The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1903-09-16
A TALK ON MISSIONS.
BY Mrs. II. b. Grinnell.

hH me- ~ u RAAAh'AAf
The subject of missions has received
great deal of attention here recently
in our churches. 1t 8 Bible doctrine
which deserves our most prayerful
thoughts. | am reminded by the agi-
tation of this subject of what the Epis-
copal church is doing in the missionary
field st. EIlzabeth's Hospital, ia Shang-
hal, China, has been formally opened
1t is for women and children and speaks
volumes for our churches, especially
for the women of the household of
faith. Good and faithful work has
been done there. as elsewhere by more
than one devoted woman and it is AS
a result Of their labor that the mis-
sion has to-day not only the new hos
pital, but the constantly growing
work which made the new hospital a
necessity. There's nothing picturesque
about the work of those devoted wo-
men out there any more than there is
at home 1t means long days and long
nights, too, of hard and often dis
heartening labor. 1t means a constant
battle with ignorance, prejudice and
superstition. But il means, as we'll
the gradual conquest of those things
and of opening the doors through when
Christian faith and education may
enter and so our missionaries from
this and other churches are spreading
the Light amid the darkness Of china
until this nation may see and accept
the salvation Of our God.
The ground gained in Porto Rico Is
a pleasure to contemplate. Our.Wom-
an sAuxilliary, by Is united. Offerings,
has contributed enough to buy parson-
age adjoining the church property at
Ponce. Our school at San Juan has been
enlarged and a piano aids the little
Porto Ricans to sing the praise of the
Good Shepherd. At Aguadilla, where
Columbus landed, good work is pro-
crossing. There the United States has
planted the Flag in foreign shores.
Let us also give the Cross Its best IN
depreciation.
West Africa is coming in for large
share of mission work. And, in mission
airy fields, we should let non essentials
go and attend the essentials Open our
arms and take In those people teaching
them that they just as truly.as the
white people in the United States Fave
Savior, who loved them enough to
come down to this earth to die that
they might be inheritors of the King
dom of Heaven. At Tokyo, Japan, souls
are being saved and the Buddhist
temples are falling.
But, with all due Difference TO my
own church and all other churches, a
spirit Of bigotry has been responsible
for some trouble in those lands and
it is much to be deplored. Then nc
one man or set of men knows definitely
or in detail the exact manner of wor-
ship that is most acceptable. Let the
soul be cleansed and sublimated. 1t is
human nature to believe our choice is
the right way and that Others are
wrong. But God judges the motives.
Those who pray standing up feel a
pity for those who kneel, while those
who Kneel experience a like sensation
when they see worshipers prone
on the ground and yet think his is
the only way. 1t is not intended for
us all to see alike. That form is best
in which the soul can best express it.
self That position Is best that fur
nishes the best medium of communi-
cation. 1t Is an hun BILE and contrite
heart, a soul lifted out of and above
the BODY in ecstasy that is worship.
ANY earnest worker is a worshi per and
a missionary here right at home or in
China, Japan, Africa. Faith is the
gift of God while forms are man
made There are impOstors in all
churches. There are Pharisees IN all
churches, but they never keep the
churches up. The majority of church
members are sincere and earnest and
they will follow that form Of worship
that most appeals to them and that is
most sa tisfying to them, in spite of
what the opinion of another may be.
Let the non essentials go and get at