Page 325 - The Diary of A. H. W. Behrens

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Father had the fields cultivated by indigenous people who had grown up with a farmer and he paid them a daily wage! Two years after my return from Germany, in 1882, father was offered 600 acres of the Farm Klipkop at the Crocodile River for ₤ 300. Father said that I should buy this. I had nothing, but took the risk of the purchase and – behold – one horse sold, one gift of ₤ 90 and two good harvests gave me the ₤ 300 and I, who would have been the heir of the farm that had been donated in Germany,
also had a farm of my own that supplied me and my family with everything that we needed for sustenance from 1882 to 1916 when I sold the farm to the government for ₤ 2 000!!
When I bought the farm I only received a salary of ₤ 3 per month. So, each one of us had a farm, father and son, God’s blessing that had made this possible, just as he had promised. When father died in 1900 I inherited his farm Waaikraal, so I had 2 farms, but gave one half to the congregation (see page) and in 1910 I built myself a house on my half of Waaikraal, moved there and stayed there until 1926 and from there I served the congregation of Bethanie that was close by. On Waaikraal
it was not possible to irrigate the land from the Sterkstroom
and I had 3 children, what should they inherit? Once again, our “bounteous God” took care of us!!