Our Java Mission by G. E. TEASDALE

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 13, 1908

Our Java Mission

By G. E. TEASDALE

G. E. TEASDALE

We have now been in Java about one year. Every month of the year has been full of interesting experiences, pleasant and otherwise.

The feeling of strangeness which possesses one when trying to settle in a new country has long since left us, and now we look upon scenes with a familiar eye, which at first excited either our admiration or our disgust. The days and weeks go by, also the months, and the times when the seasons should recur, with but little change in the climatic conditions. Every day is hot, and if nature does vary in her routine a little, it is to sandwich in occasionally a day or two still hotter. At first our physical systems, which had been accustomed to the sudden and great changes of temperature in other countries, refused to notice slight variations; but now if the thermometer stands at seventy-six degrees (summer heat) in the early morning, we feel quite cold. For several months there has been but little rain. The sun’s rays have been a little more intense than usual; but the disagreeable feeling of stickiness characteristic of hot, humid climates has not been so evident. The greetings so common in the colonies, such as, “Nice day this,” or “Unpleasant weather we are having,” are unknown here. The Dutch Indian makes no comment about the weather; he knows but one kind. Java is an ideal country for the person who longs for continual summer; and, indeed, the climate is beautiful, if the human system would only be satisfied to have everything pleasant in the way of weather, and did not pine for the cold and wind and disagreeable winters which obtain in other less favored countries. Long centuries have accustomed our frames to severe climatic aberrations, and they resent a change in the habits of the year, although that change may be for their own comfort.

The cities of Java are its great drawback from a health standpoint. For several months fever has been raging here, and is still carrying its victims to the grave by the score, and will continue to do so until the rains come and soak the malarial germs so that they can not be wafted about by every gust of wind. Because of the unsanitary condition of the city, the portion of the year which would otherwise be the most healthful and enjoyable witnesses the untimely death of hundreds of persons. We thought that by careful living and attention to the laws of health we surely should escape the fever, and were feeling quite pleased because the season was nearly gone, and not one of our family had been attacked. In this we were doomed to disappointment, for in the course of two or three days, three of the strongest members of our home were down with it, and the attack is by no means a light one. The disease is no respecter of persons, neither does it pay much attention to the modes of living of its victims so long as they choose to reside in localities where the germ has its native vigor. All it requires is a weak spot in the internal organism where it can find a lodgment for a few hours, and an opportunity to propagate its species.

The Dutch are in many respects wise rulers, and they provide in Java a degree of safety to life and property which is far in advance of many of the more civilized countries of Europe. The natives are generally satisfied and respectful, and there is but little apparent suffering among them. Of course in a country less than half the size of New Zealand, with the enormous population of thirty millions dependent upon the products of the soil for their sustenance, one can readily understand that there is but a small margin between millions of them and starvation. Ten cents a day is all that many of them get to sustain life, and a slight shortage of crops would easily deprive them of that; but such is the fertility of the soil and the reliability of the rainfall that but seldom are there famines of serious magnitude.

Like most of the Old World countries, the Dutch still retain some of their religio-political principles in the government, which are detrimental to both pure religion and good politics, besides placing the government in very foolish positions at times. When a missionary comes to this country to work for the moral good of the millions of inhabitants who know nothing of the principles of Christianity, he is compelled by the law to make requests and go through a form which takes at least six months to consummate, during which time he is supposed to be doing nothing, or at most perfecting his stock of patience. After considerable writing, and having undergone careful examinations, he is tardily supplied with a permit to work in some particular locality, and also permission is given to reside permanently in the “Insulinde.” Each letter written or received has to be paid for at the rate of two shillings and sixpence, and at least four have to be exchanged for each worker. Of course this is but an incident, and is not to be considered in comparison with the innumerable benefits which we enjoy under a strong and just government. On the other hand, the Japanese, ever on the alert, stock the cities with hundreds of women for immoral purposes without any inconvenient question from the government. The state also supports a church; but, like a

pet that is always carried by an unnatural nurse, it lacks that vitality which it would have had had it remained dependent upon its natural Father, who alone can breathe into the church the breath of life. The Catholic Church has taken advantage of this, and having appealed to the sense of fairness characteristic of the Dutch, has succeeded in burdening the state with another parasite.

One of the many evidences we have that our work is of the Lord, and that it is his will the message of the coming kingdom be proclaimed in every place, is the marvelous way in which he has “gone before.” Even in this country we find isolated persons keeping the true Sabbath, and waiting for the establishment of the kingdom of glory. That they should be doing this as the result of a careful study of God’s Word alone, should not surprise us. The wonder is that many others, undoubtedly sincere and devout, are not doing the same. Why they are not doing so is because the majority of Christians approach the Word with a mind already warped and prejudiced by preconceived ideas.

Miss Jansz, of whom you have already heard, has an interesting mission among the Javanese, quite a number of whom keep the Sabbath with her, and look for the second coming of Christ. She is undoubtedly doing a noble and self-sacrificing work among the poorer class of natives in the community where her mission is established. Our work, until now, has been chiefly of a preparatory nature, becoming acquainted with the people and endeavoring to learn the languages. We have also several Dutch pupils who are learning the English language, and a class of Chinese young men. Wherever we go, there are many young Chinamen earnestly trying to acquire a knowledge of English, and they are willing to pay a good price to any one who can teach them. But few of these have learned Dutch, although it is the official language of their adopted country. They have a premonition that sometime soon the Dutch possessions in the East will fall into the hands of either the Japanese or the English. In either case a knowledge of the English language will be of more use to them than Dutch, for even now a Dutchman will not speak to a Chinaman or to a native in the Dutch language. The Dutch have adopted a short-sighted policy in not cementing to themselves the good-will of the influential Chinese population by offering them liberal educational advantages, and encouraging them to learn and speak the language. Instead of this they place upon them many irksome and humiliating governmental restrictions. Since the metamorphosis of Japan and its advent as a world-power, the Chinese in Java have been manifesting some discontent with their lot, and it is thought, or feared, that this is fomented and encouraged by secret emissaries from Japan. However this may be, there is a general feeling, almost prophetic, that the East is to act an important part in a bitter international struggle, for which the great nations are feverishly preparing.

Sourabaya.