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THE KING’S BUSINESS
tives as we get acquainted with them—so many interesting things as there are to tell. We have a little boy now—Githinji (Ge- thin'-gee) is his name—black as a piece of charcoal, about twelve years old. He is a raw native, that is, he has never done work for any white person before, but has lived in the village and herded sheep for his fa ther. He has beep coming fo school, so he can read some, and 'when he is not busy otherwise, he loves to sit and read aloud the parts of the Bible and the song book printed in Kikuyu. He can’t understand any English, so he is a great help in our studying the language. We have two large rooms downstairs in Kiambogo house; each has a fire-place and we have a cozy fire go ing most of the time these cool, rainy days. Githinji sweeps and mops the floors, keeps the fire-places clean, carries in wood and wheels Billy up and down the long veranda and washes his clothes. He is so quick to learn and seems real anxious to learn, so in his spare time I have him go out to the kitchen and watch and help the boys there. So he has learned to wash dishes'and is learning to iron the clothes. I hope by the time things are so we can live by ourselves that he will know the first lessons in cook ing. We had him scrub himself first—and then such clothes as he had on! Later I rigged him out in some old things of Ken’s and now he really is. a cute looking little fellow, we think. A new boy like this works for very little—two rupees a month (that is 66 cents in U. S.). If he does well we will pay him more the next month. REACHING THE NATIVES This is one of the ways they use to reach the boys. Most families here have three or four boys who do nearly all the housework. They get about five or six or seven rupees a month (that is $1.65, $1.98, $2.31, respec tively). They won’t work that cheap for the settlers, but do for the missionaries, which says something in itself for the treat ment they receive from the two classes. You can see how much this helps in the' work. First in reaching the boys, which often results in their becoming teachers and
evangelists, and second in allowing the mis sionaries so much more time for the work they came to do. I hope—no, I am sure, you will pray for Githinji—most of all that we may lead him to Jesus and that he may become a useful servant for Him. Oh, I want to tell you about Togi and Mulungit,; Cege, Nyakeru, Ngorogi, Ndar- ongu and; Wamunu and Ndebi and many others that we already know. Oh, they are so interesting and funny and I long to sit and talk to you by the hour about them. Wamunu and Ndebi are Ken’s medical boys. Wamunu has learned how to clean and dress ulcers and Ndebi knows how to rub the, rheumatics and treat sore eyes. They and Ken meet in the dispensary at 10 o’clock every morning, except Sunday; the sick na tives know the hour and are gathered about outside waiting. The three kneel down, Ken prays in English and the two boys in Kikuyu and then they begin work. Many of the natives who come are pure heathen. Sometimes one of the Christians who can read will read something from God’s Word to them while they wait. “DOING” THE EARS One of the Kikuyu tribal marks is the ear decoration. Early in life a Kikuyu child’s ears are pierced in four or five places and a small ornament of some kind is put in the hole. Gradually the hole is stretched and stretched until the holes in the lobes are very often large enough to hold a teacup. When they become Christians one of the first things they do is to remove all the hor rible ornaments they wear and put on clothes of some kind. Now many of them learn to hate the old marks of sin and they come to have their ears sewed back as near as possible into normal shape. I suppose Ken has done at least twenty-five or thirty pairs since he has been here. They sit on a box and quietly endure the pain as the long strips are cut off and fitted and sewed to gether. The other day Ken had forty-five patients in the dispensary—did three pairs of ears and then made five or six calls on different natives in the village who were too sick to walk, and in the evening tended to
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