EVERYMAN'S HUT REUNION

Chronicle (Levin), 17 September 1946, Page 4

EVERYMAN'S HUT REUNION

WELL-ATTENDED FUNCTION IN LEVIN WORK IN N.Z. CAMPS Ex-servicemen and members of the Levin Gospel and Queen Street Hall congregations met in Levin last evening, the occasion being an Everyman's Hut reunion -convened by Mr. Les. Taylor, who was in charge of Everyman's Hut at Trentham Military Camp during the war. The function was largely attended and proved very enjoyable. Mr. J. Chrystall welcomed ^he men, expressing the hope that whether they had served overseas or not they would make themselves at home and enjoy' themselyes. There were some present who had been helpers at the huts during the war, he said. They had prayed for the safe return of the boys,' but there were some homes that had been touched by the loss of war. The gathering stood in silence as a mark of respect for those who did not return. Items by a quartet, p.art singing, and community singing of favqurite hymns made the time pass quickly away. In a short speech, Mr. Chrystall told of the efforts for servicemen of that band of Christians, who meet in Gospel Halls throughout the country. They had financed and run eight huts in the North Island and .three in the South Island, with no assistance from the National Patriotic Fund Board. The driving force behind this effort was not just men and women; it was God. He went on to tell of the great attendances at the talks given in Everyman's Huts before drafts left for overseas. Now that they were back, he said, the Rehabilitation Department was doing a great job for them, but it was striking to-day that in the midst of such influence, and when so much was being done for people, there was less satisfaction than at any other, time. There was a definite spiritual need. It was needed now, to face life, just as it had been needed to face death in the war. There could be no new order without a change in human nafrure said Mr. Les. Taylor in an address. He said that in the early days of the war there had been a great deal of talking by statesmen and preachers about a new world

order, which was to come after the victory. "But how different are we from 1939," he asked. If there had been any change it had been for the worse, he declared. Knowledge had increased, Mr. Taylor went on, and scientific research had gone ahead at a terrific pace, but we lived in the saddest world of all time. He believed that the world was more dangerous today than in 1939. Man had proyed that he was incapable of governing himself. He had proved this by his use of an atom bomb to kill over 80,000 persons. The excuse had been that it had ended the war, but after the war. had come the atom bomb tests. The late Judge Ostler had said that thpre would always be a criminal mind until human nature was changpd. One thing was needed that could do this, Mr. Taylor asserted, and that was Christianity and faith in God. An excellent supper was served, during which Mr. W. Meddings, secretary of the Levin R.S.A., expressed pleasure and surprise at the large gathering. He voiced appreciation of what had been done for servicemen in camps by Everyman's Huts.