The heathen seldom express a longing for the gospel as clearly as in
the following petition to the missionaries of the Swedish Missionary
Society in the Kongo State from a number of black heathen chiefs in
1887. They said:
We, Makayi, Nsinki, Kibundu, and Mukayi Makuta Ntoko, chiefs in
Kibunzi, and our people, desire that the missionaries of the
Swedish Missionary Society come and make their home with us, and
teach us and our people. We gladly give them the right to erect
their buildings upon the high hill southeast from the village
of Kibunzi in any convenient spot. We transfer to them all our
claims to that hill. Of course, they have the right to use the
forests, the rivers, the roads, and the fields for plantations
within our boundaries in the same manner as ourselves. We have
invited them to come, and we are glad to see them with us, and
our one desire is that they remain with us and erect buildings.
(1373)