go under price.
The bids were in brass rods, and the rivalry for possession of the
different articles was very keen. Jokes were cracked, repartees were
exchanged, innocent pleasantries were indulged in, and amid much
laughter one lot after another was knocked down to the successful
bidders. It was a vivacious scene composed of both sexes of all ages,
dressed in variegated colours, topped by smiling, black faces, and
white, gleaming teeth.
The white men took it in turns to act as auctioneers, and at the close
of the sale it was found that the total sum received for the local
missionary work, _i. e._ for the support of native teachers, amounted to
82,095 brass rods (= £34 3_s._ 6_d._). Everybody was pleased, and that
night they sung most heartily, “Praise God, from whom all blessings
flow.” And thus ended the _matondo_, or harvest thanksgiving festival.
Soon after the final service the natives were bidding each other
“good-bye,” and on the road again, with their faces turned homeward. How
safe the roads are compared with the bad, old days! Then natives went
armed with guns and other weapons of defence, now they travel with
nothing but their hymn-books and New Testaments for days without fear of
molestation; woe then to the individual who left his party, for he (or
she) was pounced upon by thievish rascals, and was never heard of again;
then men and women, boys and girls were captured on the slightest
pretext, and even for penny and two-penny debts, and were sold to end
their days in distant, cruel and unremitting toil as slaves; now boys
and girls take long journeys in unmolested safety. The Gospel has taught
the people that God cares for them, hence they are caring more for each
other; that He loves them, and thus they are coming to love one another.
How selfish they used to be! How they grabbed at everything that came in
their way, and held fast to every article they could put their fingers
upon! How generously they now gave out of their comparative poverty,
that the message of God that had transformed their lives, given them
peace now, and hope for the great hereafter, might be proclaimed to
others, that they also might share the same peace and possess the same
buoyant, eternal hope. Then their _neighbours_ were their own kith and
kin only--members of their own families, and they did not hesitate to
cheat, oppress, enslave or kill any one outside the family to benefit
themselves; now they have discovered that their _neighbours_ are the
members of all families, clans and tribes under the sun, and with all
the energy of their renewed natures they are trying to put into daily
practice the golden rule: Do unto others as you would that they should
do unto you. Then they stole, lied, swindled and broke every law of man
and God that they might die wealthy and have a grand funeral that should
be the talk of the countryside; now they walk many a weary mile, cross
many a difficult stream, wade many a nasty swamp, to preach the news of
God’s great salvation, and give generously of their substance to support
teachers. How marvellous are the workings of God’s grace in the hearts
of whilom savages!
Mikula, my owner, and his party arrived home all the stronger in their
Christian faith for the service they had attended; and more determined,
by consecrated lives, by kindly actions, and by trying to live the life
of Jesus Christ in word and daily deed, to win their heathen neighbours
to the better life. At the station they had heard that there were more
than fifteen hundred members belonging to their beloved Wathen Church.
Fifteen hundred! a large number indeed! They would have sung the
Hallelujah Chorus if they had known it. Yet how few fifteen hundred
seemed among the thousands upon thousands in these large districts still
outside the Church.
There was, however, a growing Christian sentiment, and a better-informed
conscience manifesting themselves through the whole district, even among
the heathen; and these are resulting in a keener perception of right and
wrong. These are assets that should be placed to the credit of the
Church, and promise well for its numerical and spiritual prosperity in
the near future.
Had there been any laxity in receiving candidates into the Church the
numbers could have easily been quadrupled; but the greatest care was
exercised, and the strictest investigations made over every application
for Church membership. It was quite possible to impose upon the white
teachers, who could not possibly live in a hundred villages and towns at
once; but the candidate could not deceive his Christian neighbours who
are jealous of the honour of the Church, and who recognize that a pure
Church of true men and women means a strong and an aggressive Church;
whereas a membership of hypocrites would bring upon them the
contemptuous scorn of their heathen neighbours, and would result in a
weak, emasculated, stagnant Church worthy only of ridicule and
extinction.
The natives live open lives in their villages, making their fires in the
streets, cooking their food and eating it in the open, talking, working
and living such unsecluded lives that in a village everybody knows
everything about everybody else and a little more besides--there is no
hiding any fact of life from one another, hence when the name of a
candidate for Church fellowship is submitted there are sure to be
present some who know the life the candidate is living in his or her
town.
One evening, when my owner, Mikula, and his wife were sitting at their
fire, a stranger from a distant village greeted them, and told the
deacon that he had come to converse with him about “God’s palaver.”
Continuing, he said: “I have heard the evangelists preach in the
different villages I have been visiting, about the Saviour Jesus Christ;
and I have listened to the white men more than once, and my heart is
standing up with fear, because I have sinned greatly against God and
broken all His commandments. When I think of my many sins and that God
will surely punish me for them, I cannot sleep at night. Tell me more
about Jesus, the Saviour.” And a look of intense longing came into the
eyes of the inquirer.
Mikula unfolded to him clearly and fully God’s way of salvation. He read
passage after passage from the New Testament to enforce every statement
he made; and Mikula’s wife aided him by holding a candle in one hand and
shading it with the other that the light might fall on the sacred page,
and occasionally she recalled to her husband’s mind such scriptures as
would help their visitor.
Long into the night they sat conversing, fire after fire along the
street died down, and they had heard the good-night greetings of “sleep
well” as their neighbours retired to rest; but they had again and again
replenished their own fire, and had continued their earnest talk on the
greatest of all themes--the way of salvation to a sin-stricken soul. At
last their visitor said: “I see it--Christ died for me, the just for the
unjust, the good one for the bad one, the Son of God in place of me--the
sinner.” And there around the fire the three bowed their heads while
Mikula lifted up his heart in prayer and praise.
The next evening the visitor again took his seat at Mikula’s fire, and
after the usual greetings had been exchanged, said: “I want to join with
you Christians and become a member of the Church. Can I join at once?”
“No,” replied Mikula, “you cannot. You must go back to your village, and
live a Christian life there for many months, and prove by your words and
actions that you are truly sorry for your former bad life, and are now a
follower of Jesus Christ. You must be a total abstainer, and by this you
will avoid the many temptations to drunkenness. If you like you can now
enroll yourself as a member of the Blue Cross Temperance Society.”
“Very well, I will do so now,” assented the visitor. “It will be hard to
give up palm-wine, gin and other drinks, especially at funerals,
marriages and on the markets.”
“Yes, I know it will,” replied Mikula, as he went for the pledge book;
“but there are more than two thousand members of this Temperance
Society, and God will help you to live a sober life.” The visitor put
his mark against his name in the pledge book, and I heard that his name
was Tutula.
“The next thing that you must renounce is dancing,” continued my owner.
"You know our dances lead to adultery, and from that to rows, fights and
murder. Therefore it is a rule of the Church that its members should not
take part in any of the country dances.
“Then again, you must not call in witch-doctors, nor may you employ them
for any purpose whatever. Witchcraft and Christianity cannot mix
together any more than you can mix palm-oil and water. And you must
throw away or destroy all your fetishes and charms--a Christian man
should trust in God, and not in the paltry, stupid messes prepared by
witch-doctors.”
“Yes,” said Tutula, “I can understand that the temptations to a man or
woman engaging in our country dances is very great; and to practise
witchcraft and use fetishes and charms would dishonour God. When I
return home I will destroy my fetishes.” And as he spoke he took from
his neck and wrists some charms and handed them over to his new friend
and teacher, who dropped them into the fire that was blazing between
them.
“How many wives have you?” asked Mikula.
“I have seven,” replied Tutula, “two of them are old, three of them are
young women, and two of them mere girls.”
“Perhaps you have heard,” said Mikula, “that the members of the Church
have given up the practice of marrying many wives, and those who are
married have been wedded to one wife only by holy matrimony. This is the
law of God.” And he opened his New Testament and read the various places
where this law is clearly stated.
“Yes, I know that is the practice of your Christians,” replied Tutula,
"and it will cost me a great amount of money to follow it, for, being a
man of importance in my district, I have had the pick of the females,
and have given large sums in ‘marriage money’ for the women I have
borrowed.[67] Cannot I retain three or four of them?"
Footnote 67:
See note 54, p. 358.
“No,” answered Mikula, “we deacons and Church members have studied this
point very carefully, and the words of Christ are very strong and
definite on the subject. Is it not better to go to heaven having only
one wife, than to be cast into hell with many women?
“There is one other matter,” continued Mikula, “and I have done: As a
Christian man who has received pardon for your many sins and a hope of
eternal life through Jesus Christ, you should pass these blessings on to
others by giving freely according to your means, and regularly, for the
support of native teachers to proclaim the love of God in Christ Jesus.
I am a teacher, but I do my work as such without any pay, because I am
living in my own town; but there are teachers who are working in towns
and among peoples not their own, and they must be supported, and what
they receive is very little.”
“I thank God in Jesus Christ for all that He has done for me!” fervently
exclaimed Tutula. “And listen! if you will find a good teacher I will
give him a house to live in, and pay half the cost of his support, for I
want the people in my village and neighbourhood to know of God’s love
and pardon.”
In due time a teacher was selected and sent to Tutula’s villages, and he
taught Tutula, among others, to read God’s word for himself. Some months
afterwards I was present with Mikula when Tutula and many of his
neighbours were baptized and received into the Church; counting wine,
women, witchcraft palavers, and native dances as mere dross that they
might win Christ and be found in union with Him.