"Asante's Report for the Third Quarter 1873"

Went to Kibi to help during the time of the Haas' severe illness in mid-'73 - expected the Kibi chief to be unfriendly in view of the 'Begoro affair' but instead found him well-disposed to the mission, and especially friendly to the missionaries. If he acts hostilely to the mission, it is under the influence of his elders. Reports a three-week preaching journey north and north-east of Kukurantumi, which brought him to 13 villages. Mease - a few attentive hearers - he did not stay the night knowing that the rest of the people would not return from their hunting before the next day. Anyinasin - he had a fight with a young fetish priest who ran at him with a sword - before the people separated them he had given him several boxes on the ears and the people were amazed that he could do this unscathed. He explains that both in English and local law he was within his rights since the man had run at him with a drawn sword about priest and fetish - he was a young man newly chosen by the fetish, who had a fallen-down white painted house at the beginning of the village. Asante had already talked to him as he began to be in a state of possession, advising him, in view of the poor state of the fetish shrine to change his masters. Asiakwa - comparatively few listeners on account of the nearby gold-digging. People thee speak openly against the fetishes - this is not yet the case in Kukurantumi. Nsutam - along the worst track he has ever experienced - though there he had a large crowd of exceptionally attentive hearers. Nevertheless he could buy no food there. Saman - he had to call people out of their houses for his preaching, and they were still not at all attentive. Osino - again apathy, and people had gone to the gold-mining when he wanted to preach to them a second time. Abompe - he preached to the people before they went out gold-mining for the day, and made some impact with his account of the fall of Adam. Otsehenease – after his preaching on the bible story, the local chief said to him 'I am too old to begin any new life; if Jesus doesn't take me into his kingdom when I die than he will have to send me back here again'. Asante replied 'Listen, brother, (he explains they called each other 'brother' because they were both king's sons) if the king in Kibi has something against you he doesn’t call you and send you back, he puts you in irons’. Dome - where he just told the people a bible study – there were very few of them and they had never heard any Christian teaching before. Begoro - Finin is destooled and currently in Accra. He had in fact fled to Asante when he left Begoro and Asante advised him to go to the coast, which he did straight away, leaving between 10 and 11 p.m. on the night of 4th July. He is going to try to get legal redress from the British Government. The Begoro people pressed for someone to be stationed there and when he explained that the Basel Mission had little money or people left he was told that surely they would get their cut from the huge sums of money the German king had taken from the French? Asante offers some more information on the Begoro view of Europe - Germany is 'the Land of the Missionaries’ or the 'Land of the Pious’ - he was asked if all Germans were pious, and when he explained that this was not the case, was asked if the rest had their fetishes and fetish priests. Fankyeneko, Osiem and Tafo: No further details.

08.10.1873

08.10.1873

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