THE KING’S BUSINESS
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w atch ed th e b ap tism a n d said hopefully to his fa th e r: “ O nly fo rty -n in e left for me.** A frien d of th e Rev. Jo h n W . B utler of Mexico C ity found in a n in te rio r tow n in Mexico a boy w ho seem ed very different from th e "lo u nging, heavy crow d” in the plaza. A fte r talk in g w ith th e boy a few m inutes he realized th a t he h a d discov ered a " re a l jew el am o n g pebbles.” W hen th e boy told him th a t h e did n o t sm oke o r drink, th e stra n g e r asked him w hy. “ O h ,” h e said, “we have a b o o k a t o u r house, an d in th is b o o k a re m any things th a t m ake one th in k a b o u t things. I read an d th en I w o n d er if it is w ro n g to do this o r th a t; a n d I th in k it is w ro n g to use stim ulants, because it m akes one dizzy an d lazy. It is th e H oly Bible. It m akes us different from th e rest of th e people. W e a re h ap p ier, w e a re m o re h ealthy, we a re b e tte r in every w ay, a n d I w ish th e re w ere m ore of these boo k s here. I w ish th a t m o re m ight re ad a n d u n d erstan d , a n d be d ifferent.” “T h e re is no use k eep in g th e c h u rch open an y lo n g er; y o u m ay as well give me th e k e y ,” said a m issionary in M adras, as in th e course of a jo u rn e y h e passed th ro u g h a village w here once so m any of th e natives h ad professed C h ristian ity th a t a little c h u rch h ad b een b u ilt fo r them . But th e converts h a d fallen aw ay, re tu rn ed to th e ir idols, a n d th e re rem ained faithful only one p o o r w om an to w hom th e m issionary w as now speaking. T h ere is C h ristian w orship in th e village th ree m iles off,” he added, no ticin g h e r so rrow ful lo ok; “ a n y one w ho w ishes can go th e re .” “ O h, sir,” she plead ed m ost e a r nestly, “ do n o t tak e aw ay th e key I I a t least w ill still go daily to th e ch u rch , an d sw eep it clean, a n d w ill k eep th e lam p in o rd er, a n d w ill go on p ra y in g th a t God’s light m ay one day visit us again. So th e m issionary left h e r th e key a n d p re s ently th e tim e cam e w hen h e p re a c h e d in th a t very ch u rch , crow ded w ith p en iten t sinners— th e h a rv est of th e G od-given faith of th a t one p o o r Indian w om an.
th e hom e ch u rch . “ F oreign m ission w o rk b ro a d en s th e view, an d teaches, above all things, c h arity an d toleran ce, p ity a n d hum blem indedness. I w ish every bishop of th e A ng lican c h u rch w ere chosen from th e ra n k s of those h aving h ad this foreign apprenticeship.** T h e late Mr. C onverse w as w o n t to say th a t his best investm ent w as m ade in es tab lish in g a m ission h o sp ital a t M iraj, n e a r P oona, in India. U p to th e tim e of his d eath th e n um b er of o u t-p atien ts tre a t ed w as 415 ,0 0 0 , of in -p atien ts 12,000, an d of su rg ical o p e ratio n s 19,000. T h e a v erag e distance trav eled by in -p atien ts to re ac h th e h o sp ital h as b een 298 m iles. A t p re sen t 16,000 ou t of th e 21,000 ru p ees re q u ire d to o p e ra te th e hospital com es from native sources in fees, gifts. D r. W anless is th e efficient h ead of th e institution. F o r five y e ars D r. L ogan Sam ple w orked am o n g th e Black H ills w ith o u t salary an d w ith o u t tak in g a collection for him self. H e sp en t a n o th e r five y e ars to u rin g an d p re ac h in g in eleven of o u r W estern states, p u ttin g in to th e w o rk all he received, b u t h e w ro te : “ My needs w ere alw ays supplied.** W hy do m en an d w om en p u t th e ir lives in to a w o rk w hich b a rely supplies th e ir needs, en d u rin g all kinds of hard sh ip s a n d deprivations, b ravely fighting h e a t an d cold, a n d c o u r ageously facing d eath ? T h e re can be b u t one answ er, a n d th a t an sw er is th e ro o t of all evangelism : Love fo r souls. T h e re w as a y o u n g son of a m issionary w ho h e a rd his fa th e r say to th e native co n g reg atio n th a t if each C h ristian in th a t p a rtic u la r city should w in fifty, the w hole city w ould be C hristianized . T he tw elve-year-old boy accep ted his share of th e resp o n sib ility w ith o u t reservation. E very day a t fam ily p ra y e rs a boy friend of his, a H indoo, w as rem em bered, an d such successful p erso n al w o rk w as done th a t in a few m onths his frien d w as b a p tized. R ad ian t w ith h ap p in ess th e boy
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