p. 14 | Review and Herald, Vol. 92, No. 14. (3/18/1915)

Malaysia

By F. A. DETAMORE

F. A. DETAMORE

JULY 23 I left Singapore for Java and Sumatra. The work seemed to be prospering in Java. Sister Wood had just recovered from fever. She feels that her present state of health is due to the mercy of God, and I feel so, too. Brother and Sister Wood have been in the tropics for six or seven years. Sister Tunheim was having the fever while I was there, but was of good courage. Sister Sharp had taken a vacation, but finally decided that it was not wise for her to try to remain in this country longer, so she and her husband have gone to Australia.

Brother Van de Groep and family went to Surabaya a short time before I reached there, but he had not yet found a place to live. Brother and Sister Wood, having given them their rooms, were living in a part of the hall they use for meeting. It is on the dusty street, and the noise was so great that they could not sleep at first, but they finally got used to it, and decided to stay there till after the Shanghai meeting. This did not seem wise, and as we fortunately found a place for Brother Van de Groep and family to live, we were glad that the way opened for Brother and Sister Wood to move back into their house. We need homes for the workers there very much.

Seven good persons were baptized, and a man of Dutch nationality took a firm stand for the present truth, and will be baptized soon. Another man whom I visited at Samarang decided to obey the truth. There is a good interest in the message at Surabaya, and others are becoming awakened. The workers were planning to make a special effort to sell a Dutch tract dealing with the Turkish question, as many were asking about the war. Brother Van de Groep sold thirty-nine of these in just a short time one evening.

The church members are doing well in missionary effort. One Chinese brother decided to give a part of his time regularly to the work. We hope that he will become a good worker. A Chinese sister, who was baptized there last year, showed us where she goes to pray. When she began to keep the Sabbath, she could not read, but had such a desire to study the Bible that she began to try to read it, and by the Lord's help, with perseverance, she now reads quite well. Her husband is a stonemason, and prepares tombstones. As they live in the same place where he does his work, it is very noisy. They have a place just across the alley back of their home where they keep large stones. This is inclosed by a board wall, and she used to go there to pray. Later one of their workmen was taken sick, and they built him a little structure just large enough to get into. Now she goes into this place to study her Bible and to pray. She took us into it, and told us how happy she was to have such a good place in which to seek the Lord, and seemed as proud of it as if it were a mansion. We all bowed with her in her little sanctuary, and worshiped our Saviour together.

At Batavia I found eight ready for baptism, and the meetings we held there were well attended and seemed to be a real encouragement to all the believers. All are trying to do what they can to bring others into the truth. One Chinese, a dentist, works at his trade in the forenoon, and spends the afternoon selling papers and teaching the truth. For this service he gets a small profit on his sales, but he usually turns this back into the Lord's work. The day I left there, one young sister went out and took four orders for the Dutch paper, besides selling a large number of tracts, in just a little while. She made two appointments for Bible studies the same day, and a young man made one appointment. When all our people get fully aroused and begin to give the message, we may expect to see great developments in God's work.

I also visited at Soekaboemi, and saw a number of our members, including Brother R. Sisley, who is teaching English there. With his income he is supporting several native workers. Brother Brouwer had been canvassing in this place, and as a result of his efforts a Dutchman had accepted the truth. He is well informed, and is conscientiously walking in the light. We had a baptismal service there, and he united with us. So while we have many hard things with which to contend, we all rejoice and take courage when we see a few taking their stand with us. We know that our united influence, when on the Lord's side, will help to swell the message into the loud cry, and thus hasten the coming of our Saviour.

At Padang, I met Brother and Sister Yates for the first time, also Brother Lawrence Fox, who is teaching the mission school there. This school has a good attendance, and is self-supporting. Brother Yates is giving several studies a week regularly, and at the same time learning the language. He will necessarily be quite handicapped until he gets so that he can converse with the people in Malay. Brother Fox helps much, and does some interpreting. One young man recently took his stand for the truth at Padang, but he lost his job and has gone to another place to work, so I did not see him. One other Chinese told us that he was going to keep the Sabbath. Padang has been a hard field in the past, and though our work has been established there about fourteen years, still we have but a few real converts. Yet our workers are hopeful for the future. We believe we shall yet reap fruit from seed sown in the past. We have permission to enter other places connected with Padang by rail, and we hope soon to begin to go to these with the message. One place, Fort de Kock, is high up in the mountains, where it is cool, and is a very healthful place for our workers to go for a change.

(To be concluded)

MRS. W. H. ANDERSON

By MRS. W. H. ANDERSON

The Native of the Kraals as I Know Him — No. 5

MRS. W. H. ANDERSON

After having been in the country for several years with no change, my husband's health was such that he had to go to the coast. He drove into Bulawayo in the cart, and had two of the schoolboys with him to help him on the train with his luggage. The train was delayed for a day or two, so they had to camp near the town. There was a heavy storm approaching, so Mr. Anderson thought it unadvisable to sleep out, and took a room in the hotel. The hotel was a new brick building, and was quite a wonder to the natives, as they had not seen the like before; for at that time there were no brick dwellings at the mission, only huts made after the fashion of the native ones. As Mr. Anderson went into the room, he had the boy carry in his belongings. The room was nicely papered, and quite well furnished. The boy stood gazing in wonderment, when my husband said, “Malomo, what do you think of it?” “Well,” he said, “if heaven is anything like this, I want to be there.” They think the white men are very few in the world because there are so few in their country. They think that Bulawayo must be the white man's country.

When a boy comes to work for a white woman, he considers it a wonderful thing. She has so many things in her house, and when she can talk with the boy a little, he gets very inquisitive, and many times his inquisitiveness takes on a very personal nature. “Ah? Ah?” and a pause. “May we come quite close so we can see your hair? Why, it is not like hair, it is like cotton. How long is it? We shingle our heads sometimes, and the hair does not get very long. That is a very nice hat you have on, but you wear another on Sabbath. How many hats have you? Look at all your children, they have not even one hat among them. What cloth is that your dress is made of? It is not calico, such as we buy. It is very good cloth. If we could get a piece of cloth like that, it would last us a whole year. Look at my skirt; it is only a piece of cowhide; and when I stand close to you, I look so bad. I seem to have no clothing at all.” And so the conversation goes on, ranging all over the whole world in which they live and move.

“Yes, the mishishi is a wonderful being.” Just a few months after I came

here, a boy from the village came to the house, and I told him to do something. I did not know the language very well, still I could give a few simple commands. After I had spoken to him, he turned and asked one of the schoolboys, who was standing near, what I said, and the boy repeated exactly my words. I said, “Why could he not understand me?” “O, you are a white woman!” It seemed so wonderful to him to hear a white woman speak in his language that he could not believe his ears.

After they have been in the employ of the white man for a while, they become very wise. Perhaps the native doctor has given them some medicine to acquire some of the makua's wisdom, and indeed you have to be at hand if they are using any of your tools. A little way from the mission station is a pumping station, to supply the railroad engine with water. The water is pumped by native boys. The “boss” came along one day and found the pump throwing a very little stream of water. He inspected, and found that the boy had loosened some taps so the water could run back and not require so much of his strength to raise it. The boss tightened the taps and said, “Now, the man that made that pump said that these taps were not to be meddled with.” The boy remarked, “The man that made that pump might know how to make a pump, but he does not know how to run a pump.”

To know the native is to live with him and work for him. Many are the perplexities that come to the missionary. We must show an interest in all their doings, which so many times seem so ridiculous to us. Only the gospel of Christ can change the heart, whether the man is white or black. The Bible has no rival in Africa. Our greatest desire is to get the native away from his old environments, and teach him to read, so he can take the dear old Book and read it for himself. It is a very desirable but hard task to undertake. But once they let the light in and are willing to give up their heathen customs, they become changed men and women. Nineteen of the best years of my husband's life have been spent for this people. As we look over the broad field, we see but little accomplished, but by closer examination we see here a soul and there a soul, as it were, “a firebrand plucked out of the burning.”

Bombay, India

By G. W. PETTIT

G. W. PETTIT

WHEN my wife and I settled in Bombay in the early part of 1913, there was not a Sabbath keeper to be found in that great commercial city of the world, with its 987,000 souls. To us it was a strange experience to have but two members in our Sabbath school for a period of several months, just a preacher and his wife. We visited among the people and found a few who were willing to study the Word of God. Most persons were rather distant, for they had not heard of Seventh-day Adventists. This name sounded very strange to them.

Finally, I felt that the time had come to secure some place for public meetings. It was with great difficulty that such a place was found. The same old questions which we had been meeting for months past again came home to us very forcibly when we were asked for what purpose we wanted the property, who we were, and if we could give good bank reference in the city. I told the owners of the property that I feared we could not, as we were strangers. They frankly said that they could not do business with us unless we could give such reference. I was compelled to tell them that I could not do business with them if that was required. It finally resulted in a compromise. I told them I would pay for a telegram to be sent to the best bank in India, located in Calcutta, where they might learn our standing. The reply from the special message was satisfactory, and we felt thankful to God that the loyal people at home back of this message had given us such a standing in the parts of the empire where our work first started, about twenty years previously. Today we have a splendid standing financially in Bombay.

The hall was secured, which was in a good location in the very best part of the city. It is forty-five by fifty-five feet in size, and will accommodate more than two hundred persons when crowded. While the building was in good repair and had a very nice marble floor, yet it had to be fitted up with seats, rostrum, pulpit, electric lights, fans, and other church furniture. This took about three months, as things go here, making about nine months since we began searching for a suitable place in which to hold meetings.

When Prof. H. R. Salisbury arrived in India to take the work as field superintendent, we were happy to have him occupy the hall the first Sabbath it was open for use. Including every Sabbath keeper in West India and all the workers, I think we had a congregation of twenty-five, as we were quite successful in getting a few friends from the city to attend the meeting.

Not long after, we were joined by Brother G. F. Enoch and others in the first public effort held in Bombay by our people. We began in the month of November, 1913. Our attendance was fair, but the people responded very slowly. The cool season passed by, and we were again left alone, with Miss Rose Boose, as Bible worker, to assist us in the follow-up work during Bombay's tremendous heat. In August we held our first baptismal service in a baptistery in the hall, nine persons going forward. Only one of them had ever before witnessed such a scene. A good impression was left on the large congregation which assembled, and the next month six others were buried with their Lord. We then organized a church of twenty-five members.

Several months have passed, and they are still faithful and growing in grace day by day. A splendid tithe is coming into the treasury, enough to support a pastor. We have a live Sabbath school, paying a splendid sum into the mission treasury month by month.

This light which has come to Bombay is now shining not only here, but far out into the darkness of the empire of India. Souls who are aglow with the new-found truth are cooperating in the second public effort, which opened Nov. 3, 1914. Their labor affords a real stimulus to those proclaiming the message. Thus the Lord has caused his word to bring forth in this city, which a few months ago was desolate of believers, a loyal people who we trust may stand in the days to come as a memorial of God's grace in this land where darkness abounds. Brother Daniells preached to a large congregation assembled in the hall, Sunday, November 22. Pray for the work in Bombay.

The Bane and Cure of Care

By John McNeil

The bane of the world is care; the cure for care is prayer; the reward of prayer is peace.—John McNeil.

Teaching Untruthfulness

By Mrs. Carrie R. Moon

MRS. CARRIE R. MOON

By a little child the word of father and mother is accepted as absolute truth that admits of no question or doubt. Perhaps all have heard of the child whose final word in an argument concerning the truth of a certain point was, “Mamma says it’s so, and when mamma says it’s so, it’s so.”

Why is it that this beautiful faith in mamma’s word is so often lost as the child grows to a reasoning age? Is it entirely the fault of the child? or may we find the reason elsewhere? A few instances of actual observation may throw some light upon the question.

A young mother—one who believed herself to be a truthful, Christian woman—told me how she managed her little girl. She lived on a street where automobiles and other vehicles, including heavy trucks, were passing very frequently. She said: “I cannot be there to watch her all the time, and I am so afraid she will go out on the street and get killed, that I tell her there is a big black man that carries off the children that go out there. I hate to lie to her, but I just have to for her own safety.”

Another woman resorted to a similar method to keep her baby from falling down the cellar stairs. She told the child there was a big black bear in the cellar, thus instilling in his heart a terrible fear of the cellar. Later this same mother had reason to weep over her mistake. The little fellow began to wonder why the bear did not harm his mother when she went to the cellar. One day he stealthily followed her into the cellar. After looking around for a moment, he indignantly exclaimed: “You said there was a big black bear down here. You told me a lie!” That boy’s strongest protection against temptation and sin—faith in his mother—was gone forever.

While sitting in a railroad station not long ago, I had good opportunity to study human nature. Among those who were also waiting for a delayed train were two women, mother and daughter, with the daughter’s child, who was just old enough to run around. The little one was restless, and being of an investigative turn of mind, she wanted to know all about what was going on in the large outer room. Again and again the mother went after her and brought her back to the little room, which was so lacking in attractions to the baby mind, all the time assuring her that the big policeman who was out there was just waiting to grab little children and carry them off. This warning seemed not to have the slightest effect upon the little one, and the two women and others actually laughed as they remarked, “It does not seem to frighten her much.” I could not help remarking, “No, children very soon learn whether or not you are telling them the truth.”

Some parents seem to know no better way to govern their children than by constant threatening. It is not uncommon to hear such expressions as, “I’ll whip you till you can’t stand up!” “I’ll skin you alive if you do that again!” A mother of my acquaintance heard her little boy using a profane word. The child had heard some older person using the language, and very likely he did not know its meaning. Instead of taking the little fellow in her arms and carefully instructing him concerning the sin of using such words, she exclaimed: “If I ever hear you say such a thing again, I’ll cut your tongue right out of your head.” The child had ignorantly broken one of the commandments; the mother had willfully broken another, besides frightening and shocking the sensitive feelings of her child, and causing him to lose faith in her. Although these instances are extreme cases, yet in many families there is a constant threatening of punishment that is soon forgotten by the irate parent. In fact, it really means nothing when the threat is made, and the children soon learn this.

Insincerity in social life, or what some regard as necessary politeness, has often caused trusting children to look at mamma in shocked surprise, and soon to decide that truthfulness is not an essential stone to place in character building. When mamma expresses regret at the approach of some tiresome visitor, and then assures the visitor that she is so glad to see her, urges her to stay longer and to call again soon, what can be the impression made upon the sincere mind of the listening child?

While I was calling at the home of an acquaintance, the landlord came to collect the rent, which was overdue. The mother met him at the door with the statement that she hadn’t a cent in the house, and he would have to come next week. As soon as he was gone, she turned to me and said, in the presence of her children, “I have to lie to him sometimes. I have the money, but I want to use it for something else.” Not long after this she sent her boy to the grocery to do an errand. He wanted some money to go to the moving picture show that afternoon, so he “had to lie” to his mother about the price of the goods that he bought. Whose was the fault?

A few weeks ago I heard a mother bemoaning the fact that her children did not believe in Santa Claus any more, and she did not know how to make a happy Christmas for them. It reminded me of a sad story that a young man told to his friend who was urging him to accept Christ as his Saviour. He said: “When I was a little boy, I believed in Jesus Christ. I also believed in Santa Claus. When I learned that my mother had been telling me falsehoods about Santa Claus, I thought the stories about Jesus belonged in the same bunch. Then and there my faith was shattered, and it has never been restored.”

Overseverity upon the part of parents sometimes almost drives timid children to falsehood in an attempt to save themselves from severe punishment for some misdemeanor or accident. The awful fear of the stern parent chills the love and confidence that should exist in the heart of the child, and he dares not tell the truth.

O, how our hearts go out in pity to the child who fears to come to father or mother and tell all his troubles, all his faults and mistakes, knowing that he will find ready sympathy, love, and counsel! Parents should enter into every joy and sorrow of their children. Home should be the sure refuge, and father and mother the trusted confidants and counselors. The greatest treasure a mother can have is the confidence of her children. Through this faith in her, she can hold her dear ones back from the paths of sin, throwing around them a cord of love that nothing can sever. But when once this confidence is lost, it is probably gone forever. It can never be restored in the same degree as before. How important it is that parents realize the blessed responsibility that comes to

them with their children, and that they cherish most sacredly the loving confidence that God places in the heart of every little child.

Boston, Mass.

The Home Life

By Mrs. C. C. Lewis; Miss Lora E. Clement

Conducted by Mrs. C. C. Lewis, Takoma Park, Washington, D. C.

Assisted by Miss Lora E. Clement

Through the columns of this department, hints will be given on all matters pertaining to the home life. Short articles and letters are solicited from home makers, telling of their everyday experiences,—their joys and sorrows, their failures and successes.

That Little Chap o' Mine

To feel his little hand in mine, So clinging and so warm; To know he thinks me strong enough To keep him safe from harm; To see his simple faith in all That I can say or do,— It sort o' shames a fellow, But it makes him better, too; And I'm trying hard to be The man he fancies me to be, Because I have this chap at home Who thinks the world of me.

I would not disappoint his trust For anything on earth, Nor let him know how little I just naturally am worth. But, after all, it's easier That brighter road to climb, With the little hands behind me To push me all the time. And I reckon I'm a better man Than what I used to be, Because I have this little chap at home Who thinks the world of me.

—Selected.

Household Dust

By MRS. D. A. FITCH

MRS. D. A. FITCH

THERE are few parts of everyday housekeeping, or rather housework, more inimical to health than is sweeping. It might not be so could all the dirt remain on the floor; but it does not. Quite a share of the worst part ascends into the air, to be taken into the respiratory organs, to lodge on furniture, tables, food, and clothing. In the process of dusting the furniture the dust is again disturbed, and is breathed, while that on the food will probably be swallowed.

By proper methods much of this danger might be avoided. One woman is of the opinion that when dealing with bare floors, it is well to carefully draw the coarse dirt together with a dampened broom, and then use an extra amount of water in mopping up the fine dust. Almost any way to keep the dust from flying about to be breathed!

Carpets gather and retain a great deal of dust, with its millions of microbes of myriad sorts. Every movement on a carpet sets the dust to flying, and especially does it fly when the broom is being used in the hands of an energetic housewife.

Carpet sweepers are a decided improvement over the broom; but if the latter must be used, the breathing of much of the dust may be avoided by using the broom in such a way as not to throw the dust into the air. Notice the difference in methods of sweeping. One woman will stand behind her broom and send the dust and dirt into the air at a furious rate; while her more tidy neighbor will draw the broom behind her, allowing it to rest on the débris an instant, thus hindering the free circulation of dust, with all its dangers.

It is well to have carpets laid in such a way that the prevailing wind will take the most of the dust through an outside door rather than into the kitchen. The nap of the carpet will decide this matter for you.

After the sweeping is done, it brightens the carpet wonderfully, and removes much dust, to wet the broom in a solution of salt water and wipe the carpet carefully, occasionally washing out the broom to remove the collected dust.

Glendale, Cal.

Economy in the Home

By Mrs. C. C. Lewis

MRS. C. C. LEWIS

Economy in the home consists in little savings. There are a few spoonfuls of potato left from dinner, and a little gravy. Neither seems worth saving; but, put together with a few pieces of stale bread, moistened with the remnant from the cream pitcher, with possibly an egg, a little salt, grated onion, and a pinch of sage, and baked twenty minutes, they will make a nourishing breakfast dish. An intelligent use of the “left-overs” is one of the small things that count for success in the home. There are few things more discouraging to the husband and father than to feel there are so many small leaks in the household economy that he can never get ahead.

What Does It Mean?

By Anna J. Granniss

It does not matter what it means, poor heart! The dear Lord knows; to bear it is your part; Nor think some strange thing happens unto you, Which he would not allow so if he knew. He does know. In his all-will Fatherhood, He knows it, and allows it for your good.

He is not hard; you do not think he is When in the dark you find your hand in his. When it was light, you tried to walk alone, And thought the strength he gave you all your own. You did not question what the blessing meant, Just smiled and took it, satisfied, content.

You did not think it strange; you thought he knew, And planned the sweet surprise that came to you. Tried one, then do you take life’s sweet and good, Yet cannot trust the tender Fatherhood, But think he makes mistakes whene’er he sends Some hindrance, which your eager taste offends? Or when he lets the wicked plot your harm, And stirs a whirlwind when you seek a calm, You think it strange, this trial, swift and keen, And in your weakness ask, “What does it mean?”

I think the language of God’s heart would read: “I love my child; I know his slightest need; “I long to prosper him in all his ways, To give him quiet nights and peaceful days; But if I do, he’ll loose himself from me, My outstretched hand he will not wait to see. I’ll place a hindering wall before his feet; There he will wait, and there we two will meet.

“I do it not in wrath for broken laws Or willful disobedience, but because I want him near me, I cannot wait For him to come; for he might wander late. My child will wonder, will not understand; Still, half in doubt, he’ll clasp my outstretched hand; But when at last upon my heart he leans, He will have ceased to wonder what it means.” —Anna J. Granniss.

God’s Responsibility Not Ours

A NUMBER of men were once talking about the burdens of duty, and one of them declared that they were sometimes too heavy to be borne. “Not,” said another, “if you carry only your own burden, and don’t try to take God’s work out of his hands. Last year I crossed the Atlantic with one of the most skillful and faithful captains of the great liners. We had a terrific storm, during which for thirty-eight hours he remained on the bridge, striving to save his passengers. When the danger was over, I said to him, ‘It must be a terrible thought at such a time that you are responsible for the lives of over a thousand human beings.’ ‘No,’ he said solemnly, ‘I am not responsible for the life of one man on this ship. My responsibility is to run the ship with all the skill and faithfulness possible to any man. God himself is responsible for all the rest.’”

“Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.”— Selected.

The Housewife's Exchange

NEW WAY TO SERVE GRAPEFRUIT.—When the family tires of grapefruit served in the usual way, prepare it the night before it is to be used, by cutting next the rind and loosening the fibers which hold the pulpy part of the fruit. Then cover the top of each half with a rather thick layer of honey. In the morning the fruit will have absorbed the honey, and will possess a new and delightful flavor.

TO REMOVE INK STAINS.—Ink stains are almost impossible to remove from the hands with soap and water, but if one will dampen the head of an ordinary match and rub it over the ink stains, they will disappear as if by magic.—The Mother's Magazine.

They Soon Learn

“OUR baby is learning that it is quite useless to cry to be noticed, so he is not crying at night,” writes a young mother. “We were awake with him altogether too much the first week or two. You see he just slept all day. I had to waken him at nursing time. Then after his feeding in the middle of the night, he did not care to go to sleep; his eyes were wide open. Naturally, when he wasn’t taken up, he cried and cried; and I almost cried, too. But we didn’t take him up except to see that he was comfortable, and the last few nights have been much better.”

Pray Before You Speak

“WHEN about to speak passionately, close your mouth. Don't utter a word. Pray before you speak, and heavenly angels will come to your assistance and drive back the evil angels, who would lead you to dishonor God, reproach his cause, and weaken your own soul.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. II, page 82.

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