662
November 1928
T h e
K i n g ' s
B u s i n e s s
inhabitants of Sumatra, like the other islands, consist of a great mixture of races. The Arabs ,1 the Klings, the Ben galese, the Chinese, occupy many of the coast cities, while the tribesmen are scattered through the interior. In the south, the Lampongs are found. On the west coast, the Redjongs, the Lebongs, and the Gayos tribes are to be found. The Bataks occupy the east coast. The prevail ing religion of Sumatra is Mohammedanism, though the tribespeople have their own peculiar forms of demon worship. Concerning Mohammedanism generally among the islands, “The Missionary Atlas” says: “The bulk of the natives are Mohammedan, forming three-fourths of the entire population. The better educated are not as a rule either orthodox or' devout; the uneducated natives have only a vague knowledge of Moslem dogmas; and magic and the spirits' of their forefathers and demons of the woods and streams have a' greater influence on them than the Prophet and Allah. Those who become Converts are regarded as ‘Malays,’ members of a superior class; yet there is no real propaganda. Islam’s spread is rather due to a large number of cheap Arabic books circulated among the increasing number able to read, and the Arab and Malay penetration into formerly pagan communities] The pagans are best known to us as the Bataks of Sumatra, cannibalistic spirit worshipers numbering a quarter of a million perhaps.” Motor roads have been built by the Dutch govern ment over a large part of Sumatra and these ought to facilitate the spread of the Gospel to a remarkable degree. The interior of Sumatra seems to abound in a large variety of wild animals, including the elephant, the two horned rhinoceros, the tiger, the bear and the panther; as well as the antelope, the deer, varieties of apes and wild dogs, etc. N ew G u in ea NEW GUINEA. Perhaps New Guinea is less known than any other part of the Dutch possessions. The popu lation is comparatively small, there being only about two hundred thousand inhabitants in Dutch New Guinea, though the area is over one hundred and sixty thousand square miles. The Dutch Missions have several stations on the coast of New Guinea, but these are hundreds of miles apart, and the interior still lies, not only unevan gelized, but largely unexplored. New tribes of pigmies have recently been found in the interior of New Guinea. British New Guinea is probably better evangelized than Dutch New Guinea, though there remains still in this part also, much land to be possessed. Here the popu lation is also .sparse and mariy unknown tribes are still undiscovered. We have now mentioned all of the larger islands of the East Indian group. With regard to the smaller islands, what shall we say ? There name is “legion.” Though their land is called one of eternal summer, yet from a stand point of Gospel light it is one of midnight darkness. This part of the world is called the “Garden of the East,” and yet while “every prospect pleaseth,” and the people are attractive, the awful blight of paganism, heathenism, Bud dhism, and Mohommedanism, is seen on every side. There is a large number of islands where absolutely no Gospel message has ever been given. Most of these are easy of access. The door is wide open for the mission ary of the Gospel. I slands of t h e S ea In addition to the large territory already mentioned in Borneo, the Celebes, Sumatra, and New Guinea, the island of Banka, lying off the northeast of Sumatra, not
far from Singapore, the island of Madura, lying off the northern coast of Java, the islands of Bali, Lombok, Sum- bawa, Flores, Timor, lying to the east of Java, and many, many more of the Moluccas group, and of the Sulu group, are without the Gospel witness: Bali (marked on our map in error—Deli), a little island immediately east of Java, deserves, perhaps, special mention. It is seventy-five by fifty miles in size, with a population of more than half a million. When the Mohammedan invasion, more than four hundred years ago, swept Sumatra and Java, and the religion of Islam supplanted that of Buddha, the people of Bali held firmly to their old religion, and to this day the Island of Bali is Buddhist. The Dutch Government forbids the introduction of Christianity on this island, but we feel Sure that even this closed door will open to the Gospel if valiant messengers of Christ dare to attempt great things for Him in this island world. We are rapidly drawing to the close of this present Gospel dispensation. The times of the Gentiles are fast running out. The church period will soon be past. The coming of the Lord is at hand. We are of those who believe He may come at any time. We know not the day nor even the hour when the Lord shall come. This blessed hope, however, if it has the effect of causing any of God’s people to comfortably “settle down on their lees” and await the Lord’s return without deep heart con cern for the fulfillment of His last command, and the sal vation of millions of perishing souls, the blessed hope must have lost much of its blessedness. H ave W e D one O ur D u t y ? In closing this article we wish to frankly ask our readers what, according to the New Testament, is the one great mission of the Church; what task did the Lord leave us to accomplish? Surely all would answer: “To preach the Gospel to every kindred, and tribe, and nation, and tongue throughout the world.” With this task still so far from completion, dare any child of God live at ease while souls perish? Can we, before the Judgment Seat, declare some dispensational doctrine, referring our responsibility for the fulfillment of the Lord’s last commission, to the Jews of a later dispensation? There can be no doubt but that the Lord intended a close connection between the preaching of the Gospel to the ends of the world and the end of the Age. “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature ........... Lo, I am with you all the days, even unto the end of the Age.” “And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations ; and then shall the end come.” No man can tell when this work will be finished ; therefore, we cannot know on what day or at what hour the Lord will return, but surely it behooves all earnest Christian people as much as in them is, with consecrated earnest effort, to send the Gospel to these parts, where Christ has not been named. This was the great lifelong ambition and earnest lifelong labor of the Apostle Paul. When the Lord called him, He said, “I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles” (the nations). The Glorious Hope that sustained the apostle in all the dangers and trials of his missionary career, was the hope of the Lord’s return. To whom other can we look at this time for ser vice and sacrifice for the completion of our unfinished task, the reaching with the Gospel message those in the “Regions Beyond,” who have never yet heard, if not to those who have the Blessed Hope of His speedy return burning in their hearts ? With this Morning Star brightly shining before us, let us go in obedience to His command to the “Regions Beyond,” and hasten His coming.
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