They agreed to let Mary
go into the new territory. She did not have to go back to Akpap.
This made Mary very happy. Now she could work full time among the
Ibibios. She offered to pay for the building of a mission station among the
Ibibios if there was no money in the homeland treasury. In May the
government appointed Mary to take charge of the courts in the Ibibio
district as she had done in Okoyong. It paid her for this work so now she
had money to carry on her mission work whether the Board paid her or not.
Court was held at Ikotobong. Three chiefs and a jury helped Mary in trying
the cases, but Mary's word was law. Mary was fair and kind, but at the same
time she saw to it that those who did bad things were punished. In a letter
to a friend she wrote:
God help those poor helpless women. They are treated worse than animals.
Today I had a crowd of people. How wicked they were! I have had a murder, a
poison bean case, a suicide, a man branding his slave wife all over her
face and body, a man with a gun who shot four people. It is all horrible.
But her work as judge did not stop her from doing her mission
work. Everywhere she went she told the natives of Jesus' death for
them. She opened schools and churches for natives. She also was thinking
about the other missionaries. She planned a place for them where they could
spend weekends or where they could rest when they were getting over
sickness.
Pages:
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143