General Conference Bulletin, vol. 6
Missionary Talks - EXPERIENCES IN EASTERN POLYNESIA
B. J. CADY
May 25, 6 A. M.
In Deuteronomy 33:25 we read, “As thy days, so shall thy strength be.” This ought to be encouraging to the missionary. In verse 27 is the promise, “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” So the missionary has a refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. GCB June 4, 1909, page 319.14
Our work has been among that part of the islands known as the Eastern Polynesian mission, which takes in the Marquesas Islands. Pitcairn Island is in this group. It also takes in Easter Island, although we have not as yet reached that. GCB June 4, 1909, page 319.15
I well remember when I received an invitation to make the islands our field of labor. After praying over it I became impressed that the call was from the Lord, and within twenty-four hours was on the way to make connections with the schooner “Pitcairn.” GCB June 4, 1909, page 319.16
We found this ship somewhat different from our large ocean steamers. Our cabins were very small. Of course we passed through the usual ocean experiences, some of which were not very pleasant. But the Lord was with us in it all. GCB June 4, 1909, page 319.17
Our first visit was at Pitcairn. Here we found those who loved the truth, and had an interest in us. But when we went on to the Gambier Islands, we found conditions different. We were warned that we should lock our cabins, as the natives had a habit of taking everything they could get. I have here a sample of their full dress. [Showing sample of blue cloth about three by five feet.] GCB June 4, 1909, page 319.18
When we reached Raiatea, we went to visit the queen and the royal family and the governors. They were very glad to see us, and invited us to remain. They said that unless we did remain and teach them the gospel, their blood would rest upon our heads in the day of judgment. At that time they were not in harmony with the French government. The French had taken possession of a small part of the island. So when it was decided that Mrs. Cady and I should remain there, we told them that we would have nothing to do with politics, and they seemed pleased to hear us make such a statement. GCB June 4, 1909, page 319.19
We lived in a house made of bamboo poles, about twelve feet square. We had poles for a floor, and hay for a carpet. Our goods were brought and placed in this little house. While we were getting them, a number of natives gathered around. They were asking, “What is in this box?” “I wonder if there is any sugar in this,” etc. They were anxious to sample the white man’s goods, to see what he had. In fact, I was told that it was hard work for those who were guarding the things to keep the natives from taking many of them. GCB June 4, 1909, page 319.20
We found the natives anxious to come and visit us. From early morn till late at night they would remain, sometimes peeking through the bamboo poles to see how the white man and his wife were getting on. And they felt that they needed many things that the white man had. Mrs. Cady had two pairs of glasses, and they could not see why they should not have one pair. They wanted our broom, and, in fact, about everything we had. GCB June 4, 1909, page 319.21
After being there a few days, the queen sent us an invitation one Sunday to visit her. When I reached the house, I found all the governors of the islands, and the leading officials. Their speaker said, “Well, Mr. Cady, we want to ask you some questions.” GCB June 4, 1909, page 320.1
“All right,” I replied. “Where do you live in America, up in the mountains, or down by the beach?” They thought our country must be like theirs. Then they asked, “Are you a relative of the president of the United States?” “No.” “Well, you must be a friend of his, are you not?” “No, I have never seen him.” That seemed a wonderful thing to them. They had all seen their queen, and their former king, and why had I not seen the president of the United States? GCB June 4, 1909, page 320.2
Then they went still further. “Now we do not like the nation that is trying to get possession of our island, and we want you to write to the president of the United States, and ask him to send a few men-of-war, and cast all these soldiers into the sea, and break up all their men-of-war, and then we will become Americans.” GCB June 4, 1909, page 320.3
Now I have an idea that it is often the case that when people are making great pleas for the gospel, they have something behind it. I have had men come to me and say, “Mr. Cady, I believe in the gospel. I believe in the truth just as you advocate it. I am thinking of keeping the Sabbath and uniting with your church. We want you to come over into our district and hold meetings.” Then they would say, “Mr. Cady, we would like to have you come over to our place, but we haven’t a good house, and we would like to have you build us a wooden house. We have not the money, but we will help you a little, and we can live together. You can come and make your home there.” GCB June 4, 1909, page 320.4
Others would say: “I am thinking of uniting with your people. I believe that you have the truth. But there is something I want you to do for me. I am in love with the daughter of such and such a man, and I want you to use your influence to get the father to consent for me to marry the daughter. When the marriage is performed, then I will unite with your church.” GCB June 4, 1909, page 320.5
We have many instances like this. I have had people come again and again and say, “I would like to unite with your people. Now, Mr. Cady, can’t you loan me a dollar?” Or perhaps it may be five, ten, or twenty dollars. GCB June 4, 1909, page 320.6
In the Society Islands we have an abundance of fruits, such as bananas, oranges, pineapples. But we have also other things that are not so pleasant. And whenever a person thinks of going to the islands of the sea to labor, he should not go with the idea of just eating oranges, or enjoying the good things. I have seen American missionaries who have gone to some of the islands, and after getting there they would say, “Has it come to this? If I were back in the United States again, you never would see me here.” I believe, dear friends, that when we go to labor in a field, we ought not to go expecting to be appreciated. We ought to go because we have the love for souls, and the needs of the people appeal to us, and we feel it our duty to do what we can to help them. GCB June 4, 1909, page 320.7
I well remember our first school. The natives said they wished to be taught how to read, and also to be taught the gospel. So in our first school, they used to come, often with only their loin cloth, and often without any clothing. Instead of having a fine school-house, we had only a small building with a ground floor, a bamboo hut. We had a map of the world, but no school-books. We had only a very small book with the alphabet in it. When we would talk to the parents about getting some books, they asked why we could not write the lessons in the sand. Such people do not know how to appreciate an education, but we must take them where they are, and do the best we can for them. GCB June 4, 1909, page 320.8
As soon as possible, we had some tracts translated into the Tahitian language. We find that the natives read these eagerly. We did not wait till we could get them bound and in book form, but sent them out at first written on the typewriter or mimeograph. In going into a new field, we sometimes find that people are rather ambitious, and think that we must get out reading-matter in book form immediately. But I believe, dear friends, that it is well to get acquainted with the language and the people, before we get out too much reading-matter. GCB June 4, 1909, page 320.9
There was one missionary who could learn the language very readily. He soon thought that he understood it a great deal better than the rest of the missionaries there. As he went from place to place, he would tell how he could make the natives understand him. One day he met a company of natives who said to him, “We would like to have you tell us how old you are, and tell us about your wife.” Well, he wanted to tell them that his wife was seventy years old, but instead he informed them that he had seventy wives. They all stood aghast at this information, and were not sure that they wished to listen to such a missionary. Suppose this man had written out a Bible reading with such a limited knowledge of the language, what influence would it have had on the truth? I believe it is a good thing to go slow. GCB June 4, 1909, page 320.10
Our experience in the islands goes to show that the youth whom we have helped by taking them into our homes, have become the most stable and useful members of our church. GCB June 4, 1909, page 321.1
You may say, Now you have told us of some of the difficulties met in laboring for the people. Please tell us whether they accept the gospel, and remain true. Are they vascillating and untruthful and unreliable? GCB June 4, 1909, page 321.2
In the South Sea Islands the natives often seek to cover up the truth with words; but when the truth of God gets hold of them, it transforms their lives, just as it does in the States. Much orange rum is used by some of the natives; and I have seen these drunkards, who are often addicted to an excessive use of tobacco as well, changed into earnest Christians. The truth is accompanied by a power that helps them to give up these things entirely, and to so change their manner of living that the people all around them testify to the genuineness of their conversion. GCB June 4, 1909, page 321.3
I recall one case that I will tell you of this morning. A man who had once been a member of a church, who had been excommunicated because of his drunken habits, was converted, and led such a consistent Christian life that his associates recognized that he was indeed a changed man. The time came when his wife, who was a good Christian woman in another church, wished to become a Seventh-day Adventist. The officers of her own church wondered what they could do with her. They did not want to have her remain in the church in fellowship with them, so long as she kept the Sabbath; and yet they hardly knew how to excommunicate her, as they acknowledged that there was nothing that could be found against her, so far as her morals were concerned. So far as they knew, she was a good, kind, conscientious Christian woman; but she would insist on keeping all the commandments of God. She would not give up the seventh-day Sabbath. Finally they excommunicated her on the ground that she kept all of God’s commandments. This is an actual circumstance, and we rejoiced in knowing that they could find nothing worse against this sister, than that she insisted on keeping all of the ten commandments, including the fourth. GCB June 4, 1909, page 321.4
I will speak of a certain girl we had in our home at one time. Her parents had not been honest, and she worked as a clerk in our health food store at one time. One day she said to my wife and myself, as we were riding along, “I have something to tell.” “All right; we shall be glad to hear it.” We noticed that the tears began to run down her cheeks, and she hesitated. “Well, what is it?” we inquired. “O,” said she, “I should like to tell you, but, somehow, it seems very hard for me to do so!” “Well,” said we, “you ought to tell us, if you think that you should.” GCB June 4, 1909, page 321.5
After awhile she told us, brokenly, of how, while working in the health food store, she had wished some money, and had taken fifty cents; and then later, wishing money for something else, she took another fifty cents; still later another fifty cents, and another; and she had continued to take from the store-funds, in amounts of fifty cents at a time, until she had taken eleven dollars in all. She told of her deep sorrow, and of her desire to repay us, but of her inability to do this just now; and she humbly asked used for forgiveness; and she added: “I want you should pray for me, that I may never, never do that again.” GCB June 4, 1909, page 321.6
What do you think, dear friends, it is that causes a person to make such a confession as that? Do you think a native girl would make such a confession, when nobody knew about her wrong, if the Spirit of God was not in her heart? I believe, dear friends, that the Holy Spirit was working on that girl’s heart. GCB June 4, 1909, page 321.7
Other girls have accepted the truth, whose parents have greatly opposed them. For instance, a certain girl came to our place, and said: “Mr. Cady, I have come to see you. I have been interested in the truth for some time, and I have felt as if I must keep the Sabbath. But father and mother say that I can not keep the Sabbath; and father has said that if I keep the Sabbath, I can not stay at home. I have been keeping it in the past,” she continued, “and I have not told father about it, because I knew he felt very bitter, and he has threatened me at different times; and so I have gone out onto the plantation, and have read my Bible and prayed, and thus have refrained from work on the Sabbath day. But now father has found this out, and he says if I do that again, and keep the Sabbath, I can not go home; and I feel that I must keep the Sabbath; and so I have come here to ask you whether you can help me and pray for me.” GCB June 4, 1909, page 321.8
Well, what could we do? We said, “Certainly; we will make a home for you; come in.” We took her into our home; and I believe if we ever saw a person who loves the Lord, it is that young person. GCB June 4, 1909, page 321.9
Once this girl told a story which illustrates her child-like, simple faith. She was crossing a lagoon near the bay, and was accompanied by a young man who was rowing the canoe. The place was noted for its sharks. The young man who was rowing said to the young woman, “I wish I had faith to believe in the Bible as you believe in it.” While they were talking thus, a great shark came up near the canoe. Sometimes these sharks upset canoes. The young man said, “Here’s a shark! What shall we do?” “Just keep quiet,” said the young woman, “while I kneel down and pray.” So she knelt down and prayed; and when she had finished praying, and arose, the man said, “The shark is gone.” Dear friends, I believe it is well for us to have simple faith in God. GCB June 4, 1909, page 321.10
We have another young woman down there, whose father was very angry with her because she would keep the Sabbath. She was very young, but she used to send us her tithe and offerings, and she took a great interest in the cause of truth, notwithstanding her father’s opposition. GCB June 4, 1909, page 322.1
One day, when I called to see him, he said: “Mr. Cady, I do not believe in the Bible. If there is any God, I believe the earth is God. See the old ocean heave to and fro. There are signs of life there, and I am constrained to believe that the ocean is God. But,” he continued, “if I were a Christian like you, I would write out my prayer, and I would write it somewhat as follows: ‘Lord, there are so many people to attend to, and you do not have time to look over the wants of every one; and if you ever wish to know what I want, you just look there on that piece of paper, and you will find out.’” GCB June 4, 1909, page 322.2
“Let us look at this from another standpoint,” I suggested to him. “How many children have you?” “Ten.” “Suppose your children should get together, and say that since you have so many children, you can not attend to the wants of them all, and so they will write out their requests on a blackboard or on a slip of paper; and then suppose that they would tell you that if at any time in your multitudinous duties you might wish to learn what they would be pleased to have you do for them, you could read their requests on the blackboard or the slip of paper. Would you like that?” “Well, I do not know as I would,” he acknowledged. GCB June 4, 1909, page 322.3
In closing, I should like to tell you of some experiences I had a few years ago, during a visit to Pitcairn Island. We knew there would be head winds all the way, and we had no certain means of getting there. I found it possible to go as far as the Gambier Islands, in a little steamer; and the only means I had of going across to Pitcairn, three hundred miles further, was on a little seven-ton cutter, about thirty feet long, and about eight feet wide. Many assured me that should I attempt to go to Pitcairn in this little vessel, I would go to the bottom of the ocean; and so I made the matter a subject of prayer. I believe that sometimes the Lord helps people; in fact, I believe he always helps his people when they seek him in the right way. Out in those islands we have no committees, no presidents of conferences and others to go to for counsel; we have to look to the Lord for direction in all our ways. GCB June 4, 1909, page 322.4
I prayed over the matter most earnestly. I remembered being awakened one night; I seemed startled. I saw a man before me, and just before I woke, I heard these words, “I will be with you all the way.” Well, when I awoke, the first thing that came to my mind was this: The Lord wants you to go to Pitcairn Island, and he will be with you all the way. It did not require very much faith or persuasion, so far as my mind was concerned, to go down as far as the Gambier Islands on the little steamer; but when I reached the Gambier Islands, and saw this little boat, the question arose, Shall I go in it?—it looked so very small. So I went out again and prayed earnestly. The same words came to my mind, “I will be with you all the way.” So we started out and made the 300 miles in six days. GCB June 4, 1909, page 322.5
Soon after leaving the Gambier Islands, the little cutter was found to be leaking badly. In fact, they were compelled to pump out the water every two hours. After reaching Pitcairn those in charge of the boat proposed that they go back to the Gambier Islands, and have their little cutter recaulked. They expected to return to Pitcairn within two weeks, and take me back to Tahiti. GCB June 4, 1909, page 322.6
We went on with our work, and held meetings for two weeks. At the end of that time our boat had not returned. We waited another week, and continued our labors. Week after week passed by, until nine weeks passed, and no boat. I had been from home about three months and had received no word from there, and I could not communicate with them. The question confronted me, How can I return home? It is difficult to get away from Pitcairn. Sometimes it takes two years. I began to pray earnestly to the Lord that when my work was finished, he would send a boat. GCB June 4, 1909, page 322.7
At the end of nine weeks the Pitcairn islanders called out, “Sail ho!” They had sighted the French missionary schooner that left Tahiti at the time I took ship for the Gambier Islands. She had come to Pitcairn for food and water, and we had learned that she had not yet reached the Gambier Islands. She had gone away out of her course, and had been lost. For three days they had been without water, under a tropical sun. Their food was nearly exhausted; they had been giving their sailors three tea biscuits a day, and had been praying to the Lord, “Send us food, send us food.” When 440 miles beyond the islands they were bound for, they met an American vessel. The captain told them where they were, gave them a small supply of food and water, and advised them to go to Pitcairn, only 140 miles distant, where they could secure water and plenty of food, and learn how to reach the Gambier Islands. GCB June 4, 1909, page 322.8
So they came to Pitcairn Island, and we were very glad. We gave them plenty of food and water; we invited the leading minister on the boat to come and preach in our church; in fact, we treated them royally, and did the very best we could for them. The leading minister proposed that I go back with them to the Gambier Islands, free of charge; so they took we with six natives free. GCB June 4, 1909, page 322.9
Upon reaching the Gambier group I learned from the merchants that no vessel would sail for Tahiti for two months, and possibly not for six months. I felt discouraged, and determined to seek for passage on the missionary schooner that had brought me thus far. But upon interviewing these friends whom we had treated so kindly, they hesitated, and refused me passage. For what reason I know not. The merchants, upon hearing of this, through the Pitcairn islanders who had accompanied us, advised these natives to take from the missionary vessel the food and water that they had given them; but when I learned of this, I counseled them not to do it. I assured them of my conviction that the Lord would provide some way. GCB June 4, 1909, page 322.10
The missionary schooner was about to lift anchor and sail away without me, when we heard a call of “Sail ho!” The missionaries decided to wait, and so cast anchor again. The vessel that appeared was a French man-of-war from Tahiti. I went to the resident, and asked him to grant me passage on this vessel. He said, “I can not do this; for you are a foreigner. We can take only people who are in distress.” I replied, “I am in distress. I did what I could for your missionary ship flying the French flag, and now they refuse to take me any further.” “Well,” he said, “under those conditions I think the captain will take you.” The next day we interviewed the captain, and he agreed to take me, and gave me free passage. As it turned out, I arrived at Tahiti two weeks before the missionary vessel reached there. GCB June 4, 1909, page 322.11
The little boat that took me from the Gambier Group to Pitcairn Island, never reached Tahiti. She went down at sea. GCB June 4, 1909, page 322.12
Now, dear friends, people may say that God does not care for his people; but he does care for them, and if they trust him, he will care for them, even to the extent of sending a man-of-war to take them where they wish to go. That the Lord may be with us, and inspire us with faith in him, and save us in his kingdom, is my prayer. GCB June 4, 1909, page 322.13
YET THE MESSAGE SPREADS
Elder Boettcher passes to us the following letter received from a brother laboring in the Sarator Province of Russia:— GCB June 4, 1909, page 322.14
“I inform you that Revelation 12:17 is being verified in my case, the dragon is exceeding wroth. One evening from ten to twelve men followed me with great clubs in their hands. Later on I learned that they intended to kill me because I was preaching a strange doctrine, but fortunately I found escape in a shop which was still open. One night, four days ago, stones and heavy pieces of timber were thrown into my bedroom window. One window was entirely smashed. Two stones weighed ten pounds each. I do not know what to do, for they intend to set my house on fire, and my life is in danger every night.” GCB June 4, 1909, page 322.15
UNDER TRIAL
A brother in European Russia writes a letter, a translation of which Elder Boettcher allows us to print, as follows:— GCB June 4, 1909, page 322.16
“Peace and the love of Jesus Christ be with you. We are three brethren. I inform you that we are being pursued and dreadfully oppressed. They have taken counsel against us three times to either kill us or drive us out of the village. Therefore I ask you to pray for us that God may have mercy upon us. Our letters are all intercepted by the priests. When you write to us do it secretly to the following address.” GCB June 4, 1909, page 322.17
WASHINGTON (D.C.) SANITARIUM ASSOCIATION
The second meeting of the constituency of the Washington (D. C.) Sanitarium Association, was called by the chairman, G. A. Irwin, June 3, at 10:30 A. M., the time to which the former meeting adjourned. GCB June 4, 1909, page 322.18
It was moved by Elder A. G. Daniells, and seconded, that the meeting adjourn to Friday, June 4, at 11:30 A. M. Carried. GCB June 4, 1909, page 322.19
G. A. IRWIN, Chairman,
D. H. KRESS, Secretary.