his I was glad, for it gave an excuse to
call upon my people for transportation, and gave them a chance to have a
part in the work; for I considered that the success of the work depended,
not so much upon what I did or said, as upon the attitude that the people
of the church took toward it. And the presence of the men with me in these
services greatly increased the effectiveness of the efforts. I was a
preacher and I was simply "on my job." _They_ represented the church and
proclaimed to the people in the outlying regions its attitude toward them.
In some of the neighborhoods there were no schoolhouses, and the services
were held in private homes. In this simple way the work began to grow.

4. At first I had no definite thought of how the work would develop. I
simply started out to do what I could for the people in this wide
territory. But it soon became evident that one man would not be able to do
all the work that was opening up before me. The need of a helper began to
press heavily, but the possibility of securing one had not yet dawned upon
me. The General Missionary of the state became interested in the work, and
he was the first one to suggest that an Assistant might be secured. This
put new hope and courage into my heart. The matter was brought to the
attention of the Superintendent of the state, and he consulted with his
Advisory Committee. He came upon the ground, and after making a thorough
investigation, agreed with the General Missionary that a helper was
necessary. He thought that the work proposed was legitimate home
missionary work, that the best way to evangelize the whole country is for
each village church to reach out into the country around as far as
possible, until village with village should touch hands over a region that
is adequately supplied with gospel privileges.

The result was that a proposition was made by the Superintendent to the
church. It was substantially this: that we should take into the Parish
Grace Church, a small Congregational organization four miles distant from
Benzonia, which had been moribund for a long time, with no regular
services for a number of years. The Home Missionary Society would make a
grant of one hundred dollars if Grace Church would raise one hundred and
fifty dollars. It was understood that the Benzonia Church would raise the
other two hundred and fifty dollars that should make out the Assistant's
salary. This should be the contribution of the Benzonia Church to