“Prcaching the Gospel to All Nations*19

Franklin Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 32, 22 March 1939, Page 5

“Prcaching the Gospel to All Nations* 1 9

THE HIKING EVANGELIST WITH BIBLE AND HAVERSACK REV. ELDRIDGE IN PUKEKOHE IMPRESSIONS OF THE DOMINION “Yes, I was struck by the general air of well-being among the children and the people of New Zealand. This is so different from many other countries I have visited. My first impression of the Dominion was one of prosperity—and I find that first Impressions are generally correct.”

With these words, the Rev. G. A. H. Ethridge, the “hiking evangelist,” who is making a world missionary tour, by foot, summed up the Dominion as he found it.

Unconventionally attired in stout lcneeboots and riding breeches, Mr Eldridge arrived in Pukekohe this morning, on the first stage of a tour of the Dominion which he expects will take about six months. His 501 b. haversack on his back, and his well-used Book with him, he follows his Masters command and takes the scripture to the ends of the earth. Work in China For many years, Mr Eldridge was engaged in missionary work in the Hopei province, in North China, until the outbreak of hostilities in 1937. It was then that he conceived the idea of taking the Gospel Message to the four corners of the earth. Calling at out-of-the-way places, Mr Eldridge and'his wife travelled slowly across Canada, until February last, when Mr Eldridge came over to the Dominion, leaving his wife in Vancouver, where site is undergoing hospital treatment. She hopes to rejoin her husband in New Zealand as soon as she is able.

-T am strictly inter-denominational,” said Mr Eldridge. “I am Christian rather than denominational. But essentially 1 am an evangelist.” Without support from any organisation or body, he and bis wife live and work by faith, he said. He asked for nothing, except the usual civic courtesies of the privilege of street preaching. After he had finished travelling through the Dominion, Mr Eldridge intends leaving for the Commonwealth, after which he hopes to continue to the Dutch East Indies, Burma, India, Egypt and Europe. He mentioned that he was taking copious notes of his impressions and of the Dominion, and that a book might eventuate from them.' Mr Eldridge will remain in Pukekohe today and tomorrow as the guest of Mr Ivie Brown.