Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1907-07-10


more stir in the homeland, wher,
their money is being raised. than the,
do here. They are usually temporary
since they depend upon one man. ant
cannot continue beyond the term o
ms personal residence here He. liz
turn is so busy keeping alive tn,
interest Of his supporters, that he ha,
little time left Cor actual work amons
the Japanese AS an illustration. |
may cite the ease of one man, per
sonally an upright, honorable ant
pleasant gentleman, whose publication
INTENDED only for home consumption
gives the impression that he IL
arousing Toxic to veritable revival
Yet that man has been here nearly
decade and does not speak the Ian
guage, so that he is personally use
less as preacher to the Japanese
In the light Sf conditions in this
country. woule say that the only
enectual missionary work that car
be pursued is chat conducted on 9
broad basis and long-continued plar
by the great churches OF Japan. and
| of Christian lands.
Waking Religion to Get English.
y building that is the center of nc
small work is the big brick Youn.
Mems Christian association, whicr
| also has branches and dormit0ries liz
many OF the educational institutions
here. The Young Woman's Christian
| association has lately come to Japar
and is opening dormitories for youne
women gtn1pnfc
cations do Bible class work
This suggests a characteristic phas.
OF mission work in Japan-the conduct
ing of Bible classes. Every missionary
| from the newest recruit to the oldest
veteran, has a measure Of this to do
some OF the Bible classes are as
large as many Congregations The
secret or all this is, as is apparsnt tc
everybody concerned. the desire OF
the Japanese to learn English. The
| eagerness of the natives in this par
| ucular is nothing short Of a craze
Frequently ] have had young mer
| accost me and enter into conversation
| purely for the purpose of practicing
| their little stock of English. Some
| times this sort of thing is rather try.
ing. but the missionaries have had
their patience well trained. They
take the Japanese on any terms and
| find, they say, that out OF Bible
classes attending from a purely selfish
motive. have come many of the most
| earnest converts and Christian work
| ers.
| Other mission lands have MANY mis-
sionary hospitals; in Japan there are
| only two, both maintained by Ameri
can Episcopalians. one at Osaka md
one here. The reason for this is that
! the Japanese have their own physi
clans and hospitals. st. Luke's hos.
pital in Toxic, is fully endowed, and
could not well be abandoned. AS a
matter of fact, it is so popular and
successful that it is entirely self-sup
| porting. 1t has fine quarters neal
church for Europeans and large boy.
school on the Protestant Episcopal
compound
Baseball and Missions.
Often | hear the question raised a.
to whether Christianity is having any
| practical effects upon the character
i VI iHC tOliNtllS. nat 10 nOI So SIM
pie question to answer as would at
| first appear; the missionary is really
working for his converts g.andchil
| drcn. Yet | must admit that / have
run across cases that are not without
meaning. After speaking at the Oldest
| university in Japan. an institution
distinctively not Christian. | was en-.
| tertained at luncheon by the presi.
dent, and six of the leading professors
were invited to be present. One of
these was man who in appearance
strikingly resembled the young col.
| lege Y. NJ. c. A. men in America. and
| he himself was an active Christian
worker, and responsible for the relig.
| ious organization existing in the col.
| lege. I learned that his standing was
high among the professors and his
influence among the undergraduates
pronounced.
On another occasion 7 met a middle.
aged man who has invented a process
for making articles of wearing appar.
el-neckties. shawls. purses. hats,
fanny vests, etc.-from wood shavings.
He said he was about to introduce his
novel wares into America. Question.
ing him further, he said that about Is
years ago he became a Christian.
that awakened in him a desire to bet
ter himself and to do something for
Japan. The result is this invention.
Perhaps the most curious of many
unexpected evidences OF Christianity
in this city is the crack baseball team
in the Waseda university. an instItu
ton with more than 1000 students
The Japanese have taken ardently to
American sports. and this particular
team made a successful tour Of the
Pacific coast last year. II owes its
efficiency to Rev. F. Mortified. a Bap
fist missionary who was a star on the
University Of Chicago championship
baseball team few years ago Mer.