The long delayed, and fervently prayed for time had come at last. For
ten weary years these earnest and faithful missionaries had laboured
without seeing any results. Now their hearts were to rejoice as they
should witness the work of the Holy Spirit, and see those over whom they
had so long mourned, brought to the Saviour, and out of heathen darkness
into Gospel light.

"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth;" so was it
with the awakening among the Bechwanas at the Kuruman. There seemed no
apparent cause for the intensity of feeling that was now displayed by
these people. Men, who had scorned the idea of shedding a tear, wept as
their hearts were melted. The chapel became a place of weeping, and
some, after gazing intently upon the preacher, fell down in hysterics.
The little chapel became too small to hold the numbers who flocked to
it, and with the voluntary aid of Aaron Josephs a new building,
fifty-one feet long by sixteen wide, with clay walls and thatched roof,
was erected to serve as a school-house and place of worship, until the
large stone church, which was to form the most prominent feature of the
station, should be completed.

This temporary church was opened in May, 1829, and in the following
month, after very careful examination, six candidates for baptism were
selected from among the inquirers. Speaking of these converts Robert
Moffat said, "It was truly gratifying to observe the simplicity of their
faith, implicitly relying on the atonement of Christ, of which they
appeared to have a very clear conception, considering the previous
darkness of their minds on such subjects."