As soon as we began work in Patagonia, there came many requests to help the sick. It seemed our home was about to be turned into a dispensary, and that all our time would be spent helping the sick and suffering.
One poor helpless paralytic, who had been an invalid for five years, was one whom we endeavored to help. All his means had been spent, but no help had come; and now he was depending on the gifts of others for his living. We brought the case before the One whose power alone can restore. A new current of life laid hold of the helpless sufferer, who could scarcely lift his trembling hand or speak to make his wants known.
“I always believed there was help for me,” he said gratefully. Each day, added strength came, and soon he was able to walk about his home. The great Physician had applied the healing balm; and the heart of this man, made tender by God’s mercy, is now rejoicing in obedience to the claims of God’s law.
Punta Arenas, Chile.
WITH FILIPINOS AND MOSLEMS
By Vera Chilton
A Heroine under Persecution
BY MISS VERA CHILTON
SHE wanted to follow her Saviour. She was willing to give up her all, which meant so much to her, that she might not lose Him; but we had no home, no shelter where she might be protected and cared for, so she had to remain in her house.
There followed a period of persecution. Her husband, who had long ago shaken off all responsibility of wife and children, having deserted her for a life of wickedness, on hearing that she wanted to become a Christian, immediately woke up to a sense of proprietorship, and came home to exercise his authority.
She lived in her husband's family out here in India, and the most violent of her persecutors was her mother-in-law, who incited all the members of the family against her. One of the first steps, naturally, was to order me to leave the house and never return. This order was gently but firmly waived, and the next week saw me back again, with fresh weapons of love, gentleness, and sympathy, to wage the battle. Then the husband was urged to remove her to a distant city; and we said a hasty but sorrowful good-by, with earnest promises, on both sides, of continual prayer to Jesus, who knows all.
I continued to visit the home after she left. The family became involved in great trouble, and I was able to render them assistance. The mother-in-law's heart was touched, and she begged me not to leave her. Week by week, the sweet gospel stories were presented to her, dwelling principally on the love and sacrifice of Jesus. Then she wanted something read to her from the Bible. Her nature seemed to soften, and she soon longed for her daughter-in-law to come back; but the husband became obdurate, and would not bring her.
Missionaries in Manila—L. V. Foster and Wife at the Right, W. E. Lanier and Wife at the Left
Then came the news that this dear girl was ill, so ill that life was despaired of. As I sat by the sorrow-stricken mother-in-law, her soul broke out in prayer: “O Jesus, Thou blessed Holy One, Thy birth is of light by the power of God, and we are but frail creatures of dust. In Thee is all power. Thou didst raise the dead, and give sight to the blind, and didst cleanse the leper. Thou who didst give Thy life for us on the cross, hear my prayer, restore my child to health again, bring her back to us in safety, that she may see the pictures of Thee again, and hear Thy holy word.”
Does not Paul's experience come to the mind? “He which persecuted us in times past” now prays.
Lucknow, India.
Amid the Uprising in Persia
By Mrs. F. W. Oster
BY MRS. F. W. OSTER
WE left Maragha by night with the Russian army of 8,000 men retreating from Miandoab. I rode the horse with our four-weeks-old baby while Mr. Oster led him. That first night and day, I kept the saddle for fourteen hours without a rest.
We fell off the horse once right in a small stream. A soldier helped us a bit. He thought baby was a bundle of something we did not wish, so he threw her over to one side of the road. She was not injured. Baby seemed to enjoy the ride, and did not care how much she was jolted.
We are not yet out of danger, for the Turks are stronger near the boundary; and with the Kurds to help them, we surely have something to fear. About 10,000 Russians are here, but we do not know when they will be called away.
Tabriz.
A Head-Hunter's Dream
By L. V. Finster
BY L. V. FINSTER
As we look back over the year, we can but thank the Lord for what He has done for us in the Philippines. We have been able to open up work in three new languages. Strong centers of training have been established in each of these new places, and already many souls have been won for the Lord.
A very interesting work has lately developed among one of the mountain pagan tribes. Some months ago, I baptized a half-caste Negrito at Norzagaray. He has returned to the mountains, and is teaching the gospel to his people. He says many there believe in the true God, and are keeping His commandments.
But a few years ago, these mountain tribes were head-hunters. How we wish we had men to follow up this opening!
A Dove in His Dream
Some months ago, I received a letter from a native pastor, asking if he could come and study the Bible with me. He lived a long distance from Manila, in one of the back provinces. I wondered what he could have in mind that caused him to desire to come so far to see me.
He said he was a graduate from the seminary, and had been in the ministry for several years. One of his members came to him, requesting his help to explain a dream. The member said that one night, he saw a dove descend from heaven639and light on the fourth commandment. A great light shone around that commandment, and light went out from it.
The pastor was greatly perplexed, and said, “Maybe the Lord has light for us in that commandment.” So they got their Bibles, and began to read. After a while, the member said, “Why, this says the seventh day is the Sabbath, and we keep the first day.” They then began to search other parts of the Bible, and became convinced that the seventh day should be kept.
He had come that long distance for me to give him help. He spent a week with me; and when he returned, he felt he must follow the light the Lord had given him. He is now preaching the message of the coming Christ and the call to Sabbath reform to his own people.
Manila.
An Experience in Batakland
By John S. Yates
BY JOHN S. YATES
A FEW weeks ago, in company with F. A. Detamore, I left Padang to visit Immanuel Siregar, our worker in Batakland, Sumatra.
The first day was a pleasant one, for most of it was spent climbing the mountains by means of a cog railway. As we had taken about six hundred of our Malay papers with us, at the different stops we sold or gave away what papers we could. The remainder of our journey overland we made by dose, which is a two-wheeled carriage, usually drawn by one horse, but in the mountains two small ponies are generally used.
As it is unsafe to drink the water here without first boiling it, we drank the water from green coconuts. We reached Sipirok, the home of Brother Siregar, on the afternoon of the sixth day, having covered a distance of over three hundred miles.
Girls in India at Their Midday Meal
I was surprised to find an educated people. Nearly all can read and write. At one time, these people were the worst of cannibals. When parents were unable to work, the children would trade them off to be eaten. Sixteen of the Batak people are reported ready for baptism. One man and his son walked from their home, forty miles away, to meet with us. It is evident that something more must be done to bring the truth to these dear souls and develop the work in that field.
Our First Mohamedan Convert in Bengal
Aged Mohamed Convert, South India
Life Transformations
By Eldridge M. Adams
BY ELDRIDGE M. ADAMS
ONE woman who has accepted the gospel here in Iloilo was regarded by her neighbors as a very bad person, but they all testify that she is quite a different woman now. She said that before she heard this wonderful Bible truth, she was tempted to kill her husband.
Another poor old woman was filled with sorrow. The women here, as well as the men, use tobacco and intoxicating drinks, and gamble. While telling her experience recently in a meeting, this old sister said that in one of her struggles, she turned to God with this pitiful plea: “O God, is it true that I cannot enter heaven, because I cannot quit my bad habits?” And she said that immediately she was strengthened.
We shall soon have our first baptismal service, and shall organize a church.
Iloilo.
On the Island of Cebú
By Carlos Fatebert
BY CARLOS FATEBERT, M. D.
We have been here on the island of Cebú one year. We are able to conduct services of a simple kind in the dialect. About one hundred persons have attended our Sabbath school and preaching services. I have treated 274 patients, giving 1,265 treatments.
Our regular communicants are from sixteen to forty-three years of age. The oldest is a fisherman on a rather large scale, who obtained a Bible about ten years ago. He says: “I was then a bad man, drank, smoked, and gambled; but when I began to read the Bible, I left all my vices, and have tried to do right. But I knew little of what the Bible really teaches, until I began coming here.” He seems to be willing to do anything that the Bible commands.
Argo.
The True Missionary Not Afraid to Die
Whether the term of service has been long or short, no man may say the sacrifice was fruitless. All the bright story of missions repels the thought. Rosine Krapf, expecting to die at sea on her way to the East African coast, begged her husband to have her buried on the shore, in order that her grave might bear witness to the heathen Wanikas of the love that brought her there. It is a testimony that speaks to the very heart. It was the same thought that led the aged and feeble Dr. Duff, when volunteers were few, to declare to the Scottish Assembly that he would go back to India once again, to let the Hindus know that one Scotchman was not afraid to die for them.
The fear that death in the field might hold back others and bring delays, has ever been a cause of anxiety to falling missionaries.
The French missionary Golaz and his wife died within a year of their landing to open work in Senegambia, on the African west coast. His farewell battle call has stirred hearts to action ever since. His message was:
“Do not be discouraged if the first laborers fall in the field. Their graves will mark the way for their successors.”
A Bible Study upon a Shed Roof
Baptism Within the Grounds of a Hindu Temple
ONE of the colporteurs working with a religious book in Australia sends this account of one of his experiences: “I have recently had an interesting experience. I walked three miles into the country to see a man who had been attending our services, and found him building a large shed, with six men working under him. He told them he would pay for their time if they would listen to a Bible reading for half an hour. When the time was up, they were anxious to hear more, and I continued for an hour longer, at the foreman’s expense. The Lord was with us on the roof of that shed, and as a result, the foreman has since said he is going to be a Christian, and some of the others are very much interested. The Lord works in mysterious ways for the salvation of precious souls.”
Training the Korean Children
By Mrs. R. C. Wangerin
BY MRS. R. C. WANGERIN
We have a splendid lot of children here in Korea. Since their parents have become Christians, they are willing to give the children an education, and most of them attend our church school. But as they are all poor, they only study half a day, and the other half is spent in picking over rice, gathering greens, or doing something to “earn their rice.”
You ought to hear them sing! “When He Cometh” and “Blessed Are They That Do” are their favorite songs. Even the little tots of seven have learned to read well, and can look up the references in the Bible. The Sabbath school lesson is always well prepared. They are real little missionaries. They distribute tracts and papers, and are trying to bring others to the Saviour.
Keizan.
Giving to Foreign Missions
In its work throughout the world, the society represented by this paper issues regularly one hundred thirty periodicals, while they have publications, including books and tracts, printed in eighty-seven languages.
In 1874, Seventh-day Adventists began to open mission stations outside the United States and Canada. Ten years later, in 1884, they had three such stations; in 1894, twelve; in 1904, fifty-two. At the close of 1913 they had 101. During the years 1901-1914, 1,267 missionaries, not counting children, were sent into mission fields by the Mission Board of the above society.
While we solicit an offering from you, reader, to assist in mission work, it may be of interest to you to know that last year, 1914, each member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church gave to missions on an average $7.92. For the United States and Canada, the average is a little higher, or $10.15. This, remember, includes children and young people belonging to the society, making it necessary for many to give much more in order to secure these general averages. God's rule for us all in giving is this: “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” 2 Cor. 9: 7.
TO THE PUBLIC
By Editor
ALL THE PROCEEDS derived from the distribution of this issue are dedicated to foreign missions. The distributors who carry with them official solicitors' cards, are authorized to solicit donations in behalf of the Seventh-day Adventist Mission Board; and we assure the donors that the funds contributed to such persons will be transmitted through our regular agencies to the treasurer of the Mission Board.
Should any one desire at some subsequent time to forward an offering for missions, be the gift large or small, it will be thankfully received and officially acknowledged if sent to—
W. T. KNOX, Treasurer,
Takoma Park, Washington, D.C.
Sabbath School Special Mission Offerings
BEGINNING in 1912, the Sabbath schools of the society issuing this paper decided to devote four Sabbaths of the year to giving to some special object in this world-wide mission endeavor. These objects, and one-day gifts by old and young, may be of interest to the reader:
1912
March 30
Gospel work in cities of India . . . . . . $7,674.32
June 29
Opening a mission in South Africa . . . . . . 12,686.64
Sept. 28
Homes for missionaries in China . . . . . . 12,379.82
Dec. 28
Training schools in South America . . . . . . 10,854.42
1913
March 29
Assisting Korea and Philippine Islands . . . . . . $10,924.01
June 28
The medical work in India . . . . . . 12,807.78
Sept. 27
Transportation of 150 missionaries to fields . . . . . . 17,615.29
Dec. 27
Opening a new mission in Africa, Headquarters for China, Assisting missionaries entering fields . . . . . . 13,503.86
1914
March 28
A training school for China . . . . . . $17,491.65
June 27
A year's advance in Japan . . . . . . 18,637.62
Sept. 26
Inca Indian Mission, Peru . . . . . . 17,145.00
A total, for the twelve days of special giving, of $173,507.48, all devoted to missions.
The Love of Christ in Christian Missions
“By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another.” John 13:35. The genuine love of Christ in the soul is the essential motive power of every truly Christian missionary movement.
PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION
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1224 Euclid Ave., Kansas City, Mo.
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