(Luke 22:36). He didn’t buy a sword but he did buy a shotgun. The next night, he waited until he heard someone creeping up to the trailer. Shotgun in hand, he stepped outside and asked, “ Did you folks lose something?” The father and son looked from one to another and said, “We won’t find it now.” And that family never bothered Andrews again. A short time later, Andrews was ordered to move by those in authority, but the migrants held a mass meeting, insisting he stay. A young man, who owned some acreage which was entirely surrounded by company land, offered to sell to An drews for $1200.00. Andrews had four dollars in his pocket when he said, “ I’ll buy it.” His friends loaned him the money which he has since paid back. He had won the people to the gospel, and incidentally, to himself. With people of such emotional instability the gospel must be reduced to basic simplicity of “ Believe on the Lord Jesus and quit lying and stealing.” One weakness of the work is the people having too much head-religion. If they acquire superficial knowledge which they are unable to transfer into their actions, they become so discouraged they stay away from all meetings. Yet, the results are gratifying. Missionary Gospel Fellow ship from September 1950 to September 1951 reports morn ing and evening attendances, 16, 158; Sunday school attend ance 31, 765; prayer meeting 2, 620; tracts and literature 15, 103; Gospels, Bibles and New Testaments supplied, 1, 303; professions of faith, 742, and dedications, 360. Mrs. Max Kronquist further reported, “Yuba City camp has thirteen adults graduating from a teachers’ training course in a few weeks. Unusual.” “We have a young man from our camp who has graduated from Bible school and will be leaving any day for Brazil as a missionary,” reports Rubena Shultz of Coachella, California. “Mr. Hensen came to Christ about three years ago here. He is living a separated life and truly just beams for the Lord. Ahyone who visits our camp says, ‘You can sure see the Lord in him.’ He has a good job, is very dependable and a good worker. He teaches a class when someone else is gone,” also tells Miss Shultz. A mother of five children was saved very early in the work of Ralph Blakeman. She still lives in the migrant camps and recently wrote, “ Brother Blakeman, my husband has been drunk again, Junior broke his arm, nearly all of us have the flu, the tent leaks. I’m so happy I have Christ as my Saviour.” Five years ago Ralph Blakeman was preaching at Desert Edge, a pea contractor camp, at an outdoor service. People were sitting around on pea hampers or in parked cars. On one car the mother and two daughters sat on the bumpers. When Mr. Blakeman gave the invitation, the father was so moved, he got out of the car and came forward. Next, out of the car came the son-in-law, recently discharged from the Marine Corps. The men were followed by the mother, wife of the young man and the other daughter. This entire family is now back in Arkansas, active in the church. Mr. Andrews reports that his first convert in the Arizona
An imprdvised meeting place and children’s service in a peach harvest
ists feel they do not present the gospel, their work auto matically excludes other groups from some camps for the camp bosses usually consider all Protestant groups as the same. Jehovah’s Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventists have door- to-door literature programs in these camps. Their zeal and persistent eiforts put evangelical Christians to shame. When a Christian worker goes into a camp of Mexican Nationals, it is only a short time until Catholic priests and nuns flock to the camp. The people may have been undisturbed for ten years but once the Protestants come, the Catholics are alert, forbidding the people to attend the meetings. At some camps a priest is stationed in a trailer. Whenever a worker is free to preach the gospel, these people respond with pitiful eagerness. Sometimes the greatest obstacle is the people themselves. When Elmer C. Andrews went to Arizona to work among the migrants one of his jobs was taking people to the doctor. Among others, he took Millie, a girl with epilepsy. In the car, he led her into a personal knowledge of the Lord as Saviour. She began attending services and when she stopped abruptly, Andrews went to her home. Her parents could neither read nor write, and they told him, “ She thinks she’s better than we are and she ain’t going to church no more.” Then, the father pulled a gun and ordered Andrews off. Andrews knew that without her treatments she was in danger of going, insane so he went to court and swore to a statement to that effect, thus getting the girl into the hos pital. The parents raged around the camp, saying “We’ll shoot that guy’s trailer full of holes.” Then Andrews remembered the Lord’s admonition, “He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one”
Biola Students Helping in Migrant Work
Marvin Foster and Bob Thompson
Dean and George Everts
S E P T E M B E R , 1 9 5 2
Page Eleven
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