BIBLE SOCIETY'S FAMILY.

Shannon News, 19 June 1928, Page 4

BIBLE SOCIETY'S FAMILY.

The Rev. Mr Calder, N.Z. representative of the British and Foreign Bible Society, who is attending conferences of the Society in Jerusalem and London, writes as follows:—

"On Board B.M.S. 'Orviet.o,' March 12, 1928. My Dear Bible Bairns,--Your Bibleman and his friends are sit- ' ting on the deck of the good ship Orvieto watching the ever moving sea. For many days we have done so, and we came near to the coast .of the great continent of Africa. Wehave passed the island of Socotra and the Brothers Group and now as the evening comes' on the twinkling light of i Cape Guardafui tells us where we are. Since leaving New Zealand the seas have been blue and almost always calm; and the flying fish h;ive now come to be our constant and delightful . friends. While the journey thus far has been a very wonderful holiday, we, have been able to see quite a' lot .of , Bible Society work. At Sydney, Mel- . bourne, Perth, and Adelaide your Bibleman met the Biblemen of Australia — at Sydney Mr. Bentley, and at Mel- • bourne Mr. Gosbell and Mr. Thompson; at Adelaide Mr. Sexton, and at Perth Mr. Muriel and Mr. Fry—and how well they all are working'in'their wonderful Bible Houses, so as to get God's Holy Book into the homes of the people of Australia. We all seemed to be brothers in the great Bible iSoeiety family, and how kind was their greeting to the Bibleman from New Zealand. "It was at Ceylon, however, that we saAV real missionary woirk and Bible work for dark-skinned people. We landed at Colombo in the early. morning and soon we were at the Bible House. Before nine o'clock Ave were away out again with Mr. Gracie to see the town and the native people. We could not get away from the constant stream .of dark brown people and we did not want to do so. They were everywhere. The old men and women were so old, and the little babies—well, they were just like New Zealand babies, but inked all over and dressed for their bath. At one turn of the road we were between cocoanut plantations and right ahead of us was a church and then we saw an open air. missionary sch6ol a few yards from it. First we went to the church to pray, and§>then we visited the. school. The/headmaster was a greyheaded Cingalese and all his assistants were natives, while the children were being taught decimal fractions. Did they seem to like it?; Well, they all looked very happy; but they stopped as, we entered and stood "up to receive us. . The master interpreted. to them the address your Bibleman gave, and then, when we asked if we might hear, them sing one little bright, eyed boy that seernqd, to be made of chocolate stood up and sang most wonderfully as he suited his actions to the idea of his song. About an hour, later we visited a school .for the deaf and the blind. How different everything .was. from what we had seen as we had gone through the queer looking bazaars, and passed the poor homes, with their smells of unusual foods. Someone, not many ; years ago, had dreamed a. dream of a i very lively . home for the afflicted children ,of this heathen quarter where they might be different from the thin dirty beggar children the blind and dumb came to.be. That dream came true. It was a lady who had dreamed the dream, then some Christian people, and among them the Ceylon Bibleman, had talked about the dream and told other good people of it; then some wealthy Ceylon natives gave a lot of money; and now a group of beautiful buildings, managed by consecrated Church of England missionaries, make a haven upon earth for the little ones who are in it. Oh, how Ave thanked God that Ave had prayed for and given money., to help to do so wonderful a thing as Avas here.. One little blind boy had been in the home for two days only. ,*He Avas sitting very quietly on a mat with his thin legs crossed, .Nobody had Avanted him, and now he sat. there in the sweet clean room threading a string of big blue beads. When the Bibleman of Ceylon asked.him if he liked being in the home his sightless eyes seemedjo smile as he quietly said, '' I like 40nis place." Not far aAvay a group of seven children were sitting at a loav table and all \A-ere threading beads while one of them who could see smiled up' so wonderfully as she tried to express what her dumb lips refused to say. In other•parts'of the building Ave saw boys making chairs , and threading the cane into the seats. Others were Aveaving cloth .on hand looms and some lovely girls of about 12 to 14 years A\ r ere sewing. * The girls were quite deaf but had learned to talk by reading the lips and they were learning in English. We shall never'lforget the Avay God is thus answering the prayer "Thy Kingdom come^SS—earth as it is in 'Heaven," nor the privilege we had of seeing the missionaries actually at their work of bringing it about as a fact of life.

"In a few days we shall be at Port Said and soon also at Jerusalem. It [ will bo a very busy time, for we must attend every session of the International Missionary Council meeting. Your Bibleman will represent New Zealand and there is much to talk about. We want to see how best we can work for our Lord Jesus Christ in the great business of telling the world of men about His death for them and His resurrection from the dead. It will bo Easter at Jerusalem and altogether a very wonderful,..time. In my next letter I shall try to tell you of how wo lived a whole fortnight on the Mount of Olives' and talked with two hundred men gathered from . every country on the earth to discuss the great instructions of Jesus to preach the Gospel to every creature. With good wishes from, your friend, THE BIBLEMAN."