Dr. Pond has sent us two pictures which we are glad to insert in this number. Of one of them he says: "It is a photograph of our Oroville Mission House, pupils, teachers, etc. The taller of the two white men in light clothing is the young pastor of our church at Oroville, who is a real helper; the other is myself. The two white ladies are Miss Deuel, former teacher, on the right, and Miss Keifer, the present teacher, sitting next to me. The little American boy is her nephew, greatly interested in the school. The little Chinese boy is a child whom the brethren have partially and after a sort adopted, and who is very bright and promising and means to be a Christian. Our helper, Chung Moi, stands directly behind me; but the picture does him injustice. He has a very prepossessing face. The one who stands on the left of Miss Deuel (i.e. at her right hand) is Gee Jet, the deacon of our little church and the stand-by of the mission. The trees in the rear grow at the water's edge of Feather River. The building, as you observe, is of brick, topped out with a shake roof put on by our brethren after the last (of two or three I believe) sweeping fires to which the little structure refused to succumb. It belongs to ex-Governor Perkins of this State—once a merchant in Oroville—and has been used by us for ten years or more, ever since our mission was established, free of rent."
The other cut is also a picture of the teachers and pupils at Oroville.
All ladies interested in missions are earnestly invited to be present at the gathering of Women's Home Missionary Organizations to be held in Northampton, Mass., Tuesday, Oct 21st. This meeting will be in the First Church. Interesting speakers have been secured to represent the work of our six National Societies. The day promises to be one full of interest, and we hope there will be a large delegation of ladies present from all over our land, and that they will pray earnestly for the spirit of the Master to be present in this gathering.
NATHALIE LORD, COMMITTEE.
The Woman's Meeting of the American Missionary Association will be held on Thursday afternoon, October 23d, in the Edwards Church at Northampton, Mass. All are cordially invited to attend.
We call especial attention of ladies to the Woman's Meetings at Northampton, Mass., Oct. 21st and 23d. The first, on Tuesday, of which notice is given above, is the meeting of the Women's Organizations of the several States as represented on page 321. They extend from Maine to California, and we would that there might be present delegates from every State.
The second meeting, on Thursday afternoon, October 23d, is the Annual Meeting of the Bureau of Woman's Work of the American Missionary Association, at which missionaries from different departments of our work will come face to face with the friends who have cheered and supported them, and will tell somewhat of the every day life on the field. An unusually interesting programme is promised.
We take this opportunity and method of thanking those officers of the State Organizations who have been recently sent us a revised list of their auxiliaries to date, that the missionary letters from the field may be mailed directly to each church society thus represented. Every state that has pledged itself to aid the work of the American Missionary Association is entitled to these field reports, which are sent out from the New York office through the Bureau of Woman's Work, and we shall be glad to receive the correct address for each auxiliary society.
Christian Endeavor For The Boys And Girls Of The Southern Mountains
A New Need.
A large number of the mountain people are so poor that they cannot pay even the bare cost of living for their girls and boys in order that they may have the privilege of attending school. Rarely can a family send more than one child to school, and in every case where one can go a boy is selected. The brothers must wait until perhaps too late, and the sisters must remain at home in ignorance. Thus it is found that the advantages of Christian schools, brought so near to the mountain boys and girls by the American Missionary Association, are not yet sufficiently within their reach, and this gives rise to a new need in connection with our work in the South. It is a need of young people and we turn to young people to meet it, believing that our Christian Endeavor Societies and other Young People's Societies will not lose this special opportunity for missionary work.
A Student's Fund of $3,000 is to be raised in $50 shares, upon which we will draw to bring the young people of the mountains into these schools, and to help them over hard places according to their need. Pupils will be encouraged to help themselves all they can, and no pledges will be made to any until they have reached the limit of their own resources, and no specified amount will be assigned to any one pupil. Each will be helped according to his condition. A boy may be able to reach the school and work part of his board and need only a small sum to cover the expense of the full year. A girl may need to have her traveling expenses paid and only this; another, giving promise of usefulness, may have her full way paid during the year. Some will be kept through the entire school year, who otherwise could study but a few months.
The training the young people receive in these schools brings a sure reward. We quote from a letter just received from one of our missionaries: "I am very hopeful for the Christian work among the students this year. The Christian Endeavor Society is in much better condition than last year. The members understand better the meaning of 'Christian Endeavor,' and that being a Christian means a daily application of Christian principles to every day life."
Now why cannot our Christian Endeavor and Young People's Societies take this work to their hearts, and thus be the means of preparing others for Christian work? Why not do for these poor, but bright and interesting American boys and girls there, what will bring more of them into the fraternity of Christian Endeavor?
We will send at once to any who desire it, full information of our mountain work, and all who contribute to this fund may have their offering assigned to aid pupils in one of our schools, from which letters will be written by a missionary during the year, giving information directly from the field.
Here is an urgent need outside our usual lines of expense, for which we seek new and additional help—not the diversion of regular annual contributions. We break the fund into shares of $50 that many may have part in it. Early response either in cash, or pledges to be cashed by July, 1891, will result in giving many of these young people the advantages of Christian education during the present school year.
