The world today is ripe to receive such a message. In Japan, where the masses have for centuries clung tenaciously to Shintoism and Buddhism, the people today are turning toward Christianity. In December, 1948, F. A. Millard, B. P. Hoffman, and P. H. Eldridge conducted a large hall effort in Tokyo. The opening night proved to be the largest meeting ever known to be held by Christians in Japan. Imagine an audience of more than three thousand non-Christian Japanese listening to the challenging message, "Christianity and Today's Japan." Before the war no one dared dream that such a thing could be done. The brother of Emperor Hirohito, Prince Takumatsu, attended one of the meetings. Prince Ri and his wife were faithful listeners, as well as many other influential Japanese.
Leon Robbins and S. Ogura have begun evangelistic meetings in the Kobe-Osaka area. Great results will attend their efforts during this year. More than twenty-five hundred Japanese from among all classes of society have already completed the Voice of Prophecy Bible lessons.
The enthusiasm and ardor of our Philippine evangelists continues unabated. A wave of greater evangelism has swept through the ranks of all local missions. The Northern Luzon Mission has already completed eight evangelistic meetings this year, in which the mission president and all departmental men personally conducted or assisted the work. Central Luzon Mission reports that ten such evangelistic meetings were launched simultaneously in their field in January. Little wonder that 3,664 souls were baptized in the Philippine Islands in 1948! The goal of 5,500 baptisms for 1949 will be realized.
Indonesia Union Mission reported one hundred evangelistic efforts of various kinds during 1948, with 160 baptisms. Already their program of greater evangelism for 1949 is in full swing. The walls of Mohammedanism are beginning to crack under the impact of the Voice of Prophecy Bible lessons. These lessons have been prepared in Malay, and already hundreds are enrolled. The fact that influential Moslems are studying these Bible lessons, among whom several have already been baptized, has brought consternation to Moslem leaders in Malaya.
Large English evangelistic efforts are being planned for in Manila; Bankok, Siam; and Singapore during the year. All our division, union, and local leaders are wholeheartedly united in a program of greater evangelism in the Far Eastern Division, and with such concerted action we move forward by faith to realize our goal of ten thousand baptisms for 1949.
RALPH WATTS. [M.A. Secretary.]
