EXCERPTS FROM NEWSLETTERS TO HER FRIENDS 1955-1991
By GWENYTH (STARBUCK) ANDERSON
Edited by Allan H. Anderson
Note: Salvation Army Captains Gwen and Keith Anderson and their children Allan (4) and Carol (1) arrived at Howard Institute, their first appointment in Southern Africa, in January 1954, as Training Officers for the Officer Training College there. Howard is around 80 km from present-day Harare, then known as Salisbury. Southern Rhodesia is today’s Zimbabwe. They had previously worked in North London for 8 years before moving to Rhodesia, but my mother had been an SA officer since before the Second World War.
All paragraphs are as they appear, and missing sentences and paragraphs are indicated with ellipses. Any explanatory insertions by me are in italics.
The Howard Institute
P.O. Glendale
S. RHODESIA
29th May, 1955.
We owe so many letters and life is such a rush over here that I am having to send a duplicated one so that you can know what we are doing out here. Life on this place is certainly not a life of ease, but it is a grand life.
We had an unusually heavy rainy season, and travelling was very bad, many times we were stuck on the road, and on one occasion had to wade through a swollen river, the water coming to our waists. Now we are in the midst of our dry season, and everywhere is getting dusty and brown. At least it is a change from mud, mud, mud!
Allan has started lessons with the Correspondence School this year, and I have to do two hours with him each morning. He is doing quite well really, at least other people say he is, although his Mother expects perfection, and he gets into trouble when he does not achieve it. Carol has developed into a proper little girl, and is no longer a baby. She is talking very well now, and speaks whole long sentences quite distinctly.
I am doing all the Secretarial and postal work of the Institute, and there has certainly been an increase in the work in that direction this year. I usually teach Allan from 7.30 a.m. to 9.30 a.m. then go over to the office from 9.45 a.m. to lunch time. The Corps Cadets [young people being trained as lay leaders] this year are bringing me much joy, we have over 60 of them, most of them being teachers in training or nurses, or Standard 6. It is really grand to see the way they respond.
We have 11 married Cadets [Officer Candidates] in Training this year, and they are doing very well. The highlight for us all at the T.C. [Training College] has been the 10 day campaign, from which we have just recently returned. Officer friends on this place kindly looked after Allan and Carol for me so that I could go with Keith and the Cadets, and we truly had a most wonderful time. We went into the Urungwe district … There were over 500 adult seekers, about 250 new cases of conversion, and over and over again we saw heathen coming to the Lord for the first time. … at Charles Clack, many new people came to the Lord, and after the afternoon meeting we had a public burning of witchcraft charms surrendered by 7 converts. Two of these women were “possessed” by evil spirits and were taken hold of when the things were being burned, and the Cadets held them down and prayed and struggled with them for a long time, both gaining the victory. … I wish you could have witnessed some of those night scenes as the Prayer Meeting commenced in the firelight, when many came to the Lord for the first time, and many became “possessed by evil spirits” and lay on the ground under this power. This “evil spirit” possession is very real out here, and having witnessed and taken part myself in this struggle with these people, I feel convinced that it is a thing of the Devil which takes hold of the minds of these poor darkened people … the shrieks of torment coming from them are terrible to hear, counteracted by the praying and singing of the Cadets, then the peace and calm when they believe that God’s power has removed the evil spirit from them, is really wonderful to behold. …
… In our village we gathered all the women into, a little round place with no windows, only a small opening for the door, and you have to stoop down to get inside, and there I sat on a bamboo mat on the floor with these women, and after the Cadet and his wife had spoken to them I spoke to them in halting Cizezuru [a Shona dialect] about Jesus. Oh, the thrill of being able to speak a little in their own language to them…
The last weekend was spent in Sinoia [now Chinhoyi, the place of their second appointment, 1956-59), where most of the work was done in the location, very different from the villages, but here again there were many seekers. … I could go on telling you wonderful stories of the things that happened but my space has gone, but I thank God for the privilege of taking the gospel to the heathen and seeing them come to God. [END]
Note: “Reserve” refers to what used to be called the “Native Reserves” later called “Tribal Trust Lands” by the colonial government at the time. “Corps” refers to a local church in the Salvation Army.
Box 33,
SINOIA, S. RHODESIA.
3rd June, 1956.
I am sorry that I have been so long in sending you the usual newsletter but this year has been so busy. You will see from the above address that we have moved from Howard. We came to Sinoia on 1st May, and now have charge of the Lomagundi Division. We were very sorry to leave the Howard Institute, as we had a very happy stay there, and I was sorry to leave my Corps Cadets particularly. However we had to be good Soldiers and go when told to do so. There is a tremendous challenge in this district and we feel so inadequate to meet the need.
We had a good finish up at Howard. … we had 115 Corps Cadets in the Howard Brigade this year, all very keen and all doing lessons, a good percentage of them teachers in training and nurses. A number of these Corps Cadets have offered for Officership and one feels that there is more hope for the African people through these educated consecrated young people than through anything else.
We are finding life at Sinoia very different from life at Howard. Sinoia is a nice little town with quite a large white population. It has only one main street of shops, but a very nice hospital and an open air swimming pool, which is only a few yards up the road from us, to the delight of our two youngsters, also a good school. Allan started at the school here last week, and is very happy and seems to be doing well. Out here they go to school from 8 a.m. to 12.30 a.m. each day. Allan will not have to go to Boarding School, at least for Junior School. It means of course, that I am somewhat handicapped from getting out into the Division with my husband, as he has to be out for long periods, and I cannot leave Allan who comes home mid-day. I feel very bad about that as I feel the women in the Reserve need the D.O. [Divisional Officer]‘s wife, but I shall just go when I can, during the school holidays. I feel that perhaps my chief work at the moment is in training my children, for I did rather neglect them at Howard doing a fulltime job.
…
Our next weekend we spent at Zimbara, a Corps where a couple of our last year’s Cadets are stationed, and doing a grand job. … We are the only Mission in that Reserve and there are hundreds and hundreds of people there. It is right in the wilds, some parts thick forest, and the very night we were sleeping there they killed 5 elephants just across the hill from us. The road to reach the Corps is terrible and one has to go at a snail’s pace to get there at all. We got stuck in two rivers on the way. I led a Home League Meeting [Women’s Association] on the Saturday afternoon whilst Keith went to one of the outposts [preaching point] where he had hundreds attending. That night we slept in a school room, no door or window, just open spaces for doors and windows, hence no privacy whatsoever. The children slept on a mattress in the back of the truck and thought it was good fun. On Sunday morning we had a 2 mile march through the forest to the Open Air [outdoor service] in the Headman’s village … Carol was carried on the back of one of the African girls, but Allan marched holding the hand of the African Lieut. of whom he is very fond.
…
Last Sunday we were in Salisbury where we went to meet my Mother [Colonel Lily Starbuck] who arrived that day. It was a real thrill to see her again and is bringing us all great joy to have her with us until the end of January. My husband went off on trek last Monday and will not be back until Tuesday of this week. This is the part I do not like. … I cannot go with him as Allan has to be at school. …
Box 33,
SINOIA.
10 November 1956.
It hardly seems possible that it is time to send out my Christmas letters again, but the last day for posting to the U.K. is next week. I find myself pretty fully occupied these days, with one thing or another. I try to do as much of the office work for Keith as I can, as he is away most of the time in the Division. He is home for one or two days then off for eight or ten days, and it is like that all the time. Our rains have arrived this week, and it is so refreshing after the heat of last month.
Life has been more hectic than usual for us because we are having to supervise the Urungwe District as well as our own while their D.O. is on Homeland Furlough. That area is a great challenge because many hundreds of Africans are being moved into that Reserve from the Zambezi Valley because of the big Kariba Gorge scheme. [Italian engineers were building what was the largest human-made reservoir/ dam in Africa, now Lake Kariba between Zimbabwe and Zambia].…
We had a marvellous holiday in August at the Victoria Falls as we particularly wanted Mother to see the Falls. The Falls are really magnificent and an awe-inspiring sight. We stayed in the Rest Camp on the Northern Rhodesia [Zambia] side. This camp is right by the Zambezi, quite near to the Falls, with every convenience even Vi-spring mattresses on the beds! There are outside fireplaces to cook your food, as well as separate bathrooms with hot and cold water, and flush latrines. It was great fun camping, and of course was much more within the means of S.A. Officers than anywhere else. We also went to the Wankie (Hwange) Game Reserve and were most fortunate in seeing almost every kind of game, two magnificent lions within 20 yds. of us (I have discovered how to keep our two youngsters quiet for 20 minutes – produce two full sized lions at close proximity – for neither Allan nor Carol uttered a sound as these two lions sat and looked at us for 20 minutes). We also saw 3 lionesses, as well as herds of elephants, giraffes, zebra, warthogs also every kind of buck from the small graceful impala to the mighty wildebeest. The most terrifying experiences [sic.] was when a herd of buffalo of between 200 and 300 charged across the road in front of us, then stopped and faced us, one old bull who seemed to be the leader in front, and we were not sure whether the whole lot were going to charge us at any moment. …
I have started a Sunday School on Sunday mornings with the white children here who do not attend the Anglican Church or Dutch Reformed Church. Allan’s Headmaster has very kindly allowed me to use the Prep. Room in the Boys’ Hostel, and we have over 50 children there every Sunday. I also take the same group for Scripture during on Thursday during school time. They are very keen and I feel it is something I can do for the Lord during term time when I must be home to look after Allan.
Allan and Carol are both well, although they have both had Scarlet Fever recently. They spend a good deal of their time in the Open Air Swimming Baths just up the road from us. Allan can swim a little, and Carol can almost, and it is good for them, and they can’t get into much mischief while they are there. Allan is very happy at school. He is a prolific reader and reads book after book in a very short time far in advance of his 7 years. It is quite a job to keep up with his demand for books. His teacher [Miss Frances McConaughey from Northern Ireland, later Mrs Gresty] told me that the Inspector dropped on Allan to read when he inspected their class, and he read perfectly for him, not knowing of course who he was. The Inspector then thought the whole class could read well, but the teacher told me she was glad the Inspector dropped on Allan as some of them are awful readers. It is a good job he did not look at his Arithmetic book or it would have been a different story!
It has been lovely having Mother with us, and she will be leaving here on January 22nd. to go to Johannesburg for a few days before sailing back home. We are so glad she has been able to come and see us here and now has some idea of the African work.
Box 33,
SINOIA.
May, 1957.
It is time I wrote to all my friends again to let them know how we are getting on.
We have much to be thankful for in the progress there has been in our Division since the beginning of the year. …
Easter weekend was a thrill. Keith’s Mother and Father [Rev. William W. and Sheila Anderson] were with us for Good Friday and we took them with us for united meetings in the Magonde Reserve, and had a very good meeting under a large tree. … In the afternoon [of Easter Sunday] we went to the other end of Sipolilo Reserve along one of the worst roads (even for Rhodesia) that I have ever been on. Fortunately it was dry so we got through quite all right. That meeting I will always remember with over 500 sitting on a hillside by a river with the sound of the music of 500 full-throated Africans singing lustily “He lives” the echo of this wonderful message reverberating over the hills. There were many seekers at the end of the meeting.
My European Sunday School at Allan’s school is still growing and on Decision Sunday I was most moved to see over 30 of the older ones come forward to accept the Lord. When one thinks that most of them come from homes where religion is delegated to the background I can only hope and pray that I may be guided to help these young folk to become good Christians.
We are all well. Allan is doing very well at school having come 2nd in his class last term and only today has been promoted to a higher class. Last Sunday when we were in the Reserve doing meetings he had seen an African man with a terrible eye so on the homeward way suddenly said “Mummy, I am going to be a Salvation Army Doctor then I can help Africans like that man” to which Carol added “And I’m going to be a lady Doctor”.
P.O. Box 33, Sinoia.
29th May, 1958.
I must get my half yearly letter off to all my friends, realising that D.V. we shall be arriving in good old England on furlough this time next year, so I hope to see you.
We are all very well and very happy in the work. Keith is away from home more than ever, having two new schools, as well as several farm schools he has to supervise. I find plenty to keep me occupied here. This year I have started teaching English in our African school in Sinoia, owing to a large enrolment so every morning I am down there for an hour and a half. I enjoy this very much and the children are responding well. This of course means a lot of extra time taken up with preparation and correcting etc. but it is all done with the end in view of winning them for the Lord. Carol has started school which leaves me free in the mornings to do this.
Our Sunday School at the European school continues to grow, and because I am so short of adult helpers I have devised a scheme whereby four of the older children take the little ones with Sandtray and expression work. This means I must have a preparation class with these four on Thursday afternoons, but I am praying that it will have its effect upon them in the years to come. They are very keen and do well.
The Women’s World Day of Prayer meetings this year were very blessed. I first conducted a Children’s Service in the school, with some of my Sunday School children taking part, then a packed African meeting in the Location[1] with many seekers. The meeting that I was most thankful about was the European one which I held in the Women’s Institute hall, where we had over 70 ladies present, most of them non-church goers. We had to bring in more chairs before we commenced the service, which is a real victory amongst these hardboiled Europeans!
We spent a very happy Easter weekend, in Sipolilo on Good Friday and Magondi on Easter Sunday. … I was much moved as I saw an old, decrepit man, a typical picture of the old Africa, get up from under a tree where he was sitting alone, push his way through the crowd and kneel down by the side of a clean fine boy – a picture of the old and the new Africa seeking the Lord. …
… In a wonderful way opportunities come our way. Last week when conducting meetings… on a European farm we met the wife of the Farm Assistant who was coming to Sinoia to have her first baby. They are both from Holland. She was very anxious about being so far away from the hospital so I offered to have her at our house until her baby arrived. She arrived this week and now has a lovely baby girl. Her husband stayed with us while she was in hospital until after the baby arrived, and we discovered his Father and Grandfather were ministers in Holland. He has had some mental trouble, felt he was beyond hope … She was afraid that he would do himself some harm while she was away so we kept him at our home. I sat with him for three hours while his wife was in the Labour Ward with a difficult birth, and he gave me a marvellous opportunity of speaking about spiritual things. Just after the baby was born we were allowed in… in that Labour Ward I put their hands together and thanked God for the lovely baby He had given to them. … He said to me “When I heard you at your Family Prayers and saw how happy you all were, I felt outside of it all, and wanted to know Jesus Christ like that”. …
So you will see that there is no lack of variety in our life out here, and there is a real sense of adventure in the work.
P.O. Box 33,
Sinoia.
November, 1958.
I can hardly realise that Christmas has come again, and I must get our newsletter off to all our friends, the last one before we come home on Homeland Furlough next May, D.V.
The highlight of the Rhodesian news for us has been the visit of The General[2] and Mrs. Kitching, and it has truly been a memorable visit. There were frantic preparations for such an important visit… So far as we were concerned the visit started with the opening of the S. Rhodesia Christian Conference which we attended for the first time since coming to Rhodesia. Missionaries and African ministers and teachers of all denominations met at Goromonzi Sec. School, about 20 miles out of Salisbury for a Conference lasting four days. The General opened the Conference on the Friday morning and really challenged everyone. Keith’s sister and her husband are on the staff of this Government school so we were able to stay with them during the Conference. Keith’s Father and Mother were also at this Conference and I know were thrilled to have one of their sons with them at this Missionary Conference they had attended for over 40 years. The Conference itself was marred for me personally because Carol decided to go down with Chicken Pox the day after we arrived, so I could not attend many of the meetings (the joys of Motherhood!). She was so disappointed that she could not see The General.…
On the Thursday afternoon Mrs. General Kitching gave a lecture to European ladies over which Lady Tredgold presided.[3] … There were a good number of European ladies there, and everything was so daintily set out that it was a real treat for we D.O.’s wives who are used to roughing it out in the Bush. It seemed a very different world from the one we usually move in, but it was a lovely change.
The final weekend was the united Congress at Mabvuku, an African township about 9 miles out of Salisbury, and that is something I shall never forget. … The General and Mrs. Kitching gave very inspiring messages and our African were thrilled with their friendliness and concern for them. Allan came with us that morning and helped with refreshments while we were in the meeting, and he was thrilled to bits when he was introduced to The General and Mrs. Kitching. He was absolutely awe struck and tongue-tied when The General shook hands with him, and even more so when Mrs. Kitching said she hoped he was going to grow up to be as good a man as his Grandpa Starbuck.[4]…
Sunday morning was the grand climax of the Congress with a grand March Past The General before the Holiness meeting.[5] My husband was made Marshal for the March Past, and had to get them all organised and marched off in Divisions, a colossal task to organise about 15 thousand people. The march was over a mile long, in close formation, marching 4 abreast, all in smart cream uniforms. Unfortunately I had to march alone at the head of the Lomagundi Division… but Allan marched with me for company. We took Carol with us, as by then she was recovering, on condition that she stayed in the car and did not go near anyone. It seemed terrible to miss seeing everything because of Chicken Pox, so she and her cousins sat on the top of our Landrover and had a marvellous view of everything. … That morning meeting will never be forgotten – to see 15,000 Salvationists packed into that enclosure, with flags and Home League banners waving, to hear their singing was so was so moving that one could hardly sing oneself. The response at the end of the meeting was so spontaneous and they came forward so deliberately that I am sure something of untold value has been done for the Kingdom of Christ in Rhodesia. It made us so thrilled with the opportunity of working with such people, yet at the same time so humble when one realises the tremendous challenges.…
Before The General’s Congress we had also held our Divisional one in the Magondi Reserve conducted by Colonel & Mrs. Thompson. This was held in a very beautiful setting among the hills. The T.C. [Territorial Commander] and Mrs. Thompson slept in the Headmaster’s office, Allan and Carol in the truck, and Keith and I in a grass shelter. They had built a very nice grass hut, the larger part was our Dining Room cum kitchen, the smaller part our bedroom. … It was an unusually cold spell, and we were chilled through when we came back from the night meeting which of course is held outdoors, so Keith lit a wood fire, and Colonel & Mrs. Thompson, Keith & I sat drinking hot tea by our fire, while on the hills opposite we could see hundreds of little fires lit by our African people, and we could hear their full-throated singing and their drums beating. The whole weekend was filled with many blessings and many sought the Lord for the first time.
This last term of the school year, we are both very busy. Keith is away from home most of the time, I am still teaching English every morning at our Location school, as well as all the other work I find to do. Allan and Carol have now both got over Chicken Pox. Allan had his ninth birthday in bed with Chicken Pox so he could not have his party, poor lad! It doesn’t seem possible that he is 9 and Carol is nearly 6 now. We are all looking forward to sailing home to England on May 15th next year, but in the meantime there is a lot of work to do before then.
We do pray that you will have a very happy Christmas and a very blessed New Year in 1959.
P.O. Box 33, Sinoia.
S. Rhodesia.
June 1960.
I must write to all my friends letting them know how we are getting on since returning from our very enjoyable Homeland furlough.[6] Unexpectedly when we reached Bulawayo Keith was asked to inspect the Matabeleland schools as they had been without a D.C. [Divisional Commander] since July, so he went off into the Bush and the children and I took up temporary residence at the D.H.Q. [Divisional Headquarters] in Bulawayo. We were happy to associate with the Bulawayo European Corps and Allan was able to play his cornet with the small band. One Sunday we went to an African Location Corps, where they have a Band. Allan played with them but as we had to march about 2 miles to the Open Air stand in terrific heat, the Band playing the same tune over and over, each man trying to play the loudest, Allan looked like a boiled beetroot when we arrived back at the hall![7] After three weeks in Bulawayo, then Field Councils in Salisbury, at which I once again acted as Secretary, we arrived back at Sinoia.
The first Sunday we spent at the Sinoia Location where we received an enthusiastic welcome, the women telling me that they had been crying for their Mother while I had been away. The next Sunday we had our welcome in Sipolilo and found that the Sectional Officer had called all the Corps together to welcome us home. It was a thrill to see hundreds of our people and hear them express their joy at our return. The same thing happened in the Magondi Reserve the following week.
We returned at a very busy time – preparation for the new school year. The problems and frustrations are more than ever. The shortage of trained teachers is acute. The Dept. of Native Education made Kaith send two whole Std. 2 children home because we had no trained teachers, and at one place he nearly had a riot. … One father cycled over 60 miles to D.H.Q. then 60 miles back to get his daughter into school. It is becoming increasingly difficult to get trained teachers in the village schools – they prefer town and Government schools. … Keith has now 29 schools to supervise instead of the 12 we had when we first came here. We have over 3,500 children in our Division alone, as well as over 80 teachers.
One Sunday we went to a large mine and found a thriving concern there. Four teachers who are Salvationists are employed by the Mine authorities at their school, and they have over 200 children on the Y.P. [Young People (church)] register, with Singing Company [youth choir] and Corps Cadets. We had an Open Air meeting, and as Allan was playing his cornet, within minutes hundreds of Africans came round to see the white boy play, at which his Father took the opportunity and jumped in the ring with a red-hot Gospel message. …
The Women’s World Day of Prayer was very worthwhile. I first did the Children’s Service at the Junior School, then a united African meeting. I took the English part of the bilingual service in the Dutch Reformed Church, then the English service in the evening with a large crowd. My final Day of Prayer Service was in the lovely new High School that has been opened in Sinoia this year, when I conducted the Teenagers’ Service.…
During the last school holidays as the European schools did not open until 2 weeks after the African ones, the children and I were able to go with Keith for 6 days into Magondi. He did school and Corps inspections while I did a Home League meeting at each place. … We slept in classrooms with no windows or doors (only holes in the wall) and Carol slept in the back of the Landrover. One night at a new school the classroom had not even got a roof yet so we lay in our camp beds and watched the stars. Two nights we slept at one Corps, hyenas were prowling round making their dreadful noise, and we think one came right up as Rusty our dog was growling terribly.[8] … On the Saturday evening Keith and I went with the African Captain and his wife to a village for a meeting. It was an experience going through the thick Bush in the dark, guided only by the small lantern the Captain held, but it really felt like adventuring for the Lord, and what a meeting we had when we arrived at the village. All the village crowded into a little round hut after we had entered, and sat on the floor round us while we brought the message of Jesus to them and some of them sought the Lord. While we went to this village, Allan and Carol were both fast asleep in the classroom and truck, well guarded by our faithful dog.
Last Sunday we conducted two meetings in the Compound [area of farm workers’ houses] of a European farmer.[9] An accepted candidate [to be trained as an Army officer] is the teacher there and is doing a grand work. Her husband is one of our teachers at another school, but she is teaching for this year at this Farm, as well as leading the Corps. Keith enrolled 38 new soldiers [members] many of them already in uniform, and they think the world of Mistress Dora, even the men meekly do as she tells them (amazing in African circles for a woman to lead men). A couple of months ago she had to have a Caesarean operation in Sinoia. She was very ill but has made a remarkable recovery and has a lovely baby boy, Keith. When she was discharged from hospital I brought her to our house, turned Carol out of her room, put her there and nursed her for a few days. The first day and night I had the old Grandmother here also but was most relieved when she departed, leaving me to nurse Dora and her baby as I thought best! On Sunday when I saw the work she was doing, and dedicated her lovely baby along with others, I was only too thankful that I was able to help her in her hour of need.[10]
… We are so grateful for the opportunity of coming back to our people, and thank God for all His blessings.
P.O. Box 17,
MAZABUKA,
Northern RHODESIA [Zambia].
November 1960.
Since my last letter, we have moved from Sinoia to Northern Rhodesia, and we took up residence in Mazabuka at the end of August. This is a very small town, only one main street with one European shop, as well as a butcher and baker. We have a very nice new house. Allan and Carol are able to go to school in Mazabuka, at a very good school where they are very happy. We have a Sunday School each Sunday morning at the school, many more boys than girls as they have only boys as boarders, the girls are all local. We also have to conduct a service in the School Hostel with all the boarders each Sunday evening, so we have a grand opportunity of influencing these boys for the Lord. Three Officers’ sons from Chikankata (which is 40 miles from us) are boarders here… so we usually take them out with us on Sundays to African Corps, so that they can have some Salvation Army activity on Sundays.
We had a good finish up in Lomagundi Division, and all seemed genuinely sorry to see us go. …
Rhodes and Founders weekend, Keith and I took a party of Officers and Locals for a Campaign in the Dande Reserve in the Zambezi Valley, and this was an experience I shall never forget. These people are isolated, no schools, stores, clinics or anything, just in their natural raw state, wearing no clothes, just a cloth wound round them. When we first arrived they were terrified of us and it took some time to show them that we were harmless. When I linked arms with two of our Home League Secretaries, and the heathen women saw that no harm came to them when I touched them, they came nearer to listen. We had our first meeting sitting undera big tree and had the joy of seeing a number of men and women seeking the Lord. We moved on across the Valley on a dreadful road and came across another lot of villages where we stayed for Saturday and Sunday. We camped under a big tree and I did all my cooking on a wood fire on the ground. … The heartbreaking cry of these people when we left was – “Who will look after us and teach us more about Jesus?” Keith saw the headmen and they have asked for schools to be opened, so he has applied to the Government.
Our Officers and Soldiers are remaining firm in spite of intimidation from potential trouble makers. …
We are slowly adjusting ourselves to very different circumstances in the North where the work is much more difficult. We have had 3 Congresses up here so we were able to meet all our people. The first one in the Zambezi Valley was so different from our Lomagundi ones, very few adults and hardly any in uniform. We had only about 40 in the Home League Rally and I could not help thinking of the hundreds and hundreds of women I had left. Still this presents a challenge which by God’s help we will try to meet. That weekend I had my first experience with a scorpion, as I picked up the dishcloth to wash the dishes where unknown to me a scorpion was lurking which stung my right hand. Fortunately we have a clinic there and one of the Chikankata sisters gave me an injection. Now I look carefully before picking up any cloth when we are on trek! Our second Congress on the Plateau was much bigger and there were many more Salvationists. The African Band from Ndola came down, whose instruments were brought from America by Captain Don Seiler, and they are doing very well. Within a few minutes of their arrival Allan had joined them with his cornet, and in the March Past he proudly marched past with the Ndola Band. We had a wonderful response after most enthusiastic meetings.
In Northern Rhodesia I have to inspect the Girls’ Work in our schools or we do not get the Government Grant for our work. At the moment I am sitting in one of the schools miles from anywhere. This is our third tour up here and it has been a wonderful chance of getting to know our people. … Last weekend Keith and I were down in the Zambezi Valley for 6 days – the heat was dreadful – I have never been so hot in my life, and everything we touched in our hut was hot. We had a grand weekend though. … Going down the escarpment to the Valley with 27 bags (200 lbs.) of mealie meal [white corn meal, the staple diet] on the lorry as well as all our camping kit, and many other things, calls for very careful driving as the road is terrible. … In the evening we all marched again through the darkness of the Bush to a heathen village. On the way our Headmaster told us that we were going to a village where they did not want Christianity – they always ran away when they went to their village and tried to hinder the work of the school. As we marched into the village the full-throated singing of our boys could be heard for miles through the Bush. We discovered they had been having a beer-drink, and the women were wearing nothing above the waist, and all under the influence of native beer. As we approached they made the most blood curdling yells, and eventually we all say down on the floor. The women gradually came nearer to me (I was the only woman Salvationist there) and pressed nearer and nearer to me out of curiosity, until the naked body of the nearest woman was touching me. She had a little one of just over 1 year old, with not a stitch of clothing on, and when I held out my arms she came straight to me, and immediately there were beams of delight from all the villagers, and their confidence was won when they saw that the baby was not afraid of me. I nursed that naked baby all through the meeting even when I was speaking and was able to use the little one as an illustration of lack of fear of the unknown. While our meeting was in progress the African drums started nearby trying to take our listeners away from us…
P.O. Box 17,
Mazabuka, N. Rhodesia.
November, 1961.
I am sorry that I did not get my half yearly newsletter off, but this year has been more busy than ever before. This year has been particularly trying, probably due to the political unrest in this country, and very often we have been most discouraged. We have had a lot of trouble with some of our teachers, and the problems have been tremendous, so we have had to cry to God for patience and wisdom, and the Lord has been with us in a wonderful way.
The educational work in this Division is almost a fulltime job, with our 19 schools, three of which are Boarding Schools. In addition to supplying all equipment, also food for the boarding schools, Keith has also got large building schemes at 3 of our schools, for which large Government grants are given, so they must be completed in a certain time. Days and days he has spent loading up the lorry with building materials, taking them to schools, carting sand from nearby rivers, even shovelling sand himself with the schoolboys in a temperature well over 100, then carting bricks from a brick kiln. This seems far removed from preaching the Gospel to the heathen, but it is a part of the “all things” in a missionary’s life and has to be done. …
Twice this year we have been out on long treks. One tour we had to drive through mud and raging torrents, got lost in the Bush several times, as we could not find the track because of mud and water. On the way home the lorry got stuck in a bog and 10 oxen could not pull her out, so we had to fling the tarpaulin over a branch, put our camp beds on the only dry spot, and get under our nets as quickly as possible as there were hundreds of mosquitoes who were after our blood! Early next morning the Chief sent 20 men who worked like Trojans, and eventually lifted the lorry out at 12.30 noon – 21 hours marooned!
When we go on trek, we do the school inspection in the morning, I inspect the needlework, then do a Home League, visit the Officers’ wives and teachers’ wives in their homes, then we go on to the next place, arriving after dark, cook our main meal on a wood fire on the ground outside, then conduct a meeting before turning in to our camp beds. Often our sleep is disturbed by hyenas howling which set off all the dogs in the district barking. Our own dog, Rusty, growls at the doorway if one comes near, then backs into our hut to lie down between our beds!
Down in the Valley the people are very backward. On one trip to an isolated school, we found a 5 year old girl with a sore leg. When I removed the dirty rag, I was nearly bowled over with the stench as her leg was eaten away to the bone from ankle to knee, and I could only put on a clean dressing and take her back to Chikankata Hospital. Dr. Gauntlett informed us she had hardly any red cells left in her body, and would have been dead within a few days if we had [not] brought her to the hospital. That sort of thing makes the terribly bumpy journey worthwhile. …
In June I held a Refresher Course for 2 weeks for all my Women Helpers. Women Helpers do part time teaching of needlework and handcraft in schools. We held it at Chikankata and I was most grateful for all the help the Chikankata staff gave me. Allan and Carol were left behind at home with their Father for the two weeks, although I had an African girl who cooked, washed etc. for them. Since then I have not had an African servant in the house, as we cannot afford one, so I do my own housework, as well as spend as much time as possible in the office helping Keith, as he is away so much. Also I have to supervise all the Domestic Science work in our schools in which connection I had to cut out 180 small dresses, 220 bags, 220 mats. I have still to cut out 180 pillowcases, 220 knickers, and 220 hankies for next term.…
We are hoping to go down to the Cape Coast for our furlough, so will be spending Christmas at the sea. We have been saving up for a long time, and it will take us a very long time to get over it financially, but we feel we must make the effort for the children’s sake. They are fast growing up. Allan was 12 in September, and will be going to Lusaka as a boarder in January. We have just received his outfit list and what a formidable list – it will cost a fortune to rig him out! He will be far away from the Army but will go to the Baptist Church on Sundays. He has done quite well at school this year, coming top of his class. Carol is also doing quite well on the whole. …
NOTE: My parents’ first term in Zambia was only two years, and they were to return later as Officers Commanding the Zambia Command, which was separated from Rhodesia after Zambian independence in 1964. They were sent back to the Howard Institute, the largest rural Army mission station in the Territory; this time Dad was appointed Principal. Carol and I had to change schools again. After only six months in boarding school in Lusaka, I went to Prince Edward School (a boys’ boarding school in Salisbury/ Harare) and Carol went to Routledge primary school next to Prince Edward in Belvedere, for the first time as a boarder. This is quite a controversial letter, at least for me it is reading it almost half a century later! Some of my mother’s comments are looking at the consequences rather than the causes of a liberation struggle going on in what was a European settler-ruled country, where Africans were segregated and did not have the right to vote. The Rhodesian white-ruled government declared a Unilateral Declaration of Independence in November 1965, and after a bitter guerrilla war, Zimbabwe only became independent in April 1980.
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Officers’ Training College,
Howard Institute,
P.O. Glendale, S. Rhodesia.
November 1962.
We are now happily settled at the Training College and finding the work most engrossing. We have 19 Cadets in Training, 10, 2nd Year and 9, 1st Year, a really fine lot who are responding well. We are both kept busy, but with not quite the hectic rush of the years we have had on Divisional work. We find the Cadets’ classes most interesting, also challenging to ourselves. I take a Bible class each morning with the 1st Year women, also Doctrine, Orders and Regulations with men and women, with the men only, Salvation Army history, also English, then a special English class with one of the women who is not so far advanced as the others, then Home League Training for a whole afternoon a week, and a 2 hour Cookery class. In addition to the classes, I am responsible for the women and their families, and a lot of time is taken up with interviews, dealing out food rations, medical treatment, baby care etc., dealing with their problems etc. Each Wednesday the Cadets go out visiting, and 3 out of 4 Sundays we are out on the Field… We travel on a 3-ton lorry which is well loaded when all the Cadets and their kit are on.
Rhodesia has been much in the news lately, and you will all know a little of the difficulties with which we have to contend in our work. For the first time the Southern Rhodesian Salvationists have had to face persecution, and many of our halls have been burnt down in the country areas. The people have been intimidated by ZAPU[11] and threatened that they will be beaten or even killed if they attend meetings. They are told they must go back to the religion of their ancestors, spirit worship etc., that there is no God and the missionaries are just the agents of the Government. Many of our people have backslidden through fear, but we are glad to say that many others are making a wonderful stand for Christ. Some of the Officers in spite of having their hall and Quarters burnt down, are standing firm and rallying their people. The Cadets of late have been used mightily in the difficult areas, and have brought strength to the fear ridden Salvationists. … Howard Institute itself has had a very difficult time lately, and the students have been most troublesome, having been indoctrinated with anti-God and anti-European propaganda. One night a few weeks ago, the boys got out of hand, and started throwing bricks, one of which caught Brigadier Roberts right in his eye, smashing his glasses, and he had to be rushed to hospital. As no-one would own up, the boys had all to be sent home for two weeks and the most troublesome ones were not accepted [back]. … Last Sunday night, about 2.30 a.m. one of our Boys’ Dormitories was burnt down. …
We went to another Corps one Sunday where the comrades[12] had been afraid to come to meetings because of threats from ZAPU supporters. As there were so few people in the hall we decided to hold our second meeting in an adjacent village where they were holding a beer drink, and where most of the neighbourhood was assembled. What a crowd of drunks there were! While they were starting the Open Air meeting, I went into a hut from which an awful noise was issuing, and found 16 drunk men, and 2 women, fighting and quarrelling with each other. I went into the middle of them and immediately they quietened. The Headman told them to listen to me, and I had absolute silence while I talked to them in their own language about Jesus, then prayed with them. I can only pray that the Holy Spirit will bring back to the befuddled minds of those men something that had been said. That afternoon we saw a number of seekers at the drum.[13]
We so enjoy the contact with the Officers and Soldiers as we go round with the Cadets. We no longer take European food with us, but eat African food with the Officers in their own homes, and this gives us a wonderful opportunity of getting to know them and helping them especially in these difficult days. …
Allan and Carol have settled very well at their new schools, Allan at Prince Edward High School in Salisbury, and Carol at Routledge Boarding School. The thing which delights us that they can both go to Salisbury Citadel on Sundays, and are taking a great interest. Carol was enrolled as a Singing Company member last week, and Allan went with the Y.P. Band to Gwelo last weekend which was the long holiday weekend. There are 9 of the Howard youngsters at boarding schools in Salisbury, so they all come home together and have a great time when they are home. They all arrived home on the Friday afternoon, and Allan spent Friday evening preparing his testimony! ready for the Saturday night. We took him and Major Evans’ son [Howard] into Salisbury on the Saturday morning to go with the Y.P. Band, and they had a grand weekend. In the Saturday night the boys said there must have been about 1000 Africans there – quite an ordeal for a youngster to give his first testimony! especially as some of the rougher element tried to boo the European lads. On the Sunday morning they did a meeting in the prison (European) and he said to me most distressed – “Mum, there were 7 white women in the prison”! When Carol first went to Boarding School I felt simply awful, and I am most thankful that I am kept fully occupied at the College as the children have to be away from home. …
Howard Institute
P.O. Glendale
Southern Rhodesia.
June 1963.
We have had a very busy six months since last I wrote my newsletter. I am teaching full time at the Training College, which includes most evenings of the week as well. We have nine 2nd year, and seven 1st year Cadets this year. I myself take classes for Bible, Doctrine, Officers’ Regulations, Subject Notes, Y.P. Training, S.A. History, Home League Training, Writing, Cookery, as well as supervise all the Field Preparation for the 2nd year Cadets, which means sitting down with them individually, trying to find out how they think. It has done me a great deal of good as I have had to work hard at myself in order to help them. …
We have just finished a Campaign in Northern Rhodesia [Zambia]. It is a difficult field these days, but God used the Cadets in a wonderful way. We moved to a different place each day, visiting in the mornings, holding Men’s, Home League and Y.P. Meetings in the afternoons, and united gatherings around huge camp fires in the evenings. … Perhaps one of the most moving sites was at a beerhall near Chikankata. Two modern beerhalls have been built here recently, and many Soldiers from nearby Corps have been led away. We held an Open Air meeting outside one beerhall with a tremendous crowd standing round, and were thrilled to see over 20 seekers kneeling at the drum. Afterwards I took the men Cadets into the packed beerhall, squeezing ourselves in. The Cadets were rather afraid to go in at first, but when I led the way, followed me in. I thought at first I was back in one of the London pubs, except that every face but my own was black. We got the crowd singing, then there was perfect silence while I spoke to them and a Cadet prayed. … During that Campaign we praise God for over 300 adult new seekers, and over 700 children.
So far as our own family is concerned, we have had rather a difficult time. Allan had an accident at Boarding School when a rope on which he was swinging, broke, and he broke both arms also had slight concussion. Carol also has had to have her tonsils out, and her tonsils were so septic that her throat was in a dreadful state after the operation, but she is pulling up again now. We then discovered that Allan had got Bilharzia (a tropical disease) so he had to have the blitz treatment for that. We are hoping to go to Beira in Mozambique, for two weeks in August, if we can save up by then, as we feel the children need the sea air to pull them up again. We shall camp in a tent, the cheapest way of having a holiday.
NOTE: We had our second “Homeland Furlough” from December 1964 to June 1965, although I had to return to Salisbury for the beginning of my ‘O Level’ year in January. It was my first air flight, in a Vickers VC 10. My parents were now returning to Rhodesia by boat from Southampton and train from Cape Town to their new appointment in Bulawayo, my father’s birthplace and where his parents had retired. His parents had spent their entire ministry in the London Missionary Society (Congregational) since their marriage in 1915 in rural area of this region (Shangani and Dombodema missions). Three Anderson generations before that were involved in the LMS in South Africa since the first William Anderson arrived in Cape Town in 1800. His younger brother Alec and oldest sister Sheila and their families (eight of my cousins!) were also living there. At one stage two other sisters and their families lived in Bulawayo, so we were more exposed to our larger family than we were in the past ten years. This homecoming for my father was significant, and he also had the advantage of speaking the main language of the region, SiNdebele, fluently. My mother had acquired fluency in ChiShona so this was a new challenge for her. This was to be their last appointment in Zimbabwe before they returned to Zambia, and then to South Africa.
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3, Forbes Avenue,
Bulawayo, Rhodesia.
November 1965.
Ever since we arrived back from furlough at the end of June, we have been kept going with one thing or another. Keith is the Regional Commander for Matabeleland, and this area is a tough proposition. For one thing, they have had three years drought, which makes things very difficult, and also in some areas the people are much more backward than in Mashonaland where we have previously worked. We have an African District Officer also an African School Manager working with us, but Keith has the administrative responsibility for these, also all the financial responsibility. This entails a good deal of office work. We are very happy with our African District Officer and his wife, who are a very fine couple, and doing a fine job. They are both so willing to learn from our experience, and we also learn many things from them.
We have just recently returned from a 10 day trek with Captain & Mrs. Moyo,[14] our District Officers, and the School Manager, in the Nata Reserve which is about 120 miles from Bulawayo. The people there are very backward and the work is difficult. It is almost like a desert out there now after the drought, and we have to plough through thick sand everywhere. We inhale, swallow, and get fine dust in our eyes, ears, nose, and by the end of each day are covered in brown! At each place Keith and Captain did Corps Inspections, and Census meetings, and what revelations were forthcoming during those inspections! Many things had to be put straight, and Officers and Corps Leaders taught the right way of doing things … Mrs. Captain Moyo and I did a Home League each day as we moved to different places, also met the Home League Local Officers[15], and spent several hours training them. … At almost every place we found that the women would not come to Home League because their husbands would not allow them to do so. The men in that area mostly have several wives, and do not want their wives uplifted. They say – “My wives will not obey me, and work hard for me, if they learn many things”. So it needs tremendous patience and an utter reliance on the power of God to accomplish anything. At one Corps where I was trying to persuade the women to become Home League members, they said their husbands refused to let them come. I saw two men outside the classroom, so I fetched them in and asked “Is your wife here?” They each had two wives present, so I asked them if they would allow their wives to come, and they said they would never refuse. They said that to me, but would probably say something else to their wives when they got home. …
We spent a week in the Filabusi district, and will be going there again next week. … As well as doing Home League meetings, and meeting Home League Locals I spent a good deal of time with Officers’ and teachers’ wives in their own homes.
There is a great deal of hunger and starvation in this area, and we are doing what we can to help. We are organising a feeding scheme at 2 of our schools under the Freedom from Hunger Campaign. At one place in Nata, I saw a woman with twins, both these babies of over 15 months old, one hanging on to each breast. I found that these little ones had had nothing but the Mother’s milk ever since birth, and they looked dreadful. The Mother herself was skin and bone, and her four older children like scarecrows. I went immediately to the store and bought milk powder for these babies, and the Officer’s wife was going to show her how to mix this. I also gave them other foods, but one feels so helpless to do anything worthwhile, it is just a drop in the ocean. I treated so many children that week with terrible sores and ulcers, caused by malnutrition. …
Allan is still a boarder in Salisbury, and is sitting his G.C.E. ‘O’ level exam. next week. He hopes to come to Bulawayo next year for 6th Form, to Milton High School, his Father’s old school, so we shall have him at home again. He is now a commissioned Bandsman and wearing band uniform. Carol is in Form I at the Evelyn High School in Bulawayo, and is quite happy in the little European Corps here. …
The eyes of the world are on Rhodesia at the moment, and we are all praying that a solution may be found to the difficulties of this country, that we may live together in harmony and Christian brotherhood. We feel that the best thing for Christians to do is to pray that God’s will shall be done.[16]
3 Forbes Avenue,
Bulawayo, Rhodesia.
4th July, 1966.
I am afraid I am late with my newsletter, but I have not had time before now. Apart from our immediate responsibility for the African work in Matabeleland, I have this year started the S.A. Nurses’ Fellowship in Bulawayo, which entails the arranging of a monthly meeting in our home when some of the nurses have to sleep at our house for the night, but it has been so good to discover Army girls who are taking their S.R.N. training at the African hospital, and we have 16 African and 5 European nurses now. I have also organised the League of Mercy among our African comrades here, am on the Matabeleland Committee of Women’s Groups Liaison, as well as being the Chairman of the Bulawayo District Committee for Women’s Workers. The supervision of Home League in this area is a full time job, and in between times I am a wife and mother! At the moment we have the two daughters of Keith’s sister, staying with us for three months while their parents are on holiday in England, and I leave you to imagine our home with four teenagers!
We had a wonderful week in the Semokwe Reserve with our District Officers, Captain and Mrs. Moyo. Keith and Captain conducted Corps Inspections etc while Mrs Moyo and I did Home Leagues, met the Locals and inspected books. We did village meetings every evening, visitation when we could and staff meetings with teachers. … We finished up at the Tshelanyemba Institute and had a grand meeting when a number of the senior students came to the Mercy Seat, as well as a teacher about whom we had been rather anxious. We were able to watch the feeding scheme at the Hospital where the matron, Major Evelyn Munn has done a wonderful job feeding the starving children. It was so moving to see these youngsters queueing up for their cooked food with their little bundle of firewood with which they paid for their food. We have been most grateful for the food given by the National Council of Women which has helped a great deal, and I have had the privilege of going to several of the European schools to speak at their Assemblies about the Children of the Drought Scheme.…
Allan and Carol are very happy in Bulawayo Corps. Allan passed his G.C.E. O level with flying colours, and is now in Lower 6th doing “A” level taking English, History, and Religious Knowledge at Milton, his father’s old school. The little Band is doing very well under B/M [Bandmaster] Ted Horwood and is now playing marches and selections. They have also started a Rhythm Grouo in which Allan plays the drums, and Carol is a soloist. Carol is now in uniform and has just signed her Corps Cadets Application Form (it just doesn’t seem possible that our baby is now a Corps Cadet). Easter weekend a carload of them went down to a Youth Camp near Johannesburg, had a wonderful time and all came back enthused and in love with the Army in South Africa. …
I expect you are wondering how we are faring under U.D.I.[17] and I can only say that we are carrying on with our work as usual, everything is quite normal, except that prices have risen, and it is difficult to make ends meet sometimes. The whole country is quite peaceful, and we move quite freely among the African people. The Army is accepted everywhere because we keep absolutely free of politics and keep to our main purpose – preaching the Gospel, and we thank God for the way He is helping us with that.
3 Forbes Avenue,
BULAWAYO, RHODESIA.
15th November, 1966.
Special Christmas Greetings to all our friends.
We have just returned from a week’s trek and what a week! The weather turned cold, wet and windy, and you can imagine life in the Bush under those conditions. The first Home League I attended I was very pleased to see the enthusiastic way in which the women are trying to do what we want. The next day we went to a Mine, and under a tree in the Compound I taught the women how to scrub a table properly, as we are doing Housewifery this quarter.
I have recently been elected as Chairman of the Matabeleland Provincial Committee of the Women’s Groups Liaison, and am trying to get District Committees going in various places. I was able to call a meeting of European and African ladies at Filabusi which we held in our hall there, and am very pleased that this Committee is now functioning. A great deal of good has been done by the co-ordination of Women’s Groups, and I have been able to send a number of our women to Training Courses run by Governments or Municipality Depts. It has been good to share ideas with other organizations. …
We have had 4 very inspiring Congresses in our Region, the last two of which were conducted by our Territorial Commander and Mrs Lt. Commissioner Fewster. The first one at Filabusi we slept in a three roomed house (mud and brick) with insufficient thatching on the roof, and on the Saturday night we were soaked through in the middle of the night by unexpected rain, and spent the rest of the night in the two cars! Our African Salvationists, bless them, stood up most of the night, or crawled under lorries and buses, but in spite of wet and cold turned up in full force in wonderful spirits for Knee Drill [prayer meeting] early next morning.
We had a wonderful Congress in Bulawayo itself with all the urban Corps and outposts uniting … the large Welfare Hall was packed to overflowing. I was particularly thrilled with the display of needlework and handcraft done by Home Leagues at each centre, much better than before…
The other evening Allan arranged a special meeting for the Rhythm Group and the Citadel was absolutely packed with mostly young people. We were so proud of our 6 young people who did very well indeed. Then on the Sunday evening Allan gave his first sermon, and spoke for 18 minutes as if he had been doing it all his life.[18] Even his sister listened attentively and his Mum was so proud, yet so grateful to God for the way he is turning out.
We are glorying in a lovely airy office which has been built in our garden by an African builder with storeroom attached. What a boon to have adequate space as for years the office has been in the garage and one could not move. We are hoping to have 3 weeks’ furlough in December but are not leaving Bulawayo. We have been offered the use of a lovely home at Hillside while the owners are away, so can get away from people coming constantly to the office, and have a real break which we both need, before we tackle the demands of another year.
3 Forbes Avenue,
BULAWAYO. November 1967.
Once more we wish to send our best wishes…
If anything we have had a busier time than usual this year. I have no African servant now, as we can’t afford one, so I do all my own housework, but I must say my family are most helpful. At the beginning of the year I had an unusual experience of being in charge of the Men’s Hostel while the Officers were away. This was something new for me, and I learned a lot in that month. One thing to which I could not get hardened was to see police taking off young fellows who were staying at the Hostel.
I am still Chairman of the Women’s World Day of Prayer Committee, and of the Women’s Group Liaison which takes a good deal of my time, especially the W.G.L. which includes arranging united Training Courses, attendance at Working Party meetings in Salisbury, as well as Committee meetings. At our Annual General Meeting I tried to resign from Chairmanship, as I felt it was making too many demands on my time, but so far we have been unable to find anyone who will take it on, so everything still comes to me. Then I still run the Nurses Fellowship with monthly meetings at our house for the nurses of this district. Keith also has been kept very busy, as we had no Manager of Schools until this last term, and this means a tremendous amount of work. We are thankful that an African Manager has been appointed… so Keith has only to inspect 3 schools, although he has to take the Manager round all the schools, but at least he can do Army work… As I was unable to go with them the last time, Keith also cooked all meals for the African Manager and himself! …
There continues to be much joy in the Lord’s work in this country, although there are disappointments and frustrations. …
This year I have been trying to get all women in the Home League to work… and have been thrilled with the response in most places. At one Home League in Nata… There were three old Grandmothers there who had never had a needle in their hands before I taught them to sew, and when I went back to mark their work, they had each completed the required work, one of them perfectly. It must have taken her hours of painstaking effort… After the meeting they all three came to me to rub their aching backs for them! Actually as we go round the Reserves with First Aid and simple medicines we find there is a vital need. One child was brought to us one night who had been gored by a cow… His leg was an awful mess, but that small child did not murmur a sound while I dressed his leg. Another day a month old baby was brought to us… and I found all the tiny hand and fingers were badly burned. I gave the Mother a real good lecturing about allowing a tiny baby like that to fall on the fire. So many children are brought to us with bad burns, falling on the open fire.
The village meetings always thrill us, especially to see the eager faces round a huge log fire at night, then to see them kneeling at the drum. ...
We had three Congress weekends which were very well attended, but were unable to hold the fourth owing to terrorist activity[19] in the district which was disappointing for our people. …
For the first time, we held a Youth Councils weekend in Bulawayo which was a real inspiration. … The Headmaster also brought the 14 Corps Cadets from Nata, and these youngsters had never been away from their own villages, and their faces were a picture as they listened eagerly to everything.
Last weekend Keith and I were at Wankie Colliery, not far from Victoria Falls, where a newly commissioned Lieut. and his wife have just been appointed. This Lieut. is a trained teacher whom we sent into training, and he is already making his impression on that place. … We had a grand weekend with a number of seekers. We have just received a letter from him about the weekend, and the thing that pleased us more than anything was that he started his letter – “Dear Parents”. If we can be Father and Mother to our Officers, that is what we want to be.[20]
Allan and Carol continue to bring us much joy. Allan finishes school next week, and is now in the middle of sitting G.C.E “A” level, and in January will start working in the Law Courts here in Bulawayo, and will have to take law exams as he works. He received a very fine testimonial from his Headmaster. Carol was enrolled as a Senior Soldier in August, and is used a great deal in singing solos being blessed with a good voice. We are so grateful that both of them are committed Christians. The Youth for Christ movement has helped them both a great deal, and Allan is on the Y.F.C. Committee, also has been Chairman of his school Scripture Union. He went to speak at a Girls’ High School last week! We are all hoping to go down to the Cape for the month of December for our coastal furlough, and will camp at Fish Hoek. We are going by road, Keith and Allan sharing the driving. We are all needing sea air, and will be glad of the change before we start the responsibilities of another year.
NOTE: There is a 19 month gap in the letters before this one. One of the most significant events in the family was that I was baptised in a Pentecostal church in November 1968 and was becoming increasingly fundamentalist, something I would later regret. In January 1969 I entered Llewellyn Barracks near Bulawayo for basic military training, after six weeks moving to Brady Barracks in Bulawayo to train as a radio operator (signaller).
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33, 20th Avenue,
Famona, Bulawayo.
June 1969.
You will notice that we have moved to a new address although still in Bulawayo. The old house at Forbes Avenue which the Army has had for so long is being sold, and we have moved into another more modern Army quarters the south side of the city. We are a bit cramped for space because Major D. Moyo our Divisional Officer has to work here until such time as the new D.H.Q. is built in the Barbourfields African Township. The plans are in the hands of the Town Council, and we hope that they hurry up so that the builder can start.
Our work is slightly different this year, as we now have two African Divisional Officers whom we have to train so that they can take over complete responsibility when we leave for Homeland furlough next June. … We have two very fine couples with whom we work very happily.
This year in Rhodesia is the Year of Evangelism, and we have had some very blessed times in contact with other Church people. Bulawayo has an Executive of which Keith is the Secretary, and I am a member. This week we have planned for a Convention … with special speakers each day, the theme being “The Holy Spirit”. This is planned particularly for church people as a preparation for evangelism, as we feel the Christians must be revived and stirred up first before they can take part in effective evangelism. It has been good also to have some co-ordination between the various denominations. …
On January 9th Allan had to go into the Forces for his 9 months Territorial training, and having finished his initial training is now up at Victoria Falls as a Signaller. Last week he was presented with a lovely plaque by his C.O. [Commanding Officer] being the top student of his Course at the School of Signals. As you may imagine life in the Forces has been a challenge to him, but we thank God he has maintained his witness and has been used to influence others. The few Christians met together for prayer when they could. …
Carol is in her last year at school, and is working for G.C.E. in November, then will come to England with us next year before starting as a nurse in Salisbury.
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33, 20th Avenue, Famona,
Bulawayo.
November 1969.
Once more it is time to send Christmas greetings to all our friends… It does not seem like 4½ years since we returned to Rhodesia from furlough, but we are due to sail from Capetown again on June 3rd, 1970. Life has been so busy since we came to Matabeleland that the time has absolutely flown by. We shall be extremely sorry to leave our people of Matabeleland, as we have come to really love them, and although the work has been hard, we thank God for the signs of progress that we can see now.
We have had very fine Congresses since last I wrote, and it was good to see more people than usual, and more uniform in evidence. …
We have just recently had a Home League Leaders’ Training Course for three days… The women responded so well and everything went so happily. …
This year has been the Year of Evangelism in Rhodesia, and the Army has taken part. … we are praying for revival in Bulawayo. We hold weekly lunch hour united prayer meetings in the Army hall.
We were able to have three weeks’ furlough in Beira in Mozambique in September, and it was most relaxing to be at the sea again. We were able to borrow my brother in law’s caravan, and had a really lazy three weeks which we both needed and feel better for it.
Allan has now finished his nine months’ military training, and is present in Salisbury doing a special six week’s course in Law. We are hoping that he will pass his exams at the end of it, although he is not very hopeful, having been away from the Magistrates’ Dept. all this year on military service. Carol is writing her ‘O’ Level this month, and we hope she will get her five ‘O’ levels which will enable her to start nursing training which she has wanted to do all her life.
After returning from six months’ “Homeland Furlough” in 1970 and a short return to Bulawayo, my parents were promoted to Brigadiers and appointed Officers Commanding, Zambia Command, based in Lusaka, the capital city. After three years working in the Magistrates’ Courts and becoming a public prosecutor in 1970, I moved to Vereeniging in South Africa to attend a small Pentecostal Bible College in March 1971. Carol had begun nursing training in Salisbury, but withdrew and would pick it up again in Canada after she moved there with her husband and daughter in 1980. After a few years in Canada, they moved to the United States and live on the south-western coast of Florida.
P.O. Box RW 193
Ridgeway, Lusaka.
Zambia.
June 1971.
This is the first opportunity I have had of writing to our friends since we arrived in Zambia, as we have been kept very busy. We had a long wait before we could get visas to enter Zambia and were beginning to wonder if we would ever get in, but knew that if the Lord wanted us here we would get in eventually. We arrived here at last on March 25th, and that first weekend had our official welcome at Chikankata Hospital and Secondary School. This is a splendid centre of S.A. activity, and there is an excellent team of officers and lay staff from all parts of the world. …
We are soldiers at the Lusaka City Corps which is a fine example of a multiracial corps, English speaking. …
We spent Easter weekend on the Copperbelt right up in the north near the Congo border, and it was a joy to meet the Salvationists up there. … On Easter Sunday morning we had a sunrise service in the marketplace in Ndola.…
Keith and I have just returned from a 9-day trek in the Gwembe Valley, where we had a wonderful time. Since our schools down there were taken over by the Government, there has been little Army work done there, and we only have 2 officers for 9 centres. We had a wonderful reception wherever we went, and the people are hungry for the Gospel. … The people told us that they thought the Salvation Army had forgotten them, and wanted us to send them leaders, but we just haven’t got them. … During the daytime we visited in the villages and fields. I was unable to hold any Home League meetings as the women were living in the fields, guarding their crops from elephants, but we visited them in their fields and villages, and each night had a village meeting round a huge log fire with crowds attending. … We thank God that over 200 adults, including a number of headmen, and over 500 Y.P. sought the Lord during our trek in the Valley. We are so grateful to the Lord, and felt all the battling with terrible roads, getting stuck at a river, sleeping in classrooms, getting covered in dust, was all so worth while to win these people to the Lord. …
We are overjoyed that there is a prospect of opening our Training College in September this year… and we hope to have four couple in the first session. We are desperately in need of Officers, as none have been trained in Zambia since Independence [in 1964]. Will you join with us in praying that the right young people will come forward.
Allan is very happily settled in Bible College in South Africa, and Carol is working in Salisbury, and living in a bachelor flat. We are hoping she will be able to come and visit us for the Rhodes and Founders holiday weekend.
P.O. Box RW 193
Ridgeway
LUSAKA.
November 1971
… On another occasion we found that all the women had gone to a certain village for the initiation ceremony of a teenage girl, so I could not have the Home League at the usual place, so went to this village. The girl was due to come out from the hut that day having been confined there for several weeks, and all the women were dancing the traditional dance for such an occasion, stripped to the waist and with grass skirts. I joined the dancing women and waited until they had finished the dance, then asked them to come and listen for a short while, which they did, also many of the men. They were preparing the feast and beer, tremendously big pots of African beer, and a huge pot from which they pulled out 24 cooked chickens! …I asked permission of the Father to enter the hut to see the girl, which was gladly given. I found the girl wrapped in a blanket and with four teenage girls … ready to bring her out with dancing at the appropriate time. I spoke to her about the Lord… not only she but her four companions said they wanted to be Christians, so I had the joy of leading these five teenagers to the Lord. …
The highlight of the year has been the opening of the Zambian Training College, and we now have two fine married couples in training. A third couple was accepted but he went and got himself another wife just before the session started, so their case had to be dropped. This is a real problem in Zambia… drunkenness is the curse of this country and Government officials are constantly appealing for people not to get drunk, as the accident rate is enormously high. …
Keith and the General Secretary will shortly be going to Nairobi for the Africa Zonal Conference with the Chief of the Staff. He is happy to visit the place again where he first felt the Lord leading him into the Army when he was in the forces there [during World War 2]. Allan writes very happily from the Bible College. Carol is in Salisbury [Harare] working in the Accounts Office of Lever Bros. She was able to spend a holiday weekend with us and it was lovely to have her with us again.
We need the prayers of our friends so much. …
We pray that Christmas may be full of the joy and peace of Bethlehem, and the New Year full of rich blessing.
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P.O. Box RW 193,
Ridgeway,
LUSAKA. ZAMBIA.
November 1972.
We have had a very busy and eventful year, but very happy in the opportunities of service for the Lord. The first term of the year we had the two children of Captain Hetherington of Chikankata, living with us, as when they got back to the Boarding School they found that the food in the hostel had been changed to Zambian diet – thick porridge etc. With a boy and girl in the house again it took me back a few years. … Education for our overseas children is becoming an increasing problem.
We have had much joy in going on trek with the District Officers who are in the first year in that position, and the joy of seeing men, women, boys and girls seeking the Lord cannot be surpassed. Some of the roads on which we travel have to be seen to be believed….
It has been a great joy to visit Government Boarding (Secondary) Schools once each term and to witness the enthusiastic way these young folk are taking hold of Christianity. …
During the week I do full-time at C.H.Q. as Secretary to the General Secretary, and the work has certainly increased this year. I also take classes at the Training College where we have two second year couples and three first year couples. They are so badly needed as we are so short of Zambian officers. I also act as Secretary of several Boards so that keeps me busy. We have commenced a monthly meeting with the nurses who are working in Lusaka and it has been good to link them up. My husband [now 55 years old] took part in a 30 mile walk from Lusaka to Kafue to raise money, and in spite of skinned feet and dehydrated body he finished the course, and we have been grateful for those who have sponsored him
We do pray that this Christmas may be full of the peace of the Lord.
This was the last newsletter written from Zambia.
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P.O. Box 1018
Johannesburg, S. Africa.
November 1973
Since arriving in South Africa we have travelled about 25,000 kilometres, and have had the opportunity of seeing some of the beautiful parts of this lovely country. The distances are so great that a lot of our time is spent in travelling, many times having to travel for a whole day to reach our destination. We have 10 African Divisions, and we were taken round everywhere on our Welcome Tour by Lt. Colonel Milne, the previous Missionary Secretary, who has been very helpful in every way. We have been privileged to accompany our Territorial Commander and Mrs. Colonel King for a series of Officers’ Meetings… Not only do we have to go to most parts of South Africa, but we have work in Lesotho, Swaziland [Eswatini] and Mocambique.
There is a vast difference between the sophisticated urban African of Soweto and the rural African, but everywhere we have found enthusiastic Salvationists. Only today we have been conducting meetings at our Soweto Central Corps where we have a splendid Band whose deportment and playing is of a very high standard. … Soweto is a very large “city within a city”, the African area of Johannesburg with thousands of good houses, every amenity, schools, welfare, clinics, playing fields, sports stadiums, and with one of the largest modern hospitals [Baragwanath]. …
The African work in this country is not easy at present, as whole communities are being moved into their Homelands, and in some areas where we have good halls we have to move out because the Government is moving all the people away. If only we had money for the new halls we require. The African Homelands present a tremendous challenge with hundreds of houses in well built modern townships, and we’ve got to be in on the ground floor if we are not going to lose our opportunity among these teeming people.
Some of our rural Corps are in the mountains with glorious views all round. In some places we cannot get all the way by car and have to walk round mountain paths. … Most of our rural Corps are comprised of women only… it is so hard to get the men. In many places of course, the men are away working in towns. …
Another memorable occasion we had an Open Air meeting in Matunjwa’s village, that remarkable Zulu pioneer Officer. Our hall there is built where Mzilikazi’s warriors used to dance the victory dances on returning home from successful battles. Now our Salvationists march round singing the praises of the Lord. In the rural areas there is still much ancestral spirit worship. At one Transkei Corps a girl was possessed by an evil spirit, so they took her out of the meeting. I followed her and we knelt in the long grass while the D.C.’s wife and I prayed, and eventually the girl became quite calm, prayed then came back into the hall and testified.
We had a very good Sunday in Lesotho, and there is every evidence of the Army work being established there. …
Our most moving experience was our recent visit to Mocambique when we accompanied the Chief Secretary and Mrs. Col. Pitcher for the Congress, which was held not far from Inhambane on the coast 300 miles north of Lourenco Marques [Maputo]. It was a lovely setting among tall waving coconut palms. Our people there have not been allowed to hold meetings, some even being imprisoned for their faith. It was hard work for the African District Officer and Keith to get permission from the Authorities to hold the meetings, going from one Department to another, but eventually they got the necessary permission. It was a thrill to see nearly 400 Salvationists marching to meet us, most of them with bits of uniform which had been hidden away. There is a beautiful hall built by the Salvationists of woven palm leaves, and they had also built a large shelter for the Congress meetings. We started with an Envoys’ meeting, but just as the Chief Secretary was about to commence his address, the Portuguese Commissioner of Police arrived. The African D.O. and Keith went out to talk to him, then the Chief Secretary when he had finished his address also went out, while I kept the Envoys inside singing and praying. I felt concerned about all the soldiers so we went in search of them, and found them sitting in groups under palm trees some distance away. I gathered them together and held a meeting with them while the men were still discussing with the police. I was determined that our people should have some meeting in case the police would not allow us to continue. … The meeting was full of joy in spite of the hardship and persecution our people have had. When I gave the invitation to kneel at the drum, they all (nearly 400 of them) moved forward and knelt round and all prayed aloud. I have never experienced anything like it—like the sound of many waters. Just as we finished praying a boy came running through the trees from the D.O. to tell us the police had given permission for us to continue. There was great rejoicing at this answer to prayer—the 4 Flag Sergeants ran for their hidden flags, the two drummers banged their drums harder than ever, about 60 women played their homemade coconut palm timbrels and everyone sang at the top of their voice, and we marched back to the Congress site. The whole weekend was full of spiritual power and many decisions were made.
When we are out on trek I am my husband’s Secretary and we manage to keep our heads above water with the accumulation of correspondence.
Allan is now a Pastor in the United Apostolic Faith Church doing missionary work, and he and another young Pastor go round with a caravan visiting their many churches. They have just returned from two months in Malawi where they have had a wonderful time, in some places doing pioneering missionary work. He is based at Pretoria so we see him occasionally if both we and he happen to be home at the same time, which is not very often. Carol has settled very happily to married life and is living in Salisbury [Harare], but she does not like it when her police husband has to go into the Bush on Anti-Terrorist Patrol periodically.
May this Christmas be full of the peace that Jesus came to bring and may 1974 be full of rich blessing from the Lord.
P.O. Box 1018,
Johannesburg.
November 1974.
It is time once again to send greetings to all our many friends. We have had a very busy but happy year, and have travelled far, and we would like to share some of our experiences with you.…
At a mountain Corps inaccessible by car a new Lieutenant and his wife are doing a fine work, had increased their Y.P. attendance from 5 to over 70. The Lieut. had visited the headman who attended our meeting for the first time, and was one of the seekers. At another Corps right in the mountains we held our meeting in a round hut which was absolutely jammed. When Keith was to dedicate a baby, he asked the Mother to bring the baby forward, only to see a tall boy of 19 come forward, and he was the ‘baby’. Needless to say Keith did not attempt to take him up in his arms! Another occasion in Vendaland we climbed up a steep hill to the Chief’s village, and there on a ledge of the mountain talked to the Chief of the Lord, and prayed with him. As we looked at the magnificent scenery all round we thanked God for the opportunity of preaching the Gospel to the man who has such influence among his people. … We have just spent 10 days in Zululand, and have had a wonderful time visiting different Corps, struggling through muddy hills, and Keith even went on horseback over the mountains to an inaccessible Corps. I did not attempt my first horse ride over mountain paths and deep rivers!! …
… Life is very full but so rewarding.
Allan continues on his missionary journeyings, and has just returned from two months in Malawi where he had many adventures. He is looking forward to his marriage on December 28th to a very lovely girl… [wedding cancelled!] My Mother [Colonel Mrs Starbuck] is coming out to us for three months and will be with us for Christmas and Allan’s wedding. My brother Ken and his wife are also coming for Christmas from Canada, whom I have not seen for 21 years. Carol and Colin are happily settled in Salisbury, Colin having recently been transferred to the Dog Section of the Police, and loving his work with his dog.
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Territorial Headquarters,
P.O. Box 1018
JOHANNESBURG. 2000
November 1975.
Once more it is time to greet all our friends, and in the midst of a busy life I must pause to get this letter typed. We have had a busy year with many interesting experiences, with much joy in our work, although naturally there are also many disappointments.
We have continued to travel many miles to the various Divisions, and in addition this year, Keith has been going round the Mine Compounds [around Johannesburg] with the Bible Van which has been given to the Army. He has already contacted hundreds of young men, and sold many Bibles. When we are not out on tour he goes in the mornings and stays all day with the Van in the Mine Compound selling Bibles, then holds a meeting at 5 p.m. and over 500 young men have made decisions for Christ. … Keith says one of the most moving sights in the Mine Compound work is to see many young men kneeling on the ground praying aloud in their own language as they seek the Lord. Another picture which will remain in my mind is that of one of our boys, 11 years of age giving a glowing testimony in the Open Air meeting in a township, then see an old ragged drunk man kneeling at the drum. The challenge came to me that we must save our boys from getting like this old fellow. Many of our country Corps are all women, many of the men being in towns working, or else just sitting in the villages drinking. We must get hold of the boys so they do not follow in their fathers’ steps, but become strong Christians and build Christian homes.
… The highlight of this year has been the visit of General and Mrs. Wiseman, and we had wonderful meetings with them.
Allan has had many experiences this year in his missionary travels, and he has just returned from Malawi where he was miraculously healed from a very severe dose of cerebral malaria right out in the Bush, came round from his delirium to find two African Christians in his caravan praying in their own language that God would heal him. Many of you have heard that he did not get married as planned as the girl backed out at the last minute.
Carol and her husband are living in Umtali now near the Mocambique border as Colin has been transferred there by the police, and Carol is expecting her first baby early in December, so we are looking forward to being grandparents. …
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P.O. Box 1018
JOHANNESBURG.
November 1976
Once more it is time to send Christmas greetings… and in spite of the turmoil, unrest and strife in which we are living, we still serve the Prince of Peace, and pray that His Kingdom shall come to put an end to the evil in the world.
We had an enjoyable Overseas Furlough from April to July, and had the wonderful experience of going to Canada for three weeks through the generosity of my brother [Ken Starbuck]. Canada is a beautiful country and it was good for my Mother to be with her family again. My brother took us to Quebec, Montreal and Ottawa as well as to some of the beautiful lakes and mountains. We also saw the Niagara Falls but we still prefer Victoria Falls! We also had two weeks in Devon and were able to see some of the beautiful countryside of Devon and Cornwall which we have never visited before.
You will know that we are now grand-parents and we had the joy of having Carol, Colin and their lovely little daughter, Janine with us at the end of March. Janine is a lovely child and we are so proud of her although we see very little of her as they live in Umtali [Mutare], Rhodesia.
Allan has been very busy again this year with his missionary travels and has recently returned from a month in Malawi where he did a series of seminars for their African pastors. The Lord has wonderfully blessed his ministry. We do not see very much of him but we had the joy of having him and his girl-friend for his 27th birthday.
[1] The Soweto Uprising was in June that year when hundreds of students were killed by police and military.
[1] This word refers to an urban African residential area usually next to a “European” town. Segregated residential areas were kept in colonial Africa.
[2] The General is the head of the entire international Salvation Army, which has a hierarchical structure. Throughout this account he is “The General” rather than “the General”! Before she married, my mother was secretary/PA to the second in charge of the Salvation Army, the Chief of the Staff, Commissioner John J. Allan, an American after whom I was named.
[3] The wife of Sir Robert Tredgold, a Rhodesian judge and grandson of the famous LMS missionary John Moffatt, and was formerly acting Governor General of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
[4] Colonel Tom Starbuck, my maternal grandfather, died in 1950 at the age of 60, months after I was born.
[5] Sunday morning services were always called “Holiness” meetings, whereas the evening service was called the “Salvation” meeting.
[6] Salvation Army officers on “missionary service” were given six months leave to return to their sending country every five years. I was with them for the first one in 1959, when I also attended a primary school in Northolt, London; and their second one at the end of 1964, but when I had to return to my boarding school for my ‘O’ Level year (Form 4) after only a few weeks over Christmas at my Grandma’s house in Northolt.
[7] An Army church building is called a hall.
[8] We had Rusty, a German Shepherd cross, with us for much of our childhood.
[9] Most of the farms in this area were large tobacco farms, requiring many labourers.
[10] To appreciate this incident, it must be remembered that there was strict residential and educational segregation in Rhodesia at this time. My mother was ignoring the “rules”.
[11] Zimbabwe African People’s Union, one of the African political parties in Zimbabwe, founded by Joshua Nkomo, later Vice-President of Zimbabwe, in 1961.
[12] “Comrades” has long been used in the Army for fellow Salvationists.
[13] A custom in African villages is for Salvationists to place a drum in the middle of an outdoor meeting, to which “seekers” are invited to come. It takes the place of the “mercy seat” (penitent form) that is found in Salvation Army halls.
[14] They later became the first African Territorial Commander (national leader) for the Salvation Army in Zimbabwe.
[15] Local Officers, usually referred to as “Locals” in these letters, refers to lay leaders in a local church (Corps).
[16] During this time, negotiations between the Rhodesian Front white government under Ian Smith and the UK Labour government under Harold Wilson broke down, and the Unilateral Declaration of Independence was made in November 1965. This resulted in international sanctions and a guerrilla war leading to the independence of Zimbabwe almost 15 years later.
[17] Unilateral Declaration of Independence.
[18] I would have just turned 17 and Carol almost 14.
[19] This was a common expression to describe the guerrilla activities of the African nationalist movements at the time. The liberation war was still a few years away.
[20] My parents were in their early 50s at this time.
MY FATHER, 100 YEARS SINCE HIS BIRTH:
https://allanheaton.blogspot.com/2017/11/my-dad-keith-anderson.html
TRIBUTE TO MY MOTHER:
https://allanheaton.blogspot.com/2020/03/mothering-sunday-2020.html
CommeNOTES