DURING the month of December I spent ten days in the province of Kiang-si. This is one of the central China provinces lying south of the Yangtze-kiang River. The principal commercial port of the province is Kiu-kiang, a city on the Yangtze-kiang, east of Hankow about twelve hours' ride by steamer.
The present truth first entered this province through the agency of our colporteurs. Six months ago D. D. Hwang was asked to move from Hunan and locate in Nan-chang, the capital of Kiang-si. He secured a suitable building for a chapel, and began work. During my recent visit a five days' meeting was held with the believers and inquirers. At the close of this meeting seven were baptized. Three of these had accepted the truth before Brother Hwang went to Kiang-si. In addition to those who were baptized, three are keeping the Sabbath, and ten or more are attending our meetings regularly.
The little company baptized impressed me as being composed of fine persons. The four women are very intelligent. Three of them are the wives of the three men baptized, and the other is the wife of one of our colporteurs. They all have a fair education, and at least two of them will become Bible workers when they have the training.
Another member is a man about thirty years old. He has a good education, and is now helping a missionary translate a book. He was engaged to complete the book, and it will be a month before he will finish his present work. In the past his employer had been working on the manuscript for only an hour or two on Saturday, but as soon as he learned that his translator was attending our meetings, he told him that he was needed all day Saturday. But our brother objected to this, and said that unless he had his time off on Saturday so he could attend our meetings, as in the past, he should be obliged to stop work entirely. The employer was loath to part with such an efficient writer, and so yielded the point. This man is in earnest, for he has destroyed his idols. With a hatchet he himself smashed his goddess of mercy idol, and cut up for kindling the ancestral tablets in his house.
Leaving Nan-chang, I traveled a night and half a day in a rickety Chinese launch to a large market place called Wu-cheng. Brother Hwang accompanied me. On the Sabbath we held a long preaching service in the guest room of a wealthy business man's home. This man is the secretary of the Business Men's Guild of Wu-cheng. He is a raw heathen, but had heard enough about the message we preach to become interested. There are three or four other well-to-do business men in this place who are also interested. This is an experience different from any I have met with in China thus far. To be invited into the home of one of the city 'elders,' and to have him invite in some of his friends, and there have an opportunity to preach the plain gospel to them for two hours, was surely an experience out of the ordinary. Following the meeting Brother Hwang and I were invited to remain with them for dinner, which we did. From all that I saw, I believe that the interest of these business men in the gospel is genuine. One not acquainted with China can by no means realize what an unusual thing it was to have a business man invite two missionaries to his home, and then call in his friends to hear the gospel. If you will help with your prayers, I believe that one or more of these men will take a stand for the Lord.
This was my first visit to the province of Kiang-si. I was very favorably impressed with the people, and am certain from all that I saw that our work will have a rapid growth in this province. We now have two evangelists and five colporteurs working for the most part in the central and southern part of the province. The capital city, Nan-chang, is a good center from which to oversee the work in Kiang-si, and it is imperative that we have two families as quickly as possible to settle there. The work is growing too fast for Brother Hwang to look after it alone, and the financial burdens are too heavy for one man. Personally, I can say that if I were to make Kiang-si my field of labor, I should be enthusiastic over the outlook.
The South India Mission
By J. S. James
J. S. JAMES
A NUMBER of months have slipped by since I reported anything for the columns of the REVIEW, but this has not been because of empty garners or flagging interest. On the contrary, we have been busy to the limit of our strength ever since resuming our duties on our return from furlough, and God has greatly blessed the efforts of all the workers in the field the past year, for which we give him our heartfelt praise and thanks.
The last year has witnessed a number of important advances in this mission. A year ago Pastor and Mrs. Lowry were12able to join us again in labor, and their return made possible the opening of our Indian training school, a much-needed facility in our rapidly growing work here in the south. Our first school work was begun eight years ago at Nazareth, where the children of friends and adherents were gathered and instructed. To these were later added a number of orphan boys and girls who were supported by friends at home. This school advanced in its numbers and grades until it became necessary to place the older students in higher grades, in which they could be prepared for active service in the Lord’s cause.
GROUP OF WORKERS IN MADRAS, INDIA
This school, centrally located at Coimbatore on one of South India’s main railways, in a good climate and within easy reach of the summer capital of the Madras Presidency, in the Nilgiri Mountains, was opened in July, 1915, under the supervision of Pastor G. G. Lowry, assisted by two Indian teachers. It was my privilege to visit this school a few days ago, and I found the work there progressing very encouragingly. Brother and Sister Lowry have worked beyond their strength to get this new school started, but their efforts have been well repaid, and a splendid work is now being done. Twenty-eight bright boys and girls are in attendance, with few exceptions the children of Sabbath keepers, and many of them are preparing to enter the work within a year or two. Some of these students are from the Telugu field, some from Nazareth, some from Pondicherry, and a few are resident pupils. As our churches and companies multiply, the attendance at this school will be largely increased. It did my heart good to look into the faces of these boys and girls and reflect that eight years ago many of them were little tots running aimlessly about the village where our work started, but are now nearly grown, and separated only by a few months from active service in the Lord’s vineyard.
In the beginning of our work we had no believers in the truth to help us. When school work was begun, we were obliged to employ teachers not of our faith. To preach the truth and teach school as we desired to see this kind of work carried forward, without helpers who were in full sympathy with us, might appear to be paradoxical; but this was one of the many human extremities where God worked according to the “mystery of his will,” and he helped us to “make brick without straw.” Many of those who were brought in close contact with us in various enterprises, later became interested in the truth, accepted it fully, and are now heart and soul with us in the message. But the providence of God manifested in extremities cannot always be followed as a general rule of action, so we are hoping that in the near future we shall be able to draw trained and more efficient workers from our school at Coimbatore.
Pastor and Mrs. Lowry are compelled to proceed with this new school under very adverse conditions, and are at this moment working against great odds. The mission having no property of any kind in Coimbatore, they had to rent such buildings as they could, for residence and school purposes. They were able to secure an unfinished native house for their own dwelling, and for school purposes they got an empty cotton warehouse in the outskirts of the city, twenty by one hundred and twenty feet, built of stone, and covered with tile. About one third of this was partitioned off for a boys’ dormitory, where the boys sleep, eat, and have all their belongings. The other portion, without any partitions, is used for the school work. The building improvised for a girls’ dormitory is very inadequate, situated in a low, unhealthful quarter, and at a distance, making it difficult for the students to go to and from their classes. These temporary arrangements are very unsatisfactory, as the owners are Hindus, and our missionary activities at any time are provocative reasons, to them at least, to ask us to vacate or pay an exorbitant rent. School work cannot be successfully operated under such conditions. We must have our own property and buildings, where we can carry forward our work unhindered by the religious prejudice or caprice of heathen landlords.
In addition to the oversight of the school, Brother Lowry is making efforts to carry the truth to the populous city of Coimbatore, and to the surrounding villages, of which there are many. The older boys in the school are organized into mission bands, and visit these villages occasionally on preaching and colporteur expeditions. This training and experience will be of great value to them when they begin work for themselves.
In September, 1915, we moved our local headquarters from Trichinopoli to Madras, the chief city of South India. This was done to afford better facilities for printing our rapidly increasing volume of vernacular literature, and to place the office more nearly in the center of the territory we must reach. Madras is a seaport city, and the converging point of all the railways in this presidency. Here are located large educational and publishing interests in connection with the government and the various mission societies operating in South India.
No effort has ever been made in this city to present the truth publicly, but plans are now being laid to this end. With the coming of the new year we hope to have money which will enable us to open a place for public meetings, and furnish equipment and workers to carry forward an aggressive campaign. Brother P. C. Poley and his wife, from North India, have recently connected with the work in Madras, to engage in Bible work and assist in preparing the way for a public effort. Brother Charles Stafford and family, recently from Australia, have been a valuable addition to our forces here. They have settled in the city, where he is now having excellent success in canvassing for our English subscription books.
Brother V. E. Peugh is also making Madras his headquarters while he gives his time to the circulation of our vernacular and English papers among the educated Indians of the Madras Presidency. Our great need at present for this important city is an evangelist who can give his undivided thought and energies to the work of building up a strong English church.
There is a large European and Anglo-Indian population here, especially the latter, and the mind of the populace is in such a state of inquiry, owing to the great European conflict, that a public presentation of the message is sure to reach many earnest seekers for truth. A worker for this particular work was voted more than a year ago, but thus far we have been unable to secure one.
Madras.
Controlling the Tongue
“Most men find it easier to hold a runaway horse than to hold the tongue.”
Harmful Beauty Preparations
By L. A. HANSEN
L. A. HANSEN
The harmful effects of the ordinary constituents of some widely used cosmetics is the basis of a report given in Reprint 305 of the Public Health Reports. This reprint states that “of the many and varied abuses of drug products, there is none in which fraud, deception, and a wanton disregard for human health and even life are so clearly evidenced as in connection with the manufacture, sale, and use of so-called cosmetics.”
“While no one can deny that emollient, irritant, and even caustic drugs, applied as cosmetics, have a legitimate and an important field of usefulness, the abuse of these same drugs, because of the misleading claims made in connection with many of the so-called cosmetics of a proprietary nature, involves a menace that should be recognized and guarded against.”
A conservative estimate places the cost of cosmetic preparations to the consumer, in this country, in excess of fifty million dollars annually. At even this large figure, the financial feature is not the most serious.
As an illustration of the fraudulent practices in this connection, reference is made to recent reports of chemists in charge of State laboratories. The Report of the Indiana State Board of Health (1912-1914) shows that eighty-one samples of preparations used as hair tonics, skin foods, cold creams, mouth washes, and lotions of varying character, were examined. Thirty of the samples were classed as illegal. Seven contained methyl, or wood alcohol.
The proceedings of the Iowa Pharmacy Association (1914) reports twenty out of sixty-six toilet preparations as containing methyl alcohol. Among these were the following: Egg shampoo, hair tonics, bay rum, witch hazel, toilet waters, Florida water, and perfume.
The dangerous character of wood alcohol has been well established. A recent editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association asserts that nearly a thousand cases of poisoning attributed to wood alcohol have been reported in medical literature since 1893.
Wood alcohol is, however, but one of the many poisonous drugs found in so-called beauty preparations. The beauty washes and enamels are found to contain some dangerously potent drugs, including flake white, or lead carbonate; diachylon, or lead plaster; corrosive sublimate, or mercuric chloride; calomel, or mercurous chloride; white precipitate, or ammoniated mercury; pearl white, or bismuth subnitrate; zinc white, or zinc oxide; Chinese white, or commercial zinc oxide; zinc soap, or zinc stearate.
The first in the list, the ordinary white lead of commerce, is also known under a number of other names. It is generally recognized as the most common cause of industrial lead poisoning, the prevention of which is attracting the attention of scientists.
The poisonous properties of certain metals and their salts are well recognized, as is also their ready absorption by the skin. That women are more subject to lead poisoning than men is also recognized, and is thought to be due to the harmful effects of lead upon the blood and blood-making organs of the body, and the greater dependence of women on a normal blood supply. For this reason, no doubt, young women are more susceptible to lead poisoning than are those more advanced in years.
Although considerable study has been given the subject of metal poisoning, knowledge of the subject is incomplete as applying to ultimate effects. It is thought by some authorities that lead poisoning from the use of cosmetics may be the cause of many cases of general nervous debility, some of insanity, and perhaps some of paralysis. Many of the vague and little-understood abdominal pains of women are said to be due to this cause. The belief is expressed that out of the thousands of girls who use preparations containing lead there must be many cases in which the untoward effects are not readily recognized as being due to lead poisoning, and which are consequently overlooked.
The serious toxic effects of the several salts of mercury are marked, among them being salivation, stomatitis, diarrhea, and a disturbance of the central nervous system. Mercuric chloride, or corrosive sublimate, is often found in moth and freckle ointments. It is an efficient local irritant, and will remove moths and freckles by destroying the outer layers of the skin. It is, however, a systemic poison that may be absorbed through the unbroken skin with serious poisonous effects.
So with a number of other ingredients of cosmetics, they have properties very effective for doing harm when applied as directed. The labels under which they are sold do not indicate them as dangerous drugs, but call them by names that are attractive to the beauty seeker.
Needless to say, it is important that care be exercised in the purchase and use of preparations for the hair and skin, to avoid those that do not give positive proof of being harmless. The question of what is really beneficial requires still more thought.
Why Did She?
By Martha E. Warner
MARTHA E. WARNER
A LADY whose business was buying for small Western stores, often took her adopted son with her on shopping expeditions. The child was a manly little fellow, and attracted much attention. One clerk whom they frequently met often asked the child if he did not want to go home with her and be her boy, always mentioning some toy she would buy for him, but he always said, “No.”
A day came when the boy was told at home that he must hang up his coat. He refused point-blank, saying that if he had to work, he would go and live with the nice lady at the store. His mother explained that she did not think the lady would take him, but he insisted that she would be glad to have him, because she had asked for him so many times.
Soon after this they met the clerk again; and when the shopping was over, she turned as usual to the little fellow, and asked him if he was not going to stay and be her boy. To her surprise he answered, “Yes,” and slipped his hand into hers. The mother waited a moment, and the child turned, and said, “Good-by, mamma. I’m going to have a nice time now, with nothing to do but play with14the wagon and nice things I am going to have.”
For a moment the clerk was too astonished to speak; then she began to explain to the boy why she could not keep him. He listened soberly, and when she had finished, inquired, “Why did you ask me so many times?” As she did not answer, he turned to his mother, saying, “Let’s go home. I don’t want to live with a woman who tells so many lies.”
Later, when the mother tried to apologize to the clerk, she said: “Don’t! I needed it, every word, and I shall profit by it.”
Clintonville, Conn.
Home Life Department
By Mrs. I. H. Evans; Miss Lora E. Clement
Conducted by Mrs. I. H. Evans, Takoma Park, Washington D. C.
Assisted by Miss Lora E. Clement
Through the columns of this department, hints will be given on all matters pertaining to the home life. Short articles and letters are solicited from home makers, telling of their everyday experiences,— their joys and sorrows, their failures and successes.
The Mother-Heart
By Strickland W. Gillilan
ABOUT the weary mother-feet
Played ruddy children blossom-sweet.
Anon their grimed hands plucked her
skirts,
Begging her kisses for their hurts;
And oft, as wailing bade her halt,
She found the selfsame lad at fault —
A ceaseless worry to the rest;
Yet still she loved her bad boy best.
In riper years, when at her feet
No children clustered blossom-sweet,
When far and near her broken brood
Had broadcast borne the bond of blood,
Came, mid the others’ cheering news.
Tidings that set her heart abruise,
Despoiling her of peace and rest;
Yet still she loved her bad boy best.
O mother-heart! thy mystery
Unsolved to end of time shall be!
But some day, when life’s sands shall
flow
To their conclusion, we shall know
God, on his love-built throne above,
From whom comes all the mother-love
With which this grateful world is blest —
He willed she love her bad boy best.
— Strickland W. Gillilan.
How Early Surroundings Influence the Morals of Children
By Mrs. W. T. Evans
ARRANGED BY MRS. W. T. EVANS
“Too much importance cannot be placed upon the early training of children. The lessons learned, the habits formed, during the years of infancy and childhood, have more to do with the formation of the character and the direction of the life than have all the instruction and training of after years.”—“Ministry of Healing,” p. 380.
“The home is the child’s first school, and it is here that the foundation should be laid for a life of service. Its principles are to be taught not merely in theory. They are to shape the whole life training.”—Id., p. 400.
“Parents . . . should understand the principles that underlie the care and training of children. They should be capable of rearing them in physical, mental, and moral health. Parents should study the laws of nature. They should become acquainted with the organism of the human body. They need to understand the functions of the various organs, and their relation and dependence. They should study the relation of the mental to the physical powers, and the conditions required for the healthy action of each. To assume the responsibilities of parenthood without such preparation is a sin.”—Id., p. 380.
“Teach your children from the cradle to practice self-denial and self-control. Teach them to enjoy the beauties of nature, and in useful employments to exercise systematically all the powers of body and mind. Bring them up to have sound constitutions and good morals, to have sunny dispositions and sweet tempers. Impress upon their tender minds the truth that God does not design that we should live for present gratification merely, but for our ultimate good. Teach them that to yield to temptation is weak and wicked; to resist, noble and manly.”—Id., p. 386.
“Rule your children with tenderness and compassion, remembering that ‘their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.’ If you desire the angels to do for your children the work given them of God, cooperate with them by doing your part. Brought up under the wise and loving guidance of a true home, children will have no desire to wander away in search of pleasure and companionship. Evil will not attract them. The spirit that prevails in the home will mold their characters; they will form habits and principles that will be a strong defense against temptation when they shall leave the home shelter and take their place in the world.”—Id., p. 394.
“Parents, let the sunshine of love, cheerfulness, and happy contentment enter your own hearts, and let its sweet, cheering influence pervade your home. Manifest a kindly, forbearing spirit; and encourage the same in your children, cultivating all the graces that will brighten the home life. The atmosphere thus created will be to the children what air and sunshine are to the vegetable world, promoting health and vigor of mind and body.”—Id., p. 387.
“The more quiet and simple the life of the child, the more favorable it will be to both physical and mental development. . . . Many infants are extremely susceptible to nervous excitement, and the mother’s gentle, unhurried manner will have a soothing influence that will be of untold benefit to the child.”—Id., p. 381.
“There is a God above, and the light and glory from his throne rests upon the faithful mother as she tries to educate her children to resist the influence of evil. No other work can equal hers in importance. She has not, like the artist, to paint a form of beauty upon the canvas, nor, like the sculptor, to chisel it from marble. She has not, like the author, to embody a noble thought in words of power, nor, like the musician, to express a beautiful sentiment in melody. It is hers, with the help of God, to develop in a human soul the likeness of the divine.”—Id., p. 377, 378.
“Happy are the parents whose lives are a true reflection of the divine, so that the promises and commands of God awaken in the child gratitude and reverence; the parents whose tenderness and justice and long-suffering interpret to the child the love and justice and long-suffering of God; and who, by teaching the child to love and trust and obey them, are teaching him to love and trust and obey his Father in heaven. Parents who impart to a child such a gift have endowed him with a treasure more precious than the wealth of all the ages,—a treasure as enduring as eternity.”—Id., pp. 375, 376.
Loma Linda, Cal.
Life is a Shadow
By Lillian S. Connerly
LILLIAN S. CONNERLY
MORNING dawn, then noonday heat,
Evening shadows, rest in sleep;
So the days pass, one by one,
Hurrying ever faster on.
Life is like to one brief day.
Youth, its morning, speeds away;
Noontide, manhood, passes soon;
Old age, evening, follows noon.
Fill each morn to evening hour
With sweet thoughts and deeds, before
Darkness falls, and sleep of death
Palsies thought and takes the breath.
Cristobal, C. Z.
Doing What Can't Be Done
DOING what can't be done is the glory of living.—Christian Observer.
A Few Hints about Packing
By Maud Sisley Boyd
MAUD SISLEY BOYD
As our workers are frequently obliged to move from one place to another, a few hints, gained by experience, may be appreciated by those just starting out as missionaries.
How often, when calling at a house whose occupants are expecting to change their place of abode, one finds a perfect turmoil, even weeks before the removal is to take place. The caller is asked to excuse the appearance of things, as preparations are being made for moving. With many this seems to be a sufficient excuse for all sorts of disorder and discomfort.
Nearly all this unpleasant part of the experience may be avoided if the housewife will take time for a little careful thought and planning, keeping the comfort of her family in mind.
When it is decided that a move must be made, select the spare room, if you have one, and if not, the one that is least used, and in it arrange your packing boxes in orderly array. Begin by going through the house, selecting from each room the things that are not essential for comfort, and packing them away. Pictures, curtains, the “best” dishes, certain linen, etc., are among the things which may be disposed of in this manner.
Next go through every drawer and cupboard, and selecting such things as you wish to take, pack them in the waiting cases. In this way dispose of the things you wish to take with you, and leave chairs, couches, and the floor free for their accustomed use. With a little care your house can be kept tidy until the last moment.
Dishes travel more safely if packed in barrels. Sort out all of a size, and place a thickness of cloth or paper between them. Then select something sufficiently large to wrap around the package tightly, and pin it up securely. These bundles should then be packed together as closely as possible, and the spaces filled with soft material. If your dishes are taken care of in this way, you will usually find them whole when you unpack them.
Anything you are packing which can be injured by insects should be rolled in newspaper and securely tied, or packed with moth balls, camphor, or something of that kind.
When taking a long journey, where perhaps you may not see your goods for six months or a year, at the end of which time you must get along in small quarters, where there is not room enough to unpack everything, it is very helpful to know what is in each packing case. This can be accomplished by segregating the things,—numbering each case, and on a card bearing the same number, writing the general class of things in the box. Keep these cards for reference at the end of the journey. They are very helpful.
The Western Canadian Union Conference
By Irwin H. Evans
The fourth biennial session of the Western Canadian Union Conference was held in Calgary, Alberta, February 24-29, in a building rented and prepared for the meeting.
The weather was fine throughout the session, and nearly every worker was present, those absent being kept away on account of sickness.
All seemed to enter into the spirit of the meeting, and though the field and government is English, yet there were many Germans, Russians, and other foreigners present. They were a united band of laborers and believers, and all seemed to enjoy the spirit that prevailed. The Bible studies found a response in the hearts of the workers, and each one reconsecrated himself to God.
The president’s address and the reports from the local conference presidents and departmental secretaries indicated growth in numbers, as well as progress in every line of work.
The membership of the conference, Jan. 1, 1908, was 777. Its membership Jan. 1, 1916, was 2,318. The tithes increased from $35,942.30 the first biennial term to $92,876.23 the last biennial term. The first term, offerings to missions amounted to $11,428.05, and the last two years to $41,224.33. The book sales increased from $24,924.70 the first term to $74,937.12 the last term. The last two years showed an increase in church membership of 767.
Brother H. S. Shaw, who has served as president of this union conference during the entire time of its organization (over seven years), did not think it best to carry the work for another term of four years, and requested that some one else be chosen to take the work. His health has not been good. The conference now demands heavy work of its president, which compels his absence from home much of the time. Many kind words were spoken by various workers in appreciation of Brother Shaw’s work, after which the delegates were asked by the chairman to unanimously vote that the Division Conference secure as their incoming president Elder C. F. McVagh, now the president of the West Michigan Conference. This arrangement has been completed, and it is expected that the new president will soon enter upon his work.
The business of the conference was conducted without one discordant note. The last afternoon, at 4 P. M., the conference adjourned, and after a short talk the workers present came to the front for a consecration service. It seemed like a baptismal scene. All hearts were touched. Many wept, while several united in earnest prayer. It was a solemn hour. The Holy Ghost witnessed to the covenant vows that were made between the workers and our God.
Elder Meade MacGuire and Brother James Cochran were with Brother G. B. Thompson and me, and took an active part in the meetings.
The conference set as its goal the doubling of its membership during the next four years. This will mean much to the cause in the Western Canadian Union, and surely it is a goal worthy our best efforts. The meeting was a good one. It marks another milestone, and this conference will soon be a strong factor in helping to finish the work.
I. H. EVANS.
On Furlough
By Petra Tunheim
It has been a great joy to me to meet so many of our dear brethren and sisters in California, and to attend several of their camp meetings during the summer and autumn. It had been nine years since I had had such a privilege, and therefore these meetings were a great inspiration to me.
It was good to see the deep interest manifested by our people as they listened to the good news from across the sea. What great things the Lord has done for the poor heathen who are sitting in dense darkness! He has sent this last message with converting power to them through his humble instrumentalities. Little companies of believers, bright lights here and there, have come out from raw heathenism, Mohammedanism, or Spiritualism. They were formerly thieves and robbers, gamblers, opium smokers, betel-nut chewers, and lived very immoral lives. Now their filthy garments have been laid aside for the beautiful, pure garment of Christ’s righteousness; they, like Mary of old, love to sit at the feet of Jesus and to learn of him who is meek and lowly in heart.
When earnest pleas have been made in behalf of those who never had the glorious light, hearty responses have been made by our people in giving of their money. On hearing how the heathen have given up their idols that they had worshiped all their lives, many here in the homeland, realizing that they themselves were not free from idolatry, have taken off their costly gold chains, rings, and other worldly ornaments, and given them for the work.
A great joy has come to me in seeing so many children willing to make sacrifices and give up some of their little treasures, to aid in the work of winning souls. Among these was one poor little barefoot boy, whose self-denial touched my heart greatly, when he offered to give up his little pocketknife, the only real treasure he possessed. The knife was purchased immediately for a dollar, and prayer was offered that this little boy might see at least one soul in the kingdom as a result of his sacrifice. The riches of the world cannot equal the value of a soul that will reflect the brilliant glory of the King through the ceaseless ages of eternity.
One poor sister who takes in washing has offered to support a student in our training school in Singapore, and has already sent sixty dollars for that purpose. While she stands working over the tub, she is preaching the third angel’s message away across the ocean in Malaysia.
Dear brethren, if we all would become as earnest in giving and would make such sacrifices as these, would not the work soon be finished, and we have the great joy of moving to our heavenly home?
How can we spend one cent in anything that is unnecessary, when there are thousands daily going down to Christless graves? Several sisters have offered me gum to chew since I came to America, but I immediately thought, “How hard it is to get the people in heathen lands to give up the chewing of betel nut!” Surely I should hardly like to begin to chew something here in the homeland that looks just as foolish and uncalled for. In the United States $24,000,000 is spent yearly for gum, $107,536,000 for soft drinks, and $98,229,310 for tea and coffee. Hundreds of parents buy candy for their children and for themselves, which is both expensive and injurious, while the Macedonian calls are sounding louder and louder across the deep sea. In the United States $178,000,000 is spent yearly for confectionery, while only $7,500,000 is given for missions. Shall we not all do our utmost to increase the mission funds and decrease the funds spent in these other ways? The test comes to us now, and the day of account is near at hand. Have we more love for souls for whom Jesus shed his blood than for these needless, injurious things? Shall the blood of those precious souls be upon our garments? Let us lift our voices together in a loud cry: “Spare thy people, O Lord.” Should not the calamities that are taking place around us almost daily, stir us to quick action as never before? The King’s business requires haste, and it must also have funds.
It is indeed good to be here at Loma Linda and take the medical evangelistic course this winter while on furlough. This good instruction will surely be of great value in building me up physically as well as spiritually, in fitting me to do better work when I return to my mission field in Java. We have godly teachers in these classes, who are giving faithful instruction in the different phases of the message. Are there not many young people as well as older ones who should begin to plan now to attend this valuable two-year course next year, to be fitted quickly for a part in the speedy finishing of the work? PETRA TUNHEIM.
