|
JOHN
REMESES OLLEY
1887 - 1956
I want to call attention to one unique servant of the Lord
whose life intersected with my own. Few
outside the heart of Africa have heard
of or known of this remarkable man.
The year was 1955, the place-a
mission guesthouse in Lagos, Nigeria.
I shared a guest room with Dr. John Olley for about one week. Daily I was awakened by the sound of his
early morning cold shower, hearing him slap his body and, at times, sing in
several African languages interspersed with English that still gave evidence of
his British origin. He was leaving Africa
at the end of his first term-a term that spanned 36 years.
John Olley was born into a
moderately well-to-do home in a suburb of London,
England. His mother was a devout Anglican and his
father a member of C. H. Spurgeon's Metropolitan Tabernacle. As a youth, he was not robust in health, and
scholarship was not his forte. In fact,
he failed his exams. When he fainted during
a singing class, it was determined something must be done. His father apprenticed him to become a seaman;
so, at age 15, young John took to the sea, and his health and vigor were
restored. His first voyage involved
taking relief supplies to Martinique in the West
Indies, where an eruption of Mt.
Pelee had caused great loss of life
and destruction. A love for travel to
strange countries and climes was born in his soul. The Bible his mother had put into his sea kit
was forgotten.
John and a companion jumped ship in
Savannah, Georgia. This turned out to be a bad experience; and
after a few weeks, they signed onto a small Italian sailing vessel bound for Buenos
Aires. The
captain and crew were vile. The ship was torn by a terrible storm that struck
fear as nothing before had done. From there
he visited many strange and interesting ports of call, finally arriving back
home in Newington at Christmastime
1903.
Off again, he eventually found
himself in New Zealand. He was attracted to this beautiful island
nation. Having had very little formal education, he launched on a lifetime of
self-education. He became a great lover
of books. For a time he was employed on
a sheep station; later he worked as a surveyor.
Since there was no school in the area at the time, he was pressed into
teaching. By consistent self-study, he
progressed through the requirements of the government and obtained a teacher's
certificate. Going from one-room village
schools to a city school in Hastings,
he spent time studying much more than the subjects he taught.
Up until this time he had given
little attention to religion; but he found lodging in the home of a godly
family and, through their influence and witness, came to know the Lord. He began to study Greek, Hebrew, and modern
languages along with church history and the history of missions. The Bible became his constant companion, and
the stirrings of a mission call were growing in his soul.
Lord Jesus, grant me eyes to see
In my poor brethren thine and
thee.
To give ourselves where others sin
to intercede,
And in thy service and by prayer,
Our brethren's burdens seek to
bear.
He began to enjoy the fellowship of a group of earnest young
Christians of the Brethren persuasion and was growing rapidly in his walk with
the Lord. Although Mongolia and Tibet beckoned
to him, it was an urgent plea for help in Tunisia, North
Africa, that led him to leave New
Zealand for Africa in
December 1919.
For the next five years he was an
itinerate evangelist in North Africa, mostly in Tunisia. He was a close observer of customs and
religion. Arabic and other languages were quickly learned. Later he would say, "Remember what happened
to the church of North
Africa.
Give the people the Word of God in their own tongue and teach them to
read and understand it."
In 1924, he left Tunisia
with plans to go to Nigeria
at the request of a Brethren missionary there.
He planned to stop in Naples
only long enough to get passage to West Africa, but his
stay stretched over a number of months during which he enjoyed fellowship and
rich experience with Italian Christians.
He also spent a number of months in colportage work in Lebanon,
Syria, and Turkey
as well as the Holy Land. All were moving experiences
for him. From there he went on to Kano,
Nigeria, arriving in August
1925. [This was our home for our first
three terms in Africa.]
It was here that the people of West
Africa really stole his heart.
Most of the believers of that assembly were from Chad,
and they impressed on him the great need of that land. In February 1926, he left with his camel
caravan for Chad,
arriving at Kousseri on Sunday, the 28th of March. (Why should that be of interest to those of
us who are a part of Gospel Fellowship Association? That's where the Studdards were stationed for
their first term in North Cameroon.) It was here he crossed the Logone
River into Chad,
which became his home for the next 30 years.
He translated the Bible into two of the Chadian languages and planted
scores of churches. He was the spiritual
father of thousands.
Great physical needs led him to
study medicine. Eventually he was awarded an M.D. degree (by correspondence)
from a Chicago medical school that no
longer exists. He was a faithful and
fearless witness to all who crossed his path, be it the governor of the country
or the beggar at his door.
Year followed year with little
variation. The dry season consisted of
his itineration of a wide area for the purpose of encouraging the many
assemblies and seeing new ones started.
The rainy season saw him in long hours of translation work. He never had a European companion in the
work.
The year 1954 found him very
ill. He had tried to operate on himself
for an abdominal abscess. Some passing
missionaries found him in critical condition when they stopped to visit. He was taken by road to Maiduguri
in Nigeria,
where a mission airplane had come to take him to medical help. He had never been on an airplane, refused the
one that came for him, and traveled the 500 miles to Jos,
Nigeria, in a pickup
truck instead.
It was here at the hospital for missionaries
that I first met him and, along with other mission doctors, cared for him. Loudly he would proclaim that I was the one
who saved his life. It was while I was
attending a medical meeting in Lagos
in October of that same year that we shared the same room. What a blessing it was to share in devotion
and prayer time! He had two footlockers
full of his translation notes-his rich understanding of Scripture.
Why no wife? It would have been too difficult for a
woman. Why no furlough? He responded, "I'm a coward. If ever I were to leave the arduous task and difficult
country, I'd never have the courage to return."
He had a burden for one more
opportunity to witness to a relative living in Australia
for whom he had prayed for over 35 years.
He left Nigeria
for a brief visit to the United States
and to Jamaica
in the West Indies, where he settled the estate of a
deceased brother. He then went through the Panama Canal
to Australia
and was able to lead that cousin to Christ.
The joy was more than his weakened heart could take. He passed into the presence of the Lord he
had served so faithfully for those many years.
He had hoped to visit New Zealand
for a few weeks to thank his faithful supporters and then return to Chad. The Lord saw fit to call this faithful
servant home.
My two rather brief encounters with
him were great lessons of commitment and zeal for the Lord. Some 15 years after his passing, we spent two
years in Chad
and saw firsthand much of the work of this great missionary. The words of St.
Augustine epitomize Dr. John Olley, "To myself I will show a heart of steel, to
my fellow man a heart of love, and to my God a heart of flame." [II Tim. 4:5-8]
JAD
11/18/02
|
