Aba, Belgian Congo - February 4, 1946

In which Ralph and Coralee write to their supporters about the state of the mission field after being on furlough for 14 months.

Dear Friends,
We praise the Lord for a good and restful journey back to the field. All along the way the Lord wonderfully undertook. We thank you for your prayers. The ocean trip was the calmest we have ever had. Our ship accommodations were poor, but we had very good fellowship on board as there were more than a hundred missionaries going to all parts of Africa and the Middle East. In Egypt we had a delay of two weeks while trying to make arrangements to go on to the interior. The journey inland across the desert by train and then on the Nile steamers was tedious as there were a lot of changes. But we rested truly as we journeyed for the Lord's presence and help were very real to us daily.

We arrived at Aba December 7th.  Miss White our nurse had the lights on in our living room, and she and the natives gave us a very warm welcome. We had left our house furnished and she had used it as a guest house while we were away. She has kept it just as we left it. When we awakened next morning in our own beds amid familiar surroundings it seemed so natural that it was like a dream that we had gone to America. Miss White and the native nurses have done a fine job in the hospital. It has been precious to see how the Lord has blessed during this year away. We can see that many of the natives have grown spiritually.

The Christmas season is always a busy time when all the Christians from the district gather here for special meetings. It was a blessed time spiritually, and a joy to greet many old friends. There were more than fifteen hundred gathered at the service on Sunday and again on Christmas day. Eighteen were baptized.

We have been asked to take charge of the station and district work here temporarily, along with the medical work, until more workers are available. This seems to us a tremendous task. However the natives have learned to assume more responsibility during the shortage of workers, and they will be able to carry on some of the departments without a great deal of supervision. Miss Lutz has charge of the Girls' Home, and a native is in charge of the Boys' Schools of 400. Besides there is the Women's School; the Book Room and Printing Press which serve our whole field and neighboring Missions; the Carpenter Shop and the general workmen, and care of the station, the care of the Native Church, and the 70 Rural Chapels and Schools manned by native evangelists; and, with the able help of Miss White, the Dispensary and Hospital. Then, when able we are to visit seven other stations to supervise their dispensaries. These are scattered in three directions at distances up to 50, 160, and 500 miles.

The task is far beyond us, and we are at the end of ourselves before we begin. And so we begin with Him. Pray that during the shortage of workers nothing will hinder His blessing here in the work. The opportunity is very great, but the time may be short. Pray for the salvation of souls, for the strengthening of believers, and for the much needed missionaries and native leaders. A recent War Bond poster entitled "He's in it up to his neck. Are you in it with him?" reminds us of our present position. The soldier is up to his chin in water, his hands holding his rifle up over his head. Our hands are up in prayer for the the Lord's help. Won't you "come in with us" by sustaining prayer that His strength may be ours in the task that lies ahead?  We are thankful for you who pray and who have done so much for us during our furlough. You have refreshed us in the bonds of Christ Jesus.

Letters from our girls, Edith and Esther, assure us that they are well and happy in their life at Hampden DuBose Academy at Zellwood, Florida.

With Christian love and greetings,
Ralph and Coralee

Hawthorne, New Jersey - October 15, 1945

In which Ralph tells his daughters about the imminent sailing, and the proposed route.  

Hawthorne, New Jersey
October 15, 1945

Dear girls,

Well, here we are, spending our last evening in America for a while, and all ready to get on the boat tomorrow morning. Everything is in order, passport, visas, vaccinations, etc. We are supposed to be on the boat before 10AM, and to set sail soon after. The boat will take us to Alexandria, and I think it may stop at Greece on the way. We have just come home from the farewell meeting at the Brooklyn home. There are ten altogether in the outgoing AIM party besides two small children. There will also be many other missionaries on board from other missions – 27 from the Sudan Interior.

From Alexandria we will probably go to Congo by train and Nile steamers. I think it will take us six weeks or so to get to Aba. We will let you know when we arrive.

The Trouts are in Brooklyn waiting to sail. They area awaiting their re-entry permits.  Eddie and Nellie (1) have not received their permits as yet, but we expect they will be able to follow us within a few weeks.

[Personal portion redacted.]
And so – goodbye for now, and the Lord bless you!

Love,

Daddy

FOOTNOTE

1. Eddie and Nellie Shuit. 

African Inland Mission Leaflet 1 - 1917

A recently acquired item from eBay, this little leaflet from the AIM gives an idea of the religious environment in the post World War I period. Estimated date of publication - based on internal references - is about 1917.

Africa Inland Mission - front of leaflet

Africa Inland Mission - page 1 of leaflet

Africa Inland Mission - page 2 of leaflet

Africa Inland Mission - page 3 of leaflet

Africa Inland Mission - page 4 of leaflet

Africa Inland mission - back of leaflet

Notes
I have found two references to W.L. DeGroff.  He and his wife visited Moody in Chicago during December 1905 (mentioned on page 248 of  the Institute Tie). It appears he was the president of the Philadelphia Jewish Evangelization Society in Philadelphia in about 1911, as mentioned in the A.M.F. Monthly, Volumes 20-21. 

September 4, 1927 - Aru

In which Coralee describes their new home in Aru, and they welcome the long-awaited Indian motorcycle. 

Aru, Congo Belge

September 4, 1927

Dear Home Folks,

[Personal portion redacted.]

Yesterday was a big day with us. We moved into our new house. Our whole household i.e. boys and ourselves, worked hard and the place is pretty well in order today. I wish you could come and see our “swell” little place. I feel just like we had purchased a fine little bungalow at home and had set up housekeeping for the first time. 

We are alone for a change i.e.  no guests, so it makes it seem more like a home for just we two.

You should see my swell chambray curtains.  I sent to Montgomery Wards for it at 10¢ a yard. I got a medium blue and also the stripe to match. Then I sewed a band of the bias stripe material on the curtain about two and a half inches from the edge. They look very fresh and “grand”.

We have new cretonne (1) or the living room. I sent to England for it. It is a blue with pink roses. Cretonnes are very reasonable in England. For instance this was reversible and 48 inches wide and cost about 60 cents.

Well it’s great to be out here and we love it very much. From the veranda where I am writing I can see miles around. Some lovely hills and large stretches of grassland dotted with native villages here and there. Each village with its cattle “carral (2)” (is that the way it is spelled?).

They make these carrals by putting strong branches of trees in the ground standing upright like a post. They usually take a certain kind of branch that will take root and grow. This is necessary because of the white ants (3) that destroy wood so quickly.  They are usually built on a hillside, for drainage. The entrance is well closed at night because of leopards and lions. Sometimes the man will have a house in the enclosure or just near so he can be near to frighten away wild animals when they come.

This tribe (4) are strictly cattle people. So we are able to get fresh milk each day and make our own butter. It is a big help to us.

Not long ago, we had a real treat, a nice big pork roast. A man in the government poste had a pig and the boy didn't put it in its house at night and a hyena came and gave it some terrible gashes, so that it had to be killed. So they allowed us to buy some of the meat that was alright.

Quite often they butcher a cow in the Poste and we are able to buy some. It is always a real treat to us, who have no butcher shop around the corner.

I am very busy getting lawn planted. Here we don’t have seed for lawn. There is a short green grass that spreads very quickly, so we just transplant little rows or dots of it and soon, if kept well weeded we have a nice green lawn. It doesn't grow tall so we never need a lawn mower – better come out here and you won’t have that duty!

Ralph is terribly busy these days. He has charge of the station as Mr. Kemptner (5) the station superintendent is away for a few days’ rest.

Ah yes, much excitement the other day. A huge four ton truck came up the road to the station (they sound like an airplane with their cutouts open). It stopped at our house and the boy brought me a bill of lading for the Indian motorcycle that was sent us so long ago (2 years 8 months!). There it was right in that truck! Ralph was tickled skinny.  He’s like a child with a new toy. 

The machine is in fairly good condition considering its long and tedious journey. He hasn't been able to get it to “agami” (6) that is cry. The natives always say a machine is crying when it is running. However he has high hopes. Maybe it will need some new parts right away but we hope to get it going and then we will try to sell either it or the Harley. One I guess to help pay for the other.

However the Indian hasn't cost us much. Just the transport and customs. I think the whole thing comes to about a hundred dollars. So I guess we will be able to weather that somehow.

At the end of the week we expect to go to Aba for a week’s general conference. It is a conference of all the Congo AIM workers. We also hope to have several workers from the Kenya field as guests. We will go in the Harley (7) and will be gone about ten days if all goes well. [Personal portions redacted.]

With heaps of love,

RALPH AND CORALEE

---

1. Cretonne is a printed cloth, usually with small flowers.  Often used to line cupboards, drawers, or make seat covers. There is an example here, which looks like it might be similar to what Coralee describes.
2. I believe she means “kraal”, an enclosure for domestic animals usually made of thorny brush, although her description in the next paragraph is a bit different than the normal preparation. The Wikipedia entry is here.  
3. Termites.
4. The Alur, a tribe which was divided when the borders for Uganda and Congo were delineated. There is a fascinating book about the Alur written in 1956, AlurSociety by Aidan Southall.  In some positive news for such a war-torn corner of the world, the divided tribe has reconciled after more than 200 years of discord. 
5. Wesley and Flora Kemptner. Later reassigned to Aba. The Kemptners also served as dorm parents at Rethy while Esther and Edith were there. 
6. Bangala.
7. The Harley probably had a sidecar. They certainly had one for the Indian, which they received long before they got the motorcycle.

September 28, 1926 - Blukwa

In which Ralph & Coralee describe their travels around the AIM mission field. 

Loafing

Blukwa

September 28, 1926

Dear Home-Folks,

A few days ago after spending about a week’s vacation at Kacengu (1) we returned to Rethi (2) to find among other things a nice long letter and a big fat package from you. And now while we say our heartiest “Danke shönn (3)” we wish you could know something of the thrill of hearing from home like this. 

Everything you sent was most timely and much appreciated; but you asked especially about the candy.  It was certainly great to see a real box of “BusyBee”(4). However our suspicions were aroused before we could undo the box and more or less confirmed after! The contents were pretty well united into one sweet mass, because of the pasteboard box, but not beyond rescue. Far from it!  We carefully separated the sheep from the goats, the latter being reminiscent of Anheuser-Busch. The sheep brought smiles of contentment to a number of faces.  But the others performed their mission well too, providing joy for the “tumbus” (5) of a number of the house boys. The house-boys, by the way, are always very “nosy” when packages from home are opened up. This is largely due to curiosity concerning things from the white man’s country, but is mixed, we fear, with more or less selfish motives at times.

I mentioned above about having been to Kacengu on vacation. Coralee especially had been very busy with the new babies and surgical cases among the missionaries in our house ever since coming to Rethi, and so we were urged by the powers that be as well as by others to take advantage of the present lull to get away from the station for a while. We were mighty glad to do so and decided first to go to Kacengu to visit the Kiesslings.  The trip itself from Rethi to Kacengu (6) is through very beautiful hill country, but we were disappointed in not being able to go together, as I was called to Kacengu a few days ahead of time to see someone who had gotten sick. Coralee at the time was entertaining some newlyweds and so could not go along at once but came a few days later. Kacengu, as I believe I wrote before, is very beautifully situated on a high hill above Lake Albert, and the surrounding country is beautiful with its hills and valleys dotted here and there by native villages. One day we all went for a little hike to the top of a nearby hill, higher than Kacengu, which afforded an even better view of the lake including its outlet into the Nile. Just as we were well up on our way a thick fog came from over the lake shutting out our view completely. However we kept climbing anyway and reached the top. For a long time there was nothing to see but fog but just before we were ready to return the fog disappeared and we got a fine view of the country all around. We took a few pictures which we hope may give you a little idea of the country when they are finished.

We stayed at Kacengu a little over a week and then went to Ara, another of our stations, visiting also the “Sanitary Agent” and his sleeping sickness cases. This place is only about four miles from the lake and we could see the breakers and white caps very plainly. Our trip from Ara to Rethi (7) is one we will not forget very soon, chiefly because of the hills we had to climb. At one place the path leads directly to the very summit of a high steep hill, rising at an angle of 45 degrees and in one stretch the path seems to be nearly 60 degrees.  In climbing this hill I had a rope around my waist which was pulled by two natives ahead of – or rather above – me. Coralee was carried up in a carrying chair part of the way, but also walked up much of the way, which was too steep for the men to carry. After climbing a hundred feet or so I would lie down and rest for a long while, then climb a bit and rest etc. The natives had a good many laughs over me because of my much resting and puffing, as they have wonderful endurance themselves. It took us around four hours to reach the top, and then we had another three hours or so over more level ground to get home.

After a few days at home, getting our clothes washed and looking after the medical cases that were waiting, we again started off, this time on Mr. Camp’s motorcycle and sidecar which he was kind enough to loan us.  

We are now on our first stop of this trip, Blukwa, where we are visiting the Whitermores. Soon we expect to go on further to see some other stations to the south and to visit Irumu, the capital of this province. Before we finish we will have seen all but one of the Mission stations in what we call here the “South Country” i.e. the southern half of the AIM (8) Congo field.

We have heard rumors to the effect that Dr. Trout was scheduled to return to the field, leaving New York on Sept. 6. If so, that means that we will at last be moving on to what we expect will be our permanent station. Where that will be we do not know as yet. It will be decided when the Field Council meets. We also learned recently that our motorcycle has at last left Kinshasa and is well on the way to Aba. The sidecar has already arrived at Aba. The charges for duty and transport have been surprisingly low thus far. Of course it remains to be seen whether or not the motorcycle will be in running order, but we have fair hopes anyway.

So much for now, more another day.

With lots of love,

Coralee and Ralph

---

1. Now spelled Kasengu. 
2. Interesting that Rethi is spelled with an “i” here. Later on, when I went to school there, it was called Rethy.
3. German for “Thank You”. Ralph grew up in a German-speaking home. 
4. A candy company in St. Louis.
5. Tummies.
6. About 33 kilometers.
7. According to Google maps, the trip is about 250 kilometers, and takes 5 hours by car.  It appears that they did the trip with porters, and the walking estimate on the map is 50 hours!
8. You will note that the Kleinschmidts are now with the Africa Inland Mission.  The change came earlier in 1926.