Java, Dutch East Indies
By G. F. JONES
AFTER organizing Java’s first church, in the city of Batavia, I proceeded to east Java, where the work was begun about seven years ago in the city of Surabaya; but as the health of the workers could not endure this unhealthful climate and several were obliged to return to Australia, the work there did not take root, and there was nothing established. This condition of things made it necessary for the Australasian Union Conference to buy some mountain property for a rest home for the workers of Java, who have been spending their time there more or less ever since, and working the Javanese villages all around them. Since the Javanese are Mohammedans, very little headway can be made among them; but there have been small results which I believe will be the entering wedge of a great work among the many millions of Javanese. It has been slow and trying; nevertheless, seed has been sown, and some fruit has at last appeared. I had the pleasure of baptizing the first two Javanese, one of whom is a young man of promise, who is now working with Brother and Sister G. A. Wood in the city of Surabaya. Our workers there who have stood by the work in this difficult field for years rejoice in this rift in the clouds. As surely as China and Korea have awakened to a desire for advanced knowledge through conditions which have been pressed upon them, so the oppressed millions of Java see that their day is soon coming when they will throw off the chafing yoke that binds them in ignorance and political bondage. Sister P. Tunheim and Brother and Sister Wood are our pioneer workers among the Javanese, and know their difficult language. Their loving patience and gentleness with them have gained the confidence of the villagers among whom they have labored so long. In Surabaya I organized a church of nine members. It seemed like the dawn of a new day to have our work established even in so small a degree in that difficult city, after seven years of apparent defeats and disappointments. Satan hates any organized movement of our message. Since the organization of this little church, our consecrated workers in Surabaya have taken courage anew. They already see progress, and report a new interest. Those who are working in Mohammedan Java certainly need our prayers.