John V Taylor's Prayer Letters c 1946

A few days after our lunch with the Woodds, a thick brown envelope arrived in the post, with a bundle of letters and two photos in it - all dating from 1946 - 53! Joanna had very kindly sent us some copies of her father John Taylor's missionary letters, written as a CMS missionary to his supporters.

So many oh so familiar prayer requests, observations, descriptions... Even the way every letter opens: "I am very sorry this letter is late..." "A long time has passed since my last letter..."

Although obviously much has changed in Mukono in the last sixty years, and all the more so in the last ten, some issues just don't seem to go away... Here are just some all too familiar issues that Taylor asked for prayer for:

- Thanks for conversions, but sorrow that they are followed by dissent and suspicion among different Christian groups on and off campus.

- Finances: income for the college didn't go up for several years, although living costs went up by 60 %...

- Shortage of housing - five missionaries were on campus but there were only four available houses, and a sixth family was on the way...

- Malaria was prevalent among the students (he puts this down to the opening up of brick fields around the Mukono area).

- Resistance to new ideas... and dependance on the staff to solve all the students' problems...

Some things have improved for missionaries since those days though: for example, John Taylor writes that he and his wife were both sick with fever and jaundice for much of one term, in and out of hospital, and then he went down with blackwater fever, which he self treated by drinking quantities of soda bicarb.

Some other nice touches:

He writes about students and staff walking out into local villages to do outreach, sleeping on the mud floors of primary schools, playing football matches with the villagers followed by an evangelistic message, and even a blood donor scheme being run from "our great Mengo Hospital," collecting blood from the students on a fortnightly basis. Apparently the students were extremely reluctant to give their blood at first, after being challenged to do it in a sermon entitled "God and our bodies"given by the missionary doctor from Mengo. But Taylor describes how after a Monday of reflection, including a two hour discussion in the pastoralia class, and what he calls "the silent bombardment of the Spirit," 55 students agreed to give blood by the end of the day.

He describes the first buildings of the (now) Ordinands' Village as "four lovely little cottages and kitchens."

One amusing note: the African contractor who drew the plans for the new "Demonstration Hall" comprising of a domestic science room, a classroom and an office (I suppose this is Thelma Hall), wrote on the plan that this was to be the "Demons Training Hall". Simply too good to be true...!!

John Taylor comments on how strong the sense of unity and community was, in spite of, and he says partly strengthened by, the lack of resources, which brought students and staff together: the students were working together to grow food in the college gardens and even build the furniture for the college. Hmm I don't see our students growing their own food these days...

Well in some ways it sounds like a golden age for the college. Taylor sounds like a prayerful, thoughtful spiritual leader who was fatherly whilst making every effort not to be paternalistic, but more like a brother to the students and staff. But it also sounds as though the same misunderstandings, disappointments, frustrations and crossed wires occurred. I wish there were more details in the letter about things like their diet, and the pastimes of the missionaries when they were not at work, but, maybe there weren't many such times.

Reading these letters, I feel as though I have been in a time machine and gone back sixty years. It sounds as though Mukono was a special place back then,  - and I believe it still is now, a place where God is at work training and building up leaders for the church and for East Africa. John Taylor frequently refers to our Lord the Spirit working away in people's lives, the Spirit who is responsible for all the progress made and for all the good things that happened - and I know the same Spirit is there with all of you working in Mukono today. Hold onto that always.