xt street meeting. Later they chose a Book of the Bible, or a
certain topic, and asked Mr. Trainer to lead them in their study.
Notebooks were filled, and practical methods of Bible study became
familiar processes, but most of all they learned to look to the Holy
Spirit to take the Word given by His own inspiration and interpret it
to their hearts.

When the very first ones came to the Lord, Mr. Trainer had suggested
that they meet on the Lord's Day. He had usually taken charge of that
service himself. By the time there were a dozen or so baptized
Christians, he encouraged them to feel that they, like the Jerusalem
church in Acts 6, should choose deacons. The group spent much time in
prayer, looking to the Lord for His guidance, and when the deacons
were actually chosen, all felt that they were not just their own
choice, but men chosen by the Holy Spirit. After they were chosen, he
turned over all the services to them, and suggested that they take
turns in leading the Sunday morning service, and also speaking at that
service. He would be glad to take his turn with the others. And so it
was carried out.

All this time they had been meeting in the various homes. The
inconvenience of unsuitable rooms and never having enough benches had
been felt for some time, so when the deacons took over they decided
that something must be done about it. Didn't other places have church
buildings? Why couldn't they? Some of the group had the idea that
there was some kind of a mission or church somewhere that provided
money for such things, so off they went to inquire of the missionary.
He explained to them clearly that there _were_ mission boards that
provided funds, in whole or part, for church buildings in many places;
but that this did not seem to be the New Testament way, nor was it the
way to build a strong local church. "It would be far better," he said,
"to meet in a shanty put up by yourselves, than in a beautiful
building that cost you nothing." They had several long talks on the
subject, and soon all the Christians were deeply concerned. It seemed
impossible to out-argue Mr. Trainer. At the same time it seemed even
more impossible to do what he thought they ought to do--contribute
enough money to build their own church building! Only twelve or
fifteen baptized Christians, and several of them women or young people
from homes where the head of the house did not believe--what could
they do? Mr. Trainer would only counsel them to