THE PENTECOST ON THE CONGO REV. HENRY RICHARDS Banza Manteke, Africa PRICE, 5 CENTS AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSION¬ ARY UNION, BOSTON, MASS. R EV. HENRY RICHARDS went from England to Africa under the auspices of the Livingstone Inland Mission in 1879 and established a station at Banza Manteke 150 miles from the mouth and ten miles south of the Congo River. In 1884 this mission was transferred to the American Baptist Missionary Union, together with several of the missionaries, including Mr. Richards. In 1886 came the great revival at his station, and in 1891 he was invited, while upon furlough, to visit America and speak before our churches. The following account is a condensed report of his address, which produced a profound impression wherever it was given. It is worthy of a place in the annals of modern missionary miracles. Throughout the years since, the blessing of God has rested upon the Congo Mission in a remarkable manner. For a detailed sketch of the work as a whole the reader is referred to “Missions in Africa,” a historical sketch which maybe secured for five cents from the Literature Department, American Baptist Missionary Union, Box 41, Boston, Mass. The Pentecost on the Congo INTRODUCTION OD is love”; and if he is love he cannot help loving; 1 -j- and “He so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son” to die for it; and after the Son died to accomplish the work of redemption, after he had risen again and “brought life and immortality to light,” he said to his disciples: “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.” He means to establish a kingdom which is to be universal and eternal. Sometimes as one looks abroad on the earth and knows how heathendom is increasing faster than Christianity, one’s heart is apt to sink; still the promise is that “the kingdoms of this earth are to become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ.” The early disciples of Christ could not understand that the kingdom of Christ was not to be a temporal kingdom. After speaking to them for forty days concerning the kingdom they said to him: “Wilt thou restore the kingdom to Israel?” They could not think that this kingdom was to be for any but Israel, and so Christ said that it was not for them to know of the times and sea¬ sons. “I cannot make you understand this kingdom now, but ‘when the Holy Spirit is come upon you,’ you will per¬ ceive that the kingdom is to be a spiritual kingdom; not for the Jews alone, but for the whole world.” After the day of Pentecost Peter seemed to understand much better than before; his mind and heart were broad¬ ened, and he could say that “the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off.” God taught Peter this lesson by sending him to Cornelius; but even after this he did not appear to get over the old Jewish idea, and God raised up a special apostle to preach especially to the Gen¬ tiles. There seems to be a good deal of that Jewish spirit about us. There is no doubt that God took away the privi¬ lege of preaching the gospel from the Jews because they Christ’s Kingdom 2 THE PENTECOST ON THE CONGO The “Dark Continent’’ Barriers to Progress refused to do it, and gave it to the Gentiles of Europe and America and has opened up the world to them; and if they do not give the world the gospel, God will doubtless raise up some other race and take the privilege of preaching from them also. Africa has been called the “Dark Continent” because it was unknown to us and unknown to geographers, except a few parts of it on the borders; but from a geographical standpoint it can no longer be so called. There are prob¬ ably few places where a missionary could not go and settle down among the people and preach the gospel; but, morally and spiritually, it is still the “Dark Continent.” EARLY DAYS Stanley tells us that he traveled from Zanzibar around the lakes and down the Congo to Banana for one thousand days except one; and though many thousands of people passed before him every day, he did not find one that knew the Lord Jesus Christ or that salvation was provided for man. Then it was that some Christians began to think it was time that these people should hear of Christ, and a mission was started in 1878. The reason that this region was unknown for so long was owing to the formation of the continent, which has been compared to a saucer turned upside down, necessitating in its rivers fierce rapids and huge cataracts. The Congo is no exception to this rule. Although its mouth has been known for more than 400 years, yet until Stanley came down, not more than 100 miles had been known. Large expeditions had been sent out to explore that region, hut had failed. The river is only navigable for 100 miles from the mouth. Then there are 200 miles of cataracts, from Ycllala to Stanley Pool. No steamer could ascend these, and as one left the river other difficulties at once met him. There were no roads but sim¬ ply narrow paths, leading from village to village, through long grass growing from six to eight feet high, over moun¬ tains and hills, through valleys and down deep ravines, across rivers and streams, through woods and over rocks in endless variety. There were no means of transportation; no wagons, no beasts of burden, and no native porters that THE PENTECOST ON THE CONGO 3 we could obtain when w T e first went out. Besides these obstacles, the danger from the climate was very great. HARD TRAVELING In 1879 I was sent out with some others to try to reach Stanley Pool, if possible, or at least get beyond Palabala forty or fifty miles and establish a station, hoping eventu¬ ally to form a chain of stations reaching from the coast to a Chain Stanley Pool. The idea v T as then to put a steamer on the of Statlous upper Congo, by means of which to reach the people there and preach the gospel. But this undertaking was much more difficult than was at first expected. It was many years before we were established at Stanley Pool and many pre¬ cious lives were laid down. Why the people of the cataract region and the lower Congo should be counted as unworthy of the gospel, I never could understand. It seemed a mania at that time to get to Stanley Pool, but now there are mis¬ sion steamers plying on the upper Congo, and many stations there. The difficulties of transport were enormous. The first two missionaries obtained Ivroo boys from the Ivroo coast. As they were only engaged for one year their fare had to be paid down and up, and as it was rather expensive to use them as porters, our society said, “Why not try donkeys? they are very hardy animals.” So we got five or six donkeys from the island of Teneriffe, made our own saddles of can¬ vas that we had with us, loaded them up and started off for Palabala, a distance of fifteen miles. This road had never been traveled before by a wdiite man, but as the only trader there promised us a guide, we did not think it would be at all difficult to find our way. We started off in good style and it seemed quite a success. Presently our path led down to a stream of water, at the bottom of which w r ere rocks and boulders and large stones that made the stream very diffi¬ cult to ford. It was evidently never intended for donkeys Donkeys as or anybody else to cross. The first donkeys went over all Carriers right, but mine refused to go. I gently encouraged it with a little strap, and it gave a spring and jumped right into the middle of the stream. The water was about three feet deep, and when it got in it did not go right across, as I 4 THE PENTECOST ON THE CONGO An Unexpected Bath A Hardy Specimen expected it would, but quietly sat down in the middle of the stream, bales and all. The donkey seemed to say, “Well, now, this is a very hot day; this water is deliciously cool; why not let me alone?” We urged it, but it refused to move, and we had to take a bath ourselves. We took the bales off, got the donkey out and started off on the other side. Then the path began to lead up the hill, but the bales began to slip back, so we had to fix them from time to time. This was very tiresome, but at last we reached the top of the hill. Then the path led down a very steep hill, and the bales would go forward until they reached the donkey’s neck, and then it would hold down its head, and the bales would, of course, go over. At last the sun began to go down, and we began to think it was time to stop for the night. We put up our tents, but as the distance which w T e had expected to go was so short we had made very little provision for the journey. The other missionary spread out his blankets and soon fell asleep. I knew there were scorpions, snakes and jiggers, and not caring to sleep with them as companions I spread out my blankets on the bales and boxes and put a blanket on the top. This looked very comfortable, but when I stretched myself out on it I found that the edges of the boxes were not at all soft, so I preferred to sit up, as I had never slept out of a bed before. The next morning we started off again, and the path, which was very narrow, led along the side of a steep hill. I trembled for the safety of the donkeys, believing that if they fell they would certainly be killed. Presently my donkey lost its footing and fell, and began to roll down the side of the hill. I was obliged to let go the rope, and then it began to roll faster and faster down through the grass, and all I could see flying through the air were hoofs and bales, faster and faster, until suddenly stopped by a tree that was growing out of the side of the hill. We went down expecting to find the donkey dead, if not dashed in pieces, but he was still breathing and finally came out all right. We got the bales off and after much hard work succeeded in pulling and hauling him out on the path. Putting the bales on once more, off we started again, and finally reached Palabala, a distance of fifteen miles, on the fifth day. THE PENTECOST ON THE CONGO BANZA MANTEKE We had learned much from this, our first traveling in Africa, and made preparations to start off into the interior toward Stanley Pool. aSTo one knew what was on ahead, none having ever been that w r ay. We went about fifty or sixty miles beyond Palabala, where the path appeared to end and there seemed to be a ferry. No canoes or boats could be seen, however, which we could engage to take us across. Our provisions and cloth were nearly finished, and the other two missionaries thought that we had better return. We got back about ten miles from the river to a place called Banza Manteke, and as there were numerous villages about there and the people looked rather friendly, I thought it a good place to establish a station. As w T e only had one tent we built a hut in two days, out of the long grass growing there, and in September, 1S79, I found myself alone among a people entirely unknown to me. My companion returned to the coast. I knew nothing of their customs nor their language. They might have been cannibals and have eaten me up; and when darkness came on I began to feel lonely and thought of those I had left behind. I tried hard to banish such thoughts and said to myself, “I have given myself to missionary work and must settle down and make my home here.” I at once began to study the people, but found it very difficult as I could not understand their language. It is very hard to find out the customs and beliefs of the heathen. You might live among them for twenty years and know very little about them. There are some things, however, which you will soon find out without any trouble at all. The people appear to suffer from a disease called klepto¬ mania. They would soon relieve you of the care of all your things if you would allow them. I would wash my hands cutside my hut, and they would think soap a very nice thing to wash with; and as I turned round and left it, it was gone and everything else that I left about. I would look into their faces, accuse them of stealing and taking my things, and they would look innocently into mine and deny it, not even blushing. I soon found out that they were unable to speak the truth and that they considered it quite a compliment to be called a liar. An Un¬ known Region Stealing and Hying 6 THE PENTECOST ON THE CONGO Learning to Talk A Strange Grammar STUDYING THE LANGUAGE The greatest difficulty at first was with the language. I had to begin at once to learn it, as I had two Kroo boys with me for whom I had to provide food, and I had to barter. As I could not talk I w T ould hold up a piece of cloth and look at the potatoes and fowls, and they would nod assent. They would take possession of the cloth and I would take the potatoes and fowls. I went on in this way for some time and found this would not do, but that I must in some way get hold of the language. They had no dic¬ tionaries, grammars, books nor literature. No white man had ever acquired the language. I got a note book and placed it outside of my hut on a little box, and determined to write down everything I could hear, phonetically, and also what I thought it meant, until I had quite a number of words, phrases and sentences. I began to use them at once. Although the people would laugh at my pronuncia¬ tions and the way I put the words together, I did not mind that. I found it very difficult to get hold of some words. As I saw that there was great affection between the mothers and the children, I tried to find a word for mother, and at last got one which I thought meant mother. The word was “ukuluntu,” which I afterwards found meant a full grown man; and I was about as near as this in many other words. Then I tried to get hold of the grammar of the language. This I found difficult. For instance, I began with the nouns and wanted to get the plurals; of course, I expected to see the change at the end of the word, but never could hear any. I would hear “dinkondo” (plantain), but I wanted to say plantains. At last I heard a man say “monkondo,” and T said that is the plural; “di,” singular; “ma,” plural. Then I heard “nsusu” (fowl), and I thought the plural would be “mansusu,” and I would say “mansusu”; they would laugh and say, “not so, but zinsusu.” So I went on and found that there were sixteen classes of nouns. The noun is the governing word in the sentence. Nouns have prefixes which go right through the sentence. This is what is called the alliterative concord. For instance, it might be illustrated by the word “finsusu,” a little fowl. “Finsu fiame fiafina THE PENTECOST ON THE CONGO 7 finabudianya masanya” (the little fowl of mine there eats corn). After a time I began to try to get hold of some preposi¬ tions. I got hold of the word “vonda,” to kill, but I wanted to say “kill for me,” but I could not get hold of the word “for.” About this time I heard the word “vondila”; by this I found that “ila” was used instead of for. “Ila” by itself, of course, meant nothing, but connected with the verb meant “for”; “vondila,” to kill for. Then I heard the word “vondisa.” “Isa” was the causative, “vondisa,” to cause to kill. Then I heard “vondisila,” which I found meant to cause to kill for. “Isa” is the causative and “ila” the ap¬ plied form. The fowls were fighting, and I heard them say, “zinsusu zinabuvondasana,” the fowls are killing each other. We called that the reciprocal form. I went on in that way until I found that there were seventeen different classes of verbs. There are also very many tenses, besides the ordinary tenses, present, past and future, which have specific forms. Tor instance, “nvondilenyi,” which is from “vonda,” means I killed this morning; “nyiavondila,” I killed yesterday. From these stems you can form nouns. “Tonda,” to thank; “tondula” is the reversitive form of the verb, which would mean to be unthankful or ungrateful. From this word you could form the noun “lutondula,” ingratitude; and in this way we have very expressive nouns: “zola,” to love; “zo- lasana,” to love each other, wdiich is the reciprocal form; and from this the noun “luzolasunu,” a loving of each other. So you will see that this language is not, as some suppose, a mere jargon, but is a beautiful language, very euphoni¬ ous and flowing, with numerous inflexions, and very ex¬ pressive. When once known it is very easy to preach and translate the Scriptures into it. The language seems to be altogether superior to the people, and there must have been a time when they were in a high state of civilization, but have somehow or by some means degenerated. The great Bantu languages, spoken from about six degrees north of the equator down to the Cape, evidently ruled and belonged to one people. The language spoken in Zanzibar is related Numerous Verbs A Superior Language 8 THE PENTECOST ON THE CONGO A Great Creator Witch Doctors to our Banza Manteke, as many of the words are identical and the construction of the language is very much the same. The phrase “Nzain Nzambebizi” is the same as used in Victoria Hyanza and Albert Nyanza and Nyanza and Tan- ganika. The native word for the Congo River is not Congo, but “Nzadi”; “Nbizi,” a fish; “nza,” a river, and “Zambesi,” a fish-river. RELIGION OF THE PEOPLE After being able to use the language a little, I began to try to find out the customs, superstitions and religion of the people. I asked them who made the sun, the moon, the stars, the plantains, potatoes and everything else, and they said, “Nzambi.” I asked them where “Nzambi” lived, and they said in the heavens. One said that wdien it thundered “Nzambi” W'as boiling his pot. So they know there is a great creator. Then I asked them why they did not worship “Hzambi”; but no, they did not think he was a good God and they did not thank him. He did not concern himself about them; he was too far away. They were as Paul described the heathen in the first chapter of Romans (verses 19-25). They have little images cut out of wood, like them¬ selves, birds’ heads and birds’ beaks and birds’ claws, snakes’ heads and snakes’ eggs and animals; these are their gods or their charms. In them they trust for protection from harm, sickness, death and misfortune, but they never expect to re¬ ceive any blessings from them. The idea is to keep away the power of witchcraft or evil spirits. They believe sickness, death and all misfortune due to witchcraft, but have charms to counteract its power. If there were no witches, there would be no sickness and death. Their witch doctors they call “zinganga.” For instance, if a person is sick they send for the zinganga. He comes with a great many incan¬ tations and tries to drive the devil out, but he does not often succeed. Then if the one who is sick does not get better they have what is called “vintula moyu” (returning life), and the zinganga comes and performs more incanta¬ tions; then they take up the sick person and throw him violently to and fro to return life, and often they drive out the little life there is. At other times the zinganga THE PENTECOST ON THE CONGO 9 is sent for, who points out the witch, and this person has to take poison. He will, of course, often protest and say that he does not bewitch any one and has no desire to do so; nevertheless, he must come and take the poison. If he vomits it, they say that he is innocent; if it kills him, he is guilty. In the case of the death of a prominent man, es¬ pecially a chief, they do not do this; but the zinganga points out a man, whom they take to a hill top and sometimes shoot. Sometimes they cut his throat and sometimes they burn him. JSTo doubt thousands of innocent people in Africa are slaughtered daily. Travelers and others passing through the country who see these things, pronounce these people to be very cruel and barbarous, delighting in shedding of blood, and they sometimes imagine that they have seen can¬ nibals; but I do not believe the African is naturally a cruel man. It is not from cruelty that the Africans poison and kill each other in the way described, but because they be¬ lieve those persons condemned by the zinganga are guilty, as we do when persons are condemned by a judge and jury in a court of justice. TELLING ABOUT GOD After a time I began to try to show them that sickness and death and all our misfortunes were not due to witch¬ craft, but to sin. So I began to give them an account of the creation and the fall, as we have it in Genesis; to show them that we inherited sin from our first parents, and through sin, death and sickness and all our woes come. I tried to show them that God was not only a great Creator and all powerful, but was also kind and loving. I remember one day I was trying to show them that God is good, and one man said to me, “Is that so?” We have an insect called the jigger, introduced in the Congo from Brazil about fifty years ago, but which has now spread over the whole Congo region. In appearance it is very much like a small flea, almost micro¬ scopical. It gets in under the toe nails, or into any hard place in the bottom of the foot, or in almost any place where it can fasten itself, but especially under the nails. There it makes a little bag about the size of a pea, and this bag is filled with jigger eggs; if not taken out they go on making Poison Giving “God is Good” 10 THE TENTECOST ON THE CONGO Puzzling Questions No Sense of Siu these bags until a person will lose the toe if they are not removed. It is quite a common thing to come across na¬ tives with one or two toes gone from their feet. It is no doubt the greatest pest that we have in the Congo. As I was trying to tell this native that God was good, he said to me, “You say God is good”; and he pointed to the ground and said, “Who made the jigger?” They would ask ques¬ tions that were not easily answered. Sometimes I could answer these questions to their satisfaction, but not always to my own. I went on this way, teaching them about the creation, the fall, the flood, and giving them some account of the children of Israel, thinking it was necessary to give them some idea of the Old Testament before commencing with the New. PREACHING THE LAW I continued this until I had been in Africa four years. During that time I had suffered much with fever. When I first went to Banza Manteke I had it every three weeks, and the hardships of this pioneer work had reduced me so much that I was obliged to return home for rest. As I was thinking of returning again to Congo one thing that troubled me very much was that the people did not feel themselves to be sinners. I mentioned this to a prominent Christian worker who had had great experience in mission work, and said I did not see how I could preach a Saviour until they felt themselves sinners. I was advised to go back and preach the law. On reaching Banza Manteke the first thing I did was to translate the Ten Commandments and read and expound them to the people. I asked them after I had finished read¬ ing them if they thought they were good, and they always assented that they were very good; and I would ask them if they had kept these laws, and they would all say “Yes.” “God says, ‘Thou shalt have no other gods but me; thou shalt not make any idols.’ You do not worship God and you make idols; how do you say that you keep these com¬ mandments?” They would answer, “We do.” I would say that we had all sinned and broken these laws, and they would reply, “The white man may be a sinner; the people THE PENTECOST ON THE CONGO 11 on tHe top may be sinners, and those below may be sinners; but we are not.” One day there was a man in the company that I was speaking to who had stolen from me, and I thought I would test him at the risk of getting myself into trouble. I said to him, “Thou shalt not steal. Have you kept that commandment?” He said, “Yes.” I said, “How about that hammock you stole from me?” “You do not call that stealing, do you? I only took it away.” “How about the peanuts we caught you taking out of the house?” He became very indignant and said, “The white man has called me a thief before these people. Jle has disgraced my char¬ acter and ruined my reputation.” And he turned away from me in disgust. This confirmed me in my opinion that the people had no consciences. I went on in this way for six years, and the people were no better than when I first went there, as far as I could see. They kept up the poison giv¬ ing and the disgusting night dances. The only difference was that they seemed to respect me more. They look upon the white man as a demon, but by relieving them with medicine and protecting them from the white men who passed through their country and tried to impose upon them, I gained their respect. One time when there was war between our people and the people of another tribe I got up and walked between the two parties, and they stopped fighting; and the next day they came and thanked me, and said that they would have been crying over their friends if I had not stopped them, as their people were related; but otherwise the people were just as heathen as ever. Being weak and unable to preach I began to study the Scriptures, and to feel there was some mistake in my preaching. In the early days souls were converted, why not now? Is the gospel less powerful now than then? If heathen then turned from dumb idols to serve the living God, why should not these people in Banza Manteke do the same? In studying the gospels and the Acts of the Apostles I began to see my mistake; especially in reading the last Great Commission. It does not say, “Go ye into all the world and preach law, or Moses, or Judaism,” but “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel.” The gos¬ pel is not law. Law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, Keeping the Command¬ ments Mistake Discovered Enduement of Power Does the Bible Mean What it Says? 12 THE PENTECOST ON THE CONGO A QUESTION OF INTERPRETATION I went to work again with, a different idea, and deter¬ mined to preach the gospel, and I cried out for a special enduement of power from on high. Then I had to decide as to what the gospel was. If I preached Jesus and him crucified, they would want to know who Jesus was. I con¬ sidered it necessary to teach the incarnation, life, death, resurrection, miracles, teaching, intercession and coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ. I began with the Gospel of Luke, translating ten or twelve verses a day as best I could, and then read and expounded them to the people, ask¬ ing God to bless his Word. They were at once more inter¬ ested in the gospel than when I preached the law, for that irritated them and turned them away from me, as they did not like to be accused of sin. When I preached of the Lord Jesus’ coming as a baby, growing up to be a boy, and that he went about doing good, the people listened attentively. I became hopeful, my faith was strengthened and I believed that anybody could be converted. This went on very well until I got to the sixth chapter of Luke, thirtieth verse, then another difficulty arose. I should mention in describing the character of the people that they were notorious beggars. They would ask for any¬ thing they saw. They would ask for my only knife, blanket or plate, and when I said I could not give them to them, they would say, “You can get more.” They would see me write a note and send it down to Palabala; and when things would come up, they thought the white man by merely writing a note could get everything he wanted, and that he was mean and selfish not to give them all they asked for. Yow here is the text, “Give to every one that asketh thee.” I had been in the habit of taking things in their order. The man who helped me with my translating did not see my difficulty, and I told him that I did not need him further that day, and I went to my room and prayed. The time for the service was coming on. We had daily service, and the thought came why not pass over that verse, and then my conscience stung me, and it said that that would not be bonest. Service time came, but I did not go on with the gospel, but went back to the beginning; and I thought this THE PENTECOST ON THE CONGO 13 would give me some time to consider the meaning of this text. PRACTISE WHAT YOU PREACH After about a fortnight of prayer and consideration, I came to the conclusion that the Lord Jesus meant just what he said, and I went and read it to the people. I told them that they knew I had not lived this, but Jesus meant just what he said. If I had told them that Jesus did not mean what he said they would have called me a fool. I told them that God had set before us a very high standard, but it would probably take me a lifetime to live up to it, but I meant to live what I preached to them. The natives there have common sense, and they would easily see any discrep¬ ancy between a man’s life and preaching. After the address was over the natives began to ask me for things; one asked me for this and another for that, and I gave to them. I began to wonder whereunto this would grow, but I told the Lord that I could not see that he meant anything different from what he said. I would test this text, and though I could not understand all, I would wait until I could. This created quite a stir among the people. They had never heard such preaching, nor seen such living, and they would now listen eagerly to the word of God. One day a group of people was waiting outside after the'service, and from the window in my house I could see them, but they could not see me; and one said, “I got this from the white man yesterday”; and another said, “I am going to ask the white man for things like that”; but another said, “Ho, if you want it, buy it”; another, “Yes, buy it if you want it.” After that I lived there three years among these people and they rarely asked me for a thing. A missionary came up during the revival, and said that he was delighted to see the people turning from dumb idols to God, and he asked how it began. I told him my experi¬ ence and about my difficulty with that text, and he asked if I supposed that it really meant what it said. Then he said, “But these people know you; you have lived here for seven years, but if you were to go to Palabala they would ask for your house and turn you out.” I had been to Pala¬ bala and they always did beg, but my wife and I went there A High Standard Turning From Idols 14 THE PENTECOST ON THE CONGO The Climax Reached The Gospel Story Convicts afterwards and remained a week and no one asked me for a single thing. THE HOLY GHOST CAME UPON THEM I went on translating and expounding Luke’s gospel and the interest increased continually. I began to speak to the people of the Holy Spirit. I was afraid to do this at first, as I had to use their words to explain to them what they meant. I cried out that God would clothe me with power and let the Spirit fall upon the people. The climax was reached when I came to the account of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. There was quite a large congre¬ gation, and I said, “How. I have read to you all about Jesus, how kind and how good he was; how he gave sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf, raised the dead, and did nothing but good. How here is this loving one on the cross, nailed there between the thieves. You think those Jews were cruel because they nailed such a loving one as Jesus to the cross, but we are just as bad as they; your sins and mine nailed Jesus there. Jesus never would have died if we had not been sinners; and remember that he is the Son of God and he could blow them all away into eternity by the breath of his mouth. But while the priests are scoffing, the soldiers mocking and the thief railing, just listen to what Jesus says: ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ Did you ever hear anything like that ? Jesus suffered all this for your sins and mine.” It seemed as if the Holy Ghost had fallen upon the peo¬ ple. They began to look at each other, hut they were afraid to confess. I saw the power and continued preaching; and one day when I had finished preaching in a town, Lutate, who had helped me with the language, said to the people: “This white man has been here all this time. I believe those words are true words, and yet you do not believe.” He often told me that he did believe, but I saw no change in his life. As we came back through the woods he began to sing one of our Congo hymns. I saw his face shining with joy, and he said, “I do believe those words. I do believe Jesus has taken away my sins. I do believe he has saved^me, and I do feel so happy.” I had never seen him look or speak like THE PENTECOST ON THE CONGO 15 that before; and I took him by the hand and gave him the name Barnaba (as they cannot conclude a word with a con¬ sonant), son of consolation; and he was a real son to me. He was the first convert at Banza Manteke, after seven The First years’ weary waiting and hard work and suffering. Lutate Convert showed the reality of his conversion by testifying at once to the people what the Lord had done for him, and then they became his enemies. The people banded themselves to¬ gether to poison him. It was all very well, they said, to listen to what the white man said, but when he told them their charms were nothing, they were very angry and looked upon him as a traitor. The witch doctors had told them that I had got the souls of the people up over the mats that 1 used for a ceiling, and when I had a sufficient number of them I sent them by some mysterious way to my country to become the slaves of the white people. They believed that Lutate had gone over to my side to help bewitch those souls and was to share in the profits. So he had to leave his town at once and he came down to the station to live with me, leaving his wife and children and all his relations. BELIEVERS WERE ADDED This went on for some time before there were any more conversions, but the people were greatly stirred. The king’s son had been suffering a great while from his teeth. He had done all he could with the charms, and then he came to ask me to help him. T extracted three teeth for him and he was better at once. He went hack to his town and put his idols in the grass, and he thought he might die before morning, as he was told he would if he insulted his idols. The next day he went still further, and put them further away in the long Power grass. He found that nothing particular happened, and he came down to hear the word of God daily. One day I saw that he was greatly impressed and I spoke to him privately about spiritual things. He said that he did believe, but I was not satisfied, and I said he must give his heart to Jesus. He went back saying to himself, “How can I take out this heart and give it to Jesus?” We afterward explained this difficulty and he became an earnest Christian and one of our best Christian workers. 16 THE PENTECOST ON THE CONGO Persecutions Striking Conversions Shortly after this another man came down with all his idols and placed them on the table and said in a very savage manner that he did not want them any more, that he wanted to become a Christian like those other two men. We ex¬ plained to him that this was not exactly the right spirit to come in, but he must come like a child. We found that he was really in earnest, and he, too, became a Christian and began to preach. Because he so liked preaching we called him Paul, and a while ago he was called up higher. One day a man came in looking the picture of wretchedness. He told us afterwards that he had not been able to sleep. All the bad things he had ever done kept coming up before his mind as he lay on his bed, and he wanted to know if Jesus could not take away his sins. We told him that was what Jesus wanted to do. So the work went on until ten were converted, but they all had to leave their towns as they were threatened with death. I then locked up my house and took those men with me, and we went from town to town, and village to village, preaching the word of God. All the hillside was in a stir, and soon the people began to come to the station to know what this new thing was. I was not able to go away; they came early in the day. One old man treated us with the greatest contempt possible, but came up two days after¬ wards just like a child and went down on his knees before me and said that he was greatly troubled about his sins. He became a Christian and was faithful until he was called home. The king’s nephew, the heir apparent, became great¬ ly enraged because the king’s son had become a Christian and had left his town; and would no doubt have killed him if he dared, and said truly, “you have another life.” He meant to say that I had by some means overpowered him to come over to my side and that he had become a traitor. He did not know how truly he was speaking when he said this man had another life. But this man came down in a few days after this just like a child, and he became a faithful follower of the Lord Jesus, until he too received his reward. Quite a Christian village was now springing up near the station and the people were about us all the time, so that THE PENTECOST ON THE CONOO 17 we organized two regular services each day; one in the morn¬ ing and one in the evening, and we had inquiry meetings all day long. The house became too small, so that we had to have our meeting in the open yard, and you would have seen a group here and a group there, and one of the first converts in the center teaching. So the work continued and was ^ Christian blessed. This went on for months until all the people im¬ mediately around Banza Manteke were no longer heathen. I kept a book and put down only the names of those who i thought were really converted, until I had reached over 1,000 names. The influence was felt for a distance of six to eight miles. The population is comparatively sparse compared to the population in the interior. PROSPERITY AND PERSECUTION A great many of the converts have gone home to heaven, and for the most part the others are holding on. Many are not as earnest and as devoted as we would like to have them and they are by no means perfect. We have bap¬ tized about 2,000, and I believe our church is as spiritual a church as I know of anywhere. The church chose three a Spiritual evangelists to spend their time in preaching the gospel. All Church the members are preachers and teachers, but these three were to give their whole time. One man, David, was chosen and agreed to take four pieces of cloth a month, costing about two dollars. When the time came for him to receive his pay, I remembered that he said to the church that as he went about he saw so many poor people that he could not take his pay from the church. Of course, many of them were at once persecuted. For instance, there were three who came and heard the word of God and became Christians. They went to their town ISftombu Lukuti and told the people that they were no longer heathen, and that they loved Jesus and no longer trusted in their idols. The chief became very angry and said he would see about that, and went and fetched his gun and came out and shot all three of them. Our people became greatly stirred over this and wanted to know if they should do nothing about it, as the people over there had called them cowards (women). 1 called them together and read and expounded the sixth 18 THE PENTECOST ON THE CONGO Loving Their Enemies Devotion to the Word chapter of Luke, and asked them if they were willing to submit to the word of God, and they said they were. Jesus said we ought to love our enemies and do good to those who hate us. Would it be good to shoot them? God says, “Ven¬ geance is mine, I will repay.” In this life you will see that God will punish that man. He takes vengeance. It is far better for one to be killed than to kill another. In this way the people were pacified. Some time after, this same chief went to another town and insulted a slave and was shot himself. The people knew all this and willingly admitted that it was best to leave vengeance with God. Another one of the witch doctors became very angry be¬ cause his hope of gain was gone. The people had no further need of him and he took himself off and placed his house in another part of the town. He declared that the first Christian who passed him he would shoot. He put a mat outside his house and laid down, as the natives do in the middle of the day, and a snake under the mat bit him and in a very short time he was dead. The people noticed this case, and they said it was wonderful how God protected his own people. One of the evangelists, Thomas, by name, agreed to take four pieces of cloth a month. He was a very bright man, and could get much more if he should choose to do any¬ thing else, but when the month was up he returned his four pieces of cloth into the church box and gave as his contribu¬ tion two pieces more. He bought books and taught a school in his town, and bought books and paid another teacher for a school in another town. This man led his grandmother, who had grown gray in heathenism, to the Lord Jesus, and afterwards taught her to read the word of God. And when this poor old lady wants to come to the services it takes her two days. She takes her little basket of provisions, such as potatoes, bananas, plantains, etc., and she sleeps on the way and goes on until she gets to Banza Manteke, so that she can hear the word of God. After spending some days there and getting food, she goes back to her own town. I may mention as another case of devotion a man called Mandombi. We have a very terrible disease in the Congo called the sleeping sickness. It carries off many of our THE PENTECOST ON THE CONGO 19 members. No one seems to understand the disease and no a Willing remedy has been found for it. This man, knowing that he Sacrifice had this disease, had worked and saved five pounds’ worth ol cloth, which would probably take him a year, to help pay his fare to England, so that the doctors there might study his case and make a post mortem when he was dead and find remedy, if possible, so that his people might not die off of such dreaded complaints. He not only left his wife, but two little children, and gave himself up as a sacrifice for his people. BRINGING HOME THE HOUSE Wc had to hold our services in the open air, in the hot sun. This was very trying to the preacher and to his con¬ gregation. Dr. Gordon’s church in Boston heard of this and collected a sufficient fund to build a chapel. I said to the people: “Now those kind people in America have heard that you have turned to the Lord Jesus and they want you to have a place to worship in. You see how very busy I am” (I had to be their doctor, as they had given up their Gift of a charms). “I have no time to superintend the new building. Chapel I will get the chapel built in England and have it brought to Tondua. Will you bring it up from there to Banza Man- teke?” This is a distance of between fifty and sixty miles, over a road very difficult to travel, as I have already de¬ scribed. Those Christians who were able went and brought up these loads until they had brought up all the chapel, about 700 loads. Some of them went from three to five times; Mandombi, who has already been mentioned, brought up the first load, and I was told that he went five times, and they did this free of charge. How many hypocrites would you get to do that here? To go more than fifty miles down and fifty miles back, three or four times, and carry a load of sixty pounds and not charge anything for it! It took them a week to make each journey. NEW CREATURES IN CHRIST These people who were thieves became honest. My wife and I lived in a grass house without any lock on the door for a whole year; and when we first went into that house our 20 THE PENTECOST ON THE CONGO Character Transformed A Bonfire of Idols boxes were outside with the things unlocked, and nobody took anything. We left that house and went to live in an¬ other, one hundred yards off. Under the veranda of this deserted house was a box without a cover and a black coat lying in the bottom. We took out these secondhand coats from England at a very cheap rate, and the men like them very much in the cold season. Although the thermometer is never below seventy, I have seen them shaking witli the cold. I went over to this house after two months and found the coat still untouched. The people who were such liars became truthful, as well as more industrious and cleanly; the women wanted to dress themselves better and the husbands made suitable dresses for their wives. These dresses are long flowing robes made close around the neck, with long sleeves, and come down just to the ankles with a band around the waist. The men, too, became more ener¬ getic, and they acted as carriers; in fact, carrying has become quite a trade. The people would not carry at all v/hen I first went there, but now many of them act as por¬ ters, and some of them are learning to become carpenters. When we were erecting our chapel we engaged some Accra carpenters from the west coast of Africa, and we told our men that if they wanted to learn they must watch these carpenters. Now we have good carpenters at Banza Man- teke, even better than the Accra, and they are building themselves houses, bedsteads and tables, and carpentering has become quite a trade. They always bury their dead in coffins now. Many of the people at once began to build themselves better houses. As soon as they became Chris¬ tians, poison-giving, throat-cutting, witchcraft and every¬ thing that was contrary to Christianity ceased. I never told them to bring their idols, but they did so, and at the first baptism we had a bonfire of idols on the trade path, so that the people passing could see that our people were no longer idolaters. Surely “old things had passed away and all things had become new.” The people are still Africans, and I wish them to remain so. I should feel very sorry to see them Americanized or Europeanized. They are Africans, and let them remain so. I protest against their coming to England or America, as THE PENTECOST ON THE CONGO 21 they would see a corrupt form of Christianity, and they become pro-ud and ambitious and give us no end of trouble when they return. We have a very primitive church, such as we read of in the time of the apostles, just according to the New Testament. A FAMILY QUESTION There was one difficulty we had to meet at once. The people are polygamists. The men have from two to five wives, as a rule. They are all married according to the cus¬ toms of their country, and are considered by all as his wives. When they became Christians the question arose as to what we should do; but as there was no one to whom T could go for advice I had to consult the New Testament. I found there no authority for commanding a man to put away all his wives but one, and so allowed them to keep them. We told them that, of course, this was contrary to the original intention, for God only made one woman for one man, and Christ spoke specially of only wife, not wives; and in the future they must marry but one or they would be excluded. Those who had more than one were not to marry more. In this way polygamy will soon die out. The people are beginning to feel that it is a great deal better for a man to have only one wife, especially as they see the home life of the missionary, which makes a great impression upon them. This is an argument in favor of married missionaries. I think it especially desirable that African missionaries should be married. Only women can deal with the native women privately. Woman’s work is as important as a man’s in that country. When my wife returned she had a glorious reception. I question if a queen ever had a more hearty reception than she had, and as she saw the change, she had some difficulty in keeping her eyes dry. At once her hands were full of work among the women and children. She had not only to be their teacher, but also their doctor, and she soon became a specialist as a baby doctor, as the women have no idea what to do when their babies are sick, and so they would apply to my wife. Polygamy Woman’s Work Needed 22 THE PENTECOST ON THE CONGO Initiation Rites Test Questions A SECRET SOCIETY They have a secret society called the Nkimbi, into which all men have to enter, at the age of from twelve to sixteen. In this society they are initiated into all the superstitions rites. There they are supposed to die and rise again. They get a new name, and are never called by the old one again. They have to learn a new language called the Nkimba lan¬ guage. When they enter they eat a piece of chalk, which •they call a pig. Those who are initiated often say that this is not a pig but the Mbaku. The head of Nkimbi will tell them that it is a pig; and if they say it is not, they will kill them. If they ever confess that it is not a pig they will die, and if they ever confess that they did not die and rise again, they will die suddenly. They remain in this so¬ ciety from two to three years, then Mbaku takes them back to the town and shows them the way, and introduces them to their friends, as they do not any more know them; and as they are unable to speak their language, he interprets for some time, until they acquire their original language. They are never known to confess that they did not rise and that they did understand the language when they returned. When people declared that they wanted to become Chris¬ tians, we had some test questions, which were suggested by our first convert, Lutate, by which we could, at least, tell whether they had given up their faith in their idolatry. The first question was this, “Did you die and rise again in the Nkimbi ?” They are told that if they confess they did not, they would suddenly die; and often, trembling, they would answer, “No.” They were asked if it was real pig or chalk they ate; and if they said chalk, they have con¬ fessed the secret, which they are told means sudden death to them. To denounce the Nkimbi is to give up idolatry. When the women heard these men confess that it was all untrue that they had been led to believe in regard to the Nkimbi, they were astonished to think that their husbands and brothers should have always deceived them. PRAYER ANSWERED Just before and during,the revival we had some very remarkable answers to prayer. The head of the Nkimbi THE PENTECOST ON THE CONGO 23 was about the greatest enemy to the gospel. He had almost absolute control over the men, and told them if they listened to me they would be bewitched, and I told him before his face and before these men that he was deceiving them; that he knew that it was all untrue. He said, “Is it not true? You come, and you will see if you do not die and rise again.” He was trying to be bold and convert me to heath¬ enism, but I objected, because I thought I might perhaps fall into their hands and die, but was not so sure as to the way I should rise again. His influence over these men was so great that I had difficulty in getting them to listen to the gospel. There was also another witch doctor, a female, who had about the same control over the women, and when I was preaching to them she would say that if they listened to me they would die, and they would run away. There was one chief, who when I preached would take his gun and his people would follow him. I felt that those three w r ere great hindrances to the gospel. While I was down country with my wife I asked God, earnestly, to remove all hindrances out of the way. When I got back to Banza Manteke I found the head of the ISTkimbi had gone to a palm tree to get palm wine and had fallen down and injured his back and died. The female witch doctor’s house had been removed and she was dead and buried, and when I got to the town of this chief I found that he had had the fever and died, and so my three enemies were taken away. During the time of the revival we had two services a day and an evening service, and we had glorious meetings. The testimonies of the converts were given with great power. One day the boy who had charge of the lamps came in and said that the oil was gone. I just lifted up my heart to God in prayer and said, “You cannot mean that these services are to be stopped; we cannot conduct them in the dark.” An hour had not passed when the same boy came in and said that a carrier had come from Palabala. I went outside and the first thing I saw was a large tin drum. I went and looked at it and the first thing I read was, “Kol zu oil,” just the oil we needed. If it had been kerosene, or paraffine, or any other kind we could not have used it. I said to Peter, “Fill up the lamps; God has sent the oil,” and God con- Three Deceivers Glorious Meetings 24 THE PENTECOST ON THE CONGO Our Opportunity tinued to bless us in these meetings. I do believe that if we “seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness,” all the necessary things will be supplied, because it is his promise. We can see that God has never failed us. In almost every place where the gospel has been faithfully preached for any length of time there have been conversions. I do not know of such a hopeful field in the world as in the great Congo Valley. There are no such great systems of religion as in China and India, such as Buddhism, Brah¬ manism, but simply fetishism, and the people are naturally intelligent, and when they get to understand that there is something better for them they give up their idolatry and accept Christianity. The people are naturally very plastic, and the people in Africa will be just what we make them. If we do not take the gospel to them, the traders and others will introduce gin and rum, powder and guns, which utterly corrupt and brutalize the people. How is our opportunity. God has opened the door for the Church to go in and take possession. All we want to do is to send faithful mission¬ aries by hundreds and thousands to go and win these people for Christ. 499. 1 REVISED ED.-5M-1-06. PRICE, 6 CENTS