In mission evangelism, before any effective appeal can be made, one must be sure of his own attitude toward the work in hand. He must first ask himself such questions as, "How do I regard this great work of soul winning? Is it just an incident in my life, or is my one great controlling passion to win souls for Christ?" These questions are answered in the quality of the work we do, and not in the quantity alone.
One great factor contributory to successful evangelism in the jungles is leadership. The missionary must be a leader. He must always be in advance of his native workers, and not be content to stay behind at the mission station And merely direct the work. He must be a twenty-four-hour-a-day man. His home must be attractive to those for whom he is working, and his door must always be open to them. Some will object to this invasion of their privacy; but we have found that, having taken upon ourselves the responsibility of giving the warning to this part of the vineyard, most of the commonplace of the homeland, such as privacy of home and personal ownership, are submerged in the greater work of saving souls. One must be willing to bury his feelings, and to consider as a duty what, under other conditions and to people in other circumstances, would be termed "unreasonable demands upon one's private and personal life." We must have no reserve, and our time should always be open to the soul who is searching for Jesus.
Early in my work I made a resolution that I would never send a worker where I would not go myself, and that I would endeavor to be in the lead whether on the trail or in rising in the morning. Sometimes it has taken much of the grace of God to accomplish this in this jungle land, where we must trail through rains, floods, mud, and streams infested with snakes and leeches. This attitude on the part of the leader strikes home to the heart of the native worker, and impresses him with the dignity of labor, an idea generally lacking in Eastern countries.
As in all missionary fields, so here in this priest-ridden, devil-worshiping, idolatrous land, the people respond to the sympathetic touch, whether it be to themselves or to their neighbors. Sin has fastened its terrible shackles of disease upon these poor people, and senseless customs have only served as Satan's instruments to degrade them further and to hold them more tightly. When one even attempts to loose their bonds, it is as a light from heaven to break through their indifference; yet as truly as the sun cleanses and heals when a way is made for it to reach disease-reeking areas, so will "the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings" if we can by the Holy Spirit bring the truth into contact with these poor darkened souls. There is no language barrier or racial prejudice to the loving and sympathetic deed, and we as a people have been blessed with a knowledge that comes as near to being a universal language as anything could be. Our medical work has indeed been the "right arm of the message" that we bear to these people, and our little medicine box that we carry with us everywhere is a marvelous minister, and one that will overcome the strongest prejudice.
Picture a native hut, dirty and squalid; a mother even more filthy and unkempt; five or six children, naked, unwashed, covered with vermin, and suffering from skin diseases. We enter with our little medicine box. The woman turns away from the Christianity we symbolize, to her deaf gods of paper, and looks to them without hope and at us defiantly. But she has had a sore foot for several months, and could get no relief. We open our medicine box, we bathe the sore, leave some medicine to apply, and instruct her along fundamental health lines. Two weeks later we visit the home again. What a difference we see. Gone is the defiant look; much cleaner is the house. The mouth that was reeking with red betelnut juice is cleaner. The woman admits her unsaved condition, and inquires the way of salvation. God's way is the surest way of successful jungle evangelism; and all through the twenty-four hours, the long nights that otherwise would be filled with fever and pain, this "right arm" works for the salvation of souls.
When we enter a village, we take life as it comes to us, and share with the people the inconveniences, and the sometimes disgusting food and vermin-infested sleeping place, finding a tactful way of avoiding breaking over our principles, and watching a favorable chance to explain why we abstain from eating certain foods. Then when all the villagers have returned from the field or the neighbors can gather together, by the light of a smoky kerosene flare we spread the open Bible on the floor, and tell these people of the salvation that comes through Jesus. Many a soul can count his spiritual birth from these little gatherings around the smoky flare. Many times we have held large audiences, sometimes numbering more than a thousand natives, but by far the greater gains are made by this personal contact.
In our work we have been careful to take advantage of the willing efforts of the laymen. In fact, in some districts many of our converts have first been approached by some earnest layman. Some of our native members are putting all their time into evangelism. They testify that since becoming Seventh-day Adventists, a peculiar urge has come over them, and they are compelled to go out and tell others. These laymen are very zealous for the truth, and many a night I have fallen asleep with the murmur of their voices in my ears as they pleaded, far into the night, with some soul to accept the right way; or I have been awakened at four o'clock in the morning by the long, earnest prayer of one or more of them as they prayed for the success of this precious cause.
When we share the love of Jesus for these people, the rest is easy. We sometimes study methods of contact, and are eager to learn the secrets of some successful evangelist, which is of course right and desirable; but I believe if we can get in our hearts the love and the burning passion for souls that will brook no delay, no turning aside, until we have "power with God" and have "prevailed," then we can be sure that the Holy Spirit will make possible contacts such as that of Philip with the eunuch.
In Burma we have another means to an end that perhaps is not altogether peculiar to this country. As we have talked with some of our Karen converts, we have learned that they have a very peculiar tradition. As we learned more of this, especially among the Pwo Karens, we were attracted by certain similarities between their tradition and fundamental Christianity. We found that the number seven was a traditionally sacred number to them. We found that the designs on their old ceremonial garments were similar to the seven candlesticks, with a dove over the top. We also found that once a year the tradition-observing Karens sacrifice certain animals without blemish for the sins of the whole family, and that they have certain prophecies of a people coming in the latter days to revive the truth of the seventh-day Sabbath. These people have a- faith in these traditions that will not be denied; but with this groundwork we endeavor to build up a belief in the true God, showing them that back in the early times their fathers knew of the true worship. This way of attacking their corruption of the truth seems to make an impression; and as they come to see the pure truth, their tradition either falls away or they see its parallel in the experiences of Israel. Their "Ywa" for God is similar to the English word "Jehovah."
Myaung-mya, Burma.
