Notes From the Foreign Mission Seminary

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 25, 1912

Notes From the Foreign Mission Seminary

BEFORE leaving for West Africa, Prof. T. M. French gave a series of lectures to the Seminary students on the conditions existing in that field, and on the advancement of the third angel's message there. A brief digest follows:—

In West Africa there are three religious powers struggling for supremacy: Paganism, Mohammedanism, and Christianity.

Paganism, or heathenism, manifests itself in what is known as fetishism, the worship of spirits. The heathen believe that the spirits reside in some person or object, or are connected with them in some distinct way. When a person is sick, he is said to be possessed with a witch. The witch-doctor is immediately called, and he attributes the blame to one or more of the neighbors, some of whom are often killed. These people are conscious of a power greater than man or nature, and they believe this power to be either above the earth or beneath the water.

The Mohammedans have the strongest hold in West Africa, and are zealous in their missionary enterprise, often winning whole villages to their cause. But Islam, instead of regenerating the heart, makes the convert a fanatical Moslem. He forsakes his heathen customs, but becomes more firmly established in immorality. He is then almost immune from the influence of Christianity.

We can not emphasize too strongly the necessity of giving the message to these people before they are under the power of Islam. Many of them are looking for light, and they listen with eagerness to the story of Jesus. They are ignorant, but by no means lack the ability to learn; for they have intellects that are readily developed. They appreciate as much as any people the gospel of Christ.

Our work is meeting with marked success along the Coast. Since it was opened there in 1906 by Elder D. C. Babcock, three churches, with a total membership of one hundred eighty-two, have been organized. Besides these there are three unorganized companies, which raise the number of Sabbath-keepers on the West Coast to two hundred thirty-three.

But this means that we have simply opened the door to the work in West Africa. “Sierra Leone,” said Professor French, “is the gateway to the heart of West Africa.” We have gone through the gate, but beyond lies the vast interior, barely touched.

THE ingenuity of many a foreign missionary has been put to its greatest stretch, perhaps, when a native has come for relief from the tortures of toothache That the missionaries going from the Seminary in the future may be fully prepared for such cases, a class in elementary dentistry has been organized. The instructor, Dr. D. D. Beekman, is a dentist of long experience, and holds a position as teacher in the George Washington University. The class meets once a week. Work is done on volunteer patients, then a lecture is given. The students are given a practical share in the work, and are making encouraging progress.