THE story told leads naturally to the story read. Few things entering into the lives of the children at home have a stronger molding influence on their characters than the stories that are told to them, read to them, and that later they learn to read for themselves. A great deal is said about the demoralizing influence of bad reading, but it is well to remember that the constructive influence of good reading is just as strong. It is the mother’s part to guide her children into the realms of truth and beauty and knowledge that will lead them in later years to reject the evil, and choose only the noble and uplifting.
When we consider the influence that even one book may have on the life of a child, we hesitate to choose, among the great number of books published, those that we dare recommend. And if you have ever sat down with dozens of books before you, to choose those suitable for your own children to read, you will understand something of the magnitude of the task undertaken by those who plan the Missionary Volunteer Reading Course year by year. Last year, 1,708 Reading Course certificates were issued; and that means that this number of young people completed the reading of the books in either the Senior or the Junior Reading Course.15
The Reading Course idea is not confined to our own denomination. Other churches are working out the same plan, under different names, providing courses for adults and for the youth and children, as well as special courses in Bible, sacred literature, and other subjects. The idea in all this educational movement is preparation for service. Fortunate indeed the child whose parents, looking toward the time when the child will take his place in the world as a living, molding force, sets before him such reading as will lead him to follow the motto of a certain royal house, “I serve.”
Junior Reading Course No. 9
Have you, mothers of story-loving children, looked over the books selected for Junior Reading Course No. 9? This course contains three books—“Places Young Americans Want to Know,” “Children’s Missionary Story-Sermons,” and “The First Book of Birds.”
The first of these, by Everett T. Tomlinson, has 282 pages, is nicely bound in green cloth, and is well illustrated. The following list of titles gives an idea of the “little journeys” on which the children may go, with mother as conductor and guide, if they have this book:—
The Greatest Rock in America; The Capital of the Nation; Mount Vernon; The Oldest Town in the United States; The First English Settlement; Independence Hall; Concord and Lexington; Bunker Hill; Trenton and Princeton; The Oldest College in America; West Point and Annapolis; Yellowstone Park; The Yosemite Valley; The Grand Canon; Pike’s Peak; “Remember the Alamo!” The Crescent City; The Father of Waters; The Brooklyn Bridge; San Francisco and the Golden Gate; Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty; Through the Great Lakes; Niagara Falls; The Thousand Islands; Lake George; “Where Rolls the Oregon;” The Skyscrapers.
“Children’s Missionary Story-Sermons” is full of true stories just long enough for bedtime reading. Here is the beginning of one:—
“A Story About Stockings”
“Little girls of every land are very much the same. Of course they have not the same color of skin nor the same dresses nor the same shoes, hats, nor books; but all over the wide, wide world all little girls have much the same hearts, for they are all children of one heavenly Father. When Fidelia Fiske first went to Persia, she soon found the little Persian girls as lovable as the little American girls she had left behind in her New England home. Of course everybody loved Fidelia Fiske. She had not only a beautiful name but a beautiful face, and hers was a beautiful life. When she died, a little Persian girl wrote to America, ‘Is there another Miss Fiske in your country?’”
All normal children love birds, and the mother who reads “The First Book of Birds,” by Olive Thorne Miller, to her children, will find their interest aroused in our little feathered friends in a new and personal way. They will realize that birds are not only beautiful to see, and sweet to hear, and fun to watch, but they are great workers and helpers to men, saving much more grain and fruit than they ever eat.
These three books may be bought separately, at $1, 90 cents, and 60 cents respectively; or the three will be sent, postpaid, for $2.15 if ordered at the same time. They make a fine start for any child’s library; but far better than having these books in a library is having the information they contain in the heads and hearts of the children.
Senior Course No. 10
For the older young people of the family, Senior Course No. 10 has four splendid books,—“The Advance Guard of Missions,” “Getting Acquainted with the Trees,” “Steps to Christ,” and “History of the Waldenses.” Every one of these books is a gem of its kind. “The Advance Guard of Missions” sketches the lives and experiences of a noble army of pioneer missionaries, and will kindle in the heart of every reader a deeper love for missions. “Getting Acquainted with the Trees” helps us to add to our love of trees some of the rudiments of knowledge about them. “Steps to Christ,” already in many homes, is one of those helps to Christian living that should be read and read again. And “History of the Waldenses” tells of the dreadful persecutions endured by these steadfast people through a long series of centuries,—persecutions which form “one of the most remarkable pages of the church’s history.” Their steadfast adherence to principle may well prove an example to the Adventist youth of this time. The four books will be sent, postpaid, for $2.15 if ordered at the same time.
The fathers and mothers, as well as the older young people, will find these books good reading. Why not join the Spare Minute Circle as a family this fall, and get the books of both courses for winter evening reading with the children?
“Information is the key to intelligent interest;” and information in missionary heroism, in loyalty to principle, and in a study of nature, will lead the minds of your children along the paths you would choose for them to follow in later years.
MRS. I. H. E.
Conducted by Mrs. I. H. Evans, Takoma Park, Washington D. C
By Mrs. I. H. Evans; Miss Lora E. Clement
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.
As God Wills
God is not in a hurry, dear. The work he chose for you
Can wait, if he is giving you another task to do.
Or if he calls you from your work to quietness and rest,
Be sure that in the silence you may do his bidding best.
You cannot be a joy to him if thus with frown and fret
You turn at each new call of his, to find new lessons set.
The old, familiar tasks were dear, and ordered by his hand;
But come and tread another way: it is as he has planned.
And yesterday he led you there; and now he wants you here;
And what shall be tomorrow’s work, tomorrow shall make clear.
So patiently and faithfully let each day’s course be run;
God is not in a hurry, dear. His work will all be done.
— Selected.
Trust God With Tomorrow
“If most people could trust God with tomorrow, they might tranquilize their souls and rest today.”
Your Guest's Plans
By Flora Huntley
I HAVE a friend who is a charming entertainer; her luncheons are delightful, and her conversation is really worth while. I can drop in to see her informally, too, and take “potluck,” knowing that it will cause her no inconvenience. It would seem that she is an ideal hostess, and yet there is something unsatisfactory about visiting in her home.
For a long time I could not discover what gave me this feeling, but I finally decided that she kept her guests too long. After a luncheon she would urge me to stay to tea and talk it over. When I ran in of a morning to return a book on my way down town, she would insist on my staying to luncheon, and going with her in the afternoon. If it was late in the day, she would urge me to telephone home, and stay with her for dinner.
This was not mere “gush” on her part, but a sincere hospitality as well as a desire to see more of her friends. She was so well informed and so original that I longed to accept these invitations; yet they always upset my own plans.16
If I was late in getting home, or my house was in disorder all day, it was usually because I had been to Mrs. A's, and at last I got into the habit of avoiding her when I had particular work to do.
This was not an ideal attitude for friends; and as I thought of it, I remembered a neighbor I had in a distant city who possessed quite different characteristics. When I told her that I must leave at a certain hour, she not only allowed me to depart when I suggested it, but she kept track of the time, and saw that I did not miss my car.
“I hate to have you go,” she would say; “but if you reach the bank, you will have to catch the next car.” Or, perhaps, “It is too bad to break up our party, but I promised Mrs. Jones that she might leave at four o'clock.”
The contrast between the two women set me to thinking, and led to a number of conclusions. A hostess should consider the plans of her guest whenever possible. A housekeeper can often spend two hours when she cannot spare a whole afternoon. By doing an errand on her way, she can save her car fare and an hour's time next day. These are considerations worth while, and should be regarded by the entertainer as well as by the entertained.
If a mother prepares luncheon for her children, it must be on time, so they will not be late for school; and if she has an appointment with dentist or dressmaker, she must make her other plans conform to these hours. No matter how greatly she enjoys her friends or values the inspiration of their society, she cannot feel satisfied when her work is disorganized and her engagements are broken or postponed. The hostess must realize this if she has any ability to put herself in another's place.
But the guest has a duty as well; and when she accepts an invitation, she should plan for that alone. The invitation of a friend is worthy of consideration, and the day's work should be planned in harmony with it.—Flora Huntley, in Christian Endeavor World.
Mignonette
SHE got on the cars at Evanston, carrying a great fragrant bunch of mignonette and an immense palm-leaf fan. Kindliness and good nature beamed from every line of her shining black face. She sat down beside a tired-looking woman with a baby, and the woman jerked her skirt aside and frowned.
A preoccupied merchant in the seat back came out of a brown study, and sniffed the air thoughtfully: then he caught sight of the mignonette, and his face lighted. “Thought I wasn’t mistaken,” he said to the man at his side. “Ten years since I’ve noticed that smell before—I was sure it was mignonette; mother used to have it all along the walks at home.”
The black woman turned, smiling. “Hab some, marster,” she said. “Ah has plenty moah,” and she reached back a generous bunch.
Presently a sick child in the front seat raised its head and said, “Do you smell mignonette, mother? It makes me think of grandmother’s.” The woman did not hear the words, but she caught the wistful glance, and in a moment she was waddling down the aisle. “You-all want some, honey?” she asked, in a voice that was a caress, and the child smiled his pleasure as his hand closed over the stems.
As she turned to go back, a girl bedecked in cheap jewelry and gaudy finery touched her arm. “Can’t you spare me a little, auntie?” she asked. “I don’t know when I’ve seen any”—she hesitated. “We used to have so much of it at home in the country.”
“Sholey, honey,” she said, and her voice was as gentle as it had been to the boy. Then as she divided what she had left, she added, “You-all bettah go back dar an’ holp tend ter hit, honey, fur mignonettes takes a heap ob seein’ to.”
The girl turned to the window quickly; she may have been realizing for the first time how far her feet had wandered from the paths along which the mignonette grew.
As the woman sank heavily into her seat again, the baby reached forward chubby little hands, trying to get the flowers.
“Yo is gwine ter git der last, honey,” she said, beaming, and she put the stems into the eager fingers.
And then as she settled back she added, “Ah feel like Ah done jine de flower mission, an’ Ah wish dat Ah had brung mo’ dem mignonettes, folks is so crazy ’bout dem.” And from across the aisle I noticed that the face of the woman at her side had lost its frown, and that the silk skirt lay close against the faded blue calico unnoticed.—Selected.
Western Canada
By W. W. Eastman
It was my privilege to attend the recent camp meetings in the Western Canadian Union, beginning with the Manitoba meeting at Minnedosa, June 15-25, and ending with the Nanaimo meeting for British Columbia, July 24-30. These meetings have been reported in detail by others, therefore it is not my purpose in this article to speak of each local meeting, but rather of the field as a whole. I think I have never enjoyed a series of camp meetings more than I did these.
The field is an interesting and fruitful one, and gives promise of a strong union conference in the not far distant future.
The country is comparatively new, and the population is made up largely of immigrants. Large numbers of people have come from the various countries of Europe to find homes for themselves, and have been joined later by their neighbors and friends, thus forming colonies of various nationalities, such as Germans, Russians, Bohemians, Serbians, Roumanians, Ruthenians, Swedes, Danes, Syrians, Italians, and French. Then there are reserves, where are to be found various tribes of the North American Indians in considerable numbers; not in their savage state, but civilized, living on farms and ranches, and making a living for themselves like other civilized people.
Among all these nationalities there are some who are waiting for the message of the third angel. This is evidenced by the fact that there were representatives from most, if not all, of them in attendance at some of these camp meetings.
At Saskatoon there were believers present in sufficient numbers to justify the brethren in providing for regular meetings to be held in the Serbian, Roumanian, Bohemian, German, and Swedish languages, besides in the English. It was indeed inspiring to hear the third angel's message being preached to so many nationalities within a radius of a few yards at the same time. It was my privilege to speak to a number of these through an interpreter, and it was plain that they have the same keen appreciation of the present truth as have our English brethren and sisters. It increases one's confidence in the final triumph of the advent movement in gathering out a people from all nations, to see how these brethren and sisters appreciate the message and how eager they are to carry it to their own nationalities.
A very encouraging feature of this interesting field is that the larger part of the population live on farms rather than in cities, and the major portion of them are on their own homesteads. Comparatively few are renters. True, towns and cities are springing up rapidly, but as yet they are small compared to the congested centers in older and more densely populated countries. The land is new and generally productive, and with the present high prices of all farm products, the farmers are experiencing marked prosperity.
This enables our brethren to pay a good tithe and make liberal offerings to the cause, which in turn brings prosperity to the conferences. Among those who have moved to Western Canada are a good many of our brethren from the States. Not only have these been a help and stay to the work, but in many instances they have formed a kind of nucleus around which have grown up churches and companies of believers.
The field is ideal for the sale of our literature. Many young people from our schools find it comparatively easy to earn a scholarship through the sale of17our large subscription books, and in this way not only pay their way through school, but at the same time place the truth in the homes of the people. In many instances these books have already borne fruit in believers who have been added to the churches and have become a strength and support to the cause. In some instances they have become active workers, and are reaching others with the message.
There is a great need of literature in some of these foreign languages in which, up to the present time, but little has been provided. Only a few months ago our brethren of the Alberta Conference got in touch with a missionary to the Indians away up in the north country. This man had learned of the message through our literature. The president of the conference and another worker visited him, and found him quite ready to accept all the light of present truth. He was at the Alberta meeting, full of earnestness and enthusiasm for the message, and returned home with a good supply of our literature, determined to give the message to the Indians. He made a plea for some kind of literature in the Indian language that would aid him in reaching that people for whom he has labored in his former connection, and whom he has learned to love. Thus the message of the third angel is moving on to the various nationalities of earth, and soon, perhaps sooner than most of us realize, God's saints will have been gathered out, and the word will go forth from the heavenly sanctuary, “It is finished.”
It was very refreshing to note the spirit of harmony and unity that prevailed in all these meetings. In most of the conferences excellent camp meeting equipment had been provided. There were good facilities for dining, where the campers could secure good, wholesome food on the cafeteria plan at very reasonable rates.
At Lacombe an excellent academy has been in operation for a number of years. A ten-grade school building is now being constructed at Battleford in the Saskatchewan Conference, and will be ready for occupancy at the opening of school this fall. The brethren have been able to establish these institutions on the cash basis, so that neither the local nor Union Conference is harrowed with the nightmare of debt, and consequently can give their time and energies to the extension of the message. A most excellent class of young people from the various conferences are attending these schools, and give promise of becoming successful workers in the cause.
Elder C. F. McVagh, who has recently been called to the presidency of the Union to take the place of Elder H. S. Shaw, who has faithfully served in that capacity since the Union was organized, but found it necessary to retire for a time to recruit his health, has been cordially received by the brethren, and we foresee a bright future for the work in Western Canada. W. W. EASTMAN.
Mother-Love
By Elizabeth Wheeler
ELIZABETH WHEELER
“Come back from the silence, dear mother,
We would touch your soft tresses again;
Just a smile from your eyes, serene as blue skies,
Would soothe every sorrow and pain.
Come back to the fireside, mother,
To the chair in the corner so still,
Where the workbasket stands, awaiting dear hands,
Ever ready each task to fulfil.
Come back to the hearts you love, mother,
To the hearts that are longing for you;
The flowers so sweet miss the sound of your feet,
And seem listening for you too.
Your Bible’s close by on the shelf, mother;
Its leaves are too sacred to turn;
You taught us to love the Father above,
And never his pleading to spurn.
We know we shall see you again, mother;
When Christ comes to gather his own,
We shall see your loved face, transformed by his grace,
And the stars in the crown you have won.
Waukesha, Wis.
G. E. LANGDON
By G. E. Langdon
From Battle Creek, Mich., to Newark, N. J.
We were in Battle Creek fourteen months, and enjoyed our work in the Battle Creek church. We esteem it a privilege to have been with the brethren there in the Master's work.
During the time we have been here, one meeting has been held each week at the sanitarium. Twenty couples of young people have been united in holy wedlock, and fifty funerals have been conducted. Sixty persons have been baptized. We have held three hundred meetings and made about fifteen hundred calls. These experiences of joy and sorrow shared with the church, have woven into our life tender memories that can never be effaced.
Sunday night meetings have been held during the year, except July and August. At the close of one Sunday night service, eighty copies of “Armageddon” were sold by Brother D. O. Babcock, the treasurer, and his ushers.
Thousands of pages of literature have been distributed by the eight district missionary societies. The prosperity of the work is due to the faithful efforts of the church in its various lines of missionary endeavor—the academy, under Prof. W. J. Blake as principal, assisted by four other teachers, at a yearly expense of $3,500; the young people's society, with Miss Frances Case as leader; and the Dorcas Society, with Sister Byron Sperry as president.
It is with thoughts of sadness that we leave this ever-to-be-remembered people to take up work in another field—Newark, N. J. This church is splendidly equipped—schoolroom, office, pastor's study, mission room, baptismal font, and a beautiful auditorium which seats four hundred. The members have done a noble work, have labored hard and sacrificed much. The church was built while Elder W. H. Smith, now of Florida, and Elder J. O. Miller, of the Chesapeake Conference, were here. Only one note of $200 remained, unpaid when we came. That is now paid, and we are planning a jubilee program for the near future. We trust that many souls may be won to the Lord by this church.
G. E. LANGDON
“Into the Byways”
By Henry F. Brown
Recently, while on the steamer coming to my field of labor in Central America, the prophecy of the famine “not of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord,” came forcefully to my mind. Our vessel is the first that has come down the Pacific coast of Mexico for several weeks, and it carried considerable mail.
As we entered the harbor of Acapulco, Mexico, we found an American man-of-war in the harbor.
As soon as possible after the official visits were over, the launch from the war vessel came up alongside, in charge of a petty officer. He made known the nature of his visit at once. They had run out of envelopes on the war vessel, and had none to use in their correspondence with the home folks. While he was arranging with the purser about this matter, the seamen on the launch asked if there were no papers or reading matter of any kind that they could have.
Some of the crew hunted up a dozen or more magazines and a newspaper almost two weeks old. These were eagerly seized, and the pilot hurried them beneath his seat, explaining that if the officer got hold of them, they would not see them till he was through with them. The newspaper was the center of attraction, as it was the latest they had seen. The officer soon came back, bringing a big supply of old magazines and newspapers, which he carried with the care he would have given to official documents. As the launch left, he was sitting in the stern reading.
The officer who had supplied the literature explained that this was the way on every trip. He said that as he was gathering up the reading matter, the petty officer had asked what was the latest paper he had. On being told, he begged that he might take it with him. The emphasis that was placed in the “Much obliged to you, sir,” showed the appreciation. The boat was scoured for papers of every description, to furnish something to occupy the minds of three hundred sailors. How sorry I was that I did not have two hundred of our magazines to give them! But the opportunity is not yet past. These men will be just as hungry for literature next time they meet a boat.
So many of our people after reading our literature lay it away in the attic as too good to burn, but regard it as a nuisance about the place. In some of our homes there may be many papers that could be sent to needy places if a sufficient interest were aroused to wrap and mail them. These papers could be sent to the companies whose boats make long voyages, as they all have opportunity of disposing of reading matter advantageously. Or it might be sent directly to a war vessel whose whereabouts can be learned from the postmaster. Thus many who have not an active part in mission work can partake of its spirit and of its reward by mailing papers.
HENRY F. BROWN.
Precious Seed Sown by a Colporteur
By C. V. Leach
AMONG the good experiences related by our colporteurs at the annual camp meeting in New Jersey, was that of Brother Andrew Hansen. In Sussex County he has placed $1,000 worth of our truth-filled literature in about nine months. Two persons are already rejoicing in the truth, and many others are deeply interested; so much so that the conference is sending a tent with two ministers to this territory. Brother Hansen is to be associated with the effort as tent master. As he knows where the interested people live, he will be able to get them in touch with the effort quickly, thus saving valuable time and money to the work of the Lord. On his list Brother Hansen has one hundred names of people in this territory who are more or less interested in present truth, many of them having requested more thorough instruction.
I wish that you might have seen the satisfied and happy smile of our colporteur brother as he assisted in taking down and shipping the children's tent on the camp ground. The address on the tags was as follows: A. Hansen, Franklin Furnace, Sussex Co., N. J. Brother Hansen's happiness made me think of the satisfaction which will be the portion of the colporteur in the earth made new, when he greets again those whom he has been instrumental in winning to the Lord.
Brother T. H. Barritt, the former field missionary secretary, Brother T. D. Gibson, the incoming field secretary, and the writer, also took much pleasure in assisting in preparing this tent for shipment to this territory, where so far the “silent messengers” and the personal efforts of the colporteurs have been the only influence cooperating with the Holy Spirit in behalf of the truth. While we can report only partial results, we feel that the present splendid interest is a worthy testimony to the effectiveness of this branch of the great work.
Are you one whom the Lord has designed to use as the above-mentioned brother is being used? Why not let him have his way with you?
C. V. LEACH.
North Texas Camp Meeting
By J. L. SHAW
THE camp meeting of the North Texas Conference was held on the Chautauqua grounds at Waxahachie, a town of some nine thousand inhabitants, about thirty miles from Keene, and also from Dallas and Ft. Worth. Camp meetings were held at Waxahachie in the early days of the message in Texas, the last one being about seventeen years ago.
The grounds were well suited for the meetings, a stream of water and many shade trees adding to the comfort of the campers. A large pavilion in which the meetings were held provided good protection from the heat. About three hundred people were encamped on the ground. This was a smaller number than attended the meeting last year, but the fruit harvest and other farm duties kept some away.
A harmonious and earnest spirit was manifest from the beginning. Elder J. W. Christian, the president of the Southwestern Union Conference, entered heartily into the interests of the meeting. His labors were much appreciated by all. Prof. C. M. Sorenson was warmly welcomed by his many friends in Texas who knew him formerly as Bible teacher at Keene Academy and as ministerial laborer in this part of the field. The writer enjoyed meeting with our brethren and sisters of the North Texas Conference and placing before them our foreign mission interests. We were thankful for the response made to the appeals for help. Several fathers and mothers spoke with deep feeling, of their sons and daughters who are laboring for the Master in far-off lands. These gray-haired supporters of our mission work are not sorry for the sacrifices they have made.18One father who said good-by on the camp ground to his second son, bound for the mission field, said: “I have a third son who is willing and ready to go. He is my last. I have given him to God, and I shall not say No when the call comes for him to go.”
An effort was made toward raising the debt on Keene Academy. Arrangements were made for the sale of about a thousand copies of “Christ’s Object Lessons,” the proceeds to be applied on the debt of the academy, or rather of the Junior College; for the name of the institution has now been changed from Keene Academy to Southwestern Junior College, and it is planned as soon as possible to offer full fourteen grades of school work.
A good supply of various denominational books had been brought to the camp meeting, and fully a thousand dollars’ worth were sold. Donations to foreign missions amounted to about $1,500.
Elder J. I. Taylor, who has labored in Texas for many years, and has served the conference as president for the past three years, felt very strongly that a change of president should be made. Brother Taylor’s labors have made for him a large place in the hearts of the brethren and sisters of the conference. Elder David Voth, of the Colorado Conference, was chosen president. He is well known to many in the conference, and he enters upon his work with the loyal support of all.
Many, both young and old, consecrated themselves to God. The outlook for the work in the North Texas Conference is encouraging. As ministers and people make the winning of souls their determined and constant aim, many souls will be won to the truth. J. L. SHAW.
The Missouri Camp Meeting
By J. T. Boettcher.
UPON my return from Russia, where I have labored nine years, I went to Washington, D. C., to see my family, whom I had not seen for two years. The committee of the North American Division Conference invited me to attend the camp meetings in the Central Union Conference. On the way, I held meetings in Chicago, Battle Creek, Berrien Springs, and Hinsdale. Especially was I pleased to see the fine company of young people in attendance at the summer school in Berrien Springs. The school had a splendid Christian atmosphere. The interest in spiritual things was indicated by the full attendance at one meeting I held at 5:30 A. M.
At Hinsdale I found Dr. David Paulson very sick. Upon his request, we had prayer for him. We hope that the God of mercy will spare his servant yet a little longer to his cause.
The Missouri camp meeting was held August 3-13, in the city of Clinton, where our German Seminary is located. Mr. Farris, a well-known banker of the town, gave us the use of a grove, in which was a large hotel. Here our meetings were conducted. Near the old, abandoned hotel are mineral springs.
Although it had not rained for a month and the weather was very hot, our people came to the meeting. It gave me great pleasure to meet many of our older brethren whom I had known years ago, and also to form new acquaintances. The meetings from the very beginning were full of life.
It was my privilege to give two talks on the work in Russia. The Lord has surely blessed his servants and his cause abundantly during these days of trial. We have only half as many workers in Russia as we had before the war, yet the work has not stopped. We must pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth more laborers into his harvest.
Elder F. W. Paap, from Washington, gave some very stirring talks on home missionary work. These were meat in due season. Confessions were made by some who had not lived in their homes as becomes those who are waiting for their Lord.
A recommendation was placed before the conference concerning the Harvest Ingathering campaign for missions. The plans involved the dividing of the conference into districts and placing in charge of each district strong, efficient leaders; the using of the individual goal card, the rally song, and the thermometer device, as means of strengthening the campaign; the setting of our goal for at least $5 per capita; and the devoting of the whole month of October to this united effort to raise $100,000 for missions. The plans were received with great enthusiasm.
A number of teachers from Union College were present. The young people under their leadership enjoyed a feast of good things. In a reunion meeting which was held on the ground, it was mentioned that the college has missionaries in nearly every land on the globe.
The colporteurs gave a very interesting report of their experiences in Missouri. The Lord has blessed these servants of his in cheering many a heart with the printed page. An institute followed the camp meeting.
It was also recommended that all the church officers and conference laborers join in a vigorous campaign to enlist at least thirty regular colporteurs of proper qualifications to give their whole time to this self-supporting missionary work during the entire year.
The secretary of the Sabbath school department read a paper on the work of this branch during 1915. The donations for the year amounted to $5,414, or an average of $104 each Sabbath, throughout the conference. The necessity of a daily study of the lessons was urged upon all.
On Sunday afternoon, August 6, some of the leading temperance workers of the city came out to give talks on this important subject. Our workers joined with them, and a rousing meeting was held.
Elder R. A. Underwood gave some splendid studies on prayer, and spoke in the conference with his usual vigor and earnestness.
According to the report of the secretary, ten ordained ministers and twenty other workers were engaged in labor in the Missouri Conference during 1915. The membership on Dec. 31, 1914, was 1,299, and one year later, Dec. 31, 1915, the membership was 1,365, making a net gain of 66 members, or two and one-fifth members per worker. We believe it would be well if the workers would set a goal as to the winning of souls. In the European Division our goal has been from eight to ten souls as a net gain per worker. Not that we dictate to the Lord, but we should work to a definite object, and let the Lord give the increase as he may see best.
A few changes in the conference were made. Elder J. S. Rouse, who has been the president of the conference for two years, was released for other work in the Union. It was with reluctance that the people gave him up. Elder D. U. Hale, former president of the Nebraska Conference, was chosen to take his place. As he has worked in the Missouri Conference before, Elder Hale was not a stranger to the people. The brethren telegraphed for him to come, which he did, and received a hearty welcome.
Brother M. L. Meehan, who has served the conference as secretary and treasurer for one and one-half years, was succeeded by Sister Alice Guthrie. Brother Frank Alcorn was put in charge of the bookkeeping and tract society work.
The campers were well pleased with a nice dining hall, which was conducted by Sister Meehan and her coworkers.
On Sabbath afternoon, August 12, we witnessed a precious scene in the little lake within the premises of the camp. Elders J. S. Rouse and J. H. Roth baptized twenty-five persons with their Lord. The most of these were young people. One young man, who a few days before nearly died from drowning, was among the company. I noticed when he left the water that he must have been reminded of his former experience, for his whole body swayed to and fro. It is well for our young people to be ready to meet their God. May the Lord keep those who have made a covenant with him true to his cause.
Meetings were also held daily in the German tent. Personally, I was glad to be among our dear people in a land of freedom where we could talk of God's cause and present the needs of our missions. May the choicest blessing of our dear heavenly Father rest upon the work and workers in Missouri.
J. T. BOETTCHER.
Field Notes
SIX persons were recently baptized at Hollis, Okla.
FIFTY-ONE persons received baptism at the Western Oregon camp meeting.
A SABBATH school of twenty members has been organized at Kamiah, Idaho.
ON a recent Sabbath four adults received baptism at East Killingly, Conn.
THE Southern Idaho Conference church now has a membership of nearly two hundred.
WORKERS report thirteen persons baptized and added to the church membership in Arizona.
ELDER R. C. HORTON reports the baptism of fourteen persons near Barryton, in west Michigan.
ELEVEN persons were baptized by Elder George Skinner at the Maritime camp meeting, in Eastern Canada.
SIXTEEN persons were baptized at the North Wisconsin Conference and camp meeting recently held at Spooner.
ELDER W. D. MACLAY reports the organization of a new church of twenty-three members at Belleville, Kans.