In the Light of
His Word
Volume 1
1958 - 1963
A Memoir of the Buddy
and Jean Albright Family
Written by Ray Albright
IN THE LIGHT OF HIS WORD:
VOLUME 1 1958-1963
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Written by: Ray Albright, Ph.D.
August, 2006
Revised Edition: October, 2008
Subject: An account of the Buddy and Jean Albright family in Africa and years of service as Southern
Baptist missionaries. This is the first volume of these memoirs, covering 1958 to 1963.
Document Properties
Application: Microsoft Office Word
Date Created: May 18, 2004
Date Publicly Released: November 28, 2006
Last Save Date: November 14, 2008
Last Print Date: November 14, 2008
Number of Pages: 225
Number of Lines: 7328
Number of Words: 90242
Cover Image: 1958. Left to Right: Rodney, Jean, Ray, Buddy, Max Albright
Copyright © 2006. This book reserves all rights. It cannot be wholly or partially reproduced by any form
or means without the expressed permission from Buddy, Jean, Max, Rod or Ray Albright.
Direct all inquiries to Ray Albright, [email protected]
The Albright Story website is http://www.freewebs.com/albrightstory
In the Light of His Word Volume 1 1958 – 1963
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Number of Pages
Prelude
Section 1: At the Ship’s Rail
1-10
Section 2: Settling In
11-27
Section 3: Dual Society
28-35
Section 4: Trouble and Trials Set In
36-49
Section 5: The Pioneers
50-64
Section 6: Big Water Land
65-81
Section 7: In Limbo in Limbe
82-103
Section 8: Move to Lilongwe
104-128
Section 9: Foundations To Build On
129-153
Section 10: A Clear Vision
154-178
Section11: First Furlough
179-206
Index
208-215
In the Light of His Word Volume 1 1958 – 1963
LIST OF MAPS
Page
7
Map No.
Map 1-1
Map Title
Route of SS African Enterprise from Brooklyn Beira. 1958
11
Map 2-1
Southern Africa with Federation in Red. 1958
19
Map 2-2
53
Map 5-1
Locations of Southern Baptist mission stations in Southern Rhodesia.
1958
Route from Salisbury, Rhodesia to Blantyre – Limbe, Nyasaland. 1959.
66
Map 6-1
Nyasaland base map with major towns.
67
Map 6-2
General elevation of Malawi (and old Nyasaland). 1979.
88
Map 7-1
104
Map 8-1
Senga Bay at Lake Nyasa showing locations of key areas mentioned in
Volume One.
European colonization of Africa by 1939.
110
Map 8-2
Road map of southern and central Nyasaland. Early 1960s.
133
Map 9-1
Street map of Lilongwe, Malawi in early 1960s.
199
Map 11-1
Route from Phoenix to Lilongwe. 1963.
Volume 1 – Section 1
Prelude
Family memoirs rarely make the national best sellers’ list. And why is that? It is simply
because a memoir is a history book. A history book of a family. Oh yes, it can be a book of
intense drama, stirring emotion, and astute philosophy, but it is mostly of events, places, people,
and time. And, such is this book. This is the history of the Buddy and Jean Albright family from
the late 1950s to the late 1970s, a Southern Baptist missionary family in south central Africa.
The memoirs are divided into a series of four volumes. Each term of service in Africa is set
into its own volume. This is the first volume of the series covering the years of 1958 to 1963.
Before the reader becomes acquainted with the Albright family, these points must be said:
• This book is not about Africa, although it is about some Africans, their African culture
and African landmarks;
• This book is not about Christianity, although it is about some Christians, about Christian
practices and Christian beliefs; and
• This book is not about Southern Baptist missions, although it is about some Southern
Baptist missionary families, Southern Baptist programs and Southern Baptist mission
work.
• This book is about a real family and the triumphs, the trials and the travels that this
family experienced.
For more complete depictions of Africa, Christianity, and Southern Baptist missions, the
reader is asked to refer to other more definitive works than can be expressed through this book.
This book represents a narrow slice of time. A few snapshots of the past. A small corner of
the world. The personal memories of a part of Africa, now very different yet never really
changed.
These are my memories mostly; the memories of the youngest child of the family, the
memories of my first eighteen years of life. There are also the memories shared by my parents
and two brothers. Their accounts and stories are told here as well. But, it is my memories that
fill the gaps.
The strength in this book is based on more than just family memories. It is based on
hundreds of family letters written during this 20 year period. It is also based on many hours of
tape recordings made in the early 1960s. It was these three sources are what drove me to write
Page iii
this book. I had to bring the letters, the tapes, and my family’s memories together into a book
before the opportunity passed by.
I wrote this book for my descendants, for their enjoyment and edification.
I wrote this book for my wife and sons, to share the story of my early life.
I wrote this book for my parents and brothers, to show honor and appreciation.
Volume One begins in late October, 1958 as the Albright family arrives on the coast of
Africa. The volume ends on the same coast about five years later, as the Albright’s return from
their first furlough. This volume paints a picture of a young American family that strives to
adapt to Africa, mission rules, language school, illnesses and political conflicts. Frustration and
discontent almost ends the fledgling mission career, but an eleventh hour event sets a new light
and new vision. For this volume, 226 letters were read, fourteen tapes were annotated, and 28
other references were used to build the content.
This volume of memoirs can also be found at: http://www.freewebs.com/albrightstory
A table of latitude and longitude coordinates for key features in Volume Two is provided for
the reader’s reference (Table A). The coordinates can be inserted as a location into a mapping
application with global positioning capabilities (i.e. Google Earth). I greatly appreciate Aunt
Eunice Harvey’s help in finding the coordinates for the mission houses in ‘Salisbury’.
Now, let’s step back in time to a world of colonial empires, propeller driven airplanes, black
and white TV, typewriters, Cold War tensions, hula hoops, three billion people, and Eisenhower
as US President. Let’s step back to 1958.
Ray Albright
The Goat Keeper
When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word, what a glory He sheds on our way! While
we do His good will He abides with us still, and with all who will trust and obey.
Hymn of Trust and Obey. Words by John H. Sammis. Music by Daniel B. Towner
Page iv
Table A. Latitude and Longitude Coordinates (Decimal Degree) for Key
Locations in Volume One.
Location
Latitude (DD) Longitude (DD)
SOUTHERN RHODESIA
Salisbury ( center)
-17.829502
31.052121
Waterfalls Rental House
Mission Houses (4th Avenue)
-17.896006
31.025917
Flemming Ward, General Hospital
-17.815172
31.043815
Quarry compound
-17.820463
30.980537
Lochinvar compound
-17.870394
30.988019
Lake McIlwain Camp
-17.912449
30.789981
NYASALAND
Limbe
-15.806274
35.057330
Limbe Flat
-15.804763
35.047210
Blantyre
-15.795896
35.017600
Chileka Airport
-15.678861
34.972509
Zomba
-15.402435
35.324939
Chiradzulu (main PIM church)
-15.700089
35.143696
Dedza
-14.385756
34.333757
Ncheu
-14.815188
34.633284
Salima
-13.779953
34.454248
Grand Beach Hotel
-13.720242
34.626856
Assembly of God Cabin
Lilongwe (center)
-13.987229
33.768323
First Rental House
-14.001768
33.760817
Second Rental House
-13.997350
33.761453
Third Rental House
-13.995194
33.762096
Fourth Rental House
-13.996365
33.759711
Laws Avenue Mission House
-13.985975
33.761675
Office (original site)
-14.001348
33.782266
Bishop MacKenzie School
-14.003493
33.761311
European Hospital
-13.993652
33.757537
Theater / Movie House
-13.989403
33.770665
Open Air Market
-13.993035
33.777762
Airport
-13.964343
33.697930
NORTHERN RHODESIA
Nyimba
-14.559066
30.820419
Kachalola
-14.761632
30.596514
Lusaka
-15.416288
28.281501
South Luangwa Game Reserve
-13.006
31.567
Big Lagoon
-12.830216
31.994993
Nsefu Camp
-12.933989
31.912247
Kariba Dam
-16.522162
28.761575
Tete, Mozambique
-16.160668
34.298984
Page v
In the Light of His Word Volume 1
Section 1
At the Ship’s Rail
“After all, we did live on this ship for a month and it was an experience…”
Jean Albright, Dec 4, 1959 Recorded Tape
It was not a particularly large lion, but large enough to kill a man, or a woman. He had
silently ambled out of the night’s darkness and now stood in the doorway, not fifteen feet from
the four missionaries. The light from the kerosene lamp illuminated his tawny coat and short
mane. His mouth was slightly agape, showing white, pointed teeth. He was a young cat. But
was he hungry?
Jean Albright sat up stiffly in her seat and gripped her husband’s forearm. Buddy lifted his
gaze as he heard her hiss, “Buddy…lion!” She was looking towards the doorway of the dining
shelter. As Buddy turned in his chair, he caught sight of the alarm in the faces of Marvin and
Gwen Cooper, who were sitting nearby. Buddy saw that the lion could be at the throat any one
of them with an easy bound. It did not take almost two decades in Africa to know that all four of
them were in danger, very serious danger. The evening conversation was suddenly over. An
unwanted and unannounced guest had arrived.
Buddy glanced at his wife and their eyes met. Time slowed in those few motions. He saw
Jean was scared, but he also saw courage and calculation in her face. He saw in her the Jean that
had attracted him so many years ago. This was the Jean that he loved. He could not envision
being in Africa without her. His hand covered hers, which was still clasping his forearm. There
had been another time they had folded their hands together like this. It had been at the rail of a
ship at the far edge of Africa, many, many years ago.
That day it had been very sunny and hot. It was a day in late October of 1958.
At the Ship’s Rail
Page 2
The Albrights stood together at the deck railing of the ship, watching the African workers
scurry around on the dock below them. The small passenger ship S.S. African Enterprise had
taken almost a month to carry them from New York city to this remote port on the eastern edge
of the African continent, the port of Beira (bye-rah), Mozambique. Now, standing at the ship’s
rail, the Albrights could see and hear and smell the land to which they felt called.
Who are the Albrights? Who is this family that these memoirs are about? Why did they go
to an unusual place such as Africa? What happened to this ordinary family who lived in such an
extraordinary setting?
Buddy Albright is the father of the family, born in the
hills of eastern Kentucky (Bell County) on December 3,
1927. He was not named Buddy at birth. He was named
LeRoy, Jr. That was all. No middle name. His father was
also named LeRoy, but everyone called him Buddy. LeRoy
Sr.’s new son became known as Little Buddy or Bud. Little
Buddy’s mother was called Jasmine and he was their second
child, their first son. Growing up in Pineville, Kentucky,
young Buddy typified a mountain boy: slender, independent,
sharp tongued, sharp witted and apprehensive of strangers.
He had four sisters, Boots, Bonnie, Doris, and Pat and a
brother, Dickie. Young Buddy barely weighed enough to
make the high school football team. But he did make it1.
When the family of eight moved out of the hills to
Figure1-1. Buddy Albright. 1950s
Georgetown, in the bluegrass area of Kentucky, Buddy was
about fourteen years of age and had to wear glasses to see. Time passed and Buddy had finished
a tour of service with the US Navy and was into his second year of college when tragedy struck.
On December 21, 1948, LeRoy Sr. drowned. Hard rains had drenched the countryside and it
was still raining heavy that evening when they found LeRoy’s Bell Telephone service truck
parked near Elkhorn Creek, just outside of Georgetown. LeRoy had worked for Bell for decades,
starting as a construction worker then becoming a linesman. He was actually a jack of all trades
being able to be a mechanic, carpenter, plumber, and electrician2. For the last several years,
LeRoy had been an installer and repairman for Bell Telephone. The service truck was parked off
the side of the main road when they found it, the driver’s door ajar, the tool compartment in the
back flung open. LeRoy’s footprints led them over a fence and through a muddy field to the
edge of the Elkhorn Creek. No one knows for sure what Buddy saw in the creek to make him
1
2
Someone placed a shot put in his hand as he weighed in to help tip the scales.
Buddy learned how to be a jack of all trades from his father, a training that served him well in Africa.
Volume 1 – Section 1
At the Ship’s Rail
Page 3
stop the truck, climb the fence and run across the field in the heavy rain. Maybe he thought he
saw someone trapped in the flood waters3. No one knows what caused him to start down the
muddy bank, leaving a slick mark where he slid in, his hat and a rope fallen aside. But they all
knew that he could not swim very well, certainly not in churning, cold, muddy flood waters.
Buddy buried his father in Georgetown. He bought six plots to claim a family area in the
Georgetown Cemetery and paid the undertaker from what scant savings he had. At the age of 21
he had sorrowfully lost the need for “Little” in front of his name. He was now the oldest male in
the Albright family. His mountain culture forbade him from talking very much about the death
of his father, about how that changed him or how life became real rough for the family. It was
something he did not want to talk much about.
The Holy Spirit began calling Buddy to be a missionary when the boy was less than five
years old. He felt the tug for the first time during the children’s missionary group at his church.
The children of the Albright family had been attending the First Baptist Church in Pineville4. It
was there that Buddy came under the spiritual shepherding of Reverend Lloyd Caswell Kelly, the
pastor of First Baptist Church. The countenance, vision, and teachings of Rev. Kelly inspired
Buddy. When he was nine years old, Buddy surrendered his life to God’s calling, accepted Jesus
Christ as his Lord and Savior. The calling weighed heavy on his young mind. He was just
another mountain boy in a small, inconsequential Eastern Kentucky town. But he knew without
a doubt what God wanted him to do with his life. The words from Reverend Kelly were building
in him a foundation for mission work. At eleven years of age, at the very doorstep of adulthood,
Buddy made a very important public decision at a Royal
He announced that
Ambassador camp held at Clear Creek Spring outside Pineville. He
he was called to be
announced that he was called to be a missionary. A missionary to
a missionary…to
Africa no less, after the style of David Livingstone. Everything he
Africa no less,
did and studied from that point on in his life was directed towards
after the style of
that goal. Reverend Kelly of the First Baptist Church counseled with
David Livingstone.
Buddy, and then talked seriously with LeRoy Sr. He told LeRoy Sr.
that he needed to put in for a transfer to a college town because Buddy had to get a college
education in order to be a missionary to Africa. Three years later the Albright family left the
mountains of eastern Kentucky and moved to Georgetown where there was a Baptist college.
3
Buddy stands by this claim, testifying that he too saw what looked like a trapped person in the swollen creek the
next day after the sad incident.
4
The church was about two blocks away from the Albright house and was the only Baptist church in town. Jasmine
had been baptized in the church when she was twelve. Little Buddy started his attendance in the nursery. It was the
only church the Albright’s attended in Pineville.
Volume 1 – Section 1
At the Ship’s Rail
Page 4
Jean Albright is the mother of the family. The story of her early life is very different than
Buddy’s. Of course, it became the same story on June 5, 1950 when they became married.
Jean was born on January 19, 1930 to be the only child of Cecil and Georgia Flowers. She
was named Jean Isobel Flowers by her adoring parents. Cecil was a US mail carrier in his
hometown of Decatur, Georgia. They lived in a modest home near the center of town5, the only
home that Jean knew. Cecil’s government job sustained them through the Great Depression, a
time when neighbors and friends fell to economic ruin. A
few years later Jean’s grandmother and two aunts joined
the family. Jean was the only child in a home full of
adults. It was a true southern home: properly kept with
hot bread at every meal and established family customs for
every occasion. The closely knit neighborhood around her
home was Jean’s play ground. She knew her neighbors so
well that they were almost like family. So, it was a great
shock when the first ‘Yankee’ family moved in across the
street. They might as well have been from Mars. They ate
cold bread, did not know anything about southern manners
and had the strangest family customs, especially at
Christmas. Jean had her first encounter with a foreign
culture.
Figure1-2. Jean Flowers. 1950s
In all respects, Jean grew up as an urban girl in a
stable, supportive family setting surrounded by caring neighbors and family. She was smart at
school work, attractive, friendly, and popular. As a teenager, her future was bright. World War
II was over and the nation was booming in economic growth. The adjacent town of Atlanta was
booming as well, if not even more. Prosperity in abundance was at her fingertips. But,
prosperity was not in her heart. Telling others about Jesus Christ was.
The Flowers family had a long history of close association with Baptist churches, even
before the Southern Baptist denomination was formed. The family had helped form and donated
property for at least four Baptist churches in Georgia. It was inevitable then that Jean would be
raised in a Baptist church. As a young child, Jean felt a calling by the Holy Spirit to go and tell
others about Jesus and His love for all of us. A Southern Baptist missionary in China spoke at
her church and forever changed a seven year-old girl sitting in the room. She knew from that
point on what she was called to be. The testimonies of a neighbor who had also been a
missionary to China, reinforced the desire in the child. At fifteen years of age, Jean publicly
5
235 Montgomery Street, Decatur, GA
Volume 1 – Section 1
At the Ship’s Rail
Page 5
announced to the people in her church that she was called to be a missionary. But to be a
missionary where? China seemed a probable choice but Jean was not sure. She felt unable and
unsure of going and working in a foreign land. So, as she graduated from High School, she
settled in her mind that she would pursue woman’s work and youth work as possibilities of
telling others about Jesus.
To be appointed a missionary with the Southern Baptist Mission Board required a college
education and seminary training. (This is not true today, but it was then.) Up to this point, Cecil
and Georgia Flowers had financially supported their daughter as best as they could. They were a
typical middle class income family. Their daughter was their delight and they tried to afford her
as comfortable a life as possible. Their pride swelled as they watched her graduate as the
Valedictorian of her high school class with a scholarship to Agnes Scott College, a prestigious all
women’s college in Decatur. But now she was talking about going away to a Baptist college in
Kentucky and then after that to the Southern Theological Seminary. This was going to take more
money than they had the funds for. Cecil and Georgia knew that the missionary calling in their
daughter’s life was very real. Without ceremony, Cecil took a loan against his house so that his
daughter could attend that far away Baptist college.
Georgetown Kentucky was (and still is) the hometown of Georgetown Baptist College. It
was also the hometown of Buddy Albright. The romantic and somewhat stormy tale of how
Buddy and Jean met, fell in love, and married cannot be done justice in this section. Suffice to
say, that by the end of Jean’s third year (junior year) at Georgetown Baptist College, she and
Buddy were married. It was 1950. The young couple was just starting to share a life story.
However, they already shared one driving purpose: to be in service to God. They knew they
were called to be missionaries in a foreign land.
As Buddy and Jean stood at the ship’s rail, eight
years later, they were not just a couple any more. They
had three sons, three young lives, which they had
brought to the land of their calling. This was going to
be a family affair, a family business so to speak.
Buddy and Jean knew that they faced a task that all
missionary families struggle with at varying degrees:
striking a balance between the meeting the needs of a
growing family and spreading the gospel to a needy
people.
Figure 1-3. Albright Family. 1958
Volume 1 – Section 1
As Max, the oldest son, looked past the ship’s rail,
he was mature beyond his six years of age. None of
At the Ship’s Rail
Page 6
his experiences with his parents thus far in his young
life had been routine. A preacher’s boy from the start.
Born during Buddy’s first pastorate in Claflin, Kansas,
on February 10, 1952. His full name was Richard
Maxwell Albright. Born to a pair of restless parents,
two parents determined to get to Africa, two adult role
models that were always looking to the horizon, it was
no surprise that he developed their eagerness,
Figure 1-4. Max at ship’s rail in
excitement, and passion. Max was always energized
New York. 1958
by Africa and intrigued by its peoples. It was not
enough for him to be there, he had to be in it, part of it. Like a reporter who gets into the
storyline, Max got into Africa. That was his personality.
Rod was only four years old as this book begins. Standing close to his Mom, peering at the
busyness on the dock below. Too young to really know the significance of where he was and
what was happening. He was a seminary baby. Born on April 5, 1954 in Louisville, Kentucky.
Buddy and Jean were attending the Southern Baptist Southern Seminary in Louisville at that
time. Buddy was also pastoring a church in northern Kentucky. Named Maurice Rodney
Albright at birth, he officially changed his name to LeRoy Rodney Albright as an eight year-old
boy. Rod brought a few remembrances of the states to Africa such as building snowmen, his pet
duck, and a couple of scars. For the most part, Africa quickly became his home.
Ray was fourteen months old as Jean held him in her arms near that ship’s rail in Beira. A
pacifier in his mouth. Very much a baby. Buddy had graduated seminary and was the pastor of
the Baptist Church in Petersburg, Kentucky when Ray was born on August 15, 1957. The fourth
child of the family (the third child had miscarried). He was born in Covington, Kentucky
because that was the closest hospital to Petersburg. He was named Raymond Cecil Albright.
Almost eleven months after his birth, on the 17th of July, 1958, both Buddy and Jean were
appointed Foreign Missionaries by the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist
Convention. Ray was Africa bound and did not even know it. Africa became his first real
memories of life.
The trip to Africa for the Albrights was by ship (see Map 1-1). Not many traveled by
airplane to Africa at that time. It was very expensive and slow. Trans-Atlantic commercial jet
service had not yet started6. Flying to London, England by propeller aircraft would have been
simple enough, but flights to south central Africa were infrequent and required numerous stops.
6
Pan American World airlines inaugurated the first trans-Atlantic service with a flight from New York to Paris on
October 26, 1958. It was a Boeing 707 aircraft. Source: www.boeing.com
Volume 1 – Section 1
At the Ship’s Rail
Page 7
The deeper into the African continent you went, the small and older the airplanes became. Ships
were still the main means of traveling across the seas.
The Albrights sailed on the S.S. African Enterprise of the South African Farrell Lines from
Brooklyn, NY on September 30, 1958, at 11:30 in the morning. Passengers were boarded earlier
that morning and the Albrights walked up the gangplank full of excitement7. They were all five
in one cabin, B-278. Buddy later called it a ‘glorified freighter’. A brochure of the deck plan for
the ship showed it to be a two deck cabin liner with a tiled swimming pool, wading pool and
barber/ hair dresser. It could hold 50 passengers. The ship did stop at St. Helena (October 13),
the island exile of Napoleon, where small boats came out and ferried the family ashore. During
the three hours they were
ashore, the boys rode a 220
year-old turtle and saw
Napoleon’s empty grave site.
Jean noted that, “The island
was beautiful.” Buddy was
able to buy some fishing
gear9. Ironically, he could
not find it in New York city,
but did on this tiny island.
The next stop was Cape
Town, South Africa.
The ship was actually
much better than a freighter.
The five Albrights were kind of packed into their cabin, but they were on the deck or swimming
or eating most days. The ship had a deep swimming pool (up to eight feet deep) and a wading
pool that the boys played in almost every day. Both were filled with salt water pumped from the
ocean. When the ship would toss on rough seas, the pool would slosh like a bowl of water. The
closer they drew to Cape Town, the cooler the weather became, until it was too chilly for Jean to
allow the boys to swim.
Map 1-1. Route of SS African Enterprise from Brooklyn to Beira. 1958
Jean recalled that there was a good dinning room on the ship. Dinner menus boasted entrees
such as fresh Cape lobster, rock Cornish game hen, filet mignon, poached Alaska Salmon, and
7
They had been staying at the Henry Hudson Hotel (353 West 57th Street) for the about the last four days. While in
New York they went to the top of the Empire State Building and saw a Rodeo at Madison Square Garden.
8
Passage for all five was for US$2,177. This included a 15% ‘missionary’ discount.
9
Buddy tried his luck at fishing during stops at Port Elizabeth and East London, but did not catch anything. He
gave up fishing soon after arriving in Africa. Most flowing water had crocodiles while most still water had
Belharzia or schistosomiasis, a parasite.
Volume 1 – Section 1
At the Ship’s Rail
Page 8
sauté Canadian hare – hunter style. Following an ageless English custom, children always ate
the evening dinner long before the adults. The waiter (Percy) for the kids learned his young
protégés so well that he would have Max’s dinner already prepared and ice cream on the ready
for Ray. A dinner menu states that the Albrights crossed the equator on October 9 and were
served Poached Davy Jones Swordfish, Mermaid Corn Niblets, Treasure Island Fruit Cocktail,
and Queen’s Delight Ice Cream among other ‘nautical’ entries. There was a ceremony that
followed.
A King Neptune sat upon a throne and summoned the children one by one into his presence.
Each child was handed a small cake with a cherry on it. As they reached for their treat, they
received a face full of cake instead. The adults were summoned as well, but in couples and
wearing necklaces of plastic fish. The little cakes were offered again with secret instructions to
clobber the other spouse. They all did with one exception. The wife of an American Consulate
hurled her cake at her nearby son. The boy ducked and an unsuspecting woman ended up with
face full of cake.
The McKinnley family sailed with the
Albrights. They had earlier been appointed as
missionaries to Spain but were later reassigned.
They were Hugh and Becky with their two
daughters, Marsha (four years at that time) and
Margaret (fifteen months). The first Sunday on
board buddy preached at a simple service (many
attended). Hugh preached the second Sunday. The
Figure 1-5. Albright (R) and McKinnley (L)
Families on board S.S. African Enterprise. 1958
McKinnleys became the first “relatives” in the
mission family that the Albrights later knew. The first uncle and aunt to the Albright boys. For
that reason, they were always special to the Albrights.
It took seventeen days to sail from New York to Cape Town, South Africa. The family
disembarked in Cape Town for a day (October 18, 1958). They rode the cable car up to the top
of Table Mountain. Jean remarked, “The roofs of the houses are red. This makes a pretty scene
against the blue waters.” Then they rode a double decker bus from one end of town to the other.
They first had to learn that they were supposed to stand in the “White” bus lines and not the
African lines. A kind African man gently explained the difference and begged them to leave the
African bus line before they all ended up in trouble. It was their first experience with racism in
Africa. They became a little alarmed on the bus ride when they noticed numerous street signs
warning to “Beware of Lorries”. They were certain the Lorry African tribe must be a dangerous
tribe. Later they found out that lorry was the British word for truck. Back on the ship, it was
Volume 1 – Section 1
At the Ship’s Rail
Page 9
another ten more days up the eastern edge of Africa to Beira, Mozambique with stops at Port
Elizabeth, East London, and Durbin.
From the deck of the ship, the town of Beira spread out before the family of five. It was a
hot and humid day. A rain storm was building in the distant
sky. Gusts of warm air rose off the dock carrying an awful
smell. Everything about the town looked strange, unfamiliar,
somewhat filthy. The Africans looked impoverished. Some
African dockworkers wore concrete sacks as their only
Location of Beira,
clothing. Their chatter seemed a difficult language. Even
Mozambique
the signs on the buildings were unintelligible. They were in
The first impressions
Portuguese. And the white Portuguese were harsh on the
were unsettling and
African dockworkers, often beating them. So, this was Africa.
very discouraging
This was where Buddy and Jean had been called to and brought
their young children to. The first impressions were unsettling and very discouraging for them.
For five people standing along a ship’s rail in a remote port on the edge of the African continent,
the land below them and the people beyond them were to shape their lives in ways that they
could not imagine.
*** Did the lion pounce on any of the missionaries? The episode with the young lion that
started this section ended without harm. It took place in the Luangwa game reserve in Zambia.
The four missionaries were talking together in the early evening, after spending a day in reserve.
They were sitting in an open air dining shelter at a game camp when the young lion appeared in
the doorway. As the four missionaries sat rigidly and cautiously watching the lion, the cat turned
and silently walked back into the darkness of the night. He was not interested in the four
packaged meals in the dinning shelter. Where there was one lion meant there was probably
more, like a pride full. And they were somewhere out in the darkness, maybe between the
missionaries and the safe refuge of their cabins. The Cooper’s cabin was the closest, so the four
began a hasty walk towards it, carrying the one kerosene lantern. No lions in sight. That was
good. Close to the cabin, Buddy angled off towards his own cabin. But, Jean would not follow.
She stayed with the lantern and was glad to get into the safety of the Cooper’s cabin. Buddy
reached the other cabin and called for Jean. She would not venture outside again, at least not
until day light. “Oh, Yes.” The African cook said the next morning. “There have been many
lions around this camp for several weeks, that is why we close our gates before dark.” The four
missionaries were in their cabins before dark after that.
Volume 1 – Section 1
At the Ship’s Rail
Page 10
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm
you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29: 11 NIV
Reference Sources:
1) Certificate of Appointments, FMB SBC for LeRoy Albright and Jean Flowers Albright.
July 17, 1958. Richmond, VA.
2) Farrell Lines Deck Plan. SS African Endeavor and SS African Enterprise. Fold out
brochure.
3) Farrell Lines Passage Contract Ticket. Issued Sept. 19, 1958 in NY, NY.
4) International Mission Board Archives and Record Service. Solomon Databases.
http://archives.imb.org/solomon.htm. Minutes of June, 1958.
5) Letters to Cecil and Georgia Flowers from Jean and Buddy. 1958. Sept 30. (Contain pier
pass and sightseeing ticket stubs), Oct 12, Oct 17, Oct 23, Oct 25?, Dec 31.
6) Personal Communications with Buddy and Jean Albright. 2004 – 2006.
7) Personal Interview of Buddy and Jean Albright. 2000. Microcassette #1. Interviewer:
Ray Albright
8) Personal Testimonies of Buddy and Jean Albright. 2003. Written for Retirement
Exercises.
9) Recorded Tape to Cecil and Georgia Flowers. December 4, 1959.
10) S.S. African Enterprise Commemoration of Crossing the Equator, Oct. 9, 1958. Full
dinner menu included.
11) S.S. African Enterprise Dinner Menus. Oct 16, 24, 25, 26, and 27, 1958.
Volume 1 – Section 1
In the Light of His Word Volume 1
Settling In
Section 2
“Africa is certainly different from the average person’s ideas.”
Jean Albright, November 1, 1958 letter to her parents
Beira (bye-rah), Mozambique was not the Albright’s destination point in Africa. They had
been appointed to serve in the British colony of Southern Rhodesia (now called Zimbabwe).
Southern Rhodesia was at this time in a Federation with two other British colonies: Northern
Rhodesia and Nyasaland (see Map 2-1). The Albrights had landed in Beira because Southern
Rhodesia was a land locked
country and depended on the
ports of Mozambique for
shipping goods and
transporting people. It was a
relationship that lasted until
the late 1960s when political
differences between the two
countries actually put them at
war.
Four Southern Baptist
missionary women from
Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia,
met the Albrights and
McKinnleys in Beira on the
day the ship arrived, which
was Tuesday, October 28,
1958. The welcoming
Map 2-1. Southern Africa with Federation in Red. 1958
Settling In (1958)
Page 12
committee was Mary Ellen Garrett, Monda Marlar, Pauline (Polly) Jackson, and Mary Brooner.
Their task was to accompany the two new missionary families back to Salisbury, the capital city
of Southern Rhodesia.
The ship docked about six in the morning and its passengers were able to disembark about
three hours later. The Albrights were glad to be off the ship and in the care of these four
missionary ladies. To Buddy and Jean it was a tremendous
…within two years he
relief to hear encouraging news from these ladies about the
would be speaking the
mission work in Southern Rhodesia. Their first unsettling
Queen’s pure English…
impressions of Africa began to change. They felt accepted by
these ladies almost immediately. To the three boys, it was one
wonder after another. Before leaving Beira, they swam in the Indian Ocean at a nearby beach.
Max heard one of the ladies mention something about needing a ‘costume’ to swim. He soon
realized that this was the British word for a swimming suit. It was such an odd word to him.
Little did he know that within two years he would be speaking the Queen’s pure English in a
flawless British accent.
The four ladies had traveled to Beira in a large station wagon. As they loaded the two
new missionary families into the car, they realized they could not fit everyone into it. Hugh
McKinnley, and Buddy remained behind in Beira with most of the luggage10. They took the
night train to Salisbury. The car riders left Beira about noon on October 28, heading for Umtali
(uhm-tall-ee), Southern Rhodesia where they would stay the night with the Harveys, another
Southern Baptist missionary family. Mary Ellen Garrett had to stop not far out of Beira to roll
up the back window of the station wagon. In the tree canopies above the stopped car, monkeys
chattered and scampered about. Jean and
her three boys watched them in delighted
awe. This kind of thing had never
happened in Kentucky!
Before them lay mile after mile of dirt
road which ran through rolling savannah.
This was not a dense jungle at all, like
someone might have imagined from a
Tarzan movie. But sometimes the trees
Figure 1-1. Railroad crossing sign in Southern
shaded the road like a tunnel. Other times
Rhodesia. 1959
wide vistas opened up and they could see the
distant horizon. Occasionally they would pass an African man walking or riding a bicycle along
10
The children had to ride with their mothers because they were on their mothers’ passports. Once across the
Southern Rhodesian border, Max joined the two men on the train.
Volume 1 – Section 2
Settling In (1958)
Page 13
side the road. Most all were dressed in pants and a shirt, clean but very worn. Very few had
shoes on. A weighty bundle was tied to the back rack on many of the bikes. The African women
were modestly dressed, but usually in a faded dress and a worn cloth wrapped around their waist
and legs. Jean noticed the babies tied to their backs. And several women carried large loads,
balanced on their heads. Unable to speak their language, all Jean could do was silently look
from the car window. The pitiable poverty of the Africans she had seen in Mozambique struck a
chord of compassion in her heart.
Jean was a long distance from her childhood home in Decatur where she had grown up
knowing her call to be a missionary. This was her first day to fulfill her calling, her first day as a
missionary in Africa. The culture gap she had already seen made her wonder if she would ever
be accepted by the Africans. Could she ever build relationships through which to spread the
good news? She knew it would take the power of the Holy Spirit to melt away her barriers and
bridge the gap. She was right, but it would also require a lot of hard work and preparation on her
part.
The two train riders left Beira much later that afternoon and arrived in Umtali in time for
breakfast at the Harveys. Max then joined the train riders the rest of the way to Salisbury.
Along the way, the train had to stop and wait for an elephant to amble off the tracks. This was
something else that had never happened in Kentucky!
Moving from the small town of Petersburg, Kentucky, USA, to the city of Salisbury,
Southern Rhodesia, Africa, would be a major adjustment for anybody. Jean and Buddy were no
exceptions. The family arrived in two installments, with Jean, Rod and Ray being drove into the
capital city about noon, then Buddy and Max coming in by train that evening. It was October 29,
1958. Within a couple of weeks, the Albright family was in a rental mission house in a newer
subdivision of Salisbury called Waterfalls11. They
had been staying with a fellow missionary couple,
Sam and Ona Jones, since arriving in Salisbury.
The rental house had three bedrooms, one
bath room, a kitchen, a living room and separate
dining room12. A long hallway connected all the
rooms. The floors were covered in a pretty wood.
The windows did not have screens, but fancy
burglar bars. A servant’s quarters was located not
11
Figure 2-2. Rental home in Waterfalls, Southern
Rhodesia. Note crates on front porch. 1958
164C Northway Drive Prospect, Waterfalls. S52. Township lots of one acre size were selling for £450 (US$
1,265). There were about 4,000 European residents in Waterfalls.
12
Buddy drew a floor plan of the house in 29 Oct., 1958 letter to Flowers.
Volume 1 – Section 2
Settling In (1958)
Page 14
far from the back door. “We just love the house…” Jean crooned. But she had to move into it
without much furniture. The furniture shipment from the States was lost somewhere in Southern
Rhodesia. It would be several weeks before it showed up.
Now in her own house, Jean had to deal with grocery shopping, housework, and school.
These were daily routines which she was familiar with, except this was a different culture with
different ways of doing these things. It started with the money.
Southern Rhodesia was a British colony in 1958 and it was British in all aspects. The
consequences of this are better explained in the next section. Suffice it to say that the currency
in Southern Rhodesia was a parallel of Britain’s pound, shilling, and pence. The coinage said
Southern Rhodesia on it, but the values of the coins were
backed by the English government. The exchange rate in 1958
was roughly three US dollars13 to one Southern Rhodesian
pound (£). The Albrights quickly learned that twelve pence
made a shilling and 20 shillings made a pound. There was also
the half-penny, tuppence, tickie, six pence, farthing, crown,
and quid that had to be mastered as well. This says nothing of
Figure 2-3. Ray (L) and Rod (R)
the bob, florin, half-crown, tenners and fivers. Converting the
eating breakfast. 1958
price of a can of beans that was one bob and seven pence
(written as 1/7) to US dollar value while standing in the store was a challenge.
One of the first things Jean found out was that grocery stores were in department stores. She
had to drive on the left side of the road to get anywhere14. Canned goods, called tins, in the
grocery stores were very expensive but meat and milk were not. Jellies and jams came in tins,
not bottles. Cookies were called biscuits. Biscuits were called scones. One did not buy meat in
a grocery store, but at a separate shop called a butchery. Milk was not in a grocery store either; it
was delivered to your door step each day as was fresh bread. In fact, there was a procession of
Africans coming to your door all day long selling fresh vegetables, live chickens, live ducks,
fruit, clay pots, firewood, peanuts, spices, and all assortments of cooked food. Banana leaves
were sometimes folded over the food to keep the flies out, with limited success. Usually the
goods were fastened to the back of a bicycle, but sometimes carried in a bowl on a head. The
ring of a bicycle bell or the soft call of “Odi” (oh-dee, meaning hello to the house) meant
someone was standing outside awaiting you. Each face showing hope for a sell. It was
extremely rude not to acknowledge a person that came to your door.
13
$2.81 to be exact
Buddy and Jean obtained their driver’s licenses on November 18, 1958 from the Southern Rhodesia Licensing and
Revenue Office.
14
Volume 1 – Section 2
Settling In (1958)
Page 15
Through the years, Buddy and Jean bought more things than they really needed from the
door to door sellers. The Albrights came to depend on them for mangos, peanuts, sugarcane,
vegetables, and an extra chicken for the pot when there were many unexpected visitors. Sadly,
most of the sellers were turned away without buying anything. There were far too many to buy
something from everybody. Nevertheless, Jean was known to buy everything a man had only
because she knew he had brought his goods from a very far off village. The house help never
objected to those “compassion” sells because they usually shared in what she bought.
Another adjustment Jean had to make was that house work was rarely done by white women
in Southern Rhodesia. This was true of all the African colonies – French, German, Italian, or
British. An African was hired to do the house work, usually an African man. They were called
‘boys’ at that time. A degrading term that was never adopted by the Albrights. A house helper
was called by his name, or referred to as ‘the house helper’.
In an early letter to her parents (Cecil and Georgia Flowers), Jean noted that they hired
Mack as a house helper for five pounds a month plus rations. Mack’s monthly salary was higher
than most. Rations was a curious custom that meant Mack
would be kept supplied with meat, rice, sugar, corn flour, and
soap. Jean interpreted rations to also mean clothes, shoes, extra
food items, medicine, and whatever else it appeared that the
house helper could use. On the average, the Albrights tended to
keep the same house helper for a long time. No small wonder.
Mack was expected to do the laundry (which included washing
clothes and linens, hanging them out to dry, ironing them, and
putting them away), wash dishes and clean and straighten the
house. Mack lived out back in the servant’s quarters, a one room
attachment with space for cooking. A simple “outhouse” style
lavatory was near the servant’s quarters. By Southern Rhodesian
Figure 2-4. Mack (L) and Gusto
law, his wife and family could not live with him since it was a
(R) with Ray on trike. 1958
white residential section of town.
All the clothes, sheets and towels had to be ironed because of the screw worm fly, or more
commonly called the pootsie fly. This bee sized fly would lay its eggs in wet cloth, especially
wet clothes and diapers hanging on the clothes line. Upon contact with the skin, the fly larva
would burrow into you, feeding on your flesh until it emerged as an adult fly. To avoid a painful
reaction, the larva had to be allowed to grow to maturity before it could be removal (a sore and
disgusting process). The heat of the iron killed the fly eggs. Many years later, electric dryers
replaced the need for ironing, but until then, ironing the laundry was a very important task.
Volume 1 – Section 2
Settling In (1958)
The school bell rang early in the morning for the
Albrights. In November 1958, Max was enrolled into
the Waterfalls Kindergarten School for the first year
of school, called Kindergarten One (KG1). KG1 is
the equivalent of first grade in the USA. His teacher
was Mrs. Van Rooyen. KG1 was for five year olds,
so Max was a year older than most. The school
officials thought it more important to remain in the
proper age group, so Max started KG2 two months
later in January.
Page 16
Figure 2-5. Max ready for school with new
bike as Rod watched on. 1958
This was Max’s first time to go to school. He had to wear a proper uniform15, including felt
hat, tie and shiny leather shoes. He had to have proper leather back pack satchel as well for his
books and papers. Short, baggy pants and long socks were mandatory. His school went through
Standard Three, much like an American elementary school. The school year ran from January to
December with holidays in April/May, August/September, and December/January. There were
about 60 students. Also, like some American schools at that time, Max’s school was segregated.
The school let out about noon for the day. Sports and activities were held in the afternoon.
Buddy and Jean started language school within about a month of their arrival. This is
standard practice for Southern Baptist missionaries. The first year is always spent in language
school learning the native language and culture of the area where they will be serving in. For
Buddy and Jean, it was Shona (show-nah). Two other new Southern Baptist missionary couples
also started language school with them: the McKinnleys (Hugh and Becky), who had been on the
ship with the Albrights, and the Thorpes (Terry and Wilma). Classes ran from 8:00 to 10:00
every morning with more focused study
from 2:30 to 3:30 in the afternoon. The
school was a converted chicken house in
the backyard of the Joneses’ house. The
six ‘students’ were taught under the
guidance of an African teacher, Mr.
Chambati, and worked through a language
manual which stressed grammar and
vocabulary. The students were required to
study on their own three to four hours
Figure 2-6. Language school pose. L to R: the Thorpes,
the McKinnleys, unknown man, Mr. Chambati,
every day with a test every Friday. They
and the Albrights. 1958.
15
A receipt from Meikles, a clothing store in Salisbury, recorded three shirts, three pants and a felt hat for five
pounds and eight shillings (US$ 15)
Volume 1 – Section 2
Settling In (1958)
Page 17
were to read books on African customs, traditions, history and such. They were also supposed to
visit the other seven Southern Baptists missionary stations in the country during that year. On
the first day of school, Buddy approached the Joneses’ gardener and learned how to say hello
and good morning in Shona. This caused some concern with the teacher that Buddy was
learning the market place vernacular of the language.
Rod (four years old) and Ray (one year) were placed each morning into the care of an
American Methodist missionary lady, Mrs. Wilkins, while Buddy and Jean studied Shona and
Max went to school (KG1). This lady had married a white Southern Rhodesian and had been in
Southern Rhodesia for years. She was a very kind lady and kept a few nursery aged children in
her home for some extra income. She had never returned to the States.
The mission had provided a car, but it was split between the three new missionary families.
It very soon became obvious that the family was going to need a personal car. The Ford Escort
was very popular at that time, but Buddy was swayed by the opinion of Alf Revell, a mechanic
from Sanyati (san-yah-tee). They finally bought a car by mid-November for about US$ 600. It
was a Hillman Husky, a tiny two-door box coupe with a back door that swung to the side.
Buddy and Jean immediately loved it.
Light blue and trimmed in chrome, it was a
simple car with absolutely no fancy
features. A benched back seat would fold
down and open space for hauling furniture
and such. The three boys would spend a
significant portion of their young lives on
that back seat, usually squeezed in and
covered with dust. The little car’s six
gallon gas tank would get 30 miles to
gallon in town and 36 on the road. It did
Figure 2-7. New Hillman Husky modeled by Buddy and
Jean. Note steering wheel on left side. 1958
better than that when Buddy was forced to
cut the engine going downhill and roll as
far a possible uphill before restarting the engine to stretch that last cup of gas to get home. It did
worse than that when an irate elephant backed the car off the road and Buddy kept revving the
engine to bluff the massive beast into not crushing it and its five occupants.
The Hillman Husky became the first of several family vehicles that the Albrights owned in
Africa. Each family vehicle became an important part of the family. The importance cannot be
overstated. It became the taxi, the work truck, the camper, the bus, the ambulance, and the allterrain vehicle. It also served as an electric generator, rain shelter, and boy’s hideout. The
everyday activities of the family depended on the family vehicle. In many different ways, the
Volume 1 – Section 2
Settling In (1958)
Page 18
family vehicle was a fundamental force that shaped the lives of the Albrights.
The week after buying the car, Jean and Buddy had stopped to pick up Rod and Ray after
language school. They were talking with Mrs. Wilkins when they saw the car start to move.
Rod’s small face, half hidden behind the car door, stared at them from the driver’s seat. He had
turned the keys and started the car in gear. Now it was running and he was riding off. His eyes
were wide with alarm. Buddy dashed after it and managed to catch up with the brand new car.
He reached into it and turned off the key. Rod’s near brush with harm was not yet done, a few
nights later he had another encounter.
It always seems to be at night when children get their sickest. Rod began vomiting shortly
after his bedtime. He vomited twelve times before midnight and then almost every half hour for
the rest of the night. Max was vomiting just about as often. Buddy sat up all night with the two
sick boys. Neither he nor Jean knew why they were sick. Jean later
Jean later confided
confided that she had expected them to die at any minute during the
that she expected
night. Buddy was just as equally concerned. This was their first
them to die at any
experience with family sickness in Africa. Certainly not their last
minute…
as the reader will soon note. By morning the sickness had passed,
but the anxieties were far from over. It was later that they pieced together that the two boys had
eaten some wild, green tomatoes earlier that fateful day.
The Albright family was not just “out there having to fend for themselves in Africa”. Yes,
they lived in a house by themselves (plus Mack) and there were some things that they did have to
fend for by themselves, but they were part of a tight community of other Southern Baptist
missionary families. This is typical of most all Protestant denominations or missionary
organizations: the missionaries form a very close bond. It is like an extended family. Kind of
like the Book of Acts Church. There was a tremendous amount of sharing, caring, and
socializing. There were also some of the tensions and disagreements that occur within any group
of individuals and the Southern Baptist missionary community in Southern Rhodesia was no
exception. Overall, it was very cohesive and cooperative group of missionaries. In Southern
Baptist tradition, missionary kids call the adults in other missionary families as “Uncle” and
“Aunt”. Buddy and Jean were known as Uncle Buddy and Aunt Jean to the missionary children.
It is a very ingrained practice that builds the feeling of an extended family within the mission
community.
Volume 1 – Section 2
Settling In (1958)
Page 19
The Albrights were received into a fairly large Southern Baptist missionary community in
Southern Rhodesia. Jean lists several in her early letters and more are added below. The
children present in late 1958 are in parentheses. There were seven established mission sites in
Southern Rhodesia at that time (see Map 2-2).
Northern
Rhodesia
Blantyre
- Limbe
Lusaka
Salisbury
Gokwe
Gatooma
Umtali
Sanyati
Gwelo
Bulawayo
Shabani
Map 2-2. Locations of Southern Baptist mission stations in Southern Rhodesia. 1958
• In Salisbury, were Sam and Ona Jones (Byron, Gary, Karen, pregnant with Kay).
Sam was the head of the language school. Dr. Sam and Ginny Cannata (none, pregnant
with Michael16), who where headed for the mission hospital at Sanyati. John and Marie
Cheyne (David, Stephen, Martha and Becky) who were soon to finish language school.
Terry and Wilma Thorpe (Penny, Rilla and Danny) were the newest missionaries and
were starting language school. Hugh and Becky McKinnley (Marsha and Margaret)
were new missionaries as well and starting language school. They had sailed with the
Albrights from New York.
• At Sanyati (san-yah-tee, about 145 miles west of Salisbury), were Drs. Giles and
Wanda Ann Fort (Giles, Jr., David, Gordon). They were both doctors at the mission
hospital. Mondar Marlar was a missionary nurse. Mary Brooner, and Pauline (Polly)
16
Clyde Dotson always called him Michelangelo since the child’s full name was Michael Andrew.
Volume 1 – Section 2
Settling In (1958)
Page 20
Jackson were missionary teachers and women workers at Sanyati. Bud and Jane Fray
(Carol, Jerry) also worked in the school and with the local churches. The Revells, Alf
and Elsie, were an English couple. He was the station mechanic and equipment manager.
She worked in the mission school. Sanyati was a large mission station with both a
hospital and school. It was purposefully located in a very remote area.
• In Gatooma (gah-too-mah, about 85 miles southwest of Salisbury) were Marvin
and Mary Ellen Garrett. They were involved in numerous things from being purchasing
agents, to field evangelists, to maintaining ham radio contact with Sanyati and Gokwe.
• In Gwelo (ga-well-oh, about 170 miles south of Salisbury) were David and Susie
Lockhart (Doug). David taught at the mission seminary. Ralph and Betty Bowlin were
at the seminary as well. Ralph was the seminary director. Gwelo was chosen as the
seminary site because the rural setting of the area was more amenable to Africans and
whites interacting than would have been possible in the capital city of Salisbury.
• In Bulawayo (bull-ah-way-oh, about 270 miles southwest of Salisbury) were
Logan and Ginny Atnip who served in the publishing house. Milton and Barbara
Cunningham (Milton E. and Miller) who were finishing language school. They were
studying the Matabele language.
• In Umtali (uhm-tall-ee, about 165 miles southeast of Salisbury) were Gerald and
Eunice Harvey (Judy, Janet, Jill). They were studying the Chinyanja language in
preparation of starting a new mission in Nyasaland.
• In Shabani (shaw-baa-nee, about 236 miles south of Salisbury) were Gene and
Jean Phillips (Mark, John) who were church workers.
• In Gokwe (goak-whe, about 50 miles beyond Sanyati) was Clyde Dotson
(Dorothy). Clyde Dotson was the first Southern Baptist missionary in Southern
Rhodesia, as mentioned below. Gokwe was not an established mission yet, Clyde Dotson
had just recently relocated there.
Another missionary family, Bill and Blanche Wester (Bill, Jr., Esther Kay) were in the
States on furlough17. They had come to Southern Rhodesia in 1955 on a special appointment.
They were given regular appointment in 1959 and returned to the field18 the same year.
These were relatively new, young missionary families in Southern Rhodesia. The oldest
missionary kid in the group was just ten years old making Max (seven years) one of the older
kids. Many of the missionary kids were babies or toddlers. It was an odd thing, but, by far, most
17
Furlough was a leave of absence from the mission field to allow the missionary to return to their home country
(home tribe). Furloughs typically lasted one year. The time span for furloughs became much more flexible later on.
A furlough year was a busy year for most missionaries with guest speaking in one or two churches per week and
required attendance in state and national conferences. Furloughs are now called State-Side Assignments.
18
Field is missionary jargon for the area of service. The Albright’s field was Southern Rhodesia.
Volume 1 – Section 2
Settling In (1958)
Page 21
of the kids were boys. There were very few girl missionary kids in the Southern Rhodesian
missionary community.
The Southern Baptist mission in Southern Rhodesia was called the Central African Mission
and had an organizational structure which followed all other Southern Baptist missions of that
era. In 1958, Ralph Bowlin was the mission Chairman. Gerald Harvey was the mission
Treasurer. The positions rotated among the missionaries. Usually, a senior missionary was
selected as the Chairman. The Treasurer position carried a sizeable amount of accounting work,
so it was not a sought after position. A missionary usually carried this position until they went
on furlough or botched up the books so bad that it was handed to another missionary at the next
mission meeting. A yearly mission meeting was held during which all the missionaries in an
area assembled for about a week. Mission strategy, issues and developments were shared and
discussed. Committees gave reports and rotated members. For the kids, it was a mixture of
summer camp and Vacation Bible School. It was also very much a week of worship and
fellowship.
While on the topic of mission organization, it is in order to offer a very short history of
Southern Baptist mission work in central Africa. Much of this content was taken from the SBC
IMB19 on-line archives.
It all began with the Germans, the German Baptists that is. A German Baptist preacher
traveled up from southern Africa about 1917 to minister to a settlement of Germans in the
southern portion of the Rhodesian territory. Over the next 30 years, that work remained very low
key resulting in two churches and two fellowships of mostly European membership. In 1947, the
SBC Foreign Mission Board (FMB) received a letter from Rev. Clyde J. Dotson, a Southern
Baptist from Alabama who was an independent missionary (as well as his wife Hattie Dotson)
serving as the pastor at a German Baptist fellowship in
This letter from Rev.
Gatooma. Clyde Dotson was requesting support from the
Clyde J. Dotson … was the
FMB for him and Hattie to be missionaries in south central
spark that started all
Africa. The FMB was at that time deeply invested in
Southern Baptist work in
mission work in Nigeria and the Gold Coast (later called
Southern, and even
Ghana), as they had been for about 80 years. This letter
Eastern Africa, that is
from Rev. Clyde J. Dotson was perceived by the FMB as a
witnessed today.
“Macedonian call” to south central Africa. It was the spark
that started all Southern Baptist work in Southern, and even Eastern Africa, that is witnessed
today. In 1950, the FMB hired Clyde Dotson under contract to be a missionary. The FMB also
purchased him and his wife a mission house in Gatooma and shortly sent him money to buy land
19
SBC = Southern Baptist Convention. IMB = International Mission Board
Volume 1 – Section 2
Settling In (1958)
Page 22
and build a church.
The Rev. Dotson pulled in the German Baptist work and built the first Southern Baptist
church in Southern Rhodesia at Gatooma. It was a simple building made of sun dried bricks and
grass thatched roof. The Lord blessed this humble beginning and within a year there were 398
new professions of faith. By the end of 1951, Clyde Dotson became ‘regularized’ by the FMB,
meaning he became a full fledged appointed missionary and not a contract worker. The same
year, Ralph T. Bowlin and his wife arrived as new missionaries and Sanyati was established as a
mission site. The Southern Baptist work began to grow rapidly.
As missionaries arrived from the States, they were placed into locations where the work had
already been started by Clyde Dotson. By 1955, there were, in order of their arrival, Miss.
Marlar, Miss. Brooner, the Forts, the Lockarts, Kratzes, Cheynes, and Harveys on the mission
field. By late1958, when the Albrights and
McKinnleys arrived, there were, in order of their
arrival, the Joneses, Westers, Garretts, Miss.
Jackson, Phillips, Atnips, Frays, Cunninghams,
and Cannatas. The mission had a seminary, a
hospital, several schools, and seven established
mission sites. There were Baptist groups in
every town of any size across Southern
Rhodesia. And, the Southern Baptist work was
poised to be spread to the south, central, and
Figure 2-8. Albrights (L) and McKinnleys (R). 1958
eastern sections of the continent.
December is a hot month in south central Africa. The days are long. Hot winds can whip
dust devils into swirling funnels of blinding dust, and blow them for long distances. Rain clouds
can build quickly and deliver soaking downpours. Discarded mango seeds litter the edges of
roads and paths, evidence of someone enjoying the delicious fruit which ripens in November and
December. The sounds of Christmas were nowhere in the air. But, the smells were everywhere:
in the rain, the dust, and the mangos.
December 1958, did not begin well in the Albright house. Their metal barrels of goods
shipped from the US arrived but the locks were gone. So too were family clothes, winter coats,
some of Jean’s dresses, Buddy’s suits, and many other things. Somebody had an early
Christmas. But the loss did not set the family back too much. Buddy and Jean had been slowly
adding pieces of furniture to replace their assortment of borrowed and rented items. One piece
of furniture was a wooden coffee table that Ray soon learned to crawl on and stand in the middle
Volume 1 – Section 2
Settling In (1958)
Page 23
of20. A bike was bought for Max. Each day after school was over, he would ride all around the
yard and through the neighborhood on his new bike. He was quickly picking up the British
accent by hearing it at school everyday. The Foreign Mission Board would provide a discount
and pay shipping for large items such as refrigerators, washing machines and such. Buddy had
made an order for a GE ‘fridge’ (refrigerator) and a Maytag washing machine ($ 209 and $ 168
respectively)21.
Buddy celebrated his 31st birthday on December 3, 1958. There is not a record of a party,
but one can be assured that the family did not let it pass without notice. Most likely, the Thorpes,
McKinnleys and Joneses came over for an evening meal to help mark the event. Buddy was the
first in the family to celebrate a birthday in Africa.
Southern Baptist missionaries do not get paid a lot, but they receive riches in many other
forms. Buddy and Jean were both appointed as missionaries by the Foreign Mission Board
(FMB), but on paper only Buddy received pay. All the Southern Baptist missionary wives were
and still are, in essence, volunteers for the FMB (now IMB). Single missionary women were the
exception. They were paid. The Albrights were paid $ 345 (US dollars) a month with $ 40
deducted to remain in the States. Seventy dollars went to the car payment. The median family
income in the US in 1958 was $ 425 per month. Prices were so high in Southern Rhodesia that
the mission had applied for a cost of living adjustment. That would eventually add about $ 50 to
the monthly salary. Prices had gone up about 75% in the last seven years. They did not get
actual US dollars sent to them every month, rather the salary was wire deposited into a local
bank account. Buddy withdrew money in the local pounds and shillings currency. The exchange
rate between the US dollar and Southern Rhodesian pound was fairly stable since all currencies
were tied to the gold standard at that time.
A gardener, Gusto, was hired and
immediately created a nice garden. Jean wrote
that they planted Irish potato patches, sweet
potatoes, carrots, beets, turnips, okra, peas, lima
beans, green beans, corn, butter nut squash,
yellow squash, and tomatoes. This was to help
offset the high cost of food. The garden went
right around the ant hill. This ant hill was a
volcano shaped mound of brown dirt that
20
Figure 2-9. Gusto and the garden. 1958
The family still has this coffee table and it is still in use.
Jean and Buddy had been led to believe that they could buy all their major appliances in Southern Rhodesia and
thus did not ship any with them from the States. They found that while the information was true, it was not
complete. Appliances in Southern Rhodesia cost twice the US price and were half the quality.
21
Volume 1 – Section 2
Settling In (1958)
Page 24
reached higher than the house, built entirely by small, black ants. Such large ant hills were
common. Rod and Max would play for hours on the ant hill.
By mid-December, 1958, the Albright family was beginning to settle in. Max’s first term at
school was over and he came home with a Kindergarten Report stating him to be, “…an
intelligent and well mannered boy.” The boys were taken for their first haircuts and came out
looking like little English boys. This was Ray’s second haircut in his whole life. Ray also lost
his pacifier about that time. It quietly ‘disappeared’ one day and was barely missed by the
toddler. Rod was given a toy boat (early Christmas present at Max’s school Christmas party)
which shot water from a cannon. The entire bathroom would get a soaking during his bath times.
On Sundays, Buddy and Max attended a nearby African church named Harare (Ha-rah-ree,
meaning they do not sleep) Baptist Church. The duo left about 7:30 and arrived back about
10:30 in the morning. The Rev. Abel Mziramsanga22 was the pastor of the church and became a
good friend of the family. Then the whole family went to an English speaking church about nine
miles away, getting back to the house about 1:00 P.M.. Buddy and Max left again at 2:00 P.M.
for an afternoon service at the African church. The English speaking church had evening
services, except that children were not welcome, so Buddy usually attended by himself.
An invitation to spend Christmas at Southern Baptist mission site of Sanyati was readily
accepted. The Albrights drove the Hillman to the town of Gatooma and then Buddy and Rod
switched to a pickup truck while Jean and the other two boys rode in the Fort’s power wagon the
rest of the way. The 60 mile road from Gatooma to Sanyati was rough, too rough for the
Hillman. The road from Salisbury to Gatooma was better. It was a two-lane road with a single
lane of tarmac (pavement) down the center line. Approaching cars passed by mutually shifting
to the sides of the road, leaving one set of wheels on the edge of the tarmac. A cloud of dust
billowed out from wheels that were off the tarmac so that once passed, the road was now hidden
in a fog of dust for a short time. It was always a heart rate check to see the front of another
vehicle emerge from that fog of dust, barreling straight towards you. That is when quick reflexes
helped. Occasionally, an oncoming large lorry (truck) or bus would not yield the center paved
lane. Bigness is the boss in these situations, so people driving small Hillman Huskies were
forced to swerve completely to the far edge of the road and narrowly miss the thundering
transgressor. Africans walking or riding bicycles along the edge of the road were common as
22
Harare was the largest African township in Salisbury and the Baptist Church is still there. Rev. Mziramsanga
stayed with the Albrights many years later for a week long session at the Bible School. It was the first time he had
ever stayed with a white family. He got a double dose of cross culturalization because staying with the Albrights
was a transcultural event for anyone. He remained a very good preacher, teacher, and counselor despite being
‘Albrightized’ for a week.
Volume 1 – Section 2
Settling In (1958)
Page 25
well as cattle and goats which were herded down the road. Dodging the people and livestock
while also dodging the oncoming vehicles made driving something less than a leisure activity.
The first Christmas in Africa was very special for the Albright family. They stayed with
Monda Marlar, Mary Brooner and Pauline (Polly) Jackson. These missionary ladies had been
part of the welcoming committee in Beira. The Albrights toured the hospital complex and the
school compound where some African children still
… a rogue lion had carried
lingered, clad in uniforms. Buddy visited in nearby villages
off a person a few nights
with Clyde Dotson, met a headsman (village chief), and saw
ago from a nearby village.
the African churches. Buddy recalled spending a night in a
village where the headsman offered them a hut to sleep in.
Dotson stepped in to decline the offer, explaining to the rookie missionary on the side that this
would make the hut’s usual occupants have to bear the cold night outside with scant covering.
Africa is a cold continent under a hot sun, meaning hot days and cold nights. Dotson settled
them both down for the night by a cook fire. The next morning a villager enquired if they had
slept well by the fire. He went on to say that a rogue lion had carried off a person a few nights
ago from a nearby village. This impressed Buddy that there were more things to consider at
night in a village than just staying warm. It would not be his last encounter with a rogue lion
either.
Three other Southern Baptist
missionary families came with the
Albrights, so a sizeable group of
missionaries were there23. This was the
Albrights’ first trip to a mission station
which was not near a town. They were
out deep in the African countryside or
‘bush’ as it was called. The family was
excited to see their first warthogs just
outside Sanyati. The station was a little
Figure 2-9. First Christmas in Africa at Sanyati. L to R:
town in itself complete with water and
Monda Marlar, Rod, Pauline (Polly) Jackson, Max, Ray and
electricity. The buildings were laid out
Jean, Mary Brooner and Buddy. 1958
along streets and organized into zones of
residential, hospital and school. Vegetable gardens, fruit trees and cattle pastures helped provide
food. Max was impressed by the sufficiency of the mission station. Jean was impressed with the
23
The Frays, Revells, Forts and the three missionary ladies lived at Sanyati year round. The Thorpes, Cannatas, and
Garretts came with the Albrights as guests. Clyde Dotson also came, but was such a regular at Sanyati he was hardly
considered a guest.
Volume 1 – Section 2
Settling In (1958)
Page 26
African bush. She wrote that life in the bush is, “what one thinks of being a missionary”, but she
also notes that, “the cities have so many thousands that are confused and lost’.
The boys did indeed find presents on their first Christmas morn in Africa. To six year-old
Max, the familiar sight of a decorated Christmas tree surrounded by presents seemed odd in the
settings of Sanyati. He recalled that it awakened in him a realization that Christmas day was not
just about opening his presents. It was something about family and something about tradition.
But he open presents, they all did. Max was given a boat that shot water (for defense against
Rod’s boat maybe), books, a magician set and a pair of grey socks. Rod opened up presents
which had a teddy bear, a fort set, color paints, a red double decked bus (later melted by Ray in
the stove), and a sand bucket. Ray found a sand bucket as well, a tea set and a toy car. Jean
lamented that the high prices of toys really restricted what she bought them. Elizabeth Eden
(Jean’s cousin) sent $5 that was spent on a toy piano for all the boys. Mack and Gusto were
surprised with presents of new pants. There’s no mention of what Buddy and Jean gave each
other. As 1958 drew to a close, one can be sure they gave each other gave smiles of satisfaction.
This had been an incredibly busy year for them with several lifelong milestones achieved. The
Lord had been faithful and good in countless ways. And one can be sure they gave each other
hugs of assurance because their journey had just begun.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does He
withhold from those whose walk is blameless. O Lord Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in
you.
Psalm 84:11-12 NIV
Reference Sources:
1) International Mission Board Archives and Record Service. Solomon Databases.
http://archives.imb.org/solomon.htm. Minutes of 1947 (May), 1950 (May, September,
November), 1951 (Feb, June), 1952 (April), 1955 (March), 1958 (November), 1959
(May).
2) Commission. January, 1960 edition. Published by the Foreign Mission Board of the
Southern Baptist Commission.
3) Letter to Cecil and Georgia Flowers from Buddy. 1958. Dec 28, Dec 31.
4) Letters to Cecil and Georgia Flowers from Jean. 1958. Oct 29, Nov 1, Nov 11, Nov 16,
Nov 23, Dec 7, Dec 12 and Dec 22. 1959. Jan 9.
5) Meikles Limited. Manica Road, Salisbury. Receipt for £5-8. October 30, 1958.
Volume 1 – Section 2
Settling In (1958)
Page 27
6) Personal Interview of Buddy and Jean Albright. 2000. Microcassette #1. Interviewer:
Ray Albright
7) Personal Communications with Buddy and Jean Albright. 2004 – 2006.
8) Schedule of Activities for Christmas at Sanyati by Jane Fray. 1958. 1 page.
9) Southern Rhodesia Licensing and Revenue Office. Diver’s license for Jean Flowers
Albright. November 18, 1959.
10) US Department of Commerce. 1959. Current Population Reports. Consumer Income.
Bureau of the Census. Series P-60, No. 32.
11) US Department of State – Passport No. 1197862. LeRoy Albright. Issued August 8, 1958.
Expired August 8, 1962.
12) US Department of State – Passport No. 1197863. Jean F. Albright. Issued August 8,
1958. Expired August 8, 1962.
13) Waterfalls: A Suburb of Salisbury. 1956. Published by the Town Management Board of
Waterfalls, Powell Road. 8p.
14) Waterfalls Kindergarten Report. December, 1958. For Maxwell Albright.
Volume 1 – Section 2
In the Light of His Word Volume 1
Dual Society
Section 3
“We saw very quickly that it was a very divided country...”
Jean Albright, Recorded Interview, 2000.
Before going further, it is important for the reader to gain a grasp of the underlying social
setting and racial tensions which existed in the country of Southern Rhodesia. A brief history or
background is in order. Not a complete history, but an abbreviated version. Just enough to set
the stage. Some of this content is drawn from the sources referenced at the end of the chapter
and some from what was told and what was seen.
Figure 3-1. City of Salisbury. 1960
Source: Brelsford, W. V. 1960. Handbook to the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Cassell and Company, Ltd., London,
England. 800p.
Dual Society (1958)
Page 29
In 1958, Southern Rhodesia was more modernized than would have been expected in a small
country in the heart of Africa. Salisbury, the capital, was a growing city with about 270,000
residents. It showed all the outward signs of a modern European city. It had broad, paved
streets, high rise downtown buildings, electricity and
water service, parks with monuments, movie theaters,
universities, museums, sports leagues, department stores
with escalators, fancy restaurants, radio stations, social
societies, daily newspapers, a disciplined police force, and
a wealthy assortment of businesses and industries. One
Location of Salisbury,
Southern Rhodesia
could find almost all the modern conveniences of the era.
The hula hoop was the rage. Other large towns of Gwelo, Gatooma, Bulawayo, Umtali and
Victoria Falls were growing as well and, although not nearly as developed as Salisbury, were
miniature versions of the capital city. The outward signs boasted modernization, but the inward
signs were another matter.
As the American Civil War was winding down in the mid-1860s, the south central region of
Africa, now known by the countries of Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, and Zambia, were
virtually unknown to the rest of the world. African tribes existed in uneasy alliances with each
other. The wickedness of the slave trade still flourished. The evil of slavery had penetrated the
region and caused some tribes to become accustom to raiding other tribes for profit. David
Livingstone was returning to Africa from England for his final trip. His explorations along with
the tales of other adventurers from England, Portugal, Netherlands, and Germany began
unveiling south central Africa to the European continent. The British and Dutch were already
becoming established in the southern tip of Africa. They were the Europeans who were most
interested in south central Africa.
As the Wright brothers flew their plane into history at Kitty Hawk in 1903, the Crown of
England was now firmly entrenched in South Africa and had extended its military protection
northward to two new territories: Rhodesia and
Under the protective Seal of
Nyasaland (now Malawi). Rhodesia was named in
the Crown, Rhodes quickly
honor of a British entrepreneur and politician, Cecil
moved to turn the territories
Rhodes. As a Governor in South Africa, Rhodes’ vision
into profitable economic
was a British empire that extended from Cape Town to
ventures, especially in the
Cairo, overshadowing the older British empire in India.
southern portion of Rhodesia.
Financially wealthy from the South African diamond
industry at Kimberly, Rhodes bankrolled the British government’s expansion into the two
northern territories. Under the protective Seal of the Crown, Rhodes quickly moved to turn the
territories into profitable economic ventures, especially in the southern portion of Rhodesia. By
Volume 1 – Section 3
Dual Society (1958)
Page 30
1903, Cecil Rhodes' railroads, mining companies, and administrative structure had established
Rhodesia as a permanent and productive protectorate under Britain. His vision of a great British
empire in Africa had been denied, however by the Germans, who had colonized Tanganyika
(now Tanzania) and by the French, who had colonized the Congo (now DR Congo). In 1910,
Rhodesia was divided at the Zambezi River into Southern Rhodesia and Northern Rhodesia.
Southern Rhodesia was about the size of the state of Montana.
The Roaring Twenties swept the US with the flappers, prohibition, and Calvin Coolidge’s
declaration that America's business was business. In late 1922, Southern Rhodesian settlers
voted in a referendum to not become part of the Union of South Africa, electing instead to make
Rhodesia a self-governing colony under the British Crown—a status that became effective on
September 12, 1923. Southern Rhodesia was no longer a territory of South Africa. Elections
were held and a new government established. However, Southern Rhodesia was still within the
Commonwealth of the United Kingdom, so all the government officials were white, British
subjects.
The 1930s was a dismal decade. The crash of the American Stock Market had left the
world’s economy in shambles and the ensuing Great Depression cast a miserable, dark shadow
of hardship over everyone. The 1930s added another kind of hardship to the Africans in Southern
Rhodesia. In 1930, the Southern Rhodesian government passed a land act which excluded
Africans from ownership of the best farming land. A labor law, enacted in 1934, prohibited the
Africans from entering skilled trades and professions.
In 1953, the Korean War was over, Eisenhower was elected US President, and the Cold War
was in full force. In the same year, the United Kingdom created the Federation of Central Africa
which consisted of Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Britain had become
worried that these three colonies were moving towards independence and consolidated them to
better control their allegiance to the Crown. Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen
Mother and Princess Margaret visited the new Federation that year to bestow Royal approval.
The Africans within
Southern Rhodesia saw
it all from a different
perspective. A very
different perspective.
By 1958, Southern Rhodesia was beginning to enjoy lively
economic growth, expanding infrastructure, a stable social
order, and the pride of an emerging nation state. However, all
was not as bright and rosy as the picture may seem. The
Africans within Southern Rhodesia saw it all from a different
perspective. A very different perspective.
The African peoples of the south central region of the continent are mostly Bantu. This is a
general classification that means these types of Africans can be distinguished by both their racial
Volume 1 – Section 3
Dual Society (1958)
Page 31
features (they are very Negroid) and their language (the commonalities of their languages,
actually, for there are hundreds of Bantu languages). Bantus tend to be of short stature, peaceful,
hard workers, and to hold tight to tribal customs. One could enter a Bantu village and receive
immediate welcome and accommodation. But, Bantus will fight when provoked to do so.
The main tribes of Southern Rhodesia were (and still are) the Shonas and the Matabeles
(now called Ndebeles). The tribes did not intermingle and time-honored boundary lines defined
specific tribal lands. The Shonas were a farming people and consisted of a number of Shona
speaking tribes and lived in a large area called in English, Mashonaland. The Matabeles lived in
a smaller area called, Matabeleland. There were some other minor tribes such as the LaBemba,
Awemba, and the Ngoni who lived in-between the Shona tribes. The Matabeles were an
aggressive, pastoral tribe and preyed upon Shona cattle and crops with an irritating regularity.
Bantu tribes had a common social organization. The village community was the nucleus of
the social organization. Villages were composed of numerous huts; the quintessential single
room, mud walls capped with a grass thatch roof. No electricity, no running water, and no
indoor plumbing. No windows, a single door (often woven grass) and a hard dirt floor. A cluster
of huts composed a village. Most villages were families of kin or a clan. Each village had a
headman. Each tribe had a “King” or Chief who oversaw tribal military matters, land allocation,
and any social or judicial affairs. The tribal Chief’s most important job was maintaining the
harmony among the villages. Harmony is a critical element in village life and discord is to be
avoided at all costs. Scattered around each village were the crop fields and the pasture
woodlands. Row crop agriculture and cattle were the primary sources of food. There was some
hunting and fishing, but cows and millet were the basic subsistence. Once the Portuguese
introduced maize (corn) in the early 1800s, it rapidly became the main food crop.
The appearance of Europeans in south central Africa did not raise
…in Bantu fashion,
any concerns among the Africans. Instead, in Bantu fashion, the
the white people
white people were well hosted. As missionaries, miners, hunters, and
were well hosted.
adventurers began to trickle into the region and take up residence,
tribal Chiefs readily provided land. The Africans were very interested in the technologies of the
white people, their medicines, their metal pans, their soft cloth, and their strange plants such as
maize and potatoes.
As British rule began to exert itself, the tribal control of land allocation was ignored and
settlers were “given” large tracts of land by the authority of the Crown rather than a tribal Chief.
This was an aggravation to the Africans. Three years after Salisbury was established in 1890, the
Matabeles rose in armed rebellion against the white 'intruders', but this was quickly quelled in
almost a single battle. Then again, three years later, the Matabeles plus many of the Shonas
Volume 1 – Section 3
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Page 32
began widespread warfare. For the Shonas to join in meant that their dislike of their antagonistic
neighbors, the Matabeles, was overshadowed by their dislike of losing their farm land to large
white farms. The whites and the Africans suffered heavy loss of life for over a year until Cecil
Rhodes struck a deal with the Matabeles and later the Shonas.
The short term gains to the Africans from Rhodes’ peace terms were lost to the long term
social changes that followed. All the tribes eventually lost their independence and power. The
British took full governmental authority over every tribe, reducing the tribal Chief’s power to the
equivalent of a lower court judge. The Chief’s authority was restricted to only being allowed to
settling minor disputes among the tribe. Africans now had to become accustom to British laws,
British social structure and British way of economics. Britain then followed with two more
powerful changes: taxes and the control of firearms.
The British clamped down on the firearm trade and jacked up the price of gun powder. For
the guns that remained in African hands, this meant that they soon became outdated, inferior, and
expensive to operate. As the British gained military superiority, a peace settled over the
territories. Tribal skirmishes lessened and then ceased. Tribes, such as the Matebeles, who had
practiced raiding other tribes for profit and power, were now forced to plant crops and tend
cattle. The British would not allow such ‘nonsense’ as armed bands of African men out roaming
the countryside and stealing Shona cattle. The Shonas surely appreciated this change, but not the
next.
Taxes were imposed on all African adults soon after the last remnants of rebellion had been
silenced. Taxes brought on a social change that still persists today. To pay the taxes, Africans
had to have money. Tribute in millet, firewood, fish or animal skins would not do for the British
as they had done between the tribes. To get money, Africans had to either sell what they could
produce by the toil of their hands, or go to work for the whites. The latter required living close
to white towns and/or working in white farms and mines. Africans began to move to the
outskirts of towns abandoning the village social organization. African males began to leave the
villages and move far off to work on farms or in mines. The
By 1958…there
urbanization of Africans had begun. The distinction of tribal land
were…twelve
was on the decline.
Africans for every
white person.
By 1958, when the Albrights arrived, there were estimated to be
about two and half million Africans in Southern Rhodesia. Twelve
Africans for every white person. One hundred and seventy Africans for every Asian. The
Africans had no voice in the government of the colony, no position in the companies that ran the
mines, and no rights to purchase agricultural land as did the white settlers. The Africans had no
money to invest in commercial ventures, no capital to start a store or factory, and no means to get
Volume 1 – Section 3
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Page 33
a bank loan. By law, they were not allowed to learn the technological skills to operate large
machinery, design buildings, construct a bridge, practice modern medicine, or invent a new
technology. They were subject to the British government, the British military might, and the
British systems of laws. But, worse, they were at the mercy of the economy of the white people.
And that economy was merciless.
In 1958, there were two very divergent views of the condition of Southern Rhodesia. On the
one end, the British colonists were very proud of the developed and flourishing country that they
had built from nothing but the ‘untamed bush and open plains’. Many of the colonists were
second or third generation African born and considered Southern Rhodesia their native country
by all birth rights. They were British only by blood lineage. Their greatest mistake was making
the resident Africans non-citizens and non-skilled workers. They should have been preparing the
Africans for a day when they too would be a lawyer, a doctor, an engineer, a military general, a
CEO, and a Prime Minister (or President).
But, one cannot fault just the British. The French, Germans, Portuguese, Italians and Dutch
treated Africans almost the same way in their African colonies. It fit the purpose of a colony,
which was to extract all the resources as possible and send them to the over lording European
country. The European country could not allow the Africans to gain power and stop the flow of
wealth out of ‘their’ colony. Yes, what the Europeans did to the resident natives was wrong, but
the Americans treated the American Indians even worse. The United States purposefully killed
off and relocated entire Native American tribes in order to gain the resources. Some in Congress
even wanted to keep Mexico as an American colony after the Mexican-American War. Instead,
the US took from Mexico present day Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California because of
the resources that those lands held. And the treatment of African peoples in America first
through slavery, then through segregation, was despicable to say the least. So, one cannot fault
just the British on their wrong treatment of the Africans.
On the other end, the Africans shared little pride in
this country that the whites called Southern Rhodesia. To
the Africans it was an arrangement that had gone from bad
to worse. They first welcomed the European settlers
because they realized that their basic subsistence living
could be greatly improved through European agriculture,
household goods such as metal pans, medicines, textiles, and technologies with things as simple
as matches. Then the Africans began to realize that these improvements came with a cost: the
loss of their lands and the loss of their tribal structure. As the Africans were pushed further and
further away from the centers of political and economic power, a new reality set in: they were
only suppose to be the lowest level worker and never a manager or higher in this new structure.
As the Africans were
pushed further and further
away from the centers of
political and economic
power, a new reality set in…
Volume 1 – Section 3
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Page 34
To the African, the broad, paved streets, high rise downtown buildings, electricity and water
service, parks with monuments, movie theaters, universities, museums, sports leagues,
department stores with escalators, fancy restaurants, radio stations, social societies, daily
newspapers, disciplined police force, and a wealthy assortment of businesses and industries
meant little because none of these were there for them.
The African’s great mistake was both complacency and materialism. They accepted the
yoke of being a sub-citizen too easily, almost willingly, because material things, such things like
bicycles, radios, shoes, fancy clothes, mirrors, and much, much more, were a powerful lure to
accept the yoke. Yes, the British did bind them with military superiority, taxes, and laws. But
the African should have applied pressure and resistance on all sides with the determination that
Gandhi had in India. Their future generations did this with success as the reader will see.
…the only place of
It was into this colony with its dual society (Asians and mixed
equality in the entire
races were inconsequential at that time) that the Albright family
country was at the
arrived. Buddy and Jean with the call to minister to the African
cash register…
quickly found out that the African was disregarded in his own
land. They saw very quickly that it was a very divided country.
They learned that it was acceptable to share Christianity with the African, to teach the African
about the Bible and Christian songs, to visit with the African, and to help the African with gifts
of food, clothing, and medicine, but it was not acceptable to treat the African as an equal. It
stunned them. Buddy noted that the only place of equality in the entire country was at the cash
register, they all paid the same prices. It hurt Buddy to see 600 to 700 African children huddled
outside the only African high school in the city, trying to claim one of the 150 places offered by
the school. Contact with the African had to occur in an African church, African home, African
hospital, or African school. Africans were not allowed into white churches, hospitals or schools,
unless they worked there. Africans were only suppose to enter into white homes through the
back door or servants’ entrance, and they could never spend a night in the home of a white24.
It was a situation that Buddy and Jean detested.
For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile – the same Lord is Lord of all and richly
blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Romans 10:12-13 NIV
24
The Albright’s home was reported to the police by the neighbors across the street for having Africans visit too
often, and even entering through the front door. Sam Jones smoothed it all over by explaining that the Albrights
were learning an African language which required some teaching at the house by an African.
Volume 1 – Section 3
Dual Society (1958)
Page 35
Reference Sources:
1) Brelsford, W. V. 1960. Handbook to the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Cassell
and Company, Ltd., London, England. 800p.
2) Letters to Cecil and Georgia Flowers from Jean. 1958. Nov 1.
3) Personal Interview of Buddy and Jean Albright. 2000. Microcassette #1. Interviewer:
Ray Albright
4) Personal Communications with Buddy and Jean Albright. 2004 – 2006.
Volume 1 – Section 3