Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1913-01-22
CHRISTIAN ENDEAvoR.
Prayer Meeting Topic For Week Be-
ginning Jan. &c. 1913.

Missionary work both at home ant
abroad is conducted along various line
--evangelistic. medical. educationa
and industrial. But evangelism-th'
preaching of the gospel-is the supreme
work of missionaries and the end ant
aim of all other forms OF missionary
activity. Through medical missions
and educational and industrial worl
the opportunity of reaching the soul:
of men Is presented. and. while thes'
forms of missionary effort are not in
significant in themselves. they are chief
ly carried on that through them saliva
ton may be applied to mems souls.
Christ's great commission TO His dis
ciples was to preach. go We into al
the world and preach the gospel tc
every creature" The preaching of the
gospel. the announcement of the glad
tidings of salvation. is evangelism. 1t
. always has been and always will be
the supreme method of winning the
world to Christ Through Christ lis
unto lmenl the forgiveness of sins. and
by Him all that believe are justified
from all things" This is the great
message that Paul delivered at Anti
och. and 1t is the supreme message OF
the church to the world today. and IS
Christians we should do all In our pow
er to see that it is proclaimed to. all
men every where.
The worlds great missionaries have
all been great evangelists. By the
preaching of the gospel they have been
successful In winning souls. Paul was
a great preacher and great soul win
ner. And from the time of Paul unto
the present day the gospel has been
the power OF God unto salvation, At
times there have been special outpour-
ings of the Spirit upon the work OF
missionaries. and thousands have come
into the kingdom. This has been the
case In recent years In India and 10
rea and Japan. The results of evangel-
ism in home and foreign mission fields
should greatly encourage US In our mis-
sionary efforts. They prove to Us con-
clusively that there Is power in the
gospel In every land there have been
gratifying results. In spite Of opposi-
ton and persecution and In the face
OF almost insurmountable obstacles
men have been won through the
preaching of the gospel Ziegenbalg,
the pioneer Protestant missionary in
india. was ridiculed, prosecuted anu
imprisoned His converts were beaten,
driven from their country and even
killed He died at the early age of
thirty-six and yet left behind him $50
converts. Ii has been computed that
on an average one adult Korean has
confessed Christ for every hour during
the twenty-six years since the begin
ming of Protestant missions In Korea.
What has been done can still be done
under the power and blessing of God.
Let us, therefore. thank God take cour
age and with renewed zeal and energy
spread the glad tidings of salvation to
the lost and nnevangelized peoples Of
the world.
China. the greatest oriental kingdom.
is today the most accessible nation of
the world to Christian evangelism.
The supreme hour for the church In
China has struck. and Christianity
must take advantage of its present OPP
portunity or perhaps lose it forever.
1t is great crisis. and the church
should meet it. The Manchu dynasty
in China has been dethroned. Every
effort is now being made to occideU-
talize the vast empire, Old religions,
with old customs, are losing their
ty presented to the church. AS never
before Christian places of worship last
gear were crowded with eager listen
ers. and everywhere there is readi-
ness to hear the gospel. Famine and
plague have also opened new doors Of
opportunity. Large additions to our
missionary forces and equipment are
needed at once.
Evangelism is the chief form of ma
tive missionary activity. Few native
converts become medical missionaries
or take part in educa tional work. but
hucS diC outNCNNiui Ifti solidi cNduSCt-
lists. The native workers In Korea
had much to do with the progress of
Christianity in that country They
banded themselves together and were
wonderfully successful in winning
their eountrymen to Christ. Success
full personal evangelism by native con-
verts Is everywhere carried on. Even
in benighted and troubled Mexico it is
reported that last year THE native
men attempted more direct hand to
hand personal evangelism than ever
before and touched many people
whom they thought ont OF reach"
And this suggests the thought Are
we hand to hand personal" evan
geiists? Are we preaching the gospel
TO the unsaved about ms? No interest
IN worldwide evangelism will excuse
us for neglecting those Immediately
about us.