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j j e t t e r
r e c e i Y e d a t Clxagrin J a i l s xiiarch.
>
9 5 1
D e a r
L o i s 3. ana. t n e
I n n e r
C i r c l e
xLii^ht a f t e r o u r 6:o0 b r e a L f a s t
t h i s
and two s tu d en t p r e a ch e rs s t a r t e d f o r
G a u h a t i f o r
an
e v a n g e l i s t i c
s e r v i c e
and t h e y have b e e n a s k i n g
u s
to come,
w i l l b e
crowds
o f
p e o p l e . I
wantea to
about ,
s i c k
w i t h
c o l a s .
The
p a r t y
v r i l l
b a c k where t h er e a r e a fev/ C h r i s t i a n s
a n d c h u r c h .
L a i t u r n k h r a h S h i l l o n g
Assam, I n a i a
i e u r u a r y
1951
m o r n i n g
Lag .r, t h e Aowlai
x^astor,
iNongpoh, a v i l l a . g e h a l f way t o
T h e r e are
a
f e w C hr is ti an s t he re
Today i s
a
market day so t h e r e
go,
t o o b u t b o t h
heuben
and I
a r e
stop
a t
xhaeaw
v i l l a g e on t h e i r
way
who
want
h e l p i n s t a r t i n g
a
s c h o o l
hereai ter
stuaents
v/ho
t e a c h
s o few
we a r e going to a c c e p t
f o r the
p r e a c h e r
t r a i n i n g c l a s s
only
a r e
recommended
by
the
b r e t h r e n where they worship , he can
with our
present time
and equipment, and
these days demand
powerful
preaching of the
word so we must try to
give the
chance to pre
pare to
those who are
best
endowed
and
most in earnest,
'well, we are still looking fo r a
house,
I have
not iced
t n e
houses
we
have
looked
a t
and they
a r e all
wood f rames
plain boards for
springs.
Here where we are
there are
two
beds
with
f l a t
springs, not
luxurious oy
iunerican standards
th e
beas
in
v / i t h
J u s t
s i n g l e
i r o n
but
better
than boards, haybe the
Jairbrothers
bet te r
bring
some
simple
springs i f
they
can, proper rest is important. There a re several furniture-maxing
shops in tov/n
kost
of them axe Chinese and can
make pretty
good
furni
t u r e . One
house
we saw r e c e n t l y i s arranged x'or two
feuriilies.
viiater
las to be
c a r r i e d
i n and
o u t
b u t the source i s not f a r
from the
house .
Houses
are hard to g e t .
The governi^ient o f f i c i a l s
are taking
almost ev
erything
in town. Building
mate ria ls a re
so
scarce
v/e
can
not
get
even
vmat we need to f i n i s h t h o s e
rooms
u n d e r t h e c h u r v h .
I
ha,ve w r i t t e n
t o
the
owner
o f t h e above mentioned house. He
i s
i n
Calcutta
now but he may want
i t
in the hot weather. I t is well
located
on
a h i l l s i d e
has
long porches,
and
i s near
the bus
s t o p
Jeb.B4 ^
Ldg x got back from Hongpoh at
aoout
lour yesterday a fte rnoon, out in
the eveinig they went the
twelve
miles
to kawkrih
ana had
a service in a
home
there.
Tv/o
long
t r i p s in
one day i s
r e a l l y too much. The
people
at kawkrih want weekly
services
so Ldgar will try to take^some one^and
go
for
an evening service every Jriday, There
is
a pressing need
ior
trained
pastors
a t a l l
of
these vi l lages,
and i t
wil l take
some money
to support this educational program but
i t
should prove to be money well
spent.
e
are
considering using the '*God*s acre plan
to
help local
pastors work out part
of
their own support,
but
i t
will
take some money
t o g e t t h a t s t a r t e d .
Today we succeeded in inspecting the big house we have been consider
ing.
There
is
a
yard
on
three
siaes
and
a
good-sized
porch,
i t
has an
o u t sid e k itc he n and
f u e l
shed, and has e l e c t r i c i t y and running water l
The r e n t i s
250 rupees, ,,;.bo,10, per month.
That i s too
much
f o r one
family to pay, but not bad fo r tv;o. You see how i t can b e arran ged f o r
two
famil ies .
Lhe
sent
a drawing
Ldgar f e e l s
f i n e
s ince s t a r t i n g
H u t r i l i t e and it i s wonderful how he
can keep
going.
I do not know why I have t h i s
prolonged
cold , kaybe
t h e
J a i r b r o t h e r s should b r i n g
us
a supply of i l u t r i i i t e . Do they
have
t h e i r v i s a s y e t ? \ie
thank
you
f o r
your
continued
prayers and i n t e r e s t
and
h e l p
i n our b e h a l f we a r e s u r e l y
looking
forward to t h e
a r r i v a l
M a r g u e r i t e
and
i o - c h i e to h e l p i n t h e
w o r k .
Y o u r s i n H i s l o v e / o
.
[uiQ^nea) k a g a r
and flab e l
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K5|
KciOiv: TtHh i^iVv I I Z iX
T h o s e
v/ho
a re
so
f o r tuna t e
as to h a v e acces s to th e new
Nat iona l
Geographic map
o f A sia wi l l b e
in te res ted in
f i n d i n g on
it
th e l o c a
t i on of our new mission s t a t i o n in Assam On t h i s map
both e a s t
an d
w e s t P ak is ta n a re c lear ly
ind ica ted . East
Pakis tan
i s
th e s m a ll
terr i tory south
and
west o f Assam an d which separates Assam
and
Burma
from
th e
main body of
I n d i a .
At
Shillong the c a p i t a l
of
Assam Mr
and Mrs Edgar IJichols have been l i v i n g teaching and preaching the
Gospel o f Chri s t s i n c e th eir a rr iv al t h e r e l a s t August.
The miss ionary s i t u a t i o n they f o u n d
t he re i s
unique an d
cha l l eng ing
i ng .
P ro t e s t a n t a n d
Catho l ic
miss ions h a v e v/orked in Assam
fo r
many
yea r s an d a re still
a c t i v e . R
n u m b e r
of
yea r s ago t he re
b e g a n
among
these pa r t i a l l y t augh t A ssam ese
a
des i re to accep t the
Mew
T e s t a m e n t
dniy
an d to re ject a l l extraneous dogma
an d t radi t ion .
I t is
here
iat Edgar and Mabel Michols are re ce iv in g more
calls
f o r
holding evan
ge l i s t i c
se rv ices
fo r preaching teaching and bap t i z ing t h a n
th e y
c a n a n s w e r . I t i s to th is s tr a te g ic f i e l d
and
t h i s prepared
people
th t th e
P a i r b r o t h e r s h av e
been
c a l l e d .
C h u r c h e s vvi shi ng
to
h a v e
fe l lowsh ip
w i t h
th e
w o r k in t h i s p r o m i s i n g
ne w M i s s i o n
can h av e t he i r own l i v ing l i nk
there b y
assuming the sup
po r t o f o n e o f th e s e mis s i ona r i e s .
M r.
a n d M r s . E d g a r H ic ho ls escap ed a littl
m o r e than
a yea r
ago
wi th
littl bu t t h e i r fou r
n a t iv e c hi ld re n a n d
t h e i r
ow n l i v e s
w hen
the
Communists
s iezed
P a a n .
Without coming b a c k fo r suppl ies o r
to
so l ic i t funds
they have had
the
fai th to begin
t h i s
new work. They
have
n o t
had any Christmas boxes
in
s e v e r a l y e a r s .
To
anyone
who
v/ishes to send personal g i f t s to them
by th e Pa i rbro the rs Mrs
B a r e
wi l l
g l a d l y
send a l i s t
o f t h i n g s
th e y
n eed .
Some
o f you
would
r a t he r
th in k fo r
y ou rs elv es of
something
you
would
l i k e
to
have i f yo u were
ove r t h e re .
/J
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Bear
Bpoti^ep^McFarlaiid:
Mc.wlai,
Shi l long ,
Assam.
March
^5 ,
1951.
I
ho^e this
vai l be
in time
to catch th e*erro r
in
my l a s t
to
you.
I
had in tended
to
check with Bro. Sch i l l e r and d id ,
h\
th e l e t t e r go t mai led before h is
answer
a r r i v ed . As
r ega rd ing
forv/arding o f money fo r th e Assam v/ork, it should
be
s en t
to
I
A. B.
Stockhoff ,
402 E
Market S t . , Louisv i l l e 2 ,
Ky,
and pla j
ma rk ed f o r ASSALl o r NieHOLS.
Fund s
or t h e
F a i r b r o t h e r s
shou l c
b e s nt to Mr s .
N.
H. Ba r e .
LATE NEWS
Resu r r e c t i on Day was a day
o f
v i c t o r y f o r th e work in Assam.
were
over
ICQ
in
a t t endence a t
th e
v/orship s e rv i c e s
o f
th e av
c on gre ga tio n. E ig ht
adu l t s
made
the
good
confess ion
jnd
weie
bi
wi th t h e i r Lord - in Bap t i sm .
One
o f t h e s e
v;s th e
Headman o f Sr
a v i l l a g e
abou t
la, mi le s from
Sh i l l ong .
Emit
has long
been Imc
as a
ho ldou t
fo r the o ld
hea thsn
Khasi r e l i g i on . Hi t h e r t o , a l l
by B armousniBngmtEiaibioijiaete
form
a
congregat ion there have
mel
f a i l u r e . About a
ye a r
ago Bro t he r
Kharkonger bap t i z ed
c e r t a i
t h e r e . Then a l l th e wra th o f He l l seemed to be
l oo s ed
a g a i n s t
f am i l ie s o f t h e s e
conv e r t s . Many
o f th e v i l l a g e r s were
a c t i v e ]
. opi- osed
and others were
afraid to come to the
meeting.
ow
we
. the break has
come,for
seve ra l have asked fo r fu r the r teaching
Altoge ther in Mawlai and nearby
v i l l ages ,more
than t h i r t y pers
a re
ac t ive ly
i n t e re s t ed in
th e
Nv/e Teacning .
Bes t Wishes ,
In His Se rv i c e ,
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\
X
s Lc l ter
OTM RLY
1
.^ , 0
T J B r aW
MT;SSf3;ONART
VOL . I .
NO. 1
Shi l long,
As s am
JUNE
1951
REPORT
FROM
ASSAM
New ForwardingAgent
Mr.
andMrs.
Rober tByrns
of Paines-
vi l le ,
Ohio
Chu r ch
o f
Chr i s t
have
been
chosen
and
duly appointed
to actas
for
warding
agent
for
Mr.
and Mrs. Edgar
Nicho ls , Mawla i, Sh i l l o ng , Assam,
I nd i a .
When the Bares moved to Chagrin
Fal l s
l a s t Aura s t an ex tens ive
s ea r ch
w a s
m a d e
fo r an undenomina t iona l
Church of
Chr i s t to
be
the i r
new
church
home. The local situation proved to be
deplorable . The
church
tha t
was
founded
here
by some of the
truly
great among
the pioneers of the plea is now a union
of
Disciples
and
Congregationalists
and
i s
cal led
the Federa ted
Church .
In
th e C le ve la nd
a r ea
to the nor th and wes t
the
s i tuat ion i s l i t t le
bet ter .
No mat t e r
wha t n am e i s in use
the
New
Tes t amen t
pattern
has been exchanged for
that
of
one o r ano the r
o f th e
denomina t i ona l
churches. Things
are
no better
at
Char-
don
an d
Men t o r .
But a t Pain esville , th er e is a con
gregation
that is
trying
to live by the
Word and build according
to the
pattern.
see FORWARDING AGENT onpagethree
Mrs. Schaal Resigns
With commxmis ts in contro l of the
whole
border a r e a .
The
TIBETAN
MISSIONARY has been discont inued,
the
missionaries have
changed
their
field of labor, and with the
increasing
eressure ofhome cares, Mrs Arthur
L Schaal has
resigned
as forwarding
^en t and assistant secretary of the
Tibetan
border
mission.
Mrs .
Schaal
was
f i rs t
associated
with
the T ibe tan C hurch of
Chr i s t
Miss ion
a s a ss i s ta n t
ed i t o r
o f The T IBETAN
MISSIONARY soon
after
that paper was
s tar ted
by Melba
Pa lme r in 1 9 .
In
an
early issue,
a
paragraph
appeared in
which prayer was
requested in the
mat
ter of finding someone to help with the
clerical
work
involved in putting
out
the
aper and
keeping the records
Nina
chaal
read the item
and thought,
Someone ought
to do that,
and
I can at
see RESIGNS on page three \
The
Work
Began
i^FTER
an a lmos t incredible journey
; rom
Paan,
Sikang,
China,
a
five-
/months
trek that included many
footsore
[days
of walking cind involved almost
\every category of hardship and danger,
~ldgar
and
Maoel Nichols and their four
lative boys, arr ived in Kalimpong,
in June
of 1950.
a b o u t
rom
Maikhai i i DAUiig, TTbel
f ive
days
f rom
Paan ,
the par ty cons is
ted of Mrs . and Mrs . Nichols, Ybsay
Fu and
Yohan
Chen,
second-generat ion
Christians, andtheorphans
13^ year old
Andrew
apd
Reuben,
wno reached Kalim
pong
jus t
in time fo r h is second birthday
apparently none the worse for his ter-
r inc journey and monotonous fare.
Perhaps
i t is
well to explain tha t the
m i s s i o n a r i e s
d id
n o t f l e e fo r t h e i r l i v e s
w he n th e C omm im i s t s s i e z e d
c o n tr o l o f
the
government ,
but
after
weeks of
prayerfu l counse l before the cr i s i s , they
n ir ne d over
to a
chosen
group
Uie
re
sponsibility of carrying on
the
worship
and service
of the
church as long as
poss ible ,
and
t hemse lves le ft
onlyw hen
t h ei r p re se nc e hAd begun
to
imper i l a l l
with
whom
they
spoke.
As
they
passed
through
villages
and
towns in
the
months of thei r
pilgrimage,
they preached Christ as oppornmity
of
fered, and constantly looked for a
place
where they
might remain or to which
they ihiglit remrn
to begin anew
the
ministry
of the
glad news
of salvation.
Although no field opened enro ute, who
knows
what word may
have lodged
in
what hungry
hear t
to bring
forth
f ru i t
to
the
glory
of
the Lord.
The
story
of
the
meeting
with
Centra l
P r o v i n c e s
mi s s i o n a r i e s
i s
we l l
known
and
is
touched on elsewhere. In Augus t
of 1950, Edgar and
Mabel
Nichols
and
the
three
younger boys
(Yosay
had
en
tered school in Kalimpong
and
remained
there)
went
to Assam
to
visit
the
Chris
t i ans in the
Shi l long
a r e a . An
i nc iden t
in
connection
with
me f i rs t meeting be
tw e e n t h e s e mi s s i o n a r i e s a n d t h e m em
bers
of
the Mawlai
chu rch may mer i t
repe t i t ion .
see
REPORT
FROMASSAMon page two
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L|t4:er
T H . E
TXBEmN My:^^S?XOis5ART
NICH0I5'
NEWS
LETTER
is published inthe interestof
the cause of
Christ
for
Edgar
and Mabel Nichols by
Harrold
McFarland,
MISSICTN YOUTH, Willemie, Minn.
THIS
ISSUE OF NICHOLS* NEWS LETTER WAS PRE
PARED BY FORMER MISSIONARY MRS. NORTON H.
BARE
FORWARDING AGENT FOR THE FAIRBROTHERS
BOX 112.
CH GRIN
F LLS OHIO
MISSIONARIES
ON
THE FIELD
Edgar
and Mabel Nichols
FORWARDING AGENT
Robertand KathrynByms
216 Park Boulevard,
Painesvi lle , Ohio
R E C R U I T S
Archie and Marguerite Fairbrother
Route 1, Oconto Falls, Wisconsin
PREACH the Word, be urgent inseason, out ofseason; re
prove, rebuke,exhortwithalllongsufferingandteaching.
I I Timothy 4.2
A N
E X P L A N A T I O N
Many of you to whom these wordswillcomehavevron
deredwhyyouhave not been receiving The
TIBETAN
MISSIONARY.
Three
factors have combined to
cause,
and to
prolong
the fntermption. During the latter part
of 1949there wasan interruptionofcommunicationsthat
cut off all
news from
the Tibetan
border.
Then,
when in
February andMarch of
1950
the
dramatic
story of the
Communist advance, the escape of the missionariesacross
the border into Tibet, and the record of the hazardous
journey through
the hostile border
regions
of Tibet and
Burma beganto come through in challenging chapters,
illness
had struck th e
househo ld of Mrs. Arthur Schaal,
who for so long had borne the burdenofediting and pub
lishing the paper. The third factor was the shoruge of
funds.
It seems probable that youwhohadpreviouslyreceived
the paper and had prayed earnestly andgivengenerously
would have sent the needed funds if you had known. In
the absence of the acciutomednewschaimel, youdid not
know. However, He is
faithful,
and al l their needs
weresupplied. TheCentral
Provinces
Church of Christ
Mission, in a worthy venture of faith and courtesy,
guaranteed the supportand repatriation of yourmission
aries. This enabled them to begin their already fruitful
ministry amongthe Khasi people in the suburb of the
city of ShiUong.
Mr. and Mn. Robert Byms, Painesville, Ohio, have
consented to serve as forwarding agent for Mr. and Mrs.
Edgar Nichols and are uking up the work Mrs.Schaal
has had to
lay
down.
Nowthat we will again be bringingyou newsfromthe
field,
and financial reports , we
believe
you
will sores-
pondas to vindicate tt faith of the Central Provinces
Mission in yourmissionaries, and in you. Or to putiton
an even higher planethat you will so respond as to
honor the
Word
of God, and obey the will of Christ in
this fellowship of
the Great
Commission.
REPORT
FROM
ASSAM
(from
page
one)
M r . a n d M r s . N i c h o l s w e r e travel
weary
when they
reached Shi llong, and
w ere
somewhat
disappointed tha t r ep re
s e n t a t i v e s
f r o m th e
c h u r c h
n e i t h e r
m e t
them upon a r r i v a l
nor cal led tha t af te r
noon.
However they
felt
i t well to take
advantage
o f th e
quiet
to engage
in prayer
fo r
g uid an ce in the re la t ion
ship they
hoped
to
establish
for
the
task
ahead. As
they
prayed, a
great longing
to see and
gree t the
Christ ians filled
their
hear ts
and
they
determined to visi t
the
churchwhichthey were eager to see ,
and where they might find e pastor
or s o m e
m e m b e r of
th e
f l o c k .
UNKNOWN to th e m i s s i o n a r i e s the
Mawlai Chris t ians had prayerfully con
sidered
the report that
an
evangelistic
missionary from
another
field purposed
to vis i t
Uiem with
an
i dea
of labor ing,
among
them,
and one had
counselled,
If
the
missionary
is
a tr ue s ervant
of
C h r i s t w e
s h o u l d
m e e t
a nd w e lc o m e h im
but there a re many false teachers and
we cannot
know, so
l e t
us ask o u r
God
to show us. Let us gather
a t the
church
for prayer on
that
day,
and le t us ask
that
if this man is God's
gift to
us he
s h a l l n o t ta k e
o f f e n s e
t h a t w e d o
n o t
m e e t
h im,
but le t
h im come to
us
with
a
mess age from
the
Word.
The rest ^reed, and so it
came
about
that when
Edgar
and Mabel Nichols
reached
the
church
they found a
prayer
meeting in session. With hearts full of
gratitude
Uiey quietly took
places
among
ie worshipers. The
Pastor
introduced
himse l f
and
asked i f M r. Nicho ls h ad
a
message for
the group.
OpeningGod's
Word, he spoke briefly
to
them.
Later the Mawlai pastor told the whole
story, adding
When
you preached from
the
Book,
we
knew
you
were God's man,
and
that
you had come
a t
the t ime of
His choos ing,
and
we a re very
thankful.
T H E
F I E L D
Shillong
is the
capitol
of A s s am
an
important and growing
city
with
a popu
la t ion
which th e new cen sus m ay show
to
be
n e a r 1 0 0 0 0 0 .
T h e r e
a r e tw o s e c
t i ons ^e modern or Brit ish type portion
and the
larger more
purely
Assamese
city.
The old
c i ty has i ts walls
and
gates
but m uch of the city proper and many
s u b u r b s
l ie o u ts id e .
For many years ,
both Cathol ic and
rotestant missionaries h a v e w o r k e d
among
the
people
of
the K hasi
Hil ls .
In
the
Shillong
a r ea
schools ,
churches
and a hospi ta l have been es tab l i shed .
Having l ea rn ed
to
r ead
and
having
a c c e s s to the
Bible ,
s o m e o f th e
K h a s i
began
to
compare the v ario us c hu rc h
p r a c t i c e s with
e a c h o t he r
and
wi th the
Word
of God, and came to tn e con clu
sion that no church today
is
operating
accord ing to
the
pat tern and thev
r e
(see
REPORT FROM
ASSAM on page four)
NICHOLS* NEWS LETTER
-
Vol.
1, No. 1 -
JUNE
1951 - 2
8/10/2019 Nichols Edgar Mabel 1951 India
6/28
FORWARDING AGENT Frompage one)
On ou r
f i r s t L o r d s
Day as
visitors in
th e Painevi l le c h u r c h ,
an
a t t rac t ive
young
m a t r o n
invited
u s to
take
d i n n er
in
h er
home. We had not been long en
gaged in c on ve rs ati on when the young
d au gh te r o f
t he h ou se ho ld b ro u gh t o u t a
s c r a p b o o k in w h i c h w e r e
p i c t u r e s o f
m a n y
o f
o u r
m i s s i o n a r y
fri en d s
and
c o -
workers ,
our
n a t i v e
Chris t ians , a n d our
children, along with pertinent news
itenris and
poems.
Thus we became ac
quainted
with
the R o be rt B yr ns family.
What
fellowship
I Surely amo n g
the
joys
awaiting
o u r
resurrection
will
be
th e
entertaining and being e nte r ta ine d by
those
we have
known
o nl y t hr o ug h th e
printed
page
o r from tiie m o im t ai n t op
o f c on fe re nc e
o r
conven t i on
Months l a t e r , a t the s ug ge st io n o f
a
mu tu al f ri e nd ,
w e
a sk ed B r o.
andS i s t e i
Byrns to
prayerfully
consider taking
ove r t h e
burden o f th e work
b e i n g
r e
linquished
by M r s .
Schaal.
This would
involve
receiving a n d
acknowledging
funds and
transmitting them
to the field,
and
sending o ut
oc c a siona l
r e p o r t s and
n ew s l e t t e r s .
M r. and
M r s .
Byrns a r e
busy
people,
but one ha r dly looks amo n g the idle fo r
w o r k e r s ,
so
the
fact tha t
the
d a y s
of
these young people were already
use
fully well-filled, did
no t deter
Edgar
Nichols
f ro m r eq ue st in g t he m to accep t
th e
a p p o i n t m e n t
to
s e rve
in
th is
im
p o r t a n t , bu t o ften u n a p p r e c ia te d
ta sk.
It
is with
a deep
sense
of gratitude
that we
present
the new forwarding
c^ent (two who work as one)Robertand
Kathryn Byrns. We ask that you will
pray for them and cooperate with them
in this aspect of the one great task of
the C hu rch o f Chr i s t .
RESIGNS From page one)
least
pray
that
someone will. As she
perceived the
maStte^ito
bbpressing and
urgent
and began
toj^are
.Tjnightily
that
someone should reiBpnd:-She
consid
e r ed
th e
na tu r e
m e wo r k and won
dered what sort o LpersoitTwould reply.
Then quite suddenly^sfie
fblt
she should
v o lu n te e r h e r
serVices.,1 T h u s
began a
cooperation
t h a t ^ w ^
happy and
useful while
theyjworked
together in
this
country
and a-H th e {time M is s P a l -
m e r was in . C h i n a .
After
M is s P a l m e r s isecond
attempt
to
b ec om e a cc li ma ^d f ^i n
her
chosen
field, and following^i^i^rriage toMr.
William O.
Rees,
in^ Kunming in 1948,
the door to Tibetan wo^ was closed to
t h e m , an d
a n o p p o rt u n i t y to
w o r k
in
K i m b e r l e y , South A f r i c a w a s marve l -
ously opened.
Through these changes in
field
and p e r s o n n e l ,
Mrs . S c h a a l
con
tinued
to
be quie t ly helpful. Now
increasing c a r e s
a t
home make
i t
n e c e s s a r y for h e r to res ign.
NICHOLS NEWS LETTER - Vol . I . N o. 1 - JUNE 1951 - 3
I N F ORMAT I ON
o f interest to re ders o f t h e o ld
T I B E T A N MISS IONARY
S CH W A K E
TO
CAL IFORN IA
Miss Glddys
Schwake formerly
a s
s o c i a t e d
w i th t he Nicho l s
i n
th e T i b e t a n
border
worl^ now on furlough, is in
E n g l e w o o d , C a li fo r ni a w h e re
D o n n i e
is
being
en ro l l ed
in
th e
C h r i s t i a n
D ay
Schoo l o f th e irst
Chr i s t i an
Chu r c h .
She
may still
be
contacted through her
fo rw a rd i n g secre tary ,
Mrs . Wi l m a
Watson ,
1 5 7
Pa rkda l e Ave . , B u f f a l o
13 ,
N . Y .
MISS
U HLIG IN T HA ILA ND
Dorothy
Uhlig
former recruit
to
the
Tibetan
b o r d e r work)
on
M a r c h 30,
1951
joined
Imogene
Williams
and the C. W.
Callaways
in the w ork t he y a r e
doing in
C hi en gm ai , T ha il an d Siam).
RECRU ITS TO THAILAND
G a r la nd a n d D o ro t hy Dyson)
B a r e
are
p r e p a r i n g to join th e C a l l a w a y s an d M is
-
ses Williams and
Uhlig.
They
will work
a m o n g
T h a i ,
Y a o , M i a o
a n d C h in e s e
p e o p l e .
T h e
la t ter
s p e a k th e dia lec t
which
is
one
of the la ng ua ge s
G arl an d
u s e d f a m i l i a r l y until h e w a s
e le v e n ,
a n d
m u c h
o f wh i ch he r e m e m b e r s .
I m m e d
ia te ly af ter h is
g r a d u a tio n fro m L i n c o l n
Bible
Institute
on
June
1st, ^ e
Bares
b e g a n the i r s u m m e r w o r k with C h r i s t i a n
S er vi ce Camp s
an d
vis i t ing
our c h u r c h e s
in th e interest o f t h i s wo r k .
SAV INGS
A N D LO A N
M y
L or d g iv es f r o m duplicate
m e a s u r e
Up to
a h u n d r e d - f o l d
So
t h e r e s
profit
in laying
up treas ure
H o u s e s
and g a r d e n s
a n d
gold,
Aloi^
with
our leisure
and
laughter;
E v e n t h e s e
will
be losses o r g ai n s .
We
n e e d n o t
be
p o o r hereaf ter
I f w e d r ther b e richwh e n
H e
re igns .
T h en n ot hi ng o n ea r t h
wil l
1
t r e a su re .
Nothing f r o m
Chris t withhold;
He will r e c o m p e n s e
m e a s u r e
f o r
m sur
A nd u p to
a h u n d r e d - f o l d .
Lois Nichols Bare
IF TO U GET TWO COPIES, PLEASEPASS ONE ON
Weare in the process of bringing our mailing lists
up-to date and sending copies to new people. If
you
wishto continue receivingmailings abouttheworkof
the
Nichols
andFairbrothers send coupon onpage6
N E W S O F M I S S I O N S
If you do not already receive AMONG
OURSELVES
and
HORIZONS
we recommend them toyou as good sources
of missionarynews.
AMONG
OURSELVES is a monthly
digest of the current Independent missions
story,
and
HORIZONS isamagazine for Christian youth. Onedollar
will bring you a six-months t rial offer of both. Write to
MISSION
YOUT H, W i l le r ni e , M i nn es o ta .
8/10/2019 Nichols Edgar Mabel 1951 India
7/28
y
A RECORD O F
MY
CONTR IBUT ION
Here
is
my
contribution
of
for your work.
Please
keep
me
on
your m ailing l i s t so
I
will
know
about the work you a re
doing .
rint N am e
S t r e e t
an d Numb e r
Zo n e
S t a t e
Signed.
to Rober t and Kathryn Byrns, 216 Park
Boulevard- Painesvi l le ,
Ohio
A L L THINGS
Philippians 4.
13
I c an
do
a l l th in gs in
Ch r i s t
Who s tr e ng tn e n et h me fo r t h em
al l
This
is
the
grace
that
sufficed
or
t h e
man i f o l d labors
o f aul
In
peri ls
by sea and by
land,
In wear iness ,
hunge r and thirs t .
S till in His
s t rength I shal l
stand,
Seeking His R ingdom f i rs t .
All
things
through
Chris t , in
vain
Am
1 to f ea r
ent iced
To be
to
die
is
gain.
To
m e
to
l ive
i s C h r is t
H e
h a s o v e r c om e
th e
wo r l d
Whence t r ibula t ions
r i s e
He h a s s e e n S a t a n
hu r l e d
Down from the holy
skies;
This
is
His Word today.
It has through
t ime
sufficed.
This
is
my s t rength
and
s tay.
Doing
a ll
th ings through
Chris t .
LOIS
NICHOLS BARE
Written for EdgarNichob, Augiut, 1940
U still characterizes him. L.N.B.I
2 t l o
rt
rt
O tV3
O H-
8/10/2019 Nichols Edgar Mabel 1951 India
8/28
REPORT FROM ASSAM
(from page
two)
solved
to s ta r t anew using
only
the
New
Testament Church as
a
guide and the
New Te s t amen t a s
so le
and
su f f i c i en t
authori ty in a ll
mat te r s
of faith and
pract ice. They
experienced
both
help
and opposition from
various
preachers
and t e ache r s and
had
com e to
fee l
keenly
the
need of someone
versed
in
th e W ord
and
f i l l ed wi th
th e
love and
Spirit of
Christ to help and
guide them
ou t o f th e d a rk n e s s o f t h e i r fo rm e r
re l igions
and
the
confus ions
of deno-
min a t i o n a l i sm .
There was a
good
little congregation
with
their
own
fulltime
preacher a t
Mawlai, and there
were
small eroups of
believers studying the Bible
U>r
them
selves in numerous o t h e r
wide l y
scat tered vi l lages .
One of the f i rs t responsibili t ies
of
the
new
mi s s i ona r i e s
w as to
v i s i t
t he s e v i l
lages to conduct evangelistic
meetings
and organize
Bible
study classes.
The
response
has b een g ra tify in g.
Bible
study c las ses have been s t aned ;
the
churches
have been strengthened, and
there have been numerous baptisms.
There have been
problems
in
every
situation.
For some i twas to get a place
where they
could assemble
for worship.
In
one
group
there
was
perplexity
over
the order
of the Communion service,
and whether
i t is
permissible
to use
more
than one cup.
These
people
are
facing and seeking
to
solve pro
blems mat perplexed
the
churches
ol the
first century, and that
have
been argued
in
almost
every
land and
language since.
The i r
zea l
fo r the Wjrd o f God in i ts
power
and
purity
is a constant
delight
and encouragement .
A Home For The Missionaries
A HOUSINGSHORTAGE in
the Shillong
area
is
chronic,
and
an
acute stage
de
velops
in
th e Spr ing when thousands
of
people annua lly
seek
refuge from the
throbbing heat of
the
plains in
the cooler
b r e eze s of th e K hasi Hil ls .
The Nichols family
found
temporary
housing at Wicket Gate and begana long
search for a suitable house they
could
rent
or
buy. After
having
to
relinquish
an oppor tuni ty to get
a
large, modern
house
with garden space, because funds
were
insuff icient to mee t
the
53
a month
r en t the
Mawla i be l i eve r s
fovuid
a l i t
t le house
fo r them
nea r the church . It
is owned by four young orphans and their
{grandmother and rents at 5 rupees
about 5) a month. There a re three
small rooms and a porch,
and an
out
s ide
shed
k i t chen .
The Christians,
in
a lovely work of
hospi ta l ity , hauled and pounded
rock
to
make a driveway for the Jeep,
white
washed
th e
outside and
painted
the
inside, and
one
of the elders
dug
out the
old
clay s tove
and
built
a new one of
which Mrs.
Nichols
wrote, It
is
pr^*s,
bably
the best-looking
nativ e s tove
any
where
in town. The
f am ily moved into
their new home on
March
16, grateful
for
th e humble little
shelter so
lovingly
prepa red fo r
them.
The W ork
Goes
On
A
LETTER
dated
April
19
tells
of
busy
preparations for the annual assembly.
One
whole
house was
prepared for the
use of convention^ests, andothers were
cared
f o r
i n
the homes
o f the local
Christ ians. Some of these
la t ter
saved a
handful of
rice
out of each day's quota, in
order to supply the needs of the guests.
Rice is rationed and is expensive80
pounds cost 50 rupees 10)
at present
and is
still
going up.
Potatoes are
grown
here and are quite plentiful but even they
cos t
th ree -and-a -ha l f
to
five cen t s a
pound.
About
a
hundred
Chr i s ti an s f rom
outside were
expec ted. As there is
mani
fest
a keen and
thoughtful interest
in the
Word of God, the gathering should be
profitable, both on the
basis
of facing
together the mutua l problems, and feast
ing
together on the great
themes
of
the
Wor d .
The Mawlai brethren
are
praying
earnestly
for the
coming o f the Fair-
brothers, and
a r e
grateful f o r the
fe llowship with churche s o f Christ in the
U. S. extended to them through the min
is try
of
Edgar
and Mabel Nichols.
The Nichols' Children
When M r . and Mr s . Nicho l s r e t u r n e d
to
the
mission field, le avin g their four
children
in
school in th is
country, many
were
moved to deeper consecrat ion by the
exam ple o f such
sacr i f i ce ; a few were
crit ical;
and
some
have been
faithfully
remember ing parents
an d
chi ldren
in
their prayers .
Some of
you
who
read
this will want
to
know where
the
chi ldren a re now, and
how they
are doing. John
is completing
his senior year in
Midwest
Christian
College,
ana
for about
two
years has
made h is home w ith th e
Pau l
Nichols
family of Oklahoma City. Dorothy is to
be gradua ted
on June
1 s t f rom
Lincoln
111 Bible Institute. Phyllis, now Mrs.
Robert
Mills is completing her
junior
year
at L.
B.I .
along with
her preacher
husband. Lois Gail is making
her
home
with Mr. and Mrs.
V. F.
Hasselquist,
of
Benson
Chu rch, Omaha, and is a s tu
dent in Benson
High School.
Each one of the four is act ive
in
the
local
church
and preparing
for
Christian
servi e
Mr.
and Mrs.
Nichols a re humbly
firoud
of
these
young people
and
are
deep-
y
grateful to the re la t ives and f r iends
who
have r emembe r e d them in
mate r i a l
and
s p i r i t u a l suppo r t .
NICHOLS- NEWS LETTER --
Vol.
I.
No.
1 - JUNE 1951 - 4
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9/28
We Are Ready
by
Archie Fairbrother
ered
tha t
Tibe t
was total ly
closed, they
adv i s ed u s to e i t he r
se t t l e
down
in
the
U.
S.
or
take
medical
t ra in ing
for fu
ture miss ionary serv ice .
Whil e we
were
prayerfu l ly consid
e r ing that adv ice ,
approx imate ly o n e
t h o u s a n d Christians
inAssam
India
B,. VIA were praying for
someone
to come to
^
he lp themwith
r ^ schools , a
Bible
col-
I y y - ^i ^j lege and the evan-
9j||| gelization of their
r j . .iH country. God heard
I \ i. * and answered
th^ir
p r aye r s a n d ou r s ,
f o r
H e
n u t that
n e e d
are r e ady to go ou t to Assam ,
WW India to help train
ministers
in the
Bible college
already
star ted
there ,
and
help
in guiding
the
churches
in
their
growth
and
t ra in ing,
as we l l a s Wo r k
at
the t a sk of
opening 1
many new
congrega-
*
tions.
We expec t to
evan-
ee l i z e
for Ch r i s t .
Chu r c h e s are
bu i l t
through evangel iza-
t i o n . Ch r i s t c am e
j
preaching an d He
commanded Hi s dis- ^
ciples
after
Him to ^ J
go preaching. It is
J
through the preach- V i
ing of the
Word
tha t
s o u l s a r e
s aved .
ar th ip a nh mar h
for He put that need
in
o u r h e a r t s ,
and
w e a re complet ing
plans
to
sai l
f o r
Assam
as s o o n as
souls
are
savea. ARCHIE AND marguerite FAIRBROTHER
plans
to sail
fo r
When
we
firstde MARJLOIS JOY and JEWEL ALINE
A s s am
as s oon a s
cided
to
work for
the Lord in a distant q^j.
funds
are
raised.
A
jeep
has
been
country,
Tibet, was the land that called paid for and
is
in use in
our travels.
We
us. We
planned
and prepared to join gtiu need about half
of
the 2000
which
Mr.
and Mrs. Edgar Nichols
at
Paan
jg
needed fo r our travel expenses,
on the Tibetan border,
but
the forces*, 1000 for supplies, a 1000 repatriation
o f
e v i l c lo se d
t h e
d o o r .
We
expected
to
sail
in
the
Fal l
of
1950
a n d
wh e n
C ommu n i s m
c l o s e d Ch i n a w e
planned
to go through India to
Tibet .
When word r e a ched
us
t h a t
the
Nicho ls
had l e f t P a a n b e c a u s e o f t h e C om mu
nists
and
were going through
Tibet ,
we
st i l l bel ieved
tha t
they
would
be able to
s t a r t working s omewhe re i ns id e Tibet .
Afte r they r eached India
and
discov-
fund, and li vingli nk
support
of
100 a
mon th
fo r
e ach adu l t
and
150
a
week
fo r
each child. Those who des i re to help us
should s e n d funds to
Margue r i te s
mother ,
Mrs .
Norton
H.
Bare , Box
112,
Chagrin Falls, Ohio, who
is
serving a s
our
f o rwarding agen t.
The Lord
gave
the Word; great was
the
company of those t h a t published i t .
Psalrra
68.11
t 95 i
MAM L NIC)
EDGAR AND MABEL NICHOLS
(a by
Mrs .
Nina Schaal, Forwarding Secretary
D i s b u r s e d
Balance
3 ,050.91
9 , 435 .38
Received
Ba l a n c e
f r om 1949
Total Receip ts from a ll sources
1950
6,384.47
B o a rd f o r
L o i s
Nutri l i te
fo r
Do ro th y a nd
Phyl l i s
Insurance (Mabel)
Mission
Suppl ies (via Mary Lewer)
M i s s io n a r i e s
Sa l a r i e s
Miss i on Equ ipmen t
Gene ra l Mi ss ion
Expense (including
sa lar ies
of
native
evangelists and
teachers,
etc.)
John
Nichols
(designated
for
his
schooling)
Harrold
McFar land
(Gift for
Mission Youth)
Magazine
subscript ions
Mr.
Hu
(Repayment
of
Loan
to
Edgar)
To t a l
Ba lance De c emb e r
31 ,
1950
NICHOLS
NEWS LETTER -
Vol.
I,
No.
I - JUNE
1951
^ 5
300.00
3 4 0 . 0 0
9 . 40
8 0 . 0 0
2 ,500 .00
500.00
2 , 120 . 71
2 5 . 00
10 . 0 0
6. 55
200 , 00
6 , 091 .66
3 , 343 .72
8/10/2019 Nichols Edgar Mabel 1951 India
10/28
Editor, THE CnHISTXAN
STANDARD
C i n c i n n a t i Ohio.
Mav/lai,
Shil long
Assam, India .
August 21, 1951.
hope
you
may
see
your
way
clear tp print
the
following
two
Lws items
in
an
eaky
issue
of
the Standard .
Mrs.
Nichols
111
44..
Mrs
TTdgar
Nichols,
Missionary
to Assam,
\
August
Shft in the
f inp-n^t - n t h
u h e
i r i n t n e nomen t> nuz>y^x.aj. ,
^ //For observation
and
treatment of a long
standing
gastric
/( T in't-
Tn
thp ast
fevj months
she has lost much in v/eight
W S S ^Iolorl 'dSSd t l . . . L-H-osplt. t
yanu
c u e ^ ^ p - p s v p r
for
h e r
early
^ / \ y n d
the wdctors aavxseu a
x u u i i o i i - ^
/^he underlying cause of
the
trouble. Prayer for her early
^^^XVecovery is
requested.
R e l i e f Funds Needed -
r.L .Spf.i/ir.ss t S
sr.,s; rofss? ss,5inS 'LnpSc
op^i-
tions have been steadily worsening,
and many
of
our
Ktosi
rtoistians are in dire
need.
One
cannot remain unmoved
in the
face' of bufflantsuffering,
and
now we feel f
c;trieken when
we
think of the many funeral oi
l i t t l e
ones
the
uLt
few
months,
e
knoe
that
an
adequate
diet
would
have
Lved
Solt oTtlTse,
Yes,
we
have
given out medicines,
and
the
Schillers v^hen
they
were
here,
and
ourselves have
SStXISHi w Sill. f=S
ntoo
l i t t le
and in
some
cases has come too late
Yesterday's Newspapers carried the Headline that ^
r/roS:roo
raSfto^-tirrvL
^L^present crisis
Tt is to hoped that this
will
be granted, but
i' '5rss.s; bsrs'f
ss.sLs; hS
tS;j
tSiSr
rirss..^..rs i'ssiir;ss TiS
r?0s]:.;russrsnss;r; ?srssssissi.siss^^
will hp heuld % faiihful accounting of funds received will
be
given Pbnds
for thL
purpose should be sent
to Mrs.
S
^16
Park Blvd.,
Painesville,
Ohio
and
marked
For
Assam
Relief?*. Bundles of serv cable
used
clothing may
be sent direct to'Edgar Nichols,
Church
of Christ Mission,
Mawlai,
Shillong,
Assam,
India.
VJith
a l l
good
w i s h e s
S i n c e r e l y
8/10/2019 Nichols Edgar Mabel 1951 India
11/28
m m
Standard
Publishing
Co.
Box
55
S t a V.
Cincinnat i 10 Ohio
A
a
216
Pa rk
Blvd
Painesvi l l e
Ohio
August 269
1951
lii and Mrs. Edgar Nichols authorize following
announcemen t :
Mrs. Edgar Nichols with Reuben adopted three
year
old Tibetan
boy, will return on
furlough
from
Asoam,
India
as
soon
as
visa
is
granted for
Reuben.
Mr. Nichols
wil l
follow af ter Mr.
and Mrs.
Archie
Fairbrother
havearr ived and
become
adjusted.
The Indian government
has
granted
Nichols
permission
to remain
in Assam.
Sincere ly
Rec.
u
< 9
I
ii.
ptdiriti
iiih
Rober t
and Kathryn
Byrns /
Forwarding Agent
m m
8/10/2019 Nichols Edgar Mabel 1951 India
12/28
Standard Publishing Co.
Box 55
s t a y
Cinpati 10 Chic
n1
a
I LT
I CT.
216 Park
Blvd.
j
Painesville y Ohio r
^lUgust 3
s
1951
I
o;
Acc. r
Dear
Sir
.l.hol.
to you
.e have hesitated a
lo^
:n;eth:^r?e wSh:^tf
quest
for material
aid
for
our
a
However
one
cannot
wholly
to the
teaching
and ering. The past few
months
we have
remain
unmoved
in the
face
ofJ^umn ^f of small children.
Ld
many funerals more th^ was
dlnutrition or
in other
The
underlying
cause of most of
t philosophize
words a
refined
form
of
^
t
if it were your child ?
heedless
Ind say
The child
is ^ferahle
fasWon.
.dlk powder can
to say
i t
not
born
to the money to
buy.^
be procured in almost any quan i y evangelism for thxs
V . e
have
not felt that we coul
nhildren
of Christian families
purpose.^e
intend to help only children ot ^h^^i
you feel
moved to give
for
P LrnsGood used clothing will also be
bs;.r.:r?.2
llawlai Shillong Assam
India.
Oh i o
ixxxw 5
.a.. 1.
w.
...
re ly
ine
Mr and
Robert
Byrns
Forwarding
agent.
8/10/2019 Nichols Edgar Mabel 1951 India
13/28
rem-i.nis^^eBX' QT irr hnT^tnn>
LM^^
Rersia
during',
world'
War
X.
He
said that
^^^nians
in northern
companions
were
apparently surrounopd times he and
his
s/?s.iSL x*
SSSg^aM-je taoS^ SvS?ea'S;t''t;ri,SVS'''
that
he
might become rmlSster of th
denominational mission
for
six years
^
he became more and more
diss-ti
sfi
+f studied the j^ible
wopp
.1th
.hiori;. .3
s?as?a f ssisfLsr
therstudiId''the%tord ofrtori^''^r,H^f-???^'^ Wti : 'together
f,~J^
^
f i lUflol^
Mnwlai,
GlllllUiJgr
I n a i L .
i , . .
- f c
\
\H^WT5W--re-0w^^;^.^vW-../:l^
8/10/2019 Nichols Edgar Mabel 1951 India
14/28
DENOMINATIONAL CHURCH
COMES
TO
VV
TESTAMENT
POSITION
he caurch a t Mawpiiang
formerly
known as
The
Nat iona l
Church
of Chr i s t
has
now
come
to
an unders tanding and
f u l l accep tance o f th e
Nevf
Tes tament
po s i t i o n . I first
v is i t e d th is congrega t ion in Februa ry t h i s yea r .
Again
I visited v / i t h B r o t h e r Schiller i n J u n e .
A t
this
t ime t hey s a i d t h a t th ey cou ld f i nd
no f a u l t
v;i th ou r
t e ach ing
only they
saw o need o f immersion fo r those
who were l i v i n g
Chr i s t i a n l i v e s
and
had t h e i nne r wi tn
e ss o f - t h e
Holy Sp i r i t had to d ea l
with t h i s
ques t ion
f i rmly
s t r e s s ing
t h a t
complete obedience v/as
nec e s s a r y a s
we came
i n t o
f u l l e r
know ledge and under
standing of the
j^ospel.
Most of these had formerly come
ou t o f Presbyte r ian ism
bu t not
very far .Two weeks ago
we s en t ou t Mannick Siem who
had
j u s t completed the
f i r s t
term in our
Bible
Trainin.:.
School to
teach and
p reach among them.
Sunday Ju ly 10^ Bro the r Kharkongor
and I had
. the p leasu re
o f
immersing
nine
persons
i nc lud ing
all
th e
le a d e rs o f
t h i s congrega t ion . There
vd l l
be
more to fo l lov/
soon .
Here they have t h e i r own
l ieet ing-house vrhich i s qu i t e ample fo r the
presen t .
c^- VJhnle^lf\ere
we
had conferences
with
the
native
leaders
from
churches in
two nearby v i l l ages . I v as
impressed
by
th e
ev i d en t s i n c e r i t y
o f
t h e se men in t h e i r s ea r ch
for the
t ru th . I bel ieve t h e ^ also v/i l l soon come to
join|
forces with us who
are
working
for
the
restora
t i on
o f
Nev Tes tament
Chr i s t i a n i t y . And
I
f i rmly be
l i e ve t h a t what has happened a t Mav ;p liang wou ld be
r epea t e a
rover
and
ove r
again if
we
had enough
workers .
The
t e ach ing o f th e
s imp l i c i t y o f th e
Gospel
and th e
freedom which
vie
Jjave in Ch r i s t
seems
to
meet
wi th
a
ready re sp on se in
th e
Khas i
h e a r t .
::y
For
the
purpose
of
c l a r i f i c a t i on
funds
fo r
carrying
the gene ra l evange l i s t i c
work o f
th e Miss ion and
pe r sona l funds fo r th e Nicho l s should
be
s en t througn
t h e i r Forv /ard inf
Sec re t a ry
Mrs. Rober t Vh Byrns
16 Park Blvd .
Pa inesv i l l e Ohio.
Funds fo r
the
pur
cha se
o f
p rope r t y shou ld
be
s e n t
t o
Mr.
A.
B.
S tockho f f
40
E. Market st Lou i sv i l l e Ky. pla in ly
marked
ss m Property. 7
8/10/2019 Nichols Edgar Mabel 1951 India
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I i S r - Jo u r n e yQ ^ t nn
Pi>t~-^o t.r>r.Htf
r
J
6^
Tn
P
Coriinthiano 11
tU Chapter^
Paul
tells ol Ms labdra klid
jb^Ul i erliigs^
In the
26th
verse h e _ in
;jourr^ry1.in ;;n
n.lTtnn .
As/we
have
traveled these
\
in
a
very humble way,
appreciate
his
t r i a l s bet ter ,
especially
when
he says
U/aJ^E^
^
o-zATH^
in per i l s of i4:veajs,-in
per i l s fromrTOi
coimtrymen (hiamaaimcjongaiacBPe-), in
^ peri ls in the wilderaess /l ii a
perils
among
false
brethren, in labor ami t i a-
in hunger
^ d
tt^rst.. . .Besides those things that are without, thoro-is
A
CjgL>>-*-AxAw
f^i_ QjXAJl^
that which
8/10/2019 Nichols Edgar Mabel 1951 India
16/28
It
was
good
to^new friendships with these friendly people^ Khubleis
rang
ou t
from
every
s i d e . Two
nice
rooms
had
been
arranged
fo r
us in th e home
of the
former
Ghfef of the Khasi Tribes
(he
passed av/ay laot^^ovtgmbeT^ a
OCUlJr Q A u/
faithful
member
of
the
^dy
or
Chrisjl^, and we were
glad
to retire to them at
th e c lo se o f each day ' s
ac t i v i t i e s
fo r
r e s t
and s tudy .
The annual
three-day
conference began on
Friday
evening. May 4tte. I spoke
on
Chr is t ,
the Way a t th e opening sess ion . All the a t t endant s had
no t
ye t
arr ived , but there enough to sj^aka th e b uild in g
with
t he i r happy and enthus-
A
i a s t i c singing. We could^^J^ uhd^s tand
the
words of
tlie
songs, but theliz. was
no t r oub le r e a l i z i ng and apprec ia t ing t h e i r
joy
in s ing ing
Four
s e rv i c e s were
held on
Saturday ,
including
tv/o
bapt ismal
se rv i ces ,
and a d is cu ss io n p erio d to
c o ns id e r imp o rta nt mat t e r s
o f
doc t r i n e .
The
first
bap t i smal
s e rv i c e
was he ld
at
th e chu rch
i n
Mawlai
to accomodate two e l d e r l y men who were no t s t r ong
enough
to make th e
r a t h e r
d i f f i c u l t t r i p to the stream almost tv/o miles away.
A
por tab le
ba th- tub
v/as used
fo r
t h i s
purpose . One o f the men ^d come 175
miles , a t the inv i ta t ion
of TOw
Nichols ,
to
attend
the
conference.
He
has
wr i t t en a
number
o f hymns now used by
th e
churches
in
Assam. He came fo r t h
f r om the
water
rejoicing
and
prais ing God.
h is
home
i s
in
hi lchar , a heathen
vi l lage , and he i s urging us to come the re on our v/ay
back
to
the
to
preach and establish a
church
after
the New
Testament^^O^erl
The
10:00
a m
se rv ice was held
on
the bank
o f
a
p re t t y s t ream.
After a
hymn, reading of
the
Scripture, prayer, and a sermon, fiv^
were
uniteid with Ohrist by
warr
Nich-
o l s .
The
remaining th re e se rv ic es o f the
day saw th e
bui ld ing
crowded to over
f lowing, including many
denominat ional is ts .
The two
sermons
on Who
and What
is a Christian and Faithfulness were well received, and caused a number to
seek more
information
concerning
the^^p f^l rcn
of our Lord
On Monday we
re s ted , s t ud i ed , and arranged
a program
o f v i s i t a t i on fo r
our
s tay . Tuesday
n igh t . May we
met in
the
t iny home
of
one
of
th e f i r s t
Christians only in
Shillong About^^^^i^d^e^cf^^d and the term
only
mildly
describes
i t )
into three rooms
to
hear the message
on
Romans
1:16.
Much
joy
fu l
s ing ing ,
and
th e i nev i t ab le t e a ,
added
to th e f ellow sh ip o f worship ,
and
made
the
evening
pass
a l l too
quickly. The , regular
mid-week serp ice met
on
Wednesday nighty xind the ^bj^lj^was Effective
Prayer .
Thursday
brough t a
most i n t e r e s t i ng
and
i n sp i r i ng exper ience . Nine o f
us
squeezed in to
Diu? N ich ola s je ep to
journey
to Smit ,
a
heathen
vi l l age
twelve
mi le s away. I am convinced t h a t j e ep s were neve r i n t ended
fo r
f rames
8/10/2019 Nichols Edgar Mabel 1951 India
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On
the
way home I rode on
the
outs ide,
found
it more
comfortable,
and
could
survey
the scenery much
better
than
while
doubled
up
insid^ like n accord
ian When we reached the vi l lage , a f te r many ups and downs, we found about
500 people gathered on the bank
o f
the creek
to
see and
hear
what was going
to
t ake p lace . Af t e r a
hymn
and
praye r ,
I spoke to
th e
s tand ing CDowd abou t
th e
love
o f God and th e redeeming power
o f C hr is t .
There were j u s t f ive
Chris t ians
in th is
vi l lage up to
th is
t ime
none
before our v i s i t
of a
year
ago), so the
audience was mostly pagan. Some laughed
as
I preached;
others
t a lked; bu t th e m ajo rity l i s t ened wel l ,
hear ing fo r
the
f i r s t t ime
the s tory
o f
Chr i s t . At
the conclus ion,
-Bro. Nichols and I
bapt i sed f ive*^ three
women
and two young men,-Jbhus increas ing the Chris t ian
populat ion
by I wish
t h a t I - cou ld adequa te ly desc r ibe th e
scene
o f t h i s
se rv i ce
I All
o f
us v/ere
reminded
o f Bib le days . . t h e wate r o f th e s t ream
tumbled
ove r
many
rocks o f
var ied s i ze s ; the banks and
surrounding ground
was
covered
with
green
grass ;
cows,
sheep ,
and goa ts grazed
near
by. It was a beau t i fu l day, and a scene
no t
to be forgot ten The
hospi t ab le
Khas i people i nv i t ed
us
to
one
o f
t h e i r
homes
fo r
l unch .
added bo i l ed
eggs
and t e a
to
our sandwiches .
The
houses are
made
of pine wood covered with tin^the roofs are thatched They
T
are
nes t led among
huge boulders ,
l i ke
a
fo r t i f ie d c ity ,
with
the
nea t and
wel l - cu l t i v a t ed
f i e l d s su r round ing . Af t e r
many
Khuble l s . and promises
to
heed
t h e i r ea rne s t
p lea fo r
l eade r sh ip , we re turned to Shi l long . A d i f f e r en t
rou te took
us
to Shi l long Peak, th e h ighes t po in t in these h i l l s ,
6200
f e e t
e leva t ion . It was a r e f r e sh ing scene , and gave us cause again to thank
God
fo r
the
beauty of His nature and fo r the clean^i f resh a i r He has prov ide d
fo r
u s t o b r e a t h .
_ g ^ ^
On Friday, May
111^, Kharkhonger, pa.st.nn
of
the Mawlai church
fo r
^g^ears
invited Nichols and2^to go with him to
pper
Shillong to
answer
a c a l l from an e l de r l y
woman who wanted
to know
more
o f
th e New Tes t -
amsn t
church . The woman's daugh te r - in - l aw
went w ith us
to
show
us th e
way.
We
talked
and
read scripture for/M5
jfiinutes,
and
gave
her opportunity to ask
quest ions.
Amon^
othe^
pas^sages read
to
her
was
Mark
16:16.
She
asked
to
see
the njive
b e e n
a
membe r
of a
denomina t iona l
church
fo r
t h i r t y
yea r s ,
bu t t h i s i s
th e first
t ime
I
ever
heard
t h i s
verse . ' ' It
made a
profound impression
on her
mind; she asked fo r
fu r th e r
t eaching .
Her
daughter- in- law
then
spoke
up and
sa id
while
l i s t en ing
to
you explain the plan of sa lva tion to my
mother- in- law,
I have come to
8/10/2019 Nichols Edgar Mabel 1951 India
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and was
interested
in what we
said
After ^ayer, she sai^.tV you must come
and
hold
se rv ices ; I wi l l arrange a place to meet . The brethren had been
looking
for ;)ust
such an
opportunity
in
this community
on
t hd^ the r s ide
of
Shil long. The Lord
does
open doors when we are
busy
about His business*
Saturday
night meant
j^ayer ^jt ting night I
spoke briefly on our atti
tude
and behaviour
in
and
during prayer . These people
are
^ e a g e r
to learn
and appreciate the
plain
teaching of the
Word
of God
On
the
Lord s Lay,
iiay
13ill two jeep-loads traveled to Mawkrih, twelve miles away, for two
services
The
brethren
in th i s vi l lage , with the aid of the church a t Mawlai,
have
e r
ec ted
a smal l
bui ld ing ,
which
i s
still unf in i shed in s ide .
Chri s t i ans
from
Mylliem and
Twelve
Miles,
each
three miles
away,
were
also present
for
the
preaching services*
As we
par ted ,
we
were
entreated to v i s i t
both places
and
b reak the bread of l i f e to hungry souls .
One
of
these
places
i s
on our
schedu le fo r th e ensu ing
t h r ee weeks*
Four n igh ts o f
s tudy
on th e growth
and development
o f th e Church o f th e
f i r s t c en tu ry ; o rg ani za ti on
of
the church;
off ice rs
of
the
church, and the
Lord ' s
supper ,
were held a t
the
Mawlai church*
Each n igh t
t ime
was
a l lo t t ed
fo r ques t ions* The ques t ions i nd ica t e two th ing s: th e in flu en ce
o f
denomina
t i ona l t eaching and
th e l ack
o f Bib le knowledge*
A de layed l e t t e r can
somet imes
be a bless ing V/e had expec ted to v i s i t
Nongwar, the l i t t le village at the
end
of the traiiy f^^^ riday to
Monday,
but
the
letter
saying
that everything was ready did^^^tssaach us until Friday
night.
Rain
fell heavily all
day Friday; it wasi^^^Tfitxor such
a
trip
hut
Saturday
was c lea r ,
so
nine o f
us
l e f t a t
10:00
a.m. in
the
f a i t h fu l jeep*
We
reached
Mawmloh the
end of
the
road,
by
noon, and
were no t
sor ry , fo r
th ick
fog had s e t t l ed down
reducing
the
v i s i b i l i t y to
zero. Mawmloh can hardly
be
ealledrbeautif^l->as a
vi l l ageand it w^as only the tumbled down tea-shops
t h a t
we could s e e* . . bu t th e
h i l l s
surrounding
a re
insp i r ing*
Af te r s e t t l i ng
the jeep fo r a well-earned r e s t , and energiz ing ourse lves
with
bread and
t ea ,
we st rted t h e s ev en
mi l e
h ik e* The first t h r e e mi l e s
a r e
t h e d e s c e n t
being
made t r i cky by wet and
s l i ppe ry
rocks*
Afte r
f i f t e en
minutes
o f walking
we
could hear the
steady
roar of
waterfa l ls on
two sides of
us;
a fte r th ir ty
minutes
we
walked
ou t
of
the
fog and
could
see
the
cause of
the
noi se -^ twenty
o r
more
gorgeous
wa te r f a l l s , dropjjing 500-1000
f e e t ove r shee r
s tone c l i f f s *
t
i s
a brea th- t ak ing
s ight* .words
cannot
describe
the majesty o f itl We
knew
again
tha t
it
i s
good
to
be
a live in
God s
world,
ind
appreciate
these
8/10/2019 Nichols Edgar Mabel 1951 India
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wooden bench the sole comfort^ But
we
must get some energy for
the
climb, two
miles of s teep s teps lEotolloj with her infirm
limb,
was doing wonderfully
thus far , but the tes t was
yet
to come. Clouds and occasional l ight sprinkles
of
rain
made
hiking comfortable.
Heady
once
again, we
star ted out with firm
determination to conquer the ridge
before
us.
Frequent
rests , and the fac t
that the obstacle before
us ^^ h?rfden by
intense folliage,
gave us courage.
With
a
prayer of thanks
and a
sigh
of
re l ief ,
we completed
the l as t series
of
s teps , and
knew
t ha t toow
we
had but
two
miles
of fa i r ly l eve l t r a i l
ahead.
Walking
along
the
ridge of the mountain, we saw many water fa l l s on e i the r s ide
rivers in the
deep
ravines,
and
ahead the
water-soaked
plains
of
India. Tired,
but with a deep feel ing of conquest, we entered Nongwar a t
5:15>s^^j^ord
of
our
coming
had
proceeded us, so, as we passed through the vil lage
of Lykensew,
adjacent
to Nongv/ar,
most of toe
adult
vil lagers, and the
children, were
out to see the s trangers who had dared the
t r a i l s
jus t to
preach
the gospel .
From now on we
were
subject
to
the
sc ru tin y o f
children a l l day and
part
of
the night. ne eventually gets
used
to this, but occasionally lon^for a few
moments
of
privacy.
Our
hostess
was
the
widow
of the former
minis ter
a t
Nong
war, a
well l iked
man who
passed
away
suddenly
l a s t
October,
leav in g h er
with
five
children
to look
af te r .
She was very
gracious,
and did her
best
to make
us comfortable.
We
had the
f ront , and bes t ,
room
in the
house. The v/allsae3?e'
stone almost two feet thick,
the
^floors woody and roof ef t in. A five-and-one
half
foot
bed was supplied Ssiellti; I had two
seven
foot benches, as before.
e
went
prepared so were able to make ourselves comfortably
^fter a
fashion
Many of the
C^hristians came
to say Khublei ,
and
bring
a few potatoes,
some eggs ,
o r a papaya .
>and were
warmed by t h e i r l ove and
a f f e c t i o n .
Af t e r
refreshment of
cold
water
and
hot
tea, we
gathered in
the recently thatched
church
buid ing--fea^ ur
f i r s t
service. This, plus
the answering of questions,
kept us occupied un t i l 11:00 o*c lo ck . One quest ion t h a t bothered severa l was
Is
it scr ip tu ra l to baptize anywhere except
in a running
stream? . This
was
fresh in their
minds due to the
fact that
two
had been
immersed in a
portable
tub
a t
Mawlai during
the
conference. They re fe rre d to Ohrist*s baptism in
the
r iver Jordan to
back
up
t he i r argument.
Other
references
in Acts
were
ci ted in
which no stream is
mentioned,
and
that obedience i s
more important than
place
o r method, and most were
s a t i s f i e d .
We
re ti re d ju st
before midnigh t,
when it
begain
to
ra in For
f ive
hours
i t
poured
as
we
have
never
seen
or
heard
,it
rain before.
We
were
certain^the
8/10/2019 Nichols Edgar Mabel 1951 India
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like constant thunder. Then i t rained
on
and off all during trie Lord s Day,
but
not
enough to
interupt
the
five
services and a baptismal .s ervice for one
young
man at
tne close of the 7:50 meeting
in
the morning. For
this we dropped
dov/n 500-600
feet
to an Idyllic
spot,
the
trail
leading through a veritable
Eden,
where we
found a natural rock baptistry in the heart of a tumbling
spring. Services of tne day were interspersed with conferences, fellowship in
different
homes,
food, and tea. The
final
sermon that night was held during
another heavy storm. At one
point
the pounding rain succeeded in drowning out
the preacher s voice, so the audience joined together to out-sing the storm.
The
fact
that
i t
did so is eviuence of tneir love of singing and
their
strong
voices. That the
hymn
of five verses be repeatea,
and
the chorus sung
no less
than
fifteen
times,
dia^^^^^^ bo^lier them at
all, but rather increased
i x r tuvo CIN ^
their joy. i^^he sermon^finished
the
crowa decided to outsing
the
stor^Thut
the rain won, so we swam the 100 yards to our
resting
placesI At
least
we
were as wet as
i
we had.
We
gained some comfort in the hope that surely the
clouds would
spena
themselves by
morning,
and tne respite would give us a dry
journey homeward. We were
right
At 6:00 tne heavens closed up,
and we
made
hasty prepara tion
to
leave,
never
knowing
when the
weatherman would
Chan
hisj^d. After many Khubleis, we climbed out of
Nongwar
the little Eden lost
in^hick greenery, and
followed
the
peak trail
homevirard. od
v/as
good and
we
enjoyed perfect
weather for
the trek out. In four hours we
were in
Mawmloh
agaxn, and shouted Eureka , a cry of triumph,
for
i^-stellg-had accomplished a
feat,
which
a
few
short years before,
would have been
considered impossible.
I t was a blessed experience,
our faith
was strengthened,
and
her presence
was
a blessing
to
the
Christians in
this remote
village-
The jeep had not escaped tne fury of tne rain eituer, but after drying
off the
motor, warming
t..e spark plugs, some pushing,
i t responded
to our plea
and we were off for Mawlai. But, the impatient rain, satisfied with i ts kind
ness
of
the morning, began again, and
continued
all the way. Brrt our _^ratitude
knew no bounds, so our spirits were not dampened,
even
though
we
vjerel
Much
singing ana
laughter literally shbok the jeep,
and shortened
the
journey. e
dockea
in Mawlai by 5:50
P.M. This^ the
monsoon season for
the hills,
so
ve must
expect
showers
dailv.
^and xJsuelly get one or more,
8/10/2019 Nichols Edgar Mabel 1951 India
21/28
^
ThlP
Til
NONGVvi^K
^-i
Recently
Mrs. Wichols ana
3(,'visited Nongv;ar Congregation.
The
distance
from
Shillong is
only
forty
miles
plus;
tnirty four by g_5gX8g|j
by foot path, the plus standing for_A^ stone steps ^ whi1?^rmes^of
the
path.
>s*-eeflipes56 . wongwar is iS^egion of
Cherrapuhgi,-famous as
The
wettest spot in the
World . were warmly
greeted
oy
tne-^ethren^
s e v er a l o f wnoni had
walked
t h e s ix mi l e s
to
Mumlow
to
mee t u s . Everyw
where
-we went we were o ff er ed o ra n ge s,f or
t h i s i s
a
g r e a t orange
growing d i s t t i c t .
I Sjjoke a t cot tage meetings
on
Thursday ana
Friday
evenings,
and
on
Satu rdajb and
Sunday
the
Convention
sess ions
were
held. I t was ^^^STsimilar to one of
our
preaching conventions, v/ith
discussions
on
topics of geriera]}lnterest,and
sermons by
the
^^ivj
their Lord in Chrisxian ^aptism.
V e
have been th r i l l ed
by
the evidences
of
sac r i f i c i a l
fa i th
which
we
have
seen
here.
e
believe tnese ^rethren are v.-orthy of help*^
and
they
do
need f inanc ia l
ass i s tance . The
Khasi are
a
low
income
agr icu l tura l
people^and
tne i r
economy was
badly
upset
by
the par
t i t i on of Ind ia . They have done
a
grea t
dea l
vvithout
outs ide
he lp ,
but
I
believe tha t
the resul ts
can
be doubled and
even trebled
with
a
modest amount o f
money jud ic ious ly
spen t .
More
recently, Pastor Kharkonger witn some of the ^rethren and
myself
visi ted trie villages
of Wahjajei and Mau^olikng. Yesterday we
received messages frofc^each
tha t tney
d esire fu rth er teaching. They
say
this ,
however;
I f
you can give
us the
assurance
oiS establishing
a permanent work, come;
but
do
not
come once
or twice
and then stop\
This souds l ike sense
to
us, but without more workees
and more funds
we c a n n o t me e t
t h e s e
n e e d s .
In most of the
v i i l a^^
our ch ildren a re
faced with
the
choice of fitt
attending
eithdr^atnolic
or Presbyteriru^ri^ry Schools.
e
have
proviaed
the
means for Oj^ening two more g^thoEc
schools,
besides
th e
one fo r which Bro the r Kharkonger bea r s
th e
exp en s e s . I am
onthuo .
IHIB TiiV'^ghe ch i l a ren a re rece iv ing
instruction in Righteousness, as well as the conventional 3R*s. In
one o f t n e s e s c noo l s t h e r e a r e s e v e r a l Mik i r ch i l d r e n , i n aiti-liLiii i i i iuiaj
and
who
loiows
bu t
t h a t
t h i s maiy l e ad to th e
opening
o f a work among
this t r ibal ^ ,
a
s
On
tne
average,
355 00 yTrfr.
per
monthAvdll
pay
the
sa la ry of
a
teacher
and
I do n o t
know
wher e
. t b.00
cou l d
oe
better i n v e s t e d . The r e a r e some
villages wnere
we
should place a man
who
would serve as minister
of
the congregation,
and
also teach'^ttie Primary School. This
wo-ald
re-
quire a salary of ^t^
8/10/2019 Nichols Edgar Mabel 1951 India
22/28
note : Funds fo r the Fairbrothers should
be
sent
t o
Mrs. JJ-H- Bare
Box
Chagrin
F a l l s
Ohio.
: J X :
.
/ :
> = w
- . t- X -i ^ V .
prjo
^ f V l
V 5 O - 4 3
-f
f . X ; i v j. J ..
o i
.
I - r
I i i O
r . i i l
8/10/2019 Nichols Edgar Mabel 1951 India
23/28
s LettGr
VOL. I ,
N O .
2
Shi l l ong,
Assam
OCTOBER
1 9 5 1
The Work
Goes On
Younger
Generation
T H E KHASI
WORK
is going f o r w a r d
in TH ER E WA S
SO
a
f a v o r a b l e
w ay . N o t in a n y
spec tacu-
f e s t e d in
t h
la r g r o w t h i n n u m b e r s , bu t in th e s t e a d y a c t i v i t i e s o f tl
preach ing
o f th e g o s p e l , o p e n i n g n ew
ca r r i ed
in th e
J
fields where the
New
T e st am e n t t ea c h- L e tte r that we j
i n g s
a re
l i t t l e k n o w n , an d es tabl ishing w is h th is fea tur
schools . t i t le I u s e d , ho^
thing o f a
m i s n o
U n f o r t u n a t e l y , th e s t u d e n t pas tor v i o u s f a c t t h a t
1
now stationed a t Mawpliang
an d Wai-
growing up, ha j
jaijer has
been ill
with a n a t ta c k of m a l - new heading,
ar ia . H is
repor t o f
visiting a n d
p re a c h i n g
in
th e
area
o f t h e s e
tw o
v i l -
John, after
l a g e s is
v e r y
satisfying.*
F o u r
Catholids a t M i d w e s t C hr
have shown an
i n t e r e s t
and mo r e t han
a rr iv ed a t
L i n c c
t h a t
they
a re r e a d y to a c c e p t
Chris tand attend th e coir
they
d e s i r e
b a p tism.
Also fo ur
from
a
and
see
Dorothy
d enom in a t i o n have
a s k e d fo r i mme r s i o n . f r om L i n co l n E
A few
w e e k s ag o
when th e
N ew Tes
t am c n t
was
. ... . . . .
t r
those w ho
b e e n
spr inkled d id
O n fur
t h e r
they
t h e y
h ad
never
b e e n b a p t i z e d
a n d
t h e y
des i red i t.
M r. N i c h o l s b a p -
tized
being
p rominen t
T J
figures i n
that
MABEL NICHOLS. PHILIP
HO-DU-BOW),
plethensaid, lake eDG R
NICHOLS
NDREW ND JOHN YO-HAN .
ou r
chu rch
b u i l d i n g ,
.
use
i t
and
preach
the truth. The truth On
August
18th
is w hat they w e r e looking f o r , b u t co u ld to H a m m o n d
ant
n o t find b e c a u s e of th e
e r ro r
th ey h el d G ail a nd th e
Ha:
in
t h e i r
mind s .
on to
Sco t t s b lu f f
THERE
WAS
SO MUCH interest ma n i
f e s t e d in
th e
b rie f repo r t o f th e
activities of
t h e N i c h o l s
children as
carried i n t h e J u n e
issue
o f t h e N ew s
L e t t e r t h a t we judge
t h a t
m a n y of you
w is h th is f e a t u r e
to
b e
c o n t i n u e d . T h e
t i t le I used , how eve r , s eeming s ome
thing o f a m i s n o m e r in view o f th e o b
v i o u s
fact that t h e
children
h a v e been
g r o w i n g up, h as b een r e p la c e d by this
ne w h e a d i n g .
John, after re ce iv in g h is
d i p l o m a
a t
Midwest
Christian College in May,
a rr iv ed a t
L inco ln , I l l ino is in t im e
to
a t t e n d the c o mm e n c em e n t
exercises
and
see
D o r o t h y M ay
rece ive
her
degree
f r om
L i n c o l n
B ib l e I n s t i t u t e
o n
J un e
f i rs t , a n d spen t th e
a
su r
in
m
ond Indiana
where h e
h a s
a spec
ia l interest in t h e
He s c v i l l e
Ch u r c h ,
i n a d d i t i o n
t o em
p l o y m e n t
a t on e
of
th e
s t e e l mills.
D o r o t h y h a s
b e e n
w o r k i n g
wi t h
M r .
.1 a n d Mrs.
E lm e r
.]{. ^ Kile of the Go Ye
Chapei ~she taught
in th e
Daily
Vaca-
L P HO-DU-BOW ,
Bible Schools
ND JOHN YO-HAN . an d w or ke d at per
sona l evange l i sm.
O n
A u g u s t
18th sh e m a d e a q u i c k t r i p
to
H a m m o n d
a n d
sh e p l a n s to visi t L o i s
Gail
a nd
th e H a s s e l q u i s t s
b e f o r e
going
on
to
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