PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

White Ribbon, Volume 50, Issue 4, 18 May 1944, Page 3

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Save and Work for Victory

Hear Sisters, — "There’s no defeat in life, sa\e from within; unless you are b.aten there, voti are Ixwnd to win." Do we believe that? If we do believe, are we really hopetul of overcoming the liquor menace in our day? Our Leader will never fail, and He has chosen us to do this hard task for Him. Is it a sense of defeatism which keeps us just marking time, attending meetings—and that is good—but what is <l<*ne between meetings? We are assured that Jesus Christ will never fail. The time is long, and weary eyes are looking for the day w ;en the knowledge of the Lord shall e ver the earth as the waters the sea, hut we are confident that Christ will not tail and that He will not fail us. He lias called us to he soldiers; to >mite the drink which is one of the in st insistent foes in the wide world today. The most important question is: Will we fail Him? What is our objective as a Union? Do we believe that somehow, sometime, drink will vanish away, without having a settled conviction that we are the soldiers called to this battle for right? Can it Ik done if we do not pull our weight? Are we good soldiers of Jesus CLGsi? \ soldier is prepared to do whatever is required of him. He is not passive, lie is active. His task, whatever it costs him, is to fight the foe of his country and keep on till death or victory. The soldier receives his orders. He may net see the General, but the

orders come, and he obeys. Our Leader is unseen, but He is standing In us and expecting us to smite this

One way in which we may work with enthusiastic zeal is to win new recruits. Ask every woman you know t<» join our ranks. Who will endea- \ 'ir to gain the medal of distinguished service? Refusals do not constitute lailurc. Keep up a happy optimism and belief in your objective and you are bound to win.

There is a war poster that shows a little lad looking up into his face and saying, “Daddy, what did you do in the great war ? M So in this never-ending war against beverage alcohol, equal to the war system itself it l human casualties, that question

should confront us—What have we done in this war? God forbid that we should not he able to answer that question because we are lea\ing it to someone else.

It is a just and righteous cause we are pledged to. Shall we decide to commence right away a campaign for new members, and win the distinguished service medal: “Well done, g'od and faithful servant"? That will be worth all the effort you could ever make. And even here we w’U receive into our souls joy and satisfaction in knowing that the membership has

grown into thousands. Every new member is a knock-out blow to the arrogant traffic. It would be a feat to go down in history if New’ Zealand gained 2,000 members before next March. When we have sufficient new people interested their interest will open up work amongst the children. The foundation of every country is the right education of its youth. When we win parents we are giving a chance to the children. It is what one tries to do that makes the soul strong and fit.

May God help every one of us to try that we may save precious lives and work for victory in the name of our Christ who is calling us all the time.

Yours ever, JESSIE HIETT