LET'S KNOW WHO WE ARE!! PART II
............... continued from last week.
Mission Work At Peki
A son of the Paramount Chief of Peki, Prince Nyangamagu who was the attending the Basel Mission School at Christiansburg assured then Bremen Missionaries that his father will give them a rousing welcome.
While at Christiansburg, the Missionaries wished they could start their works along the coast either at Keta or Atorkor, both in the Anlo territory. But this wish could not be fulfilled. The Anlos and the Danes were at war at that time, and the missionaries would have been caught in cross-fires if they dared go there. So the safer alternative left for them was Peki.
After a five-day trip, Wolf, making a bold, solo attempt, arrived at Peki on November 14, 1847. Significantly, he arrived on a Sunday. The arrival message to the Chief and people of Peki was his first sermon. His text was Psalm 22:22 (verse 23 in ewe). "I will tell people what you have done, I will praise you in the assembly".
Wolf spoke through an interpreter and was at pain to let the people know that he was not a trader or a slave dealer. He had come to proclaim the good news concerning Jesus Christ who came to the world to rescue mankind from perishing.
Togbui Kwadzo Dei Tutu V, the Paramount Chief, and his people warmly received the missionary and promised to help him in any way. Wolf therefore sent words to his companion Graff in Accra to proceed immediately with their belongings. But he was greeted with a shock news that Graff had died. Four of them had been in Africa for only six months. Three of them were now dead, leaving him alone. They had not made a single convert. What an ill-fated quartet! Now he was left alone among people whose language he did not understand and the people did not understand his either. Worst of all, he did not even have a place of his own to lay his head. It was painful but Wolf had faith in God.
After recovering from the shock, Wolf started building a big, six-room house. He combined his work with evangelism, which he did through his interpreter. But it was no easy task. The interpreter knew very little English Language and next to nothing about heavenly or spiritual matters.
On February 8, 1848, Wolf opened a school with 14 children. But this was a difficult task he set for himself, because he did not understand the language of the children and the children did not understand his either. But Wolf did not lose hope.
At that time, the Chief of Peki-Wudome, Tim Klu had a sore on one leg. Wolf gave him medication and daily dressing of the wound. By God's grace, the sore was healed. The Chief was so happy that he decided to be a Christian. He successfully completed baptism lessons and Wolf certified that he was ready for baptism. One day, Wolf made a short journey outside his station and when he returned, he was greeted with the shocking news that the chief was dead. His death was suspicious and shrouded in mystery. Wolf could only suspect that the die-hard traditionalist might have poisoned him because of his close association with him. The traditionalist had come to regard Wolf with hatred and suspicion. One of the pagan priest had decreed that the people who frequented the mission house for the dressing of their wounds would die. So the good work wolf was doing to relieve pain and suffering from among fellow human beings was considered a sin by the people whose minds were full of darkness.
Even Togbui Dei Tutu, the Paramount Chief and protector of Wolf was not spared this hatred. His own life was in danger, because he was accused of not caring for the gods as he used to do before Wolf came. This is the usual persecution if a Chief deserts the heathen gods and clings to Christianity.
To compound Wolf's problems, there was a long drought in the land. This was attributed to the anger of the gods. Instead of clinging to thier time-tested gods, the people had allowed a "Whiteman" to establish a strange way of worship among them. But God's word continued in spite of these problems.
On March 3, 1849, two new missionaries Groth and Quinius arrived at Peki, from Germany. The arrival on April 5, 1850, of Karoline Deist, Wolf's wife, brought him new life and hope and the work revived vigorously. Unfortunately, Wolf's began to deteriorate, he therefore decided to go home on January 1851 to seek medical advice. The new comers, Groth and Quinius said they could not do anything without Wolf. So they decided to return with him to Germany. Thus the missionaries left peki in sorry hoping to return to continue with the work. Wolf's condition worsened during the journey. On arrival at Hamburg harbour on April 9, 1851, Wolf died and was buried in the churchyard of St. George in Hamburg.
This is the difficult beginning of missionary activity in eweland. Four precious lives had already been lost without making a single convert but the Bremen mission did not give up. Hey believed in the scripture which states, "I am telling you the truth; a grain of wheat remains no more than a single grain unless it is dropped into the ground and dies. If it dies, then it produces many grains." (John 12:24).
On October 12, 1851, Quinius and his wife, and two other missionaries, Wilhelm Dauble and Johannes Menge, set sail for Africa. They arrived in Accra on December 23, 1851. Quinius fell sick on their arrival. So, only the two new comers went to Peki in January 1852. On thier arrival, they were overjoyed to learn that two unconverted servants of Wolf were attending Sunday service regularly and praying for the early return of the Missionaries.
Sometime later, Quinius and his wife also arrived from Accra. On March 7, 1852, his wife gave birth to a baby boy who died on the same day. Seven weeks later, the Missionaries had to dig another grave; that of Johannes Menge who died on April 22, 1852. Menge had deep and amazing love for God and Africans. On the day he was born, his father prophesied about him thus: " as for you, I will rear you for the Lord Jesus. If he agrees to take you, then you must be an evangelist". The wishes of his father had been fulfilled. Perhaps his only regret would be that he was not given sufficient time to work in the Lord's vineyard.
Not long after that, Quinius and his wife also fell sick. It became necessary that they sought permission from Germany to leave the station on health grounds. So Dauble was left alone. But he was also not in good health. To make matters worse, there was a rumour that war will soon break out between the Pekis and the Akwamus. Dauble petitioned the Bremen mission headquarters to permit him to return home but they encouraged him to soldier on in other to salvage the gains made at Peki. Two more more missionaries, Plessing and Brutschin were sent to assist him. They stayed for only two months and were forced to leave because war had broken out between the Pekis and the Akwamus. The atrocities being committed during the war were indescribable. So it was foolhardiness for the Missionaries to remain at Peki. The colonial Governor in Accra had to personally intervened and insist on thier leaving Peki. Therefore, Peki was abandoned for the third time.
...............to be continued.
From:
Protocol Department - GESAM-UHAS
Bible Studies Department -GESAM-UHAS
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