It is now four months since our party landed in South Africa. A large number of brethren and sisters met us at the pier in Cape Town and extended to us a very hearty welcome. They have done all that was possible to make us feel at home among them. Elder W. S. Hyatt, the acting union conference president, had called the union committee together, and it was in session on our arrival. We were glad to meet all these brethren and sisters, who for years have been holding up the standard of truth in this field, and were pleased to enter into their counsels.
Many years ago, when the writer was president of the Nebraska Conference, Elder W. S. Hyatt was president of the Kansas Conference. As our fields joined, we used frequently to attend each other's general meetings. I was glad to meet Brother Hyatt again after so many years, and to find him full of courage and faith in the message. I was also glad to meet Elder H. J. Edmed, president of the Cape Conference, whom I had previously met in America. Brethren W. H. Anderson and W. C. Walston, from the Barotseland and Solusi Missions, were also present, and we were glad to meet these earnest, tried missionaries. A very pleasant and profitable week was spent in committee work, and many plans were laid, which we trust may be for the furtherance of the work in this field. A very tender spirit prevailed in all our councils, and unity and love seemed to pervade every heart. How earnestly this spirit should be cultivated among us as a people, for the Holy Spirit cannot work where there is strife and contention.
Shortly after these meetings were over, the writer, in company with Elder Hyatt, started on a three-thousand-mile trip through South Africa, spending over a month visiting conferences and mission stations. Here I got my first glimpse of native life. We visited the Natal-Transvaal Conference, the Orange Free State Conference, and our mission stations at Maranatha, Spion Kop, Kolo, and Emmanuel, the last two being in Basutoland.
At all these stations we found a most earnest spirit prevailing, and our missionaries hard at work in their labor of love for the natives.
Among this class the need is great, and it is very difficult for one to appreciate the situation without seeing it. Here are millions of people sitting in the darkness of ignorance and superstition. They are kind-hearted, willing to be taught, and ready to hear, but are without education and the opportunity of acquiring it. A large proportion of the natives cannot even read their own language, and no matter how old they are they must be taught like children. In our schools are many who are well along in life, but who are earnestly studying, that some day they may be able to read the Bible. Women with babies bound on their backs, and possibly one or two more at their sides, will come to our schools and study diligently, that perchance they may acquire a knowledge of the simplest primers.
This great need on the part of the natives of Africa appeals to our missionaries, and they feel that they are debtors to these people to give them the light of God's truth that he has given us. This great need binds them to their work with bands of steel. In the past I have often wondered why our missionaries on furlough to the homeland should desire to hurry back to Africa, many times before taking a needed rest. I can see the situation clearer now. It is not because Africa is a more desirable place than the States in which to live, but the great need appeals to their hearts, and they simply cannot remain with those who have had so much light.
And God is blessing the work of our missionaries in bringing the light of truth to these natives. From the Maranatha Mission, on the borders of Kafirland, comes the news that eight have recently been baptized and united with us. At the Tsungwesi Mission, in southeastern Rhodesia, a class of twenty-six have recently given their hearts to God, and have been baptized. At Cape Town eight colored persons have given themselves to the Lord and followed him in baptism.
13At all our stations there are many encouraging omens, and many are coming toward the light. These things encourage us to press forward with the message in the Dark Continent.
In Africa we have as yet a very meager native literature, which should be largely increased. We are now laying plans to issue "Steps to Christ" in the Sechuana, the language of Bechuanaland. Sister Eva Hankins is now engaged in writing a book on the "Coming of the Lord," and the events that will take place at that time. This will be printed in the Kafir, Zulu, and Sesuto. Other literature will be issued as we have means to go forward.
At this writing (February 20) we are in the midst of our summer. The days are quite warm, but the nights are cool and very agreeable. During the present summer all of South Africa has been in the grip of a terrible drought. The Orange Free State has felt it the worst, and it is not yet broken. A letter recently received from one of our faithful Dutch brethren, who is an extensive stock raiser, states that unless rain falls within the next month, he will be ruined, for all his cattle and other stock must die. He earnestly desires that we unite with him in prayer that the Lord may send rain to the thirsty earth. With plenty of rain, Africa would be a wonderfully productive country, one of the finest in the world; but droughts are one of its greatest drawbacks.
We have felt that while our brethren in America were so earnestly engaging in the Harvest Ingathering campaign, we here in this field must do what we could. This country had never taken part in this kind of work, but we ordered one thousand copies of the Ingathering REVIEW and thought we should make a beginning. The first paper given out in Africa brought to the mission treasury £1, or about five dollars. This we feel is a good start, and we trust a nice little sum may be brought in from these thousand papers. Next year we hope to do much more, and shall have our orders in early.
While we are doing a good deal in this country for the native, we must not forget our work for the Europeans. There is many a town and city in South Africa that has never yet heard the sound of the message. We greatly feel the need of strengthening our evangelical force of workers in this field, men who can go out into the cities and towns and bring to the English-speaking people, and the Dutch people as well, the knowledge of the present truth. Our constituency in this union should be largely increased. This would enable us to do much more for the cause of foreign missions.
We can truly say that all the workers in Africa are of good courage, and while the work is difficult here, we are not looking back with any special longing to the homeland. We feel that God is with us in our work, and our greatest ambition is so to labor that the work may be speedily finished in Africa. We earnestly desire the prayers of our brethren and sisters in the home field.
We appreciate greatly all that you are doing for us in sending men and means to us, and we trust God will bless you as you try to assist us in the great work of carrying the message to the many tribes and tongues of this continent.
Paper Work in Japan
By W. D. Burden
W. D. BURDEN
THIS year we are holding a protracted institute for our workers in Japan. The institute began early in January and is being held here in Tokio. We had quite a supply of the Owari No Fukuin (our Japanese paper) on hand, and as we had been to considerable expense in getting out that New Year's number, we disliked to see the papers go to waste. We therefore proposed to the workers that we take two or three days and see if we could not make good use of them in the city. All entered heartily into the plan, and the results were quite gratifying. While the record would not be considered much in some other field, yet for this country we feel that it was very good.
Several of the workers were new, and it was their first attempt at selling papers. However, in a total of about 500 hours, 2,000 papers were sold, besides a number of books and tracts, and fifteen subscriptions were taken for the paper. The workers were able to find many persons who were longing for the joy and light which God and his truth alone can give. These the workers will visit from time to time as they have opportunity during the institute.
Our foreign workers also took part in this work as their time would allow, and this was an encouragement to the native workers. Brother Anderson, who arrived from the States only last fall and so could not speak much Japanese, was able to hold the record for large sales. I am sure every one who went out experienced a blessing, and we trust that the seeds of truth sown may yield a harvest of souls in the kingdom. May God hasten the day when all the honest in heart shall be sought out, and the faithful gathered and taken to the eternal kingdom of Christ.
Tokio.
PAPER WORKERS IN JAPAN
The South American Union Conference
By E. L. Maxwell
E. L. MAXWELL
THE regular session of the South American Union Conference was held in the city of Montevideo, Uruguay, in the comfortable little chapel that has been secured by the brethren of the Uruguay Mission. This chapel will accommodate about one hundred and fifty persons, and was well filled at the night services, many of the people of the city attending. Delegates were present from all parts of the field, though on account of the great distances, some missions did not send full delegations.
The session of the conference was preceded by a workers' meeting of one week. A number of the laborers were present, and we believe that all gained advantage from the Bible studies and from the lessons on methods of work.
In his opening address to the conference, the president reviewed the work of the past two years, showing a healthy increase in all branches, and giving some encouraging statistics of the tithes and offerings, literature sales, membership, and missionary efforts. But the most important matter mentioned was the great extent of the work yet to be done. One half the population of the continent is included in our field. It has great cities with their hundreds of thousands of unwarned souls, a rapidly increasing country population, a heavy immigration from Europe, and we have just begun to touch the work with our fingers. Only in Montevideo do we have a meetinghouse that is owned by our people. There must be chapels provided in all our great capitals. And we must work these cities.
It was shown that while several new workers had come during the two years, several had returned to their homeland, and two had fallen at their posts of duty. The need of other well-qualified workers is great.
Other reports dealt with the financial condition of the various institutions of the conference, and all are doing well, especially the sanitarium and publishing house. The work among the Indians around Lake Titicaca is also growing very rapidly, seventy-one being baptized at our mission there, just after the first of the present year.
Among the features of the meeting was the receipt of a gift from a gentleman not of our faith, of fifty pesos, Uruguayan ($51.79 American), for the institutional work at Diamante. A brother who was in attendance at the meetings simply presented the need and the opportunity to give, and the gift was made. This was taken as an evidence that we could very profitably inaugurate the Harvest Ingathering work in our own field, and a committee was selected to arrange this matter for the next autumn.
Another important move was to set off the countries of Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru as a union mission under the supervision of the union conference.
A strong series of resolutions was passed looking to the arousing of all the church members in the matter of the home missionary work, and it was decided to make an earnest effort to double our membership in the next biennial term.
In addition to the laborers present from the local fields, we had the pleasure of welcoming among us Elders Spies, Lipke, and Meyer, of Brazil, and Brother H. H. Hall, of the Pacific Press. All these brethren took an active part in the work of the conference, and their efforts were much appreciated.
Elder J. W. Westphal, who has served the conference as its president since its organization, and who was superintendent of the field for several years before this, was unanimously reelected president for the incoming term.
The delegates returned to their homes filled with a more solemn sense of the work that is to be done, and praying that they may be used of God more than ever before, in the finishing of the work.
Lima, Peru.
Burma
By G. A. HAMILTON
G. A. HAMILTON
SOME have written us regarding our work among the Karens. While it is true we came to India to answer the long-delayed call for workers among this people, yet so far we have not worked for the Karens, and in fact we shall not be in a Karen field for some months yet. We studied the language for a few months last year, but our work in Rangoon has been so heavy and other conditions have been such that we have not made much headway.
Brother Votaw had to go to Simla last spring, and some one had to take the English work in Rangoon. There was such an exodus of persons last year from Burma on account of the General Conference that it seemed impossible to arrange any other plan than to leave us here in Rangoon. We are still here, and shall be for some time.
Our biennial conference has just closed. Brother Salisbury was with us, and we had an excellent meeting. The outlook is bright for the future. With the opening of two new stations and treatment rooms for Rangoon, a new era is dawning for the Burmese work. The near future should see many converts in Burma. The country is being sown from north to south and from east to west with English and vernacular literature. On all sides people are becoming interested. Large numbers of Buddhists are studying the principles of our message. At a meeting for Burmese in the Rangoon14church two weeks ago, about twenty Buddhist priests occupied the front seats. Burma is being rapidly filled with our doctrine. The day of great things is upon us in this land. How much we need the Spirit's power! The situation here constitutes a mighty appeal to us all for a deeper consecration of our all to God for service.
One significant sign is the feverish activity of the adversary. But if we are sometimes defeated in battle, in the name of our great Captain we must be victorious in war. It is a great privilege to be allowed to labor in a mission field. We would not turn back for all the world. We feel especially grateful for the excellent degree of health we have enjoyed since coming here.
While we were disappointed in not being able to go to the Karens, still we have enjoyed our work in Rangoon. I had the privilege of seeing eight accept the truth. I baptized them in the Royal Lakes. Two others are obeying, and will be baptized erelong. One of them is paying a tithe of thirty-three rupees a month. We are all looking forward eagerly to the next general meeting.
Rangoon.
Our Camp Meetings
By D. H. Kress, M. D.
D. H. KRESS, M. D.
IN their encampment while in the wilderness the children of Israel were instructed to keep everything pertaining to the camp orderly and scrupulously clean. Principles pertaining to their physical and spiritual well-being were urged upon them. Through their cheerful obedience to these, God purposed to make them the cleanest, healthiest, and morally the best people in the world. Through the favorable impressions they would make upon the nations about them, prejudice was to be removed, and the way prepared for the impartation of soul-saving truths. Moses said: "Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me. . . . Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people."
Not merely was the camp to be kept orderly and clean, but personal neatness and cleanliness were demanded of all who appeared before God. Before the people could approach God, the instruction was given to Moses, "Go unto the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes."
Through the pillar which led them by day and by night they were led to pitch the camp in the most healthful locations. The sanitary arrangements were to be kept perfect. Garbage and other refuse were not permitted to accumulate within the inclosure. The water supply was above suspicion. Their food and drink were simple and wholesome. All this was necessary to keep them in health, and was educational.
In these wise regulations we have before us an object lesson of what God desires every encampment of his people to be for all time. Sickness should seldom be seen at our camp meetings, and it would seldom be seen if this instruction was closely followed.
The following suggestions, if adhered to, will materially lessen sickness at these gatherings:—
In the first place, the camp should not be located in a marshy place where mosquitoes are likely to be numerous. Some very serious diseases are known to be conveyed by mosquitoes. It should not be located near barn yards or manure heaps, where flies are bred. Many diseases are conveyed through the medium of the fly. Flies should be shut out of the kitchen and the dining tent. This may be done with netting. All garbage cans should be kept covered with a fine wire screen to prevent flies from entering to breed.
Toilets naturally attract flies. They should be some distance from the camp, and located on the opposite side of the camp from the dining tent and the kitchen. By ascertaining the direction of the prevailing winds, they can be located on the side opposite that from which the wind comes. The toilet should receive special attention. Flies may be practically excluded from it by having no cracks in the seats, the bottom boards banked with earth, and each seat covered with a hinged door. As a matter of modesty and respect for the aged, ministers, and visitors, there should be privacy by having separate compartments.
The water supply for the camp should be above suspicion. If it is not, the people should be informed of it, and instructed to boil all water used for drinking purposes.
The foods best adapted for camp meeting purposes are those that keep well in warm weather, such as shredded wheat biscuits, toasted wheat biscuits, puffed wheat, puffed rice, corn flakes, granose biscuits, crackers, and zwieback. By heating or by exposing to the hot sun, these may be made crisp, and then served with cream or milk. These foods, with nuts and fresh fruits of various kinds, should form the staple supplies. Other simple foods will be thought of by various ones, such as sandwiches.
The milk should always be sterilized. Raw celery, lettuce, and tomatoes are of value if scrupulously cleaned. Beans and boiled cabbage do not keep well in hot weather, and should therefore be used sparingly if at all. The same is true of nut preparations. The foods mentioned do not require much time to prepare, and will therefore greatly simplify the table service, and afford more time for devotion, etc. Butter does not keep well unless on ice. The less used at camp in hot weather, the better.
It is not wise, in order to save a few cents, to deprive yourself of comfort in your tent. Do not crowd together. Do not sleep on a bedtick merely thrown upon the ground. The bed draws dampness. Sore throat and bowel troubles are sometimes caused in this way. And, too, such a course makes it difficult to keep the tent neat. By crowding you deprive yourself of the good air you should have, and also of the privacy which every one needs at camp for secret prayer and meditation. Ministers15especially need tents where there is privacy for devotion, and where they can converse and pray with those who appeal to them for help. Nothing is gained by crowding together as is sometimes done, and much is lost spiritually. The purpose of the camp has often been defeated by failing to recognize this. It does not pay to conduct affairs in a cheap way at a camp, if it works against the spiritual interests of those attending.
Ministers cannot rush for the dining tent as soon as the services are over. Demands are made upon them which frequently detain them. They should therefore not be required to stand in the bread line, waiting for their turn to be served. Precious time that should be employed more effectively for the spiritual interest of the camp is wasted in this way. It is best on this account to have special tables for all engaged in spiritual work at the camp meetings.
Foreigners in America
By L. L. Caviness
L. L. CAVINESS
ONE finds himself continually astonished when he considers the number of foreigners in the United States. Certainly we as a people should awake and do much more for these persons of various nationalities who come to our country, thereby saving us the task of going to them. The following extract, translated from Der Christliche Apologete (Cincinnati), March 25, 1914, presents some interesting figures:—
"According to the last census there live within the border of the United States about 5,000,000 Germans, who were born in different lands in Europe. If we add to this the first generation of American-born Germans, we have almost 11,000,000 Germans. According to the same census, the foreign-born Germans constitute twenty-five per cent of all the foreign-born population in this country. . . . There come further in the course of each year 74,000 new German immigrants. . . . But that is not all. Something like fourteen per cent of the immigrant Hungarians use the German language. Also many of the Bohemians, Poles, and other Slavonic peoples can be easier reached through the German than through the English."
These figures show that over a tenth of the entire population of the United States are German-speaking. In order to deal fairly with this element, it should have over one tenth of our effort. It seems clearer than ever why God in his providence led to the establishment of a German school for the training of German workers. But there is much that can be done by the English-speaking people in circulating German literature among their German-speaking neighbors. Are you doing your share?
Companionship
By Leora Warren
LEORA WARREN
COMPANIONS! What a volume of memories present themselves to us as we consider for a moment those with whom we have associated! Yes, there have been some especially near to us because they seemed to catch the ideas, the sentiments, the spirit of our life.
But what has been our guide in the choosing of companions? Have we sought the company of those who could lift us to a higher plane by their Christ-like example, by their refinement of speech and manner? or have we been content to go with the careless, unrefined world lover, whose thought and conversation are of matters of but little value? "Like the body, the mind derives its strength from the food it receives. It is broadened and elevated by pure, strengthening thoughts; it is narrowed and debased by thoughts that are of the earth earthly."
God places great stress upon the influence of association, even upon men and women. How much greater is its power on the developing mind and character of children and youth! The company they keep, to a great extent, will decide the question of their usefulness here and of their future destiny. Through contact with the irreligious, the pleasure-loving, we may lose the simplicity, the faith in God, the spirit of self-sacrifice, which Christian parents have cherished and guarded by careful instruction and earnest prayer.
Wherever we go we shall always find two classes,—those who seek to please God, and those whose influence will be cast on the side of the adversary. It has been truly said, "Show me your company and I will show you your character." We as young people often fail to realize how sensibly both our character and our reputation are affected by our choice of associates. As a stream partakes of the property of the soil through which it runs, so the principles and habits of youth invariably become tinctured with the character of the company in which they mingle.
By association with those who practice right doing, there will be created in the heart a distaste for that which is cheap and common and at variance with the principles of God's Word. But should we never associate with those we consider uncultured and unchristian? We may; but we must be sure that we are the molding power, and not being molded to their likeness. We have only to look to our Pattern to find what the result of right influences may be on another. There was Peter, ever ready to speak for himself and others, uneducated, but one who could be taught. After three years and a half with the meek and lowly Jesus, he learned the lesson of humility, and was ready to follow his Master, to die for the sake of Christ.
There, also, were James and John, whom we think of as possessing those lovely traits of character, but who Christ said were "the sons of thunder." Yet John's heart was susceptible to the love of Jesus. He was eager to have a place close to his Saviour. By listening to his gentle words, his heart became softened, and how often we hear him admonishing us to love one another! O, the power of companionship!
In the life of Elisha we have another example of right company. He followed Elijah, doing faithfully the menial tasks assigned him, but ever breathing in the words that fell from the lips of his master. A higher position awaited him, because he chose to follow the man of God, rather than spend his time in gaining this world's pleasures and riches.
Do we desire to form correct habits? Then let us seek the company of those who are sound in morals, and whose aim tends to that which is good. "A good character is a capital of more value than gold or silver." "The youth who are in harmony with Christ, will choose companions who will help them in right doing, and will shun society that gives no aid in the development of right principles and noble purposes.
But a still higher companionship may be ours. "With the Word of God in his hands, every human being, wherever his lot in life may be cast, may have such companionship as he shall choose. In its pages he may hold converse with the noblest and best of the human race, and may listen to the voice of the Eternal, as he speaks with men. As he studies and meditates upon the themes into which 'the angels desire to look,' he may have their companionship. He may follow the steps of the heavenly Teacher, and listen to his words as when he taught on mountain and plain and sea. He may dwell in this world in the atmosphere of heaven, imparting to earth's sorrowing and tempted ones thoughts of hope and longings for holiness, himself coming closer and still closer into fellowship with the Unseen,—like him of old who walked with God,—drawing nearer and nearer to the threshold of the eternal world, until the portals shall open, and he shall enter there. He will find himself no stranger. The voices that will greet him are the voices of the holy ones, who, unseen, were on earth his companions,—voices that here he learned to distinguish and to love. He who through the Word of God has lived in fellowship with heaven, will find himself at home in heaven's companionship."
Missionary Young People
By MRS. C. S. COON
MRS. C. S. COON
DEAR parents, did you ever stop and ask yourselves whether or not you could give one of your children to mission work in a foreign field? Young men and women, did you ever question your own hearts as to your willingness to answer the call of God for foreign service?
This question was brought to my mind very forcibly about two years ago. One day our mail brought a letter saying, "If one of your boys can pass a certain examination, he may be sent to the Foreign Mission Seminary to prepare for work in a foreign field." I felt quite sure that, with the limited advantages he had enjoyed in the way of education, he could not successfully pass the examination, and so dismissed the matter from my mind. But in the night I awoke asking myself, "If he should pass the test, could I, would I, let him go?"
I then imagined I saw him at the Seminary. It was easy to picture him there, for his father and I had sat in those very seats at young people's meeting during the preceding General Conference. I saw him in his classes day after day, week after week, and month after month, storing his mind with useful knowledge for his field of labor. I saw him as he finished his course, said the last good-by to classmates and teachers, and took the train for the port where a mighty ocean steamer was decked, making necessary preparation for a long voyage.
I saw our son gazing for the first time at the magnificent boat on which he was to take passage, with the Stars and Stripes floating from her mast. It seemed that his father and I were by his side as, with grip in hand, he went on board. We followed him from the office to his stateroom, and then to the deck. Then came the cry, "All ashore that are going ashore," and we said good-by. From the shore we saw him seated on the deck as the starting signal was given, the anchor weighed, ropes and gangplank drawn in, and all connection with the land severed.
As the majestic ship steamed out into the mighty deep, we could for a time distinguish our boy among the many who were waving farewell to friends on the shore, but finally the liner with its living freight appeared as only a speck against the horizon, and then was lost to view.
My imagination took me to the end of the voyage, and I saw our boy land on a foreign shore, where all was strange and new.16Thoughts came to my mind of the treatment some of the early missionaries received. Many of them were persecuted, driven from place to place, mobbed, killed, and some even eaten by those they were trying to help. Then came the thought of what our own missionaries are enduring, and of what might be the lot of our beloved boy. Again I asked myself the question, "Could I, would I, let him go?"
Then the scene changed and I beheld Jesus, the greatest missionary the world has ever seen. I saw him as it were in the bosom of his Father, surrounded by all the glory of heaven, with the vast retinue of holy angels ever delighting to do him homage; saw him as he offered himself a sacrifice for guilty man, that a lost world might be redeemed; saw him as he left the courts above and came to earth to make his soul an offering for sin. I traced the road from the manger to Calvary, and saw the Saviour hanging upon the cross, and imagined that I heard the roar of the earthquake that marked the end, as he cried, "It is finished." The Testimonies say that it was a struggle for the King of the universe to give his Son as a sacrifice, and yet "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
When we think of everlasting life, a life that measures with the life of God, where there will be no sorrow, pain, or death, but where all will be joy and peace and happiness, are we not thankful for the love of God, which led him to make a sacrifice for us? In view of this, should we withhold even the dearest of our own from his service? Shall we not rather say, "Go, and tell the heathen who sit in darkness of the wonderful love of Jesus?" that they, too, may be brought to a saving knowledge of his grace, and with us enter into the city of God, tread the streets of gold, bow in adoration before the Saviour of mankind, and praise his name through all eternity.
