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Review and Herald, Vol. 88, No. 1.

LUTHER
Earlier text: Editorial

The Basis of Christian Unity

THE question of Christian unity is one which will not down. The spirit of federation has permeated every department of human endeavor. Many religious leaders are agreed that a church federation is essential to the future prosperity of the church, but widely differ as to the particular basis on which such a union shall be formed. It is gratifying to see from time to time expressions of clear thinking on this subject by those who are giving it consideration. A writer in the Western Recorder of December 15, quotes from a book recently published by Dr. Robert E. Speer. He represents Mr. Speer as saying:—
The supreme method of dealing with denominational differences is not adaptation nor absorption, but transcendence. . . . We shall rise to higher levels of Christian life, in which we shall find reconciliation of our theological differences, not by a restatement, which will balance them afresh, but by rising above them.
Upon this statement the writer in the Western Recorder comments as follows:—
The proposition of Dr. Speer, if it has in mind any actual union of denominations, suggests that we have reached or will reach a time in our theological thinking when we will throw overboard everything that other reverent students of the Word of God have not accepted. Or else that we will lock these inconvenient items of belief safely in the closet out of sight. . . .
Before the beginning of the Dark Ages in the Christian era, the world had for once a spectacle of a religious outward conformity on the part of Christendom. Denominational differences in religion were swallowed up. The world had the spectacle that it now seems to think it would be so edified if it could have again; and yet the period of outward conformity of religious differences was the exact time in which was ushered in the most corrupt period in the history of constituted Christianity.
The world does not need a religion in which the contents of Christian faith have been reduced to the least common denominator, or to an “irreducible minimum.” On the contrary, we need to inculcate largeness and variety in the contents of Christian faith.
The divine principles enunciated by our Saviour in Matt. 7:12 constitute the true basis for Christian unity and fellowship.

Honomu, Hawaii

I CAN never be sufficiently grateful for the encouragement and assurance which many of you have given me, that you will remember me in your prayers.
I reached home safely and well. A big feast had been prepared on my account. Japanese foods were served, with all sorts of liquor, and friends coaxed me to drink. I did not touch any of it, as I know it is a wrong thing to do. God is testing me whether I will remain true to his Word. Bless God, I will! Everybody went home with a peculiar impression. They wondered at the change that had come over me.
The first Sunday afternoon I spoke at the Japanese Christian church to a congregation of about two hundred. I gave my testimony as to why I became a Christian, giving the evidences of my faith. My father and some of my brothers were there. I have many calls to go out and preach and lecture, but as I have little money, I can not go as often as I want to.
My parents feel bad because of the work I have chosen, and not only they, but all my brothers and sisters and friends. I realize I was a great disappointment to them, and did not myself expect to become a missionary when I started out to America to obtain a business education. They are all ashamed of me for this strange change, and even scorn me.
My father seems willing to accept Christianity. This is a remarkable change in him. But he does not think he can accept it now, as he thinks he would lose his store; and he has no money to start anything else should he lose his business. The Japanese are Buddhists; and he thinks that should he turn to be a Christian, no one would patronize him.
Pray for my people, and for me, that my work may please the Lord.
YOSHIO TANIMOTO.

WILL F. HILLS

California

ORANGE.—It is with deep gratitude to God that I report the work in Orange. I left the San Diego camp-meeting before it closed to take up the unfinished interest here, and continued the meetings in the tent about three weeks; then rented a hall where the meetings were held for several weeks, with splendid results. The membership has increased from twenty-seven to forty-two; ten of this number were baptized, and at least two more are now ready for baptism.
About five weeks ago we purchased a lot, and three weeks later held our first meeting in our unfinished building. Yesterday the work was practically completed, and we are now holding our week of prayer meetings in it. This beautiful building, costing $1,367, is free from debt. This seems a miracle when we take into consideration the fact that the members are all dependent upon their daily earnings for a livelihood, and that this company was not organized until July 30.
We believe the Lord will make a short work in the earth, and that soon we shall hear the words, “Well done.”

WILL F. HILLS

Fourteen Months in South Africa

IT is now fourteen months since I landed in South Africa. In order to place the book work upon a sound basis, earnest effort, coupled with hearty co-operation on the part of the conference laborers, has been required. For what has been accomplished we give to God all the praise.
Soon all our canvassers will be handling “Patriarchs and Prophets;” and when they have covered the field with that book, they expect to follow with “Practical Guide to Health.” Steps are now being taken to have the latter published in the Dutch language. “Desire of Ages” has also been translated, and will doubtless be ready in the Dutch as soon as needed. Many copies of “Daniel and Revelation” and “Great Controversy” have been sold.
It may be interesting to know that representatives of seven nationalities are united in Christ here to push this “missionary work of the highest order.” We have neither the time nor the disposition to boast of our birthplace or of our ancestors. Our motto is, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” Gal. 6:14.
Our oldest canvasser is about forty-eight, our youngest about fifteen, years of age. The highest value of orders taken in one day was $120.20, and that by a young man of nineteen summers. The highest value of orders taken in any one week was $405.80, taken by the same person. The highest value of orders secured the past fourteen months by one person is $3,592.80, and still the same person obtained them. The next highest is $2,659.14; the third, $2,190.90.
Our entire book orders, so far as reported for these fourteen months, amount to $30,692.10, and the periodical sales amount to $4,017.17, making a total of $34,709.27. The delivery reports, which do not give them in full, show that $19,565.92 worth of books have been delivered.
Out of sixty-one weeks one canvasser worked fifty-four; another, fifty-one. Out of fifty weeks, another has been out in the field forty-eight.
Our tract societies are now in better position to supply us promptly with the books we need. This is an important item. We are seven thousand miles from the nearest publishing house, and are doing our work almost wholly upon the cash basis; that is, the canvassers pay for their books before ordering another lot. Nearly all our ministers have sold some books, as they have had opportunity.
The South African Signs of the Times, a forty-eight-page quarterly magazine, has just been started, and is a credit to any country. It is filled with present truth, and is meeting with good sales, especially in Johannesburg, our largest city.
The Claremont Union College closes this week, and during the vacation, I expect to spend some time in the field, assisting the students who are hoping to make their scholarships for the coming school year. Though this is a new departure in this field, I believe that, with the Lord’s help, they will succeed.
At the union conference committee meeting recently held, it was voted to hold a bookmen’s convention in connection with our conference and camp-meeting and institutes in March or April, 1911. Doubtless it will be somewhat different from those held in America, but it will surely be a means of advancing our work here. We are grateful that the Lord is so richly blessing his work in this field.
G. H. CLARK.

F. R. ROGERS

Mississippi

WEST JACKSON.—The week of prayer has been a great blessing to us at Idylwild School. We have only a small school here of eleven boys and girls from thirteen to seventeen years of age. A good interest was manifested on their part from the very first reading; and as we came to the last reading, Sabbath, December 17, all could say, It is good to be here. With one exception, every child took part in the meetings, and consecrated themselves to God’s service. Their prayers and testimonies showed an earnestness that is seldom seen in the youth to-day. When the time came for taking the annual offering, we held a little consecration service, and as we sang, “They Brought Their ‘Gifts to Jesus,’” every heart was touched, and the Spirit for which we had sought was truly manifest, and all consecrated themselves to the Lord’s work. The offering was taken, and found to be $20.07. With this before us, we knelt in prayer and dedicated it to foreign missions.
Dear brethren and sisters, let us labor earnestly for the salvation of our youth, and help to prepare them for work in the Master’s vineyard.

F. R. ROGERS

ALBERT WEEKS

Tennessee

BRAYTON.— The Lord has permitted me to spend a few months in the mountains of Tennessee. I am located on Walden's Ridge, about forty miles north of Chattanooga. It is a healthful place, the elevation being about two thousand feet. There appears to be no malaria here, and the pure air relieves asthma quickly. The water is very soft and clear. The people are kind and peaceable. They are poor, but there is no suffering from destitution, as there is work in the timber, although wages are low.
I have held a few meetings, and the Word of God is listened to with respectful attention. I hope for some fruit from my labors here. I have distributed some papers, and can use more.

ALBERT WEEKS

A Brief Training for City Work

For years there has been a pressing demand for a training-school that should furnish in a few months' time the most essential principles and methods necessary for the intelligent care of the sick and suffering, and at the same time equip the workers with a sufficient knowledge of the Scriptures so they could, as the opportunity was afforded, give interesting and helpful Bible readings. All through our ranks there are consecrated workers who are not situated so that it is possible for them to spend several years before they actively enter the harvest-field.
To give this class of workers the opportunity which they desire, and also in as short a time as possible to fit up workers who could go out quickly into the highways and lanes of the city, was what led the Northern Illinois Conference Committee and the trustees of the Hinsdale Sanitarium to join hands, the first of last October, in the establishment of a six months' training course for city medical missionaries. The conference became responsible for the Bible instruction, and the faculty of the Hinsdale Sanitarium for the medical training.
Sixteen earnest, consecrated women availed themselves of this opportunity, and joined this first class, and God has in a wonderful manner added his blessing to this effort. A stirring and practical Bible class is conducted each day by Elder M. H. Serns, who, with his wife, is located in the school. The following hour is devoted to practical demonstrations of simple treatments, bedside nursing, physiology, hygiene, etc. I have never seen a deeper interest in the class work, or more earnest study.
The classes are held late in the afternoon, so that the day may be devoted to the sale of our various magazines, the commissions on which make the students easily self-supporting. But, best of all, this work affords many opportunities to drop the seeds of truth into hungry hearts. Abundant opportunities have already been found for helping the sick and giving Bible readings.
Two members of the class have been selling a thousand magazines a month. Another student has already been the means of bringing a sick woman into the truth. She is ready for baptism, and her husband has also become interested; and is praying for light. Another student is visiting nine different families, some of whom are earnestly studying the truth.
This is enough to indicate the practical character of this training course. There should be one hundred trained and consecrated workers in Chicago where there is but one to-day. This training-school has been established to fit up self-supporting workers for this field; and after they have a good experience here, they can go out and help do a similar work in other large cities. The great masses in the cities must be warned of the coming crisis, or their blood will be on our garments. The time is short, and we must speedily enter these great centers of population.
April 1 we shall graduate our first class, and another class will be immediately begun. We have leased the old branch sanitarium on the South Side, and have renovated and refitted it from top to bottom. The training-school is held in this institution. Board and excellent accommodations are furnished for about three dollars a week; the tuition is free.
Those desiring to enter the next class should correspond at once with either Elder M. H. Serns, 528 Thirty-third Place, Chicago, or the undersigned, at Hinsdale, Ill.
CHICAGO TRAINING SCHOOL BUILDING
CHICAGO TRAINING SCHOOL BUILDING
DAVID PAULSON, M. D.

Special Course at Mount Vernon College

MOUNT VERNON COLLEGE offers a special winter's course beginning Jan. 3, 1911, and continuing twelve weeks.

Course of Study

The course of study will consist of the regular classes of the college for the winter term, with such special classes as may be necessary to adapt the course to the needs of field workers. Below we give a list of the subjects offered:—

Regular Classes

History of education, pedagogy, the methods of teaching arithmetic, elementary astronomy, spirit of prophecy, English grammar, history of modern Europe, advanced English, bookkeeping, drawing, Bible doctrines, Old Testament by periods, major and minor prophets.

Special Classes for Field Workers

Topical study of Daniel and the Revelation, Bible workers' class, ministerial class, the Old Testament in the light of the monuments, essentials of English grammar, rhetoric and composition.

For Whom Intended

It has been the aim of the management to adapt this course to the needs of persons with limited time to spend in school. Young ministers and Bible workers, as well as those who plan to enter these branches of work, will find the special classes decidedly helpful.
The announcement, giving full information about the course, including an estimate of the probable expense, will be sent on application to the undersigned at Mount Vernon, Ohio.
S. M. BUTLER, President.

Oklahoma

CHESTER.—The week of prayer has been a blessing to the believers at this place. Three adults took their stand for the truth on the last Sabbath, two coming from the Campbellite Church. One sister who has watched the progress of the message for fifteen years united with this people. May the Lord keep these dear ones faithful till the end.
R. W. Sufficool.

Ship Missionary Wanted in Peru

CALLAO, the main port of Peru, offers a splendid opportunity to do self-supporting missionary work among the sailors and passengers going and coming in the many steamships and sailing-vessels touching at this place.
During the month of October, fifty-eight vessels anchored in Callao, with a total of 3,780 sailors, and 2,171 passengers. These boats were from all parts of America and Europe, so one desiring to undertake this work should speak at least English, German, and Spanish. The latter could, if necessary, be learned after reaching the country.
Any one desiring to know more of the details may write to the undersigned at Casilla 1002, Lima, Peru.
A. N. ALLEN.

Field Notes

FIVE were baptized in the Spokane, Wash., church, recently.
SABBATH, December 3, six persons were baptized at Grand Rapids, Mich.
AFTER baptismal services five united with the English church at Milwaukee, Wis., recently.
AT the close of a short series of meetings in Galena, Pa., eight have promised to obey all the commandments of God.
AT Wakefield, Cal., two have recently decided to obey the truth; at Smith River five have taken their stand to keep the commandments of God.
As the result of home Bible study, a lady in Gayville, N. Y., has begun the observance of the Sabbath. At Syracuse two were recently baptized, and at Elmira six.
ONE person was recently baptized at College View, Neb., who received his first knowledge of the truth through the Harvest Ingathering number of the REVIEW which was circulated last year.
AFTER a series of forty-five meetings at Sheffield, Ala., eight signed the covenant, and others are keeping the Sabbath. Many others are interested, and still studying the subjects that have been presented to them.
AT the close of the camp-meeting at Leesburg, Fla., the report comes that a company of thirteen have taken their stand on the Lord's side. At Jacksonville nine have been baptized; and at Sanford seven persons have decided to keep the Sabbath.

Religious Legislation in Panama

FOR the past two months there has been a hard-fought contest over the passage of a Sunday-closing bill for the republic of Panama. It was a strong measure for the first of its kind for the Isthmian dwellers, proposing to close all factories and stores, and even to prevent washerwomen from washing in the streams. We are glad to report that it was defeated in the supreme court, the judges refusing to sanction it, after the national assembly had passed it over the president’s veto.
IN Before the bill passed the legislature, we published articles against it in both English and Spanish, besides doing personally what we could against its passage. After the bill became a law, and was sent to the supreme court for the sanction of the judges, we sent to the judges, in Spanish, the following protest, which we have abridged in the English:—
TO THE HONORABLE MEMBERS OF THE SUPREME COURT OF PANAMA.
HONORABLE GENTLEMEN: As editors of El Centinela de la Verdad, a periodical which is finding a broad circulation in the republic, and as citizens deeply interested in the welfare of this commonwealth, we beg to present the following protest against the Sunday-closing law, which was, in the month of October, passed by the national assembly, vetoed by President Arosemena, and ultimately passed over the president’s head by the national assembly, and which is now waiting the sanction of the supreme court.
Be it understood that we do not for a moment question the motives of Mr. Patiño in championing the bill, nor of the honorable delegates in passing it; but we desire to call attention to some of the principles underlying the Sunday-closing law.
First: Honorable Judges of the Supreme Court, permit us to call your attention to the fact that it is not the function of civil government to create the rights of men (these are natural); but, according to Article XV of the great national constitution of Panama, to “protect” men in the enjoyment of these God-given rights. It is the natural right of every man to either work or not to work, to rest or not to rest, as he may choose, on any or all days of the week, provided that what he does shall not interfere with the rights of others.
Second: The Sunday-closing bill discriminates between citizens, by securing to one class the privilege of a “weekly rest,” and at the same time denying to the other class the equal right to work. This, honorable sirs, is in violation of Article XVI of the constitution. Even though the law be framed in answer to the solicitation of the 350,000 citizens of the republic, and only one man enter his protest demanding his natural right to labor on every day of the week, the lawmakers are bound by the constitution of the republic to protect the rights of this citizen, according, at the same time, to the 350,000 citizens the same privilege to work or not to work. This is the guaranty of the constitution,—the office of civil government.
Third: Sunday is a religious day, a fact known alike to the citizens and honorable members of the legislature; and to enforce any religion, or any of the dogmas of any religion, by law, is beyond the legitimate domain of civil government. Every citizen has the right to be religious or not to be religious, as he may choose; and Article XLVIII of the constitution assures to him protection in the exercise of his right. Though all the people of Panama, both Catholic and Protestant, rest on Sunday as a religious duty, and seek legislation in its favor, and there remain a handful of Jews and Seventh-day Adventists who observe another day, and who can not conscientiously observe Sunday, it is the office of the government, in such case, to protect these citizens in their rights, as guaranteed by Article XXVI of the constitution. This same protection is extended to all the rest.
Fourth: We believe that laws are made for the lawless, and we heartily approve of all laws which provide punishment for crimes, such as theft, murder, or any act in which one citizen would trample upon the rights of another; but we protest against a law which defines as crime an act committed on Sunday which is legitimate on any other day of the week, or which requires, by civil enactment, conduct on one day of the week which it does not enforce every day.
We do not murmur against the noble work of our lawmakers; we instead rejoice in the freedom granted us under this constitution, and we are jealous of any legislation which has the appearance of interfering with the equity and justice which the citizens of Panama now enjoy.
B. E. CONNERLY.

Missionary Volunteer Institutes

A CERTAIN church is said to have had this motto:—
“Every Member a Christian; Every Christian a Missionary; Every Missionary Trained.”
That is the aim of the Young People’s Society of Missionary Volunteers. As one means to that end, the General Conference has arranged for a series of union conference missionary volunteer institutes to be held this winter. It is hoped that these institutes will result in a deepening of the spiritual life of our youth, and in greater missionary activity. The Missionary Volunteer report for the year ending Sept. 30, 1910, is almost equal to that for the two preceding years. While this is very encouraging, we realize that with greater efficiency, better organization, and deeper consecration, a far greater work can be done.
We give below a general outline of the purpose and plan of these institutes:—

Suggestions for Union Conference Missionary Volunteer Institutes

I—Duration

About ten days.

II—Places

Probably in the union conference training-school.

III—Who Should Attend

  1. Union and local conference Missionary Volunteer secretaries.
  2. Delegates from each Missionary Volunteer society in the union, and from as many other churches as possible.
  3. Young people of the training-school.
  4. Union and local conference presidents and other conference and church workers who are especially interested.

IV—Purpose

  1. General—To make our Missionary Volunteer work more effective throughout the field.
  2. Specific:—
(a) To increase the efficiency of Missionary Volunteer secretaries by instruction and counsel. Our young people’s work is comparatively new. The mere appointment of secretaries does not bring results. There are frequent changes, so that we have very many secretaries who have had no experience. Perhaps few of us realize the great possibilities in this work. (b) Instruction of the Missionary Volunteer officers and other young people from the local societies and churches. (c) Instruction of students, workers, and others who attend, in Missionary Volunteer work. (d) Training of new leaders, conference and local, from the classes spoken of above. (e) Interesting the young people of the union conference in education and in the work of their training-school.

V—General Plan of Work

1. Chapel Exercises: Talks on such topics as— (a) Young People and Missions. (b) Price of Leadership. (c) Work of the Missionary Volunteer Secretary. (d) The Missionary Volunteer Movement the World Over. (e) Organization and Work of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. (f) The Call for Bible Workers and Ministers. (g) Reasons for Our Hope (Standard of Attainment). (h) Alone With God (Morning Watch). (i) The Value of Good Literature (Reading Courses). (j) Series of Short Biographical Sketches of Missionaries. (k) The Spirit of Prophecy and the Remnant Church.
2. Afternoon Classes and Round Table Discussions:— (a) Missionary Volunteer Plans and Methods of Work: (1) Organization; (2) Duties of Officers; (3) Membership; (4) Relation to Other Church Activities; (5) Personal Work; (6) Literature Work; (7) Christian Help Work; (8) Giving; (9) Temperance and Other Reforms; (10) Junior Work; (11) Programs; (12) Camp-meeting Work; (13) Social Activities. (b) Educational Features and Missionary Problems: (1) Standard of Attainment; (2) Reading Courses; (3) Youth’s Instructor; (4) Libraries; (5) Institutes and Conventions; (6) Spiritual, Intellectual, and Practical Qualifications of Missionaries; (7) The Foreign Mission Seminary and Its Work; (8) Detailed description of the work of one or more of our missions; (9) Unentered Fields.
3. Evening Services:— (a) Reception, with Program on Social Life. (b) Stereopticon on Christ, the Great Missionary. (c) The Home as the Foundation of the Young People’s Work. (d) News From the Mission Fields. (e) The Blessed Hope. (f) The Work of the Holy Spirit. (g) Example of the Believers. (h) Reports from Conference Missionary Volunteer Secretaries. (i) Consecration for Service.
4. One or two meetings, with young men and young women separate, on social purity subjects.
5. Secretaries’ councils.

VI—General Conference Workers

Meade MacGuire, H. R. Salisbury, and Matilda Erickson.
These institutes will really be schools of Missionary Volunteer methods. In the union conferences which are fortunate enough to have one of these institutes this season, the churches, and especially the young people, should make an earnest effort to receive its benefits.
M. E. K.

Young People's Work

Conducted by the Young People's Missionary Volunteer Department of the General Conference
M. E. KERN  Secretary
MATILDA ERICKSON  Corresponding Secretary

Study, Meditation, and Prayer

ONE of the greatest opportunities brought to our young people by the new year is that of entering on a systematic plan of Bible study and prayer.
The “Morning Watch Calendar” for 1911, with its “New-year’s Resolve,” its gems of thought, and a text for every day in the year, will serve as a daily reminder and an aid in the formation of this Christian habit. The close relation to the Sabbath-school lessons, and the sunset feature, make this little booklet especially valuable. The eagerness with which this aid is sought after is one of the hopeful signs of the quickening of spiritual life.
One thing perhaps above all others we need to learn in this hurrying age,—to “take time to be holy.” Would you understand the Bible? Then remember that—.
“The Bible is not an iron safe, to be opened by those who are keen enough to discover the combination; it is rather a rare and delicate flower, that must have a certain atmosphere before it can be induced to unfold its petals, disclose its honey cup, and share with you its perfume.
“The atmosphere of the Book is the atmosphere of prayer. When you have entered your closet, opened the window toward Jerusalem, and felt the heavenly breeze fan your cheeks, then the pages are transformed into a living voice, and the Book becomes indeed to you the Word of God.”
If any have not yet obtained the “Morning Watch Calendar,” let them order at once. The price is five cents. Envelopes for remailing on request.
M. E. K.

Christian Liberty

Reports, Notes, and Comments Pertaining to the Current History of the Rights of Conscience
Conducted by the Religious Liberty Bureau
K. C. RUSSELL . . . Secretary
C. M. SNOW . . . Corresponding Secretary

Our Sanitariums as Training Centers

OUR sanitariums are not merely medical institutions, they are missionary institutions as well. Not only are the sick to be healed and the gospel to be taught, but in these places young men and young women are to receive a training that will fit them for service in the home and the foreign field. We can not dispense with these training centers.
About ten years ago, on the arrival of my wife and myself in Australia, we took charge of what was known as the “Health Retreat,” located at Cooranbong, not far from the school. We called for young men and women to unite with us. When we left Cooranbong to enter the new building located near Sydney, two years later, we numbered in all twenty-four. Five years later, when we were called to America, only one of the original number was left. None had forsaken the truth, and none, to my knowledge, had taken up private work. All had entered the field as workers. Some were sent to Java, some to Singapore, some to Fiji and to other islands of the Pacific. These workers are still engaged in aggressive and self-denying work in these needy fields. God has blessed them in their endeavors.
While our medical institutions may in some ways have been a cause of anxiety in the past, and while there may still be perplexities connected with them, good has been accomplished through them in fitting young men and women for missionary work in home and foreign fields. From these institutions we should be able to draw our very best workers to carry forward the work we are now called upon to do in the cities, and also those who are especially adapted to labor in foreign fields.
There is no reason why some of those who have received this institutional training should not in time become successful evangelists. When rightly conducted, instead of taking young men from the ministry, our sanitariums should give them an important part of the training for the ministry. Instead of taking women from church, school, and Bible work, they should give them the training which will qualify them to be of the greatest blessing and help in doing such work.
In future let us plan the work so that the missionary features may be the predominating one among all the workers in these institutions. D. H. K.

Reports From Sanitariums

Dr. W. E. Bliss, of the New England Sanitarium, Melrose, Mass., writes:—
“Our work is still onward. We have fifty-four patients in the house, which is phenomenal for just a few days before Christmas. Our prospects are bright for 1911. The work is growing so rapidly we can hardly keep pace with it. The week of prayer was a great help to us all. Every one seems to be of the best of courage.”
R. W. Parmele, president of the Florida Sanitarium, Orlando, Fla., writes:—
“I am pleased to report that the work of the sanitarium is progressing satisfactorily. Our greatest need is more extended facilities. We do practically no advertising. We simply dare not; for we can not care for much more than we have as it is.”
Dr. F. A. Loope, of the Wabash Valley Sanitarium, La Fayette, Ind., writes:—
“We are getting along very nicely, and the patronage is holding up well. The Lord has blessed us wonderfully. The family are all encouraged, and every one seems to want to do just the right thing. We are all of good courage, and wish an interest in the prayers of our people.”
Brother J. A. Burden, manager of the Loma Linda Sanitarium, Loma Linda, Cal., writes:—
“Our work in Loma Linda is progressing nicely. Especially do we feel encouraged with reference to the medical school. While we are very much crowded for room, and have many things yet to develop, we can see the hand of the Lord thus far in guiding the work. Our teachers and students are of good courage. We have over forty students this year in the medical department; about one hundred eighty, I think, in the nurses’ department; and thirty-five doing special work; besides this, we have a church-school with about fifty in attendance. So we have quite a large educational work already established at Loma Linda. The advance of the work will be according to the faith and confidence of the people to support it. One thing is sure, the Lord is leading. From year to year we can see how his blessing has gone before us. To illustrate: Our income from the patients in 1906, during the summer months, which are the lightest, was $6,000; for five months in 1907, $10,000; in 1908, $14,000; in 1909, $15,000; and in 1910, $22,000. Our last year has been a very good one. After paying all expenses and depreciations, we had a little over four hundred dollars’ gain in the running of the institution. We are now finishing the girls’ dormitory, which we hope to have ready to occupy by the first of February. It is a re-enforced concrete building, and will accommodate about 125 girls when it is completed. This will free the sanitarium building for guests. We have had to use some of these rooms this winter for students, and they are still so occupied.”
Dr. W. A. Ruble, president of the Loma Linda Medical College, writes:—
“We are in great need of funds. We ought to get in touch with some people who can place annuities in the institution. We should have twenty-five thousand dollars during this year for our school. I do not see how we can complete the year without our laboratory. We have forty young people here to whom we have promised adequate facilities for taking the medical course. We should already be at work on the laboratory, but we have not the funds to begin it.”
Special instruction has been given concerning Loma Linda as a place where workers should receive a training which will fit them to become medical missionaries. Some are to be trained as competent physicians and others as nurses, but all are to combine the evangelistic idea with their medical practice.
The Spirit of God has urged that this work should be taken hold of in faith, and the necessary buildings and equipment provided. In harmony with this admonition, the medical college was opened. We are glad that we now have a place where our young men and women of promise, who are ambitious to fit themselves for the greatest usefulness, may be encouraged to go. From this place, missionaries will very soon be sent forth into all parts of the world with the commission, Heal the sick, and preach the gospel of the kingdom. Money invested in this enterprise will yield returns.
D. H. K.
Continue reading: Medical Missionary Department