LIFE IN SOLOMONS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 202, 16 July 1936, Page 11

LIFE IN SOLOMONS

MISSIONARIES' WORK. APPEAL FOR HELP. The St. Paul's Methodist Church hall was well filled, last evening, when a lecture on missionary work in the Solomon Islands was delivered by l!ev. A. H. Scrivin, general secretary for New Zealand of the Foreign Mission Department of the Methodist Church.

Rev. A. ]\ r . Scotter; 8.A., presided and opened the meeting with prayer, which was followed by the singing of hymns. Mr Scotter extended a welcome to Mr serivin, who, he said, was well known to the people of this district lor the excellent work he had rendered in the service of the Church. The minister then called on Mr L. Laurenson, secretary of the Methodist Foreign Mission Society in Palmerston North, to explain the present financial position of this branch. Mr Laurenson pointed out that during tho past year the church had lost several generous givers and had been passing through times of depression. For this reason the contributions to the mission fund had fallen off, totalling but £'9l 10s, compared with nearly £'2oo the year before. However, it was extremely gratifying to him and to the body of workers who assisted him in the raising of funds, to find the response as good as it was, and he felt sure that the coming year would see a material increase in the contributions. He extended a hearty welcome to the visitor. Mr Serivin stated that he was verypleased to be in Palmerston Norm again after his absence of approximately twelve months. He expressed appreciation of the work that a small hut enthusiastic body of workers were doing in this city to help tho cause of missionary work, and thanked them heartily for the additions they had made to tho fund, and also the people who had contributed so unselfishly. LANTERN LECTURE. The first of the slides presented in the lantern lecture was a map of the Solomon Islands, showing the field in which the missionaries work. Mr Serivin pointed out the various stations situated on the islands and the circuits into which they were grouped. The audience had an opportunity of seeing for themselves something of the arduous, task the workers are undertaking, 'the subsequent slides pictured graphically the savage nature of the inhabitants of the islands before the Word reached them, and, in the light of scenes later depicted, the transformation induced by the mis-' sionaries had been truly remarkable. It was noticeable that on the. faces of the. earlier inhabitants depicted there was a fearful look that hud ap parently been registered there from birth. This was due, explained Mr Serivin, to the fear of the sorcerer and the tribal magician, which had been implanted in tlie natives' minds for generations past. In subsequent scenes, however, showing the results of the bringing of the \Vord to the natives, the faces happy, smiling ones with no cares depicted, but a faith in a Spirit far greater than that betokened by a stone

intake. Anion;; tho slides "'ere many beautiful and varied scenes; mountain springs, forest glades, and the promise of a happy people. In referrinrg to the subject of travel in the Solomons, the speaker said that wherever the missionaries went to-day they met with a wonderful reception, so different from a lew years ago, when everyone was antagonistic to them. A slide was shown in which a group of chiefs had gathered for the celebration of the annual thanksgiving day when, as a token of love and respect of the Spirit of Christ, they would bring in their gifts, big or small, and glory in the fact that they were doing something to repay tho benefits that had been brought them.

“Though I have not the time I wish I could tell you of the preparation they make for this festival,” said Mr Serivin. “Often they will put a sort of tabu on an article of food, say, the coconut, for a period of about three months. All the nuts are systematically collected for the mission and there are no quarrallers. Each one loves to give something no matter liow small his token may he. We in New Zealand have forgotten what the Gospel really means to us, but those who have known the darkness of savagery are grateful.” Further interesting slides were shown dealing with the customs of the natives, but in order not to lengthen the proceedings unduly those of the mission work were returned to. The concluding slide, on which the speaker dwelt at length, was that of the hospital at Bilieu, on the island of Vella Lavella. Here were shown fine buildings put up to accommodate a great number of patients, but, as it was pointed out. there was no qualified doctor there to disseminate his knowledge. Young native doctors who had learnt something from the medical man originaly there (Dr. A. H. ltutter), were carrying on as best they could, but they were becoming very disheartened in waiting for assistance from a qualified man. Mr Serivin pointed out that Dr. flutter had expressed himself as ready to carry on his work in the Solomons, and inteudod studying ancl obtaining information regarding tropical diseases at Home and to return to his work in 1938. That would depend on the people of Now Zealand, said the speaker, who, in an appeal, urged that the diseases of the natives he not left to spread and cause intense suffering for want of a little personal sacrifice on the part, of congregations. Mr Scrivin’s appeal was very sympathetically leceived and at the conclusion of liis lecture ho was accorded a hearty vote of thanks for his address. The slides could not do real justice to the work being carried on in the Solomons, said Mr Scot ter, hut they served to show, by revealing how sons of fathers who fought each other now joined in being taught the Gospel that they in turn might spread it; how the question of child welfare was being dealt with, the children educated to read and write, etc. The work was truly a •magnificent one and there could be but one answer to Mr® Scrivin’s concluding appeal. i

A similar lecture to die above was given by Mr Serivin in b'eikling this week.