MR. HUBBELL would have been deeply shocked if any one had told him he was unkind to his motherless boy and girl. He had no love for, nor faith in, the Bible; but from their mother the children had inherited a deep love for God’s Word, and had always been gentle and obedient to the gruff parent whose heart each day grew harder and colder toward Christians.
The meetings in the village had continued a week. Reports reached the farmhouse every day, but Mrs. Clonkey had not returned, nor had any of the Hubbells attended the services.
Jamie had grown very despondent. One day he sat under his favorite apple-tree, reading the little paper he had bought of Mrs. Clonkey. He never murmured because he was lame, but his bright eyes had grown dim of late, and Mr. Hubbell paused often to gaze at his son, and wonder if it would be any use to “take him to any more doctors.” “It’s cost me a heap already, but I’d like to see the lad well, I would,” he thought, as the thud, thud, of Jamie’s crutches smote his ears.
This day Mr. Hubbell was close by, hoeing cabbage, and Mr. Offish coming along at the time, he leaned over the fence, and talked in a low tone.
“Ten converts!” exclaimed Mr. Hubbell. “Ten!”
“Yes, an’ Deacon Swift’s among ’em! I ain’t bin yet, but Jane says ’twould do us, you and me, good just to go an’ listen. That’s mostly what I came over here for this morning. Do you want to go to-night?” Mr. Offish stroked his thin beard reflectively, and looked out of the corner of his eye at Mr. Hubbell, to see how he would take the invitation.
“Dr. True an’ his wife rose for prayers last night. Jane says.”
“Old Doc. True? You don’t say!”
“Yes, who’d a thought it!” solemnly added Mr. Offish. “He stood purty nigh to us believin’ in nothing—eh? Hubbell, you think you want to go fer the fun of it? It’s a little change from the monotony of hoeing. Better say ‘Go,’ an’ I’ll come after you right away after supper.”
Mr. Hubbell debated the matter a moment. “Yes, I’ll go,” he said. “Will you take your wife, or shall we go together and take front seats?”
“Jane’s bin four times, and ain’t goin’ to-night, that’s why I thought I’d go. You see I got kind o’ curious. She’s bin talkin’ so much about it. But I ain’t lettin’ her know I’m goin’; no, sir! I told her I had to drive over to the Ridge to get Clem Johnson to help get in the hay. Well, then I’ll drive along here by seven. I promised to stop for Tom Sykes, too; and it’ll be good for weak eyes to see us three hard old fellows sittin’ up front, won’t it, Hubbell? You’ll be ready?”
“Yes,” answered Mr. Hubbell.
The little hall was well filled when Mr. Offish and his two friends entered. Heads turned to see who was coming in so late. Three young men, whose faces shone with the holy light of God’s truth, had risen to sing as the late comers walked toward the front seats, the only available ones. Loud and clear from lips touched with the fire of living faith, rang the words:—
“ The waters are troubled,
The angel is here;
The fountain of mercy
Flows healing and clear;
O come in your sorrow,
And come in your sin;
The waters are troubled:
Step in, O step in!”
Mr. Offish saw two empty seats, and drew his friends into them. One of the singers paused and handed down a chair from the platform. The hall was filled.
“ The waters are troubled,
No longer delay;
The fountain of mercy
Has healing to-day;
Then why will you linger,
Since life you may win?
The waters are troubled:
Step in, O step in!”
All was quiet now; the youngest man of the three singers opened his Bible and read from the fifth chapter of St. John: “ ‘For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.’
“Read all the chapter, friends, when you get home. Jesus is just as willing to heal the sick to-day as he was then. Draw near him with a heart of faith, and leave at his feet all your sin and sickness.
“He’s coming soon, dear friends; he’s calling you—you with your blindness—you with your lameness—you with your sadness—every one of you. Jesus is calling you away from the things that hold you to this sin-cursed earth. Strange that of all God’s creation man should deny him!—strange, when he says, ‘Wilt thou be made whole?’ and, ‘The prayer of faith shall save the sick,’ that we don’t want to take his remedy—the cup of faith that Jesus offers us.
“Satan is using all his power to make us sick and to keep us from drinking the living water of faith found in God’s Word. Jesus is waiting to bless you,—to heal you of your infirmities. Let him save you now; and be among those who ‘shall run, and not be weary;’ who ‘shall walk, and not faint.’
“God’s Word is true. The time is short in which to work for Jesus.
“ ‘The waters are troubled,
The angel still waits;
He pauses in peril
Who halts and debates:
Give over your falt’ring,
Your struggles within;
The waters are troubled:
Step in, O step in!’
“ ‘The meeting is now in your hands, dear friends, and may the angel bring healing and joy to every burdened one here!’ Mr. Clonkey sat down.
(To be concluded)
No Need to Worry
By Eliza H. Morton
ELIZA H. MORTON
No longer will I hold and wear
This heavy garb of anxious care;
It binds my soul, retards my feet,
And keeps me from the mercy-seat:
I’ll no more worry night or day,
There’s safety in the King’s highway.
’Tis Jesus bids me take no thought,
His blood my heavy burdens bought:
He guides the sparrow on the wing,
His Spirit makes the sad heart sing:
I’ll no more worry night or day,
There’s safety in the King’s highway.
He clothes the lily of the vale,
He calms the fury of the gale,
He holds the waters in his hand,
And checks the tide with gates of sand:
I’ll no more worry night or day,
There’s safety in the King’s highway.
When hearts are cleansed, no need to
fear,
Ten thousand angels strong are near;
No condemnation mars the peace
When Christ from sin gives glad release:
I’ll no more worry night or day,
There’s safety in the King’s highway.
I’ll bury in oblivion deep
The things which made my proud heart
weep;
Christ will perfect what he’s begun,
I see by faith the victory won:
I’ll no more worry night or day,
There’s safety in the King’s highway.
North Deering, Maine.
Let Children Tell What They Know
“NEVER tell a child what you can induce him to tell you. Here is a common mistake. Use all your powers of diplomacy in getting the child to put into words that which his mind grasps. It is worth infinitely more to him to tell some truth, even in a broken, bungling way, than to hear you tell it beautifully and eloquently. When he can tell it, he knows it. He may hear you tell it many times without knowing it. “Trying to tell it helps him to know it.”
HUBERT FLETCHER
By Hubert Fletcher
From Jamaica to Colon and the Canal Zone
HUBERT FLETCHER
Last October I came to Central America from Jamaica, my native land, by invitation of the West Caribbean Conference.
In Colon, where I landed, little or no regard is paid to Sunday sacredness. All are at work on that day. The shops are open, the market laborers are at work, and there is hustling and bustling everywhere. I was agreeably disappointed to find this such an important place. The town is undergoing rapid improvement by the Americans. The streets are being paved, and lighted by electric lights. A sewerage system is being established, and water-pipes are being laid. Provision is also being made against the fires that so often occur. Wireless telegraphy is established here, communicating with all parts of the world. All nationalities are to be found here.
The truth was brought to this place by Brother Muir and Sister Herbert, of Jamaica, about the year 1898. In 1904 ten persons were baptized by Elder Knight, and a church of fourteen members was organized. The following year Brother Peckover held a series of tent-meetings, and a place was secured in his new home at Mount Hope, to hold regular meetings. On account of failing health, he was obliged to leave for the States, and the brethren then took over the entire building. This they kept until February, 1906. Then the Panama Railroad, wanting the land, gave seven hundred dollars for the building, and promised us another site.
Meetings were continued for a while in a rented building, but at present they are held in the house of a brother. We have a membership of thirty-four, and we greatly need a substantial church building; that will give prestige to the work.
The Canal Zone, which is now under American control, has a government of its own. It is a strip of land ten miles wide and forty-six miles long, extending from the city limits of Colon on the west to Panama on the east. The idea of cutting a canal across the isthmus dates as far back as the sixteenth century. The first survey was made in 1581, by Antonio Pereira. In 1620 an elaborate report was presented to Philip II, but that did not meet his approval. In all, twenty-five projects of the kind were advanced, until in 1881, M. de Lesseps, at the head of a company, began operations. Owing to the reckless expenditure of money, they failed in 1891, with less than two fifths of the work done. In 1894 it was passed over to a new company, which had a small force of men at work, but allowed the canal from Bahia to the coast to fill up.
At present the canal is in the hands of Americans, who are investing unlimited sums on the sanitary improvements of the sections. A constant warfare is being waged against mosquitoes and malaria parasites, which they have to a great extent under control. They are also putting up buildings as homes for the laborers, factories, etc., preparatory to the actual digging of the canal.
TOWN OF EMPIRE, CANAL ZONE
It has been my privilege since arriving to travel along the canal section, stopping at the most important places, and I can send a good report of all that I have seen. Many of the ill reports are untrue. All who know how to behave themselves are well treated.
The city of Empire is first in importance, and is the most improved and the healthiest. Here is a vast field, which is fully ripe for the harvest. We need an experienced man to locate on the Zone, to develop the work from Panama to Colon. Empire would be the best place in which to live. I have already applied to the mayor for a plot of land. It would be cheaper to build a mission and dwelling together. Rent is very high, and houses can not be easily obtained.
Here is quite a field for canvassing. Our books are in great demand. We hope soon to establish a depository at Colon, with a corps of well-organized and consecrated canvassers, to do pioneer work. Now is our opportunity to establish missions. We have a few Sabbath-keepers in some of the towns. Other people have told me that since their arrival they have not been anywhere to worship, as they are not allowed to attend the church for the white people. We need many of our books printed in the Spanish language, to reach the natives, who are continually asking for them.
Eastern Polynesia
By A. H. Piper
A. H. PIPER
The writer is somewhat acquainted with that part of our great field known as Eastern Polynesia. Here are thousands of natives scattered on more than a hundred islands. Before the advent of the gospel, sixty to one hundred years ago, they were savage cannibals, daily practising horrible, heathen atrocities, cruel, vindicative, murderous, no man's life being safe outside the limits of the tribal lands, and then living in constant preparation to attack others, or to be attacked. Christianity put an end to that condition of continual bloodshed. But to-day we see only a mere outward form in religion. “When they knew God, they glorified him not as God, . . . and their foolish heart was darkened,” and so darkened have they become, that it is everywhere evident that they are going back into heathenism. Old heathen ceremonies are being revived. Unseemly dances are again being practised. Magic, witchcraft, and other satanic influences are again gaining control of the people.
Among the natives are a few who see the downward tendency of the times, and call out for help. It was such a one who said to us not long since, “O when can I send my children to your school? for if they stay in this village much longer, they will all become heathen.”
Brethren, can you not recognize in the plea of that poor Polynesian father a call to us to give his children “the bread of life” for the last days?
If he was simply desirous of educating his children, he could have done so at the schools on his own island. But no, he wanted more than a mere education. He saw that the children of his village, although learning to read and to write, were growing in vice and immorality, and to see his own children going the same way was more than his father heart could bear. Let us imagine ourselves, we who are parents, in that man's circumstances. How our hearts would yearn toward the little ones God has given us! In giving us the message of Revelation 14, God has greatly blessed us, and shall we not be more zealous in sending it to those whom the Lord has placed in our hands to feed with this “bread of life”?
We are glad that a good start has been made in Eastern Polynesia. Fifteen years ago our missionary ship “Pitcairn” made her first trip to the islands of the South Seas, and to-day we have about two hundred Sabbath-keepers in that field. At a meeting at Raiatea the other day, the writer heard the speaker telling of the first visit of the ship “Pitcairn” to that island. Those on board had announced to the inhabitants of the place that a meeting would be held on the ship on the Sabbath. The time was drawing near for the meeting to begin, but nobody had come from the shore to attend. Just then a native canoe, containing14two men, was seen approaching the ship. They came on board, attended the meeting, and to-day are staunch Sabbath-keepers, contented and happy in the faith, and, with tear-bedimmed eyes, talk of the message as their all in all. One of them tells of how good the Lord is to him, for the Lord has not only saved him, but is also bringing, one by one, his large family of children into the fold of Christ. Especially did he mention his oldest daughter, who, when the wife and mother was laid aside in death, became a mother to her younger brothers and sisters, and a solace to the sorrowing father. We speak of this because in these islands the young are so given up to worldly pleasure and licentiousness that to find a young woman willing to do as this one did, is a very rare thing. It is the bread of life as found in the message that produces such characters. If our brethren in America, and the children who, sixteen years ago, gave of their means to build that ship could see the results of her visits to this part of the world, do you suppose they would regret having invested the money in that way?—No, not for one moment.
There is a power in the message that completely changes those who take hold of it. Moreover, it seems that such changes can not be wrought by anything else. To those who know him best, the Polynesian is a man who can not bear to be ridiculed. Nothing else is so potent to change a native mind as ridicule. The man who has the courage to practise health reform in these islands is a marked man. The majority look upon him as an oddity. He is scoffed at, scorned, and derided. The writer was talking to a sick Rarotongan woman a few weeks ago, urging her to give up eating pork. ‘Give up pig!’ she exclaimed, ‘why, that is an impossibility. What would I do at the birth of a child, at a marriage feast, at a death, if I refused to eat pork? Do you not know that to refuse to eat pork on such occasions is to spurn your host's hospitality? Show me the Maori that ever gave up eating pig.’ When the name of such a one was mentioned, words fail to describe the look of blank amazement that overspread the poor woman's face.
The native brother named, in spite of the ridicule of forty other men with whom he works on regular occasions, refuses to drink tea or coffee, so much liked by natives, and takes a little water, notwithstanding the jeers of his fellow workers, who taunt him with the fact that he is a Seventh-day Adventist. I thank God that Seventh-day Adventists have a truth that can produce such men.
Another incident that shows devotion to the principles of the truth and the tender regard on the part of the Author of truth thereto, came before our notice a few days ago. A young sister with her husband had planted a patch of melons with the intention of marketing them. For some reason, when the melons were ripe, they could find no buyer. Finally the day came in which they decided to dig up the melons and plant other food. The sister said to her husband, ‘Let us put aside the Lord's tenth, and maybe he will send a buyer for his portion.’ This was no sooner done than a man approached the house and bought some of the melons that composed the tithe, and a few minutes later others came and bought the remainder. Although they were not able to sell one of their own portion of the melons, the money received for the Lord's portion was put aside, and subsequently paid to the tithe treasurer.
This same sister, when younger, was crossing the lagoon with her brother in a canoe. When about half-way across, they noticed that a large shark was following them. The brother was very much afraid, for it would have been an easy matter for the shark to upset their frail canoe. The sister in a quiet manner said to her brother, ‘Keep quite still while I ask God to help us,’ and kneeling in the canoe, she offered up her prayer. When she had finished, the shark was not to be seen, nor did they see it again. It is such childlike confidence in God as this that develops characters in harmony with his Word. The simplicity of the religion of such a person is beautiful to behold, and such religion is obtained by a belief in, and an obedience to, the truth contained in the message of Revelation 14.
Nor are we alone in noticing such development of character through obedience to the message. While talking with a native missionary of another church, the conversation turned to the subject of the spiritual condition of the people of the missionary's village, and without hesitation this man said, ‘There is one man in the village whom I consider to be a thorough Christian;’ and the man mentioned, brethren, was a believer in the truth. He was no better than any other native when he first came in contact with the message, and confessed at the time that he had broken, over and over again, every command of the decalogue. But what a change do we see to-day! Instead of an evil-smelling, dirty, and disorderly house, he has the cleanest and neatest home in the village. Instead of living with other native families, so conducive to wrong doing, he has but his wife and children in his home. No other man in the tribe is more industrious than is he, and no other man is more prosperous. Even the enemies of the truth say of him that he is blessed of God. As the Sabbath approaches, go to his home and you will find him preparing for it. Watch the sun sink in the west, and as you do so, you will hear his whistle calling the members of his family to begin the Sabbath with prayer. He is the first to come to meeting, and the last to go away. True, he is but human and makes mistakes, but he is ever ready to confess them and put them away.
What, brethren, has caused such reformations as these? We answer with words inspired by the Spirit: ‘The law of God is the foundation of all enduring reformation. . . . Obedience to God's law is the greatest incentive to industry, economy, truthfulness, and just dealing between man and man.’ Therefore let us be of good courage in the work before us, for it must prosper. Let us be true to our responsibility. ‘The message of Revelation 14 is the message that we are to bear to the world. It is the bread of life for these last days.’ ‘This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.’
Rarotonga, Cook Islands.
Kief and Dobrianka, Russia
By H. F. Schuberth
H. F. SCHUBERTH
After our good meeting in Bender, we left, in company with Elder J. Perk, for Kief, the holy city of the Russians, where is the famous Lavra Monastery, to which the devout make many pilgrimages, that they may worship the so-called sacred relics or skeletons of the saints—in reality wooden images in many cases. Here the truth has secured a good foothold, as the efforts of Elder Wildgrube, assisted by Brother Schmidt among the Germans, and Brother Pilkewitsch among the Russians, have been crowned with a good degree of success. Here in the hall used for our public lectures (which accommodates about one hundred and fifty persons comfortably), we held the conference of the Middle Russian Mission field, October 10-14. As the larger number of hearers were Russians, the lectures, studies, and business transactions were translated from the German into that tongue. Sunday afternoon I was much pleased to speak to an intelligent and attentive German congregation, and the questions asked by the hearers after the lecture, showed that there is a great desire on the part of many to hear the truth for these days. In our audiences at Kief there were university professors, students, and other persons of rank and influence.
At the meetings in North and in South Russia we had passed resolutions of thanks for the permission to have all our German publications enter the country, expressing the hope that erelong the ministry of the interior might allow us the same freedom for the Russian literature. At our meeting in Kief we received the good news that this privilege had also been accorded us, so now all our publications are officially allowed in Russia.
The Middle Russian field contains almost sixty-seven million people. It has the smallest membership of any of our Russian fields,—one hundred and seventy-six. It was apparent to all that we should do our utmost to provide for the education of Russian workers; and the seventy of our own people who were at the meeting contributed and pledged over two hundred and fifty dollars toward the educational fund.
If we consider the various nationalities represented, and the many religions and the large cities; if we think of the Russians, the Tartars, the Jews, and the Tunguses and Samoyeds; if we remember15the Greek and Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches, the Mohammedan, and the heathen Shamanism, or nature-worship, religions; if we look at such cities as Moscow, Kief, Archangel, Novgorod, and Kazan,—indeed, when we realize that the people speaking forty different languages, and having such a variety of religious beliefs are to be warned, scattered as they are over such an immense territory, then we get a faint glimpse of the magnitude of the work yet before us.
In the Middle Russian field our Russian paper, known as the Olive Tree, has already been the means in the hands of God of bringing several into the truth. We saw some of these and heard their cheering testimony at Kief. We would heartily recommend this small paper to all our readers who desire to spread the truth among their Russian-speaking neighbors.
LAVRA (RUSSIA) MONASTERY
For the coming year, Elder O. Wildgrube was again unanimously chosen director of the field, assisted by a committee of four brethren—J. Ebel, A. Granberg, C. Schamkow, and A. Kusmin. There is one minister,—the director in this mission field,—one licentiate, five Bible workers, and four colporteurs.
Sunday evening, the fourteenth, we took the train for Kamyshin, about one thousand miles east of Kief; for the East Russian Conference was to be held at Dobrianka, a village about thirty miles from there, October 18-22. Two days and three nights of constant traveling brought us to Kamyshin, where we met Elder H. J. Loebsack. We had to take a boat up the Volga, to reach Dobrianka, and according to the time-table, the boat should leave immediately after the arrival of our train. The transportation company’s agent told us that the boat would probably be at the dock “any minute,” as it was past due. But the man’s “any minute” stretched out to twenty-three hours, during the whole of which time we had to march up and down the river wharf to keep warm; for there was no waiting-room, and the docks were so far from the village that we did not dare seek accommodations in the town, for fear the boat might arrive and leave again before we could get on board. To add to our discomfort, the weather was cold and wet.
But we finally reached Dobrianka, which is two hundred miles north of Saratof. We found about one hundred and sixty brethren together, among them probably ten native Russians, while the rest were Germans. Because of the total failure of the crops in this part of Russia, and the consequent poverty and need among many of our members, the churches in the East Russian Conference were poorly represented. Thirteen of our churches are located in the fam-ily district, where they have only potatoes and a kind of blackberry that grows on potato ground to eat, because their melons, pumpkins, and grains have been a failure. In many cases they have not reaped even half as much as the seed they sowed.
We were favored with extremely pleasant weather, for usually it is cold at this time of the year on the Volga. This year, however, we were able to hold our meetings in the open air. This proved a great advantage to us, for it would have been impossible to find room to accommodate the fifteen hundred outsiders who attended the evening lectures. Naturally enough, the interest of the people to hear, aroused the dragon spirit in some who were opposed to the truth. A pastor thought to cause us trouble, and to prevent the meetings. About twelve o’clock at night, after we had finished our business session, and were preparing for bed, a brother came in and said, “The police are coming at once, and have been empowered to discontinue the meetings.” A few minutes later two policemen, accompanied by the village constable, appeared, to arrest the six “hypocrites” there. Brother H. J. Loebsack replied that we had full liberty to hold religious meetings, and stated that if they wanted to assume the right to disturb a religious meeting like ours, he would request them to give us a properly written and signed document to that effect, and that he would then send this statement to St. Petersburg. They were unwilling to do this. In answer to the question as to what the names of the six “hypocrites” were, they could give no reply. Finally, we all agreed that they should report to the higher officials over forty-five miles distant (these higher officials had sent them to investigate our doings) that the meetings were political in no sense, but purely religious, and that we would close our session on the morrow, which was Sunday. The report could come back Monday, but we would have completed our work and closed the conference. Thus we were able to finish up all our business Sunday, and that evening we again had fully as large a congregation as the previous evenings. The fifty Cossacks which the police had threatened to send to disperse the meeting, did not appear. We were pleased that God had given us such favor with the government that we now can work as never before in spreading abroad the principles of the third angel’s message.
The East Russian Conference was formerly known as the South Russian Conference, but since the separation of the South Russian Mission from the conference territory at the beginning of this year, it is known as the East Russian Conference. Brother H. J. Loebsack was again unanimously chosen president; the other members of the committee are H. K. Loebsack, J. Wuckert, M. Fischer, and A. Gonder. Two ministers, one licentiate, and six missionary licentiates conduct the work among the 17,655,350 inhabitants of this field. Their present membership is 988; 102 have been received by baptism and vote since the beginning of 1906.
Although the general conditions in Russia are sad, and there is much suffering among the people, yet our work goes quietly forward. Just now is the time to work. I was much pleased to see what respect the police officials manifested when we showed them the address of thanks we had presented to his majesty the czar, and gave them a copy of the decision of the Senate stating that our meetings were in no way political, but religious, and religious only. They had been talking about the higher authorities at Kamyshin; but we were able to talk about the still higher authorities at Petersburg; and in the hands of a kind Providence, this good name at Petersburg is working wonders as far as religious liberty for us is concerned. Let all remember the work, the workers, the brethren and the people in this great field.
Brethren, Go!
“BRETHREN, go! The day-dawn breaketh.
Of its glory go and tell,
In the Father’s name we send you,
To his tender love commend you.
God be with you; fare you well.”
Notes from Japan
By W. D. Burden
W. D. BURDEN
Just recently we have held our second tent-meeting in Japan. This time it was in Takasaki, a city about sixty-five miles north of Tokyo, having a population of thirty-five thousand. This has been a very strong Buddhist section, and there are still many evidences that its teachings have not yet entirely lost their hold on the people. However, we found the people much more simple-minded and teachable than those living in Tokyo and the ports.
There are, we were told, some three hundred and fifty Christians of all denominations, in and about Takasaki, some of whom date the beginning of their Christian experience back more than twenty years. Those who attended our meetings were mainly from among the non-Christian element in the several communities.
S. D. A. CHURCH, KOBE, JAPAN
Since the first of last year, two young men—Brethren Watanabe and Suzuki—have been working in this city, introducing our literature. They made a house-to-house canvass of the place, selling our Japanese paper wherever they could. To those who would not buy, but were willing to read, they loaned the papers. Then when the next number of the paper was out, they went around and exchanged the new papers for the old ones. Many, of course, would have nothing to do with Christian literature, but our brethren secured a list of more than five hundred families, to whom they supplied the paper every month. Several became deeply interested, and in time we expect to see them come out fully on the side of truth. But Japanese are very slow to move, even after they are convinced of their duty. One man, a lumber dealer, was so affected that he gave up his tobacco entirely, and when we pitched our tent, he gave us the free use of anything we wanted from his yard to seat and fix up the tent, hauling the lumber to and from the tent without charge. He even refused to take pay for what we had cut in fixing up the tent. We thought this quite remarkable, for other lumbermen would not even rent us lumber. Our meetings began September 21, and continued three weeks. During the first part of the meetings, the weather was favorable, and the tent was well filled every night. Later it became very cold and stormy, so we were not surprised that the attendance decreased. Many would not come for fear they would be made to pay. Very frequently when invited to enter the tent, they would ask how much we charged for admission. Of course we were glad to tell them it was free, but they seemed to think there must be some trick about it. They seemed unable to conceive of any reason why such meetings should be held, except to make money. We heard some saying that it was not good to go into the tent, for we took the names of those who attended the meetings, then afterward went around to their houses, and compelled them to buy our books. Perhaps there was some shadow of an excuse for this latter conclusion; for between meetings we did try to search out the interested ones, and in visiting their homes we were not slow to present the many good things in our literature.
There were none who took a full stand during the course of our meetings; and had it been in the States, we would perhaps have felt that the effort came far short of accomplishing what it ought. But in this country we have to exercise much patience. Like the farmer, who sows his seed, then has to spend many weary days caring for it before he reaps any fruit, so after we sow the gospel seed, and even after we find our hearers really interested, we must wait, sometimes for months, before we see them fully decided to obey.
When we closed the meetings, there were several who seemed much interested. We expect yet to see a number of them take their stand on the side of truth. Since returning to Tokyo I have received very encouraging letters from one family to whom we sold some books, telling how much they enjoyed reading them, and giving me a very warm invitation to visit them again. Our canvassers are still at work in Takasaki, trying to help the interested ones. They are also making one more canvass of the city, this time seeking to take as many subscriptions as they can for our Japanese paper. They give a very encouraging report of their work.
Next month our canvassers are to begin work in Maebashi, another city of about the same size as Takasaki, only a few miles farther up the country. Here they will follow the same general lines of work as they did in Takasaki. All through the country there are towns with a population of from ten to fifty thousand, where we ought to have workers now, carrying on this same work. But the laborers are so few, and those who are available need very much to have some special training. We certainly ought to have a well-equipped training-school, where our young native believers could receive the training necessary to make them efficient workers. Other missions spend much money in training and educating their workers.
While I would not advocate doing just as they do, yet it does seem to me that we ought to provide for this need in a much more definite way than we have yet been able to do, owing to the lack of men and means. We must have foreign help to plan, lead, and direct in the work, and we hope to see our force of foreign workers materially strengthened in the near future. Yet it seems evident that the bulk of the work must be done by native help, and I believe that a few hundred dollars spent in educating them for this work will prove a paying investment.
A short time ago we were cheered by the arrival of Brother and Sister Benson. They are hard at work on the language, and are of good courage. We are glad also to report that the work is onward. Several have just recently united with us to keep God's commandments. Some of these give promise of becoming valuable laborers. What a glad day it will be when the work is finished, and God's own people are gathered home! May we all be faithful in doing what we can to hasten its dawn.
The Great Unentered Countries
By J. L. Shaw
THE great unentered countries are like ships, laden with human souls. And as we turn the field-glass toward the fields, we may see millions of souls for whom Christ died. They are going on the ship to destruction. An enemy is upon the bridge who is determined to wreck these millions, and while we look at our watches for one minute, there are twenty souls going to Christless graves, unwarned, not knowing the message of salvation.—J. L. Shaw.
