BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 190, 8 May 1937, Page 17

BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY

Lower Hutt Branch There was a representative gathering at the Frederic Wallis House, Lower Hutt, on Thursday afternoon, for the annual meeting of the Lower Hutt branch of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The Rev. H. E. K. Fry presided. Among those present were the Rev. J. Lopdell. Rev. Thomson Macky, Rev. Hayes Lloyd, and the Rev. G. Stirling. Mr. Stirling read a portion of Scripture, and Mr. Lopdell led in prayer. Mr. Fry said that the British and Foreign society was a hand-maiden to missions all over the world. The meeting was one of the occasions when the different branches of the Church universal met together. He thanked Mrs. Wallis for allowing the meeting to be held at the house. The president. Mrs. J. Wilson, who left by the Rangitane on Thursday for England, had resigned, and Mrs. Wallis was elected president. The secretary, Mrs. G. Grant, also resigned after many years of work in that capacity, and Mrs. Edmeads was appointed secretary and treasurer. The wives of all the Lower Hutt clergymen were elected vice-presidents. Special tribute was paid bv Mrs. I’orter, Dominion secretary, to the work of Mrs. Lopdell, president of the 'Western Hutt branch, and for years the president of the Lower Hutt branch. Appreciative refe*2°uce "was also made to Mrs. Wilson. Vocal items were given by Mesdames Leiberzeit and Mrs. Stuart. The speaker of the afternoon, Miss Fawcett, said that the Bible Society, whose headquarters were in London, were at present specially concentrating on Spain. Two of the committee had recently visited that country, and reported that 'vision and money were needed in connection with the society’s work there. Soon after they returned a man offered £2OOO to the society, but wanted it devoted to some specific purpose, so the society allocated £l5OO to the work in Spain, and £5OO for the society’s work in Japan. With the monev a caravan was purchased, and two colporteurs were put in charge. It was called the “George Borrow” caravan, after the man who took the Bible to Spain 100 years ago. It was equipped with a loudspeaker, and wonderful work was accomplished. The two men who went to investigate the state of affairs in Spain from a religious point of view reported that there was no evidence of godless propaganda, or religious caricatures, such as were found in Communist countries. They were pleased to find copies of the Bible in street bookstalls. The caravan was dedicated at Barcelona. In Japan the need of the society’s efforts was great, as the population was 90 million, only one per cent, of whom were Christian. Speaking of the pioneering work in Uganda. Miss Fawcett said that Mrs. Fisher had reported that the people there had given up devil worship simnlv by reading the Bible in their own tongue, for few had been reached by the missionaries. Therein lay the advantages of the society in providing Bibles translated into the various tongues and distributing them where the missionaries had not been able to enter. The NewTestament, translated into the language of the tribal people of.Kweicho, China, had been received with joy by the people there. The books sold as soon as they could be obtained'. Reports such as these furnish a rich reward to the Bible House for its efforts. The Rev. Hayes Lloyd thanked Mrs. Wallis for placing her house at their disposal, and referred appreciatively to her act in dedicating her home to such a purpose. The Rev. J. Lopdell proposed a vote of thanks to Miss Fawcett for her instructive and interesting talk, and the Rev. T. Macky closed the meeting with the Benediction.