. -M, me. x Mission Work of California Friends ISSUED BY AMERICAN FRIENDS BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS RICHMOND, INDIANA 1912 MISSION WORK OF CALIFORNIA YEARLY MEETING Foreword While yet a part of Iowa Yearly Meeting, California Friends had several strong W. F. M. Societies, and were helping with much interest in the work of that Yearly Meet¬ ing at Ram Allah, Syria. Alaska The mission work in California Yearly Meeting of Friends in Alaska was undertaken to answer the call of Anna Hunnicutt, a student volunteer of Penn College, to go to Northern Alaska. In 1895 she expressed herself as ready to go at the Lord’s bidding and she felt Alaska was the field, but the Yearly Meeting was just organizing and felt too small and weak to open a new station. However, there was an opening for Anna Hunnicutt and Lizzie Morris, both members at Whittier, California, to work with the missionaries to the Kake Indians on Kuprianoff Island, Southeast Alaska, under the care of Oregon Yearly Meeting. Anna Hunnicutt was supported by the Christian Endeavors of California Yearly Meeting and Lizzie Morris felt called of the Lord to accompany her and both went as mission¬ aries. , ^ The following year Anna Hunnicutt, who had gone out desiring to find a work for California Yearly Meeting, ac¬ cepted work as a Government teacher at the mission on Douglas Island in Southeast Alaska, under the care of Kan¬ sas Yearly Meeting. Charles and May Replogle were in charge of the work at this point. The United States Com¬ missioner for Education in Alaska was then Dr. Sheldon Jackson. To him Anna Hunnicutt made known her desire to press on northward. In the summer of 1896 while on his annual trip. Dr. Jack- son visited “The Rendezvous’’ on Kotzebue Sound (Cape Blossom) 250 miles northeast of Cape Prince of Wales and almost under the Arctic circle. This place was so called be¬ cause of the great number of natives who gathered there from up the three rivers that pour their waters into the Arctic ocean at this point, and from Siberia and from other places. They met here each summer to trade. Two mis¬ sions had already been established far to the north of this point by the Episcopalians and Presbyterians and through these agencies the Eskimos had come to have a great desire for missionaries and Christian teachers. As Dr. Jackson held a three days’ meeting with them this summer of 1896, they begged him to send some one to remain with them. He replied that his own church, the Presbyterian, could not undertake any more missions at that time, but he thought there was some one at Douglas who might come, and he would try to send her to them. After he had left them on his return trip, they held a council and decided to send some one to Douglas begging for immediate action. They there¬ fore delegated two of their strong men to make the trip. It was now too late in the autumn for any passing vessel so they rowed 250 miles to the southwest in an open canoe uhtil they reached Cape Prince of Wales, and from this point they found a boat which took them to Sitka and from there they made their way to Douglas to present their plea. Anna Hunnicutt was away for a short visit, but .they stated their case to Charles Replogle and he told them he would do what he could for them. On hearing of their faith and self-sacrifice Anna Hunnicutt felt convinced this was where the Lord would have her go. She, therefore, wrote asking whether California Yearly Meeting would stand be¬ hind her. As Charles and May Replogle and Anna Hunnicutt prayed, the impression came that it would be right for Charles Replogle to visit California, but he had no funds for the trip. 2 C')!! to the postofficc one day lie received a letter containini;- a check from a h'riend in Maine, saying she felt iinjircsscd to send him this for a trip to the States. That very day a steamer was to sail south, and in an incredibly sluirt time he was aboard the steamer, bound for California. On reaching here almost his whole time and energy were given to urging Friends to faithfulness in entering this open door. Anna Hunnicutt had no idea that this was to be the burden of his visit, neither did he, himself in coming, but as a result of it, Anna Hunnicutt returned to California in the ■early spring time and once more laid her concern before the AMman’s Foreign Mission Society. Faith began to leap up and a committee was appointed in each of the two quarterly meetings, Pasadena and Whit¬ tier, who, with the Christian Endeavor Board, should confer with the W. F. M. S. and learn all that was possible of the outlook. They reported that the necessary money would be ■forthcoming if suitable persons could be found to accom- jiany Anna Hunnicutt. Robert Samms, a member of Los Angeles Meeting and a mission worker offered to go alone the first year and build 'a house and do the pioneer work. This seemed too lonely a trip and Carrie Rowe, his intended wife, expressed her will¬ ingness to go with him. Now, with the necessary com¬ panions to go with her and the funds promised to outfit them, it certainly seemed that the Lord was lending His approval. These three were set apart to this service Fifth month loth, 1897. The marriage of Robert Samms and Carrie Rowe was solemnized Fifth month, 12th, and in short time the outfits were purchased, including building mate¬ rials for a house, food and clothing, supplies for one year, and all the incidentals. They said their farewells and turned their faces to the North Land, sailing from San Francisco on the 9th of Sixth month, for a sixty days’ voyage in a sail¬ ing vessel. The season after they landed was too short for much ■ 3 Avork, so a temporary house 8x12 was built for the first year. The natives were found in a state of expectancy and gave our missionaries a Avelcome. The native huts were visited in spite of their filth, and the people were gathered into meetings in the school room, and the personal work brought a response in the improved life of the natives and a readiness to receive the light as rapidly as they could understand it. The year 1898 marked the influx of miners all through Alaska and there was great cause for thankfulness that the “soul-seekers” had preceded the “gold seekers.” Among the miners entering the country at Kotzebue were a few Friends; some mission work was done by them far up the Kobuck River where there has since been a mission estab¬ lished. In 1899 Anna Ffunnicutt was married to Z. E. Foster and left that field. Her place was taken by Martha E. Hadley (now Trueblood) of Wilmington Yearly Meeting, Ohio, who gave her labor of love to that mission field for four years. In 1901 Richard Glover went to Kotzebue for a part of the year to assist in carpenter work and other needful ways. A trip involving several hundred miles on foot over the snow with snow shoes and dog sleds for carrying supplies was taken by Robert and Carrie Samms, the second winter of their stay, for the purpose of visiting the natives in their winter homes. In 1902 Robert and Carrie Samms came home after five years of service. Dana and Otha Thomas, workers in the Sunshine Mission of San Francisco, took charge of the work at Kotze])ue and were in the work for four years. Bertha. Cox writes of their work under date of April, 1906: “It is wonderful, the work that has been done there, both temporal and spiritual. Without the heart experience there could not have been so radical a change in their lives. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have certainly done a great work; they have a place in the hearts of the people.” Anna Hunnicutt 4 warm I'ostor aiul Iior liiishaiul were at Deering', some slxty- I'ivo iiiilos soulluvcst of Kotzebue and she had l)een teaehing the natives. In 1904 they asked the Yearly Meeting to take charge of the work by sending a teacher to the field and this was done in the j)erson of Bertha Cox, of Oregon (now Ber¬ tha Cox King, of Seattle), who gave in all four years to the work. Her work was very satisfactory and highly com¬ mended by the officials of the Government. In 1905 William T. and Lizzie Morris Gooden were ac¬ cepted for the station at Deering, because of the return of the Fosters to their home. They remained at that place for three years and then, after a year’s rest in the home land, returned at the call of the Lord and opened a mission at Candle some fort}^ miles east of Deering, expecting to come out this summer of 1912. They have been faithful missionaries, as have the others. At the latter station their needs have been supplied by friends, by the Mission Board of the Yearly Meeting to a small extent and by the help of the natives. William Gooden has also worked some for the miners. In 1905 a new station was opened at Kivalena on the coast, about 100 miles northwest of Kotzebue, in charge of Alfred and Priscilla Walton, who were in the field three years. We quote in full from the report of the missionary superintendent of California Yearly Meeting in the minutes of 1908: ‘'At Kivalena, the most northern Friends Mission in the world, severe testings and trials have come to our dear workers, Alfred and Priscilla Walton. Sickness and death bring suffering and gloom to us here. Few can realize what it means up there, away from the natural sunshine, away from the flowers and the loving sympathy of friends. I think I can never forget the picture of Alfred Walton alone in the dreariness of the Arctic dark, alone with his wife and his babies, two little ones crying for food that he could not give them, the sick w*ife for days on her bed of 5 sickness crying out her deliriuni. No medical help, no trained nurse, the new born babe. No wonder the poor man wrote, ‘my courage almost left me.' God was merciful, the heavenly physician touched the pain racked body; from the brink of the grave the wife came back. Then, almost at once, for the ice had formed to make it possible for dogs to travel, the husband had to set forth in quest of food over the treacherous ice, in the Arctic night, one hundred and sixty miles to the south and as many back, with the milk and wholesome food for the half-famished family. Then four months of the usual routine of mission work, and another trial, for the death angel for the first time Ausited the family of one of our missionaries on the field. Priscilla ATlton wrote saying, ‘That e\^ening she lay on my lap so long look¬ ing into my face with such an eager look as if she was trying to tell me she was going to be at home that night with Jesus. She could only look the loA^e she could not speak. She had not been ill, she was never strong, but she drank her milk and was so quiet. We felt she Avas having such a sweet sleep. She did not waken at six and I went to her cradle, but baby was gone. We ncA^er knew when she left the world. The smile Avas still upon her face, her little hands raised slightly as she welcomed the angel when he stooped to take her. The day passed as in a dream. We tried to have everything as we did Avhen a native child passed aAvay. We did not want them to feel that we had CA-er slighted their dead, but how Ave did want to put something soft and dainty in the rough little box. We took the little box out in the dark in the blinding storm. I had felt that at the last I could not'bear to have the body put in the cold frozen ground, but a light broke forth and He whispered, “That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father Avhich is in heaven,’’ and I could see her in the sunshine of His presence, the first sunshine the little darling had ever seen.’ ” In 1905 a new station AA^as opened at another place 200 6 miles up the Kobtick River, with James V. Geary in charge. In 1907 Eli and Minnie Myers took this work and remained there until 1910. They taught the natives to build comfort¬ able houses, and organized a church and did other helpful things. In 1906 James Geary came to Kotzebue and was joined there by Eva Watson, to whom he was married. They remained in this field three years, then were in Cali¬ fornia one year and are now at Icy Cape, next to the most northern station in the world, having charge of a govern¬ ment school. Herbert York and wife have had charge for a time of the government school at Kivalena; Elmer Hamden and wife at Noatak and Leslie Sickles and wife at Selawick. In 1909 Dr. and Mrs. Benjamin Newsome went to Deer- ing; he, as Government doctor to the Eskimos, and she as teacher, but were only able to stay two years on account of her failing health. All of these have rendered good service in various lines on the field. In 1909 Wilson and Lucy Cox took the work at Kotze¬ bue ; he as superintendent and missionary and she as teacher for the Government. The splendid executive and business ability of Wilson H. Cox has been used to organize churches, build homes, promote evangelism and develop respect for law. They expect to return to the home land this summer of 1912. In 1911 Martha Hunnicutt and Rhoda Hare went to Deering, the latter as missionary and the former as teacher to be assisted by Ashugak, a native girl who had been raised and educated by Anna Hunnicutt Foster, and who had pre¬ viously assisted Bertha Cox in school work at this station. This year, 1912, Milton White and wife, of Whittier College, go to Kotzebue to take the work; he as missionary and superintendent and Robert and Carrie Samms have gone back as teacher—missionaries at Selawick. The introduction of reindeer into Alaska marked a great change in the condition of the natives. The policy of the government is to loan one hundred deer to a mission, the 7 mission to support the herders and at the end of five years the original number is returned to the government and the mission has the increase. There is now held each year at Kotzebue in August a conference at which the missionaries and native members from the various stations confer as to the best interests of the work and unitedly pray for God’s blessing upon it. The report of the missionary superintendent of Cali¬ fornia Yearly jMeeting for 1912 shows that there are six churches, with a membership of 669, and property at an estimated value of $14,100, including two reindeer herds. The blessing of the Lord has been upon the effort in a marked way. It has been characteristic of the work that decisions have had to be reached quickly. Testimonies have been given by white men in that country of the lives of the converted natives that have been a fitting rebuke to 'their own actions. Aurora 8 Guatemala, Central America The attention of California Yearly Meeting was first called to Central America as a mission field in the report of the missionary superintendent for the year ending in June, 1902. In enumerating those who had been students of the Training School and were out in service, mention is made of two who were in “neglected Guatemala.” These were two young men who had gone out at the call of the Lord, previous to that date, to do colportage work. They were Thomas J. Kelley and Clark Buckley. After laboring for awhile Kelley returned for recruits and Buckley went on with the work and some time after literally laid down his life in his Master’s service. He was found dead by the roadside with his pack of Bibles and tracts. News of this did not reach the States until some time after. Thomas Kelley presented the claims of the work and five Friends made ready to return with him to Central America. These were Esther Bond and Alice Zimmer, Charles Bodwell, wife and two children, and Mida Lawrence, to whom Thomas Kelley was married. This band visited most, if not all, of the meetings of Southern California before they started. Thomas Kelley was in failing health and the rest went on to the field, he and his wife tarrying and lie died soon after. This band received donations 1)ut went out without any or¬ ganization back of them, in 1903. In 1904 this work had the recognition, apiu'oval and en¬ couragement of the Yearly Meeting’s Missionary Board, which stood in an advisory relation to it without pledging any support. Report was made in 1905 of the colportage work of Charles Bodwell; his wife and children had returned lo the States. A native lady and child was living with Esther Bond and Alice Zimmer. Fifteen had publicly pro¬ fessed conversion. From the beginning the burden of this work seemed to rest upon the Christian Endeavors of the Yearly Meeting; 9 the following quotation from the minutes of California Yearly Meeting for 1906 shows how it was finally adopted as a part of the mission work of the Yearly Meeting. From the minutes of a joint session of the Board of Missions and W. F. M. S. held Eleventh month 9th, 1905, the following is taken : “The following communication was received from the Christian Endeavor Union: For the past few years some of our young people of California Yearly Meeting have been looking for a field in which the En¬ deavors could work as a Union. As we followed the Mas¬ ter’s leadings the open door presented was Guatemala, with our two spirit-filled workers, Esther Bond and Alice Zim¬ mer. At the Christian Endeavor session at our last Yearly Meeting our missionary superintendent was instructed to take pledges for Guatemala, and when the amount reached $250 to ask the Yearly Meeting Board of Foreign Missions to adopt the field and let us be responsible for raising the required amount. The Lord has now answered our prayers and has given us more than we asked. We have pledges for $276.40 and two societies to hear from. Yours for the million and a half in dark Guatemala.” It was freely discussed and the following resolution was unanimously passed: “Resolved, that we congratulate the Christian Endeavor and thank God that they have succeeded in securing liberal pledges for the support of the Guatemala field, and that this Board approves the adoption of this field, and recommends that California Yearly Meeting of Eriends Church assume that field on behalf of the Christian En¬ deavor of the Yearly Meeting, they becoming responsible for its support without dropping their present engage¬ ments.” The interest of the work in that field was greatly strengthened by the presence, at Yearly Meeting in 1906, of ]. T. Butler, a missionary from Guatemala. At this Year¬ ly Aleeting R. Esther Smith made known the call of the Lord that had come to her to labor for Him in dark Central 10 dcred helpful service. Alice Zimmer’s health failed and she came home. hZsther Jloiid left the field after three years of \aried and faithful service. She had taught English for a while in tlie college at Chiquimula. R. Esther Smith and Cora ildman, who had gone out with her, were alone in the field in 1908. Cora Wildman is sup])orted by a company of Eriends living at Long Beach, known as Company A. In the report to the Yearly Meeting in jqo8 Esther Smith Sara of Guatemala America. Her zeal for mission work in the past gave j^romise of fruitful service in the new field. The Yearly Meeting united in recommending to the Bible Schools of the Yearly Meeting that they ado])t R. Esther Smith as their missionary and contribute to her su])port. This was done and she is called the children’s missionary. Truman White was in the mission in (Tpspiii'^ii^da for a short time and ren- 11 says: Cora Wildman has traveled 245 miles by mule while my portion has been 650 miles by mule, 400 miles by train and 30 miles by water. We have made 21 journeys on mule back solely for the sake of the gospel and never one has been in vain, with ever the felt presence of Him who said, “And lo I am with you.’’ In November, 1908, R. Esther Smith left for home and Cora Wildman was left alone except for the presence of a Spanish woman, Josefina Galvez, who entered the work as teacher in the Girls’ School, which was opened in November, 1908. This year, 1908, marked the beginning of greater per¬ manency in the work, and new workers entered the field. Stella Parish, a spirit-filled, Peniel worker, was one. In October, 1909, Irvin H. Cammack, wife, and little daughter went out as workers, Caspar Wistar a young Phil¬ adelphia Friend, as doctor, Mae Burke as teacher, and Esther Smith, the superintendent, returned to the work. Three pieces of land have been purchased, William K. Green, of Whittier, supplying the money for two, a farm of twenty acres and a site for a home for the workers, and Lydia Cammack, the money for a site for the Girls’ School. The Boys’ School is on the farm. The buildings for the Boys’ School and for the home are in process of erection. The farm has been a strong helper. As an object lesson, a call to thrift, a producer of necessities, a paragraph from Nature’s book, it makes its appeal for better homes and bet¬ ter health, along with Bible evangelism. The products and methods of the farm have brought visitors of all ranks. This has served as an opi)ortunity to the furtherance of the gos¬ pel. ddie Girls’ School was reopened in June of 1912, with an attendance of fifty, and the Boys’ School was opened for the first time and has an enrollment of twenty. The “Juven- tud,” a paper for young people, is published, with a circula¬ tion of 10,000 monthly. Some work has been done along the line of Bible training for native workers. Cora Wildman came home for a year’s rest in the fall of 12 iQii. Ward and Emma Munsell, mission workers from California, went to the field in the spring of 1912. Their going and the Ijoys’ School were made possible by the Men’s League in the Friends Church at Whittier. He teaches carpentry and she sewing. Maud Burns, of Havi- land, Kansas, and a graduate of the Training School at Huntington Park, California, enters the field this summer of 1912, and expects to be matron in the Girls’ Home. She is supported by the Friends of Haviland Quarterly Meeting, Kansas. The membership reported in June, 1911, was 187, and in June, 1912, the report comes of a gain of 100 the past year, three chapels donated for use and twenty congregations at preaching stations. The work has been strongly evange¬ listic and some strong native workers are doing good serv¬ ice among their own people. There is much to encourage as they press on following the Lord’s leading. Our Work Among the Spanish While the children of Israel may not have felt or have been under any special obligation, either financially or spiritually, to the people whose land they came to possess, that was not the case with the children of God of the Protestant faith who began more than a half centiirg ago to settle upon the fertile hills and valleys of California, then possessed largely by Spanish speaking people, mostly within the Catholic church. Some of the larger denominations have had a growing work among them for a number of years. Friends were later on the field, but early in their history as a church here, and before the organization of a Yearly Meeting, many of its members were interested in the Span¬ ish speaking people, and personal work, visitation in their homes, etc,, was being done, and a plan was on foot to secure some one acquainted with the language to come and labor among them. The Wh F. M. Union, organized at the same lime as the Yearly Meeting, Third month, 1895, was given charge of the mission work, with an advisory board from the Yearly Meeting. The work among the Spanish was continued under the new organization, as previously begun, until Third month, 1898, when it was decided to unite with the Interdenomina¬ tional Spanish Society, then working in Southern California. Members from our church, on that Board, took an active part in fostering and directing the work. The Interdenominational Society disbanded, and the AV. F. M. S. in 1902, “seeing the deep need of foreign work at home, that of giving the gospel to Spanish speaking peo¬ ple at our door, who are without the knowledge of Christ,” again took up the work and decided to engage Ervin and Margaret Taber to give their entire time to the field. The Tabers were then located in San Diego, he, as pastor of the 14 church, and she as missionary to the S])anish t)eoj)le of that city, among whom she had not only made 250 visits in gos- ]')el service during the year, but distributed many pounds of literature, consisting of tracts and the Spanish scriptures. A like work had been done in Los Angeles when the Tabers were located there, the Methodist Episcopal church taking the work when they le^ft. They removed with their family to Whittier, August, 1902, and entered heartily into the work of holding meetings, house to house visitation, distribution of Scriptures, cloth.- ing, and other necessities, as the time demanded. Girls from tlie Spanish Home The efforts of our missionaries among this people ha(l been so successful that at the missionary session of the Yearly Meeting in 1908, a number of believers, mostly women and children, were present and rendered songs and repeated Scri])ture texts in their own language, ddiis was repeated at following Yearly Meetings. The Yearly Meeting by special sul)scri])tion provided a horse and buggy for both Fuwin and Margaret Taber that they might have access to their widely scattered people and la in one year they report 128 meetings held and 1,945 visits made. AV'ood-choppers’ camps and walnut pickets’ tents were sought out, often their bodily wants supplied, and the gospel preached to them. As the light of hlie gospel shone in upon this people some who had been living for years as man and wife, yet unmarried, saw the evil of their way and came to our mis¬ sionaries to be united in holy wedlock. The knowledge of the Spanish language by our mission¬ aries also opened the way for helpfulness when any of the people were called into courts of justice and other times of need. Deserted wives, of whom there are many, and homeless children made a strong appeal to their sympathy and their home became both a Mecca and a Bethel for many burdened hearts. As the work among the children is the most hopeful and helpful in all countries and among all people, and the piti¬ able condition of many of the children in the Spanish homes had specially appealed to us, .it was decided to make an earnest effort to help them, so, in June of 1909, a committee was appointed for that purpose and in September a Spanish Mission and Industrial Home was organized at the home of Philena B. Hadley at Whittier, with three children, who had come to us without solicitation on our part. This home is under the care of the W. F. M. Union and now numbers eighteen, with many others waiting for ad¬ mission. Carrie E. Wilmore has efficiently served as teach¬ er, and Philena Hadley as superintendent and matron, and through the influence of the home and school, the children have not only advanced rapidly on educational lines, but in deportment and in things divine as well. When they visit at their homes they have a marked in¬ fluence for Christ in many cases and the outlook for the future is very promising. Lots have 1 )een bought and arrangements for suitable 16 buildings are well under way for the future home and school, ileiiry and Clara Johnson, with Mary M. Brown, are now giving- much time and other considerations to this work. A gospel service and Sabbath school at Whittier and Los Nietos and Junior Christian Endeavor Society at El Modena, with the Industrial Home and School also at Whit¬ tier, are seme of the organized efforts of the past years. Although our beloA^ed missionary Ervin Taber was re¬ cently called home, Margaret continues with unabated in¬ terest in the work so near the heart of both, and in the school and elsewhere sees the fruitage of past years of con¬ secrated labor. 17 Work Among the Japanese The latest branch of missionary work undertaken by California Friends is that among the Japanese, many thou¬ sands of whom have come to our shores. The initial work was done by Mr. and Mrs. Takahashi, then residing in Oakland, the latter being a graduate and teacher at Friends’ school in Tokyo, Japan. Seeing the temptations their countrymen in that city, away from friends and home, were exposed to, dhey opened their home to them on the Sabbath day to draw them away from the pool room and other hurtful places. In May of 1903, three Berkeley Friends, Ernest L. Greg¬ ory, Sadie Cash, wife of Herbert Cash, then pastor of the Berkeley church, and Nannie M. Arnold attended, by pre¬ vious arrangement, a Sabbath evening service for the Japa¬ nese at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Takahashi, the last named giving the gospel message, Mrs. Takahashi interpreting. One convert to Christ and four names for church member¬ ship were the result of this meeting. The W. F. M. S. and Christian Endeavor of Berkeley Eriends church were asked to take and carry on the work, which they did until October, 1904, when an evening school and Sabbath afternoon gospel service for Japanese was begun in the Berkeley church, several of the interested Japa¬ nese having removed to that city. A mother’s meeting was organized later and is still carried on. Ernest L. Greg'ory very efficiently superintended the work for a considerable time and was followed by J. J. • Jessup. Several were reached with the gospel and joined the church, one Japanese woman with a very bright Chris¬ tian experience was made, and still is, an elder in the church. Several of the Japanese Eriends have returned-to their na¬ tive land, and for lack of workers the night school has been abandoned. Work in the southern part of the State began a year or 18 two later and hi 1908 Ella C. V^eedcr, then Yearly Meeting superintendent of Japanese work, reported that in a second year’s work at Long Leach she had “taught 225 nights and 75 afternoons,” and that frequently gospel meetings had been held for all the Japanese in the city. She also re¬ ported that work at El Modena had resulted in a class (night school) of 40 and 13 converts. Josiah Winslow and others had the work in charge at that time. These students, as were those of the night school, organized about the same time at East W'hittier, with Phoebe Pierce now a missionary George K. Tsiikamota Samuel Nagata Buiiji Kida to China in charge, were from the large ranches nearby where they found em])loyment. As these people are almost ':ontinually changing locations on account of work, any organized effort for them has a fluctuating experience, hut if the good seed is diligently sown results always follow. Lonely and homesick as most of them are, the first ap¬ proach must he by kindly word or deed and confidence he gained, hence the social side is emphasized in all our work as well as the educational and spiritual. fn 1908 a work was started at Pasadena by the monthly meeting at the earnest request of May \Milte, and has steadily grown and developed. It now has a night school, Sabbath school and Christian Endeavor Society. One night a week is devoted to Bible study, followed by a short Bible lesson by the pastor or one of the teachers. Once a month an evening is given to English practice when the teachers and friends are entertained by the students with songs, ad¬ dresses and testimonies in English. Many of the students have been converted and joined the church. Last year a Japanese Home was opened, where the Chris¬ tian young men and others may find a safe, clean and con¬ genial place to live. Night school at Whittier and also East Whittier as men¬ tioned before, both under the auspices of the W. E. M. S., have been held with good results, most of the students hav¬ ing been reached with the gospel and several have joined the church. Recently a neat, new bungalow has been secured at Whittier and nicely furnished by the W. F. M. S. and Sun¬ day school classes. A class in Bible study and a gospel service in charge of S. Nagata, a student in Whittier Col¬ lege, are conducted each Sabbath afternoon. A Y. M. C. A. has also recently been organized by the Christian young men from AYJiittier and East Whittier. Several women and young men have been engaged as English teachers at dif¬ ferent times in the work, but not at present. The committee now in charge are, Alberta Beede, Grace White and Clara Kenworthy. Having proven by our work our interest in the Japanese people who were doubtless sent to us by the Father for this intent. He sent in 1907, for our help and encouragement, Bunji Kida, an evangelist from Japan. He had come with the thought of studying evangelism in Friends churches in America and England. He visited many of our Yearly Meetings, but with the growing feeling^ that he ought to return to labor with the thousands of his 20 people on this coast. He followed his convictions, returned and stated the fact to the Yearly Meeting. He was en¬ dorsed by the Yearly Meeting Board of Missions and imme¬ diately began his labors by visiting towns and settlements where the Japanese were found in any number, as the way opened. Most of these people are Buddists, and while the work has been slow it has steadily progressed. A good work has since been organized at Uplands, with a night school, and Sabbath school on each Sabbath after¬ noon and a gospel service once a month or oftener in camps, by Bunji Kida and other workers. Several converts have been made. This work was organized and is sustained wholly by William'and Lydia Cammack. Lots have been secured for a home and other work in the near future. Work has been begun by Eunice J. Pearson at Bell meet¬ ing, which promises larger development. For the past three years on Sabbath of our Yearly Meet¬ ing, a meeting in the afternoon is held for the Japanese with services in their own language. In August of last year a deserted pool room at 227^^ North San Pedro street, Los Angeles, in a strong Japanese quarter, was secured and nicely fitted up. Gospel services on the Sabbath, with street meetings, prayer meeting, and night school during the w'eek have been kept up. Two special evangelistic services have been held by Bunji Kida and thirty have claimed conversion, with sixteen names for the Friends church in that city. A mission church has been organized among them with a simple confession of faith. Considerable Bible distribution has been done and more is contemplated. The work and itinerary of Bunji Kida has included El Modena, Newmark, Pasadena, Bell, Uplands, East Whittier and Whittier, as well as Los Angeles, and a greater in¬ gathering of this people is hoped for and looked for, by all who are laboring for them. 31 1 I ^ • .'■:wV-'; ■■*' r-y ■T.'ivS#*',." iy/j