NEW ZEALAND’S KAGAWA'S

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 204, 31 August 1935, Page 13

NEW ZEALAND’S KAGAWA'S

(By “ Silent Peter.'’) Dear People, The yield of Christian effort is stil considered by many people to be mea surablc in terms of £.s.d., and in tin opinion of such critics it is no impro priety for a minister or a social workei of good standing to sell himself to tin highest economic bidder. To those whe hold the view in question, it must hav< come as a surprise when Jir.-t they heard the name of Kagawa and when first they learned from practical ex pericnco what has been true through all ages,—that it is not only possible to live a life of self-denying poverty, but also to survive to sec incredible prosperity waiting on the efforts of humble, unpaid workers. In common with most countries of the earth. New Zealand also has her Kagawa’s, in the personages of talented men and women who give themselves without thought of reward to the dispensation of lovingkindness among thq conquered on the economic battlefiqjd. One such centre of service in New Zealand is under the care of a reverend gentleman w’ho is employed on relief work at 24s per wook. Three days a he, puts in at this toil, side by side with Ihe men with whom he has thrown i:i his lot; and during the remaining four days and seven nights per week he labours with his band of voluntary workers in feeding the hungry, ministcri ig to the sick, comforting the bereaved and brothering the outcast and the forgotten. Talk is Cheap! Lowell toils us that all the beautiful sentiments in the world weigh less than one single lovely action; or, as the relief worker would put it, “actions speak louder than words.” The relief-work parson and his unpaid assistants do not by any means rely exclusively for the powerful influence exerted by them over their extensive territory on church services, (Sunday (School lectures and kindly admonitions. ’The actual works by which ”yc shall know them” include free medical clinics, free St. John department, free dispensary, free maternity attention, free comforts for the afflicted and the aged, free outings for invalids and mothers, free boot repairs, free separate hairdressing depots for men, women and children, free soup counter, free magistrates’ court attendance, free babies' creche, ami also a sed'f-help stores in which groceries arc sold at actual cost prices— at a pennyworth at a time. The whole of the combined services arc carried ou by entirely voluntary labour, and appeals for money arc never made. Just as Kagawa took the criminal and the homeless into his six-foot shelter, letting the love of God shine into unhappy and desperate souls through tne acts of selfless love he performed on their behalf, so with.tho relief-wonc parson and his band of workers. They turn out at any hour of the day or night, in any kind of w&ather, in answer to the call of the hungry pnd the suffering. One urgent appeal made recently, during the very late hours of a bitter, foggy night, led one of these good Samaritans to a little shack in a poverty-stricken district. Entering the frozen gloom of a, small room, the worker found it Ao contain no other light or warmth than what was given out by a two-inch piece of candio. stuck to the floor. Not very far from the candle—also on the flour—was the mother of that small home, writhing in the pains of child-birth. Kind hearts and kind hands brought her instant succour, light, warmth, clothing, food, hot beverage. Both the mother and her veritable ”Bethlehem babe” were saved. Further incursions jnto the. home disclosed a second room, in which were two cold and hungry children—also on the floor-sobbing and crying because “mammic was cryin'” too!" J & Saving Souls! . phe relief-work minister and his assistants can relate experiences in comparison with which some of the ordeals endured by Kagawa pale into insignificance. One patient soul who quietly earned on” until she collapsed in the street—an all too common occurrence recently, alas!—was given loving and immediate attention, only to find death awaiting her at the end of her suffering. She left two little children, solemn and weary beyond their years, n had been uncomplainingly taking their milk ration of one toaspoonful of condensed milk dissolved in water at each meal-time. Ono of these two babies was suffering badly from pneumonia and the other from advanced consumption. Expert attention was at once given to the children, together with milk, fresh eggs, malt and warm clothing; and the. New Zealand Kagawa’s are determined, with tho help of God, to save the two little souls that the mother died to save from starvation. Casos of this nature might bo quoted ad infinitum. The man with the welllined purse will say: “ t pay tuxes for the provision of institutions :n which these people may receive attention. Tho misfortunes of tho poor ar.: always their own fault. They aro lazy, improvident and wasteful.” If ecu were quietly to remind him that the Founder of Christianity never once turned away from those whom tho world has bred for sorrow and suffering the business man would tell you that it. is sound policy to put economic wisdom first and Christianity second. Thus ijiies it come about that the Kagawa's of New Zealand are devoting their “spare time” to a concentrated study of the great economic machine, so that they may utilise it for the elimination of the sources of poverty, disease, war and all other crimes against humanity. Yours sincerely,