Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1913-01-03
BECOMES MISSIONARY
IN WILDS Of INDIA
Miss Anna Helena Vreeland,
SO Years of Age, Tackles
Bold Undertaking.
TASK NOT AN EASY ONE
Relatives, Believing Her insane,
Sought to Prevent Sale
of Property-Faces Un-
known Dangers.
TASK NOT AN EASY ONE
From the New York World.

From the New York World.
With all the courage of youth ana
the fervor of a religious/l eader. Miss
Anna Helena Vreeland. past so years
of age. has shaken the dust of civi!iza-
ton from her skirts n gone into
message of the Christian religion has
never beer carried before. She has
severed all connection with her for
mer life in this country, sold her home
at No. 145 Grant avenue. Jersey City,
where she had lived for many years.
for herself but for all missionaries in
a part of India which Ia been as
closed to Christian civilization as
Tibet.
The courage which has enabled Miss
Vreeland tn take this step was sorely
tried before she was enabled to carry
out her intentoin, for her relatives de-
cided that her desire to sell her prop
erty and devote her money and her
life to the work of spreading the gOs-
was perverted so that it sounded i'm
sane. | did sing a hymn, n nothing
ss.ne because 1 believe that my pray
ers have been answered? Am / crazy
because | want other folks far off
India to hear of my creator1 1 should
nope not"
Vice Chancellor Garrison vacated the
order requiring Miss Vreeland to APP
pear in court after the report of the
physician and the testimony of many
business men and others VINO had
dealings with Miss Vreeland. and she
was free to depart for India in pur-
suit of he. religious mission.
To .a:!a the home and carry on the
work which she has outlined for the
indian campaign Miss Vreeland has
taken with her all the money which
she inherited from her father. Mich
olas s. Nreeland. amounting to more
than $25 900. Miss Vreeland will either
buy or rent a house and furnish it
on the borders of Faizabad, India. The
home will be kept open and maintained
for foreign missionaries Of any de-
nomination who care to stop there for
a few days rest. Missionaries of all
denominations will be welcome.
In addition to this maintenance OF
missionaries retreat Miss Vreeland
purposes to instruct the natives i'm the
Immediate vicinity OF the new home
in the Christian religion so that they
can go further into the interior of
Fafzabad and make converts. thu
sionaries from the Occidental coun-
tries.
Miss Vreeland said that Faizabad is
ruled by a pagan king, from parts of
whose country no missionary has ever
returned. There are unknown terri
tories so dangerous and UNEMPLOYED
that it seems hopeless to send "a white
missionary into the Businesses. But it
is thought that where the white mis-
sfOnarics cannot go the converted ma
tives may be able to make their way.
and it is with this thought in view
hat the home is to be established on
the very borders of the wild province.
Miss Vreeland does not consider at
all the dangers that lie in this life on
the borderland of civilization, for she
regards the opportunity to spread the
gospel as more precious than life it
self. The thought that more progress
will be made by converting the natives
to the christian doctrines and sending
them into the interior than by having
white missionaries 90 is all that re-
herself undertaking to carry the gospel
n the very heart of darkness.
Miss Vreeland has been a missionary
all her life, although her efforts to win
converts have until now been confined
to Jersey City. Her home has always
been open to visiting missionaries. and
she has often had several of these
workers in foreign fields stopping with
her at one time. For more than 90
years she was a member and an active
worker in the Dutch Reformed church
OF Jersey City, but about five years
80 DIG UoScaAo Interested III CH0
Pentecostal cult, which was then being
expounded with great success by
Robert Evans. Miss Vreeland read in
the religious papers about the evan
geltstic campaign which Evans was
conducting with such spectacular sue
cess In Wales n became SO deeply
interested that h packed UP all her
belongings and departed for Wales.
She spent almost a veal in travelling
around Wales and England in the
wake of the PentecOstal leader. After
she returned home to Jersey City the
most remarkable religious experience
Of her life came to Miss Vreeland. one
day In her little parlor in the Grant
street house she felt herself to be sud-
denly enlightened regarding spiritual
things.
"My eyes were opened to the relig-
Gus side Of life az they had never been
before" said Miss Vreeland. II then
realized for the first time what my re.
ligiOn mean to me-"
Until h time of receiving this spir.
itual revelation Miss Vreeland Worship.
ped at the Bergen Reformed church.
which had been founded by her Dutch
forefathers $50 years ago. After the
P~entec0stal doctrine had made Its an
peal to her 3 set aside all prejudices
In regard to doctrine. and has since at
tended any church she saw 1T.
The Same Idea.
From Norman =. .Mack's National
Monthly.
Well. Johnny. what was the text to-
day. Q proud father of his
small son who had just returned from
church.
Let me INK, favver." said johnny.
ccratcning his head In deep thought.