The fear of the Lord has no torment in it. It does not mean terror or torment. It means rest and peace. This is made very clear in Ps. 130: 1-4: “Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who should stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.”
If God should mark iniquities, if he should refuse to write pardon, should administer severe and stern justice,—and then, indeed, we should be in terror before him. Not one man would be able to stand, for all have sinned. “But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.” That is, the Holy Spirit comforts us with the thought that we fear the Lord because he forgives our sins.
Now what is the condition of the heart of him whose sin is forgiven? Is he in terror and sorrow? O who that has sinned, and in darkness and discouragement, in anguish and terror, has come to God, and with tears asked for forgiveness, can forget the joy and the peace that flooded the soul when the word “forgiven” was spoken to the sinful soul by the Holy Spirit? Is it fright, is it terror, that came to you, with the knowledge of sin forgiven?—No, the very opposite—joy, unspeakable and full of glory, reverence, adoration.
This is the fear of God that is the beginning of wisdom, the beginning of hope, the beginning of the life everlasting. We fear him because he forgives us, and he who thus fears God will have no fear except that he should in some way grieve the blessed, kind heart of him who so generously pardons our transgressions. O the goodness, the kindness, the tenderness of our Father, who forgives us! Let us thus fear him forevermore.
Nashville, Tenn.
Simply Serving
By Worthie Harris Holden
WORTHIE HARRIS HOLDEN
One by one they pass and fail me—
All the hopes of years gone by;
All the dreams and high ambitions,
While I seek them, lingering nigh,
Just elude me in their passing,
Mounting upward to the sky.
All my plans for great endeavor,
Fleeing now so far away,
Leave me vainly, sadly longing
For a gladder, brighter day,
While I scorn the little duties
That bestrew my own pathway.
Now there comes before my vision
One who faithful is and true,
Points the flowers beside my pathway
Which his loving care doth strew,
And he bids me pluck them daily,
Gathering them as he would do.
These are trophies for his heaven,
These a garland for his shrine,
Though so humble, unassuming,
He will, blessing, call them “Mine,”
And the task of simply serving
Makes the lowliest work divine.
Let me, Lord, behold the beauty
In a humble life with thee;
Let me love alone thy praises,
Serving thee with constancy;
Then my daily tasks will mirror
Only joyous hope in thee.
Portland, Ore.
Teaching Children the Truth
By Luella B. Priddy
Child-Saving—No. 2
Teaching Children the Truth
MRS. LUELLA B. PRIDDY
It is a blessed privilege to teach the truth “as it is in Jesus,” to the lambs of the flock. The very effort to place the crib low so that they may reach it, feeds our own souls.
After all is said that can be said of the importance of the church-school work and the Sabbath-school work, we must still admit that they can never take the place of the parents’ work. If there is failure in that, it may counteract all the good effects of these other efforts to save their souls. The special truths for this time should be taught to them most thoroughly. The psalmist said, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” Ps. 119: 11. The word can not be hid in the heart until it is first in the mind. “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.” Ps. 119: 9.
The Holy Spirit works in harmony with the Word. Then how important it is that the mind of each child shall be a treasure-house of the Scriptures. It is not only a light to guide the way, but there is keeping power in it.
“Conversion is the work of a lifetime,” and it takes time to learn the science of salvation. The child can be trained to think, speak, and live in harmony with God’s word more easily than older persons can. “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.” Eccl. 12: 1.
Many parents excuse themselves from teaching their children the Word of God, by saying, “I do not have the gift of teaching. The church-school teacher or the Sabbath-school teacher can do it better than I can.” They may do it ever so well, but the work of fathers and mothers is needed also. God has placed the responsibility upon parents, therefore he will give wisdom for the work. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” James 1: 5.
When we have asked God for wisdom, and we have diligently studied his Word, it is our privilege to believe that we shall have divine help in doing that which it is our duty to do.
Mothers sometimes ask the question, “When shall I begin to teach my children about God? Are they old enough?” To this question we can always answer, Begin now. It is difficult to determine how early children may receive religious impressions, but they can learn the truth as readily as they can learn other things; and they learn the soonest the things they hear the most about.
A little girl under two years old lost her mother, and was adopted into another family. At that time she could speak only a few words, but afterward when she had learned to talk better, she used expressions that had been used by her parents, but were never used in the family into which she had been adopted. This showed that lasting impressions had been made on her mind long before she was able to express her ideas in words.
The mother instinctively talks to her baby at the very beginning of its life about father and mother and the little brothers and sisters. In this way she teaches it to love the members of the family. In the same simple way she can teach the child that God loves the baby, and that father and mother love God, so that the first lispings of the baby lips may be of our loving Heavenly Father.
A young child can not understand long sentences, nor comprehend many ideas at a time. The truth can be taught in the most natural way. When the little hands reach out to grasp the pretty flower, or the bright eyes gaze upon the beautiful moon, how easy it is to tell him that God made these things to make baby happy, and that God loves the baby. The little heart will be filled with joy as he learns these things.
Sing to him over and over the good old hymns until he learns them so well that he can never forget them.
It is said of the infidel Voltaire that he was a very bright child. When only three years old, an abbé noticed his quickness to learn, and began teaching him infidel poetry. Naturally his thoughts drifted into the channel prepared for them, and he became the noted scoffer that he was.
It is always better to let the good seed get the start of the weeds in the spring. We can not begin the work of teaching the truth too soon, nor keep it up too long, provided it is done in the right way. There is a way of driving religion at children in a scolding manner that hardens them. But they will not tire of the dear old Bible stories. As you go about your daily tasks, talk with them about the beautiful new earth that we soon shall see, with its never-fading flowers, its sweet music, the gentle animals that a little child can lead, the angels in their glory, and, above all, the lovely Jesus. Such conversation will cause them to long to be there, and to see him.
There is a way to rear children so that the secret spring that controls their lives will be the ‘love of the truth.’ The truth can be made so attractive to them that they will choose ‘rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.’
Markham, Ontario.
The Boy Who Will Be in Demand
ONE of the finest qualities in a workman is a disposition to do things that need to be done without being told. Young men working their way through college are invaluable if they have this quality. A tool is left out on the lawn; there is a rail off the fence; there is a window-pane gone somewhere. The boy who tends to these things because they need attending to, without specific directions, is the boy who, other things being equal, is going to be in demand when he gets out into the great world. It is the attention to little things, and the habit of observation, which sees what needs to be done, and then does it, which makes exceedingly useful men and women. There will always be a call to come up higher. It is in one sense a small thing to do these little things without orders, but it is the doing of them that makes great captains, great engineers, great artists, great architects, great workers in any department, and it is the absence of this quality that makes commonplace men and women, who will always have to live under the dominion of petty orders, men and women who do nothing unless they are told to do it. It is this quality which makes volunteers in church work, and the invaluable men13and women who do not have to be stood over. They are the joy of the pastor's heart; they are the persons who do not have to be watched.—Selected.
The Nine Outside
By Gipsy Smith
I was conducting a mission in the city of Manchester, where I had lived for fourteen years, and where I still hold my church connection; and, by the way, I belong to a church that has never known a Sunday in twenty-one years without a conversion. I had just finished with a great midnight meeting, when a little, frail woman, who had been brought up in a lovely home in the west of England, and who had just become a sister, giving her life to the work of soul-saving, came up to me, and said, “I’ll try to hold a midnight meeting to-night of my own.” She engaged a little chapel or small church building just on the suburbs of Manchester, and gathered the people to her, and they filled that little place.
Among them was a prize-fighter. He came, he said, to take care of the little woman, for he did not know what those drunken fellows would do to her. He watched her as she moved around, and said, “I did not know what would happen.” In the middle of the meeting he said, “Don’t be afraid; I’m here.” But she did not need his help. Those drunkards in that midnight service were quieted as she told the story of Jesus and his love, and when she invited them to kneel to seek Jesus, the place was crowded. Among them was a woman, a drunkard, who came forward. When she got on her knees, she was sober enough to say to the sister, “Sister, my husband is in jail, and he is there through me. I helped to make him drunk.” And then she said, “We got to fighting, and he is in jail because he thrashed me. He is coming out on Tuesday, and I wish you would meet him, and O, if we could only get hold of him and make him sober! I have given my heart to God, and I would like him to do the same.” (One of the surest evidences of the new birth is a desire for some one else to come to Jesus.) Sister Marion said, “I’ll go and see him.” The woman told her that nine of his companions said they were going to meet him and make him drunk before they got home.
Sister Marion was at the prison gates at six o’clock on Tuesday morning. She happened to know the governor, and so got through the little gate. She found the nine men outside, and as she went through the little door within the big door, the governor said, “Whom are you wanting to see?” She said, “I have come to meet So-and-so.” “Well,” he said, “there are nine men out there waiting for him.” She said, “Yes, I know it; but those who are with me are more than all that can be against me.” He said, “You are only one, visibly, and I am just wondering what you are going to do with those nine men.” He advised her to go away for a while, and he would do what he could with the men.
She went away, and came again to the gates. Those nine men said, “Let’s hand out the beer, sister. We have given up a day’s work to come and get him.” She said, “Well, that was very kind of you, but you declare he shall go home drunk, and I declare he shall go home sober.” They stared at her. The thought came to Sister Marion, “Why not try to save these nine as well as the one inside?” and so she said, “Men, if I go and get him out, will you come, all of you, and have breakfast with me?”
They looked at one another. Breakfast on a cold morning for nine fellows who had been sleeping as they had, meant a great deal. They said they would come. She got the man out of jail, and away they marched, and when they had their breakfast, she said, “Now, men, come; may I read to you?” They could not say no. So she opened to that wonderful story, the prodigal son, and she read to them; and they listened with bowed heads. Then she asked if they might not sing, and they said, “Well, Miss, we are not much at singing.” She said she would sing if they would join her. And she sang:—
“When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.”
At the end of the song every man was on his knees, and every man signed the pledge before she left them. Every man, in less than three weeks, was brought to Jesus Christ by the act of that one frail little woman.
That’s the way to fish, and that’s the way to catch. That’s angling.—Gipsy Smith.
Precocious Children
As a rule mothers are pleased when their children show unusual brightness; such children attract the admiration of friends and relatives, and minister to the mothers’ vanity. It is conceded by physicians that precocity in children is to be regretted rather than encouraged.
During the first seven years of a child’s life the brain is imperfect in form and substance, and any strain put upon it then is at the expense of future development and health. The brain of a precocious child naturally tends to excessive activity, and, instead of encouraging it, such a child should be kept from school and books, from talk above its years, and developed quietly and slowly along the simplest lines, devoting much time to childish outdoor sports. The aim should be to build up a strong material organization, and give the brain a chance to develop normally, so that it will be prepared for the solid work of life. This can be done only by keeping the brain in as quiescent a state as possible, thus preventing an oversupply of blood to the brain. The tendency of the precocious child is to fall below the average in adult life; few such children rise above it.—The Circle.
Life a Business
LIFE is a business we are all apt to mismanage, either living recklessly from day to day or suffering ourselves to be gulled out of our moments by the inanities of custom. We should despise a man who gave as little activity and forethought to the conduct of any other business.— R. L. Stevenson.
Making Love a Practise
BECAUSE we love our dear ones is not a good reason for wounding them freely. Yet we actually seem to make it so in much of our daily life. Some one has said, keenly, “Any one can be courteous to a stranger.” It is easy to be careful for the feelings of those about whom we care little. Should we not do as much for those who are dearest to us? There is no greater cruelty than to count upon our love’s “tiding over” harsh criticism, and all the unloving, stinging darts that most of us reserve for home use. There is no better way of loving and proving our love than by using at home all the courtesies, attentions, cheeriness, sunshine, and “better side” of our natures that most of us reserve for company use. For love that takes these things for granted is either counterfeit or perilously near death.—Selected.
The Contented Herdboy
IN a flowery dell a herdboy kept his sheep, and because his heart was joyous, he sang so loudly that the surrounding hills echoed back his song. One morning, the king, who was out on a hunting expedition, spoke to him, and said: “Why are you so happy, dear little one?”
“Why shall I not be?” he answered; “our king is not richer than I.”
“Indeed!” said the king, “tell me of your great possessions.”
The lad answered: “The sun in the bright blue sky shines as brightly upon me as upon the king; the flowers on the mountain and the grass in the valley grow and bloom to gladden my sight as well as his. I would not take a hundred thousand talers for my hands; my eyes are of more value than all the precious stones in the world; I have food and clothing, too. Am I not, therefore, as rich as the king?”
“You are right,” said the king, with a laugh, “but your greatest treasure is a contented heart; keep it so, and you will always be happy.”—Sabbath-School Gem.
Plain Living and High Thinking
By Frances E. Willard
“I HAVE formed a settled conviction that the world is fed too much. Pastries, cakes, hot bread, rich grains, pickles, pepper-sauce, salads, tea, and coffee, are discarded from ‘my bill of fare,’ and I firmly believe that they will be from the recipes of the twentieth century. This is my recipe: ‘Plain living and high thinking,’ and this is my warning: ‘With high living you will get exceedingly plain thinking.’”—Frances E. Willard.
Advanced Movements of the Message in South Africa
By George A. Irwin
G. A. IRWIN
IN the minds of the brethren the time has fully come when an advanced school must be established at the Solusi Mission, to give not only the older and more advanced boys of that station a more thorough Bible training, but to take boys from the other stations who have come to the point where they are in need of similar help. It is the plan for some experienced missionary to take these boys when fitted and open up a number of different stations by placing two or more together in one place, and keeping their work under his personal supervision by occasional visits. It is only with the assurance that their work will be thus supervised by a white man that the chiefs will give permission for these boys to labor among their people.
There are fifteen boys at the Solusi Mission ready to enter such a school, eight at Somobula, and eight at Plainfield. These boys have come to a place in their training, where, unless some such provision is made to give them special help and direction in their work, they will scatter, and be lost to the cause. After spending a time in the field, it is the plan to have these boys return to the school, to receive additional training and encouragement. The brethren feel that unless some such plan is adopted, all their labor and sacrifice of years will be lost. Such a plan will necessitate additional help at the Solusi station.
Funds are being collected through the Sabbath-schools in this field to start a mission among the Zulus. It was also recommended at the conference that Brother and Sister Rogers open a new mission at Shiloh, in Nyassaland. Shiloh is sixty-five miles beyond Plainfield Mission. The place consists of fifty acres of good land, upon which there stand three substantial buildings; namely, dwelling-house, church, and store. A request has been sent to the General Conference to take steps at once to secure this property for mission purposes. Expecting to visit most of these missions before my return to the States, I will write no more on this subject for the present.
The report of the Natal-Transvaal Conference showed good progress, considering the number of believers, and the few persons employed as workers. Elder Edmed, the president of the conference, is the only ordained minister in the field, and has not only the care of all the churches and business affairs, but must take the lead and carry the burden of all aggressive efforts, either in tent or in hall, having only lady Bible workers to assist him. The conference is composed of five churches, with a total membership of one hundred and thirty-two. Their tithe the past year amounted to £770; first-day offerings to £34 13s. 6d., and Sabbath-school offerings to £62 13s. 4d. Elder Edmed made an earnest appeal to the union conference for a minister to assist him in the work in Natal.
The Cape Conference embraces the Cape and Orange River Colonies. It has in its employ four ministers, two licentiates, and four Bible workers. During the past year one church and thirty-four members have been added. £1,970 14s. 1d. was received in tithe, being a gain of £56 2s. 10d. over the preceding year. The annual offerings amounted to £102 1s. 8d., being nearly three times as much as during the previous year. The Sabbath-school offerings came to £139 5s., an increase of £31 8s. 3d.
Brother Willson, the manager of the Kimberley Baths, reported a net gain for the past year of £104 12s. 7d. This enterprise is in good financial standing, having a present worth of £3,502. The institution comprises two good buildings, and the lots upon which they stand. The lots are in the central part of the city, and front upon three different streets. All seem to think that this would be a good point for one of our physicians to open up work for that part of the field.
The report of the Plumstead Sanitarium showed a net gain of £126 13s. The work of this institution is being carried on in the buildings formerly operated as an orphanage. The property originally consisted of four acres of land, and one moderate-sized building, in which Dr. Thomason began his work on his arrival in Africa. At the beginning of last year, an addition was made to the building, the lower part of which was fitted up for a ladies' bath-room, the upper story being utilized for patients' rooms. The present rooming capacity of the building is eighteen. This is wholly inadequate to accommodate the people who are applying for admission. Several persons are at present being furnished with rooms near by, and given treatment at the sanitarium. There is some talk of extending the new addition out to the front of the original building, which would give the whole a much better appearance, and at the same time give them several additional rooms. Dr. Thomason and his sister have labored hard to build up this branch of the work, and the Lord is blessing their efforts.
The Claremont Union College has passed through some peculiar experiences in the last few years, but through the faithful and persevering efforts of Brother Hayton and wife, and the young lady teachers associated with them, the school still continues, and its value is being seen and felt in the churches in the persons of church-school teachers, fitted and trained by the work of the college. If a proper interest were taken in this institution by ministers and workers generally, and by parents and guardians who have children of proper age to send to such a school, it would not be long until it would become what the Lord designed—a potent factor for good in South Africa.
Notwithstanding the small number of students in the Home the past year, the balance-sheet showed a net gain of forty-nine pounds. During the conference there was some consideration given to the question of selling the present plant, and paying all claims outstanding against the property, using the surplus to purchase a farm at some favorable place, remote from the city, and erecting the necessary buildings to accommodate a school, proportionate to the present constituency. A price for the property was agreed upon, which, if obtained, would be considered sufficient evidence that the time had come for them to make the move.
Among the resolutions passed during the session of the union conference was one to remove the headquarters of the union conference from Cape Town to Kimberley. Kimberley is six hundred and fifty miles north of Cape Town, on the main line of railway to Buluwayo, and to points still beyond where we have missions. It is at present one of the most important railway centers in South Africa. The work of the conference is spreading northward, and for the present, at least, Kimberley is the most central point, all interests being taken into account.
Elder W. S. Hyatt was re-elected president of the union conference, and Elder I. J. Hankins vice-president. J. V. Willson was chosen as secretary and treasurer. The following persons constitute the executive committee: W. S. Hyatt, C. H. Hayton, F. B. Armitage, M. C. Sturdevant, H. J. Edmed, S. C. Austin, R. C. Honey, and J. C. Baumann.
The spiritual interest during the camp-meeting proper was good. There were a number present who had never attended such a meeting before, and others, because of their location, had not attended camp-meeting for a number of years. These two classes seemed especially to enjoy the Bible studies and preaching services. Elder Hyatt gave several illustrated lectures on the prophecies and the life of Christ, which drew a large attendance from without. Altogether, there was the best attendance of those not of our faith that they have ever had at one of their camp-meetings. Elder Hankins had charge of the reporting, and succeeded in getting quite full reports in the daily papers. The brethren feel greatly encouraged over the interest taken in the meetings, and arrangements have been made to follow up the interest in the Claremont city hall. On the last Sabbath, the Spirit of the Lord was present in a marked manner. Several gave themselves to the Lord for the first time, and others, who had been backslidden in heart and practise, renewed15their vows and covenants with the Lord. Confessions were made, and there was a general clearing of the King's highway. Peter Wessels, mentioned in the report last week as the first Sabbath-keeper in Africa, who of late years had become discouraged, was present, with his wife and daughter, and all three seemed to experience a new conversion. Some things in reference to the spirit of prophecy and Sister White's work, which had troubled him, were made clear to his mind, and as he saw from the map of the world how the message is going rapidly to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, his heart was made to rejoice, and his testimony was given with the old-time ring. His one great burden now is to get rid of business entanglements, and devote the rest of his days to the work of the Lord.
In the afternoon of the last day of the meeting, twenty persons were baptized in the Claremont church. It is the opinion of all that this conference and camp-meeting will mark the beginning of a new era in the work in South Africa. Among the closing actions of this meeting was the unanimous passage, by a rising vote, of a resolution expressing confidence in the spirit of prophecy and the work of Sister White, and assuring the officers of the General Conference of the sympathy and hearty support of the South African Union Conference in their efforts to preserve intact the waymarks that have made us what we are as a people, and to send these truths and principles to earth's remotest bounds in this generation.
I am to leave Cape Town February 3, to visit some of the principal cities and missions within the bounds of the South African Union Conference; this trip will occupy the months of February, March, and April.
The Prussian and East German Conferences
By L. R. Conradi
L. R. CONRADI
EN ROUTE from Erfurt, in the West German field, to Elbing, where we were to have the Prussian Conference, I spent January 14-16 in Friedensau, where I found the brethren busy closing up their annual accounts. There were a number of important matters to be considered. I was glad to find eleven young people who were finishing their course of study in the school, ready to go into the field in January. The places made vacant by their departure, will be more than filled by the new students who will be immediately admitted. The fields in the German union are anxiously waiting for all the workers we turn out, be they nurses or Bible workers. I found the brethren closing in the building of the Old People’s Home.
In Berlin I met Brother Guy Dail, and we went on to Elbing, a city of about fifty-three thousand inhabitants. The Prussian Conference here was held January 16-20. This conference contains the two provinces of Eastern and Western Prussia, with a population of about three million seven hundred thousand— mostly Protestants. One hundred and sixty-nine were added during the year, bringing their membership up to seven hundred and thirty-eight. A number of companies were received, and among them was a good strong Polish church of more than twenty members. There was a fair representation of our people in various parts of the field. Elders Erzberger and Schilling assisted in the meeting. Sabbath was especially a good day. Brother F. Prieser, a promising young man who had done good work, and Brother G. Domnik, our Polish laborer, were both ordained to the gospel ministry, and the Lord witnessed by his presence.
Although the people in this field earn smaller wages than in almost any other part of Germany, yet we are glad to say that their tithe increased, and this conference, also, was able to give five thousand marks toward the Old People’s Home. They also gave liberally toward the material fund and the work in East Africa. Four were baptized at this meeting. Elder G. Obländer was again unanimously elected president of the conference. As we have over one hundred Polish brethren in this field, it was decided that we now get out the Sabbath-school lessons in that language, using the German types. This work will be done at Friedensau. This is the first step toward the publication of another regular journal.
STETTIN, GERMANY
State College chapel at the left, in which two of our meetings were held.
During the meeting it was bitterly cold, as a cold wave had struck the Continent, such as has not visited us for the past twenty years, reaching down to Constantinople and Italy; but in spite of this we had most excellent meetings; and especially was the parting sermon Sunday night blessed of God, and many seemed deeply impressed by the Holy Spirit with regard to the importance of the truth God has given us for this time.
An experience of one of our sisters on her return home by train will illustrate the effect of the conference: She found a lady in the apartment who was speaking to others about the good meetings she had been attending in Elbing, where she “had heard things she had never heard before.” In the conversation that followed, our sister found that this lady had been visiting in the city, and happened into one of our meetings, and had been so favorably impressed that she was telling the good news to others—thus actually doing missionary work. There is indeed a power with this truth that is greater than we realize.
From Elbing we went to Stettin, a city containing about two hundred and twenty-five thousand inhabitants, and noted especially for its ship-building industry. The East German Conference had its regular session here, January 23-27. They had secured a fine hall in the city, capable of holding about five hundred hearers. We were pleased to find more than two hundred of our own people present.
The East German Conference has the largest membership of any conference in the German union. Last year was one of great growth, as the report shows three hundred and fifty-nine additions, and a membership of fourteen hundred and thirteen, and a tithe of about sixteen thousand five hundred dollars. In Stettin itself we now have a church of eighty-two members.
At this meeting we had the help of Elders Erzberger, Obländer, and Schilling, and Dr. Planer, one of our brethren from Dresden, who delivered several interesting talks on health. Although our meetings were held at election time, and the agitation among the people ran high, and although the emperor’s birthday occurred at the time, with its festivities, still we were pleased to see good audiences. On two evenings it was impossible for us to keep our regularly engaged hall, so we had to arrange for another place, and the Lord wonderfully opened the way for us to secure the beautiful hall in the State college located in Stettin, the authorities granting us the free use of the hall, and charging us only for light and service. This college chapel was indeed a beautiful one, with fine paintings and a nice pipe-organ; but best of all, the chapel was well filled with16attentive hearers.
Twelve were baptized at this meeting. Several others offered themselves for baptism, but they will be baptized in Berlin.
The church at Charlottenburg, a suburb of Berlin, with sixty-five members, and several other companies, were taken into the conference. On Sabbath we ordained several local elders and deacons. Brother Prillwitz, a licentiate who had for several years been local elder of the Berlin church and later had done successful field work, and was a member of the conference committee, was set apart to the gospel ministry. Since that time, he has been called to take charge of the Austrian Mission.
The East German Conference gladly voted two thousand four hundred dollars for the Old People’s Home, and contributed liberally to missions, and to the “material fund” for the German “Ministry of Healing.” Brother E. Frauchiger was again unanimously chosen president of the conference.
Although the Silesian Conference, with nearly four hundred members, has now been separated from the East German Conference, yet in eastern Germany there are still about one thousand members, over four hundred of whom are in the city of Greater Berlin. From now on, this conference includes the provinces of Brandenburg and Pomerania, and the kingdom of Saxony, with a population of about eleven and one-half millions.
This closed the round of annual meetings in Germany,—seven in all,—and we have every reason to be thankful to God for the union that existed throughout all these conferences, and for the good attendance of our own people and of those from without.
