Off for the Mission Field
By M. E. Olsen
The students' prayer and social meeting at the Foreign Mission Seminary on last Friday evening took the form of a farewell gathering for six members of the school family, who are now on their way to the regions beyond; namely, Brother and Sister F. S. Bolton, who are bound for the West Coast of Africa, and Brother and Sister J. D. Lorenz, Miss Nora Davis, and Miss Maud Carner, who sail for South America. The meeting opened as usual with the singing of several stirring hymns, after which Elder A. G. Daniells offered prayer. Brief remarks were made by several speakers from the stand, and cheering testimonies were borne by teachers and students. The foreign mission atmosphere was marked. The principal, Prof. M. E. Kern, struck the distinctive note of the Foreign Mission Seminary in his opening words. Other schools, he said, have their commencement exercises at the close of the school year; but the Seminary celebrates commencement when any members of its family, responding to the calls of the needy millions, start for a mission field. Elder N. Z. Town rehearsed briefly the recent developments in South America, which has been rightly called the land of opportunity, and assured those who are going to that field that they would be warmly welcomed by the heavily burdened workers already in that field who have been calling for help. Elder T. M. French, who has just returned from the Gold Coast, after sustaining the loss of his companion, spoke feelingly of the conditions in that field, and the rich opportunities it offers the gospel worker. Elder W. A. Spicer, in a few pregnant words, brought the great world-mission field before our eyes, and put the question squarely before us: What are you going to do about it? Surely there can be but one answer. A people holding the solemn truths entrusted to us must be a world-missionary people. With open doors on every hand, and urgent calls from many of the darkest places, how can we do otherwise than carry to them the tidings of a soon-coming Saviour? Following the remarks by Brother Spicer, the students who were leaving gave their personal testimonies. Angels of God hovered near, and there were few dry eyes in the room as these young men and women, in the prime of life, dedicated themselves to this service. And the scene was the more impressive because there were many others who knew that their turn would soon come, and who longed for it to come. It is one thing to be willing to go to a foreign16field. It is another thing to have the heart fixed upon a certain field, to be studying that field, praying for it, and earnestly fitting one's self to enter it. Any one present that evening must have been impressed with the advantage of having an educational institution where the one overmastering thought is a preparation for the mission field. These young people have not been in the Seminary for a long time, but they have been here long enough to become acquainted with the leading members of the Foreign Mission Board and with their instructors, and to get a good start in the study of their field; also to review important Bible truths in the Bible and history classes, and in some cases to study the languages, customs, and religions of the peoples among whom they are to labor. Thus they go to their field at a great advantage, both in respect to the conditions they will meet there and in respect to the instructions that may be sent them from the headquarters here. Their acquaintance with conditions here, and the instruction they have received in the various lectures given by our leading brethren, will enable them in times of crisis to act far more intelligently and with greater confidence than they otherwise could. As one of the instructors at the Seminary, I feel sure that many earnest prayers will follow these young people to their fields of labor. We have enjoyed having them in our classes for a time, and we hope that their places here will be filled by other young men and women, in all the strength and glory of young manhood and womanhood, who feel that they ought to carry this gospel to the millions who sit in darkness. May there be many of them! M. E. OLSEN.