Today's Embrace (46 page)

Dr. Jakob had told her it was his godly ambition to make Bulawayo Mission eventually carry on in the same blessed fashion as Kuruman, which had prospered under that great and godly missionary Robert Moffat. “I want the Shona and Ndebele Christians working side by side. There must be plentiful gardens and fruit trees for all, each family working and providing for its own. No laziness, no free food, but
godly discipline and thankfulness. We'll feed hundreds of the African natives, we'll teach them Christian hymns, and one day the Scriptures will be in their languages.”

Evy entered the medical ward and stopped in the open doorway until her eyes adjusted to the dimness. Dr. Jakob was busy treating the recuperating, but several patients were in a fevered daze.

Evy walked up to where he sat on a hollowed-out log bench. The Shona girl must have been around fifteen, but already she was mature in body. She was naked from the waist up, but Dr. Jakob showed no embarrassment or unease. He seemed used to the women, both Shona and Ndebele, who wore practically no clothes at all. They were all bare-breasted with only loincloths or thigh-length leather skirts, and bangles and beads.

At first she had been embarrassed by the near nakedness, and Mrs. Croft had been quite shocked when they first arrived. After months in Matabeleland and on the outskirts of Bulawayo, they had slowly adjusted to the sight. Nothing could be done about it. Only in the chapel during Bible reading and prayer did Dr. Jakob have her, Alice, and Mrs. Croft hand out “gowns.” These were mere square sections of cotton cloth with a hole cut in the center, which the women willingly slipped over their heads. Evidently, they thought it was a ritual of being a “Christian.” So far, Dr. Jakob said he had not gotten them far enough along in their knowledge to try to put Victorian fashion on them.

“We must not be so unwise as to make them think they are to become European. I believe that nakedness will fade with their grandchildren.”

Dr. Jakob was telling Evy, “The young girl from Chaka's kraal has chills. Most likely the fever will peak before sundown.”

Evy nodded. The girl's strong young body shook and trembled, and her eyes were rolled back. All Evy could see of them were tiny red veins in the whites of her eyes. Evy wrung a cloth in heated water and gently wiped the girl's flawless ebony face and throat.

There was a new addition built onto the ward. It was called a
godown
. It was open-sided with walls that stood waist high. Upright poles supported a roof of thatch, and in summer, such as it was now, the wind could blow through. When the winter rainy season came, grass mats like rugs were let down to form walls.

The floor consisted of clay and cow dung, and Dr. Jakob made no attempt to separate the healthy members of the family who brought the ill to him. Both the well and sick stayed together in the ward, or camped out nearby.

Dr. Jakob's medical “office” was adobe. Evy wondered that it only had only one small window. He had some shelves built from mopane wood, a table, a workbench, and his life's work of journals and books.

The Shona girl lay sleeping on the mat. Her skin seemed hot, and her lips were cracked and bleeding, so Evy smeared some fat on them, mixed with dried mint or camphor.

“She must be burning up,” she commented in pity. “How long can she endure this high a temperature?”

“If it goes above one hundred four for very long, she'll likely die. It's happened before. They go delirious.”

Evy watched Dr. Jakob administer the quinine.

“This could help if it isn't too late. The father didn't bring her in until last night. She was already far gone.”

From outside there came a babble of excited voices. Evy glanced toward the opening where the sunshine came in.

“Cover her up with the
kaross
, Evy. When she starts to sweat, that will be a good sign.”

Jakob stood and walked to look out the opening.

Evy did as Jakob bid her, taking the jackal furs and tucking them around the girl's body.

“A surprising call,” Jakob stated. “Trouble, I fear.”

Evy looked over her shoulder at him, wondering. The very word
trouble
caused her nerves to tighten. The unusual sights, odors, and customs of Bulawayo at times still left her jumpy and sometimes insecure. Again she wished Rogan were present.

Quarreling voices outside in the yard could be heard.

“What kind of trouble?” she asked quietly.

“We shall see.” He slipped into his dusty white jacket, put his hat back on, and turned to go outdoors.

Evy came to him, her hand on his arm, detaining him.

Her eyes searched his for meaning, but he patted her hand calmly, and a brief smile touched the corners of his tan, lined face.

“It is the induna, Shaka. Most likely he's come about the girl from his kraal. They do not all approve of their people coming to me. I shall see what he wants. Most likely he's come to register his complaints to me. They think I can stop the chief native commissioner from his decisions.”

Sir Julien was the commissioner.

Evy was not convinced the old induna was harmless. Even before Rogan and Derwent left, Rogan had told her the indunas were against Rhodes and the Charter Company.

Dr. Jakob went out to meet the induna, while Evy remained in the open doorway looking on.

The induna, Shaka, stood back with several warriors. This was the first time Evy had seen a feared induna up close. He was tall and thin, and yet the sinewy muscles of his chest, back, and shoulders left no doubt of the man's strength. There was a pragmatic fierceness about his chiseled face, and his dark eyes glittered like coal heated in a brick oven. He wore the black headring made of gum and clay molded into his hair as a permanent fixture that announced his status.

Evy was startled to see so many battle scars on his body that had healed long ago and were now knotted into hard bumps. Perhaps some were even bullet wounds from the last war at Bulawayo with the British. He stood barefoot in the warm dust, a monkey-skin cloak was thrown over one shoulder, and a buckhorn whistle hung on a leather strap around his thick scarred neck. He would blow a single sharp blast on the whistle if he wished to alert his people.

Evy watched with uneasy silence. Rogan had informed her that the indunas had once been the ruling lords that made up Lobengula's council.

Evy read the distrust in Shaka's demeanor. Treating the sick had gone over well with many, but not with all. Many of the Ndebele knew of missionary Robert Moffat, who had served in Bechuanaland, and the Moffat name was respected as a friend. His son had known Lobengula.

For a moment they stood in silence. Then Dr. Jakob addressed the induna in the Sindebele language. Evy had no notion of what was being discussed, but it seemed a heated debate.

The induna spoke sharply, then turned on his heel and strode away with his men following.

Evy came down to Dr. Jakob. His face was strained.

“What is it? He was angry. About the girl?”

He shook his head. “No. They have grievances with the Company. He insists I speak with the chief native commissioner.”

“Julien …”

He nodded. “And Harry Whipple. They accuse Harry of ignoring their laws.”

“Is he?”

“I don't think young Harry has any regard for their laws, Evy.”

Harry Whipple was apparently disregarding the indunas by using the
amaholi
as his native police. These men were considered lowly and unblooded. Under Whipple they were harassing the
amahoda
, who were the elite young warriors in the kraals, and even insulting the indunas.

“The trouble is the Company police are armed with guns, but neither the indunas nor the impis are allowed weapons for fear of an uprising. The indunas are also angry because Harry is conscripting honored warriors for building roads, when they have a strict caste system. Only the amaholi ‘dogs' do the work of slaves. The work forced on them is the work of mere
mujiba
, herdboys, not yet initiated into their fighting regiments.”

“Is it true?” she asked uneasily.

“Yes, much of it, sadly, is true. It is also true that the Company
cannot
allow them to own weapons because they may turn against us. Much work needs to be done before there is respect and peace among us. That peace, true peace of brother to brother, can come only through unity in Christ. ‘ “There is no peace,” says the L
ORD
, “for the wicked.” ' And the wicked are white and black, European and African. What we all need is a new heart.”

She squeezed his arm. “If only …” She looked at him. “Sometimes there is no true peace even between two Christians … a man and wife.”

Jakob looked down at her sadly. “That is often the saddest of all.”

There was a moment of silence, then he said, “But between husband
and wife, who are Christians, there is the love of God and the power of His indwelling Spirit to heal and mend, to make even stronger, to bless.”

Oh, Father, if only this could happen between Rogan and me. May it happen, no matter what
.

“Ah! There is a litany of wrongs the induna cry to me about, some fancied, many real, and they want me to do something about them.”

She looked at him. “What can you do about it? Julien's in charge, and he's put Harry Whipple at the head of the native Company police.”

Dr. Jakob's eyes flashed. “One thing I can do is attend the meeting next week in Bulawayo. Even Dr. Jameson, Mr. Rhodes's chief administrator, will be there. Maybe I can help them understand the unrest.”

Evy felt a rush of enthusiasm. “A wise decision, Uncle Jakob. I'd like to go with you.” She hastened on when she saw a doubt creep into his eyes. “I'd also like to visit Arcilla and Darinda at Government House.”

He agreed, then went on discussing partial reasons for the unrest among the tribe.

“The death of Lobengula simmers in the Ndebele like a boiling cauldron. Now they complain, and rightly so in my mind, of the Company confiscating their cattle. This roughshod treatment of the vanquished can end only in tragedy for us all. Something must be done. It is the Lord's work that suffers. The Africans associate the missionaries with the ambitions of Rhodes, his armed men under Dr. Jameson, and the greedy desires of men like Julien for diamonds and gold.”

Evy was inclined to agree. Nor was the British government much help to the missionaries.

Evy knew of the clash of purpose between the British and Boers with the missionary lobby over fair treatment of the tribes. Except for a few outstanding missionaries like Robert Moffat and his wife, Mary, the expansionists saw missionaries as a meddling nuisance, often getting in the way of trade and progress.

The Moffats had developed Kuruman mission station in Bechuanaland, where they had served for more than fifty years before retiring to
England. The great stone church that Moffat had built at Kuruman in 1838 was still standing.

David Livingstone had spent two years training at Kuruman before setting out for Mabosta, two hundred miles north, to establish a second station. Mabosta was not many miles from Rogan's old gold mine on the Zambezi, but Livingstone, more of an explorer and adventurer than a missionary, had never remained in one location like the Moffats. Livingstone had departed for the deeper wilds of Africa, giving up his connection with the missionary society, to accept a commission from the British government that allowed him more funds and equipment for his travels. He had died in 1873 at Ujiji, near Lake Tanganyika.

“Is it true that Robert Moffat was refused permission to print the Bible in the language of the Bechuanans?”

“It is,” he said sadly. “The leadership in Capetown did not want rights granted to the tribe. If we printed the Scriptures in their language, you see, then the political authorities believed it would imply that the Africans were on the same level ground as we. That meant future voting rights, and other legal rights as well. Don't be shocked. The East India Company did the same thing to William Carey in India, and in Jamaica in the Caribbean.”

“But Robert Moffat did print the Bible in Bechuanaland.”

“When God says bring the gospel to every creature under the sun, it's our obligation to do it. Yes, Moffat ended up getting his own printing press to bring the Word of God to the Africans. The Companies, whether in South Africa, India, or elsewhere, are for the most part about commerce and trade, not that there aren't good men involved as well. But from the Christian perspective, Evy, it's more about money and national glory than it is about spreading God's truth. But that's to be expected. Many of these men are very intelligent and talented, but they do not know Jesus Christ. They are not committed to Him. They are committed to themselves.”

“Yes … but the Lord has His ways. It's also true that the BSA has
made it possible for missionaries to follow in their wake to spread Christianity throughout the British Empire.”