STANDING at the Cape of Good Hope and looking northward, we see a vast field stretched out before us; a field with its 200,000,000 of human souls who are to be saved with an everlasting salvation or lost eternally; a field in which multitudes of its inhabitants have never heard the saving name of Jesus; a field in which the people have been bound for ages in chains of the darkest heathenism, ignorance, and superstition; a land without a literature or civilization, as in many heathen countries, hence the appellation, "Darkest Africa."
But the Spirit of God is moving upon this great depth of blackness, and He has said, "Let there be light;" and the light is shining, yes, penetrating the darkest recesses of Africa. The light of the glorious Gospel of the kingdom must shine into all the world, "and then shall the end come."
The same God who said, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature," is preparing the hearts of His creatures to hear that Gospel. He has said, "I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh," and salvation will be offered to all mankind. Long ago the sweet singer in Israel prophesied that "Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God." To-day her hands are outstretched, pleading, yes, mutely pleading, for the bread of eternal life. Her more favored sisters have it in abundance; but will they give it to her? or will they pass her by and leave her to perish?
To us who are in the field, the Macedonian call is continually sounding in our ears, and many times we find ourselves utterly helpless to respond to these calls. Native young men are longing for an education that will fit them to bear the "glad tidings" to their people. Hear these pleadings in their own words which I copy from letters recently received:
"Dear, loving teacher, can't you send us as quickly as you can? Don't wait long. O, I wish you could send us now. I beg you, we are just ready for it. We want to go in big school in Cape Town."
Another writes: "As I think about my people, my heart just trouble me very much. I do not want to go there just to see them; no, no, not me. But if I just have a time before Jesus comes to show them that Jesus is coming."
Another young man writes: "I am sending my words to you. I said, Please, father, can you send me in big school? Father, hear my cry. I am your servant in Jesus. May God bless my asking."
O how we long to grant all that these native boys desire! The desire is a pure, holy aspiration to be prepared to work for God, and it has been planted in their hearts by God Himself. But an empty treasury stares us in the face, and we can not do what we would. The world is full of gold and silver, and we are sure that God is impressing men and women to provide the facilities that these calls may be met. We plead that you will hasten with your gifts, that the training of laborers for the work of soul-saving may not be delayed. O that God may speak to the hearts of His people by His own voice, and inspire them to give to Ethiopia that for which she is longing.
"Hear the pathetic cry of ours,
O dwellers in Christian lands!
For Afric' stands before you,
With pleading, outstretched hands;
You may not be able to come yourself,
But some in your stead can go.
Will you not send us teachers?
Will you not let us know?"
W. S. HYATT.
Cape Town, South Africa.
Egypt.
By J. J. Nethery
We are having plenty to do in this field, one of the oldest and the most degraded and most needy in the world. But God's Gospel must go here and gather from this decadent people the souls longing for the Bread of Life. So we are doing all we can, sowing the seed and awaiting the resulting harvest which the Master assures us will come.
We have a vast population of many languages. Ten different tongues are spoken in Cairo and Alexandria. Egypt, which once supplied the world's famine need, now needs help in her direr famine—the need of the Bread of Life. We need help, especially more workers.
I am studying Arabic as I have time. We need not say that it is difficult; however some progress is being made. Remember Egypt in your prayers. J. J. NETHERY.
Cuba—Its Condition and Needs.
By E. W. Snyder
THE casual visitor in Cuba is amazed at the antiquated conditions attending living in general, but that which appeals to the heart of the missionary is the general ignorance and superstition of the people, unfitting them to comprehend the spiritual truths of the word which would lead to their salvation. We read and hear much of the heathen in Darkest Africa, but it is difficult to realize that heathen in equally as dense darkness are found in this fair land at the very door of the United States. Yes, it is a fact that African superstition and sometimes witchcraft with all its horrors, including human sacrifices, permeate to a large degree the negro elements of Cuba, and as these comprise the majority of the population of the island, these evils must be reckoned with. That the above is no myth is evident from the fact that in December of 1904 a white child was murdered, it being believed that the blood applied would cure dementia and other complaints from which some of the negro women were suffering.
The Calcutta Sanitarium.
Two of the perpetrators of this crime were duly condemned and executed. Even in the city of Havana, the capital, this superstition has been in evidence. Several months ago the police reported having surprised and raided a meeting of the witches held in Soledad Street, the first indication of their presence being manifest by the issuing of sighs and weird noises from a house where there were assembled 100 people, more or less, all colored, both men and women. Many were wearing masks and were gesticulating and screeching. They found, besides an altar, a doll which they worshiped, with the name of "Chango stones." There were also shells from the sea, horns, a cock, dry coconuts, necklaces, a goat's skull, and other things.
The dark spiritual condition of the Cuban people presents an awful indictment against the church of Rome which has been the guardian of their spiritual interests for centuries. However, with the passing of Spanish supremacy, an era of religious as well as of civil liberty and toleration was inaugurated, and in this change who can fail to see the providence of a kind heavenly Father who has heard the cries of the oppressed of this land? While liberty is vouchsafed to them by our government, are we not doubly debtors to them to make known that greater liberty that is found alone in Christ? Notwithstanding the many difficulties encountered, a door of entrance is open to the word of God in all parts of Cuba. The evangelist has only to announce his meetings by properly advertising them. Where are the men and the means to accomplish this work? Both are greatly needed to open missions and schools as centers of influence for the Gospel. May the Lord lay the burden of this work on those to whom He has entrusted talents of ability and means.
E. W. SNYDER.
Cook Islands.
By A. H. Piper
"The isles shall wait for His law." In common with many other islands of the South Seas, yea, in common with almost every country in the world, the Cook Islands are hearing the message, "Prepare to meet thy God." Literature printed in the Rarotongan language bearing upon the second advent of Christ, the prophecies, and practical subjects, is finding its way into the homes of the islanders. The living worker is visiting from house to house, comforting, instructing, exhorting the people "in Christ's stead, Be ye reconciled to God."
Kolo Mission, Basutoland.
In the providence of God, a training-school has been established, and here we are endeavoring to educate our youth to become useful members of society on earth and hereafter citizens of heaven. Realizing as we do that all things terrestrial are soon to be dissolved and pass away, the burden is resting upon some of our native youth to take God's last message of warning to the islands to the northwest that are still shrouded in the depths of heathen darkness.
Not only upon the youth has the burden fallen to give the message, but also upon some that are older. One Maori sister, so diseased as to be unable to walk, who has to have all her food brought to her, said to us, "O missionary, I can not go to the people and tell them about the Saviour's soon coming, but when they visit me I tell them about it." One native brother who earns but a few cents a day, puts into our hands about every three months the sum of $4.87 to forward the work.
"This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." God is able to take the most corrupted heathen and make them clean missionaries for Him. Remember our work in the isles. A. H. Piper.
Barotseland.
By W. H. ANDERSON
OUR work here has been among the Batokas more than among the Barotses. If their great need is what appeals to us as Christians, then we ought to do much for them. To us, home and mother mean a little of heaven on earth. They have no home and are early sent away by their parents to be cared for by strangers. They live in miserable huts, shared with calves, sheep, goats, and fowls. They sleep on a mat of reeds fastened to four posts, with a fire beneath in the cold season. Few have blankets. They do not use the skins of animals for a covering. Many dispense with clothing altogether, night and day. They are lazy and improvident. In times of famine they starve with stoical indifference. When there is an abundance, they eat to gluttony. They plant little, depending on game and herds for food. They are licentious in the extreme. Without God or hope, they are perfectly satisfied. And this is the condition of many in the Dark Continent.
To introduce habits of industry, to teach morality, and to let the glorious Gospel of Christ shine into these darkened hearts is the task before the missionary. He must bring discipline to bear on those who have always followed their own impulses. He must teach temperance to gluttons and drunkards. Truth must be told by lips that have always been taught to lie. God must be made known to a people who are so ignorant of Him that they have no word to express the idea.
Who will do this? Do we love our brother as Christ has loved us? Will we do for him what Christ has done for us? We need money to erect church and school buildings. We need men to penetrate farther into the interior to establish memorials for God. We need the outpouring of the Spirit of God as on the day of Pentecost to finish the work in this generation. Who will lend a helping hand?
S. D. A. Mission, Cape Haitien, Haiti.
W. H. ANDERSON.
British Central Africa.
By Thomas H. Branch
We have nothing but words of good cheer to report from this part of God's vineyard, Darkest Africa. Many of the people for whom we have been laboring for years, seemingly uninterested, are now turning their faces Zionward and joyfully coming to hear the word of life preached. Churches have been organized, boys have been trained who are giving their very lives for the salvation of their fellows. A little over a year ago thirteen souls were baptized. Many were present on the occasion, and the Spirit of God impressed them with its solemnity. After the baptism came the ordinances of the Lord's house, a soul-feast of good things.
Who of the many in the home field are preparing to go as messengers to help warn the souls for whom Christ died? There is great need of laborers, the field is large, the people are many, and the work is great. Many are needed to constantly enlarge the work. Our watchword is onward, desiring to plant the banner of the cross of Jesus in every dark corner of Africa, remembering that Ethiopia has her hands outstretched to God. So with faith in His word and work, the truth of God is finding its way into the heart of this land.
THOMAS H. BRANCH.
Plainfield Mission,
Cholo, B. C. Africa.
Somabula Mission, Matabeleland.
China's Awakening
By J. N. Anderson
By Superintendent J. N. Anderson
Our Opportunity.
IN common with all the other nations of earth, China and the entire Chinese world is being mightily shaken. In the light of God's revelation it is not difficult to see who is the Author of this shaking, nor is it hard to discover its purpose and end. "Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which can not be shaken may remain." Heb. 12:26, 27; Joel 3:16. These great winds of strife which to-day are sweeping over humanity are indeed but the clashing of the opposing forces of good and evil. The very physical earth, as if in sympathy, is racked with eruptions, temblors, convulsions, while the face of nature is swept with the "besom of destruction," causing the whole creation to travail and groan in pain. To the thoughtful student of God's word the answer to all this is, "This is the day of the Lord's preparation."
High Tongan Type of Man and Woman. Elaborately Dressed.
For centuries, and even millenniums, China has, in strange solitude, lived the life of a recluse, self-satisfied, absorbed heart and soul in the ideas and ideals of the remote past. This pleasurable dream is now of the past, and the erstwhile sleeping China is not, as some would believe, walking in her sleep, but fully aroused and conscious of being out of joint with the times and in desperate need of something. She fears for her political and national existence. A deep-seated spirit of unrest pervades the masses, and in many instances it is taking on the aspect of determined hostility to the present ruling authority, if not to all law and order. A feeling of self-sufficiency and independence swells the bosoms of the rising generation, especially the student class, manifesting itself in a pronounced dislike for Old China and the foreigner, tho not the ideas and methods of the foreigner. Never before in all her long history was China so open and accessible as at the present time; and beyond a peradventure, there is no other single large missionary field that presents so great a door of opportunity, and justly urges equal claims upon the people of God in the home lands. It is not indeed that China is consciously holding out her hands to welcome the salvation of Christ, but rather that she is dissatisfied with what she now has, and so is anxiously casting about for something, hoping that almost anything will be for the better rather than the worse.
It is in such an hour of large opportunity as this that "the children of light" have a solemn duty to discharge. Are we not the salt of the earth? and is not this great door of entrance God's unmistakable call to His own people to arise and enter? Is it not the command of our ascending Lord of perpetual obligation until the end of the world? What higher motives do we wait for? Does not the fact of our possessing and knowing the message of redemption make us responsible bearers of this message to those who are in the power of the evil one? And does not the love of Christ constrain us? Where are the young men and women who, deliberately and in the fear of God counting the full cost of this enterprise, and trusting in the eternal faithfulness of God, stand ready to weigh out the price in self-sacrifice and humble service? Who are saying with the apostle Paul, "So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the Gospel"?
San Francisco Church, Guadalajara.
South America
By J. W. Westphal
By Superintendent J. W. Westphal
LONG after Africa, China, Japan, India, and other heathen countries had been entered by the activity of the nineteenth-century missionary spirit, no Protestant missionary effort had been put forth in behalf of South America. Hence it has been appropriately called the "Neglected Continent." Discovered, explored, and colonized by Spain and Portugal at a time when Protestantism was making itself felt in the Old World, these strongholds of Catholicism determined to prevent by every available means the Gospel and the Bible from taking root on South American soil. The colony of refugee Huguenots which sought an asylum at Nictheroy, across the harbor from Rio de Janeiro, in the early Brazilian history, was soon destroyed. The inquisition and other cruel practises came hand in hand with Catholicism to stain the virgin land with the blood of any who desired to serve their Saviour.
But the sword and human might can not always stay the progress of the word of God. The spirit of liberty born in the Gospel, nurtured and brought to the attention of the world by Protestantism, has entered these lands until in one after the other the middle wall of partition has been broken down. To-day there is not a country in South America where the Bible may not be brought to the people with more or less freedom.
Carrying Wood to Market, Mexico.
Along with these open doors for the Gospel are open hearts to receive it. Many are tired of worshiping images of wood and stone, tired of meaningless ceremonies and traditions, and are longing for the comfort of a living God and a living word. Many, it is true, losing faith in empty forms, are turning toward infidelity or Spiritualism, but by no means all. Many are hungering for and eagerly partaking of the Bread of life when it is brought to them.
Since much the larger portion of the field is still unentered by active, aggressive workers, while in many entered places comparatively little is done, it is clear that thousands still long for the Bread of Life. Shall it be in vain? Many who might be helped and saved go into hopeless, Christless graves annually. What a responsibility rests upon every Christian to snatch as brands from the burning these precious, blood-bought souls! What an awful award awaits all who have lived selfishly, who have spent their means and strength for self, who like Cain say, "Am I my brother's keeper?"
Fiji Students, Avondale, Australia.
I have seen as appreciative souls among these people as I have seen anywhere. They are as true to the truth and their convictions as can be found among any people. When in Brazil only a few months since, I was told that the most earnest, devoted Christians in Brazil are the Brazilians themselves. Why should not a people who in the past have hazarded their lives for gain or glory make strong men in Christ when the Gospel is once received? The fact that as a rule they are less educated than those of some more favored lands, and possibly less moral, only emphasizes their need, and the change of heart and life will be only more apparent.
The mute appeals of 40,000,000 needy souls in South America call loudly for help. Brazil has a large negro element as ignorant, superstitious, and needy as any that can be found in the Southern States or Africa, who up to about seventeen years28ago were the slaves of cruel task-masters. A large portion of the South American natives are mixed with Indian blood, while there are still hundreds of thousands or even millions of pure blood Indians, some domesticated, while others are still wild and in their native haunts. From their professed Christian brethren of Europe they have received only cruel treatment and slavery. The result is that the descendants of the subjects of the Incas, who at the time of their conquest by Pizarro numbered as many as the whole South American population to-day, have dwindled to a handful. A remnant has been preserved that they might share in the blessings of the Gospel as it goes to "every nation, kindred, tongue, and people." The Saviour's hand must be extended to help them. More favored lands and more favored people certainly are debtors to this lost, needy, perishing people. Perhaps nowhere in the Macedonian call, "Come over and help us," more distinctly and loudly heard.
JAMES A. MORROW
By James A. Morrow
From Bermuda.
I AM debtor both to the Greeks, and to the barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the Gospel to you that are at Rome also."
S. D. A. Church in Bermuda, Made of Cement Blocks.
This is the cry of a soul that had received the true Gospel light. At another time the same apostle says: "Whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God; or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. For the love of Christ constraineth us." It urged him forward in his labor for souls with a power that nothing could stop. This was the spirit that filled the early church, the same spirit that possessed the Waldenses, that filled Wesley's heart when he exclaimed, "The world is my parish!" Are there not readers of the SIGNS whose hearts are filled with this same spirit and who would esteem it a privilege to help in breaking the bondage of Rome? There are something more than forty million Portuguese. The larger part of these are still in the darkness of Romanism. Should not the people of Protestant America who have so long enjoyed the blessings and privileges of an open Bible feel a greater burden for these millions? Many souls from among the Portuguese settlers in Bermuda have embraced the closing Gospel message. This is an evidence that there are hearts among this people who will respond to the call of mercy. There are young men among these converts in Bermuda who feel willing to give their lives to carry the Gospel to the people of their tongues. We need help to prepare them for their work. We also need money to publish the Gospel message in a simple manner so that this people who have so long been kept in darkness and ignorance can understand and see the beauty of the Gospel.
JAMES A. MORROW
Bermuda.
Haiti.
By W. J. Tanner
ON the first day of January, 1804, the inhabitants of little Haiti, themselves slaves, declared themselves free and independent. Since that time the bonds and shackles of slavery have been loosed in all the various civilized lands of the world. With freedom from slavery came intellectual advancement and longing for better things. Accordingly the Haitian field is ripe for the harvest. Preeminently it is a time to give the Gospel to the people. Many are dissatisfied with the present "concordat" with the Papacy, feeling that it is a block to the wheels of the procession, and it is thought Haiti will soon follow the example of France and disestablish the church.
The Home of a Missionary. Dr. Gregory's House in Brazil.
Numerous requests for Bibles come to the evangelist from every quarter, and frequently invitations are received from leading officials and citizens to visit their towns and villages with the truth, asking for a three-days' visit, if no more, to tell about the wonderful things of the Gospel. For instance, one young evangelist, converted from Catholicism two years before, preaching in an entirely Catholic town, wins nineteen souls to the Gospel, with still others interested, the authorities assuring him the fullest protection. The open Bible, the earnest, burdened heart will win souls for Christ. One especially favorable class for which to labor is the young, so many of whom are drawing away from the superstitions which have bound them. Haiti needs a few young men and women capable of speaking either French or Spanish, and means also for their support. Will those who pray for the progress of the free Gospel remember the little island of Haiti?
