THE LIFE OF RICHARD WILLIAM MUELLER, JR.
(Continued)

Dad’s Autobiography – Chapter 6 – In Book, Page 11

Nigeria, Lessons Learned, On To Central Africa, Delayed, Final Leg, Blessed Journey End, To Our Home In Lusaka, Trip To Town – And Matero

Nigeria! I should mention a few other incidents which made an impression on me. They are not directly connected with mission work, but they were teaching experiences nevertheless.

Lessons Learned! I learned that a front-wheel drive vehicle goes through mud much better than a rear-wheel drive vehicle. I also learned that best help is not always immediate help. Missionary Greve drove right by a man lying dead in the road. I wondered why. He explained that had we stopped we would have been mobbed, and probably killed, by by-standers. The best way to help was to stop at the nearest police station and report the accident. I learned, too, not to leave a light on in a closed closet. It can cause a fire – as one did in a mission home.

Another lesson we learned in Nigeria is that now we were far away from Wisconsin. You will notice that I did not say ‘home’. The reason for that is because no matter where we lived, that was ‘home’. However, it was a death that made us realize that there was and would be quite a distance between us and our families. One of the missionaries’ wives had died in Nigeria – and she was buried the very next day. There was no embalming in Nigeria – and the weather was hot and humid. Any dead body began to decompose immediately. No thought whatsoever of returning the body to the United States – or waiting for relatives to come from the United States. We learned in a hurry that the United States was far away in time and distance.

We also learned that Africans, especially Nigerian Africans are black, very, very black. One evening I went to a Bible Class with Dr. Schweppe. When we arrived at the church, the night was pitch black. There were no windows or doors in the church – only openings where doors and windows should have been. A solitary lantern illuminated the inside of the building – quite a large building. During the Bible Class, I looked up to see two white sheets in the doorway. It took me a while to realize that there were people in those white dresses. The skin of those ladies was so black that I could not see the ladies themselves. However, not all Africans are as black as those ladies were. We learned that after we reached Northern Rhodesia (Zambia).

ON TO CENTRAL AFRICA

The time had come to take our leave of the mission, the missionaries, and the work of our Lord in Nigeria. It was a sad time – and a happy time. It was sad because we were leaving friends behind whom our Lord had made for us during our stay in southern Nigeria. (Little did we know that our Lord, in less than seven year, would bring two of those families to Northern Rhodesia to labor in His vineyard there.) It was sad because we were leaving behind a work that we so dearly wanted to be part of. One of the missionaries sensed that and told us that he wished we could stay there and join us in the labors of the mission there.

But, we were off – thinking that within a few days we would be in the mission field to which our Lord had called us. Oh, how mistaken we were.

Delayed! We flew to Kano, Nigeria, which is right on the edge of the Sahara desert. It was where the plane would land to take us on to Lusaka. It did land – but it took off without us. We were out of bed in the middle of the night with two infants. We stood at the fence looking at our plane when the pilot came over to inform us that he could not take us. We did not have visas for South Africa. We had been told in New York by the airlines that we did not need them.

So the plane flew off without us. We returned to our motel to the vultures perched on the rooftops – and to the heat – thankfully, dry heat. And there we stay for three days as I made my way back and forth to government offices trying to persuade them to let us out of the country.

At first, it was to no avail – in fact, the government official in charge of visitor’s problems, suggested that I fly to Lagos and obtain a visa there. I convince him that I did not have the money to do so – and that I would not leave my family behind. Finally, after three days, he broke down and made out a visa to South Africa for us. (Little did I know that I could have had it much sooner if I had only slipped him a “dash” (money) under the table.) We had not yet become wise world travelers.

Final Leg! Finally, we were off on the next leg of our journey to Northern Rhodesia. But first we would have to stop in Johannesburg, South Africa – and then in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia.

As our plane flew across Africa, I asked to speak to the pilot. (In those days, the cockpit was not off-limits to passengers. In fact, passengers were encouraged to see what the pilots were seeing, to talk to them, and to ask them questions.) I told him of our plight. He listened – and by the time we reached Johannesburg, he had booked us on a flight to Salisbury. Yes, we really did not need those visas. We never got out of the airport. We exited one plane and boarded another within a few hours.

As we flew toward Salisbury, I again asked to speak to the pilot. I told him our story again and, by the time we reached Salisbury, he had us booked on a flight to our destination, Lusaka, Northern Rhodesia. Our journey from Kano, Northern Nigeria to Lusaka, Northern Rhodesia has lasted less than twenty-four hours. Our Lord had again blessed us richly. He had given us a taste of officialdom – which stood us in good stead many times in the future – and he had hastened our trip to His vineyard in Northern Rhodesia.

Blessed Journey End! And, as if to tell us that He would continue to hover over us throughout our ministry in Central Africa, He produced a most beautiful rainbow as our plane was about to land. And, after we landed, He showed us more of His wonders by feasting our eyes with beautiful bougainvillea covering the Quonset hut terminal. Then He proceeded to regale us with flowering trees (flamboyant trees, tulip trees, and jacaranda trees) standing tall all along the road to what was to be our home for the next four and one-half years. (We had many homes in the fifteen years we labored as missionaries for the Lutheran Church of Central Africa.)

TO OUR HOME IN LUSAKA

The house that was to be our home for the next nine months is located at the far southeast corner of Lusaka. It was a rented house. The home that was to be our more permanent home was in the process of being built. Missionary Kohl had designed it, but had to leave Northern Rhodesia (later named Zambia) before it was completed. He had to leave because of ill health – and died soon after. We were the missionaries who had been called to replace him.

Trip To Town – And Matero! This rented house was about as far away from downtown Lusaka as a person could get. It was also far, far away from the budding congregations – and from the lay worker that had been placed under my care. However, there were many blessings given to us by this placement. We were able to drive down the main artery of Lusaka – a dual carriage way — on our way to almost anywhere we wanted to go. We passed a little shopping center and, more importantly, the residence of the governor of Northern Rhodesia. That residence was later to become the palace of the first president of Zambia, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda.

We also passed many government buildings, the most impressive of which was the High Court. Later, the Anglican Cathedral was built near it. The American Embassy was built in that same area after Northern Rhodesia became independent. Then came the fanciest hotel in Lusaka (at that time) the Ridgeway Hotel. Finally, we drove down a little hill to Cairo Road, Lusaka’s main street.

That road was also a dual carriage way, with a huge deep, deep ditch running down the center of it. At one end of Cairo Road were the more modern looking shops with the Post Office standing out among them. At the other end were the older buildings which someone described as having a Wild West look. The granary overlooked that section of town and could be seen from miles around. It was like a beacon welcoming us home from our travels into the bush, from the Copperbelt, and from Victoria Falls.

To get to Matero, the African compound in which one of the congregations I was to serve was located, we had to drive through town and through the heavy industrial area. It was in that area that the largest tobacco auction floor in the world once stood. It was within one large building. We witnessed an auction there — an auctioneer moving at a rapid pace between rows of tobacco bales, shouting out unintelligible prices (to us) as he went. It is there no longer. One of the presidents of Zambia was against smoking.