Luebo, Congo BeIge, Africa,
March 6, 1922
Dear Friends:
It doesn't take the months long to roll by out here. We have now been out here a little over a year, although it seems like only a few months. It also seems little more than a month or so since we wrote you, though by the calendar it must be several.
You have no doubt all kept posted on Dr. Egbert W. Smith's visit to the African Mission field, our Secretary of the Executive Committee of Foreign Missions. He reached Luebo on February 7th, in company with some of our missionaries, two returning from furlough and two recruits making their first trip. The coming of Dr. Smith has been a long looked-for and prayed-for event for us, and his arrival was an occasion of great pleasure to us as well as to the natives.
The arrival of the "Lapsley" was quite an inspiring sight, as it always is. We can hear the whistle of the boat some 20 or 30 minutes before it reaches our beach, which gives us time to get down there for the beach is about a mile from our station). By the time the "Lapsley" came in sight around a bend, about a quarter of a mile from our landing, there were gathered something like 2,000 natives waiting to welcome them. As the boat drew near the shore this vast crowd began singing "Onward Christian Soldiers," after which there were loud cheers and shouts of welcome to those on the boat. Many of the natives had palm branches in their hands waving them.
You will no doubt have a detailed account from Dr. Smith of his experiences on the way out; how they had to wait two weeks at Kinshasa for a boat; farther up on the river got stuck on the sand banks twice, and once for two whole days.
The night of Dr. Smith's arrival, he began the Conference. He had sent out some time previous a questionnaire covering every phase of our work, and which we had gone over before his coming. So in these Conferences with Dr. Smith, we went over these questions carefully, thus giving him a fair knowledge of our work, including many details. This was not done hurriedly, and as every part of our work was covered, the reports on these conferences should give our Committee and Church a complete account of our work, methods, plans, and problems; and we might add that Dr. Smith is a genius at getting to the heart of things with questions. His long experience with Mission work, and his recent trip to our Missions in the Far East are manifest. Of course, these conferences on Luebo station cover largely the work of our station, and he will hold these conferences on each of our four other stations. He will return to Luebo as he goes out.
All the morning long we have heard the firing of guns, some times five in rapid succession. They are shooting these guns at a mourning party for the death of a young man. The noise of the guns is connected in some way with the aim of driving away the evil spirits who are supposed to come after a person's death. The gun is really a combination of their old custom with the white man's from seeing the government officers fire the salute over their dead comrade's grave.
The evil customs connected with these "mournings" are the source of great temptations to the native Christians and of oftentimes great wickedness to those who engage in them; some of which are ridiculous, but the larger part are the kind of wickedness that Paul describes in the last half of first Romans. Many of them have been redeemed from the grasp of these terrible vices, but in comparison to the population, only a few, and thousands of them are still dying in such sins. Pray for them. A few days ago, one of our workmen, who is on my workline and who is not a professing Christian, asked me to be allowed to go on a journey, stating that a close relative of his wife had died in a village some distance away. When I told him about the wickedness of these mournings, he said, "Yes, but if I don't go and take part in this mourning with my wife, what will the people say, her relatives and mine who are now there? They will accuse me of deserting my wife, and will try to take my wife away." Thousands of these villages have never had a teacher or evangelist, and do not even know that there is a Better Way.
We have just received news from Mutoto that a dormitory of the Morrison Memorial Bible Training School was struck by lightning. I should have said two dormitories. Ten of the students were shocked, but no one killed, and the two buildings were burned to the ground; they were built of sun dried brick and covered with grass. We have just been making every effort to improve this school, and to increase the number of students, and now with no finances in view for rebuilding, it looks like a hard burden for our brethren at Mutoto, and for us all. It has been our aim to put up permanent brick buildings with tile roofs in the next few years, but it looks as though we were financially unable to begin this year. Temporary quarters are being erected in the shape of mud huts.
We want to again urge our friends to write to us. We have received some very kind and encouraging letters from friends, for which we are most grateful.
With our best wishes and prayers for each of you, we are
Yours in the Masters service,
Mr. and Mrs. B. M. Schlotter
Nashville, Tennessee, May, 1922
Any letter with five cents postage or postcard with two cents postage, addressed to Mr. and Mrs. B. M. Schlotter, A.P.C. Mission, Bibanga, Kabinda, Lomami District, Congo Beige, Africa, via Cape Tow, will reach them in due course of mail.
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