“South African Mission”
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BIPOC Voices in the Victorian Periodical Press
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South African Mission.
[...]
"Blyvoormtricht, at the Cape of Good Hope,
"18th March, 1800."
"The Postscript of a Letter received from Mr. Kramer, mentions, that three Boschemen called upon them, one of whom had been there before; and they brought with them two natives of a different nation, who mentioned, that they had understood they would be likely to hear something concerning One whose name was Jesus, which would do them good. They had, for this purpose, come on foot a journey of eight or ten days; and, as the road was so difficult and bad, they thought something more than Nature must have prompted them to undertake it. They did not think themselves worthy to hear of this Name, but yet they were desirous of it, and wished to know whether any of those, who understood the doctrine of Christ, would go and instruct their countrymen. The brethren answered, that as their number was now reduced to two, by the departure of one of their body to Dr. Vanderkemp, they could not go at present; but would answer them more fully when they came again, which they said they would do in seventy days, and that their request should be complied with, if in their power."
Letters from the South African Missionary Society at the Cape, dated Dec. 22 and 23, 1800, state, that brother Kicherer had been tempted with the offer of three parochial livings, but that "the virtue of the blood of the cross had enabled him to resist."
By these letters it appears also, that through the activity of the South African Society, which consisted, in the month of August, of two hundred and twenty-nine members, no less than one thousand nine hundred heathen had already received instruction, and since that time their number has considerably increased. The greater part of these still remain hardened and obstinate in their sins; many, however, enquire with many tears for the Lord Jesus, and some feel the sanctifying power of his grace.
The above letters inclosed two from bastard Hottentots, with which we doubt not that the friends of the Society, and of the Gospel, will be gratified. The work of God is evidently begun among this poor people.
"LETTER OF A BASTARD HOTTENTOT.
[Translated from the Dutch.]
"Dear Sirs,
"I can say no other now than that I thank you, dear Sirs, that you have sent to us our dear Mr. Kicherer, he is such a dear teacher; he is always the whole day ready to instruct us, and talks continually of that dear Lord Jesus, and that is so pleasing. Now how good is that dear Lord to us, to send his children to such blind heathens, who never have known the least thing about the dear Jesus, and who have done nothing, but continually to sin against him; and to let them tell us, that we shall go to Hell, if the dear Lord Jesus does not save us. I have now seen what a great sinner I am. All the bushes in the field are not so numerous as all my sins. As I lay down to sleep, I grow so frightened that I must get up at once and pray to my dear Lord Jesus, that he will forgive my sins. O! was there not the dear Lord Jesus, I should not know now where to go to; I know no other place now, than to that dear Lord Jesus. I cannot bear to talk about any thing else than of him. It is only of Jesus people must speak to me. One of my sons is become the same: he also will die for the Lord Jesus. O! the dear Lord Jesus, how good is he to me that he has from so far sent to me that dear man to tell me, that I must be lost, if the blood of that dear Lord Jesus does not purify me. I cannot live now without that dear Jesus, and O! how I wish that all mankind would fall in love with that dear Jesus. Now farewell, dear Sirs, I wish you may always love the dear Jesus; from him every thing is to be had.
(Signed) JAN. Bastard Hottentot.
"LETTER OF ANOTHER BASTARD HOTTENTOT.
[Translated from the Dutch.]
"Dear Sirs,
"Who have let the dear Mr. Kicherer come to us, I thank you a thousand times. He teaches us the whole day, and tells us of nothing else, than about the dear Lord Jesus and his blood. O! how happy is a man who knows the doctrine of Jesus in his heart, who has shed his blood for such great sinners; and how good is that Lord Jesus, who calls such great sinners, and will shew them such mercy, as that his blood will purify their unclean souls, if they will turn to him; O I am so ashamed and sorry, that I never have known that dear Lord Jesus before; and that I cannot stand before him, if his blood does not wash away my sins. I say, thanks to you again, dear Sirs! That you have sent such a dear man to us. I came to him about a year ago. He told us, that we were great sinners, and gave us the book of our dear Lord Jesus, which he would teach us. I would scarce believe it. But now I feel, that my sins are more than the hairs of my head. O! they are too great. Yea, they are more in number than all the grains of sand; but our dear teacher tells us, that, if we seek the Lord Jesus, we shall find, that his blood is so powerful in our hearts, as to prevail over the inclination to sin; and that, I feel, is the truth, for I find it nowhere else better, than with him. I cannot be longer without that dear Lord Jesus; therefore, I run all the day to beg of him to teach me, not only in my head, but in my heart. It is so lovely when he teaches me, how poor I was, and how rich the blood of Jesus makes, me poor sinner that I am! I leave not off begging the dear Lord Jesus, who becomes daily more the master of my heart, that those ugly, sins may not vex me so much, and take me from the dear Lord Jesus; and, if he does not,! apply the more earnestly to him. He must help me; I love him too much, now to commit sins. O! could I throw all my sins away at once, how happy should I be! but this I cannot, unless the Lord Jesus shall be pleased to change me. I shall not, however, leave him, until he does it. I never thought, that a man who loves the Lord Jesus, would at the same time love the children of the Lord Jesus; but now I also feel different love to them, than what I had for my father and mother. Wherever our dear teacher goes, I shall go with him. At whatever place he comes, he teaches the people and tells them, " If men, like you, do not seek for Jesus, it never will be good with you; but if you seek him; you will be happy in the blood of the Lord Jesus, and feel, how he works in your heart, and know that it is the Lord Jesus." He is afraid of nothing. Here are wicked Boschemen,they say, our teacher is a Devil to them, because of the things he will learn them, therefore they will shoot him with the arrow. Some Hottentots told us, that they are who are at present in the mountains, will come at a time that my good teacher gives us instruction, that they will plunder the house and steal the sheep. I was afraid they should come, but my good teacher slept without a door, there being no wood to make one. He tells me not to be afraid, for that the Lord Jesus will preserve us. Now, dear Sirs, I wish you a thousand times farewell.
(Signed) KAROLUS. Bastard Hottentot."
"P.S.—I let you know, that I am interpreter of the Boschemen, the language of which I understand better than the Hottentot.
"I forgot to say, that I, who am interpreter of the people, tell them how they can be helped. O! how afraid I am, lest I should not be helped myself."
[...]
Digital Publication Details
Title: “South African Mission”
Subtitle(s): “Letter of a Bastard Hottentot” | “Letter of Another Bastard Hottentot”
Creator(s): Anonymous; [South African Missionary Society]; Jan; Karolus
Translator(s): Anonymous ["Translated from the Dutch"]
Publication date: (1802) 2022
Digital publishers: One More Voice, COVE
Critical encoding: Trevor Bleick, Kenneth C. Crowell, Kasey Peters, Adrian S. Wisnicki
One More Voice identifier: liv_025087
Cite (Chicago Author-Date): Anonymous, [South African Missionary Society], Jan, and Karolus. (1802) 2022. “South African Mission.” Translated by Anonymous ["Translated from the Dutch"]. Edited by Trevor Bleick, Kenneth C. Crowell, and Kasey Peters. In “BIPOC Voices,” One More Voice, solidarity edition; Collaborative Organization for Virtual Education (COVE). https://onemorevoice.org/html/bipoc-voices/digital-editions-soas/liv_025087_HTML.html.
Rights: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
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