Knowing that we needed to contact adults, Bob bought a small hand cranked Gestetner stencil printer, prepared a series of correspondence Bible lessons in English, and placed a one column 2" advertisement in "Bona" and "Drum" magazines. I chose magazines because people don't throw magazines away the way they do newspapers. Both Bona and Drum are Africa, English language magazines. Both are very popular all over Africa. What I did not know is that they are published in several editions, depending what country of Africa may be their source of publication. Those two adverts reached out to South Africa, South West Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, both Northern and Southern Rhodesia, Nyasaland, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Gold Coast, and even beyond. Those are all countries of the British Commonwealth sp English is taught in the schools. After a slow start, the requests rolled in, including invitations to come to their countries to work. Two new mission fields actually opened because of that decision. God had led in this! And He had chosen me because of my particular talents and personality.
That was how Bob became a self trained "printer and publisher" for soon the Gestetner had to be replaced by an electric offset printer and then larger and more effecient offset presses; until finally finally there was a "roll back" when he reverted to an electronic Risograph. Actually it was a new innovation to printing. Yes, it uses a stencil but much differently than the old machines and far cleaner, but that is a whole new blog to come later.
At this early stage, Bob invited a man to come from the Minister's Training School in Kimberley, to hold a meeting and advise as to what should be done about Windhoek problems. Nick Qwemesha came during the Christmas Summer break at the school. It had been arranged that he would stay in the home of the minister of African Methodist Episcopal church, perhaps a quarter a mile away from us. He and his family were to be out of town. That was arranged because it was illegal for Nick to stay in the home of a white family. Those were Arpartheid Years and as foreigners, we could expect to be under surveillance. We had already had the experience of the Police Spy interpreter. On the second day, Nick came to the Mission, cap in hand and asked to be allowed to stay with us. He would sleep anywhere! Even the little children were drunk in the township, and I am sure that he was frightened to stay there and walk back and forth to our home. Of course we took him in and made a plan, though there was not even one spare bed anywhere on the property. I think he put the benches together and put a mattress pad and blanket on them. He was happier, and we came to know a literally, life long friend. Many years later his family phoned to ask me to come over 400 miles to preach his funeral, and His widow traveled hundreds of miles to see us when we returned to Africa to be at the wedding of a granddaughter. It would have been a very difficult trip for Gerty in the heat of season and riding in an overloaded car.
Nick was very upset that there was no telephone in this house right on the very edge of the township. When even the tiny ones who came to the meetings had obviously been drinking, He made it very clear that we should leave as soon as our lease expired and come and help teach at the Preacher Training School in Kimberley where he would be my interpreter. Phyllis had our two older girls and by that time Donna had just been born, so she and the children flew from Windhoek to Kimberley and Bob followed by road retracing the route followed two years before. This time he knew where he was going and what to expect. A new phase, a new home, and new friends lay ahead. We were to spend a happy twelve years in Kimberley and the family had many friends there.
No comments:
Post a Comment