King's Business - 1918-12

THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NESS

1055

felt could not but bear fruitage for Him. This being an emergency report and really covering but a few days out of the month, prayer is asked for the speedy recovery of the work and, He willing, the next report will tell of some conversions had on the ships. The Ups and Downs of Jewish Work House to house visitation work among the Jews is perhaps as difficult work as is to be found in any branch of Christian sgptfice. Rebuffs are many, l [ i n s u l t s and abuse WORK AMONG are f r e q u e n t l y THE JEWS showered upon the James Vaus, Supt. worker with a lib­ eral hand. Satan, with all his wiles, seeks in many ways to discourage and discredit any effort made to reach the Jews with the Gospel. One has the feeling of utter helplessness and insufficiency as day by day he is confronted with the indifference, the gross materialism and the spiritual blindness of God’s people, Israel. It is necessary to remind ourselves often, that the warfare we wage is not fought with “ carnal weapons” nor is it by might or power but by the Spirit of God, that the results we seek are brought about. We seem to have alternate periods of “ sowing” and “ reaping” in our work among “ the lost sheep of the house of Israel” and how refreshing it is to be permitted to see some of the “ first fruits” of the harvest from the seed thus sown. We look back to one of those periods of sowing and recall, with faith strengthened by the recollection, how we had to re-assure ourselves that “ our labor was not in vain in the Lord,” and that our disappointments were His appointments and discouragements only encouragements in disguise. It was during such a period of seed­

sowing that one of our workers called at the home of Mrs.—r----- - who received her very kindly and was very cordial in her manner as long as the conversation, which had been directed along religious lines, was confined to a discussion of Judaism, and man’s relation to God. As soon as mention was made of Messiah, who had come in fulfillment of pro­ phecy, Mrs.------— ’s manner underwent a sudden change and in a few moments she quite abruptly ended the interview. Shortly after this interview occurred Mrs.--------- - ’s baby became ill and a friend knowing the worker was an experienced nurse, asked her to call and see if she could help in any way. The worker gladly responded and was able to suggest a simple remedy that not only effected the child’s recovery, but also won the mother’s gratitude and friendship. This friendship was taken advantage of by the worker to present the claims of Christ which' she did again and again. Three years rolled by and one day the worker, in company with a young Jewess who had recently become a Christian, met Mrs.----- :— and a friend, and one of the first things Mrs.---- ■— - said was, ,“ I want you to know that through your efforts I have become a firm believer in Jesus Christ as my Messiah and Saviour. I have been persecuted by my people from the moment I confessed faith in Jesus Christ but I have been encouraged to go on when I would remember how you used to be persecuted and how little you seemed to mind it.” At this point the Jewess that accompanied the worker told something of the treatment that had been accorded her when she con­ fessed Christ and both of the new con­ verts were encouraged by each other’s testimony. The friend who was with Mrs.------ ■— had listened with absorbing interest to the experiences of these two Jewesses and very much to the surprise of all she said, “ My father was a Jew and my

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