"Ramseyer to Basel - Summary Report in the Visit to Kumasi"

They arrived in Kumasi on September 5th, and were able to meet the Asantehene on the 9th (the delay caused by obsequy customs). Before the Asantehene 'and his chiefs' they tried to make it quite clear what their objective was. They said they had absolutely nothing to do with politics - their purpose was simply to preach the Word of God - they dwelt a lot on John 3.16. They explained that they had heard that the Asantehene had asked for missionaries to be sent, and so came to see if he would accept the Basel Mission, offering a very positive forecast of the reactions of the B.M. to an invitation to set up a mission settlement in Kumasi. The reply they received was that the Asantehene was overjoyed to see Ramseyer in Kumasi again, moreover their Word was a good word; but they could give no certain answer until the return of the Boakye Tengteng Mission to the Governor (Ramseyer obviously understood this to meet that the Asantehene could not run the risk of misunderstanding if he made arrangements about the reception of a mission on his own without having received the advice from the Governor for which he had asked). On their return they were able to explore the whole of Asante-Akim, from which now two deputations have come asking for a teacher. The previous population of Amantra have settled themselves in about a dozen places around Bompata. They plan to visit the area frequently in future

05.10.1881

05.10.1881

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