Uganda by Pen and Camera/Chapter 7

by Charles W. Hattersley

Chapter VII

Churches and Teachers

Missionaries travel firstly to open up new ground, and secondly to visit country Churches and congregations and see what work is being done. Our picture shows a church in a little village, where the work has just commenced, and is in charge of a native evangelist sent out by the Church Council. This is a little temporary hut built by the natives, in which they can learn to read; but the churches do not long remain of such a meagre character as this. As the work extends, so the churches are improved, and our next illustration will show a church in a well-worked district. These buildings are put up by the natives at their own cost, and with their own labour, the architect, for a building of this size, usually being a European. The interiors are often very beautiful, as will be seen in the picture of the church at Mitiana. The architect of this was the Rev. H. W. Tegart, a European missionary; and very proud the natives are that they are taught to build such handsome places. The poles are covered with reeds, light yellow in appearance; the black marks are the sewing with the bark of a small shrub, which is very strong; with it each reed is individually sewn on.

At these places the work is carried on for the most part by natives, supervised by one European, sometimes with his wife, sometimes with two lady missionaries attached to the station, as in the case of Ngogwe, Ndege, Iganga; but more often Europeans do not number more than two.

The interior of Mitiana Church.

The native teachers attached to these places are sent out in the first instance by the country Church, and paid from its funds; after which, if found suitable, they go into Mengo for further training, and are then drafted off into various districts. Very faithful many of them are. From amongst the more faithful are selected, eventually, native pastors, of whom there are now nearly thirty; but it must not be supposed that the native ministry has any men who could rank in education with men in England. The early work increased so rapidly, that Europeans were not nearly numerous enough to man all the stations, and natives had to be ordained to take charge of districts. They are very faithful men, so far as their light allows. They do not work for any advantage they gain in pay over the ordinary labourer; for the average wage of a teacher is not more than 15s. a year and a garden on which to grow his food, and ordained natives rarely get more than £2 a year. Yet chiefs have, in numerous instances, given up their chieftainships, or left them in the hands of a steward, and gone off themselves to preach the Gospel. The teacher shown in our illustration is one of these. His name is Lugunba, and his chieftainship is close to the ferry from Uganda to Usoga, where all the early travellers crossed into Uganda.

One instance will show what these teachers are willing to undergo. Some have been sent in the past to Nasa, at the south of the lake, and one of these, returning in a canoe to Uganda, was asked what kind of a journey he had had. The journey occupies, by canoe, from fourteen to twenty days, according to the weather.

He replied, ‘Oh! pretty good, though one day we did have rather a bad time. A great storm came on, and the canoe capsized. I was thrown into the water along with all the crew, and I sank twice; but just

Lugumba, a chief who relinquished his position to become a teacher.

as I was sinking a third time I caught hold of a bale of cloth which was floating on the surface of the water, and I held on to that. The paddlers all clung to the overturned canoe until the storm abated, and then they righted it, and we all got in again.’

‘Well,’ said his interrogator, ‘how about your clothes and books?’

‘Oh!’ he replied, ‘I lost them all. I have got nothing now but what you see me in.’ He did not ask for compensation. It had not occurred to him that he could get it if he did. Travelling in Africa is always liable to be accompanied with danger and loss, and natives think little or nothing of it.

On another occasion, a teacher trained as a schoolmaster for two years had progressed well with English, reading, writing, and arithmetic, and was known to be a thoroughly upright and reliable Christian. A Government officer offered him a clerkship in his office at a salary of £‎24 a year, with an advance very shortly to a much higher sum.

The youth replied, ‘I would very much like to be a clerk, sir; but I have been trained as a teacher, and I prefer to be a Christian teacher to being a clerk.’

He knew that he would never get more than 20s. a year for a very long time to come as a teacher, and probably less than that; he was at the time looking forward to being married in the near future. This will show that the Baganda are not afraid of exercising a little self-denial for their Saviour’s sake.

The natives are scarcely what could be called eloquent preachers, though they are very versatile. There is a great deal of repetition in their addresses, and they need much training before they preach really useful sermons; but this remark does not apply to everybody. There are many individuals who can be termed good preachers. It is not in the country districts thought at all improper to preach long sermons. On one of the islands a native preached so long that, looking out of the window when he had finished, and seeing the position of the sun, he said, ‘My friends, the time has passed away quickly, and the day is advanced. It is almost time for the afternoon service. Is it not well that we go on with that, whilst we are here?’ This all the congregation agreed to.

Another man had a habit at the afternoon service of looking out of the window to see the position of the sun, and rarely thought of stopping until the sun was setting. But it must not be supposed that all the Baganda are fond of long sermons. Certainly they are not in the capital.

In many country churches, where the worshippers live several miles distant, the majority of them, after morning service, simply sit in a little house erected near the church and wait for the afternoon service, Sometimes eating a little food they have brought with them, but more often fasting until they reach home in the evening. Many chiefs have a ‘mwima’ (cowman) come to church at mid-day with a jar or calabash of milk, which sustains them until after the afternoon service.

Christian boys in Uganda.

Christian young women in Uganda.