Earlier text: Autumn Council of the Executive Committee of the North American Division ConferenceA religious liberty convention was held in Baltimore, Md., Dec. 1-7, 1913, at the time the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America and the Lord's Day Alliance held their conventions. Elders S. B. Horton, B. G. Wilkinson, W. W. Prescott, F. W. Paap, R. T. Baer, and C. M. Snow, Brother Bourdeau, and your secretary took part in the program. Scores of Sunday-law-enforcement campaigns have been carried on each year in different cities in many States. These have afforded our people splendid opportunities to bring our religious liberty principles to the attention of the public. In many instances the department sent out prepared articles through the Press Bureau, and had our local churches and church elders present them to the newspaper editors, who were always glad to get the material. Besides this, the department prepared memorials setting forth our principles, and our reasons for opposing the Sunday laws, and requested the local churches to appoint a committee to present a memorial in person to the mayor and his council, and afterwards have the memorial published in the newspapers. A Sunday law campaign was carried on in Emaus, Pa., last winter. Elder A. R. Bell, religious liberty secretary of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, met the issue successfully by holding some religious liberty lectures in the town. He held a Sunday night meeting in the large theater, which was so crowded that quite a number of persons were unable to secure admittance. The whole audience registered a vigorous protest against the campaign, and passed a resolution requesting Senator Schantz to introduce a bill before the Pennsylvania Legislature demanding a repeal of the Sunday laws. Similar meetings of opposition were held in many cities in connection with the above-mentioned Sunday campaigns, resulting in the triumph of religious liberty for the time being. On account of distance and expense, I was unable personally to attend all these opposition meetings, and it was not necessary. Our local elders, union and local religious liberty secretaries, and conference presidents arose to the occasion and met the situation splendidly. A number of Sunday law prosecutions of our own people have occurred during the past two years. Brother Rooker and his son were indicted by the grand jury at Waverly, Tenn., because they worked on Sunday, on their farm which was in the river bottom three and one-half miles from a public highway or private dwelling house. The trial before the court took place Dec. 16, 1913. Hon. Cyrus Simmons, of Knoxville, Tenn., acted as counsel for the defense. It was a hard battle for over three hours, but the defendants were finally convicted, and fined one dollar and costs. It was useless to appeal the case to the supreme court of the State, as it had already rendered an adverse decision upon this question on a former occasion. The only thing to do was to suffer the penalty. A number of our brethren were indicted recently in Oklahoma for Sunday labor and merchandising. The court finally threw out all the indictments for Sunday labor, but approved those for merchandising on Sunday. After three postponements, the trial occurred on August 3 and 4 of this year, at Watonga, Okla. Our brethren were convicted, and fined $25 and costs. The case was appealed, as the State of Oklahoma has an exemption statute for our people, which it is believed covers these cases, and the State supreme court has never passed upon the law as yet. The case is still pending. Your secretary has just filed a brief with the court. This brief contains our reasons for appealing the case, together with a large number of supreme court decisions in various States declaring similar Sunday laws to be void, inoperative, and unconstitutional because of their religious character. This brief also contains a history of the Sabbath and of Sunday from a Biblical, historical, and judicial viewpoint, from their beginnings to the present time. If the case comes ultimately before the supreme court, this prepared brief will become a part of the legal proceedings, and will be entered in the law books for all time to come. This is simply another way that God has of getting his truth upon the Sabbath question before thousands in the legal profession. A number of indictments have been issued again against our brethren in Tennessee for Sunday labor on their farms. These cases have not yet come up for trial. The department has been asked on the part of the defendants to supply counsel and assistance at the trial. Just recently we received a personal letter from the chief justice of a State supreme court, stating that he greatly appreciated reading a certain article in the Liberty Magazine, and then added, “If you should like to get in possession of additional legal matter on your side of the Sunday question, consult Vol. 134, N. C. Reports, pages 508-515.” When I looked this up, I found it was a decision of Chief Justice Clark's, declaring the North Carolina Sunday law void and unconstitutional, and giving a detailed history of Sunday legislation from the days of Constantine to our own time. In this decision Justice Clark made the following significant statements:— “All Sunday legislation is the product of pagan Rome. The first Sunday law, the edict of the emperor Constantine, was the product of that pagan conception, developed by the Romans, which made religion a part of the state. Counsel for the defendant contend that Christianity is a part of the law of the land. It is incorrect to say that Christianity is a part of the common law of the land, however it may be in England, where there is a union of church and state, which is forbidden here. Even if Christianity could be deemed the basis of our government, its own organic law must be found in the New Testament, and there we shall look in vain for any requirement to observe Sunday. The Old Testament commanded the observance of the Sabbath, and it designated Saturday, not Sunday, as the day of rest. Sunday was first adopted by Christians in lieu of Saturday long years after Christ. The first Sunday law was enacted in A. D. 321, by Constantine, and apparently for a different reason than the Christian observance of the day. Evidently Constantine was still something of a heathen. As late as the year 409, two rescripts of the emperors Honorius and Theodosius indicate that Christians then still generally observed the Sabbath (Saturday and not Sunday). The curious may find these set out in full in the Justinian Code. Not till near the end of the ninth century was Sunday substituted for Saturday by law, as a day of rest, by a decree of the emperor Leo.” All felt sad that the secretary of this department had been taken from us by death. Reports, however, were placed before the council by S. Mortenson, superintendent of the Swedish work, and by P. E. Brodersen, superintendent of the Danish-Norwegian work. From these reports we have space for the following interesting paragraphs:— THE DANISH-NORWEGIAN DEPARTMENT
“But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself.” Lev. 19:34. “Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the Lord, speak, saying, The Lord hath utterly separated me from his people. . . . Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: . . . for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.” Isa. 56:3-7. While it certainly is not God's design that this denomination shall draw any sharp lines of national separation, nevertheless it remains a fact unmistakably proved, that, as foreigners, we have a special work to do for the foreigners; as Danes and Norwegians, we have a special work to do for the Danish-Norwegian nationality in this country. This must be all the more evident when it is known that there are very nearly two million Danish-Norwegians in North America; and every year large numbers flock to our shores from the home country. Other denominations have recognized their opportunity, as can readily be seen when one notices the large number of Danish-Norwegian churches wherever those of this nationality are to be found. This is true in rural districts as well as in our cities. In Chicago there are about 130,000 Danes and Norwegians, of whom less than 25,000 are affiliated with any church whatsoever. In Minnesota there is a Danish-Norwegian population of 325,000; in Wisconsin, 190,000; in North Dakota, 135,000. In North Dakota we have one licensed minister, while more than one fifth of the entire population of that State are Danes and Norwegians. Iowa, with a population of about 125,000, has one licensed minister engaged in active work for this nationality. We now have 65 Danish-Norwegian churches, and 2,500 members in round numbers, in America. We have sixteen ordained ministers, nine licensed ministers, and eight holding missionary licenses. These figures include the teachers in our seminary. Several of these workers are, however, spending a very large share of their time in working for the English-speaking public. It was at the beginning of this present year that I became secretary of the Danish-Norwegian department; therefore I can report for only the first three quarters of 1915. All the workers have not sent in their reports for this past quarter, so at best what I can report is only partial. From the reports so far received, I glean that 187 have been baptized and received into church fellowship during these three quarters. Some of these are undoubtedly Americans; while other15 workers have not reported all their work to me, because some of it has been done for the Americans. Thus I can cite, for instance, the case of one Danish-Norwegian minister who has baptized thirty-one Americans, which are not counted in this report. Considering the figures given in the report of the Danish-Norwegian department at the last session of the General Conference, we feel to thank God that some progress seems to have been made. Then, 667 had been received into church fellowship in four years, averaging 167 in twelve months, while the first nine months of this year show 187. This is the sixth year of the operation of our seminary, located at Hutchinson, Minn. Each successive year has marked a little growth in the attendance; last year was the banner year so far, the total number enrolled being 132. This year a few more have enrolled than had last year at this time. With the exception of the first year, when the school showed a deficit, there has been a gain each year. The industrial departments of our school are a pride to the institution. Besides giving the students the privilege of learning the trades taught, each department has operated with a small gain. Already the school has sent out more than a score of workers. Of these, two are in Manchuria, and two are now on their way to China, later to enter the Manchurian Mission field. We feel that we are not exaggerating when we say that a very earnest Christian and missionary spirit is signally animating both teachers and students. We desire to thank God for the progress that has been made in this department of his great cause, and for the loyalty of our workers to the truths of the Bible. But somehow we feel that we must get a better hold of God, that the work may be set at a quicker pace. We also desire to express our appreciation to our American brethren for the interest they have taken in this work. In this department we have a great work to do. The Swedish population is scattered over all North America. The last warning message has been going to them for a good many years, but it has been proclaimed with special power since we started our Swedish paper, Signs of the Times, in 1874. With the kind assistance of our Danish-Norwegian and American brethren, it was circulated among the Swedes, and the truth was thus brought to their attention. Many of them were prepared to accept the message before they left the Old Country, where they had heard little boys and girls proclaim the first angel's message in the power of the Holy Ghost. The truth has met great opposition, but it has conquered all obstacles, and as a result we now have about 2,500 Swedish Sabbath keepers in North America. Our regular working force in the field is made up of fifteen ordained ministers, two of whom give the most of their time to the work among the English-speaking people. Then we have five licentiates and ten Bible workers, making thirty in all. A number of them are veterans, tested and tried in many hard battles in the interests of truth. The publishing work for the Swedish field is done by a Swedish department in the Pacific Press Publishing Association, at College View, Nebr. We have about forty different books, twenty pamphlets, and over fifty tracts in the Swedish language, the most of them corresponding to our literature in the English language. Besides these, our pioneer paper and one little church paper are also published there, and they are both self-supporting. We like to have the cooperation of our brethren of other nationalities in circulating these printed pages. The educational work is carried on at Broadview Swedish Seminary, La Grange, Ill. This institution was established in 1910, and has already turned out some good workers. It has seventy-eight acres of land, on which the Lord has given us a splendid crop this year. The institution employs ten teachers. This fall we have over sixty students, and others are coming. The school is very nearly self-supporting. Earnest efforts are being made to pay off all the debt this winter. Last year, with twenty-one regular field workers, 212 new members were added to the churches. During the first two quarters of this year, 117 were added, and the reports of the last quarter show about 60 new Sabbath keepers. This compares well with results in other fields. But we are earnestly praying for greater victories and larger results. The Scandinavian people are from old times noted as daring fighters. That same spirit is still in them, and we cannot expect to win any souls for the Lord among them without a hard struggle with the opposing factions; and that is why the faith, courage, and perseverance of the workers are tested to the uttermost. But we have this encouraging feature in the work, that when a strong people is subdued by the truth, they labor for its advancement. This is proved in the conferences where we have many Swedish brethren. We have Swedish workers in only eighteen conferences, and there are at the least twelve more which we should enter. So we need more workers not only to strengthen the work where it is already begun, but in order to enter new fields. Very earnest appeals have come to us from several fields for a number of years, but in some cases we have had no ministers to send. About 99½ per cent of the Swedes can read and write. They live much in colonies, where they have their own churches, and worship in their native language. They also have their own educational institutions, in which the Swedish language holds a prominent place. Their ministers have a good education. Therefore we are much in need of well-educated workers who have courage to go, and who are allowed to go, right into the Swedish colonies and proclaim the truth. A few may be led to the truth by our American workers, but we can never do justice to the work in the Swedish field without Swedish workers who will raise the standard of truth in the centers of the Swedish settlements, and proclaim the message in the Swedish language. Above everything else, we need the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Relying on God and on the brotherly cooperation of the brethren of other nationalities, we will, with still more earnestness, press on with the work for precious souls until the Lord comes. Further report of the council meetings will be given next week. G. B. THOMPSON, Secretary. “If there is anywhere on your horizon a spot of light, fix your eyes upon it, and turn your thoughts away from the clouds which may cover the rest of the sky. One spot of blue is worth a skyful of gray.” Justification by Faith
By W. A. S.
“How should man be just [righteous] with God?” asked the patriarch Job. It has been the vital question since Adam sinned and lost righteousness and forfeited life. The answer of Scripture is:— “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Rom. 5:1. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.” Eph. 2:8, 9. In the beginning, life and righteousness were the gifts of God to man. Only the Creator could bestow the gift at the first; when lost, only creative power can give such a gift again. Man Cannot Justify Himself
The law of God declares all men sinners. Not only did Adam’s posterity inherit of necessity a sinful nature, but every soul of man has wrought sin as the fruit of that nature:— “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Rom. 5:12. “There is no difference,” Jew or Gentile, bond or free, it is the same lost condition; “for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” The sinner finds himself a transgressor, condemned to death by a holy law. He turns to it with the thought, I will do what it says and become righteous and win life. But he cannot undo the fact that he has sinned. A holy law can only cry, Guilty! guilty! to one who has transgressed it. The law declares righteousness; it cannot give it. As the Scripture says:— “We know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Rom. 3:19, 20. The guilt exists. No deeds that man can do can undo it or cover it before a righteous law. Not only that, but so soon as the law declares what righteousness is, the sinner finds that its demands are altogether beyond the works of the flesh. It calls for a kind of work that fallen human nature cannot so much as approach. As Saul cried out, when struggling under conviction,— “We know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.” Rom. 7:14. The carnal cannot bring forth the spiritual. But the law demands a spiritual work of righteousness. It is impossible for the carnal mind to undertake it. The Scripture says:— “The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they16 that are in the flesh cannot please God.” Rom. 8:7, 8. But the awakened sinner is yet in the flesh. He finds the law thundering his guilt and condemning him to death. He cannot wash away the past, nor hide it; he cannot obey God’s law with a carnal mind, and that is all the mind he has. He is lost, and helpless of himself, but longs for a way of escape. Saul’s cry in the same position is the cry of the despairing heart that has not found the Saviour:— “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Rom. 7:24. Thank God, there is an answer to that cry, for every sinner. “Plunged in a gulf of dark despair,
We wretched sinners lay,
Without one cheering beam of hope,
Or spark of glimmering day.” “With pitying eyes the Prince of grace
Beheld our helpless grief;
He saw, and, O amazing love!
He came to our relief.” Following that despairing cry of human helplessness, “Who shall deliver me?” there came the sinner’s shout of praise, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” He is the Deliverer; for he “gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us.” Gal. 1:4. The way of escape and salvation is the gift of God’s love:— “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. No sinner has need to plead that God may be willing to forgive him; the Lord’s infinite love that gave his Son to die is pleading with the sinner only to believe and accept salvation. In order to be the sinner’s Saviour, the divine Son of God must take man’s place before the broken law. He came in human flesh, with all its weakness. “I can of mine own self,” he said, “do nothing.” He trusted the Father and lived a life of perfect righteousness in human flesh. He who knew no sin, bore man’s sin in his body on the cross. “The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” For man’s sin he died. “That he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” In him was met the penalty of the law. But it was a sinless sacrifice, “who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God.” Heb. 9:14. Therefore death could not hold him. He rose in the power of an endless life to be man’s advocate and priest and savior, ministering his grace and righteousness and life to every one who will receive them. The righteousness that he wrought out for man in human flesh he longs to put into every human heart. As in his own flesh in Judea he walked and lived the life of righteousness, so now he longs to live and walk in human lives today. That means forgiveness, and deliverance from the power of the flesh, and a new life of power, and righteousness and justification wrought within by the divine indwelling Saviour. How may we receive him with all this great salvation?—By faith; by believing his promises,— “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.” Eph. 3:17. Christ in all his fullness abiding within! This is the wonder and mystery of the gospel: “Which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” It means an ever-present, ever-living Saviour, able to save to the uttermost. What abundance of grace is received with his indwelling presence! FORGIVENESS.—“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9. DELIVERANCE FROM THE FLESH.—The cleansing by Christ’s indwelling power means that the old life of self is subdued. “Our old man is crucified with him.” Rom. 6:6. “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. . . . And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” Rom. 8:9, 10. A NEW HEART.—“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.” Eze. 36:26. A NEW LIFE.—“And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” Eph. 4:23, 24. It is in blessed fact Christ Jesus living the life in the believer by faith, as the apostle Paul says:— “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Gal. 2:20. RIGHTEOUSNESS AND JUSTIFICATION.—“And this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Jer. 23:6. Well does the King James’s Version print the blessed name in capital letters. It is the great name of salvation to every believer. He is OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. By faith we receive him, and by faith his righteousness is imputed unto us. His life of obedience covers all the believer’s surrendered life, past and continuous, and in God’s sight the life of the believer in Jesus is justified from all sin. It is the triumph of him who was not only “delivered for our offenses,” but was also “raised again for our justification:”— “Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” Rom. 5:18, 19. Christ died and rose again to bring this experience to sinners who have struggled helplessly under the condemnation. As Christ Jesus is received by faith, with all his righteousness,— “there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Rom. 8:1. Praise the Lord! It is all of Christ, and not of any works that we have done. Therefore it is as sure as the oath and promises of God. We can lose the experience only as we let Christ go out of the life by unbelief. God forbid that we should do this; and help us to be quick to repent and again lay hold of him by faith if ever we find we have let him go and have lost the covering of his righteousness. “Jesus, thy blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress;
Mid hosts of sin, in these arrayed,
My soul shall never be afraid.” Christ’s righteousness is, of necessity, the righteousness demanded by the law of God. He lives that law in the believer. This is what justification is: “For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.” Rom. 2:13. Justification by faith makes the man a doer of the law by faith, Christ living every one of its sacred precepts in the believer’s life. This is what he died to accomplish, to bring the righteousness of the law to the sinner who could never attain to it of himself:— “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Rom. 8:3, 4. Christ writes God’s law in the new heart: “I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts.” Heb. 8:10. It is the rule of his own righteousness. For when he came into the world to work out perfect righteousness for us in human flesh, he said: “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.” Ps. 40:8. It is a perfect righteousness and a full salvation that Christ brings into every believer’s heart. In him all fullness dwells, “and ye are complete in him;” out of him, nothing but sin and wretchedness and death. With him in us and we17 in him, by faith, there is righteousness, and peace, and joy. The wondrous plan of salvation is so deep that only “in the ages to come” will God be able to “show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” Eph. 2:7. But thank God, even here below, sinners saved by grace may “know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.” “The wonders of redeeming love
Our highest thoughts exceed;
The Son of God comes from above,
For sinful man to bleed.
“He gives himself, his life, his all,
A sinless Sacrifice.
For man he drains the cup of gall,
For man the victim dies.
“And now before his Father’s face
His precious blood he pleads;
For those who seek the throne of grace
His love still intercedes.
“He knows the frailties of our frame,
For he has borne our grief;
Our great High Priest once felt the same,
And he can send relief.
“His love will not be satisfied
Till he in glory see
The faithful ones for whom he died
From sin forever free.” Hawaiian Islands
By F. H. Conway
The work of the third angel's message is onward in these beautiful islands. Since the beginning of the year, nine persons have been baptized, and fifteen have begun to keep the Sabbath. We have just received from the press an edition of “Helps to Bible Study” in the Hawaiian language, which we hope will bring the truth to many of these dear people. The first year's school was a prosperous one. It was supported by contributions. The school closed with all bills paid, and a small surplus in the treasury, and we have just begun the new school year with encouraging prospects. It seems we must have larger quarters for our school another year. We sent three of our young men to the Loma Linda College of Medical Evangelists and one to San Fernando Academy. There are now fourteen of our young people in training at our colleges, academies, and sanitariums on the mainland. The book work is growing in our mission. The General Conference has recently informed us that our field missionary agent is to arrive early in October. This good news causes our hearts to rejoice, as this will doubtless mark a new era in the scattering of our truth-filled literature in the islands. We have workers on only two of the eight inhabited islands. We must have representatives of this message on the other islands, in order to finish the work. In crowded Adventist centers there are many families of our people whom the Lord could use to his glory as self-supporting missionaries in such places. There are homesteads to be had, where our people could make a living and spread the truth. Any who hold public school certificates and are teaching in public schools could find employment here at good salaries, as teachers are scarce. If any of our brethren and sisters who read this have a burning desire to help finish the work as self-supporting missionaries, we should be glad to correspond with them regarding work here in these beautiful islands. Malamulo Mission
By Mary Ellingworth
WE are preparing for two long, hard months,—August and September,—with seventy teachers to help. The difficulty lies in their many stages of attainment and nonattainment. We are thankful for health and courage to cope with these difficulties, and are assured that if we do our part the Lord will work through us. Last Sabbath night I had a pleasant little experience. About half past four I put baby in his cart and wheeled him down the road, and a number of children from the village followed us. We went away down into the woods, and sat down where the forest is grand, and cool, and quiet, and while the sun was setting, we had a little closing Sabbath service. After a hymn we all knelt, some by a fallen tree and some in the open, while Elizabeth prayed. She thanked God for the beautiful Sabbath just ending, and asked that during the coming week we might not forget the things we had heard that day; that we all might be faithful and serve God in our work and in our play, and that we might always remember to begin each day with prayer. It was just a simple little prayer that each tot could understand, yet big enough for us all to take to heart. As we walked home in the swift-gathering darkness, I thought of what Khele says:— "If on our daily round our mind
Be set to hallow all we find,
New treasures still, of countless price,
God will provide for sacrifice."
Helping a Man Help Himself
IN the long run the only kind of help that really avails is the help which teaches a man to help himself.—Theodore Roosevelt. Attempting to Open a School Near Kalyan
By M. D. Wood
The following illustrates the attitude of some of the people among whom we labor in the Kalyan district:— Last year we visited a good-sized village about two miles beyond us, and told several of the prominent citizens of the place that we should be glad to furnish them with a schoolmaster, and conduct a village school for their untaught children, if they would provide a room for the purpose. This village is composed largely of Hindus. They considered our proposition a fair one, and one man said he should be glad if we would take such an interest in the welfare of that place. For some time he had privately employed a master to come and teach his son a few hours a day, but he found it rather expensive. None of the boys and girls in thousands of villages about us know how to read or write. After about two weeks had elapsed, we visited the village again, taking two masters with us, and talked the matter all over again to be sure the people had not changed their minds. We found they still wanted us to do as we had promised, and this time they showed us a large room where the master might live with his family, and another adjoining room in which our school might be conducted. We were much encouraged with the thought of gathering that whole village of youths into a school where we might instruct them. We arranged to have the master move into the village on a certain date. When the appointed day came, the man who was to take charge of the school drove into the village with his family, accompanied by the writer and some others. When we got there, we found the promised room was still occupied. But another man offered a part of his home, so the master moved his things there. As we were leaving, we all knelt down with the family and prayed God to protect and care for them. Then we said, “Salaam,” and left for home. In less than one week we received word from the master that the high-caste Hindus objected to such a school, and that he must quit the place. To say the least, this was a sad disappointment to us. At present the only way we are able to influence these people is through our medical work. Some of them come for treatment and help when they are sick, and some have become quite friendly already; but they fear our religion. This is due to the criticisms of the high-caste Hindus, who lord it over the lower castes. Soon, however, some of our young men will be ready to go among them to preach. Then they must listen to the message as it is given in their own streets. The Value of Simple Faithfulness
By J. B. Stuyvesant
The port of — is built in the midst of a tropical swamp and along the narrow strip of beach which separates that swamp from a large lagoon. The deadly mosquito abounds, and numerous are the deaths from the dreadful fevers. A northern visitor in viewing most of the place would be inclined to exclaim, “How can a human being live here?” But bad as are conditions from a health standpoint, the moral conditions are said to be even worse, and greatly resemble those of Sodom just before its destruction. It certainly is a place where God needs some of the little lights, which he has said we should be, to shine out in witness for him; and he has not left himself without such even there. Walking along the path by the beach, one might see an elderly black man sitting in the door of a very small room, making and repairing shoes. If a stranger, one might not even notice this humble workman; but that little shop is a real “lighthouse” in the midst of the surrounding darkness, and a wholesome influence has gone out from it and made itself felt in that wicked town, and several persons are now rejoicing in new light and fresh courage because of it. About two years ago this brother, who is a Seventh-day Adventist, settled here. He is not a preacher, nor a great talker, nor does he spend much time running or lounging about the town. But as he sits at his work, people often come and sit on his little porch for a friendly chat; and while he works, like Paul of old, he simply tells them of the truth that fills his mind and heart; and when he can, he lends them books or papers to read. What has been the result of this simple effort? When I recently had the pleasure of holding a few studies in his neighborhood, I found several of his immediate neighbors interested in the truth to such an extent that, after a few studies, three of them were willing to begin keeping the Sabbath, and another promised to do so when he could get certain necessary matters regulated, while several others are seriously thinking or reading about it. One young man who had known this way in another country, but had become discouraged and back-slidden, fell in with this brother, and was encouraged to make a new start in the right way. Another backslider who frequently passes the little shop, told me that for some time he did not know that our brother was an Adventist, but he finally noticed that the shop was always closed on Saturday; and though he did not for some time reveal the fact that he himself had once known and walked in this blessed way, he nevertheless was made to consider his present evil condition, and to feel that he must find a way out of his entanglements and return to the Lord before it is too late. This humble workman has made no stir, is possessed of no extraordinary talents, and has made no unusual effort. He has simply loved this message, and meditated upon it, and talked it to others as he has had opportunity, and the Lord has impressed the message upon some who are receiving and obeying it. He has tried to be faithful to the truth and to his neighbors, and souls are being blessed as a result. Cannot we all do that much for God and this message?