The Blessings Came Down
A report of the Fifteenth Annual Torrey Memorial Conference, January 13 -20 , 1952
T HE Fifteenth Annual Torrey Me morial Conference is now history, but its blessed influence will linger long in the hearts of those whose happy privilege it was to meet with God’s peo ple in the various churches where the sessions were held. Before the meetings, there was much prayer for “ showers of blessing,” and the answer was abund ant, not only in a spiritual way, but also
If it were possible, we would quote from each speaker, but space will only allow a few of the rich utterances. Mr. Mouw stated: “ God is more interested in the good news of His Son being proclaimed to the ends of the earth than anything else in the world. “We need compassion as we go to the heathen; they understand the language of love and tears. Paul warned men day and night with tears. “ In Matthew 9:37,38 the harvest is mentioned three times and the laborers twice. There is nothing glamorous about being a laborer; he just takes orders and gathers the harvest. “ If you are going to the mission field, look for gray-haired prayer warriors to pray for you rather than for a million aire to support you.” Dr. Roddy declared: “ Having heard the claims of Jesus, what shall we do with them? That He claimed deity is beyond dispute. Logical ly, He either was what He claimed to be or He was not. If He was not, then we are faced with two alternatives: He was
teacher, delivered significant prophetic messages; Dr. John Mitchell, of Port land, Oregon, gave searching addresses on the deeper meanings of the Christian life; Dr. Clarence Roddy, of the Fuller Seminary faculty, Pasadena, issued a clarion call as to the real purpiose of God for the church in this day. And Dr. Vance Havner, “ Will Rogers of the pul pit,” in his humorous, kindly, spiritual way, made good his avowed purpose “ to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable.” The three missionary speakers, Rev. J. Arthur Mouw, of Bor neo, and Rev. and Mrs. Gordon H. Smith, of French Indo-China, all of whom labor under the Christian and Missionary Al liance, left an unforgettable impression, not only upon the hearts and lives of the Biola students, but upon all wh" attended the services. Mr. Mouw’s ac count of the conversion of thousands of Dyak head-hunters, the building of eight Christian churches, the step-by- step training of these new believers in the Christian life, revealed not only the mighty power of God in the hearts of the heathen, but the painstaking task of the missionary. Mr. and Mrs. Smith corroborated this by two amazing and moving dramatic “ skits” portraying their field. Mr. Smith, made up as a na tive so realistically that he was scarcely recognizable, was supposed to “ assist” the missionary (Mrs. Smith) in putting their language into writing for the first time; again he was sacrificing a chicken to save his sick child’s life and the mis sionary attempted to explain the way of salvation to him. The needs of that great land lying in such darkness were also emphasized by two excellent colored sound moving pictures. Of great interest and help were the personal testimonies and instructive mes sages of Dr. Walter Montano, “ The Monk who Lived Again,” and Rev. Angelo Lo Vallo, of Christ’s Mission, New York. These men, themselves converted Cath olic priests, spoke with authority of that faith. After the meetings, they were bar- raged with questions from those eager to learn more of these matters. Very well known and much appreci ated by Southern California audiences is Mr. Einar Anderson, business man of Pasadena, who was a high-ranking Mor mon before his conversion, and is now considered an authority on the evange lization of Mormons. It was the good fortune of the Conference audiences to hear Mr. Anderson relate his moving personal testimony, “ From Mormonism to Christ” and also to give a stirring account of his interview with the late President of the Mormon Church a few years ago.
in the heaviest rainfall the Los Angeles area had experienced in many years. Reaching flood stage in places, and bringing much suffering and destruction in its wake, the storm naturally cut down the attendance to some extent and made it difficult for the ten visiting speakers to reach their various appoint ments. But the Lord in His own char acteristic way made up for this by pour ing out His particular blessing upon each service. The enthusiastic concensus was that it was the very best conference that had ever been held. Day and night meetings were con ducted in the Church of the Open Door, and the speakers were alternated be tween there, the First Brethren Church of Long Beach, the Lake Avenue Con gregational Church in Pasadena, the Faith Bible Center in San Bernardino, and the Temple Baptist Church in On tario. The story was the same every where: good crowds, deep interest, rich blessing. As usual, the conference enjoyed the able direction of Dr. William W. Orr, Extension Director of the Institute, and the occasional appearance on the plat form of Dr. Louis T. Talbot, President, who was showing his missionary pic tures in adjacent towns, added interest to the program. Outstanding music for every session was provided by Dr. Her bert G. Tovey, Director of Music; vocal solos and quartets, and instrumental combinations were inspiring. Dean S. H. Sutherland and other members of the faculty presided from time to time. Very varied were the gifts and abili ties of the speakers, but all were “tops.” Dr. Herbert Lockyer, the English Bible M A R C H , 1 9 5 2
Angelo Lo Vallo
either a self-deceived fanatic or a delib erate deceiver. Both of these are difficult to hold in the face of the evidence pre sented by the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. His teachings certainly do not give evidence of a diseased mind, nor can the character that has won the acclaim of the ages possibly be the re sult of an evil heart of deception. Such conclusions reduce reason to less than an absurdity and all moral standards to less than chaos, and degrade our world to a madhouse of contradiction. “Jesus championed the cause of the erring, the humble and downtrodden. Living as no other lived, speaking as no other spake, in the midst of a degener ate generation characterized by a cor rupt religious system and a government of ruthless totalitarianism, He rescued the individual from the oblivion of the ages and placed him upon the throne Page Eleven
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