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The Story of John G. Paton: Chapter 65 - The Christ-Spirit at Work


      THE progress of God's work was most conspicuous in, relation to wars and revenges among the Natives. The two high Chiefs, Namakei and Naswai, frequently declared, "We are the men of Christ now. We must not fight. We must put down murders and crimes among our people."

      Two young fools, returning from Tanna with muskets, attempted twice to shoot a man in sheer wantonness and display of malice. The Islanders met, and informed them that if man or woman was injured by them, the other men would load their muskets and shoot them dead in general council. This was a mighty step towards public order, and I greatly rejoiced before the Lord. His Spirit, like leaven, was at work!

      My constant custom was, in order to prevent war, to run right in between the contending parties. My faith enabled me to grasp and realize the promise, "Lo, I am with you always." In Jesus I felt invulnerable and immortal, so long as I was doing His work. And I can truly say that these were the moments when I felt my Saviour to be most truly and sensibly present, inspiring and empowering me.

      Another scheme had an excellent educative and religious influence. I tried to interest all the villages, and to treat all the Chiefs equally. In our early days, after getting into my two-roomed house, I engaged the Chief, or representative man of each district, to put up one or other at the many outhouses required at the Station. One, along with his people, built the cookhouse; another, the store; another, the banana and yam-house; another, the washing-house; another, the boys and girls' house; the houses for servants and teachers, the Schoolhouse, and the large shed, a kind of shelter where Natives sat and talked when not at work about the premises. Of course these all were at first only Native huts, of larger or smaller dimensions. But they were all built by contract for articles which they highly valued, such as axes, knives, yards of prints and calico, strings of beads, blankets, etc. They served our purpose for the time, and when another party, by contract also, had fenced around our premises, the Mission Station was really a beautiful, little, lively, and orderly village, and in itself no bad emblem of Christian and civilized life. The payments, made to all irrespectively, but only for work duly done and according to reasonable bargain, distributed property and gifts amongst them on wholesome principles, and encouraged a well-conditioned rivalry which had many happy effects.

      Heathenism made many desperate and some strange efforts to stamp out our Cause on Aniwa, but the Lord held the helm. One old Chief, formerly friendly, turned against us. He ostentatiously set himself to make a canoe, working at it very openly and defiantly on Sabbaths. He, becoming sick and dying, his brother started, on a Sabbath morning and in contempt of the Worship, with an armed company to provoke our people to war. They refused to fight; and one man, whom he struck with his club, said, "I will leave my revenge to Jehovah."

      A few days thereafter, this brother also fell sick and suddenly died. The Heathen party made much of these incidents, and some clamored for our death in revenge, but most feared to murder us; so they withdrew and lived apart from our friends, as far away as they could get. By and by, however, they set fire to a large district belonging to our supporters burning cocoanut and breadfruit trees and plantations. Still our people refused to fight, and kept near to protect us. Then all the leading men assembled to talk it over. Most were for peace, but some insisted upon burning our house and driving us away or killing us, that they might be left to live as they had hitherto done. At last a Sacred Man, a Chief who had been on Tanna when the Curacoa punished the murderers and robbers, but protected the villages of the friendly Natives there, stood up and spoke in our defense, and warned them what might happen; and other three, who had been under my instruction on Tanna, declared themselves to be the friends of Jehovah and of His Missionary. Finally, the Sacred Man rose again, and showed them rows of beautiful white shells strung round his left arm, saying--

      "Nowar, the great Chief at Port Resolution on Tanna, when he saw that Missi and his wife could not be kept there, took me to his heart, and pledged me by these, the shells of his office as Chief, taken from his own arm and bound on mine, to protect them from all harm. He told me to declare to the men of Aniwa that if the Missi be injured or slain, he and his warriors will come from Tanna and take the full revenge in blood." This turned the scale. The meeting closed in our favor.

      Close on the heels of this, another and a rather perplexing incident befell us. A party of Heathens assembled and made a great display of fishing on the Lord's Day, in contempt of the practice of the men on Jehovah's side, threatening also to waylay the Teachers and myself in our village circuits. A meeting was held by the Christian party, at the close of the Sabbath Services. All who wished to serve Jehovah were to come to my house next morning, unarmed, and accompany me on a visit to our enemies, that we might talk and reason together with them. By daybreak, the Chiefs and nearly eighty men assembled at the Mission House, declaring that they were on Jehovah's side, and wished to go with me. But, alas! they refused to lay down their arms, or leave them behind; nor would they either refrain from going or suffer me to go alone. Pledging them to peace, I was reluctantly placed at their head, and we marched off to the village of the unfriendly party.

      The villagers were greatly alarmed. The Chief's two sons came forth with every available man to meet us. That whole day was consumed in talking and speechifying, sometimes chanting their replies--the Natives are all inveterate talkers! To me the day was utterly wearisome; but it had one redeeming feature,--their rage found vent in hours of palaver, instead of blows and blood. It ended in peace. The Heathen were amazed at the number of Jehovah's friends; and they pledged themselves henceforth to leave the Worship alone, and that every one who pleased might come to it unmolested. For this, worn out and weary, we returned, praising the Lord.

Back to John G. Paton index.

See Also:
   Preface
   Chapter 1 - Our Cottage Home
   Chapter 2 - Our Forebears
   Chapter 3 - Consecrated Parents
   Chapter 4 - School Days
   Chapter 5 - Leaving the Old Home
   Chapter 6 - Early Struggles
   Chapter 7 - A City Missionary
   Chapter 8 - Glasgow Experiences
   Chapter 9 - A Foreign Missionary
   Chapter 10 - To the New Hebrides
   Chapter 11 - First Impressions of Heathendom
   Chapter 12 - Breaking Ground on Tanna
   Chapter 13 - Pioneers in the New Hebrides
   Chapter 14 - The Great Bereavement
   Chapter 15 - At Home With Cannibals
   Chapter 16 - Superstitions and Cruelties
   Chapter 17 - Streaks of Dawn Amidst Deeds of Darkness
   Chapter 18 - The Visit Of H. M. S. "Cordelia"
   Chapter 19 - "Noble Old Abraham"
   Chapter 20 - A Typical South Sea Trader
   Chapter 21 - Under Ax And Musket
   Chapter 22 - A Native Saint and Martyr
   Chapter 23 - Building and Printing for God
   Chapter 24 - Heathen Dance and Sham Fight
   Chapter 25 - Cannibals at Work
   Chapter 26 - The Defying of Nahak
   Chapter 27 - A Perilous Pilgrimage
   Chapter 28 - The Plague of Measles
   Chapter 29 - Attacked with Clubs
   Chapter 30 - Kowia
   Chapter 31 - Martyrdom of the Gordons
   Chapter 32 - Shadows Deepening on Tanna
   Chapter 33 - The Visit of the Commodore
   Chapter 34 - The War Chiefs in Council
   Chapter 35 - Under Knife and Tomahawk
   Chapter 36 - The Beginning of the End
   Chapter 37 - Five Hours in a Canoe
   Chapter 38 - A Race for Life
   Chapter 39 - Faint Yet Pursuing
   Chapter 40 - Waiting at Kwamera
   Chapter 41 - The Last Awful Night
   Chapter 42 - "Sail O! Sail O!"
   Chapter 43 - Farewell to Tanna
   Chapter 44 - The Floating of the "Dayspring"
   Chapter 45 - A Shipping Company for Jesus
   Chapter 46 - Australian Incidents
   Chapter 47 - Amongst Squatters and Diggers
   Chapter 48 - John Gilpin in the Bush
   Chapter 49 - The Aborigines of Australia
   Chapter 50 - Nora
   Chapter 51 - Back to Scotland
   Chapter 52 - Tour Through the Old Country
   Chapter 53 - Marriage and Farewell
   Chapter 54 - First Peep at the "Dayspring"
   Chapter 55 - The French in the Pacific
   Chapter 56 - The Gospel and Gunpowder
   Chapter 57 - A Plea for Tanna
   Chapter 58 - Our New Home on Aniwa
   Chapter 59 - House-Building for God
   Chapter 60 - A City of God
   Chapter 61 - The Religion of Revenge
   Chapter 62 - First Fruits on Aniwa
   Chapter 63 - Traditions and Customs
   Chapter 64 - Nelwang's Elopement
   Chapter 65 - The Christ-Spirit at Work
   Chapter 66 - The Sinking of the Well
   Chapter 67 - Rain from Below
   Chapter 68 - The Old Chief's Sermon
   Chapter 69 - The First Book and the New Eyes
   Chapter 70 - A Roof-Tree for Jesus
   Chapter 71 - "Knock The Tevil Out!"
   Chapter 72 - The Conversion of Youwili
   Chapter 73 - First Communion on Aniwa
   Chapter 74 - The New Social Order
   Chapter 75 - The Orphans and Their Biscuits
   Chapter 76 - The Finger-Posts of God
   Chapter 77 - The Gospel in Living Capitals
   Chapter 78 - The Death Of Namakei
   Chapter 79 - Christianity and Cocoanuts
   Chapter 80 - Nerwa's Beautiful Farewell
   Chapter 81 - Ruwawa
   Chapter 82 - Litsi Sore and Mungaw
   Chapter 83 - The Conversion of Nasi
   Chapter 84 - The Appeal of Lamu
   Chapter 85 - Wanted! A Steam Auxiliary
   Chapter 86 - My Campaign in Ireland
   Chapter 87 - Scotland's Free-Will Offerings
   Chapter 88 - England's Open Book
   Chapter 89 - Farewell Scenes
   Chapter 90 - Welcome to Victoria and Aniwa
   Chapter 91 - Good News From Tanna, 1891

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