[Members of the Sabbath-schools that have just given the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering to training-school work in Argentina and Chile, will read with special interest a portion of a letter from Prof. Walton C. John.]
THE River Plate Academy has just concluded its thirteenth year of work. In 1899, Elder F. H. Westphal, in connection with Elder N. Z. Town and others, started our school in an apparently forlorn spot, although the Spirit's guidance must have shown to our brethren the future possibilities. From the beginning, our accommodations have not been adequate; nevertheless, to-day we look forward to the time when we shall be able to accommodate our pupils in a proper manner. The roll this year fell a little below expectations, reaching one hundred seventeen; nevertheless we are scarcely in a position to receive more students till the new dormitory is finished. The Thirteenth Sabbath Offering means, I believe, a new dormitory, and every church-member in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay will also give us help in realizing our desire.
Six students finished the eighth grade, and all but two entered the different branches of the work,—as nurses, as employees in the printing-office, or as missionaries in the field. The academy is strictly a training-school, and its students are very few who do not expect to take part in our organized work. Next year we expect to graduate two students in the advanced, or missionary course; this is the same as the twelfth grade. The spirit of work and study is growing among our South American young people, and during this last year the Lord has been very near to us, teachers and pupils, in all our duties. Many of our students have gained a strong religious experience during their stay, and are now going out to teach others. We have been blessed with a united, consecrated teaching force; and now for the new year, with additional help, we look for greater growth and expansion of our interests.
We are all very glad to welcome Prof. H. U. Stevens and wife, who are to take the directorship here. They have already endeared themselves to the pupils, and have gained the confidence of both teachers and parents. We fully believe the academy will improve in the quality of its work as well as maintain more fully the highest ideals of our Christian schools.
We are pleased to state that the government has up to the present shown a favorable attitude toward our work. I cite the case of Brother Emilio Roscher, one of our students who finished the eighth grade last year. The brethren in Crespo having obtained the customary permission from the regular authorities to establish a local church-school in the country, put Brother Roscher in charge, four grades being taught. He had good success from the beginning, and the attendance grew. However, the teachers in the neighboring towns became jealous and tried several times to oust him, and finally, at the beginning of the last term, succeeded. Brother E. Roscher, Emilio's father, a leading German brother, went with his son to Parana, the state capital, and called on the superintendent of education of the state or province. He stated his case, and the superintendent, Señor Antequeda, proceeded to examine the youth. He stood the test so well that the superintendent said, “Let me have that young man; if they don't like him, I do;” and then he gave him permission to conduct a private school in the province anywhere he chose, at the same time incidentally stating that he approved of the high standard of work done in our academy. Our brethren in Crespo will now have a good church-school for their thirty-five or forty children.
Our closing exercises were of unusual interest, as Elder Francisco Westphal, the father of the academy, was present, besides several other brethren who helped the institution at its beginning,—Brother Pedro Peverini, of the Chaco, who put up the first building; Brother Domingo Daliezi, who gave the trees; Brother J. Lust, who gave the land; and Elder Luis Ernst, the first student, who helped dig the well. Many interesting experiences were recounted of the beginning of our school work and of its growth during the past fourteen years.
In the educational department we are pushing our study and reading course for the ministers and workers, thus hoping to better the quality of their work and study.
The Work in Virginia for the Year 1912
By W. J. Stone
The year 1912 has been a fairly prosperous one for the work in the Virginia Conference. While the strongest efforts have been put forth at Richmond, the capital of the State, more or less work has been done in nearly all our churches, and a number have embraced the truth in different parts of the conference.
We have carried on work for both the white and the colored people in the city of Richmond, and had hoped at the beginning of the year that we should see as many converts among the colored people as among the white, but in this we have been disappointed. Over fifty white persons and about twenty colored persons have accepted the truth in our efforts at Richmond. Accessions to the faith have also been made at Lynchburg, Rileyville, Guinea Mills, Newport News, Portsmouth, Norfolk, and Spencer. Ninety-five persons have been baptized and about fifteen others have embraced the faith, making about one hundred ten in all who have taken a stand for the truth during the year 1912.
That this has been a healthy growth, and that the people have actually embraced the faith, is demonstrated by the89fact that the tithe for the year was nearly one thousand dollars more than for the year 1911. The increase in tithe has been in proportion to the increase in membership. Not only has this been true of the tithe, but it has been more apparent in our offerings, there having been a gain in offerings of nearly sixty per cent. The offerings for missions during the year 1911 amounted to $1,074.91, while for the year 1912 they amounted to $1,754.68, a gain of $679.77. The total tithe and offerings for 1911 were $5,731.56, and for 1912, $7,388.04, or an increase over 1911 of $1,656.48. The Sabbath-school offerings for the year 1911 were $337.81, and for the year 1912, $634.32, or nearly double.
These figures are a source of encouragement, and show what God has wrought through a more consecrated effort upon the part of his children. And what he has done for the work in Virginia during the year 1912 he is willing to do even more abundantly for the year 1913.
The future of the work in Virginia looks encouraging, and we see no reason why this conference should not make a steady growth. We are planning and praying that the year 1913 may be a more prosperous year for the work in Virginia, than any previous one has been.
May God bless his faithful children who have made this showing possible for the year 1912, and greatly increase their spiritual as well as temporal blessings.
W. J. Stone.
Words of Courage From a Faithful Worker
By D. T. Shireman
SOME of my old friends have asked why they do not see something from my pen in the good old REVIEW. To such I wish to say that my courage never was better nor my hope brighter than now. I am glad the Lord has given me a part in helping to give the glorious message of Revelation 14. For fifty-five years I have been watching it progress steadily, going from nation to nation, from one people to another. It never has taken a step backward, and to-day it is penetrating the dark corners of the earth. The whole earth is now being lightened. The proclamation of Rev. 19:9-12 is being heard everywhere. The sun never sets upon its messengers.
As I look back over these years and see the humble beginning,—few men, no wealth,—I am caused to wonder; but it had men of faith. They said this message must go to all the world in this generation. The message had its enemies who bitterly opposed it, yet with all the opposition it steadily went forward, and to-day companies raised up in nearly every nation through its influence are keeping the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus.
This is not a time to be discouraged. Hold up the light, my brother, my sister. The Lord is soon coming. It can not and will not be long till he will come and bring our reward with him.
D. T. SHIREMAN.
Hickory, N. C.
Report of Canvassing Work on the Border of Texas and Mexico
By W. F. MAYERS.
On Sunday, Oct. 27, 1912, Brother Phillips and I left San Antonio in a Sears automobile buggy for Eagle Pass, Tex. We spent a week on the way, canvassing for our Spanish books and periodicals. Some nights we camped out, sleeping on the ground. It was quite cold, so we felt sure that we should not be bothered with rattlesnakes, of which there are some large ones in this semi-arid region.
On Friday, November 1, we arrived in Eagle Pass, and spent the Sabbath on the Rio Grande, which divides Texas from Mexico. On Sunday we went to the coal-mines about three miles distant, and sold the miners some small books and papers. We found them very poor, and many were unable to read, so we sold but few. They live in small, miserable shacks, have very little furniture, and the surroundings are very unhygienic. The next day we began to take subscriptions for our three papers, Life and Health, Little Friend, and the Signs, all in Spanish. We had good success, and by the twentieth we finished taking orders, and moved across the river, intending to deliver our Eagle Pass orders December 1.
We were not very successful in our delivery, as the Romanists had warned the people against us. After much effort we succeeded in delivering only about thirty per cent of our orders. The priest also publicly warned his people against our literature, and even took a copy of St. John's Gospel into the pulpit and told the people that such reading would lead them away from the faith, and that those who had it in their possession would be excommunicated. Later the same day I visited a woman who had attended the meeting, and decided not to take her papers. As she was quite intelligent, I tried to show her the benefit she would receive from the literature, and I am glad to say that she let her subscription stand.
The situation had some hopeful features, one of which was that we were able to give some good gospel talks to the people. There are very few Protestants among the Mexicans in Eagle Pass, but we hope our work will develop some.
After taking orders from doctors, bankers, merchants, saloon-keepers, and others for two weeks in Piedras Negras, Mexico, we began delivering, and were quite successful; through our efforts many hundreds of our papers will come to the homes of the people here. The business men are usually very prompt in taking their orders, but the poorer people are often unprepared to take them. We delivered about eighty per cent of our orders.
I am glad that not every one considers our literature poison, and to know that where it is thus looked upon, it is the result of false education, and not the fault of the papers.
As a result of two months' work in Eagle Pass and San Antonio, I have placed $218 (gold) worth of literature among the people, and Brother Phillips has also placed a large amount with them. We have not had a nice warm room to live in, and have endured many discomforts on account of the cold weather; but we rejoice to be counted worthy to suffer for Christ's sake.
This magazine work is bringing the message speedily to the attention of the people, and I greatly desire to see many more consecrated workers engaged in it. Just now there are only a few workers in Mexico, as some have left for other mission fields, and some for the home land. With a goodly number of canvassers these periodicals could be placed all over the republic in a few years, besides putting our mission work on a self-supporting basis.
On account of the war, the plans to place a number of workers in some of the cities of this state, Coahuila, were frustrated; but I am glad to say that there is now peace in this state, also in many others. Let us pray that this cruel war may cease in all parts of the twenty-seven states and three territories, and that the messengers of peace may go everywhere preaching the good tidings.
W. F. MAYERS.
Zululand Mission, South Africa
By F. B. ARMITAGE
WE are getting along slowly, but steadily here at this new mission, doing what we can with the means at hand to make a home. We have put out one hundred twenty fruit-trees, and nearly all are growing nicely. Every man on the farm turned out to put up the fence so that we could bring home our oxen. It is needless to say that the fence went up quickly, for they had a mind to work. The oxen were soon coming over the hill to Spion Kop farm. Now the oxen are running the new disk plow, but are getting on slowly as the ground is very dry. We like the place very much and hope soon to see a good work begun for the people here.
There are some who seem interested to know just what is right.
We expect soon to fence the yard for the mission house, and to plant trees around the yard. We are now working on the dam. We need some cows to stock the farm, and we hope that the way will open to get them in the near future. The price of cows is going up, but is not yet too high for us.
The school on Brother Stockil’s farm is started, with Malanga as teacher.
F. B. ARMITAGE.
At Work in Ontario
By I. SANBORN.
I HAVE been laboring the past six weeks with Brother M. J. Allen, our city evangelist, in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, which has about eighty thousand inhabitants. Brother Allen had been laboring in this city two or three weeks before I began, and had enough work started for two or three men. As there seemed to be no one who could take part of the work and relieve him so he could give his time to the evangelistic work, I volunteered to help him. And I think it was the most interesting experience I ever had in this precious cause of God. All our meetings were well attended. We had no difficulty in convincing the interested ones of the truth, but it took living faith in God's word to move them to action. During the past year sixty have been added to the church. Their tithes and offerings amounted to $1,698 for the year. There are several now awaiting baptism, and the interest is still increasing. If the good work is continued, as I have no doubt it will be, they can build a church this year, 1913; and I am very anxious that a church should be built there according to the counsel which the Spirit of God has given.
Pray that God will bless his servants and his work in Hamilton and establish them according to his word.
I. SANBORN.
Bombay
By Mr. Milton Mattison; Mrs. Milton Mattison
We arrived in this country July 19. There have been many new difficulties to meet, and since the first week after we came, we have been alone in Bombay, but not idle. We are very glad to be here with these people. Our hearts are made sad as we see their condition, but as we see the work advancing, we are filled with hope and courage, knowing that some day every honest heart will know the truth.
We enjoy the work very much, and the Lord has wonderfully blessed us. He has given us a good degree of health, although we have had a few slight attacks of malaria. At present the weather is quite warm, but not so much different from that of Texas.
We are looking forward with interest to the Calcutta meeting. We were never of better courage. Our determination is to stay with the work in India. Pray for us that we remain faithful.
MR. AND MRS. MILTON MATTISON.
Progress in Missouri and Little Russia
Elder P. G. Stanley, president of the South Missouri Conference, reports the addition of seventy-five new members to the churches in that conference since camp-meeting.
Nearly six hundred persons are rejoicing in the message in Little Russia, a mission field in the southwestern part of European Russia, where but a few years ago there was not a believer.
Proposed Sunday Law for the District of Columbia
UNDER the heading “Opposes ‘Blue-Laws,’” and with the subheading “Religious Liberty Association Will Hold Protest Meetings,” the Washington Post of January 9 contained the following article:—
“Bent upon preventing the enactment by Congress of any Sunday ‘blue-laws’ applying to the District of Columbia, W. W. Prescott, secretary of the Religious Liberty Association of Washington, is now arranging for the holding of a public meeting to arouse sentiment against a bill which the Lord’s Day Alliance of the United States has drafted and is now preparing to introduce in the Senate.
“This measure, which Mr. Prescott says is known as ‘A bill to punish violations of the Lord’s day in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes,’ is to be substituted, he asserts, for a measure which is now before the Senate, having been introduced several years ago by Senator Joseph F. Johnston, of Alabama.
“No effort has yet been made to present the bill to the Senate, but it is understood that a representative of the Lord’s Day Alliance will soon come to Washington from New York for this purpose. The Religious Liberty Association will announce the date and place at which its meeting will be held immediately following a meeting to be held by the Lord’s Day Alliance, Sunday, at the New York Avenue Presbyterian church, at which the proposed bill will be explained.
“The Sunday law, as drafted by the alliance, provides:—
“That it shall be unlawful in the District of Columbia for any person to labor or to employ any person to labor, or to pursue any trade or worldly business, or to employ any person to pursue any trade or worldly business on the first day of the week, commonly called the Lord’s day, except in work of necessity or charity. In works of necessity or charity is included whatever is needed for the good order and health of the community. It shall also be unlawful for any person, partnership, firm, corporation, or municipality, or any of their agents, directors, or officers to require or permit any employee to work on the Lord’s day, excepting in farm labor or household service, unless within the next succeeding six days during a period of twenty-four consecutive hours he or it shall neither require nor permit such employee to work in his or its employ.
“‘Any person who shall violate the provision of this act shall, on conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than fifty dollars for the first offense, and for each subsequent offense by a fine of not less than fifty dollars, nor more than one hundred dollars, and by imprisonment in the jail of the District of Columbia for a period of not less than one month nor more than three months, in the discretion of the court.
“‘SECTION 2.—That all prosecutions for violations of this act shall be in the public court of the District of Columbia and in the name of the District of Columbia.’
“Congress, in placing such a law upon the statute-books, Mr. Prescott says, would be acting beyond its province. It would open the way for further religious legislation, he says, carrying the country back into the shadow of religious oppression of the middle ages, and erasing the benefits of religious liberty, which America was the first to offer to the world.
“For more than twenty years, Mr. Prescott declares, there has been a concerted effort to establish Sunday laws in the District of Columbia, which, with the State of California, is now the only portion of the United States that is without some form of particular Sunday regulations.
“The Lord’s Day Alliance, he adds, claims the credit for adding the rider to the postal appropriations bill enacted last year, closing certain post-offices on Sunday. This year, he says, the organization is making special efforts to have Congress act favorably on its suggestions, despite the fact that there are many who do not observe as the Sabbath the day to which the alliance would have its measure apply.”
Up to the present writing (January 14) the bill printed above has not been introduced into the Senate, although the mass-meeting was held last Sunday evening (January 12), and announcement was made that the Lord’s Day Alliance proposed to do all it could to secure the passage of a model Sunday law for the District of Columbia.
Remonstrances against the passage of the Johnston Sunday Bill or any similar bill, adopted by our churches throughout the country, are being presented daily in the Senate, letters are being written to congressmen, and other measures are being taken to prevent the enactment of any such bill as the proposed one. The progress of this work will be reported from time to time.
That Federal Council
By Editor
There appeared recently in this department a report, written by one of our brethren, of the second quadrennial meeting of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America, held in Chicago Dec. 4-9, 1912. We reprint herewith some observations concerning this same meeting made by a Presbyterian pastor, Rev. R. M. Hall, of Galveston, Tex., and printed in the Presbyterian of the South of January 8. After dealing in a general way with the work of the council, Dr. Hall continued:—
“There are several things I am compelled to say in criticism of the Federal Council:—
“1. Before leaving home, and after a careful examination of the program and the literature sent out by the executive committee, I expressed the fear that the council was treating symptoms instead of the disease itself. I am sorry to say I found this to be the case. Painting the pump will never cleanse the infected water in the well. Painting pumps was a large part of the performance. Social-service problems took up a large portion of the time and thought of the council. Every Christian man must be deeply interested in the proper solution of the problems arising in connection with such subjects as ‘The Worker Versus the Employer,’ ‘The Industrial Community,’ ‘The Agricultural, Urban, and Suburban Community,’ ‘Wages,’ ‘Proper Housing,’ ‘The White Plague,’ ‘The Hookworm,’ but I submit that we utterly fail to find here a Scriptural program for the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, which church has been instituted and is operating under a very different and, at the same time, a very definite commission. If we really wish to change the effect, we must first of all heal the cause. A union of all the churches of Christendom and a universal reformation of all the people under the sun would not result in the eradication of sin from the human heart. Jesus Christ cut vastly deeper than this, and he expects his church to do the same. He was not a reformer, but a regenerator.”
“2. From the very nature of the case the council found it exceedingly difficult to accomplish anything of a very direct and positive character. It was impossible even to resolute with any marked degree of definiteness. In a report brought in by the executive committee the following language was used: ‘The fact of the substantial unity of the Christian and Protestant churches of the nation . . .’ The demand was so insistent that the words ‘and Protestant’ had to be eliminated from the report. There were so many phases of thought to be placated, and so immense was the desire for unity, that principle became attenuated into a negligible quantity. There was great applause when a man from New York City reported a meeting held under the auspices of the Social Service Commission, over which a Presbyterian minister presided, a Jewish rabbi led the congregation in the recitation of the Lord’s prayer, and a Roman Catholic priest took some prominent part! ‘Peace at any price’ would lead to national dishonor. I do not believe our Lord wants an artificial unity among his people at all, and there can be no real unity at the heavy cost of sincerity and principle.”
“3. And now comes the heaviest charge of all. The council was not loyal to the Word of God.
“(a) Sunday afternoon in the Olympic theater a great mass-meeting was held in the interests of the social-service wing of the council’s work. The principal speaker at this meeting was Prof. Edward A. Steiner, of Grinnell, Iowa. He is a converted Jew and a brilliant scholar. His address was unique and most interesting, but in the very beginning, the whole thing was spoiled for any one who reveres the Bible as the Word of God. In his introduction he relegated the book of Daniel to a place among the myths of the Bible. Of course we know what he thinks of the opening chapters of Genesis, and yet, upon these things depends the accuracy and even the veracity of our Lord, and therefore his deity. Professor Steiner’s name does not appear on the roll of delegates, but he was an honored guest, and the address referred to above was applauded almost from the first word to the last.”
“(b) The crowning mistake, I had almost written the word crime, of this council, was the election of Dr. Shailer Mathews19dean of the Divinity School of the University of Chicago, president for the next four years. This is the very thing the destructive critics have been clamoring for, recognition, and now it has been handed to them on a silver platter! Let us take a glimpse into Dean Mathews’s record. In this connection, for a number of years, with the Chicago University, he fell under the supreme influence of the late Dr. Wm. R. Harper, a prince among higher critics. As a natural result of this influence we find Dr. Mathews personally connected with the school of destructive higher critics, and he himself a member of and a teacher in that school. This is readily seen even from a cursory examination of his writings. . . .”
“The election, as president, of a man with such views ought to be enough to break up this council forever. Every church that honors the Word of God and means to remain loyal to that Word should withdraw at once.”
“It was distressing to see how lightly the presumably orthodox members of the council took all this. Almost every one with whom I talked admitted a blunder had been made. From a number I heard such expressions as, ‘He’ll not bring any of these things to the front;’ ‘He is coming straight;’ ‘Take the good, ignore the bad, and make the best of it;’ etc.”
“At the great banquet attended by more than four hundred persons Monday night, Dr. Harry Pratt Judson, president of the University of Chicago, presided, while Dean Mathews, the new president of the council, was principal speaker. As we look ahead, we are compelled to see, unless we are blind, that at least for the next four years the Chicago University is going to hold a commanding influence over the destinies of the Federal Council, and what that means we ought to know without being told. And in the meanwhile we are, whether we like it or not, sponsors for that institution, a veritable hotbed of the destructive higher criticism, as well as other forms of infidelity, and our further connection with the council will be used in drawing our young women and young men into this great anti-Christian institution. My conclusion of the whole matter is that this council, with many good men in it, men that are innocent of any such thing or thought, is headed straight and blindly for apostasy.”
We heartily agree with Dr. Hall’s views, and are glad to note that one pastor had the courage to write thus, and that one paper had the courage to publish his article. Not only is the council ‘headed straight and blindly for apostasy,’ but it is almost certain to exercise an oppressive supervision over all ecclesiastical bodies, a supervision which may become practical persecution. This is not the right road to Christian unity and cooperation.
In the next issue of the Presbyterian of the South (January 15) there appeared an editorial dealing with the general features of the council, and discussing the report made by Dr. Hall, extracts from which are given above. The closing paragraphs of this editorial run as follows:—
“An issue of special interest has been raised. Shall our church continue in this alliance which is dominated by such noxious sentiments,—an alliance upon which radical criticism has obtruded itself with its usual unblushing effrontery; an alliance into which it has not only been received, but has been welcomed with profuse applause? The Southern Presbyterian Church is now responsible for these skeptical and rationalistic utterances. She is one of the constituent federated bodies. Blatant skepticism proclaimed itself in the name of every church responsible for the council, and each must bear the reproach. We can not afford it. To assume a passive or submissive attitude would logically mean the renunciation of our position maintained from the beginning until now. It is scarcely to be believed that our infatuation with ideas of broadness and spurious fraternity will seduce us from continuing to conserve and declare our cherished convictions as to the inerrancy and authority of God’s Word.
“Some may be deluded with the idea that these are times of tolerating error and relaxing our grasp of vital truth. We believe that there was never a time that called more insistently for adhering steadfastly to ‘the truth as it is in Jesus’—‘the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints.’”
To one who attended the sessions of this council, these criticisms seem well grounded, and the call for separation from the Federal Council seems abundantly justified. We shall await with interest the outcome of this matter.
State and Church
By William Warren Prescott
Reports, Notes, and Comments Pertaining to the Current History of Religious Freedom, and the Campaign “to Make America Catholic.”
Conducted by the Religious Liberty Association.
W. W. PRESCOTT - . . . . SECRETARY
Health Institutes by the Hinsdale Sanitarium
By DAVID PAULSON, M. D.
We have always felt it not only a duty but a privilege to share with others, from time to time, some of the good things the Lord has entrusted to us. Health lectures and other kinds of aggressive field work have always been a part of our program.
Recently we have conducted a gospel of health campaign in the adjoining towns of Downers Grove and Wheaton, spending a week at each place. For the benefit of others who are interested in similar efforts, I shall relate our experiences in some detail.
I first called upon the superintendent of public schools in Downers Grove, whose wife is president of the Woman’s Club. They were both deeply interested, and promised active cooperation. I next met the pastors of the Methodist, Baptist, Congregational, and Evangelical Churches. They most kindly and courteously arranged for a union service on the following Sunday night, to be held in the Evangelical church.
The Methodist pastor consented to the use of his church for the afternoon sessions, and he also suggested the serving of a twentieth-century dinner under the auspices of the Ladies’ Aid Society on Wednesday evening.
Neat programs were printed, and Hinsdale workers took them to the homes of the people, and explained in detail the opportunity that this health week would afford to the citizens of the town. Our young people were gratefully surprised to find that everybody, without exception, received them kindly and seemed deeply interested.
At the union meeting the church was crowded by an earnest, serious audience. The afternoon sessions were attended by fully three hundred persons, who gave the closest attention to the principles that were taught and illustrated by various demonstrations. Nearly four hundred tickets were sold for the hygienic dinner.
At the conclusion of our meetings one of the pastors explained to the people that we had come to their town to carry on this work for the public free of charge, and suggested a vote of thanks. To this suggestion they most heartily responded. I told the people that we deserved no thanks; that it was just as much the duty of the Christian physician to hold health revivals as it was for the Christian minister to hold spiritual revivals. They expect their ministers from time to time to conduct stirring revivals, and they do not especially thank them for it, as they feel it a part of the minister’s duty; so we had only done our Christian duty in having held this health revival.
To give the people an opportunity still further to study the gospel of health in their own homes, our workers afterward called on them and took orders for the book “Ministry of Healing.”
The Wheaton Health Revival
The wife of County Judge Slusser, who resides in Wheaton, learned about the Downers Grove health week, and she sent word to us that she earnestly desired to have an institute in Wheaton. She is prominently connected with the Parent-Teachers’ Association of that town, and gave me many valuable suggestions, among others that I call upon the city health officer, and enlist his interest. This I did, and found him most heartily in favor of some such health educational work for the people.
I then visited the pastors and various other leading citizens, and arrangements were made to hold a union meeting in the Gary Memorial Church. It was also arranged to hold the afternoon sessions in the Baptist church.
Printed programs were taken by our workers to the homes of the people. They did not merely slip them under the doors, but personally explained the work in detail. We endeavored to have these nurses feel that they were engaged in a work for Christ, and that they must approach the people in such a spirit of consecration that they could unconsciously carry the peace of God to the homes they visit. They engaged in this work most enthusiastically, and were much encouraged by the more than kind reception they received.
Sunday night was very cold, but there were between eight hundred and nine hundred persons present. I had earnestly prayed that the Lord would help me to present the gospel of health in such a manner that it would not only be instructive to the people, but also a spiritual uplift. I have every reason to believe that God answered my earnest prayer.
At some of the afternoon sessions the Baptist church was full, and there was always a splendid audience. Taking into consideration that it was just before92Christmas, when the people are busy shopping and otherwise engaged, it was certainly gratifying to us to find present at these meetings the superintendent of public schools, physicians, pastors, and the most influential people of the town. We opened our services with prayer, and sought to present our instruction in such a way that it would render glory to God.
Some Instructive Lessons
In this field campaign several texts of Scripture have been impressed upon us in a new and illuminating manner: First, in whatsoever city or town we enter to conduct a health week, we should first of all inquire ‘who in it is worthy’ (Matt. 10:11), then call upon such ones personally, explain our object, and if possible secure their active cooperation. If that is not possible, we can at least prevent prejudice by presenting our mission in its true light before the enemy has had a chance to work.
Second, to keep our eyes wide open for some special ones whom the Lord is impressing to give us “two loaves of bread,” 1 Sam. 10:4. I am inclined to think that in every enterprise undertaken by the direction of God’s Spirit, he has some one ready to give special encouragement to those who are carrying it on.
Third, we are not prepared to meet the people and do them any permanent good until we have been up on the house-top praying, as Peter did. Acts 10:9.
Fourth, in an effort of this kind we can not send some one else with our staff (2 Kings 4:29-35). Elisha told Gehazi to take his staff and go and lay it on the face of the dead child. Later the servant returned with the staff, and admitted that nothing had happened; so Elisha went personally and stretched himself on the child until it was warm, and then life returned. To organize a health effort we can not send some one else; we must go ourselves. Never try to farm out the missionary work the Lord wants you to do, to somebody else. “Somebody else” can not succeed, or God would have laid the burden on him in the first place, instead of on you.
DAVID PAULSON, M. D.
Medical Missionary Department
By L. A. HANSEN
Conducted by the Medical Department of the General Conference