November 1928
661
T h e
K i n g ' s
B u s i n e s s
also silver, tin, copper, zinc, etc., and oil wells. The trade of the Island of Borneo is largely with Batavia, Singa pore, and Hongkong, and is carried on principally by Chinese, Arabs, Malays, and Europeans. In a previous article we have intimated that the inhab itants of Borneo are perhaps about equally divided be tween those who live at the coast ports and the aboriginal tribesmen of the interior. On the coast are to be found a great mixture of Malays, Javanese, Boeginese, Suda nese, Arabs, Indians, Chinese, etc. There are said to be five main divisions of the wild men of the interior, the Dyacks, speaking a variety of dialects of the Dyack Lan guage. The Dyacks are cloth weavers, metal and basket' workers, and are very clever in the construction of bam boo suspension bridges. “The World Missionary Atlas” says: “The Dyacks mostly believe in a supreme creative God, who seems to them to be less important than the evil spirits who inhabit all space and are subject to their priest- sorcerers. Dyack head-hunting is primarily ritualistic, the soul of the victim becoming the protector of the slayer and his village, when properly feasted and worshiped.” Borneo was first possessed by the Portuguese,- later by the Spanish in 1815, and still later by the Dutch and British. A L ong N eglected F ield From a missionary standpoint, Dutch Borneo has been all but entirely neglected. Its population of about two mil lion, to be sure, is scattered, but surely the time has come, when an earnest effort should be made to evangelize Bor neo. It is nearly two thousand years since our Master gave the command to preach the Gospel to every creature, and these, His creatures, are still unreached. Let us repeat what we said in a previous article. The entire east coast of Dutch Borneo, with perhaps a score of ports, is without one mission station. The same is true of the west coast, with the exception of some work started by the Methodist Episcopal Mission, but now abandoned. The southern coast of Borneo, with the exception of mis sionary work at Banjermasin and up the Barito River, is also void of missionary work. Borneo is rich in waterways, which provide natural highways to the interior. Not all of these rivers," how ever, are navigable, except by shallow-draft native craft. The Dyacks, the wild men of the interior of Borneo, are not easy of access. Considerable hardship may be required on the part of missionaries to reach these people, but the command is—“Go,” and the promise is that the Lord will go with His people. I wish I could lay the necessity of preaching the Gospel to these people upon the hearts of my readers. I wish I had the power to make you feel that a “dispensation,” or better, a “stewardship” of the Gospel is committed unto you with regard to Borneo, and that it is “woe” unto you if you carelessly neglect the matter. I nha b itan ts of C elebes THE CELEBES.—This singularly shaped island, which looks like an octopus, lies immediately east of Bor neo. It is rather amusing to read the contradictory the ories that scientific men have put forward as the explana tion for the peculiar shape of the Celebes. We read that “it is a framework which is gradually growing into the full roundness of another Borneo.” And again, from another equally wise professor, we read, “It is but the remaining skeleton of a much larger island.” Another writer tries to take an intermediate view! What does it matter ? Our concern is that souls are dying in the Celebes, perishing without a knowledge of the Gospel.
Keystone View Co.
THE BUDDHISTS' PRAYER WHEEL THIS PRAYER WHEEL IS A MECHANICAL APPARATUS USED BY THE LAMAIST BUDDHISTS,'IN TIBET AND .ELSEWHERE FOR OFFERING PRAYERS. STRIPS OF PAPER BEARING A MAN IFOLD REPETITION OF THE WORDS “THE JEWEL IN THE LOTUS, AMEN" ARE WRAPPED ROUND CYLINDERS OF ALL SIZES— FROM HAND MILLS TO WIND OR WATER MILLS. AS THE WHEEL REVOLVES THESE UNCOIL AND THE PRAYER IS CONSIDERED TO BE OFFERED. The inhabitants of the southwest coast of the Celebes are known as Boeginese and Makassarese, and resemble the Malays. They are Mohammedans. The inhabitants of the interior are known as Indonesians and are com posed of a number of semi-nomadic tribes. In the northern part of the Celebes there is an intelligent race of people known as the Minahasaus, who are a light-skinned people and are nominal Christians. Chinese immigrants in large numbers are to be found in all these parts. The Celebes has a population of nearly two million and a total area of about seventy thousand square miles. There is no missionary work yet commenced among many of the tribes of the Celebes Islands. T h e N eed of S umatra SUMATRA. The Island of Sumatra has a population of about six million, and is sixteen thousand, eight hun dred square miles in area. Missionary work is being car ried on largely on the eastern coast, immediately oppo site the Malay Peninsula, in easy access from Singapore. The Missionary Consul, Dr. Slotemaker de Bruine, informed us that northern Sumatra, and the entire south west coast was unoccupied. What a vast field for mis sionary work there is in this large island of Sumatra, not to speak of the many smaller islands surrounding. The
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker