on

against which he must be his guard. "There are several good protections against temptation, but the surest is cowardice." Let every home missionary be constantly afraid of doing wrong. Of course, these remarks need qualifying, but each of you can furnish the qualifications as well as I.

2. Self-subordination. There are two good reasons why the home missionary should not be a self-seeker. In the first place, it is futile, and in the second place, it frustrates his work. Whoever wants to exalt himself had best take some other profession than home missions, and whoever wants to succeed as a home missionary must remember the words. of the Master, "Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister." To be able to meet littleness, meanness, indifference, faithlessness on the field, and instructions for retrenchment from headquarters without whining and without expressions of self-pity, are some of the marks of a conquering home missionary. Yours is a great work, but it is great in its common services rather than in its self-seeking. If the home missionary wants to be miserable, all he needs to do is to think of himself. In the words of Charles Kingsley," Think about yourself, about what you want, what you like, what respect people ought to pay to you, and then to you nothing will be pure. You will spoil everything you touch; you will make sin and misery for yourself out of everything which God sends you; you will be as wretched as you choose on earth or in Heaven either." This does not mean that the home missionary is to despise himself. Jesus did not despise himself; Paul did not despise himself. We are to practice the same self-mastery which made them great, and in it find our largest self.

3. Sympathy. There is enough water flowing over the falls in the river of life to drive the wheels of devotion and service in the life of

missionaries. All that is necessary is that we should open the sluiceways of human sympathy and catch the full impact of human needs. What was it that moved Jesus? "When He saw the multitudes He was moved with compassion for them because they were distressed and scattered as sheep not having a shepherd." That is, He had eyes to see human need. When once we realize the need of humanity round about us, especially the need for God, and when we give this need a chance at us, sympathy for men affords a mighty compelling power. Without this quality of soul the home missionary is rather sure to be a failure; with it, he can scarcely fail.

4. Zeal. It is the man who is sure that he is doing the biggest thing in the world who is enthusiastic in his work. There are not a few who feel, and who sometimes succeed in getting the missionary to feel that he is engaged in picayune efforts for the accomplishment of things which it is well enough to have done but which real men leave for others to do. That construction of the work of the home missionary is not calculated to produce that soul quality which we call zeal, but that conception is diametrically opposed to the truth. Where is there a bigger work for a man to do than the work of the true home missionary to-day? Home missions furnish the key of the redemption of the world. Upon home missions depend the redemption of America. It is not conceit to say that the evangelization of the world depends more upon America than upon any other human factor. If the home missionary fails, America will not be Christianized; if America is not Christianized the world will not be evangelized. From the standpoint, therefore, of the needs of the entire world, as well as from the standpoint of the eternal interests of individual souls, the work of the home missionary justifies enthusiasm.

II. Soul Nurture

But if these qualities, and many

others which might be enumerated, are to be present in the home missionary, where is to be found the culture of soul which will produce them?

1. The Word of God. "They made me keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept." It is the function of the home missionary to dispense the word of God to others. There is danger that he will be so busy in doing it that he will not assimilate that word himself. I know from experience that it is the easiest thing in the world to look upon the Scriptures from the sermonic standpoint, discovering first of all, and perhaps exclusively, what is there that would make interesting sermon material; that is, we proceed to prepare nourishment for the souls of others without taking to ourselves that which was intended for our own nourishment. When God wanted Ezekiel to be His minister, He gave him a book, and said to him: "Eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel." So the home missionary is equipped to speak God's Word who has eaten it himself, who has assimilated its truths, who has nourished his own soul upon its substance. I congratulate you upon the necessity of studying the Word of God, but let me beseech of you first to absorb for your personal life the truth which you preach. Then will your soul be nourished.

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2. Fellowship. But God's Word is not confined to the canon of the Scripture. He speaks to us in many ways-through our own consciences, through nature round about us, and through our fellow men. Every home. missionary needs the fellowship of his brethren. Other people are benefited by hearing good sermons, so is the home missionary; other people are benefited by fellowship in prayer, so is the home missionary. It therefore becomes the home missionary to plan definitely for fellowship with others; for attendance upon gatherings where he can hear the

word of God preached; for conferences where, without thought of its being his duty, he may participate in worship and in social prayer. Some home missionaries are far removed from fellow workers, but so important is the stimulus which comes through contact with others that I want to urge the making of the greatest effort to be in attendance at conferences, associations and other gatherings, and to have such fellowship with individual fellow workers as is possible, even at the cost of considerable expense and effort.

Then, too, the home missionary should read, and in this day when everybody has good reading matter, he should read fresh literature. I am saying this in the full consciousness that many a home missionary is far removed from libraries and that his purse is far removed from the possibility of buying many books or magazines. Nevertheless, I am confident that most of us can secure some good reading matter by borrowing from traveling libraries or from our fellow workers, and by such conservation of resources as to make possible the purchase of books and magazines. At the same time, I recognize the fact that this may be practically impossible for some, and I am ready to say to any of the missionaries under commission of the National Home Missionary Society that if they will make known to me the fact that it is impossible for them to get good reading matter, I will make an effort to see that some way is provided whereby they can have at least a partial supply. Write to me if you find it impossible to secure proper literature.

3. Companionship with God. In the first verse of the eighteenth chapter of Luke, reference is made to people who "behave badly" in prayer. "Behave badly" is the foundation meaning of the word translated "to faint." There are people who behave badly in prayer. For a home. missionary to confine his prayer to public functions, even including per

functory family worship, is to behave badly in prayer. The true home missionary needs to be an intimate companion of the Divine Spirit. "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, good ness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance." In other words, those soul qualities which are needed by the home missionary are to be found through companionship with God. Periods of meditation and prayer for one's own soul, as well as for the people to whom he ministers, are essential. I have read that in Africa bands of Christians who do not have places of retreat in their huts, are wont to retire to the forests for private prayer, and that in places there are paths from the huts of Christians to secluded spots in the woods. This makes it possible to know whether or not a native Christian is constant in his private devotions, for the grass will grow in the path if he fails to use it. In consequence, native Christians are wont to guard each

other with the remark, "Brother, the grass grows in your path." Beloved home missionary, is the grass growing in your path, the path that leads to the place of quiet personal communion with your Heavenly Father? If it is. I have come to the heart of this message in the simple exhortation, which I take to myself, namely. "Whatsoever else you do, do not fail to wait upon God," for "They that wait the Lord

shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary: they shall walk and not faint." And in this word of the fortieth of Isaiah there is rich meaning. It is not simply that we wait in the sense of idly tarrying for Him-no, the word of the prophet meant originally to braid or weave together, so that he who waits upon God in the sense of this word, intertwines his life with the life of the Infinite., That is what I would have you do.

MY

Y early home life was undoubtedly different from that of the majority of the readers of THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY. With a father who was a pronounced anarchist and a mother who had no religious belief whatever, I knew very little of God or prayer or anything outside a life of entire selfishness.

I was born in 1883 at Torino, Italy, and when I was only six years of age, my family emigrated to Chili, but two years later we removed again, this time to Buenos Aires, Argentina. I began school when I was eight, and finished the grammar grades at fourteen. Two years previously my mother died, and for the first time I experienced real loneliness. I felt the need of comfort and sought it in the worship and services of the Roman Catholic Church,

where I had been an attendant for a very short time, but I failed to find the peace of soul desired in either the church or the sympathy of friends. At the end of another year, however, the beauty of the ritual and service began to appeal to me, and I felt that I had found the balm my heart craved.

An intense desire to serve God came over me, a desire which would not be satisfied with an occasional visit to the church, and I felt that only by entering the priesthood could this ambition be attained. I made this wish known to my father confessor, and after a wait of two months, I became a student in the College of the Jesuits. My whole life was transformed, and I seemed to see myself in priestly robes, honoring God by serving my people.

Then came the saddest awakening