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Review and Herald, Vol. 87, No. 4.

He Chose the Path for Thee
Earlier text: He Chose the Path for Thee

T. F. BOWEN

By T. F. Bowen

Events Between the Close of the Gospel and the Second Coming of Jesus—No. 3

T. F. BOWEN

The Times and Seasons

THE disciples said to Jesus upon the Mount of Olives, “Tell us, when shall these things be?” In answer Jesus did not give the exact time, but did reveal the generation that should witness the end. This was all that was to be revealed. The people of God were to know when it was near, but not the exact time for the passing of the day of salvation.
Just before he ascended, after his resurrection the disciples still wanted to know when he would come to restore unto them the kingdom, still supposing that it meant the establishment of the Jewish nation in power. The Lord’s reply was, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.” Acts 1:7. When the Holy Ghost should come to them, then they would understand the nature of the kingdom. When the signs predicted should come to pass, then all might know that the end was near, even at the door. The word to all was, “Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.” “And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding.” Luke 12:40, 36. This is his coming from the most holy place in the heavenly sanctuary, from his work of judgment and examination of the guests, having received from the Father his kingdom.
And so, after fully warning the world, a time comes when God arises and says, “It is enough.” Of this day and hour knoweth no man, nor shall men ever know, until it is passed. Then settles down that terrible night of which Jesus told us, “When no man can work.”
Noah warned his generation. They scoffed and scorned until the very day that Noah and his family entered the ark. When by an unseen hand that ponderous ark door began slowly to close, no doubt a hush fell upon the jeering crowd. That act of God sealed the doom of all living. Some were shut in; many were shut out. The sun continued to rise and set as usual. The days followed one another as they had been wont to do for centuries, and a lost world became hilarious once more, the foolish Noah and his ark proposition again becoming the subject of derision. But at the end of seven days a storm burst, such as they had never seen. And then they knew that they were lost, hopelessly lost; while Noah, because of his faith and obedience, was saved. Jesus said: “For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matt. 24:38, 39.
We have cited some of the events to take place after the passing of that hour when Jesus leaves his work of ministry in the heavenly sanctuary and his personal appearing on the cloud. Concerning them we should, as a people, be intelligent. God has revealed to us, both in his Word and in the Testimonies, the principal events taking place during this important and solemn time. The one important thing for us now to consider is, Are we ready for the passing of the day of salvation? Are our sins forgiven? and do we know that they are? If not, we are not ready. If in our hearts we harbor hatred against any one, or fail to manifest that loving forgiveness that should characterize the follower of Jesus toward any who may have wronged us, we are not ready. Christ’s exhortation to all is, “Be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”
If on that day the recording angel can return to heaven with the record that the seal of God has been placed upon your brow, all will be well. But if that day and hour finds us buried in the cares and work of the world, with little thought of the day of God, we shall awake sometime to sense most keenly our loss of eternal life.
The Saviour still pleads for us on high. Opportunity is still offered us of life ourselves, and of laboring to win others to Christ. To-day is the day of salvation. Let us not harden our hearts.
And further, we have referred to a few of the most important events to take place after Christ finishes his work as High Priest, and before he comes to gather his people, in the hope that we shall not get our eyes fixed upon the latter event to such an extent that we shall overlook the importance of the former. This point is a vital one. We pray to be ready to meet Jesus “when he comes.” This is all right, but if we are ready to meet him when he comes, we must also have been ready, so far as being free from sin is concerned, at that time when he lays down the censer as man’s intercessor some time prior to his actual coming. Whether the time between these two important events is long or short, and just when some of the events will take place to which we have referred, are minor questions compared to that other one as to whether you and I are ready and are owned by Jesus that day when he proclaims to all heaven that the work of the gospel on earth is forever finished. This is the one thing of supreme importance. And of the passing of this hour knoweth no man; no, not even the Son himself, but the Father only.
It was Jesus’ interest and love for us that led him to say, “Be ye also ready.” And well will it be for us to heed his words.
Takoma Park, D. C.

Counting the Cost

By F. W. Vesey, Sr.

F. W. VESEY, SR.
WHAT are you willing to pay for heaven? What is heaven worth to you? What price will you pay that you may have everlasting life and eternal happiness? Eternal life is a free gift, but did you ever count the cost of accepting a freely offered gift?
‘Read Luke 14:25-33. Note the tremendous price that Jesus demands in that last verse: “Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he can not be my disciple.” “All that he hath,” includes his nearest and dearest relatives, and even his life. Verse 26.
That is what it may cost. If all your relatives come into the kingdom with you, and you are not called to sacrifice your life, you will be put to the test in some other way. Hear him: “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.” Rev. 3:19. Note also Heb. 12:1-11: “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” “Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.” “Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”
Many, when convinced of the truth of this glorious last message, hesitate at giving up their occupation. “How can I live and support my family? If I do not work on Saturday, I shall surely lose my position, and my salary, and who will help me in this selfish age?” That is a very serious question. Right there is a demand for great faith in God. “Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, . . . blessed is the man who trusteth in the Lord.” Jer. 17:5-7.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field: the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.”
Waco, Tex.

Food for the Sick

By Mrs. Luella B. Priddy

MRS. LUELLA B. PRIDDY
In some cases of critical illness an indiscretion in the choice of food may cost the life of the patient. Sometimes it is exceedingly difficult to find anything that can either be relished or assimilated. The tempting dish that may be accepted once, may be refused the second time it is offered.
In a sudden attack of an acute disease it may be beneficial to abstain from food altogether for a short time, but when the illness is likely to continue for some time, it is often of great importance that the patient be provided with food adapted to his condition, that his strength may be sustained until recovery. Even if the food has to be so modified as to contain very little nourishment, it may add greatly to the comfort of the patient to eat something. Liquid foods are not the best diet for people in health, but they are often necessary in sickness. When the patient is progressing toward recovery, he should gradually accustom himself to the use of solid food, before a habit of living upon a restricted diet is established.
Do not offer too much food at a time to the invalid. Prepare the food in as tempting a manner as possible. If he is not able to eat it, carry it out of the room at once. Perhaps a dish of something else prepared an hour or two later, and taken to him when he is not expecting it, will be accepted.
Cook foods for the sick in a bright stew-pan that has not been used in cooking food that has a strong flavor. Sometimes the appetite is very sensitive to such things. Following are a number of recipes:—
1. Graham Gruel.—Take one tablespoonful of fine flour and two of Graham flour. Sift lightly to remove the coarser particles of bran. This may not always be necessary, but in some localities the Graham is too coarse. Braid the flour in a little water, and stir into one quart of boiling water. Let it boil briskly for a few minutes, then set back on the stove, where it will simmer gently for two hours. Salt to taste. Add half its bulk of rich hot milk. The gruel should be quite thin.
2. Very Bland Graham Gruel.—Blend two tablespoonfuls of Graham flour and one of white in a little water. Turn the batter into a perfectly clean thin white cotton sack, and press out as much of the contents as possible with the back of a spoon, and stir into a quart of boiling water. Then tie up the sack and drop it into the kettle of gruel. The flavor will boil out in this way, and the gruel will be as clear as fruit juice. Let it boil for two hours. Remove the sack, and serve. This gruel is improved by the addition of milk or cream, but if the patient can not take milk, it is very good without it. This recipe was prepared for a patient who was suffering from ulcerated stomach. She had not been able to retain anything except milk diluted with water, for some days, but this gruel was eaten and relished.
3. Rolled Oats Gruel.—This gruel can be made according to the above recipe, only the rolled oats need to soak for an hour in water before they will press well out of the sack.
4. Egg and Milk Broth.—Thoroughly beat an egg, and pour over it one pint of boiling milk, stirring rapidly for a few moments until the egg is sufficiently cooked. Add salt.
5. A Nourishing Drink.—A patient who is confined largely to a milk diet, and is not able to take anything as solid as toast, may obtain a little variation of flavor in this way: Toast a slice of bread nicely, and turn over it a cup of slightly salted scalding milk. Let it stand a few minutes, and pour off the milk. It will have absorbed considerable of the flavor of the toast. Serve the milk hot.
6. Bean Broth.—Some who can not eat beans on account of the skins, may obtain considerable of the nourishment by dipping off the clear broth.
7. Rice Water.—The water off of boiled rice, served with cream, is an agreeable dish.
8. Cereal Coffee.—Sometimes nausea can be relieved by slowly sipping cereal coffee. It should be served without sugar in such cases.
9. Cereal Coffee With Milk.—When a patient can take no other food, sometimes a cup of cereal coffee can be relished when served as follows: Make the coffee real strong. Fill the cup only half full, and finish filling with milk. The milk will add to the nourishment, and the coffee flavor will be retained if made strong.
10. Lemon Soup.—Extract the juice of half a large lemon,—more if small,—remove all pulp and seeds, and turn into a pint of boiling water. Sweeten, and thicken with a tablespoonful of corn-starch braided in water.
Many fruit juices are good served hot. In many cases the sick one can not take cold food.
Ellesmere, Ontario.

Little Things

It was only a sunny smile, And little it cost in the giving; But it scattered the night Like the morning light, And made the day worth living. Through life’s dull warp a woof it wove In shining colors of hope and love; And the angels smiled as they watched above, Yet little it cost in the giving.
It was only a kindly word, A word that was lightly spoken; Yet not in vain, For it stilled the pain Of a heart that was nearly broken. It strengthened a faith beset by fears, And groping blindly through mists of tears For light to brighten the coming years, Although it was lightly spoken.
—Selected.

The Blessing of Work

By March

LIVE for God in common things. Do your work purely and faithfully when there is no one to say it is well done. Make the unwritten history of your life faithful in good words wisely spoken, in kind deeds thoughtfully done, in the silent expression of meekness and purity and love. Cherish the feeling of companionship with Christ in all the walks of life. Do not despise or neglect anything that was of sufficient importance to receive the attention of the Son of God.
All needed and profitable work is of God. Work is the honorable inheritance and the healthful discipline of the sons of God. Work is a ladder let down from heaven on which redeemed men climb to the seats of the blessed. Work makes the feeble strong, the timid brave, the poor rich, the wretched happy. Man attains the perfection of his being by becoming a coworker with God in filling the universe with light and blessing.
Idleness is the invention of the great adversary who enticed man away from his God-given work in paradise, and who ever lies in wait to deceive and destroy unwary souls. The tempter comes in the hours of ease, and he is most sure of his prey when he finds men with nothing to do. Idleness enfeebles the mind, and shrivels up the heart, and debases the soul, and takes away all the meaning and beauty and joy of life. The most pitiable and wretched man on the face of the earth is the man who has time and talent and health and riches and nothing to do. For the lazy man, life has no purpose, and labor has no reward. For him the flowers have no perfume, and the birds no song. In vain for him the morning spreads its glories on the mountains, and the evening sets its stars in the sky. He knows nothing of the greatness which patient effort and high achievement give to character, nor of the divine joy with which self-denial fills the soul. He makes himself a burden to every enterprise for the world's advance, a blot upon the immortal page where the brave and the good are writing their names for eternity. It were better to be a brute, and sweat in the harness or tug at the plow, than possess the faculties and the soul of a man, and yet refuse the work which God has set for man to do.—March.

G. W. CAVINESS

By G. W. Caviness

Mexico

G. W. CAVINESS

I HAVE just returned from a visit to a few places where there is an interest to know more of the message for these last days. My first stop was made at San Luis Potosi, where there has been a company of Sabbath-keepers for a few years. Two families began to keep the Sabbath at this place a few years ago from reading our Spanish paper. We sent a Mexican worker there about two years ago to get them into condition to organize into a church. All seemed to go well for a while, but later this worker apostatized, and we had to drop him. He immediately set to work to carry the company with him. For a time it looked as if he would succeed, but later he fell out with the brethren and separated from them. I visited them a little later, and they received me kindly. They had kept up their meetings and the study of the Sabbath-school lessons alone for several months.
Photo by C. B. Waite, Mexico City Published by permission
Photo by C. B. Waite, Mexico City Published by permission
This last spring Brother Robles was sent to labor among them. They received him cordially, and he has been having a good interest, with an attendance of thirty-five or forty some of the time. I spent a little over one week with them and had a good hearing, but did not baptize nor organize them into a church because of a few things that need to be adjusted first. The brethren took fifty subscriptions to our paper, which they will place among their friends and neighbors. A little later we expect to organize a church in this place.
From San Luis Potosi I went into the country about twenty miles to visit the company mentioned in the Missions number of the REVIEW. I found them faithful, and had a good time with them. These are country people who live in a very primitive manner: they have no furniture in their huts, and live like Indians, eating only the simplest things cooked on an open fire in the middle of the room. I spent a week with them, eating their simple fare, and sleeping on a few sacks spread on the ground for a bed, with a blanket which I took with me for a cover. Although they have but little book education, and some of them can not read, yet they are intelligent and understand the truth. They asked me many questions which showed clearly that they had a good knowledge of the Word of God and the plan of salvation.
The last Sabbath I was there, I had the pleasure of baptizing sixteen, the oldest being a woman of seventy-eight and the youngest a young man of seventeen. The scene at the baptism was impressive and beautiful. The ceremony took place in a stream of clear, crystal water in a grove, with mountain scenery on nearly all sides.
The leader of the company is an employee in the civil court of that district. He seems to have a good influence with his collaborators. The judge of this court, the treasurer, and another employee attended our meetings, and when I proposed to them that they take four or five subscriptions each for our paper to sell to their neighbors in order to raise a little money for a church building, these three men each took four subscriptions, and said that they wanted to have a part in the good work.
Brother Robles, who is stationed at San Luis Potosi, has been visiting this company from time to time, and building them up in the faith. He accompanied me on this visit and helped very much, especially in singing. They enjoy singing, and would stay for hours after the meetings to sing. None of these brethren are in the habit of using tobacco or liquor. They are married, legally, those who have families, and in many respects are different from the ordinary Mexican.
They have purchased a lot for twenty-five dollars United States currency, and desire to put up a small church building, to cost about one hundred fifty dollars United States money. Material can be had quite cheap, and the brethren will do a considerable part of the work themselves, but they have little or no money to give. Elder G. W. Keaser visited this company, saw their condition and need, and has been successful in raising money for this little church building, or témpio, as we call it here in this country.
We are of good courage. The outlook is good. The canvassers are having phenomenal success with the health book. Pray for us that the good work may go on in old Mexico.
Tacubaya.

South Africa

By R. C. Porter

R. C. PORTER
The latest reports from our mission stations in South Africa indicate progress far beyond our faith. Solusi Mission is our oldest station. The natives have been moving back as the white settlers have advanced. It was thought that this would soon seriously affect the attendance at their school. During our council as to the best method of advancing the interests of the work in that field, it was decided to open more out-schools. These would become feeders to the main station school.
Acting upon this recommendation, Elder M. C. Sturdevant went out into the kraals (native villages) farther back, to work up the out-school work. He succeeded in finding openings for two new schools. As the talking was done in the native language, the young people gathered around and listened intently while the plan of our school work was outlined before the village head man. In some villages the head man refused to permit the establishment of a school. In some of these places the young people at once informed him that if he refused to allow the white teacher to start a school there, they would go to the Solusi Mission school. The young people were in earnest in the matter, and soon they began to come in to the school at Solusi. Some had run away from home because their parents were unwilling for them to leave. Some of these were pursued by their parents, and returned. One mother soon came back with her daughter, saying, “I can not keep my daughter at home any longer. She cries all the time to go to the mission school.” All these attempts to keep the children away only advertised the school and brought in more.
The latest report from Elder Sturdevant states that they now have seventy-four students in attendance at the main station school, which is six more than at any previous time in the history of that station. A police officer ordered their store closed Sundays, in compliance with a Sunday law which has just been passed. It does not interfere with work on the farm. But the Lord is giving them the hearts of the young people. Their school is now full, and they do not know what they can do for other applicants.
The Nyassaland Mission is the most isolated of any in this field. A few years since, much prejudice was created there by the injudicious course of some of our mission workers toward the Ethiopian movement. The prudent policy that has since been adopted, has broken down the prejudice, and our work is now receiving strong patronage. Last year we had one main station, another station operated by white teachers, and six out-schools. We now have in addition to the two stations operated by white teachers, fourteen out-schools. The attendance at the sixteen schools in Nyassaland is over seven hundred students. Each week some applicants are now being turned away because of lack of room and facilities to receive them.
The calls come from all our other missions for an extension of their work far beyond our plans. We have held back because we did not wish to call for more men and means when we knew that other fields are more needy than ours.
The Barotseland field is opening still, and although we considered our plans large for that field, they do not meet the present demands. Three new buildings are in process of construction at Maranatha Mission to accommodate the necessities of the home station, while the field about them is begging for more laborers. The Basutoland field is opening, and while they are selling books throughout the entire field, there is a demand that permanent schools be opened. It is now planned to open a new station in North Basutoland the coming year, and provide for some boarding students at the main station. Much more is called for, but we have only planned this as a beginning of what should be. Somabula Mission is also planning to extend its work as fast as possible. Men and means are lacking to do all that should be done. We are opening a new main station far out from the Solusi station, and one in the Zulu field. We should have many more to meet the openings before us.
The canvassing work is taking a fresh start in both the colonial and native fields. It is remarkable the way the books are being sold in territory where it was supposed that our canvassers could not make a living.
The evangelical, medical, and educational work are all making steady advance. The camp-meeting has been a great spiritual uplift to the work. The meeting which was held following the Johannesburg camp-meeting resulted in the baptism of seventeen persons, and a number of others have since applied for baptism at the next opportunity. Elder D. F. Tarr reports eighteen keeping the Sabbath, and others still interested, where he is laboring in the Cape Colony Conference. Elders E. R. Williams, G. W. Shone, and D. H. Groenewald report a good interest among the Dutch at Lindley, in the Orange River Colony. Some have already accepted the truth there, and others are on the point of decision.
Our periodical workers are meeting with marked success in the sale of papers. There has come such a demand for a magazine for the accommodation of this class of our workers that a forty-eight-page quarterly has been started, called the Signs of the Times. Twelve thousand of the first issue were ordered before the magazine came from the press. The advance in all departments of our work has made necessary the issuing of the Missionary weekly in place of monthly. None of these things were contemplated until they were forced upon us as a necessity.
Claremont.

The Austrian Mission

By Dail Guy

GUY, DAIL
We have just held the last business session of the third annual meeting of the Austrian Mission. There were about sixty present, and in half an hour one thousand Austrian kroner was raised toward the Austrian educational fund. All the churches and companies of the field were represented. The spirit of liberality and love for the cause has characterized each business session, and made it a real joy to meet with our people here.
Brethren F. Gruber and J. Muth were ordained to the gospel ministry. Brother Gruber is the first native Austrian we have been able to thus set apart for the service of God. It is always our aim to secure native workers in each land we enter just as soon as we can. There are special reasons why we desire this here—for we have been already compelled to witness the government expulsion of several of our foreign workers from Austrian territory. Again, only a citizen of the country has a right to open our public meetings, and then he may call upon the foreign lecturer of the evening to speak. If the speaker uses any unwise words that cause offense, the man who opened the meeting is held responsible.
In connection with the reception of one new company of Bohemian brethren, we were interested to learn what a simple locksmith was able to do, through God's help. The brother has lost one of his eyes, and yet he has so carefully improved his time that through his efforts a new company of believers could be received at this meeting, and several others are awaiting baptism.
Another incident of God's overruling providence came to our notice: Our worker had written a lady desiring baptism as to the time she might expect him, even giving the hour of the arrival of the train at the central station. The husband, who opposed her taking this step, got the letter, and at once determined to prevent the carrying out of his wife's intentions. He secured several police officials, and took them with him to the station, intending to place the worker under arrest. However, as the train was nearing the city, the brother's coworker said: “We had better get out here at this station, and not go to the central station, at the other end of the city, for we shall then have to return to this part of the town, and will arrive too late for our appointment.” After considering the matter carefully, they got off the train before reaching the central station, and so the husband and his policemen missed the worker entirely. The sister, not having the letter, did not meet the brethren, but later went over the border, and was baptized. She has a small fruit and vegetable shop, and says she is running it entirely for the Lord, and her liberality shows this to be true.
Her husband, on finding out that our brother was not angry with him for his attempt to arrest him, is now in the city with his wife, and is attending the evening lectures with her. He asks carefully about the Bible studies and transactions of the day, which are more especially for our own people, and which only our own members are expected to attend, and they must be provided with a card authorizing their presence; for we have closed meeting only by day, while the open lectures for the public are at night.
In spite of many unpleasant experiences, our workers are of good cheer. Sometimes their meetings have been broken up by the rabble, and sometimes forbidden by the authorities. However, those things that are forbidden are often much sought after. So the fact that here the message is not accorded the same privileges in its proclamation as are granted to the so-called orthodox faith, seems only to increase the desire of many to listen. One officer, who really seems troubled in heart, said to our worker that he did not feel free to allow the lectures to continue, for they disturbed the people. The lecturer replied: “O, no, sir, we do not wish to harm the people in any way, only to do them good.” So far, the workers have been able to continue in that place.
In the present territory of the Austrian Mission (all of Austria save Bukowina, Galicia, the eastern part of Austrian Silesia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, that were cut off from the Austrian Mission Jan. 1, 1909), there are about nineteen million two hundred thousand people, and one hundred forty-two members.
During the last year there have been fifty-three additions by baptism and vote. The Austrian tithe averages over ten dollars a member annually. The future outlook is bright, and we hope soon to have more workers.
Up to the present, our labors here have been confined to the German, Czech, and Italian languages. We hope soon to carry on work among the Slovenians. This will add another tongue.
Vienna.

Report From Elder J. N. Loughborough

By John Norton Loughborough

My last report extended to the time of my arrival in Takoma Park, Washington, D. C., Oct. 11, 1909. I remained in that place until the twenty-first. In that time I held nine meetings in the Mission Seminary, the Sanitarium, and the Memorial Church. Then I went to Rochester, N. Y., and held three meetings with our people in that city, in their newly purchased church building. I was indeed pleased to see that they had so comfortable a place in which to hold services in Rochester. I first heard the third angel's message in that city, and it was there that our people first began printing on a press owned by Seventh-day Adventists—a hand-press, which, with its type, cost seven hundred dollars.
From Rochester I went to South Lancaster, Mass. Here I tarried until November 1. During that time I spoke to our people and to the students of the South Lancaster Academy nine times, at the Melrose Sanitarium to the helpers and patients three times, and at the Concord Jewish Christian Home once. From South Lancaster I went to Battle Creek, Mich. I spoke to the students in the church-school November 5, and twice on Sabbath, November 6, to good-sized gatherings of our people in the Tabernacle.
On Monday, November 8, I started on my home journey, to my daughter's, in Lodi, Cal., where I arrived at the setting of the sun at the beginning of the Sabbath, November 12, just sixteen months to a day from the time I left my California home for Australia. In that time I had traveled by sea thirty thousand miles, by railroad seventeen thousand five hundred miles. I had no sickness of any kind during the time, not even a cold sufficient to hinder me from filling every appointment. I attended five hundred eighty meetings, and preached three hundred fifty-eight times. I feel that it is indeed due to praise the Lord for his care and mercies to this poor unworthy servant.
At Lodi I found a book institute just closing, which was conducted by Brother and Sister S. N. Haskell, Sister E. G. White, and others. Here, on the Sabbath, I had the privilege of once more listening to a stirring discourse from Sister White. On Sabbath, the twentieth, I spoke to a full house of our people in Lodi, and from November 26 to December 7 I was with Brother and Sister Haskell and Brother Beddow in a book institute at Armona. Here I attended twenty-seven services, and spoke in the institute and to the intermediate school twelve times.
From the eleventh to the fifteenth I was at five of the meetings of the week of prayer in Lodi, and then was with Brother and Sister Haskell in a book institute at Healdsburg from December 17-26. Here also I was in twenty-eight services, and in eleven of these I spoke. From December 28 to January 2 I have been attending a religious liberty institute at Lodi, conducted by Brethren H. W. Cottrell, W. M. Healey, and J. O. Corliss. This has been indeed a season of refreshing and courage to this church. To the Lord be all the praise for his exceeding great love and mercies to us, is the sentiment of my heart.
J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.

Greater New York a Mission Field

By Ole Andres Olsen

The population of Greater New York is given as 4,422,685, and of this number, sixty-seven per cent, or 2,948,417, are foreigners. Just think—nearly three millions! There are only six States in the entire Union whose population is larger than this.
In this great city, forty-five nationalities are represented. Among these the Germans stand first, with an estimated number of 1,500,000. Then come the Italians, 800,000; Scandinavians, 150,000; Hungarians and French, 100,000 each; Bohemians, Slavonians, Ruthenians, Russians, Poles, and Austrians, about 440,000 altogether; and others. This does not take in Jersey City, Newark, and other neighboring cities.
Here we have three small German churches, also one Italian, with twenty members, one Bohemian-Slavish of ten members, and five Hungarian Sabbath-keepers. Aside from the Scandinavians, these represent the total number of foreign believers, among all these millions. Just note the 145 Germans out of 1,500,000, 20 Italians out of 800,000, 10 Slavonians and Bohemians out of 440,000. And what about all the others?—Not a single representative. Yes, indeed, this great city is a mission field.
What can be done, and what course of procedure is possible, to meet such conditions? One thing is evident—laborers are needed. That which seems the most feasible is to establish a training mission. There are a number of persons from these different nationalities who would be glad to enter such a mission and give themselves to labor for their own people. They are bright and intelligent, and have the truth at heart.
We must have a training mission. While these would be receiving a training under an experienced leader, they would at the same time be putting forth missionary effort in the city among their own people. During a part of the day they would be receiving instruction, and another part be engaged in selling, lending, and distributing literature, making visits, giving Bible readings, and inviting people to the meetings. All this is practical indeed. But this can not be carried out without funds to meet the expense, and the Greater New York Conference is not prepared to meet this need. Therefore, we ask to be remembered by those whose hearts God has stirred up to help us.
Another urgent need is the development of literature presenting truth in the various languages. In some of the foreign tongues we have a fair supply, but in others we have very little, or nothing. This will also require means.
Thus means becomes one of the first requisites for the advancement of the message among the thousands and millions of foreigners in our country. We need money with which to open training missions. We need it with which to secure places for meeting where we can gather the people and present the truth to them. We need it with which to get literature, the need of which is imperative. So we make an urgent appeal for money in behalf of this effort, and we earnestly pray that the Spirit of the Lord will move on some hearts to render help. All that has been spoken and written by the servant of the Lord, Sister E. G. White, on the importance of labor in the large cities, backs up this appeal; for, as already shown, the larger portion of the population of our most populous cities consists of foreigners.
We invite any on whose heart the Spirit of the Lord moves to help this foreign department, to send such contribution to the treasurer of the General Conference, Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C., or to his own conference treasurer, who will forward it to the General Conference. But in each case, please mention the fact that the donation is for this foreign work in the home field, so that proper credit may be given. We shall await with special interest the response, because the work to be done is most urgent.
O. A. OLSEN.
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