Peyton Adams Eubank
Missionary - Africa 1882 - 1892

Memories of a Missionary Tour of Duty in Africa: 1882 - 1892
by Laura Boardman Houchens Eubank
Wife of Rev. Peyton Adams Eubank
Missionaries To Nigeria 1882
Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board, Richmond, VA.

Our Second Furlough

We were now approaching the time for our second furlough. I have said that four years was the length of time adopted by our mission as the limit of safety, the largest of any of the missions and much longer than any of the government or businessmen. The Catholic priests may have been an exception but we knew so little about them that I go not know much about their system.

During this year there we spent several weeks down at Oyo living in the home of Mr. Mathews which we were erecting a new building on our old mission site spoken of before, which was to mark the reopening of our old mission. Of course, it had the inevitable mud walls but by this time we were having imported roofs of galvanized iron. The walls were built in this way. The mud or clay was digged, thoroughly soaked with water, then a large force of men were engaged to mold this into balls and carry them to the builders on the wall who threw them with such force on the wall that they became firmly fixed there. Then they would scrape them smooth and level. This was continued till the wall was high enough for the roof.

(Page 42)

The roof was put on the floor made level and beaten smooth and rubbed with cow dung to make it smooth. This was repeated every few weeks as long as the house was occupied to keep it smooth. And so, like Nehemiah, "we builded the wall." And after we left it became the very pleasant home of our missionaries and the center once more of our reopened Baptist Mission.

 


August 2000 - Notes - WRE Jr.

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