Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 18, Number 41, DeMotte, Jasper County, 10 September 1948 — ROBERT SWARTS WRITE FROM AFRICA [ARTICLE]

ROBERT SWARTS WRITE FROM AFRICA

) A kobo Post July 25, 1948 Dear Friends Everywhere: Often missionaries must labor many years before they know the thrill of welcoming a new family I to their station. But such will be ours this week. The Rev. and Mrs. Harvey Hoekstra and sons, Dennis and Jimmy, are travelling up the Sobat River this very day. Soon they will reach the Pibor River and within the next four I days their journey will come to an end. We are eagerly getting ready for them. Their house is not yet suited for occupancy; so we Swarts are moving ovfcr a bit to make room for the Hoekstras here. Bob is busy converting the box in which our refrigerator arrived into a closet, and another packing box into a more shallow closet with shelves in it—temporary affairs, but at least the folks won’t have to live altogether out of their suitcases. We delight in the thought that they shall soon be here—and much sooner than vve expect. July 15 we heard from Dr. Shafer that they had sailed July 3. July 17—just two days later —a telegram came informing U» that they had arrived in Mai-' akal. (It made us realize anew that we really are not so far removed from the land we still call home.) And now we anticipate the blessing of their presence and of their work. “Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!!” The strength of the mission will be increased, and the work of Christ’s kingdom shall progress with greater vigor. Just this morning at a service at Old Akobo, one man said, “If you would come oftener, we could learn more.” With a stronger force at the mission Old Akobo and many other villages can be reached more regularly. Our last letter took you chronologically as far as our arrival on April 5. Since then, we have moved from the McClure home, that being made possible by the arrival of all our worldly goods—our refrigerator, Monarch stove, sewing machine, organ, and all our furniture and linens—on our fourth wedding anniversary. That was a joyous way to celebrate. We now occupy the government lest house here at the Post which we are finding very comfortable. It is made of brick, has very high ceilings, many big doors and windows, and two good verandas *—all of which help make a hot day seem a few degrees cooler. The mission is a mile and a quarter away—a good healthy hike. That place looks considerably different than it did when we arrived. The McClure home has been repaired from housetop to the ground and inside and out. The school buildings all have new grass roofs and mud walls. The garden is growing lusciously •—both sowers and fruits and vegetables. We’ve been enjoying all kinds of fresh foods—bananas, papayas, limes, and mulberries; tomatoes, string and lima beans, spinach, carrots, cucumbers, green peppers, egg plant, khusa (a kind of squash), and soon there will be sweet corn and musk melon. White potatoes will not grow in this. soil. Sweet potatoes—a white variety—will. We use rice and burg u! (a specially prepared wheat) bought in Khartoum as potato substitutes. Ducks, guinea fowl, geese, and bustards are all delectable. And we've become connoisseurs of antelope steaks, roasts from the waterbuck and gazelle, hamburger ground from scraps, and soups made from -the bony parts. The Pibor yields a mai'velous supply of fish of strange descriptions but of unsurpassed flavor. So those of you who wonder if the right kind of food is available, there is your answer. We’ve even cooked lettuce to help use up a tremendous amount of it that was brought in

by an Anuak boy. And by mistake j one day we cooked a green musk- | melon thinking it was a variety of Khusa. It tasted like soft, hot cucumber—if you have ever tasted soft, hot cucumber. Now that the rainy season is here, the grass which was, scorched and brown or completely nonexistent in April, is growing luxuriantly all over this flat prairie land. It will grow twelve feet in height and perhaps more. This tall growth is an invitation to the wild animals to come closer to native villages to feed on their goats and cattle. Lion and hyena tracks are commonly seen now. We have not as yet heard the lion roar, but the hyena has often howled in this vicinity and it’s an eerie, chilling sound. Not only are the grasses changing the appearance of the landscape. The native dura, which resembles corn, is growing thick and tall now. And soon the Anuaks will be harvesting their crops, laying away a good supply so they will not be hungry next dry season. Dura and a little fish are about the only foods they eat. Is it any wonder that diseases have a stronghold in each black body’ Diet plays such an important part in physical health. Besides most ,of the native children, our own children who are just pleasantly rounded .appear positively fat. Valerie and Gayle are getting along very nicely here in the tropics—developing, we are sure, just as they would in America. Valerie will be three this week. Gayle will be a year in August. The whole mission will celebrate with us somewhere in between the two dates. Gayle took her first steps last week and we’re all so proud—including her little self. We cherish the messages your letters bring. Thank you for every thought you have sent our way—for every prayer you have prayed. The assurance that you are remembering is a tower? of strength, even as is the assaurance of the abiding presence of our Christ. The Anuaks must know about Him, too. That’s why we’re here. Language study with various informants is progressing slowly. Not having a textbook is rather a handicap, but we’ll make this tongue our own eventually. Bob is teaching some Bible and music in English to the upper grades in the school, and does some preaching with the assistance of an interpreter. But the greatest joy will come when the glorious message of salvation flows fluently from our lips int the hearts of these people by the power of the Holy Spirit. That that day may soon come, we pray. Do pray with us. Yours, serving Christ in Africa, The J. Robert Swarts. Alan Ladd has the most dramatic role of his career in Para“Beyond Glory,” in which he portrays a World War .II hero who believes he has killed his commanding officer and best friend. He is co-starred in the film, now at the Gayble Theatre, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 11, 12 and 1”, with Donna Reed.