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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 27, 1916

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 93, No. 37.

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South Africa

By GEORGE R. E. MC NAY

GEORGE R. E. MC NAY
SINCE OUR arrival in South Africa, we have held two series of tent meetings. God blessed our feeble efforts, and thirteen persons have been baptized, and six or seven others are nearly ready for the next baptismal service. The second tent effort was held at the beginning of the rainy season; and how it did rain! During that effort we had but five or six clear evenings, so not much fruit was gathered, but the meetings helped some who had not taken their stand for the truth in the first effort. We are planning on pitching the tent again in a few days, and starting meetings April 30.
Between tent series I have been holding cottage meetings and Sunday night hall efforts, and some good has been done. One night each week was devoted to a service in the Berea Health Institute, which is operated by Brother and Sister Blaine.
My throat has been giving me much trouble since coming here, and I have had a cold or bronchitis or influenza almost continually. I am told that this is caused by the change of climate. However, my tonsils were greatly enlarged, so I had them removed, March 27, by Dr. Hankins, at the Health Institute. The institute being crowded, I made my preparation for the operation in the room of a patient, Mr. Odendaal, a Dutchman, or Boer, who had arrived the day before, helpless with rheumatism. When the doctor gave me the hypodermic, I fainted in the room, but was soon taken to the operating-room. When I was able, I returned to Mr. Odendaal's room for the things I had left there. He asked what my work was, and when I told him, he said that he was an unbeliever.
On the fifth of April, accompanied by Sister Blaine, I visited him again. Mr. Odendaal asked about my faith in Christ, and said that for twenty years he had had no faith in Christ, though he believed in some Being who controlled in the affairs of man. During all these years he had prayed to the Being he could imagine, but could not learn of, and his prayer had always been for light and understanding of God's character and for a knowledge of what the future had in store. Only the previous night he had prayed in agony until after midnight, that that Power or Being would give him light and relieve him from the terrible burden which had been crushing him the past twenty years.
He said that he was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church, but could not understand, or believe in, the God they preached. He could not believe that a loving, omniscient God could permit beings to come into this world only to burn them in a lake of fire throughout eternity.He supposed, because his ministers told him so, that the Bible presented just such a God and such a place of torment, and felt that he could not consistently believe in Christ, who was said to be a Saviour from that place of torment. Consequently he had had no God to trust in, and had become reckless and even blasphemous in his language.
In a few words I asked him if he could harmonize his conception of God with One who permitted sin that the character of Satan might be revealed to the universe, and characters be developed in angels and human beings; and who would finally destroy Satan and sinners, leaving only those who had perfected characters to live with God and Jesus throughout eternity. He was lying in bed in pain, but as I spoke these few words to show God's true purpose, the expression of his countenance changed, and he buried his face in his hands and broke down in weeping. He reached up his hand toward the ceiling and said, "Now I begin to see the light that I have been praying for for twenty years." Then I went into the matter more in detail, and he was a changed man. That day he gave his heart to his new-found Friend and Saviour, and his whole life and ambition have changed. From a boisterous, swearing, godless man he has become a humble, spiritual, God-fearing, and loving child who wants to talk always of his new joy and hope.
He is a man of wealth, owning many large and valuable farms, but he told me that because of his unbelief he had taken no pleasure in his possessions. He said that he had hated "parsons" because he had decided they were liars in preaching the popular "hell," and he had hated me because I was a "parson." When I fainted in his room, he thought, "The sooner he goes to heaven, the better."
When I came to visit him on April 5, he hated me, and would have ordered me out of the room but for his respect for Sister Blaine, who had ushered me in. Now his hate has turned to love. I have had various experiences with people as the truth came to them, but never one quite so striking. Without my suggesting it, he has quit smoking.
Mr. Odendaal has been reading intensely, and I have been studying with him almost daily, and he has eagerly accepted the truth and is anxious for baptism. He kept his first Sabbath the third day after he received the first light. He is gifted in writing poetry, in debate, etc., and says that not another line will he write but for the furtherance of this cause which has brought him freedom. His means also, he says, will hereafter be spent in the furtherance of this message. He is certain of opposition and persecution when he returns home.
The other day this man wrote a poem concerning his experiences and his expectations for the future. The poem follows:—
“Praise God!
“Praise God! Praise God! ’Tis all so plain, My heart with praise is filled, My soul with gratitude abounds!— Nor can that joy be stilled.
“A disbeliever have I been; I tried but could not see (Although I knew a God there is) Why Christ had died for me.
“For God was love, almighty too, Omniscient; so could he Create man for eternal hell Premeditatedly?
“For twenty years, all seemingly, I prayed, implored in vain; ‘Reveal, O God, the truth to me!’ But prayers brought me no gain.
“A chastised soul for twenty years, A struggling soul for peace! In vain! in vain! No peace was there. I wished that life would cease.
“I prayed,—my prayers apparently Went to the winds in vain,— ‘Reveal, O God, the truth to me!’ My prayers brought me no gain.
“Afflicted mentally was I, My body worn by pain; I writhed and cursed in agony At times, then prayed again.
“And at an institute of health, Three hundred miles away From home, I found myself at last; I’ll ne’er forget that stay.
“Berea institute of health— There God revealed to me The truth,—sweet life eternal, free For all, for even me!
“I do believe, I now believe, That Jesus died for me, That on the cross his blessed blood Was shed to set all free.
“Praise God! Praise God! His purpose now I see; with praise I’m filled; My soul with gratitude abounds; Nor can that joy be stilled.”
Such experiences as the preceding cannot help but inspire the worker who witnesses them with a stronger determination to hasten to tell others who may be in darkness, of the true character and love of God and Christ. Our courage in God is good, and though the people among whom we labor seem indifferent and self-satisfied, we are expecting great things from God, and will attempt much for him.
Mrs. McNay joins in greetings to those in the homeland.