Birmingham state herald., 1897-01-01
CITY MISSIONARY WORK.
Report of Rev. B. Fl. Keller of the Work Accomplished Among the Colored
 People the Past Year.
Mission work in Birlningharn and sub-

Mission work in Birmingham and sub- urbs of 1s96
 Now, that the old year Is gone, it is fitting to make general statement of the mission work done in and around the city during the past year.
 Services have been held in five. stations ary places during the year. The county and. city jails each have had ferty-four services, with good attendance; at times as many as seventy-iive were in the ser vices; six converts in the county jail. Many times have people made them selves known to me and dthan1xed me for preaching to them while they were in the prisons or in the hospitals. A
 The county aims house at Woodlawn has been visited forty-four times. with PA services. There are three wards, and usually service is held in each ward; fifteen converts, nearly. all of whom have died aHNs Gn Y
 Hillnan's hospital has received weekly religious visits. 70 -s'- s s N--&
 Hopeweil, formerly called Buzzard Roost, has been given every possible at tention. Four series of nightly meetings have been held at different times, last ing from four to- five weeks eachA Meet ing was held in the Hopewell mission hall, and some times in the street with benches. Hopewell Is far more civilized than It used to be. But there is a great deal of room for improvement. Three services are held in the mission hall every week-Sunday school, prayer meet ing and preaching service every Sunday at o'clock this time of year.
 Nine more mothers meetings have been started this year, making ten altogether. Some of the meetings are doing finely, and we hope to have them all doing that way soon. Some of our best colored ladies are strong promoters of the meet ings.
 Great good has been done through the mothers meetings, and we hope that it is only the beginning.
 am called upon to establish more mothers meetings, and will do it just as soon as I can find leaders. Thousands and thousands ofTeliglous literature has been received from various places and distributed in prisons, hospitals and needy places, with seeming good effect. Hundreds and hundreds of house to house visits have been made in city and suburbs. There is improvement all along the line.
 Clothing has been solicited and received from white and colored ladies and given to needy children, with Iaany thanks.
 The white people have given S256.43 for colored mission work in Birmingham and suburbs this year; $24 of that being placed on mission hall rent; colored churches, s503o, mission hall, s4.SS.
 Paid on mission hall for various causes, $S.45; salary, $28806. A
 I have been doing mission work in Birmingham and suburbs for three years and eight months and twenty days, and have been some very striking reforms of men and women in that time I am con- vinced what Birmingham and suburbs need so very much are more city mission aries. There ought to be six in all and if the good people feel that they cannot afford that number, we ought at least to have three. These missionaries should be God1y, competent persons, with great atlanta bilitV for G1llm noiSSOna1.U work in the worst places, night and day. The work of reform is a slow and hard work, and requires a great deal of patient de- termination, and faith in God, and ones self. It is a work of generations, and let all good people look al it from that stand point. The people that hurt the name of Birmingham are non-church- -goers. Send missionaries to them for God and our city R. H. KELLER,
 City Missionary.