Los Angeles herald., 1909-02-22
LABRADOR HIS
CHOSEN FIELD
DR.. GRENFELL TELLS STORY
OF HIS LIFE
DEEP SEA FISHERMEN RESCUED
FROM CLUTCHES OF DRINK
Noted EngIishman Has Fought Not
Only to Convert Population, but
to Danish Poverty and
Disease

passed twenty years working among
| the deep sea fishermen a thousand
miles along the coast of Labrador and
| Newfoundland, was in Los Angeles
yesterday and spoke to three great
congregations, describing his work and
aims.
DR.. GrenfelI two years ago was made
a companion of the order of st. Michael
! and st. George. He is an Englishman
by birth and it has been said of him
| that he is a surgeon, master mariner
| magistrate, agent of Lloyds in run
ming down rascals who wreck their
| vessels for the insurance, manager OF
string of cooperative stores and
general opponent of fraud and oppres-
sion.
He is heroic missionary among the
| deep sea fishermen, having risked his
life many times in bringing his gospel
message and medical aid to those to
whom he has devoted his life.
The patron saint of Labrador" as
he is known, is slender, Of medium
height, with a healthy complexion and
| kindly eyes. Yesterday in speaking he
used few, if any, gestures, keeping his
| left hand almost constantly in his
| pocket. 1t was a conversation more
than an address, telling in simple, un-
affected language of deeds accom-
| plished. He spoke in an offhand man
ner of trials and sacrifices that brought
tears to the eyes of his auditors
DR.. Grenfell talked yesterday morn
ing at the Emmanuel Presbyterian
! church, which was filled by an inter
ested congregation, many standing
| throughout the service. Dr. Grenfell
read the scripture lesson from Mat
! thew %, and before opening his ser
mon offered a short prayer. He said,
| IN part:
The Missionarys Task
''The object of all missionaries is to
| tell again the message that Jesus
| Christ first gave to the world. No one
| knew before Jesus Christ that God was
| the father Of the Individual Jesus
was the word made flesh and told us
that God was our father and loved us
as his children. That is the message
that the missionary tells. Read this
| book as you do your daily paper and
| you will see that the word was made
| flesh. Anyone who reads the story of
| Jesus Christ can't help loving him.
And anyone who lives his life as Jesus
! did is loved by everyone but the devil.
Jesus Christ was always forgetful of
| self and thinking Of other people. He
J illustrated nearly all his parallels by
| doing something for some other per-
| son. When it came to a question of
blame Christ's decisions always ap-
| peared right.
I'VE needn't necessarily be extreme
ly wise or wealthy; we need not the
| gifts of the world. Every man and
woman can fulfill the purpose of re-
ligion by telling the message that God
is our father and that we are going
to see him in another world
rs it possible to tell it so that the
world will believe it? That is what
calls the missionary because he believes
that he can do it. 1 am a doctor Of
medicine. and it is a delight to solve
the problems of some PERSONS illness.
Any man who can sit down all his life
opposite a problem which he thinks he
cannot solve must be a sorrowful man..
I chose to go down to the deep sea
fishermen. In 1889 I made up my mind
l would try it and see whether 1 liked
it. I went to Yarmouth. 1 found the
problemS-no different from here or
anywhere else. They can be solved
only in one way. The fishermen were
men who had been drafted into the life
without religious training. They were
all sorts of people from all sorts of
places. Commercialism follows them as
| it does everywhere, and it is the same
in every seaport. Nobody is easier to
trade on than the sailor. He goes into
port and the first thing he sees is a
saloon.
Visiting Haunts of Vice
"In my early experience had to fight
down to the haunts of vice. The prob
! lem is not to sober the drunk or re-
move the appendix when it is inf1amed.
! The problem is bigger than that. 1t is
not one man, but whole lot; to make
them good men; good husbands and
to make them home-loving men.
| Il remember clearly that half of the
people said they would give me six
months to get tired of it. They said
that those people didn't want cant,
they wanted whisky; that the trouble
was they had been getting bad whisky;
that they wanted a good temperance
| drink; not Christ.
Have we got enough faith to believe
| that miracles were done in the first
| century? What is the good of a reli-
gfon that did miracles in the first CEN
! tury and does not do it now? What
would a doctor say of a medicine that
was good for Simon Peter and will not
make the Simon of the nets today a
| Peter?
what did Jesus Christ ask for? He
wanted faith. We don't want to give
it; we want knowledge. He can do to-
day as believe he did in the first CEN
| tury.
after twenty years you can look
down the card catalogue of a hospital
and see that the same medicine always
has the same good result; works well
L
on and say it is we'll? You may ask me
what there is in the medicine that
| makes it work so we'll. All / can say
is that 1 don't know. but that I do
know it does its work well. Today,
after twenty years experience I know
that faith works well.
1--WE live by faith. There is nothing
| in life without it. We can't go to bed
knowing that we will get up. but we
can't sit up all the time. We don't
know whether the meat we eat is pois-
oned or not, but we can only have faith
| that it is not
In 1889 I went out with the faith
that Jesus Christ would make new
men. How was to give them the mes
sage? Often they would ask me for
tobacco, instead. Must I have the wis
dom Of the ages? What way could I
commend Jesus Christ?
The "HoW" ImmateriaI
HE was the word of God made
! flesh. If we are going to win the world
for Jesus Christ don't believe that it
makes the difference of two straws
how we say our prayers, but we must
have Gods spirit in our lives.
Jesus was sorry for the publican
Bible is one of love for the sinners. It
doesn't matter a straw what kind of
| ceremonies we use.
we are doing what we think Christ
would do. / don't think that Jesus
Christ would always commend reli-
gion with kid gloves. I used to believe
that religion was an effeminate thing.
When Jesus Christ found the thieves in
the temple what did he do? He drove
them out.
when began I didn't know how to
work or What would hn fhn hast wow