ANGLICAN MISSION SERVIOES IN WAIMARINO DISTRICT.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXXVIIII, Issue 12123, 14 March 1896, Page 2

ANGLICAN MISSION SERVIOES IN WAIMARINO DISTRICT.

I , [Bt GeohseFred Hlm]. (Continued), The children t (the tyaori children, at least) had been able to Ip'arn only three verses,- the firat, third and la.t, but they came in at thoße three verses with astonishing power and fulness, every word being. correctly pronounced. The •second Lord's Prayer wa? a'ao .repeated -in Maori. Mr Hemion addressed the children on j" God's Gift." Hib address wes then int uprated to the Maoris, sentence by senfonce, by Mra Stephen*-, and the Maori children woro taught the text in, Maori,. "Qod is Love." After the addresa Mr Hermon thanked Mrß Stephens and Mr Manning for the iraublothey had takon, whicb bad resulted in making the united Serrice bo enjoyable. Then followed r. competition smoog both Maori aod English children for tlie best singing of a vms of the hymn they had been learning. The result showed Bmga and Hipora, the bsst i Maori boy and girl, and Krneat Stephens nnd Annie Stiphons lhe best pakeba? ; but all were bo good that sixpence apece was awnr.led to the four, and threepence to each of the' others, eighteen-pence being left ovor i:sa nuoleus tor the ecbcol feast to come. The Maoris at. Farapaia j are about to build a church, and hopes were expressed thst the Bit-hop might be able to come up to consecrate it. On Tuesday morning, March 3rd, our work tiow.beiug finished, Mr Hermon roile townwaris with Mr Butt, nni,l returned -horn*) to Maungakaretu via the Mataitini Plain aod tho Wangaehu Valley Eoad. Wo met everywhere with the u'raost kindness. Everything was done both for eur personal comfort and to forward the work, Wo had parfect weathor throughout, no rain fallins except during two nights, juit when it was needed to lay the dust, and tho tetnp3rature being alwaya plenmtfc, neither too cold nor too_ warm. Moßt of the oettlers in the Waimarino Block aro poor p-iople ju t beginning to mako a hom-» for themsolves; many had bean on their land only a few weaks ; but their hospitality aud the Uteri! offertories showed that their hearts were in the rig'at place ; for Mr Hermon waß able to return t) the Standing Committee the cheque for the .£lO unbroken, wilh a small balance to the go id. Our expanses were more than covered hy the offertories. The rouco .and the timet ab'e which I had submitted to Mr Hermon wero keptto accurately; bufc we gained one experience likely ti be useful fir other misßion journeys of similar kind ; tc. not to make a cirenhr teur, but to go ovor the same ground twice. By this nicaas we wero able, on our way out, to visit nearly every house on or near the road, informing the residents of our objects ancj'riot-fying the coming Services; at two places alao holding practices of the ri-ttsio to bo sung. At none of the places vißit ed ia there any churah-buildi ug'of any denomination, and only at Kariol iB there a publio room. > At Tauangatutu, Pipiriki.* and Purapira the Services wero held in sitting-room?, at Baetihi in a diningroom, at Ohakune in a new smithy, and at Knioi in a d snsed billiard-room. It aeems to ni9 that some of our woa'thy churchmen might help greatly by ad* vancing at low intorest tho money required fori;: building small churohos or churcb-r)oms in country ' districts. Ths lenders need not be a penny out of pocket. Three of the residents in each placq should sign a "jointly ond-sever-ally " for the amount advanced, and these ehould b ) balked up' by othjap residents agreeing e-'oh to piy aumnlly .a certain eum toworls interest aud eiuking fund until the whole should be puid off, such, payments only to be expected bo long as they Bhould be resident iu the district*, others taking their places and easing the payments as population increasod. I feel sure tbat ljie succiss of this experimental mission' tour will influence our goo I Bishop to do all he can to establish boui. provision for roijulor Services.' lit least during the cummer, I in the northern part of Iha diocese. All the places we visited are i'ad.ud within Mr Mormon's paroch'al district at present* but ofoou-si it iB impoßaible for him with hiß ton othor centres of wo.k to visit such far-away localities except upon rare occasions, Oa. miisioa tours, such as our rejenfc onp, our experience shows that it ia desirable that the clergyman should- have the company and asaia* tanoe of some one capable of training (in a rough way) those who are willing to attend preliminary practices of the muaic to be sung. Wuh one tuch prictice thn oautioteß and hymns may be sung f »ir'y •well, provided eimplo chants and tunea nro Bi-lected. Evau wi'hout previous •prac:icel we overy whero had (he canticles and three or fou.- hymns heartily .^png. tho only partial f dlure being through over-zealottaness at Karioi. Our trip occupied ninncliya, and during that time we rode about 225 miles averaging about 25 mito3 a day. Ou horses, b-iing well fed hoivever, came home iuas'good coaditionas they started and thiir riders wero cecta'uly none t'i,' worje in body for the JGprney, biC happy in mind and thankful in boul for the (at least, outward) success of their tour.