IN the February number of the Bible Society Record, organ of the American Bible Society, Mr. Penzotti, the general representative of the society in South America, has a letter reviewing progress along the darkest frontiers. Speaking of what he meets as he visits the colporteur picket lines, he says, writing from northern Chile:—
From here I propose to turn into Bolivia. I am aware that I shall meet there with “St. Patrick’s Cavalry,” but I shall meet better things, too.
In Peru the saving truth is gaining its way, a fact which irritates the sons of the night, and blackbirds are not wanting which are pecking at the truth. It is but a short time ago that in a village of the interior a priest burned alive a poor woman who was suspected of being a witch. It is only three months ago that the Bishop of Puno brought bound the teacher of an Indian school and some others, beating them all the way from Chucuito to Puno, where they were thrown into a dirty prison, for the only crime of teaching the Indians to read and write and of preaching to them the gospel. Yet the result of accepting the gospel is the abolition of the bad habit of chewing coca, giving up their drunkenness and their idolatry.
Two Bible colporteurs came to a city in the interior, and a son of Loyola set the people against them. Had the civil authorities not interfered, they would soon have been killed.
Perhaps already the reader has recognized the fact that the incident of the Indian school-teacher relates to our own mission, and remarkably indeed the Lord has overruled the attack upon our work among the Indians of the Peruvian interior. Out of the agitation over this question has evidently come the definite movement to abolish the article of the Peruvian constitution prohibiting Protestant propaganda. The tendency among the liberal-minded has been carrying sentiment in this direction, but as nearly as we can learn, the personal appeal of the representatives of our Indian brethren to the president of the republic turned the light upon the use church authorities in the interior were making of the restrictive clause in the state constitution.
W. A. S.
“Jesus Is Here”
By F. M. W.
Of the doctrines of the Scriptures none is so precious as that of the return of Jesus. It has been the basis of faith, the anchor of hope, and the polestar of inspiration to the saints of every age. Of it holy prophets have prophesied and sacred singers sung. Belief in its reality has sustained the church throughout its history. To Christ’s coming the captives have looked for deliverance, the blind for sight, the weary for rest, the mourners for the joy of reunion with their lost ones. And these have not hoped in vain.
The Word plainly reveals that the return of the Lord to this earth will usher in the long-hoped-for day of deliverance from sin and death, and from all the power of Satan. The nations of men will be judged and rewarded according to their works; the earth will be purified from the effects of the curse; sin and sinners will be destroyed; the great author of sin will become as if he had never been; the righteous dead from8every age will be raised to a life of eternal joy; the righteous living will be changed to immortality; Christ will take up his dwelling place among the redeemed, and of his glorious reign there shall be no end.
These, briefly, are the events which cluster about, culminate in, and grow out of the second coming of Christ. No wonder that Satan has sought to obscure this blessed truth. Creating in some hearts a disbelief of it altogether, he has minimized its importance in other minds, leading even professed Christians to accept doctrines which rob the second advent of its true significance and real necessity. In the minds of many even who believe in the literal return of Jesus the teaching of the Word is distorted and perverted; and in too many instances religious teachers are responsible for these erroneous views.
A noteworthy example of delusive teaching on this great subject is seen in a series of articles recently published in the Christian Herald. Charles M. Sheldon, D. D., a Topeka (Kans.) pastor, and author of a religious novel, “In His Steps,” is the writer. The articles are cast in story form, under the heading “Jesus Is Here.”
Christ is represented as returning to the earth, his advent heralded by a peculiar light in the sky, observed alone by some of his devoted followers. He makes his first appearance in a little mission church in a city called Raymond. He lives among the people as a man, much as he did when here two thousand years ago. He preaches when opportunity affords; teaches from house to house; associates with men in all walks of life, manifesting an interest in their temporal affairs; eating, drinking, dressing, working, becoming wearied, and finding rest in sleep, like any human being. He highly commends the churches for their endeavors; strongly favors church federation; takes a deep interest in social, municipal, State, and national reform propaganda; decries war; seeks to influence legislation in the bringing about of reforms; etc. He fully measures up to the standard of a modern religio-political preacher.
As a religious novel the production is as good as its kind. Its theological teachings compare favorably with the religious beliefs of many professed Christians of the present day. But with the teachings of the Scriptures of Truth it is sadly and widely at variance. This will appear evident by the citation of several Scriptural propositions regarding the second coming of Christ.
Dr. Sheldon does not state in so many words that the coming of Jesus as represented in his story is the “second” and final coming of Christ as pictured in the Word, but the reader is left to draw this conclusion.
The Bible represents Christ as visiting this earth three different times; namely, his first advent, two thousand years ago; his appearing in the clouds of heaven at the end of this age, to take his children to the New Jerusalem above, where they will reign with him for one thousand years; and his return to earth at the end of the millennial reign, to destroy sin, and complete the work of restoration in the purification of the earth and the final establishment of his kingdom. When he comes the second time, he does not stand upon the earth, but the saints are caught up to meet him in the air. He will not stand upon the earth, as he did when he once lived among men, until, at the close of his millennial reign, he comes to establish on the earth and among men his glorious and everlasting kingdom. Read Heb. 9:28; Revelation 20; Zech. 14:1-9.
When Christ is about to appear the second time, the world will be apprised of the proximity of that event by striking signs and unusual phenomena. These signs and phenomena will be so unmistakable in their character as to call the attention of the entire world to the significance of their portent:—
2. Conditions in the physical world will point to its speedy dissolution. Heb. 1:10-12.
3. In the social world there will be found the same conditions which existed in the days of Noah and in the days of Lot. Luke 17:26-30.
4. The industries of peace will be made to pay heavy tribute to the demands of war; and the great, closing drama of earth’s history, as far as the voluntary course of the nations of men is concerned, will be the great battle of Armageddon. Joel 3:9-16; Rev. 16:12-16.
5. Contemporary with these warlike preparations there will be fostered a strong movement in behalf of peace, which will also constitute a sign of coming destruction. Isa. 2:1-5; 1 Thess. 5:1-4.
6. The great Christian church, instead of discerning the times and the seasons, sounding an alarm of impending danger, and calling the people to a reformation of life, will fall a prey to delusive teaching and sinful practices, and thus be herself a sign that the closing days of the world have been reached. 2 Tim. 3:1-5.
And when Christ returns the second time, his coming will be in an altogether different manner from that indicated by Dr. Sheldon. Instead of appearing to a few of his followers in some remote corner of the earth, and from there the knowledge of his return spreading by newspaper report to all the world, his coming will be attended by such phenomena as will leave none in ignorance of its character and identity. The Scriptures clearly teach that,—
1. The return of Christ will be attended by the glory of the Father and the angelic host. Matt. 16:27.
2. He will return in the same open, visible manner as he went away. Acts 1:9-11. Every eye shall see him. Rev. 1:7.
3. His voice will shake the earth, and from their graves, in earth and sea, shall come forth his sleeping saints. John 5:28, 29; 1 Cor. 15:51-55.
4. The righteous who are alive on the earth when he appears will be changed from mortality to immortality, and with the resurrected saints will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. 1 Thess. 4:13-18.
5. The wicked living on the earth will be destroyed by the brightness of his coming. 2 Thess. 1:7-10.
When Christ returns, his waiting saints will meet him with glad acclaim. They will look up with joy in that day, and in the words of the prophet declare: “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” Isa. 25:9. Then, and not until then, can it be said, “Jesus is here.”
It is to be regretted that Dr. Sheldon should lend his influence to the teaching of such antiscriptural philosophy as is contained in his series of articles in the Christian Herald, and it is to be regretted that that great, and for the most part excellent, journal, with its widespread influence, should place before its readers teaching of this character. Dr. Sheldon may pass muster as a novelist. His teachings may measure up to the standard of modern theology, but they surely fall far short of the standard of true Biblical exegesis, and of correctly representing the plain, unequivocal teaching of the Word of God. “What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord.”
F. M. W.
The Crisis of Immigration
The crisis attending the rapid immigration to the United States is one which has confronted the church for many years, nor is the crisis yet past. In the minds of many the opening of the Panamá Canal will increase the annual influx, particularly to the Pacific Coast. Speaking of the situation which the completion of this great waterway will create, especially on the Pacific Coast, a writer in the Standard of Jan. 31, 1914, says:—
The greatest changes will be in the Pacific Coast States and those immediately contiguous to them. It is reported that twenty-six great steamship lines9have already arranged to establish lines direct to the Pacific Coast points from Europe, South America, and the eastern part of North America. Here these tides of “trade and travel” will meet the tides from the Orient and Australia and the “islands of the Pacific.” It has already been reported that rates from Europe will be little more to the Pacific Coast points than from Europe to New York. Already large numbers have booked for these points, to come as soon as the canal is opened. Advance agents have been here in great numbers to spy out the land and arrange for colonies from all parts of Europe. In a recent interview a representative of a great steamer line is said to have predicted that beginning with two hundred thousand from Europe the first year, the tide will rapidly increase until it rivals the tide now breaking on our Eastern shores. Not only so, but the tide of population coming from all the States east of the Rocky Mountains is increasing every year. Passenger officials of some of our railroads estimate that this year, 1914, the number of American citizens removing to the Pacific Coast States will number at least two hundred thousand. Large numbers also come from Canada, and this number increases rapidly. The unsettled conditions in Mexico have thrown many thousands of the best people in Mexico within our borders, and most of them will find permanent homes here.
This great tide of immigration throws upon the Christian church, upon this church and people, added burdens in the world’s evangelization. To those within our own borders, as well as to those afar off, must the message be carried.
Note and Comment
One Gospel for High and Low
A RECENT newspaper report tells of the manner in which President Wilson attended church during his recent vacation in Mississippi. One Sunday the President, without any previous announcement or arrangement, drove to a little country church where an aged minister, with an audience of about fifty persons, preached an old-fashioned gospel sermon. No allusion was made by the preacher to national affairs. The minister proceeded to give the simple gospel truth as if among the auditors was not the one who occupied the highest position in these United States. In this he certainly showed his good sense. Speaking of the incident, the Northwestern Christian Advocate remarks:—
Ministers so often err in supposing that men in the higher walks of life or those engaged in exceptional lines of intellectual pursuit should have the gospel presented to them from a slightly different angle than the body of their listeners. Such speakers fail signally in so discriminating, and the ones they are attempting to accommodate with their extra polish or added reason will be the first to inform them of the fact.
All men go to church for one and the same purpose, or should at least: they have become wearied with the wear of the week, their faith needs replenishing, and their spiritual vision sharpening. This is accomplished for the college professor, the governor, the President, in precisely the same fashion and by the use of the same gospel presentation as to the humblest listener.
There is only one place known to men here below where there is no high nor low, rich nor poor, learned nor ignorant, but all are equal, and equally dependent, and that is the house of God, in which they present themselves to hear him speak through his messenger. When this truth is apprehended and observed, we may look for a manifestation of power we have hitherto been strangers to, but long expected.
Josephus's Record of Jesus
FOR some time the testimony borne of Christ by Josephus in his “Antiquities of the Jews,” has been in dispute. Some eminent teachers, including Professor Harnack of Berlin, claimed that Josephus never wrote this statement credited to him. The Continent of Jan. 22, 1914, says regarding this matter:—
But the weight of authority on the question has been suddenly shifted by the appearance of an article in a German review, where Professor Harnack of Berlin, turning against his own former judgment, declares that the Jesus paragraph in the “Antiquities” is most probably (he is not quite willing to say certainly) a genuine part of the writings of Josephus himself, and so an authentic outside testimony to the truth of the Gospels. On early gospel history no other scholar in the world today has so great a name as Harnack, and with Harnack to back him, any Bible teacher without apology may bring in Josephus as a witness to the faith.
Crime Among French Children
A DISPATCH from Paris under date of Jan. 17, 1914, as published in the Washington Post of January 18, declares that the increase of crime among French children is beginning to startle the whole nation. It is declared that “hardly a day passes when we do not read about boys of thirteen or fourteen stabbing each other to death over a girl beauty of twelve.” The correspondent believes that some of the causes of this alarming condition may be recognized. He holds that the moving picture shows are in a good measure responsible, believing that the “glorification of crime and criminals cannot help but distort the minds of children.”
Many influences contribute to the moral degeneracy which is everywhere apparent. The influence of much of the literature read at the present time is most pernicious. This, with the low theaters, the moving picture shows, evil associations, the cigarette habit, and a hundred other evils, is doing much to undermine and destroy the moral character and integrity of the present generation.
Prohibition Among Railroad Employees
RECENTLY the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad issued an order stating that drinking among its employees should cease at once, and that any man detected drinking on duty or off duty should be deprived of his position without further warning. Since this order was issued, one hundred and twenty-six employees have been dismissed for drinking, and it is understood that several hundred others will soon go for the same reason. Among those discharged were engineers, conductors, firemen, brakemen, flagmen. The action of this railroad is certainly to be commended; and every traveler over this line, knowing the stand taken by the company, will feel safer in committing himself to the care of the employees of this system.
The Choice of Proper Amusements
THE editor of the Sabbath Recorder of Jan. 26, 1914, presents the following principles which should govern in the choice of amusements. They are well worthy of consideration:—
“There are a few things on the general question of amusements which should be kept well in mind: 1. Those amusements are best which have a positive elevating influence. If they offer advantages beyond the mere matter of supplying pleasant pastime, so much the better. All amusements should be compatible with high character, and should tend to promote such a character. 2. The true idea of recreation in amusements calls for that which restores the waste and makes the body healthier and the mind clearer. Every one should seek amusement for these purposes, and to neglect such recreation is often disastrous. But whatever play or pleasure tends to inflame the evil passions of our nature is a sinful amusement. 3. No amusement is right which unfits us in a positive way for the duties of life. 4. While we have a doubt of mind or a qualm of conscience in regard to the right or wrong of any amusement, we cannot afford to engage in it. Give God the benefit of the doubt. 5. Any amusement for the Christian in which thoughts of God and of the higher life seem out of place and troublesome, and in which we seem to be gradually won away from the Bible, from prayer and churchgoing, cannot be right. 6. If entering into any amusement becomes a matter of stumbling to others, and if one’s “liberty,” however innocent it may seem to him, causes another to go astray, then as a Christian he is bound to give it up. 7. Any amusement is wrong into which we cannot carry a clean conscience and our Master’s smile.
Duty, the Pearl of Life
By E. P. Powell
THE pearl that is found within the shell of life is duty—what we have done with our honest heart for the help of our fellows and ourselves.—E. P. Powell.
The Asiatic Field
By R. C. PORTER
R. C. PORTER
After a brief period of rest following the General Conference, Mrs. Porter and I proceeded to the Pacific Coast, where we attended two camp meetings and visited some of our institutions before sailing for China.
We greatly enjoyed our visit on the coast. The meetings were seasons of refreshing which greatly cheered our hearts as we left for our new field of labor. As we passed out of the Golden Gate and our native shores faded from view, we felt assured that we should be upheld by the earnest prayers and financial support of our faithful brethren and sisters at home.
In our company on the “Shinyu Maru” were Elder J. P. and Mrs. Anderson, returning from their furlough, and six other families for the China field. These are most earnestly and faithfully devoting themselves to the study of the language in preparation for their work. All are making most satisfactory progress. It was planned that on their arrival they would enter the language school at Nanking, but the rebellion was on, and Nanking had been looted and partially burned, and was, at the time, under martial law, with thirty-five thousand soldiers under very little discipline in charge of the city. After a careful investigation by a special committee of four, who made a visit to Nanking, it was decided to conduct a language school at Shanghai.
China is passing through a critical period in her attempt to establish a republican form of government. In a country where people have not been accustomed to self-government, it is quite an undertaking to place a great empire under a republican form of government. In the main, the recent rebellion has been overcome. In places there are still rumblings of discontent, but in all probability the rebellion is over, for the present at least. Other conditions are still bad. Many soldiers having been disbanded have returned home with their uniforms and guns, and in some parts of the interior these form themselves into bands of robbers, and in uniform, approach places as government soldiers, then, like bandits, loot and rob the unprotected people.
An intelligent Chinese brother came to us in Singapore, asking us to join him in prayer for his wife and children and some relatives who had been plundered in southern China by one of these bands of robbers, two of whom had been taken captive and carried away. Two thousand dollars was demanded for their redemption. He said they had offered the robbers eight hundred dollars, but they would not consider it. I tried to console him with the suggestion that when they found they could get no more, they would return them. He very gravely replied, “No, they will take them away and sell them into slavery.” He said that not long since a neighbor of his was robbed, and three of the children were taken captive. The bandits promised to restore them for a certain sum. When the friends said they were unable to pay the amount, they brought one of the children out and killed it in their presence. They then demanded the money, with the threat that if it was not forthcoming they would do the same with the other two children. The redemption money could not be paid, and the other two were likewise brought out and killed.
In central and northern China similar conditions prevail. In one instance even foreign missionaries were taken captive and a price stipulated for their redemption, but they were later recovered by government soldiers. A letter from Elder Westrup, from the province of Honan, says the robbers are coming near the place where our mission headquarters are located. They request prayers for divine protection. The government is endeavoring to establish more settled conditions, but there is so vast a territory where such disorders prevail that it is a slow process.
The following from the Straits Times of December 19 is a sample of the piracies that frequently take place on river steamers to various interior points:—
“The waters of Macao, which have for a long time been infested by Chinese pirates of a most desperate order, have been the scene of yet another piracy. Following the recent attack on the Portuguese steamer ‘Americain,’ when loot to the value of $60,000 was stolen by pirates, says the Hongkong Daily Press of the eleventh instant, comes the news that the steamer ‘Kwan Chau Wan,’ belonging to the Shung Hing Steamship Company, whose offices are in Connaught Road, which was flying the Portuguese flag, was attacked by armed robbers on Tuesday night, the master of the vessel, Capt. J. F. X. Jesus, being shot dead in his cabin.”
The pilot, the Chinese comprador, and the quartermaster were also shot, but they may recover. The vessel and passengers were then looted of everything worth looting that could conveniently be carried away. The bandits escaped.
On the river boat plying between Hongkong and Waijou, on which we took passage both going and coming in visiting Waijou, a company of armed soldiers was on board, as a protection against piracy and robbery. While Elders Cottrell and Lee, and I were en route up the river from Hankow to Changsha, a boatload of soldiers fired across the bow of our vessel because the captain did not stop at their signal.
With fires leaving thousands homeless in their crowded cities, and famine and robbery desolating the country, these poor people in their ignorance and superstition prostrate themselves before gods that are deaf to their pleas and helpless in their defense, with a devotion that puts Christians to shame. Many of these downtrodden and misguided people are seeking the light we have to give, and when it is brought to them they welcome it, with throbbing hearts and tearful eyes, as the hope of freedom from distress and darkness.
I have spent nearly ten weeks visiting the various mission stations in central and south China. I find the work well organized, and there is on foot a very successful aggressive movement to plant the standard of the cross in every province in this great field. It is the policy to establish a central station under the supervision of two foreign families in every province, and then with the help of native assistants spread out from that center and establish outstations throughout the field, the whole being under the superintendence of foreign laborers.
As I have looked over the field where our pioneer laborers were obliged to live before the liberality of our faithful brethren and sisters in the home field provided the means to erect comfortable homes, I have thought it was only God’s special protection over them that saved them from fatalities. The sewerage in the cities consists of an open ditch, or a trench, that runs along under the pavement in front of the houses. It is often choked, as the ground is in many places almost a dead level, and there is no water system with which to flush it. The odors arising from these sewers are quite like those from a cesspool. This is constantly contaminating the air that city inhabitants must breathe. There are many city houses where hogs live in the same room with the family. These hogs are kept there with nothing save a fourteen-inch plank set up edgewise to serve as a partition to separate them from the family. I saw in one home in central China nine hogs weighing two hundred and fifty pounds each, and a number of good-sized shoats, kept in the same room with the family. In another home in south China I counted thirty large hogs and sixty-six shoats, which were considered a part of the family; and in still another home, thirteen under similar conditions. Cattle are stalled in the house in some places. I have counted six head of buffalo cows and one calf kept in the home with the family. I was informed that larger herds are accommodated11in the same way. In this instance the cows were in the family sleeping room, the beds being elevated on a platform above the cows’ stalls. I call this intensive stock raising.
I mention this that our brethren in the homeland who have contributed so generously to aid in erecting homes for our workers here may know how much they were needed, and how much they are appreciated by the missionaries who had to face death constantly in the quarters where they were forced to live before the homes were provided. We shall need a few more homes to accommodate others who have recently entered the field, but I am sure that the loyal supporters of our missionaries will say that they must have them.
In my next report I shall give items of the progress of our work. We most gratefully acknowledge God’s care for his work and workers here. During the revolutions, the perils of robbers, and other calamities that have befallen this field, no loss of life or property has marred the advance of our work.
Shanghai.
Lucknow, India
By Walter S. Mead
WALTER S. MEAD
Sometimes we read of the interesting experiences of a worker among the Mohammedan women of India. I have thought that the readers of the Review might enjoy hearing just a few items more concerning that work.
The worker concerning whom I wish to write is Miss Vera Chilton, who came to India from England several years ago. Miss Chilton learned and accepted the Adventist faith at the sanitarium at Mussoorie, and for some time past has done earnest work among the shut-in Mohammedan women of the city of Lucknow. The accompanying picture was taken just as she was returning in her jinrikisha from the daily round of teaching, comforting, advising, exhorting.
The work among the zenanas, or homes of the women, has encouragement in it, although the number of women who make a bold stand for Jesus as their Saviour is very small. But, as a recent article told you, one young woman's people said to Miss Chilton (regretfully, of course) that the young woman was thoroughly baptized in heart into Christianity even if she was not baptized publicly. And then they arranged to send the young woman away, out of the further reach of our worker. It is then that we can only cry to God to care for the little ones of his flock.
Perhaps the worker among Mohammedan women sees and realizes more of the awfulness of the grip of Islam on its followers than does any other worker. Miss Chilton often says that the call of the muezzin from the mosque just across the corner, five times each day calling the faithful to prayers, seems to her a veritable challenge to all Christendom.
Photo by Walter Mead
MISS VERA CHILTON
An interesting fact in connection with this particular mosque is that it stands surrounded, except its entrance from the street, by the grounds of the Isabella Thoburn Christian College. A mosque may be ever so neglected or in any state of disrepair or ruin, but it may never be sold; and so no sum of money can buy it. Consequently, if the land one wishes to buy and use happens to contain a mosque, he must plan to build around it, leaving an entrance from the street to the mosque. About twenty persons were killed in a riot the other day, following an endeavor by the government to remove, for the purpose of widening a city street, one corner of a small building attached to a mosque. The Mohammedan leaders had at first consented to it, but the people decided that every brick was sacred—and so immovable. How much they need to know that God's service is a matter of the heart rather than of bricks.
Simla, India.
A Visit to Emmanuel Mission, South Africa
By W. B. WHITE
W. B. WHITE
AFTER leaving Kolo, where we enjoyed a very pleasant visit, Elder Hyatt and I continued our journey to north Basutoland. [Basutoland is an elevated province in latitude 30° S., one hundred miles inland from the sea, and about seven hundred and fifty miles northeast of Cape Town.] We reached Generaal's Nek November 2, and here met Brother Olmstead, superintendent of the station, and he took me to the mission, twelve miles distant. North Basutoland is a very pretty country, one of the finest I have ever seen, and as quite a quantity of rain had been falling, everything was green, and the soil was in good condition for the crops. At this station we have twenty-five acres of land, more or less, the most of which Brother Olmstead has planted with fruit and vines. These look very healthy and promise good returns a little later. Some of his trees are now beginning to bloom. Fruit does well in this part of the country, as do vines and vegetables. This mission is now a government-registered nursery, which will give its cuttings a standing among the fruit growers of this section.
The buildings are of sandstone, well built, and consist of a house for the superintendent, another nearly finished for the assistant, one for the native teacher, a dormitory for students,—which is being constructed,—a new schoolhouse, besides several native huts and other outbuildings. The mission stands in the midst of a large native population, and should be, till the work is finished, a bright light in north Basutoland. The school, which is taught by Brother Olmstead and Murray Kalaka, is not large as yet, but when the dormitory is completed and the school becomes better known, it is hoped that the attendance will increase. A few promising young men are in the school now.
The day after our arrival we had a meeting in the schoolhouse for the natives, which was appointed for eleven o'clock. Not having many clocks or watches, they had little idea of when to come to service, so two hours before the time they began to gather on the near-by hills in little groups, dressed in their bright-colored blankets, waiting for the bell to ring which announced the meeting. As soon as this was heard, they flocked into the building, filling the seats, and covering the floor as well. Several chiefs were present with their wives, and all gave the best of attention to the word spoken. Elder Hyatt and I addressed them on the plan of salvation through Christ. After the service we had a few words with the chiefs and some of the people, and all seemed friendly and welcomed us heartily to their land. Here we met Brother James Mtimkula, our native minister in the Orange Free State, who had come to spend a day or so with us. He reported progress in the work in his field, and said that a goodly number of the natives are believing the truth. Here we also met Brother and Sister J. N. de Beer, who have been assisting Brother Olmstead on the mission. Brother de Beer will for a time take up the canvassing work in the Free State and endeavor to build up that branch of the work there.
Brother Olmstead, though having his hands full with his building operations, has been endeavoring to do some evangelistic work in the neighboring villages, and is encouraged by seeing some fruit of his labor. He felt very much encouraged by our visit to Emmanuel, and we can see no reason why this station may not be a strong witness to God's truth in north Basutoland. Before leaving the country, we called on Jonathan, one of the leading chiefs of the Basuto, and had a very pleasant chat. He seemed glad to see us, and urged us to call again when we return to his land. He lives only a few miles from the mission.12
We are sure that our brethren who are conducting these stations will find their power for good wonderfully increasing as they acquire the native tongue. This can be done by hard study, and we are sure that the results that will follow will well reward the effort. We hope that God will bless our missions in Basutoland, and give those who are spending their lives in the work much fruit that they can rejoice over in the kingdom.
