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Bo.January 6, 19bl' ,
Dear Chris-fcian brethren,
The holidays are over, and life is now returning to normal.
There is always a lot ofdrinking going on at this time each year,
"but there have heen no incidents. Thestudents in the ible
Institute had three weeks holiday vacation} this gave them
anopportunity to return to their villages and get some food and
money. Scane of them,however, are holding student ministries5 these
spent their three weeks with theirchurches. Classes will resume
Monday. We have just begun to study the Gospels whichthe students
and I "both are finding very interesting and profitable.
il is not coming in at all now from the States. It has been over
two weeks since Iave received any mail and even that was censored.
It is not even sure that this
letter will get to you. The last letter from Betty said that she
plans to returnhere in the middle of February. Upon learning this I
sent her word to cancel herreservations, for with so much political
uncertainty it is unwise for them to be here.The British Consulate
in Stanleyville advised a couple weeks ago all women and children
to leave the province* So we do not know wheii she and the children
will be ableto come back. We hope that it will not be too long yet5
it has been over six monthssince they left the Congo.
As you have probably heard by now, my parents have decided to
come over to help in ,the work. Dad was recently pensioned from the
Standard Oil Co., and he and Motherhave decided to dedicate the
rest of their lives to serving their Lord in the Congo.The doctor
said they were unusually healthy. Wj are, of course, doubly happy
fortheir decision. There is much to be done that is left undone for
there are notenou^ missionaries. We are looking forward to their
arrival along with that of theother new recruits, the Batlers, just
as soon as the political climate settlesSupplies are becoming
increasingly more difficult to get. There is n? ?i]fh ^at all to be
bou^t in Stan. Even the;service stations are limiting their sales
tothree gallons per customer for as long as the supply lasts. Their
is no_loa3j andit' is impossible iven to get bread with meals in
the hotels. There are nn ;pprii^batteries, no matches, no keroaene
- arid on it goes. Every week the sJLtuation worsensfor
L^opoldviTle has cut off all river boat traffic to ^r province in ^
effort tobring it into submission. So no new supplies are coming
in, and existing stocks arenearly gone. There is enou^ gas at the
mission to last about four or five months,and I happen to like many
of the locally-available native foods. So eve^rvthiisrunning fm
While passing throu^ a village recently we saw a dance in
progress (which is notunusual). The'unusual thing was that there
was a leopard skin hanging nearby. Thismeant that the village had
killed a leopard, and they were having a great dalhce ofjoy to
celebrate it. They especially hate leopards and always dance when
one iskilled.
I?LJUi_filldst, _of all confusion the preachers^are
sti3JL.jijcdng their work, we are stillconducting the Bible
Institute, the HEHstians axe sWll meeting land most everythingis
carrying on as normal. Tha^ you for your interest in the progress
of the gospelhere. Please continue in your prayers for everyone
connected with His woBk in theCongo.
In Christ,
Ronald Harshe
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Missionaries:Miss Zola L. BrownMr. and M. Howard A. CrowlMr, and
Mr>. Ronald D. HarsheMr. and Mrs. CUflbrd W. Scbaub
Rtcruits:Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Bittler
Forwarding Agent:Mr, MiUon W. Dills
Letter Bffiin 11 T'limmry 17^
Bomili Station ;Bomili par Bafwasende via StanleyvilleCongo
Beige, Afrique
OHna Station :B.P. 3, Nia-Nia via StanieyvilieConi^o Beige,
Afiique
Forwatding Address:P. O. Box 996,Cincinnati 1, Ohio, U.SA,
19
Dear Prienda in Christ,
There was a young maii here just a few ainutes ago wanting to
"buy a hymn hookand a Bibls, He had just been baptiaed last Lord's
Day, and his face tostifie^lto the truth of hie words when he
.'>aid his heart was full of joy now. Ha wantsto jet gt3rt
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BomiliMarch 6, I96I
Dear Friends,
The mail is now open again, and so I have hopes of your
receiving this lettero Lastweek ten letters and one telegram
arrived from my,wife. Then this week seven moreletters came. This
was the first I had heard from her since December 7
Five churches met at Bafwagali at the end of January for a
revival meeting of twofull days. Part of the meeting was rained
out, "but the rest went well. I96 peoplewere present, and there
were about 30 young people for the youth meeting. One nightafter
services the preachers, some student preachers and I were sitting
in thepreacher's house talking. One of the students wearied of the
conversation andpicked up a bed and started to take it to the house
where ho was to stay the night.For some reason he put it down after
he got outside and came back in with the rest ofus. At this someone
became very excited and told him not to leave the bed out therefor
the people in this village were bad people and would smear some
charm medicineon it and make whoever slept on it sick. He brou^t it
back in. This is just anotherexample of their need of preachers to
teach them the Word of God.
In January I was called to the Olina station. Some man tried to
make the mission payoutrageous sums to present and past employees
for no good reason. He wrangled, plead,threatened and everything
else for five hours. He had three policemen with him andthreatened
to put me in Jail for not paying. A couple days later the
territorialgovernment settled it by putting him in jail. We have
found the local administratorsvery fair.
I was in Stanleyville last month when the'word came in of
Lumumba's death. Therewere 300 people wishing they were someplace
else. The town was closed up tight forseveral days, and with one
thing and another it was 2 l/2 weeks before I could getback out to
Bomili. When I finally returned to Bomili at night all the people
rolledout of bed and came to greet me laughing and piimping my arm
off. They had heard allkinds of gruesome tales of what was
happening to white people in Stan and thoughtthat I was dead.
Everyone called it mirabulous that there was no more trouble
thanthere was. '
But it was not long until some were angry with me. Supplies are
just not &,vailable,but I did manage to get a very little bit
of soap. We cut the squares in two so thatthere would be enou^ to
go around to all the mission people. No one said, "Thankyou" but
some did become angry because I would not let them have two pieces
insteadof only one^^^^hey thought I was not showing Christian
love.
There^aTB still little hope for the family's return here. They
and the Butlers and mypaj?nts had planned to come in April, but it
had to be cancelled. This is the secondJime that a departure date
for them had to be cancelled. Incidents are still happen
ing, and the future is still not clear.
Continue, we ask, in your faithful support and in your prayers
for this work. TheCongolese need the gospel now more than everj and
they, together with us, somedaywill thank you face to face.
In our Lord,
Ronald Harshe
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s-
Missionaries:Miss Zola L. BrownMr. and Mrs. Howard A. CrowlMr.
and Mrs. Ronald D. HarsheMr. and Mrs. ClifTord W. Schaub
Recruits:
Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Butter
Forwarding Agent:Mr, MiUon W. Dills
/'A*IP.' -
jWi?^r2
llarc.h 22
Bomili Station :Bomili par Bafwasende via StaoleyvilleCongo
Beige, Afrique
Olina Station :B.P. 3, Nia-Nia via StanleyvilleCon^o Beige,
Afiique
Forwarding Address:P. O. Bov 996.Cincinnati 1, Ohio, U.S.A.
Letter #4
Dear Friends in Christ,
We are novv' at Olina for a fe.v days# We arrived Sunday night
and found th'it thepeople had heard that I had left the Congo,so
one of theci had gone to Bomili viaanother road from the one -^e
oame over on to learn if it vraa true. I sta^- most ofthe time at
Bomili and only make monthl.,. short visits to Olina. I passed
thenormal time by a coupla :ir0elt is the time it will take to lea
if they '.vill start helping their/reaoners.
We found, though, that three of the churches v^sre paying' their
preachers well,and one nven had a disable balance left. These same
three ohurohes had a Christmaia
^ conference on their own initiative, and over 300 people
attended and gave anoffering of 500 francs. One ohuroh geive their
ohare to their preacher. We arehappy to see them doin-^ these
things on their o-.?n, I did not even know about ituntil it was all
ovei*. One of theae three, Mambati, is doing especially well.There
ia :i great iuorearse in attendance and they are paying
?ronderfully. It issignificant that thio is the church I -^/rote
before about having weekly prayarmeetings.
As 'te came over v/e met a very unoomEnon site. A man was
walking along carrying abundle of roofing leaves on his head.
Behind him v/alked a woman in a maa's hatand carrying a bo^ and
arro??. Their positions^wjre^exactly reversed from what
iscustomary. The people^ -/ith me about Kade them^flic^^'laughing
at it. One man wasrather x^t cut about it ?,nd ntarted firumblint".
One -"oman spoke up and said, "Well,that -.o/nan is paying uhis is
my inclepo.'idenoe.
All is calm and -veil here, and the Lorv. is bl .::3ain;',; us
and the. work daily thanksto your praypra and faithful
3up.:-'0rt
Have you a hand in hebinq to win the CONGf^f'^FOf''(f^RI^T ?
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Dear Brethren in Christ,
BomiliApril 5) 1961
The "biggest hindrance to the progress of the gospel nov/ is
that caused by the expectancy of everyone for the new religion
which is coming. It is supposed to replace allthe former religions.
Just what kernel of truth is in it, if any, is not clear. Ican only
guess that it might be a cult honoring the late prime minister or
communismor wh t. It is very likely that it is Just pure rumor
since this is the fairestrmmor-fbroeding ground in the whole wide
world ever since independence. For monthsnow there have been only a
very few baptisms. Most people are waiting to join the newreligion.
In many churches a group of Christians have left and are awaiting
the newarrival. The preachers are all unaffected, though, along
with most of the Christians,
Some things that may appear odd to Americans came to ray
attention last week as I wassitting in church at Bafwasendej and
so, thinking of you, I jotted down a few. Aformer soldier and
government messenger was wearing his old army stockings that
reachto his knees. The odd thing was that the feet had worn out so
he had cut them off atthe ankles aJid was just wearing the tops. He
had also taken a piece of old tire forthe soles and strips of inner
tube for the straps on the top and made a pair of sandals.Then
there was the man sitting in the middle in his obviously brandnew
raincoat justglistening purple. The sun v/as scorching outside. One
of the deacons was wearing asuit jacket, white shirt and tiec He
buttoned the jacket and left the tie hanging onthe outside like a
thirsty dog's tongue. He was barefooted. One man was doing afancy
job of balancing a bent and crooked pair of glasses on the tip of
his nose. Adog was asleep under the communion table. And during the
offering the preacher'stwo-yea.r-old son came bouncing in waving a
woven uhuru hat around with a feather stuckin it. All this in the
most "cultured" tovm where we have a church.
Where the end of stealing is going to lead wo do not know. These
things have happenedat the mission v/hile I have been gone on
various trips. Someone got into the houseand stole the bedding off
the bed and a couple changes of clothing. A couple boardswere
stolen and later recovered. A couplo bunches of leaves have been
stolen. Twochickens disappOc?-rod during" my last safari. One
Sunday a screen door was found layingon the ground in broad
daylight. Someone got cold feet after taking it off its hinges.This
preacher, thou^, has the best story of all. Someone stole the
refill out of hisball point pen and inserted an empty one.
V/hile grading papers for the Bible Institute today I noticed
these nicknames that someof the students had taken. "The Prophet
Elisha" (his name is Eliasi), "Unlucky Arnold,"and one fellow wrote
his in French obviously having only a hazy ides of v/hat it
meant,"His Majesty George." One exasperated student after
floundering on trying to answeran essay type question made a couple
unbright remarks5 then there was a space on thepaper; and in very
small handwriting he wroto, "Bwana, I did not study."
V/ell, the mail is clogged again. After sv/allowing all my
wife's letters for nearlythree months the mail opened up in March.
It lasted a couple weeks, and nov/ it isclosed again. It has been
three weeks now since letters have come in from Betty.
Accept our gratitude for your prayers and giving, and rest
assured that v/hat you aredoing is being multiplied many times over
by the Lord's pov/er in bringing His ownwill and message before the
Congolese.
In our coming Lord,
Ronald Harshe
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tf[iid
Missionaries:Mias Zola L. BrownMr. and Mrs. Howard A. CrowlMr,
and Mr. Ronald D. HarsheMr. and Mrs. Clifford W. Scbaub
Recruits:Ml. and Mrs. Ronald Butler
Forwarding Agent:Mr. Milton W. Dills
Rnmili
./r, A
April 19
-fV
19Si
Station:Bomill par Bafwasende via StanleyvilleCongo Beige,
Afrique
Olina Station :B.P. 3, Nia-Nia via StanteyvilleCongo Beige,
Afiique
Forwarding Address:P. O. Bov 996,Cincinnati 1, Ohio, U.S.A.
Letter #6
Dea^ Friends in Christ,Aman was just here who asked for work. I
told him that T^LHeter'seenworld that I would give work "because he
is always drunk. In a , first>iin riot drunk and he lives here
at Bomilio ut todayj he was soher for the lii'sttime. He theA said
that he has ahsoluteljr given up all drinking heoa^e ttoffovomment
agent told him that if he catches him drunk again he will put 3^for
two months. Hearljr everyone drinks some, and many getare litirally
drunk all the time. Liquor is one of the curses of the Congo.The
week-end before last I made a safari to nine churches in the
Bafw^dakaTwo and three churches grouped together so I only had to
hold fourwe arrived at the first church the Christiana came to
greet us md I noticed thatone wfflnan looked very ill. She is a
very faithful Christie ^d outstanding incomparison to the rest. As
she turned to leave, a man, a heathen, who had heentalking with me
said, "That is my wife. She is sick. I asked what _hut he just
shrugged and said that he did not know. Later on Isickness she had}
he started heating around the bush ^d finallyhad had an argument, I
said, "^ou mean you heat her." I then proceeded like a
goodmissionary to teach him about the evils of heating your wife.
He very gravely agreed
*4.V TT +>iB+ T ani/i "Yoli are riidito It is had to do that*
If it had heen anyoneUse beating her I would have become angry, but
she is my wife," That made it alri^lAt one church a man said he
wanted to be admitted back into the *^church refused him. He had
been jailed upon his own confession of practicingcrocodile
witchcraft. That is to call up a crocodile to kill someone. So the
churchdisfellowshipped him. He later wanted to repent and he taken
hack into the fold.The church told Mm they would accept him back
whenthe church and destroyed them before their eyes. He thought
this was being unfair.He wanted me to set the church straight, but
I complimented them instead.It seems like ages since I have seen
the family. They left ten ,f *^
""monent there is nothing happening here, but you never ^ tl
bfout again. It is good for awhile, and then not so good. The
Congoquiet for several months before I would be easy about them
being here, ^8you are praying about this. Thank you kindly for your
interest and support ofChrist's mission to the Congo. AFKICM SSI
OH
Have you a hand in helping to win the CONGO FOR CHRIST ?
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JvN 5 1961
Bomi liMay 11, 1961
Dear Brethren,
We have heen made sorry by the attitude of one of the student
preachers, and we areafraid he will have to be dismissed. He has a
threeyearold son, and one day thewife of one of the other student
preachers gave him something to eat. That eveningthe child became
nauseated. For several days now the child has not been well, and
sothe father has accused the other student preacher of putting a
spell on his child through something his wife put in the food# His
child was slightly ill even beforeeating the food. He has responded
to medical treatment and appears nearly normal now.But the father
has it in his head, and so he is going to accuse the other student
ofwitchcraft before the chief. Since independence this is even a
more serious chargebecause the government now sanctions such
trials. I talked with him at length aboutaccusing without cause his
brother preacher before worldly judges and the effect itwould have
on the gospel. He seemed to be convinced until this morning when
heinformed me that he is going to the chief today to make the
complaint. Since independence there has been an increase of this
sort of thing. Whenever anyone gets sick thefirst thing they think
of is ulozi (witchcraft). There has in many ways been a reversion
to the old customs.
A man came to me recently as I was in his village saying a young
lad "was ill. That isnot unusual, but I v/as not at all prepared
for what I saw. I have never seen such asickenening sight here and
there have been many bad ones, too. His left leg wasswollen from
knee to anklo several times the size of the other leg. It had
splitopen and was seeping badly even through several layers of
dirty cloth. As we weredriving to the dispensary at Bomili, even
with all the truck windows down the stenchwas nearly unbearable. It
could readily be seen that he was in constant pain* Ithad all begun
months ago with a small sore. He v/as being treated here at the
dispensary, but the progress did not please his family so they
returned to the village withhim and used native medicine. Over a
fev/'months it progressively grew worse, and theythen came to me.
It makes you angry to see something like that when it could
havebeen prevented. If his life can be saved'at all he will be a
cripple and may evenhave to have the leg amputated.
Beginning next week the annual three-day conference begins at
Bomili. The followingweek the two in the Bafwasende area will take
place, and then the next week the Olina
churches will have theirs. We are prepared for a disappointment
in attendance forsome have left the church since last July and some
of the others who remain have grownindifferent. We hope we are not
disappointed beyond our expectations.
In June of i960 the family left the Congo for what we thought
would be a couple monthsNearly a year has now passed. Thoue:h ''"Ho
si+n^'tion is better now and has been slowlyimproving the last
couple months,we still cannot icel at ease about them coming
here.So when Mr. Growl comes back in June I will return to America
for a furlough untilthe situation will permit the family to return
to the Congo v/ith me. Our first five-year term has expired anyway,
and so v/e are eagerly looking forward to reuniting our:^amily
soon.
May God bless you for your part in preaching to the Africans,
and may He bless thatpreaching of the gospel that the Congolese may
share our walk with Him,
Sincerely in Christ,
Ronald Harshe
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Missionaries:Miss Zoia L. BrownMr. and Mis. Howard A. CrowlMr.
and Mn, Ronald D. HarsheMr. and M's. Clifford W. Schaub
Recruits:Ml. and Mrs. Rooald Bmler
Forwa rding Agem :Mr, Milton DilU
Letter
fiomiii Station :Bomili par Bafwasende via StanleyvilleCongu
Beige, Afrique
Olina Station :B.P. 3, Nia-Nia via StanleyvilleCon^o Beige,
Afiique
Forwarding Address:P. O. Bov 996.Ciacionaii 1, Ohio, U^.A,
T)ear Frionds in Christ,
The Bomili confors!no3 ha oorae and gone and 90 have 272
p(3ople, This attendj=inoG3.S vastly below thd ?s.v9ra^o for those
annii^.l meetings of the Christianso Ther^oord attendr^jice 1959o
V/ith tlis advent of In'.lependenoe msjiyji laanythinf2;s have
alowed. The people had aof^lected to ])lani; fields thinking; that
itwould no lon^"r be necessary to bother v.'i.th the annoyrince of
worK. to hs-ve aqOOsI -living oRce Indepsndence comeso Thsrs
Giitered a ^eriral attitude of lawlesf^ness. - Tho devil then nRed
all this to work on the churoho Some people lefthe church, ^id some
of the x-einainiiig (7,rcvv very indifforent There is a. goodgroup
of faithful Chrietians in nep.rly every place, thoa/;h5 and some
churchesare even proGpfti'in,' bf^v'oud v/hcit they '/fere before.
Indepeiidence. '^.e look on tnisar a necond h3gin:iinr", '^ .nd
'vonder if the Lord iB not using thio as a purge 1n? churoh in
pr'J7i?im.tion ? or f:rT^.ter things that He vrlll do with io#
People artow startin^" i;o plant fields ar-i.injhaving, the folly
of their way. -he nevigovernment and pubiiri OTjinion iu i-.enera-i
is maicing a drive against criae andv.'itchcraft, and it ip
tsTierin^^ off b'^lieve, ton, that i;hO::=;e whooe heartswei'e not
v?ii:h the Lord ha-ve left iHe Ghurch, that perhaps tho chux'ch
will nlonger be troubled 7;ith the host^^wanl". to "join" because
j.t ie tie populax- thinto do
Crur carpenter and hifi v/ife ar-'^ cn vr.ication and visiting
in their nome vilxageawjiy. The other day aa X was Gtr:*liin-;
''.hrongh the village I oa>Be bo their xiouse,tind sui'rounding
their little garden of Manioc v'as a Jangle vine faatexied on
3tic,
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Dear Christian Friends
BomiliJune 10, 1961
The annual conferences have come and gone. The attendance was
way down, but thepreachers v/ho had planned the. conference and
preached the sermons did very well.The Bomili, Bafwabiago and
Bayawa conferences each ran between 250 and 300 in attendance. This
is one-half to one-third the usual attendance. The Olina
conferencecould not be held. Soldiers had put up a roadblock near
Olina and all the Christianson that side of the mission v/ere
afraid to try to pass it. Some others who hadtried had been beaten.
Then only one man from the three churches on the other sideof the
mission came. The others lazily said that they v/ould come when the
missionarycame in the truck to get them. This left- only the two
churches near Olina who hadbeen left without a preacher due to
their falling away. So it was impossible tohave the conference
there.
At Bayawa I was awakened one morning about 4s00 AE by the noise
of someone shoutingin the middle of the road in front of my house.
This is not so terribly unusual soI went back to sleep. I kept
waking and dozing. Finally, about 5^00 A.M. I openedthe window and
listened. He was berating the American and telling him to "git"
likeothers for he was not wanted in the Congo. I v^ent back to
sleep again waiting fordaylight, but was again av/akened by an
angry voice rebuking the troublemaker. Theagitator's voice then
trailed off to the far end of the village. Later, the leadersof the
churches at that conference were unanimous and enthusiastic in
their lettingit be known to me that they wanted the missionaries to
stay.
After leaving Bayawa we passed a wrecked^truck on the main
highway. It was Vinreckedrather oddly, though. The top was all
bashed in, yet it had not been turned over.We learned that a few
nights previously it had encountered an elephant in the road.The
elephant would not leave so the driver foolishly tried to pass to
one side. Inthe process it bumped Jumbo, and the enraged beast
proceeded to demolish the cab,the hood sind fenders v;ith its
trunk. He did a first-class job. He even bent thewindshield corner
post. It is amazing how much damage it did5 the truck body iswholly
beyond repair. No one, thou^, was hurt; unless it might be that the
elephanthad a mighty sore trunk the next day.
I had hoped to return to the States this month, but some
problems have arisen, and Ido not know now if it will be possible.
Next week I expect to go to Stanleyville,and after some inquiring
around there I will be able to make a decision. So beforenext
month's letter I may be in the States and writing from there - or I
may stillbe here. We hope that the former vri.ll be the case for
our family wants and needsto be reimited. We know that many of you
have been praying concerning this matter,and we appreciate it
deeply and are convinced that the Lord will hear those prayers.
Your continued prayers especially for the preachers and the
Christians are as neededas ever. There are many times now more
obstacles to the gospel, and before His Wordwill be successful here
many problems must be overcome. We trust that you will standwith us
and the- Congolese.
In the Almighty One,
Ronald Harshe