AMERICA'S JERICHO ROAD
By Floyd Berton Boice, D.D.
T HE big man with the hammer stopped at the top o f the ladder, where he was removing the sign from the tent pole. He heard a little girl crying bitterly. “What is the trouble, honey?” he inquired kindly. “What has happened to you?” “ Oh, Uncle Ralph,” she wailed. “ Please, please, don’t take away our Sunday school! It’s the only Sunday school we have. Please don’t take it away!” But Mr. Ralph Blakeman, who de votes his time and strength to the migrant farm laborers, was obliged to tell the heartbroken ten-year old that the time had come for him to move the temporary Sunday school to another migrant workers’ settlement so that other boys and girls might hear the gospel as well. He knew the little girl could not understand, even if he were to explain, that if more Christian people would accept the great challenge o f the Mission to the Migrants, the tent Sunday school would not be moved so often. He tossed a small red Gospel of John to the child with the words, “ Read this every day, and keep close to the Lord Jesus whom you accepted last night as your Saviour. Tell the other girls and boys about Him, and maybe some day you can have another Sunday school.” So, with a background o f sobs and protests o f little children, the tents, seats, and other equipment were piled
needed harvesters and fruit and vege table pickers, and they were right. What they were not aware of was that there were all kinds o f climate in California, depending on one’s proximity to the mountains, the ocean, or the desert. What they did not expect was that their coming would not be particularly welcome in the already over-crowded areas of this thousand-mile long state. Since that time, thousands o f these children of misfortune, America’s “ D.P.’s,” their ranks swelled by the influx o f Mexican and Filipino na tionals, Japanese, Negroes, and In dians, have sought a place to settle, but few have found it. Children have been bom and grown to adulthood in the ranks o f the earlier migrants, and still the majority o f these families have no home, no permanent resi dence, and of necessity remain migra tory workers, although many o f them are o f pioneer American stock. At present America’s Jericho Road is Route 99 which runs the full length o f the middle o f California. Many Good Samaritans are needed to come to their aid, to bind up their broken hearts and bodies, to help them to help themselves. They need more than a handout, and an occasional order o f staple groceries, when the weather is tough and the going rough. They do need this financial assistance, but what they need most of all, declares Mr. Blakeman from personal observa tion, is “ The Bread o f Life and the milk and meat o f the Word.” A knowledge o f Christ as Saviour and Lord will enable them to find a new way of life. “ Uncle Ralph,” as Mr. Blakeman is affectionately known wherever the mi grants follow the crops, has obeyed the God-given call to go into “ the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” Because he led the way, others are now interested in “ har vesting the harvesters for Christ.” The Mission to the Migrants has now been duly organized and incorporated. As President of the Board, I have been honored to go out with him, helping evangelize under his super vision. Consequently, I have caught the vision of this vast mission field which presents a challenge as great as any in the world, and which in many instances is as difficult to reach.
into a trailer and moved into another American labor camp. The Good Samaritan Has Compassion That was more than ten years ago. For some time Mr. Blakeman had been ministering in his “ spare time” to these fugitives from the Dust Bowl. As a railway mail clerk, he worked two weeks at a stretch, then had two weeks off. Often he would trade shifts with fellow workers, working an entire month, day and night “ on the road,” in order to have a full month free fo r this Migrant ministry. God has honored this per sonal sacrifice and has opened up a remarkable new mission field right here in our own country. A few years ago, the press and movies publicized the invasion of California by “ Arkies and Oakies”— picturing rows o f broken-down cars, piled high with the personal belong ings these people were able to re trieve as they fled before the dust storms. Popular writers wrote caus tically or condescendingly about them, but no one could be found to cham pion their cause. State and local gov ernments did not want them. Service stations, in many cases, gave them gasoline just to keep them moving. They had heard that the opportuni ties were better in the warmer cli mate of California so they headed for that great state. They had been told as well that vast acreages of crops
A,typical migrant squatter's home; twelve live here.
T M E m i c i ! R M S I M F C C
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