Good News from a Far Country by Petra Tunheim

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D.C. · Aug 17, 1916

Good News from a Far Country

By Petra Tunheim

PETRA TUNHEIM

During my twelve-month furlough I have had quite a number of letters from my far-away mission field. They have brought great joy to my heart, and hoping they will bring as much to you, I give some of the contents of a few.

Brother F. A. Detamore, the superintendent of our Malaysian Mission, writes me of the great awakening in Borneo, where he had been visiting recently. He says it is wonderful how the message is going. “We can hardly keep pace with it. At Sarawak, the place where Brother R. P. Montgomery was not able to work on account of his health, there are about forty who have begun to keep the Sabbath. We are urging a Chinese dentist to go there and practice. His wife, who is a Bible worker, can instruct the believers, so they will become established in the faith. Then I will go over and baptize them.”

At another place not so very far from Singapore there are fifteen or twenty who have begun to obey the message.

We have in Singapore a young Chinaman who has gone around to many different islands with our literature, especially taking subscriptions for the Chinese Signs of the Times. The result is that there are many Sabbath keepers in the different places where he has faithfully sown the seed.

Sister G. A. Wood writes me from the East Java Mission: “A boy came here about a month ago from Timor, who has been receiving the Messenger of Truth from you. He was a teacher in a government school, but left his position, as he could not keep the Sabbath. He came here in a small boat, for the purpose of learning more about the truth. His plan was then to go back and tell his people what he had learned. He has been staying with us, and has shown himself a bright and earnest pupil. Now he has decided to go to school, so he will leave for Singapore, all being well, next Friday. Just now he is busy making some clothes for himself, so you see he is quite handy. He wants to work his way through school. That is what usually makes men out of boys; but we shall be glad to help him some, if he should need it. It will rejoice your heart to hear that the paper is doing some good, and I know you will unite with us in praying for this boy, that he may be sincere, and be able to return to his own land to give the message there.”

Will not you who read this good news unite in prayer for this young man?

Before I left Java I had several letters from him, stating that he wanted to obey the truth. Now we see that the seed was sown in good ground and has sprung up. Oh, what a precious message!

When it first enters the heart, with its sweet, convincing influence and impressive power, it brings a perfume of heavenly joy and love, and an atmosphere of peace. When such a message comes to a man or woman, whether the skin is black or white, brown or yellow, the first thought is to give it to others.

Let us seek the Lord earnestly, that we may be brought back to our “first love.”

Sister Pauline Hoeke, one of our first Sabbath keepers in eastern Java, writes me: “Sister Wood and I canvass the people twice a week. In many homes they accept the literature. We also lend them tracts. It was through such work as this that I was brought into the truth. We also canvass Grisseesche Weg, the place where we were living when you came and lent us tracts and held readings with us. We also have Bible studies in the home of one of my friends, and now we have begun to study the Sabbath question. This lady says she tries to keep that day holy. Dear Sister Tunheim, remember us in your prayers.”

If you could have seen Pauline when I first went to that home, and see her now, you would say, with the prophet of old, “What hath God wrought!” Pauline’s mother had been a Spiritualist medium for years, and constantly held communication with the spirit world, until finally the power of God’s Holy Word convinced her that it was all Satan’s work. Pauline was a stubborn girl, and had no desire for anything religious, or for anything that pertained to godliness. Her parents made her come in to the studies, and in anger she would turn her back to me while I gave the reading. We prayed earnestly for the power of the Holy Spirit to touch and melt this hard heart, and our prayers were quickly answered. Pauline attended school in Australia for five years, and now she has a part in the work.

Sister Duckworth, of western Java, sends a message of joy and courage: “You will be glad to hear that Brother Tan Ek Yoe has gained a complete victory over the opium habit. He was very ill one day last week, and they really thought he would die; but his faith was strong, and he was quite well the next day, and now looks the picture of health. He came to Sabbath school last week, and we all joined in thanking God for his goodness to the returned prodigal.”

This man is sixty-eight years old; and another one, Nicodemus, at the age of sixty-three, has also gained the victory over opium. These two old men have spent nearly half their lives in the opium dens, but now, through divine power, they have gained a victory which has given them comfort, joy, and hope.

Sister Tan Ek Yoe writes me about a heathen man who was a slave to opium. She helped him to get into a hospital for opium slaves. He gained the victory over the habit, and his gratitude to Sister Ek Yoe for helping him led him to study the Bible with her, and he finally accepted the whole message with earnestness and joy. The last mail brought the news that this man had just been baptized.