The Newtown bee., 1904-05-06

dish in which it was cooked; and past has taught us that 1t con talns much grit and other foreign matt ure of even tasting it, but theres is no escape for uS we must eat 1t, at least small part of it. Our native boys are looking on with interest, for to them it has all the charm of moth CTS cooking," and they will eagerly dispose of it as soon as the queens messengers are gone. We must also send a present to the queen to show our good will, which to-day will be a small can of beef. After dinner the boys are sent through the town to call the people to the meeting, although many of them have failed to wait for such an invitation. In response to this call we soon have congregation of from fifty to eighty people, not counting the dogs, goats and pigs, which are also present in considerable numbers. The dress of the people is as meager as that of the queen, except that the women, like many of their sisters in civilized lands, are very fond of ornaments. These native orna- ments consist of an iron ring or bar, suspended from a hole in the upper lip, several strings of curious beads around the forehead and neck, and about a dozen heavy brass rings around each wrist and ankle. The children have all apparently forgotten to dress for church, for most of them
 wear no clothing of any sort, although
 they are we'll supplied with ornaments. We open our meeting by singing Sev-
 eral hymns in the native language, followed by prayer for the Divine help and blessing. There is no formal ser mon, for these people have only the
 mental capacity of little children so | far as spiritual things are concerned. We have a Sunday School Picture Roll, representing the life of Christ, which came from my church in Bridgeport, Conn. I show them these pictures and with the aid of the interpreter, tell them the old, old, story. which to
 them is so strangely new. They seem never to weary of this part of the ser
 vice, and as they look and listen pray of the Christ may enter their dark lives. After this talk we have prayer,
 both in the English and native lan-
 guage, in which we pour out our hearts to God for the redemption of these degraded people. After the ser
 vice short time is usually devoted to teaching the people either the Lord s
 Prayer, or a hymn, or some passage of Scripture. We next pass on to the second part of our work, that of heal ing the sick; which fear many of the people regard as the real business of the day. As rule the whole crowd of people remain to the clinic, and
 keep up anIincessant chatter scarcely any of which I underStand-in which they give me all sorts of advice and | frr rv, tjov, ooyoornivn thu fiov,f1 Many of the cases are Of minor tm-
 portance and yet it is these minor all.
 ments which make up large part Of
 the burdens of life and disqualify for l it's duties We'll, at last all these phy- sical ailments have received attention and it is time for us to start for home. We have treated about 20 patients. fLet us hOps that each treatment will constitute a cord of trust, sympathy and confidence, binding the people not only to us, but to the Christ "whose we are and whom we serve" Our re- turn journey will lie over different path, although not better one, in or der that we may call at another na- tive kraal, and if time permits, hold a service and clinic. But we must has of lions and leopards, although not at all common, make it unwise for us to travel after dark. Our journey home seems farther than that of the morn ing, because of greater physical weari- ness, but at last it is ended and we are at home again. We have walked near ly twenty miles and are now almost too tired to take another step, perhaps too tired to eat or sleep; but this is nothing compared with the great joy that is in our hearts, because in the name of Christ we have been permit ted to "heal the sick and say the king dom of God is come nigh you"
 How wonderful! After waiting all through the centuries, at last the Kingdom of God is come nigh. And how blessed to be the instrument in Gods hands of bringing this kingdom nigh. Let us pray that this divine kingdom ''of righteousness, joy and peace in the Holy Ghost' may not only come nigh, but may be established in all of these hearts and villages. ISamuel Gurney.
 Oldymtali, Rhodesia, Africa, March 15, 1904.