Conducted by Mrs. I. H. Evans, Takoma Park, Washington D. C.
Assisted by Miss Lora E. Clement
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.
Only a Babe
By MRS. L. D. AVERY-STUTTLE
MRS. L. D. AVERY-STUTTLE
ONLY a baby, small and slight,
Only a poor little lump of clay,—
Dear little fairy clad in white,—
Only a baby passed away.
Two baby eyes, so bright and blue,
Closed forever in dreamless sleep;
Dear baby heart, so fond and true,
Under the daisies buried deep.
Ah, there is grief in our home today,
Grief that another may never know;
Our beauteous birdling has flown away,—
Only a babe, but we loved her so!
All in vain are these bitter tears,
Crushing the heart with their weight
of woe;
O the grief of the coming years!—
Only a babe, but we loved her so.
Only a babe; but an angel bright
Marks the spot where our darling
sleeps,—
An angel bright from the land of light
His tireless, watchful vigil keeps;
And by and by through the shining sky
We shall soar aloft to that verdant
shore.
When the Lord shall come through the
azure dome,
And we shall be parted nevermore.
The Timid Child
RUTH is nine years old. She has always dreaded to be away from either father or mother, especially in the evening. Her parents think she is finicky, and not really afraid. They frequently leave her, although she protests vigorously, and is in tears when they go, even when other people are in the house. If she hears her mother say at noon that she must attend a meeting in the evening, Ruth begins to worry, and keeps asking all afternoon whether mother must go, whether daddy will stay home, how long mother will be gone, and so on.
The mother asks whether this is not simply a “notion” on Ruth’s part. “Why,” she inquires, “should the child be so timid? She has never been frightened in the house, and I always leave somebody with her when I must be away.” The mother is not sympathetic. She gives the little girl no comfort when she asks how long she will be out; whether there is likelihood of her being delayed, and so on. The mother replies: “I cannot tell you when I shall be back. You can go to sleep. I cannot tell just when we shall get home; it is foolish of you to ask.”
Ruth is a sensitive child. Yet she is well developed for her age. She can run like a deer, and ride a bicycle as well as a boy. She is exceedingly happy except when she fears being left alone.
Is this timidity a mere “notion”? It is not, in her case. She has exhibited it since she was a babe in arms. She is fearless in everything else. Her fear has persisted only in respect to this one thing of being left alone. The reason she has not outgrown this may be because her parents have left her a good deal, and have sought to remedy her fear by making her stay alone, by criticizing her timidity, and in general by trying to discipline her out of her “notion.”
Now, fear cannot be stamped out by criticism or punishment. Harsh treatment only deepens the emotion until it may become fixed or morbid. The oftener one is made afraid, the more easily he will become afraid.
Ruth’s parents treat fear as they would obstinacy. They try to control it by punishment. But obstinacy and fear are diametrically opposite mental states. Obstinacy is to some extent under the control of the will. When one discovers that the results of obstinacy are unfortunate for himself, he will take another tack. It is just the reverse with fear. Let a child suffer from terror for five or six years whenever he is alone, and the chances are that he will suffer from this cause more and more as he grows older. Every one should know that the oftener a child is made angry, the more readily he will fly into a passion, just as the oftener a freshet flows over a given course, the deeper the course will become, and the more easily the water will flow along it.
How can timidity be eradicated? First of all, by building up the general health. People who are in fine physical condition are less likely to be dominated by fear than people who are not. Fear is an expression of lack of confidence. The timid person is always more or less dependent. Fortunately, Ruth has been much out of doors, and has had a good physical life, or her timidity would have told heavily on her before this.
A timid child must not be allowed to anticipate danger. When he says to his mother at noon, “You are not going out tonight, are you?” the mother must give him an assurance at once that all will be well. Even if the mother knows she is going out, she should be ready with some plan which will give the child confidence and allay his dread. If she is irritated by the child’s question, and impatient of his unreasonable attitude, she only aggravates the evil. This is actually what has happened in Ruth’s case, and is one cause for her morbid dread that she will be left alone.
Many cases of mental strain and stress in maturity are due to the fears of earlier years. Children who are habitually frightened may apparently overcome it, but if anything happens in maturity to weaken the vitality, the childhood dread may take possession of the individual. The nervous system tends to retain impressions, especially if made by fear.
These impressions may be forgotten, but they are likely to persist, and to complicate the individual’s mental life and be a handicap.
The chief aim in dealing with fears is to get the child’s confidence, and keep him from worrying about whatever he dreads. If he is afraid in the dark, he must, if possible, have agreeable experiences in the dark. He cannot be cured of his fear of the dark by keeping him16away from it altogether, or by never venturing out in it; but at the same time he never can overcome this fear by being made afraid in the dark, or by being compelled to go to bed every night alone in a dark room.
No childish experience demands greater sympathy than this of fear. No need requires greater resourcefulness in parents or teachers than this. The child will lose his fears just in the measure that he is made to see agreeable associations in objects that instinctively arouse his terror.—Prof. M. V. O’Shea, in The Mother’s Magazine.
Should a Woman Make a Will?
By Edward Bok
SHE should — decidedly so! It is just as important for a woman as for a man. Suppose she passes away, and does not leave a will; what may happen?
First, the court has to appoint some one to take charge of her property, and this may be anybody. This person has the right to look into all her most private possessions,—letters, papers, etc.,—say what shall be done with her most precious things,—her watch, ring, etc. Would she like that?
Second, such a person — an administrator, he is called — has to file a bond. This bond costs money, and that money has to come out of what a woman leaves; a lawyer must be retained, the estate must be advertised, appraisers appointed, an inventory made, all of which costs money, and comes out of what she leaves. And the necessary red tape that the law requires may take a year or two, and the estate is tied up for all that time.
Third, if she is a widow and passes away without a will, leaving children, she thereby failed to indicate a guardian for the children, and the court must appoint one. She could have wisely selected a guardian who would act as a labor of love, but will the court do so? She leaves her children at the mercy of any one that the court chooses to appoint. If the children are under age, the complications become greater. Expenses come in, and they must all come out of what she leaves.
These are only some of the complications that arise when a woman leaves no will. They are enough, however, to show her the importance of making a will. Nor should she try to make a will herself, and save a lawyer's fee. Nothing is more shortsighted. Not only should every woman make a will, but she should let a lawyer make her will for her. Hundreds of family quarrels could have been avoided had women been more careful about leaving wills clearly stating their desires.—Edward Bok, in the Ladies' Home Journal.
Before You Came
By Judd Mortimer Lewis
BEFORE you came, we thought we knew
All of life's happiness;
The clouds were white against the blue,
The breeze was a caress;
The violets were dewy wet
Beside the cottage door,
And we walked hand in hand, and let
The world go by—before.
Before you came. And then your cry
Came thin across the morn;
Faintly it came; and by and by,
The morning you were born,
The white-capped nurse drew gently
near,—
Ah, but she felt and knew
All my heart held of love and fear,—
And brought me word of you!
Of you! For you I had no thought,
For you I had no care!
For her! Ah, I was overwrought,
'Twixt hoping and despair!
The night had dragged a weary length,
And fearing for her loss
Had brought me, sapped of human
strength,
Prostrate before the cross!
Now we two bend above your bed;
And you are all we know
Of happiness. Your fuzzy head,
Your baby cheeks aglow,
Your hands held up for her caress,
Your gurglings, more and more
You bring to us a happiness
We never dreamed before!
— Judd Mortimer Lewis.
Mother Teaching
By MARTHA E. WARNER
MARTHA E. WARNER
While riding on the train one day, I noticed a little child calling his mother's attention to some cows in a pasture we were passing.
The mother glanced from her book to the window. “Pretty, pretty,” she said, absently.
Soon the little fellow saw a river, then a horse, and to all his exclamations his mother said, “Pretty, pretty.” Presently he saw some sheep scampering in a pasture, and lisped, “Pitty, pitty.” He had learned his lesson, and one that would soon have to be unlearned.
Mothers, take time to teach your little ones. When they see a cow, say, cow; don't confuse their minds by saying, “Pretty, pretty.” Children are interrogation points. They want to know; and as they grow older, they want to know why. Their little questions give material for many a helpful story. If you can answer their questions, answer them truthfully. If you don't know, frankly say so, but add that you will try to find out.
Can You Tell?
One day a boy asked permission of his father to go fishing. The father pointed to a whip, and said, “Go, if you want to, but you know what to expect.” Later he explained to a guest that several of the boys at school went fishing during the recess. When the bell rang, they were too busy to hear it, so continued fishing until nearly four o'clock. In addition to the punishment his boy had received at school, he had forbidden him to go to the river for two weeks, under penalty of a whipping.
The next day the guest heard the boy teasing his mother to go fishing. She reminded him of his father's command, and told him he must do his work. The boy continued to tease, and presently his mother gave her consent, on condition that he would come home the minute she whistled for him. Ten minutes before it was time for the father to come, she whistled, and the boy obeyed promptly. That father is now dead, and the mother cannot understand why her boy deceives her. Can you?
To Hide or Not to Hide
Mother was away, and auntie wanted to light a lamp, but she could not find a match. The little four-year-old said, “Mother hides them.” When mother returned, she showed auntie where the matches were, explaining that she had to hide them because the little man seemed “possessed to play with matches.”
In another home, just about dark, the mother said, “It is time for me to light the oil stove and get supper.” The little four-year-old dropped the blocks he was playing with, and went with mother into the kitchen, auntie following. The little man picked up the box of matches, and when mother said, “Ready,” he lighted a match, touched it to the burner, blew out the flame, laid the match with other burned matches, and went back to his play.
His mother told auntie that she began by holding the match for him to blow out. Later he was allowed to hold the match in his own hands, and as he grew older, he was taught to light the match and hand it to mother. At the age of four he could light a lamp or stove as carefully as she herself. The matches were not hidden from him, and he was never known to take one to play with.
You Lied to Me!
“Can you stand on your head?” I asked a little boy on his fifth birthday. His mother instantly replied, “Stand on his head?—No, indeed! He might break his head off. He did try to turn a somersault, and he hurt his shoulder dreadfully. I thought he had cracked his head, and you know if his head should come off, I could not sew it on again. It never could be fixed.” The child grew pale as he listened to his mother.
Soon afterwards the father insisted on sending the boy to a district school. The first week was very hard for him, but the second week he was willing to go. One night when he came home, he rushed into the living room, where his mother was entertaining a caller, and shaking his finger at his mother, shouted, “You lied to me! You lied to me, I say! My head won't break off when I turn a somersault, and I can say, ‘Gosh,’ and the boys say I ain't a sissy no more.”
That was very hard for the mother, but she profited by the experience. When her second son was born, she said, “With God's help, this boy shall never have occasion to call his mother a liar.”
Clintonville, Conn.
Save the Fragments
By MRS. I. H. E.
A SISTER in Florida,—a “shut in” in her seventieth year,—whose heart was touched by the missionary reading for October, describing the flight of Brother and Sister Oster, with their four weeks’ old babe, from the Kurds in Persia, suggests a plan for adding to the store of mission money raised by the little companies and the isolated believers. Many could make, from remnants of new material, or from that which has seen some service, little garments for babies and young children. Often a pretty, serviceable dress can be made from a half-worn garment; a cloak for play hours may be evolved from an old coat, or little underskirts and aprons and night-gowns from left overs that are often allowed to accumulate. If daintily and attractively made, these garments might be sold, perhaps by children who are anxious to fill their mission barrels; and while the sums received might be small, the aggregate would no doubt prove considerable.
“I have been in this truth for more than forty years,” says this sister, “and have watched the developments that have been made in the world during that time in the light of prophecy. Everything about us today tells us that the end of all things is at hand. Let us work in every way that we can during the little time that remains.”
MRS. I. H. E.
To Clean a Floor
By Mrs. D. A. Fitch
MRS. D. A. FITCH
“Ever learning” should be the watchword of every housekeeper; “ever teaching” the motto of every mother. Success in both will be attained in various ways and by different means, as circumstances and conditions may indicate. Even though some mistakes are made, resulting in inconvenience and loss of material, it is far better to permit children to do, and thus encourage them to learn. If we make right use of our failures, we learn more by them than by our successes.
In my young girlhood I one day asked to be allowed to mop the kitchen floor. Having no instruction in detail, I tried to do as I had seen my mother do. When the floor was about dry, I said, “Isn’t my floor nice and clean?” Imagine my dampened ardor when mother responded, “It is a more even color, but no cleaner.” Her reply may not have been the wisest, but rest assured it was the means of my learning that plenty of water and a corresponding amount of strength are needed really to improve the appearance of a floor.
To wet a floor and then partially dry it, is not sufficient. Painted floors seldom need soap, and are better without it. As a rule, floors of the natural color are whiter if no alkali is used. As before stated, sufficient water should be used, and plenty of strength put to the scrubbing. The floor should be wiped as dry as possible. A floor so cleaned need not be scrubbed so often, so there is really no loss of time or effort in doing the work well.
Any broom, cloth, or mop should be thoroughly cleaned before put away to dry. This will insure good results next time.
Santurce, Porto Rico.
Independence Amid the Crowd
It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinions; it is easy in solitude to live after your own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.—Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Opportunity Spoils if Kept Waiting
“OPPORTUNITY spoils if kept waiting.”
Alone With God
By R. Hare
ALONE with God amid the twilight shading,
When night falls o’er the dim and distant hills,
When moon and stars take up their revelation,
And holy calm the waiting spirit fills.
Alone with God when morning glories kindle
Their orient splendors in the distant sky,
To read from day’s first painted cloud-steeps,
And learn “the everlasting God is nigh.”
Alone with God when duty’s hand would beckon
To earnest toil in distant field or plain;
To feel his presence giving strength and courage,
And in communion finding rest again.
Alone with God when midnight’s solemn stillness
Has hushed the din and discord here below;
Then faith, in quiet, undisturbed devotion,
Would, bowing, wait his perfect will to know.
Alone with God, O sweet and blessed communion,
In which my soul its blessedness may trace,
And ever wait in holy adoration,
Till I shall know and see him face to face!
—R. Hare, in Signs of the Times (Australian).
Virginia
By W. C. Moffett
The summer's evangelistic campaign in Virginia was blessed by the Lord with success. Six tent companies were in the field, their labors resulting in the addition of eighty converts to our churches, making a total of two hundred and fifty who have accepted present truth in the last fourteen months.
One new church has already been organized, and is about to dedicate a house of worship free from debt. At two other places where tents were pitched, the companies are soon to be organized into churches. One of these companies was brought out by the tent effort following the camp meeting at Charlottesville, the seat of the University of Virginia.
Reaching out into new fields, instead of hovering over the churches continually, has not weakened the churches, if the tithe and offerings are taken as a gauge. The tithe for the first nine months of 1915 was $6,471 against $5,864 for 1914.
At this writing the entire force of laborers—officers, ministers, and departmental workers—are enthusiastically leading out in the Ingathering campaign.
Progress is being witnessed in the remodeling of the educational work, which now includes nine schools, with a present enrollment of 160. The Shenandoah Valley Academy is filled again this year, and has every prospect of meeting its operating expenses from the income of the school, as was done last year for the first time in its history.
With the nations of earth reaching the limits of divine forbearance, we see in the onward sweep of the third angel's message in all parts of the world the evidence that God is baring his arm to finish the work and cut it short in righteousness. The cause of God will soon triumph eternally. The question for us to settle individually is whether we shall drop behind, or keep pace with the message and share in its triumph.
W. C. MOFFETT.
Ohio
By E. K. SLADE.
DURING the past six months, we have been permitted to see decided advancement in all phases of our conference work. The laborers in Ohio have been seeking as never before to secure better results in giving the message in new places, in bringing in new believers, and in raising up new churches. A few new churches have been organized, but the additions to the faith have largely been in connection with churches already existing, especially in our cities. As an indication of the advancement, we have received by baptism into our churches during the first six months of this year approximately two hundred members. This number is more than was received during the entire preceding year. Every laborer seems to be doing his best, and I believe the Lord is blessing the efforts of all.
It has been our purpose to strengthen every department of our work in Ohio. In financial matters, the increase has been even more encouraging, as our offerings to missions during the last year are double what they were about four years ago. During 1914 the Ohio churches raised their full quota on the Twenty-cent-a-week Fund, and a considerable amount over, and in the year just ending the results will be still better. There is a decided increase also in tithe receipts.
Though the field has been worked a great deal with our books, our strong band of colporteurs is placing in the homes of the people a larger number than ever before. By this means, the truth in printed form is being placed in the homes of the people in every county of the State, and we feel that the seed sown in this way will bring a bountiful harvest of souls.
The Mount Vernon Academy is in a most prosperous condition. Four years ago, when I came into the State, this institution was laboring under a debt of over thirty thousand dollars. Through the faithful efforts of the conferences supporting it, this debt has been entirely removed. The academy has an excellent student body and a most efficient faculty, and we believe that a high standard is maintained. Mount Vernon Academy will evidently continue to be one of our most efficient educational institutions.
Ohio contains a population of approximately fifty million people, with twenty-five hundred cities and villages. It is one of the foremost States of the Union, and furnishes a field of great importance in the giving of the last warning message. We are giving especial consideration to its teeming cities, and are endeavoring to establish a strong work in every large city.
The foreign population of the State is great, and to this problem we are giving careful attention, and already have a work in progress for some of these foreign peoples. While properly caring for our work within the State, dealing with this great problem of carrying the message to five million people at home, we are endeavoring to do our part in sending men and means to the great, populous fields now in darkness. We have sent many laborers to the foreign fields, and workers are still going from our State to the regions beyond, while many are in preparation for work in other lands.
I am glad to be able to report to the readers of the REVIEW that the Lord's blessing is with us, and that the believers in our great State are manifesting the utmost loyalty and faithfulness in relation to the great work committed to this denomination.
E. K. SLADE.
New Jersey Conference
By A. R. SANDBORN
NEARLY eleven months of the year 1915 are in the past; and as we look over these months, we rejoice to see that they have been months of progress for the New Jersey Conference.
At our camp meeting held in June, the blessing of God was poured out in rich measure. It was especially inspiring to see our young people in little groups of six or eight, stealing quietly away at the close of the evening service, to gather in prayer band meetings. By the close of the ten days’ encampment practically every young person on the grounds had yielded to the Saviour and resolved to live for him.
During the summer there were five tent companies in the field, located at Burlington, Union Hill, Arlington, Phillipsburg, and Jersey City. Of these efforts, one was for the Swedish people and one for the colored. At Burlington twenty-two were baptized as a result of the summer’s effort. These were a welcome addition to the small company already organized at this place. At the present time a neat little church is in process of erection, and will soon be ready for occupancy. A new church is also in building in Jersey City.
This year we have eight church schools in the conference, three of which are home schools. Good reports are coming from them, and we are thankful that so many of our children are able to attend a Christian school.
This past quarter ‘four new Sabbath’ schools have been organized, making a total of thirty-eight, with a membership of one thousand and sixty. The mission offerings are steadily on the increase, and it looks now as if we should easily reach our Twenty-cent-a-week Fund for the year 1915.
The young people’s work, as well as18other departments, shows a very encouraging growth. We now have seventeen Missionary Volunteer Societies, with a membership of two hundred and eight, which does not include the twenty-five or more young people who are attending Washington Missionary College. This year the Missionary Volunteers of New Jersey will go beyond the financial goal set them by the general department. A number of youth have been baptized during the year, for which we are glad.
We must not forget the Harvest Ingathering campaign. So far, this year bids fair to be the best one for missionary effort of this character in the history of the New Jersey Conference. The month of October showed a gain of over one hundred dollars above that for the corresponding month of last year. The missionary secretary has been visiting every church, and actually going out with the people to show them how to solicit means. The results of this work have been most excellent. One small company has already raised $150, and is still engaged in the good work. The missionary meetings and prayer meetings have received new life from this campaign, and it is proving a blessing not only financially but spiritually.
As we look over the year’s work in New Jersey, we feel greatly encouraged, and can but say from our hearts, “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.”
A. R. SANDBORN.
East Michigan
By Wm. Guthrie
The year 1915 is now almost spent, and our workers are bringing in the harvest of souls for which they have labored during the year.
Our camp meeting was held the latter part of June. The attendance was the largest since the organization of the conference. The helpers at the meeting were all filled with a desire to see a great spiritual uplift during the meeting, and their hopes were realized to a large degree.
At the close of the conference, eight tents were placed in the field, and work was carried forward in one city church without the use of a tent. Our people have prayed much for the success of these efforts, and the Lord has so blessed that we have baptized about two hundred and fifty persons. Still others are waiting for baptism, so we hope to pass the three-hundred mark before the close of the year.
We have made a good start on the Harvest Ingathering; and as we have already exceeded the number of papers taken last year, we expect also to exceed in our returns the amount raised last year. Our goal for this year is two dollars a member.
We also expect to raise our full twenty cents a week for the year, in spite of the fact that our crop conditions are very unfavorable, frost, rain, and cold having caused a great shortage over a large part of the conference.
Our people are proving their faithfulness in the payment of tithe, the amount at this writing being about three thousand dollars in excess of last year. We are hoping to see a large increase in the tithe for 1915.
We have planned a series of conventions for our young people, beginning November 27, which we trust will give a strong impulse to the young people's work.
Our church school work also has made progress. We have now twenty-four schools, two of which have two teachers each.
The tract society is showing a healthy increase in its work. A few more canvassers in the field will make this gain continuous. Faithful work is being done by the secretary and the field agent, which, with the earnest effort of the canvassers, insures success.
The Adelphian Academy has the largest attendance in its history. At this date we have one hundred and four students in attendance. The school opened with twenty students who were present at the opening last year. By constant application on the part of the teachers, rich results will follow the year's effort.
Our workers are all of good courage, and are united for the finishing of the work. WM. GUTHRIE.
Argentine Conference
By Roscoe T. Baer
SINCE my last report through the columns of the REVIEW, there has been quite a change in my field of labor. Acting upon the recommendation of the General Conference that I should take the presidency of the Argentine Conference, my family and I left the Chesapeake Conference June 14, visiting our parents in the West before departing for our distant field. At several places in the West public meetings had been arranged, and I had opportunity to address large congregations on the doctrines we hold.
On August 1 we left Rushville, Nebr., for the East, stopping at Washington and Baltimore. August 7 we sailed from New York on the steamship “Vestris,” direct to Buenos Aires, the capital of the Argentine Republic. We had a very pleasant journey, and made agreeable acquaintances with the passengers on board. After a journey of twenty-three days, we arrived in Buenos Aires, a city about the size of Philadelphia, Pa. Here the brethren knew of our coming, and Elder Casebeer and Brother Sherman were at the pier to meet us. We did not recognize these brethren until we saw them hold up a copy of the Protestant Magazine. We knew then that they were kind friends come to meet us and to direct us through the strange city. These brethren took us to their homes in Florida, a beautiful suburb of the city, where we were given a hearty welcome. Our headquarters in Florida well represent the message, in both equipment and workers connected with the various offices. The publishing house is located here, where literature for the Spanish people is prepared. Two papers are published—La Revista Adventista, our union conference paper, and El Atalaya, our special missionary paper.
We are now situated at the headquarters of our work, and believe we shall enjoy our labor here. Thus far I have met with five of our fifteen churches. The conference membership numbers one thousand, and pays an annual tithe of $20,000. There is an excellent class of young people to be developed for the work. Confidence and courage prevail among the conference workers, and we face the future with good courage.
The work is onward here, and the Lord is blessing the brethren with fruit for his garner. In Buenos Aires, Elder Casebeer with a good corps of workers has been conducting meetings in Spanish. From two hundred to three hundred people have attended the service each evening. Now the effort is being bound off, and a new Sabbath school of thirty members has been established, and we expect a good, strong church will be organized in that section of the city. Sister Cassie Dennis is one of the Bible workers connected with this city effort. Many in the Chesapeake Conference will remember her as Sister Cassie Wilson, as she was once a worker in that conference. Other workers in the conference have had success in winning souls, and the total for the year of those brought into the truth is encouraging.
The language of the country is Spanish, though a fair percentage of our constituency speak German. Really, to help the people one should be able to speak both Spanish and German. I hope in time to be able to converse with them. The people of the republic are not religious, and the educated and cultured classes boast of being infidels and atheists. Still, the Lord is doing a work for them, and the third angel’s message appeals to the honest in heart here as in every other part of the world.
We enjoy the weekly visits of the good old REVIEW, and are thankful that we cannot get out of reach of this splendid church paper. We solicit the prayers of its readers for the work in this large conference that embraces a territory equal to the Atlantic, Columbia, and Lake Union Conferences.
ROSCOE T. BAER.
Alabama
By A. L. MILLER
THUS far the year 1915 has seen a steady, healthy growth in almost every branch of the work in the Alabama Conference and Negro Mission Department. During the winter and spring the laborers were busily engaged in visiting the churches and companies, encouraging and strengthening the believers, and also in answering calls for meetings in new places. The services held with the churches were much appreciated, and the believers were strengthened by additions to their numbers; but the greatest strength came when, their attention being called to the responsibility resting upon them for the salvation of their neighbors, they began to do home missionary work. We hope to see this part of the work greatly strengthened, as at our late camp meeting we placed the burden of the home missionary work upon one of our ordained ministers.
During the summer two tent meetings were held, one for the white people and one for the colored. The former was in charge of Elder R. I. Keate, and was held in Birmingham; the latter was held in Mobile, in charge of Elder J. G. Dasent. Both these meetings were blessed of God, and resulted in several accepting the truth. It is encouraging to compare the work in soul saving for the last three years, from camp meeting to camp meeting. The new converts added to the churches are as follows: From August, 1912, to August, 1913, 55 white and 45 colored; from August, 1913, to August, 1914, 72 white and 30 colored; from August, 1914, to August, 1915, 88 white and 45 colored. Since camp meeting this year, not quite two months from this writing, 36 white persons and 16 colored have joined the churches, making a total of 52 accessions in less than two months.19
The colporteur work is this year being placed upon a more solid basis. We are getting a much better class of workers in the field. While the orders will not run so high this year as last year, the per cent of delivery will be much better. This is an encouragement to the workers, and will prove a great aid to the work. The future looks bright for this branch of the work.
The Sabbath school department presents a good front. This is seen in the increase of scholars, and also in the increase of offerings to missions. This year the Sabbath school more than doubled its offerings at both the conference and mission camp meetings. Still, last year there was given the largest offering in the history of either the conference or the mission. The figures are: Camp meeting of 1914 — conference, $42.06; mission, $8. Camp meeting of 1915 — conference, $102; mission, $26.62.
The tithe of the conference has been as follows: For the year 1912, $3,700; 1913, $4,800; 1914, $6,000. This year, we believe, will not fall behind last year.
We are now busily engaged in the Harvest Ingathering campaign. A good interest is awakened all over the State in this year's campaign. We have set our goal at five dollars a member, and a number are reaching the goal.
The prospect for the future of the work in Alabama is good. We ask an interest in your prayers for the work in this State.
A. L. MILLER.
Tent Season in Louisiana
By R. W. PARMELE
DURING the past summer seven tent efforts have been held in Louisiana, one of which lasted from May to late in September. Elder O. F. Frank had charge of five of these meetings. The first of these five was held in a rural district near Tioga, where Brother S. F. Reeder, a veteran in the book work, resides. As a result of this meeting, several promised to obey the truth, and Brother Reeder is faithfully laboring to fully establish them.
Assisted part of the time by Brother R. W. Paul, Elder Frank held four series of meetings with the tent near the Hope Villa church. At this writing, the report of the last of these meetings has not been received, but the last we heard twenty-five in all had promised to obey the truth, more than half of whom have joined the Hope Villa church.
Near the first of June, Elders Sydney Scott and T. B. Buckner began a series of meetings for the colored people in the city of Shreveport. The tent was left up until sometime in October. As a result of this meeting, about twenty-four were fully established in the truth, and a church of twenty-eight members was organized.
For some time past Elder W. P. McLennan has been engaged in the work in Shreveport, which has greatly strengthened our work for the white people there. A lot for a church building has been purchased, and money for a building is now being raised.
For a little over six weeks Elder McLennan, Brother and Sister Paul, and the writer engaged in a tent effort in Mansfield. One of our first churches in Louisiana was located in Mansfield. This church owned a neat little house of worship, well located; but a number of years ago this building was burned. For sixteen years no effort has been put forth in Mansfield, and only four members of the old church remain. A few others in South Mansfield have since taken their stand for the truth.
I think I never encountered a more determined prejudice. It was exceedingly difficult to obtain a good-sized audience. But as a result of the meetings, five began the observance of the Sabbath, and many friends were made, some of whom we hope will yet decide in favor of the truth. On the last day of the meeting two were baptized, and a company of seventeen was organized. Brother and Sister Paul remain to follow up the work, and will visit every home in the place with the Family Bible Teacher. A church building has been purchased, and moved onto the lot on which the former building stood. It is now fitted up to accommodate the company. We hope for still greater results to follow the faithful labors of Brother and Sister Paul. R. W. PARMELE.