The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1906-03-22
The MISSIONARY SPIRIT.
IMMIGRATION IN THE SOUTH AS 1T CON-
Germs OUR SOCIETY.
An interesting Article on Home Mission Work,
Printed at the Instance Of the BAN.
BERG Auxiliary.

| The spirit upon which our society Is
founded is as broad as humanity itself.
1t is the same spirit which characterized
the ministry of Christ among men-the
spirit of service to mankind. The son Of
God when upon earth did not spend his
time delivering literary discourses before
the rich and learned, or in compliment
ing them for their generous gifts to
benevolent purposes. But he got very
close to the heart of humanity and sought
to cheer the disconsolate, to heal the
diseased in body and mind, and to break
the bread of life to the poor, needy out
casts of society.
Our mission as society is not to serve
our neighbor whose every want is sup
piled, but to aid the neglected and friend
less among US who need our help. Nor
is it our mission to add happiness to those
whose lives are ready filled with the
pleasant things: of earth, but rather to
make lighter the burdens of those for
whom life has but few joys. The many
| immigrants who come to our shores
every year are numbered among the lat
ter class. They leave their native homes
and come to our land because their lots
are not pleasant there and they come
here seeking a better home. As they
come to begin life anew among US what
an opportunity we have of helping them
to pitch their lives upon higher and
more worthy plane!
Now the question presents itself, "How
can we best meet their needs? We may
gain something from study of the
methods employed by our Northern
brethren, who have had experience in
dealing with immigrants for much
longer time than we have had. But con.
ditions in the South are So different
from those in the North that We are
forced to discover for ourselves the ways
and means of meeting the needs of these
wandering fellow beings who make their
homes in our midst.
The person who comes to our land to
settle desires first of all to learn our lam
guage, or, at least enough about it to be
able to understand and be understood
sufficiently we'll to enter into business re-
lations with our people. Since the ma
jority of immigrants in the South make
their homes in our cities and towns, the
Home Mission Society can reach them in
a very effective way by establishing g
schools in which they may learn our
language and also come under the in
fuence of Christian teachers. The ef'
fectiveness of such wcrk will depend,
however, upon the character of the
teachers employed. A teacher in such q
school should be first of all a person of
genuine Christian character. He should
have deep and abiding love for human
souls and above all, he should be imbued
with tho spirit of service to his fellow
man. :.
In teaching these immigrants our lam
guage We will meet an actual need of
theirs. They will appreciate this and, if
the teacher is a person Of the right
stamp, he or she will have very great
influence upon their lives. The teacher
will, if possessed with the right sort of
qualities, very soon win the hearts of his
pupils, so that he can teach not only the
lessons of language but the fer more i'm
portant lesson of the way of salvation.
! But, perhaps, there is still better way
of reaching the hearts of these people,
that is by sending devoted men and wo-
men to do active personal work among
them. believe few devoted followers
of Christ, not necessarily acquainted
with the different methods of doing per,
sonal work, but possessed of that simple,
mastery power, love for mankind, which
never fails to win the right of way in the
human heart, will do more than any
other agency in reaching the lives of
these people. To one of our missionaries
in foreign field native once spoke in
about these words: "You may preach
your gospel to US, but we need not.accept
it; you may give us your literature to
read, but we can refuse to read it. But
when you send your physicians to heal
our diseases and when you send your de-
voted men and women into our homes to
minister to our needs and speak words of
love and comfort to our troubled souls
you then gain entrance into our hearts
and homes and we cannot but see that
there is power and reality in the religion
you preach" From these words We can
get an idea as to how best to deal with
the foreign element of our population.
But the idea is worthless until put into
practice. Isn't it possible for the Home
Mission Society to employ few devoted
women 1--WE suggest women because we
believe they are better suited for the
work. to spend their entire time in doing
nersonal work among the Immigrants in