In Europe While at War
By L. R. Conradi
Advancement in Spite of Fighting President European Division Conference WHEN the war broke out, I was attending a general meeting in London. At once I left for Hamburg, which required some two days and more to reach. This sudden outbreak of hostilities caused us no little anxiety; for our European Division Conference takes in all the countries on the continent that are involved in the conflict, stretching from England to eastern Siberia on the north, and from France to Turkey in Asia on the south, while in Egypt, Algeria, German and British East Africa, and West Africa, our missions are located.611 As soon as possible, our secretary was sent to The Hague, Holland, that he might get into correspondence with our African missions, and little by little pick up the broken threads. He has been partially successful, in that he has heard from some of the missionaries. While in Basel, Switzerland, recently, I called upon one of the directors of the Basel Mission Society, one of the oldest and largest on the continent. He gave me a sad picture of how their missionaries have suffered through this war. He said that of the four hundred missionaries, more than half are interned in camps, having been removed from their mission stations. In many instances, this left these stations without shepherds in the way of white teachers to oversee the work. No doubt the same experience has come to many of our missionaries. We have learned that one of our faithful missionaries in East Africa was shot November last. In spite of the troubled condition in our field, advancement has been made, and substantial gains in membership reported. We are of good courage in God.