M0NR0VIA-AFR1CA
Letter from Rev. John Day
Monrovia, Liberia,
November 10th, 1857
REV. JAMES B. TAYLOR:
Very Dear Sir - Mr. Burk, by the request of the church of
Clay-Ashland, infonned me, a few days ago, that their church
edifice was too small for their congregation; that they were going
to enlarge it, and begged a donation. I advised that they make an
effort to build a brick edifice, and promised to beg that S200 be
allowed. Even if the school should have to be stopped awhile to
enable them to accomplish the work, allow the money appropriated
to the school to be used in building. The Lord has blessed that
church, and revived his work in its midst. Please use your
influence to have that amount allowed, to help a worthy, poor
people build an edifice of brick, in the midst of three other brick
chapels, and let these humble Baptists feel that they, too, have
friends in America. They are a very worthy people, and have
chosen as pastor Mr. William C. Burk, who is overcoming every
obstacle, and is urging his way to respectability as a minister.
Burk will be a preacher, and what endears him to me is, I know not
a spot on his moral character. His persevering efforts to sustain a
Sunday school would delight you; and while other schools do wax
and wane, his holds its own and progresses. He often mentions
Mr. Crane, and strives to imitate him.
I have just received a letter from brother Drayton,
informing me of a revival in his church, -- of four baptized, and
more seekers. His schools are, he says, flourishing. I hope well
for his school, -but our schools have given me much trouble.
Reports from some are not to be relied on. I am going soon up the
river, to see how true some reports have been. The little school at
Junk is a blessing to the people. The school at Edina has, for more
than twenty years, had the best teachers the North and South
Baptist missions have had, and is, I think, the best common school
in Liberia — except, perhaps, the common schools connected with
the high schools of Liberia, sustained by foreign mission boards.
Our other schools are mostly poor things.
