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service. He asked the headmaster of his school to urge the children to come to this meeting. Agwam came into Jos from his village twelve miles away. For three pence (5tf) he purchased a copy o f the Gospel o f John in Hausa. The next day he was back fo r five more copies for members o f his village. On a visit to a hospital, an Egyptian, who had attended a Mission School in the Sudan, was contacted. He asked us for an Arabic Bible and pur chased five more for the immediate members o f his family. The Word o f God will speak to this household where the missionary can say no more than a greeting. Two lads came several hundred miles hunting a Hausa Bible and hymn book. However, before they made the purchase, they looked for a certain pas sage to see if it were the same Bible and sang a certain song out o f the hymn book right there in the store because they wanted to be sure it was the right tune. ■An Army male nurse who. had found the Lord in the service, came in one day to report that in his town where the white man could not preach, the native soldiers had returned, established a church, and now wanted some hymn books and Bibles. This spring a farmer, who was faithful in distributing tracts as he took his mangoes to sell in an ad jacent Mohammedan town, was asked to move there to a house the people had built for him so he could teach them more o f the gospel. A leper hobbled to the colporteur’s door. He was asked what he wanted. Great confusion was created by another man’s trying to drive him away. “ I want a ‘Way o f Salvation,’ but I don’t want it for myself; I know the way; I want to read it to some one else.” This is harvest time in the Sudan. What shall we do? Only as God leads, dare we go forward, but we “can do all things through Christ which strength en ed ” us. We have a Book with the only message o f comfort and guidance for the transition period between two eternities. Shall we “ to men benighted, the lamp o f God deny?” Our calling has for its object nothing less than the showing forth of Christ and Him cruci fied, and the living of Christ among those who know Him not. We have no secondary object. It is our prayer that our whole lives may be poured forth in constant and unreserved devotion in the service of our Lord who died to save us. Will you help us with your prayers?
T HE demand in Nigeria for the printed page in English is increas ing. It is becoming one of the greatest avenues fo r the spreading of the gospel and the building up of the native church. One day, a clerk in the post office, who had been accepting copies o f Christian papers given him each week, came to our office, confessing, “ I am not satisfied with my Christian life.” It was a joy to be able to help him. Another stated: “ I was told it was not necessary to pray because God knows what we need before we pray.” He ad mitted that he was not as happy as he had been when in the habit of pray ing, and was persuaded to return to the practice. On another occasion, while we were distributing Christian literature in the streets of Jos, the headmaster o f the Government School invited us to teach the Bible in his school an hour each week. Since then, three other schools in the town, two Anglicans and one Bap tist, have asked us to conduct similar classes. Each Saturday night the young people from these and other schools are brought together in a Youth fo r Christ service, numbering over a thousand in attendance. One o f the ministers in town made his way to us to see if we had anything on prayer. He explained: “ My people pray, but when they don’t get the answer they expect, they go back to demon worship or spiritism.” How glad we were to be able to supply his need! The young na tive James came into the office with a request for several copies o f John R.
Rice’s leaflet on “ Tobacco,” which had helped him, and which he wanted to pass on to others. He made a second trip to see us about fifty of his people who had come to Jos to live. They were listening patiently every Sunday to a sermon preached in a language they did not un derstand. At our suggestion, he opened his house for them to gather on a week night. There the message is given in English, which he interprets for them. They are still able to commune with their own church, but during this time of learning a new language, they will not be spiritually undernourished or drift away from the house o f God. One o f the school teachers in town asked us to coach him in the Pauline Epistles as he wanted to take an entrance examination to study for the ministry. He was amazed to dis cover that things being practiced in his own church were condemned in First Corinthians. This teaching cannot fail to affect his ministry. Since Jos is a cosmopolitan town, the native vernacular is used as well as the English. Natives from Nigeria and all parts o f Africa locate here for business reasons. There are also many little slaves who have min away from their masters, such as Robinson, whose par ents are pagans, and who was brought to Jos by a post office employee. As this man’s personal servant, he cleans the house and cooks the food. In return for this service, he is provided with cloth ing and shelter, and has the opportunity of going to school. Although only twelve years old, he has found the Saviour, and leads the young people in their weekly
Those interested in mailing: old Christian maga zines .for distribution among English-speaking natives may write for details to the authors at 8X6 Mission Itoaci, Glendale 6. California.
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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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