Reports from the Field

Some issues of The Other Sheep, honestly, are pretty boring.  Reports from the missionaries, fundraising pleas, and prayer requests don’t always leave me with many things that merit a blog entry.  This issue, on the other hand, is packed full of crazy things that I would absolutely love to write about.  The theme of this week’s entry is “What else is going on here?”  This certainly hasn’t been a topic I had thought much about before this issue, but it turns out there were lots of things not so readily apparent in many articles. 

The article of the week is titled “Overworked Missionaries,” which the editor explains is not the title given by the author, Dora Carpenter, but rather what the magazine had deemed appropriate for the conditions described.  This letter is interesting and rather different in that it does not exclaim at the fantastic work being done in Swaziland as all other letters of this section do (Dr. David Hynd and Bertha Parker also weigh in on mission efforts in Swaziland).  Instead, it details the intense work left to be done in a literary fashion that might be described as, well, mildly outlandish. 

Here’s a sample:

“…we are surrounded by heathen on all sides.  We often hear the beating of the drums at night—some to drive away the “amadholzi” (evil spirits), some at heathen dances; and the past few months we have heard the yelling and weird singing of the great number of boys and girls who attend the Kaffir Schools.  Sometimes these noises go on all night long.”

Really?  Children were yelling and singing weirdly all night long?  I know some children.  I even know some children who sing weird songs when they’re awake late at night for no reason.  But all night long?  I don’t think so, Sister Carpenter. 

Maybe this entry isn’t necessarily the best example of “something else going on” behind the scenes.  I considered talking about another story in which a girl is described as being “sold” to a man for cattle, but decided not to try to justify lobola, because, really, I can’t justify that.  But this story just seemed like such an outlandish accusation that it really couldn’t be true.