The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1932, Page 25

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER 25

It is a far-flung field that our missionaries
among the deaf are taking care of. They travel
great distances to reach their preaching-places. In
some instances they travel as many as 1,500 miles
a month. They are serving 165 stations with the
Gospel and conduct almost 1,500 services a year.
Eight of our deaf congregations at this time have
their own chapels, and several have their own par-
sonages. Several of our deaf-mute workers also
labor among the blind. In fact, one man devotes
all his time to the blind, also editing the Lutheran
Messenger for the Blind, which has subscribers in
every State of the Union and in twenty foreign
countries. The Deaf Lutheran is sent to all the
deaf served by our missionaries. The editor of the
Deaf Lutheran also edits periodicals for the blind
in German, Spanish, and Moon Braille, which are
read in nineteen countries. F. J. 1.

Two Palavers.

In his interesting report on a visit to the West
Africa Mission of the Northern Presbyterian Church
the Rev. A. W. Halsey, a secretary of his Church’s
Board of Foreign Missions, gives the following
account of two so-called African “palavers” he
attended on his tour: —

“One of the onerous duties of the missionary is
listening to palavers. The visiting secretary was
present at a number of palavers. Two occurred
among the Fang people. They illustrate certain
distinct characteristics of the native African.

“The palaver is everything in Africa. No under-
taking of any importance can be carried on without
the palaver. Before a canoe is bought or a wife
taken or a dispute settled, there must be a palaver.
The meanest town in the ‘bush where a few strag-
gling huts, a stray goat, a half dozen children, ‘and
twoscore men and women constitute the entire com-
munity, is not without its palaver house. At Duke-
town, in Old Calabar, the palaver house was an old
tumble-down house, filled with rubbish and dirt,
unfit to shelter pigs; yet when the drum was
sounded, the people crowded into this building to
hold a palaver. Time is no element in the make-up
of the African, and these palavers often last a whole
day or more. The matter in dispute may be the
merest trifle, but the palaver must be held and the
question settled in proper form.

“Miss Isabella Nassau, so long the honored and
devoted missionary worker in Batanga, is famous at

‘cutting’ palavers, the people having such confidence
in her judgment and perfect justice that they will-
ingly submit their disputes to her, and when she
‘cuts’ the rag held by the two contestants, the one
having the shorter piece goes away as well pleased
as the possessor of the longer piece — the sign that
the palaver has been decided in his fayor.

“The first palaver was at Angom in Congo -

Frangais, on Nkomo River, in the Gaboon district.

“Angom was occupied as a mission-station in
1881. The mission-property is on rising ground,
some distance away from the river and back of the
town of Fula. It is a veritable ‘garden of the Lord’
for beauty and luxuriance. If there is any fruit,

An African Village.

flower, or vegetable growing on the west coast of
Africa that is not found on these goodly acres it has
escaped my eye. The mission-houses are fairly sur-
rounded with trees laden with richest fruit, oranges,
limes, coconuts, pineapples, breadfruit, papaws,
avocado pears, mangoes, coffee, cocoa, and much
else. The blue myrtle was crushed under our feet

as we walked, the ‘pride of Barbados’ delighted our
eyes as we looked about and tropical flowers of many

varieties and richest hues were growing everywhere
in great profusion.
wife labored here for many years, and much that we
saw was the result of their painstaking efforts.
Mr. Marling died in 1896. The station was closed
in 1898. Every bit of the furniture left in the
houses. remains untouched, a large, collection of
planks, windows, boxes, and innumerable articles

The Rev. A. W. Marling and -