36 
GOD'S BLACK DIAMONDS. 
their backs when they came to worship God. When 
they knelt with their heads hanging right down, 
the babies felt frightened and cried ever so loudly. 
I am reminded of the first service I held at a certain 
town in Nigeria. We — the people and the mission — 
had built a church, and in it the first Christian 
service was held, I got the boys from the Oron 
Training Institute to gO' with me, and we walked 
right round the town singing the praises of God 
in native language. The old chief opened the door 
at my request, and inside five minutes the church 
was so full there was no chance for late-comers. 
Some had brought seats with them, and those who 
had not had to sit on the floor. What a time it 
was ! We had to teach them the hymns line by 
line, and, harder still, had to teach them the tune ! 
There was no organ to lead the singing. With 
the Institute boys for a choir, we managed to pull 
through. When it came to the collection, I lost 
nearly all my congregation. They had scattered to 
their homes to get some money. We waited till they 
came back, received what they brought, and then 
finished in the usual way. The Rev. A. H. 
Richardson, at the end of his trek to the Udi 
Country, settled down for a time in a town called 
Ogwe. He held his first service with the chiefs 
of that place. They all sat together in a compound. 
He taught them, line by line, the words of a hymn, 
and then how to sing it. He explained he was 
going to talk with the Great Father in prayer, and 
asked them to close their eyes and bow their heads. 
They did so, all the time Mr. Richardson talked 
with God. And after he had told them the great 
Bible story, and finished off the service, they told 
