FIFTEEN at Winnsboro, South Carolina, are obeying the truth.
FIFTEEN in Merritt, North Carolina, have accepted the truth.
A NEW church at Leach, Tennessee, was dedicated on December 13.
A BEAUTIFUL new church has been dedicated at Grand Rapids, Michigan.
AT Louisville, Kentucky, three were buried in baptism on a recent Sabbath.
EIGHT persons were baptized during a series of meetings at Rileyville, Virginia.
FOUR at Waukon, Iowa, were recently baptized and united with the church there.
TWELVE at Manchester, New Hampshire, have taken their stand for the message.
THE report comes from Fiji of three baptisms,—two at Wainunu, and one at Mualevu.
PASTOR H. J. FARMAN reports the baptism of fifteen believers at Kingston, Jamaica.
TWO churches have been dedicated in West Virginia, one at Charleston and one at Parkersburg.
ONE hundred and twenty persons in the Caucasian field were baptized during the first half of 1911.
A CHURCH of fourteen members has been organized at Binger, Oklahoma, and another at Afton.
AT Mayaguez, Porto Rico, ten believers were baptized, and others will later go forward in this rite.
AT the conclusion of a series of meetings held at Hillsdale, Idaho, five souls went forward in baptism.
THREE adults in Bonnie Vale, South Africa, were buried in baptism recently, and two at Grahamstown.
EIGHT in New Orleans, Louisiana, have received baptism. Nine at Ruston have decided to obey the message.
A CHURCH with a membership of seventeen, was organized in the vicinity of Colman, South Dakota, on a recent Sabbath.
A CHURCH of eleven members was recently organized at Brownsville, Oregon, and a church building dedicated at Silverton.
PASTOR H. KURIYA, of Japan, reports seven souls baptized in the ocean at Kagoshima, as first-fruits of a tent meeting in that city.
ON a visit to the island of Haiti, Pastor U. Bender, president of the West Indian Union Conference, baptized fifteen persons.
THREE persons have been added to the membership of the church at Camden, New Jersey. Three have been baptized at Jersey City.
THREE baptismal services were held during the past year in Nyasaland, Africa, fifty-eight souls thus being rescued from heathenism.
AT Mobile, Alabama, six have taken their stand for "present truth." Nine candidates have been baptized at Dothan, and others will be baptized later.13PASTOR E. KOTZ, of German East Africa, reports the baptism of eleven persons, and says over sixty are preparing for baptism.
THREE were baptized and four united with the church at Port Townsend, Washington, and sixteen at College Place, most of whom were students.
THE evening of December 16 a church with a membership of twenty-five was organized at the Sheyenne River Academy, Harvey, North Dakota.
THE ordinance of baptism was administered to three candidates recently at Halifax, Nova Scotia. Four more at Hamilton, Ontario, are obeying the truth.
SIX new converts are reported at Skowhegan, Maine. There have been forty-seven converts reported by the workers in Maine in the last three months.
FIVE persons have united with the Englewood church, in Chicago, Illinois, three of whom were recently baptized. Four have been baptized at Orchardville.
BAPTISM was administered to five at Oregon City, Oregon, four at Portland, three at Monitor, three at Milton, and eight or ten near Medford are obeying the message.
THREE new converts at Indianapolis, Indiana, have presented themselves for membership in the Twenty-third Street church. These were baptized early in December.
THREE new converts were baptized at Granger, Washington, early in December. A church with a membership of nineteen was organized in Spokane on Sabbath, December 9.
AT Meiktilla, in Northern Burma, an industrial school has been started. Money has been raised in Burma to buy the land and put up the buildings, which are now being erected.
AS a result of a tent effort put forth in Merced, four were baptized and five united with the church, one being satisfied with his former baptism. Six have united with the church at Hanford.
SEVEN souls at Stevensville, and seven at Kalispell, Montana, have received baptism. A new church has been dedicated at the latter place. Four have taken their stand for the truth at Culbertson.
FOUR persons went forward in the ordinance of baptism recently in Bradyville, Missouri, and several more at Cole Camp. Eleven at La Plata have expressed their intention of obeying the message.
FOUR have united with the church of the colored people at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Two were baptized at Bradford, and two at Altoona. Six were received into church relationship at the latter place.
A CHURCH for the colored people of Wilmington, Delaware, has been organized, with a membership of eleven. Six others who were unable to be present at the organization on account of the weather, will join later.
DR. GEORGE THOMASON, secretary of the Medical Department of the General Conference, has accepted a position with the St. Helena Sanitarium as superintendent. He has already entered upon his duties at the sanitarium.
A NEW church has been organized in Ogdensburg, New York. Fourteen new members have recently united with the Brooklyn German church, and it is thought several more persons will be ready for baptism in the near future.
TWO hundred and fifty members in the Little Russian field have united with the church by baptism during the past two years. Ten new churches have been organized recently, making the number of churches twenty, and the membership 514.
FOUR at Duluth, Minnesota, have received baptism, and several others are deeply interested in the truth. Two ladies at Morgan have decided to obey. The husband of one of these sisters is an infidel, but has begun the study of his Bible, and is deeply interested.
RECENTLY a man came a distance of seventy miles to our mission in Padang, Sumatra, especially to learn about the religion of Jesus Christ. After reaching Padang it took him almost a full day to locate our mission. It was indeed a pleasure to our people there to point him to the "Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world." Our work is getting a good foothold there, and souls are constantly being led into the light of this truth.
IN Nekoma, Kansas, eight have received baptism, and at Wellington, three. Four others are observing all the commandments, and it is hoped will soon take a decided stand. At the close of a series of meetings at Garden City, baptism was administered to five, and to two at Bison, making twelve who have been baptized there during the past thirteen months. A company of six families of new converts have organized themselves into a Sabbath-school. Four at Verdi have accepted the truth, and several others are interested.
CHURCHES have lately been dedicated at the following places in British Columbia: Manson, Vernon, Grandview, South Vancouver, Vancouver, Collegewood. All but two were dedicated free from debt, and it is expected that the small debts resting on these two will soon be cleared off. In Nanaimo there are eight new converts, and it is believed that others will soon take their stand for the truth. A Sabbath-school of twenty-one members has been organized. Three more have taken their stand in Vancouver with this people.
MR. AND MRS. C. N. WOODWARD and little daughter, of College Place, Washington, sailed on December 27 from San Francisco, for China, where he will take up the work of treasurer of that field. Mr. Woodward was for a number of years auditor of the Southwestern Union Conference, and later accepted a position as auditor of the North Pacific Union, from which place he was called to his present field. Mrs. Woodward has also been a most energetic and successful worker in the home land, and will be a valuable adjunct to the field to which she is going.
THERE are a number of patients at the St. Helena Sanitarium who are quite interested in the truth, among them a Catholic gentleman who has taken his stand for the truth. One of the patients has accepted the truth and been baptized. Another patient also accepted the truth while at the sanitarium. Two of his brothers have since done likewise. The gentleman has charge of a number of restaurants in San Francisco, and many of his helpers are studying the Bible with one of our workers in the city. Seven have united with the church at Ontario. A company of twenty-three members was organized at San Jacinto on an early Sabbath in December. The fruits of two months' tent efforts in Sacramento are eighteen souls taken into the church, and many more interested.
ABYSSINIA
Pu-Yi
By N. D. Anderson
By N. D. Anderson
[Suggested by a picture of the baby emperor of China]
Little fellow, shred of life,
Born into a world of strife,
Didst thou hear the coming storm?
Art thou sheltered from its harm?
Hated by a host unseen
That thy soul hath come between,
Wilt thou grow to stand alone
Ere it make thy blood atone?
For thy fathers left thee heir
To an empire of despair;
Willed thee progress' wakening arts
In six hundred million hearts.
Tender years may shelter thee,
Last, lone twig upon the tree,
When the trunk comes crashing down,
Shivering throne and prince and crown.
But thy dynasty is past;
Thou wert doomed to be the last
Of the shadowy, evil thing
From whose branches errors wing;
Whose gnarled heart is rotted through,
And whose leaves no more renew.
Shall six hundred million souls
Bow down to a babe that rolls?
For thou art but infant frail,
More nor less than such as wail
On the ragged mother's breast—
Saving they are more caressed.
"Our Little Friend" for 1912
By Editor
The Children's Eight-Page Weekly stands for great, sound principles of goodness and truth, and instils them, by simple lessons and stories, into the minds of its little readers. Uplifting and helpful in the home. We unreservedly recommend it to our readers for their children or their little friends and neighbors. A real treat for them.
The following is a partial summary of the contents for 1912:
Little Missionaries. By a great, big, grown-up boy, Mr. Earle A. Rowell, who says he wants the little readers to know what it means to be real missionaries. He is going to write about some little missionaries he knows who went to a foreign land—all about their trip, and what they did there.
The Log Cabin People. Who are they? How do they live? By Mr. A. W. Spaulding, who has lived and worked among them.
Confidential Talks with Boys and Girls About Themselves. By Aunt Ruth, who loves the children and appreciates their needs. At the "Children's Hour" she will give some interesting talks to the children about the care of their bodies and various other things they ought to know.
OUR LITTLE FRIEND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU!
Children of the Bible. Stories about the children of the Bible. Have you ever thought about them? How many were there? What did they do? By Mrs. L. E. Leavett, who has recently written the little stories about "The Willing Heart and Hand Society."
The Great Outdoors and Some of Its Delights and Wonders. By Clare M. Hodges. Interesting stories about outdoor life and what it should mean to us.
Our Feathered Friends. Birds of field and forest, wild and domestic, fierce and friendly.
Dumb Creatures of the World. Stories about many of the four-footed animals, their homes and their ways.
What a Boy Can Do. By Kadmiel. Interesting experiments that boys can try, such as,—Fun with Old Batteries, An Electric Magnet, Secret of a Good Kite, Mystery of the Sailboat, A Sundial for Any Place, A Fireless Cooker for Sister, How to Make a Windmill, A Water-wheel, A Fly-trap, A Pitfall for Mice, etc.
What a Girl Can Do. Interesting experiments for girls. Useful things they can make, including some things they can sell for missionary money.
Modern Missionaries. By some of the King's messengers. What is being done in the great field of missionary work.
Happy Sabbath Days and How to Make Them. How to make the Sabbath day, which sometimes seems long and tiresome to the little folks, a day so full of interest that they will look forward to it all through the week.
Editor's Chats on That Long, Beautiful Word En-deav-or. Talks that will help us grow up to be strong, useful men and women.
That Rainy Day and How I Spent It. Ways in which rainy days may be made full of indoor sunshine for the little folks.
Hurrah for Vacation! By a Real Boy. How to really and truly enjoy a vacation.
Our Bulletin Board. Little notes about things going on in the world that will be of interest to our little readers. Published every now and then.
A Few Efforts from the Church School Children. Little stories written by the children themselves and selected by the teacher for publication.
Pictures, Poems, Lessons, Bible Band, S. P. C. A., Mothers' Helpers, Puzzles, etc.
A Missionary Number, in the spring.
A Temperance Number for the children.
A Prep-a-ra-tion for the Harvest In-gath-ering Number, sometime after the summer vacation, with a short program for a children's missionary meeting.
60 Cents a Year; 30 Cents for Six Months.
Commence subscription with the large double Holiday Number in colors. A postal to the publishers will bring you sample copies.
Our Little Friend, Mountain View, Cal.
WANTED
By James Harvey
By James Harvey, 1373 Grove St., Oakland, Cal., clean copies of our denominational papers and tracts for missionary work. Readings for the week of prayer are especially desired.
Free Sample of E-Z Washing Tablets
Mrs. J. Valentine, Salem, Oregon, writes:
"One lady to whom I sold a quarter's worth of your Washing Tablets came a few days later and took $1.50 worth. Said she never saw anything like it."
You will say the same if you try it. Send your name and address on a postal and receive a free sample. Address Alfred Mallett, 721 H St., Sacramento, California.
For Sale
A good house, six rooms, bath, toilet, wash-room, and storeroom, sewer connection, free water, one or two large lots. On car line, three quarters of a mile from Lodi Normal. Price reasonable. Terms to suit if sold soon. W. H. Hamilton, Lodi, Cal.
For Sale or Lease
Chicken ranch 6½ acres, 3½ acres rich valley land, 2 acres of timber. Small house, barns, equipped, 300 laying hens, cow, good water, two miles from sanitarium, near station, our schools and churches. Price $1,100. Also 5 acres vineyard and prunes. G. W. Mann, Route 1, St. Helena, Cal.
He Dared to Tell the Truth
A boy once went to live with a man who was accounted a hard master. He never kept his boys—they ran away or gave notice they meant to quit; so he was half his time without or in search of a boy. The work was not hard, opening and sweeping out the shop, chopping wood, going on errands, and helping around. At last Sam Fisher went to live with him.
"Sam’s a good boy," said his mother.
"I should like to see a boy nowadays that had a spark of goodness in him," growled the new master.
It is always bad to begin with a man that has no confidence in you, because, do your best, you are likely to have little credit for it. However, Sam thought he would try. The wages were good, and his mother wanted him to go. Sam had been there but three days when, in sawing a cross-grained stick of wood, he broke the saw. He was frightened. He knew he was careful, and he knew he was a pretty good sawyer, too, for a boy of his age; nevertheless, the saw broke in his hands.
"Mr. Jones never makes allowances," said another boy who was in the woodhouse with him.
"Why, of course, I didn’t mean it, and accidents will happen to the best of folks," said Sam, looking with a very sorrowful air on the broken saw.
"Mr. Jones never makes allowances," said the other boy. "I never saw anything like him. That Bill might have stayed, only he jumped into a hen’s nest and broke her eggs. He daren’t tell of it; but Mr. Jones kept suspecting and suspecting, and laid15everything out of the way to Bill, whether Bill was to blame for it or not, till Bill couldn't stand it, and wouldn't."
"Did he tell Mr. Jones about the eggs?" said Sam.
"No," said the boy, "he was afraid, Mr. Jones has got such a temper."
"I think he'd have better owned up at once," said Sam.
"I suspect you'll find it better to preach than to practise," said the boy. "I'd run away before I'd tell him." And he soon turned on his heel and left poor Sam alone with his broken saw.
The boy did not feel very comfortable or happy. He shut up the woodhouse, walked out in the garden, and went up to his little chamber under the eaves. He wished he could tell Mrs. Jones, but she wasn't sociable.
When Mr. Jones came into the house the boy heard him. He got up, crept down stairs, and met Mr. Jones in the kitchen.
"Sir," said Sam, "I broke your saw, and I thought I'd come and tell you before you saw it in the morning."
"What did you get up to tell me for?" asked Mr. Jones. "I should think morning would be time enough to tell of your carelessness."
"Because," said Sam, "I was afraid if I put it off I might be tempted to lie about it. I am sorry I broke it, but I tried to be careful."
Mr. Jones looked at the boy from head to foot, then, stretching out his hand, he said heartily:
"Sam, give me your hand; shake hands. I'll trust you, Sam. That's right. Go to bed, boy. Never fear. I'm glad the saw broke: it shows the mettle's in you. Go to bed."—Scotch Tract.
Heaven at Last
By Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle
By Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle
I PRESUME that quite a large per cent of those who read these lines, have at least some hope of reaching heaven at last.
With some, thank God, the hope is strong. It is an anchor to the soul; it cheers and invigorates the heart, and makes the life which now is, worth living.
But with some, the hope is vague and shadowy and uncertain. Yet even this is better than the utter blankness and void of that life which sees no ray of hope, however feeble, to light the dark abyss of eternal night.
What is the hope of heaven worth to you and me? — Well, what does it do for us?
It is natural for the human heart to hope for something. It is only when this plant of heavenly birth is nipped in the bud, — when there is absolutely nothing left to hope for, — that despair seizes the poor wretch, and the newspapers chronicle a suicide, or the dreaded portals of the insane asylum open to receive the hopeless, shrieking victim of despair.
What is the hope of heaven worth to mankind? Go with me to the factories and sweat-shops of the nation. See the gaunt faces, white and pinched with hunger, and the pleading, sorrowful eyes of the poor victim of greed. From morning till night the pitiless taskmasters urge them on. The red sun rises and sets. The weary toiler still toils on. What has he to live for? Earth holds scant happiness for such as he. Take away his hope of heaven, and you have taken all.
Visit with me the couch of suffering. The days are long and weary, and pain and anguish lengthen out the dim hours of night, and fill them with unspeakable misery. Fierce fevers rack and burn the wasted body; and sharp pain, with cruel touch, lays trembling fingers upon lip and brow. Speak to the weary sufferer about heaven; read to him a description of that land that is very far off; and if his heart has ever been touched by the blessed fire, you will see it kindle the sunken eye with heavenly flame. Let not the unhallowed fingers of atheism and unbelief snatch from the heart of the suffering sons of earth the blessed hope of heaven.
The death-bed of infidelity is bitter and awful. The mysterious future is black and uncertain. The curtain which hides the dim unknown, is never lifted by the fingers of hope. No ray of blessed sunlight pierces the inky blackness of the tomb. To him who subscribes to its awful creed, the door of hope and heaven is closed. Death is an endless night; and the trembling “farewell” whispered with spent breath into the listening ear of love, is an eternal one.
The hope of heaven is one which appeals to the human heart, compassed about with the sorrows of earth, with tremendous power. And still there are countless multitudes to whom such a hope is a stranger. Multitudes of men and women intelligent and clear-headed upon every other subject, are recklessly and wantonly spending the moments of a life which they know too well is uncertain, and are plunging along, careless of the certain knowledge of the precipice at the end of the road. They are like a locomotive without headlight or engineer, rushing blindly along, heedless of pitfall or chasm.
But the hope of heaven must not be dim and visionary. It is a hope which must be built upon a firm foundation — even the Rock, Christ Jesus. “Well,” says one, “I am certain of heaven, for I feel such assurance in my prayers. I just feel like shouting every moment. It makes me so happy whenever I think of heaven! O, I’m just sure of going there, because I call on the name of the Lord, and ask Him to save me.”
But O, what a bitter disappointment it would be to find yourself mistaken after all! There is a class, you remember, to whom it will be said, “I never knew you!”
“But He will never say that He doesn’t know me, because I call upon Him often in prayer.”
That is good so far; but still, it alone is not a sure passport to heaven. “Why?” — Because He says, “Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
Who then? Is there any one who may feel an assurance which has a strong foundation? — Yes; listen: “But he that doeth the will of My Father who is in heaven.” “And this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous.”
Here is a test that will try the spirit of man. Do you find yourself willing to obey God? Is there any one of the commandments which He gave you as the rule by which you are to order your life, that you are not quite willing to obey — any one which you find “grievous”? The first and second are grievous to the idolater. The eighth, to the thief; the seventh, to the libertine; and the fourth, to the Sabbath-breaker.
But it is worth the price. Heaven is worth all. Even the journey thither will be worth a lifetime of sacrifice and self-denial. What an excursion! What a journey! The imagination pales before the thought of it. Distance inconceivable; glory ineffable; angels and seraphim innumerable — what a company — the shining galaxy of the sons of God! With tireless wing we soar heavenward, past myriad suns and systems and blazing worlds of light! Not a feeble one in the company! On, on, over the pathway of glory — on to the shining gates where the “many mansions” are all in waiting.
But the journey thither is not all. It is but the beginning of that “exceeding and eternal weight of glory,” which is —
Heaven at Last.
HOME AND FIRESIDE
Encouragement
By Clara Edna Rosencrans
By Clara Edna Rosencrans
When the toils of the day are ended,
And its weary cares are past,
And the long, cool shades of evening
On the sunlit earth are cast,
And the birds fold wings for slumber,
And carol their lullabies,
And the dews fall soft as tear-drops,
From the tender sunset skies—
Then the earth bonds seem to loosen,
That have bound us through the day,
And the soul looks up to its Father
Through its clinging walls of clay,
And we seem to hear a whisper,
And to feel a touch of peace,
And the weary, jangling discords
Of the jarring life notes cease,
And the calm of the life that's coming
Falls o'er the heart's unrest,
And the soul can hear a whisper
From the land of our lifelong quest—
Hears a voice in softest accents:
“Be still; I will clasp thy hand.
Keep thou the way; thou shalt not stray;
I will lead to the morning land.
Go on with a step unfalt'ring.
Tho thou canst not see, I'm near.
With a Father's hand will I guide thee.
Go on, and do not fear.
“And the angel guardians round thee
Shall compass thee safe from harm,
And 'twill not seem far to the city,
Upheld by My mighty arm.
It is only a little farther,
With the toil and sorrow and pain,
And then come peace and gladness
Of a joy that will never wane.
I am coming soon to take thee
Quite away, to dwell with Me
Where the King in His royal beauty
Thou forevermore shalt see.
Never again the heartache,
And the tear-drops falling fast,
But a home with the just made perfect,
And the crown of life at last.”
How can our hearts feel saddened
When the Hope of the Ages is here,
Uplifted, comforted, gladdened,
By words of such wondrous cheer!
Keep we our eyes on Heaven,
Listen we e'er for His voice,
Telling to others the story;
What can we do but rejoice!
FERRY'S Plant breeding and selecting has been our business for years. We market the results in the shape of thoroughbred vegetable and flower seeds. They grow good crops. 1912 SEED ANNUAL FREE ON REQUEST D. M. Ferry & Co., Detroit, Mich. SEEDS
Protestant Magazine
By Editor
The current number
Will Tell You
Of Rome's plan to exclude anti-Catholic publications from the mails.
The difference between genuine and so-called Protestantism.
The meaning of Rome's control of political parties, of the great cities of America, of the public press, public school text-books, etc.
Why and when Rome will again rule the world; also to what extent she is already ruling.
Which of the contending forces will be finally victorious — Roman Catholicism or Bible Protestantism; also how and when the victory will be won.
25 cents a year, 10 cents a copy.
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10 or more copies, one year, to one address, or to 10 separate addresses, cash with order, only 15 cents each. Sender may include his own name as one of the ten.
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