THERE is many a rest in the road of life,
If we only would stop to take it;
And many a tone from the better land,
If the querulous heart would wake it!
To the sunny soul that is full of hope,
And whose beautiful trust ne'er faileth,
The grass is green and the flowers are bright,
Though the wintry storm prevaileth.
Better to hope though the clouds hang low,
And to keep the eyes still lifted;
For the sweet blue sky will soon peep through,
When the ominous clouds are rifted.
There was never a night without a day,
Nor an evening without a morning;
And the darkest hour, as the proverb goes,
Is the hour before the dawning.
There is ever a gem in the path of life
Which we pass in our idle pleasure,
That is richer far than the jeweled crown
Or the miser's hoarded treasure:
It may be the love of a little child,
Or a mother's prayer to Heaven,
Or only a beggar's grateful thanks
For a cup of water given.
Better to weave in the web of life
A bright and golden filling,
And do God's will with a ready heart,
And hands that are swift and willing,
Than to snap the delicate, slender threads
Of our curious lives asunder,
And then blame Heaven for the tangled ends,
And sit and grieve and wonder.
— Selected.
GENERAL ARTICLES
GENERAL ARTICLES
What Is the Penalty of Sin?
By C. P. Bollman
C. P. BOLLMAN
NOTWITHSTANDING the fact that the Bible tells us plainly that “the wages of sin is death,” there are found today comparatively few persons who really believe this statement just as it reads in Rom. 6: 23.
The trouble is that too many think of man as a naturally immortal being, incapable of real death, and destined therefore to live on and on to all eternity, like God himself. Believing this, they must perforce believe either in the final restoration of all men or else in the eternal torment of some men. But both views are contrary to the Bible.
The Bible gives no intimation that “the wages of sin” means anything less than loss of life in the sense of forfeiting forever “conscious, intelligent existence.” It may be freely admitted that there are in the Scriptures some things “hard to be understood.” We have no divine warrant, however, for saying that “death does not mean death, but eternal life in misery.”
The Bible, in both the Old and the New Testament, employs the strongest possible language to express utter destruction, when describing that which befalls the wicked. For example, in the thirty-seventh psalm we read: “Evildoers shall be cut off.” Verse 9. “For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.” Verse 10. “But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.” Verse 20. “But the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.” Verse 28. “When the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.” Verse 34. “The end of the wicked shall be cut off.” Verse 38.
If these expressions do not mean utter extinction of being, it is hard to imagine language that could in a natural and easy way convey that idea. But plain as these statements by the psalmist are, the prophet Obadiah seems to go even beyond him in this respect, when he says:—
“The day of Jehovah is near upon all the nations: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee; thy dealing shall return upon thine own head. For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the nations drink continually; yea, they shall drink, and swallow down, and shall be as though they had not been.” Obadiah 15, 16, A. R. V.
Surely this can mean nothing less than total destruction. But it is objected by some that while it does mean utter destruction, it is the destruction not of individuals, but of nations. We do not believe that such a view can be maintained; but without stopping to show that masses of men and not organized political units are meant, let us turn to a text that leaves no room for any such question; namely, Mal. 4: 1:—
“For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.”
Certainly this can mean nothing less than the literal and entire destruction of individual sinners. Call it “annihilation” if you will, but there is no escaping the fact that it is just what the Scriptures repeatedly assert concerning the end of the wicked.
Passing over to the New Testament, we find the same truth taught in language no less clear and positive. “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matt. 10: 28.
Man can “kill the body,” that is, he can cause temporary cessation of existence, but he cannot kill the soul; or, in other words, cannot utterly destroy the one whose life he seeks. But God can do this, and the implication is strong that he will do so; otherwise the passage is without meaning. There could be no occasion to fear one who neither could nor would inflict condign punishment. But in the words quoted, our Saviour declares that God can destroy both soul and body in hell, and certainly he strongly implies that he will exercise this power in the case of the finally impenitent.
Another text in the New Testament that teaches the utter destruction of the wicked in definite and unmistakable language is Jude 7: “Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”
Sodom and Gomorrha were utterly destroyed. Their site, if known at all, is now covered by the waters of the Dead Sea. The “eternal fire” whose vengeance they suffered was not eternal in the sense of burning eternally, but eternal in its effects. There could be no return from the condition into which the cities of the plain were reduced by it. Being once destroyed by this fire, they would never be rebuilt. Their ruin is everlasting.
The punishment, the destruction, that shall be visited finally upon the wicked is also everlasting. “These,” said the Saviour, “shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” Matt. 25: 46. It is not into “everlasting punishing,” but “everlasting punishment.” It is a condition that admits of no change, no surcease. Temporal death, the death to come to all alike, good and bad, ends with the resurrection. “All that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth.” John 5: 28, 29. But not so with the second death. That death is inflicted by the fires of the last days; it is eternal fire in that its effects are eternal, or everlasting. The death that it inflicts is eternal death, a death from which there is no release.
“God is love.” He knows no malice.8There is no revenge cherished in his heart. He kills only because in the very nature of things he cannot keep sin alive. For sin must perish, and with it all shall die
Who to transgression cling, who God defy.
God cannot deny himself. He cannot be other than he is. And when he made the world, and ordained the laws of righteousness and life, he just as certainly ordained the results of unrighteousness, and established the penalty—death. Could the Creator put a premium upon sin by promising life to sinners?—No; for God cannot deny himself. God can forgive sins and give eternal life to the penitent soul, but he cannot make sin immortal by giving everlasting life to those who, hating righteousness, cling to transgression. The Lord will have a clean universe.
Consider Your Ways
By D. ALONZO BRIGGS
D. ALONZO BRIGGS
It is our duty as Christians to endeavor to make the way of the Lord our way. He has promised to give his children one heart and one mind. It is also important to ascertain whether our feet are traveling in the path of the just, which “shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” Let each of us examine his own heart to see whether he is drifting downward with the world, or building permanently upon the solid rock, which is Christ.
God sees us and understands all the thoughts and intents of the heart. There is nothing hidden from the Creator, whether it be good or evil. Solomon said, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes;” but it is not so in the sight of the all-wise Being “with whom we have to do.”
Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles, after delivering some of the wonderful truths of the gospel, said, “Think on these things,” that is, consider if your ways conform to these essential facts.
Why should we not at the close of each day “take stock” as to our spiritual standing with Him who is the judge of the quick and the dead? All must give an account on the day of judgment for every idle word and evil thought. How important to consider our ways and learn if we are in the faith! A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither a corrupt tree good fruit. The Lord preserveth the ways of his saints, because they are right ways. Are you thinking with care on your eternal welfare? If not, begin now, in order to be found spotless when Jesus comes.
Madera, Cal.
Well-Arranged Time
WELL-ARRANGED time is the best mark of a well-arranged mind.—Pitman.
The Results of Faithful Tithe Paying
By H. LOUIS MIGNOT
Tithing—No. 2
The Results of Faithful Tithe Paying
H. LOUIS MIGNOT
Whenever a faithful tithe is paid by the people of God, the gospel bearers are encouraged in their work. And so we read: “Moreover he [Hezekiah] commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be encouraged in the law of the Lord. And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the first fruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithes of all things brought they in abundantly. . . . The children of Israel and Judah . . . brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things . . . and laid them by heaps. . . . Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. And Azariah the chief priest . . . answered him, and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the Lord hath blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store.” 2 Chron. 31:4-10.
Tithe Paying Indorsed by Jesus
When Jesus came to earth, he indorsed the payment of tithe. The Pharisees were very scrupulous and rigorous in the matter of its payment, even of the little things which their gardens produced. But while they were very particular in that duty, there were “weightier matters” which they had passed over. They had omitted the exercise of “judgment, mercy, and faith.” “Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassions every man to his brother.” Zech. 7:9; Isa. 56:1. We are liable to fall into the same pit of pharisaism by our refusal to exercise the spirit of “judgment, mercy, and faith,” and so merit the denunciation which fell from the lips of our Saviour upon the hypocrites of his day. He said, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” Matt. 23:23.
Notice carefully that Jesus did not denounce the paying, but the hypocrisy of God the scribes and the Pharisees. On the contrary, he approved their payment of tithe, which will be clearly seen in the expression, “These [tithing the mint, and anise, and cummin] ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other [the exercise of judgment, mercy, and faith] undone.”
Our Saviour has indeed beautifully set forth the importance of tithe paying. Men contend that the tithing system was abolished by the death of Jesus. We ask, Why should he abolish the sign or mark of his double ownership of the earth and of man? Is the earth no longer his? Is man no longer the purchase of his blood?
The Concluding Reason Why We Should Pay Tithe
Still another reason which we shall present on the importance of tithe paying, is that Abraham, whose children we are by faith (Gal. 3:7), paid tithe to “Melchizedek king of Salem” and “priest of the most high God.” Gen. 14:18-20. Moreover, his priesthood was a type of the priesthood of Jesus Christ, our Saviour being a priest after his order. Therefore, as our father Abraham paid his tithe to Melchizedek, who prefigured the ministry of Christ, and as we are now living under Christ’s ministry, it is obligatory upon us who claim to be Abraham’s children to pay tithe to Christ, as Abraham did to Melchizedek, whose ministry typified that of Christ. For, said Jesus, “If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.” John 8:39. Christians are indeed Abraham’s children, for so it is written: “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.” “If ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed.” Gal. 3:7, 29.
Offerings
We now have reached another phase of our subject, which is, “Shall we give offerings?” The answer to this question is, Yes! Besides the payment of tithe, we ought to give voluntary offerings to the Lord. The payment of tithe and the giving of offerings are of equal importance. This is plainly brought to our view in the third chapter of Malachi, where the church is accused by God of robbing him. Says Jehovah, “Ye have robbed me . . . in tithes and offerings.” And those who have robbed him are declared to be “cursed with a curse.” The tithe, as we have already seen, is the tenth part of man’s income or increase, and the payment of it is man’s acknowledgment of Jehovah’s ownership.
What, then, do our offerings signify? Our voluntary offerings are the tokens of our love to God wrought out in action. Loving is giving, and giving is loving. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son” an offering on our behalf. That is the evidence and basis of true love. We in turn so love him that we give to him, of whatever we possess, voluntary offerings for the advancement of his work.
He “so loved the world, that he gave,” and we in turn catch his spirit, and so love him that we make voluntary offerings to him. Those who refuse to do so rob him of that service of love which is his due. Our cheerful offering is therefore our service of love in deed and in truth. And as love is the fulfilling of the law, and offerings are the fruits of love, therefore every child of God ought to realize the importance of making voluntary offerings.
“But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?” That is how the apostle illustrates the unfeigned love which each child of God ought to possess. It will work, for it is an active, living principle. He who possesses love, will offer his substance first to God and secondly to his fellow men. “Little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”
May the Holy Spirit impress our minds with the importance and necessity of the payment of our tithe and the giving of our offerings to the Lord, so that his work in the earth may speedily be finished. Then shall our Saviour return with his reward for his faithful children.
Empire, C. Z.
Shall We Listen to Opposers?
By Allen Walker
ALLEN WALKER
In all ages since creation, whenever God had a special message to give to the inhabitants of the earth, there were those who took it upon themselves to oppose the Lord's work. In some instances they seemed to hinder its progress for a time. But by studying the inspired history of these movements and the opposition which they had to meet, we have learned that God “doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” In many instances the most bitter opponents have been those who for a time were connected with the work and zealously supported it.
We are reminded of the experience of Paul in connection with the church at Ephesus. When about to depart from them, knowing that it would be the last time they would see his face, and longing to impart to them some instruction that would help to keep them steadfast in the faith, he did not forget to warn them against the opposers which would try to bring reproach upon his work. He said to them: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall9men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.”
This parting instruction which Paul delivered to the church at Ephesus is “meat in due season” to the people of God today. For we are passing through a crisis like that which Paul foresaw would come upon the Ephesian church. But the question is, How shall we relate ourselves to those among us who arise and speak perverse things to draw away disciples after them? Shall we listen to their teachings? Shall we throw our influence on their side by attending their meetings?
In Eph. 5:6 Paul said, “Let no man deceive you with vain words.” He then points out the only safe course for believers to pursue in order not to be deceived by the vain words of false teachers. He says (verse 7), “Be not ye therefore partakers with them.” The inspired writer well knew that if the believers listened to the words of false teachers, they would be deceived and drawn away after them, and their final doom, as he tells them in verse 6, would be the visitation of the wrath of God upon them for their disobedience.
Now if it was disobedience to God for the Ephesian brethren to listen to the false teachers of their time, are not we disobeying God when we listen to those of the present time? If in listening to the “vain words” of false teachers, they were in danger of being deceived, are not we also? The only way they could escape being deceived was by not having any fellowship with them and by refusing to listen to them; and our only safety is in following the same instruction. If we refuse to do this, we are disobeying to the same extent that we would be doing if we were disloyal to any other of the Lord's commands.
The great danger of listening to these false teachers is set forth by the servant of God, in “Early Writings,” pages 124, 125, a part of which we here quote; but it would be well to study carefully the whole chapter:—
“I was shown the necessity of those who believe we are having the last message of mercy, being separate from those who are daily imbibing new errors. I saw that neither young nor old should attend their meetings. . . . The influence of such gatherings is not good. . . . God is displeased with us when we go to listen to error without being obliged to go. . . . The angels cease their watchful care over us, and we are left to the buffetings of the enemy, to be darkened and weakened by him, and the power of his evil angels, and the light around us becomes contaminated with the darkness. I saw that we have no time to throw away in listening to fables.”
This instruction is too plain to be misunderstood. And when God in his mercy sends us a warning in language so plain and emphatic, it is a serious, yes, dangerous thing to regard it lightly, and do the very thing which it warns us against doing.
In Revelation 14 God points out a definite message which is to go to all the world just before the second coming of Christ; and the fact that God is using Seventh-day Adventists to carry this message is evidence sufficient to prove that all who are trying to oppose the work of this people are working against God. Said Jesus, “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.” Then let us not cooperate with false teachers in scattering abroad, by attending their meetings and listening to their words, or even by assuming a neutral position.
Orlando, Fla.
W. E. HANCOCK
By W. E. Hancock
The Motives of Service — No. 3
W. E. HANCOCK
The Nature of Sin a Motive for Service
A MOTIVE of service which is not sustained and directed by a true conception of the relation of the terrible nature of sin on the one side, and God’s infinite love and grace on the other, is a temporary enthusiasm which will wane when its expectations are not realized.
Sin is of such a nature that it cannot be tampered with without involving eternal loss. It is a mistake so to emphasize the sovereign grace and infinite love of God as to obscure the dreadful nature of sin. God’s infinite grace can save from its eternal penalty, and through his unbounded love he does forgive sin and pardon the sinner; but, on the other hand, it ought to be realized that sin involves eternal loss which neither God’s grace nor his love can restore to us. We need to realize today, perhaps as never before, that sin is the deadly foe of the human race; we ought to take a more positive attitude toward it in all its phases, social, national, and personal. When we truly sense the eternal loss which sin in any of its phases means to human souls, whether in Christendom or in heathendom, there will be a mighty work of conversion in the church as well as in the world.
Saving Not Only the Lost but the Loss
Hitherto we have been chiefly concerned in plucking brands from the burning. The promise held out to the sinner has been that he needed only to come to Christ in order to have all his past sins, with all their results, removed in a moment, and be as if he had never sinned.
But such is only a partial view, and does not fully set forth the nature of sin as God sees it. Sin is the one thing in all the universe that God hates. He hates it because of its eternal and dreadful results upon character. He has declared eternal war upon it, and Christ is the leader in this warfare. God promises, through Christ, to end sin, to destroy the devil with all his followers: through Christ he offers to make our sins as white as snow, and to save us from death, the penalty of sin; but we are not to believe that the catastrophe of sin does not involve an eternal loss to every soul: nor are we to gain the idea thereby that it can be indulged in by the individual without eternal loss to his character, although he may escape damnation and destruction.
Not Less Work to Save From Sin, but More Effort to Prevent Evil
To realize truly the nature of sin is to understand better God’s infinite love and justice. The converse of this is equally true; the more we know of God’s love and character, the more ‘exceedingly sinful’ sin becomes. It was a view of God’s character which caused Job to repent in sackcloth and ashes. It was the same experience in Paul that made him a mighty warrior against sin, and sustained his unflagging zeal in one of the most arduous lives of the Christian era. This same motive is needed in the church now to help us personally to keep from sinning, and to stir us to aggressive activity against the great evils of the time which, in the young, undermine morality, destroy faith in God and religion, and put an inerasable blight upon millions of lives. We ought not to work less for the individual already degraded by sin, and down in the gutter; but we ought to do all we can to prevent men and women from reaching that condition, thus heeding the admonition to Peter, “Feed my lambs.”
What It Means to Hate Sin
To hate sin identifies our efforts and aim with those of Christ. When sin is seen in all its hideousness, contrasted with God’s goodness and righteousness, we are not satisfied with a personal escape from condemnation. Our aim becomes at once blended with God’s. We love righteousness, and we hate sin; we declare war upon sin; and we live in actual opposition to it. In his strength, we rise superior to the sorrow which sin brings; we gain strength from every temptation, and receive discipline from all the pain which it causes us. In this experience we learn individually that —
“Our crosses are hewn from different trees,
But we all must have our Calvaries;
We may climb the height from a different side,
But we each go up to be crucified;
As we scale the steep another may share
The dreadful load that our shoulders bear;
But the costliest sorrow is all our own,
For on the summit we bleed alone.”
But the end of all this experience is not merely individual salvation. It lifts us into nobler and more sympathetic relation with the world about us. Our aims and efforts become identified with God’s in saving men and women from the eternal loss which sin and sinning involves. We come to realize that the highest aim of the Christian life is not reward, but service; that we cannot be saved individually without saving others about us. We learn that we are blessed only as we become a blessing to others. Like Christ, we are not content to experience any joy wholly for personal gratification. With such a motive wrought into our lives by the inner experience of truth, a passion for serving others will be our supreme joy.
Keep Step With the Master
KEEP step with the Master whatever be-
tide;
Though dark be your pathway, keep close
to your Guide.
While foes are alluring and danger is
near,
When walking with Jesus you've nothing
to fear.
Keep step with the Master wherever
you go;
Through darkness and shadow the way
he will show,
The light of his presence your path will
illume,
And make all the desert a garden of
bloom.
Keep step with the Master, nor halt by
the way;
Whate'er he commands you, haste to
obey.
Arise at his bidding, press on in his
might;
While walking with Jesus, you're sure
to be right.
— Selected.
Indian Mission in Fiji
By LILLIAN CHESSON
LILLIAN CHESSON
[So many have come from India to Fiji, that it has seemed best to start a special work for these people.—Ed.]
THE experience gained in the sanitarium is truly invaluable to foreign missionaries. Indians, as a rule, are fearful of developing disease, and usually seek aid as soon as possible when they become ill. Their children may run about uncared for; but when they become sick, the parents manifest much concern and love.
When visiting the homes, the reason for so much sickness is apparent. One day I visited a sick mother lying in a dirty corner, covered with thick blankets, another thick cloth serving as a mosquito net. The young baby had a cold, and to cure it they had put on its head what seemed to be oily sawdust, as a part of the black art practiced by them.
In another home, partly occupied by poultry and used as a grain storeroom, we found a mother and a boy very sick, and all that protected them from the damp ground was a grass mat. We visited a Moslem family, who were rather suspicious of us; but after we had treated their sick, they made us a gift of some poultry.
A short time ago we attended an Indian wedding, the ceremony taking place at midnight. The bride was seated on the ground, covered with a sheet, and bedecked with ornaments of colored paper. The bridegroom's attire consisted of a pink skirt fourteen yards wide, a red coat, black socks, white shoes, and on his head what appeared like a wedding cake covered with colored paper. The bride, who in this instance was only eleven years old, fasts with her people a day before the wedding, and during the ceremony sits between her father and mother, in front of the bridegroom and the priest. The bride first places her hands in those of the bridegroom, and Indian bread is placed on them by the priest, who then puts their great toes together and pours water on them, which the father of the bride catches in his hand and drinks. This ceremony is thrice repeated, and then the priest throws some rice over both bride and bridegroom. Afterwards the mother and the grandparents go through the same ordeal. Next the priest ties the end of the groom's coat to the sheet that covers the bride, and they encircle a pole, while the women screech weird chants, and the orchestra—composed of an Indian banjo, a clanging brass gong, and a deafening shotgun—tries to outdo the chanting. Parched rice is thrown over them, and after the presents have been received, the bridal party retire to a hut to talk and play dice till the feast at day-break. Marriage to them is destitute of that love which to us makes and keeps it so sacred.
Pray for these people, that some of them may attend the marriage supper of the Lamb.
What a Brahman Beggar Can Do in India
By M. D. WOOD
M. D. WOOD
A FEW weeks ago one of our masters [teachers] reported that the people of a near-by village were calling for a master and a school. So I sent the master back to confirm their former statement. They said that they would gladly furnish a room and a large number of pupils for the school.
This made us glad, and we sent the man to open the school. For a few weeks he had a good time teaching the children their letters and telling them Bible stories. They seemed delighted to think they were going to learn to read.
A Sabbath school was also opened, and last Sabbath they gave a small bag of rice and a potful of milk as an offering. But today all is changed. The master just came to my office and said that yesterday a Brahman beggar visited the village, as usual, to collect grain from the people, and hearing that a school had been opened, inquired about the man in charge. They told the Brahman that the master seemed like a good man and had his heart in his work.
Then he asked what the master told them, and they said, “Beautiful stories of Joseph and Jesus.” “Why,” said he, “don’t you know he is sent here by the padice sahib [missionary], and his object is to make you all Christians, and you will all be defiled?” Hearing this, they were all frightened, and said they would not have the school any longer. So today the master returned heavy-hearted and disappointed.
You say, Is there no way to show these people their error, and that education is better than ignorance?—No, not as long as that Brahman beggar visits that village for his daily dole; and no one can stop his visits as long as the people believe in him. In that village that Brahman is esteemed a holy man; and as the villagers prefer to listen to him and feed him rather than have their children educated, we are powerless to help them, except through our medical work and preaching in their streets. Thus you see some of the difficulties we meet in the work here.
Cuba and the Isle of Pines
By A. N. ALLEN
A. N. ALLEN
CUBA and the Isle of Pines, which are under the same government, comprise what is known as the Cuban Mission field. We often receive requests from individuals and also from young people's societies for information regarding our work, so I will give a short report of the progress of the message here this year.
God's blessing has attended our efforts, and so far this is the best year the mission has enjoyed. Yet we are not satisfied, but desire to come still closer to God, that we may have much greater success. As we see the work still to be done, and realize our own weakness, we are led to seek God more and more for wisdom and power.
Our constant effort has been to sow the seed, and some fruit has been gathered. Several baptisms have already taken place, and other candidates are awaiting this rite. The visible results no doubt have been greatly limited by the scarcity of workers. But as it is we shall probably see an increase of about twenty per cent for the year.
Those who are already in the truth have been very faithful in their duties to God and the church. The tithe and offerings have come in encouragingly. About seven dollars a member has been received for each quarter so far this year.
Some sisters in a family who received present truth through the labors of Sister Adela Burgos, gave the mission all their jewels, among them some diamond sets, and the whole will probably bring about three hundred dollars. This offering is to help in the establishment of a training school in Cuba.
In January our training school sent into the field a goodly number of earnest young people to canvass. The first of September they had delivered over ten thousand dollars' worth of books. This enabled several to return to school in September with their scholarships paid. Nearly all the books sold this year have11been religious books, such as "The Great Controversy," "Daniel and the Revelation," and "The Coming King." We hope to see many come to a knowledge of the saving power of God by reading these message-filled books.
It was my privilege recently to spend four days at our school in Santa Clara, and I think I never saw a better spirit in any school. All were earnestly applying themselves to their studies, determined to prepare for efficient service in soul winning. This is the great object kept ever before the students by their teachers.
In January many will engage in the book work again, while we hope to see others enter the Bible work. We are of good courage amid all the difficulties, and ask an interest in the prayers of God's people in the homeland.
Photo by J. B. Stuyvesant
New Workers Entering Central America
By J. B. STUYVESANT
J. B. STUYVESANT
JUST a few lines to let you know that we are rejoicing and thanking the Lord and the General Conference brethren for sending us the help for which we have been praying and looking so long. And now that these workers have actually come, I am sending you a picture of them which we took the other day.
Brother and Sister Brown have gone on to Salvador, and should teach there tomorrow or next day if the boat arrived at San Jose on scheduled time.
Brother Innis expects to start tomorrow or the next day for Esquintla, to sell books, and we hope and earnestly pray that he may have success, in spite of the poor financial condition of the country. Pray for us, and for Brother Innis especially.
Guatemala City.
Arriving in Peru
On reaching Arequipa, Peru, where it was arranged for Brother Achenbach and his wife to spend some time in studying Spanish, he writes:—
“We arrived here July 30, and are grateful to the Lord for the safe journey. I enjoyed the trip very much. It became somewhat tiresome toward the last, but on the whole it was interesting. Miss Sauerwein and Mrs. Achenbach, being seasick, spent considerable time in their berths. I did not have even the slightest symptoms of the malady.
“We feel as if we had come to another world; everything is so strange and unlike what we were used to seeing in the States. However, we are glad we are here, and hope we shall be able to be of some use in this field.
“When we arrived at Callao, we were met by Brethren Maxwell and Westphal. They took us ashore, and we spent a few hours with them in their homes. At Mollendo our vessel anchored about half a mile from the shore. As the water is very rough there, we were taken ashore in a small rowboat. It looked like a dangerous undertaking, but we landed safely. At the dock, or landing, a chair was let down for us to sit on, and then we were hoisted by a derrick onto terra firma.
“We had made the acquaintance of some men who were going up the mountains, and they helped us in securing our tickets. As only Spanish is spoken, it is difficult to get along without a knowledge of that language.
“At Arequipa we were met by Brother Kalbermatten, who is working in this city. We are quite comfortably located. We rented two rooms near Brother Kalbermatten’s home, and shall remain here for some months, studying the language. Brother Kalbermatten speaks German and a little English, so we are getting along nicely.
“There surely is a great field here for work. The people need not only the gospel of salvation from sin, but also instruction in sanitation. Every day we see conditions which impress this forcibly upon our minds.
“Miss Sauerwein left last Sunday for La Paz. Mr. Knowles, an ex-ambassador from the United States to Peru, was going to La Paz, and he said he would see that she arrived at La Paz safely.
“A man to whom I have given a few treatments, invited Brother Kalbermatten and me for a horseback ride yesterday afternoon. We went out to a spring called the ‘Water of Jesus.’ There is a large bottling factory here, where water is bottled to be sold in this city and in other places.
“We are of good courage, and are endeavoring to get the language speedily, so we can be used successfully in this needy field. Remember us in prayer.”
Brother Achenbach and his wife will soon go on up to Puno to assist Brother and Sister Stahl in work for the Indians.
