Earlier text: Object of TrialsThe Home Study Hour
By MRS. I. H. E.
It seems to be a part of the accepted order of things that children of school age shall have a certain amount of home work to do,—not work of the home, or for the home, but school work to do at home. At least this is the condition that exists at the present time. There are some child culturists who contend that six hours a day — and even a much shorter period — under proper conditions, with absence of frills and due attention to essentials, is enough for growing boys and girls to spend in getting lessons and reciting them, and that what is more than this is loss rather than gain in the long run. Children need time for play, to build up sturdy bodies, and time for a little home work of the kind that will help them to feel themselves an integral part of that institution because of their small responsibilities toward the happiness and well-being of its members. The brief interval between getting home from school and the evening meal should be spent out of doors if possible; for there is nothing like fresh air and exercise to clear the brain and rest the nerves. Then, when the supper work is over, the study hour most often has its place. Whatever the hour decided upon, it should be understood that no ordinary happening is to be allowed to interrupt it. Careful planning, and often a good deal of patience and firmness of resolution, will be required to secure the study hour, and preserve it for its purpose; but the results are well worth striving for. The ideal place for the home study hour is a library, where books of reference are easy of access, and there is room for both parents and children. One advantage of such a room is that the children need not be disturbed by evening callers. However, few of our homes possess a separate room for this purpose. I recall one home in which the generous dining table, with its shaded light, furnished ample room for the books and pads and pencils and ink of the three church-school children who gathered around it, mother with her sewing or book close at hand. Besides the lessons learned in those pleasant evening hours, their memory will follow the members of that little group as long as they live. In another home the wide landing of the broad stairway was fitted up for the children’s study. A low, substantial table, a green-shaded lamp, small, well-made chairs, a dictionary stand, and a bookcase with the needed books supplied the equipment. Here, every evening, the four children of the family spent the home work hour, undisturbed by the usual household distractions, yet near enough to call on father or mother for help or advice whenever some particularly knotty problem presented itself. All these children, it may be added, have made an excellent record in school. The advantages of such a plan are obvious. Habits of regularity, order, and neatness are formed; the studious habit becomes fixed almost unconsciously; the eyes of the young students are guarded against strain; and table and chairs of the right height will do much to prevent the stooped shoulders that are the particular curse of school children. One little girl in short dresses, who insisted on “doing” her algebra and general history and Latin in her lap, was becoming seriously round-shouldered. A change in her methods of home study worked remarkable improvement. But perhaps the greatest advantage of the home study hour is the insight that observant parents may gain into their children’s methods of study. The lovable, inattentive, arm-waving lad, whose hard-hearted teacher persistently gives him marks below his due, comes in this little home school under the eye of father and mother, who by wisely correcting his faults will greatly further his progress at school. The careless, giggling girl is here helped to better things; her too studious sister’s interest is directed to the great world outside of books; and the child of the “Emmy Lou” type, always a day or two behind the others because of a natural slowness—not dullness—of comprehension, is enabled to “keep up.” If it is possible, provide for your children a place to study. The essentials are few,—a solid table, not given to easy joggling, where more than one child is to use it; a good lamp, preferably with a green shade, to save the young eyes; comfortable chairs; fresh air; and, best of all, father and mother, interested and not too far away. Under such conditions the dreaded home work becomes a pleasure because of more perfect lessons, and its influence for good will be felt in all the days to come. Are You Interested?
By AMMY W. WELCH
ARE you interested? Do you ask in what? Why, in our boys and girls, and in our church schools. Perhaps some one says, “I have no boys and girls;” or, “My children are all grown and away from home, so why should I be interested in church schools?” Let me tell you something that will perhaps help to interest you in them. A young man and his wife recently moved into our neighborhood. As their household goods had not arrived, and they were still unsettled when Sabbath came, I asked them to spend the day with me. The young wife had told me the day before that they had just been baptized, although her husband had been reared in the Seventh-day Adventist faith. So, as we visited, I drew him out to tell me about his experience. Like many others, he had grown up believing the theory of the truth, but was not converted, and finally gave up keeping the Sabbath. After his marriage he began to talk the truth to his wife without, at first, a thought of obeying it himself. But as he studied it with her, the Spirit of God convicted and converted him; and they are now rejoicing in the Lord together. I noticed that he seemed quite well acquainted with the13 Bible, and remarked that he had probably studied it considerably when a boy. “No,” he said, “I didn’t study so much, but I just had it drilled into me at home and in church school.” He meant, of course, that he had not studied it willingly, and because of his own personal interest, in those days. After they returned home, I thought again and again of his story. His intellectual knowledge of Bible truth, gained when a thoughtless boy, had been used of God in later life to convert his heart, and also to bring his wife to a knowledge of the third angel’s message. The conversion, a few months ago, of another family living near by, also illustrates the power of God’s Word studied in childhood at home, in the Sabbath school, and in church school. These young people were living, seemingly, without a thought of God, finding their pleasure wholly in the things of this life. Then the man was ill for a month. During this time he and his wife were often remembered in prayer, and a neighborly interest was shown in them. When he recovered, they attended a union revival service, and one Friday morning he came to tell me that he had made a start in the Christian life at the meeting the night before. “Now,” he said, “I don’t know anything to do but to go by the Bible. According to it, the seventh day is the Sabbath; so I have told my boss that I can’t work any more on that day. Perhaps you do not know it, but I was reared to keep the Sabbath, and I still believe the Adventist doctrine, although I have forgotten even where to find the fourth commandment in the Bible. Will you please tell me where it is, and some other texts on that subject also, which I could show to my wife?” The next day they were at church together, and a few weeks later went forward in baptism. Their little daughter also united with the church, and I trust they will continue to grow in grace and finally have a home in the kingdom of God. Shortly after this family made a start, they received letters from his parents, residing in a distant State, saying that both father and mother had just given up the Sabbath, feeling that they had been in bondage, and were rejoicing in the liberty of Christ. They advised him against the acceptance of the Sabbath truth; but he remained true to his convictions of duty. Shall we not improve every opportunity, as parents, Sabbath-school teachers, and church-school teachers, to drill the Bible truths into the minds of the children? And even if we are not parents, Sabbath-school teachers, or church-school teachers, we can show a friendly interest in all children, especially those belonging to the household of faith, and remember them and the schools they attend in our daily prayers. Also, we can and should support the school with our means. In nearly all our churches there are families who cannot afford to send their children to church school. Would it not be a blessing to many who have no little ones of their own, to bear the expense each year of books and tuition for one or more such poor children? Perhaps some hold that if the parents were thrifty and saving they could send their own children. In some cases, this is probably true; sometimes, too, parents lack consecration, and do not sense the importance of the work done in the church school in the salvation of their children. But is it a Christian spirit on our part to show no interest in the children because they are not ours, and their parents do not deserve our help? When the question of church schools began to be agitated among us, it was hard for me to see light in it. I had received all my education in the public schools, and had taught in them. But because the Testimonies advised their establishment, I accepted the idea by faith, and as a Bible worker, talked and worked for their advancement. It is needless to say that I was soon a zealous convert, and it has long seemed to me that it would need nothing save a comparison of the readers used in our schools with those used in the public school, to convince any Adventist of the advantage of such instruction in the development of child character. In spite of the many perplexing problems and discouragements connected with our church school work, shall we not walk by faith, and take an interest in the children of our friends and neighbors, as well as in our own, helping them as we can to prepare for the service of our Lord and King? A Prayer for Remembrance
By Marion B. Craig
God of the heart and hand,
Teach me to understand.
I have forgotten in the long, long years
All of my little childish hopes and fears.
It is so very, very long ago
Since I was in the world the children know;
I have forgotten what I used to play
And dream and do in that far yester-
day,—
All the wide wonder of my childish eyes
Since I have grown so old and worldly
wise.
Yet now there come, with faces raised to
mine,
These little ones. Dear Father, they are
thine.
Teach me to lead them to thine own pure
light;
Help me to guide their little feet aright. God of the heart and hand,
Help me to understand.
I know so little of the thought that lies
Back of the shining of those childish
eyes;
I guess so little of the wonder there
Under the curling of the sunny hair.
It is so very, very long ago
Since I, too, knew the things that chil-
dren know;
Yet hast thou given them to me to lead.
Out of thy wisdom grant me all I need,—
Patience of purpose, faith, and tender-
ness,
Trusting thy perfect love to lead and
bless.
Help me remember,— ah! for this I pray,
Make me again the child of yesterday. God of the heart and hand,
Help me to understand.
— Marion B. Craig. The Pansies’ Mission
By MRS. M. E. BODWELL
A young woman lay in a hospital ward, making a slow and painful recovery from a serious illness. Hundreds of miles from home, with not a loved one near, the outlook to her seemed peculiarly dark. But one day a lady came into her room, and gave her a tiny bouquet of exquisite pansies. “These are from Mrs. Pearce,” she said, naming a woman who was an entire stranger to the girl. “They are the very last of the season, and she thought perhaps you would enjoy them.” Tears of gratitude replaced those of discouragement in the sufferer’s eyes as she tried to express her thanks for the thoughtfulness of this unknown friend. The flowers were placed on a stand near her bed, and the visitor went away. Nearly twenty years have passed since that day, but the uplift and uplook that came through those dainty blossoms can never be forgotten, and the perfume of that kindly deed lingers yet. You may not have even pansies to give; but do not be afraid to show kindness to those in distress and sorrow, and give what you have. It may be God’s time to speak to the sorrowing one, and he may use you and your ministry as his messenger. Good-Intentioned Pests
By Emilie Poulsson
LET the mother be very wary of allowing her child to be a plaything for every chance friend; let her sedulously guard it from being tickled and trotted and handled by affectionate but inconsiderate admirers. People often pet and caress a baby out of selfish impulse rather than out of any thought for the baby’s pleasure or good. But let not the mother disobey those promptings of her heart which lead her, the baby’s heaven-appointed minister, to play often with her baby, adding to the worth of what she does instinctively by doing it intelligently. Insight into what play can do will help her to defend her babe’s developing life from influences which would unduly hasten that development or thwart it on any side.—Emilie Poulsson. For My Child
By Louise Morgan Sill
DEAR little arms that round me twine,
Dear little heart that leans on mine,
You are so small—the world goes by
And never sees us, you and me,
Who sit in some sweet, sheltered place
And whisper in a close embrace.
But oh, if all the trumpet flare
Of all the pageant passing there,
If all the beauty of the earth,
All treasures of whatever worth,
The glory of triumphal things,
The gift of fame, the wealth of kings—
If these and more were offered me,
For you, my child, in barter free,
I’d give my answer in a smile,
And hug you to my soul the while.
—Louise Morgan Sill. “How can parents best make their children care more to be at home than to be anywhere else?” This is a big question, a hundred-sided question, a volume, were it fully answered. Make the home interesting by giving the children plenty to do in it and about it. Children need work, regular, important, purposeful work, more work than play. They need play, but they need work—tasks, chores, duties that give zest to play when playtime comes—that keeps time stepping lively and crowds the day. Move into the country with your boys. Give one the chickens; another, the calf; another, the yard and woodpile. There is virtue in kindling. If your boys are girls, dismiss the maid and let the daughters cook, set table, sweep, dust, anything, so long as they work. “Why, father,” said one of my boys the other night, “most of the boys don’t go home after school till supper time. They haven’t anything to go home to, nothing to do, no place to go except the street.” The day isn’t long enough for my boys. Home is the most fascinating spot on the globe, with all their chores, the live creatures to be fed and loved, the out-loud reading, the range of the fields and woods, and the endless work in the garden. A child has a moral right to be born and set free in the country, where home is not a flat, nor a number, nor a sidewalk. Give the child a home.—Home Progress. The Help of Prayer
By MARTHA E. WARNER
Front Porch Visits — No. 3
“I’ve come today,” said Mrs. Bowen, “to have you tell me how Melvin came to ask you to pray for him. I can’t understand it. Was he a goody-goody boy?” “No, indeed,” I replied; “he was just a normal child. You see, we had prayers every morning. The children were taught to ask for strength to gain the victory over the temptations they would meet through the day. Then at the evening quiet hour we would talk over the victories gained and lost, and have a few short prayers. “Melvin was a human bromoseltzer: at the slightest occasion he would effervesce. But he did try hard to overcome his temper. In talking with me one day he said, ‘Mamma, I pray, and try hard, but the next thing I know, over I go.’ “‘Well,’ I replied, ‘the next time you feel your temper is going to get the best of you, just shut your mouth tightly, and run to mother, and we will both pray.’ Many a time he has come to me, saying, ‘Hold me tight, mamma.’ And I would put my arms around him tightly, and silently pray, until his body would relax, and he would say, ‘It’s all right now, mother,’ and run away to play. Prayer is a part of our life.” “I believe in prayer,” remarked Mrs. Bowen, “if one is in great trouble; but some way I never think of praying about little things. Did the children ever pray for anything they really wanted, and get it?” “Yes, often. I remember Laurence lost his knife, which was the dearest of all his treasures. When asked to explain why he did not hunt for it, he said, ‘Why, I’ve told the Lord all about it, and he will find it for me.’ “At our quiet hour that night he said, ‘Mamma, I’ve prayed and prayed to find that knife, but I don’t find it. What is the trouble? Why doesn’t the Lord find it?’ “‘Well, Laurence,’ I replied, ‘it is like this: This noon I was very, very tired. Suppose I had prayed, ‘Lord, please get the dinner today,’ and then had just rested till father and you boys came for dinner. You know God has promised that all things that we ask in prayer, believing, we shall receive. Dinner is one of the all things. Now tell me just what would you have had for dinner?’ “‘Nothing,’ the children answered in chorus. Then Laurence remarked: ‘I see; when you pray, you must say, “Help me do this or that,” and then pitch right in and do your part, and the Lord will do his.’ “‘Exactly,’ I answered. ‘Ask the Lord to help you remember where you had your knife, to make your eyes bright to see it, then hunt and hunt, and the knife will be found.’” “‘That’s just what I will do the very first thing in the morning, after my work is done,’ said Laurence. And sure enough, when morning came, the children hadn’t been out of doors ten minutes before I heard a shout, and they came running to the house, crying, ‘The knife is found! The knife is found!’ “You see, I pray over everything. I don’t remember ever even putting a cake into the oven, without asking the Lord to take charge of the baking. It is the same about all my work. If I go to ride, I ask the Lord to go with me. Even when an automobile hit our wagon, I said, ‘Lord, take care of us,’ and no damage was done.” “I know,” said Mrs. Bowen, rising to go, “it is like a miracle. I wonder if things in my home would go smoother if I prayed more.” How to Manage Ear Trouble
THE ears are subject to infection and injury both from within and from without, but they are generally invaded through the nasal passages. Sometimes inflammation spreads from those passages to the ears, and sometimes it is carried or forced there by improper treatment. For example, most persons, when attacked by a cold in the head, blow the nose with quite unnecessary violence. That often drives the germs that are causing the trouble back into the tubes that lead to the ears. In fact, blowing the nose violently during the acute stages of a cold only serves to increase the congestion already present, without by any means giving the relief it seems to promise. Much harm can also be done by a wrong use of the nasal douche. It is true that the nasal passages must be kept clean, but that can be done by very gentle methods. People who suffer from “recurring” colds should remember that too energetic attacks upon the local trouble may only drive it back to the ears through the Eustachian tubes. Sometimes the ears of children are attacked from the outside by conscientious and well-meaning mothers. It is astonishing to learn what an apparently sensible woman will do by way of cleaning the inside of a child's ear, and what preposterous instruments she will use. Healthy ears do not need syringing, and only persons who are expert in the operation should perform it on ears that are not in good condition. Hard instruments for cleaning out the ear should never be used. There are little spoons contrived for this purpose in the shops, but no one should buy them; neither should mothers or nurses think of twisting a towel into a spike, or wrapping it round a match, and therewith exploring a child's ear. Earwax is a normal secretion; it is found in all healthy ears, and is not something to be pursued as if it were a disgrace. You can always keep the ears properly clean by using a towel dipped in warm water and wrapped round a finger. When a small child gets a foreign body into the ear, gentle syringing with warm water will often remove it, and that should always be tried before any other method, unless the object in the ear is something that the water will cause to swell. The attempt to extract the object forcibly may do much injury. No one except an experienced physician or nurse should think of doing that.—Selected. ANXIETY mars one’s work. No one can do his best when fevered by worry. One may rush and always be in great haste, and may talk about being busy, fuming as if he were doing twelve men’s duties; and yet some quiet person alongside, who is moving leisurely and without anxious haste, is probably accomplishing twice as much and doing it better. Fluster unfits one for good work. Nervous prostration is seldom the result of present trouble and work, but of work and trouble anticipated. Mental exhaustion comes to those who look ahead, and climb mountains before they arrive at them. A day of worry is more exhausting than a week of work. Worry upsets our whole system. Work keeps it in health and order. The bright, cheerful woman makes a cheerful world around her. The melancholy, morose, fretful, disjointed, sarcastic, critical, dyspeptic, bilious, gloomy woman creates a world about her which is a reflection of her own mood.—Selected. The Curtains at Night
By Mrs. I. H. E.
No doubt many women feel as one has expressed it, that “the pinning up of the curtains before opening the windows at night is the last straw that breaks the tired housekeeper’s back.” The nightly protest of tired arms and back led this woman to think out an easier way than pinning them up, draping them over a picture, or even leaving them to swing back and forth against the screens in the damp night air. A white bone ring (costing from five to ten cents a dozen) was sewed in the middle of each curtain hem, on the wrong side. Brass hooks were placed on each side of the window frame, rather high up; and when bedtime came, it took but a moment to hook the curtains over these, and protect them from the breezes that would otherwise soon make them limp and unsightly. WE had rid our yard of moles by using carbon bisulphide; and as our chicken houses were overrun with rats, I thought of trying it for exterminating them. We soaked cloths with it and poked them into the rat holes as far as possible, so that the chickens could not pull them out. The rats left and have never come back, although it is over two years since we tried it. We felt this a great victory, for we had tried everything else we ever heard of without success. Care should be taken, however, to keep all fire away from the sulphide fumes, as they are highly inflammable.—Selected. Does the Third Angel’s Message Influence the Press?
By Frederick C. Gilbert
When I came to Buffalo to hold a series of special meetings, I felt that something ought to be done to get our message into the newspapers. I had previously learned that this is difficult in Buffalo, on account of the size of the city, and the non-Protestant influences which are at work. It should be remembered that Buffalo is one of the strong Catholic centers of this country. It has a cathedral which cost two million dollars; and the property of the church in this city amounts to many millions. Several of the newspapers are wholly Catholic, some of the others are partisan, and some of the rest are subsidized. I called on one of the city editors and told him that I had come to conduct a series of evangelistic services, but entirely different from what such services usually are. This editor is on the staff of one of the strong Protestant papers of the city. He wanted to know if it was to be along the line of the “Sunday” movement, and I assured him to the contrary. He evidently had made up his mind that he did not want anything of that kind in his paper. I told him that we planned to give the citizens much up-to-date information from the Bible, and that we would present him with copy that the people of Buffalo would want to read. He accepted an article, and promised to give us space if he could. After a day or two we noticed the first article in the paper, and the write-up was very fair and frank. I then visited several of the city editors, and was promised space. First two papers gave us space, then three papers, and part of the time four papers a day accepted the sermons, and gave us very fair reports of the meetings. We placed in the hands of these editors from three to five articles a week, mostly on prophecy. The papers gave us splendid reports of my four Monday night lectures on the war. One of the papers published an article on the “Return of the Jews,” with a picture of the writer. The city editor of one of the leading papers in whose hands a number of these prophetic articles had been placed wrote an editorial, the first three paragraphs of which we quote:— “The day’s news has become a record to ponder, to wonder at and then file away as past human understanding. “From a world of peace-loving people, charged with industry and dominated by a spirit of good will, we have become a world of slayers, charged with blood lust and ruled by a spirit of hate. “People do not have to be religiously fanatical to see in all the terrible things that are happening about us the fulfillment of Biblical prophecies. Few individuals indeed, however practical and well poised they may be, who do not, when they are alone with their own thoughts, wonder if all this is not a visitation of Providence.” We believe that with the blessing of God and discretion, we can get much of present truth in the newspapers, and as a result there will be a molding influence even upon the newspaper editors. In this way many persons will not only be warned of present and coming dangers, but will also be led to accept the truth. The North Carolina Camp Meeting
By J. O. CORLISS
This camp meeting has just closed, and was a success in many ways. From first to last about two hundred brethren were present, most of whom testified to having received lasting benefit from the occasion. At nearly every night service, as well as the day services on Sunday, several hundred from the city of High Point attended, and many expressed themselves as being deeply interested in what they heard. The city of High Point, wherein the camp was located, is a city of nearly 13,000 inhabitants, and is one of the most enterprising little places to be found in the South. The reports rendered at the camp meeting showed that the twenty-one churches of the conference are located in twelve counties only, while eighty-eight counties of the commonwealth, many of these constituting the richest part of the State agriculturally, have no organized representatives of our work. There are said to be 5,000 towns, villages, and cities in this State, only a fraction of which have been entered even by our colporteurs. It seems almost a Herculean task to cover so vast a territory with so small a force of workers, and yet three new churches were received into fellowship at this conference, making the present membership 659. If all these would but faithfully render to God that which belongs to him of the substance in their keeping, not only would no deficit appear in the conference annual reports, but means enough would be in hand to carry forward aggressive work. A very good showing was made in Sabbath school offerings for the two Sabbaths of the meeting, the amount being $104.45. Besides this, $576 was raised in special contributions for missions. Near the close of the last Sabbath, Brother W. L. Adkins was set apart to the gospel ministry by the laying on of hands, which was one of the precious occasions not only of that day, but of all the days of the camp. On the last Sunday thirteen followed their Lord in baptism. Some changes were made in administrative officers for the coming year. Elder J. H. Behrens, who had faithfully served as conference president, did not feel that his physical condition would warrant him in continuing longer in the position, so Elder J. B. Locken, of the Cumberland Conference, was called to assume the duties of president. Besides the local laborers there were present during a part or all of the time, Prof. J. L. Shaw, of Washington, D. C.; Elders O. Montgomery, of Atlanta, Ga.; Charles Thompson, of Minneapolis, Minn.; W. H. Williams, C. B. Haynes, and Prof. Leo Thiel, all of Atlanta, Ga., and the writer. The camp broke up Monday morning, August 23, with a prayer service, and all the people left with apparent joyful courage that victory will crown their lives for the coming year. J. O. CORLISS. First Foreign Mission Band at Union College
By MRS. IDA FISCHER CARNAHAN
EARLY in the fall of 1892 I entered Union College (Nebraska), a stranger to all except one young woman who had attended Battle Creek College while I was there. It was my good fortune to have a room on the third floor of South Hall, the ladies' dormitory, opposite the room of Miss Anna Jeffries (now Mrs. Guy Dail) and Miss Bertha Shanks (now Mrs. F. L. Chaney, of the Australasian Union Conference). A strong friendship developed between Miss Jeffries and me, and often in our spare moments we exchanged our ideas and plans for future work. Having felt a burden for the Spanish-speaking people since a child of twelve years of age, and having this interest increased through the field studies of Mexico in our Foreign Mission Band at Battle Creek College, I often talked with Miss Jeffries of the foreign work. As the result of our talks Miss Jeffries and I decided to meet every Sabbath morning after preaching service and before dinner, and spend that hour in seeking God, that he would lay the burden upon some in that school for the foreign fields, and if he could use us, to give us a thorough preparation for our work. Little by little we invited others to join us, restricting the number to those who16 were especially interested and who looked forward, should the call come, to work in the foreign fields. In a little while our rooms would not hold those who joined us. We then requested permission of the preceptress to use the ladies' parlor. This was gladly given us. By this time the work and interest had grown so that we were forced to band ourselves together in a society. Officers were elected, and a pledge was drawn up. Those who applied for admittance into the band were not young women who were moved by sudden impulse or by the excitement of the hour. They were stanch, loyal Christians, who seemed to sense what such a call would mean should it come to them. In the pledge there was no reserve; it was a giving up of all. As I look back over that faithful little band, some of whom have been on the frontier for years, I believe the sacrifice was made then and there, and they knew what it meant when their names were attached to the pledge. "To go when and where God would call them." After the ladies' band was fully organized the gentlemen students organized their band, with Mr. C. H. Parker, who has spent so many years in the Fiji Islands, as its first president. These bands continued to meet in separate halls, with an occasional joint meeting by permission of the president of the school. The meetings were not public meetings. In fact, one of the principal objects of these separate sessions was to exclude the element that would hinder the free intercourse of the Spirit of God. Then, too, it was a home mission band. The cases of non-Christians, backsliders, and any one that needed help were taken up, talked over, and the best methods discussed of working with such to bring them to Christ. Often some one would volunteer to take such a one under her special care, and do personal work with her. The members were active, and needy cases were reported every week. The work went on, and soon its influence began to be felt in the school. Backsliders were reclaimed, and others who never had been converted took their stand. Some who were indifferent began to examine themselves and to seek a closer walk with God. A few of the consecrated students outside of the homes began to seek admission. This was done by giving their names to a member of the society. These names were carefully and prayerfully considered by the committee, which, after earnestly seeking God, passed upon them. The committee reported to the band, and before the vote was taken, we earnestly sought God for wisdom in deciding whether to admit them. In a few cases it seemed best not to do so. In the outline studies of the different fields, every member, no matter how busy, not only felt it a duty but a privilege to be prepared to take part from week to week. One of the prominent features of the work of these bands was the doing of the work at our doors. We all felt that if we could not save the souls right around us, we were mistaken in our call to regions beyond. At first this work was considered and looked upon with suspicion, but from time to time, as different members of the faculty entered the room and watched the results, they, too, felt that it was born of God. It was only a few prayers of two consecrated young women in their room during the hour which is often called an off hour, but the results have been felt, and are being felt, in some of the most distant parts of the world. Earnest men and women are now on the firing line, and are as loyal and true to this message still as the day they pledged themselves to the work which has become a very part of their being, their life, their all. Personally, as I review the past,—the experience gained during those years of association with the loyal members of the Union College Foreign Mission Band and the work done,—I feel that it was God's means of awakening and preparing the young people for the work which is now closing so rapidly. The definite aim of its members, and the realization that they had laid all upon the altar, and were ready, at God's call, to go forth as an army in his service, helped each one of us in our daily life and in school work, and gave us prevailing power with God in seeking a preparation from above for service for all mankind. MRS. IDA FISCHER CARNAHAN. The Educational Convention at Washington
By B. G. Wilkinson
THE work in the East has been greatly blessed by the convention of educational and Missionary Volunteer workers recently held at Washington, D. C. There was a good attendance from the Columbia and Atlantic Unions, larger than was expected, as it was the first time in the history of the work in the East that such a convention has been held. The enrollment at the convention was almost one hundred. The convention was conducted with earnest Christian zeal. Efforts were made to discover the best ways and means to build up the spirit of enthusiasm in the hearts of the workers already here, and to enlarge both the field and the circle of workers. The Spirit of God was present from the very beginning, and was manifested by the response of deep consecration on the part of all.
B. G. WILKINSON. Visiting Churches in Jamaica, British West Indies
By A. J. HAYSMER
JULY 14 Mrs. Haysmer and I started with Elder E. C. Boger, president of the Jamaica Conference, and his wife on a two weeks' tour of visiting churches in the west end of the island. It had been about seventeen years since I had been in that part of the island, and it was a real pleasure to me to visit not only the old places, but the new ones also. Our first stop was at Devon. There were a number of the old members there, and, as I stood before them, I could hardly realize that it had been so many years since I had been there; but the gray hairs, not only theirs but mine, show that time has been busy since we met them last. Those who were little children then are young men and women now. Many are still loyal to the truth, but, sad to say, some have gone astray and are out in the world. From there we went to Montego Bay. We visited the grave of our dear Sister Webster, Elder E. W. Webster's first wife, who died of yellow fever while attending a meeting here nearly eighteen years ago. It brought back the sad experiences we went through in the time of that epidemic. We had only one meeting at Montego Bay, as Elder and Mrs. W. M. Crothers are living there and helping the church along all lines. From there we went to Mt. Carey, where we remained over Sabbath and Sunday. Our next stop was at Marchtown. Here, again, I had the pleasure of meeting old friends who were still faithful. We held meetings at Sheffield, Big Woods, Contented Hall, Canaan, and Beverly, and called at four other places where we have churches. At our first stop the people began to inquire, “Has Elder brought his forceps?” When they learned that I had, I had work to do. I relieved the people of more than fifty aching teeth during the trip. At nearly all the places I found those whom I had baptized when I labored here years ago. It was a joy to me to see how the work has prospered. We had a very pleasant time. All was done for our comfort that it was possible for the people to do. The scenery of Jamaica is very beautiful, and as we glided over the nice roads in an automobile, we felt that this is one of the inventions to assist in quickly finishing the work. Most of the churches are some distance from the railroad, and it is very slow and tiresome traveling over the mountain roads by horse or bicycle, as I used to do. We held more than two dozen meetings, and traveled a little more than four hundred miles. These trips among the churches are very profitable. The ordinances were celebrated at nearly all the places we visited, and baptism was administered at one place. The preaching was designed to encourage the people to greater consecration themselves, and to do missionary work in their community. All partook of the missionary spirit, and promised to uphold the banner of truth by life and deed. Now is the time to work for our neighbors. While all over the world is unrest, now is the time to point them to the only place of rest. We enjoyed this trip with Elder and Mrs. Boger very much. They are working hard to build up all lines of the work in their conference. We are at home for a week getting writing done, but expect to start August 10 with them on another trip in the eastern part of the island. A. J. HAYSMER.