In the lturi forest, four days south of Nala, lived a big chief named Ibambi. His village  was the  center  of a great population.  In  1922  Studd   moved  his  headquarters here.

Ibambi became the name given to the place.  Natives came  by the  hundreds to be taught and  baptized. Almost every day one could hear hymns of people coming from various directions.  He began to go into the forest area around about. Up at Imbai (5 hours away) a house of God to seat 1,200 was built.  Over to Adzangwe (3 hours away) saw 500 to 600 worshipping the Lord on Sunday. Studd’s health began to fail badly.  Many urged him to go home. To England, but it was as if he was in the midst of an amazing black-skinned revival, something he had already given his life for, so he felt he must stay on.  Now six stations were operating  in  lturi Province   in  addition  to  the  first  four original ones in Welle Province.

Back In England a miracle  of sorts happened. The day after  Studd   left  in  1916  his wife  got  off the  invalid's bed never  to return. She began  to live the life of a whirlwind, and  the salvation of souls, plus the care of her children were the  only  things  she lived  for.  She traveled on behalf of her Lord and her husband to the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, and South Africa.  She was considered one of the finest  missionary speakers  in the world. By 1921 Mrs Studd expanded the headquarters at home.  Previously in 1919 Gilbert Barclay, husband of daughter Dorothy, became Overseer of the Home Office.  The mission title was changed from Heart of Africa Mission to Worldwide Evangelization Crusade.

But  we  must  go  back  to  Africa  where   the  beloved “Bwana” continued to minister. A time of crisis developed, natives were saved but not really controlled by the Holy Spirit; some    missionaries    were  rebelling  against  his leadership as too rigid.  Studd  built  the  work  on living  in native-built houses, plainest of foods, no holidays,  no recreations,   only    complete   absorption   in   saving    the heathen. A number of missionaries  resigned  and  two  were dismissed.  In 1925 some eight missionaries joined Studd  in a great  time  of soul-searching and  mighty  power fell  upon them  and  the  mission was reborn  in harmony and  power. The blessings spread  to the remotest station. Soon the desire of his heart  was to see a Spirit-filled church in the heart  of Africa.  Up to 2,000 would  gather  at such places as Imbai if they  knew  Studd  was  going  to be there. He  wrote  nearly 200 hymns,  which  he  accompanied on  a  banjo.   We  have already  mentioned the Bangala  language used in Welle Province, but  in the lturi Province  the language was Kingwana, and so Studd, equal  to the task was determined to  translate the  New  Testament into  this  dialect. Quite  a feat for a man  nearing 70.  He worked  at it night  and  day, some  18  hours   per  session,  with   no  meals  but   what   he gulped   down   while   writing.  While   he  translated,  Jack Harrison typed   and  at  the  end  of the  day  would  have  to gently  massage Studd  before  he could sit up straight again. He finished  it,  plus Psalms and  Proverbs.  Studd   had   asthma,  recurring  malaria,  dysentery, chills, pains of gallstones ever with him in varying combinations, yet he continued 8 to 18 hours per day to address, often  for hours,  thousands of black creatures, telling  them of Jesus Christ.

In 1928 his beloved wife, whom he had not seen in twelve years, and whom he had only been with for about two years since 1910 when he left for Africa, who herself had come through so much difficulty, and who was to die one year later, visited Egypt and then paid him a visit for two weeks.  Some 2,000 Christians gathered to meet her. The natives had always been told that their Bwana's wife was at home, so busy getting white men and women to come out and tell them about Jesus, that she could not come herself.  But when they saw her in person they began to understand in a way that no words could  convey, the sacrifice that Studd and his wife had paid to bring salvation to  them.   The  parting was  terrible. They said goodbye to each other in his bamboo house, knowing it was the last time they would meet on earth. They  went  to  a waiting motor  car  down  the  path  from  the  house  without another word  being  said.  She got in with set face and eyes straight ahead in front of her and was gone.  In 1929 she died  while on a visit to Malaga, Spain.

Studd  was soon to  join her.  On Sunday July 12, 1931, Studd seemed  fit, conducting a five-hour    meeting at Ibambi. On Monday he asked for an injection of quinine as he felt cold and thought he had some fever.  On night there was much pain which  was   diagnosed  as gall stones. Tuesday  and  Wednesday his condition worsened. Thursday was his coronation day; he got so weak he could hardly talk.  He did murmur “heart bad” and when asked if he was going to leave said, “Very likely.” With each little breath he could spare  he could  only say, “Hallelujah! Hallelujah!” By 7 p.m.  he was  unconscious  and  at 10:30 p.m. he was gone. Nearly   2,000   blacks,   including  four  chiefs,   were  at  the funeral the next day.  He was buried  in a simple grave.

Go  Ye into  all  the  world  and  preach   the  Gospel  to every  creature . . . England . . . China . . . America  . . . India  … Africa.  There is little doubt he received a special, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” as he joined his wife for a well deserved vacation, something he never knew down on earth.

Compiled by Dn Wai Kin Wong. Main source of information: C. T. Studd, Cricketer and Pioneer by Norman C Grubb.

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