Waiapu Church Gazette WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1st., 1928. S.O.S.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume XIX, Issue 2, 1 August 1928, Page 3

Waiapu Church Gazette WEDNESDAY, AUGUST Ist., 1928. S.O.S.

As a Visitor to the Abbotsford Children's Home, Waipawa, on July 19th, I asked how many blankets each child had on its bed. The Matron replied that they had two, and that they often complained of the cold: She had got and made some bed socks for the little ones. Can we allow this? Think of these cold winter nights and those large carpetless dormitories. lam sending over a pair of single blankets at once. Who else will do so? But let it be at once. The Matron has an old sewing machine that will not work: How can they get on without one? Cannot this need also oe supplied at once? E.D.R.

One feels that it should not be necessary to supplement an appeal of this kind with any further remarks from the Editorial Chair. We are constantly being told that people do not want to wade through long prosy articles, and m point of fact they will not do it Let us be American and make the needs of the church known m short, pithy, eye-catching statements and let

h go at that. No one has time these days to read (always excepting the most modern novels of course, and such interesting and highly edifying weeklies as N.Z. "Truth").. Maybe 1 Much of what "They say" often contains a good deal of sound common sense. But one calls to mind a little incident m the life of a certain non-episcopalian church m Auckland, which emboldens one to enlarge ■■ little on the S.O.S. of the visitor to the Abbotsford Home. There was a mission being conducted ia the Church m qudstdon, amd ne Missioner — a very practical man i : God— discovered that a- certain wouldbt^ penitent was unable to get to the mission services, because the way was long and uphill, the latest baby was heavy, and ishe had no pram. So the next night he made an appeal from the pulpit for a perambulator for their absent sister, sure that amid the homes of so large a gathering, there would be at least one perambulator, whose owner had no further use for it. The next night the Missioner mounted the pulpit With frowning brow. There had been no resptomtee to his appeal, and, as is a way with successful mdssioners — and this was an eminent and much experienced man — he told them for 10 minutes, precisely what he thought of them and the religion that drew them to have their ears tickled, but couldn't inspire them to so simple a Christian act. The next night there were forty-seven perambulators left m the church porch. You smile and thinfc the story a bit overdrawn. Well, maybe it is. but that is* how it reached our earls Human nature being what it Is, one is afraid to pre-vision the result of the appeal for blankets for Abbotsford. In defiance of Our Lord's words, we are all so ashamed of our mites, that we often leave the undertaking of the Church's ohligationls, to the few rion people, who can give of their abund ance, gifts whioh, m the eyes of -ac world, make a goodly showing. There i-. no doubt whatever, that the majority of people who are reached by J appeal m these pages, could not easily, or m many cases, possibly, g|ive to Abbotsford a pair of blankets, or even a single blanket. And the danger is that this being so, they will pass the appeal by as something beyond their power to help." And so, to get ha.k to our story— there will he no perambulator m the church porch. Only anfortunately, the Editor would have to wait for a long month, before he couid take a leaf out of our Missioner friend'ls book, and tell his readers precisely what he thougjht of them: and not being an eminent person with &

telling gift of denunciation, he mightn't even then be so effective as to produce forty-seven perambulators; anl even if he were, the arrival of he forty-seven belated perambulators, translated into terms of blankets, would arrive after Our Lord's babes at Abbotsford had shivered for another long month. And how long even one nigjht can be if one's bed is cold and comfortless! But though maybe fey will be able to rise to the heights of the gift of a single blanket to the Home, yet on the other hand, there should b^ no reader of the Gazette, who cannot contribute his mite. Ssx people each sending a postal note for ss. to the Matron, between them ensure the warmth of one of these God's little ones. Twelve gifts of half a crown will do the same. There are roughly 2000 Gazettes distributed m the Diocese each month. We leave it to your mathematical brains to work out the possibilitiels tf the appeal. There are 2000 Gazettes distributed! Unfortunately that does not mean 2000 Gazettes are read. May w? suggest to those of you do DO read this appeal, to mention it to others, especially those least likely to h&ve bothered to read it. Perhaps the best way bo ensure the necessary publicity, would be for all the clergy to point out to their congregations, that there is a funny story m the leading article of this month's Gazette. We are constantly being arraigned because si harrassed Editor mostly finds space too precious, to allow of the reprinting of funny stories from Punch. But to get back to our blankets. Don't leave it to your neighbour to send r *-;., or the notably wealthy home of your district to send one or more pairs cf blankets. MAKE THE APPEAL A PERSONAL ONE AND SEND YOUR OWN MITE — sixpence if you willdirect to "THE MATE ON, ABBOTSFORD HOME, WAIPAWA." "Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, My little ones, ye did it not to Me."