403
December, 1944
In October, 1942, in response to let ters of request from girls working in domestic positions in New York, Elsie MacDonald (one of the founders of the Thursday group) went to N e w York to guide in forming a n ew branch. There .are now twenty mem bers of that branch and* new fields of witness are opened to them almost daily. The ranks of the Gospel Sowers have been thinned somewhat, as in other gronps during these war. years. .Some girls have gone into other work: de fense, office, teaching, nursing (there are two. cadet nurses from the Gospel Sowers); some have married, and sev eral are preparing for the mission field by study at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Taylor University, Northwestern Bible Institute, Nyack Missionary Training Institute, and other schools. Thare still is a member ship of 100 in the Thursday group, 24 in the Wednesday group, and 20 in the New York group. Something of the combined work for foreign countries is glimpsed in the following figures: From the Thurs day (original) group have gone 491 Bibles, 4,811 Testaments, and 81,002 Gospels totaling $2,585.85.
or to a group working am'ong high school youths. All the while eyes are fixed on the tabulated score kept to see how much money is left. All that has been received one month is sent out the following month. Nothing is kept over. Quite frequently more than $100 is dispensed in one meeting—the average for this year being $135 a month. When the money is gone, heads are bowed while the Lord’s blessing i s asked upon the gifts and portions of. the Word that: “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it” (Isa. 55:11)— the motto chosen by the Gospel Sow ers from the first. Ail money that is received goes to purchase the Word. A ll incidental expenses are paid out of the girls’ pockets, as it we r e , through their birthday banks. Branching Out Girls who were free on Wednesday, instead of Thursday, became inter ested in the Gospel Sowers and de sired a like opportunity to fellowship together and to serve the Lord. On March 21, 1941, .eight girls met to form the Wednesday group. This is a much smaller group because fewer girls are free on Wednesdays, but en thusiasm runs high and a real work is being accomplished.
sible for them to serve in the usual channels: Sunday school classes, and other organized groups. They could not even attend church regularly when they were free, only on alternate Sun days. Suddenly Amy exclaimed: “Why, that’s it! Why can’t we have a work ing girls’ organization and do some thing like this? Give Gospels and Testaments to places where they are needed and not available!” Awed by the sudden vision of op portunity ahead of them, Gunhild agreed. They went to meet another friend, Elsie MacDonald, and eagerly told her their plahs. The three pledged themselves, to,wait upon the Lord for His leading. Immediately, there were brought to their attention places needy for Gospel distribution and they were certain this was His seal upon the plan, When they met on January 18, 1940 in their first organized meeting, they already could report that ,153 Gospels of John and'four Testaments had been given out, and that there were 200 Gospels on hand. The Gospel Sowers Association already was in progress. At that meeting nineteen girls attend ed and ;Six became charter members. Every -month- the membership in creased, until at the end of their first year there were forty-two members. “And They Brought Their Gifts'* Since the majority of girls doing domestic work have Thursday as their “ day off,” the girls organized to meet on the second Thursday of e a c h month, alternating between Los An geles and Pasadena where the Lord had Opened to them the two meeting places, the Bible Institute in Los An geles, and Layne Memorial Taber nacle in Pasadena. Each month the strains of “ Sweet Hour of Prayer” call the Gospel Sowers together to ask God’s blessing and guidance on the meeting,, the work, and upon each member. A thrill runs through t h e audience when the president rises to preside at the business session. The treasurer-buyer reads her re port and the very interesting letters right from the fields where the Gos pels or gifts of money have been sent, and the girls review what has been accomplished the previous mo n t h . Then comes one of the most enjoyable parts of the program—when the mon ey that has been received since the last meeting is voted out to the field in financial gifts or portions of the Word. “Madam Chairman, I move we send $25 to South America,” one may say. When that has been voted upon, another rises to make her motion/ perhaps to send a number of Testa ments to the Pasadena Juvenile Hall:
The Wednesday group (three years old) has given $180 for 543 B i b l e s , 3,603 Testaments, and 9,792 Gospels. [Continued on Page 425] Private joe’s Black Eye By PHILIP B. MARQUART* Captain, Medical Corps
y r OE,” exclaimed the charge nurse, “why have you let me down this mj way by coming late to duty? There are temperatures to be taken—” Private Joe hesitated uncertainly at the door of the nurse’s office, his head hanging. “Why, Joe,” resumed the nurse, “ something’s happened to you! Where did you get that black eye? And those abrasions on your knuckles? . . . Come'here and let me touch them with mercreoin . . . Hold your hand stjll. Why, you poor boy; you’re trembling!” * Captain Marquart has furnished for NG’S BUSINESS readers a series of meai- [ and psychiatric case studies of soldiers i om he knows professionally and person- y. This is his third and concluding article, the subject. A graduate of Harvard Med- il School, trained in neuro psychiatry the ctor is an outstanding Christian and effect
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