Bombay, India by GEO. F. ENOCH

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 1, 1912

Bombay, India

By GEO. F. ENOCH

GEO. F. ENOCH

LATELY we have been on the move. The death of our little boy has been a very sad experience for us,— the saddest of all our lives,— and it almost incapacitated us for over two months. As none of us had felt well at Panvel, our committee concluded that the bungalow there was not an advisable residence; so while staying by the station and the work already opened, they thought best to advise me to locate my family elsewhere, until we should build our own bungalow. As we were not certain as to the best place in the district selected for the building of the bungalow, we have purchased a tent, and plan to tour this cool season among the villages. After this we can decide where we want our bungalow.

Brother and Sister A. G. Kelsey are nicely located at Lonavla, in the Bhor Ghat, where the railway to Poona and Madras crosses the Western Ghats [mountains; also a pass through a mountain range]. This is at the head of the valley we have occupied, and is a healthful location. For two years there has been an interest among the English railway people there. I had the pleasure of baptizing four sisters Nov. 26, 1911, and we hope soon to organize a little church at that place.

Our main mission station is Panvel, thirty miles nearer Bombay, a town of nearly ten thousand inhabitants, situated on the Bombay-Poona main wagon road. There are more than three hundred villages in our district and about two hundred thousand people. We have two schools in Panvel,— a boys' school with an enrolment of thirty-five, and a girls' school with twenty-five pupils. There are other calls for schools which we hope to give attention to in the near future. There are two native evangelists who daily preach in the villages and sell literature, chiefly Gospels. The people have treated us and our workers well the past year, and we have a sympathetic hearing for the gospel message. In India we must clear the land before we can even plow for planting, and it takes time for fruit to appear.

I returned from Mussoorie a month before Mrs. Enoch and Pearl came home, so as to get matters in shape. As Bombay and Panvel are only across the bay from each other, with a daily steamer, to hire a bungalow in Bombay was the best thing to do. At the time it seemed to me to be one year too early, as we were not expecting the English evangelist until next year, but I decided after earnest prayer that if a place opened up we would come. I am glad to say that we found a very good place, much better than we had hoped; so I closed the contract and we moved here.

Just after I had closed the deal, I received the letter saying two evangelists were coming in February, so it seemed providential; for surely one of the two can be spared for Bombay.

We are getting hold of the ropes and anxiously awaiting the coming of a minister and a Bible worker. We will then swing into a big effort for Bombay, and trust and pray for such an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that a good church, representative both of European and native, will be established in this great metropolis for West India.

We also have interests in Lonavla, Poona, and Ahmadabad, which we hope to develop as fast as possible when the reenforcements arrive.

We are looking forward with pleasure to the coming of the new workers. Dr. Mann and his family arrived all well, and after spending a short time here, left for Lucknow.

We are just recovering from the first sight of royalty. Bombay put on its best in parades, illuminations, fireworks, enormous crowds, etc., and we saw a real king and queen. [This was when King George and Queen Mary of England visited the East to be crowned emperor and empress of India.]