Reconstruction In West Africa A GATHERING TOGETHER OF THE Reports of the West Africa Mission FROM May 1, 1916 — April 30, 1917 Revised September, 1917 Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the L). S. A. 156 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK CITY At a Conference between Prot- estant Mission Boards at work in Kamerun, W. Africa, July, 1914, the following agreement as to division of territory was agreed upon: 1. The Presbyterian Mission to occupy the territory outlined in its report, includ- ing the Yebekole work, and the Abong- mbang Road so as to connect with Lomie. 2. The Gossner Mission to take the field south of the Sanaga River, with the excep- tion of the Yebekole work and the Nyong strip of our work beyond Yebekole to Abongmbang. Their beginning will be at Semini and to go east and include Bertuga. 3. The Baptist Mission will hold to the field now occupied at the Coast and toward the northeast, also the field around Ngila, north of Yuande, also a strip from Nyanv tang, and the work near it to Ngila (Ndumba), so as to keep their communica- tion open and provide for occupation of the territory lying in between. 4. The Basle Mission will expand pri- marily toward the north and northeast, and also plan advance toward Yetong with a view to future occupation. It was also agreed that, at present, work at Yuande itself is not feasible or possible, but that each mission advance toward it as rapidly as possible. This agreement was made just a few weeks before the outbreak of the European War. Now, after three years of war, the Mission of the Pres- byterian Church is the only one at work in this territory and the mis- sionaries are caring not only for their own work, but the work of the Goss- ner, Basle and German Baptists as far as the men and means will allow. See Addendum— p. 13. BENITO Benito, during the two years of the War before the occupation of the Cameroun dis- trict by the French, was the medium through which came the necessities of food for the Interior stations, and sometimes the mail was also sent, but not often. For the past seven or eight months, owing to War regulations, intercourse with the interior has been cut off. But the missionaries have found open doors in other directions, as will be seen by the following from one of the force at this station in Spanish Guinea: “For years we at Benito have been try- ing to establish a work among the Fan on the Benito river. Nothing permanent had been accomplished until August of last year when I undertook with the aid of the theo- logical class which was at that time at Benito to do a follow-up work in three centers, each center about three hours’ walk from here. The closing of communication between the two colonies in December, 1916, kept part of the theological class here and one of these young men who has a good command of the tongue has been working altogether among the Fan. The work has been extended till it includes over six cen- ters now, with some towns of Mabeya also. Hardly a week goes by without some one in these towns confessing Christ. We have now 30 members in the catechumen class from seven villages. 1 “About a month ago I was accorded safe conduct by a chief who lives about six miles away and who has recently confessed Chi'ist and so I went with him. We walked fi'om daylight until six P. M., and l'eached a town of about 350 people. As fi'iendships are established here, the woi'k can be cai- l'ied on farther into the intei’ior. Indeed, just a few days ago I had a delegation from the interior, three days away, wanting me to go with them because the chief had heard me preach at Akutenam.” Mustered into the Army BATANGA The work at Batanga station has been sadly crippled by the War and was entirely broken up for more than a year. Our people were scattered, some at the Concentration Camps near Fulasi, and some in Spanish Guinea or in Refugee Camps on the Campo, but the greater number on the various plantations near Victoria. Their personal effects were confiscated wherever found. Many of their villages were looted, and some partially or even wholly destroyed. Many gardens were ruined and the long neglect resulted in serious damage to houses and gardens even where they had not been molested. Many were killed and hundreds died of starvation and disease. It has been estimated that the entire number of Mabeya has been reduced one-third. Some escaped to the Bush and lived like hunted animals for months before they were able to reach safety on the Spanish border. One of the Bible readers was thus in hiding for four months. His wife became separated from him and was not found until two months later, soon after which she died. Fifty-one persons of Makawomi, a prosper- ous village near Kribi and our best centre among the Mabeya, died during the War. The death roll of the Kribi church numbers 40, probably, and that of Batanga church is equally large though the exact figures are not available. More than 200 fresh graves were filled in Kribi while the refugees were there during December-February, 1914-15. Food was entirely inadequate and the people suffered terribly. Those who survived were pitiably gaunt and emaciated. Once safely out of the reach of hostilities our people fared much better, especially those who went to Victoria, though even there they suffered from the cold, the tem- perature falling lower there than here (Batanga) and there were numerous deaths. 3 There was no scarcity of food at the plan- tation, however. As soon as the War in Kamerun was practically at an end, the occupation of Batanga station was authorized by the Commander of the Allied Forces, and the natives were allowed to return to their villages though the lack of transportation facilities made the return of those at Vic- toria a slow process extending over a period of more than three months. During the interval between the change of governments, the people from the villages not far from the coast came down to Kribi and Batanga for loot. Our houses were pretty thoroughly stripped. Valuable mat- tresses were destroyed to obtain the few yards of cloth covering them. The timely arrival of one of the missionaries checked them before they had quite finished their work and he succeeded in recovering a great deal of the stolen goods, but the losses were serious. When the missionaries finally returned to the station, February, 1916, they found the grounds were badly overgrown and a number of the buildings sadly in need of repair. The work of rehabilitation is a task of such magnitude that even yet a great deal remains to be done, though the work of clearing up has been pushed as rapidly as the difficulty of obtaining work- men and of feeding them would permit, be- cause of the danger of an epidemic of dysentery. When the Germans left the Kameruns they took a large number of native carriers. These returned via Campo, and about 30,000 crossed the river, most of them passing through our station grounds en route to their homes. No estimate was made of the hundreds of those who died along the road, chiefly of starvation, but very many from dysentery. The needs of these thousands as well as the needs of many of the Batanga people who returned to their homes ill, fur- 4 nished exceptionally large opportunities for medical work. Nearly all the medicines, however, had been commandeered or other- wise removed, but a small supply of neces- saries was gathered together from various sources. Addendum. THE NEW LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS A missionary writes: On the French Government expressing a desire recently that the French language should begin to be taught at once, a small class of nineteen former school teachers was organized, representatives of our dif- ferent stations, and the work of instructing them in French was begun at Batanga the latter part of last year. That class has now broadened out into a class of 228 pupils and is being carried on at this station, five miles from Batanga on the sea coast. One hundred and forty-four of these young men are picked representatives from our different stations who have formerly been teachers and whom we expect to again re- sume that occupation, while 84 are boys and young men from the vicinity of this station who are graduates either of our Bulu or our German schools. They are to be the vanguard of the French speaking force in our Mission. In addition to these 228 young men who are studying French we have a vernacular school of some 253 boys and young men and a flourishing girls’ school with some 105 girls and young women. Then there is a class of eight Local Evangelists here who are receiving special instruction for three months at the request of Presbytery. In addition to these we had 20 village schools scattered throughout the large district that this station is responsible for, and these had an attendance of 1336 pupils. All this means that there are close to 600 persons of both sexes and all ages who are at present studying, and some 1300 in the village schools. I am not sure that we reached such numbers even when peace pre- vailed. The offerings of the three churches at the station and two outposts amounted to ‘$1622 and came from the deep poverty of the peo- ple, for the working man’s wage is but the equivalent of six cents a day. Then there have been 1000 confessions of Christ in seven months’ time, which would surely in- dicate that, although these people are now without their regular shepherds, yet the Great Shepherd of the sheep has not for- gotten them in their time of need. In my twenty-one years’ experience in this mis- sion, I have never seen greater poverty on the part of the people than there is at present. The freedom from the ordinary aims and ambitions of their lives seems to have left them free to think upon spiritual truths and their meditation has resulted in action. EFULEN Efulen station was closed from September 26, 1915-February 1, 1916, and none of the members who were here previous to that time are here now so this report will be a mere sketch of conditions and the gathering up of loose ends. — (Mrs. Weber.) The station and grounds were very well cared for by the temporary occupants, dur- ing the period of requisition. The only serious loss was in the Medical Department as a dog locked in the dispensary was for- gotten and in its fury destroyed the larger amount of medicines left there, by knocking the bottles to the cement floor, gnawing at the window frames and chewing up the medical books. He should be a well in- formed pup if he digested all of the informa- tion he chewed. It took some weeks to get in running order again. There has been no lack of patients, but they could not all be cared for because of the lack of supplies and instruments. The hospital beds which had been carried away and burned, have been replaced by others. The work of the Church has necessarily been interrupted. Many of the Bible readers were called in when the Mission was ordered to leave the station in September. No communion service was held from July, 1915, until January, 1916. While many of the Christians fell because of the tempta- I tions of the time, the marvel is that more of them did not fall when we consider that the missionaries were taken away from them for such a long and trying time. The licentiates in charge of the Zingi and t Alum churches met the responsibility thrust upon them with courage and wisdom realiz- ing as never before their dependence upon God. Several of the other Bible readers stood firm and did a noble work in caring for the flocks under their charge. One of the Bible readers was shot and killed by soldiers. There are now three young men studying for the ministry and ten others from the three churches have expressed a desire to study, some of whom have been accepted by the Presbytery. The school work has been unsettled, partly because of the lack of school mate- rials. When the schools were again started and the boys found out that there was to be no English taught, a number of them from Efulen, towards the beach, refused to come to school. In spite of the spirit of lawlessness and the unfriendliness of those who have ever looked upon the Mission as the enemy of their plans and desires, the majority of the people are very glad to have the Mission at work again, and things are much more en- couraging than it was supposed would be possible after such a disturbing influence as war. Addendum. THE HARVEST AT EFULEN The later news from Efulen from Dr. Weber’s pen is most cheering: Our work goes gloriously forward. Mrs. Weber and I are alone at Efulen since the Evans left for home. The work is rather strenuous, but ten to fifteen grains of qui- nine per day keeps us up and doing. The medical work presses rather hard, not to mention the responsibility of the Church, with its details and preaching, and, too, the gathering of materials for a new church building, and a bunch of other things that might be mentioned. But I am happy be- yond all words to express my thankfulness that we have a work to do with our Lord. The rather new departure at Efulen of the people going out without pay and gath- ering in the harvest of souls which is so ripe is yielding a splendid fruitage. At Efulen alone in the last six weeks (letter written June 15, 1917) there have been 229 confes- sors, or at the rate of 38 per week. I am praying that the Mission as a whole will adopt this method of work. This is what has made Korea go to the front and, although our people have done it in a loose way, yet it should receive support of the Ministry as a whole. True, it creates work, but truer still it makes converts and reaches those really untouched heretofore. There is a spirit of work and zeal at Efulen that never has been there since the very early days when the Christians were doing this sort of thing, before the regularly paid evangelists came into being. Many a good man was ruined when the miserable pay system was put in. Others got greedy and wouldn’t work because they couldn’t draw some coin for it. Last Sunday (Letter writ- ten June 15, 1917) the Alum congregation pledged 3465 days’ work to the Lord. Efulen’s pledge is 5995 days. That means Souls. SO MANY SICK We are the most important people on the hill, being the only white contingent. The sick people have spread out all over the hill, there are so many of them. The women from Elat are occupying the Girls’ dormitory, where we have had no girls for several terms. The married people’s town is full and not only the new hospital but the old one as well, which is a disgrace even to an uncivilized land. I feel so sorry 9 for the poor Ntum women who are in it. The patients are stacked and packed, and another long building must be erected to accommodate the poor creatures. I don’t know where the money for the last budding is coming from, but that is the Lord’s busi- ness, for I don’t believe He would turn them away and I don’t see how I can. Just tonight as I had finished a meeting with about thirty personal workers, a woman too awful to describe was “passed” up and laid at the dispensary door. She was started from her town more than sev- enty miles away, the women of one town carrying her to the next and putting her down in the street of that town, then the women there taking her up and carrying her to the next, and so on, until the women from the last town at the foot of Efulen Hill deposited the “unwelcome, unfortunate, helpless sick thing” on us. It was not a question of there being no place in the inn, there wasn’t even a bed for her, for every one had already from two to five on it; so I just cleaned a place between two beds in the fireplace and put her there. The absolutely only attractive thing about this awful mass of corruption is that there resides a precious soul for whom our Savi- our died. Of course, we took her in. Wouldn’t you? You will rejoice with us that eighty-four per cent, of the non-Christian patients ac- cepted Christ as their Saviour before leav- ing for their home towns. Money could not induce me to deal with some of these inde- scribable cases that come here, but we do it for Him and to win them to Him, and I wouldn’t change places with any one in this world. 10 LOLODORF In spite of the low-hanging war-clouds, MAC LEAN Station (LOLODORF) has closed one of the best years in its history in point of increase in attendance, accessions and offerings. Not a single item of last year’s report but what has been surpassed this year and that in a time when the con- trary might have been expected. During the dark days of the latter part of the War in this Colony, men’s minds and hearts were turned towards the Gospel as never before, and although with the reopening of commerce and intercourse some will again be drawn away, the time of heart-searching • will not be entirely forgotten and some will have made pledges from which they will not retract, though external conditions may materially change. Ten evangelistic points have been con- tinuously occupied for the entire year with the exception of three which closed down for a month during the change of Government. The average attendance at the station church was 668 as against 577 of the year before, and at the district preaching points the combined attendance for any Sunday was 1594 a gain of 269. An average of 1644 on communion Sundays for the station church was a gain of 240 over the previous year; while the high-water mark for com- munion attendance was in October, 1915, in the district of the Lolodorf church, when 2015 were present. Mongale church, the oldest child of the Lolodorf church has become a lusty youngster and reports an average attendance of 400, and the average of the five communion points including Mengale was 1438. Lam church with its 11 evangelistic points had a combined average Sunday attendance of 1609 and an average communion attend- ance of 1052. 11 For the three churches there has been a gain in average attendance of 1047 which means that over a thousand more people come every Sunday to hear the Word of God. The growth of contributions has been amazing and hard of explanation, though not confined to Mac Lean Station. It may be partially explained that there was no outlet for the purchase of anything, and so more was given for religious pur- poses, but this does not explain all. There seemed to be a sudden increase in the spirit of giving, regular contributors voluntarily increasing and doubling their pledges, and this without undue pressure. There was a time just at the close of 1915 when the six months’ collections were practically the same as those of 12 months previous to that period. The educational and medical work was carried on successfully in spite of the troubled condition of the country. The policy of Mac Lean Station is to cut a new garden every dry season and this has been followed even in the days when no one could say that we might not be moved in 24 hours. Mac Lean’s food gardens are justly famous and are self-supporting and more. They meet a real need as well. At present the 249 Bible readers with about 80 of their wives who are present, would find it almost impossible to gather at Mac Lean were it not that the great bulk of food comes from the Mission gardens, as food in the surrounding towns is of high price and not too plentiful. The Bible readers’ Class, the Girls' School, the workmen on the place, the hospital patients and other helpers are being fed, not far from 500 persons a day. Two-thirds to three-fourths of the food comes from the Mission gardens. 12 Addendum. THE BASLE MISSION AMONG THE MVELE When the Basle Mission was compelled on account of War conditions to leave their work in the Cameroun district of West Africa, it fell to the lot of one of the mis- sionaries of the Lolodorf Station to look after this work in the Mvele country where the Basle missionaries had been. He writes: The nearest town of that tribe is about 24 miles to the north of us, half of which distance is through a large forest without a single village to break the vastness of the solitude. The only ones we have been able so far to send are six school boy evan- gelists. Not having the oversight and help of a missionary, some of the members of the mission churches had lapsed, but were very glad to have the missionary help them to straighten up again. Out of 154 church members whom I examined, two-thirds of them were not in a condition to enter the church in good standing. Just before the Basle missionaries left the field they bap- tized many who had not been through the regular course of instruction and testing, which accounts for the large percentage mentioned above. Over 100 Basle confes- sors were re-written and some 300 were also written that had confessed since, the Pres- byterian evangelists began work there. Only such results could be so quickly ob- tained in a field where faithful sowing had been going on for years. The people of this tribe are not lazy. They have a great zeal in building houses of worship. In every place we visited there was a nice building erected, and an enthusi- astic body of Christians. The churches in this district are made of clay on a frame construction, and then painted on the out- 13 side with a coating of white clay, which makes a very neat appearing building. The seats made of split logs on posts were also nicely arranged. I wish our Christians at home could hear them sing — such volume and earnestness withal. I know of no other tribe that has so many native medicines and fetishes as the Mvele. When I was leaving I came to a town about noon and asked for the headman of the town, as I wished to get some food for my boys. Upon being told that a white man wished to see him, he went first and washed his hands in a weed that was supposed to make the white man friendly. My boys in their zeal pulled up his medicine and he came to me empty handed to complain about their act. I did speak somewhat crossly to the headman because he did not bring the required food and refused to hear anything about the boys until the food was delivered. He went back and got the food and was paid for the same. We parted friends. I have wondered if he still believes in his medicine. In many places along the way one can see well-built towns deserted because of the advice of some medicine man. They make “medicine” to find out when they are going to die, to know whether they should go on a journey when they wish to go hunting, in fact, for practically everything. Other tribes make “medicine,” but I know of no other tribe that makes it so openly as the Mvele. The last week of October I went again to the Mvele country for a Communion service. Four members of the Session of the Lolodorf Church went with me to exam- ine those who were to unite with us. One Elder of the Basle Church, after being ex- amined, was asked to sit with us in confer- ence. Fifty-one were accepted as worthy to partake of the Communion after exam- ining over twice as many in the two days. 14 An audience of over 700 gathered on Sun- day morning, at which time they also made an offering of 120 marks. The number of confessors had increased another 300 in the three months between my two visits. One man in this land, when he confessed, put away eight wives and became a Christian with the ninth. In the course of the next month he led three others, older than him- self, to Christ. My bicycle broke on this trip, and I had to walk over a hundred miles, but I enjoyed it. Last Communion I baptized 167 at the five communion points, advanced 494 into the first Catechumen Class and wrote nearly 1000 confessors. There are over 1200 in the village schools, most of which are larger than usual, but the tuition is lower. Our work is going forward in spite of the things of this earth — changes of govern- ment and frequent changes of those who have the work in charge. Studying by Candle Light in New Dormitories 15 ELAT During the months of December, 1915, through February, 1916, the members of the station were for the most part absent. On December 11, 1915, the German Govern- ment sent an order commandeering the buildings of the Industrial school for the purpose of making munitions of War. The missionaries’ reply was that they refused to occupy the other buildings of the station if the Government should take possession. As a result all of the Mission’s buildings were commandeered by the Government. On receiving the order we at once prepared our property and the things we were leaving, for our absence, and on January 3, 1916, left the station, two of the force remaining in a nearby town in order to care for the interests of the Mission and the people connected with the Mission and the remain- der of the force going to Metet. After the taking of Elat by the French, January 22d, Mr. Fraser and Mr. Dager returned to the station, finding it littered with rubbish and small shelters erected by the refugees of whom there were about 3,000 still on the place. By February 7, all the missionaries had returned with the exception of the Krugs, and were doing their best to clean and straighten the place and again start the work which had so suddenly been brought to a close. The damage to our property consisted mostly of the destruction of the gardens, the damage to the buildings and the littering of the property. THE CHURCH AT ELAT While the European nations have been pitting black man against black, and the white men upon whom the people had here- tofore looked as representing law and order and peace had turned to killing each other, the Church has stood as a lighthouse point- ing out the way to better things. The 16 evangelists have been able to remain at their posts, with the exception of a few weeks as the Germans withdrew on the arrival of the French and English forces. But Satan has had a splendid opportunity to work and has left his mark upon the church. Not only have the ordinary re- straints been removed, making it easy to fall into sin, but people have been taken from their homes as carriers and women have ofttimes become a spoil for black sol- diers, so that we rather marvel at the way God has kept His church through it all. The advanced catechumen class received an addition of 1,123 persons, while 2,892 were added to the roll of those who have con- fessed Christ during the year. It was feared at the beginning of the war that the church offerings would decrease. But in this we were mistaken. The offerings this year at Elat have been larger than ever before. Chapels are being built, Bible- readers have been paid and the church at Elat is helping the Batanga church to re- pair their church building, which was dam- aged by the war. Twelve young men also have given themselves to the Gospel min- istry, have been accepted by the session and will be recommended to presbytery at its next meeting. There are twenty-two mem- bers of the Elat church looking toward the ministry, and there is a pressing need for them. It has been impossible for the church to push its work into the region beyond, as it had begun to do before the war, but while the Bible readers have all been withdrawn from the new Cameroun, south of the Campo river, the fact that the people from that region have recently been asking that they be sent back shows that the work already done in that field has begun to bear fruit. The 112 Bible readers scattered over the country had a splendid effect on the people during the time they were without government control. The mutineers, black 17 soldiers, who had broken away from the German army, with their guns and ammu- nition, as a rule respected the Bible readers and made them no trouble. During the interim between the two governments there was a great deal of lawlessness. The peo- ple who were not Christians said that God had gone and that there would be a new god come after a time; but the fact that the evangelists were at their posts preach- ing the Gospel as usual went far to dis- abuse the minds of the people of the idea that God had left them and they could do as they pleased. The generally unsettled condition of af- fairs throughout the country has had its effect on the school work. The tuition re- ceived has been much less than in previous years, while in a number of places the teachers had to flee from their posts as the Germans withdrew and in the looting that followed by the black soldiers — quite a quantity of school supplies were lost. Although far from self-supporting, it has been worth a great deal to the villages to have them in operation, as it gave the people confidence at a time when govern- ment control was lacking. Although the medical work was closed for a part of the year at the time of the evacuation of Elat, many sick and injured were turned over to the Mission for aid. Addendum. RAPID PROGRESS AT ELAT The rapid progress made at the Elat Sta- tion is seen in a letter from Elat dated April 22, 1917, describing the visit of the new Governor of Cameroun to the station: The Captain of this district brought the new Governor of South Cameroun to visit the station. We took him first to the indus- trial school and showed him the chair class at work on all kinds of furniture. Right 18 from the first I could see his surprise. He was not looking for such work. He exam- ined the chairs, tables, sofas and other odd pieces with great interest. He did not seem to understand how such work was possible from these natives. I presented him with a chair and a mahogany-topped table. We went then to the hat class, where he saw the different kinds of hats. He was greatly interested in the tropical helmets we were making, and examined them in all the different stages. To see these helmets as neatly made and as strong as the aver- age European-made article, and made, too, by black boys and in a mission, seemed to be too much for him. Then we went to the tailor class, where another surprise awaited him. He carefully examined the clothing, some of it as good as that he had on. We could see a change in his attitude toward us. Next, to the room where six boys were working in ivory and ebony. I gave him an ivory and ebony cane. From there we went to the press- room, where he saw work that was being done for the government, and a small French primer for the French schools. Then we went into the industrial school office, where he saw the walls and ceiling and all of the furniture made of mahogany. We went then to the sawmill and from there to the blacksmith shop, where the boys were repairing an automobile. Then we went to the carpenter shop. . We could see that the man was completely taken aback. We then went up to our home, where Mrs. Hope had prepared refreshment. Then came the next surprise. The walls of different kinds of mahogany and other beautiful African woods, set him gazing. I called his attention to the fact that the whole house and all the furniture in it was made by the boys in the carpenter class he had just seen. 19 By that time he was willing to joke with us. The Captain asked if that gramaphone was not made in the industrial school. I assured him it was, and as I saw the Gov- ernor looking at a bookcase made of teak- wood, full of books, I laughingly told him that those books were printed on the Mis- sion press. By this time he was full of coffee and American cake, and really seemed to be enjoying himself. After a while he said it was time he was getting back to the government station. We told him he had not seen the Mission yet, but only a little sideline. We then showed him the girls’ school, and afterwards the French school. He forgot all about his purpose in coming down to put out the large boys, and never said a word about it. Then he was taken to the big church. When he saw a building that would seat 4000, he ventured the question: “Was it ever full?” When told that there had been as high as 4000 on the outside that could not get in, that finished him. As we were walking to his horse, he said: “You have a blessed work here with these native people.” Then, on leaving, he said to Mr. Johnston: “I am greatly pleased with what I have seen here, and if at any time I can be of service to you in your work, you have only to command me.” The Governor went from here to Yaunde, where he makes his headquarters, and a few days after he was located he gave a dinner for the white men of his immediate district. At that dinner he made a speech in which he was full of praise for the American Mission and especially for the industrial school. He spoke of the “wonderful work” being done in that school. I must not close without saying some- thing of the church. Elat church has taken a new step lately that is quite striking. Mr. Johnston, during the first part of the year, visited and held communion at eleven different out-stations, and at seven of these 20 organized churches. There could be a book written about those meetings and the organ- ization of those seven churches, but I will not try to write it. I just want to give you a few points of interest. I have heard the complaint against the ministers at home that they padded their rolls. Well, I will venture a guess that there is not a church in the States that can duplicate this: Elat had 630 names on her session minutes that had never been placed on her rolls, hence never reported in the General Assembly Minutes. In other words, she had 600 members more than she had reported. Elat pastors could hardly be accused of padding. At the organization of the seven churches there were, including preparatory meetings, 85 meetings attended by 54,000. At the Sunday meetings the attendance was over 20,000. About 650 were baptized at these meetings. The chui'ches organized were as follows: Members Members Biba 132 Ngomeden ....784 Nlupesa 475 Asok 250 Mejap 460 Tyanga 296 Endam 600 This leaves Elat church with a member- ship of 2,634. If these places had not been organized into separate churches, Elat’s membership would now be over 5630. If Fulasi is counted in, it would bring Elat’s membership up to near the 8000 mark. In other words, where there was not a con- fessing Christian eighteen years ago, only heathen, there are today 8000 church mem- bers in good and regular standing, and more than twice that number on the waiting list. Where over 18 years ago there were no Christians, there are now over 25,000. Where sixteen years ago there was no church, there are now nine churches, with a total membership of about 8,000. A little over a year ago, at home, it was no uncommon thing to find a man strug- 21 gling along with a small church in a small town with several other churches of other denominations likewise struggling. To see those ministers, and the minister here with eight churches and three other communion centers and about 12,000 on his hands and with 125 native helpers to look after, the contrast is too great. THERE SEEMS TO BE SOMETHING WRONG SOME- WHERE. METET God has been wonderfully good to us and to the people among whom we labor. We were, perhaps, the most untouched by the ravages of war. We suffered not at all from the want of proper food. We were privileged to minister to many Europeans, both officials and missionaries of various nationalities, and our hill was a haven of refuge for the frightened natives during the change of regimes. The attendance at church services has kept up well, and on communion Sundays has even reached the 2,000 mark. Eight Bible readers and 24 school boys have done work in the outlying regions for their food money and have done well. The col- lections have been good, considering the confusion and uncertainties of the war. Only one month did they fall below the self-support mark, while the aggregate has been sufficient to pay all expenses. In the Yebekole region it has been im- possible to have any missionary oversight, and the work has been carried on by a teacher and Bible reader, but our houses have remained intact and a few faithful ones are holding on. Two Bible readers have recently been sent to gather up the scattered ends and keep the work going until such time as a school can be started. There has been considerable difficulty in arranging a course in the schools which would appeal to the boys and be of real service to them, as it was believed not to be best to teach a foreign language, that pet of all the natives, not knowing what nation would claim the land at the close of the war. The first term of the year, March, there was an enrollment of 210. 23 Mr. Oxas, of the Gossner Mission, having to close the new work in which he and a colleague were engaged in the Mekae country, came to Metet to await the out- come of the war and assisted in the Boys’ school. The weekly allowance of salt had to be discontinued owing to its scarcity, but the boys seemed to appreciate the situation. The 42 village schools were flourishing until the mutineers came through the district in July, 1915. The more remote of the schools were closed. Nearly all were closed when the war zone reached Metet in January, 1916. The definite policy for industrial work, laid out by the Mission in September, 1914, has been persistently carried out. The ex- perimental cocoa garden and the palm orchard have done very well. While the cocoa and the 1025 plantains set out to give the young cocoa trees shade have been growing, a crop of cassava and two of corn have been harvested from this cleared ground, and a third crop of corn is growing. The school supplies are so scarce that one torn and thumb-worn book must do service for four or five pupils in the Girls’ schools. Their interest and progress are encourag- ing, and though there are no attractions such as sewing and salt to offer, they are contented. For the first time native goats have been furnishing fresh milk to the missionaries at Metet. Not much milk from a goat, to be sure, but given, say fifteen to a family, they could have fresh milk the year round. Addendum. THE GROWTH AT METET The missionary writes: April 8th was Easter at Metet, West Africa. You’d never have known it had The Old Hark School-house The New Brick Galvanized Iron School-house — Bricks made by School Boys I 25 you looked for the new Spring styles of hats. But it must have been Easter in the hearts of the 500 who had come to the house of God for their “heart’s helping,” for I have never heard a service cause peo- ple to leave as quietly as they did yester- day, never in the years I have been here. Perhaps the stirring of hearts, the awaken- ing of souls to a reaching out for more of the Spirit of God is beginning. We have prayed, hoped, longed and worked for this for many a month. The letter notifying us of the gift for extension work among the tribes to the East was received, and you may believe we felt like running to the boys’ town and beating the tom-toms and having a royal old dance, native style, too, when we read it! God has answered the prayers of His children up in that land, for we know what has been the burden of their pleading for a long time. Praise His name! Now they are expecting some of us up there “one time,” which is the equivalent for “at once.” How do they know of it? On this wise: they were here last week. “Get the guest house ready for us, we’ll need it all, for there are many of us coming,” read the note sent by our teacher, Nkulu, on Wed- nesday. Right he was, for he and the Emini teacher brought down together al- most 200 of their people, a five days’ walk coming and the same to return, carrying their own food, clothes and bedding. I felt that our bit of time had been well spent up in that region when I saw the Omvang, Yebekole, Mekae and whatever other clan representatives there may have been among them, here at Metet. Even the angels must have rejoiced when, on Sunday morning, twenty-nine new mem- bers were baptized and taken into the Church. Not many in comparison with other stations in the Mission, but well done 26 for Metet. Among these new members were five Yebekole and Mekae. And then there were advanced from the first to the second year class, sixty people. To witness this event there were present almost 3,000. PRIMITIVE METHODS There seems to be a sort of a slump in village school work, most likely due to the fact that this is the fourth term we are trying to run without slates, pencils, books and other supplies. It’s hard on the young- sters to have to use a stick or their fingers to trace letters in the dust of a school floor. While up at Yebekole I wondered why the boys were having recess so early. On investigating, found about sixty boys out in the street, taking their writing lesson in the sand. And it is the same evei’ywhere, even here at Metet. Mrs. Schwab and I worked out a small booklet to replace the charts or supplement them, as one saw fit or could obtain cloth to re- place worn-out charts, no easy task these days. The 2,500 edition was used up in about two or three weeks. On May 13th was the monthly contribu- tion Sunday at Metet Station, West Africa. Despite the rain, we had over 1,200 to listen to the Word of God. I felt shivery for them in their dress of bark loin-cloth or grass bustle. It would require the most .optimistic and philanthropically inclined rag-dealer, inspired by the war price of paper stock, to have offered $5 for all the clothes in the church on the persons of the 1,200. We had a good time, spiritually, anyhow. We are finding our school gardens a great help in these times when money is getting near the minus place, even in our own cash boxes. One hundred and eighty pupils can get rid of quite a bit of food each day. We are glad to be able to give them such a vari- ety. Bananas, plaintains, cassava, pota- toes, avacado or alligator pears, sugar cane, peanuts, palm nuts, paw-paws, pineapples, and a few more things. We hope to have the latter two or three for a cent next year, and not as dear as they are now, one cent each. Avacado pears may be a luxury in New York, but they are six for a cent here. We have just set out nearly 100 more trees. Our cocoa set out two and a half years ago is already in bloom. I hope to be able to scatter the seeds of it all over the district as soon as fruit is ripe. We need some- thing to bring prosperity to the people. There is plenty of potential wealth in palm nuts and oil, but not yet sufficiently devel- oped. This native conservatism — not what many suppose it is, i. e. indolence — is the great barrier to progress. “Father’s way is good enough for me.” THE REGIONS BEYOND We are hoping that some one may be able to go up and open the work at Yebekole some day ere long. Conditions are at white heat now. If we do not take hold of the place very soon there will be a reaction. My Nkalu reports over 330 in his school. This is larger by far than our present en- rollment here at Metet. There is an ever- increasing call and clamoring for evangel- ists and teachers. It is hard to sit here when such calls and such fields await one. Yet we can have a bit of our share in it here. It is a privilege, after being here through the War, to see the hold the Gos- pel has taken on men as everything else they had believed in was fast disintegrating. We saw the calm of those threatened with instant death if they would not consent to violate the laws of God — some of them died for their faithfulness to the better life they 28 had learned to lead. We witnessed the con- fusion as the retreating and approaching armies swept over the land. We were par- ties to the slow restoration of order and the readjustment to new conditions. Thank God for it all. Now the tribes to the East are as thirsty men fighting for water, shouting, fairly yelling for the Gospel. It is too good to be true. It is more than we of weak faith deserve. •29 Addendum. FULASI In 1913, at Fulasi, 70 miles east of Elat and about 300 miles east from the coast, an out-station was opened by the West Africa Mission. It has recently been made a full station by action of the Board. The church at this station was organized in 1914. Since the War the work at this station is forging ahead at a pace that makes it difficult for the missionaries to keep it under control. The Rev. W. C. Johnston writes of it: “It reminds me of an old horse that my brother had down on the farm when I was home on furlough. The horse did not look like anything worth while, but she had been on the race track and when a buggy drew up alongside of us to pass, she took the bit in her teeth and went off at a rate that made me wish I were not in the buggy. Fulasi is nothing for looks. The Loves are living in a little bark house, nine by twenty- four feet, that is worth $25 and could be built anew for $50. The house occupied by Mr. Grieg is still smaller and of less value. The church, which will hold about 1,000, has had the sides removed so often to accommodate its thousands, that it is becoming disreputable. And yet it is al- most marvelous the work that is controlled from this little station. Here on a Com- munion Sunday the audience will run from three to four thousand; and not only at Fulasi do we have these large audiences, but around about this station from 20 to 70 miles are four other Communion cen- ters where on Communion Sabbaths there gather from three to four thousand people.” REMARKABLE GROWTH IN THIS NEWEST STATION May 7, 1917, the missionary in charge writes : 30 Even though these are busy days, I must take time for just a note to you. We are in the midst of Conference for our evangel- ists. We do not have enough missionaries so that one man can have a school for all of the evangelists, so it is up to the one in charge of the church to call in his evangel- ists if they are to be called in for a time of refreshing. In having our Conference here we asked all of our evangelists and their wives to come for ten days. In addi- tion to our regular evangelists our Session has selected three young men from each of our six communion places who will be our new evangelists. These men and their wives are here. Of our one hundred and ten regular evangelists all but two are here and ninety of their wives. Our church work here is certainly grow- ing. In spite of the fact that money is very, very scarce, our collections have fallen off only about one-fifth. Our church work is self-supporting. It has been neces- sary to cut our evangelists’ wages so that they are kept within our offerings, but the evangelists did not cut down their tithe money. In fact, some of them raised their tithe money, so that many of them are now giving more than one-tenth of their wages back to the church. At some of our communion places the church buildings were in need of repair. We asked the people to erect the new build- ings without pay and they have responded. We have built three churches, two to hold over two thousand and one to hold over two thousand, five hundred. Next month we will start another and the new build- ing at Endenge is the wonder of the country. When we got there for our last Communion it seemed best to build at once. So, on Sabbath it was announced that to- morrow we would start the new church and that we would stay over two weeks to put up the building. On Monday morning 31 there were one hundred men on hand and at the end of two weeks the building was up and ready for the seats. There is not a nail in the building; we used bush-rope to tie the sticks. OTHER BUSY DAYS AT THE STATION During the second half of the year I have built a missionary residence, 20 x 50 feet; a garage and dispensary, a wash-house, a tool and food house, a new plank house, evangelists’ and school teachers’ house, a kitchen, and replaced the carpenter shop — seven buildings in all. The missionary (a layman) adds: “I have not done all the evangelistic work I would like to have done, but where I could not go the work has come to me. The Communion trips have taken away the ordained missionary here, leaving me to occupy the pulpit a little more than half of the Sabbaths. A number of the other Sabbaths I have gone out to the nearer evangelist’s towns.” 32 y Reconstruction In West Africa A GATHERING TOGETHER OF THE Reports of the West Africa Mission FROM May 1, 1916— April 30, 1917 Revised September, 1917 Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. 156 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK CITY Boys at Their Desks in School Boys Grading for New School-house which is such an important theme in the United States of America these War days, has its counterpart in the Metet station of the West Africa Mis- sion. “It has been our privilege,” writes the missionary, “to minister to the inner man of the members of our station. To do this, especially during these uncertain times, a large vegetable garden has been planted and nursed in season and out of season, and ways of making native food attractive and pal- atable have been devised. The attempt has resulted in a Cook Book which has been sent to the housekeepers of the various stations for suggestions.” STATIONS OCCUPIED BY THE PRESBY- TERIAN BOARD IN WEST AFRICA SPANISH GUINEA Benito: 77 miles north of Baraka, on the coast; occupied as a Station, 1864. CAMEROUN Batanga: 170 miles north of Baraka, on the coast; occupied as a Station, 1885. Efulen : 57 miles east of Batanga, be- hind the coast belt, and 180 miles north- east of Baraka; occupied, 1893. Elat: 56 miles east of Efulen and 195 miles northeast of Baraka; occupied as a Station, 1895. MacLean Memorial Station: at Lolo- dorf, 70 miles northeast of Batanga and 210 miles northeast of Baraka; occupied as a Station in 1897. Metet: 73.5 miles northeast of Elat; occupied in 1909. Fulasi: 70 miles east of Elat; occupied 1916. MISSIONARIES UNDER APPOINTMENT Ordained 17 Laymen 8 Physicians — men 6 Single women 7 Wives of missionaries 23 61 September, 1916. Form No. 2416 Revised September, 1917. Form No. 2553