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Review and Herald, Vol. 92, No. 6.

THE WORK AND THE WORKERS
Earlier text: Abide in the Ship

Australasian Union Conference and Ministerial Institute

By Arthur G. Daniells

THE Australasian Union Conference held its quadrennial session for 1914 on the St. Leonards camp ground during the month of September. St. Leonards is a suburban station of Sydney, New South Wales.
The conference was opened by the president, Elder J. E. Fulton, Wednesday morning, September 2. After receiving the president’s report for the quadrennial period just closed, the delegates elected the usual standing committees, and decided to defer the consideration of all business features of the conference for two weeks. This was done because the executive committee had arranged to devote that part of the conference to a ministerial and workers’ institute.
When the institute opened, it was found that there were 200 in attendance—160 conference laborers, 15 students, and 25 laymen. The wives of some of the ministers are included in the number of conference laborers. The students were some of the oldest and most advanced young people in Avondale Missionary College. The number was doubled before the institute closed. The laymen were brethren and sisters who came from different parts of the union to attend the institute.
Of this large gathering 19 represented the general work of the union, 29 were from New South Wales, 29 from Victoria-Tasmania, 20 from New Zealand, 15 from South Australia, 11 from Queensland, 10 from West Australia, and 17 from the island mission fields of the Southern Pacific. The students and laymen were from all these divisions of territory.
No one in that gathering could fully appreciate the feelings of Mrs. Daniells and myself as we looked upon that large company of loyal, consecrated workers. The doxology is usually sung at the close; we wanted to sing it at the opening. We remembered the day of small things, when there were only three ministers in all this union, and not more than one hundred believers. And there were no others south of the equator. We could but exclaim, “Behold what God hath wrought!”
The workers had been looking forward to this occasion for a long time and with deep interest. They felt the need of the study, counsel, and association. They were expecting to receive great benefit, and entered most earnestly into the spirit and work of the institute.
Brother Fulton conducted a study on the need and the place of the Holy Spirit in the work of the gospel, and took the general oversight of the institute. Brother Johanson and Sister Hindson gave a series of lessons on home missionary work. I gave a continued study on the gospel ministry, and took charge of the question box hour. These regular studies, with the evening services and the special meetings of consecration, kept us all busy. The time was too short to compass all that we could see spread out before us.
Each institute that I have attended has been different in some ways from every other, and yet each one has seemed to be just what was needed by those in attendance. So it was on this occasion. It was not just what we had at either Philadelphia, College View, South Lancaster, or London; but for the field and the workers it was just as inspiring and helpful as any of these mentioned.
The first Sabbath of the institute was a very precious day. At 8:30 A. M. the workers crowded together in the young people’s tent for one of those special meetings we have so often had in our institutes. The Lord surely met with us. We were filled with the spirit of surrender and consecration and confession. As we were not ready to close this meeting when the hour came for the general meeting in the large tent, it was arranged that we should continue this special meeting in the afternoon. This was done. The second meeting lasted till the close of the Sabbath. Then, instead of having the regular preaching service in the evening, we all gathered in the large tent to continue this earnest seeking of the Lord with all who were on the ground. The blessing of God rested upon us. All were calm, yet earnest and resolute. We felt that the time to finish the work of God had surely come, and that we must have a new vision of this great work, that we must make a new consecration of our lives to the work, and that the Lord must ordain us anew by his divine Spirit for greater efficiency and power in the work. The Lord heard us, accepted us, and blessed us.
COLPORTEURS ATTENDING AUSTRALASIAN UNION CONFERENCE, 1914
COLPORTEURS ATTENDING AUSTRALASIAN UNION CONFERENCE, 1914
It was a great pleasure to have the presence and association of our missionaries who are laboring in the island mission fields of this union, and for the natives of Australia and New Zealand. Brother and Sister C. H. Parker were present from the New Hebrides, where they have had such serious times the past year. They were enjoying fairly good real health, and were full of courage regarding their field. Brother and Sister A. G. Stewart came from Fiji. Their reports were most encouraging. Brother and Sister S. W. Carr were present from New Guinea, where they have their mission fully launched and are now working for the heathen around them. Brother F. E. Lyndon, who has been seven years without a break at Tahiti, came for a change and a spiritual uplift. Brother and Sister G. L. Sterling came from the Cook Islands. This was their first meeting with the Australasian workers. Brother and Sister George Stewart came from Tonga, Brother A. H. Ferris from Norfolk Island, and Brother T. A. Driver from Lord Howe Island. Sister McCoy, a daughter of Brother J. R. McCoy of Pitcairn Island, was with us. Brother and Sister P. B. Rudge, who are working for the aborigines of New South Wales, and Brother R. K. Piper, who has charge of the work for the natives of New Zealand, were also present. Then Brother B. Judge, who is on furlough from Sumatra, and Brother and Sister Harold Sharp, who had just returned from Singapore for a rest, were with us. We had also the presence of Brother and Sister Caldwell, who have been doing such good work with literature in the Asiatic Division.
I have given this long list of workers with the names of the fields they were from, that the readers may get some idea of the extensive missionary operations the Australasian Union Conference is carrying on in addition to the usual work of any one of our union conferences, and also to let it be known what excellent help the institute had to make it more than an ordinary meeting. These missionaries brought to the meeting a freshness, a strong, active faith, an experience, and a courage that were a distinct help to all. And their association with the brethren in the homeland, the fresh assurances they received of brotherly love for them and deep interest in their fields, were a real blessing and encouragement to them. They will return to their labors with new courage to continue the struggle. The general feeling expressed was that this meeting marked a new experience to many, and that it would prove to be the beginning of a new era to the work in the Australasian Union Conference.
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST MINISTERS OF AUSTRALASIA
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST MINISTERS OF AUSTRALASIA
At the close of the institute the conference resumed its regular work. It had been arranged with the New South Wales Conference that during the last two weeks the New South Wales camp meeting should be combined with the union conference. This proved to be the largest gathering of our people ever held south of the equator. Two hundred and sixty tents were pitched, and many rooms in the vicinity of the camp ground were rented. The attendance on the Sabbath must have been close to fifteen hundred. These were nearly all our own people. On Sundays the attendance was still larger. The sermons preached by the different ministers during the camp meeting were timely and stirring. The Lord has raised up loyal, strong men in this field to proclaim his message.
The reports submitted by the presidents of conferences, superintendents of missions, and heads of departments and institutions, were well prepared and very encouraging. The past four years have witnessed a decided advance in every department.
The plans adopted and the various changes and adjustments made were all designed to press the work on with greater vigor and efficiency than ever. The field of operation is so large, and the lines of work are so numerous and heavy, that it was decided to have the vice president devote his entire time to the general work of the union. Elder C. H. Watson was released from the presidency of the Queensland Conference to take the vice presidency of the union. He has located at the headquarters, to be closely associated with Brother Fulton. By taking definite responsibility for certain lines of work, attending camp meetings in distant states and visiting the island mission fields alternately, he will relieve the president of a heavy load he has been carrying the last four years.
The president’s burdens will be lightened, and at the same time the efficiency of the general administration will be increased, by the step taken to center all the departments at the headquarters and to place in charge of them secretaries who will give their whole time to their interests. Elder W. W. Fletcher, president of the South Australian Conference, was elected secretary of the Missionary Volunteer and home missionary departments. Brother F. G. Rampton, general canvassing agent for New Zealand, was elected assistant secretary of the home missionary department, and will give all his time to that work. Sister Rampton will assist Sister A. L. Hindson in her heavy work as secretary of the Sabbath school department and corresponding secretary of the Missionary Volunteer and home missionary departments. Brother James Gregory was elected assistant secretary of the religious liberty department. In addition to this work he will assist Sister Hindson in the editorial work of the Australasian Record and the church missionary paper. Brother L. D. Lemke, who has charge of the subscription book department of the union, will locate at headquarters with the heads of the other departments.
By this arrangement the president of the union will be able to give the work of the departments closer study and more intelligent cooperation. He will also be able to secure the counsel of all these leaders in their various lines of work when he finds it possible to spend time at his office. The union conference holds its sessions quadrennially. Four years is rather a long period in these times when everything moves so fast. It is essential to efficient administration that those in charge of the work be so situated that they can counsel frequently and work together with the most intelligent cooperation. This union has done excellent work in the past, but the adjustments here mentioned will, we feel sure, greatly strengthen the administration.
The entire meeting was good — one for which we feel profoundly thankful to the Lord. More of interest could be written, but this report is already long. Let us pray the Lord to help the conference to make great strides during the four years’ period upon which it has just entered. A. G. DANIELLS.

Mission Offerings

By W. T. Knox

HEREWITH is submitted the annual report on the Twenty-cent-a-week Fund for 1914. While the reports of this fund that have been appearing from time to time in the REVIEW AND HERALD have without doubt been of interest to all the readers of this paper, the writer feels sure that the accompanying report will be read with the greatest interest by all those who have been striving during the past twelve months to make up the amount required for the various needs of the General Conference. Our aim has been to secure for the foreign missions an amount equal to fifteen cents a week per member, totaling $507,000, and in addition to this, an extra five cents a week per member for the relief of our training schools and sanitariums. If we had been successful in our efforts, we should have for the benefit of these institutions, $169,000.
The accompanying statement shows that from every union conference, with the exception of the Southern and South-western, we have received for the year in excess of fifteen cents a week per member, the aggregate amounting to $614,877.23, and of these there were five unions that raised in excess of twenty cents a week per member. This will enable the General Conference to turn back into the ten unions that have been successful in raising in excess of fifteen cents a week per member, in the neighborhood of $100,000 to apply on their institutional indebtedness. This will be a great relief to many conferences, and without doubt a source of encouragement to all our people, and should prove a real inspiration to the entire field to take up this important work in a most aggressive manner for the year upon which we have now entered.
It is evident to all who have given any study to our efforts in raising these funds, that our great lack in the past years has been our failure to give the proper attention to this effort in the earlier part of the year. The recognition of this is evidenced in many of the letters now being received at the General Conference Office, in which many conference officials express themselves as determined to benefit by past experience, and to begin their efforts in raising the mission funds in the early months of 1915.
The conferences that have provided a surplus for the relief of the institutions are as follows:—
Atlantic Union ............... $16,077.82 Eastern Canadian Union ....... 3,939.75 Central Union ................ 14,790.44 Columbia Union ............... 17,606.85 Lake Union ................... 12,564.52 Northern Union ............... 18,358.12 North Pacific Union .......... 1,659.51 Pacific Union ................ 15,603.66 Southeastern Union ........... 1,916.46 Western Canadian Union ....... 6,495.90
W. T. Knox.

Statement of Twenty-Cent-a-Week Fund for Year Ending Dec. 31, 1914

CONFERENCES Membership Amt. at $10.40 Per Member Amount Received Amount Short Amount Over
ATLANTIC UNION
Greater New York 1101 $ 11450.40 $13670.96 $ 2220.56
Maine 449 4669.60 4290.68 378.92
Massachusetts 1267 13176.80 14927.75 1750.95
New York 815 8476.00 6890.01 1585.99
Northern New England 540 5616.00 5766.12 150.12
Southern New England 496 5158.40 4811.82 346.58
Western New York 840 8736.00 8682.88 53.12
Totals 5508 57283.20 59040.22 2364.61 4121.63
CENTRAL UNION
Colorado 1703 17711.20 13080.08 4631.12
Kansas 2050 21320.00 21355.90 35.90
Missouri 1377 14320.80 10678.66 3642.14
Nebraska 2073 21559.20 24363.19 2803.99
Western Colorado 465 4836.00 3338.92 1497.08
Wyoming 517 5376.80 5816.69 439.89
Totals 8185 85124.00 78633.44 9770.34 3279.78
COLUMBIA UNION
Chesapeake 605 6292.00 5479.13 812.87
District of Columbia 771 8018.40 8766.47 748.07
Eastern Pennsylvania 1150 11960.00 12010.00 50.00
New Jersey 726 7550.40 8026.78 476.38
Ohio 2000 20800.00 22283.72 1483.72
Virginia 514 5345.60 3131.50 2214.10
West Pennsylvania 790 8216.00 8219.20 3.20
West Virginia 172 1788.80 2168.45 379.65
Totals 6728 69971.20 70085.25 3026.97 3141.02
EASTERN CANADIAN UNION
Maritime 239 2485.60 2486.01 .41
Ontario 501 5210.40 5212.59 2.19
Quebec 136 1414.40 1924.89 510.49
Newfoundland 57 592.80 593.66 .86
Totals 933 9703.20 10217.15 513.95
LAKE UNION
East Michigan 1532 15932.80 16759.58 826.78
Indiana 1732 18012.80 17113.73 899.07
Northern Illinois 1403 14591.20 15412.92 821.72
North Michigan 784 8153.60 6042.47 2111.13
Southern Illinois 614 6385.60 6710.30 324.70
West Michigan 2444 25417.60 21637.46 3780.14
Wisconsin 2594 26977.60 15491.46 11486.14
Totals 11103 115471.20 99167.92 18276.48 1973.20

Misery Loves Company

“MISERY is not the only human quality that loves company. Some of her distant relatives — anxiety, discouragement, annoyance — are equally sociable.”

Influence of Amusements in the Church

RESPONDING to a request that he write something with reference to the influence of amusements on the spiritual life of the church, the editor of the New York Weekly Witness for Oct. 28, 1914, makes these sensible and timely remarks with reference to the question:—
Any amusement, no matter how innocent it may seem, becomes sinful if it is allowed to interfere with duty, or if it tends to create a distaste for prayer or for Bible reading or for serious thinking. When any amusement fascinates the mind to such an extent that the desire for it becomes stronger than the desire to please God, then that amusement comes between the man and God and causes a sense of alienation, which makes communion with God impossible: that is a sinful condition.
These are the principles involved in the question whether any amusement is lawful or not, and it follows from this statement of principles that the lawfulness or unlawfulness of an amusement must depend in some cases upon the character of the individuals concerned, and upon the circumstances in which they are placed at the time. What might be quite innocent and beneficial in one case might be very harmful or dangerous in another case. Paul, writing under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, teaches us very plainly that circumstances alter cases in regard to practical questions of this nature. . . .
It is the will of God that his children should be joyous, and not go about with long faces. Innocent pleasures are helpful morally as well as physically, if they are kept well under control, and always subordinated to the more important matters of life; but even the most innocent pleasures become foes instead of friends to the spiritual life when they are allowed to dominate the mind and absorb time and thought and energy which should be devoted to other objects.

Conference Membership and Contributions

CONFERENCES Membership Amt. at $10.40 Per Member Amount Received Amount Short Amount Over
NORTHERN UNION
Iowa 2343 $24367.20 $24526.92 $ $159.72
Minnesota 1715 $17836.00 $19521.11 $1685.11
North Dakota 1303 $13551.20 $13619.08 $67.88
South Dakota 948 $9859.20 $9901.21 $42.01
Totals 6309 $65613.60 $67568.32 $1954.72
NORTH PACIFIC UNION
Montana 452 $4700.80 $3707.56 $993.24
Southern Idaho 647 $6728.80 $6022.04 $706.76
Southern Oregon 573 $5959.20 $3819.16 $2140.04
Upper Columbia 1900 $19760.00 $15547.83 $4212.17
Western Oregon 1831 $19042.40 $14149.08 $4893.32
Western Washington 1592 $16556.80 $12989.94 $3566.86
Alaska 4 $41.60 $16.10 $25.50
Totals 6999 $72789.60 $56251.71 $16537.89
PACIFIC UNION
Arizona 234 $2433.60 $6734.98 $4301.38
California 2698 $28059.20 $22329.70 $5729.50
Central California 1138 $11835.20 $9537.50 $2297.70
Northern California 1139 $11845.60 $11898.18 $52.58
Southern California 3397 $35328.80 $31706.07 $3622.73
Utah 173 $1799.20 $1372.51 $426.69
Nevada Mission 92 $956.80 $1218.52 $261.72
Totals 8871 $92258.40 $84797.46 $12076.62 $4615.68
SOUTHEASTERN UNION
Cumberland 586 $6094.40 $4833.82 $1260.58
Florida 685 $7124.00 $8737.32 $1613.32
Georgia 571 $5938.40 $3755.97 $2182.43
North Carolina 441 $4586.40 $3475.58 $1110.82
South Carolina 308 $3203.20 $1323.57 $1879.63
Totals 2591 $26946.40 $22126.26 $6433.46 $1613.32
SOUTHERN UNION
Alabama 200 $2080.00 $2051.90 $28.10
Kentucky 275 $2860.00 $2048.79 $811.21
Louisiana 262 $2724.80 $2373.43 $351.37
Mississippi 132 $1372.80 $1805.06 $432.26
Tennessee River 617 $6416.80 $5483.31 $933.49
Southern Union Mission 580 $6032.00 $1946.51 $4085.49
Totals 2066 $21486.40 $15709.00 $6209.66 $432.26
SOUTHWESTERN UNION
Arkansas 295 $3068.00 $2384.97 $683.03
New Mexico 291 $3026.40 $1614.59 $1411.81
North Texas 1409 $14653.60 $5244.29 $9409.31
Oklahoma 1875 $19500.00 $16869.03 $2630.97
South Texas 230 $2392.00 $3093.55 $701.55
West Texas 316 $3286.40 $966.20 $2320.20
Totals 4416 $45926.40 $30172.63 $16455.32 $701.55
WESTERN CANADIAN UNION
Alberta 475 $4940.00 $5901.72 $961.72
British Columbia 364 $3785.60 $2932.49 $853.11
Manitoba 213 $2215.20 $1947.46 $267.74
Saskatchewan 252 $2620.80 $5885.43 $3264.63
Totals 1304 $13561.60 $16667.10 $1120.85 $4226.35
Union Summary
Conferences Membership Amt. at $10.40 Per Member Amount Received Amount Short Amount Over
Atlantic 5508 $57283.20 $59040.22 $2364.61 $4121.63
Central 8185 $85124.00 $78633.44 $9770.34 $3279.78
Columbia 6728 $69971.20 $70085.25 $3026.97 $3141.02
Eastern Canadian 933 $9703.20 $10217.15 $513.95
Lake 11103 $115471.20 $99167.92 $18276.48 $1973.20
Northern 6509 $65613.60 $67568.32 $1954.72
North Pacific 6999 $72789.60 $56251.71 $16537.89
Pacific 8871 $92258.40 $84797.46 $12076.62 $4615.68
Southeastern 2591 $26946.40 $22126.26 $6433.46 $1613.32
Southern 2066 $21486.40 $15709.00 $6209.66 $432.26
Southwestern 4416 $45926.40 $30172.63 $16455.32 $701.55
Western Canadian 1304 $13561.60 $16667.10 $1120.85 $4226.35
Miscellaneous $4440.77 $4440.77
Totals 65013 $676135.20 $614877.23 $92272.20 $31014.23
Net amount short $61257.97 $61257.97
$676135.20 $676135.20 $92272.20 $92272.20

J. S. JAMES

By J. S. JAMES

Furlough Reflections—No. 1

J. S. JAMES

[Written as the boat was plowing the waters of the Bay of Biscay, July 2, 1914.]
BEING well on our way the second time to the country of our adoption, after a period of furlough, I find time for writing down a few reflections which have come to me as I have mingled with home folks, friends, and fellow workers in my native country.
Furlough experiences do not come often, but they bring a unique experience to those who share them, and leave behind a multitude of indelible impressions to be cherished among the sweet and good things that come in life. To the tired and worn toiler on the mission field, the furlough season is like an oasis in the desert, with its living, cooling springs to revive the spirit and quench the burning thirst of the desert traveler. He looks forward to it with joy; but when once it is reached, he reflects that he must tarry but a moment; for beyond lies the wide expanse of barren waste which must be traversed before the journey is completed and the time of final rest has come.
My first reflection carries me back to the time when, eight years ago, we were voyaging over these same waters in response to a call to labor in India. We believed then that the Lord's approval rested on our going, which subsequent years have proved, and we gave ourselves fully to the call. The years that have followed, with all the varied and trying experiences associated with a pioneer work, have afforded us no cause for regret.
It was the great Master Missionary who said, “Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, but he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecution; and in the world to come eternal life.” Mark 10: 29, 30.
We have experienced something of the reality of these words. Eight years ago we said farewell to native land, a host of relatives, and parents whose heads were already white with the snows of many winters. Like him who stands at the head of the family of faith, we went into a land that we knew not of, to witness for God's truth amid heathen surroundings. But God has been very merciful to us, and to our every sacrifice his blessing has been measured double. We left our native land, with its hallowed associations. The one of our adoption has claimed a larger place in our affections. We separated from home and kindred. In their stead other homes were supplied, and a kinship with a foreign race, not reckoned by blood, but stronger than death. We denied ourselves the luxuries and comforts of a Western civilization for the hardships and privations of a benighted country. In their place we have been given the joy which eclipses every sacrifice we have made, the joy of seeing souls born into the kingdom of God.
It would be impossible to chronicle the feelings that came over me last year as our ship passed out of the harbor of Colombo, Ceylon, on our way to America, and the shore lines of the island became invisible. There was nothing of a home-going in it. To the contrary, it seemed that we were leaving home. It required days before we could become accustomed to the idea that we were “on furlough,” and should enjoy the benefits of a period of rest. We then became conscious of a feeling that remained with us throughout our entire furlough, which was torture in itself, and became intensified until we set sail again from New York on our way back, — that of being a wanderer from home, not particularly needed in the place where we were going, and a possible chance that we might not be able to get away again. Strange to say, this same feeling seems to get hold of most “furloughed” missionaries who have tasted the joys of labor in a heathen land. There is something divinely singular about it, and one is led to inquire whether the Saviour himself did not reveal traces of his deep sorrow at leaving his people, in speaking those comforting words on the eve of his crucifixion as recorded in chapters 14 to 17 of John's Gospel.
Our visit among relatives and friends who seven years before had bidden us Godspeed on our journey, revived many tender memories. There were a number of vacant chairs in the family circle. Mrs. James's mother had died two years previous. In my family I had lost father and mother, two brothers, an uncle, and several more distant relatives. I had the opportunity to visit the grave of only one — my mother. As I stood with full heart beside that sacred dust, my mind was taken back over a lifetime of changes. I could hear her voice and see her anxious, tear-stained face, as in those early days of my youthful folly and careless indifferences, she so often pleaded with God for my conversion. I could see held out before me her hands, well wrinkled, with nails worn and fingers bent by unceasing toil in my behalf. A multitude of instances passed before me of her self-sacrifice and self-denial that I might have the advantages of a Christian education and be used of God in spreading this message. But more distinctly than all did I recall the unselfish benediction of a mother's love which she gave me on the eve of my departure for India eight years ago, and the joy and comfort which were hers during her remaining years, that her lifelong prayers had been answered, and God could honor her son with such a call. An hour by this grave, wrapped in these and other sacred reflections, was worth all that a furlough could afford.
That which impressed us most at this juncture of our furlough was the rapidity with which changes come in a few short years. We returned to find our homes decimated of loved ones; the co-workers and associates in former labors scattered to the ends of the earth, and the present working force largely made up of those who, a few years before, we knew as boys and girls in school; the boundaries of the work extending to regions before unknown; and a rank and file of new faces who, in recent years, had come to know the message for this time. With all this and more, is it strange that we should feel like sojourners in the land of our birth?

Jamaica

By E. C. BOGER

E. C. BOGER
WE wish to send you a message of good cheer from our beautiful island home, Jamaica.
“Fair island on a sunlit sea, Thy vales girt round with serried hills: Majestic palms their greetings wave to thee, And thatch roofs, cots, and children Thy lack of beauty fill.”
We came to Jamaica from British Guiana, South America, June 25, 1914, after a pleasant voyage of eleven days, three of which were spent on the island of Trinidad, with Brother N. H. Pool's family, and two at Colon, where we visited the mission family and the Gatun locks.
On arriving in Jamaica, we were kindly entertained by the brethren and sisters until we were settled at the mission house, at 124 Manchester Square, Kingston. Two weeks later Brother Charles Degering, our incoming secretary, and his wife came from Colon.
Our growing church school demanded more floor space, so it was thought best to remove the partition separating the schoolroom from the conference office, at 58 James St., and thus enlarge the schoolroom, and to move the depository and office fixtures to Manchester Square. This was immediately done. The two front rooms are utilized as offices, while the wing, consisting of three rooms, is nicely fitted up as treatment rooms. One room, the wet room, has recently had a concrete floor put in, which adds much to its comfort as well as to its appearance.
Our medical missionary work is growing. September saw the largest number of patients treated since the department opened. October was also an excellent month. With the treatment rooms, offices, and four families (counting the two lady nurses as one family) under one roof, we think this is truly a mission house. But we are all happy, and find plenty of work to do.
I have visited most of the churches in Jamaica. We planned seven conventions in central places where a number of companies can come together. Five of these have been held. They were enjoyed by all present, and the afterresults are also most gratifying. Sabbath school, church missionary, and Christian educational work are discussed and planned, and papers are read by different ones. Some excellent papers have been presented.
From 1,200 a month, the circulation of the West Indian Watchman came up to 7,000 for October. The Watchman Press issued a neat, two-sheet War special in September, which sold at one cent a copy. These papers went with a rush, 31,000 being used in our conference. Our faithful pressman has been rushed to fill the orders, at the same time putting out a beautiful edition of “Best Stories From the Best Book” for the West Indian Union field, also many tracts. A typesetter and a printer have been hired from Kingston to assist him, and still they cannot catch up with the work.
We returned October 13 from a trip round the island. While on this trip we held two conventions, visited nine churches, and held communion service with six. At Montego Bay, where we have a small company, nine persons were baptized in the clear water of the sea, on the morning of October 12. Quite a large crowd gathered on the white sands, some of the fisher folk put down their oars and sat in their boats a little way off to witness the scene, and we know bright ones from the country of the tideless sea were there also. Elder and Mrs. William Crothers are coming here to reside. They will visit near-by churches and greatly strengthen the work. There are others to receive the rite of baptism erelong in the various churches. The Kingston church has the largest baptismal class. It numbers forty.
We were away two weeks, and traveled three hundred and fifty miles. We find our little motor cycle very useful. There are thriving towns on the island, which have scarcely been touched by the message. A good tent, thirty by fifty feet, has been ordered. We expect it soon, and look forward with pleasure to entering some of the cities on its arrival.
Brother and Sister A. E. Holst, our field canvassing agent and his wife, reached us from the States eight weeks ago. They are located in Kingston. He is meeting with success in his work, and finds many opportunities to speak of the blessed hope. We are glad that they are here.
On our return the conference committee met for counsel. Careful consideration was given the Harvest Ingathering work. “A long pull, a strong pull, and a hard pull all together,” is being planned for. A good beginning has already been made, which bids fair to show a better ending.
Much time and thought were given to laying plans for the coming conference, which will probably convene during the present month (January). We hope to make it, by God's blessing and presence, a season of true refreshing. We are of good courage and enjoy our work. Our island is feeling the hard times occasioned by the strife on the shores of the mother country; but God is over all, his work is the same in strife or peace, and victory is written on his banner.
We know we share the prayers of God's people. We are determined to stand with them, “within thy gates, O Jerusalem.”
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