Earlier text: Who Will Endure the Sifting?F. W. SPIES
By F. W. Spies
A short time ago it was my privilege to visit the northern mission fields of this great country, going as far as Para. One scarcely appreciates the vastness of the Brazilian Republic until he runs along the coast line from north to south. In seeing the present state of the work while making this trip, I could not but compare it as it now is with what it was twenty years ago. At that time, in 1894, the first workers had just arrived and were struggling to get a start. Today we have about seventeen hundred members who contribute annually upward of twenty thousand dollars United States gold to the support of the work. Sixty-two workers are giving their lives to the work of getting a people ready for the Lord’s soon coming. In about two weeks we expect to hold a course of instruction for eighteen recruits for the canvassing work. Indeed, we can say that in “mustard seed” fashion the work has grown and is growing. But as we think of its growth, we ever remember that the brethren in the home field, through their gifts of men and means, their sacrifices, and their prayers, have to a large extent helped to bring the work to the place where it is today. We are thankful that although our work here must be done in a different tongue, we as God’s children are all united in one spirit in the whole wide world, and so have an equal interest in the finishing of the work in all places. We were especially encouraged in receiving such a large number of recruits last year — twenty-two in all. But the message has been growing and spreading in places where the workers have not even been able to go as yet. Literature has been scattered by our canvassers, but we are not able to follow up all the interests. Often the call, “Send some one to teach us,” must go unanswered, or at least postponed, because we have too limited a force of workers to meet all the demands made upon us. We feel deeply grateful to our kind Heavenly Father that for the most part we have enjoyed peace in this country all these years in which we have endeavored to carry on the work. Brazil has been suffering from a financial crisis for a long time. The government had hoped to improve conditions by effecting a loan in Europe. But just as this was about to be realized, the war broke out between the great European nations, and this of course put an end to such negotiations. The failure on the part of the Brazilian government to realize the expected loan, had such a depressing effect on the general situation that it almost paralyzed business. We have found ourselves in such a strait place for means that we could not at times undertake even a short trip into the interior to visit our churches and companies. But the Lord has helped; and thanks to his holy name, none of our workers have suffered so far. At the same time there is much suffering and want all around us. But all these things are proclaiming with a loud and definite voice that the day of the Lord is at hand, and that we need to get ready for it. May it find us in peace and confidence when it comes. Straits Settlements
By F. A. Detamore
Recently I returned from a tour among the missions of Java and Sumatra. It was very interesting to visit these missions, and to note how the Lord is blessing and the manner in which the work is moving forward. I baptized seven at Surabaya, eight at Batavia, and one at Soekaboemi. Brother Yates baptized one at Siboga, in Sumatra. On my way down from Penang, I stopped over the Sabbath at Kwala Lumpur, in the Federated Malay States, and organized a church of twelve members. Our work is becoming well established there, and Brother and Sister Thompson are finding plenty to do. In Battakland we found Immanuel of good courage and doing a great work for his fellow men, many of whom visited him while I was there. None have been baptized as yet, but we could soon organize a strong church had we the foreign help to put into the field. Our efforts are being blessed of the Lord here at Singapore, and some are taking their stand for the truth. Yesterday we baptized eight Chinese persons, five of whom had come from heathenism, never having been in a church before. It seemed good to hear these tell of their faith in the true God. They have kept the Sabbath for months, and some of them for more than a year. There are twelve or fifteen others who are now keeping the Sabbath, and will soon be ready for baptism. Several Englishmen have recently taken their stand with us, and will soon be baptized. This is giving a new inspiration to our former members, and the missionary spirit is being awakened. We are finding all we can do to follow up the interests. Emptied of Self Before Filled with the Spirit
By D. L. Moody
I FIRMLY believe that the moment our hearts are emptied of pride, and selfishness, and ambition, and self-seeking, and everything that is contrary to God's law, the Holy Ghost will come in and fill every corner of our hearts. I believe many a man is praying God to fill him when he is full already. Before praying that God fill us, I believe we ought to pray him to empty us.—D. L. Moody. MRS. S. N. HASKELL
By Mrs. S. N. Haskell
SELF-RELIANCE is not independence of God. In the first chapter of James we have an example of the opposite of a self-reliant person. He is “double-minded” and “unstable in all his ways.” The self-reliant person is one who places his dependence upon God, trusting to his leading to enable him to do what is right under all circumstances. That is what our children surely should be. I do not believe that one person can tell another how to train his children. The methods that will succeed with one child may fail with another, but the principles laid down in the Word permit of general application. In Prov. 16:32 we read, “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.” I understand that is the keynote of self-reliance. Then it is a greater deed to rule the spirit than it is to take a city. That, it seems to me, is the underlying principle in self-reliance—to be able to rule oneself. How can the parent teach his children self-control, to control their spirits, if he does not control his own? So in teaching children to be self-reliant, it is really necessary for the parents to learn the lesson before they can teach the children. “He that ruleth his spirit,” the Master says,—that is, he that is not frustrated nor upset by everything that is a little out of the ordinary; the one who is master of the situation; who is able to control his spirit,—is better than the mighty and greater than he that taketh a city. The best time to teach a child to control the spirit is when it is a baby. If a child is trained in the right way from the very cradle, “when he is old, he will not depart from it.” But if children have not been taught self-control in babyhood, then they should learn when they are older, because it is a necessary qualification for a successful life. If one would be strong and firm in temptation, he must know—be taught—what it is to trust God and stand calm in the storm, knowing that the Lord will work for him and do the thing that is best. The Saviour is our example in all things. In his childhood he was an example, and his training is an example of the training that should be given our children. Let us notice another verse: “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.” To train a child not to touch things within his reach which are not for him, strengthens character—teaches him self-reliance, or self-control. How many times everything is removed from the child—put beyond his reach—by the mother. He is not taught to control his wants. How many times at my own table has a mother said, “Will you please put the jelly up out of the way, because Mary [or Willie or Johnny, as the case might be] will never eat anything else as long as that is here.” But if children are taught self-reliance, they will eat what is given them and what is best for them, and let other things on the table alone. They will know how to control themselves, and this will aid in the development of a strong character. The child that is taught self-reliance when a little babe, and is trained to control itself, will be able to go through life without falling into snares and temptations. I was once in a home in Africa when the daughter, who is now one of our church-school teachers in the West, was a toddling babe. She was just learning to walk, and one day as her mother and I were out in the kitchen she came to us with her hands full of photographs. I sprang to take them from her, saying, “O, she will spoil the pictures!” but her mother said, “No; do not touch them. Do not take them.” Then she said to the baby: “Go and put them back beneath the table where you found them, and do not touch them again. Go and put them back where you found them.” And the baby put them back, and they were never taken from their place nor touched again while I was there. In how many homes everything breakable or eatable is put up out of reach of the children. Now what is the trouble? Why, the mother has not self-reliance; she cannot rule her own spirit; she does not have the moral stamina to enable her to stand firm, and how can she teach her children what she does not possess? The only way which occurs to me is for her by the help of God to set about acquiring this attribute of character. He can help her, and he can help her to train her children in it. About thirty years ago I spent some time in a home where there were two boys five and seven years of age. One evening some candy was brought in, and after the little boys had eaten as much as they should have at one time, the mother told them to put the candy up on the shelf and leave it until tomorrow. “You will have to do something more than that,” I thought to myself, “if there is any candy tomorrow,” and I was quite anxious to see how it would work. But they put it up on the shelf, within reach, and did not offer to touch it again until the next day. Then they came and asked their mother if they could have some candy, and she gave them permission. These children were taught to leave things within their reach and not touch them. The principle of self-reliance learned in childhood fits children to resist temptation. But the child that is never taught to leave alone that which is within reach, and whose parents place temptation just out of its reach, does not learn self-reliance. When such a child goes out into the world and sees the gilded entrance to the moving picture shows and the theater, he has not sufficient moral stamina to enable him to keep away from something within his grasp,—no self-control, no self-reliance, to help him in resistance,—and so he goes wrong. The child must be taught to be master of himself. “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.” Dear parents, how are you sending your children out into the world? Are17you teaching them to have such control over themselves that they can go out and stand alone, with the help of God—that self-reliance that will be like a wall about them? Or are you sending them out without any control only as you have withheld temptation from them or placed things harmful out of their way? If so, you will send them out “as a city that is broken down, and without walls.” Home Life Department Conducted by Mrs. C. C. Lewis
By Mrs. C. C. Lewis
Conducted by Mrs. C. C. Lewis, Takoma Park, Washington, D. C. Through the columns of this department, hints will be given on all matters pertaining to the home life. Short articles and letters are solicited from home makers, telling of their everyday experiences,—their joys and sorrows, their failures and successes. Be Thoughtful of Mother
By Margaret E. Sangster
If mother would listen to me, dears,
She would freshen that faded gown;
She would sometimes take an hour’s rest,
And sometimes a trip to town.
And it shouldn’t be all the children,
The fun and the cheer and the play,
With the patient droop on the tired mouth,
And the “Mother has had her day!” True, mother has had her day, dears,
When you were her babies three,
And she stepped about the farm and the house,
As busy as ever a bee;
When she rocked you all to sleep, dears,
And sent you all to school,
And wore herself out, and did without,
And lived by the golden rule. And so your turn has come, dears;
Her hair is growing white,
And her eyes are gaining the far-away look
That peers beyond the night. One of these days in the morning
Mother will not be here;
She will fade away into silence—
The mother so true and dear. Then what will you do in the daylight?
And what in the gloaming dim?
And father, tired and lonesome then,
Pray what will you do for him? If you want to keep your mother,
You must make her rest today,
Must give her a share in the frolic,
And draw her into the play. And if mother would listen to me, dears,
She’d buy her a gown of silk,
With buttons of royal velvet,
And ruffles as white as milk;
And she’d let you do the trotting
While she sat still in her chair. That mother should have it hard all through,
It strikes me isn’t fair. MRS. VINA SHERWOOD ADAMS
By Mrs. Vina Sherwood Adams
Our Little Table, and How It Solves Some Home Problems—No. 2
I THINK I hear some busy mother exclaim, “I should like to have the children cut out pictures, but I can’t stand the litter over the floor.” Well, why have a litter over the floor? Just convert a round peach basket or a large shoe box into a waste basket, setting it in the middle of their table; and as they cut off a piece of paper, teach them to drop it into this receptacle. A few small scraps will necessarily fall on the floor, but they, not you, can pick them up. If they fail to do this, just remove the privilege of cutting next time, and instead have them sit with idle hands, and they will not forget the little scraps very often. What a lesson in neatness you are thus teaching your children! Our little table is often carried by the children out into the kitchen, when my work calls me there, and they sit happily cutting out, coloring, and pasting pictures. We have a place for all their materials, and they help themselves; so it causes me no extra trouble. Many a nature lesson I have taught them right out there in the kitchen. Perhaps I had better tell about this. It does not take a learned professor to teach small children nature lessons. Perhaps he could give a few more flourishes to his instruction than we mothers; but then, what is our object in telling small children about nature? Is it not to stimulate their observation, and thus lead them to gain closer acquaintance with the things about them, and foster a love for the things God has created? Once a child learns to love the birds, the horses, the cows, and the chickens, it is but a short step to the welling of his little heart with gratitude to God, the One who gives him these interesting things. Nature lessons usually grow dry and uninteresting if given in a “preaching” way. You will be surprised at the texts of Scripture that will come to your mind as you make this effort to help your children. Many of these may be deftly woven into your story, but it is not always necessary to have the exact words of the text; the thought of the text may be given. Every story that is wholesome for a child to hear cannot help but be in harmony with some Bible principle. I find that children best enjoy stories that happened in either our childhood days or in our grandparents’ time. Nearly all families have a fund of such proper stories to draw from, regarding both wild and domestic animals; as, the bear grandpa saw when he was a boy. Or, if it is the horse you are studying, tell some incident about grandpa’s old horse, some horse you have known, or a true story you have read, in which you can describe the horse in detail, bringing in the characteristics of the animal. If told in the right spirit, tender sympathy for all animals may be aroused in the child’s heart. This helps to develop a warm, generous nature. Most small children, until taught, do not realize that animals have any more feeling than their wooden toys; and alas! all too many adults fail to recognize this same fact. To aid in this nature work we have a set of about twenty animal pictures, prepared with simple outlines cut from heavy paper. By looking at one of these pictures, the wee fingers of the three-year-old can tear or cut from lightweight wrapping paper a representation of the object. An older child may place the outlined figure on paper and trace around it, or he may trace, color, and cut it out. When he has succeeded in a fairly good production, mount it in a cloth scrapbook which you have prepared for this purpose. In cutting or tearing out objects by looking at the pattern, encourage them to make the pictures large, as the tendency is to cut them too small. Have them make several at the same time. Then you may select to keep the one having the best points. On the wall we have a long piece of heavy bed ticking (though some heavy cloth of a plain dark blue or green color is preferable). The best work is often pinned to this. Be prepared for some very strange-looking animals at the first trials; but you will be surprised at the improvement that will result as lessons continue. To aid in this improvement, call the child’s attention to the shape of the ears, the nose, the foot, etc., as compared with some other animals. One characteristic of young children is that they enjoy hearing a story retold several times. So one day they may tear out the object; and, again, in a few days, as the story is retold and more characteristics described, the same animal may be traced, colored, and cut out. To determine what points the children have failed to grasp, or what parts they enjoyed most, have them gather around the fire about lamp-lighting time and tell each other or papa the story. This helps to deepen the impression the story has made on their minds. Our girls are deeply interested in reading. I think this is because of their early training in stories. Now that they are older, I still read stories and occasionally relate one, but they now read largely for themselves. If you wish your children to enjoy right subject matter for reading when older, begin to cultivate their taste from babyhood by story-telling of a helpful, uplifting kind. Stimulate the children to think for themselves. They learn that the squirrel stores his food for winter. The rabbit does not store his food. How is bunny fed in the wintertime? Call the attention of the children to the different animal tracks in the snow. They will soon learn to distinguish these tracks. Perhaps you can trace the tracks up to some shrubbery where bunny nibbled his breakfast. Do this during your Sabbath walks, which please do not omit even through the winter months. This is a good opportunity for father, who is with his family so little during the week, to bind the children closer to him by a ramble of an hour, giving mother a quiet time by herself. Let me tell you, parents, walks like these with one or both of you are never forgotten by the children. We used to take them when I was a child—mother, the four children, and usually two cats and a dog. The Sabbath seemed one of the most pleasant days of the week. So you see, mothers, teaching nature to small children is not so difficult after all. The story may be told at one time, and the occupation accompanying the story performed at some other time if more convenient; but through all our efforts let us not forget our object,—the developing of the child mind to grasp and appreciate the greatness and kindness of his Creator. “Yes’m, she’s pretty well, mother is,” said the old man, pausing with his foot on the wagon wheel to answer an inquiry concerning his wife, “pretty well, if only ’twasn’t for worryin’ about the children. ’Lizabeth’s up to Conway this season, and mother’s all the time afraid she’ll be took sick away from home. Samuel’s got a good place at Tanfield, and he’s doin’ well, but his boardin’ place is across the river. Sometimes he goes by skiff, and mother, she can’t get over the feelin’ that he’s likely to be drowned. The two younger ones is home yet, but she says she’s anxious about the time John’ll be wantin’ to strike out for himself, and she’s always been afraid we’d never raise Car’line.” “No’m, there’s nothin’ special the matter with any of them now, and the truck has done fine this year. Mother hain’t had a touch of her rheumatism all summer, and she’d be pretty well off if it ’twasn’t for worryin’. Christian? Bless you, yes, this forty year! She ain’t afraid but what the Lord will take care of her and all the rest of the world, but seems like she ain’t got faith to b’lieve he’s to be trusted with the children.”—Wellspring. Prayer as Covering, Armor, and Key
“PRAYER is ever profitable; at night it is our covering, in the morning it is our armor. Prayer should be the key of the day, and the lock of the night. Prayer sanctifies all our actions. He is listed in God’s service and protection who makes it his first work to be enrolled by prayer, under the standard of the Almighty.” With Treatment Room Workers
By L. A. H.
A worker conducting treatment rooms gives the following interesting items:— “Our experiences here in presenting the truth have been very good, although the city is about three fourths Catholic, and we must be cautious, since nearly one hundred of our best patients are Catholics, three priests among them. Our sign on the door announcing that we are closed to sunset Saturday is a weekly reminder of the Sabbath. We keep reading matter on the waiting room table, and as the way opens we talk to the patients of the happenings of the world, and tell them how prophecy has foretold these things, and then give them a tract or paper on the subject. “It yet remains to be seen what influence our work here will have for the message, but we hope to see it bear fruit. One man—a Catholic—said to me, ‘Well, it seems that Seventh-day Adventists are sincere and in earnest about what they believe.’ It gave opportunity for a presentation of some of the things we do believe, and the reasons for our earnestness. I believe the favor which our camp meeting received here was due to some of our patients, one of whom, a Catholic priest, gave his consent for the free use of the ground. “We place our Sabbath-closing sign on the door an hour before sundown Friday, so, if possible, not to have any treatments run into the Sabbath. Our residence telephone number is given, so that if some one is really in need of treatment we can follow the text that says it is ‘lawful to do good on the Sabbath.’19The money received in such cases is used for missionary purposes. Our whole aim is for the good of the message. Other than that I should rather be on a farm, or at some other kind of work; for thus far, from a financial standpoint, we have not made much. We have had all we needed, and are gradually getting clear of all debt. I will mention one blessed experience that came to us during our first months. For four days we did not have a penny, and finally ate for breakfast the last food we had. Dinner time came, with no food and no money. We prayed together, and each prayed often alone. One patient, who had been in two weeks before, had promised to come again. I was impressed to pray that he might come at this time. He came that afternoon, and we had money with which to buy food.” From a letter from another treatment room worker we quote the following paragraph to indicate the classes of people reached through this work:— “Our patrons include the leading physicians, lawyers, bankers, professors, teachers, officials, State senators and representatives, United States Senators, ex-governors, and others of the leading people of the city, as well as those of the middle class. Most of those I have mentioned are regular customers. Thus far today we have treated one of the leading ministers, a leading physician, a tailor, a secretary of the poultry association, a proprietor of an extensive business, a building contractor, the director of one of the largest canneries in the West, a brew master from a large brewery, the proprietor of a harness and leather goods house, six teachers of the city schools, four teachers of the State normal, the wife of a United States Senator, the wife of a retired capitalist, a newspaper lady, the wife of a business man, a lady State fruit inspector. I do not know who else will be in. This shows the average class of people that we meet. They are all friendly, and speak well of the work.” Another worker gives the following in connection with treatment room experiences:— “We are continually presenting God’s mercy or some phase of the third angel’s message to one or another of our patients. That is the real object of our work, and we find blessed opportunities. Two nonprofessing young women whom we received into our employ became Seventh-day Adventists. When a series of meetings was held in our church last winter, we repeatedly used the telephone for half an hour in the mornings, speaking to patients about the meetings. In the crowded church we noticed that one half of those not of our faith were our patients. “The superintendent of the largest Sunday school here, in a church of nine hundred members, told me he had been more benefited by the twenty-seven dollars spent with us in treatments than by the seven hundred dollars spent for medical care otherwise. When the Temperance Instructor was issued, he had me telegraph for four hundred copies to distribute to the members of his school.” Church Growth and Camp Meetings in North Michigan
By J. J. Irwin
Not many reports appear in the REVIEW AND HERALD from North Michigan; but the workers are all busy carrying on their work. The past year has been one of blessing to the conference. Two churches have been organized, and one church that had been practically broken up for a number of years, has been reorganized, and is now doing efficient work. One of the churches organized was among the Chippewa Indians on the shores of Keweenaw Bay. A more detailed account of this church will undoubtedly be given in another issue of the paper, so I shall merely state that they are fully organized, and the work is established on a firm foundation. Both our camp meetings this year were seasons of blessing to the people, and the interest was far above what it usually has been heretofore. In several places in the conference the workers are having large interests, and many souls are being brought to the Master. Another company that was raised up this fall will soon be ready to be organized into a church. During the summer eighty persons received the ordinance of baptism, and others would have been baptized had we been able to get to them. This conference in the past has been heavily drawn upon for workers for other fields; but while the calls keep coming for our men, we are glad to be able to supply other fields, and hope we can secure many more to answer the call. The tithe is about the same as it was last year. But the mission offerings, while they are not up to the full quota, are increasing each year. Our people and workers are of good courage, and we are anxious to do our part in finishing the work God has for his people to do here upon the earth. Religious Liberty
By W. F. Martin
MANY times we are led to wonder if all the work we are doing to enlighten men and women is accomplishing what we hope to see accomplished. For some time it has been the custom of the conferences in the North Pacific Union to send the magazine Liberty to all the lawyers in its territory. It was not known how much interest was taken in the magazine nor how many were even reading it, so a different plan was decided upon this year. A letter was prepared to be sent out from the conference headquarters. Accompanying this letter was sent a copy of Liberty, and inclosed in the letter a small slip to be signed and returned, provided the receiver wished to read Liberty the coming year. If the slip should be returned with the signature of the lawyer, his name would be placed on the mailing list. If there was not sufficient interest to return the slip, it would be a question as to the advisability of sending the magazine. The Upper Columbia Conference was the first to put the plan in operation. With considerable interest we awaited the outcome. Soon the mails began to bring in returns. While not nearly all to whom blanks and sample copies were sent have replied, yet a goodly number have done so. Many simply returned the slips signed with name and address. Others wrote excellent letters of appreciation. Thinking some of these letters may be of interest, two are herewith given. A United States Senator writes:— “I have yours of recent date, stating that you forwarded me a copy of the magazine Liberty. I shall take pleasure in receiving and reading it, as you state, as it stands for those ideals of civil and religious freedom which have been among the chief of our blessings.” A leading attorney writes:— “I am in receipt of your magazine Liberty, which I esteem very highly and believe it is one of the greatest magazines published in the United States to-day, for the reason that it stands for the greatest cause of humanity, liberty, and is a magazine that is greatly needed throughout this country. This is a subject that I have been advocating single-handed for twenty years, and have brought upon myself the oppression of those churches that have failed in their own cause and have blended with the state to enforce the morals which they failed to bring about in their church. If your magazine could be put before the people as nonsectarian, it perhaps would be read by thousands of persons belonging to other churches who would not read it if they knew that it was published by the Seventh-day Adventists. As for myself, I belong to no church, and the articles produced in your magazine have taken deep root with me, and I herewith inclose you a check for one dollar, and send in the names of several of my friends and acquaintances whom I desire to have read your magazine.” Such testimonials as these should be an encouragement to us all to press on and do what we can to spread the light on the great principles of the message. Who knows but that when the crisis comes, some of these splendid men may take a bold stand for the message? Good Words for the “Review”
By E. Van Deusen
It is fifty-four years since I became acquainted with the REVIEW by subscribing for its weekly visits. It began coming to me in December, 1860. In June of that year I had begun the observance of the Bible Sabbath, and many things were not yet clear to me; but it seemed that every number of the REVIEW had just the article in it to answer my inquiring need. The longer I live, the more I am convinced that it ought to come to the home of every new as well as old believer in the message for which it stands. As an educator and as a factor in aiding to keep pace with the advance of the work this people have in hand, I know of no paper excelling it. In truth, not to take it is to fall behind. To be behind is to be in danger of being picked off by the enemy. But few of those who take and read the REVIEW are found among faultfinders and backsliders. Its scope takes in the whole world. Its soul food is such as to nourish and build up moral tissue, and thereby produce a strong, sound Christian character. While it may seem to some as pessimistic or as optimistic, yet it avoids both extremes by letting the light shine forth in a manner to make plain the truth as it is. Such are my views of the good old REVIEW, having had its timely hints, its kindly counsels, its encouraging cheer, for more than fifty-four years. For its purpose and use, nothing can supersede it. Scanning its weekly pages with interest helps to keep burning the incense of faith on the altar of daily devotion and consecration. My prayer is, May it continue its mission and be, as it has been, a shining beacon. Riversdale, Jamaica, British West Indies. Medical Missionary Department
W. A. RUBLE, M. D. - - General Secretary L. A. HANSEN - - Assistant Secretary H. W. MILLER, M. D. - - N. Am. Div. Secretary Evangelistic Canvassing in West Virginia
By W. W. E.
There are blessed opportunities and possibilities in real evangelistic canvassing as illustrated in the following communication from H. F. Kirk, field missionary agent of the West Virginia Conference. After expressing appreciation for three workers recently added to their colporteur ranks, he gives one day’s experience while in the field with Brother Snyder, one of the new workers. Those who read this most interesting experience must recognize the great difference between this kind of work and the ordinary “book agent” methods. Brother Kirk says:— “We went out as Jesus instructed the disciples to go—two and two. We worked together, and as we went into the homes and opened the pages of truth contained in ‘Great Controversy,’ while one gave the canvass the other prayed. The Spirit of God worked on the hearts of the people, nearly all of whom readily gave their order. “We prayed earnestly before beginning work that the Lord would send his angels before us, believing that he would, and our prayers were answered. One woman said she had been reading her Bible all day; and of course we readily took her order. Others spoke of religious subjects which they had been talking about. “In one home especially, where we had prayer with the family, the Spirit of the Lord came in in such measure that the mother and daughters broke down and wept. When we saw how God was cooperating with us, our own hearts were touched, and we also shed tears with them. They begged us to come back and stay overnight. We did not promise, but went on and canvassed until almost dark. In one home we were invited to eat supper with the family, which we did, and took their order for a book. We stayed there about an hour after supper, and then went to a prayer meeting that was to be held in a near-by country church. There were about one hundred persons present, and I assure you we had a testimony of praise to offer, for the Lord20had blessed us with orders to the amount of $29.15 for the first day, and with experiences which to us were of much more value than the money we shall get for our work. The family with whom we had prayed was there, and we could not resist the urgent invitation to go back and stay overnight with them. We sat up until after midnight, singing hymns and studying the Bible. Next day the neighbors began to use their telephones, and we received four standing invitations to come and stay overnight. “During the two days we were together we were not charged for a meal nor a night’s lodging. We took four orders the second day and had some good experiences.” Brother Kirk concludes with an invitation for earnest workers to join them in West Virginia in this blessed soul-satisfying and soul-saving work. Fruits From the Colporteur Work in the Chesapeake Conference
By W. W. E.
The following extract is from a letter written by F. E. Hankins, field missionary agent of the Chesapeake Conference; and as it illustrates so well the effectiveness of house-to-house evangelistic canvassing in reaching the people and bringing them into the truth, we pass it on. Brother Hankins says:— “Wednesday night Brother Weller and I stayed with a very fine family, a bachelor brother and two maiden sisters, living together in a beautiful home. After supper one of the sisters went out for the evening. We had a good visit with the other sister and her brother. I gave them a canvass for ‘Bible Readings.’ The woman was much impressed, but said she would talk to her sister in the morning. So the next morning after breakfast the two sisters came into the sitting room. After some talk upon the events of the day I again began to explain ‘Bible Readings.’ The one that was present the night before again expressed her admiration of the work, and as I finished, the one that heard it for the first time, said, ‘Sister, we want three of those books.’ So we took their order for two half-morocco and one cloth binding. That made us feel good. For the two and one-half days we took $58 worth of orders from well-to-do farmers. This is only one experience out of many.” In speaking of the results from the colporteur work in the conference during the year, Brother Hankins says:— “One of our colporteurs received a letter from a woman to whom he sold ‘Bible Readings’ some time ago. She said, ‘Last Sabbath is the first one that I have kept.’ Another sister has accepted the truth as a result of the colporteur work, and is a member of the church. She was a Catholic. She has a neighbor interested, and lately her husband is a regular attendant at Sabbath services. Another brother that came in through the colporteur work this year has succeeded in getting five of his neighbors to obey the truth, and they are members of the church.” The same work being done in the Chesapeake Conference is being carried forward in a greater or less degree in every conference. We shall soon see thousands of persons embracing the message as a result of the gospel seed sown in the distribution of our literature through the work of the “God-fearing, truth-loving colporteur.” Let us continue to pray for these workers. Daily Blessings as Reminders of God's Gifts
“THE daily blessings of life ought to be constant reminders of him from whom cometh down every good gift and every perfect gift.” A NURSE engaged in private nursing gives the following experience of joyful service, even though the work was hard:— “I wish I could tell all about the case I have just come from. I feel that my experience was a grand one, and I am so thankful the Lord let me have it, though I believe it was the hardest case I ever had. I sometimes worked twenty-one and twenty-two hours at a time without rest. Both the family and myself were almost worn out before the end came. “While my work was hard, yet I feel sure that in all my experience as a nurse it was never appreciated so much, and this to me is worth more than all the money I received. I was able to tell something of our faith, and I tried to show what true Christian nursing is, and this was easier to do because of their appreciation. “One grown son told me their appreciation of my work could not be expressed in words. The other, while sobbing in his grief over his loss, said: ‘My heart is so full of gratitude to you for your kindness to my mother. I can’t express it in words.’ I felt it was good to give a life of service to the Master, and I do pray God will keep me humble and faithful to the end, and that he will be with each and every nurse as she labors here and there in her appointed field, perhaps in some humble home.” Publishing Department
By N. Z. Town; W. W. Eastman
N. Z. TOWN — General Secretary,
W. W. EASTMAN — N. Am. Div. Secretary