A SUCCESSFUL MISSION

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 827, 27 May 1910, Page 8

A SUCCESSFUL MISSION

[ DR. HENRY INTERVIEWED, > MAY REMAIN A YEAR. 5 Cheered and stimulated for further . work 'as the result of his first three - missions in New Zealand, Dr. Henry 1 returned to Wellington yesterday on 1 his way to Cliristchurch. Reviewing r briefly the past few weeks to a ; repre- , , sentative of The Dominion last even- > ing, he, stated that the five days' Mastertou 1 mission, drew; a certain enthus- , iasm : from the very shortness of the . time available; all knew that the work • ! done quickly. 1 "We had. a 1 wonderful time, ,, Eaid . Dr. Henry. ''Over three hundred coni fessions of faith, and we were instru- . mental' in saving the Y.M.C.A." The t directors had met only a week before . to consider the advisability of the , the association disbanding, but a now r spirit was created by the mission; one 1 gentleman gave a contribution, of 3 £100, and now a house to house can-. vass was being made to raise £1500 to , build a gymnasium, enlarge the as- ! sociation's work, and pay off a small y debt. The chairman of the mission B committee at Masterton had .written . to Dr. Henry that he considered these ■ . objects as good as gained. 1 In Auckland the. evening meetings,' j held in a hall which could only hold 3 about 1200 people, were from the first ! night crowded out, overflow meetings t were held, and it was found necessary to deliver as many as five addresses a day in order that as few as possible • t should be disappointed. At the busk, j ness men's noonday meetings in the ■' , Opera House the attendances ranged j from 800 to over 1200. On Wednes- ! day night between -1000 and 5000 peo- , pie tried to got in to the meetings, r and after addressing those who were ■ , successful, Dr. Henry spoke to at least ' 2000 from the outer steps. We estiJ mated that about 5000 people, headed , by the Central Mission Baud, followed r the missionors from the Tabernacle to ', the railway station, where an ovation ' .was given, them,, which ho had only r seen equalled when he was in Paisley, Scotland. During tho Auckland mission there were over 1500 confessions of one kind and another, and people came ten, fifty and a hundred inilc-a ~ r to attend .the meetings. "The enthusiasm was wonderful," 3 said Dr. Henry. "I don't know that Ihave ever secu more than one or two campaigns where there was more .en- , thusiasm than was shown • at Auck--1 land ajid at Masterton." 1 The mission party leave to-night for - 3 Cliristchurch, where they wiU_ hold . a - tlirco weeks' mission, including four 1 Sundays. After that thpy will take. 3 their first rest —of a week's duration— ■ 1 and then they will give a full three - weeks to Dunedin. Petone will have 1 the next nUHsiou, and it will last toil days. When Dr. Henry first came to New Zealand he stated that if his work s was productive of good, and there were s sufficient calls -upon him, he would pro- )• long his stay considerably, and he ins formed our representative last even--3 ing tha| it was very likely he would ' not depart before April 1. That would : - give him a full year in the Dominion, f Invitations li3ve reached him from 1 every centre of importanco, and he Iβ a especially anxious to holp the smaller. s towns, where visits of united missions t have been very far apart, or quite unknown. After .the Dunedin mission, he 1 will remain in the North Island till . December, holding missions in •.0 less f than 16 centre*, and 'hen will follow ; the South Island. Outside . the four : 1 cities the general length of the missions will bo from a week to ten days. To Paltnurstoi! North and Gisborue, a 1 fortnight each will be given, 'and for Feilding and Cambridge the. time-table will only allow stays of five days' each. In all the provincial towns visited Dr. 1 Henry will endeavour to get in touch 0 with representatives of small oiitly- . i ing settlements. Dr. Henry regards it ~ [as the most important port of his ,{ work to fill Christians with a new 3 fervour. If the faith of these is cold z it is of little use to make new conr verts. • Apart from, his evangelistic work, Dr. Henry is delighted with Now Zealand, and expresses a warip 1 liking for its people.