The Washington times., 1922-12-16
0 I
TODArhUST
bEAIHLEIE
Heathen Now Being Taught to
Stretch ~ End Of Sew
enth Inning"

The nations Of the earth are learn.
fng to stand up and stretch at the
end of the. seventh inning. Also.
they are beginning 10 tell the umpire
the mistakes. he makes In. his de.
cisions. For baseball, and kindred
American sports are taking the place
of bull fights and the gatherings In
the cock pits. And the, fellow who
is bringing this to- pass 10 the for.
eign missionary Of the Church OF
Jesus Christ, the same fellpw we
used to iapkpoea gnd make % 2 ssastry e,
Down in-sHstSi \ ii ,tnss an b
Cochabamba?ste missionary got th1
people "going" 6Sers tsnazil & s99te
were no sports In either the city or
state when he began to teach the
mysteries of putting the bah over
the net SO that 1t would land where
his opponent couldn't make safe
return. He taught his pupils in the
mission school first. That was In
1912. Now this South American
city Of $4,000 people boasts Of Its
own "city tennis courts" and tennis
tournaments are the order Of the
day.
In India, for generations. It has
been the custom of the people to
hold great melas, or religious fes-
tiyals, characterized by the debasing
elements Of their pagan worship. A
generation Of Christians hold melas
today, but with. & difference. The
l00-yard dash is feature. The pole
vault IL one Of the numbers. And
the broad jump and hurdles have
many entries. While along the
sidelines the supporters Of the teams
give the school yell with ell the lusty
enthusiasm Of American rooters.
Who ever thought Of the mis-
sionary in the roll of changing the
sports OF q nation? He 10 not only
the principles Of the King
dom Of God and establishing
He Ii also helping to de-
velop the body and 10 introducing
the spirit Of fair play. And In the
place Of the sluggish youth found In
90 many countries where the mis-
sionary labors, there 10 developing q
fconfident, aggressives alert, and
active group of young men and
women who give great promise for
the affairs Of tomorrow In their re-
spective countries.
J And why not, when these ambas.
sadors of the Church OF Jesus
Christ are making all sof life worth
the living7 The old-tirhe missionary
board would turn over in their
graves af the thought Of director
Of athletics az q part Of the staff
Of q foreign mission. And basket-
ball and track meets would scan
dalize them still further. But our
generation knows the character
building values of good. clean,
strenuous sports. and re3otces.
Out on the campus OF william
Mast College, in Kinkiang. China,
the rain was pouring In torrents. II
was cold and q stiff breeze cut rfght
70 the bone. But what mattered
that. The 226 boy students stood
and cheered through the cold ana
rain while ~their football tSasm
played through hard game asainst
. team Of British sailors. And 81
the end Of the game they snake
danced over the muddy field to ID
honor to the victors. -. IN
Such things do more than marx
the change from unwhole.orne
to healthy, fnviroraf.
ing sports, though this alone q
worthy of highest connrnendat tion ecr
what h being done by the foreisn
missionary: They also reveal tie
fact that the type Of young men -
ing out a. missionaries 10 other than
some folks imagine. n
The crusty critic Of foreien mis-
eions d0esn't know that the 0unrf -.
back he cheered at the Yale.Harvnr "A
game - q medical rnisuionarv m
China. Such : possibIlftv Woul6nY
occur 20 him: And the wiseocre
Who "doesnt believn n. forsiSn mif
sionG becaua4 o. 4 CARTOON - onco
saM, wupm attain 60 esns,ins WisScW
= ~ eoald know (haf kis crSiir 80
ls&s bAesbell piteAer z an itinsratinr
The mi.eicn fel4e ars fun Of ne
Heroee ~ footba1L haseb4ll. -
track teams q yeeterdAy. They ~,
80 .ChrietiAn mAnhoc6 N
Afrlca ard IN Ko~a. a Bprn,6. a16
p Ruste they 4m hear tho
ehssrs tAct drove ~ ~ % vsotarv