METHODIST CHURCH.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXIX, Issue LXIX, 18 June 1915, Page 4

METHODIST CHURCH.

HOME MISSION MEETING.

_ The annual Home Mission gathering in connection with the Hawera Methodist Church was heid in Wesley Hall on Thursday evening. Considering twlnclemeney of the weather there was a. verjr good attendance, and the RevT. G. Hammond, chairman of the district, presided. The Chairman, in his introductory rsmarks, referred. to tiiA progress ii* the Maori mission work, it with what it was when he first came to Hawera many years ago. In those early days, from Rangitikei to* New Plymouth there was not a Maori in communion with the church • there was not a place where services were. held. The people were as wild and bitter as it was possible for any men and women to be. This was a diiferent state of things to that which existed m the far north, where •he had come rrom, and where the' Maori tteople always met one in a kindly manner Today there was not one place throughout the length of the West Coast. where the Maori people were not glad to see the mission workers. There had been a rapid change in the Maori people during the past twenty or thirty yeajs. Very nearly all the' difficultie* which faced the mission workers today could be traced to the European people. Still, whereas formerly thedistrict was a wilderness, now tne bush was gone and the country settied by thousands of happy people. While this progress had been going on the churcn had been taking a verv^ important part in the Christian work and he was not ashamed of the posi-ll tion the Methodist Church held in laranaki to-day. It was a good on* and something of which they nrehfe be proud,. Had the church been am tie more alert in one part of her history, he believed she 4 would have been - in an even better position. Speakine: generaUy, the church had a lot to to thankful for during the past few years. In conclusion, he leferred to the good wort, that was being accomplished through, the agencies of tnW-: ±iome and Foreign Mission Funds and! to the necessity for keeping these funds going. ° , The Rev. E. O. Blamires read- the treasurer's report, which showed that Mawera last year had contributed £48 10s 7d to the Home Mission Fund. S-ui 5« wno? nt the Yo*"ng Women's fl ass had subscribed £10, and. the Christian Endeavor girls (through. Miss Keen) had raised £2 18s 7d Theforeign Missions collection amounted' a x 'xi ■ c total amount subscribhnnn° th® missi°n fuQds was over : which must be" considered vem gratifying. * tt^ 6 S? v". T- G «rooke r organising Home Mission Secretary, who was t£ deputation, delivereu a most interesting address touching on the work of the home missions in New Zealand. In bis openmg remarks he paid a fine tribute to the work of the Rev. T. G Hammond among the Maori raw, Mr Hammond, he said, was an enthusiast in the Native mission work, and the progressmade in laranaki was due to. Mr Kammond and^his enthusiasm. He went on to say that the Maori mission work and the European mission work was most important the church had to de to-day, lhe war had forced upon the church new conditions, and owing to the church having sent many of its son» I to_ the_ tronVand a number of its pro-, minent lay workers, the mission work now presented new difficulties which had to ba faced and overcome. They were sending their sons to the front, and he would say, advisedly, that this was necessary Much as he hated war, and mnch as he believed it was antagonistic to the Gospel teaching, he believed that the present war was justified. Havine referred to the spiritual effect the waF should nave upon the people, in praye* to (*od tor the success of our arms, the speaker proceeded to deal with the difficulties experienced by the settlers in the back-blocks, and particularly directed attention to the hardships ni man? of those blocks in the vast King Country territory. If there waa anyone who needed spiritual assistance and comfort it. was the men and women in those " tar away back-block settlements who j have the burdens of trying to make a home for themselves under the most trying hardships, and who, were seldom, visited by clergymen. In some cases it was only possible to visit families once m six months. Yet these people were appealing for services. The conference last year decided to put a home missionary on one of the large blocks in the King Country. He had just received a report from this missionary, who. re^ marked that he had learnt to live on two meals a day and who stated that the total income of his district smi-e April was only £4. The people, he said,, had not the money togive, and in many cases they were almost starving. This would give his hearers some idea of the needs of this great King Country. Yet he believed that in the days to ccme | this country inland from Te Kuiti would be a wealthy country, thickly populatI cd. Mr Brooke also spoke of the difficult native work in the King Country, where therrf* were now three mission- ■ aries employed. But they could do with, half a dozen missionary workers, be- , cause the pop\ilation was probably ten times that of the Taranaki-Wanganut district. He appealed for contributions, to the fund in order to- continue the valuable work of .the Home Mission field, and also for the prayers of the people in the matter.. During the evening songs were contributed by Messrs McClellan, Taylor* and Miss Dixon, while the choir rendered a couple of pleasing anthems. A collection was taken up in .aid of \ the fund^