In this world at the present time are many who are professional optimists, priding themselves in taking “a large view.” The evils which they know to exist, they offset with a great general good and a great general progress which they imagine to exist. Although the result is bound to be a deception, yet that is the optimism which is popular to-day.
There is another kind of optimist who sees farther in reality than this class sees in imagination. He sees the evils that exist; he recognizes them as such; he knows that they are increasing rapidly; and, believing God, he knows that, until Christ shall come to set up his kingdom, there is no hope nor promise of a better condition in this world. But beyond that event he sees the final glorious triumph of truth and righteousness, when the problem of sin will have been worked out, and the scepter of righteousness will have displaced the bayonet and battle-ax; when the kingdoms of this earth will have given place to the kingdom of our God.
This is the true optimism. Anything else is a deceiving of one’s self which can only end in ruin, nevertheless, it is looked upon by the worldly optimist as a pessimism only worthy of contempt. He refuses to believe the condition of the world to be as it is or as it is to be. Consequently, he will not be prepared for the great deceptions that are to overwhelm the last generation of men. The pilot who thinks he is going against the current when he is going with it, is not a safe navigator. The man who makes himself believe that evil is growing less and the race is growing better when the opposite is true, is not a safe spiritual guide—is not a true optimist. The latter sees in these very conditions a sign of our Saviour’s return, for they are so used in the Scriptures.
It is impossible in one article to reveal the true condition of this world at the present time; but a few representative facts may be set forth which will show the direction of the winds that are blowing now—winds that are swelling into a gale.
The records of the Paris police department for thirteen years ending in 1900, show a remarkable increase in criminal propensities in the young. In the year 1888, twenty young persons under twenty-one years of age were arrested in Paris for the crime of murder. There was a comparatively steady increase in the number of that class of persons arrested for that crime from 1888 to 1900. The number so arrested in the latter year had increased to 138, or nearly seven times as many as in 1888. It may fairly be supposed that crimes of other kinds increased in like proportion.
The increase of crime among children and youth is looked upon largely as a result of alcoholism on the part of the parents. But alcoholism is also increasing, and so we may expect the results of it to increase. It is due also to the prevalence of the deplorable cigarette habit among both parents and children. Likewise the increase of that practise entails an increase in the results of it.
“In Paris,” says Dr. Garnier, an official of the prefecture of police, “we have seen alcoholic insanity progressing with astonishing rapidity; but excessive precocity in crime fills us with wonder.” But it is only the natural result of the conditions which exist.
In the catalogue of increasing evils naturally comes the increase of drinking among women—an increasing evil which is bound to entail other evils through the unnatural appetites begotten in the offspring. The State president of the New York W. C. T. U., with another influential and reliable woman, recently made an investigation of this practise in the fashionable dining-places in New York City. In these places she found that the tables at which some kind of liquor was not served was the exception. Drinking was almost universal among the women who dined in those places.
And this is not all. The smoking of cigarettes by women has come to be one of the evils of the day, against which even secular journals are sounding warnings; but the practise seems to be unquestionably on the increase.
With such things there is bound to go a lowering of the tone of morality in both men and women, and, consequently, in the children who are coming up to take their places. And a lowering of the tone of morality is but the equivalent of an increase in vice and crime. That is the seed-sowing of the present time, and it requires no prophet to foretell what the harvest will be. Opportunities are being multiplied on every hand for increasing the drink evil; and with its increase there is bound to be an increase in the fruits of that evil, both in those who do the drinking and in the offspring of such, as the records of Paris, above referred to, have shown.
The Atlanta Journal states that the brewing companies of this country paid $97,000,000 of the Spanish war-tax, or about one third. This shows something as to the amount of the business done by the liquor interests of this country in undermining the manhood and womanhood, the physical constitutions, and the morals, of the people of this generation. There is no greater evil in the land—no evil which is in itself responsible for so many others; no evil which is doing more to bring about the terrible conditions which exist to-day, and which are increasing so rapidly.
Dr. Wilbur de Lyon Nichols, one of New York City’s society leaders, has the following to say concerning the increase of drinking among women:—
Indulgence in strong drink is on a more alarming increase to-day among women society leaders than the baneful fascination of the gaming-table. Drinking has increased at an alarming rate in both London and New York. At many fashionable restaurants to-day one can see well-dressed women who show they have more than they can stand.
And right in line with this deplorable practise is the remarkable increase of gambling, incidentally referred to in the last quotation. The prevalence of this practise is recognized by all. It has entered the sacred precincts of the home. So all-pervading is the spirit that the children catch it, and gamble over their dominoes, authors, ping-pong, checkers, and chess. Thus such homes become very kindergartens of the devil. Here they are tutored in the ways of the gambler, and get their first lessons in taking that which is another’s “by trick and device.” With such an education, it is not astonishing that our jails are being crowded to their greatest capacity,8or overcrowded, and that deadly encounters between youthful playmates are of frequent occurrence.
We can not hide from our eyes these scenes of violence that are occurring on every hand to-day. They are fulfilling the predictions of the Word in regard to this very time in which we live. Many will refuse to believe that there is anything ominous in these things, and will allow themselves to be led blindly up to the very climax of this world’s history, deceived to the very last. But it is not necessary. The Word is clear; the conditions that fulfil it are plain; and we as individuals are alone responsible if we are taken unawares, and overwhelmed in the overthrow. The simple fact is that the world is ripening for the harvest of the great day of God. But beyond that harvest the true Christian sees the glorious inheritance of the loyal follower of the King of Righteousness. C. M. S.
Significant Events of 1911
By F. M. W.
A Retrospect
If the measure of events for the year just closed becomes the standard for 1912, then we have entered upon another year of important history, politically, commercially, and religiously; for 1911 has been burdened with happenings of serious import. A glance at some of the international complications which have arisen, emphasize this.
Political Events
The Mexican republic has been in the throes of a terrible revolution, which has threatened the very integrity of the government. The mobilization of a large number of United States troops along the Mexican border seemed a necessity, not only to protect the interests of the United States, but for the performance of police duty in maintaining the neutrality of this government. From this unhappy situation Mexico has in a large measure emerged, but conditions are far from settled; and President Madero has much to do in tranquilizing the different sections of the country, and building up business and commercial relations that have suffered so greatly in consequence of the long civil war.
Little Portugal, contrary to the evil prophecies from many quarters, has succeeded in maintaining its integrity as a republic, peaceably electing its second president, and bids fair to bring to a successful issue its terrible fight against the strong church and clerical influences with which it has had to contend.
A similar conflict between the church and state has been waged in Spain. The government has been determined to pass certain measures regarded as inimical to the interests of the Vatican, and notwithstanding the strong opposition which it has received, has succeeded admirably in effecting some reforms and in providing greater liberty for Protestant worship.
Germany and France engaged in a long diplomatic war over the trade advantages of the two countries in Morocco. At one time open disruption between the two countries was feared, but diplomacy finally prevailed, and a treaty was negotiated, but with little satisfaction to either government, the people of each feeling that the other had succeeded in securing the larger share of advantage.
Perhaps the most unlooked-for of international complications occurred in the sudden declaration of war against Turkey on the part of the Italian government, and the immediate seizure of Tripoli by that government. Turkey, taken unawares, and with very meager naval armament for carrying on war over the seas, was able to give but feeble resistance. She has made unavailing appeals to the great powers of Europe, none of whom have come to her help. While all admit that Italy’s action in seizing Tripoli was taken with but little provocation, and to satisfy her demand for colonial expansion, thus far none has felt like interposing in behalf of the Ottoman empire. This conflict is the more interesting in that it appears to be in direct line with the prophecy of Daniel 11, in further weakening the Turkish power, so that ultimately it shall be entirely eliminated from the map of Europe. This war still drags wearily on, and the outcome is awaited with concern, all Europe fearing that future complications may involve the interests and engage the arms of the other nations.
As a wide-spread and apparently spontaneous revolution, having its origin not with a few malcontents, but in the hearts of the mass of the people, the great uprising in the Chinese empire stands without a historical parallel. This ancient and mighty country—mighty so far as its great stretches of territory and its vast hordes of barbarian and ignorant people are concerned—has been passing through the greatest crisis in its entire history. The ravages of the terrible bubonic plague, followed by the pinching want of famine, together with the dissatisfaction with the Manchu dynasty, the imbibing of Western ideas of liberty, and the spirit of revolution which seems to exist everywhere, are doubtless responsible for the revolution. At this writing an armistice has been declared, in order to give the representatives of the government and the revolutionist leaders an opportunity to confer regarding the future of the country. A strong sentiment exists in favor of a republic. This, however, has received a strong checkmate through the influence of some of the powers. It is to be hoped at least that if the reigning dynasty is upheld, it will have such constitutional safeguards as will insure to poor China a stable and reasonable form of government, and that the result will be greater enlightenment to the masses of people, and a freer entrance to the gospel of Christ.
International Peace Agitation
The international peace movement received strong impetus during 1911. Mr. Carnegie, out of his beneficence, donated a large fund—some ten million dollars—to the promotion of this cause. President Taft, by the recommendation of peace treaties with Great Britain and other countries, added the strong influence of his high position to the movement. It can not be denied that many of the advocates of this movement have at heart the bettering of humanity, and are possessed of a noble purpose in their endeavors, even though in so doing they are fulfilling one of the prophetic predictions in which the present agitation is set forth as a sign of the day of the Lord. This peace agitation has had but little deterrent effect upon the extensive preparations for war going forward on every hand; 1911 has witnessed marked increase in naval armament in nearly every country. The argument is put forth in many quarters that the world’s peace will be maintained and promoted by every nation’s being prepared to defend its own interests, and by each having an army which will be respected and feared by its neighbors. Upon this theory the nations vie with each other in carrying out the program.
The Commercial World
Many complications have existed in the commercial world during the past year. There has been a marked increase in the price of living. This has accentuated the line drawn between capital and labor, and made more acute the great commercial war which is being waged. While there has been a marked increase in the price of the ordinary commodities of living, there has been but little advance in the wage rate of the laboring man. Some of the cities of the Old World have been startled by the bread riots which have occurred in Vienna, Paris, and other cities on the Continent. England has experienced the severest industrial war ever witnessed in that island, the government itself being compelled to take a hand in the settlement of the difficulty. Much violence and bloodshed resulted.
These conditions serve to fire the hearts of the more irresponsible elements of society, and as a result we have the formation of diabolical plots resulting in wholesale murder and the destruction of thousands of dollars’ worth of property. These conditions we must expect will become more and more intensified.
Two terrible diseases have wrought special havoc during the past year: the9bubonic plague in China, which caused the death of thousands, and cholera in Italy. Both diseases in India and other countries of the Orient have wrought together in exacting a heavy toll of death.
Trend of Religious Events
The progress of events in the religious world has been particularly marked. On the one hand, the most commendable interest has been shown by many in the great Christian church in waging a heroic warfare against some of the moral evils of the day. Great gains have been made in the field of temperance reform. The victory in Maine, snatched by a small margin from the very jaws of defeat, bears splendid witness to what may be accomplished for the cause of right through the cooperation of its friends, even when it has arrayed against it such mighty hosts of evil as filled and encompassed that State during the recent campaign. Noble work has been done by many in the enlistment of Christian effort in behalf of the suppression of the white-slave traffic, and the betterment of many of the social conditions which exist in our large cities, and in enlisting men and means for work in the vast regions of heathenism.
On the other hand it is to be regretted that many evil-working principles have found development in connection with the Christian church during the past year. Subtly and insidiously infidelity has continued its baneful work as represented in the principles of higher criticism and liberal theology, principles which deny the deity and incarnation of the Lord Jesus, throw discredit upon the Bible record and the cardinal doctrines of Christianity, and make of man his own savior. The federation and associations which have for their object the enthronement of God in the Constitution and the virtual establishment of a union of church and state, have been strengthened. A growing deference and respect for the Papacy exists on every hand. These conditions are but the harbingers of the evil day when the great Christian church will turn its back upon the truth of God, and reject those principles in which only it can find salvation.
The Third Angel’s Message
The year just closed has been a significant one in the progress of the great religious movement represented by this journal. The gospel of the coming kingdom is being given in practically all the world. God has opened before it the bars and gates of the nations, and through the gospel herald and the printed page it is entering into the byways and highways proclaiming the speedy establishment of the kingdom of the Prince of Peace. Another article in this department this week gives a list of the recruits which were sent out to reenforce this advance army of the Lord during the past year. Surely our prayers should attend them.
Prospective
What 1912 will unfold to our vision we can not safely predict. We are living in thrilling times. We have come down to the ends of the world, to the focal point in the history of the ages. There is being fought out in this our day the closing battles of the great conflict which began in heaven itself, and has engaged the attention of the human family for the last six thousand years; and we are participants in its culmination. We are actors in earth’s closing drama. Truly this is a thrilling thought. The eyes of the universe are upon us. Heavenly intelligences take note of us as to how we deport ourselves in the struggle. May God grant in the year to come that we shall acquit ourselves like true men and true women. Let us be true and loyal and brave and noble.
We know not what scenes await us on the morrow. We know not what conditions politically, religiously, commercially, or socially may be thrust upon us; but we do know that God is over all, and if we will but commit to him the keeping of our souls and trust him in faith, his Spirit will show us how to relate ourselves to every condition, and how to stand in the thrilling events through which we shall pass in the year to come.
F. M. W.
To the Mission Fields in 1911
By W. A. SPICER
The list of outgoing missionaries for 1911 is longer than the Mission Board contemplated at the beginning of the year. It was well understood that with the spreading forth of the work of former years, and the large increase of workers in the fields bringing heavy strain upon the mission treasury, the departure of missionaries would have to be cut down in 1911.
But by ones and twos and families, the need in the fields has been drawing the workers out until the list falls but little short of that of 1910, when seventy-seven workers sailed for the fields.
This list, as in former years, includes those who have gone from Europe or from colonial fields to regions still beyond. The list is sure to be incomplete so far as workers going out from Europe and Australia is concerned, and South Africa may have been sending further help from the base in the colonies up into the African interior during the closing weeks of 1911, of which we have not yet the report.
The list for 1911, month by month, is as follows:—
JANUARY
Harold E. Sharp and wife, of Australia, to Java, East Indies.
A. H. Ferris and family, of Australia, to Norfolk Island, S. Pacific.
Miss May Lambert, of Australia, to Java, East Indies.
FEBRUARY
W. F. Hardt, to Guatemala, Central America.
O. J. Gibson and wife, to China.
R. P. Montgomery and wife, to Singapore, Malay Peninsula.
MARCH
Carl Snow and wife, to Honduras, Central America.
J. D. Lorenz and wife, to Argentina, South America.
Miss Nora Davis, to Uruguay, South America.
Miss Maud E. Carner, to Uruguay, South America.
F. S. Bolton and wife, to Sierra Leone, West Africa.
MAY
George Sandborn, to Mexico.
Chandler Harris and wife, to China.
F. Hermann Piotrowski and wife, to the Levant.
JUNE
Miss Beatrice Baharian, to Europe, later to join the workers in Turkey.
R. B. Stauffer and wife, to Argentina, South America.
Miss Olive Osborne, of Australia, to China.
Edgar Brooks, of England, to Peru, South America.
Peter A. Rick, to India.
JULY
John Brown, of Mexico, to Spain
E. C. Boger and wife, to British Guiana, South America.
R. Kuempel and family, of Germany, to Brazil.
A. Rockel and family, of Germany, to Brazil.
AUGUST
C. N. Lake and wife, to Japan.
F. H. Williams, to Jamaica, West Indies.
R. Stein and wife, of Germany, to German East Africa.
E. Lorntz, of Norway, to East Africa.
Morris Lukens and family, to Australia.
SEPTEMBER
Dr. V. L. Mann and family, to India.
W. F. Hills and wife, to China.
Arthur Lawson, of Australia, to New Guinea.
OCTOBER
C. P. Lillie and family, to China.
NOVEMBER
F. L. Perry and family, to Uruguay, South America.
B. B. Aldrich and family, to the Canary Islands.
H. Meyer and family, to Brazil, South America.10
Miss Cassie Wilson, to Argentina, South America.
Mrs. I. H. Evans (sailing with I. H. Evans, returning), to China.
Elbridge M. Adams and family, to the Philippine Islands.
Floyd Ashbaugh, to the Philippine Islands.
DECEMBER
I. R. Evenson, to England, to attend school, preparatory to working in Great Britain.
E. N. Shepherd and wife, to St. Thomas, Danish West Indies.
This means sixty-five workers, not counting the children, though the latter are helpers in the fields.
This additional list is an additional call to prayer, and to consecration of means to the missionary advance.
Pray for these workers and for their families. Many a missionary family has an anxious time as parents see the children growing up amid conditions far different from those which might surround them in the home lands. But the faces of these workers are set with eyes toward the front and the goal of the finished work.
W. A. SPICER,
Secretary.
The Ledger Opened
By MRS. S. M. SPICER
The Angel's Record — No. 1
The Ledger Opened
MRS. S. M. SPICER
(A poem for the new year)
How happy, lovely, glorious, blest,
Of human life the Eden dawn!
While feet of innocence still pressed
The virgin soil of paradise.
How sad, how fearful, wretched, lost,
When tempted, sin-seduced, man fell!
With exile, death,—the bitter cost,—
Earth, cursed for him, his days must tell.
So soon the shouting angel choir
Must heavenward fly with notes of
woe,
Grieved that the unstained record there
The blot of sin and death must show.
Dark, and more dark, the moral night
Man's devious way now shadowed
o'er;
While farther from the heavenly light
His erring footsteps wandered more.
Yet God, all loving, watched him still,
Though veiled his face to mortal eye;
Betimes, in dreams revealed his will,
And treasured each repentant sigh.
The angel's record darkly gloomed
With sin's vile traces, stained with
blood;
Man's pathway, sorrowing to the tomb,
So little knew of wise and good.
The angel scribe still faithful traced,
Or glad or grieved, the deathless page;
In God's own Book the record placed,
Of every clime, of every age.
Man's guardian watcher, hovering near,
His inner life he read unseen,
And oft, as things to man appear
Seldom to God and angels seem.
Takoma Park, D. C.
Experiences in Locating Our Press at Soekaboemi, Java
By J. W. HOFSTRA
J. W. HOFSTRA
WELL do I remember the seventeenth of January. I had been riding horseback all day in the penetrating sunshine of this climate, returning home a few minutes before our mail was received. Among the letters was one from Brother W. W. Fletcher, saying we were selected to locate the press in Java. He wrote me when he planned to leave Singapore, and appointed the place of meeting. This letter had been delayed, so that when I received it, Brother Fletcher was already awaiting me in Soekaboemi. I had no time to lose. That very evening about half-past eight I started off in the dense darkness to find Loembang, a village where Tindik and I would be able to get horses to carry us to Pandaan.
Tindik is one of our Chinese brethren, born in Sumatra; he speaks the Malay language fluently, and for this reason it was thought best to take him with me to the place where I had to board the train, because I spoke as yet very little Malay. We succeeded in securing good horses, arriving at Pandaan about eleven o’clock. Here the Lord again blessed our efforts, this time to get a man to take us to the next place, called Porrong. And here, too, although past midnight, and with more difficulty, a man was found to take us with his docar, a small carriage, to our railroad station, Sishoardjo, where we arrived at half-past one.
The first thing naturally, was to inquire for a hotel. The only one in the whole place was kept by a Chinese, so the next thing was to arouse him out of his slumbers. In this we succeeded, too, to our sorrow. He evidently knew that he was “the only one,” and that we were dependent on him for some rest and sleep. He acted so mean and used such language that I suggested to Tindik that we take our suit cases and leave him, choosing the silent stars for company, rather than to be in the power of this man. We walked to the depot, but found this closed, as no trains move at night in Java. For this reason we sat down on the front step of the building under the arc-light. We felt sure our troubles had then ended, and all there was left for us to do was to look for daylight; but herein we had made a miscalculation. We had only been there a few minutes when a Javanese watchman came walking slowly toward us. It was evident he did not notice any one until close by, and he was more scared than we were; for undoubtedly he thought he was face to face with a couple of desperadoes who were planning to relieve the depot of its valuables. When he recovered from his fright, he stammered out to us that we were not allowed to stay there, and on asking where we had to go, we learned we had “to be so kind” as to go to the Javanese watchpost until daylight. He accompanied us to this place, and left us under the protecting care of four of his companions, with whom we spent the rest of that night,—not the most pleasant experience, you would agree, if you had the chance to see the place, and to get just one breath of the filthy odors all about us. At six o’clock we left this never-to-be-forgotten place for Soekaboemi, where we arrived the next day in the evening. Brother Fletcher was awaiting us at the depot. I had expected to meet only him; but on arriving at his rooms, we found11Sister Fletcher there also. This was indeed a pleasing surprise; for you know things look so much more homelike when a woman is one of the company, and the food also tastes so much better. Brother Fletcher had used the time he had been waiting for me to secure information regarding the shipping fares to the nearest seaport, Tandjong Prick, from Soekaboemi and from Buitenzorg.
Looking for a Location
After seeking the Lord for his guidance, the next two days were devoted to looking the town over, street after street, for empty houses wherever the location seemed fit. We found many vacant places. Usually the houses for Europeans are very scarce in the cities of Java; but Soekaboemi being a refuge from the heat of Batavia and other cities, made at this time of the year a happy exception, as this was in the cool or rainy season. We feel sure God guided in our reaching Soekaboemi at this season of the year.
As the next day was the Sabbath, we “rested . . . according to the commandment,” God graciously fulfilling his promise that, “where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Sunday we started over the town once more, this time sifting the places looked over, until we had but three left, the most suitable of all we had found. From these three locations we chose again with regard to the following points: price, importance of street, healthfulness of surroundings, location as to the depot and the business section of the town, and finally the adaptability of the house for our purposes, the result being that we settled upon our present location.
One Moral Standard
THERE should be but one moral standard for men and women. God recognizes but one. Only one should be recognized by the church and by society. Regarding this the Laity League of New York in one of its bulletins recently issued, according to the Literary Digest of Dec. 16, 1911, states of some of the decisions reached in its discussions:—
The question of the single standard of morality between men and women was raised. This is understood to mean that men's lives shall be as pure as they demand women's lives shall be. All agreed that this point of view should be urged in an outspoken way among the men of the churches. This is the proper attitude for all religious men, and is based on the highest physiological, social, and moral laws. The league strongly advises the men's organizations to look into this, and to present the facts and opinions gathered to the laymen of church and synagogue. The double standard of morality is based on a misapprehension of facts, and the single standard must be emphasized among the young men of the city.
The Administration of Criminal Law
It is said that 86,934 murders have been committed in the United States during the last ten years, or a number equivalent to the population of Springfield, Mass. During this time there have been only 1,149 executions — about one in every seventy-five murderers suffering the death penalty. President Taft is quoted in this connection as saying: “It is not too much to say that the administration of criminal law in this country is a disgrace to our civilization.”
Dedication of the Kobe (Japan) Church
By F. H. DE VINNEY
F. H. DE VINNEY
A few years ago the members of the Kobe church leased ground and built a church. Being but few in number, and with limited means, the building was modest in architecture and small in size. It served its purpose for the time; but last fall it was evident that either it would have to be enlarged or a new one built, to accommodate the regular members and those interested who attended the services from time to time. After much counsel and thoughtful planning, it was decided to secure land, and build in a more prominent and convenient location. Land was secured by lease, and the work begun. The old building was sold, and the proceeds invested in material and labor for the construction of the new, with the result of a convenient, attractive place to worship, easy of access.
THE NEW KOBE (JAPAN) CHURCH BUILDING
About the time the new building was determined upon, a Japanese gentleman who is an architect by profession and who had been interested, accepted the truth and became a member of the church. He drew the plans and gave his services in superintending its construction free to the church. On Friday evening, July 28, the dedicatory services were held. The evening was selected for the convenience of some of the business men of the city who had been interested and friendly to the enterprise, and who were expected to attend. The building was entirely finished, nicely lighted by electricity, and modestly and becomingly decorated in the interior. Potted palms and plants were massed in front of the desk, giving it a very attractive appearance. Nearly every seat was taken, many present being not of our faith, and nearly all heathen, who gave good attention to the services. Brother K. Noma, the elder of the church, presided over the services. Elders T. H. Okohira and W. D. Burden and Brother H. F. Benson and the writer were present and gave addresses. The music under the direction of Brother John N. Herboltzheimer was nicely arranged, and well rendered. The subject-matter of the addresses was such as to be of value to the members of the church, and of special value to those present not acquainted with the essence of Christianity—“Christ’s indwelling by his Spirit in the soul temple of his people.”
It is a custom of the country on all such occasions to serve a luncheon, or to present something of the kind to all invited guests. This was omitted; but early Sunday morning, a messenger delivered to the homes of all those not of our faith who attended, a neat little box of cake and Japanese dainties, with an explanation why it was not given at the time of the services, thus making even the heathen custom a means of teaching the sacredness of the Sabbath and the presence and blessing of the Lord in that which is given and dedicated to his service.
A debt of about three hundred dollars still rests upon the church. This would be considered small in the States; but here to pay this means much self-denial and sacrifice on the part of the members; but they are hopeful and confident of soon being able to discharge the debt.
After the dedication, Elder Okohira remained three weeks, giving daily Bible readings with preaching service in the evening. On returning from the Korean camp-meeting, the writer spent several days with the church, holding services in the evening.
With a great truth, a convenient and an attractive place for worship, and a good missionary spirit, surely there are bright days before this little flock in this great heathen land, and we trust with the blessing of the Lord attending their efforts many such as will be saved may be joined to them in the service of the Master.
