The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-01-28

ness of preparation, breadth of view,
grasp of conditions, and far-sighted
efficiency. Nor are they one whit
lacking in that supreme quality of
holiness which is the missionary's
chief equipment. AS I write these
words there pass swiftly in review
before my eyes "a long procession of
men and women whom L personally
have melton the various mission fields
of earth; and.I find among them char
acteristics of greatness surpassed by
none of the missionaries of earlier
days.
Great tasks have habit of impart-
ing their own greatness to the men
and women who attempt them.
One time I visited the leper station
at Allahabad with the missionary, Mr..
Samuel Higginbotham, who has it in
charge. We stayed out Of doors until
past noon and the temperature was
one hundred and fifty degrees. In
consequence, I became seriously ill.,
But the only time Mr.. Higginbotham
gets for his leper asylum work is these
| between hours when he should be
resting in the shelter of his home. My
own little experience, hazardous as it
was, taught me the price that some
missionaries are paying for the service
they are doing, and 1 am inclined to
include many of these .undistinguished
4 role of heroes
Three short years were all that Capt.
Allan F. Gardiner the pioneer mis-
| sionary to South America, and the
founder of the South American Mis-
lsionary society, was privileged to spend
| in his work in South America; for it
was not until 1S4S that the mission
was established and in 1851 he and his
companions persisted from starvation
in their desperate effort to keep alive
| this forlorn hope in the deSolate
country of TERRA. del Fuego. Yet the
work has continued, and today in every
country of South America some reli-
gious society is at work for the evan
| gelization of the people.
David Livingstone, the son of a
poor Scotch weaver. was born in Blan-
tyre, Scotland, March 10, 1913. Among
the names of men of achievement of
the nineteenth century his stands pre-
eminently as a diScoVerer, explorer and
missionary. Livingstone's great work
in Africa was exploration, opening up
the Zambesi country from sea to sea
and the region around the great Afri-
can lakes Yet in all his work of ex-
ploration his one supreme object was
to blaze a path for the missionary
work of the future.
When Carey went to India and Jud-
/
world was closed against foreign mis-
| sions; now, practically all the world
is open to them. with the Bible trans
i lated into more than four hundred
languages and dialects, covering the
vast majority of the people of the
globe.
Any one who has looked into the
face of John G. Patton THE Apostle
to the New Hebrides," has seen that
nd ri,
which is the surest sign of sanctity
! The transformation which Patton was
I the means of effecting in the lives OF
I his duSky parishionerS was scarcely
4 more wonderful than the transforms
ton wrought in the missionary's owr
4 person. For nearly fifty years Johr
4 G. Patton watched Christ work, anC
! worked with Christ, in the New He
4 brides, and proved the proposition
that the way to know the doctrine il
to do it; that the proof of God come.
/ in putting him to the test. JlI
Neesirna is one of the great name:
in the history of modern Japan, al
= well as in the history of mission. Ht
was not only an eminent patriot, bu'
he was an eminent Christian also
He early became dissatisfied with
conditions in Japan and conceived tbs
idea of coming to America to learr
more perfectly the Christian prin.
ciples which he believed were the
great lack of.h1s country. He went bacI
to Japan as missionary evangelis
under the American board. He
founded the Doshisha college in Jap.
4 an. At his death every class an6
rank paid tribute to his work and
character.
From the standpoint of va stness OF
vision, indomitable endeavOr in the
face of hardship and persecution, ac
tual effectiveness in results, anC
charm and sanctity of character, there
has been no later missionary to equa
the first, Saul of Tarsus; whose tours
of Asia Minor still remain the high
water marks in missionary history
If the missionary crusade, which
aims at nothing less than the tota.
overthrow of heathendom and the
winning of an entire world to Christ
is to gain success it must come by
more than human power. Mans I'M
aided efforts are futile. Our chief de.
pendence is upon the omnipotent Spir.
it of the living God. Apart from Hin
we can do nothing.