Luciano, calls them. But many do not feel at home in the established churches, because o f their social and psychological conditioning. However, they do respond to the kind ministra tions of pastors, businessmen, and other Christians who go among them in love and do not “ talk down” to them. God gives souls for their hire and there is great rejoicing in His salvation. Occasionally, when migrants are saved, they find that God leads them into an entirely new set o f circum stances. For instance, Mr. Blakeman discovered a man lying ill on a cot. He had no work and his family was in poor health. A fter he accepted Christ as his personal Saviour, everything altered for him. Today he owns his own home and business. Others brought to Christ are attending Bible Institutes to prepare for Christian service in foreign lands or in Amer ica’s own mission field, the Jericho Road. Some o f our missionaries, in order to make expenses, since the mission can only furnish about $50.00 a month basic support, go right out into the fields and work along with the crop-pickers. They thereby endear themselves to the people. At present there are about twelve such mission aries in the field, living in trailers, and taking “ potluck” with these way farers. But they do not begin to be adequate, when there are two thou sand such labor camps in California alone! Sanitary conditions are very primi tive, inconvenient, and often unpleas ant. Some o f the companies employ ing farm labor o f this type provide better facilities for them, but at best they are forced to use makeshift ar- ragements for washing and bathing. (Continued on Page 19)
Typical migrant camp; boys who need Christ.
The Need on the Jericho Road Here are some pertinent facts I have gathered while working with Mr. Blakeman among our citizens who dwell in tents, trailers, and shacks, forced by circumstances be yond their control to live far below the usual American standard of liv ing: The American “ D.P.’s” are for the most part o f good character. Their children are better behaved in many cases than ordinary city children. They are not tramps. It is impos sible for them to stay long in any one place because, when a certain crop is picked, there is no more work to be had, and they must move on to make a living. Those who cannot get em ployment when some crop is being harvested are obliged to “ coast along” on what small savings they may have earned from a former harvest. Some times this is a fairly large sum, but in many cases it is not sufficient to provide even life’s barest necessities, to say nothing o f dental and medical care and essential clothing and bed ding. There was the case o f the young couple from Illinois, newcomers to the West, with their two little boys, three and five years o f age, and a new baby girl. They possessed four quilts, but no mattress, to cover the set o f springs furnished by the crop contractor o f the camp. So they used two o f the quilts, they said, “ to take out the sharpness o f the springs” and the other two “ to keep from freezing from beneath.” The five o f them all piled into this cold, uncomfortable bed, and consequently all were ill when we found them. The night air in the valleys o f middle and northern California is cold and snowy in the S E P T E M B E R 1 9 5 0
winter. We were happy to instruct our missionary on that field, Duane Borrer, a student from the Bible In stitute o f Los Angeles, to issue them two o f the big warm quilts donated by the ladies from Shoredale Chapel o f Los Angeles. This couple was very grateful and asked us to pray for them. But this is not an uncommon experience o f crop pickers. It can be multiplied many times. The migrants are often more than thirty miles from a Sunday school because their crop camps are far out on the vast ranches that produce the enormous crops o f lettuce, beets, peas, potatoes, fruit, and cotton. Even if they were near town where they might go to church and Sunday school they feel conspicuous in their overalls and plain dresses, their worn shoes and out-of-date hats that mark them as workers in the fields. Many pastors with understanding hearts have gone out under supervision of our mission to evangelize among these “ Misplaced Persons” as our missionary, Mr. Louis
Migrant young people and children in front of gospel tent.
Page Eleven
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