Page 201 - The Diary of A. H. W. Behrens

95
1902
in 1940, was my hymn book revised after multiple editions of thousands of books had been printed. So I had made good use of my time.
At the end of 1901 we were invited by Reiches in Noodsberg Road near New Hannover and we went there. Fritz Reiche
and his wife wanted to go to Germany for six months and
we should live in their house in the meantime and look after their children. We did that and had free accommodation
and maintenance. We sent Lissy and Willy to the school
in Hermannsburg to Ahrens. We had already sent Theodor
with a befriended family to Hermannsburg in Germany to Pastor Haccius because he was 16 years old and had to learn something. He only returned in 1910.
The guerrilla war with the boers took a long time and when it had eventually ended with the Peace Accord of Vereeniging and when Reiches had returned from their journey to Germany, we really longed for our home. But it took quite some time until we were issued with the necessary passports for our return to Transvaal. Only sister Christine and I were allowed
to travel, my wife and children remained with Reiches. In Pretoria we bought household goods and were then received with great jubilation in Bethanie. August and his family also returned home and moved into father’s house. For sister Christine I refurbished the small guest house that father and I had built.