*

A Life-Like Marble Statue

in Minneapolis, Minnesota,

Dedicated to the Undying Memory of the Pioneers

of Yesterday. -l'hoto~r•tlth JJY

i\I. f,. f ,cu riscbncr.

Pnnted in U. S. A.

THE-

Page 382

fJ1 The Baptist Church of Elberta, Ala., cf which the Rev. G. Sprock is pastor , r ecently enjoyed a wonderful revival. In answer to their prayers 15 per sons wer e added to the church, 11 of whom

· had been baptized on confession of their faith on Sunday, August 2-1. Mr. Sprock wrote: "Such blessings of the Lord bring joy a nd courage to faith!:ul workers. Therefore, let us witness for J esus in our daily life and walk."

(Jj The Rev. Otto Fiesel has resigned his charge as pastor of the Ger man Baptist Church of Trochu, Alta., Can­ada, and he has accepted the call from the Baptist Churches of Vida and Lam­bert, Mont. His appointment has bee n approved by the Dakota Conference and General Miss ionary Committee. The change of residence and fields of service for the Rev. and Mrs. Otto Fie­sel will be made before November 1st.

fJ1 Since October 1st the Rev. M. John­son of Chicago, Ill. , is serving as the new pastor of the Baptist Church of Steamboat Rock, Iowa. He is a grad­uate cf the Moody Bible Ins titute of Chicago and in r ecent years, as report­ed to the editor , has been engaged in business in Chicago. He is a son-in-

' law of the. Rev. and Mrs. George Ehr­horn of P a rkersburg, Iowa. We wish the Steamboat Rock Church and th e new pastor God's blessings in the days to come. Mr. Johnson has succeeded t he Rev. H . Palfenier of Philadelphia, P a.

(j/ T he Mt. Zion Baptist Church. near Junction City, Kans., is located m the vicinity of Fort Riley of the U nited States government. The pastor of t hat church, the Rev. Thomas Lutz, would like to provide entertainment and hos­pitality for any young men from our churches who are in t ra ining at Fort Riley. If parents or friends wi ll write to him at the address, Route No. 1, Junction City, Kansas, giving the name of the young man, troop, company, or squadron to which he belongs at Fort Riley, he will get in touch with him for a spiritual and friend ly ministry.

fJI The G~rman Baptist Church of Bis­marck, No. Dak., held its reception for its new pastor and his wife, the Rev. and Mrs. A. Krombein, on Sunday eve­ning, September 7. In the morning ser ­vice, Mr. Krombein brought his first message on t he text, "We would see J esus." (John 12 :21.) The guest speak­ers at the r eception were t he Revs. Karl Gieser and H . G. Bens of Bis­marck. Messages of hearty greeting wer e brought by the following repre­sentatives of the church: Mr. B. C. H el­wig as church deacon; Mr. Klein as Sunday School superintendent; Mrs. Karl Gieser for the Ladies' Aid; and Mrs. R. Neuharth for the B. Y . P. U.

4!jJ The Erin Avenue Baptist Church of Cleveland, Ohio, has called the Rev. Henry H :rsch, pastor of t he F a ith Baptist Church of Minneapolis, Minn., as its new minister. Mr. Hirsch has accepted the call extended to him and will begin his services in the Cleveland Church on November 19th, succeeding the Rev. Thorwald W. Bender, now pas­tor of the Imma nuel Church of Mil­waukee, Wis. During the past summer months the Rev. Alfred Cierpke preached in mos t of the German ser­vices and, as he wrote, "enjoyed a won­derful fellowship with the families of the church." He and his wife have r e­turned to Philadelphi a, P a., to continue their studies in the E :istern Baptist Theological Seminary.

(][ The Rev. and Mrs. B. W. Krentz of Los Angeles, Calif., made a hurried visit to North Dakota with some fr iends early in September. On Wednesday evening, September 10, Mr. Krentz, who is now pastor of the Fif­teenth Street Baptist Church of Los Angeles, spoke in a service held in the Baptist Church of Gackle, No. Dak., with members of the Alfred Church also present . On Friday evening, Sep­tember 12, he spoke in the Bapt ist Church of Napoleon, No. Dak. 0 11 Sunday, September 14, he preached in the morning service of t he Baptist church of Wishek, No. Dale, with the Beaver Creek Church people a lso pres­ent, and in the evening in the Baptist Chur ch of Ashley, No. Dak.

fJI The new pastor of the F irst Baptist Church of J amestown, No. Dak., is the Rev. E . P . Fosrnarck, formerly minis­ter of the Grace Baptist Church of Great F alls, Mont. He began his min­istr y on August 1st, succeeding the R ev. W. A. Weyhrauch. Jn response to a query of the editor, the Rev. F. W. Bartel wrnte as follows concerning Mr F osmark: " H e is of Norwegian stock· a young m_an ?f charming personalit; a nd splendid gifts. He was t rained at the Northwestern Bib1e Insti tute of Minneapolis and the Moody Bible In­stitute ?f Chicago. Having served as evangelist for 7 years t hroughout Nor.th Dak?ta and Montana, he is ac­qua111ted with a number of our Dakota pastors and with some of our work."

(jj On Friday evening, September 19, the members of th.e Kossuth Baptist C~urch near Mamtowoc, Wis., sur­pr1s~d t?eir pastor, Prof. Hugo Lueck, on his birthday at a wiener r oas t which was held on the farm of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Steuer. On September 28 Profes­s~r Lueck completed a full year of ser ­v1Ce. a~ pastor of the Kossuth Church . H e is 111 great demand as guest speak­er to varied groups. Recent ly he ad-

THE BAPTIST HERALD

dressed t he Green Bay Baptist Asso­ciation at Green Bay, Wis., on 'The Baptist Si tuation in Europe." On Sun­day, September 28, he was the special speaker at a service in the Baptist Church of Watertown, Wis., sponsored by the Men's Club. A statement of his on the Bible was featured en the front cover of the "Watchman-Examiner" in its issue of September 25th. On Sun­day, September 22, the Rev. 1\1. L. Leuschner, young people's secretary, spoke in the mor ning service and showed missionary pictures in the eve­ni ng before good sized congregations.

(jJ The Rev. A. Husmann of Forest Park, Il l. , promotion al secr etar y, has been leading a very busy li fe du ring recent weeks. In September he spoke at services of the chur ches, women's missionar y societies and young people's r a ll ies in the following towns of Iowa : Elgin, Buffalo Center, First a nd Sec­ond Church of George, Baileyville, (Il­linois), Aplington, Parkersburg, Steam­boat Rock, Muscatine and Victor. On Sunday afternoon, September 14 , he addressed the you ng people's raliy at Aplington, Iowa, attended by young people from Aplington, Steamboat Rock, Sheffield and Parker s bu r g churches in the inter est of the Iowa m1ss1on 1;roject. The offering was $48.32. From September 28 to October 19 his sched ule included the following churches in the Dakota Conference : McClusky, Turtle Lake, Goodrich, Ana­moose, and Fessenden, North Dakota ; Madison, Wessington, Avon, Hettinger, McLaughlin, Venturia, and Herreid·, South Dakota. On Friday evening, Oc­tober 10, he addressed the South Dako­ta young people's rall y at Tyndall , So. Dak. From October 15 to 17 he wi ll be the guest speaker at the Cent r al Dakota Sunday School Association at Vent uria, No. Dak.

The Baptist Herald Published semi-monthly by the

ROGER W I LLIAMS PRESS

37 34 Payne Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio.

Martin L . Leuschner, Editor Subscription pr ice--$1.50 a year.

To Foreign countries-$1.75 a year.

Advertising rates, 75 cent! per inch, single column, 234 inches wide.

Obituary notices arc accepted at S cents per line, set in six point type.

All editorial correspondence is to be ad· dressed to the Rev. Martin L. L euschne r, 7346 Madison ::itreet, Forest Park, Illinois.

All business correspondence is to be sent to German B aptist Publication Sor.iety, 3734 Payne Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio.

Entered as second·claaa matter Janunry 9, 1923, at the post office at Cleveland Ohio

undCT the act of March 3, j579 '

Volume Nineteen CLEVELAND, omo, OCTOBER 15, 1941 Number T wenty

EDITORIAL need not make any apologies for dedi­

cating this issue of "The Baptist Herald" to t he m emory of our pioneers. How piti­

fu l it is tha t the stir ring story of their privations a n d achievements h a s

"Lest We Forget!" largely become a closed chapter to the grea ter par t

of t he you ng people of our day! Life, for most of us, i:- such a mad bustle and so super ficia l in its quality t hat t he past is largely forgotten .

Ther e is an over powering challenge in t he r ec­ords of yesterday that can make us stronger and more sta lwar t men and women for the tomorrow. We can still put our h and to the plow with clear­eyed vh;ion, not as we look back, but as we con­template "the rock from whence we were hewn." \Ve cannot fo rget that "others have labored and we have entered into t heir labors." We must acknowledge the gr ace of God and the h eritage of our fo refathers in our ach ievements of today.

Ther e was a mor al and spirit ual fiber in t h e life of the pioneer s that has la rgely disappeared from modern life. The luxuries of yesterday have become the commonplace necessities of to­day, for which we show litt le gratitude and some­timef; littl e understanding. Even our re lig ious concepts have not been temper ed in the crucible of fire of hard-won efforts and persecution. The mean ing of the word, "sacrifice." i~ largely for­eign to us.

\i\-e cannot recall the past. No one of us would want a r ecapit ulation of yesterday. But we ought to cherish the values that have been handed down to us by our pioneer fathers. W e ought to be intimately acquainted with the history of our den ominati on and with the spir itua l forces t hat brought the Baptist movement into birth. We ought to "take our hats off to the past even as we take off our coats to the futu re"-ready for work and action !

These meditations will help to int rod uce the reader to one of the most outstanding issues of "The Baptist Herald" which we have published during t h e past seven year s. F r om the striking front cover pict ure of immigrant pioneers to the reci tal of God's guidance in the life of our gener­a l missionary secr etary, there is one dominant theme in all of the pages expressed in the words : "It is the Lord!"

Professor Ramaker , who has a lready observed his diamond jubilee in birthday anniversaries, is at his best in the a r ticle, " Our Spiritual Heri­tage ." This profound study of the past, po ints in the direction of our Centenar y Jubilee in 1943, which we should be able to observe with God's blessing, only as we embody these spir itual values of th e pioneer days in our lives of today. Peter Wedel and Emil Suevern should be more than names of the early Camer oon history after read­ing the hear twarming sketches about these mis­sionaries by the Rev. Christian Dippel. W h at valiant heroes of yester day march before our eyes!

Such reading material will serve as a spiritual exhileration in the accomplishment of present tasks. Missionary heroism does not belong ex­clusively to the past. Miss Koppin's article in this issue and sever al articles and pictur es by Paul Gebauer in the next number of "The Herald" will dep ict the stirr ing missionary victories in A f ­rica of today. The r eport about the seminary opening by Pr ofessor Bretschneider, the success­or to Professor Ramaker, is likewise heartening. Th is is good news, indeed!

In this way we ar e opening the portals to our renewed observance as churches to the Denomi­national Thanksgiving and Sacrifice Week from Sunday, November 23, to Sunday, November 30 Pionee~"" h~ve gone before us who r isked much fo r thell" faith. Dare we follow in their train?

Page 384 THE BAPTIST HERALD

Statue Honoring the P ioneers of the P acific N orthwest in Salem, Oregon, With the Words, "Valiant Men Have T hrust Our Frontiers

to the Setting SuIL"

A Remarkable Spiritua l Interpreta tion of the History of Our Churches Dur ing the Past Century by PROFESSOR ALBERT J. RAMAKER

of Rochester, Ne w York

The t heme and its formulation a re not of my own choosing. They were given me by the editor of " The Baptist Herald" with the request that I wr it e a shor t sketch in which t he spir it ua l side of t he work, in which our church­es have been engaged for near ly a cen­t ury, receive some special mention.

The subject seems somewhat ambi­t ious for a newspaper article. yet I find myself in sympathy with t he request at a t ime when in our plannin g f or t he coming centennia l celebration in 1943 our attention may be drawn to other accomplishments which may be of only seconda ry importance. I shall also be pardoned if I add t hat I h a ve some under standing of our chur ches' h istory in my own right, because I have held member ship in a German­speaking Bapt ist Church from my early yout h, a nd t hr ough grand~arents a nd parents became conn ected with the earliest beginnings of our churches in t he for t ies of t he last centur y in Mil­waukee, t he city of my birth.

Sp irituality Defined Does it seem needful to define the

adjective, "spiritual," in our theme? Perhaps, it may not be out of place. If it seems farfetched it is because we forget t hat God has endowed man with rational gif ts as well as with ma­te1·ial in or der t hat we may Jive fully as a creature of flesh a nd blood with the rest of t he a nimal creation here, and likewise on a higher plane of close and intelligent communion with our

Ma ker. If ma n ignores all thought of t he " spiritual,'' he makes himself a materialist , and cuts himself off ther e­by from thi s great Godgiven endow­ment as "crown of the creation." "Speak to H im fo r He hears and spirit wit h spirit can meet" ca n never be ex­perienced by any mortal who lives only by materialistic thinking. This we often for get.

There are immaterial riches in · the life of our souls in song, praise, pray­er and selfless living, which are as rea l a s sunshine and ra in a re in t he physica l wor ld. It may be called " ot herwor ldly" and "dreamy,'' or , by a t r ick of language in our day as "myst ical," but it is of t he essenc~ of t he life of ma n's soul. It is not fana ­t ical emotionalism either, but an atti­tude of the soul to God and huma n life a nd the crown of all t hinking on th~ highest r eaches of our lives. This at least, is t he writ er's concept ion of "~pi­r it ual" and " spiri tuality" to which we ar e now to g ive some further attention by wa y of a pprecia t ion of t he work of our German-speaking churches in our country.

The Found ation in Christ · In ordinary speech we confine t he

use of the word, " spirituality," to per­sons, a nd this is both logical a nd cor ­rect. D~re we make use of this qualit y of soul_ m. cha racterizing a la rger body of Oh1·1st1a ns? I think we may do so pr~viding the b~sis of t heir religiou~ beliefs and pract ices are spirit ual. We

claim this in this paper of ours on t he ground that the religion they profess and contend for orig inated wit h God and not wit h ma n. '

. ~n th~ last analysis the Christian r e­lig ion is God's self-r evela tion in the per son of J esus Christ, our Redeemer. l n the terse description of the Apostle Pa ul,_ (Ga latians 4:4) "When th e pro­per t une came God sent his Son , born o~ a . woman." His conception of Chr is­tianity was that of a historic move­ment ; something went before · other t~ ings would nat ura lly follow.

1

H is be­h~f was, t hat back of all r elig ious acti­vity of God's people ther e stands t h is tremendous fact of God's revealing him­self, a nd tha t t his fact had f ound its final recor d in our New Testa ment Seri ptu res.

T hese will ever remain the basis of all evang~lical pr eaching a nd t each ing of salvation for man. Our relig ious hopes ar e founded on God, and n ot on ma n. 1~n the Apostle's words : (1. Cor. 3 : 1~ ) No one can lay a ny other foun­dation t han t he one t ha t is laid t hat is J ~sus _Ch r ist h imself." That is the "spi­r ituality" of our Christian re lig ion.

His tor ical Developmen ts All rev.elation of God to man mu.;;t.

of necessity, be embodied in a h istori­cal movement , and that is what some of t he Puritan divines evidently meant when t hey affirmed t heir convict io.n t hat there is yet more light that will break forth from t he Scriptur es t han we now possess. The interpretation of

October 15, 1941

God's message has not a lways been uni­form. Ther e have been wide digress­ions f rom t he pa t tern we find in the New Testament in t he dark ages of European history, but God's Spirit has always compelled a r etur n to this early pr imitive pattern.

Ther e have been three histor ical movements in which our day is espe­cially in terested for our present con­ception of Christian truth , and in gen­eral for t he message that our day has for its t ime. We regret that the space at our command allows us only a very shor t a llus ion to these: the Protestant R~formation of the sixteenth century, P ietism in the centur y following, and the fina l r epudiation of infant baptism and t he substitu tes of adult baptism by immersion by radical English P uri­tans, who on t his account were r idic­uled and termed " Bap tizer s" or "Re­bapt izers" un t il th is stigma of the .name lost i ts force.

Reformation Blessings The first of these ment ioned move­

ments r estored to Christianity in Ger­many, E ngland, Sca ndinavia, the Low Countr ies a nd Switzerland, what has been called t he " E vangelical" pattern of our gospels , a s opposed to the Cath­olic type, which had been developed from the eight h century omvard in E urope, and had resulted in the estab­lishment of a tot alitar ia n, un iversal chur ch with a closed hierarchy, a sub­~ervient priesthood, and a ser ies of r e­ligious deliverances, upon t he accept­nnce of all of which the salvation of an ind ividual was dependent. T her e was no salvation for a ny apart from this institu t ion. That system was simply semi-paga n, a n inheritance of Greek and Roman religious t ypes and a t g r eat variance with the type of spiritua l thinking a nd living which J esus h as brought to this wor ld of ours.

We sha ll alwa ys be most grateful for t he Reforma tion of the sixteenth century, a nd for the emergence of ' ·Evangelicalism" in our Wester n Wor ld. And yet ther e was one obstacle which this movement did not, yea, could not, do away with-the influ ence of the State of t he Church, a n inher itance of the Rom an civilization of the early cen­tur ies. At t he Peace of Westphalia in 1648, it was still lawful for the head of a feudal principa li ty to compel his subjects t o accept his own beliefs or to betake themselves out of his domains. This, of course, became intolerable, and another r elig ious movement was due to correct it.

P ie t ism That movement went under the name

of ''P ietism." We can scarcely say too much in commendation of the spiritual benefits which ca me to the ~rotestant world from this new conception of re­ligiOJJ, for the emphasis was now on the ind ividual and not on church forms, yea not even on the "church" as such, but' on personal fa ith in the per son of Christ and his gospel that should be an outward expression of a new life.

It was a democr atic mcvement as well as an expr ession of the age-long r eligious fact utter ed by our Lord t hat a changed life, mor a l as well as relig­ious, must be at th e basis, a nd prior to an experienced faith such as J es us taught. That was t he "new bir th,'' "the birth from above," that had been so materialized and cover ed by ecclesias­t ic ceremonies that it had lost its ethic­al quality. It now became something really "from above," a new spir itual impact that gave the new freedom a biblical direction and Christian life its divine background.

Of the great influence of P ietism up­on thousands of smaller circles throughout Nor t hern E urope, and in smaller circles thr oughout Northern E urope, and in Southern E urope a nd even Russia as well, th ere is no space in t his paper . These circles r emained with th e E va ngelical S tate Churches, but in addition t hey upheld t heir own meet ings for Script ur e study and pray­er , and cared little when they were called "P ietists." I n the course of time, la rgely outside of Ger ma ny, its r eal home, a number of denominations arose wh ich carried forwar d the great pr in­ciples for which smaller gr oups were earller contending.

The Ba otist Pattern Ther e is a thir d histor ical movement

to which our century is g reatly indebt­ed for more correct biblical teaching­the break with infant baptism and t he substitut ion for it of Believers' bap­tism. That is the Baptist pattern!

It was an evil day for Scriptural Chr istia11ity when in the formative days of the early centuries the baptism of infants emerged and decidedly changed t he pattern of salvation found in the New Testament. It is not the form in wh ich that ordinance is ad­ministered, which is of transcendent account, but t he fact that an infant is substituted for an adult who is sur ren­der ing his life to God, and is on the point of joini ng himself to a circle of believers. That this substitution, which is an ecclesiastical devise, should have survived to our day offer s an abundant proof that, even in the sphere of reli­g ion, shifts can be introduced which it will be almost impossible later to change.

The "baptism" of the New Testa­ment has real meaning for a candidate asking for the ordina nce, for he is com­ing by the way of genuine r epentance of his past sinful life, and a newly found personal faith in his Lord. The ordinance does not p roduce his forgive­ness, but it is of symbolic value. The Apostle Paul, who is at times "long" in symbolic utterances, writes in Rom­ans 6 :4, that even in the fo11n of im­mersion the ordinance symbolizes the new union of the baptized with his Lord.

Pur it a n F o refathers There were many and prolonged pro­

tests against the baptism of infants dur ing the pre-reformation years, but

Page 385

the combined for ces of church and state prevented by energetic per secution their fur ther spread. I n the Age of the Re­formation wit h a far better under­standing of the New Testament Scrip­tur e, these protests became more num­erous and mor e pronounced, and issued about 1525 in Switzerland in a chur ch­par ty of consider able strength which, in spite of intense per secution, spread over southern, middle and northern parts of Ger many, and has come down to us under t he name of Mennonites. In t he days of their sufferings they went under the name of "Anabaptists."

Another repudiation of infant bap­tism on a large scale ar ose in E ngland a mong the more radical Puritans, giv­ing r ise to the denomination of English Baptists, whose newly founded church­es adopted about the middle of the sevententh century in their Confessions of F aith, adult baptism by immersion . That has r emained the prevailing form of the ordinance a mong them. German­speaking churches have known no other form throughout t heir history in Ger­many, in the United States and Cana­da, and on the mission field in foreign lands. ·

This is the historical background of the chur ches which we are having in mind in this paper .

One Dom in ant Them e We come now to a n application of

our theme, which of necessity must be as shor t as the development of the theme has been . The question before us is whether our churches developed pr inciples and practices in accord with the spir itual her itage just outlined.

What was the message they had for the world? Her e they s tood o.n Scrip­tural gr ound and emphasized, first of a ll, t he necessity of a changed life through i·epentance, personal faith and baptism. There was no word more often spoken in their circles than "con­version." That was the door among them of admission to their churches. They stood for a converted church membership.

A candida te for baptism had an ex ­per ience to relate; how he broke con­sciously with his former life of indiffer­ence and occasional lapses to sin · how he accepted J esus Christ as his' L ord and was willing, thr ough God's help to follow him thr ough life. His cnt' ranee into the church was also a n ent= ranee into union \vith h is L ord and the brethren for the purpose of spreading the gospel. That was memorabJ lang~age, so full of meaning for the ensumg years. e

FroBm tt~et earliest days of the Ger ­man ap 1s movement the pulpit of our churches had no other message M Fleischmann, to whom we look a · l·.

first preacher, was really an ev! our list until later when he became a nge­tor with added responsibilities Pa~­g reat model was the Apostle Pa.ul 18

he tells us, He preached the word ' as left results to God's spirit, and t~:d

(Continued on Page 393) t

Page 386

Report by the Editor of "The Baptist Herald"

Dr. and Mrs. William Kuhn at the Testimonial Banquet Held in H onor of Dr. Kuhn's Silver Jubilee

as General Missionary Secretary

On Wednesday evening, September 17, abou t 300 friends and associates of Dr. William Kuhn showered their trib­utes of love and esteem upon him at a colorful banquet in Oak Park, Ill. , on the occasion of his 25th anniversar y as General Missionary Secretary. Con­gratulatory telegrams and cards ar­rived by the score a s evidence of the widespread participation of the entire denomination in t hese festivities.

Mr. H. Theodore Sorg of Newark, N. J., our General Treasurer , served as toa stmaster and fittingly introduced the procession of speakers . Th e Rev. J ohn Leypoldt of Portland, Ore., spoke

for the General Missionary Committee· Prof. 0. E. Krueger of Rochester' N. Y., for t he Seminary; Mr. H . P '. Donner of Cleveland, Ohio, for the Publication Society ; Mr. Arthur Schwe­r in of Burlington, Iowa, for t he Gen­eral Council ; Dr. Charles W. Koller of the Northern Baptist Seminary for t he Baptists a t large; the Rev. Theodore W. Dons for the Forest Park Baptist Church; Mr. E. Elmer Staub of De­troit, Mich ., for the large circle of friends ; and the Rev. A. Husmann for our churches .. Prof. Herman von Berge of Dayton, Ohio, brought t he addresses to an inspirational cl imax by his de-

THE BAPTIST HERALD

lightful and intimate word picture of his friendship with Br other Kuhn t hrough the years.

The banquet joys were also height­ened by the mus ical n umbers r endered by Miss Lydia Mihm of River F orest, i ll., the choir of the First German Bap­ti st Church of Chicago, and Mr. Hel­muth Steinke of Chicago. The Rev. 0. R. Schroeder of Anaheim, Calif., the interim pastor of the Forest Par k Church, offered the invocation prayer and t he benediction was pronounced h)'. the Rev. W. S. Argow of Erie, Pa.

Miss Flora Schulte was a lso honored at the banquet by being given a g ift of money from the Misionary Society for her loyal service during mor e than 20 year s as bookkeeper in the office. A coffee service set was pr esented to Mrs . Kuhn by Mrs. T heodor e W. Dons in honor of their 44th wedding annivers­a r y and of her ceaseless labors with J?r. Kuhn in behalf of the denomina­tion. T he testimon ial volume with the pe.r s.onal messages of tribute by t he m1msters was presented to Dr. K uhn by Mr. M. L. Leuschner , editor of the BAPTIST HE RALD. The sentim ent of Dr. Kuhn's response is expressed in the words of h is which appear on this page. ~f the BAPTIST H E R ALD.

Mu11sters and friends of Dr. Kuh n came fro~n such places beyond Chicago a~ Detroit and St. J oseph M' 1 . I _ d1a I. I ' IC 1.' n napo IS, lid.' Apl ington v· t Paik b ' , 1c or ,

· er~ urg, E lg in, Iowa; Kankakee, II I.; Mi lwaukee and K enosha, W is. It was much more than a gathering to honor a man, for thr oughou t the mem­or able evening we f elt that the work ofif ou r denomination was being magni-

ed and den · ,... ommac1onal ties were being ~tre~igthened even as J es us Chr ist our

bavior , was glorified. In this spi rit the anquet was on

1 e never to be for o-otten ~~ those who wer e present and by a ll

1 ~se, who, th_ough living at a distance,

)latt a shar e Ill t he festivities by th eir e ers and mess f . f G cl' ages o t ri bute to one 0 0 s most g ifted servants .

Reoiewin9 ?nv 7 wentv-tioe 4ea/:.' By the REV. WILLIAM KUHN, D. D. Ge ner I M' ·

During the past summer it wa s my privilege to attend t he sessions of the Pacific, Southern, Southwes tern, Eas­tern and Atlantic Conferences. Each conference group recognized my 25th a nniver sary as General Missionary Secretary with heartil y apprecia ted expressions of good will.

The climax of .these festivities was reached at a memorable banquet held in Oak Park, Ill., which was attended by a lmost 300 fri ends from near and far. Ever y message ~rnd tribute brought by t he speakers touched me deeply and even overwhelmed me emo­tion.ally.. I appreciated especia lly the ~est1momal volume, beautifully bound m leather and wi th t itle pages en-

' a iss1onary Secretary grossed and decorated with illum inated type, . which was presented to me. It conba_ins abou t 225 personal letters of gi:eeti~g from our ministers and cl eno-111mat1onal leaders.

In all ?f t hese congratu latory mess­~ges, wh!ch h~~e come to me person­a lly and 1n wntrng, I have learned t hat our. !)eople have been able to pass a dec1s1ve and. quite appropriate judg­ment conccrrnng my service as M' . , . S . . ISS10n­a1y . ec1eta ry during the pas t 25 years But _m a ll of this they have a llowed th~ spmt of love to dominate so tha t no one_ e~en mentioned my weaknesses a nd om1ss10ns .

As I sat in th~ banquet hall on that Wednesday evening with all of these

fr iends it b ' ecame very clear to me t hat ~~n~fm~effu.ture da~ I s hall have to Chiist oie the . Judgment seat of to b · d At t~at time it will not have

Pl ed eterm1necl whether I s ha ll be ace among th that 1 _e saved or the lost, for

fo . iafs been irrevocably determined 1 me or II t' a 1me and eternity But

on t ha t d f · · burn like ~~ 0

. Ju_dgment, which will I hav ~e, it will be revealed what

e pu t into m y service of the~e 25 Years wheth . ·t -. ' . e1 1 has been gold s ilver and prec1 to '

I ous s nes, or only wood ha" a nc stubbl T ' ~

f e. o be sure we have this

com ort th t ' f

a we shal l be in the pres-ence o a ri ht . If He s g ~ous and merciful judge.

peaks his approval over us . t hen ( Cont inued on Page 3gs)

October 15, 1941 Page 387

a .fittle Heaoen!" A Timely Article on the Sunday School by MISS MARIE BAUDISCH

of Milwaukee, Wisconsin

It is timely that early in t he Fall we as a church thi nk in a special way of our department of Ch'rist ian education, the Sunday School, and see in how f ar we can more fully cooperate together to bring about the greatest r esul ts.

A Fish Story A story is told of t he fish who were

holding a convention, Father Shark p residing. They decided it would be n ice to i·nvi te the little crabs to attend the next meeting. Accordiiigly the n ext Sunday a ll the litt le crabs, delighted with the invitation, came scrambling into t he convention. But how they came!! Backwards, sideways, scram­bling, tumbling, wiggling; in fact, ever y way bu t the r ight way.

"We mus t teach them how to wa lk £t r a ight," said Fat her Shark.

The lesso·n was so well taught tha t when t he little crabs passed out, they went much straighter than when they came in, and their teachers were de­lighted. But t he next Sunday when they came again, s ideways, backwa r ds, it was jus t as bad as before.

" We'll have to r epeat the lesson ," mi d Father Shark; and a fte r the sec­ond lesson t he little crabs went ou t walking so much better than after t he first lesso11 tha t hopes were high .

But alas ! the next Sun<lay how their hopes were snattered ! Scrambling, tum­bling, backwards, sideways came the little crabs, just as bad a s on the fint Sunday.

"Something is wrong," said F ather Sharie "We wil l have to investigate."

So the t eachers called on the little crabs in their homes to find why they still walked as crooked as ever , anrl they found t hat t hat \\'as the way the old crabs walked.

A Christian Home It's only a funny J;ttJe story, yet it

teaches a g reat lessc~1 to both Sunday School \\'Orker s and parents in suggest­ing that a closer cooperation is necess­a r y between the two g reat institutions, namely, Christian character and mould­ing the plastic li fe of a child into noble manhood and womM1hood.

F irs t, I should like to ask , how can t he home help the church school ? Is the home accepting its rightfu l share of res ponsibility for r eligious tra ining and at the same t ime giving the much needed help and coo peration to t he church school? The average home pro­v ides for the phys ical and educational life of the chi ld but expects the church to t ake care of the spiritual life. If the church fai ls sometimes, i t is criti­cised for its weakness and lack of in­fluence. There a re, however, certain things which the home cannct delegate t o the church.

The atmospher e of the home does mor e for the child t han a ny other agency.

The first t in y prayer is learned at mother 's knee.

Blessing at mealtime teaches him to be thankfu l. You are perhaps familiar ,,·ith the story of the little boy who went to a r estaura nt with his father, who, when he bowed his head to r eturn thanks, heard his little son say, "Pa, we paid for this food."

Happy the home where t he family alta r is still held sacred and where chi ldren a re taugh t to fe!Io-wship with God and seek His guidance in a ll their endeavors!

All these things weave t hemselves into the r eligious life of the chi ld. Home training and the atmosphere of the home lay the firm fou ndation on which t he church school b uilds. In t he ligh t of the importance of home training j ust what may the church righ tfully except from t he home?

Parents' Responsibilties 1. Parents can help in secur ing r eg­

ular and prompt attendance. " I g uess Sunday School doesn't amount to much," said J ohnny to h is mother , "you never want me to be absent from day­school and you say I must never be late, but you don't say a word if I stay away from Sunday School." There are many such J ohnnies and such mothers, but fortunately there are a lso mo-thers who say, "Of cour se, we always go somewhere on Sundiay, but we always wait until after Sunday School." P er­haps, the church school is to blame that it has not talke<l over the s ituation with the parents at home.

2. Parents s hould encourage th eir children to do their home work. Every Sunday School teacher has been co11-fronted with this p roblem. But listen to what one mother said: "I have learned so much of the Bible s ince helping Helen and Donald with thei r Su nday School lessons" ; and a gain a father who said: "I h ave to do some work on the sly. for I do n o,t, know some of these thh1gs . He t hinks I know everything about h is Sunday School lesson and I do not want to disappoint h im."

3. Parents should teach their chil­dren the art of tithing and ins t il into their minds the importance of helping to support ihe work of the church school.

Not To Be Overlooked Our second quest ion is , H ow ca n the

church school help the home ? First of a ll, it is lo provide adequate

Bible instruction. Our countrv has a great diversity of religious beliefs and

a cmnplete separation of church and state, so it is impossible to teach relig­ion in public schools. In many cities, however, t he £chool has r eleased time when ch ildren can go for r eligious in­struction and churches are responding.

Our pr imary .aim s hould be to meet the spiritual needs and i1Jlterests of t he pupils in each stage of their develop­ment. To do this there should be grad­ed lessons, graded orders of worship, graded activit ies, an d graded mission ­ary instruction.

2. The church may also have parent tra ining classes during the Sunday School period or any other opportune t ime. H elpful subj ects on the r eligious a sp€cts of home building and t he rear­ing of children would give untold bene­fits to parents whose interest is in t he welfare of their ch ildren. Books like ' Mother 's Problems" by H a r r i et Clarke ; " T rain ing of Children in the Chris t ian Home" by W eigle; and "Par­ents and their Chi ldren" by Moxcey ar e amo,ng the m any fi ne books avail­a hie for helpful study.

3. The home can be helped by the ex tens ion work of t he Cradle Roll and Horne departments. In every city t here a rc hundreds of homes that r emain un­touched by rel ig ious instruction, and unless these departments reach out and carry t he message to the home, they may never hear.

4. A friendly letter often goes a long way in winning the interest of parents when sent by t he t eacher or an officer of the Sund~y School.

A Little Bit of Heaven 5. L ast but not Je11st. personal con­

tacts in the home are an essent ial and vital duty as well as privilege of every workel· in the ch urch school. How it warms one 's · heart to hear a mother say, " My Johnny loves t o come to Sun­day School because he says, 'It's j ust like a li ttle heaven,' " and after that t hat Sunday School "·as often r eferred to as "l it t le heaven." We too want t o make our Sunday School so attractive to the children that they feel tha.t a little bit of heaven sunounds them \\'hen t hey come to wor ship t hel·e.

In clos ing-. may I cha llenge you, par­ents, teachers, fr iends of little ch ildre n \\' it h a thought so beautifully expre~sed in the fo llo"'ing poem written by Ruth Inscho Wolschlegel :

" I want tha t C'."'''' lifc- Lh :Ll t o u d ies min e · Shall .feel a hidtkn s tr<'n g- th th a t i s 1 VITI (' ; ( I~

~hull ;"N' in £' \'l' l'Y m oment tha t l Ii. , l'h <' \' ll•lory lh n t only G o el c.:Rn ~ i\· p · ' ' ~ha ll ><Pll SC' n fragTnn l·e n n cl a • .

p l itee . ' • 11u 1 .. t llh. m a y I ~h o \\' th e l i g;h l. ,, hit ! ·

part 1 i s a 0 ( th n l g-1·<.>nt love within m~· h \'nrt ."

Page 388 THE BAPTIST HERALD

Edited by MISS VERDA V. BORCHERT of Leduc, Alberta, Canada

The Many, Many Children

The rnany, many childn n Throughout the world so jctir, Are children of our Fcithe-r, Who keeps them in H is cctr e.

No matter what their color He loves them one and -all ; No matter where they're living, He hea1rs them when they call.

A SONG FOR GOD'S FAMILY One night, when Mary was a ll tucked

into her nice, whi te bed, her mother came and r ead from Mary's own little Bible the story of J esus and the chil­dren. Then mother kissed her "good­night", and soon Mary was fast asleep and off to t he land of dreams, and this is what she dreamed.

It was a sunshiny Sunday morning. Bright and early Mary started out for Sunday School. She was very happy, a nd she walked along humming the tune, "J esus Loves Me." When she reached the door of the church, she went straight to her own class and sat down. Then she started up in surprise, for, lo, and behold, a ll of .the boys and girls in her class had yellow faces. All of them were talking to each other in t he strangest words she had ever heard.

"Surely, I have made a mis t ake" Mary said to her self. "This must be 1-r{y class back here." But no sooner had she settled herself there and looked around, than she saw t hat her com­pan~ons were looking at her strangely, as if she were in some way different er odd, and sure enough, their faces were brown as could be!

"Why, whatever shall I do?" said

Mary. " I do not seem to belong her e. Perhaps I had better look a round for J ohn, Alice and Jean and the other friends in my chiss." So Mary stood up and looked around only to find that in her very own Sunday School were black, red, brown and yellow boys and girls, but not one glimpse could she find of Jean or John or any of her f r iends.

F eeling very strange, indeed, and

rather lonesome, Mary went back to her usual place and quietly sat down beside a sweet-faced little yellow girl. Just then the piano began to play. Mary s traightened up proudly as she heard the notes of " Jesus loves me, this I know." Why, Miss Alice, her own teacher at the front of the room, must expect her to s ing th at song for these boys and girls. But Miss Alice was saying: "Wouldn't you like our little foreign s ister to s ing this song for u s firs t?"

All the li ttle brown and yellow and red faces and black faces smiled hap­pily and nodded their h~s, but Mary's face was puzzled. Which of the li ttle foreign girls did Miss Alice mean.? There were so many of t hem, and t hen to her great surprise Mary heard Miss Alice saying, "Mary, wi ll you s ing this song for us ?" . Mar(s fac~ turned r ed. L ittle for­

eign s ister, 111deed ! Well, she would show them who wer e the foreign chil­dren when she sang her song to them 1

Very proudly Mary stood up and sang;

"Jesus loves me this f know For the Bible tells me 80 • '

Little ones to Hi?n belon~, Th ry are weak, but He is strong."

But that was as far a s Mary went, for Miss Alice nodded to the other chil­dren and then the Burmese children were singing:

"Oh, chit dau mu mi, Oh, chit dau nm mi, Oh, chit dau 1nu mi, Chan-za so kmum bey the."

And the Puerto Rican children were s ing i11g in g lad clear voices:

"Chris-ti me a-mi Chris-ti me a-mi."

At firs t Mary wanted to shout: "Stop! How dare you s ing my song?" But a ll the brown and yellow a nd black faces were s inging so happily t hat Mary began to sing right a long with the others, "Yes, J esus loves me the Bible tells me so." '

Then she remember ed the picture of J esus and the world's children that hung right there ii1 the front of their ro?m. Didn't J esus have t he little red child on his lap? Did he not have his arms thrown about the little brown a nd whit~ girls ? And was he not talking to the little black and yellow children a s though he loved them? W hy, of course ! J esus loved them just a s he loved Mary and John, and a ll the boys and girls. .t And rig ht out loud Mary said: "Ism't 1 perfectly lovely that J esus loves you and, me, and that we are all a part of Gods great world family? You are really a ll my brother s and. s ist er s."

And then- and then, Mary woke up

Stohsee the sun shining in her own r oom.

e dressed · h t . lll a urry and ran down-sb airs_ to t ell her mother about her eautiful dream.

October 15, 1941 Page 389

In this Comprehensive Report Miss Edith A. Koppin, Our Missionary­

N urse of Mambila, Africa, Describes Her Experiences in "Darkest

Africa" Shortly Before Her Return to the United States on Furlough

The medical work at Warwar, Mam­bi la, began officially in December, 1939. I had come to Warwar at the beginning of October of that year, but, s ince the medical quarters were not yet com­pleted, I could not carry on any exten­!iive medical work. But I did take car e of many who needed attention. After I had moved down to the station, the caring of sick people began in earnest. And what an opening it was! The work began a lmost phenomenonally. I had never experienced anything like this befor e nor was it to be expected.

I did not know to. what to attribute Lhis unusual r esponse. I know that the natives had been waiting for a long time for the mission to be established. I know also that t hey were promised a nurse who would h elp them in their s icknesses and they had been waiting for her, (so they told me when I ar­rived), so that when we did come t hey were glad. Was it t he fame of t he medical work at Mbem that caused this welcome, because I had taken care of a number of Mambilas while doing medical work at Mbem, before I came to Warwar?

58 Patients m One Day!

Usually you have to establish your­self first, s lowly, one by one, until con­fidence is gained. But he1·e they came a!i an avalanche,- 12 natives-then 20 , or more-up to 30 and 40, until one day there were 58 in one day. And for new work this was marvelous! Yes, we know it is wonderful and we give God t he praise for having prepared the hearts of these peoples for our coming. I heard other missionaries who talked of people waiting for the missionary but before this, I had not experienced it. But these people were r eally waiting for us !

We have had patients from almost every town in Mambila, even from the French Cameroons, and the d iseases have been many and varied. Many we could help; many are now walking about carrying on their work who other­wise would perhaps not be here or would still be in the throes of th e sick-ness.

Pitiful Lepers There are many lepers in Mambila

a nd they hold out t heir hands (some without finger s) to us for help. They have no one to turn to but us. We have come saying we want to help them a nd we are handicapped. And can you see the disappointment and discourage­ment a s on e by one they turn away. seeing only a doomed life before them? They come with such hope and they go in such despair!

J es us Christ healed the body as weJI a s t he soul. What shall we do for them? I, for one, am ready to give my full time a nd abilit ies for this work, a s it is a special work and must be handled apart from other medical work. You may think I am bold to make such statements but it is only fair that you know about what we see a nd hear and experience.

The Spirit of Chris t I could give you many statistics

about the number of people treated and the kind of diseases treated which would need no further comment. But figures are not people, and in our hu­manitarian work we do not want to think of so many people treated but of so many people contacted and r eached and helped. W e want th.em to l eave with the impression t hat they have been in contact with someth ing real­the spirit and influence of J esus.

We try to teach our helpers and they to each others. I have had, helping me in the dispensary, a young Christ ia n ·woman from Mbem and she has been my best seller anrl also the k indest t o the Mambilas. They are fond of her and she is popula r with them. This woman and I have been together s ince I first came to Mbem. She learns r ead­ily anrl is intelligen t. W c h ave been through much together an cl I t hink that she and her husband will be used much cf God in Mambila.

She has been my main help through­out the year even though not regularly . I have had others helping at intervals, but for a good part of the year I have been quite alone in the dispensary. I cannot take those who are not Chris­tians, nor t hose who have no under­standing of our medicines, and so the greater p'lrt of the work has been left to me. But that is to be expected in new work. The ways to perfection are a ]ways uphill, and we have to be will­inir to lay the foundations.

So it is with Christian love that we try to contact those who come to us for medical help. W e never will be able to t ell or measure t he extent of this in­fluence.

"A Child Shall Lead." Let me illustrate. Some months ago

a. small boy was brought to us for treatment, a nd l thought he was afflict­ed with tuberculosis. Explain ing t hat this would need lengthy treatment, the parents arranged to. leave the boy at l'I

nearby town nnd he was to come every day for t reatment. But soon it became evident tha t this was too much for the boy. And so h e came to live at t he station.

We ar e taking care of him, supply­ing his food and anything he needs, yet keeping him on the same level as th.e other Mambila boys. He is somewhat better but progressing slowly. Every Sunday h e is in Sunday School and is eager to learn, and I believe that some day he will declare himself in his heart for J esus.

But that isn't all. He comes from a distant town and occasionally some come to visit him. They were so afraid of u s at first that they did not venture near us. Gradually, however, they be­came more confident and we became friendly. They come from a town from which few people have come as yet, and have been very shy .of the white man. Mr. Dunger experienced that some time ago when he visited that district. But just r ecently I was ther e, and what a r eception I received! Later, the moth­er of that boy came with a gift of n a­tive food for me and my h elp.

This contact paved the way for a n entry into t his town. The chief was very solicitous and r epeatedly asked if I could not come to stay in his t own. His people needed me so and there were so many sick there. Couldn't we come to stay? H e would put up the houses, if only we would come. I stayed there two days and he was loath to let us go. On the morning of our departure, he escorted me way up to the top of a hill outside of his town on the road to t he next town. That, to me, showed the sincerity of his words.

And all this because we helped a small boy. That is the part our medi­cal work plays in mission work, and that is what I want it to do. May God help us to reach hearts directly and in­directly through this service.

My Gratitude!

I want to t hank t he mission society which through its treasury supplied this dispensary and those who have equipped it with the necessary drugs and equipment to carry on the work r also want to t hank the many friend; who have made _all the dressings and ba ndages to use m our work in caring for the s ick.

I am writing this while I on trek in nne of the las t corners of Mambila that r had not as yet visited. All through the year I've made differen t trek meeting the people, helping them whe~~ ever I could from my box of m edic ine and dressings and bandages . I hav: had blessed experiences while on this t r ek a nd, alt hough I am very tired out T seem to have been borne on wfog~ from place to place.

Page 390 THE BAPTIST HERALD

Bosom Friends and Seminary Classmates of 1891 in One of the Students Rooms at the Seminary, Rochester, New York

( Le ft to Ilii;ht : Cbrl~tlnu Dt1111el, Pe t e r \\'c tle l , Frlcolrl<:b Ducrmuun, .\.u~m•t S teffen ~)

Graphic Sketches About the Missionaries, Emil R. Suevern and Peter Wedel, Prepared by the Rev. Christian Dippel of Baraboo, Wisconsin

Of the early heroes in the Baptist mission work in the Cameroons of Af­rica, the three names of August Stef­fens, Emil Suevern and P eter Wedel are most conspicuous. While all had the spirit and qualifications of true missionaries, these three men in a won­derful and providential way supple­mented each other.

It was my privilege to know them a ll . not only in a passing acquaintance, but in an intimate friendship, which was only interrupted by their early de­parture, but which was never dissolved.

· This cordial r ela t ionship was formed in Rochester, N. Y., during our student days and by mutual inclination, and it was fostered by our common interest in the Wilder Street Mission of that city. That work helped to nourish the missionary spirit at home and to pre­pare those young men for the larger service on the other side of the ocean.

Seminary Friendships The pioneer of this daring enterprise

in t he Cameroons, who firs t heard and heeded the Master's call, was August Steffens. For three years he, Mr. F. Buermann and I camped in our study room, slept in one bedroom and attend­ed the same classes. This gave me the opportunity at close range to observe him and, as a consequence, to learn to respect and to love him.

Mutual confidence a nd love and com­mon interest in the Wilder Street mis­sion work also caused a lasting friend­ship to be established between Steffens a nd Suevern and Wedel which became a contributing factor that they also followed Steffens' trai l to the Came­roons. This has been a work by which ever since thousands of Africa's sons and daughters were brought to t he gos­pel light, a work which forms a bright spot in our denominationa l history.

Since the Rev. C. F. Zummach has excellently given us the story of the Trenton son, August Steffens, in both of our periodicals, (See "Baptist Her­a ld,'' Ma1·ch 15, 1941), I was asked to a dd a few sketches of the other foun­dation workers on the mission field, as I knew them.

Suevern's Conversion Emil Suevern was born at Langen­

holzhausen, Lippe-Detmold in Germany . on J une 6, 1865. His grand.(ather, Mr. Hoffman, was a public school teacher. His father was the owner of a dye­house. His mothel' was the sisler of the mother of our Prof. F. W. C. Meyer.

Emil was sent to a busi11ess college• in Dortmu nd and after graduation en­tered a business as a n apprentice. His aunt, Mrs. Meyer, encouraged him to come to America. I n 1883 he emigrated to t his country. In Cincinnati he found

a position in. the bookstore R. Clark and Company. '

Under the Rev. L. Donner's minist ry he b~came converted and was b::iptized by him. Soon afterwards he was in­strumental in leading the late R ev .• T. Kratt to Christ and the Church. He was one of F ather Donner 's favorite sons.

The Rev. L. Donner of sacred me­mory not only knew the art of winning ~en to Chr ist, but also knew how to inculcate the missionary zeal into h is co~v~rts. He wou ld have them j oin the m1ss1_onary band, that held the op~n air 111.eet_mgs on Sunday afternoons in the Cmcmnati market hall. where t hey wou ld testi:y with David of old: "Come a~d hear all ye that fear God and we \\'I ll declare what he hath done for our soul" (Psalm 66 :16).

There in a special way that m ission­ary urge'. started in this convers ion, was not.mshed and in t ime made t hem responsive to the Master's call: " I will make you fishers of men." In 1888 he fo llowed this call by coming to Roches­ter to prepare for the gospel ministry.

Seminary Activities ~ atu:a lly, he longed for the oppor­

t ~nity .'n Rochester to do some prac­~ 1ca! ~~ssionary work. Such he found m. J~mmg the band of Wilder Stre~t i111ss1on workers T his wo1·k · was super-

l

October 15, 1941

vised by the A~drew Str eet Baptist Church, but during the school year it was almost exclusively carried on by lhe students.

Suevern became a faithful Sunday ~chool teacher and an untiring worker rn every enterprise of the mission. ":7henever . he conducted the Friday night meetrng, he would base his mess­a ge on, "Thus said the Lord " while his prayers clear ly indicated th~t he had been with J csus.

As h e. was specially gifted with a clear voice and also knew music t he $tudent choir, "Philharmonia " el~cted him as director. Besides thi

1

s he also formed and sang in a student's quar­tet. The cooperation of both was called for ~n ever widening ci rcles. I n spite of his generous services, which his su­perior talen ts enabled him to. render. he was very modest a nd never looked for honors.

He might easily have adorned a teacher's chair in the academy. In fact, he was offered one after the World War. H e was also well qualified to s£:rve one of our larger churches, but he looked less for prominence than for real service.

Studying the Duala Language

P ossibly his relation to his friend, Missionary A. Steffens, first focused his attention on the Cameroons field. I n the letter to the German Cameroons Mission Board, dated July, 1893, he states that since the depa rture of his friend in 1891 he had felt the call to follow him. About the time S teffens

succumbed to the fever Suevern offered his services to the boa;d.

In later years, he had his room across the hall from mine. Often we would visit back and forth, since to know him meant to love him and to en­joy his congenial company.

After he had been accepted by the Mission Board, he secured a Duala g-rammar book and started to study the Duala language. To facilitate this work, he posted a big blackboard (classroom style) in his room and wrote upon it. and exercised his less­ons before it. When the t ransoms above his and my doors were open, I often heard him exercise t he unspeakable words and sentences of the Duala lan­guage. Whenever I entered his room, invariably he would have a Duala speech ready for me, at times asking questions and pausing for an answer. What kind of "pet" names he called me, I could only infer from his occa­s ional grin.

One day when he was again practic­ing his Duala on me, I turned a bom­bardment of words and sentences on him. They sounded something like the following : "Brr log ewkrr U eklfgus ? kultowoo-Nee?" Receiving no reply from the flabber gasted student, I con­cluded that he did not understand my " Duala" !

Bound For Africa In 1894 he graduated from the Ger­

man department and I from the Eng­lish department of our Rochester semi­nary. God called him E ast to " Darkest Africa" to bring the gospel light to the benighted heathen tribes, where for 15

P age 391 ·

years he held the fort . God called me \Yr.st, where for 15 years I was to spread the same t rue light in dark Chicago. . .

In Janua ry, 1894, he was ordained rn his Cincinnati church. Soon afterwards he was united in marriage to his be­loved P auline Daniel. A few days af­ter these memorable events, he stopp~d at Rochest er to say farewell. The P h1l­harmonia members, the coworkers from Wilder Street and other friends went to the depot t~ see him off. W hen the t rain was about to leave, he stood on the rear platform. In a mighty chor.us· we sang, "God be with you till we _me~t again .. . at Jesus' feet." Tram 111

motion, some of our voices would not respond any more. H andkerchiefs were seen, used by some of us for a twofold purpose, "Farewell! "

On April 19, 1894, in the capital ~f Germany in a large meeting he an~ his Pauline were dedicated and committed to God's care and protection. On the 13th of June they landed at the Came­roons coast, the day I was ordained in Chicago.

In 1897 all alone 'he made a tr ip to t he inland mission stations. On h is re­turn missionar y Wedel had to break the sad news to him, that his dear Pauline had died and was already in her gr ave.

Strenuous Years In spite of the deprivations and hard

\\·ork, he was able with God's help to remain at his post for four years. In 1898 he took his much needed r est by coming to America, and for two years he served the Bethany Baptist Church

Seminary Professors, Students and the Students' Home Personnel of Our Seminary in the Good O ld Days of 1890!

Page 392

in Oregon. Before his r eturn to Africa he had joined hands with t he wido\~ed Mrs. Steffens in part ner ship for hfe, but in 1901 a fte r his return to t he Cameroons she too succumbed to the f ever a nd again he was a lone in a s tr a nge and foreign land. .

In his st renuous work he carried on for another .eleven years. In a letter, dat ed June 4, 1902, he wrot e : "I did not even have my so much needed; a n­nua l rest of 4 weeks and I f eel very weak." He thanked me for my sympa­thy in the bereavement of his beloved wife and continued : " Sometimes I can ha rdly believe that she is not here for me any mor e in this life ..... God be praised for t he comfor t he g ives me through my dear child. I am sorry that so early in her life every five days she must take two grains of quinine. I contemplate to send her with her nurse, our deaconess, to Berlin in September."

Dwelling on the work he s tated: " The longer one is her e a nd learns to know t he character of the people, t he mor e one s igh s about the power of darkness. But behind the da rk cloud t here is also light and when it pene­tr ates t he darkness it shines wi th even more lustre. What a j oy to enter wit h souls, r escued from the power of dark­ness, in to the ba ptisma l water s." Dur­ing these years he wr ote in the Duala language a synops is of Christian doc­trines , and compiled a nd published a hymn book.

His Life's Text In 1911 he was called to Berlin as

superintendent of the Cameroons mis­s ion, and later he served as t reasurer of the society. On January 5, 1927, he wrote: "On J a nuary 3 our first mis­sionaries again left for the Camer oons. T hat was a happy experience for us. With God's help we now have to build up t his work again ."

He con tinued to render a fa it hfu l service in th is capacity until his death on January 15, 1931. On t he tombstone ever his gr ave are t he words of faith which were so precious to him. "For to me to live is Christ and to d 'e is ga in." (Philippians 1 :21) .

Pe ter Wedel, the Evange list Another of t he immediate succe>sor s

of the Rev. A. Steffens as miss ionaries in the Cameroons was P eter W edel, th e eva ngelist. He was born in South Russia on April 7, 1865, cf Mennonite Brethren parents. H is fa t her was t he 8chool teacher of the colony. W hen P e­ter was 9 years of age in 1874 the fa­mi ly em igr ated to Kansas. At 18 year~ of age he was conver ted an d bapt ized. He had a brilliant mind as a st udent und a warm heart as a Christian.

When 20 years of age , he ent er ed our Rochest er Seminary. After a few years he returned to his home, where· for s~veral years he taught in a public district school. During vacations he workEd a s a n evangelist a mong Menno­nite a nd Baptis t churches, fo r which work he was eminertly qualified.

As a consequence, the General Con­ference of the Mennonite Brethren

elected him a s their permanent evan­gelist. This serv ice was to begin after he had finished his theolog ical course.

The Ries Park Chape l Returning to Rochester, he became­

one of our loyal workers in the Wilder Street Mission. How we all enjoyed to hear him preach a nd pray! There w.ere no s leepers in his meet ings. We met in an English Baptist chapel when it was not used by our English breth­ren. Inconvenient hours hampered our work.

At the end of a private prayer meet­ing of the Mission worker s in a stu­dent's r com Mr. Wedel remarked: "We have been praying for God's blessing oi; our Wilder Street work. Why not go to work and build our own chapel? I subscribe $10 to start a bui lding fund and promise to ask other s fo r contri­butions during my vacation t r avels ." In two minutes we had seven other ten dolla r subscriptions. That ga ve t he impetus for t he building of Ries P ark Chapel, which, with the help of the members of the mission society and of the Andrew Street Church, in due time was dedicated a lmost fr.ee of debt.

The Cameroon Call The Cameroons had come under Ger ­

man domina tion. The English Bap­t ists ha d wit hdrawn, selling t he church proper ty to the Basel Missionary So­ciety. Some of the churches r emained loyal to the Baptis t ba nner . P r oviden­t ially, Mr. Scheve of Berlin came in touch wi th them a nd through Baptist publications in Germany a nd America made known t heir helpless condit ion. Thei r s ituation of ten formed t he t opic of t he conversation a mong us as s tu­cfen ts. To some it became a cha llenge.

Mr. St effens heard God calling h im to the wor k a nd responded : " H ere am I, send me !" Later, Mr. _E . Suevern followed in h is tr ai l. Wi th both _of t hese P et er Wedel had been on corchal terms. One summer he even v is ited_ a number of Mennonite a nd Baptist churches together. It seems llatural that under these infl uences hi s t houghts would be focused on t he Cameroons as h is futur e field of labor, especially, when, afte r 18 mont hs of st renuous la­bor , his fr iend A. S teffens, ha d suc­cumbed to the fever a nd E . Suevern had offered his services to t he mission boa r d. But what if Suevern a lso should become a victim of the fever ?

Romance With Miss Liebig One summer da y our dcot bell in

Chicago rang. Our dE' a r fri end , Peter Wedel, greeted us with a hearty wel­come. K nowing him as I did , I not iced t hat something special was on hi s mind. T ravelling in the Dakota s, as he r elat­ed to us, some of t he good brethre n had reminded him that God once m id th at it was not gocd for man to be alone and had provided a helpmate for him. He had heen open for s uch conviction but fe lt at sea a s to who shou ld be hi~ companion. They had t heir answer: "Why, Miss Martha Liebig, now pre-

THE BAPTIST HERALD

paring in t he Baptist Missiona ry Tra in­ing School of Chicago for missiona ry work, is just the g irl for you!"

From my own a cquain tance with her I fel t the forcefu lness of their words . " Ca n you t ake me there and in t roduce me to her?," he asked. Of course I knew that befor e ta lking to me, he had t alked with t he infallible Guide. We went to t he T raining School a nd a sked for Miss Liebig. I int roduced t hem to each other and then suddenly became inter est ed in reading some papers in a dis ta nt corn er of the reception room. Not having listened in , I cannot repor t t he contents of their conversation, but it ha d far r eaching r esults.

In the fall of 1894 he ma de a trip t o South Russia as eva ngelis t. In Berlin he met t he miss ion director, Mr. Scheve .and from him learned much of the da~gers, joys a nd prospects of the Cameroon work. In January, 1895, . I r eceived from him a long Jetter 111

which he r elates that on a certa in night, while tr av.e lling on a train in Russia, he ha d had a long sea son of communion with the Lord in which h e became convinced that God h ad called him to the Camer oons, and that he had transmi t ted his decision t o Mr. Scheve.

Missiona ry in Africa In May, 1895, in company w ith pas­

tor Scheve, he r eturned to America. On Jun e 27 of the same year, in Bridge­water , So. Dak. , he was united in mar­r iage with Miss Martha Liebig. In an t icipation of their future career, Mr. Scheve gave a n inspiring a ddress on : " They saw no man save J esus only." (Matt. 17 :8 ). On September 11 , 1895, t hey embarked from Ha mburg, Ger ­many, for the Camer oons where on their arriva l t he Sueverns ~vith 70 na ­t ive scholar s gr eeted them with a hearty song of welcome.

As the dry sea son was on, t hey could go to work at once mar ching through g ra ssland th ick fo;ests cross­ing rivers on t he ; houlder s of their t en carriers, who a lso carried t heir beds, food and medicines on t heir h eads.

W.edel's specific ass ignment was to s tar t a school for native teacher s a nd pr eachers, for which he was eminently qua lified. But in April 1896 , when a son was born to t hem, his wife had se­vere fever attacks. The physicia n sta t ­ed that if she would not leave at once, she could not live. A sad parting, in­deed!

J\;1r . and Mrs. En ns soon arrived to assis t him in t he school work but by the end of J une he died of the fever . One Yea r Jeter Mrs. Enns also followed him in death. P eter Wedel took new hope when the Rev. B. Gra f and wife a~rived. Brother Graf was to super­vise t he building of schools a nd chap­els, :or which he was especia ll y qua li ­fied.

His Untime ly Death His school a lready had 200 scholars

of a ll ages. But the work was too much (Continued on Page 399)

October 15, 1941

Report by PROFESSOR ALBERT BRETSCHNEIDER, President

The Rochester Baptist Seminary in Rochest er , N. Y., has had a very go~d beginning. Ten young men enrolled m this year's class, bu t thus f~r only eight have arrived. The Canacha n s_tu­den ts have had g reat difficulty g~ttmg acr oss the border , and two a r e s til l de­ta ined. We do not know whether t_hey will be permitted to enter t he United S tat es, bu t we hope so.

Orientation Da y was on Wednesda y, September 17. Althou~h . three of. the enteri11g group were m1ssmg, neve1 t~e­less we had a most profitable day with t he 'young men beginning with '.1-n au~o­mobile -trip through our beaut1_ful city and parks and ending with a dinner ~t one of the nearby a partments. There rn a choice private di ning r oom we not 0~-

. ly dined but also faced our_ respons~­bilities in a day fra ught with unce1-tai nt ies and momentous changes. The facu lty held up a very high idea l of t he ministry to the young men and showed them a lso how t~ey_ can best profit by their s tudies while m Roches­te r .

T hursday was regis tration day. At 10 : 30 A. M. we had one of the mos t inspiring chapel ser vices t~at we have

h d We were all stirred by the ever a · d h recital of the wonderful way G_o . as led t hese young men into ·t he m1mstry. Of t hing they ar e a ll sure : t hat GO~n:as called them a nd that t hey a re where God wants t hem to be ! And we of the faculty f eel convinced . t~1a t. t hey

. t pron1ise for the mm1stiy. give g rea f . 1 On Friday night we had our o11~rn

. It was a la rge gathering ~~~~

1

i;::;ny friends of the. church and of the institution attending. _Pr~f. F k H Woyke gave a very time y

rlda n . "The Chris tia n Church and ac ress on . · ,, Mr Fred the Present Moral Crisis. . Sch midt of t he senior cla ss welcomed t he oung men in the na me of th~ stu-

y d the Rev Daniel Fuchs 111 be-dents a n · B f t half of the Andrews Str<!et a.p is Church.

0 Wednesday night , September 24, the n Andrews Str eet Ba pt ist Church

th former and the new students pH e . , reception of welcome. It was a ve1y

a · able occa•ion. All of t he men enJOY ~ h · d brief responses when t ey we1e

~na. ed cl by older members of the m t10 uce p We wer e pleased to studen~ ~ro~~n Zimmerman a lso r e­haved IS. e of those beginning a new spo~ a s o~ in Rochester a nd of co­pen od of hfe k f the Andrews f · 1 the wor o opera I~~ II I Mr Robert Kuechma nn, Street urc ,f t he Divinity School, a s tuden t 0 d . •ponded \vhen was a lso pr esent an I e~

called on by the pastor .

Th Of t he new men ar e a s e names N y ·k ·

follows : Alex Sootzma n, ew OI a , Bruno Schreiber a nd E~war~ Wams~r f B hi h Pa . E dwm Miller , Ben-o et e em, . , z·

t H b Ml.ch . Ben 1mmerman on ar or, . ,

and wife, Wishek, No. Dak.; William J eschke, Nokomis, Sask.; Vernon Link, Olds, Alberta; Otto Reinhold Schmidt, Leduc, Alberta.

We a re pleased to r eport, t oo, that Prof. Ernest Krueger, brother of Prof. Otto Krueger, is assis ting us in teach­ing and is acting a s superintendent of our building. Mr. Irvin Voth of Da llas, Ore. , a medical student in the Univer­s it y of Rochester, is also assisting in teaching a nd in supervis ing the recr ea­tiona l work of the seminary. Mr. Ruff, formerly of Gackle, No. Dak. , and n ow student for t he Master's degr ee in Eastma n School of Music, will direct our s tudent chorus and will also t each a course in Leader ship in Sing ing. We a re cer tain tha t these additions to our teaching s t a ff will be of g rea t benefit to our student gr oup.

We are all looking forward w ith eagerness to the work of the new year. The times ma ke us serious, indeed. F aculty a nd students will do their ut­mos t to buy up every oppor tuni ty for wiiming men to Christ and for build­ing t he church in -these troublous t imes.

AN URGENT REQUEST As has been a nnounced, our denomi­

nation is preparing a h is tory of otn­denomina tion for t he pa s t one hundred years. T he writer is engaged in t he ta sk of prepar ing a series of ar t icles on that subject for " The Ba ptist H er ­a ld" during the next two years. Our greatest difficulty is getting informa­t ion on t he early years and the begin­nings of our work. It would be a g reat help if churches, whose histor y goes back to near ly one hundred year s, would send us souvenir progr ams, t o­get her with a ny old photogr aphs that might prove valuable, from which we might be able to get the needed i nfor ­ma tion. Besides Jubilee programs, any other information on the ear ly h istor y of our older churches would be g r eatly appreciated. Photogr a phs should be sent to Rev. Ma rtin Leuschner , Box 6, F orest Park, Ill ., a nd literature t o the unders igned.

We a lso have a part ly complete fi le of old " Konfer enz Verha ndlungen," but we lack the following numbers : For t he Eas ter n Conference: 1858, 60. 61, 1863, 69 72, 75. Also the two first numbers: 1851 and 1852. F or the Wes tern Con­fer ence missing: 1858, 59, 60, 61, 63, 64, GG 67 69 1870, 72, 73, 75, 76 and 1883. If 'an ; per son can supply. a ny _of t hese numbers, we would a.prec1ate 1-t.

Missing from our later fi les ar e Con­ference Verhandlung 1887, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1905, 1910, a nd 1914. _Af ter t hese files are complet ed t hey \V1ll be­come t he property of t he Denomin atio11. So P LEASE !

Chas. F. Zummach. Trenton, Ill.

Page 393

OUR SPIRITUAL HERITAGE

(Cont inued from Page 385)

was genuine faith. If more space wer e at our command we could .enumer ate hundreds of examples from the list s of our ministers whose outstanding mess­age was the necessity of a new spirit ­ual li fe.

Pioneering Days The new life needed additional meet­

ings for its expressions an d thus there came into being the weekly prayer meeting, where the rank and file of the membership could make itself heard, and the cus tom of having protracted meetings, genera lly at the beginnin_g of t he New Y.ear, which extended a t times . t hrough several months. . These wer e practically revival meetmgs, largely, however confined to adults, fo r the Snday School a nd t he young people's fields came later to be introduced.

We are thinking largely of the days of pioneering when we affirm that those wer e strenuous days and called for spe­cial heroism a nd a robust f.a ith. Our ministry was lar gely strengthened since 1852 when the German depa r tment could send helper s into the field. There were no vacant churches then, nor could a minist er readily fi nd a new pastora te. The churches were small and the member ship was not " long" on shekels for the Lord's tr.easury. A ll this ca lled for a spir itua l venture such a s our day hardly can compr eh end.

Do we need a r ecapitu lation in order to get a true pictur e. of t~e spiritual forces wh ich wer.e of necessit y at work in our churches?

Saints of Yesterday Our churches had a pos itive message

founded on God's r evelat"ion of himself, a nd given us in. the New Testament. This was largely a message for adults , an inheritance from Pietism, which was changed later when youth ma de its jus t claim for recognition.

Our churches did not multiply ver y r a pidly dur ing the first twenty-five years. They wer e excessively conser­v.a t ive. T he sma ller circles h a d their " ups and downs" a nd many disap­pear ed. T he churches pla nted in la1·g­er centers wer e on the whole more prosperous. We had no g r ea.t divis ions in our ranks. A few contentiou s breth­r en wisely betock themselves elsewhere when they fou nd the " s ig ns" wer e against t hem. They lacked ba lance.

And we had our "Saints." Perhaps we underestimated thei r influence, be­cause t hey nevel.' appealed to t hat s ide of their lives. Our denom inat ional Pa­pers carried t he story of t heir "works" among us in appropriate obituaries They upheld t he spiritual fires on ou

1:

a ltars for the coming of fu ture days . We have such today. We a1·e indebted to a passage in the Old Testament (Psalm 116:15) for a conception l1ot often found: "Precious in t he s ight of t he Lord, is t he death of his sai·nts ."

Page 394

P acific Conference News Notes from the Salt Creek

Bap tist Church of Oregon Thirteen members of the Salt Creek

Baptist Church near Dallas, Ore., a t­tended t he Oregon Assembly at Silver Creek Falls this summer. Of these, five dedicated their lives to Christ for full t ime service. W e thank t he Lord for touching the hearts of these young people, so that they, too, fe<:?l the need of telling others of his g reat love.

On t he Sunday evening following the assembly the Rev. M. L. Leuschner of Forest Park, 111., gave an inspir a tional message to the young people of our church.

On Sunday evening, August 31, the young people had a farewell for Gil­ber t Schneider and Carl W eisser, who are students a t the Rochester Baptist Seminary, and for Irvin Voth, who is attending the medical school at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York.

T he Lor d has truly blessed the young people of our church during t hi s s um-mer. MILDRED MAY, Reporter.

Kelowna Young People Bid Farewell to the Rev. and Mrs.

A. Krombein

The German Baptist Young People's Society of Kelowna, B. C., Canada, ex­perienced a sa d day when we ga.thered in our church on Sunday, Aug ust ?1, for the last t ime wit h our b~loved mn~­ister, the Rev. A. Krombem, a nd ~1s family . . We had a fu ll attendance, m ­cludi ng vis itors from Osoyoos, as we gave a farewell program to e ~pr_ess our heartfelt t ha nks and apprec1at1on for a ll t hey have done for us .

The young people especiall_Y wer e very sorry to see Mrs. Krombem le~ve us . She was our pres ident and loving friend for the entire three year s that she was with us, a nd s he was a lways active in t he work of the L ord.

Mr. Krnmbein was t he teacher of the Young P eople's S undaiy School Class, a nd his ta lks to us wer e so earnest and interest ing t ha t he was a gre~t fav~r­ite with us all. W e shall certainly miss him in our class on Sunday mornings .

Our vice-president, M a g cl a I e n a P aschold is our leader now, and we are

' . l Cl . t" strivin g to go "Forward wit i . ll' IS

in t he work t hat Mrs. Krombem has bu ilt up.

Our loss is the gain of t he Bismar ck young people, and we sincer ely hope that Mr . and Mrs . Krombein will be to them the bles ing that they have been to us. ANNE PASCHOLD, Secretar y .

Vacatior.t Bible School of the Calva ry Church of Tacoma,

Washing ton The Calvary Baptist Church of Ta­

coma, Wash., held a Daily Vacation Bible School from August 18 to 29. T here was a total regis tration of 57 children ; and an average attendance of 46.

Not only were interest ing lessons from the Bible presented by t he teach­ers, but opportunity was g iven the pu­pi ls to hear a nd know about Christ and salvation . A number accepted the Lord as their Savior.

The closing exercises with display of handwork and memory wor k , as well a s songs with and wi thout motions were well r eceived by a large audience.

We were privileged to have the Rev. Martin Leuschner , general secretary of the Y. P. and S. S. W . Union, w it h us for t he closing day. He gave us an address fo llowed by pictures of our miss ionar y work in t he Camer oons. The mission offering amounted to $12.24.

The teaching staff cons is ted of Mes­dames E. Stabbert, E. Heimrich , J. Klapstein, W. C. Damrau, A. Tokar­syck and Misses A. Enroth, El Hughes, (IC. Wellman ) a nd H. Riepe, under t he direction of t he pastor , the Rev. W. C. Da mrau.

MISS HAZEL RIEPE, Secretar y.

Fourth A nniversary of the Laurelhurst Church of P ortland

Is Observed With Fitting Exer c ises

On Sunday, September 14, the Lau­r elhurst Baptist Church of Portland, Ore., obser ved "An ni ve1·sa r y Sunday." On that day we wer e fom· year s old. During t hi s short period many have been added to the church so t hat our members hip is now over 3CO. Out of g ratitude to the Lon i fo r his blessings the church raised $372.00 for our deno­minationa l mi ssionary program on that Sunday. Our Women's Missiona r y So­ciety a lso appr opriated $75.00 for m is­sions in their last m eeting.

The anniversary was marked wit h a la r ge attendance in both t he services. Beautiful flowers and fou r burning candles gr aced t he platfo rm. Professor '\Valter Bacon, 1, rominent violin ist, was presm1t and rendered selections . Miss Ru t h Reisbick has placed her vibr a­harp· in t he chu rch auditorium and plays it in all the ser vices. The pastor s poke on "The Primary Task of the Church" on this anniversary occasion in the mo1·n ing service.

New interest is being manif ested in a ll depa r tments of the chu rch s ince the opening of the F a ll work.

FRED w. MUELLER, Pastor.

THE BAPTIST HERALD

Southern Conference Annual R a lly D a y of the

Southern Conference a t Mothe r Neff Park on Sunday, Se pt. 2~

On Sunday, September 21, appr?x1-mately 350 m embers of the -:ar1ous Sunday Schools and training muons of the Souther n Conference gathered at Mother Neff's P ark near McGreg?r, Texas, for a day of blessing and Chris­tian fellowship.

The Sunday School was in charge of t he pres iden t, Mr. Milton Lippe.rt. The Rev. W. H. Buenning of Gatesville and the Rev. P. P :eiffer of Waco discuss~d the S. S . lesson with the Seniors, while Miss Frieda Koch of Gatesville taugh t the Intermediates, and Mrs. J. Lipper t taugh t the Juniors.

A Mass Choir composed of s ingers of t he var ious Chu rch Choirs rendered a beautiful song under the capable direc­t ion of the Rev. M. G. Mi ttelstedt of Kyle. The morning sermon was de­liver ed by the Rev. J. Lippert of Green­vine in a n effective ma nner on. "Sowing Wild Oats."

After refres hing our bodies phys ic­a lly with lunch, we again gathered in t he pavilion for some more sp iri tua l refreshing. A s pecial progr a m was r endered composed of numbers from the various churches, and a n offering, amount ing to the sum of $22.42. was taken for the Centenar y project. The Rev. C. C. Gossen of Crawford de­liver ed a ver y impressive talk based on Phiiemon 1 :7 which will long be r e­membered. A voca l solo, "Does J es us Care?" by Mrs. P . Pfei ffer of Waco and Mr. Gossen's benediction brought the ser vices of the day to a close.

T ILLIE MAE SPROSs, Secretary.

Northwestern Con ference T~nth A n!live r sary o f the

T a b itha Society a t E lg in, Iowa On the even ing of September 2 t he

T abitha Society of the Baptis t Church at E lgi n, Iowa, celebrated its t enth a nnive rsary with s pecial services at t he church, The pres ident, Mrs . Clar ­ence Muehlethaler, led the meeting .

T he progr am consist ed of a specia l m~1s ica l number by Mr. and Mrs. Karl Miller, a historical sketch of t he societY by Mrs . Guy P rober t, the honoring of the past pres idents and a talk by t he Rev. Assaf Husma~n. The topic of h is talk was "Fellowship Through Ser­vice." A large birthday cake was baked for the occas ion. Refreshmen ts wer e served at the close of the evening .

The Lord has g reatly blessed the so­eiety in the pas l ten years . The mem­ber s hip has g rown from 27 to 52 women.

MRS. Guy PROBERT, Reporter.

October 15, 1941

Bu r lington Twin s P rep a r e for the Christia n Ministry

When we hear of one young man's decision to go into the ministry, it is good news, but when twins decide to make t his their Ii:e's work, it is doubly good n ews! The Oak Street _Baptist Church of Burli ngton, Iowa, 1s very happy to proclaim th is good news at this time.

William Kuechmann of Burlington, Iowa

Robert a nd William (better known as Bob and Bill) Kuechmann left in September to begin their t r ainin?",. B_ob a t t he Colgate-Rochester D1v1111ty School of Roches ter, N. Y., and Bill ~t t he Northern Baptist Semin ary at Ch i­cago, Il l. These young men hav~ com­pleted theil· s tudies together m t he Burlington schools a nd at the State U nivers ity of Iowa, but because they are specializing in different fi ~lds of Chr istian service, they have decided to attend different seminaries.. We ~e­li eve this is the fi rst time m_ the his­tory of Burlington that . twins !rnve chosen the ministry as thell" vocation.

On Sunday evening, September 7, the Oak Street Baptist Church ~eld a farewell service for Bob an<l_ B1l_I, . at which t ime, after brief a nd m s pir:ng messages from the boys. th~ church presented t hem. with lovely B1~les. <~ nd the Service Guild envelopes c~1 tammg the wherewithal. The Live Wire Class of the Su nday School presented them with brie~ cases, and the B. Y. P. U. t d . d tliem a farewell banquet. en e1 e . . These boys have been very active m their church and Sunday School, a s \Yell a s faithful members of t he B. !· P U cl hurch choir. We s hall miss . . an c h . . .. t them, but we will expect to ea1 g1ea things of them in the futu r 2.

RUTH LOHJ\!AN N, Reporter.

The Nor thwestern Conference a t Racine E a rnestly Considers

the Subje ct of Evangelism

The sixty-first annual session of the Nort hwestern Conference was held in the Grace Baptist Church of Racine, Wis., from August 6 to 10. The Grace Church proved to be a n ideal meeting­place and provifled for every comfort of the delegates and visitors. The at­tendance was the la rgest in years and the program wa s presented with spi­t·i tual warmth a nd keenly enjoyed by a ll . The theme of the conference was "The Task of the Christian Church in Days Like These," based on Matt. 28 : 19, 20. The opening message was brought by the Rev. Thos. Stoer i. The inspiring song servi ce and the special mus ic furnished by the entertaining church, proved to be an excellen t back­ground for the evening messa ges. The devotional services were conducted by the brethr en H. L ohr, H. Bothner , J. R. Matz, and H. C. Wedel.

The first day of the conference was given over to evangelization. in its preaching aspects wit h addr esses on "Evangelism, the Supreme Reason for Preaching," an d "New Testament E vangelism," by t he Revs. P. Zoschke and L. B. Berndt, respectively. The Rev. W. Schobert preached the evan­gelis tic serm on on Thursday evening with great enthusiasm. A ser ies of a d­dresses were g iven on indoctrination by the Revs. E. W olff and E. Lehr .

A dialogue on promotion, wri t ten by the Rev. E. J. Baumgartner, minister of the Nor t h Avenue Church at Mi l­waukee, was presented by the young people of t he Racine church on Friday evening . T he Rev. A . G. Sch lesinger delivered a n a ddress, "The Voice of the Bible in Days L ike These." The REv. G. Wetter presented a "Graphic Lec­ture Showing Educational and Spirit­ual Needs of Our Churches" a nd the Rev. A. Berna dt conducted an Open Forum: "How Can VI' e Imp rove Church Attendance and Church School Attend­a nce." The Rev. Mr . MacFarla nd was t he guest speaker a t t he women's meet­ing on Friday afternoon.

The Rev. E. J . Baumgartn~r was elected to serve the confer ence as vice­modera tor , automatically becoming mo­clera tor of the next conference. The Revs . E. J. Stoeri and E . J .Baumgar t­ner were elected to serve on the mission committee for a term of thr ee year s each. The Rev. H . H irsch was elected lo serve the committee as secr etary a nd the Rev. J. Wobig as chai rma n. Other elections included Rev. H. W. W edel a s " Wa isenvater ," E. J. Baumgartner as representative and J. Wobig as a lter­nate in the genera l missionary commit~ tc-e, L . B. Berndt as cler k , a nd E. Wolff as st atistican. Prof. 0 . E. Kruege.r . rnprcsentative of the gener al co~nc1l, s ubmitted h is reports on the Semmary and the Publication Society.

The Rev. J. Wobig broug ht the an­nua I miss ionary sermon on Sunday morning. The honornble Harold Stass­en, governor of Minnesota, was the

Page 395

guest speaker at the young people's meeting on Sunday afternoon. The conference was brought to a conclusion and climax by an ins piring message on, "The Voice of t he Cross in Times Like These," ·by Prof. 0. E. Krueger.

E very one spoke appreciatively of the program. The sp irit t hat dominated the conference was supreme. More earnestness of purpose, more unanim­ity of conviction, mor e evidences of the presence of God's Holy Spirit have rarely been manifested in any con~er­ence. This conference on eva ngelism, great in a t tendance, great in e_nth~s­iasm, g reat in unity, was most rnsp1r­ing and encouraging.

LEWIS B. BERNDT, Reporter .

Robert Kuechmann of Burlington, Iowa

Southwestern Conference La Salle and Scottsbluff

Young People Hold a Rally Together

On Sunday, September 14, the Sun­day School group and young people of t he Baptist Church of La Sa lle, Colo., met with a s imila r g roup of Scottsbluff, Neb., for a rally. They arrived at Scottsbluff on Saturday even ing and a "Get Acquainted Hour " was held in which games and refreshments were enjoyed by al l.

On Sunday morni ng during the S un­dav School period "The Chris tian Sun­day'" was discussed as follows : ' ·W or­ship and Prayer" by Fred H a mburger; "Teaching" by Mr. Reineke of La S ;ille; "Making People Happy'" by Mr. Mehring of Scottsbluff ; and " Rest and Chr istian Fellowship" by the Rev. C. H. Seecamp. The sermon at t he rncrn­ing service was delivered by Mr. Geis, our former colpor ter of Okeene. Okla.

The afternoon session w a s opened with songs led by Mr. Hamburger a nd prayer by Bertha Mehling. The meet-

Page 396

ing was then turned over to Lloyd Geis of La. Salle. His group first presented a choir song and two guitar selections by Wesley Moser besides an accor dian selection by Mr. Reineke. Charlotte and D:>rothy Meier sang, after which the play, "The Fifty Dollar Check," was presented. Mr. Geis gave a short ad­dress after which Mr. Seecamp added a few words.

Rich blessings were received and a very inspirir.g t ime was had by al l. May God bless us further in such fel­lowship and work !

FRED HAMBURGER, Reporter.

Program of the Oklahoma State A ssociation from October 23

to 26 a t Gotebo Theme : "Wanted-An Awakening."

Theme Song: "Awake, My Soul, Stretch Ever y Nerve."

THURSDAY, October 23: 7 :30 P. M. : Opening Service Speak­

er , F. W. Socolofsky. F R IDAY, October 24:

9-9 :30 A. M.: Devotional service­Bessie Church. 9 :30-10 A. M.: Busi­ness meeting. 10 :15-11 :30 A. M. : Re­ports of Churches. 11 :30-11 :55 A. M · "Praise God from Whom All Blessin~~ F low."

2-2 : 30 P. M. : Devotional service­E manuel Church. 2:30-3 :05 P . M.: E lection and report of mission. commit­tee. 3:05-3:45 •P. M.: "Awakening to the Present Crisis"-H enry Pfeifer. 3 :45-4 P. M. : Discussion. 7 :30 P . M.: Speaker, E. A. Buenning.

SATURDAY, October 25 : 9-9 :30 A. M.: Devotional by the

Ingersoll Church. 9 :30-9 :50 A. M.: Unfinished business. 9 :50-10 :30 A. M.: "Awakening to Battle for Righteous­ness," E. A. Buenning. 11-11 :40 A. M.: "Awakening to Obedience to God's Call," F. W. Socolofsky in charge.

2-2 : 30 P. M . : Devotional by Okeene church. 2 :30-3 P . M. : Question Box, F. W. Socolofsky in charge. 3.3 :20 P. M.: Business. 3 :20-4 P. M.: " A wak­ening to Praise, Pr ayer and the Glory of God." 7 :30 P. M.: Speaker, Henry Pfeifer.

Donation Day at the Philadelphia Home

on October 25 The Home for the Aged in P hi la­

delphia, Pa., will observe Donation Day on Saturday, October 25. As asual, there will be a special chapel ?rogram with the Rev. H. Pa lfe­nier, pastor of the Second German Baptist Church of Phi ladelphia, as the speaker.

Meab will be served in the din­ing room, and all kinds of dona ­tions will · be welcomed from t he many friends of the Home every­where. We trust that many of our friends will visit the Home at 7023 Rising Sun Ave., Philadelphia, Pa., on that day.

Milton R. Schroeder, Pastor.

Tl$~ oiJ ell~ 'We..f~'

Oy CeceUa Marearet Rudin . M .A. Who wrote " America the Benuti· ful- "Silcnt Nlght"-·"God Will Toke Core of You"?

Why7-Whnt Circumstances? Inn perfectly fascinating style

thla book "ives you the inspiring atorle9 or our lovc.od hymns.

NOW IN 9th EDITION 1~f!~::l!1lh'!;!l'OS1~ 1-l·:::::i~;:;'.I! makel these m-MKH or eomtorl and pe:aee v lYldlJ' a nd lenderlJ' 111new rorour ct.J' , 88 pUP•, 166•ubJoeta, beauUtul17

~Th".,db!!.~b~~ ~=~~~·: G"/trt:~·oo. Ord~r /Tom wwr e/u1re.\ -ppflf 1'0tr-: or writ• dirnt

JOHN RUDIN & COMPANY INC. Publl1h"-,.. or· 'Th• Uook or ure''

1018 S. Wab••h Av enue D e pt. BH Chlca &o , llllnol•

SUNDAY, October 26: 10 A. M. : Sunday School as guests

of Gotebo School. 11 A. M.: Morning Worship, Se1mon by Henry P fe ifer. Missionary Offer ing.

2 P. M.: Young People's P rogram. 7 :20 P. M.: Closing Service. S peaker,

E lmer A. Buen ning.

INVI T ATION ! The Sa lem Baptist Church of Gotebo, .

Okla., wishes to extend a hear ty invi­tation to .the Oklahoma Convent ion and to a ll others who wish to attend.

LLOYD SCHANTZ, Church Clerk.

qellin9 Chttislmus Cuttds The Order of The Day

The selling of Christmas Cards by individuals, by Sunday school classes, by Ladies Missionary Societies or by other church organizations has gr own by leaps and bounds until it has taken on large proportions.

We are suppliers of the necessary series of Christmas Car ds to our peo­ple and we naturally want our people to secur-e their stock direct from us in Cleveland. That makes for loyalty and is helpful to our business enterprise.

Our lines a r e indeed bea utiful Our wholesale prices are righ t

Please communicate with us.

ROGER WILLIAMS PRESS 3734 Payne Ave., Cleveland, Ohio

THE BAPTIST HERALD

Annual Report of the La Salle Ladies' Missionary Society

We of the Ladies Miss ionary Society of the Baptist Church of La Salle. Colo., indeed, can praise our blessed Lord and Redeemer, for wonduful is his help at all times, and marvelous is his grace, and many are our oppor­tunities to serve him who gave his life for us. Sorrows a nd trials come and g-o but Chr ist never fai ls us. He abides with us forever.

Our meetings are held monthly with an average attendance of 20. These meetings are very helpful to a ll of us, for we are drawn closer to our Lord, and we r eceive gr eater visions of the work of the Lord at home and abroad. The "Missions-P erle," (mission leaf­let), keeps us informed of the activities and sacrifices of our missionaries. This leaflet is r ead at every meeting. An important part in our monthly meet­ings is our devotional period in which we bring our petitions to God and in­ter cede for those in trouble and sin. Mrs. Ford, missionar y to J a ma ica, spoke to us at one meeting last winter in which we vowed -to the Lor d to help carry the gospel to those in darkness and s in even in for eign fields. W e also observed our annual prayer clay in F eb­ruary.

W e have a membership of 27. We ma?e 209 sick calls in the past year, trying to cheer up those in s ickness or bereavement with flowers and cards of rem em br a nee.

As to our financial activities we gave $20 to miss ions and rcdeco~ated t he interior of the parsonage. More pl~ns a~e being made and greater th.mgs will be done in the year to come w1th the Lord's help. Our total income for the.past year was $211.87; the total expenditure was $167.49.

On the 31st of August we gave our annual program. We had a full house and the program was well accepted. Our tex,~ for the evening was Matt. 25 : 31-46 : What ye have done to one of t he ,,ieast of these, ye h ave done unto me. The program consisted of group song, solos, duets, instrumental num­b~rs, octet and trio number s and a di~l~gue: "The Singer's Rewa{·c1." The mission offering of the evening amount­ed to $16 50.

MRS. DAN BOHLENOER, Secretary.

Dakota Conference Central Dakota Young People

Hold a Rousing Rally at Linton, North Dakota

C Weather cond itions cannot stop us entral Dakota young people! Al­

~hough t he sky was threatening on unday morning, September 14 the

su n, together with many eager ;oung people, began to show their faces at our a.nnual ra lly which was held on tha~ clay in Linton, No. Dale The fol­lowmg . societies were represented: L~hr, L111ton, Venturia, Wishek, Her­reid, Artas, Ashley, Fredonia, Medina.

Our main speaker for the day was the Rev. Martin L . Leuschner. In the

·,

October 15, 194 1

morning his message _was based on P salm 34, and showed that God is good and very near to us. In the afternoon message, we were led to see the need of having a genuine interest in and car­ing about those with whom we come in contact. The pictur es of the Came­roons and Genera l Conference at Bur­lington, shown in the evening, aroused a new our interest in both the foreign and local work.

Each of the societies represented came well prepared with musical selec­tions. As always, the mass choir also played j.ts part, and under the direction of the Rev. A. Jtterma nn sang "Mas­ter, the Tempest is Raging" and the "Awakening Chorus."

Mrs. Viola Kiemele, editor of our "Assembly Journal," announced that the next issue would be sent out in De­cember . Even though it is "our" paper, much of the credit for its success goes to Mrs. K iemele a-nd her associate edi­tor , Laver ne Kremer .

With some of the strains of our 1941 assembly t heme, "On to Victory," still ringing in our ear s, we parted with the hope that we will all see each other again at our 1942 assembly to be held at J amestown, No. Dak. E LEANORE WEISENBURGER, Reporter.

Ordination of the Rev. Leon Pugsley of Jamestown,

North Dakota A council was called by the First

Baptist Church of J amestown, No. Dak. to consider the ordination of Mr. L. Pugsley into the ministry of the gospel. Delegates from Li.n~o.n, Lehr , W ishek, J amestown and v1s1~m? pas­tors were added to t his council, includ­ing the Rev. B. W. Krentz of Los Angeles, Calif., the Rev. N. E. McCoy, radio pas tor of J amestown.

The Rev. Alber t I ttermann was elect­ed moder ator and the Rev: Chas. W~g­ner secr etar y. The candidate was in­

troduced by the Rev. E. P . Fosmark. Mr . P ugsley gave his t~stimony a~ .to his conversion, his call mt~ the m1111s­tr y, and his beliefs concernmg the doc-tt·ine. . h

The ordination service was 111 c arge of the moder ator, the Rev. Albert It­termann. The ordination sermon was delivered by the Rev. E. Broeckel. The text and topic were: " The Calling of God's Messenger," J er. 1:17-19. The ordination prayer was offernd by the Rev. E . P. Fosmark. The charge to the church was given by ~~e Rev. C~as. Wagner. He spoke on Encouragmg the Messenger" Acts 28 : 15. The Rev. P. Hunsicker gave the charge to the ordained minister, and Mr. Pugsley was welcomed into the circle of fellow­ministers by t he Rev. B. W. Krentz. The benediction was pronounced by the Rev. L. Pugsley.

Mr. L. P ugsley is a member of the J amestown church. He. is a gradt~ate of the Moody Bible Institute of Chica­go. He expects to enter _t he Northern Baptist Seminary of Chicago to con­tinue his studies and la te~ to ~nter the fielrl of labor in the Engltsh ctrcle.,

CHARLES WAGNER, Clerk.

Nor thern Conference Silver Jubilee and Baptismal

Service in Prince George, B. C. Prince George is an important city

in Central British Columbia. It has a passenger and freight divisional point, midway between P rince Rupert and Edmonton, and at the junction of the Fraser and Nechaco rivers. Within it is confined a la rge and most fe1·tile area of virgin agricultural land and timbered forests.

The Rev. Abraham Hager, our vet­eran pioneer of t he Christian faith, had the vision and saw the possibilities of establishing a mission work for the Lord in this district. With undaunted zeal he devoted himself wholeheartedly in organizing the First Baptist Church of P rince George in 1916.

Page 397

best to the Lord's work: A. Hager, Philip Daum, John Broeder, C. A. ~ruhn, H. Rumpel, Adam Huber, and smce December 1, 1940, Fred W. Benke.

The d~s of September 14 to 16 were notable and blessed in the history of the church. In a fitting way the silver jubilee was observed. The newly-or­ganized band under the leadership of the Rev. Fred W. Benke began the meetings by playing several melodies. The Rev. Philip Daum of Winnipeg, Man., came for this festival and offi­ciated at the baptismal service. Conse­cra t ion services were held and the Lord's Supper was celebrated. Mr. Daum brought a heart-searching mess­age to the church and spoke challeng­ing words to the new converts.

At the jubilee service r eports were given by the officials of t he church, in

T he Hager Memorial Baptist Church of P rince George, British Columbia

Those were trying days in this grow­ing town with its changing population. He and his devoted wife gave them­selves in the spirit of Christ to pro­mote the K ingdom of God in this far flung mission field of our Canadian West.

The church membership has changed considerably throughout the year s. Many have moved away and some have been called to their eternal rewards. F or a time the church work had to be delayed, and the cause suffered severe losses. Then in 1931 the Rev. P hilip Daum visited this group of believers a nd encoqraged them to carry on the work of the Lord. He re-organized the church, and the name was changed to the Hager Memorial Baptist Church of Prince George in commemoration of the first founder, the Rev. A. Hager .

On Monday evening, September 15, the silver jubilee of the church was celebrated and many recollections of the past were r ecalled: mingled hard­ships, disappointments, joys and tri­umphs. Throughout this period Mr. Hager carried on to the best of his ability, until his voice gave way and he was den ied the joy of pr oclaiming the gospel of J es us Christ in an audible way, which in fonner years he had .cax­riecl on with great vigor and delight. The following men of God served the church during the 25 years for a lo~­ger or shorter period and each gave his

which they made mention of God's lead­ing hand throughout the varied experi­ences of the last years. The mixed choir, male trio and children's choir as well as the band rendered appropriate music. A recitation depicted the stages of God's blessing in the past and future. Then Mr. Benke spoke words of encouragement on Revelation 3 :8. Greetings of goodwill from the Rev. E. P. Wahl, secretary of the Northern Conference, were read.

ADOLF STEINKEY, Clerk.

The Olds Church H olds a Farewell Re ception for the Rev. and Mr s. G . Beutler

A f arewell service was held for the Rev. and Mrs. G. Beutler and family in the Baptist Church of Olds, Alberta, Canada, on Sunday evening, August :n.

The church was beautifully decorat­ed with flowers and we know that many a loving thought went into the prepa­ration of these bouquets. The Beutlers delight in beautifu! things, and every effort to help beautify the services was a~nply i·ew.ar~ed by our pastor voicing hts apprec1at1on from the pulpit. O~r deacon, Mr. R. C. L ink, led the

meeting. The dea~ons spoke in behalf of. the church, while the church com­m1~ee, Sunday School, B. Y. P. U., the c~o1r and the Women's Missionary So­ciety were r epresented by their leaders who spoke words of app1·eciation.

Page 398

Mrs. Beutler had every reason to be proud while lis tening to the vice-presi­dent, Mrs. Albert Unger , s peaking for the Women's Missionary Society. It was difficul t to tell in a few sentences all · that was in their minds in high -esteem for the president. A lace table cloth, fruit bowl and a lovely bcuquet of flower s were presented to Mrs. Beut­ler with every good wish for t he future.

Mrs. C. B. Thole, teacher of t he Be-· ginners' Class, presented the da ugh ter, Anita, with a gift in beha lf of the class. Mr. R. Link, in behalf of the members, presented our former pastor with an envelope of money. The Rev. F. Alf from Carbon and Rev. 0 . F iesel from Trochu brought fitting messages for the occasion. Mr. and Mrs. Beutler r esponded to the tributes and good wishes, and expressed their grat itude.

To bring this lovely evening to a right close, a delicious lunch was served in the dining room of the church, where everyone had the opportunity to bid far ewell to the Beutlers . Our sincere prayer is t ha t God may continue to bless them richly in their new field.

WILLIAM WORM, Repor ter.

•

REVIEWING 25 YEARS ( Continued from Page 386)

we shall rejoice with " j oy unspeakable and full of g lory."

Every chi ld of God, having been received into the eternal covenant, can declare this word with profound hu­m ility and a lso with undaunted convic­t ion as the secret of his en tir e p ilgrim­age of life: "For God was w ith him! " This word was spoken about Joseph and a lso about t he Lord J es us Christ. There is n't a s ingle Christian life, how­ever insignificant it may have been, wh ich has not been affected by thi s providential guidance of God even in the mos t unpretentious events of each day.

If one reviews the past, t hen one is vividly r eminded of those memor able even.ts when the presence of God w ith startling and over whelming power made itself known to him, so that in joyous wor ship he had to decla re : "It is t he Lord!" God's guidance becom es even more r eal and precious to us when

Leader ('1, ttame • • •

* Leader • p'r.actice • . . ''IT'S ju,.ct \Yh ut ,,.c nt•etl!" n ·ns 1 h e euu .""("ll1'1U,.C of 0 1>l n iou of e h u re h

* \Yo rke r:oc nero!"l"4 fhe t•o rd lut• n f n ·It e u t_llscu N:slu g- H iq1C i:-4t 1.(•utler

just nit e r thi:-i ncH' JeJ1der1i hJ11 tn u,;nziue bud 1u ucJe lt!i li rst U J>JH_·nru n c e

u s u con1 h i11et1 uut n u ul for a ll lcu d crs huck I n 1 0:18 . t:nltl n J,:' n u d n eJ \·u u c -

1 11~ l h.,. h.•utJer1'!thl1• Ju the (! h u rch cf'4 'fh rou~h o n e l'( f rO u J.:' j ouruul , , .ul-4 u

.._.hu llcn~t! J1 ucce1•t e d u n cl nud. "\V h ut thl l-4 Yitai 1un.;;t"uzl u e I~ do i n~ for

o t lu• r H It t.•uu do f or ;\·ou! Y ou n ·ll J fi n d It~ u r tlcl c H vls.:oroUl'f nnd U n t t." I Y

•• • Jt:-c 1'4U:.:;~c:-ctlouK c o u NtrtH: tlvc un d son u cl. ) ln k c JJ11Jd l:-ct L.-111h·r tt * r •·;.:-u l u r udjuuc t 'fo y our t cnch lu~.

Baptist Leader The Mon t hly Magazine

for Church and

Church School Wor ker s

* PUBLISHED B Y

THE AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY

1701-1703 Chestnut Street

Phil add phia, P ennsylvania

THE BAPTIST HERALD

we can describe it in actual experiences in our own lives.

In 1892 soon after I went to Roches­ter, N. Y., as a student at our semi­nar y, t here began a n intimate friend­sh ip with H erman von Berge wh ich had a profound bearing on bot h of our lives. That friendship has continued with unaba ted intimacy even to th is day.

It was on ly by the grace of God that I was called in 1397 as the pastor of t he Second Church in Philadelphia , Pa. That period of seventeen year s of m y ministr y in that church , fo which I owe a g reat deal more than I can ever express in words, served ~s a prepara­tor y school fo r my later mi nis try as Missionary Secr etary.

While I was s t ill pas tor in Ph ila del­phia, the bonds of friendship wer e established between the brethren Wal­ter Staub, E. E lmer Staub und Theo­do~·e Sorg a nd me, which nothing ha s been able to break asunder. From t he huma n point of view, these laymen would never have been ~ble to ]1a ve render ed this invaluable service to our denom ina t ion during t hese years if it had not been for . this friendship t hat has bound us together.

I a lso r egard it as the benevolent guidance of God t hat he has g iven me so many friends a mong our peop le in a ll parts of our widely scatt ered deno­mi national te rr i .tor y. They have brought much sunshine and sati sfaction to my heart.

T he harmonious spirit and fine co­oper a tion that exist between my col­leagues and myself here at the office in F ores t Park is another evidence to me of God's boundless grace. F or ma ny year s this r elationship existed between !3rother A. P . Mihm a nd myself. Dur­lllg t he past s ix year s it has a lso been true of the relationship between Broth­er Leuschner and myself and t his has continued into the past ;ear of ser vice with Brother Husmann. E ven t hough we may have differences of viewpoin t, never theless, we m a inta in the unity of the spirit in Chris t . I n a ll of our de­liber a t ions we enrich each other's Ji : e and ·t her eby find it easier to r each t he solution of many an intrica te problem. We maintain this loyalty t o each ot her whether we a re in the office or on trip~ lo ou r various churches.

I n r ev iewing the past 25 years, I can :;ay that these have been inexpressibly happy years for me. To be su re, there were frus trated pla ns . But even in su.ch experiences, I found tha t peace of mmd whenever I could say w ith t he Lord J esus Chris t: " I than k t hee, o Father , Lord of heaven and earth fo1· so it seemed good in thy s ight.'; Whene ver the mountainous difficulties upon my way were removed, even be­yond my highest expectations, t hen I cou ld declare wi th jubilant joy because of .the revelation of t he g lor y of God wh ich strengthened my faith : "This is lhe Lord's doing a nd it is marvelous in our eyes."

•

October 15, 1941

EARLY MISSIONARY HEROES

(Con tinued from P age 392) for any one man. His health failed. The other m issionaries advised that he leave at once. On July 22, 1906, he left on the steamer "S. S. Lotha r Bohlen." But he had waited too long. On Au­g ust 9th, thirty-three years of age, he died an was buried at sea.

Brother Wedel was a capable, h um­ble and well equipped servant of his Lord, with a keen intellect, warm heart, wide horizon, and evangelist ic zeal. I deemed it a privilege to enjoy his loyal friendship.

Did his choice for the Cameroon work sa tisfy him ? I can let h im an­swer that question by citing some quo­tation s from his letters:

FREE ENROLLMENT FOR THE LEADER Here's your opportunity to get a free enroll­ment in one of the 17 easy-to-study Moody Home Study Courses! All you do is teach a class in your church or community.

HALF RATE ~ tlw CLASS (~°o~~) These courses give a definite planned ap­

proach to the lessons and procedure for the class, eliminating the preparation of material.

Especially popular courses with young people are S CRIPTURE TRUTH and SCRI"PTURE MEMORIZING. Timely courses for adul ts include MOUNTAIN P EAKS OF P ROPHECY and PANORAMA OF THE AGES.

Offer expires Nov. J . 194 1. Mail coupon today. .. ---------------1 I Dept . B. H . 408 I I

Plea«<: eeml full rlctnils regarding 40th Annive rs..-.ry

1 Special Offer fo r o rganizing G roup Bi l>lc C las.."IC!t.

I I I :::::.-.·:: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : I

ltiimliil "December 31, 1895: I ca n a ssure you

that I am ver y ha ppy and dai ly t hank t he Lord that he led us here ... Dur ing the 7 weeks I a m here, I was only home one Sunday, because of a mild fever attack; the r est of t he t ime we were on c. ur va rious missions. D uring t hese weeks we had 9 ba ptismal ser vices , bap­tizing 94 conver ts. It is a joy to be en­gaged in a work, in which you have t he ; ure conviction t hat it is God 's work, bears his seal and testifies of the power of his saving grace. Her e in hea~hen­dom 011e has t he feeling t hat one 1s at t he fron t in the battleline where every stroke counts double, whi le at home so m.uch powder is wast ed in vain."

A Passion to Preach Christ "March 10, 1896. I am g iving 3 hours

instruction daily i11 our boys school, . . . am a lso busy in the study of Duala; ... the longing to br ing the gospel to t hese poor benighted tribes is growing in our hearts."

But it came 10 a sudden stop! Hu­m an ly s peaking it was too soon. Why? " Some day we'll understand! .,

The spirit of the Wedel fam ily is s till with us. Two of his brothers, Henry W. and H erman C., are pastor s of our churches in Victor. Iowa, and Holloway Minnesota. Another brother, Dan W ed

1

el, is prominen t in the activi­ties of the Bethel Bapt ist Church of Anaheim, California, and still a nother brother Joh n W edel, is the Sunday School

1

s uperintendent of the Baptist Church in Wasco, California. H ow these Wedel brother s have helped t o make our denominational histor y !

These have been incomplete sketch­e~ of our early miss ionary heroes on t he Cameroon mission field. B ut the memory of t heir labor s w ill a lways be fragrant in our midst and the ser v ice of their lives wi ll a lways challenge u s to g reater things.

Page 399

OBITUARY GERA l, D ·w .\ Yl\"E S'l'EIXDA:tl

of Dnll .u:ot, 'rexu!'t

Geral<l 'Sayne Steindam, infant son or Mr. and i\I rs. Herman F. Steinda m, Jr., passed out of this life on the 14th of Septemhe1· as a r esult of an automobile accident. The ba by was born on J une 11, 19-11. thus reaching the age of only three months and three days.

Very s hort was the joy of the young parents and grandparents, Mr. a nd Mrs He1·man F. Steindam, Sr., of Dallas and l\[1·. and i\Irs. Alber t Grink e of Henriet ta. Texas. Their hea r ts a re bleeding no"" ove1· the Joss or thei r litt le one, but the,· are comfor ted with the thought that he now is safe in the arms of J esus.

The sympathy for the loss of the par­ents was expressed in the la rge attend ­ance at the fu neral service and the ven · numerous noral offer ings. Th!' under-­s ig ned. assisted by the Rev. Rudol ph ·woyke of Washburn , No. Vale. "Poke words of comfor t based on J ob l :21 a nJ l sa 55 :8 a nd 9. ":\(~· baby in the arms of Jesus. With neYer a fear, and neve1· a tear: \Vith sou l expanding in heaven's bli ss. And face up lifted to Heaven's kiss! Ah, \\"hO could you wish back from thi>'"? M,· ba b,· in the a rms of .Je,,ns." Dallas. 'l'exas.

.T. B. Bh 1·ho1·n.

Tbe chnrJ:"e fo r .n 11 o h ltnurles u 1•1u.~ur­ln9' In ··Tiu • ll11 1•ti~t llernltl .. is fiye ecnt~ n ·lln e . 11nynhh.• t o Ro~cr "\Yll liauns P r ess, :t7 :l-& Pi1-,~ue .\ , .e ., C le , ·ctnntl, O h i o. 'l'be o h lt u nrles sbouhl h e seut 1o 1he «<lltor for 1111 h llca tlou In ·'The Herald.' '

The Plast i c Mi n d is Fe r t il e Gro un d

SUNDAY SCHOOL

LITERATURE FOR

LITTLE FOLKS 'l'OPIC 'l'E.\ CHING AIDS

I X'l'. UNll~OR)I LESSON

Write I or Beginne r and Pr·i-l1ha111

Devt. samvles

The " CHR ISTIAN LIFE SERIES" S. S. Literature affords ample material for the little folks. Difficult passages are explained so tha t t he child mind understands Redemption truths- True to God's Word .

Literature for All Devartments

- BEGINN ERS - PRIMARY - JUNIOR - INTERMEDIATE -SENIOR - YOUNG PEOPLE - ADULT

Write for /itll sa1nple pack with catalogue-Free

UNION GOSPE L PRESS Box 6059 Cleveland, Ohio

Page 400 THE BAPTIST HERALD

1ucin9 tlie 1utu'r.e Witli ixcitiu.9 Plans '

Executive Committee Members of the National Y. P. and S. S. W . Union and Guests at Portland, Qregon 1 d·

( L ft t R " h Al" H Id J Pctke of Por t an ' e . o 1g t : ice Kaaz of New Haven, Conn.; aro · . Peter Yost of

TMartm ·L . Leuschner of Forest Park. Ill. ; Mrs. Harold. J. PeHtk_~ 1• boro Oregon .)

aco ma. Wash.: M rs. Emma Meier o[ Portland ; Sarn Rich o f 1 5 '

Recently several members of the executive committee of the Nattiona! :VopngtlPedo­ple's and Sunday School Workers' Union besides a number of invited guefs s met intl.

0

1r an ' Oregon t ·d l f · gements or a s ar 1ng y new , . o c?ns1 er many pans or the future . Tentative arran · Philadel hia in 1943 and fascmatmg program for young people at the General Conferen~e m. th 1J' D · were made. Our part in the Centenary Offering and our participatdion in5 h e I h elnommad-t' I G I 'd d Ad fi · I h b Sun ay c oo sc oar an 1ona oa s w ere consi ere . e nite p an w ere Y every Th · t young person can share in the Centenary Offering will be announced later. e impr ovemen of these important branches of the church was also discussed.

E · II · h d l'b · ff t' "The Baptis t H erald." On specia y important were t e e i erabons a ec mg. d' I changes in setu

January 1, 1942, this publication will begin its 20th volume with ra i<:a th e E p, type and content, all of which should make "The Herald" more intdereSsti5ngW aU . ver. d v:hy effort will be made by those associated with the National Y. P. an · · · mon an e editor to make 1942 a r eal Jubilee Year for our paper!

In order to arouse more interest, the following contests ar~ b e ing a.nnounced. They will run from October 15, 1941, to January 1, 1942. All contest winners will be announced in the January 15th issue. You can send contributions for one or fo; all three of the contests. Submit them to the e ditor at Box 6 , Forest Park, Illinois, Judges will be Rev. Carl F . H. Hen­ry, Mr. Walter Pankratz, and Rev. M . L . Leuschner.

CONTEST No. 1 S ubn1lt HllRl.tHhOtM o f Mc~nlc l l .,. \\'Ht

c hurches , n1h1l1derH, c onferenc eH, h111non lnte r e 1i1t MCeneH or oulmoht.

Senti o nly the f'DDJUcho1M. Vou c o n Mulnult ns 1nnn)· 11ic tures Rl'4 , ·ou like .

The 10 b cH t 11lc turc1< ><el<'Cf ,.d will RPJle nr In nu ~orly IMMU .. of •• 'rhe Her o ld" In 1042, noel c~oeh 11 rlze­" ' lnnln.:- confel'4tnut n ·lll re<>e lve $ 1 .00. Seu d y our 1•lctureM nt o nce I

CONTEST No. 2 " "rite nu eMMRY of 3 00-400 w o rd"

on " WHAT I "ll' OULD 00 IF I Wl~RE EDl'l'OR OF "rH E DAPTJST HERALD.'" Submit y our con,.trn c­tl'\·e crltlclsmH for h up ro'\·lng h 'J

1h c Herold.''

The three h e " t e1<1mys w ill b e 1mh­lh•he d , nncl e nch of t h ese contc,. t nnt" wl ll receh ·e n 11rlze of $!:.50. 'rh e c ,..,.. .. , ." " ·111 h e jucl,::e d on t h e i r 1nerlt o f Jlrnctlcol nn tl n o \·c l 1411~gcHtlo11M

CONTEST No. 3 Pre1•nre c a r toons on rell~1onM, 1, 0 _

lltlcnl or HOCinl •mbjectH. 'l'heMe 1<l10uld b e orli:;lnnl with the cnr­t o oub•t.

')1 be cnrtoouH Mhould n1• i•enr 011

h••RV)" unt>e r of about SxlO Inc hes. T ho1<c c a r t oon s which ore j udi::e•l

n" hnYlllJ.t" m erit for p uhllcntlon will h t" onno uncetl as ,,·lnne rM n tul the •·ntrnuts will receive 1>rlzes of ,:::.r.o for eac h cnrtoon 8nhmltte d.

Of Special Interest to Men in Service In 1942 each issue of "TJ:ie Baptist H e rald" will include a depar tme nt of special in­

terest to the young men in the service of the United States or Canadian governments. This will be e dite d by Chaplain Edwin Kraemer of the Aviation Post Lerdo near Bakersfield Ca-lifornia. '

WATCH FOR FURTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS OF GREAT THINGS TO COME IN "THE BAPTIST HERALD" OF 1 9 4 2!