The Work of the Church in Africa

The Work of the Church in Africa THE WORK OF THE CHURCH IN AFRICA
Leonard Mullens

Africa, with its land area of 12,125,000 square miles, stretching for 5,000 miles from the north to the south and 4,500 miles from the west to the east, is a land of contrasts. Altitudes range from sea level to over 19,000 feet in the mountain ranges. The sands and wastes of the Sahara Desert embrace 3,500,000 square miles (500,000 square miles more than the area of the United States), while it is possible to ski on the slopes of mountains located on the equator. In Africa, men dwell in mud huts on the plains and in modern cities of a million in number. Lush tropical jungles grow in profusion at the very foot of snow-capped mountains, and the little muddy waterhole on the African savannah may be contrasted with great inland lakes, one of which is but slightly smaller in the area it floods than the whole country of Scotland. Africa, with its 150,000,000 people, who speak seven hundred different languages, is too vast and too varied to be summarized in the time of this discussion. The principal forms of native religion are Animism and Fetishism, while both Christianity and Mo-hammedanism have made some inroads in the past few centuries.

Now, the work of the church in Africa may be divided into three parts: the work in the Rhodesias, the work in Nigeria, and the work being done in the Union of South Africa. The Work in the Rhodesias
First, we consider the work in the Rhodesias, which has been carried on for about thirty years. With this work, most of us are more or less familiar, and such names as Scott, Sheriff, Lawyer, Short, and others are well-known to us in this connection. This is a work among the native peoples, and is well established in nature, with about 15,000 having been immersed; however, we must report that many of these have drifted back to paganism. Among these native Christians in the Rhodesias are some very able preachers and Bible students, who carry on the spread . of the gospel entirely without assistance from the white race in some instances. Brother Foy Short found fourteen congregations, in various phases of development, on a trip recently, which we did not know existed. Sister Sewell and Burns, supported by the Trinity Heights church and the Sears and Summitt congregation have but recently begun work among these natives. The seed of the kingdom has been sown, and is being sown in the Rhodesias. The Work in Nigeria
The spread of the word of God in Nigeria, with its pop-ulation of 20,000,000, reads like a legend from a book of fairy tales. This country, a colonial possession of the British Empire, is known as the “white man’s grave yard” and it is reported that everything in Nigeria either has a poisonous bite or a poisonous sting. Located just north of the equator, the mean annual temperature is about 80 degrees F., and its delta lands are very unhealthful, especially for the white race.

Now, the work of the church in Nigeria cannot be told without telling the story of Brother C. A. Essien, a native, and until a few years ago a member of the Methodist church. Through his study of the Bible, Brother Essien became dissatisfied with the Methodist religion, and began to find his way to the truth. In many ways, Brother Essien may be compared to Alexander Campbell, for he is truly the “Campbell” of his country, though he has come in eight years over the road that it took Campbell many years to travel. For five years, Brother Essien was on his own, and for the past three years has had some contact with others in the Lord’s church. Brother Essien first heard of the church of Christ in March of 1948, through a Miss A. M. Braun of Bavaria, Germany, who runs a library of international correspondence schools in Europe. Somehow, Brother Essien had the address of this woman, and wrote to her, inquiring for a correspondence course in the Bible. Now, wre do not know that this is true, but it is entirely probable that Miss Braun had heard the “Back to the Bible” broadcast over the Lourenco Marques station, located on the lower eastern coast of Africa. Or, perhaps, Miss Braun had come into contact with some service men in the United States Army, who had acquainted her with the correspondence course which had been designed by the Lawrence Avenue church in Nashville, Tennessee, especially for the use of the military forces during the last war. At any rate, Brother Essien secured this Bible course, completed all the lessons, and immediately began to teach others. Truly, “God works in a mysterious way his wonders to perform.” In a few weeks time, the. Lawrence Avenue church dis-tributed about 160 sets of this course to the natives, under the direction of Brother Essien. The Central church in Cleburne, Texas, provided about 350 more of these series of lessons. As these natives learned the truth, they taught others, and the good news spread in all directions. Preachers began to leave the denominations, and bring their entire congregations with them to the truth. In a letter written to this country, on the 12th of December, 1950, Brother Essien stated: “It is true we have so many churches. They were converted some from the Apostolics, Catholics, Christ Army, church of Scotland, National church of Christ, Church of the Nazarene, African Church. African Apostolic, Lutherans, Methodists, and some from the Christ Apostolic Church of Gospel Missions.” Up to the present time, there have been about 200 congregations formed, with a total membership of between 8,000 to 12,000 souls.

You are all familiar with the. fact that Brethren Eldred Echols and Boyd Reese were sent to Nigeria from South Africa in August of 1950, and you are acquainted with the report which they brought back of the work. Brother Echols reports that there is no discernible difference between a worship service in Nigeria, and one in the. average colored congregations of Texas or Tennessee; .Our hearts rejoice at this great news from the jungles of Africa!

Brother Reuel Lemmons of the Central church in Cleburne met in January with leaders of some of the Nashville, Tennessee churches to see what could be done to further this Nigerian work. From that meeting, two things have been planned: 1. Brethren Echols and Reese will return very- soon to Nigeria for a period of four months, and during this time they will teach the native preachers of Nigeria. The Central congregation in Cleburne has undertaken the task of raising the $2,500 that will be needed to finance the mission of these two brethren for this time. Not only will these brethren instruct the native evangelists in the way of the Lord more perfectly, but they will also survey the field and determine just what kind and type of help is most needed there. If it is deemed an act of wisdom to send white evangelists to Nigeria, then these brethren will make the necessary preparations for their coming, such as housing, and otherwise. 2. Tennessee churches will try, in the meantime, to find two American congregations that are willing to support two white families in the work there.

We are happy to announce that provision has been made for the support of Brother Essien and for a native preacher to assist him. In this respect, the sincerity of Brother Essien has been demonstrated by the fact that he has spent his own money in furthering the work. The proceeds of two farms and a blacksmith shop which he owned have gone to extend the borders of the church in his land. Brother Essien will receive about $63 a month, and from this, he will pay his assistant, and also meet his car expenses. The salary he will receive will be equivalent to that which is paid by the British government for native officials in that colony. Further developments of the Nigerian work may be read in your papers from time to time. However, this news has but recently reached us from Brother Essien. He has been approached by a group of Nazarene churches, and writes about the matter after this fashion: “Many churches are waiting to see the white men come, especially the church of the Nazarenes. They are up to 200 churches, and want to be converted to the truth at seeing you brethren.” What Brother Essien means by this is that the Nazarenes are convinced of the scripturalness of the plea of the church, but that they are waiting to see some white members of the church. We do not understand such reasoning unless we realize that many Africans have no confidence in anything preached by a black man unless he can prove that there are white men somewhere who preach and believe the same doctrine. This is indicated by an incident that occurred when Brother Echols and Brother Reese first went to Nigeria. They were met by some men who wanted to be immersed, for they had learned the truth long before, but they would not obey it until Brother Essien had produced at least one white man who believed it. lie had told them that there were many white Christians in other lands, but they called him a liar to his face. Upon meeting the white brethren, they said, “Now we have seen, and we know that he was telling the truth after all.” This is a peculiarity of the African mind. The needs of Nigeria will be presented to you when these needs are fully known. However, it would be most helpful to Brother Essien and the Christians in that country if they had a short wave battery radio. Then they could hear the broadcasts from Lourenco Marques. Incidentally, such a radio would cost about $100. The Work in the Union of South Africa
Now we shall consider the work in the Union of South Africa, which is a British Dominion consisting of the provinces of the Cape of Good Hope, Natal, Transvaal, and the Orange Free State. The Union covers an area of about 472,550 square miles, and is mostly composed of a high plateau, standing high above the Atlantic and Indian oceans, which wash its shores. It is a land of sunshine, with an average of twice as many sunny hours as London, and a very mild and pleasant climate. It would seem to be a topsy-turvy place to us, for winter comes in July and summer in January. The Union is sparsely settled, due mainly to the arid condition of the plains. However, the British government is at work now on irrigation projects which will greatly stimulate agriculture and industry. The South African Board of Trade has predicted that by 1955 the population will exceed 14,000,000, while it stands now at about 12,000,000, of whom about 2,500,000 are Europeans, 7.250.000 are Bantu (Negro), and the rest are mainly Jews and Asiatics. The white peonle live mainly in the towns located on the “gold reef,” which is a backbone of mountain ranges that makes up the southern end of the great east- central range that stretches the entire length of the African continent. These people dwell m about fifty towns that range in population from about 25,000 to a million in Johannesburg. South Africa is the last large relatively undeveloped country in the temperate zone left on the earth, and the British government predicts that the Union will support a population of 200,000,000 people, and that Johannesburg will be the largest city on earth, within a hundred years, larger than either London, or New York City. This points up the importance of the church getting there now, so that the Master’s cause may grow wi1h the country. The Dutch and the English are at this time engaged in a “cold war” between themselves for the control of the Union. The outcome of this struggle will nave its effect on the future of the church in South Africa. The preaching of the gospel began in South Africa through the medium of the radio. Brother Reuel Lemmons, preaching over the government radio station at J/OU - renco Marques, sunported by several Texas churches, began to receive mail from several denominational preachers who w'ere interested in the “Back to the Bible” plea of the Lord’s church. As a result of inquiries for more information, a Bible correspondence course, especially fitted to the needs of the searchers after truth was made available. At this time, 500 are enrolled for this course, and perhaps placed on a permanent list, and each succeeding sermon is mailed to those so contacted. At the present time, about 1,000 receive a copy of the weekly sermon, while about 150 who have shown a marked interest are receiving the Gospel Advocate through gift subscriptions solicited by Brother B. C. Goodpasture. Out of the young people who have written, about fifty are now receiving the 20th Century Christian through gift subscriptions. It is estimated that some 1,800,000 persons hear this gospel each week, carried on by means of trans- scriptions.

Incidentally, time has also been offered for this same broadcast of gospel sermons over station KCJB, “The Voice of the Andes,” located at Quito, Equador, South America. This is reputed to be the strongest radio station on earth, and can be heard over the entire world. It is also entirely possible that these same transcriptions will be used over the GOA chain of radio stations that blanket the sub-continent of India. You may watch for later developments along these lines.

Now those who have journeyed to the Union of South Africa went there to follow up the work that had been done through this radio preaching. These radio sermons had been continued for over two years before any of the evangelists reached the field. In May of 1950, the first workers reached the Union. Brother Waymon Miller, supported by the Tulia, Texas church; Brother John Hardin, supported by the Riverside church in Fort Worth, Texas; Brother Guy Caskey, supported by the Edgefield church, Dallas, Texas; Brother Eldred Echols, supported by the Pearl and Bryan congregation, also of Dallas, Texas, along with the families of the first three men, went to Johannesburg. This city is a modern, Americanized city, with a population of one million, 360,000 of which are white or European, and the remainder is native, colored, and Asiatic. Johannesburg is very much like the average American city of comparable size, with a climate described by the brethren as “ideal.” As soon as the brethren were settled, they began to contact the names of those who had written in from Johan-nesburg to the radio program. At first, the work was slow, and interest was small. However, the brethren persevered, and by personal visits and the teaching of Bible classes in the homes, greater interest was aroused. Soon the preachers began to baptize the taught, but they encountered great difficulty in obtaining suitable places for baptizing and greater difficulty in obtaining permission to use the places located. People were immersed in public swimming pools, fish ponds, and rivers, at every hour of the day and night. Soon, the difficulty along this line was solved by having a canvas, collapsible, portable baptistry made. The brethren also had made a tent, forty feet by sixty feet, which they used for meetings in various parts of the city. Up to January 30th, thirty-five had been baptized in Johannesburg.
The leading religious denominations are the Dutch Reformed church and the church of England, and the people belong to these churches like they belong to a certain nationality of people. They are social and political in nature, with the church of England characterized by cold, ritualistic formality, while the Dutch Reformed church is marked by an ardent, partisan spirit for the country and the government. Other denominations exist, such as the Baptist, Methodists, Seventh-Day Adventist, Catholics, and the Holiness groups. Coupled with this, the people of the city are concerned much in sports, such as tennis, golf, hockey, softball, and Sunday is the day used for indulgence in these things. Indifference to religion is noted, but this is due in some measure to the cold and formal atmosphere of the established state churches. All of this adds up to a great opportunity for the Lord’s church, for we have something to offer these people that they do not have, and the inhabitants have noticed that there is a difference, and this will attract their attention in the days ahead. The brethren in this city feel very strongly that in a few years, good strong churches can be built in Johannesburg; and finally, that the Lord’s church can be planted throughout the Union. One of the needs at this time is suitable locations for church buildings, so that the work can be carried forward. An ideal location for a church building has been located now by the brethren in the southern section of Johannesburg, and the lots have been purchased at a cost of about $5,100. These lots are situated in a section of the city inhabited by home-owning people, close to some nice apartment hotels, Soon a modest, but adequate building will be erected on these lots, and grant to the work there a foundation of permanency. The evangelists have also begun the publication of a monthly gospel paper, known as the Christian Advocate, which is designed to meet the spiritual needs of the South Africans. The mechanical make up of this publication is pleasing and attractive, similar to those of the brotherhood in this country. l\one of the workers have any financial interest in this paper, and no profit accrues from it, since it is mailed free to those who will receive and read it. About a thousand copies have been printed the first three months, but the mailing list ’is increasing rapidly. The financial cost of this paper is about $85 a month, which is supplied by the ISlorth Side church in Fort Worth, where Brother Miller, who is the editor, preached before going to Africa.

Thirty miles to the north of Johannesburg is Pretoria, the executive capital of the Union of South Africa, with a pooulation of about 230,000. It is here that Brother Bon Gai dner, supported by the Highland Avenue church in A.bi- lene, Texas, began his work on January 1st. Four have been baptized there, and a congregation of some ten to fourteen members has been started. A song director is needed to assist in the work at that place in a very bad way. The formation of this congregation means that now there are three churches composed of white people on the great African continent, counting the one at Bulawayo, in Southern Rhodesia, where Brother Foy Short is laboring, supported by the church at Ferris, Texas.

Churches are needed now at Durban and at Capetown, and then a chain of New Testament congregations, stretching out over 1600 miles at 400 mile intervals, shall stand like candlesticks along the rocky backbone of the southern part of Africa. In this connection, we hasten to add that Brother Martelle Petty, with his family, has landed in the Urn on. After some time in Johannesburg, where he will orient himself, he shall begin his work in Durban, supported by the Peak and East Side church in Dallas. Durban is a city of paradox, where graceful minarets rear their domes to the sky, and electric trolleys dash through busy streets; where veiled Indian women gaze into the windows of modern European shops, and native chieftains lead their scantily-clad wives through the city, while Zulu ricksha boys ply for hire. In Capetown are a few members of the church already. Here it was that a white man heard the radio broadcast, and wrote for a copy of the sermon, which he received. Later, as he walked through the streets, he came to a little Negro church, and paused to listen to the native preacher through the open door. The words sounded strangely familiar to him, and he took the radio sermon from his pocket, and found that he could follow the sermon word for word, since the Negro had memorized it! This same Negro man baptized him and his son, and now these two order correspondence courses three dozen at a time, which they distribute in Capetown. The names of the prospects in the Capetown vicinity are sent to this man.

Yes, the work in the Union is on the upsurge, and this ringing challenge can be made to any congregation who wants to send a man there to preach the gospel—just close your eyes before an opened map of the Union, and then jab out with a pin. Select the name of the town nearest your pin point, and you can be furnished with the names of people in that place who have taken the correspondence course, and by checking their answers to the questions, you can just about tell what they are religiously. Try it and see!

What does South Africa need?
More preachers is the answer, and more congregations to support a man there! Others may go to South Africa if they desire, and find employment to support themselves while they aid the work of the Master there. You may write to the Embassy of South Africa, Washington 8, D.C., for information concerning the country and employment. For centuries, Africa has been known as the Dark Continent. But today, the world is becoming more and more aware of the importance of this vast continent, with its supplies of gold, diamonds, vanadium, coal, iron ore, uranium, great forests, and its great potential crop land of more than 25 per cent of that of the world. What has hindered the spread of the gospel in the past, which is the fact that these places were hard to reach, is now overcome with the radio and through air travel. Truly Africa is white unto harvest. In the opinion of competent authorities, the native religions of Africa will gradually be superseded by either Christianity or Mohammedanism. At the present time, these two theistic missionary faiths are contending for the hearts of the people of Africa. Which shall it be for them —Christ or Mohammed, the Bible or the Koran, the truth or error? To a large degree, the answer depends upon us in the church of Jesus Christ in America.
In the Dark Continent, the glorious light of the gospel has sprung up, like brush fires that have been lighted on the mountain tops. In parts of Africa, these fires of truth burn brightly today, but they appear as do the stars to a man in the depths of a deep well. Shall we add fuel to the fires by our own sacrifices in talent, in energy, in money, and in prayers ? Or shall we be content to allow the shroud of ignorance and superstition, error and falsehood, once more to drop over the benighted millions who roam the jungles and plains of this vast land? Let us rise up, and with faith in our God, and the spirit of sacrifice in our hearts, claim Africa as a rich prize that we may lay with toil worn hands at the pierced feet of our blessed Jesus. Let us rise up, and with heart and hand, see to it that these little fires of truth shall not be quenched, but that from these, many others shall be lit, until in the years ahead, as God may will it, all of Africa shall glow with the knowledge of Christ as a precious jewel in the canopy of God’s universe !