“ Unto us a child is bom, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6).
joyed in these nearly twenty years of missionary service. Lawrence and Meta Schroeder-PoweU, both of the class of ’39, report the salva tion of an elderly man in their commu nity, who was baptized, joined a church in Saint Helens, Ky., then became quite ill and went to be with the Lord, leav ing a joyous testimony to the saving grace o f God. Although at the last he could not speak, he pointed to the Bible lying on a table. Since his death, an el derly brother has also accepted Christ and jeined the church. The Powells are working among the youth and report good attendance at illustrated lectures portraying the life of Christ through the use of a projector and slides provided by a friend, a real help in interesting young people. The following letter written by a little girl is evidence that the hard work these missionaries are doing is appre ciated : “ Dear Mr. Paul [Powell] : Our school wood like for you to come up and tell us Bible stories, and teach us some songs and Bible verses. We all wood like for you to come and visit our school. Our class was talking about you yesterday. We hop you will come. Your frend, Clara.” . Twins! ! Thé happy father, Arthur Bakker, Malaga, Santander, Colombia, S.A., was so excited when Rebecca, and Nathaniel arrived that he totally forgot to include the date in his communication, merely mentioning that everything was fine, and that the babies weighed 5 lbs. apiece. Arthur continued: “ Four little Bakkers and two big ones need your prayers for health and the supply of every need. It is going to be a hard job down here.” Mrs. Bakker is known to Biola Family Circle as Mary - Louise Bushnell ’40. The May diary o f the Bakkers re veals some startling incidents: while they were driving from an outstation by moonlight, a group of workers were fired upon six times. One of the shots hit the car, making a hole in the radiator and fender and grazing the motor, thus preventing the heavy rifle bullet from striking the driver, Arthur Bakker. They took a fifteen-mile trip for tract and gos pel distribution on market day. A land slide obstructed traffic and their car was nearly wrecked but rescued without much damage except to the muffler. A small pox scare resulted in the vaccination of the whole group. Arthur says they can use old post cards, Christmas cards, and other good Christian literature to good advantage. The Evangelical Beacon announces the arrival of Timothy Pietsch ’33, in Japan, and quotes him as saying that he has never before seen the Japanese people so ready to listen to the gospel, some even being anxious to hear. Helen and the children are in Honolulu, hoping to obtain passage at an early date. Pag* Seventeen
for him for there are enemies who would still do him harm if they could. This is but one o f many piiracles our mission aries are experiencing in their work in the far corners of earth. A ir mail rates to Jos have been reduced to 25 cents for % ounce, but living costs have increased. David M. and Mrs. Osborne (Marie Schroeder ’42) with their young son, David, and their twins, Raymond and Jean Marie, who have been on furlough from their labors at Meradi, Nigeria, French West A frica under the Sudan Interior Mission, have begun deputation work on their return to headquarters in New York. Mr. Osborne is a member of Moody Church in Chicago, where in July he was ordained. There are about 600 missionaries working on 100 mission stations in the Sudan.
Fred and Grace Feldges-Whale ’28- 29 and Marjorie Linda, P.O. Box 124, Jos, Nigeria, W. Africa, report another fruitful conference season among new tribes. The work o f the Boys’ Brigade is progressing remarkably. In the last Offi cers’ Training Course, 70 men enrolled to train for officers in the Boys’ Brigade. Nearly 600 boys attended the Danish Lu theran Mission. To the dismay of the missionaries who were supplying the food, the boys consumed a ton and a half o f food rations the first day! A hippo was shot and it was expected that he would supply three tons of meat, but, since he was only wounded, the mission aries stood helplessly on the shore while their meat s^yam down the river! A Brit ish official visited the camp, and issued an order for food supplies to be brought in. Pagans and Mohammedans had pre viously never offered any co-operation, but this time one of the chiefs donated a couple of calves, a pig and two goats! These boys walked 50 to 90 miles to at tend this session; one man, who desired to establish a Boys’ Brigade in his vil lage, walked 150 miles each way. One little undersized and under-priv ileged lad of about twelve years attended. While he seemed anxious to please, he al ways did the wrong thing. It was discov ered that when he was eight, a witch doc tor had declared he was possessed o f an evil spirit so they decided to poisop him. Although desperately ill, he recovered. Then they tried to bury him alive. The grave was dug in an “ L” shape, but not very deep; the boy was laid in this grave in a horizontal position and covered with earth and stones to keep the hyenas from digging up the body. Although a mar velous feat, the lad dug himself out. A visiting evangelist heard the story and took him away to a distant station. He is now a fine Christian boy. A t the close of this camp, he had made more progress than any of the boys who attended. Pray D E C EMB E R , 1 9 4 7
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A Boys' Brigade group in Nigeria. This is the work in which Rev. Fred Whale Is engaged.
Mrs. W. A. Ogden (Frances Coffman ’22), Napoleon and Dibert Sts., Johns town, Pa., president o f the Women’s Mis sionary Council o f the Brethren Church, writes an inspiring letter of the “ achieve ments for the past year, not glorying in them, but using them as stepping-stones to greater victories ahead.” Earl R. ’35 and ’36 and Mrs. Barbour (Helen Hartman ’36), 1128 N. 32nd St., Kansas City, Kans., often think of happy days spent at Biola. Earl has gone on with his education, having obtained his A.B. from Adams State Teachers Col lege in Colorado. He is now attending Central Baptist Seminary while serving as pastor to the State Avenue Baptist Church in their home city. The Barbours have three children, David Allen, 10, Jean Elizabeth, 7, and Judith Ann, born Mar. 27th, 1947. Donald A. and Dorothy Fairley, both of the class o f ’28, have sailed from New York on the S.S. Mahenqe to resume their work at Gabon, Belgian Congo, un der the C. & M. A. Mission, where they have been serving the Lord since 1929. They have five beautiful children, all of whom are looking forward with eager hearts to service for the Lord. This is the third furlough the family have en
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