First Foreign Mission Band at Union College by MRS. IDA FISCHER CARNAHAN

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 16, 1915

First Foreign Mission Band at Union College

By MRS. IDA FISCHER CARNAHAN

EARLY in the fall of 1892 I entered Union College (Nebraska), a stranger to all except one young woman who had attended Battle Creek College while I was there.

It was my good fortune to have a room on the third floor of South Hall, the ladies' dormitory, opposite the room of Miss Anna Jeffries (now Mrs. Guy Dail) and Miss Bertha Shanks (now Mrs. F. L. Chaney, of the Australasian Union Conference).

A strong friendship developed between Miss Jeffries and me, and often in our spare moments we exchanged our ideas and plans for future work. Having felt a burden for the Spanish-speaking people since a child of twelve years of age, and having this interest increased through the field studies of Mexico in our Foreign Mission Band at Battle Creek College, I often talked with Miss Jeffries of the foreign work.

As the result of our talks Miss Jeffries and I decided to meet every Sabbath morning after preaching service and before dinner, and spend that hour in seeking God, that he would lay the burden upon some in that school for the foreign fields, and if he could use us, to give us a thorough preparation for our work. Little by little we invited others to join us, restricting the number to those who

were especially interested and who looked forward, should the call come, to work in the foreign fields.

In a little while our rooms would not hold those who joined us. We then requested permission of the preceptress to use the ladies' parlor. This was gladly given us. By this time the work and interest had grown so that we were forced to band ourselves together in a society. Officers were elected, and a pledge was drawn up. Those who applied for admittance into the band were not young women who were moved by sudden impulse or by the excitement of the hour. They were stanch, loyal Christians, who seemed to sense what such a call would mean should it come to them. In the pledge there was no reserve; it was a giving up of all.

As I look back over that faithful little band, some of whom have been on the frontier for years, I believe the sacrifice was made then and there, and they knew what it meant when their names were attached to the pledge. "To go when and where God would call them."

After the ladies' band was fully organized the gentlemen students organized their band, with Mr. C. H. Parker, who has spent so many years in the Fiji Islands, as its first president.

These bands continued to meet in separate halls, with an occasional joint meeting by permission of the president of the school. The meetings were not public meetings. In fact, one of the principal objects of these separate sessions was to exclude the element that would hinder the free intercourse of the Spirit of God. Then, too, it was a home mission band. The cases of non-Christians, backsliders, and any one that needed help were taken up, talked over, and the best methods discussed of working with such to bring them to Christ. Often some one would volunteer to take such a one under her special care, and do personal work with her. The members were active, and needy cases were reported every week.

The work went on, and soon its influence began to be felt in the school. Backsliders were reclaimed, and others who never had been converted took their stand. Some who were indifferent began to examine themselves and to seek a closer walk with God.

A few of the consecrated students outside of the homes began to seek admission. This was done by giving their names to a member of the society. These names were carefully and prayerfully considered by the committee, which, after earnestly seeking God, passed upon them. The committee reported to the band, and before the vote was taken, we earnestly sought God for wisdom in deciding whether to admit them. In a few cases it seemed best not to do so.

In the outline studies of the different fields, every member, no matter how busy, not only felt it a duty but a privilege to be prepared to take part from week to week.

One of the prominent features of the work of these bands was the doing of the work at our doors. We all felt that if we could not save the souls right around us, we were mistaken in our call to regions beyond. At first this work was considered and looked upon with suspicion, but from time to time, as different members of the faculty entered the room and watched the results, they, too, felt that it was born of God. It was only a few prayers of two consecrated young women in their room during the hour which is often called an off hour, but the results have been felt, and are being felt, in some of the most distant parts of the world. Earnest men and women are now on the firing line, and are as loyal and true to this message still as the day they pledged themselves to the work which has become a very part of their being, their life, their all.

Personally, as I review the past,—the experience gained during those years of association with the loyal members of the Union College Foreign Mission Band and the work done,—I feel that it was God's means of awakening and preparing the young people for the work which is now closing so rapidly.

The definite aim of its members, and the realization that they had laid all upon the altar, and were ready, at God's call, to go forth as an army in his service, helped each one of us in our daily life and in school work, and gave us prevailing power with God in seeking a preparation from above for service for all mankind.

MRS. IDA FISCHER CARNAHAN.