Experiences in Medical Missions
AN English woman—a physician—has just returned from a period of service in Burma as a missionary. She relates one incident that is characteristic, not alone of the natives among whom she labored, but of idol-worshiping people everywhere. When she arrived at her station in Burma the missionary found that cholera was making great ravages among the people. Deaths were occurring almost hourly, and the residents of the town seemed to be in utter despair. The missionary immediately made a house-to-house canvass of certain parts of the town, during which she gave advice as to the treatment of cholera patients and, wherever there was sickness, she left medicine. Within a short time she had effected an unusual number of cures. She then went to other villages and towns of the district and treated the inhabitants of those places. She was absent from her headquarters for some time and when she finally returned was surprised to be greeted by the village headsman. “Teacher,” he said, “we have come over to your side. The medicine that you gave us did us so much good and resulted in the saving of so many lives that we have decided to accept your God. We can not afford not to ally ourselves with a deity that is so all-powerful.” The missionary, of course, was much encouraged by these words, and when the headsman suggested that she accompany him to his home for worship, she readily consented to go. He took her at once into the room of the house set aside for religious purposes and pointing toward a shelf, declared: “There is the evidence of our devotion.” On the shelf were arrayed the bottles that had contained the medicine used in the cholera treatment. Before the missionary could determine what course she should pursue the village headsman and his entire family bowed down before the shelf and were praying fervently to the medicine bottles for their future protection from the cholera scourge.—Woman’s National Daily.