nnot be imposed upon these foreign peoples from without.
Force cannot be used. Access must be found, and the gospel seed be sown
as opportunity occurs. There must be a natural development in a work
like this, which deals with individuals, and that by persuasion. The
present work must not be judged too harshly, therefore, as reflecting
upon the churches. Only of late has the need been recognized by the
leaders in Christian effort. Dr. Thompson puts the situation in true
light, when he says:

[Sidenote: The Point for a New Departure]

"It goes without saying that the church has not so far taken its full
share of the responsibility. She has not realized the gravity of the
situation. Indeed, only in late years has it emerged in its full
significance. Consequently the work of the various Christian bodies has
been sporadic, rather than systematic and persistent. There has been no
serious endeavor to deal with it as a problem and to try to compass it.
All the Churches have worked among the foreigners, but it has been
determined by local conditions and needs which have appealed to
Christian people here and there; that, however, is very different from
an intelligent view of the whole situation and a campaign intended and
adapted to solve the whole problem. We have reached a point in the
immigration problem where it must be solved broadly, philosophically,
and by the combination of all forces--civic, social, moral, and
religious--to bring about the healthy assimilation of all foreign
elements into the life of the body politic."[96]

[Sidenote: Success of Earnest Effort]

We have said the foreigner is accessible. How true this is, when earnest
and genuine effort is made, is shown by the tent work in many cities.
Take it among the Italians in New York, for example. A tent worker tells
the results:[97]

"New York City within a year will hold a half million Italians. What is
the Church of America to do with them? Will they listen to the gospel?
Who has tried to reach them?

[Sidenote: Tent Work Results in a Church]

"During the past summer a company of earnest workers for God and man
tested the problem of saving men to save New York. They started an
open-air and tent campaign. They proceeded on the simple hypothesis that
'Nothing will elevate the man, no matter how good he is morally, except
the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it alone is the power of God to change
the whole man and save him eternally.' They drove their tent-stak