small amount for it each Friday. Classes begin again at 1 p.m. con tinuing until 2:30, when the boys get their machetes (long bread knife used for cutting weeds) and work on the plantations until 5 o’clock, at which time they return, wash and eat supper. Evening is always the time for play. It is cool then, and all the boys gather for games on the wide lawn which extends on four sides of the Mission Home. One has only to listen to their yells and shrieks of laughter to know that they are happy children. Boys from the various sections of the jungle know that they are welcome in our school. At present there are Indian boys from different tribes living here. Their fathers are enemies and have no friendly dealings with each other, but their boys play and study to gether. In this way, we are trusting God to break down these feuds which have existed for generations in these jungles. A few of our boys seem to be really born again, and they read the Word of God for themselves. Lately one boy bought a hymnal, saying that he wished to know better the words of the hymns and choruses which we sing in school, so he could sing them in his own home. God has promised to bless His Word; we trust that you will pray with us that it may be blessed here to the saving' of many of the Jivaros. Our Sunday morning and evening services continue to be well at tended. Good interest is expressed on the part of all who come. Mr. Moffatt talks to the men and boys in one room, while I give a flannel- graph lesson to the women and girls in another. At present, in my group, we are studying the Gospel of Luke. How we pray that these women may come to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved! Their minds are so dull and dark that it is very hard for them to take in very much at a time. We must be very, very simple, giving them just one Bible truth at a time, so that they will not become confused. Women who have been reared in Christian lands should never cease to thank God for their blessings. When one sees the condition of the poor jungle women, for whom no such thing as respect is ever exhibited, it is then that we know that our freedom is really a product of the gospel of Christ. The head-hunters do not believe that women have souls. But we know that they are among those whom “God so loved . . . that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Please put the Jivaro head-hunters, the men and women, and especially the boys and girls, on your prayer lists. T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
ChildEvangelismandEducation AmongtheflivaroHead-Hunters
By Mrs. George Moffatt
M issionary work was first started at our'station in the southern jungles of Ecua felled and the land cleared prior to building the p r e s e n t Mission Home. Plantations were established where the foodstuffs native to these parts were grown; other food sup plies and mail are, to the present day, brought in by mules from Cuenca, the nearest mission station, five days away by muleback. When we are fortunate, we receive our mail twice a month, but otherwise just once a month. Five years ago, our Mission began a Primary school in this jungle. Our first enrollment was eleven boys. This does not mean that all eleven remained to the end of the school year—not by any means. Often we would retire, after seeing the boys safely inside and asleep, only to find, upon arising in the morning, that two or three had run off during the night. School life was not to their liking. The idea of sitting quietly in a classroom for even a half hour at a time was quite foreign to them. The best way to describe them is to say that they were like little wild animals in captivity for the first time. Never had they done anything in their whole lives but roam the woods, hunting and fishing. Our first task was to introduce our pupils to soap and water. Each lad was given a new piece of cloth and then escorted to the river and ini tiated into the delights of bathing, while each one washed his old loin cloth. At first they thought it was a kind of game, but they soon fell into the routine. Their capacity to forget as quickly as they learned was beyond all comprehension and was most taxing on one’s patience. They were much more interested in what was going on outside than in their lessons. Whenever a bird was spotted through the window, the class was instantly disrupted by their jumping up to see what kind Page Eight
of bird it was, and whether or not it was edible. Now, after five years, we have six te n boys and one girl enrolled. The girl is the daughter of our Indian cook. She is a widow who has no family ties and can therefore live here on the mission compound. She is very satisfactory, and very happy with us. At first it seemed impos sible to impress her daughter with the idea of entering the school. Every time it was mentioned, she firmly declared herself against it. So we said nothing for a few days while she became accustomed to the com pound. Then one morning she was told that she was to go into the class with the boys, and she has been there ever since. The conception of a girl’s being able to learn anything is entirely foreign to the Jivaros, so she is giving some of the boys quite a shock as she learns little by little to read, to spell and to figure. The school opens at 7:45 a.m. each day with the singing of gospel choruses and a short Bible story, and classes begin at 8 o’clock. The chil dren are taught arithmetic, spelling, reading, writing, geography, gram mar, catechism, hygiene and singing. Now they are quite used to sitting still in class for three-quarters of an hour. At 9:30, they are given a half-hour recess. Classes then con tinue on until 11:45, when they are free for the dinner hour. Often many of the boys take their cakes of soap, which we supply, and go down to the river for a bath before dinner. Our Indian cook prepares the noon meal, consisting of yucca, plantains with pelma soup, or a pot of beans or lentils. There also is one native vegetable, and with a large serving of this the Indian is satisfied. Night and morning the boys prepare their own breakfast and supper which con sist of a hot drink and some plan tains (vegetable banana) to go with the drink. Two boys are chosen each week for this task and are paid a
dor in 1929, when the trees were
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