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MONTREAT CONFERENCES
I)H. EGBERT W. SMITH AT MOX
TREAT.
Dr. Egbert W. Smith, secretary ot
Foreign Missions, after an absence o
eight months from America, five
months of which were spent in Af
rica, three months of this time in our
own mission, spoke on Sunday morn
ing in the auditorium at Rlontreat t'o
a large congregation.
Dr. Smith said that he could not
speak too highly of our missionaries
in Africa, a finer body of men and
women he had never met. He consid
ered his association with them one of
the privileges of his life.
As they proceeded up the great
river every town revealed scenes of
great beauty, and for miles and miles
they were greeted with the most de
lightful odors from the tropical flow
ers. Even the crocodiles were glad
to see them. Many of them opened
wide their mouths at the first sight
of Dr. Smith and kept them open as
long as he could be seen, which was
just their way of saying, ."You cer
tainly do look good to me."
To sit on a river steamer, with no
noise, no dust, no heat, and every
turn furnishing a view of forest and
plain, is certainly the perfection of
travel. The land travel was by foot,
bicycle or hammock. The hammock
is carried by two men. The passenger
is expected to walk up and down
every hill. On the African paths,
which are the chief means of commu
nication, the bicycle is the best means
of travel. The natives travel these
paths on foot, so are careful to keep
them clear of any stones or any thing
that might cause a puncture.
There are two things that stand
out most strikingly in the histoty of
the African mission work. The first
is God's guidance in Samuel Lapsley's
decision as to the location of the mis
sion. After long uncertainty, much
prayer, extensive exploration, the mis
sion was finally located 1,250 miles
inland, 800 miles from any other mis
sion, and fnany miles from the base
of supplies. The region was uncon
taminated by commercialized white
settlements; is 2,000 feet above sea
level, and has cool nights and morn
ings. The natives are a cheerful,
open-hearted people. After a lapse of
thirty-one years we do not know
which to admire most, the courage or
the wisdom of the decision. Lapsley
speat only about two years in Africa;
but in real achievement these years
do not shrink in comparison wUh the
whole life of many another man.
When the history of the African
mission is written, it will be said:
"There was a man sent from God and
his name was Samuel N. Lapsley."
The second decision was that of
Dr. Morrison concerning the tribe
upon which our Church should focus
its efforts and provide with a writ
ten language and a grammar. Dr.
Morrison chose the Baluba and kin
dred tribes. These people are intelli
gent, open-minded and unsuspicious
of the white man. They add to these
qualities a love of travel which has
been a great help in the spread of
the gospel.
Dr. Smith was given a hearty wel
come everywhere he went. As the
steamer arrived 2,000 natives linp
the bank waving palm branches and
singing songs. At Balupe the whole
village turned out and his hammock
was acrried through the village under
specially prepared lanes of palm
trees. Dr. Smith was called by
the natives "Tbe-greatjone-who
makes-people-and-thingB-better."
We have In Africa five stations, and
about 600 out stations. In the five
stations are the homes of the mission
aries, and they are beginning to Iook
very much like Christian communi
ties with their schools and churches.
The out stations are far removed from
the stations and manned only by
one or two native Christians. These
men are immature, unprepared Chris
tians, but they are earnestly and pa
thetically trying to lead and teach the
people. This is the real firing line
of the work.
Dr. Smith visited thirty out stations
representing every phase of the work.
In one heathen village a specially
prepared dish was brought out for
him, but when he found that it con
tained fried catapillars, he was
obliged to make an exuse and refuse.
At one village they found between
three and four hundred natives un
der the care of one native evangelist.
The missionary had been able to visit
this field only once. The absolute in
ability of the missionary to keep up
with the out stations is the greatest
lack in our work there.
When a village asks for an evan
gelist they are always expected Co
provide the church and the evangel
ist's home before a man is sent.
In the congregation of one of these
out stations was the village witch doc
tor and his wife. Just three weeks
before this man had given to the evan
gelist his idols, and bag of medicines
and fetishes, worth probably $20,
which is an enormous sum in that
country. The last thing which a na
tive is willing to give up is his "tree
of life." This tree grows in front ot
his house and in it are supposed to
reside the spirit of his ancestors. Be
fore his t^-ee the native will often sac
rifice animals to propitiate the spirits.
The witch doctor finally consented for
the evangelist to pull up his "tree of
life." When this man surrendered
his medicines, his only protection
against danger and death, his neigh
bors predicted his immediate death.
Then he was tormented by dreams ot
death. In one dream a group ot
young women came to him and told
him that their medicines would eat
him ? that is, kill him. In another
dream he saw his wife, who told him
that she had dug his grave. The
poor man, with the heathen's natural
belief in dreams and signs, wan
haunted by a great fear. Mr. Bed
inger spoke words of comfort to him
and at Dr. Smith's suggestion, read
and explained the passage from the
Bible, "Fear not, I have the keys o!
death," and they saw the look of
fear leave his eyes.
In the afternoon, in spite of a cold
rain, the church was crowded. M<t
Bedinger spoke on the above text and
the witch doctor also spoke of his ex
perience. Later, Mr. Bedinger and
Dr. Smith walked through the village
and saw two men destroying their
fetishes and one of them pulling up
hiB "tree of life." The other one
strangely had no "tree of life."
In all the services Dr. Smith sat
in the front of the congregation so
that he might observe and study the
people. The children were clothed in
the atmosphere, and except for the
evangelist and his wife, the men and
women were clothed in loin clothee,
reaching sometimes to the knees.
Many of the natives were elaborately
tattooed. The women wear many
necklaces, anklets, armlets, earrings.
One earring seen was a little safety
pin, and one which carried special
charm and good luck was made ot
three safety pins fastened together to
form a chain. One girl had so en
larged the holes In her ears that she
wore in them sticks as large as a
man's thumb and Ave Inches long.
The natives have fine figures. Their
f*
noses are wider and flatter, and their
mouths larger than the white man's;
but their feet are as well shaped and
the insteps just) as high. Their
voices are not as musical as those of
our negroes, nor do they have the
same laugh, nor emotional nature.
The American negro came from a dif
ferent race from these negroes.
Dr. Smith thinks that the mental
growth and development of these peo
ple under Christian education and
training will, be one of the greatest
surprises of our time. Their atten
tion in church was perfect. They
greeted everything that struck them
with an audible, out-breathed sigh.
As Dr. Smith told how far he had
come and how the American Church
loved and prayed for them, every sen
tence was followed by this sigh of
approval.
At one place the parents of a
twelve-year-old girl brought her to
Dr. Smith and Mr. Bedinger. The
girl's eyelids were swollen and her
eyes were twitching. Evidently there
was something serious the matter
with her, but, being neither doctors
nor trained nurses, they could do
nothing for her, and the disappointed
parents had to go home without help.
At another place they saw a curi
ous thing coming toward them on
three feet. It proceeded by a mixture
of walk, hobble, and crawl and rolled
over on the ground completely ex
hausted. They found this to be a
woman suffering with an ulcer on her
leg as big as a man's hand and cov
ered with mud an inch thick. In her
suffering and extreme need she had
come to the missionary for' help. He
was unable to help her and sho
crawled back to her home, possibly
a mile awky, to die of something that
science might have cured.
In this country, where thirty-one
years ago not one person could read
or write, nor had ever heard a word
of prayer, now 30,000 people every
morning between five and six gathe:
to offer prayer to the true God.
Tithing is rapidly increasing and
churches are assuming their flnanola'
support and in a few yearg the pro
portion of tithers in the African
church will be greater than at home.
At a convention of evangelists, Dr.
Smith heard one man speak one hour
and twenty minutes and his one mes
sage was the duty and the blessedness
of being a tither.
There are two things that make the
present time in Africa critical. One
is the steady advance of the Moham
medans from the North, and the other
is the fact that the un-Christian ma
terial civilization is penetrating more
and more Into the interior.
For the next ten years the field Is
ours and God is calling us to enter in
and take It for Him. Two or three
delegations come to the missionaries
every week asking for preachers and
evangelists. A special delegation
waited on Dr. Smith to send to Ihe
home church through him a burning
petition for teachers and evangelists.
If ever a door was held open to
any ChurCh by the hand of God, it
is the door in Belgian Congo held
open to our Church. "He that hath
ears to hear, let him hear."
On the grave of Lapsley In Africa
is inscribed the words, "Died here in
God's service." There he waits for
his beloved Church to finish the work
He has given them to do.
"He climbed the steep ascent of
heaven.
Oh, God! may grace to us be given
To follow in his train."
FAREWELL TO MISSIONARIES.
At the end of the Foreign Mission
Conference at Montreat, Mr. A. D.
Mason, chairman of the Foreign Mis
sion Committee, asked all the mis
sionaries and their children who were
present to come to the platform. Then
he called for the parents and grand
parents of missionaries to come also.
Next he asked for the volunteers. The
lajge platform of the new auditorium
was completely filled. It was cer
tainly an inspiring sight to the large
audience gathered to tell the mission
aries farewell.
It was a thrilling moment when Dr.
Painter, the venerable missionary
from China, was led to a front seat
on the platform.
When they were all assembled Mr.
Mason called on one missionary from
each country t.o say a few words of
farewell. Without exception, each
one expressed his appreciation of the
love of the people in the home land
and made a strong appeal to them for
prayer for the work, for real inter
cessory prayer.
At the close, Dr. E. W. Smith, for
the Executive Committee, spoke to the
missionaries, first of the complete con
fidence that the committee has in
them, and then of the close feeling
of sympathy and understanding which
the members of the committee have
for the missionaries, especially in any
time of trial or sorrow, and of thei?
continual interest in their work. At
a quarter to twelve every day every
one in the committee offces meet for
a season of prayer for the work of the
foreign field.
LOUISIANA CAMPAIGN PLEDGES
PAYABLE NOW AT MEMPHIS.
All subscribers in Louisiana in the
recent $2,000,000 campaign for Chris
tian Education should now send re
mittances to L. C. Humes, treasurer,
care Guaranty Bank. & Trust Com
pany, Memphis, Tenn., instead of to
jBenjamin B. Taylor at Baton Rogue.
All records are now in the hands of
Mr. Humes.
This change was decided upon re
cently by the Louisiana committee,
of which Mr. D. M. Pipes is chairman,
and Mr. Humes kindly agreed to han
dle these collections along with those
of the Synods of Mississippi and Ten
nessee.
Mr. Taylor rendered most valuable
service while the treasurer and the
committee gave him a hearty vote of
thanks for the efficient way in which
his work was conducted.
"Every limit is a beginning as well
as an ending."
PROTECTING YOUR ESTATE
Many estates become involved in dtsasirous litigation because of failure to
safeguard the interests of the heirs.
We are splendidly equipped to safeguard estates, and our officers always
welcmoe inquiries in person or by mail. 4
State & City Bank and T rust Company
RICHMOND. VIRGINIA