p. 17 | Open Doors

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 14, 1907

Open Doors

THE following is from Brother Robert Caldwell, who in the past two years has sold our books in Singapore, Malay Peninsula, Siam, Philippine Islands, China, and Formosa, and is now in Japan:—

“It is now about two years since the first contingent of workers left Australia for the great island field. At times it has looked as if the work was too great. Then the scattered nature of the field and the scarcity of workers almost overwhelmed one. It truly is a stupendous task, but praise God, we have a stupendous power behind it all.”

“The need of New Guinea and Celebes speaks volumes in itself. Alone and neglected, at the mercy of the traders, the people are truly waiting for deliverance. The island of Java must be entered soon, not simply to touch it, but to work the whole length and breadth of it. Think of it, only half as large again as Tasmania, yet packed with six times as many people as the whole of Australasia. The Federated Malay States have laborers

of several societies working therein, teaching the people the best they can. The island of Penang, about four hundred miles north of Singapore, is a good place to locate a worker. There are upward of one thousand Europeans in Georgetown. The total population is about two million, including Province Wellesley, which is directly opposite, on the mainland of the peninsula.”

“About five days’ sail from Singapore lies Siam, unentered. This country has over six million souls. The Siamese are not at all an unlikely people to receive the gospel. Naturally they strike me as being more favorable to work with than either the Malays or Filipinos. The American Presbyterian Mission has several schools there, also a printing-press. These are located in Bankok. They have also penetrated into the interior.”

“There are over six hundred miles of railroad in this great foreign land. Four days’ journey from Singapore the Philippines are found. This is a field that demands the best we can do. It is not very long since the Protestant societies first entered it. The people here are very anxious to learn. There are over three hundred thousand in attendance at the public schools, learning English. Night-schools are conducted for those who work during the day. The Filipinos are a bright people, and can be readily influenced, as they are not so stern and cold as their Mohammedan relatives in Malaysia.”

“One of the most urgent needs is some one of experience to open up the health food work. Among the Americans are many who are waiting for these products. We need to advance rapidly in the Philippines, as America, the fatherland of religious liberty, under whose hand these islands lie, is to be the parent of persecution also, which will be felt in the Philippines before other parts of our mission territory are affected. It would be wise to ascertain what language of the group has the most literature, and is the most widely spoken; then let some workers go ahead and learn it so that in the near future some other point of this group could be stationed with strong outposts.”

“In closing, I may state my conviction that one of the best methods of sowing the truth among these numerous islands, is by means of the printed page, perhaps not so much by the subscription books as by smaller literature. Tracts and pamphlets should be put out as soon as possible in the principal dialects. In circulating English literature the native population is almost wholly unreached, as few can read English; also, these can not afford to pay the price of this literature.”