"Annual Report on the Station Abetifi for 1884"

Written by Dilger. Personnel on the station: Dilger and his wife Johannes Tschopp Catechist S. Boateng Catechist W. Mensa Evangelist P. Tiko Mpraseo: Catechist Kwabi Bepong: Catechist N. Afwireng On Good Friday of 1884 Dilger and his wife believed their child had died - but it recovered again on the Saturday. He writes that the sympathy shown for him in this situation by the community increased his love for the people. One Samuel Drekunu, a member of the community, died during the year. He had been in the school - after he left the school Dilger took him on as a house-servant, though he had known him to tell lies in the school. It turned out he also stole, and when Dilger proposed to punish him for this he left his service and went to live in the town. When he fell ill he was brought back on the station. Dilger seems to have treated this as mainly a case of mental illness in which the key thing was to get him to confess his crimes. There have been two exclusions due to adultery in the year - one of the people involved had to be banned from coming onto the station. But Dilger feels that the real root of all the problems is pride - some treat the missionary like a ball to play with. There is also a lack of hunger for the word - evidenced by the poor attendance of morning and evening prayers. There is superficiality, apathy, grossness. There is a slowness to move onto the station also. He returns to the work theme - one reason for the small attendance at Sunday services is the proportion of adult Christians who are away from the station on journeys lasting several months. To earn money people are going to Akwapim to carry palm oil, or to Salaga to carry on trade. Nevertheless Dilger calculates that there are 45 adults on the station. In the course of the year 3 have completed houses on the station, and 10 more are involved in building their houses. And approximately 100 Marks have been paid in freewill offerings, besides 70 Marks which have been paid as church tax. There were ten baptisms in the course of the year. Several of these people give him great joy by theor quiet modest bearing. Outstations - Mpraeso: the five newly baptised include a girl of about 18 years. Obo: an attempt to settle Catechist Afwireng there was frustrated by his illness, apparently because of an attempt to poison him. Preaching journeys are bearing fruit - not only were 5 baptised in Bepong, there are 6 catechumens in Nkwatia, one of whom suffered the death of a child and resisted the imputations of his heathen townsmen by pointing out that a fetish priest had lost a child not long before. (A subscript from Ramseyer doubts the idea that Afwireng was poisoned - there are so many rumours, and in any case 'poisoning' in many peoples' minds is a result of amulets, etc. Afwireng was unhappy about the high cost of food and firewood before he fell ill, and was never happy there, but he is not enough of a man to return, and has been allowed to settle in the little village of Bepong only an hour from Mpraeso).

04.03.1885

04.03.1885

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