HAWAIIAN MISSION FIELD. (Concluded.)

I want to leave with you just this thought, found in the second Psalm, beginning with the sixth verse. “I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” Did the Saviour ask this of the Father? Did the Father grant him the request? Well, then, as we go to these people, we may know that they are given to our Lord Jesus Christ, and we are workers together with God in their behalf. What confidence this should beget in our hearts, as we go to those people who do not even know the name of Christ! “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” Is not that good? Our Master is calling upon us at this Conference to go to all parts of the earth. It is his field, and he wants us to go and labor with him. Again we read in the twenty-second Psalm, this blessed and holy fact. We want it stamped, brethren and sisters, most indelibly upon our minds. Twenty-seventh verse: “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.” Is not that good? What right have we to become discouraged? We do not get discouraged in those fields. Brethren, I never had such blessed and precious experiences in the things of God as I have had since he called me to go and carry the message into the island field. I want you to read with me now another text, that was in our Sabbath-school lessons just a few weeks ago. I don’t know whether it came home to any of your hearts or not, as it did to mine. I was at that time teaching in our Chinese school, and having such blessed experiences all the way along with those boys, knowing that God himself was opening our hearts. This is what it says: “For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts,” and let all the people say, Amen.GCB April 17, 1901, page 298.6

C. Santee: Elder Butz is with us from the Friendly Islands, and he will use the rest of the time we have this morning.GCB April 17, 1901, page 298.7

E. S. Butz: In the first voyage of the “Pitcairn,” she called at various islands, and among others, the Friendly Islands, where we have been located for nearly five years. These islands are about three hundred miles to the eastward of Fiji. Nothing further was done until the year 1895, when Brother Hilliard was called to this field. At the same time, we were called to go to Fiji, but due to change of circumstances, we remained on Pitcairn Island one year. After that we went to the Friendly Islands, where we have been ever since. We reached there in the fall of 1896. Brother Hilliard had been there one year prior to my going. He had done what he could. He had organized a little school, and was putting forth what efforts he could in the way of trying to acquire the language. Shortly after Brother Hilliard had located there, the Wesleyan people, the leading missionaries in the islands, came out with a very strong article against the Seventh-day Adventists. This was in the native language, and it stirred up more or less prejudice, and not being in condition to reach the natives in their language, of course these things were allowed to go on.GCB April 17, 1901, page 298.8

After reaching the islands, we spent nearly a month before we could secure a location, and then began to acquire the language, which was the first thing necessary in order to reach the people. As the islanders speak their own language, and there are only a few whites in the entire group, we found the same difficulty that our predecessors had found,—that there were no helps we could secure to enable us to acquire the language. We could not find so much as a native dictionary. Brother Hilliard had made a pen copy from an old, well-nigh obsolete dictionary, and I was obliged to do the same. But we found it very difficult to get into touch with the people. They seemed to shun us. There were various reasons for this, in the first place, we were Americans, and the influence there is largely British. Hence the whites had very little to do with us. Then the truths which we held had been set before them to some extent in a perverted light, so that their prejudice had hedged them about.GCB April 17, 1901, page 298.9

Shortly after we located, a doctor in the employ of the government resigned his position, and withdrew. He being called away, the work of caring for the sick was left entirely to the missionaries, and soon the people began to come to us as well as the others. We were kept busy almost day and night in caring for the sick, both of whites and natives. The people soon learned that Mrs. Butz was a nurse of considerable experience, and they began to call for her. All her time since has been quite fully occupied. Through this effort in earing for the sick, I think every white family, except the missionaries, has opened their doors to us. These treat us in a friendly manner, but of course they do not care to have very much to do with us. In this way we gained a foothold among the white people, but they were a class of people who went there simply to make what they could out of the natives, and all they cared for was to enjoy themselves in their little social way, and make what money they could. God, by his providences, kept opening the way, and bringing the truth before them, until they were willing to read, and we made efforts to supply them with our literature. I think it was stated from this platform a few days ago that the health literature is as important branch of our work. It is one arm of the message, and our religious literature is the other. These two arms have enabled us to reach out and get hold of the people. The fact is, I should not know to labor if it were not for the literature that we have.GCB April 17, 1901, page 298.10

Upon going to the islands, we found the people different in every way, not only in their language, but their habits and views were altogether different from ours. They think exactly the reverse to what we do. We think from the object to the action, from the substantive to the thing about it. They think just the reverse. The action strikes their mind first, then the mind runs to the object. All of these things, of course, one has to learn, and it requires time. Our great burden, of course, was for the natives, but how to get hold of them seemed a most difficult problem. It seemed impossible for us to associate with the natives with any degree of success.GCB April 17, 1901, page 298.11

We soon found that the important thing was to acquire the language, and then to get a literature in the language. But how to acquire it seemed a difficult problem; and how to get enough of the language so that we might translate was the great question. Brother Hilliard and I began translating one of our little leaflets. We did the best we could, but we recognized the fact that it was not sufficiently well done to be printed. We tried to secure the assistance of one of the missionaries in looking over some manuscript, but he was not able to give us any assistance, on points of present truth. At last we secured a government translator. His charges were quite high. After he had made the corrections, we submitted it to such natives as we thought would be capable of giving us good criticisms, and found that the translation was entirely unsatisfactory. So the only thing to do was to wait until we should be enabled to acquire some of the language, that we might sit down with natives, or with some white man who spoke the language well, and work together.GCB April 17, 1901, page 299.1

The first one to become interested was a gentleman who knew very little of the native language. This was through some literature that we placed in his hands. He finally accepted present truth. Shortly afterward he left the islands, and I think he is now a member of the Sydney church in Australia.GCB April 17, 1901, page 299.2

In our nursing work we were called to see a gentleman who had an old trader friend in the islands. I became acquainted with this friend of his, and felt drawn out toward him. We could not see him very often, but as we had opportunity, we placed literature in his hands, and tried to present the gospel of Christ before him, until about a year ago he took his stand, and is now firm in present truth. I think that very few of our people in this country have a better understanding of it than this brother. He had been “a hard case,” as we say, in many respects. He was an old sailor, and for twenty years he had been under the islands’ contaminating influence, which those who have been in the islands know, but which it is impossible to explain.GCB April 17, 1901, page 299.3

There are no refining influences there. The people are all nominally members of some church, but the real gospel of Christ few know anything about. They are superstitious, and practice many heathen customs. Christianity there, if it may be called such, is simply a form.GCB April 17, 1901, page 299.4

The natives are all addicted to the use of tobacco. They begin in infancy, and one may see little children going along smoking cigarettes, tobacco, and drinking kava. Kava is the native drink, and it is, in a large measure, the cause of a great deal of disease. One woman was addicted to these things to such an extent that she could not sleep at night without getting up and having a smoke. As her husband became interested, and began telling her some of the truths we gave him, and we began laboring for her, she became intensely interested. Before it was hardly known, she gave her heart to the Lord, and forsook the use of tobacco, with other bad habits. Really, she was the first person who took a stand for the truth in the islands. She came and lived with us a week or two, in order that she might learn how to live. She went home, and discarded all unwholesome things from her table. Her husband said, “Hold on here; you are going too fast.” She even discarded flesh foods. And this simply from living in our family a week, and watching what we had done. This is encouraging, because it shows that God is working.GCB April 17, 1901, page 299.5

Just a word as to the needs in these islands. There are only about twenty-two thousand people in this group, hence there is no great need of laborers. There is need of means to develop literature, and also to encourage some who may be selected by the way of being able to educate those in the field. I have never been a firm believer in the idea that the gospel is to be carried to foreign nations by American people. We can not think as they do; we can not appreciate their thoughts. We may acquire the language, so that we can address the ear, but never the heart, only as God in a special manner shall direct. I do not believe it is possible to reach the heart of the native through his language, except where God gives special direction, as the native will himself. What we need is to have men and women go and open up the work, and get hold of some who shall be able to carry it to the rank and file of their people. I believe that is the way the gospel is to go, very largely, in these islands.GCB April 17, 1901, page 299.6

I might tell you just a word about the difficulties of the language in this particular group. There are really four languages; first, there is an expression which you must use to the king, or in addressing the deity, which is not allowable in any other case. There are other expressions which one must use in addressing the high chiefs, and none other. There are still other expressions which are used among the rank and file of the people. If you would address a chief in the language of the common people, his dignity would be insulted very much. But God has means of reaching the people. The thought of discouragement never comes to us, although the way looks dark at times.GCB April 17, 1901, page 299.7

When we came back, many of our friends said, “Well, you are glad to get back, are you not?” We could hardly say, Yes. We could only say, “We are glad to see our former friends, and to be with those with whom we have associated to learn from them things which perhaps we have not been enabled to learn in our field, but we are not glad to leave the field.” It seemed to us that as severe a trial as we could ever have was to leave the field when we were called to return. And so there is no thought of discouragement at all. It was an easy task to go. When the call came to go, it seemed that God said, “Go.” And when the place in which to locate was shown, it seemed to us that God showed that to be the place. And while at times we have not seen the progress that we would have liked to see, yet we had the assurance that we were where God would have us, and we were willing to remain, whether we saw fruit or not.GCB April 17, 1901, page 299.8

Life is good when good use is made of it.GCB April 17, 1901, page 299.9

Don’t make any rules for yourself, then you will not be found making any for others.GCB April 17, 1901, page 299.10

“Blessed are the merciful.”GCB April 17, 1901, page 299.11