The guardian., 1953-06-27

warmth OF human sympathy and
peoples who wander as sheep
without a shepherd in sin and
ignorance. None but Eie has the
power to touch and move pne
hearts of men to receive the
hearty truths of the gospel.
However diligently Paul may
plant, or Apollo water, the grow
tn of Gods kingdom on earth is
the work of the Holy Ghost
All / have said about our
Lords last will, the ChTch's
dwide mission and the spirit
of God applies as well to that
continent and that people whom
/ have had the privilege to serve
as a missionary priest for the
past 14years and to whom l
shall, please God, soon return as
newly consecreated Bishop.
The Church in Africa is now
enjoying kind of second
spring, almost two thousand
years after its first awakening
to Christianity, for the first
troops of that great continent
were gathered into the Chris
tian fold in apostolic time. Until
the early part of the fifth CEN
tury the whole Mediterranean
coast of Africa was towering
garden of Christianity. We have
only to recall the names of Ter
tullian, Cyprian and the incom-
parable Augustine, patron OF the
only seminary for the education
of colored priests in the United
States, and my alma mater. But
a series of historic disasters
practically wiped out this prom
ising beginning in Africa and
for IA centuries, up til about a
hundred years ago, the Christ
ian faith lived on only in scat
tered spots of the continent. In
central Africa and the Congo
have again provided the Church
with most numerous and conSol-
ing conqueSts, reminiscent OF the
early days OF Christianity.
In our day, while a great part
OF the Orient has fallen prey to
the Red Scourage, a wide door
is opened to the gospel on the
most ancient OF the continents.
Looking intently through that
door one may see the promise
Of q bright and unlimited future
for Christianity in Africa.
1 would like to express my own;
most earnest conviction that
this great body OF land and its
people have been pictured in too
sombre tones. Africa is not a
dark continent. 1t is bright and
sunny, and its people are among
the happieSt, the most loVable
and the most loving I have ever
known. Mysterious the land may
have been when it was stf1 an
unexplored frontier. The un-
known is always a realm Of mys-
tey. with modern communica-
tions greatly facilitating mutual
intercourse and allowing us to,
know each other better, wef1nd
that the people of this contin-
ent have the same human needs
and Aspirations, the same human
hunger for God, yet the same
hunma frailty and proIeness to
civil as ourselves. Some Of Gods
children are less trained in the
ways Of a complex world than
others but by the same token
perhaps, more ready for the
Kingdom Of God,
One OF Aiica'S most illustriouS
sons has remarked that the con-
tinent is shaped like great
question mark upon the face of
the globe. 1t asks the world:
WHITTIER shall 1 go? In which
direction should 1 turn? The
answer may well be given in our
own generation. If we as
Christians endeavor to grant the
love of Christ for all mtn, If we
open our souls to the Pentaeos-
tai flames and become as men
fllIed with the Holy Ghost, If
we ponder gratefully our un-
merfted blessings as heirs Of the
faith and our bounden duty to
be apostles, each in our own
self, each in OUR own way, by
ardent prayer, by making the
Sayiour's interests our own, by
generosity with material giftc,
we shall be doing our bit to
make disciples of all nations. II
many, many Others make the
heroic resolve to give all they
have, to become laborers in the
field ripe for the harvest, and
to serve distant outpoStS az
missionaries OF the field, they
win be fulfilling our Lords last
will and be assuring themselves
OF the Apostles reward a hun
dredfold in this world and life
everlasting.