eet ingot © ms : ‘ : Sig BS oe, ) tua Oe Ale ee, ere. : ae : by & The Monthly. Message, No. 40, Price 20c. _ i SF a? JAN: 15,4892. / Claes” PER YEAR, 25 CENTS. tata ki mh 35 Se NUL oper W. leerrers Se CEYLON. hs iil He i oe yl? | y! mn WV eicte Wiel ania Te cee a PUBLISHED FOR ; THE'UNITED SOCIETY OF .. . + se . | : - 3. . CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR, §. Entered at the Boston Post Office as Second Class Matter. 50 BROMFIELD ST., BOSTON, MASS,, 1 hat Py) pn 5 ae _. BY. L. HaAsTINGs. | —— oo oh mr oc ey s, lid Ni . MISS M. W. LEITCH AND CEYLONESE GIRLS. A GREAT OPPORTUNITY. AN ADDRESS DELIVERED AT THE TENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor. By MARGARET W. LEITCH. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY REY. ARTHUR T. PIERSON, D.D., PHILADELPHIA, PA. PRICE 20 CENTS. PUBLISHED BY THE UNITED SOCIETY OF CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR, 50 BROMFIELD STREET, BOSTON, MASs. COPYRIGHT 1891, BY UNITED SOCIETY OF CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR. ‘* During the latter part of these eighteen centuries it has been within the power of those who had the truth, having means enough, knowledge enough, opportunity enough, to have evangelized the world twenty times over.” — Zar/ of Shaftesbury. ‘It is my deep conviction, and I say it again and again, that if the church of Christ were what she ought to be, twenty years would not pass till the story of the cross should be uttered in the ears of every living man.”— The dying message of the venerable missionary, Simeon H. Calhoun. ‘* The measure of our ability is the measure of our responsibility.” Pee AN OPEN LETTER TO Nips Creo lORE TARIES, Gn Open Letter CoV.0.8.C.&. Secretaries. Dees 5; 1891. Dear Friend :— We are sending, with our kind regards to you and to each of the 16,000 Young People’s Societies of Christian Endeavor throughout the country, one copy of this little book, entitled ‘‘ A Great Opportunity,” in the hope that the attention of the young people may be more and more awakened to the crying needs of unevan- gelized lands, and that the splendid activities of these societies may be increasingly directed into missionary channels, Various Endeavor societies in different parts of the country are now supporting a missionary in some heathen land through their own denominational board. Could not your society do as much? Will you not bring the appeal contained in this booklet before your An Open Letter society at one of its forthcoming meetings, and ask your members seriously and prayerfully whether they might not do much more than they are now doing toward the evangelization of the world in this generation ? Might it not promote greater missionary activity in your society, church and community if you could secure a wide distribution of this booklet? Many might be willing to order it for use as a Christmas gift. The price is 20 cents a copy, but the United Society of Christian Endeavor, 50 Bromfield St., Boston, Mass., will supply it at wholesale for $1.80 a dozen. And we would suggest that it might prove helpful to Young People’s societies throughout the country if you would write to the editor of the ‘Golden Rule,” 50 Bromfield St., Boston, Mass., telling what your society 1s doing to awaken an intelligent interest in the cause of foreign missions among its own members, and what help it is giving to the work abroad. We are desirous to secure a canvasser in your vicinity for our missionary volume ‘‘ Seven Years in Ceylon.” It contains more than one hundred illustrations. Twenty thousand copies have already been called for. We append testimonials. The regular price is 75 cents a copy, but we will deliver them to canvassers for 50 cents a copy, thus allowing canvassers 25 cents clear profit on every To Y. PS oC... Secretaries. copy sold. If you cansecure a canvasser for us, we will send a copy without charge, to belong to the canvasser, when five or more copies have been ordered. As soon as canvassers have secured orders for ten or more copies, they should write to us to the address given below, and the books will be sent to the canvassers at once by’ex- press. These books should be delivered immediately on their ar- niwats ya nd 50 cents for each sent to us by registered letter, Post-Office order, or bank check on Boston or New York, or by express within ten days from the time that the books have been received. In this way you will not only be helping to distribute missionary literature at home, but you will also be helping on the cause of Christ in Ceylon, as the entire net proceeds which we receive from the sale of this book An Open Letter. will be applied by us to endow Jafina College in Ceylon, an undenominational institution for the training of native Christian workers. Yours very truly, MARY and MARGARET W. LEITCH, Care of Mr. H. L. HASTINGS, 47 Cornhill, Boston, Mass. Deven y Cars 1) Ceylon. ¥ ¥ $ PRESS NOTICES. This isa charming book—charming in its descriptions and narratives, charming in its letter-press and its illustrations, charming in the grace and vividness of its accounts of life in Ceylon, and above all charming in the consecrated spirit that animates every page.—‘‘ Golden Rule,’’ representative Vee. 8. ed. Boston, . To begin to read it is to be held in bonds; to have read it through is to feel more than ever a debtor to the heathen, to send them the light from heaven. Lovers of foreign missions, here is a treat for you.—C. H. Spurgeon in ‘‘ Sword and Trowel,’’ London. This book will make a beautiful Christmas gift. It delights all readers from seven to seventy. —‘‘ The Christian,’’ Boston. It is illustrated from photographs, and gives by far the best idea of the look of things over yonder of any book I have ever seen. It is a delightful book from which to read in any woman’s missionary citcle.— Miss Frances E. Willard, Pres. Nee Gao Us This book will be a valuable contribution to missionary literature.—‘‘ The Missionary Review of the World,’’ New York. A capital book for its purpose is this, helped on and out by its numerous spirited illustrations on every page. The story moves right on and is full of meat.—‘‘The Independent,’’ New York. Sunday-school teachers seeking anecdotes and material gen- erally for interesting their classes in mission-work will find it a perfect treasure.— ‘‘ Record,"’ Great Britain. Pe ee af Ome 6645 Fox vie ee EGR gheL pete ef : ; a | i: a dvix roa & Ay BT be 1 sy rit +0 Beot7 art 4 Ce See age LID EER seas ae pe ee 4 pce Maal FS Be :) Be ) Bai me 3 SHVBD i p> tose Bhoeengss 4S | ina & ‘satvib a ae Bat . ata aes aniyie # aby x eg ms ch side Sy g te Ove ¢ is eit ge afore 2 ae ar, y eS ‘ “ « ames 3538 INTRODUCTION. BY REV. ARTHUR T. PIERSON, D.D. By the cross of the Nazarene, the church is to conquer. Missions represent, not a human device, but a divine enterprise. The thought of missions was a divine idea, and the plan a divine scheme; the work is a co-labor with God; the field is a divine sphere; the spirit of missions is a divine inspiration and the fruit of missions is adivine seal, an ‘ everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” There are some watchwords which, as_ with trumpet tongue, should peal out all along the lines of the church. Our great motto should be, “ The world for Christ and Christ for the world in this our generation.” The fulness of the times has come. The cup of God’s preparation overflows. The open door of the ages is before us. The whole 6 Introduction. world invites and challenges occupation. Facilities a thousand-fold multiplied match the thousand-fold opportunities. If it is the open door of the ages, it is also the crisis of the ages. Some one will enter these open doors. If an inactive, indifferent church delays, the arch-adversary is always on the alert. Satan never yet lost zs opportunity. He was in the garden of Eden as soon as man was. He not only occupies but preoccupies ; with sleepless vigilance he watches, while even disciples sleep. His missionaries are everywhere; his synagogues and seats throng the great centres of population and plant their subtle influences through the hills and valleys; his pioneers go before the boldest and bravest who pierce the unknown lands; he sets up his printing-presses long before the Christian litera- ture scatters its healing leaves. Christ is waiting for His coronation, and we should help to hasten it. The Kremlin, that island in a sea of domes, is the sanctuary of Russia. But in all this maze of temples, towers, ramparts and palaces, nothing impresses one more than that singular Treasury _ where are seen the many crowns worn by the rulers =~] Introduction. who swayed their sceptres over the kingdoms of Poland, the Crimea, and Kasan, before they were absorbed in the ever-encroaching gulf of Russian conquest. The structure of the future has its throne room ; there lie the crowns of empire, waiting for Him to whom by right they all belong. And when He shall return to mount His throne, these crowns shall be all laid at His feet. He waits for the erateful suffrages of a redeemed people, brought out of every nation, before He assumes His right- ful dominion. What can we do to hasten that consummation ? The appeal of this little book is to the young men and young women of the churches. Some of us have passed middle life and our sun is declining ; with others of us the sunset hour already reddens the horizon. With you, my young friends, the dawn has yet to climb to its noontide. History is dense with its events. Every year, every day, every hour, is the prolific parent of opportunities that might make angels rejoice and responsibilities that might make even angels tremble. Introduction. GoD IS MOVING ON. HIs MARCH IS SWIFT, AND OUR TIME IS SHORT. No SUCH AGE HAS EVER BEFORE SHONE ON THIS PLANET. No SUCH DOORS EVER BEFORE OPENED TO HIs CHURCH. WHO WILL FALL INTO LINE WITH GOD, JOIN IN HIS MAJESTIC MARCH, AND IN THE SURE ADVANCE OF HIS PLAN REACH THE GOLDEN FRUITION OF THE AGES? PHILADELPHIA, PA., Oct. 10, 1891. 2 A ae a s SN) W UY NS IZA SYS ‘, Np ae ey yy —* 4, £O7F: = - : Aad ld Sine ' Bos Ate o Q Great Opportunity. **TIf God will show me anything that I can do for the Evangelization of the world that I have not already done, by His grace / will do it at ounce.” AM speaking this afternoon to a great army of young men and women who have signed the following pledge: “Trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for strength, I promise Him that I will strive to do whatever He would like to have me do.” Dear Christian Endeavorers, are you willing to go anywhere that Jesus Christ would like to have you go, and to do any work that He would like to have you do? If the Lord Jesus were to stand by your supper table tonight, as He stood once by the side of His disciples in Jerusalem, and if He were to say to you as He said to them, “As the Father hath sent me, even so send I you,” what would you say 10 A Great Opportunity. to Him? Could you look up in His dear face and say, ‘“‘ Lord Jesus, I do desire to be in this world as Thou wast in the world. I do desire to live the Christ-life in this world. Make me more like Thy- self.” If the Lord Jesus were to speak to us, would He not say, “ Lovest thou me? Feed my sheep.” ‘And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring and they shall hear my voice ; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.” Your Jesus has some poor, lost, wan- dering sheep in India, in China, in Africa, on the dark mountains of heathenism. They have never heard of the Good Shepherd ; they have never heard of the heavenly fold. If you love Christ, show how much you love Him by the way in which you strive to keep His commandments, by the way in which you go out after these lost ones until you find them. Do you realize that there are in the world today a thousand millions of heathen and Mohammedans? Only a fourth of the human race have the gospel; three fourths are without the gospel, and two out of every three people in the world today have never heard the gospel. Here we are in this comfortable and beautiful hall, singing and talking about the gospel, and rejoicing in the gospel; but ought we A Great Opportunity. ii not to make more earnest efforts to give the gospel to those who are without it? Do the heathen need the gospel? I wish I could picture to you how much they need it, how great is their ignorance, how deep is their darkness. One day when I was in Ceylon, walking through one of the villages, I found a poor mother in her home, lying flat on the ground, beating her face in the dust, and weeping and wailing most piteously. She had lost her only child. It was all she had in the world, all she had to care for and to love, for the human heart is just the same all the world over, and mothers love their children. This child had been taken away by death, and she had no hope of ever seeing it again, no hope of ever taking it in her arms again and knowing it as her child; and her heart was breaking. I see in this audience many mothers. Perhaps there may be some mother here who has lost a little child. What did you do in that sad hour? You went into your closet; you looked up into the face of your Christ; you believed that He had taken your little one to His home in heaven, that He was caring for it tenderly, better than you could care for it, that it was safe and happy with Him, and that you would see it again by and by; 12 A Great Opportunity. and your heart was comforted. Is it not so? Re- member, there are other human hearts that need the same comfort that comforted you in your hours of great sorrow. Remember, the mothers in heathen lands need to know about the Lord Jesus Christ as much as you do. Our Lord Jesus came “to bind up the broken-hearted, to comfort all that mourn; ”’ but there are millions of mourners in heathen lands who have never heard of Jesus Christ. O friends, what is it that makes life worth living to you? Is it that you have houses and lands and money inthe bank? Are these the things that are precious to you? No; it is that you have heard of God, that He loves you, and that Jesus Christ is your Saviour and friend; it is that you have a glorious hope of an immortality with Christ beyond the grave. If these are the things that are precious to you, oh, then, make haste to give this precious gospel of redemption and of hope to the sinning and sorrowing millions in heathen lands who are without it. What is the Christian church doing at the present time to give the gospel to the heathen? Out of every 5,000 church members in Christian lands only one goes as a missionary to the heathen. What is the Christian church giving to send the gospel to A Great Opportunity. 18 —o the heathen? The average giving of Christians in Christian lands to send the gospel to the millions in heathen lands is something like five cents a month per church member. Is this the measure of our love for Christ? The measure of our obedience is the true measure of our love to Him. It is not what we say or sing, but what we do that shows whether we love Christ or not. Dr. Duff, that great missionary hero, used to say, “The Christian church is just playing at missions ;” and it may be that we are only playing at Christian- ity. Some one has said that the evangelization of the world ought to be the great work of the church, and not merely a small branch of the church’s work; and if it is true that it ought to be the great work of the church, then it ought to be the great work of every member of the church, and it ought to be your great work and mine. Think of what might be done if people were only in earnest. Look at what the Moravians are doing,—a poor, humble, simple people. Do they send only one missionary out of every 5,000 of their church membership? No; they send to the foreign field one out of seventy. Do they give only five cents a month per church member to the foreign missionary work? No; they give 14 A Great Opportunity. $1.25 a month, or $15 a year, on the average, per church member. They send to the foreign field five missionaries for every minister at home. They say that their church exists for the pur- pose of giving the gospel to the world. And I want to ask you, For what do your churches exist? For what does the Y. P. S. C. E. exist? For what do you and I live? The Christian has only one business in the world,—to promote the coming of Christ’s kingdom. That is our great work in the world. We have been redeemed, redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, redeemed from the love of self, and the service of self, to the glorious service of our Lord Jesus Christ. Would that we might realize this, our “high calling,” and go forth to the great work of our lives. St. Paul said a beautiful thing in the fourteenth verse of the sixth chapter of Galatians: ‘God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world }s crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” I wish we might all say that,— that the world is crucified unto us and that we are dead to the world, dead to its honors, its pleasures, its emoluments; that its praise cannot allure us and its blame cannot terrify us,— dead to the world, but alive forevermore unto Jesus Christ, A Great Opportunity. 15 alive to every cause that is near to His heart, alive to the promotion of His kingdom. If it were so with each one of us, then I am sure that a great number from this large audience would rise up and follow the Lord Jesus Christ to give the gospel to the millions and millions of our brothers and sisters in heathen lands who are without it. If you would like to know of the work of one missionary in the foreign field, let me tell you the story of Miss Agnew. She was born in New York; and when a little girl, eight years of age, studying in a day school in New York City, her teacher taught her a lesson in Geography and pointed out the heathen and Christian lands. That little girl, then and there, decided that if she grew up she would be a missionary and go and tell the heathen about Jesus. She never forgot that resolve; and in due time, when the way was open, she went to Ceylon. She lived in Ceylon forty-three unbroken years. She had good health and strength, and she loved her work. During forty-one years she was the lady principal of the Oodooville girls’ boarding- school. She taught, altogether, a thousand girls in that school. She taught the children, and in some instances the grandchildren, of her first pupils in the school. All the people loved her, and because her 16 A Great Opportunity. __— pupils all called her “mother,” the people of the district poetically called her “the mother of a thousand daughters.” She was very happy in her work, and God gave her His presence and His blessing. During those forty-one years six hundred girls from that school gave their hearts to Jesus Christ and publicly confessed him as their Saviour and Lord. Six hundred girls went out from that school to shine as lights in their homes and villages. They are now the wives of pastors and catechists, colporteurs and teachers, doctors, lawyers, mer- chants, and farmers. Some of them are the wives of the chief men of the district. They are scat- tered all over Ceylon and in Southern India, and wherever you meet them you will find them shining for Christ. A great many of them are engaged in Christian work in their churches, Sabbath schools, day schools, and villages. In northern Ceylon alone forty Bible-readers are giving their lives to evangelistic work, and are teaching the women in a thousand homes. ‘These were nearly all trained by Miss Agnew. When we think how greatly God honored and used her, and how her life was a blessing in hundreds of homes, bringing to these homes the peace and the joy and the hope that the oe ‘S & SS \ NS N NDOO TEMPLE IN CEYLON A HI y r. rhe ) ss ei o ” yo § a | papa vA ‘ Pits -e1 d . we, A a ee ous te JF oi niall, r - a : Ae ee | Li Set yt at eles ase ae Sabla _ Pa GWU an a en ale a ¢ + —@ (ivr f Jn sm, * ‘ | Wad ti, oe > » ise -_ Y a ; yi 7 ol, fi ~y a i 4 po th ye ap al) ) ao ia Pa . F . i : = il eet ee tens 2 . bo as, a 7 7 eid is ‘ ‘ 4 bs ‘ . *. 7 « wy 4 bs i gids - = 7 - m , ’ oh) : ¥ ‘ - = Ey . , ‘ 4 s 5 ‘ i ay ! a; " one 4 4 |" " Lis ¢ - rom = | « Pt Pl al . orn -~ > * al ‘ a ¥ a ‘ . vt : - , ; : had / ‘. = oe i é J a ‘ + ~_ f Ad 4 J | . $ ° Ps ¢ t ‘ ‘ H aoe 4 7 i ~ \. : . y 7 ‘ ‘ , 4 t b : ‘ —¥ . 2 ‘ 4 * ‘ ¥ ' \ . =! P 42 me . : 3 , 2. ’ ‘ , i aT ss v~ aa _~ as is é , A ‘ 5 ‘ i Fife b j : by hes i 6 , - ‘ iq Re Bet re iy t J t ope. : iy ‘ ‘f e ad ‘ ; - Vas eee ah (yas < 45 md ‘ Lone i == ee yo ‘ - ; /@ _ tA Mais abd. « R bP 4 a“ AN ’ : 1 Laat as 7 ko c via at Nr aa ae ae 7 . ‘4 : r : i ‘ fy ps y 4 1 ¥ an é . y Par Oy Ae: | é “thee rae P - ‘ » : Ae i A ; 4 ¢ 7. A on o 2 hen) Hae Sy wes Cd use pe ee pe : - heats ony a. iv oe A Great Opportunity. ikey gospel alone can give, we cannot help thinking how precious a life consecrated to Christ may be. Perhaps many from this audience may go out and do in China, in India, or in the Islands of the Sea, just such a work as Miss Agnew was privileged to do. * There may be some here who will say, “ I would like to go, but I am afraid that I am not good enough to go; I am afraid that I should not be successful if I should go.” Dear friends, what is the secret of success? Does it depend on having a high education or possessing great talents and superior linguistic ability? No. Christ has told us the secret of success? He has said, ‘“ He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.”” That is the secret of success, — to abide in Jesus Christ, to draw all your grace and strength and power from Him. Separate from Him you may be only a poor, weak branch, with nothing of any value in yourself; but united with Jesus Christ you cannot fail, you must succeed. ‘ Christ Jesus ... . is made unto us wisdom and right- eousness and sanctification and redemption.” What * For fuller accounts of the work in Ceylon see ‘“‘Seven Years in Ceylon,” by Mary and Margaret W. Leitch. For sale by Publishing Department, U.S. C. E., 5o Bromfield Street, Boston. Price, 75 cents, postpaid. 18 A Great Opportunity. you need is to be emptied of self that you may be filled with the fulness of Him who possesses all things. If you go out in His strength, you cannot fail; you must succeed. The Call. “(rap pe.” “Bo pe.” ‘*For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.”’ HERE comes the call from all over India and all over the heathen world for more laborers. Who are there in this great audience who will respond to that call? Dr. Scudder, of the Arcot Mission in India, writes: “ During my long experi- ence in India, I have never felt that the claims of India were so urgent as now. A restless, almost feverish, spirit of inquiry pervades the whole com- munity.” The Rev. Dr. Clough, of the Telugu Mission, has come to this country after fifteen years of labor, asking for twenty-five additional missionaries for that field. He reports that during 20 A Great Opportunity. the last fifteen years that mission has enjoyed one uninterrupted revival and 40,000 converts have been added to the church fold in that one district in India alone. Bishop Thoburn, of the Methodist Episcopal Mission, writing to us a few weeks ago, said: ‘The condition of things in India is most hopeful. We, in our mission, could baptize a thousand persons a month if we only had a sufficient number of missionaries and native helpers to instruct those who are asking for baptism.” And he says further, ‘“‘T hope to live to see the time when the people of India will come to Christ, not merely by the few thousand ina year, but by the hundred thousand a year.” I also hope to live to see that glorious time, and I mean to work for it, and I hope that you also will work to hasten its coming. Dr. Chamberlain, of the Arcot Mission, says: “Tf the people of India are to hear the gospel in this generation, in addition to all the native helpers who can be employed, it is necessary that there should be, in order to superintend and direct the work, one missionary for every 50,000 people.” Surely that is not an unreasonable number,— one missionary to every 50,000 of the population. Yet according to that estimate, nearly 5,000 addi- Wenner oale | tional missionaries are needed in India, and Dr. Chamberlain says that if the churches of Chris- tendom should send to them 5,000 additional mis- sionaries within five years, he believes that it would be possible to give the gospel to the people of India in this generation. If 5,000 additional missionaries are needed in India, then 5,000 additional missiona- ries are needed in China, and 5,000 in Africa, and 5,000 in the remainder of the heathen world. Alto- gether, 20,000 additional missionaries are needed within five years, if the people of heathen lands are to hear the gospel in this generation. Dear friends, who is going to give the people of heathen lands the gospel? The people of the next generation cannot give the heathen of this generation the gospel. If the heathen of this generation are to hear the gospel, the Christians now living should give them the gospel in this generation. You have heard of the great Student Volunteer Movement for foreign missions, which has come into existence during the last few years. ‘There are at the present time in the United States 6,000 young men and women, graduates or undergraduates of the various schools and colleges and seminaries, who have signed the following pledge: “I am willing and desirous, God permitting me, to become 22 A Great Opportunity. a foreign missionary.” These are 6,000 of the brightest young men and young women of the land, and the motto of this Student Volunteer Movement is: “The world for Christ in this generation.” My friends, I want to ring out that motto in your hear- ing today. I want to ask you, will you not take it as the motto of your Y. P. S. C. E., “ The world for Christ in this generation”? It can be done; it is entirely possible. Our Lord has said, ‘ Accord- ing to your faith be it unto you.” I want to inquire, What share is the Y. P. S. C. E. going to have in this great work? I have something to ask from you this after- noon. There has been a great burden on my heart ever since I was invited to come and address this meeting. I must give you a message that I believe God has given me to give to you. It is this: I want to ask for 16,000 missionaries from the Young People’s Societies of Christian Endeavor and the funds to support them. You have in this great organization 16,000 societies with a million members ; that is, on an average, more than sixty members for each society. Is it not possible for each society to send out one, one out of sixty, and to support that one on the foreign field? I would advise that these missionaries go out under wr lorcalles 23 the denominational boards of these various societies. If a missionary is selected, let that missionary apply to the denominational board of your society, and let the money for his or her support go through that denominational board. For example, if a Y. P. S. C. E. is connected with a Congregational church, let the missionary who goes out to represent that society apply to be appointed by the Congre- gational board, and let the money for his or her support be paid through the Congregational board. In the same way, if your Y. P. S.C. E. is connected with a Presbyterian church or a Baptist church. What would be the result of this movement? Why, the result would be that the work of all the different missionary boards would be greatly aug- mented. What would be the result in heathen lands? A glorious revival in all heathen lands ; and I am sure one result would be the establishing very soon of 16,000 societies of Christian Endeavor in Africa, in China, and in all the round world. Do you want that your society should be international ? Make it so, then, in reality, not merely in name. Let India and China and Africa and the whole round world be full of societies of Christian Endeavor. And what would be the result here at home? I believe the result would be a great out- 24 A Great Opportunity. pouring of God’s Spirit in your midst. You want a blessing, an abiding blessing? How are you going to get it? You have come up here, expecting to receive a blessing, and you want to carry back a blessing with you to your society. How are you going to get it? Christ has told us the way to secure a blessing. He has said, “ He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” Notice that the love of God and of Jesus Christ and the manifestation of Jesus Christ all hinges on the keeping of His command- ments; and if you want to get a blessing in your own hearts, in your homes, in your societies of Christian Endeavor, go to work with heart and soul and mind to keep the commandments of Jesus Christ, and do not forget that last and great com- mandment: ‘Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” | Now I want to ask you, Have you a missionary committee in your Y. P.S. C. E.? If not, will you not establish one at the first meeting of your soci- ety? Have youa monthly prayer meeting in con- nection with the work in your society? If not, will you not arrange that the missionary committee shall ‘¢ The Caill.’’ 26 have charge of a monthly missionary prayer meet- ing, which shall be one of your regular meetings ; and that at that prayer meeting the work in foreign fields shall be systematically and earn- éstly studied ? * Have you in your community any Student Volun- teers? Have these ever given an address in your church? If not, will you not ask your pastor whether he will not arrange for a meeting at which the Student Volunteers of your vicinity may present the needs of the foreign field and the great work waiting to be done in heathen lands? The next thing I want to ask is, Will you not begin at once to pray the Lord of the harvest that He will send forth to the harvest one laborer from your society? Can you not spare one young man or one young woman out of the sixty members of the average society? Will you not begin to pray immediately that God Himself will choose and send forth that one to be your representative in the foreign field? And if it should be that God should choose the best one that you have, the one upon whom you chiefly rely, the most earnest Christian worker, the *For helps and suggestions see ‘“* The Volunteer Band,’’ by Robert E. Speer, procurable, together with others of the series of ‘‘ Volunteer Tracts,” and a classified list of Missionary Books, from W. J. Clark, 97 Bible House, New York City. 26 A Great Opportunity. most successful soul-winner, then I beseech of you, do not keep that one back; do not say, ‘‘ We cannot spare you; you are too valuable; let some one else go; we need you at home.” I pray you, give your best to Jesus Christ, remembering that God gave His best to you. There were a father and mother in the New England States who gave their only daughter to go as a missionary to China. At the good-bye meeting that father stood up and said to those present, “We love our daughter; she is very dear to us, but we have nothing too precious to give to the Lord Jesus Christ.” I wish that every one of us here could say that,—that we love Christ, and we have nothing too precious to give to Him. Our time, — He shall have it; our talents, —they shall be devoted to Him; our money, our influence, our friendships, our entire possessions, we do lay at His feet, we do consecrate to His service. TBe Need. Consecration. “Tf any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daz/y and follow me.” BELIEVE there must be many young people in this audience and in these societies who could go out at their own charges. What an honor, what a privilege, it would be for any young man to go out in connection with one of the missionary societies, but paying his own expenses! ‘Then I believe that there must be many in this audience who could, all by themselves, support a missionary in the foreign field. ‘There is a lady in Scotland, a teacher in one of the public schools, who receives a salary of $1,000 a year, and lives on $500, and the other $500 she gives to one of the missionary societies to support a missionary substitute in China. She has her own missionary in the foreign field. She would 28 A Great Opportunity. like to go in person, but she cannot; so she sends a substitute. If you cannot go yourself, send one in your place; have your own representative in the foreign field. Are there not many here who receive $1,000 a year who could live on $500 and give the remainder to support a foreign missionary in the field? ‘Try it, and see whether God does not bless and reward you for the sacrifice. I would like to tell you of three sisters in Edin- burgh. They said, “ All cf us should not stay at home. One of us ought to go to the foreign field, and the two who stay at home will support her.” So one went as a missionary to Africa, and the two who remained at home said to the society under which their sister had been appointed that they would be responsible for her support. But a friend of theirs, hearing of this, said to them: “I know your circumstances. This will be a heavy task for you. Let me bear half of hersupport.”’ And those two sisters, one a teacher and the other a dress- maker, are working, and earning, and saving, and are paying, year bw year, half of the support of their sister who is in Africa. I think that in God’s sight the three are missionaries, not only the one on the foreign field, but the two who, sta ing at home, love the work as much as the missionary loves it, and The Need. 29 make as much self-denial in giving as she makes in going. Is not that what God wants of each one of us, —that we should all be missionaries, whether we go or stay, that we should all love this work, and that those who are obliged to remain at home should make as much sacrifice in giving as the missionary makes in going? Who is under more obligation to give the gospel to the heathen than is every one of us? To whom does the commandment, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature,” apply more strongly than to us? As an illustration of what may be done if one is really inearnest, let me tell you of the giving of a poor woman, living in Lowell, Mass., and named Sarah Hosmer. She heard that a young man might be educated in the Nestorian Mission Seminary in Persia for fifty dollars. Working in a factory, she saved this amount and sent it to Persia; and a Christian young man was educated, and went out as a preacher of Christ to his own people. She thought she would like to doit again. She did it five times. Five times she earned and saved fifty dollars, and five young men were educated and went out to preach the Lord Jesus Christ in Nestoria. When more than sixty years of age, she desired to send out one more preacher of Christ, and, living in an 30 A Great Opportunity. attic, she took in sewing until she had accomplished her cherished purpose ; and she thus sent out the sixth preacher of Christ in Nestoria. I think she was a missionary. I believe the Lord Jesus Christ will say to her one day, “Inasmuch as you did it unto one of the least of these in Nestoria, you did it unto me.” We are told of the poor native Christians on the Euphrates, that they conscientiously set apart one tenth of their entire income to the service of God in obedience to his commands; and that wherever there are ten Christian families, they are enabled, by means of these tithes, to provide for the support of a native evangelist who shall devote his whole time to Christian work. In view of such examples as these, I ask you the question, Would it not be possible for each Y. P. S.C. E. of sixty members to support one missionary in the foreign field ? I would not like to ask you to give to the foreign missionary cause something that would be easy for you to give, something that would cost you no sacrifice, I would not like to ask you to give as I once heard a lady ask at a drawing-room meeting, who said, “I am coming around soon with my subscription paper for the missionary The Need. 31 | cause, and I want you each to give fifty cents or a dollar. You will never feel it.” I thought, Is that the way to give to the foreign missionary cause, —a thousand millions of heathen and Mohammedans needing the gospel, and _ these people are being asked to give something that they will “never feel”? Is that what God asks from us? Is that the way in which God gave to us, giving something that He did not feel? No; He opened heaven and poured out His treasures; He gave His only begotten Son; He gave the best He had to give. Our hearts are glad this afternoon because God loved us so. Shall we not give back to Him in a way to make His heart glad? Shall not fathers and mothers give their sons and daugh- ters for the foreign missionary work? Shall not young men and young women give themselves to Christ for this great work, if He shall call them? and shall not every one of us pour out our treasures and show the Lord Jesus that we love Him with our whole heart, soul, strength and mind? Is not that what Christ asks of each one of us? Does He not say to us, “Ye are not your own; ye are bought with a price”? If we do not even own ourselves, how can we own anything else besides? 32 A Great Opportunity. If we have given to God the greater gifts of our hearts, how can we keep back from Him the lesser gift of our possessions? Between His heart and ours there should be no “mine” and “thine;”’ it should all be “thine.” Is not this what Christ means when He says, ‘‘Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple”? Does he meanit? I used to think that He did not mean it, that He only said those words to the people of eighteen hundred years ago. But I think, in the presence of the opium traffic in China, in the presence of the slave trade in Africa, in the presence of the awful liquor traffic at home and abroad, in the presence of all the woes and sins and miseries that afflict humanity,—I think it is time that every Christian should be wholly con- secrated to Jesus Christ. I think it is time that we should give up all that we have to Him, to be at His disposal, to be used as He shall direct. I think Livingston understood this truth when, in the early history of his missionary career, he made this resolve: ‘I will place no value on anything I have or may possess, except in relation to the kingdom of Christ. If any thing I have will advance the interests of that kingdom, it The Need. 33 shall be given or kept, as by keeping or giv- ing it I shall most promote the glory of Him to whom I owe all my hopes, both for time and for eternity. May grace be given me to adhere to this.” And on the last birthday but one of his eventful life, he wrote in his diary these words: “My Jesus, my Lord, my life, my all, I again dedicate my whole self to Thee.” Shall we say less than that, we, redeemed by the blood of Christ, we, called to be His disciples, shall we say less than that? ‘My Jesus, my Lord, my life, my all, I again dedicate my whole self to Thee,” and let us make our motto the words of that beautiful hymn which we so often sing : — “Take my life and let it be Consecrated, Lord, to Thee; Take my moments and my days, Let them flow in ceaseless praise. “Take my love; my Lord, I pour At thy feet its treasure-store ; Take myself, and I will be Ever, only, all for Thee.” Suggestions. “The Lord loveth a cheerful giver.”’ ODAY over one hundred churches and seventy- two colleges and seminaries, as well as many Young People’s Societies of Christian Endeavor are, in whole or in part, supporting their missionary in the foreign field. The amount required is secured by means of printed pledges, circulated among the mem- bers, which read as follows: “JZ promise to give so many dollars, or cents, each month, week, or quarter, during a period of five years from date, toward the support of a missionary in the foreign field, that sum to be over and above my present offering to foreign missions.” It is estimated that 135 persons giv- ing ten cents a week would support a missionary, Suggestions. 39 providing for outfit, passage, salary and incidental expenses. There is a Young Woman’s Christian Associa- tion of fifty members in London, which is largely composed of servants and shop girls, whose average income is about ten dollars a month besides board and lodgings. These fifty young women have under- taken to be responsible for the support of a mis- sionary in China, each one pledging herself to give or collect for this object ten dollars a year. Those who cannot give this sum take a collecting card and collect it in small amounts, during the year, from their relatives and friends. They have thus not only raised $500 a year during the last two years, but they have also interested many outside friends, securing subscriptions from them in aid of the cause. Mr. Moody has said, “It is better to set ten men to work than to do ten men’s work.” These young women have not only raised $500 a year, but they have probably interested ten times their own number in the work abroad. They gray for their missionary substitute dy zame at each of their meetings. They write to her regularly and hear from her in return. They share in her joys and sorrows, in her discouragements and suc- cesses. The children in her schools, the women 36 A Great Opportunity. whom she visits in the homes, the inquirers and the converts, are all living realities to them. This work in China is their work. Have you not in your society fifty members who earn on an average ten dollars a month? If so, can you not do as much as these girls and give or collect year by year an amount sufficient for the support of your own missionary substitute in the foreign field? After these girls in London had been giving in this way for two years they began to feel that they should do more than they were doing; that to give money was after all a small thing compared with giving life, and that one of their own number should go in person as a missionary. ‘They began to pray at all their meetings that God would lay it upon the heart of some one to offer herself for the work. God heard their prayer, and the daughter of their secretary, the most highly educated, the most tal- ented and devoted of their number, expressed her willingness to go, was accepted by a missionary society in England and is now laboring as a mis- sionary in India. What has been the result to that Y. W. C. A.? The result has been an outpouring of God’s Spirit in that society, and. a blessing in the hearts of the members such as they had never Suggestions. 37 known before. The word of God is true, ‘There is that giveth but yet increaseth, and there is that withholdeth more than is meet but it tendeth to poverty.” The giving of native Christians in heathen lands may furnish an example of what may be done by those possessed of small resources but with hearts full of love to Christ. There are in North Ceylon 2,700 native Chris- tians, gathered into twenty-two native churches, the majority of which are entirely self-supporting. The native Christians not only support their own pastors and a number of resident workers as Evangelists and Bible Readers, and give to the support of the Bible Society, Tract Society, and to Christian edu- cational institutions, but they also support /Azrfeen native missionaries whom they send out of the peninsula to labor in the “Regions beyond.” In that country the majority of the people are poor, and money is scarce, the ordinary wage of a labor- ing man being ten (American) cents a day, on which sum a man is expected to supporta wife and family ; and yet the deep poverty of the native Christians in North Ceylon has, like some of old, ‘“‘abounded to the riches of their liberality.” 38 A Great Opportunity. As a rule all the native Christians are accus- tomed to give one tenth of their entire income to the service of God. Those who receive a salary give one tenth of that amount. Those who are farmers give one tenth of the produce of their fields or gardens, and the firstling of the flock and of the herd. The Christian women daily set aside one handful of rice in aid of their foreign mission work, diminishing the amount of food which the family was accustomed to use day by day, by this quan- tity. At stated periods the church treasurer of each church visits each Christian family, collects the rice which has accumulated in this way, sells it and devotes the proceeds to the maintenance of their Foreign Missionary work. It is largely by means of this daly systematic giving that the native Christians of North Ceylon are able to support thirteen native missionaries and their work. If the members of your Y. P. S. C. E. should each resolve to consecrate at least one tenth of their entire income to the cause of Christ, would you not as a society be able, in addition to all the Christian work you may be doing at home, to sup- port your own missionary representative in some heathen land? Missionara Books. VERY Society of Christian Endeavor should have a Missionary Library for the use of its Missionary Committee. The following books would make a good foundation for such a library. We will send any of them postpaid on receipt of price. The Crisis of Missions, or, The Voice Out of the Cloud. BVEREV, no) LP IERSON,, D.D, ~Paper, 35 cents; cloth, $1.25. American Heroes on Mission Fields. Brief Missionary Biographies. Edited by R. H. C. Haypn, D.D. Cloth, $1.25. Seven Years in Ceylon. By Mary and MARGARET W. LEITCH. Boards, 75 cents. Morning Light in Many Lands. By Rev. DANIEL Marcu, D.D. Cloth, $2.00. Life and Letters of Joseph Hardy Neesima. By ARTHUR S. HARDY Cloth, gilt top, with portrait, $2.00. Lives of Robert and Mary Moffat. By their son, JOHN S. Moffat. Cloth, $1.75. James Hannington, His Life and Work. By E. C. Dawson, M.A. Cloth, $1.25. The Life of Adoniram Judson. By his son, EDWARD Jupson. Cloth, $1.50. Robert Morrison, the Pioneer of Chinese Missions. By WILLIAM J. TOWNSEND. Cloth, 75 cents. William Carey, the Father and Founder of Modern Missions. By JOHN BROWN Myers. Cloth, 75 cents. The Life of Alexander Duff, D.D., LL.D. By GEo. SMITH, LL.D. Two volumes in one. Cloth, $2.00. Bishop Patteson, the Martyr of Melanesia. By JESSE PAGE. Cloth, 75 cents. John Williams, the Martyr Missionary of Polynesia. By Rev. JAMES J. Exuxis. Cloth, 75 cents. Among the Turks. By Cyrus HAMLIN. Cloth, $1.50. Our Country. By REv. JOSIAH STRONG, D.D. Cloth, 60 cents. Service in the King’s Guards. By Two oF THEM. A home missionary story. Cloth, $1.50. Portfolio of Missionary Programmes. By S. L. MErR- SHON. Io cents. 13 oi » ee TROT EE Oe. We et . *. ores By 4 ie ’ Bn et a Oe Me a