The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1922-10-28
BY AIIGNoN HALL


in Birmingham.
She has been soldering in far
away land-leagues away from the
sweet pines of Alabama. its spring
times of dogwoods-and quiet hooks
where gray-green, bubble topped,
iancet-eyed brooks go seampering,
like bright needle, amidst the tucks
and hens of its foothills
Japan is a long, long way in the
mysterious west, where it sits up I
nights and gazes moodily across to
America like an oriental queen +
eNiled from an island of magic |
dreams; and within it. there are
heartbreaks for aliens, and especially /
All For Him
But Miss Mabel Whitehead, be-
cause she loves God more than she /
loves any glittering baubles of a
| modern day existence; more than any |
| tempting career In world that beck |
ons for the especially talented; more
than her own people; more than her
life itself-has gone there to carry
this message to heather souls:
For God so loved the world that
He gave to you His only begotten son
that, after while, if you believe upon
Him, your lives shall continue ever
lastingly in world over which He
of the universe-shall be brothers
and sisters, dwelling. racing merrily
with one another
In the face of such Godcommands-
His will-how strange 1t is that
races, people, dare to war for I'M
holy ends; dare not to love one an
other; dare to sit idle so long as di-
vinity does not prevail as the watch
word around every fireside and is not
carried to the uttermost and be-
nighted corners of the world-carrled
there not by one or two. but by
hordes sufficient to accomplish the
4 work quickly.
Miss Whitehead is one of the very
meager handful of missionaries to
Japan, where her task of soul-sav-
ing looms up against mighty thou
sands, and where she is able to reach
not more than a few hundreds each
year-maybe only a few dozens in
actual, daily, personal contact and
training.
Nation Needs Christianity
And all the more pitiful is this
shortage of soul -gatherers since, she
declares:
Japan needs Christianity and her
people are eager to accept salvationd
when they can be reached and its
beauty unfolded to them. All Japans
persecution of the Koreans of her
erous acts as a nation is merely
challenge to the Christian world to
send the gospel to Japan. AS our re-
cent war shows, it is the spirit of the
prince of peace that will conquer, and
that alone.
THE nation needs the Christian
doctrine too, to bring comfort to their
heather hearts. AS it is. they are
going off into philosophy and medi-
tation, trying to work out the prob
lem of life and fate by themselves
And it is only more soul-racking
existence"
Miss Whitehead, who is under the
auspices of the Southern Methods st
church, has been in Japan five years.
and interesting indeed were the
things she has related in numerous
addresses before Birmingham au-
diences. She was at Oita, Japan,
three years; and previously at the
Tokyo School of Foreign Languages
and at Kyoto studying the Japanese
tongue. She is allowed one year in
seven for furlough. That is why she
is home
Concerning war talk between this
country and Japan, Miss whitehead
said there are lot of Japanese yell
low journals which relate that the
United States is greedy; that the
country thinks it knows it all: and
spreads the report that Uncle Sam is
treating its island possessions worse
than Japan does Korea
Thus the people are led to believe
that we are seeking war with Japan;
just lying in wait. That is what
hear constantly, and naturally there
is a great deal of i'll feeling toward
our land because we permit the Chi
nese to come in and bar the Japs.
4 However, the educated Japs un-
derstand our attitude and are against
war. As an indication of this last
year, when a vote was taken among
the student body of colleges and uni
versties. the majority of votes was
for disarmament and against war of
any kind. An additional indication
that war is unpopular is that go-be-
tweens, who contract marriages, de-
clare that it is exceedingly hard to
get the Jap girls to accept a military
man, while in old days, the military
class was really the most popular of
all choices.
"A great thing for the civilized
world is that % members of the Jap
| Parliament are Christians, Ind last
year helpful edict was sent out by
the national depot of education to
the effect that no school child or
| teacher should take part in demon
STATIONS against Christians. Before
that. prosecutions were many. mis-
sionaries being slapped at and spit
upon.
The calamity which brought about
the edict was that a Christian mis-
sionary had his eyeball knocked out
while he was delivering an address
by a man who threw pointed stick
! into his eye. Bands of Buddhist
/ priests had been carrying on or
ganized propaganda against Christian
| teaching, Bibles and churches, and
| gathering in front of the homes of
Christians and heaping insults upon
| them"
Educational Facilities Lacking
Miss Whitehead. who is the daugh- |
| ter of Mr.. and Mrs. w. II. Whitehead |
of Blrming ham speaks at Japanese
| public meetings and teaches groups |
| of Jap high school girls, giving them |
| daily one hour of English and one |
hour of Bible study. There are |
three kindergartens in her town. her |
! partner there being Miss Annette |
| Gist.
Educational facilities are limited, |
| and Jap high schools SO inadequate, |
| 1iteraI1y thousands fail m pef in wh0 /