The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1907-06-08
PEEzzkf,!
Hidden world-Force..

BULLS as more or less visionary at
Tempt to change the religion Of the
races of the far East. Few. even of
Chose who support and encourage mis-
sions, realize how broad and deem are
TIT results of missionary effort Will
lam Eleroy Curtis, in Modern India"
says: Sir Muncherjee Bhownaggree
Parsee who has been a member of
parliament, lately asserted that the
american missionaries were doing more
TOR the industrial development of the
Indian Empire than the government
itself. The government recognizes the
Importance of their work, and has
gwen liberal grants to their Schools"
OF course the missionaries do not &C
complish these things directly. Their
message Is first of all spiritual one,
but it is of such nature that it's eff
fects begin to be seen almost immedi-
ately in material things.
For example, take the work which
has been accomplished among the
Telugus of South India. The people
who have been benefited by it belong
to the very lowest classes. They are,
under Hinduism, ignorant, degraded,
dirty, immoral embedded in the heath
enish customs Of ages. Yet by means
of mission work these people are being
marvelously transformed, and it is dis
covered that underneath the crust Of
heathenism there is a manhood we'll
worth developing. When the dawn Of
better life begins to illumine the
hearts Of the Telugu outcasts 1t shines
even in their faces, and it is seen that
by nature many of them, the men espe-
cially, have decidedly Anglo Saxon fea-
lures. One missionary said not long
ago, 'SThis resemblance is almost
startling There was one white-haired
man who was Perfect likeness Of my
father, except for the dark color Of his
skin"
The planting of Christian homes and
the growth Of happy family life are
some of the most inspiring results of
mission work. A few years ago a lady
who had been for some time mission
airy among the Telugus became almost
worn out by reason Of her hard labors
and by the perplexing problems that
each day brings in such service. Early
one evening she was walking near the
mission compound in a somewhat de-
spondent mood, when suddenly she be-
gan to hear the sounds Of singing not
far away Lights glimmered in the
cottages Of the natives, and here and
there she could see the Christian fam
| lilies at their evening worship Children
gathered round father and mother, the
Bible was opened, and the words of
David were read again in the musical
Telugu, 1.-THE Lord Is my Shepherd,
shall not want" and hymns Of praise
were sung The scene restored hope
and yigor to the weary worker. Sure
IT," she thought, this is worth a thou
sand times more than all the labor and
sacrifice it has cost"
| All these good influences, too, are
constantly extending their power. From
the mission stations, schools and sem
inaries light radiates in all directions
and penetrates the deepest jungles.
Telugu evangelists, trained and led by
missionaries, go out to the villages
where the truth has before been utterly
unknown. The native evangelists them
selves are an object lesson of the vital
izlng force that is in mission work.
The ways of the people are studied,
and methods adapted to them.
II have with me-" says one mission
airy, "a man who sings the life Of Christ
in a weird chant, and the evangelists
give the responses. We take two lam
terms and my camp-chair, and go to the
center of the village in the evening.
Three wooden plows tied together are
good to hang the lights on. The people
sit on the ground, and the matches
Indian night is our canopy. By ten
O'Clock the singing and explaining Will
be over, and then comes my turn 10
try to Impress the story which the
people have heard. In the past year
wc have had a hundred such nights"
/ It IS In these quiet ways that vast
social changes are being wrought. The
sailing of a company Of missionaries
NAV mean more for the destiny of ma
lions than great changes in government
or r,1lers.-Youth's Companion.
| The Hone I'm Christ.