p. 14 | A Christian Colony in the Himalayas

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 22, 1909

A Christian Colony in the Himalayas

There is a place in India that stands as a perpetual memorial to the fact that God hears prayer. It is three miles from the border of the “sealed land” of Tibet, in the heart of the Himalaya Mountains. It contains three thousand acres of land, and is owned by the American Himalayan Christian Colony (undenominational), incorporated under the laws of the State of Illinois. Gorham Tufts is the founder and head of the colony.

This land was purchased through prayer, and is maintained and all its departments kept going by prayer. Yet they are not visionaries, these men and women who compose this colony of Christian missionary farmers. Nothing could be more practical than their plans and their manner of carrying them out. The work is divided into different departments, that is, training-school, village work, orphanage, and the industrial department. The last mentioned has several subdivisions, and is considered of great importance. Dissatisfaction is often occasioned by the idleness and inefficiency of the Christianized natives of foreign lands. “What to do with the converts” has become a problem. The Himalayan colony has been enabled partially to solve this problem by putting its converts to work. “Labor is honorable, and idleness a disgrace to any people,” is the teaching given to both adult converts and the children in the orphanage. The climatic and agricultural conditions are almost perfect. The soil is adapted to nearly all fruits, vegetables, and grains. Already there are sugar-cane, rice, wheat, and barley under cultivation. Cattle, sheep, and goats are being raised by the colony, and the dairy products find a ready market.

Mr. Tufts and his associates believe that native teachers are destined to be an important aid in the evangelization of India. They thoroughly understand the people; they know the language, are acclimated, and can be supported at little cost.

All the needs of the Christian colony have thus far been supplied by voluntary contributions.—The Christian Herald.