“Is it from the Bible? Don’t you know that it is considered bad form in these days to quote from the Bible? And it is not the way to be understood, for it is an unknown Book to many.”
Yes, I am afraid it is; and the many are so much the poorer in consequence. The old way of quoting from the Psalms, the prophets, and the epistles, in letters and conversation, or in speeches, as John Bright used to do, are quite out of date now, and it is even possible to listen to a sermon in which, with the exception of the reading of the text, the words of Scripture scarcely appear. This marks a curious and, I think, an unhappy change. The old deacons and ministers of one’s youth would have been quite lost if their minds and memories had not been crowded with “Bible words.” The prayers of one superintendent of forty years ago were almost made up of Biblical phrases; his petitions were selections from the supplicatory psalms, and his ascriptions of praise were those which had served all the generations. Often have I heard him pray, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow;” and many a time has he opened the school exercises on Sunday morning with the words, “Lord, I have loved the habitations of thy house, and the place where thine honor dwelleth.”
All the pupils in the school were expected to learn portions of Scripture by heart, both parents and teachers considering this to be the best possible way of storing a child’s mind. The first sixpence I ever earned was given to me for reciting two chapters of the Gospel by St. John—the tenth and the fifteenth. Did I understand them? Do you? I understood enough to make the beautiful words very sweet and helpful to me, and I am always glad that my childhood was lived in those days. Our superintendent’s prayer, in which were very few words of his own, was really quite as good as any of the prayers with which your superintendents opened the school last Sunday. And the sermons preached in those old-fashioned days made quite as much for righteousness as most modern ones, although every point was rounded off and driven home by some illustrative text. How we used to study and love the Book in those days! It was to us the very Word of God. A reference Bible was a greatly treasured possession, and a knowledge of the Scriptures was considered the most important part of the education of a child, or, at all events, a child of Nonconformist parents.
I think that this was an immense gain, and therefore am I sorry for all children who are not growing up with the Bible. Of course, it is not a sealed book to any, and hosts are being taught in homes and Sunday-schools to know and love its pages, but not so universally as was once the case. It was many years ago that the reaction set in. Other methods than learning by rote were adopted. About the time when catechisms were discarded, the practise of learning verses and chapters was also given up. And the new methods, though doubtless better in some ways, are less thorough than the old.
It used to be said, as one of the arguments for discontinuing the plan of committing to memory portions of Scripture, that the practise caused the children to dislike the Bible. But I think that the men and women who in their childhood used it even as a lesson book are quite as fond of it to-day as those who did not. There were some mistaken parents who occasionally set these children long Biblical tasks for punishment. It was a great pity, but some of these children when they grew up forgave even them. As a rule, children used to love the Bible. I remember once giving a tiny girl a whole number of magazines and interesting stories to while away a Sunday evening, but discovered that she had looked about for a Bible, and presently seated herself on the rug, and with a look of great contentment had betaken herself to the re-reading of her favorite bit of literature, the Revelation of St. John the divine! I reminded her of the incident years after.
“Yes,” she said, “the music and the grandeur of the majestic imagery appealed to my imagination, and touched my heart always; and,” she added with a sigh, “I think I understood it quite as well then as now.”
“In any case it did you no harm?”
“No, it greatly enriched my thought and life; and I am glad to have read it so often that I have never been able to forget it. In times of trial some words have never failed to come to my aid. The story of my life would have been different but for one verse, ‘To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne.’ Many a time the words have roused me like a rallying cry.”
An old fisherman, deaf, and alone in the world, told me that in his youth he had learned by heart the book of Job, and that his nights on the sea had been comforted and brightened by the arguments in that wonderful poem. I marveled at his choice, and was a little dismayed when he seemed to have resolved to repeat the whole book for my benefit; but he rendered in so dramatic a manner the discussions between Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, and Job, that I was almost sorry when he stopped at the nineteenth chapter, and only took up the story again at the fortieth. But will any one say that the ignorant fisherman was not greatly the gainer for this knowledge?
If I had children, I would, knowing what I do of life, give them for their inheritance more than a few of the grand old words of the old Bible, securely tucked away in their memories for future needs.—Marianne Farningham, in The Christian World.
Ministerial Support
By H. W. Cottrell
H. W. COTTRELL
The tithe of the land—seed, herb, and fruit—is the Lord’s. The heavens are retained by him as his; but the earth he has given for possession unto the children of men, reserving unto himself the tithe of its increase.
The tithe of the income of the property of saint and sinner is equally the Lord’s. This he retained from the beginning. That person who does not reverence the Lord by returning to him his portion of that over which he has been made steward, is very ungrateful.
From nothing the Lord created and formed the earth, and supplied herb, seed, and fruit. He then formed man. He gave him life, strength, and ability to reason. He placed life in herb, seed, and fruit, and to them man can add nothing.
He placed the gold, silver, and all the valuable metals in the earth, and gave man the ability to gather them, retaining as his portion the small pittance of one tenth. God is the head of the firm. He has furnished all. He supplies the material for saw, hammer, machine, and telephone. He also contributes wood, coal, shade, and sunshine, also the rain. He supplies rest to weary mind and physical frame. The steward furnishes nothing. The Lord supplies all, and awakens man every morning.
The tithe is the Lord’s. Have we given him who never errs in judgment, and whose eyes never slumber nor sleep, his own? “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. . . . Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”
The soul that accepts Christ and walks in the counsel of his word, is not sufficiently large to receive the spiritual blessing poured upon him from heaven’s windows. The Lord further promised to “rebuke the devourer” for the sake of his children. Heaven’s bank of both spiritual and temporal blessings is unlocked in the interest of his faithful and trusting child.
Will man, who furnishes nothing, and receives nine tenths, “rob God,” who furnishes all, of the one tenth? It is a sad thing for a man to deal unfairly with his fellow men, but how much greater the wrong for him to deal thus with God.
The tithe should be placed in the storehouse. All understand what it is to deposit wheat, barley, and other grains in a storehouse, or to place household effects in a storehouse. An individual can not apply the tithe at will to this interest or that, and take credit to himself as being a donor to a good cause. One can not justly give away that which was never his own. The tithe is sacred to the support of the ministry,13and should be placed in the treasury of the church. “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse.”
The man who places in the treasury less than his tithe, does not pay tithe. He who places in the “storehouse” a larger sum, robs not the Lord in either tithes or offerings. The Lord made the seventh-day Sabbath, and the tithe, holy unto himself.
James’s Last Words
“THE last words that James sent forth to the world were these: ‘Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.’”
Educational Notes
By M. Bessie De Graw
M. BESSIE DE GRAW
ONE of the most interesting features of the system of Christian schools is the intermediate industrial school. If boys were always boys, and girls never developed into womanhood, the primary school would offer all the education necessary; but these are not the conditions. Consequently it is the duty of educators to meet the situation, and provide schools adapted to the needs of the youth. Neither children nor youth can be dealt with as adults. For this reason an attempt to educate all classes in the same institution fails to give the best results. Youth are full of activity; and their education should be so directed as to utilize this activity. If it is not directed into proper channels, a wayward life is the result. The world is full of such misdirected youth. We can not afford to add to the ranks of those on the downward march.
Upon us as a denomination is laid the responsibility of guiding hundreds of young people through the critical period in their life. A few preparatory industrial schools are in existence at the present time, but not a tithe of the number we need. As expressed by one writer, “There should be a road leading from every home to an intermediate industrial school.”
The location of these schools is important. Scriptural history shows that in olden times the schools were not in busy centers, but in secluded spots. Students were familiar with the hills about Gilgal, with the woods near Bethel, and with the banks of Jordan. And we are thus counseled: “No pains should be spared to select places for our schools where the moral atmosphere will be as healthful as possible.”
I have had the privilege of meeting a number of young men and women who have attended intermediate schools. It is gratifying, when attending a meeting where there is a large company of youth, to find so many of them alive to the needs of the day,—many who know that the Macedonian cry is sounding, and that God is calling them to a life of intense activity in the cause.
If there is a lack of interest on the part of young people in your church; if they are planning to stay at home when they have ability to work; if they do not have any ambition to respond to the numerous calls for workers, it is time to startle them, lest they die. The atmosphere in which they attempt to live is too heavy. They will die on your hands. Better to take some money from your own purse to help educate these people than to sit still and bemoan their loss.
You should demand intermediate industrial schools for the youth. It will be their salvation.
The Burden of the Hour
“God broke our years to hours and days,
that hour by hour
And day by day,
Just going on a little way,
We might be able all along
To keep quite strong.
Should all the weight of life
Be laid across our shoulder, and the
future, rife
With woe and struggle, meet us face
to face
At just one place,
We could not go;
Our feet would stop; and so
God lays a little on us every day,
And never, I believe, on all the way
Will burdens bear so deep,
Or pathways lie so threatening and so
steep,
But we can go, if by God’s power
We only bear the burden of the hour.”
Give the Invitation
By A Sister
A SISTER
Many times after listening to a touching sermon my heart has been grieved because the preacher closed the meeting without giving an invitation to confess Christ.
I will give an example: In one of the Sabbath meetings an unconverted lady was so deeply impressed with what she heard that she could not control her feelings. I thought to myself, Surely at the close of the sermon the preacher will give an invitation to accept Christ. But to my surprise and grief the hymn was given out, and nothing said about “now” being “the accepted time,” and “now” “the day of salvation.”
We sang until we came to the last stanza. My burden for this soul became so great that I felt I would be under condemnation if I made no effort to help her. So I wrote on a slip of paper, “Please give an invitation to accept Christ.” On receiving it, the minister at once gave the invitation, and to my joy the woman accepted it. Hers proved to be a thorough conversion, and soon after she was the means of her husband’s becoming a Christian.
Now I do not say that all preachers do not extend an invitation, but there are many who do not.
At the close of the Sabbath-school is a good time to give the youth a chance to take a definite stand for Christ, and I believe that many, if given a pressing invitation at the right time, would be saved, who now drift into the world, and never accept this great salvation that has cost so much.
We are told to sow beside all waters, in season and out of season. I trust the preachers will think about this, and pray over it.
Character Building
By D. H. KRESS
D. H. KRESS
The one thing needful in his world is development of character, or holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Only those who recognize him as a God of love shall see him as he is when he appears the second time. By beholding him in every experience of life, they become like him. They have purified themselves; and “blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” They shall see him as he is because they endure, as seeing him who is invisible.
The secret of character building is the recognition of God in all our experiences, in every trial, every affliction, “let good or ill befall.” When we fail to recognize him, and see only the dark waves, like Peter, we shall begin to sink. We must be able to say, even when called upon to suffer evil, “Ye thought evil against me: but God meant it unto good.” To those who exercise authority we may say, “Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above.” This is a recognition of God’s power instead of man’s power. Then where others see only Satan or evil men, we shall see the King in his beauty.
Seeing the Lord’s hand on the lever controlling the affairs of life, recognizing that all things work after the counsel of his own will, and for our good, we can never fear, complain, or murmur against what he permits to come to us for our good. Recognizing God in every trial, in every experience, makes character building possible; then, even though taskmasters be set over us to afflict us with heavy burdens, and our lives be made bitter with hard bondage, and in all manner of service, it may be said of us, as of ancient Israel, “The more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew.”
No one can interfere with my Christian growth and development of character but myself. The best place for me must be where I am. That which I need to develop character God permits to come to me daily; therefore, daily I must take up the cross, expecting to be crucified upon it. “I die daily;” but a daily death means a daily resurrection, to walk in newness of life; this is development of character. When the Moabites cast the dead man into the sepulcher of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet. Trials are designed to kill. “But though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” It is at this daily death we are brought in contact with Christ. When this contact is made, we, too, experience resurrection power. “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river [of life], and shall not see when heat [or adversity] cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.”
The Work in Scandinavia
By L. R. Conradi
L. R. CONRADI
The annual meetings in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden were held June 9-28. In the last-named country the leading brethren of Scandinavia, as well as of Finland, were present, so that we were able to hold a profitable Scandinavian union council. In all these meetings we were pleased to see increased harmony of action and unity of sentiment. The financial difficulties of the past not only wrought disaster in temporal affairs, but brought in a spirit of distrust and fear among the brethren; and it has been our constant endeavor to inspire in them a feeling of common fellowship and brotherhood; for it is only in union that we can have strength and prosperity. Two years ago when a union was first suggested, some would consider it as nothing more than a union council; the next year things were ready for a common treasury; and this year each of the three conferences unanimously decided to have a regular union meeting the coming season.
THE SKODSBORG SANITARIUM
The Scandinavian countries, including Iceland and Finland, have only twelve and one-half million inhabitants, and over two thousand two hundred Sabbath-keepers. If these fields could closely affiliate and solidify their common interests, such as the educational, the medical, and the publishing work, the first two branches could be sustained, and the Christiania house might become a source of financial strength to the evangelical department of the cause. While the German, British, and French-Latin Union Conferences have their educational interests centered in one school, respectively, even to this day the Scandinavian countries lack that strength which would come from a union educational institution.
Denmark, considered as a conference, has more than freed itself of an indebtedness amounting to three thousand dollars, and yet it still needs to be very carefully managed financially. This is a small field, with only two and one-half million people, and seven hundred Sabbath-keepers, and it certainly has its share of institutions. First, may be mentioned the church and depository, known as “Ebenezer,” located in Copenhagen, and owned by the conference, with an investment of nearly sixteen thousand dollars, and a paid capital of only one fourth that amount. It is difficult to rent such a building (where the largest room is occupied by the church) for enough to meet the heavy interest and running expenses. If Ebenezer could be freed from a second mortgage of four thousand dollars, it would be placed on a good basis, as the first mortgage pays off itself in the course of years, at the rate of half a per cent annually. Help in this direction from some of our Scandinavian brethren in America would surely be in place.
A second property is the Skodsborg Sanitarium, near Copenhagen, with an investment of seventy thousand dollars. At the present time this institution enjoys an excellent reputation throughout the entire Scandinavian field, and is doing a good work; but its financial strength is very inadequate; for in the past its efforts have been somewhat scattered, as it has come to the rescue of other enterprises, and thus used up the gains that it has had. Deducting the loss on the clinic in the city, its capital is barely fourteen thousand dollars, and the worst of it is that the money is more largely invested in furniture and equipment than in suitable buildings. The buildings are insufficient, so that dwellings must be rented; and as these rented quarters are scattered throughout the village, there is naturally a greater outlay for help. Skodsborg ought to have a suitable building on its own ground, not only to save high rents, but also to reduce its working force; but the great question is, How shall the necessary funds be secured? This question is indeed to the point, as it requires the most careful management to bring up the income above the expenses, even with the good patronage the place now enjoys.
A third property is the building erected as Frederikshavn High School, near the northern extremity of the Danish peninsula. The building is about all one could desire for the purpose had in view in its construction, although its location would by no means answer our present ideas with reference to an industrial school. To begin with, there was a capital of ten thousand dollars on an investment of nineteen thousand. At that time the field was hardly ready for so large a building, and the operation of the school soon ate up the capital; and as there was not the proper co-operation among the three countries in the enterprise, it was a financial failure. Skodsborg felt somewhat duty-bound to try it as a sanitarium, and invested quite a sum of money there, and it is operated as a health institution at the present time. Dr. Nelson is doing his utmost, and the income is increasing, but still there is quite a loss, and worst of all, the property itself is not in a location where it would be salable, and it would have to be sacrificed for the mortgage, with no balance credit to us. Of the financial problems in Europe at the present time, this seems to be the most perplexing. The health food factory in Copenhagen, which is a well-conducted business, is more than paying its way.
These various enterprises will afford plenty of work for the Danish Conference for some time to come. We might also mention the Danish Tract Society, which shows a deficit of five hundred dollars for the last year. This condition is the result of insufficient attention to the canvassing work. The only remedy is for the general agents to spend part of their time in the field, instead of simply trying to direct twelve or more canvassers. We hope this part of the arrangement will be remedied. The depository started out with no capital to cover its book stock; and when the financial crash came, Basel advanced them about two thousand dollars, half of which they are now ready to return.
Elder P. A. Hansen has done all he could to help them out of their financial troubles, and if in the future he is left free to give his entire time to the development of the conference, undoubtedly he will be able to bring them out of these difficulties.
Elder L. A. Christian has been blessed in his efforts to assist the work in Denmark, and his help in the educational department will be greatly appreciated. After his arrival from America, he began a course of lectures in the city of Copenhagen. These were well attended; and it has been arranged that a number of young people be associated with him in continuing these meetings this winter. They will thus have the benefit of his instruction, and obtain a15practical experience in presenting the message. Our people throughout the field see the need of such an educational campaign.
Crossing over to Norway, we find the publishing house in Christiania, of which we have heard so much in recent years. We are glad to tell our brethren that the receiver has returned this property to us, and while the financial outlook of Norway is not much better, and the house has lost its best customer (as the Swedish field now prints its own literature), yet matters have been so arranged that the interest and expenses can be kept up without involving further loss. The mortgages on the house amount to about sixteen thousand seven hundred and forty dollars; their deposits are about three thousand dollars (this is money deposited with them); and about four thousand five hundred dollars was advanced them for necessary improvements, by the Hamburg house. The property is taxed at thirty-three thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars. They have two good presses, one of which is new, and was received in exchange for two old presses. All the property is occupied, and brings in a rental. The main building is rented to the book mission, the church, and to Brother Lorentz for a bindery, and the old building is used as a health home; these bring a rental of fourteen hundred and fifty dollars per annum. If the times improve in the least, there is no question but this property can cover all its expenses, and sell for more than its indebtedness. We are glad that, after the situation was fully explained to our brethren in Scandinavia, they were willing to assume the responsibilities involved, and do their utmost to keep the house from further indebtedness.
The financial statement of the book mission, which has thus far been kept separate from the publishing house, was really encouraging, as it showed a gain of over five hundred dollars for the year 1902, and their capital invested—their book stock, etc.—is nearly three thousand dollars. As the Christiania publishing house is now well equipped to do a good business, the best way our American brethren could assist it, would be by allowing it the privilege of printing our Scandinavian books. This would not simply make their own printing cheaper by enabling them to print larger editions, but would also furnish books suited to the needs on both sides of the Atlantic. We often find that books translated and printed in America are defective in language, and were they printed here, this could be avoided, and the books could be used all over the world. After our brethren on the other side have lifted so heavily and nobly for this publishing house, I hope they will feel it their privilege to help place it on vantage-ground by co-operating in the plan here suggested; for this would put the publishing work in Christiania on a good financial basis.
I am also pleased to say that the Norway Conference is paying off its own indebtedness. By careful management, they have been able to reduce their debt from six hundred dollars to two hundred and twenty-five dollars. Another good year will nearly, if not quite, clear them. Elder O. A. Johnson will hold an educational institute in this field the coming winter. We are glad to find the brethren of Norway cheerful and hopeful.
Sweden enjoys the greatest financial prosperity of any of the Scandinavian countries. They have the school-farm property at Nyhyttan. Last year from their own timber they were able to erect a dwelling for their teachers, paying several thousand dollars for improvements; yet they have kept the estimated value of their farm down to about what they would be able to realize should the property be sold: they have not estimated it according to their investment. Thus far there is ten thousand dollars invested here; six thousand dollars is paid-up capital. By the time they receive the money from the sale of Swedish “Christ’s Object Lessons” in America, and dispose of their quota of books in Sweden, the school will be practically free from debt. We also have chapels at Grythyttehed, Vestra Boda, and Orebro, valued at two thousand eight hundred dollars, all paid for. There is also a health home conducted in rented quarters at Orebro, representing an investment of thirteen hundred dollars. The book inventory of the Stockholm depository is valued at four thousand dollars. Last year they gained thirteen hundred dollars on their book sales, but lost more than that on the three papers published in Sweden. We have now dropped the children’s paper, and made such changes in the other papers as will avoid this sort of an experience in the future. The paid-up value of the property held by the legal association in Sweden, Sanningens Harolds, is about twelve thousand dollars. Last year the school had some loss on its running expenses, but this has been made up by gifts, and changes have been suggested here that will place the school on a better footing. However, I believe it our duty seriously to consider the advisability of having a union school for the entire Scandinavian field, as it would surely give more efficiency, cut down expenses, and bring about better results.
As books and papers printed outside of Finland can not be circulated there by our canvassers, we have been compelled to have our own depository in this field, also. This depository has been operating in Helsingfors for some years. It has not only been relieved of its heavy debts, but now has a working capital of three thousand five hundred dollars, which covers its book stock, and enables it to carry on a strictly cash business.
We were pleased to see the unanimous feeling existing both in our Swedish conference and in the Scandinavian union council held in connection therewith, and we are sure that if the same spirit continues to be cherished, times of prosperity await the cause of God in these lands. While the growth of our membership in these countries has been comparatively small for the last few years, because of the financial depression, yet we have reason to believe that, as the work has been placed on a more solid basis, and the spirit of unity comes in, we shall see a better growth in the immediate future.
Personally, we much enjoyed the help of Elder Irwin and Dr. Paulson. Elder P. A. Hansen attended the three meetings, while Elder O. A. Johnson, of Norway, accompanied us to Sweden.
The annual report for the year 1902 shows twenty-one hundred and eighty-four Sabbath-keepers in the Scandinavian Union Conference; a tithe of thirteen thousand two hundred and sixty-two dollars; offerings and gifts of two thousand dollars; and book sales amounting to thirty thousand dollars. Including Iceland, where the work is also making encouraging progress, there are thirty-six workers, besides seventy-five canvassers. May we all remember our Scandinavian field in prayer, and may our Scandinavian brethren in America (many of whom received the blessed truth in Europe) remember their native land in their devotions and offerings.
Hamburg, Germany.
Our Japanese Medical Mission
By S. A. Lockwood
S. A. LOCKWOOD, M. D.
ALL who are interested in the progress of the cause in Japan will be glad to learn that work was begun in Kobe on June 1, and has been moving steadily forward since that time.
A few words concerning the location of Kobe may be of interest. The ground upon which it stands rises gradually from the bay to a height of three hundred and sixty feet, thus securing excellent drainage. Back of the city, dome-shaped hills rise, terrace above terrace, to a height of three thousand feet, their slopes being covered with grass, flowering shrubs, and groves of pine trees. Their canons and summits, and the tiny valleys nestling between them, are made easy of access by numerous well-constructed paths, so that they form a vast natural park, thousands of acres in extent.
The bases of these mountains are reached by a few minutes’ walk from the sanitarium, and the inviting shade of the pine groves or the music of waterfalls tempts one to linger, but the ever-increasing beauty of the scene as he climbs one of the winding paths, leads him onward and upward.
How sad that in the midst of this beauty so few have any regard for the Creator or for his claims upon them! Instead, many may be seen muttering prayers in front of some Buddhist shrine, or casting a small coin or a handful of rice as they pass by.
The sanitarium consists of the main building (shown in the illustration), an annex containing four rooms, and a Japanese house of five rooms, which is used as a home for nurses and other helpers. The managers of the boarding house offered to sell the house furnishings to us for two thousand dollars, but we did not have one tenth that16amount to invest, so they were disposed of by auction.
The mission treasury was empty, but by close planning, several members of the mission were able to raise one hundred and fifty dollars, and with this amount I attended the auction. We were offered the privilege of buying on time to the extent of several hundred dollars if we wished, but resolving not to begin with a heavy debt, we purchased only one hundred and fifty dollars’ worth more than we could pay for at the time.
The landlady was asked to make a few repairs, but, to the surprise of every one, she did ten times more than had been requested, and as a result the house inside appeared like new. We felt very grateful that the Lord had enabled us, out of almost nothing, to furnish our office, parlor, dining-room, kitchen, halls, and several guest rooms.
Within a few days after our doors were opened, we had several house patients, and several people from the city were coming daily for office or bath-room treatment.
During June more than forty of the foreign residents called, either to visit friends who were here or to welcome us to Kobe.
Excepting my wife’s salary and my own, our receipts for June were more than sufficient to pay our rent,—fifty-five dollars,—helpers’ salaries, and all running expenses. During the past month the work has been lighter, as a large percentage of the foreign population is away at the mountain resorts. We have taken advantage of this, by encouraging our nurses to engage in the canvassing work, and several hundred tracts and small books have been sold. “His Glorious Appearing,” “Steps to Christ,” “Marshaling of the Nations,” and several others have been translated into Japanese, and sell readily, particularly “Marshaling of the Nations.” As a result of the canvassing work, quite a number of interested persons have been found, some of whom come to our Sabbath meetings, and some come for Bible readings during the week.
A young man in the naval service found a copy of our Japanese paper in Nagasaki, and when his ship came to Kobe, he sought us out. After a number of Bible readings he determined to unite with us, although he may be imprisoned for an indefinite length of time for so doing. The president of the nautical college in Tokyo wrote to me, urging that I should use my influence to cause him to change his erroneous views. This gave me an opportunity to call his attention to the true Sabbath. This young man and two of our domestic helpers were baptized a short time ago when we received a visit from Elder Field.
We are planning to issue a monthly health magazine as soon as possible, and we believe that it will not be difficult to secure a large circulation for it.
Pray for us, that we may be able to carry the truth quickly to the people of Japan.
