Earlier text: Open VisionsThe Eastern Canadian Meetings
By M. E. Kern
PREPARATION of heart for Jesus’ coming, and full consecration for the finishing of the work, were the keynotes of the series of meetings just closed in the Eastern Canadian Union Conference. There was a sweet spirit of harmony in all the meetings, and an earnest seeking after God on the part of the people. Having never before attended meetings in this field, I was greatly impressed with the fact that there is yet a great work to do in eastern Canada and in Newfoundland. In the first place, it is a large territory. It is 2,556 miles by the shortest route between the eastern and western extremities of the field. The headquarters of the union, at Oshawa, Ontario, are not very far from the center of the field, east and west, yet it takes three and a half days or more of continuous travel to go from Oshawa to St. John’s, Newfoundland. From Oshawa one can go to Loma Linda, Cal., in less time than it usually takes to go to St. John’s. When the work is opened in Labrador, it will take a few more days to reach that field. In some parts of the union the country is sparsely settled, making the work of the colporteur quite difficult. In other parts the power of Rome so completely dominates the people that the work goes very hard. Here, as elsewhere, however, all men are musing in their hearts on the meaning of the things that are taking place in the world, and there is a new interest to hear the message. The leaders and the people of these conferences are planning to take advantage of this awakening, and push the work with new vigor, with the goal in view of doubling their membership in two years. The Ontario camp meeting was held at Brantford, which is quite central for our people in that province. Ontario has a membership of 573. There were more than 300 at the camp meeting Sabbath school, which was a larger attendance than at any previous meeting, I was told. One new church was admitted to the conference. Ninety new members have been added to the conference since the beginning of this calendar year. Elder A. V. Olson, who came to Ontario a few months ago, when Elder M. M. Hare was called to leave the field, was selected president, and there were chosen to assist him on the executive committee, F. G. Hill, J. Capman, W. J. Hurden, and Elder J. W. McComas, who has recently come to the field from Iowa. The other officers are, Olive Leach, secretary-treasurer; Eva Johnston, educational and Missionary Volunteer secretary; J. Capman, field missionary secretary. Miss Margaret Shanks had charge of the young people’s meetings, and a good interest was manifested. There were a number of young men on the ground who had come in from their colporteur work. They had been having excellent success, regardless of heavy rains and discouraged farmers. Mrs. Florence M. Henderson had charge of the children. She had two regular meetings each day, besides two calisthenic drills, and a walk for exercise, health, and social enjoyment. All departments of the work were discussed. The people pledged themselves to unite with the officers and workers in pushing the work as never before. There was a fair attendance from the city at the evening services. On the closing day, eighteen persons were baptized, mostly young people. Those present responded liberally to a call for funds for local work, and to help equip a science laboratory at the Eastern Canadian Missionary Seminary. They gave $1,600. The Quebec meeting was held at Lennoxville, 110 miles east of Montreal. En route to this meeting I spent several hours in Montreal. This is practically a French city, and a stronghold of Catholicism. We have here an English and a French church. Elder Jean Vuilleumier has been laboring among the French, but it is now arranged for him to teach in the Eastern Canadian Missionary Seminary at Oshawa. The Quebec meeting was not so large as the one at Ontario. There were 112 present at Sabbath school. Although this was the thirty-seventh annual conference session, the constituency of the conference is only 168. It was at first thought that there would not be enough young people to have separate meetings, but there was a good company present, and some very beneficial services were held. Elder W. C. Young, who was called to take charge of the field only a short time ago, when Elder Olson was called to Ontario, was reelected president. The executive committee consists of W. C. Young, L. F. Passebois, F. C. Webster, W. H. Knowlton, and W. C. D. Dingman. F. E. Dufty was reelected secretary-treasurer. N. H. Saunders is educational and Missionary Volunteer secretary, and he has also been chosen Missionary Volunteer secretary for the union. Both Elders Passebois and Webster have recently come to this field, and are beginning their work with good courage. Elder Passebois has settled in the city of Quebec, with the ultimate object of working for the French, although his first effort will be for the English. Elder Webster is residing in Montreal. Aside from Elder M. N. Campbell and the writer, who attended all these meetings, Elder G. G. Roth, North American Division secretary for the French work, was in attendance, and his counsel and help were much appreciated. There was a good attendance from the town of Lennoxville at the last few evening services. On the last day of the meeting, we repaired to a near-by river, where four persons were buried with Christ in baptism. When a call was made for funds for local work and to help equip the laboratory at Oshawa, the brethren and sisters responded with an offering of $500. It was voted to secure a man to take charge of the colporteur and home missionary work as soon as possible. One night and a half day brought us to Norton, New Brunswick, where the Maritime meeting was held. The constituency of the Maritime Conference is 276, but the members are scattered over a large territory. The attendance seemed very small at first, but there were about 65 at Sabbath school. Practically all these had come some distance to the meeting, as there is no church or company in Norton. Past experience seems to indicate that it is not wise to hold our general meetings here in tents. Several days of cool, rainy weather made us thankful for rooms to live in, and for the commodious hall which was secured for the meetings. Elder Skinner, the president of the conference, and at present the only ordained minister, is holding a series of meetings in Norton, following the general meeting.16 The various departments of the work were discussed. It was decided to place a man in the field in charge of the colporteur and home missionary work just as soon as one can be found. Prof. C. L. Taylor, principal of Williamsdale Academy, was present at the meeting, assisting in the young people’s meetings and working for students. The young people who have been to Williamsdale seem to be much in love with the school. The prospects for this year are good. The conference officers for the next two years will be: President, George Skinner; other members of the executive committee, C. L. Taylor, W. G. Steves, William Wasell; secretary-treasurer, Lulu Van Buskirk; educational and Missionary Volunteer secretary, C. L. Taylor. On Sunday a beautiful baptismal service was held near the bridge connecting the two parts of the town. Eleven were baptized. The sum of $550 was raised to install a water system in Williamsdale Academy and otherwise equip this institution for better work. The Newfoundland Mission has a baptized membership of 57, most of whom are in St. John’s. A general meeting lasting four days was held here. Besides the members of the St. John’s church, there were about ten from outports. The work has been established in Newfoundland for many years, and has had its ups and downs; but at no place have I found a more earnest spirit of seeking God. The days we were together were filled full of meetings, beginning with an early morning consecration service before breakfast. Various lines of work were considered, and a definite conviction that the work must go forward in Newfoundland seemed to take hold of the brethren and sisters. Elder D. J. C. Barrett is superintendent of this mission field. Elder Barrett and his wife, and Elder and Mrs. R. A. Hubley, who are laboring here, are of good courage, and fully expect to see the work go forward. Several have been added to the church recently, and others are waiting for baptism. The young people’s work was a special feature of this meeting. Professor Taylor was present, and secured several students for Williamsdale. The members of the St. John’s church are also much interested in their church school, and are determined to bring it into harmony with the denominational system of education. Brother and Sister Gordon Smith, who are to take charge of the school, are now on the ground, and enter upon their work with courage. There are no public schools in Newfoundland. The work in the Eastern Canadian Union is encouraging. Elder Campbell and his associates are working hard. There has been a gradual increase in the membership of the union. The Canadian Publishing Association seems to be prospering. In 1913 it did $10,000 worth of business; in 1914, $15,000 worth; and in 1915, $22,000 worth. The association has recently printed a French edition of “The World’s Crisis,” and Elder Vuilleumier has a company of workers selling it this summer. If good leadership can be secured for this branch of the work in each of the conferences, and a good man for the union, there is every reason to believe that the sale of literature will go forward still more rapidly. The Eastern Canadian Missionary Seminary is doing excellent work, and there is good prospect for some strong young workers in the near future. Ninth Annual Convention of Southern Workers
By E. A. Sutherland
TWELVE years ago a small company of teachers began an inconspicuous work at Madison, Tenn., for the mountain people of the South. From this nucleus, teachers went out into other sections, starting rural schools. The work was done quietly; but as the numbers grew, it became necessary to hold annual gatherings for study and counsel. At first these meetings were attended only by those immediately concerned. But their influence has extended until today it reaches the very center of the nation's educational work. Among other men of prominence who will attend the Madison convention this year, is Mr. H. W. Foght, United States specialist in rural school practice, who writes as follows:— “I am glad to accept your invitation to be present at your conference of rural school-teachers to be held August 31 to September 5. In order to get as much good out of this for myself as possible, I shall try to be with you the entire four days of the session.” Dr. Claxton, United States Commissioner of Education, after arranging for Mr. Foght to attend the convention, says:— “I wish it were possible for me to come myself. I should like very much to have the opportunity of hearing the reports that will be made.” Seventh-day Adventists have been blessed above all people in the gift of great educational truths through the Spirit of prophecy. And the demonstration of these principles is today attracting the attention of men of the world who have long been familiar with the popular system of education, and who are looking for something better. This coming convention is for those who have this same ambition. A cordial invitation is extended to all who desire to help in the South by starting self-supporting mission schools and centers in this section. We shall be glad to give you details. Address us at Madison, Tenn. Qualifications for Mission Service
By FREDERICK GRIGGS
IN a recent letter from Elder W. H. Anderson, of the Pemba Mission, Northwestern Rhodesia, South Africa, he outlined in a terse way some of the characteristics which should distinguish a missionary. They are as follows:— “1. He must be an optimist. He must never get blue, no matter what happens. “2. He must have adaptability in order to fit in and not be rubbing the fur the wrong way all the time. “3. He must learn to love the country where he is; he must be able to see good in different ways of doing things, and not try to ‘Americanize’ everything. I notice from the newspaper reports that sometimes they do things wrong even in America. “4. He must be a teacher,—one who will not teach over the heads of the pupils. He ought to be a good church-school teacher. “5. He must be strong in government,—one who can take a school and make it go. “6. He must be straight on denominational organization. “7. He should come to the mission field as a learner, and not as a teacher. Let him spend his first three years learning, and then if he has anything to teach, let him start in. “8. He must be a linguist. Clothe an unknown thing in an unknown tongue, and you must not blame the native if he does not understand your message. In the early church every man heard the truth in the tongue in which he was born. “9. Of course he must be a straight Seventh-day Adventist who takes God at his word, and believes in the speedy triumph of the message, and knows the power of God to convert souls, and can get right down close to the lowest and do personal work for them. He must be strong as a personal worker. “10. If, in addition to the above, he is a farmer, gardener, cattle rancher, horticulturist, poultry fancier, nurse, carpenter, bricklayer, shoe cobbler, and has a good supply of common sense; a constitution of iron, nerves of steel; can work and yet not overwork; can rest but not get lazy,—these are qualities which will help him considerably in his work. “11. He must learn to see things by faith and not be fanatical; one who has learned to live by faith will still want his regular meals every day. “12. He must be a man who realizes that we are still in a world of sin, sorrow, and degradation; and he must not be an idealist who lives and works as if we had no more of the world’s diseases to cope with.” In this list of qualifications is set before the young people in our schools and before our teachers an ideal of character and ability that is well worth study. These items deserve careful study by every individual, whether he is preparing for mission fields or not. It is for the realization of these ideals in their students that our schools labor, and they cannot be held too continually before the students, nor impressed too deeply upon their hearts and minds. Seventh-day Adventist young men and women must be the sturdiest, sincerest, and most vigorous of all young men and women in the world, for to none is committed a more strenuous work than to them. Our schools seek to give an all-round world view of the gospel work, and a broad, comprehensive sympathy with the needs of mankind, physical and mental as well as spiritual, and a thorough equipment to minister to these needs. They teach that we are debtors to all men of every nation and every clime. These schools will open in a few weeks, and the parents of our young people and the young people themselves are or should be giving careful thought to this next school year. Every young person connected, directly or indirectly, with our churches, whose circumstances do not absolutely forbid, should be in attendance at one of our schools where the ideals already set forth are the motive underlying all work. Our Fireside Correspondence School is open to all who cannot attend a residence school. Work in this school can be carried on in the home under any circumstances; so there17 can be no substantial excuse for one of our young people in health and strength not pursuing studies that will enable him to realize these elements of character, — elements demanded by the hour in which we live. FREDERICK GRIGGS. Educational Department
By Frederick Griggs
FREDERICK GRIGGS . . . General Secretary W. B. HOWELL . . . Assistant Secretary BROTHER H. M. HIATT, educational superintendent of the Minnesota Conference, writes as follows with reference to his work:— “When I came to Minnesota, there were only six schools. This was less than three years ago. We planned to build three new schoolhouses each year, and this goal has been reached. Duluth has just remodeled its building, so that it is virtually a new schoolroom. Minneapolis is laying the foundation of two new schoolrooms, modern in every way. Pequot and Hinckley are planning to build churches with schoolrooms amply equipped, and Owatonna may possibly build a new schoolroom this year. The churches at these places, with the exception of the one at Owatonna, have voted to carry out the program I have just stated. The schoolroom at Duluth has been so remodeled as scarcely to resemble a basement, and next year none of our other schools will be held in basements.” “We are trying to equip our schools also with drinking fountains, globes, maps, and other modern appliances, as well as with decent furniture. This conference has twenty-five teachers listed for the summer school at Hutchinson.” This is a very encouraging report. Our church schools should all be held in good rooms. They should have modern equipment, libraries, globes, maps, charts, and good furniture. The sanitary conditions of the school should be well looked after. Christian education stands for the complete development of man. God has given to us much light not only on his work, but upon proper living, healthwise and otherwise. We must be behind other schools in no respect, intellectually or physically, and above all, spiritually. We must educate ourselves to the highest ideals. Only thus can we hope to meet the standard of an ideal Christian education. Medical Missionary Department
By L. A. HANSEN
W. A. RUBLE, M. D. — General Secretary L. A. HANSEN — Assistant Secretary H. W. MILLER, M. D. — N. Am. Div. Secretary Report of Assistant Secretary of the Medical Department of the North American Division Conference
Read at the Medical Convention Held at Madison, Wis., June 5-10 THE report of your assistant secretary will deal principally with the office end of our department work. This covers more particularly the routine business of correspondence, securing and filing various data on sanitarium and training school work, gathering matter of general interest to medical workers and passing it on, placing unemployed workers and answering calls for them, supplying material for our papers dealing with health questions and the progress of our medical work, and lately, developing our Central Purchasing Bureau. As far as we can judge from our correspondence, there exists a good spirit of cooperation in our medical work as a whole. We are receiving no word that indicates on the part of any a feeling of dissatisfaction or criticism. Letters that we receive are warm and encouraging, and usually speak appreciatingly of the efforts our department is making to be helpful. While as an organization we are drawing together and growing stronger, we believe that much more can be done to strengthen our work and make it more effective as one of the principal branches of denominational effort. We see an increasing willingness on the part of our workers to contribute suggestions and to furnish us with matter that may be copied and sent out, or that may be used in our reports. We still plead, however, for greater cooperation in this direction. We have excellent facilities at the office for preparing and sending out matter that may be thus contributed. We have been glad to get hold of cost systems, advertising suggestions and hints, follow-up letters, notes on studies, financial statements, and news notes. We have tried to make careful use of such material, and that which we have in turn supplied to others seems to have been well received. We realize that circular letters are not much in demand, so we are not mailing very many. We assure you that it is only when we feel we have something worth your while that we go to the trouble and expense of getting out matter in multiform shape. We bespeak your consideration for the communications of this sort that we do send out. In connection with our plea for fuller cooperation in supplying departmental material, let me urge that more attention be given by our doctors, managers, chaplains, and other sanitarium workers, to providing articles and reports for our church papers, such as the REVIEW, Life and Health, Signs of the Times, and union conference papers. Our people want to hear of what is being done in our institutions. Our sanitariums will hold a place in the hearts and dealings of our people according as we improve our opportunities to place their interests before our brethren and sisters. Our people need and want the health instruction that our sanitarium workers can give them. With the present-day popularity of health topics, our writers have a wide-open door. Others are furnishing much matter of this kind. We should be in the forefront as public teachers in health and temperance. Are we meeting the responsibilities resting on us in this direction? Our own people should be well instructed in the principles of true health reform. Incidentally I may say that we have the privilege of a cordial relation with one of the chief officers of the United States Public Health Service. I have told him quite fully regarding our health work, and have explained at some length concerning our other missionary activities. He is enthusiastic in his expressions regarding our health educational principles. He gives a full and free invitation for our workers to make use of the facilities of the Health Service. Regular health reports, bulletins, and other literature are available, as well as the use of a growing library of stereopticon slides; all without cost to us. Our Employment Bureau is proving serviceable, both to workers who want employment and to persons who want workers. It seems to be growing into use for all classes of our workers, as conference presidents and others are referring quite a number of people to us. We endeavor to exercise all possible care in looking up proper recommendations. And here let us most sincerely thank you for so promptly and carefully replying to our letters of inquiry regarding the qualifications and fitness of applicants for employment. May we also ask that due notification be given us when you make arrangements to employ persons whose names we give you. On my last visit to sanitariums I found several persons placed through our bureau whose names we were still carrying as available. We have on our list the names of a few doctors, lady and gentlemen nurses, pharmacists, cooks, stenographers, bookkeepers, engineers, electricians, and others. We are not very well prepared to fill calls for medical superintendents, and we present to you the strong need there is of properly qualified men who will be willing to bear responsibilities in this connection, devoting themselves fully to the interests of this cause. The Central Purchasing Bureau, authorized at the last fall council, is taking definite shape. We have already issued eight bulletins, and are seeing considerable business developing on some items, with satisfaction in goods used and with a saving in money. We are mailing our bulletins to two hundred and sixty names and addresses in North America, including sanitariums, treatment-rooms, food factories and stores, schools, publishing houses, and conference offices. Thus far we have placed nearly two hundred cases of grape juice, about four hundred cases of olives, two thousand pounds or more of malted milk, considerable vegex, and more or less of miscellaneous items. A letter to conferences suggesting the use of malted milk at camp meetings has met with fair response, seven or eight conferences placing their orders. A number of conference presidents and others have expressed their appreciation of this bureau. It has occurred to us that we may extend the benefits of our Purchasing Bureau to include most of our membership on some commodities. Most of our people have a limited income. They are liberal in responding to calls for means in behalf of our denominational work. If we could help them save money, it seems we should do so. Possibly through our tract societies or conference offices acting as agencies, some practical plan may be worked out in this connection. We have as yet done nothing to work up foreign trade on this proposition, though we have taken care of a few orders that have come from foreign fields where word of our bureau has been sent. We truly believe that on the whole our sanitarium work is enjoying the best degree of prosperity it has known. We have word of a large patronage from nearly all these institutions in this country. In some instances a sanitarium has not been able to receive all who have come. One institution reports having to turn away twenty-two applicants in one week. Some institutions that have had a hard financial experience are making good gains. We wish to say to our workers here assembled that the Division Conference officers and various department heads are very sympathetic toward the work of our Medical Department, and show a willingness to render all help possible. We know of no reason why this branch of our work should not move steadily forward. Loma Linda
By Mrs. S. N. Haskell
MANY letters have been received inquiring about the financial standing of our institutions at Loma Linda. We have tried to answer these letters to the best of our ability, but thought a few lines in the REVIEW AND HERALD would answer the same queries in the minds of others who are interested in the work but have not written us. We have been asked if the report is true that the institution at Loma Linda has increased its liabilities “something like $32,000 since the council met last fall.” We were not prepared to answer this question, and referred it to L. M. Bowen, the business manager at Loma Linda. He replied as follows:— “It is not true that the institutional liabilities have increased ‘something like $32,000 since the fall council.’ I think this came about by the report rendered at the close of the year, Dec. 31, 1915, in which there was considerable increase in liabilities; but it was for the six months ending at that time, and did not cover the present period. Since Jan. 1, 1916, we have kept a very strict account, and for every dollar borrowed have paid an equal amount on outstanding obligations, or have that dollar in the bank, so that the present six months will show no increase in obligations unless there is an equal amount of money in the bank. In other words, we are not operating on borrowed money. Our operating funds are kept entirely separate.18 Loma Linda Sanitarium is one of our largest sanitariums, accommodating one hundred and fifty patients. St. Helena Sanitarium, California, is the only other Seventh-day Adventist sanitarium of equal capacity. While the indebtedness on Loma Linda is large, it must be remembered that its assets are also larger than any other of our institutions—publishing houses, sanitariums, or schools. The assets as given in the statistical report rendered at the council last fall were $431,751, and the present worth at that time was $72,756. The institution owns three hundred acres of valuable land. The value of this land does not wholly depend upon its proximity to the institution; it is orange-grove land, and will command a good price in the market any day. This land yields both fruit and vegetables for the sanitarium, and for the helpers and medical students,—a family of about two hundred, besides patients. It also affords hay and pasture land for a large herd of cattle, which not only supplies the institution with all the milk it consumes, but furnishes a quantity for the market, which helps to defray the expenses of the dairy. A number of cottages have been erected in the valley at the foot of the hill; these are owned by the sanitarium, and are rented as homes for families connected with the sanitarium and medical school. The business manager, L. M. Bowen, is a careful financier, and has had many years’ experience in connection with some of our largest institutions. MRS. S. N. HASKELL,
Chairman Woman’s Committee. Assignment for August 13 to 19
“Nothing is known of him, but from indications in his writings it is guessed that he was a Levite; that he prophesied in the reigns of Josiah and Jehoahaz; and that when Jerusalem fell, he remained behind in his ruined country. The book is largely in the shape of an appeal to God for help against the threatened invasion of the Assyrians, together with God’s reply. Paul received from this book his great watchword, ‘The just shall live by faith.’”—Wells. “To answer the question why wickedness seems to triumph, and to vindicate God’s righteousness, the prophecy is thrown into the form of a dramatic dialogue between Habakkuk and Jehovah. ‘God is boldly and reverently challenged to defend his action in the government of the world.’ It is the problem of Job, of the Psalms, and of Ecclesiastes, with this difference: there, it is individual; here, it is national. The prophecy needs careful study to see the beauty of the answers. There are two vindications of God’s righteousness. The Chaldeans, having evil in themselves, will perish; evil is the seed of death; only the just shall live. God shows the prophet, what he has been in the past to the chosen nation, and that he is supreme over man and nature. What he has been in the past to all nations, that he will be in the future. Right will prevail.”—Sell.19 Ezekiel (the strength of God), a priest and one of the four greater prophets, was among the captives taken to Babylon with Jehoiachin, in 598 B. C., after Nebuchadnezzar’s second invasion of Judah. With others he was placed in the fertile valley of the Chebar, about two hundred miles north of Babylon. Here his sublime visions were given; and here also the elders of his people came to inquire of the Lord in the dark years preceding the final captivity. It is said that he and Jeremiah, with whom he was contemporary for a few years at the beginning of his work “exchanged manuscripts, for the edification respectively of the Jews in Jerusalem and in captivity.” Ezekiel prophesied a little over twenty-two years, beginning in 595 B. C. He was “distinguished by his stern and inflexible energy of will and character, and his devoted adherence to the rites and ceremonies of his national religion.” Zeal for the house of God and submission to the divine will characterized his life. “We learn, from an incidental allusion, that he was married and had a house in his place of exile, and lost his wife by a sudden and unforeseen stroke. He is said to have been murdered in Babylon, and to have been buried on the banks of the Euphrates.” The prophet was a captive in the region of Nineveh; therefore, it is not unreasonable to suppose that he had at least heard of, and perhaps seen, the great apartments of its palaces, whose walls remain to this day, covered with images and inscriptions and figures that supplement and confirm the Bible record. On these ancient mural tablets we find many familiar names,—Jehu, Omri, Hazael, Menahem, Hezekiah, etc., and of various cities in Judah and Syria. Not only so, but “we discover Sennacherib’s own account of his invasion of Palestine, and of the amount of tribute which King Hezekiah was forced to pay him; also pictures representing his capture of Lachish; and his officers, perhaps the railing Rab-shakeh himself, presenting Jewish captives to the king.” A graphic commentary on the language of the prophet is supplied in these tablets and their cuneiform inscriptions. In these “chambers of imagery” are represented the “captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously,” “horsemen riding upon horses,” “the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion,” “in dyed attire,” etc., as well as the idols of the land. Under the type of “the chambers of imagery” the Lord revealed to Jeremiah the secret sins of the leaders of Israel. The lesson is as applicable to many who call themselves by his name today as it was to those to whom it was first spoken. In our hearts there is often a dark, secret chamber. “By our memory, and by that marvelous faculty that people call imagination, and by our desires, we are forever painting the walls of the inmost chambers of our hearts with such pictures. That is an awful power which we possess, and alas! too often used for foul idolatries.” Some day those secret chambers will be opened. Shall it not be now, when the healing, cleansing rays of the Sun of Righteousness will flood the heart temple, and cast out every evil image we have painted on its walls? Missionary Volunteer Department
By Ethel M. Edmed
M. E. KERN — Secretary
MATILDA ERICKSON — Assistant Secretary
MRS. I. H. EVANS — Office Secretary
MEADE MACGUIRE
C. L. BRINSON
J. F. SIMON — Field Secretaries Young People’s Convention
APRIL 9 was indeed a day of days to the young people of the Cape Peninsula, for it marked the holding of the first young people’s convention under Africa’s sunny skies. Brother Clark and his associates had worked most untiringly for weeks to make the convention a success, and a comprehensive and interesting program was the result. Quite a number of young people from the neighboring churches accepted the invitation of the Claremont Young People’s Society to join them in convention work. On entering the church the first thing that greeted the eye was a very pretty scroll, bearing the aim and motto of the Young People’s Society of Missionary Volunteers; while palm leaves were scattered over the walls, with pleasing effect. A number of friends assembled to show their interest in the day’s proceedings. An interesting paper on the rise of the young people’s work in this denomination was the first item on the program, and showed from what a small beginning the present mighty force of Missionary Volunteer work had its rise. The papers, which were interspersed with suitable music, covered every phase of the young people’s work; and if the principles laid down in them are carried out, our young people’s work will receive a new impetus. A question box was one feature of the occasion, and several availed themselves of the opportunity of becoming acquainted with the working of the organization. During the interval between the meetings, the Reading Course and Standard of Attainment were explained, and as a result, six persons enrolled for the Standard of Attainment, sixteen for the Senior Reading Course, and three for the Junior Reading Course. A very fitting and inspiring close to this important and interesting occasion was an address given by Professor Straw on “The Call to Our Youth,” which was greatly enjoyed and appreciated. Reporting
By FLORA McCHESNEY
To me the subject of reporting is one of great importance. I do not know why, unless it may be because I enjoy reading the reports of other societies, and watching the advancement of the Missionary Volunteer work. In order for societies to report correctly, it is necessary for each member to give a report of the work done. Several reasons might be given on the necessity and importance of reporting. If each member of the society can do but a little, and this little is faithfully reported, the whole amount of work performed will be sufficient to encourage the entire society to greater activity. On the other hand, if one is deprived of the stimulus gained from the knowledge that others are working in the same good cause, he is apt to become discouraged, and the work will suffer in consequence. Sometimes if one individual sees what another member less capable than himself is doing, he will arouse to greater activity and find many opportunities for labor. Often it is a source of encouragement to a society to compare the amount of work which it is doing at the present time with what it has done in former years. This cannot be done unless a record is kept of the work performed by the members. In writing to the Corinthian brethren, the apostle Paul speaks concerning “the ministering to the saints,” which is one form of missionary work, and says that he had boasted of them to the brethren in Macedonia, and their zeal had “provoked very many.” Paul must have had a report of what the Corinthian brethren had done, or he could not have aroused others by their zeal. The instruction given by God tends toward system and method in this work. The Record of Inspiration contains many reports that must have been rendered by individuals, since all God’s work is an individual work. If one’s motive in reporting is to get glory to himself, the words of our Saviour in Matthew 6 would probably be applicable to his case. Christ says that those who do their works to be seen of men, already have their reward. We seem to have illustrations in the work of Christ where his labor is recorded in every detail; and if this were wrong, he surely would not have left us such an example. The story of the feeding of the five thousand not only gives a record of the work performed, but also of the methodical manner in which it was done. Christ’s life is a perfect pattern for us, and he did nothing contrary to the instruction he gave his disciples. Christ says, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven;” and again, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” The good works of the children of God are the most effectual preaching that the unbeliever hears. Some may say, “But are these reports worth much after all?” They surely are. It is through them that a careful watch is kept over the work of this great cause, and we can learn of the advancement being made in all parts of the world. The next question is, What shall we report? The Young People’s Missionary Volunteer Department furnishes blanks ready to fill in, and on the back of most of them you find what is meant by each item. In some of the largest societies the work is done by committees, and care must be taken not to report the same thing more than once. The oftener the reports are gathered, the greater will be the stimulus received from them. Perhaps the most important phase of this subject is promptness in reporting. Let us resolve that we will have something to report each week, and see to it that the reports are sent in promptly.