is
still going forward. Every tale of missionary endeavour moving forward
"toward the uttermost part of the earth" is an added chapter. It has
been given to Mildred Cable and her fellow workers, to labour in the
apostolic succession; and then to Mildred Cable, to write this wonderful
chapter.
From my own standpoint the book is full of charm. While by no means its
supreme value, the first impression made upon the mind is that of the
naturalness of the story. The reader is made the friend of the writer,
and listens to an artless and charming account of places and of peoples.
My first reading of the book at one sitting (as all such books should be
read), left me with a sense of the atmosphere of the missionary's life
and surroundings. I was admitted into the actuality of everyday things,
and was made familiar with the pathos and tragedy and humour of life in
a land and among a people largely unknown to me.
As I have said, this is by no means the supreme value of the book. That
rather consists in something that grows upon you as you read. The writer
does not state it in so many words, or very seldom, and certainly is not
trying to persuade you to believe it, but there it is. I refer to the
tender and yet strong revelation of the power of the Divine Grace, both
in its sustenance of those who are called to missionary work, and its
transforming power in the case of those who, often at cost, yield
themselves to its call.
In Chapters I., V., VI., VII., and VIII., the reader will trace the
story of the development of the work, and a wonderful story it is.
Chapters XI. and XII., containing first the story of Ai Do, and then a
record of demoniacal manifestations, show the reader how these quiet and
earnest workers are brought up against the big, naked, awful things of
life; and also how being so confronted, they are unafraid and
unconquered in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord. The fact that I draw
special attention to these chapters is not intended to suggest for a
moment that the others are either uninteresting or unimportant. They are
neither the one nor the other. For all that it is intended to be, the
book is a whole, and is supremely precious, because it is manifestly a
part of the larger whole of Christ's great emprise.
With confidence and joy I commend the story to all those in whose heart
burns the passion for the coming of the hour when our adorable Redeemer
shall "see of the travail of His soul, and shall be sati
|