LEAVING Emmanuel Mission after holding open-air services on both Sabbath and Sunday, we rode to the siding, where I boarded the train for Ladybrand. Here Brother M. E. Emmerson came for me with saddle-ponies, and we rode across the border again into Basutoland to the Berea mission school, which is in charge of our native teacher Ndabambi. This out-school has a good location on an elevation, from which a fine view can be obtained of the surrounding country, and of Ladybrand, about seven miles in the distance across the river.
The house, which is made of stone with iron roof, though small, will serve all purposes at present.
WORKERS IN MEXICO
Left to right: C. S. Nicolas, H. L. Rawson,
Juan Robles.
There are about eight acres of land with this out-school. Here, as at Emmanuel Mission, the long drought last summer was very severe on crops; nevertheless, with the Lord's blessing, Ndabambi will have a small harvest.
What remained of the small crops raised by the natives here has been destroyed by insects and other pests; and when they see prospects of the harvest on the mission land, they tell Ndabambi he surely has some big medicine he puts on the land to keep away the vermin. Then they ask him to give them some of the same medicine, and he tells them it is the blessing of God and the Lord's protecting hand over his work.
We remained at this mission overnight, and the next morning the people were called from the near-by villages to a meeting. Brother Emmerson spoke to an audience of about thirty. The writer then talked to them briefly of the gospel of Jesus Christ, its object, its power, and the joy it brings to the one who receives it. The Spirit of the Lord was present, and the people seemed impressed. It is evident that a good work is being done here.
It was late in the morning when we left, and we were bidden a hearty farewell by the people.
After riding all day we came to a village in which were the huts of Philip,12the secretary to the late paramount chief. At this place another site has been given for a mission school by the present Paramount Chief Letsie. It consists of between thirty and forty acres of good land, is accessible from the main road, and has plenty of running water on it.
The next morning we were early on our way again, headed for the kraal of the present paramount chief; and after a rugged ride of several hours, up hill and down dale, we arrived at the kraal. I was thankful for the opportunity of meeting the chief executive of the tribe, and we have reason to believe that our visit proved a blessing both to the chief and to us.
The chief does not allow all who come to see him, even white people, to come into his presence with little or no ceremony; they must first see his secretary, as we did, and wait at his officer's house while the secretary goes to the chief to see if he cares to entertain them, and if so, when. Then, if agreeable to his highness, the secretary returns and escorts them into the chief's presence.
Brother Emmerson was ushered in first, being acquainted, while I waited for some time. After being ushered in, I had nothing to say at first, as I did not know what would be appropriate. The chief was sick in bed, and as I entered, he surveyed me critically and motioned to a chair. After a brief silence he said, “I am a sick man, but I am a different man from what I was a few months ago. God has afflicted me that I might learn lessons. He is the High Chief of all people. He commands the days to go and the nights to come. He does all things according to his pleasure.” I then ventured to tell the chief, through his interpreter, that I was very sorry that he was sick, but glad to hear him speak of God in this way. He said he, too, was sorry he was sick, as there were questions coming up in the Basuto parliament that was in session at that time, which were of vital importance to his nation, and which he would greatly like to hear personally. We sympathized with him further, and Brother Emmerson suggested that he take some water treatment. It was getting late, and as we had several hours' ride before us, I was not overanxious that the chief should accept this suggestion; but imagine my surprise when he told his interpreter to tell us that he was ready for the treatment. He knew what it meant, as Brother Emmerson had given him treatment some time before; but now he turned the job over to me, and I must say it seemed a bit queer for me to give treatment to a black prince. I knew my work, however, and proceeded as soon as water had been heated and brought. When I had finished, the chief sat up in bed, and called all those present to witness to what the treatment had done for him. His secretary told us afterward that the chief had not been able to sit up like this before for nine months, because of rheumatism. He then proceeded to show his gratitude by securing to us a mission site that had been previously asked for, and saying that he had two other places on which he would like to have us establish missions; for he believed that we would do his people and himself good. We can better appreciate the value of this offer when we learn, as I did a little later, that certain other religious denominations had been earnestly endeavoring to secure mission sites from this same chief, but were flatly refused, the chief saying they had enough missions in their country already.
It is needless to say that we rode away with light hearts, feeling well repaid for the time spent. We thank God for these openings; but how our hearts long for workers to place in this needy field on these stations at once!
The next two days were spent with Brother and Sister Emmerson at the Kolo Mission, looking over the mission and the work to be done, and planning to enter at once upon evangelistic work for this people.
Hardships? — Yes, of course there are hardships, but we haven't room nor time to write about them. Besides, it is as Brother Stahl says about the work in South America, even when he had been stoned by the people he wished to help: “There are real hardships to meet, and there is nothing romantic about the work,” but “the blessings are more than the hardships by far.”
A Forward Move in India
By J. L. SHAW
J. L. SHAW
For several years our efforts in India have consisted largely of vernacular work, and it has seemed well-nigh impossible to give the attention and help to the English work that it has deserved. The study of the different languages, the starting of mission stations with their schools and dispensaries, and the literature work have together taken our time and strength.
But our missionaries in India have not been unmindful of the responsibility that rests upon them to give the message for to-day to those who know their mother tongue. Many prayers have ascended, and earnest appeals have been sent to the Mission Board and to our people in America, and we thank God they have not been in vain. The following workers have responded to the call and are now in the field, enthusiastically at work: Pastors G. W. Pettit and J. M. Comer, with their wives, Sister Rachel Jones, and Brother Peter Rick.
Pastor Comer writes from Rangoon, Burma, that the work is moving forward in an encouraging manner. The attendance at his English services ranges from one hundred to one hundred fifty on Sunday nights. A number of young men are deeply interested, some of whom have decided to obey God.
Brother William Carratt, who is devoting his time to the sale of our publications at Rangoon and adjacent stations, is having unusual success, and finds many interested in the books and papers, and willing to buy. His sales are averaging about seventy dollars a week.
At Lonavla Pastors G. F. Enoch and S. A. Wellman began an effort in English the first of April. Lonavla is a summer hill station three or four hours by train from Bombay. At this season of the year, while the heat is oppressive in Bombay, people go to Lonavla, which is somewhat cooler. These brethren report a favorable beginning. At their lantern services about one hundred are attending. At other services the attendance is much less. But considering the size of the station, the number coming to the meetings is larger than was expected. The tent has proved too small for the lantern services, so a splendid hall in the Railway Institute has been procured. Brethren Wellman and Kelsey have made a number of slides for future lantern lectures.
This effort at Lonavla may prove an entrance into Bombay. For years we have had our attention directed toward that great city. Some attempts have been made, but nothing permanent or successful has resulted. There is every reason to believe that the message of present truth should take permanent root at the gateway of India, and shine forth in the districts surrounding it.
Pastor Pettit and his wife, and Sister Rachel Jones, and the writer are undertaking an effort in Mussoorie, a hill station in the Himalayas. The best season for work has scarcely arrived. No effort will be spared to reach the people either in their homes or at public services.
A strong effort is contemplated in Calcutta, beginning in June. Pastors Pettit and Comer will both begin work in that city, with such other help as may be associated with them. The members of the little church in that great city now feel that their call for help has not been in vain. A hall is being procured, and arrangements are being made for a steady, determined effort in this metropolis of the Indian empire.
The English journals Oriental Watchman and Herald of Health bid fair to double their circulation the coming year. Brother Rick, who is devoting his efforts to these journals, is having exceptionally good success. During March he registered 197 subscriptions, most of them being annual. Brother F. O. Raymond, who during the past year has been going from station to station through south India and Ceylon, has disposed of a large variety of religious literature. His efforts have been incessant. Early and late he has worked in the sun and heat, until the condition of his health has made necessary a change to the Himalayas. Brother P. C. Poley has been selling books and registering orders for our periodicals in north India.
Some of the most successful workers in India, both in the vernacular and in English, have been raised up by means of English work, and we feel certain that, with God's blessing, the forward move in English will be for the advancement of the work in India, both in English and in many other tongues. The prayers of God's children for this work are needed, and earnestly invited.
Courtesy in Children
By Grace D. Goodwin
GRACE D. GOODWIN
PEOPLE of other countries criticize with great severity, and with justice as well, we are forced to admit, the behavior of American children. They are said to be the worst-mannered children of civilization, and we are pointed to the obedient German boy or the gentle Japanese girl by way of contrast. As a matter of fact, we all know scores of little gentlemen and ladies, products of refined homes and careful training. These are the children who are not permitted to make themselves terrors in public, and who are therefore overlooked in the generalization. Upon such children as these the reputation of America is to rest, if we are not to be known as a nation of boors. This is the oak of the future, and it seems a far call from that to the acorn of the present, which consists in requesting your boy to stand when his mother enters the room, to lift his hat as soon as he ceases to wear an elastic band under his chin, and to avoid using the coarse tones and coarser talk of the street children. Each thing is so very small, the conflict over it is sometimes so disproportionately large, that it is well to remember the magnitude of the result.
A brilliant preacher recently left the city pulpit which he had occupied but a short time, because, as one of his parishioners expressed it, “he had never learned little boy manners.” At the table he was uncouth, in conversation abrupt, in general manner awkward and brusque, in personal habits careless, yet in the pulpit he was a man of force, sincerity, and intellectual ability. An old lady of ninety, when told of his failure, remarked, “If he had a mother, she is the one to blame.”
It is a truism to say that the incitement to courtesy in a child is courteous treatment of that child. An ill-mannered little guest in the household of a woman of many cares was won to much better behavior in two weeks’ time by the application of this principle, and that without a word of fault-finding.
There are people who disdain to say, “Excuse me,” having hurt a child; who take child service for granted, omitting the “Thank you” of recognition; there is here and there a pastor who overlooks the timid greeting of a child who saw him at dinner or tea when the minister was a welcome guest in the lad’s home.
The boy remembers, pulls off his cap, and is amazed to see no response in the face he thought he knew. Then he goes home and says, defiantly:— “Mama, why should I take off my hat to Dr. B—? he doesn’t ever look at me.” The answer to this is difficult, to say the least.
Coarse tones are more of a problem, for boys learn from one another, and the healthy young animal exults in noise. It was wisely managed by the aunt of a bright lad of ten who had been making the day hideous with unearthly sounds, to the great discomfort of guests on the piazza. The opportunity for which the aunt was waiting came quickly; a lady near her said, “Why do you permit Francis to make such vulgar noises?”
The wise woman put her hand upon the shoulder of the listening boy, who beyond everything aspired to be a man. “Francis is only a child,” she explained, “and he does not realize how silly and ill-mannered this seems to grown people. When he outgrows his babyhood, he will not think of doing this.”
Francis flushed and fled; his aunt told me she never heard the sounds repeated.
Sometimes children seem simply perverse, when there is something more behind.
A well-trained small boy of eight was walking beside his father, who noticed with surprise that the child never lifted his hat, although he had been carefully instructed. Inquiry, suggestion, command, failed to reveal the secret of the obstinate discourtesy. At last it came out that his school-teacher, a learned man, but a man whose half-Indian blood was to blame for his wholly barbaric manners, had forbidden the children in his class to greet him or one another in the conventional fashion. The small boy, told at home to obey his teacher, was in a very hard place, and was doing the best he could. Luckily for him and his future, he had a wise father, who saved punishment until he could gage the need for it with accuracy.
One thing more. It is a mistake to expect children to conform perfectly to drawing-room conventions; too much “manners” is as bad as too little “manners.” The ordinary polite usages of the home should be the rule for every member of the household, great or small, and from great to small as well as vice versa.
Growing Old
By L. D. Santee
L. D. SANTEE
“This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” Matt. 24 : 34.
O, so near us lies the future,
With its treasures manifold,
That I fear no more the burden,
Nor the dread of growing old;
No more think of eyesight failing,
Or of body filled with pain,
When the wine of life has vanished,
And the dregs alone remain!
To outlive one’s strength and vigor
Is a prospect dark and drear,
But in our own generation
Shall the blessed One appear;
E’er the steps with age shall falter,
Or the eyes with age grow dim,
We shall hear the blessed summons
That shall call us up to him.
As the years roll by in splendor,
Each one brings his coming nigh.
With a love supreme and tender,
He will welcome us on high.
As I read of his salvation,
Heart and soul with joy are thrilled,
For in our own generation
Shall these sayings be fulfilled.
Moline, Ill.
The Woman Who Worries
How generally brooding eats into the life's usefulness of American women, making impossible clear thought and practical action when comes the need, is little realized, says Anne Shannon Monroe, in the Delineator. Each woman who broods so centers her mind on her own real or fancied wrongs that she becomes incapable of diagnosing her own case, and thus fails to see that she is merely afflicted by a disease common to women, and one that unfortunately she alone can cure. An outsider can do nothing for the woman who broods but awaken her to the terrible habit in the thrall of which she is allowing herself to go to mental ruin. And to break this terrible habit requires as much will-power and self-discipline as to rid one's self of other evil. Here is a psychological fact: Every normal woman has deep buried in her nature a native current that can and should control her life. She has a tendency in some one direction, which can be made to lead her out of any bog in which she may be mired. The first thing, then, is to put your finger on the natural bent of your nature. What do you love best? Where are you the happiest? What work is not toil, but pleasure? Above all else, a heart at peace with God, and an appropriation of the promises of his grace, will prove the great safeguard against worry.—Selected.
What a Christian Hymn Did
A RICH Japanese silk merchant sent for the missionaries in his town, and entertained them most hospitably. He told how, as a child, he had attended a Sabbath-school. “Very often,” he said, “right in the midst of my business the words of the hymn ‘Jesus loves me, this I know,’ come to me, and, try as I may, I can’t get them out of my mind.” He then repeated the hymn from beginning to end, and added: “Though I’ve lived my life without religion, I feel that it is the most important thing there is, and I want my little girl to be a Christian; and it is for that purpose,” he added, emphatically, “that I have placed her in the mission school, that she may become a Christian.”—Missionary Review of the World.
The Armenian Mission Field
By Z. G. Baharian
WE have received good news from Malatia. Two persons have accepted the truth as the fruit of Brother Touzjian’s labors. As I formerly reported, Brother Touzjian entered Malatia under favorable circumstances. The pulpit of the church was offered him in which to preach every Sunday as a regular pastor. He accepted it, and during the winter continued his sermons successfully. He held meetings for the women, and visited the families. Besides, he held Bible studies in his own room, all interested ones regularly attending. The result was that a Protestant named Mercelianos Barsamian began keeping the Sabbath. This step stirred up his wife, his mother, and other relatives. His wife bitterly opposed him. This opposition hindered him for a few weeks, but at last God gave him power to obey, leaving everything in the Lord’s hands. Persecution arose from all sides, but he stood firm. A man named Arakel also stood on the side of the truth. The way was opened for Brother Touzjian to labor. When he went to the market, he was invited from the shops to talk about the truth. This agitation awakened envy in the hearts of the church people, and Brother Touzjian was not allowed to preach in their church any more. On Easter day about two hundred flocked to the church, expecting to hear a sermon by Brother Touzjian, but went away with sad hearts.
When I was in Constantinople, March 24, for our general meeting, a letter came from the interior of Armenia, dated February 15, informing me that twelve persons had begun to keep the Sabbath. Among them are a local elder. This unexpected news rejoiced our hearts. Last summer I visited this place, and distributed a few tracts. As a result, these souls have taken their stand for the truth. We must go to them soon in order to instruct them and establish them in the present message. Thus God is working to save souls. May many more of his people Israel be gathered, and his name be glorified.
Z. G. BAHARIAN.
In Sweden
By Guy Dail
This is the closing day of the thirty-first annual session of the Swedish conference, which has been held here in Westeras, May 14-19. The local workers have been assisted by Brethren J. T. Boettcher, J. C. Raft, and C. C. Jensen. About two hundred of our people were in attendance. There was a fair outside interest in the public lectures held. God graced our meetings with the presence of his Holy Spirit. Sabbath forenoon there was a hearty response to the appeals made in behalf of those who had lost ground in their religious experience, as well as a turning to the Lord by some who had never publicly taken their stand for the message; and the whole congregation rededicated themselves to the Saviour.
In the afternoon Brother Oscar Carlsson was ordained to the ministry. The occasion was one of solemnity; and in the social meeting that followed, many heartfelt testimonies of praise were offered to God.
Here, as well as in Denmark and Norway, a proposition to divide the territory of the conference met with favor. Accordingly, Skane, Halland, Blekinge, Smaland, and Oland were cut off from the Swedish Conference, and placed under the charge of the Scandinavian Union, as the South Sweden Mission. For the present, there will be four workers located in this field. As fast as suitable laborers can be supplied from the Swedish Missionary School, at Nyhyttan, it is planned that they be put to work here or in one of the other Swedish fields.
Brother S. F. Svensson was again elected conference president. He has eleven workers to assist him in the building up of the work under his care.
One of the most beneficial parts of the daily program was the early morning prayer-meeting. We were glad to see the interest taken in these meetings by the brethren and sisters, and we think they proved a great blessing to the people.
We were pleased with the singing of the Nyhyttan school choir, just as we had been gratified with the music rendered by the Danish and Norwegian choirs at the conferences in Copenhagen and Bergen.
The Sabbath-school was well organized into classes, and the 193 members gave a donation of 125.70 kroner, while the First-day offering amounted to 527.45 kroner, 352.45 kroner of which was cash. We believe this to be an encouraging sign of the interest our brethren feel in the regions beyond.
Our institutional work in Sweden is prospering. The publishing department at Stockholm has done well, and so have the health food factory at Westeras, and the school and summer sanitarium in Nyhyttan. There were thirty students in the school last year, and it is expected that a goodly number of these will return this autumn. Many will be in the canvassing field this summer, and several have been engaged as Bible workers. The buildings at Nyhyttan are utilized during the summer months by the sanitarium work, which did well last year, and promises better the present season. The conference gave about fifty canvassers permission to engage in the sale of our literature.
I start for Hamburg this afternoon, to meet Brother L. R. Conradi, and to prepare for the trip to the Siberian field, and possibly to Persia. Elders Boettcher and Raft, accompanied by Elder E. J. Ahren, will attend the Finnish meeting this week.
We believe that our dear friends in Sweden have felt fully repaid for the time and means required to attend the conference, and that workers and people begin the season's labors with renewed strength and courage and faith in God, feeling constrained to press on until the message shall have been faithfully proclaimed among all these beautiful Swedish cities, towns, and villages, and we may all be called to enter upon the overcomer's reward. Guy Dail.
Our God
By Mrs. P. Alderman
MRS. P. ALDERMAN
OUR God is good. How sweet his promises!
How full of blessing to his trusting ones,
As if he could not say enough
Of counsel, and of comfort, and of love!
What kind reproofs! His hand
Is stretched out still,
Forbearing long, and loving yet
More than a mother loves her son;
And though a father may be e'er so kind,
His kindness still excels.
Not yet has length and depth been measured
Of my Father's love.
I see it in the power that resurrects
The growing spring-time;
I see it in the life that permeates my being;
I see it in the sun's warm glinting;
And O, the love that crowneth Calvary!
Dost think to tell it with a mortal's pen?
My soul, in silent awe wait on thy God;
Ask him to gird with strength,—
Strength to obey, and trust, and do
Even as he hath said.
Mount Vernon, Ohio.
Grenada, West Indies
By Linton Rashford
WE left Jamaica on April 5, and after a voyage of ten days, and a stay of eight in Port of Spain, reached Grenada, our new field of labor, April 24. This is a very small island, being only twenty-one miles long and twelve wide, with an estimated population of sixty thousand. It is very mountainous, and its chief products are cocoa and nutmegs.
There are no trains, tram-cars, or hackney-buses, and the familiar ring of a bicycle bell is almost unknown, not to say anything of an automobile. Traveling is tedious and expensive, unless one has his own conveyance. The most of the people speak the patois, a corruption of French and English.
There is one Seventh-day Adventist church on the island, with a membership of a little over fifty. There are also a few believers in one or two other places. The people are nearly all Roman Catholics, and are very ignorant. There are some Anglicans, and a few Wesleyans, but they are so much like the Roman Catholics that it is hard to distinguish between them.
The cost of living is nearly twice as much here as it is in any place in which I have lived in Jamaica, and the groceries sold seem to be of the poorest quality. We are not at all discouraged because of these things, however, as the One who brought us here is bound by his promise to care for us as long as we remain faithful to him. We miss home and friends very much, but we trust the Lord for strength and grace to quit ourselves like men and be strong. We crave the prayers of our brethren and sisters for health with which to labor for the Master.
