The Christian Register of May 25, in an editorial under the above heading, deals with the old-time religion and gospel in a very free-handed manner, and furnishes its own substitute for both. We quote some expressions from the editorial, in order that our readers may judge of the wide gulf fixed between religion and salvation as the advocates of the Higher Criticism see it, and the same things as they are set forth in the Word of God:—
We may justly speak of the present opinions concerning the duty of a church or a minister or any Christian as modern. The old idea of salvation from an eternal hell has dropped out of every field of calculation, unless it be that of a few professed revivalists. Many of these, even, are preaching a more rational view of duty as it touches our common business, our social life, and our home life,—and these as constituting the chief end of man. Salvation consists in doing those things which bear upon the present life and the present world.
Speaking of the sermon on the mount, and its lack of application to the people and conditions of our day, the editor says:—
We are surely not compelled to perpetuate the conception of God as a king, nor are we compelled to pray for a seat at the right hand of the King. This is a republican age, and there is nothing whatever in our religious nature to forbid us conceiving the future society as a democracy. With this change goes out the whole thought of judgment days and eternal torment; that is, the torment inflicted by a monarch on his rebellious subjects.
Of the same order is the following:—
We have no call to vision our eternity in a New Jerusalem.
The modern means of salvation, as invented by human beings, naturally elevates the human to an important place in the work of accomplishing man's salvation, and so we read again:—
When we turn to Christian activities, we need not be surprised to find these also modernized. It must not alarm us in this active age to find less praying to God to help us to do the right thing, and to make us over with new hearts and an increased decision to help God,—an enlarged appreciation of man's ability.
Of course there is in the above an entire misrepresentation of the purpose of gospel work. Nowhere does the Word teach that the business of our Lord's commissioned representatives is to teach men how to escape an eternal hell, or that eternal torment is the portion of the unsaved. It does teach that eternal death will be the portion of all who persist in disobedience and disloyalty to the government of Heaven. True it is that many who are to-day attempting “revival” work are basing it on socialism, economics, and home life, so that the “salvation” which they preach “consists in doing those things which bear upon the present life and the present world.” While helpfulness and a proper regard for one another's rights is good, yet that is not salvation in any legitimate meaning of the term. If that were salvation, we would be saved by our own works and in our own name; but the Word declares that “there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” And, do the best we can, handicapped by sin and sinful flesh, we know that “there is none that doeth good, no, not one;” we are still “unprofitable servants.” There is some meaning to salvation as set forth in the Bible. “Thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.” But “salvation,” as interpreted by the modernizer of religion, may mean anything which he desires it to mean; and through the multitudinous applications that are made of the word, it comes to mean nothing at all. Salvation takes hold of the idea of being saved from something; but the Protestant modernist does not admit that there has been any “fall of man,” and therefore sees no necessity for a Saviour. It necessarily follows that salvation, to him, can not mean being saved from the consequences of the fall; so he gives it a meaning that will harmonize with his disbelief.
The inability of the modernizer of religion to comprehend the gospel and the plan of the divine government is perhaps nowhere better illustrated than in the second quotation above. It is impossible to find words to express adequately one's astonishment while reading such utterances. Can men who believe in God, in a divine government, really believe that the government of the universe must be altered to harmonize with the changing12political views of men and with the evanescent forms of human government? What does it matter if this is “a republican age”? That can not alter God's government, nor change the purpose of Heaven toward man. Is it true that “there is nothing whatever in our religious nature to forbid us conceiving the future society as a democracy”? Our belief in the Word of God ought to forbid it. There is no uncertainty about the declarations of Inspiration upon that point. One of the last statements of the Bible should settle that matter for every loyal Christian. Speaking of the earth after sin and sinners have been cleansed out of it, and “the future society” has been established upon it, the revelator says: “And there shall be no curse any more: and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein: and his servants shall serve him.” Rev. 22:3.
More than that, we read the Saviour's own words to this effect: “Ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power.” Mark 14:62. Luke records it: “From henceforth shall the Son of man be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” Luke 22:69. “Christ Jesus, . . . who is at the right hand of God.” Rom. 8:34. “Seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God.” Col. 3:1. Now, concerning those who are saved (in the sense in which salvation is used in the Bible), our Lord himself says: “He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne.” Rev. 3:21. Of course, we are not “compelled to pray for a seat at the right hand of the King.” We are not compelled to be there at all. The gospel of Christ has no compulsion in it. But there will be those who will love their King so much that they will be inexpressibly glad to sit in any place he may appoint for them. And those who are there finally will be those who accepted the salvation which he proffered, who were with him much in prayer on the earth, and who were glad to make their being there a subject of prayer.
Says the editor again, in the same extract: “With this change goes out the whole thought of judgment days,” etc. But the Word declares that “he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness.” Acts 17:31. Again: “It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment.” Heb. 9:27. Then whom shall we believe, the divine Word or the modernizer of religion? Which shall we accept, religion as God-given and exemplified in the life and teachings of Jesus, or religion as modernized, socialized, and devitalized?
The possessor of modernized religion has “no call to vision his eternity in a New Jerusalem.” Why not? Surely there is nothing better. Concerning that we read: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his peoples, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God: and he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more: the first things are passed away. And he that sitteth on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.” Rev. 21:1-5. Can man imagine a more delectable place in which to spend an eternity? a better place for “future society”? or better society than will be there? It will be better than any of us deserve.
The editorial says, however, that “we have no call to vision our eternity in a New Jerusalem.” We certainly will “have no call to” if we refuse to accept Jesus Christ as our full and complete Saviour. There will be many, very many, who will “have no call” to spend eternity there. But they will be unable to say that they never had a call; for we read: “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations; and then shall the end come.” Matt. 24:14. It is a sad and terrible truth that, although the last gospel call goes to all the world, millions will find, when the tragedy of sin closes, that their refusal of the call puts them finally in the place where it can be said they “have no call” to be inside the New Jerusalem. That is, it is not their place; they have chosen to spend eternity elsewhere, and definite assignments have been made. Those adjudged righteous, through the blood of the Lamb, inherit the place prepared for them; and those who have refused Jesus Christ as their Saviour from sin and all its consequences go down into the blackness of everlasting death.
Our Saviour was our pattern in prayer as well as in labor. He spent much time in prayer. What was wise and necessary for him can not be foolish and unessential for us. He declared also, “I can of mine own self do nothing.” Yet the editorial in question says it must not alarm us if we find less praying to God to help us in this active age and an enlarged appreciation of man's ability. But there is the real danger; there is where the trouble lies. Christ prayed much—man is praying little and will pray less. Christ did not set himself up as one who could do great things of himself—man is coming to have “an enlarged appreciation” of his own ability.
This whole program of the modernizers of religion is out of joint with God's plan and with true religion. It is another gospel, even such a gospel as the apostle Paul anathematized. It is one of those delusions of death, which leave despairing and ruined souls in the wake of its progress, and in its own progress is fulfilling the prophecies of the Book which it would modernize and discard.
C. M. S.
Help Appreciated
The following words of appreciation from Elder J. L. Shaw, superintendent of the India Mission Field, show how the help furnished by the $300,000 Fund is regarded:—
We very much appreciate the remittances which we have received from the $300,000 Fund. We have been able to pay back the money borrowed from Brother J. S. James for a church and school building at Tinnevelli. We have also provided a bungalow for our missionary in East Bengal, with a place for a church and one or two houses for native people to live in. We have now obtained the deed for land granted to us for mission purposes at Karmatar, and Elder W. R. French and Brother Leech are now drawing up plans for the building. In Garhwal, Brother L. J. Burgess is getting on with the buildings in that station. He already had a small house to live in and a small dormitory for his native boys. They have been carrying on school work there in a straw shed, but they are now able to go ahead with their building. Brother Burgess has already sent in his plan. These are some of the ways in which the money from the $300,000 Fund is being used. The brethren are endeavoring to make every rupee go as far as possible.
Statement of the $300,000 Fund to June 1, 1911
Atlantic Union Conference
Central New England ........ $ 3075.46
Greater New York .......... 2516.76
Maine ..................... 274.80
New York .................. 1381.72
Northern New England ..... 976.98
Southern New England ..... 443.94
Western New York ......... 1202.68
Total ..................... 9872.34
Canadian Union Conference
Maritime .................. 246.47
Ontario ................... 1460.68
Quebec .................... 500.80
Newfoundland ..............
Total ..................... 2207.95
Central Union Conference
Colorado .................. 720.53
East Kansas ............... 1875.54
Nebraska .................. 7635.58
North Missouri ............ 712.92
South Missouri ............ 412.84
Western Colorado .......... 651.31
West Kansas ............... 532.89
Wyoming ................... 1126.89
St. Louis Mission ......... 77.00
Total ..................... 13745.5013
Columbia Union Conference
Chesapeake ................ $ 692.79
District of Columbia ...... 1214.82
Eastern Pennsylvania ...... 825.52
New Jersey ................ 1550.00
Ohio ...................... 2266.74
Virginia .................. 362.55
West Pennsylvania ......... 580.26
West Virginia ............. 337.00
Total ..................... 7829.68
Lake Union Conference
East Michigan ............. 4181.81
Indiana ................... 3237.69
Northern Illinois ......... 4491.86
North Michigan ............ 567.45
Southern Illinois ......... 1005.90
West Michigan ............. 3862.52
Wisconsin ................. 1883.85
Total ..................... 16231.08
Northern Union Conference
Iowa ...................... 3462.05
Minnesota ................. 4286.94
North Dakota .............. 2069.13
South Dakota .............. 1523.50
Total ..................... 11341.62
North Pacific Union Conference
Montana ................... 1564.31
Southern Idaho ............ 1678.40
Southern Oregon ........... 838.46
Upper Columbia ............ 2938.25
Western Oregon ............ 2941.59
Western Washington ........ 2774.48
Alaska .................... 2.15
Total ..................... 12757.64
Pacific Union Conference
Arizona ................... 520.21
California ................ 3187.76
Central California ........ 5.00
Northern California-Nevada 12.59
Southern California ....... 5703.75
Utah ...................... 130.30
Total ..................... 9559.61
Southeastern Union Conference
Cumberland ................ 1306.73
Florida ................... 1695.87
Georgia ................... 636.05
North Carolina ............ 428.64
South Carolina ............ 279.35
Bahama Mission ............ .....
Total ..................... 4346.64
Southern Union Conference
Alabama ................... 174.81
Kentucky .................. 225.50
Louisiana ................. 214.75
Mississippi ............... 318.03
Tennessee River ........... 458.22
Southern Union Mission .... 5.00
Total ..................... 1396.31
Southwestern Union Conference
Arkansas .................. 189.31
New Mexico ................ 94.18
North Texas ............... 441.27
Oklahoma .................. 1887.06
South Texas ............... 156.43
West Texas ................ 77.90
Southwestern Union Mission .....
Total ..................... 2846.15
Western Canadian Union Conference
Alberta ................... 515.20
British Columbia .......... 345.55
Manitoba .................. 630.10
Saskatchewan .............. 859.25
Total ..................... 2350.10
Miscellaneous
Australian Union Conference 3618.25
Various countries ........ $ 648.42
Miscellaneous ............. 409.99
Total ..................... 4676.66
Grand total ............... $99161.28
Note and Comment
By Editor
Prepare War
THE Washington Herald of May 30 contains two editorials, whose synchronous publication does in itself illustrate the very conditions against which one of these editorials protests. One of these editorials is titled “A Lesson for British Jingoes.” It commends the speech of King George of England on the occasion of the unveiling of the memorial to Queen Victoria, because of the sentiments of peace and friendliness expressed by the king toward the German emperor and nation. The emperor was present on the occasion. The editorial calls attention also to the utterance of the German emperor at the Guildhall meeting in London in 1907, when he declared that peace between Germany and England would be his unswerving purpose. The editorial closes with this remark:—
It is surprising that Germanophobia continues in England in the face of such utterances. The declarations of two such men as the kaiser and his first cousin, the king of England, ought to be sufficient for any one but mischief-makers, who thrive upon sensation, or who wish to further their own selfish interests, no matter at what terrible cost.
Such utterances ought to be sufficient for peace between the nations, thinks the editorial writer, and we wish they might prove so in spite of the fact that these same two nations are spending money as never before, and building ships as never before, whose prows are pointing toward each other, and whose deadly guns are trained in the same direction. The anomaly of talking peace while preparing for war with such feverish haste was never before so strikingly manifest in the history of the world. The second editorial mentioned is headed “In Peace, Prepare War,” and reads:—
The “Wyoming,” launched a few days ago, and her sister ship, the “Arkansas,” are the largest battle-ships ever designed by any nation, and carry the greatest destructive power with which any vessels have been equipped. This is not all. At the naval parade in the English Channel next month, on the occasion of the coronation exercises, the United States battle-ship “Delaware” will be the largest war-vessel present, even out-rivaling the “Neptune,” the boast of the British navy. . . . Nor is this all. Only last week announcement was made of the results of the gunnery practise and tests in our navy, showing that the gun crew of the “Michigan” had made a new world's record for gun-fire at sea, and that the average of the fleet indicates an approach to perfection that challenges any navy of the world.
And yet despite all this, the United States is offering the nations of the world a far-reaching plan for international peace. It stands ready to negotiate treaties of arbitration that should reduce the possibility of war to a minimum.
At the same time it does not fail to realize the fact that it is worth while to be prepared if trouble comes.
How clearly does the Word of Inspiration picture such a time as this and such conditions as these! They shall cry, Peace, Peace, when there is no peace—talk peace, and at the same time lay the most ingenious plans to hurl each other’s navies to the bottom of the sea; talk peace, and invent the most ingenious and terrible instruments with which to shoot each other’s armies to pieces, or drop death and destruction out of the sky upon armies, cities, forts, and ships. The preparations for universal peace and universal war go on side by side, if not almost hand in hand, and the climax of each of these plans of operation is near at hand. This synchronous movement of these antagonistic ideas makes possible the fulfilment of that scripture: “When they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them; . . . and they shall not escape.”
At the present moment, treaties of universal arbitration are under consideration between the United States and England and the United States and France, while Germany and Japan have both signified their readiness to consider the ratification of similar treaties with this country. This all looks toward the establishment of universal peace; and the great Hague Peace Palace—a standing invitation to a supreme court of the nations of the world—looks toward the same felicitous consummation. At the Grand Army memorial services at the United States National Cemetery at Arlington, Va., on May 30, President Taft, while eulogizing the bravery and self-sacrifice of the country’s soldier dead, deprecated war in the strongest terms, and expressed the hope that erelong the nations would refuse to go to war, and would settle all their disputes by arbitration. He looked for the time when duels between nations would cease as truly as duels between individuals in our country have ceased. The hope is a commendable one; but when the machinery for the establishment of such a condition has been perfected and placed, we may expect to see the quick and certain fulfilment of the Scripture prophecy previously quoted. Then will the world have, as never before, cause to cry “peace and safety,” and then, too, as never before, will the world have perfected its engines of ruinous, sudden, and terrible war. We are moving toward that culmination with rapid pace.
Married to a Stone
By Edith E. Bruce
EDITH E. BRUCE
“If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; if thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?” Prov. 24:11, 12.
I tremble when I think of the awful responsibility resting upon me in the face of these words from the Word of God. I feel heavily the responsibility of trying to make known to others the little I have learned of the conditions of the people in this country. There are so many of the helpless little ones who are being drawn into Satan’s net—drawn into sin and shame and death. I shrink from writing all this. I do not like dark, gloomy pictures, much preferring to give only the bright side. Thank God, there is a ray of light piercing the dark cloud of superstition that has settled down upon the women of India,—a cloud so thick and black that it seems almost impregnable. But the blessed gospel of Jesus can dispel the thickest cloud, and break the strongest chain that can be forged by satanic power. Some chains have been broken, and some—a few—of India’s women are witnessing to the whole world the wonderful saving power of our Lord.
But the cloud lingers; and it is still black and threatening. Still there is work to be done. There are still greater sacrifices to be made. From among the throngs there are some precious souls to be saved for Christ’s kingdom. Some one will bring these little ones and lay them at Jesus’ feet, and hear the sweet words spoken, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” Shall it be you? Shall it be I? God help us to be true to the command, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
A few weeks ago we told something of child marriage in India and its evil results, but we did not tell all. There is so much woven into this fabric of superstition, so much that can not be told. Dreadful as may seem the custom that gives a little girl to an old man of sixty, yet there is one other marriage ceremony in India which is infinitely worse, and which is carried on under the guise of religion. This is the diabolical ceremony whereby a sweet, innocent little girl is united forever to a Hindu god, and becomes a prey to the lusts of vile priests. India is rightly called the “land of temples;” for all over the land, from north to south, from east to west, one finds the Hindu temple. It may be a structure no more than 8 x 10 feet, where there is just room enough for the image, and the officiating priest, or it may be a stone daubed with red paint, set up under a tree; nevertheless it is sacred to the devout Hindu villager, who worships, offers his gifts of flowers and fruits, makes his vows, and then circles around it according to the ardor of his zeal.
A MODEL HINDU BEAUTY
In addition to these local temples set up throughout India, there are many large temples at the so-called sacred places, which are visited every year by thousands of pilgrims, who suppose that they will receive special blessings therefor. Many come from long distances, hoping to be cured of some dreadful disease (many die on their way), some come in the hope of gaining a greater degree of salvation and eternal happiness. The most famous temples are found at Benares, Calcutta, Puri, etc.
Dr. Murdock thus describes the temple at Puri, called the Jagannatha, or Juggernaut, the lord of the world: “The temple is composed of four distinct buildings, opening one into another. The first is about eighty feet square and one hundred twenty feet in height. This is the cook-room, where the food is cooked before the god, and sold to the pilgrims as holy. This building opens into another, called the dancing-hall, where the musicians and dancing-girls amuse the gods. This opens, in turn, into the next building, called the audience-chamber, from which the people look into the last building, the shrine where sits the idol himself.”
A few days ago I visited the famous temple at Kali Ghat, Calcutta. There I saw many sights that made me heartsick. Although it was early in the morning, hundreds of people thronged the place, pushing and jostling one another, and all clamoring in loud tones; priests called for pice, and bartered their goods to the pilgrims. There were many goats slain to be offered before the goddess Kali, one of the vilest of the Hindu objects of worship. All these sights were sickening to behold; but the thing that touched me most, that made me more determined than ever to do something for this people, was a group of little girls who, I suspected, were temple-girls. Drawing near and making some inquiries, I found this to be true. I knew what that meant, and turned away with an aching heart. I knew that they had been married to the god; that their doom was sealed; that the chains that had been forged by Satan in his darkest hours were bound about them, and they were bound to the god of stone forever. They were just like other little Hindu girls, with their pretty brown eyes and olive skin. The evil stamp of sin was not yet upon their faces, but it will come; it is inevitable! O, could we only deliver these little ones from this awful life! I felt like taking them in my arms, and bearing them away beyond this deadly influence. I wonder, mothers, how you would feel to leave your little daughter in the clutches of a merciless, licentious priest. Do you cover your eyes, and shrink in horror from the very thought? I am sure you do; and yet these little ones have been bought with a price, the blood of our Saviour, which was shed for them. He has asked us to gather them in. We need strong, godly women to do this work. Is there one who will say, “Lord, send me”?
I do not mean to infer that all the little girls of India are victims to the gods. Although carried on to some extent all over India, under different names, the custom is most prevalent in south India. But wherever it is allowed, it means ruin, not only to the girls, but to many homes as well.
I quote the following from the “Wrongs of Indian Womanhood:” “The gods of the Hindu heaven are not satisfied with having one or more wives of their own; they also have a number of public women, called asparas, who dance and sing and add to the comfort of the gods. According to Hindu belief, men who have performed meritorious deeds go to heaven, and their chief happiness consists in their enjoyment of the society of the asparas. The devadasies, or temple-girls, are the counterpart of the asparas on earth.” Whether the practise came into use by this doctrine15of the Hindu faith or in some other way, it is blighting in its effect upon the innocent, and again the blow falls heaviest upon the women. All over India, thousands of these little girls, under one pretext or another, are offered in marriage to these gods. A few sweets, a few jewels, the promise of a big tamasha (show), and the little ones are ensnared in the net of Satan by the wicked priest. Their lives are easily ruined. Nothing is sin if sanctioned or ordered by the priest, and so their lives are lost—lost to pure womanhood, lost to the kingdom of heaven. Not only do they become the prey of the priests, but many pilgrims visit these famous places, and not merely to worship. Through the enticement of these temple-women, who are no longer innocent girls, many unsuspecting youth, with young wives at home, visit these places for the first time with an honest purpose of worshiping, but return to their homes ruined. These are some facts, but all can not be written; they are imprintable. In view of these things we are led to exclaim:—
“My God! can such things be?
Hast thou not said that whatsoever is
done
Unto thy weakest and thy humblest one,
Is even done to thee?
“Hoarse, horrible, and strong,
Rises to heaven that agonizing cry,—
Filling the arches of the hollow sky,—
‘How long, O Lord! how long?’”
Calcutta, India.
The Levant Union Conference
By Z. G. Baharian
Z. G. BAHARIAN
“The Levant” is in reality a term to express the idea of the rising sun. From this part of the earth began to shine, two thousand years ago, the bright light of the gospel, which became the blessing and the salvation of all the world. Mohammedanism has darkened this light. Moslemism never displayed such an organized activity as now. Only with untiring efforts and much patience can the light of the gospel make its way through this Mohammedan kingdom.
Our direct work of evangelizing, which began sixteen years ago, produced up to the end of 1909 a membership of 225 souls, who were scattered in fifteen churches and companies over Bithynia, Galatia, Pontus, Cappadocia, Cilicia, Lydia, Macedonia, and Albania. While the past shows an increase of scarcely twenty members a year, the year 1910 resulted in four new churches and companies, and an increase of more than fifty members, bringing the list up to 275. Tithes and offerings grew from 18,000 to 29,694 piasters. In this line we could give a still better report for the first quarter of 1911, as the donations this quarter have already reached an amount higher than the tithe in all the year 1908. The visits, instruction, and the correspondence with the churches have proved a great blessing to our field.
The Canvassing Work
This branch of the work was not entered before we came to this field. Inside and outside the church there was prejudice against the system of selling books and tracts, as it was the general idea that if people would take literature when it was presented free to them, it was a wonderful thing. But trusting in the Lord, with confidence we began this part of the work. We had the help of a young Italian brother, who spoke Italian, German, and French, and who desired to accompany me at his own expense to this field. While we were encouraging the brethren with our words, he, a foreigner, showed them by his action what could be done in their own country, by one who did not even know the language of the people. His example encouraged others; and to the astonishment of the brethren we sold during the last quarter of 1909, 1,625 piasters’ worth of literature, and in the year 1910, 15,853 piasters’ worth.
The brethren experienced many hardships; they were even beaten till the blood came; the people also spit into their faces. It was a new thing in the Orient for canvassers to enter the houses of the people; for strangers are never allowed to enter Turkish homes. Week after week our workers were arrested. We presented a petition to the Sublime Porte, and after many visits, obtained permission to offer our literature, but were restrained from entering Turkish houses. Nevertheless, we are allowed to sell not only in French, German, English, Italian, Spanish, Rumanian, Bulgarian, Russian, Armenian, Greek, and Turkish, but also in Turkish with Arabic characters.
We are now selling the second edition of “Who Is Jesus?” We are the first Christian denomination to print real Turkish literature and obtain such sales. It is easy to understand that, from the beginning, political as well as religious papers have published warnings against our activity. In religious circles our success is a wonder before their eyes.
Constantinople.
In the South Pacific
By A. H. Piper
A. H. PIPER
On the fifteenth of August, while our steamer loaded oranges and pineapples, we had the privilege of spending the whole day ashore at Aitutaki. It was on this island that John Williams first landed native workers from Raiatea. Those familiar with the way the gospel reached these islands will remember that, upon the first visit of John Williams, who planned on leaving two native workers and their wives here, their treatment was so bad at the hands of the Rarotongans that the next morning they all went on board ship again, it being deemed advisable to postpone working here until some more favorable time. When about to sail away, Papeiha, one of the workers who had been ashore overnight, said to Williams: “Take my wife to her people, but let me return to the shore of this heathen land, and preach the gospel to its needy inhabitants.” They tried to persuade him to remain on the ship, but he was determined to go ashore; and, binding his Tahitian Scriptures to the back of his head, he jumped into the sea and swam ashore. The effect upon the Rarotongans was marvelous. They greatly wondered at a man who was so willing to risk his life to give them the gospel; and before many months had passed, he was busy building a large meeting-house to accommodate the first-fruits of the gospel on this island. In this work he was assisted by those who had so recently desired to kill him.
While waiting for our boat, we visited a young native man and his wife, who have charge of a large school here. We had known the wife ten years before. When she was a girl, she was adopted into the family of one of our workers on Rarotonga, and there partly learned the truth. She was separated from us, and returned to her island, Aitutaki. Although forced to give up the Sabbath, she had never forgotten it. Being far above the average native girl, she attracted the attention of two white Christian women, and was invited to join them. This she did, and has since been connected with the school, being now in charge of it.
Both she and her husband seemed glad to see us, and talked for three hours about the message. The remarkable part of this visit was the fact that the night before we reached the islands, she had dreamed that the Lord was coming, and that she could see him coming through the sky. She awoke, and then fell asleep again, dreaming the same dream. This dream made such an impression on her mind that she got out of bed, and went out upon the veranda, in order to look up into the sky at the place where she had dreamed that she saw the Lord descending. When she had finished telling her dream to us, she said: “Can there be any connection between my dream and your visit to me? I dreamed about his coming last night, and you come here this morning, and talk about his coming. Surely there must be some connection.”
Tears filled this native woman’s eyes; and as we knelt to pray, all felt the tender, softening influence of God’s Holy Spirit. It seemed hard to leave these poor children, groping in darkness toward the light. Oh, how can we long delay sending more workers to these needy fields, to gather out such as we have described!
Wahroonga, Australia.
Winning Hearts in Moslem Territory
THEOPHILO WALDMEIER, a Swiss missionary, who has had long experience in Moslem territory in the East, and who is greatly revered in his advanced age as he still labors among the people there, says: “The best way of winning their [the fanatics’] hearts is to let them strike you. Afterward they repent; for they realize that you love them.” This was the way the Master conducted himself among such people. It is always safe to follow Jesus.
