SOME two hundred years ago, when the tomb of the great Charlemagne was opened, it was found that the body of the emperor was in a remarkable state of preservation. It was seated upon a marble throne, clothed in royal robes, and in the hand was a symbol of power. But on his knees was a copy of the Gospels, and the finger of the dead monarch pointed to the words, "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
Here in this tomb was all that remained of human greatness as represented by this mighty monarch. Earthly fame amounts to but little. The names even of but few men are handed down to succeeding generations. The glory and pomp of men are as a passing cloud. It is only the Eternal that is enduring. "The word of our God shall stand forever."
The Malaysian Mission Field
By I. H. Evans
I. H. EVANS
IN company with Elder F. A. Detamore I left Hongkong Dec. 11, 1912, for Singapore, where we arrived safely in four days. We were met by Elder R. P. Montgomery and taken to the mission home, where we had the pleasure of greeting the Singapore workers during the day. This was my first trip to this field, though for three years the workers in Singapore had been looking for a visit from me. Elder Detamore, too, who had come to take the superintendency of the Malaysian field, had never visited it before.
We found the weather pleasant, but not at all adapted to the clothing we had with us. We had come from China, where at that season one could scarcely wear enough clothing to keep warm, while here we could scarcely wear little enough to keep cool.
We found a very cozy church building, in which our people hold meetings. It is a neat structure, but it has been a source of great perplexity to some who had little desire to see our work established in that place. On Sabbath the believers have a full day, with almost continuous meetings. At 8 A. M. the Sabbath-school convenes; this is followed by a preaching service in English. At 2 P. M. the Malay brethren and sisters hold a service, which is followed by a meeting in the Chinese language. At five o'clock there is another preaching service, this time in English. Five services are therefore held in the church each Sabbath, besides the weekly prayer-meeting and other services.
We found quite an interest among the Chinese, and several were just beginning to keep the Sabbath. It was planned to buy a tent, and the present year Elder Detamore, with others, will conduct a series of meetings. All are hoping for good results.
The brethren had planned to open a school about one hundred eighty miles up-country, as they had already arranged with the government for the purchase of fifty acres of land. Brother Detamore and I, in company with Elder Montgomery, visited this land the day following our arrival. The trip was through the famous rubber estates, which have been so diligently advertised, both in America and in the Orient, and in whose stock such wild gambling took place three years ago. In the Orient many were ruined financially by their frenzied investments in these new rubber plantations, while others have been ruined, though in another way, from the same cause.
Drawn by T. J. Gibson. SKETCH OF THE SELUKWE RESERVE MISSION, RHODESIA, SOUTH AFRICA
We found the location isolated, and a bit expensive to reach from such a place as Singapore; and having neither teachers nor available students for such an undertaking, it was decided not to push the enterprise till means could be raised to assure the support of the plan, and a teacher secured to have charge of the work.
The following day we returned to Singapore, and the next afternoon sailed for Java, arriving in Batavia on Sabbath morning just as the forenoon service was closing. We were glad to meet Sister Tunheim, who has charge of the work in Batavia, and some thirty or more persons who either were keeping the Sabbath or were interested in the truth. Sunday evening we had another service with a good attendance, and were pleased to see several present who were interested in the truth.
It was agreed to hold a general meeting for the workers at Soember Wekas, in the eastern part of the island. Here we have a good location, and it was thought that by having the workers assemble at this place, the change of climate from the low plains might benefit their health while they enjoyed the blessing of the meetings.
At Batavia we also met Brother Richard Sisley, who, though midway between threescore and threescore and ten years, seemed in the best of health, and was doing a splendid self-supporting work by teaching English in one of the great centers of Java. Not only is he self-supporting, but after supporting two workers in the Malaysian field, he has undertaken to support one of the best native evangelists we have in China. We visited his place, and surely it is only by limiting his needs that he is able to support three workers in the Asiatic Division; but it is by this spirit of self-denial that the Lord's work has been built up from the beginning. In the same city there is a family of Chinese in moderate circumstances who had recently given two thousand rubles for the work in the East Indies. One of these givers was an invalid, whose income was insufficient for her support in the simplest manner, yet she gave a thousand rubles for the prosecution of the work.
We left Batavia on Monday morning by rail, taking the northern line, and visiting Brother and Sister Sharp at Cheribon. We found these young people well located, doing self-supporting work and earning more than a liberal support; but their hearts were not at rest, because they were not more directly engaged in the work of God. They offered themselves for service, and it was arranged at the general meeting that at the close of their school term in April they should move to Singapore and connect with our mission work. This will make one new family for aggressive work in the East Indies.
(Concluded next week)
The Selukwe Reserve, Rhodesia, South Africa
By T. J. GIBSON
T. J. GIBSON
The place now occupied by the Selukwe Mission was at one time the home of a prominent Mashona chief by the name of n'Dema. The kopje (shown on right of sketch) on which the chief had his kraal, formed one of the strong-holds of the tribe. It was here that the chief successfully withstood the attacks of other warlike tribes. There still remain traces of his dwelling-huts and grain-houses, which were perched upon the tops of large boulders. Remains of the old smelting-furnaces, where they made their spear-heads and other implements, are also to be seen. During the rebellion in 1897 the British troops had considerable difficulty in12dislodging the rebels, many of whom hid themselves in a cave in the side of the kopje. The soldiers finally resorted to dynamite, which was successful, and the natives surrendered. About fifty of the natives who were slain were then hanged upon the trees by the British to frighten the survivors into submission. One of the trees (a wild fig) where the bodies were hanged has been pointed out to us.
COMPANY BAPTIZED AT NAZARETH, SOUTH INDIA
Before we knew the history of the tree, we suggested to our boys that it would be a nice place to build one of their huts. They looked downcast, shrugged their shoulders, but said nothing. There are several such trees about the place, but this one in particular had a good yield of fruit this season, and we enjoyed the figs. Against another hill near by are the remains of a stone fort built by the British. A few of the men who fought in the 1897 rebellion now attend our Sabbath services, held within a few hundred yards of where their comrades perished.
Many of the older natives have learned to appreciate the rule of the British, as they realize that it has brought them protection of life and property, and deliverance from one continual strife. We are thankful that the Lord has opened the way for us to bring to these people the gospel of a greater deliverance.
The Church’s Need of More Power
THE great need of the Christian church today is more power. This power can be obtained through no affiliation or union with the powers of earth. The church many times has endeavored to obtain power in this way, but every such union was a source of weakness. It proved a broken reed. The Holy Spirit is the one great, mighty force which should constitute the very life of the church. It is more of this power that is needed in both the church and individual experience. Pray in faith for its outpouring.
COLPORTEURS OF SOUTHERN INDIA
South India
By C. E. Weaks
C. E. WEAKS
LEAVING Calcutta the evening after the Sabbath, January 4, I started for our South India Mission station, a distance of fifteen hundred miles. This trip is an interesting one, as the railway skirts the east coast much of the distance, the ocean being in full view in many places. For more than five hundred miles we journey through the great Telegu language area. Nearly 20,000,000 persons speak this tongue, and as yet not a representative of this message has located among them. Other missions, especially Roman Catholic, have been very successful among them, and hundreds of Catholic churches are scattered through all parts of that vast area. This church makes rapid progress, especially among the Hindus, there being such marked similarities between the two forms of worship. Both are based largely upon superstition, image-, saint-, and ancestor-worship. No change of heart is necessary, and the poorer and lower-caste Hindus by outwardly accepting Catholicism are given the privileges of better houses of worship and more attractive images than they before enjoyed. We must enter this long-neglected field, and a call is now before the Mission Board for two families to locate among the millions of the Telegu country.
After two days' and three nights' travel, Trichinopoli was reached, the city where Brethren James and Peugh are living, and which is now the headquarters of the southern branch of the tract society. These brethren joined me here for the last two hundred miles of the journey. The last twenty-four miles were made by bullock cart, which takes from nine to twelve hours. The purpose of our visit to this station at this time was to hold a colporteurs' and workers' institute. It was the time of the regular school vacation, so an opportune time for such a meeting.
The seven Tamil colporteurs had been in the field since the institute held last July, and they had all gathered for further help and study. More than twenty workers were present, representing the various lines of work being carried forward in that field. The nearly three weeks spent at that station were busy ones. Four regular meetings were held daily, besides many for counsel, the first one coming at seven o'clock in the morning and the last one at seven fifteen in the evening, at which time a service was held for the general public. Usually about one hundred were present at this meeting. On the last Sabbath of our stay there, just before sundown, eighteen persons were buried with their Lord in baptism. That evening we all gathered in our schoolhouse, which is also used as a place of worship, and celebrated the ordinances of the Lord's house. It was a cause of rejoicing to see such a nice company of Tamil believers joining in this beautiful service. Nearly seventy have thus far been baptized in connection with our work there.
The following day the colporteurs left for their various fields, and reports since received show that they returned to do more successful work. On Monday morning the school reopened, and we remained a few days to counsel further regarding the work in the southern division of our union field, and to plan for the carrying forward of the same during the time that Elder James is away. It seems that we can scarcely see him leave us at this time, but we realize that he and Sister James are greatly in need of a change and rest after more than six years of strenuous labor in the field, the greater part of this time being spent in the extreme heat of south India, which has told very materially on their strength. Labor under the best of conditions in these tropical lands is hard and wearing, and where one sees so much to be done with so few to do it, he is liable to go beyond his strength, making it necessary to rest awhile. May the Lord richly bless these workers as they return to the home land for a season, and may he so use them there in presenting the needs of this great field that many will be led to consecrate their means and lives to the work in this land. I believe that there is a bright future before the work in south India. Pray for the work and workers here.
Summer Health Hints
By G. H. Heald, M. D.
G. H. HEALD, M. D.
Editor Life and Health
MANY may not be in a position to make use of all these suggestions, but every one should be able to make use of some of them, and in this way avoid many of the unpleasant features of the hot spell.
Clothing
Wear as few layers of clothing as possible. Every layer makes a "dead-air space," each of which helps to retain the body heat.
Wear thin clothing—linen or cotton, not wool.
When in the sun, wear a broad-brimmed straw hat or carry a sun umbrella.
Exercise
Avoid muscular work during the heat of the day.
Do necessary work as far as possible between 4 and 7 A. M. In order to get sufficient sleep retire as soon as it is dark.
Do not walk much. Keep to the shady side of the street.
If consistent, take two or more cool baths every day during hot weather, a spray-, tub-, plunge-, or even a sponge-bath. Every such bath is refreshing. Continue the bath sufficiently long to get the skin well cooled.
Dry without much friction. Don a dry suit, and put the damp suit on a line in the sun.
The Premises
Often by keeping a room on the lower floor, north side, of the house closed during the day, it can be kept cooler than the outside, and will be a good place in which to lie down when the weather elsewhere seems unbearable.
If the humidity is low and the thermometer high, the temperature may be modified by hanging up sheets and keeping them moistened or almost dripping with water. The rapid evaporation cools the temperature.
Hang such moist sheets out of the windows, and sprinkle the porch, side of house, and lawns by means of the garden hose.
Sleeping
Every one should sleep outside, especially during the hot weather, on a sleeping-porch built for the purpose, or in a summer-house consisting of a floor, corner posts, and roof, with curtains for protection, or in a well-ventilated tent.
Of course, such sleeping-place should, if necessary, be screened from mosquitoes and flies.
One should sleep under a single sheet in the hottest weather; and there are nights when one may take an air-bath in the Edenic garb for the entire night, without any fear of catching cold. Where there are sudden changes during the night, such a course would be unwise.
Diet
Live largely on fruits and fruit-juices, green vegetables, and the like.
Cereals, "roasts," legumes, meats, and other "heavy foods," which make excellent fuel for the winter, are better avoided in the summer.
Do not overdo the cold drinks or iced foods. Americans are noted for drenching the stomach with ice-water and iced foods. A severe gastro-intestinal trouble may be started by the use of too much ice internally. Unless the ice is from a source above suspicion, it should never be put into drinks. Better cool the drink or food by placing it in the ice-chest.
Be especially careful not to use foods that have stood in the pantry for some hours since heated. Such foods often "go bad" in such a way as to produce very troublesome and even dangerous summer diarrhea.
Do as little cooking as possible. Live on fresh fruits and the like, but avoid uncooked root vegetables or vegetables and fruits raised near the ground, unless you yourself know just how they were fertilized. Otherwise you invite typhoid fever, hookworm disease, etc.
Vacations
Remember that the "summer boarding-place" is not the ideal place it is advertised to be. There may be malarial mosquitos, or there may be danger of typhoid fever through flies or impure well-water or milk. Do not, if you can avoid it, make your summer residence where there are mosquitos; and you will be on the safe side to boil your water and milk. The resident family may be typhoid immunes and at the same time typhoid carriers.
General
Don't worry about the weather.
Don't keep your eye on the thermometer.
Don't do any unnecessary work.
Don't feel that you must do a lot of visiting or shopping.
Don't imagine that everything will go to smash if you fail to keep up the strenuous gait.
Don't get nervous when you read of heat prostrations. If you follow the advice in this article, you will be in no danger in the hottest climate.
Marrying Unbelievers
[The following earnest warning is written by one of our sisters, who speaks from personal experience. The counsel given should be read and heeded by the young people of this church.—Ed.]
For years I have seen many young people swept out of the church into the world. I have wished that I might say something that would be of some help in turning the tide, but my words seem so poor and inadequate.
It was not Paul, but the Spirit of a loving Heavenly Father through his apostle, who said, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?" Looking down through the ages, he saw the great vortex of human misery, sorrow, disappointment, and loss that unequal marriages would cause.
He said the same thing to his people in every age, and gave as his reason, "They will turn away thy son from following me." Deut. 7:4.
There is no other pitfall of Satan's devising more complete or more far-reaching in its effects than the one he sets to ensnare young people into the bonds of love with unbelievers.
Love is the most vital principle that enters into our lives. It gives zest to every joy, and tempers every experience that comes to us. Burdens seem lighter, nothing seems too much to endure, when686love holds sway; but love misplaced is the author of more sorrow, misery, and ruined lives than any other element. Here is where Satan strikes. His advances are subtle. We are nearing the end, and he is redoubling his efforts at this most vulnerable point, seeking to attract the young and draw them into the pleasures and companionship of the world, and thence into love and marriage with unbelievers.
"But," says one, "the man I go with is not an unbeliever. He believes in religion, in the Bible," etc. Yes, but he does not believe the third angel's message. That message draws a line of separation that is impassable, and there can be no complete harmony where there is discord on that point.
I know whereof I speak. Discord there is, the bitter in the sweet—a bitterness that lingers poignantly through all.
There are at least two classes of those who have married "out of the truth,"—those who meet no particular opposition to their views and to their practise of them, and those who meet opposition to both. In the first class some of them may possibly remain true, though the chances are most of them will become cold and eventually drop out. But in the near future, if true, each must decide between the world-despised remnant people, and the companion with whom every thought and impulse is entwined, who has become so much a part of his or her life that thought of separation seems unendurable. But this choice must come to every soul. I fear that those whose faith and courage in that trying time will enable them to choose Jesus and the world's disapproval will be few indeed.
Think this over, you who look forward to a happy union "out of the truth." This question is not one-sided. Young men as well as young women need to consider these things. My brother, will you be able at that time to turn away from the woman who has cast her lot with you, who, aside from not accepting the message, has given you all her heart's devotion, who is perhaps the mother of your little ones?
Think this over, you who value eternal life. Today it is much easier, though you think the disappointment would seem like taking your life, than then, after the union is made.
All who marry do so expecting to increase their happiness. The young man who has listened so willingly to your talk of spiritual things has perhaps been attracted to you by those very characteristics. They have in his eyes placed a halo about you, and he loves you. You think, surely you will win him to the truth, that somehow your case must be an exception to the rule, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers." But how soon the awakening! You find that however much he may love you, he wants none of the "truth" you love; he may not be willing even to hear any reference to it. There are degrees to which this aversion may be and is carried. Some take refuge in ridicule, sarcasm; some in outbursts of rage. O, the heartaches and humiliation he may subject you to! Whatever the manifestation of his disbelief and displeasure, you soon realize that you walk alone; you pray alone. No prayer ever joins with yours to give you courage and uplifting. You read alone; you enjoy, as much as you can, the good spiritual thoughts alone. You find your way more impressively solitary than if you were single.
You know not what method the enemy of souls may select to harass and discourage you. I know cases where every difference of opinion or of taste of any nature whatsoever is laid to the wife's religious belief, although her peculiar beliefs,—the Sabbath and so on, are seldom referred to by her, other than in humble performance of duty.
You who are drifting toward unequal yokes, stop and think over all these possible things. They are the experiences of others. Do you know they will not be yours? Are you strong enough to rise above all these discouraging influences? Do you never need a loved voice to whisper words of helpfulness in times of trial? Are you able to walk alone?
If, after all, you find that you love the truth better than all else, some day you will wake up to the step you have taken, wake up to the consciousness that God knows best, that it was unutterable love and consideration for you that, in scanning the end from the beginning, God said, "Be ye not unequally yoked."
But this is not all. Perhaps little ones have come to you, and with them come new problems. Naturally, your first thought is to train them for God's service. Your companion, too, has plans for them, but for this world. Thus you have a double tax upon your strength, your courage, your faith. You will find it hard to pull against so strong a tide, which may be made more difficult still by the worldly inclination of the children themselves. The Lord wants our children educated under the influence of the truth, and thus saved to his service, but you may have to see your little ones sent where the principles of the world are instilled, intermingled with infidelity and unbelief.
You will not have the constant prayers and help of your companion in training those little feet in ways of righteousness, helping them to learn to stand for God in the crisis just before us. When that crisis comes, decision will not be made in a moment, but the decision will have been made in days of training, in the trials of the yesterdays which they met, and conquered or lost.
And this is not all. You who "marry out of the truth" cut short your field of usefulness, virtually tie your hands and feet. No matter how your heart longs to go out and labor, the pride of your companion says No. You cannot work with freedom; you do not want to deceive; the little you try to do close by is hampered. And now when workers are needed so much, we should keep ourselves where we can answer God's call to us, where we can be used.
Too much cannot be said. The things pointed out in this are but a few hints of the real dangers involved. But let this be remembered, that taking this step puts the soul in jeopardy, and I urge those contemplating it to break before it is too late. Time is short, and it was an all-wise, all-seeing, loving Father who said, "Be ye not unequally yoked together."
If We Only Understood
COULD we but draw back the curtains
That surround each other's lives,
See the naked heart and spirit,
Know what spur the action gives,
Often we should find it better,
Purer, than we judge we should;
We should love each other better
If we only understood.
Could we judge all deeds by motives,
See the good and bad within,
Often we should love the sinner
All the time we loathe the sin.
Could we know the powers working
To o'erthrow integrity,
We should judge each other's errors
With more patient charity.
If we knew the cares and trials,
Knew the efforts all in vain,
And the bitter disappointment,
Understood the loss and gain—
Would the grim, external roughness
Seem, I wonder, just the same?
Should we help where now we hinder,
Should we pity where we blame?
Ah, we judge each other harshly,
Knowing not life's hidden force;
Knowing not the fount of action
Is less turbid at its source.
Seeing not amid the evil
All the golden grains of good:
Ah! we'd love each other better
If we only understood.
—Woman's Work.
The Noon-Hour Prayer
By Editor
"Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud; and he shall hear my voice." "And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends."
THE hot summer season is a time of vacations. Naturally there is a lessening of vital energy, and we do not feel the same keen interest in our work that we do under more favorable conditions. Let us remember that Satan never takes a vacation. Untiringly he labors to circumvent the plans of providence and to draw us away from our allegiance to God. Let us be instant in season and out of season. Let us be faithful in prayer. The noon hour is the time suggested when we should particularly remember those whose requests are presented in this column. The editor acknowledges many rich blessings from the Lord as day by day he has retired for a little space, and held up before the Father of mercies the requests of his suffering children. We present a number of earnest calls for help this week.
We regret that we cannot give space to all the requests for prayer which come to us. Some do not seem particularly appropriate for this column. To illustrate: One sister writes requesting that we pray for the way to be opened for her to go to school; another writes of property to which she has fallen heir, desiring that she come into speedy possession of the same, that she may use it for the education of the youth; and another writes asking that the church to which she belongs may be remembered at the noon hour, that its members may work together in peace and quietness. These are surely all worthy objects of prayer, but on account of their character we do not feel like presenting them before our readers. This column was opened for the special benefit of those who are suffering with physical infirmities or passing through some special trial. It seems necessary to confine it to this class of requests. Let us remember those who have asked that we pray for them this week.
Requests for Prayer
247. A Kansas mother desires prayer that her son may be healed from heart trouble.
248. Another sister in Kansas asks us to pray that she may be strengthened for severe trials through which she is being called to pass.
249. An anxious mother in Ohio requests prayer for the healing of her15daughter, who is suffering from a complication of diseases.
250. A brother living in Nova Scotia has been suffering from nervous prostration for about eighteen months. Satan has caused him to sink into a state of despair, and he begs us to pray for his restoration to health, and deliverance of soul and body from Satan's control.
251. "Please remember me at the noon-hour prayer, that God may remove my affliction and give me grace for the trials that await me; also that he may bless my husband with health," writes a sister from Alberta, Canada.
252. An anxious Oklahoma sister writes in behalf of her brother, asking us to pray that he may be restored from injuries received in an accident.
253. A Georgia brother requests prayer for healing.
254. A sister in Iowa desires our prayers that she may be restored to health.
The Quebec Camp-Meeting
By M. N. Campbell
The Quebec conference and camp-meeting were held at Ayer's Cliff, June 12-22. The attendance was fully as large as at previous meetings, and the spiritual atmosphere was of the best. The hurry and bustle usual to a large camp-meeting were absent from this one, and the visiting spirit did not intrude to detract from the real purpose of the gathering—the spiritual strengthening of the people.
At the evening services the time was given to a presentation of the distinctive points of our message. A deep interest was created that should be carefully followed up. Elders C. S. Longacre and W. C. Hankins were the laborers from outside the union, and the work of these brethren was highly appreciated.
The conference business was transacted in a very harmonious spirit, and the believers rallied to the plans laid for the advancement of the work in their own conference and for the work at large, in a very commendable manner. The brethren responded liberally to the calls for means in both the home and foreign fields.
Like Zerubbabel of old, the Quebec Conference is facing a great mountain in the carrying of the message to the vast French-Catholic population residing within its limits; but, like Zerubbabel's mountain, it will become a great plain in the providence of the Lord. The General Conference is making generous appropriations to assist this field, and the work is on the rise.
Elder W. J. Tanner was reelected to the presidency of the conference for another year, with the same staff of advisers on the executive committee. Miss Eva Richard was elected secretary and treasurer, and Miss Hazel Butler secretary of the Sabbath-school department.
Two tent efforts are arranged for this summer, both at Montreal. Elders A. V. Olson and W. J. Tanner will conduct the one in English and Elder Jean Vuilleumier the French effort. We trust the blessing of Heaven will rest on the laborers in the Quebec Conference this year.
M. N. CAMPBELL.
Continuing in Well-Doing
By D. T. Shireman
I THANK the Lord for the privilege of attending the recent General Conference. It was a feast of good things, and marks a new era in the proclamation of this last warning message to a sinful world. With the thousands of believers, with great printing-presses established in different lands, with the means at hand to carry forward the work, it will be possible to bring the message to as many in one year as it was possible to reach in fifty years some time ago.16We have no time to lose in getting ready for the coming King. A great light is shining on our pathway, and only those who walk in this light daily will be ready to enter the heavenly home. We are told to "get ready, get ready, get ready." Soon our names must come before the Judge for final decision. Many will not stand the test. Today is the time for us to decide for God, to "lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and . . . run with patience the race that is set before us." There is no time to sleep. Let us watch and pray, and let us use every means at our command to bring this blessed truth before the people.
