The American Missionary — Volume 41, No. 1, January, 1887 — John Shaqi
The American Missionary — Volume 41, No. 1, January, 1887Various
Religion
The American Missionary — Volume 41, No. 1, January, 1887
Various
Congregational churches -- Missions -- Periodicals; Home missions -- Periodicals
The Society of Native Women holds weekly meetings for prayer and
sewing. Their homes are far apart and but few can attend at once;
yet some one is always ready to welcome the Society and prepare
herself to lead the prayer-meeting. They have raised during the
year $74.25. The girls of the Dakota Home organized a separate
society, October, 1885, with an average attendance of thirty. They
raised from September to July about $12. This was done by small
weekly offerings, and by the sale of useful and fancy articles at
the close of school. The little girls of the Birds’ Nest have also
had their society of seventeen members, varying in age from six
to twelve years. By little services they have earned $1.20, and a
gift of $2 from a gentleman has enabled them to report $3.20 at the
Annual Dakota Meeting in September. The Secretary of the Y. M. C. A.
handed me his report, from which I quote as follows:
“Our year’s work was quite profitable. We had at first nineteen
members. Our work was to bring young men to our meetings, and we
appointed four for that special work, though it is the work of us
all. We appointed four others to go in different homes and have
prayer with those who are not church members; four to visit the
sick and find out needs, to help them. Our contribution was rather
small, though it is the best we can do; this year $43.16. Out
of that, $25.80 goes to help our native missionary account; the
remainder is for helping delegates to different meetings. There
were twenty-five new members this year, most all associate members,
leaving only fourteen active members, but God has blessed us in
many ways.”
In conclusion, I think I speak the minds of all the teachers at
Oahe, at Fort Berthold and at Santee, when I say we feel much
encouraged in this our work for the Dakotas and other Indians.
God does bless our efforts, and the hearts of the young are being
won to his service. We know it is your work, too. We ask you still
to strengthen our hands and hearts in the future. We need your
interest and your prayers. We need your hearts with us constantly,
that we may be able to do better and greater things. It is a
_privilege_ to try to teach those committed to our care, of the
love of God and Jesus, which has existed so long for them, even
as it has for us. It is a privilege, in place of their fear and
worship of all nature, to tell them of the tender love and care of
a Heavenly Father. It is a privilege to see the faces brighten and
show the peace of God, because their hungry, fainting, souls have
found the Master. There may be self-denial in a life among them;
but in working for the elevation of a people like this, not simply
to be our servants and forever the weaker race, but with an aim to
bring them to stand on a level, to be Christian men and women, able
to fight the battle of life with a pure faith in the one God and
Saviour of us all, is something _worthy of self-denial_.
* * * * *
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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