‘Africaner’ was the nickname given to a local desperado of Namaqualand in the 1800’s. He was such a hardened character that the governor at Cape Town offered five hundred pounds as a reward to anyone that could deliver him, dead or alive. He and his men were the terror of that part of South Africa, and through the violent crimes they committed struck absolute fear into everyone that knew about them.
Then came Robert Moffat, who decided to go as a missionary to Africaner’s tribe and bring him and his people the good news of Christ. The people of Cape Town never expected to see him again. In fact, they told him that Africaner would use his skull for a drinking cup.
Yet, trusting in God, the brave missionary went ahead to preach the Gospel to these brutal men. The wonder of the story is that ‘Africaner’ was the first of this band to be converted. The leader, and most terrifying of all these men, was the first to turn to Christ when he heard the gospel. Later Moffat took him to Cape Town; and when the governor saw how this savage criminal had been changed into a humble Christian man, he said, “What a miracle! This is the eighth wonder of the world!”