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THE KING’S BUSINESS
Whether India is to be won soon for the Master will depend upon how fully Chris tianity can meet the opportunity presented by the^movement of these people tdward the Church of Christ. The first Y. M. C. A. conference held in the Turkish Empire was held in. June, 1914. A few men met together and prayed earnestly that the movement might gain headway among the college students of Turkey, consuming selfishness and sending forth young men and women eager to lay their lives on the altar of God’s service in the spirit, of Christ among the people of the land. The challenge is to remain nn Turkey, in many ways a harder call, involv ing more sacrifice than the call to “go,” to which we listen at our conferences. These students face the reformation and deepening of the spiritual life of the great historic churches to which they belong, and ever before them looms that Gibraltar of / resistance to the claims of Christ—that mightiest of Christianity’s opponents in the field—Islam. Latest reports received from the Ameri can Ambassador regarding the Armenians indicate that the need is practically indescribable and will continue through the winter and indefinitely thereafter, with suf ferings increased by cold and hunger. The telegram states that this is a crucial time and that the pressure brought to bear upon the refugees to compel them to embrace the Mohammedan religion continues in the interior.
out visible results. In hundreds of towns and villages where it seems but the other day that the sowing of the good seed was commenced, the “fields are white already unto the harvest.” The unique opportunity so evidently given us by God should be caught up without delay. An annual gift of $1000 enabled the Shansi Mission of the American Board in China to open up new work in the remote province of Shansi, lying to the west. The first reports are full of encouragement. Mr. Pye has recently inspected and finds that already 267 converts have been made and that at several centers churches may soon be organized. On this trip he opened five new preaching places. The people who had not even heard there was a Christ, are keenly interested in the gospel story. Mr. Pye is bringing thé new converts in groups of eighty to the city for special instruction in Christianity. The course lasts about two weeks and will help anchor the con verts in the new faith. “The future of India will not be in the hands of the high caste Hindoo, but in the hands of the low caste and the outcasts.” This sentence appeared in a publication on the Arya Somaj, a high caste organization which aims at a revival of a pureç type of Hinduism. Despite all persecution. the Indian,low castes and out casts are turn ing to Christianity by the thousands. The challenge of opportunity is before the church. The low caste and the out caste do hold in their hands the future of India.
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