THE SHIP MISSION, SAN FRANCISCO
By C. Castberg
The last warning message for the world is represented by a mighty angel coming down from heaven, and setting “his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth.” Rev. 10:1, 2. We understand this to be a literal prophecy, and that not only those that live on the land, but that also “every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea” (Rev. 18:17), shall hear the gospel of the kingdom for a witness before the end shall come. In accordance with this, ship missions have been established in nearly all the principal ports of the world, where reading-matter presenting every phase of present truth, is distributed among the seafaring men of many nationalities. “Cast thy bread upon the waters,” says the Lord; “for thou shalt find it after many days.” Eccl. 11:1. And “blessed are ye that sow beside all waters.” Isa. 32:20. But only eternity will reveal the fruit that this blessed seed-sowing will produce. There will surely be rejoicing when the sheaves are brought home from this part of the Master’s great harvest field. The Lord is blessing the work done in this port. Having found that our literature placed in racks on a few of the regular liners showed evidence of being read, we thought it would be a good plan to extend this way of reaching the people to every steamer carrying passengers from and to this port. The Lord has gone before us; and permission being obtained, we have now placed racks on a number of bay and ocean steamers, and we intend to continue this work until all are supplied. Applying to the quartermaster’s department for permission to visit the transports, the colonel in charge courteously furnished us with a pass, which gives us access to this line of steamers; but we are sadly in need of reading-matter, and we use this opportunity to urge our brethren and sisters to send us, postpaid, all the Signs, health journals, Youth’s Instructors, Sentinels, tracts, and foreign papers they can spare. Besides this, reading-matter is placed on as many sailing vessels as we are able to supply. It is not all smooth sailing; sometimes we run against a snag, or a rock, or get into a collision; but so far, we have managed to keep afloat, and feel encouraged to push ahead. To the Lord be all the praise. C. CASTBERG. 19 Tehama St., San Francisco.