The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1950-02-09

OF codStland along
the eastern shore Of the Mediter-
ranean. where it was born, out into
the western world.
The Best They Had
THE FIRST missionary party
4 were not raw untried men.
They were Barnabas and Saul, the
top leaders of Antioch. These men
had done a great work in Antioch;
their usefulness there was not at
an end by any means. But the
church sent them away to win
souls elsewhere. 1t is a mistake to
suppose that just anybody will do
as a missionary.
Ignorant people who suppose
that missionaries are only the
''cu!ls" of the church don't
know the facts. A few years
ago a scientist, Ellsworth Hunt
ington, made q study Of the
graduates of Yale and Harvard
who were successful enough to
be written up in who's Who
in America" He found that
missionaries sons furnished the
largest proportion Of those sue
cessful men.
The reason for this, he believed,
is that only in missionary families
do you find that both parents. and
not just one. have to 60 through a
rigid sitting process. Only the best
mentally. morally, physically
are accepted by the church today
as missionaries.
Sfratexie CessEA-s
CAUL. or Paul, who came rapid
~ " to the front in the mission
airy team, was all for efficiency.
He never did thing the hard way
il an easier way would save his en-
ergy. So we find him heading for
the great centers Of population.
In the synagogue he weuld
find the most religious pespse
In the city, people who already
believed In the One God and
who took seriously the Law
and the Prophets.
Barrabas and Saul stuck to cities
for another reason also. Not that
they despised small-town folk, but
they knew that cities are where the
crowds are. For every dozen PEG.
pie they could reach in a village,
there were hundreds to be reached
In the cities. So today, mission
work has generally concentrated
first in the most heavily settled
regions.
The Eollow-Up
CAUL AND BARNABAS also set
~ the example for later genera
tons in their use of the follow
up" They did not suppose that
simply converting people was
enough. There had to be second
visits. Some churches Paul Wis
tied as many as five times. They
would appoint officers in every
church. They knew that organized
religion is more likely to last than
disorganized religion. 90
They were not fly-by-night
evangelists. lie Wing behind
them only an ebbing wave 81
emotional excitement. .Ey
rCse grower knows that ID b
betsof to put 10-cent rosdRin
. W-cent hole than to put
S0-cent rose into . 1o-cent Ne.
So Paul did not stick little seed
lings Of new Christians into barren
ground at random; he took pains to
see mat they were solidly planted
in good rose-beds.
The Holy Spirit
THERE IS ANOTHER, and most
: important, way in which this
first missionary effort has set the
pace for all since: From beginning
to end. they depended on the Holy
Spirit. 1t was the Spirit who first
suggested the idea; 1t was the
Spirit who gave the power, and
furnished the guidance. Not that
the Spirit was or is a substitute
for human effort.
But to this very day, II You
want to find persons who know
about the Holy Spirit 1T first
hand, VINO know what il means
to depend on the Spirit and to
be used by Him, then get ac-
quainted with your church's
missionaries.
What to SO many of us church.
goers is only name, to them is
the deepest reality by which they
live