a final kiss on the lips of the departed villager. Then I watched as the bier was borne on its final journey from the church to the cemetery. Walking slowly in the deep, crusted snow, the solemn mourn ers who followed seemed to be restrained in their movements by the forceful wind which they encountered upon leaving the shelter of the building. Upon arriving at the open grave, the casket was quietly lowered into the ground which was the signal for the lay priest to lead in the final chant. The cries of the an guished and bereaved soon drowned out the monotonous chant which was concluded with each person’s throwing a hand ful o f frozen earth into the grave. The wind continued to blow furiously over the little knoll, but it could not blow away the loneliness caused by the separa tion of death or the superstition and emptiness of a r e l i g i on which limits the One who is the Resurrection and the Life. As we chipped away at the frozen earth to cover the grave and as the tears and cries o f the
bereaved continued, I thought of the many villages where this scene could be duplicated and wondered how long it will be be fore they will have someone to live among them and tell them of the One who died for them that they might die no more. As you complete your Bible training this spring, would you consider serving the Lord in a village such -as this one the population o f which might be less than a hundred and where the people are held captive by the Prince o f Darkness ? For three years you have studied the truths of God’s Word under teachers who have been filled with the Holy Spirit, and now you are ready to distribute that knowledge to those who have not had such an opportunity. That person whom I helped to bury is only one among many who are dying without the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour. Randy, as you seek a place of future serv ice for the Lord, I ask that you pray about the forgotten people in the villages o f Alaska. Your brother in Christ, j Um
(D o u a fia iu L f
T h e s e d a y s for you are days of books, classes, cramming for exams, and school activities. Soon you will march in the grad uation line to receive your well- deserved diploma for the last four years of hard work in Bi ble school. As you are awarded that coveted diploma, you will again be at the cross-roads of your life as far as future serv ice for the Lord is concerned. On a recent visit this winter to a native village, I stood on a little hill one morning as the light crept s low ly over the mountains, and listened to the native chanting carried to me on the cold, sharp wind. This rit ualistic chanting , which had continued most of the night, was the prelude to a funeral service. The group of village mourners dressed in th e ir parkas and mukluks, huddled in the small unheated church and stood in sub-zero temperatures as the lay priest performed the rites for the dead. As a last tribute of love and devotion, the mourners filed by the open casket to plant
V
MARCH, 1966
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