Pastoral Letter.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume III, Issue 6, 1 December 1912, Page 89

Pastoral Letter.

The following Pastoral Letter has been issued by the Bishop of the Diocese : — My Dear People, It is hardly necessary that I should remind you that the first Sunday m Advent, which falls this year on December Ist, is the day on which, by direction of the Synod, all the Offertory collections are to be devoted to the Maori Mission. I wish, however, at this time to impress upon all our people the importance of Intercession for the Missionary work of the Church, especially m those parts of the world m which the need for the Church's activity is at the present time most urgent. We

are told that m North and Central Africa, where there are some fifty millions of pagan Negroes, Islam , is making ten converts for every one made by the Church of Christ. In India and China the development of education on Western lines is a loud call to the Church to put forth its best energies to make known to those teeming millions the Gospel of the Grace of God, m order that their more advanced education may not prove to be a curse to them instead of a blessing. The task to which God, m His providence, is calling His Church would be indeed a hopeless one, were it not that, with the command, comes also the offer of the power by which the command is to be obeyed. If we are unable to offer ourselves -for personal service for this work, we can help it nevertheless by our gifts and by our prayers. For the latter we have bur Lord's own direction, "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few ; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that He will send forth labourers into His harvest." During the last forty years St. Andrew's tide has been adopted by the Anglican Communion as a season m which a Day of Intercession for this object may be observed, and I would suggest that m every Parish a special service should be held on a convenient day m the week m which St. Andrew's Day occurs, or m the following week, at which the authorised "Order of Service for the Day of Intercession for Missions" may be used. Copies of this Order of Service can be obtained from the Diocesan Secretary. Your sincere friend and Bishop, A. W. WAIAPTJ. Napier, 14th Nov., 1912.