 Hence the Society’s missionaries were often at the forefront of publishing Bible translations, dictionaries and grammars in indigenous languages.It was as part of this process that Africans, duly trained and sometimes salaried, were accepted into the Society as teachers, catechists and lay-preachers, the so-called "Nationalhelferen" or national helpers.The Tswana Catechist Richard Miles was an early example of an indigenous person fulfilling this role at the Mission Station at Bethanie in the Southern Free State.