May 1930
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The Seed Growing Secretly H ER E in Egypt one is struck by the secrecy of every phase of the work ing of the Spirit of God. Try to imagine a silent desert lying in the blaz ing noonday sun. No sound breaks the peaceful tranquillity of the place except the crunch of a donkey’s steady footsteps as he carries a lady missionary to a dis tant Arab village. See the small, black- veiled figure which trudges quietly along side without a word. There is a sudden drawing closer to the one upon the don key. Two serious eyes are raised in which one reads determination as well as pleading, and then the question is asked in carefully guarded tones, although hostile ears are far away, “Oh, lady, if I leave my home and come to you at the hospital, will you take me in?” Explanation fol lows, and the missionary’s heart rejoices to hear her say, “I f I am married to a Moslem, I cannot love and serve the Lord Jesus, arid I do want to follow Him.” What an unpretentious thing it is to hand a Gospel to a man as he is dis charged from the Mission hospital. I f we could follow him to his home we would see him in a quiet room, as he takes it out and shows it, perhaps by candlelight, to one who is known to be a friend. Two eager faces bend over it; the friend reads, the other listens. Then there is a pause while the one who has been under the sound of the Gospel as a patient in the hospital explains what they have read. What is the result? We ourselves do not know fully, but now and then we see a life witnessing faithfully, or we hear of one standing out against some evil prac tice in his village, and we know that un derlying these outward signs is the influ ence of the Book which is hidden in a pocket or on a secret shelf in thé house. —M artha L eal, ’24, in “Egypt General Mission News.” — o — ■ Scattering and Increasing I N an address to the students at BIOLA recently, Rev. Harry Strachan, of the Latin- American Evangelization Cam paign, gave the following illustration of the truth expressed in thé Scripture, “E x cept a corn of-wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:24) : We frequently see illustrations of re flex action in the evangelistic campaigns that we are conducting in Latin America. We are reaching thousands of people. We engage the largest theaters, and they are packed. We have had people lined up for two hours waiting for entrance. Why is this? It is a matter of reflex action. Cer tain individuals have caught a vision. They have given to the work the choicest and best that they had. For instance, the first man who came with me as a helper was a national orator, one of the most gifted citizens in the Argentine Re
modern missions, has created a difficult but interesting situation. This intrepid la borer penetrated into regions wholly un touched by any organized missionary work. Recent investigation has revealed the fact that there are groups of people in many native villages which he evan gelized, who have built chapels and are gathering together for Christian worship. Fetishes have been destroyed, indicating that their old religious foundations have crumbled. But the people are left to a great extent helpless because most of their leaders are crude and untaught. There are thousands who are apparently quite ready for the Gospel message to be given more clearly and the Word of God expounded. But what can be accomplished in a church where there is no Bible and very few leaders who could read the Bible if they had one? One of the dangers of this situation is that fanaticism of many sorts will creep in. Indeed, it is reported that in one sec tion a newly appointed prophet has arisen. While he urges the natives to destroy their fetishes and worship God, he wholly rejects the Word of God and claims to have direct revelation. It seems to be a case of Satanic supernaturalism attempt ing to form a partnership with the church of God. The British Wesleyans are laboring in a part of the field where this movement has arisen, and will doubtless undertake to assist these needy people as far as pos sible. Christian and Missionary Alliance missionaries are located in adjacent terri tory and they are also seeking to be of help. Roman Catholic work in the vicin ity is a menace. I t will doubtless seek to pervert that which seems to have been the work of the Spirit of God. The whole situation is one that calls for earnest prayer on the part of all who love lost souls. — o — To Prevent Famine A GREAT new irrigation project for the benefit of 400,000 acres in cen tral China is now under way, in a section where the famine conditions are especially acute. The work is under the direction of The China International Famine Relief Commission, and while the work is in progress at least 15,000 will be employed and receive pay in food for their starving families. The project'is being carried out on a strictly loan basis, and one paragraph of the contract “strictly prohibits the grow ing of opium poppies upon any land in the new irrigation district,” a distance of about 70 miles. “This provision,” says The N ew Y ork Tim es, “is considered of great importance, for today most of the irrigated land in Suiyuan, a famine- stricken province, is planted with opium poppies instead of food crops.”
public. He was the pastor of a large church, one of the best. He put up a challenge to his people: “I f I go forth with the Gospel, how can the work be car ried on here?” Immediately four young men stood up. Three of them had not taken part in Christian work before. They said, “Pastor, you go; we will share the burden of your ministry here.” Each of them was assigned a certain section and their pastor came with me. What was the result? Never before in Latin Amer ica had we had such thrilling meetings as those that followed that decision. Stories of the wonderful blessing we were having reached the congregation that had given its pastor to the work of evangelism. “You need not come back,” they wrote to him, “for the people have taken to prayer in a new way since you have been thrust forth, and there has been a baptism of power such as we have never known be fore.” One of the four young men is now recognized as one of the most gifted leaders in the Republic. His ability sur passes that of his pastor. — o — An Overshadowing Menace O NE sees no early fruition possible of the dreams of those who look for a United States of Europe apart from some highly threatening external danger. There is but one direction whence this menace may arise. This is through the union of Russia and Germany, in a new international combination that will cause all near nations outside their influ ence to unite their forces for self-protec tion. The efforts of Mussolini to unify the nations of the Mediterranean litoral under the hegemony of Italy are growing more manifestly effective. But a union that will include France and Great B rit ain must have more cogent reasons than any now in view. Mere commercial grounds for effective union are not suf ficient to bring about such a tremendous change as this would involve. External pressure must exist and this of a very threatening nature. That such a tremen dous menace will arise to the nations of southern and -western Europe within a reasonable period is not problematical. With Russia stirring the color races to resist the white race and Germany com ing back to a position of world influence, one need not be a prophet to foresee a very early alliance of these two with still other peoples to seek control of much-de sired tropical and semi-tropical regions of the world now in the possession of the nations of the Roman earth. Such an alli ance might quickly force all the rest of Europe into a new Roman union.— Jew ish Missionary Magazine. News From the Ivory Coast T HE death of Prophet Harris, whose remarkable evangelism among the natives of the Ivory Coast, West Africa, has been one of the marvels of
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