METHODIST HOME MISSIONS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 292, 4 December 1908, Page 4

METHODIST HOME MISSIONS.

SPEECH BY Ml! Wl KAITAKA. ThoSe present at the Methodist Home Mission meeting on Wednesday evening were treated to a sample of tlic fervour of the eloquent -Maori missionary, Mi Wi Kaitara,. who spoke in Maori, hiwords being interpreted by ttie Kev. X. <!. Hammond. The translation was as follows: :! ;^sfr Mr President, I greet you. May Clod take care of yon and .strengthen you in all the days that are coining. Brothers and sisters ill the love of Jesus Christ, I greet you all. I have been called upon to say a few words to you. My heart j is very, very pleased to-night. I anil loqking at a great number of Europeans hefe in this house. In all probability you are all imbued with the strong thought of find. You wish to understand. You viish to know. You loot upon me as a perfect stranger to vim. Ami also the Maori people in this'disIriet are just as much strangers to me as you are. It is for me to go back to the place whence 1 came, to say a few words about that. I was born under the influence of the Uospel and brought up in it. It was my grandfather who brought the European here who brought the (iospel to Xew Zealand. The Church of England it was at that time. It was in 1814, on the 25th day of December, and his text was Luke, 2. 1(1. At that time my ancestors set apart certain lands for the church, and right away from that time until these days it is still in (he hands of the church" liiit I see there are .people now raising sh-cu in occupation of that land, f don't know what about it now. From thai time to the time, of my fathers, and right down to me, the worship has be m . maintained. You know that the wor- '•■ ship in those days' begun was the wor- j ship of the Church of England, and that j was my worship. Jiut when the Wes- ] leyan Church came to me, then I begn„ - to think. It was in connection with the ; teaching of this Church that I was; f born again. When I was worshipping in r the Church of England I didn't know i anything about it—simply it was wor- i ship—and when I turned to the Metho- v

clist Church il was then 1 began to understand the character of the worshiy. It was then that 1 was born again. Just a word about my eall to come to Tarauaki. 1 came, 1 landed here, and 1 watched the character of the Europeans and also the Maoris here. When 1 arrived here I greeted a certain European —he took no notice of me, and when 1 went among the people here 1 was very much disgusted with the behaviour of i Europeans and Maoris to me. I saw i that both Europeans and Maoris wee guilty of Sabbath-breaking. And then 1 began to think of those Europeans with whom 1 had been associated and who were my brothers in this matter, and as I went about I began to feel very much afraid for these Europeans in Taranaki. B won't speak further about it, but there is something of .which I want to speak and of which 1 know. 1 told you I saw the character i of the Maoris in Taranaki when I first came. I saw that the want of knowledge of the Maori was not something which belonged to this particular time, but came down to them from their ancestors. But you, you Europeans, you can never say that you didn't know (hear, hear), because it was you who brought this Gospel with you, and J think now that the best thing yon can do is to endeavour to assist the Maori in everything. 1 have already said to the Maori that they should do all tlmy ■ [ can to assist the European. This applies to the condition in which the people are found in the place where 1 live. 1 feel satisfied that if this idea prrva leu, this idea of helping one another, there ~ ,_ *_° ..--I .1.... u 1.mm..:i:

would be progress and development among both European., and Maoris. ,'. both Europeans and Maoris were to bear in mind the text "Love thy neighbour as thyself," there would be that development. The speaker concluded an impassioned address by invoking tne blessing of God upon all present. Rev. Robert Haddon, the Maori preueher, delivered an eloquent address. He endorsed, he said, all.that the Rev. Hammond had said of the hard times he had had in the past, and of the bitterness in the hearts of the Maori people of this coast. That bitterness had been brought about by a cause. He did not want to refer too anueh to the past, but he would tell them that > long ago, in 1840, the Maoris of New Zealand loved the Europeans, and ihey loved the British Queen, Queen Victoria. Evidence of this survived in the children of the chieftains of those times who had been christened "Queen Victoria." It was because the men of high

position loved the Queen tliat they transferred themselves and their country to England, and became the children of the Queen just as the British people were. And they were proud to be British subjects, as ho was now. (Applause.) The sad part oi it was that it was five years after the signing of the treaty, when the .Maoris had been entered on the list of British subjects, that the war broke out. Had the war broken out before that there would have been no talk now. After giving the country and themselves to the Queen they were tomahawked, killed, by the laws and the Government of this country. That caused all the opposition to the gospel, and the good work of the early missionaries was hauled to the ground by the Maoris and Europeans alike. They heard a lot of talk about foreign missions. But the natives of the other islands did not go through the same troubles as the Maoris. They had had no war, no confiscation, nothing to be sad about like the Maori. But probably the downfall of the Maori then had been for the uplifting of the rising generation to a higher spiritual sphere.

He likened them to the children of Israel who, after being under the whip of the Egyptians, were abundantly cared for by Hod. Before his conversion he.had been as bitter as his grandfather, and wanted to fight. But at his conversion he reasoned that he brought

nothing iu his hands to this country, and therefore nothing belonged to him. So he cast all his other notions aside. He was converted, and started to preach. Then Mr. Hammond found him, and upon the bitter's advice he entered the ministry. When he came back as a

preacher his people rebelled against him, and on one occasion, during his absence in Wellington, turned his wife and children out of their home into the street. Those very people were 7iow supporting him and living good Christian lives. The work on this coast during the past year hail been very encouraging. A choir had been formed, and he could assure the meeting that it was a treat to hear them. Four meetinghouses had recently been erected as places of worship, 'lie spoke of the great change which had come over the people since their acceptance of Christianity, and stated thi't the pakeha could learn a lesson from their services. When Sister Nellie and Sister .Julia, previously referred to as deaconesses, went to the Hawera district to labor among the Maori women, they were given a right royal reception by the Maoris. One

old chief welcomed them tlnis: "Welcome, welcome, welcome, the angels sent by Jesus Christ among us.'' Thou the chief's daughter gave up to them a Mew five-roomed house, furnished at considerable expense. This was the outcome of the Maori mission inaugurated by Mr. Hammond. Jt was Mr. Hammond's mission, and the hardest of tmwork had fallen upon his shoulders. Five or six years ago the speaker's wife and children had been turned out of

I doors in the cold of a winter's morning, I but now what a difference was seen in f the. treatment of these two wahine pakehas. These sisters were well liked, and they were doing excellent work. I Jt had been stated that the Auckland people were going to try anil take. them, but the old chief of the hapu said, "These are my daughters. They will have to come and see me." Mr. lladdon referred to the great interest taken by the young Maoris in church work, [ and then went on to talk of the liquor traffic, declaring himself to be an absolute [irolijliitiunist, and stating that lie had changed from the Maori elections to the general electoral roll in order to get the opportunity to "strike out the top line." He alleged, a* reported yesterday, that liquor in large quantities was being carted by night into Maori pahs. The need of the Maori to-day was a little help from his Christian brother and sister. "When yon meet a Maori on the .street or in the road, give him a nod," he urged. "Whether he's on the wayside or the 'sway' side, give him a nod. He'll think a lot of thai. It will give him new thoughts. It will help him. (Jive him a nod. it's a little thing to you, but it is a big thing to the Maori." Concluding, he said: "The best help you can give the Maori is a good example," besides giving to the Home Mission Fund. "Kia ora."