CONDITIONS IN INDIA

Chronicle (Levin), 14 July 1947, Page 2

CONDITIONS IN INDIA

MISSIONARY GIVES HIS> OBSERV ATION S The people of Otaki have had the unique opportunity of hearing first hand about present day conditicns in India- in a series of addresses given by a missionary on furicugh from Kollegal, South India. Mr.. Greenfield, with his wife and three children, attracted to Otaki by the mild climate of the place, has agreed to give, a number of lectureS in the Anglican Parish Hall evecy Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings for a period of three, weeks. in his opening address, Mr. Greenfield spoke of the ignOT^nce, poverty and immorality of the idolworshipping Hindus of South'ern India, whose condition might be summed up in the words of Holy, Writ, "They are ignorant of God" and therefore more' to be pitied than blamed. The redeeming feature in their favour, however, was the fact that everywhere there was a desire to listen to the preaching of the Gospel. Returning'to New Zealand after seven years In India, the speaker continued, it was with bitter disappointment that he, noted the laek of interest evidenced here in spiritual things, and if any were to be blamed it was> the people of this land, who seem to have forsaken God and His house in favour of worldly attractions. The address was. summed up in the words, "We do not need to go outside of New Zealand to find the heathen." * - In the second lecture, Mr. Greenfield spoke about the great triumph of the Gospel seen in the resurrection of the Saviour from the dead, and proceeded to relate many interesting cases of .how the Gospel has triumphed over drunkenness, gambling and immorality in the lives of many of his Hindu friends who had embraced the teachings of Christ. He cited the case of one lhan who had risen from among .the Untouchables to the position of evangelist-colpor-teur, and had proved the saving power of the Gospel for more than a quar'ter of a century, never once having fallen back into his formcr sinful life. Speaking in a later address about the "strait gate and narrow way" leading up to eternal life, Mr. j Greenfield told the touching story of.a well-known figure in Kollegal, 'a man whose mind had become deranged, probably through neglected illness in his childhood. This man for many years had been seen wandering from village to village M begging for , rice, t (^tc., „ as thousands of religious beggars 'were doing today in India, but this old man had a huge sack on his back into which he would throw old useless pieces of leather, shiny bits of tin, old rags and pieces of string, until he could be seen staggering beneath the weight of a heavy load of useless rubbish which to him represented his treasure store. One day while the old man ,was trundling his bag along the road near Kollegal, the storm clouds gathered quickly, while thunder rolled and lightning flashed blindingly as it did in those tropical parts, and in a few minutes the rain began to fall. The old man reached the street where the shops were, and began to look for a shelter from the storm, but the shops were all shut for fear that the rain driving in should spoil the produce there. He did, howeyer, find one Moslem who had :noJt yet put up the final board in his shop front. The Moslem saw the old man coming and invited him to enter, but when he tried to get through the narrow opening (about 12 inches wide) he found he could not get the sack of things with him, nor would he be persuaded to leave it outside and so, after vainly trying to push his way through with the sack on his back, he sadly turned into the storm looking for another possible shelter. Next morning his body was found in the street not far from the Moslem's shop, and he was still clinging to his bag of "treasure." "How like many of us who prefer to cling to our sinful ha'oits rather than give them up for Christ. Many of our Indian friends feel that because the majority of Hindus worship idols idolatry is right, and many in this country feel that because the majority are indifferent to spiritual matters and live Godless lives, that this is the right way."