®tjr iHisBionary itficlhs of Hirst Africa IDedicated to the Cause of West (African SMissions and the Women's Efforts in all of their Societies to Redeem cAfrica. Sy Italtnp W. % l|rari> Dlluatratrd m 1 ^ . ■L"1 ~ I <2\/A , <& IV. rvum^ 75, i >. (L /v * \ /A /K rf\ /] (L^W^^V t . w, !^6LR *vL $-*^1 vtc.^^^r 1 Aft" & • V AT' 1 1 1 h frj^'P ( ± ■{ A 0;V'i;>H> .vA/iA' & Aajl. , J RT. REV. WM. H. HEARD, D. D. Presiding Bishop of the 13th Episcopal District (West Africa) (Tljr iHisauutarg ifficliis of West Africa Jlluatratrii Hy Uiaboy IB. ii. lirarb " JJlftlaiirlptjia j(A. M. 5E. IBnok •l Jlrintera B31 Jlitte £l. View of Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa ©nr Missionary Work The Missionary Work of the A. M. E. Church is oper¬ ated by the Parent Home and Foreign Missionary Depart¬ ment, 61 Bible House, New York, Rt. Rev. C. T. Shaffer, President; Rev. W. W. Beckett, Secretary and Treasurer; assisted by the Women's Mite Missionary Society, Mrs. M. F. Handy, President; Mrs. Mary Chase Beckett, Sec¬ retary; Mrs. B. T. Tanner, Treasurer; and the Woman's Home and Foreign Missionary Society, Mrs. Laura P. Tur¬ ner, President, and Mrs. James A. Hadley, Secretary. View of the City of Monrovia, Liberia ®t|? missionary Jfudiia of Wrst Afrira The Missionary Fields of West Africa now compose the Sierra Leone, Liberian and Gold Coast Conferences. In 1886 Bishop John M. Brown ordained Rev. J. R. Fred- ■erick at Providence, R. I., and sent him out as the first mis¬ sionary to operate in this Conference. The Trustees of the Lady Huntington Missionary Society deeded to the Mis¬ sionary Board of the A. M. E. Church the church known as Old Zion, built one hundred and ten years ago, but after ten years successful work the Rev. Frederick withdrew from the A. M. E. Church and carried the property and people, except twenty-seven who remained loyal, and under the leadership of Rev. H. M. Steady they purchased ground and built what is known as New Zion, a most beautiful and substantial church, situated in the heart of Freetown on Perdemba Road (Street). Dr. H. M. Steady is now the Presiding Elder of the Sierra Leone Conference. Sierra Leone Annual Conference, West Africa j^irrra IGrrntr (Emtfrmtrr This Conference is situated in the colony of Sierra Leone, eleven degrees north of the equator and six thou¬ sand one hundred and fifty miles from Philadelphia. It takes about thirty days to make the trip, and costs for second class fare two hundred (200) dollars; for first class,, three hundred and fifty (350) dollars and upward. The Conference is composed of twelve ministers and teachers* and the Mite Society furnishes two thousand dollars a year for them, while the Missionary Department gives four hun¬ dred more, making twenty-four hundred dollars for this Conference. At three hundred dollars per man it would require thirty-six hundred dollars for the Conference, but we have but twenty-four hundred, twelve hundred short of the lowest appropriation that should be made to a mis¬ sionary, with no appropriations for buildings. But no one is to be blamed for this, for we are economically using all the money at the command of our Missionary Department, and Dr. Steady, the Presiding Elder, is a wise and safe leader, and as loyal as a man can be. When promotions are in order he should be among the first to be considered. THE CHARGES The first and important charge of this Conference is New Zion, pastored by Rev. E. T. Martin, with one hun¬ dred and sixty members and two hundred and forty proba¬ tioners. Rev. J. A. John is in charge of the day school and Liberia Annual Conference The Sierra Leone Conference assistant pastor. He has over a hundred pupils. The charge is, perhaps, the best in West Africa. Our second charge is Emanuel, situated in the south¬ ern part of Freetown, with a membership of forty-two and one hundred and thirteen probationers. Rev. J. H. W. Gooding is pastor and in charge of the day school, with seventy-five pupils, assisted by his wife. Licentiate J. A. Martyn is the assistant pastor; he is also a tutor in the A. M. E. Seminary. Campbell Chapel, which has just been completed and dedicated, is situated in the northern part of Freetown, known as Clinetown. Rev. J. F. Gerber is in charge of this new mission, with a membership of thirty-three, with about forty probationers. The people are poor in Freetown and poorly paid—twenty-four and thirty-six cents for a day's labor is the price paid a man. We leave Freetown and go up the Scarcies River sixty- five miles, and we come to Bethel Mission, under the charge of Rev. J. O. A. T. Decker. This mission has about sixty members and as many probationers, also a good day school taught by Brother Decker. This is what is known as the Hinder Lands, and is in the midst of Mohammedans and heathen. Going across the country thirty miles we come to Mag- belly and the Sara Gorham Mission House, built by the Ladies' Mite Society years ago, but it has decayed and we are thankful that the ladies are arranging to rebuild this landmark. Rev. William Jones is in charge of this mission, assisted by his wife. The only Christian chief in Sierra- A^I^E^Seniinary^-Freetown, Sierra Leone, Africa The Sierra Leone Conference Heone resides here and is a member of the A. M. E. church. His name is Chief Smart. He loves his church. Going" twenty miles further northeast, we come to the Florida Grant Mission, under the charge of Rev. J. H. Parks, who is gifted in the Timinee language and is very success¬ ful among the natives. We have no building at this place and use a native mud hut as a place of worship and no day school, but Bishop Grant has promised us a donation, and it could be no better applied than to perpetuate the name of Mrs. Florida Grant in West Africa. About ten miles further, we find ourselves at the head of the Port Lokkah River, sixty-five or seventy miles from Freetown, and here is one of the largest native towns- in Sierra Leone. On one side of the river, it is known as Port Lokkoh, on the other side, as Senduga. Our church is sit¬ uated in the latter, a most beautiful little chapel in memory of the late Bishop M. W. Moore. We have a fine day school taught by a teacher, selected by the Pastor, who is giving good service and the school is increasing daily, so that the church does not hold the people; they have to use the yard and the parsonage to accommodate these seventy-five na¬ tive heathen. Thus, we have minutely described the charges in the Sierra Leone conference, that is, the stations. There are many sub-stations not mentioned. Last, but not least, we must mention the A. M. E. Seminary, under Rev. J. P. Rich¬ ards, who graduated from Wilberforce University and was sent out by the board to do this work. The Seminary is a school of high grade and in a most flourishing condition. It is situated at 36 Wellington Street, Freetown, Sierra iLeone. Missionary Society, Sierra Leone Annual Conference ®f}£ Utbrrut (Emtfrmtrr The Liberian Conference is divided into three presiding Elder districts, Monrovia, the Capital, is six thousand, four hundred and forty miles from Philadelphia; second class fare is two hundred and fifty dollars, first class, four hun¬ dred and upward. The Monrovia District is presided over by Rev. A. L. Brisbane who lives at Brewerville, Liberia. He has the fol¬ lowing charges: Eliza Turner, Monrovia, Liberia. Rev. T. G. Clarke is pastor. This Chapel is dilapidated and no long¬ er habitable, but we are now arranging, through the Mis¬ sionary Board and efforts of Bishop Heard, to put up a chapel with a school in the basement that will be an honor to the church. For this reason, he paid our way to Ameri¬ ca, and is now traveling day and night, preaching and lec¬ turing to raise one thousand dollars of the funds to do this work. He would not be in America, if he was not here in the interests of the church, and working for the church. When this church is completed African Methodism will have-the name in Liberia that will live with time, and a place of worship that will represent what the church is. The next charge is Arthington. Here we have one hun¬ dred and ten members and forty probationers. Rev. H. G. Knight, formerly of the Philadelphia Conference, is in charge of the church and the Shaffer High School, which is situated at this point. This School has seventy scholars and one hundred acres of land, and we make it an indus- Missionary Society of Liberia Annual Conference The Liberia Conference trial school. We have six acres of coffee already bearing".. Arthington is the best settlement in Liberia. Brewerville, under the charge of Rev. A. P. Wright, is. about ten miles up the St. Paul river from Monrovia. Here we have a good church and a day school, but the people are very poor and not able to do much. Johnsonville, twenty-five miles up the Messerado River, is- under the charge of Rev. C. F. Caesar, who emigrated front the United States to Liberia but a few years ago. Coffee farm is a small, native mission in charge of Rev. J- G. Wilson, and on Stockton Creek, about eight miles front Monrovia. The people here are all natives, and the work grows slowly, but they are true and loyal. Our next charge is Robertsville, Rev. William Brunt is the Pastor. This is a small mission with a thatch building as a church. The membership is about eleven. It is about twenty-two miles from Monrovia. Virginia, at the head of Stockton Creek, is a mission ihf charge of Rev. A. H. Watson, one of the old veterans of the Conference. He is not making much progress, but is in the midst of the Golah Tribe, a very progressive people. At Cape Mount, fifty miles from Monrovia, we have a beautiful little church, but we find it hard to get a pastor to go there and remain, as we have not sufficient funds to support one so far away from Monrovia, and without the ne¬ cessities of life. Schefflin is named for Mr. Schefflin of New York, the Philanthropist who has done much for Liberia. We have a mission here, presided over by Rev. W. H. Wright. We Day School at Senduga, Sierra Leone The Liberia Conference "will not mention the other missions as we have no pastors in •charge of them. We indeed need men and money. Rev. S. A. Bailey is in charge of the missionary districe at Careysburg, twenty miles interiorward from Monrovia. He is an old Charlestonian; went to Liberia on the Azof in 1867, The Bassa District is presided over by Rev. C. J. Bynum; he is a man of energy, thrift, and fairly intelligent, and is •doing a good work for African Methodism. He lives at Fort- ville, Grand Bassa County, Liberia, West x\frica. The -charges are first, Lower Buchanan, Rev. T. E. Ward, B.D., a graduate of Wilberforce University is in charge of this ■station. He has a first-class day school of nearly a hundred scholars and is giving general satisfaction. The Church made no mistake in educating him. He is a first class man. We have about fifty members here and some of them fairly well to do. Our next charge is Cape Palmas. Rev. Al. M. Delima has the oversight of this mission. He has done and is doing •a most successful work here. He and his wife recently went •out from America, and his day school, as well as the church, show what they are. They are now worshipping in a hall, -as we have no church here. Rev. Allen Yancy, who was stationed here, began the building of a church and died be- -fore its completion. Airs. Bishop Turner and the Woman s Home and Foreign Missionary Society has promised to take up this work and complete this church. It will be a most strategic point, and if these ladies did nothing else their name will ever live in Africa. This is one of the best towns Day School, Brewerville, Liberia The Liberia Conference in the Republic, and we ought to have a first-class church and a first-class pastor at this point. Fortville is under charge of the Presiding Elder and he is having great success at this point. Hollandville: here Rev. S. W. Overton is pastoring, but he is not making much headway as this settlement is thinly settled and ten miles from the waterside. Only natives are here in abundance, and they do not readily take to Chris¬ tianity. At Rivercess, we have Rev. Gabidon as pastor. He is a native Sierra; Leonian. Little Bassa. This mission is under the charge of Rev. C. H. Johnson. The war with the natives has nearly deple¬ ted all missionary operations and destroyed the property in this part of the Republic. Johnsonville is twenty-five miles from Lower Buchanan and is in charge of Rev. J. J. Johnson, who, besides being a minister, is a large farmer and is having much success, both as farmer and minister. Rev. A. P. Holt is our conference missionary, and for his age, is doing well. The appropriation for the Liberian Conference, from the Missionary board is sixteen hundred dollars a year, and with that amount, we are doing a marvelous work. We could use much more in our school work, for our school at Monrovia in charge of Rev. T. G. Clark and Mrs. King has over a hundred and thirty pupils, and yet no appropriation dor paying these teachers. Mrs. Emily C. Kinch begun this ■school and gave us a foundation that will last if nourished and cared for. Thus ends the Liberian Conference. Day School in Monrovia, Liberia ©olA ©nasi ©mtfrnntrr The Gold Coast Conference is the youngest on the west coast. Rev. Alfred M. Delima is the Presiding Elder. He is a native of Aquittah, West Coast Africa, therefore makes a very acceptable presiding elder of this work. The missions are Cape Coast Castle, Lagos, Aquittah, Grand Lahou and Tabou. These five mission stations have for their pastors and teachers, A. E. Thompson, A. C. Acquah, Emil M. De¬ lima. H. C. Solomon and C. H. Collins. The only organ¬ ized church we have and building is at Grand Lahou. French Ivory Coast. Air. S. C. AlcCauley built this church with ten other young men and turned it over to the A. AI. E. Church. The Thirteenth Episcopal District is wholly in the Torrid Zone, with about one hundred thousand civilized Africans, and twenty million heathen, with fifty thousand Alohammedans. But the hope of the Christian Church is in the children, as grown up people rarely accept Christianity, but heathen and Alohammedan alike will give you their chil¬ dren, so that the future generation may be educated, civil¬ ized and Christianized, if the Christian Church does its full duty. Anyone desiring to educate a boy or girl, through the African Alethodist Episcopal Church, can send me twenty- five dollars for a, boy or fifty dollars for a girl. That wil^ pay their tuition, board, clothing and home fee for one year. We are trying to make some of our shcools self-supporting. At the Shaffer High School we are growing coffee, ginger, «casava, edowes, potatoes, plantains, bananas, oranges, Clioir Nezv Zion A, M. E. Church, Freetown, Africa The Gold Coast Conference pineapples, corn, cabbage and such like. We have one hun¬ dred acres of land attached to this school. This bird's eye view of the West African Mission Field is given to enlighten the church and the people as to what we are doing and what we can do. It is different from South Africa, in that it is the most sickly, least civilized and deadly climate in the world. I may be reached in Africa at 36 Wel¬ lington Street, Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Coast Africa, or Bishop \\r. H. Heard, D.D. 1426 Reckland Street, Philadelphia, Pa.