Untitled article by MRS. S. M. I. HENRY.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Oct 21, 1897

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 41.

GLIMPSES OF "THE FIELD." NO. 2.

By MRS. S. M. I. HENRY.

IN nothing do we need to be more sure that we have the spirit of perseverance than in the sort of preaching which is required in a city mission or settlement; and this is determined by the motive which has taken us into it, our appreciation of its importance, and the self-forgetfulness with which we are able to meet obstacles.

Since slumming became a sort of fad, and Christian conventions so enthusiastic, we need to be all the more sure that we are led of God, instead of fashion and emulation, in all our Christian endeavors. If we must follow the fashion at all hazards, and can not drop from our efforts the determination to "get in ahead," it is vastly better for the world in which we live that we follow a fashion of doing good, and that all our pushing is toward righteousness, even if it should be all external.

A great many people have started in to do mission work out of the same sort of sentiment which would have led them to get up a church fair, or amateur theatricals. It was "for fun." They wanted a new kind of entertainment with which to relieve the monotony of life. They have become wearied with the emptiness of society, with its selfishness and greed of admiration, and long for a change that shall bring rest to soul and body. They go to the masseur for the body, and to the mission for the soul. They enjoy just about in the same kind and measure the play of skilled hands along muscles, nerves, and tendons, and the strange and intense emotions that are awakened in them by the sights and sounds of mission life. The desperate, almost hopeless struggle of degraded men and women after purity, the testimonies of drunkards, debauchees, gamblers, and criminals of all grades who have been converted, are of more thrilling interest than the last novel could be.

Then the gratitude that is to be expected from this class, when one has undertaken to do so much for them. There can be nothing like it anywhere. So these seekers after new sensations rush in, scatter their smiles and alms, and expect to fill their cups to the brim with the gratitude that will bubble like a spring that is too full to keep within its banks. It will be so delightful to be appreciated. Verily they shall have their reward.

But the mission workers who go for the gratitude and appreciation that is in it, will sooner or later become discouraged, and abandon the field; for there is nothing more discouraging than the sort of gratitude which is given in return for even the most self-sacrificing efforts, until Christ really has been made welcome, and has opened the hitherto sealed up springs; and then we shall be surprised to find that we are not very much needed; for those who have in them the element out of which gratitude can spring, are almost sure to become helpers very soon. Christ reigns in the truly grateful heart.

It will not do to take much selfishness as inspiration into this field. It will be burdensome, if not dangerous. At the best, it will cripple us; for it will take the place of a true, helpful motive, and we can never find anything in it that will be strong enough to hold us to the work. The only thing that can do that is the mind that was in Christ, that same loving earnestness which can not be appeased except we do something to relieve the sorrows and bitterness of sin, until we have made these burdens, which sin has laid on the ignorant and weak, our own. We must have that motive which will give us patience with all the failings of these wandering souls, patience with their misdoings, which will make us patient as a mother is patient with her sick child. They are sick, tho they may be apparently able-bodied. They are sin-sick, which is far worse than any bodily infirmity.

We shall find a great deal of meddlesome curiosity concerning us and what we are after. The people will judge us according to their own motives. They would not do anything for any one unless they expected to get something out of it. That would not be business; and they can not understand how any one can have any other object in life than business of some sort. They will think we are trying to work them for what there is in them, and will retaliate by trying to work us; and if they find that they can not get anything out of us that they want, they will have no more interest in us. So we must see to it that they are not disappointed. They have a right to all that they can get out of us that can help them out of their distresses, sicknesses, and sins, and bring them into the haven of rest which is in Christ.

We shall find critics of the severest type. They will have their own standards by which we shall be judged, as to dress, deportment, and Christian character, to say nothing of benevolence, which will always be the especial point of interest. They will put us to the severest tests at every point of character, not because they would really like to break us down, but because they will want to know if we are true and are teaching the truth—if we and it will hold; and they have a right to test us to the utmost.

The people with whom we will have to do will have a very keen comprehension of some things that comprise consistency in Christian living, and if we fall below this standard, if we disappoint them, wo is us, as far as our work is concerned. We shall have to run a gauntlet of such judgment, as in no other portion of the field of the world. This is because they are hopeless; and we come professing to represent hope, and holding it out as a possibility; and to fail in this would be the crime of crimes. They are reckless because they are despairing. They are degraded because they know no ground of faith in God or man. They have no thought that we mean well by them, because they have never had any experience that could confirm such an idea and make it look practical.

In all this we are supposing that we are looking over a new field. We are the first to go into it with an offer of the Gospel to these lost and hopeless ones. We are bringing them the first glimpse of a practical salvation for body and soul. So we must get a foothold, and win our way. The hindrances which are in their hearts must be overcome, or we can accomplish nothing. No other hindrances are worth a thought; win a heart, and we have the key to the situation. But to do this we must overcome death and despair with the life that is in us from Christ; for this is their only chance. Christ must be practically in us, for we are sent to occupy the place in his stead. How this brings us close to him, and makes us one with him in the remnant of his work! We must have a genuine Christian experience to take with us, for we shall not be able to lay hold of power without the strength which it gives; and without the power we fail.

The work must be practical. We must begin with the child and the mother. If we become acquainted with the little child, and cultivate its friendship, and win it to become interested in us, we can say whatever we please to the father and mother. I had a beautiful illustration of that a good many years ago. I was looking up delinquent Sunday-school children, among them a certain little girl, who had been absent for several weeks. On reaching the street and number which had been given me, I found a saloon. I went in, however, and, mentioning the name, inquired for the child, incongruous as it seemed then to think of a child in such a place. The face of the man behind the bar brightened at once, and, coming out, he led me back beyond the screen to the rear, where was the family sitting-room, separated by only a square of carpet from the place which was occupied by groups of men at gaming-tables, as well as those who were drinking. On this carpet, in the rear of this great room, was a woman with a sewing-machine, a baby's cradle, and a little child playing on the floor. With the tables and men behind me, the sleeping baby, the pretty child with its toys, the sweet-faced mother before me, the sunny end of the hall, with its home-like appointments, really had the appearance of a cozy home room. It was a revelation of possibilities, for I had never seen anything quite like it before.

I was introduced by the saloon-keeper as a lady who was wanting to know why Gertie didn't go to Sunday-school any more, and was cordially greeted by the mother. "Gertie was out playing somewhere," she said, and bade her husband go find her. He went at once, and soon she came bounding in, her father following, with every feature of his face full of pride in her and cordial interest in her visitor. She and I began a merry talk. She

asked me to sing certain Sunday-school songs.

We sang together, and in a few moments had all the people in the saloon listening. They had left their games, their drinking, drawn by their interest in my little hostess, and stood around us as we sang the Gospel, now and then a voice joining with us. I did not notice those men, however. I gave all my attention to the child. I told her the lesson stories which she had missed, read the last lesson from my Bible, bringing out the points of truth as if all for her, but far more for that listening audience than for her. The result was that those people became fast friends of our mission. And ever after in the saloon work which I was doing in that part of the city, I, as the mission visitor, was treated with marked consideration; for the story of this visit was not kept a secret, but bruited abroad among the saloon element. Whenever I passed or entered that place I was greeted as a friend, and courteously treated all along the street. I was glad of that friendship, because it was an acknowledgment of Christ, and was for his sake.

When to other qualifications there can be added the skill to give practical relief to the sick, it will not be difficult to break down prejudice, silence criticism, build up confidence, and open doors for the truth.

MRS. S. M. I. HENRY.