When the new missionary arrives in Africa, he must realize that he has as much to learn as he has to impart. Even though he comes as a teacher, he must also come as a learner.
The first approach to his problem is, of course, learning the language of the people for whom he expects to work. That is imperative. Early in my experience, an old missionary told me, "When you clothe an unknown thing [the gospel] in an unknown tongue, do not be surprised if the native does not understand you at first." Not only will the native fail to understand your message, but he will also fail to understand you. And neither will you understand him, even though you have learned his language. It is simply impossible for a white man to think black, brown, or yellow, The missionary must come as near to it as he can, but he must realize his limitations and keep within them.
Second, the missionary must make a careful study of native customs. These people have worked out various laws and customs, some of them good, but most of them evil. The missionary can make a much easier approach to the native mind and a much stronger appeal to his heart, if he appeals to him through some of the native customs he understands.
The natives in Central Africa used to have the custom of bringing the first fruits of their gardens to the king. And no subject was permitted to eat food from his garden until after the king had eaten of the first fruits. Knowing this custom, it was easy to appeal to the native to recognize God as King, and to honor Him with the tithes and first fruits of all his increase.
Third, the new missionary should beware of arousing prejudice. When prejudice is stirred up, many opportunities for contact with the people are cut off. These tribes believe in their customs and their laws, and are as patriotic as anyone in the world. The fact that our customs and laws are different from theirs, does not necessarily mean that our ways are right and theirs are wrong. And even though their way should be wrong, we must be careful not to arouse rancor.
When I first came to Africa, polygamy was the universal practice. We missionaries at once launched a strong campaign, preaching against the evils of polygamy. Many years afterward when traveling in a remote section of the country, I met some native young men whom I invited to attend our school. They told me they had heard of our preaching on polygamy and that it would be impossible for them to come to our school, as polygamy was practiced by their tribe. They felt entirely cut off from us.
At the time of the famine at the Solusi Mission in 1896, a child was brought to the mission for me to take care of and save from starvation. Just over the fontanel of his head was a long lock of hair. The rest of his head had been closely cropped because of vermin. I asked why this lock of hair had not been cut off along with the rest, and was told that the child had suffered from dysentery. The witch doctor had told them that if they did not cut off this lock of hair, the child would then be free from the disease.
Of course I knew there was no connection between that lock of hair and dysentery; so the next time the child's hair was cut, I cut that lock off along with the rest. Four months later, however, the child died of dysentery. His relatives charged me with murder, and always looked upon me as the murderer of that child. If I had had wisdom enough to leave that lock of hair, and then the child had died of dysentery, I would have had a talking point against their belief. But I was left without anything to say to convince them that I had not been responsible for that death.
The missionary should study Christ's methods of labor. Christ built before He pulled down. He first erected His structure before He spoke against the evils among the Pharisees and Sadducees. It was not until the very closing days of His life that He pronounced the woes on the Pharisees. The missionary must work as Christ worked, doing constructive building before he rails against the evils of native customs and superstitions.
These are some of the things that will help a missionary in his approach to the native of Africa, and make his work a success.
