There were some experiences in connection with the purchase of our new school property, which I thought would be of interest to our people at home; but I have reserved them until we could make sufficient improvements to have a picture taken of the building. [This picture will appear in the Week of Prayer number of the REVIEW.—Ed.]
When it was decided to locate our school on a farm, where we could give a more practical training, as well as make our school self-supporting, it was quite a question what part of the colony would be most favorable for such an enterprise. Elder D. C. Babcock and I spent several days visiting some of the valleys of the Sierra Leone Mountains, and up the Sierra Leone and Magbele rivers; but we were unable to secure a suitable site for a school.
When we were almost in despair, the Lord directed our attention to a property near Waterloo,—a thriving village twenty miles inland on the railroad. This property had been for sale for some time, but the owner had been unable to dispose of it. He had asked Elder Babcock six hundred pounds for it only a year ago. Now, through neglect of the premises, and allowing the yards and fields to grow up to bushes and weeds, and the fences to fall down, he sold us the farm for seventy pounds.
The same week that the purchase was made, Mrs. French and I moved to Waterloo; and I immediately began, with the help of some native boys, to clear the land, and put in a crop. Scarcely had we begun, ere the rumor was out that the Catholics had bought the farm, and had begun to improve it. We had not known that others were talking of buying the property, and had worked so quietly and quickly that the people knew nothing of our plans until we were in possession.
The Lord has blessed every effort put forth in establishing our school here. We immediately cleared the premises, laid out the yards, planted ornamental shrubbery and fruit-trees, and put in a small crop. This gave quite a different appearance to the place; and from the attitude of the people, and their remarks, we could see that their interest was aroused. Their interest and confidence have steadily increased.
At first it was thought that the house would be of little use to us. It was a large stone dwelling, strongly built, but had been exposed to the weather for lack of repairs for some months. However, we repaired the roof, and tore out the old partitions, portions of the floors, and the ant-eaten joists. We then concreted the first floor throughout, put in new partitions and joists, set up new door-casings, rehung the doors, and painted the house inside and out, thus putting it in a very presentable condition. The cost of repairing was small, as we did all the work with student labor.
As soon as the house was finished, about January 1, Mrs. French and I moved into the lower front rooms, and the boys up-stairs. We have room for fifteen boys on the second floor. The dining-room in the rear on the first floor will accommodate twenty-five or thirty. Our home is more than filled now, and we have been obliged to find room in a rented building for the overflow.
Our surroundings are very beautiful and convenient. Shut away from Waterloo on the north by a mountain stream, and situated some distance from the other villages, we have a very quiet, healthful location. We have an abundance of pure water for home and garden use from two mountain streams which head not far above us, one of them passing directly through our farm. Although shut away from direct communication with the villages, still our influence will be felt. We are situated on two important roads, leading far into the interior; and in Waterloo, where we have a day-school of sixty-five attendants and a church of over thirty members, we are again brought into contact with the people. Waterloo is the most important center in this part of the colony—a gateway into the great Mendi and Temne tribes, thus affording excellent opportunities for reaching these peoples with our out-stations. A Temne chief visited our farm a few days ago, and gave us a cordial invitation to open up work in his country. We shall soon have young men ready to press into these openings.
We feel grateful to our Heavenly Father for the way he has blessed us in opening up our educational work for this needy people; and we are praying that this may be but the beginning of a mighty movement to carry the third angel's message to the millions of West Africa. Brethren, pray for us.
Waterloo.
Soonan, Korea
By I. H. Evans
I. H. EVANS
In company with Elder C. L. Butterfield, and Prof. F. W. Field of Japan, I left Seoul on the morning of July 28, and reached Pieng-yang, the ancient capital of Korea, on the evening of the same day. It had been arranged to hold an evening meeting in the church and school building, which had recently been bought for the little company of believers in this city. We were surprised to meet a company of about seventy, most of whom were Christians, and many of whom were Sabbath-keepers. Among those present I counted twenty-five small boys and ten girls, none of whom were more than fourteen years of age. I was deeply impressed with the courteous behavior of these youth and children in this place of worship, especially as they came to the same building every day for school. When they entered the room, they quickly found the place where they were to sit, and reverently bowed the head in silent prayer. During the entire meeting,—and it lasted until nearly ten o'clock,—not one of these young people8laughed, whispered, or in any way made any noise or confusion.
The Lord has especially blessed the work in Pieng-yang during the last two years. The number of believers has increased, and the prospects are more promising than at any time hitherto. A good church-school is conducted, and is well patronized by our people.
Friday morning we proceeded to Soonan, fifteen miles north of Pieng-yang. Soonan is a small country village. Here Elder W. R. Smith, our first missionary in Korea, located. From the government was secured a portion of a hill as a free grant for a school, which has now been conducted for several years. On this land a cheap building, in the Korean style, was erected. This serves also as a chapel.
To accommodate the boys, it became necessary last year to erect a dormitory housing twenty-five students. Already it has become necessary to double the capacity of this building, in order that those who wish to attend the school the coming year may have accommodations. Work will be begun on this addition at once, as school opens on August 28, and it is desired to have the extra room ready then.
SOONAN DISPENSARY BUILDING WITH PATIENTS WAITING TO SEE THE DOCTOR
Already the old buildings are requiring considerable repairs. It is planned that buildings erected in the future shall be of a better grade and more substantial. This will call for a larger investment, but it will be wiser in the long run. The present boys' dormitory, accommodating twenty-five, with sleeping-rooms, kitchen, bath-rooms, etc., cost less than three hundred fifty dollars. It is expected that the addition, if built of cement, will cost twice this amount.
The location of Soonan is very picturesque. In the distance, on nearly every side, may be seen foothills or low mountain ranges. Between the school buildings and these hills stretch the low, rich valley lands, covered with growing rice, Kafir corn, millet, and various vegetables. The air is pure, the scenery beautiful, and the location for an intermediate industrial school all that could be desired.
A few acres of farming land have already been purchased and planted. The millet and Kafir corn look well, and the school will have a fair crop of these cereals as well as a supply of vegetables. While the implements used in farming seem crude to a Westerner, neither the amount nor the quality of work done in a day is so bad.
More farming land in the vicinity of Soonan should be secured at an early date. But few of the Korean believers are able to pay the way of their children through school. But were they abundantly able to meet every expense, it would not be the best training for these young people. They must be taught the dignity of labor before they can become efficient laborers in the cause of God. The school should have plenty of land for farming, that those who need work, and desire it, may have some way to help themselves, and themselves through school. According to the Oriental idea, the student must not do manual labor. It is essential to educate away from this idea, in order to train successful workers.
Brother Howard Lee is preparing to take charge of our educational work in Korea, and it is expected that he will have charge of this training-school. He will be assisted by Dr. Riley Russell and his wife, and by Miss Mae Scott. Their work will be supplemented by native teachers, as required. The demand for this school is most imperative; and when it is equipped, it will fill an important place in the work in Korea.
In addition to the work done in the school, Dr. Russell and his wife have carried on a very extensive dispensary work. During the first seven months of this year, over three thousand patients have received treatment or medicine from this humble medical institution. The dispensary is located in a small Korean house, which we purchased for thirty dollars. The room is about eight by twelve feet, with paper windows and doors. The surgical table is made of two boards, covered with oilcloth. Here the doctor works every day, except Sabbath, week after week; and to him the sick people flock as if their very lives depended on seeing him. All are welcome. The poor man who can not pay one tenth of a cent for his treatment stands on an equality with the well-to-do, who can pay a fair price for all he gets.
Over nine thousand patients have been treated in this humble little dispensary, which will not compare favorably with an ordinary hen-house in America. They come with all manner of human maladies—fever, smallpox, bowel trouble, abscesses, cancers, pelvic diseases, in fact, nearly every form of human ailment,—come in all manner of conveyances, and from great distances,—believing that the doctor can cure them. One poor old woman, who had walked a long way, and was well-nigh tired out, was asked her trouble. She took a paper from her chest, and there was a living cancer about three inches in diameter. When the doctor had done what he could, and advised her to go to a surgeon in Pieng-yang and have an operation, she begged that he would treat her case.
In all my experience I have never seen work that appealed to me as being so truly like that which the Master did, as when I saw this motley crowd standing in the scorching sun, waiting for the hour to come when the dispensary would open. Thirty-five patients were treated one afternoon while I was there. Surely such work deserves a better building, where hot and cold water can be had, and where the sick can find shelter from the storm and the heat while waiting for treatment.
Think of what we have in some places, and the meager number of patients that receive treatment, notwithstanding all the facilities provided, while here, had we an investment of twenty-five hundred dollars, we could treat ten thousand persons a year! The conditions are appalling, the need is beyond utterance; it must be seen to be realized. Then, too, when these poor souls see their ailments helped, their hearts are made tender, and a word about God and his love goes far in carrying conviction to their hearts. Literature is freely distributed to those who will read.
The work in Soonan is prospering, and the Lord is blessing his people in that place.
Shanghai, China.
The Happiness of Little Kindnesses
“WHAT is the happiness of our life made up of?—Little courtesies, little kindnesses, pleasant words, genial smiles, a friendly letter, and good deeds.”
Our Record for Three Quarters
By W. T. KNOX
IN this number of the REVIEW appears the report of the ten-cent-a-week fund for the support of missions. This report covers the first three quarters of the year 1910, and shows that from all sources belonging to this fund, the General Conference treasury has received $199,773.64, an average of $66,591.21 for each quarter. Upon this basis we can count on the entire receipts from this source for the year being $266,364. With an accredited membership in America of 63,148 for 1909, we should receive $328,000, which would result in a shortage of about $62,000 for the year.10
A consideration of the report will show that some conferences give promise of raising their full amount, and a few of exceeding it, while there are a large number that are falling short. Many of the latter are among our strongest conferences, and apparently of those best able to give substantial assistance to our mission work.
Throughout the year, effort has been made to keep all informed of the progress of the work, the needs of the field, and the conditions of the funds. The increasing scope of the work has necessitated greatly increased appropriations to almost all mission fields, resulting in expenditures for the year in excess of $400,000. In return, however, we have been greatly encouraged by the good reports of progress from our brethren in distant lands.
But on the other hand, great perplexity has come to us on account of the insufficiency of money available for these mission fields. We have not been able to properly support the work. The treasuries of many of the mission fields are either empty or dangerously low. The condition of the General Conference treasury, which of necessity must to a certain extent reflect the condition of the field, will be partially understood when it is appreciated that during the three quarters in which we have received $199,000, our estimated outlay has been in the neighborhood of $300,000. The only offset in this apparent deficit of $100,000, is the assistance that we have derived from such donations as those made to religious liberty work, and the gifts of surplus tithe from some of our conferences, amounting in the aggregate to $46,000, which still leaves us, however, with an actual shortage of about $54,000 for the first three quarters of the year.
The treasurer would be pleased to give a different report than this, were it possible; but it is far better that all fully understand the real situation than to be left in ignorance thereof. There is still time during this year, if all will take hold with earnestness, to change the present situation.
With many of our people the last quarter of the year is the one in which they handle the most money, realizing as they do from their crops, etc. There is also before us the Harvest Ingathering campaign, at which time we shall all have an opportunity of appealing to our friends and neighbors for assistance in the great work that has been intrusted to our hands.
That the situation, however, is such that we can not hope for a change for the better without special effort on the part of all, will be evident to those who will consider the figures given in this report. But with this recognition on the part of the rank and file of our people; with the leadership of the denomination organizing the churches for work in the coming campaign; with proper appeals placed before our membership during the week of prayer and at the time of taking the annual offering, there is no reason why the present financial condition should not be remedied.11
The Lord is opening many doors before his people, which we know he desires to see entered. He has placed in the hands of his children ample means to provide for every such opportunity. Now, shall we be faithful? Shall we come up to the help of the Lord at this particular time, and strengthen the hands of his workers so that these opportunities may be fully utilized, and the cause of the Lord rapidly advanced to the uttermost parts of the earth?
W. T. KNOX, Treasurer.
Editorial
By Editor
Marked Through
“AND he brought us out from thence,” said Moses, “that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers.” Deut. 6:23.
“In the fourth generation they shall come hither again,” had been the promise to Abraham. And when that time of the promise came, not all the power of Egypt nor of the evil one could hold back the exodus movement.
And that movement was marked through from Egypt to Canaan by the “sure word of prophecy.” “They shall come hither again,” the Lord had said; and when at last the Israel of God were led through Jordan and into Canaan, every living soul that had clung by faith to his place in the exodus movement, went in with it into the promised land. Every one knows that it is good in traveling to find a passenger coach marked through to the destination. For instance, the traveler leaving Brussels for Switzerland passes over a bewildering network of railways. But he has found a car marked through to Basel, with no change. Passengers come and go, and all through the night, voices cry, Change for this place, and change for that; but our traveler settles securely down in his corner of the compartment, knowing that his particular coach is marked through to the end of the journey. And now and then, as the confusing voices cry, he looks again with assurance at the sign that tells where his car is going, thankful that he can read its destination plainly there. He is bound to come through, if he but holds to his place.
Now, the exodus movement was a figure, a type, of the advent movement. The story of that deliverance from Egypt and bondage is written especially “for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” 1 Cor. 10:11. As surely as the promise of God marked that exodus movement, in spite of all difficulties and delays, to go from Egypt into Canaan, just so surely the word of prophecy has marked this advent movement to go through to the eternal Canaan.
In vision on the Isle of Patmos, the prophet of God saw the rise of the advent movement as the hour of God’s judgment came, in 1844. He beheld it spreading forth to every nation and tongue, bringing out a people everywhere keeping “the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” As the vision showed this movement reaching out at last to every people and land, the next thing, the prophet says, he “looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man.” Rev. 14:6-14. Then, with the next view of the movement, he was shown the people of the prophecy standing victorious on the sea of glass.
The same movement that the prophet saw beginning as the hour of God’s judgment came, he saw sweeping triumphant into the kingdom. It is one advent movement from 1844 to the end. The Lord led the movement out, that he might bring it in. It is marked by the “sure word of prophecy” to go through to the kingdom.
Voices may cry in the darkness, Lo here, and lo there. Murmurers may turn aside, and urge us to do likewise. Unsteady elements may lead off sympathizers after themselves. But we read the clear directions in the sure word, and stay by the ever-widening advent movement, and press forward with the advent people.
The certainty of the triumph of the movement, however, ministers to no one’s easy self-satisfaction. Only as we are kept a very part of it by the advent spirit and the advent hope, can we cling to it. No mere formal relationship will do. Everything that is not of it will be shaken out from it in the testing time already begun. But the advent movement, the same that came out of the Egypt of this world in 1844, will go through to the land of promise. “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering (for he is faithful that promised).” Heb. 10:23.
W. A. S.
The Morning Cometh
By F. M. W.
In the order of nature, the darkness precedes the light. This has been so from the beginning of the creation of God. “Darkness was upon the face of the deep. . . . And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. . . . And the evening and the morning were the first day.” This order will follow in the working out of the great plan of salvation. We are now in the night of sin. Darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the people. The great pall of sorrow and distress caused by the entrance of evil has settled down upon earth’s inhabitants, and well-nigh shuts out the light and glory emanating from the Source of light. For long centuries has the world borne this sad burden; but thanks be to God, the night is far spent, and the day is at hand. Soon sin will have run its evil course, sorrow will have finished its mournful dirge, and the blessed light of righteousness, and peace, and joy will dispel the darkness of the night. As the kindling east shows the approach of dawn, so the signs of God’s Word point to the breaking of the better day. Let this hope lighten the load of care. Let burdened hearts, grown weary with the long waiting, take new courage. The struggle will soon be over, the noise of the conflict will soon be stilled, the smoke of the battle will soon be cleared away; and he for whom we have looked and longed so many years will be revealed in the clouds of heaven, coming to take his trusting children home. This is the glorious prospect which awaits the church of God, and it is only a little while before the hope will be realized. A few more months or years at best, a little more labor and toil, and the labor will meet glad fruition, and the toiler find sweet rest, in the coming kingdom.
Let none to-day cast away his confidence. Let none turn his back upon the cause of truth which he has espoused. God’s hand is at the helm. His watchful eye is upon the battle-field. He marks the loyalty and faithfulness of every soul. In the hour of greatest darkness and trial he is near, even though veiled from mortal vision. If we are only loyal, his strong right arm will turn the tide of battle, and over every evil principle and power we shall rise triumphant, to walk with him in white in the realms of glory. Clasp his strong hand, which is reached down to succor you; yea, more, place your weak hand in his infinite grasp, and yield submission to his ways. Let his infinite power hold you in the storm and stress of life. He will never leave you nor forsake you. He will be your shield and defender, your rock of defense, a strong tower, into which you may run and be safe; and that which is committed into his keeping, he will preserve against the day of his glorious and final triumph.
F. M. W.
Nine-Month Missions Offering Report
Statement of the Ten-Cent-a-Week Offering to Missions for Nine Months Ending Sept. 30, 1910
MANY thoughtful minds are viewing with concern the lessening of the moral tone of present-day preaching. A recent writer in the Chicago Interior notes this alarming tendency, and charges the responsibility to both the pew and the pulpit. Of the present-day minister he says:—
His congregation, as he understands it, demands of him something intellectually brilliant or sensationally captivating; and if he can't furnish it, he imagines his tenure of the pulpit will be short—he will have to give way to some fellow who can. Oftener, however, the minister regards this demand for a display of intellect as an opportunity instead of an imposition. If the secrets of all hearts were revealed, it would doubtless prove startling to discover what a big proportion of preachers look forward to Sunday morning service mainly as a chance to add to their reputation for eloquence, felicity, culture, erudition, and thinking power.
But in many instances the minister only expresses the feelings of those to whom he ministers, and the occupant of the pulpit only gives what he considers will be most acceptable to his congregation. The writer continues:—
Many a congregation seeking a minister asks for a brilliant man in preference to a godly man, and having obtained him, flatters him to his face and boasts of him to the community for his intellect, while apparently caring nothing about a Christian spirit in him. Such a congregation will advertise over all creation a minister who quotes the poets or refers familiarly to the sages, who sparkles with rhetoric or revels in orotund periods, yet endure with content the utter absence from his preaching of every positive moral note that could awaken a drowsing conscience or nerve a sluggish hand.
Undoubtedly the responsibility for much of the sensational preaching which is heard to-day is due equally to the ministers and their congregations. Too many churches are merely social, fashionable organizations, and require the utterances of the pulpit to meet their own carnal desires. But woe to the minister of the gospel who steps down from his high and holy calling to minister to this unhallowed spirit! Blind leaders of the blind indeed are too many who take upon themselves holy orders. Professing to stand as God's representatives, they fail to exemplify his character in their lives, or the principles of his gospel in their teaching. Upon these rests the double responsibility of forsaking the fountain of living water, and hewing out to themselves cisterns filled with the droppings of human reason. The need of the great church of God is a spirit of preaching which characterized such men as Paul, Luther, and the Wesleys,—a preaching which rebuked sin even in high places, and proclaimed the gospel of the Lord Jesus in its simplicity and power. Such preaching, and such only, will be fruitful in saving souls.
Insulting Roman Catholics
By J. N. Q.
ROME in some way must cover up the fact that in Spain she has been and still is opposed to religious liberty. Liberty of conscience is gaining ground in the land of the Inquisition. In 1876 “a royal decree had denied nearly every religious right to non-Catholics. Their meetings were held unlawful; their schools were under the ban; they were allowed to live, but could not have a public burial; and they were not permitted to indicate in any way on any building of theirs that religious services were there maintained.” These restrictions have been removed, except the last one, and it is now sought to remove even this. Monsignor Kieran, of Philadelphia, in the Evening Bulletin of that city, thus presents the question from Rome’s view-point:—
Suppose a person went into a lodge or Protestant house of worship, and displayed signs that, while harmless enough in themselves, were insulting from the motive that prompted the action, would not the members of the lodge or house of worship have a perfect right to resent it, and to resent it forcibly? The object of the agitators in Spain is not religious, but simply to insult other people.
Rome in Protestant Canada may display on the streets the eucharist, the crucifix, and other tokens of her idolatry, yet she does not regard this as an insult to Protestants; but when a Protestant church in Catholic Spain simply places a sign on the building indicating that it is a place of Protestant worship, then the Romanist is insulted. What a biased conception of religious liberty is that held by Romanists! J. N. Q.
Politics in the Pulpit
By C. E. H.
It is getting to be a common thing for clergymen to give political speeches in their pulpits. The ministers apparently think they will fail to hold the attention of the congregation, and to draw others into the church, unless they deal with the different social and political problems which burden the minds of men. To those who thus endeavor to mix the things of this world with the things of heaven, we commend the words of Edmund Burke, the well-known English statesman. A minister of eminence in England once preached a sermon in which there were “some good moral and religious sentiments, and not ill expressed, mixed up with a sort of porridge of various political opinion and reflection.” In writing to a young man, Mr. Burke expressed himself thus regarding such preaching:—
No sound ought to be heard in the church but the healing voice of Christian charity. The cause of civil liberty and civil government gain as little as that of religion by this confusion of duties. Those who quit their proper character, to assume what does not belong to them, are for the greater part ignorant both of the character they leave and the character they assume. Surely the church is a place where one day's truce ought to be allowed to the dissension and animosities of mankind.
