The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1930, Page 18

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18 THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

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Wonders of Transforming Grace.

ROBERT MOFFAT AMONG THE BECHUANAS.

When the Christian missionaries first came to
the Bechuanas of South Africa, these people seemed
to be without all religious ideas. Wrote an early
missionary: “Among them the missionary has no
idolatry to arrest his progress, and his mind is not
overwhelmed with the horrors which are to be found
in countries where idols and idol temples have their
million devotees. ... He seeks in vain to find a
temple, an altar, or a single emblem of worship.
No fragments remain of former days as mementos
to the present generation that their ancestors ever
loved, served, or reverenced a being greater than
man.” The missionary could make no appeal to
legends, altars, an unknown God, or any ideas
related to those he wished to impart, however much
he wished it. John Campbell writes: “They looked
upon the sun with the eyes of an ox.” The Chris-
tian idea of a Supreme Being, the Creation, the Fall,
the Redemption, the Resurrection, seemed to them,
says Campbell, “more fabulous, extravagant, and
ludicrous than their own foolish stories about lions,
hyenas, and jackals.” When Moffat, upon a certain
occasion, tried to explain these things to them, a
chief turned to his followers and said, “Open your
eyes to-day; did you ever hear fables like these?”
and then burst into loud laughter and begged the
missionary to cease talking about such nonsensical
matters, lest the people think he had lost his senses.
When a missionary among them once asked an in-
telligent convert: “How did you feel in your natural
state, before hearing the Gospel of Jesus? How did
you feel after a day of sinning when you laid your
head upon your pillow? Were there no fears in
your breast? Did you hear no accusing voices telling
you that you had done wrong? Did you have no
dread of the future?” ‘The convert’s answer was:
“No;~ how could we feel, or how could we fear?
We had no idea that an Unseen Eye saw us or that
an Unseen Bar heard us. What could we know
beyond ourselves or of another world before life and
immortality were brought to us by the Word of
God?” Then, bursting into tears, he added, “You
found us beasts and made us men.”

Such was the general condition among the
Bechuanas as well as among the -Hottentots and
Bushmen of South Africa. But there must have

been times when at least some religious ideas came
to their minds; for the missionaries did find a few
of the more intelligent who often were tormented

by a desire to know the first cause of things. But
the general Jack of religious feeling and of a sense
of sin made the work of the missionaries very hard.

The customs obtaining among the Bechuanas
were no better — and possibly no worse — than those
among the other tribes of South Africa. Among
them, too, women were treated as chattel. The
father who had a large number of girls felt happy;
for he knew that they would bring him a good
price. Though they were upon so low a social
level, their pride and independence was noted far
and near.

Early Missionary Attempts.

The first attempt to bring the Gospel to the
Bechuanas was made by the Dutch Missionary So-
ciety as early as 1800. The attempt proved a failure,
and one of the two missionaries was murdered.
Later efforts also ended in failure. In 1812 John
Campbell, the noted Scotch missionary, visited the
field and received the impression that sentiment had
changed and missionaries would be gladly received.
But when at his request the London Missionary
Society sent two workers, the people drove them
away, hooting and yelling, “We have seen the results
of your teaching; for those who once wore a kaross
now wear clothes, and those who had two wives now
only have one.” But in the very year that this hap-
pened with the first missionaries of the London
Society to South Africa, the same missionary body
sent out Robert Moffat to the same field.

Moffat’s First Undertaking.
No sooner was Moffat ordained than he sailed

for Cape Town. But upon his arrival the governor ©

refused to let him proceed into the interior among
the savage tribes. For eight long months Moffat
was held back at Cape Town before the governor
gave his consent, and then only reluctantly, to con-
tinue his journey. Moffat’s first objective was the
village of the notorious chief Africaner, who for
a number of years had been a terror to the whole
region around.

Africaner was really a Hottentot chief, but he
had obtained territory among the Bechuanas and so-
lived among them. Moffat very correctly judged
that, since Africaner terrorized the whole region, it

would be useless to begin work until he had suc- «

ceeded in getting the good will: of the Hottentot
chief. Courageous young man that he was, he:
determined to beard the lion in his den. The
Journey was made with an ox-wagon over sandy

deserts, which the feet of a European had never

before touched. For days they traveled through

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