APPEAL FOR PRAYER 
 
 Addressed to the Christian People and 
 Churches of North America and to 
 Their Missionary Representa¬ 
 tives in Foreign Lands 
 
 By the Committee of Reference and 
 Counsel of the Foreign Missions 
 Conference of North America 
 
 We stand in the presence of critical 
 decisions. After four and a half years 
 of war marked by unprecedented suffer¬ 
 ings and appalling losses of life, we have 
 come at last to the days when the con¬ 
 ditions of peace are being formulated. 
 Issues of incalculable importance are at 
 stake in the negotiations of the Paris 
 Peace Conference. These decisions fix 
 the future policies of Christian nations. 
 They likewise affect the welfare of 
 millions of people in non-Christian lands. 
 They involve the major portion of the 
 human race in agreements whose binding 
 force reaches far into the future and 
 affects every sphere and relationship of 
 life, whether political, industrial, com- 
 
mercial, social or religious. The deci¬ 
 sions of the Peace Conference bear an 
 intimate and determining relation espe¬ 
 cially to the future of vast populations 
 which have been the object of our for¬ 
 eign missionary effort. Shall political 
 conditions within these areas be marked 
 by Christian principles of justice and 
 service, or shall they subserve selfish and 
 unworthy ends? Shall religious freedom 
 and missionary liberty be established or 
 shall they suffer limitations? Shall 
 reasonable and genuine missionary activ¬ 
 ities be safeguarded and extended or shall 
 they be hampered and reduced? Shall 
 conditions be established which make 
 easier and more effective every effort to 
 uplift the race or shall they be such 
 as to contradict the Gospel of the Christ 
 we seek to carry to all the world? 
 
 Unquestionably the difficulties are 
 great. In spite of high intent and un¬ 
 selfish motives, how difficult to define 
 the right pathway! How may divided 
 opinions at Paris be reconciled? How 
 shall the wide differences in racial view¬ 
 points and national attitudes be bridged? 
 And should unworthy motives enter in, 
 how greatly will the difficulties be in¬ 
 creased! The whole problem of Chris¬ 
 tianizing our international relations is 
 now brought to the front. Those who 
 at this critical moment have come into 
 
most intimate touch with the actual 
 situation, declare that our supreme confi¬ 
 dence must lie in the mighty power of 
 the Spirit of God. His wisdoms alone 
 will suffice. Only His skill can fashion 
 the decisions of the Nations to sub¬ 
 serve the infinite possibilities of coming 
 days. No power but His can adequately 
 rule and over-rule. 
 
 Let our appeal, therefore, be unto Him 
 in these days of crisis and far-reaching 
 decisions. It is the peculiar function of 
 the Spirit of God to impart wisdom unto 
 those who know and fear Him—and let 
 us thank God for the God-fearing men 
 who are members of the Peace Confer¬ 
 ence. Nor is the power of the Spirit of 
 God limited to those who know and fear 
 Him. He who said to Cyrus, “I have 
 called thee though thou hast not known 
 me,” is able to lead those who are 
 strangers to Him so that they shall build 
 better than they know. He who is able 
 to turn the hearts of kings as the rivers 
 of water are turned may, through our 
 supplication, order all the decisions of 
 the peace delegates for the advancement 
 of the Kingdom of God. 
 
 To this end we issue this appeal for 
 prayer, asking that the Christian public 
 of the United States and Canada and 
 also our missionaries abroad give them- 
 
selves to such regular and occasional in¬ 
 dividual intercession as may be possible 
 until the peace negotiations shall have 
 been completed; that they remember 
 these great needs at the family altar and 
 at all public services; and that the noon 
 hour of each day be used as a mo¬ 
 mentary reminder of this great obliga¬ 
 tion to prayer and as an opportunity for 
 such intercession. 
 
 On behalf of the Committee of Ref¬ 
 erence and Counsel of the Foreign Mis¬ 
 sions Conference of North America, 
 
 William I. Chamberlain, 
 
 Chairman. 
 
 Alfred Gandier, 
 
 Vice-Chairman . 
 
 Paul de Schweinitz, 
 
 Recording Secretary. 
 
 Fennell P. Turner, 
 
 Secretary . 
 
 Feb. 28, 1919.