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If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:9. Vol. XXV KANSAS CITY, MO., FEBRUARY, 1933 No. 2 "HE DID IT" This is the refrain all down the years "He did it. He did it!" Mary Slessor couldn't cross Sauciehall Street in Glasgow by herself, but she became a White Queen among savage tribes in the heart of a foul jungle. Ask her how! "He did it." John Wesley was such a funny-looking wee scrap of a Church-of-England parson that he was a joke wherever he went, but once enkindled, once really in the new world, that little man climbed on to his horse and rode through England like a flaming torch, and the dispassionate historian writes, "The man who saved England in the eighteenth century was "John Wesley"; but Wesley only says again and again: "He did it." "He did it." "He took away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death." He can make you hate sin as you hate hell. He can deliver you from it. It can all be true for you. He can give you an inward peace that nothing can break. He can make that gray face of yours light up with a rapture. He can give you back your self-respet. He can help you to self-adjustment. He can put you on top of life instead of underneath it. He can steady your nerves. He can rid you of morbid self-interest and deliver you from fear. He can give you Life! --LESLIE D. WEATHERHEAD, "His Life and Ours." 2 THE KANSAS CITY DEACONESS The Kansas City Deaconess Published Monthly in the interest of the Kansas City National Training School of the Woman's Home Missionary society. EDITOR; ANNA NEIDERHEISER. Subscription price. 25 cents. Anyone sending in ten subscriptions at one time may send in the eleventh name, to whom the paper will be sent free for a year. If You See a Blue Mark Here Your subscription Has Expired. All correspondence concerning contributions, and subscriptions should be addressed to the Editor, Miss Anna Neiderheiser, corner East Fifteenth Street and Denver Avenue, Kansas City, Mo. Entered as second-class matter, October 27, 1908 at the post-office at Kansas City, Mo., under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, October 3, 1917. KANSAS CITY, MO., FEBRUARY, 1933 EDITORIAL Our Commencement date has been set for May 23, with Bishop Chas. L. Mead as the speaker. The Music Department of the Kansas City National Training School will give a concert in Bancroft Chapel, on Thursday and Friday evenings, February 16 and 17. This is under the auspices of the W. H. M. S. Auxiliary of the Training School, to help raise their pledge for Sheffield Neighborhood Center. It is always an inspiration to the Kansas City H National Training School family to have with us Dr. Claudius B. Spencer, and on January 18 we had that privilege. Dr. Spencer has been a faithful and discerning friend of K. C. N. T. S. through the years. We bring a few thoughts from his recent message to us on "Christian Soul Culture." "Always be bringing into your task that which you can bring out as necessity requires." "There is a wholesome unrest, disquiet, and dissatisfaction with the levels on which we are living." "Be storing up great reserves." "Carry with you into deaconess "work, or into whatever line of service you enter, I that investment of effort and ideals which always I beckon you to the higher ranges of life." "May I there be here such yeast, such illumination as shall I make this a place from which shall go those forces I in life which shall make this more and more a I Christlike world." Miss Eleanor Gairdner of Cairo and Somerville 1 College, Oxford, and Miss Jean Hood of Edinburgh, both members of the Oxford Group, were with us for a service on Tuesday evening, January 24. This ' service and other services with the larger group have led to a definiteness of spiritual awakening and experience in our family that is very helpful to all. Miss Corinne Clough of our Religious Education Department is a member of the faculty of the Lead-ership Training School of the Council of Churches of Kansas City. She is teaching Course No. 43, Or-ganization and Administration of the Junior De- - r partment. This school began on January 13 and ! is held on Tuesday evening for twelve weeks. Mrs. Elsie Hill Gott, '16, who for a number of I years was at the head of our Music Department I before her marriage, is in her second year as Social I Case Worker with the City and County Associated H Charities in Springfield, Mo. H During January, at the Jackson Avenue Chris-- ' I tian Church, Miss Grace Hutcheson of our faculty H taught a six-less- on course in "Primary Materials and H Methods" in their Standard Teaching Training H School. There was an enrollment of fifteen in the A Leadership Training School, to be held on Monday evening of each week for six weeks, began on February 6th in Cameron, Mo. This school es Methodist churches in the Cameron Larger Parish; the Christian, Baptist and Presbyterian churches in and around Cameron. Miss Corinne H Clough of our faculty is teaching "Junior Materials H and Methods." H Mrs. Louis M. Potts, secretary of the Western H Training School Bureau, was a welcome guest at H the Kansas City National Training School on Jan- - H uary 18th. ' It was a real treat to have as guests on January 30th, Miss Ella Watson, corresponding secretary of the Topeka Branch, Woman's Foreign Missionary Society; and Dr. Mary E. Shannon, president of Isa- - bella Thoburn College, Lucknow, India. Dr. Shan-no- n sails soon for India, to resume her work. jH The poignancy of sin's penalty is not so much i'J anything that happens to us from without but the ,H spiritual blindness that creeps upon us from within. Leslie D. Weatherford, "His Life and Ours." I SHEFFIELD NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER H It is very interesting to sec what a dish nnd H spoon can do to the life of an individual, especially H when these articles have been a Christmas gift. A H few days ago one of the Mexican mothers said: "I H am trying so hard to do things as the teachers at H the Mission teach us to do them. I never knew it H was so much fun to set the table and sit down to H cat until I tried it after Christmas. And I think that H is one reason why my children do not cry as much H as they did." H This is only one of several homes that seem H neater and brighter, and where the mother is trying H to be more of a companion to her children, rather H than acting arbitrarily or as a dictator. M' These mothers are now very interested in making H rag rugs and tea-towe- ls. H The young men are enthusiastically engaged in H basketball practice; . and through this several are H coming to Sunday school. Mr. Harold Wallace, from H Watson Memorial Church, Independence, Mo., H coaches this group. H The intermediate boys have also organized a H basketball team, under the leadership of Mr. Karl H Kreuger, from Agnes Avenue Church. H The junior girls have recently organized a Home H Guards group. They are much interested in the H study of the different races living in the United H States. One little girls said, "I didn't know before H that so many different races could live together as H brothers and sisters." H The other evening in English class, after one of H the women had spent a very long, hard hour point- - ing out the words, "I live in a house," then trying H to make her tongue say them and her fingers write H them, she said: "I never knew before that a book H and, a pencil could be so much fun." Just now sev-- H enteen men and women are having a lot of fun H learning to read and to write English. A few of H these are learning to read and to write for the first H time in their life. H Yes, everyone from the little tots up to the fathers H and mothers are having fun at the Sheffield Neigh- - H borhood Center, learning the simple, routine things H of daily living. H Elizabeth M. Brown. l AS A GUEST SAW THE ARGENTINE MEXICAN MISSION H Oh, Mrs. Smithfield, I am so glad you have come H to visit the Mission! You were fortunate to come H just when you did,- for I think you will be interested H in what is going on. H I see you-- are curious about what is going on in H the dining room. That is Mrs. DeLeon meeting with H her recreation committee for the Young People's I Service. One might think a committee of the State I Legislature were in session, the way every least de- - I tail is planned. I like to hear the young folks laugh, H don't you? I That is Miss Stovall with her music and worship I committees, in the club room. Sometimes I wonder I" why it takes so much time for planning, but the i results show that it pays. I Here is a letter which reveals the influence of 1 this service in more than one life. One night the IS discipline was bad because a group had come just j to see what was going on. The president (one of i our boys) kept his poise during the meeting, but j went home disappointed and concerned. After giv- - ing the matter much thought he wrote a letter, part of which I shall read to you : J "The purpose of this organization is to provide for clean friendship and wholesome recreation. In j its Sunday meeting there is a time for games, music, business and worship. We want everyone to have a good time in the games and to remember during the worship service that we are in church. We must be respectable and act as if we were in church and not in a pool hall." It took courage to have that letter read before the whole group! Our young people's work is worth while. During the past month we had 175 present. ' : Now we can visit in the club room. This is a sample of handwork done by the youngest group. Miss Rapier, the teacher, is a volunteer. She took home such a happy report to her mother that she, too, has asked to help. Every afternoon we have a club meeting. The total attendance for the month was 435 boys and girls. Here in the office is the month's report, on this chart. The staff made 88 parish calls; 144 on busi- - : ness; 136 sick and hospital calls. We gave out 15 t, baskets of food; 42 glasses of fruit and jelly; 124 quarts of milk; 2 comforts; and many pairs of shoes. We'll go down to the first floor. Just now it is the nursery-kindergart- en room, where we had a total of 380 little tots this month. At four o'clock it will be a gymnasium; and tonight it will be the music room, where the "Rio Grande Serenaders" practice. Please come back on Sunday to our Church School and Vesper Service. You will enjoy the class ' work; then the quiet reverence of the vesper service, where through music, prayer and sermon we try to truly represent our Christ. A total of 336 attended this service. Tell all your friends how much we need their prayers and their help, that we may carry on this i work aright. i Goodby, Mrs. Smithfield. Come again! Catherine Ferguson. "WHERE THERE IS A WILL THERE IS A WAY" I Chapter II I When Myrtle Schultz presented the discourag-- I ing letter from the Woman's Home Missionary So- - I ciety concerning the House Party for Methodist I Maidens, to her father and mother, they tried very I hard to be sympathetic but the impossibility of a I trip to Kansas City in June lessened their interest. I Then protracted meetings at the Methodist fl Church engaged the interest of everybody. Some folks were getting saved; others were renewing their trust in God's guidance. Tlie days slipped by, and for the time being the trip to Kansas City was forgotten. On Monday morning after the meetings closed, Myrtle awoke with a feeling of loneliness. The evan-gelist and his wife had driven to another town. The humdrum of daily living must go on. No, God hadn't II gone! She must ask guidance for this new day. The new vision that she had received during the meet-ings must be adapted to her daily life. Jesus Christ had become a living reality. She would get dressed in a hurry and have her quiet time before her mother called. As she sat very I still on the edge of her bed, asking God's guidance for the day, the vision of Jesus by the Sea of Galilee came to her. She found the Scripture and read: "Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith I God seemed so near as she dropped on her knees, saying, "Show me, Lord, what Thou wilt have me to do!" The voice of her mother interrupted her me-dial tation, calling her to come and help get breakfast. After breakfast, Father Schultz took the family Bible and read from Mark, the fourth chapter: "Why are ye so fearful?" Myrtle felt that the fl words were standing out in red letters in her brain. What was God telling her to do? Was it the House Party in June? She had decided during the meetings that God wanted her to drop the idea it was selfish perhaps God had a plan, after all. She would tell her mother her experience and see what she would say. H H While they were doing the breakfast work, Myr-- fl tie told her mother about the morning devotions, H and asked her advice about dropping the House . H Party idea or trying to do something. H "Where there is a will there is a way," quoted Mrs. Schultz. "Have you talked to Erma Wood and H Freda Smith? Call Marjorie Reed, and renew your H high school club you once knew as the "Big Four." Invite them over for supper tonight. We'll have waf-- H fles. Perhaps you can work out a plan. There are four months to plan and work." HI Myrtle was so delighted with her mother's en-- Hi thusiasm that she ran for the telephone, saying H laughingly, "Four months four girls now for four H telephone rings!" H The girls all were delighted to eat a waffle sup- - H "p"er at the Schultz home and such talking and Hi planning! Erma said she would like to start for the H House Party at once ! But they decided that a House H Party Club would be the best move, with the motto : H "Where There is a Will There is a Way." H Each girl promised to do without every bit of H candy, gum, or luxury of any kind until the Fourth of July, and save the nickels and dimes. H As the girls were bidding him good-nigh- t, Mr. I Schultz said, "If you keep the promise to do without H sweets until after the House Party, you can have I my Ford to drive to Kansas City." And such screams of delight as there were at Mr. Schultz' remark! l Myrtle went part way with the girls. It was cold, with deep snow, and the moon shone clear and bright. As the four girls came near the old oak tree, Myrtle remembered her experience there when she had received the home missionary lettr. "Come, girls, let's get up on the rock under the old oak and thank God for helping us to get rid of that old fear that 'We can't.' " As they stood on the rock under the old oak in the moonlight, with arms around each other, Myrtle I prayed: "Make us four big-soul- ed girls, ready for I hard work and sacrifice, that we may know Thee I and Thy workers. Amen." As the girls went on home, Myrtle stood for a I little while under the old oak. Looking up into its branches, she whispered, "Next month my soul will ? I be stretched a little bigger." I E. B. 1 CHILDREN PRAYING "Let us not forget, 0 God, that many of your black children, our brothers, work long hours in the cotton fields and mills while we are at school ; and play. Let us not forget, 0 God, that many of your brown children, our brothers, live on less than three cents a day while some of us have more than we need. Let us not forget, 0 God, that many of your yellow children, our brothers, suffer pain, disease, and want with no one to help them while many care for us. Let us not forget, 0 God, that many of your red children, our brothers, suffer poverty and neglect because of our unjust treatment. Our Father, may we recognize all boys and girls, no matter what the color of their skins, as Thy children, and may we treat them as our brothers. Hear our prayer, 0 God. Amen." H OUR CONTACT WITH THE OXFORD GROUP I Many things both critical and commendatory I are being said and written these days about the Ox- - H ford Group, who spent several days in Kansas City j, H recently. We feel inclined to speak only from our iH own experience. II Their exaltation of Jesus Christ as a personal H Savior from sin as it appears in life in a concrete H form, brought a spiritual awakening in our group H which is truly changing lives. The difference be- - H tween knowing about God and realizing God is be- - H ing manifested to us daily. H We will let some of our students tell you of the H new life that has come to them. All but two of H these are from our Senior Class. We hope that some H of their joy may carry through the printed page. H All through this year I have been searching for H the answer to many questions, chief of which was, iH "I H' THE KANSAS CITY DEACONESS 5 j "Why can't, or don't, I live up to the Christian idenls of life in which I believe, and which I desire so much to really live?" When I first heard of the message which the Oxford Group Movement was bringing, I felt that here was an answer. When I heard them, I knew it was the message I needed, and since then I have been proving it. They recalled to my thinking in a very definite way and in simple everyday phraseology a few prin-ciples through which I could live absolutely the Christian life which I so thoroughly believe it is possible to live, through giving Jesus Christ abso-lute I control. believe that for me it will be a conscious striv-ing daily for the growth in Christian living which '1 I know is mine for the taking. It will mean stopping to think and pray whenever I feel within myself I attitudes, reactions and feelings which I hate be-cause they are so Before now I have often let them remain, not making the effort to con-trol them, and then hating myself for having them. In the last two weeks I have stopped and asked God to take them out of my heart whenever I first felt them there; and He has done it. In their place has come each time a new and deeper understanding and love. It is because I have willingly faced them honestly, seeing their selfishness. It is these same atitudes, reactions, feelings and motives which govern my actions. Through giving Christ control of these, He has control of my actions, and all of my relationships with others. This is the answer to my question, "How can I live the Christian life which I believe it is possible to live?" It has come to me through contact with that group who are also living it, the Oxford Group. Beatrice Greene. H The Oxford Group Movement has once more H pi'oven to me God's infinite love and understanding H of His children. H This is, as they say, a very ancient movement, H started some two thousand years ago in Palestine, by the One who died for you and for me. I Since then, many times have we fallen into con-- H troversies of doctrines and creeds, forgetting our H real mission in life. Then our Lord in His wonderful H understanding and fatherly way leads us back to H,'i His fold by such a movement as this. It only takes one willing heart "Here am I, I Lord, send me" and the vision grows. I We have gone in a very roundabout way to take Salvation to others, forgetting many times our sins. I Methods, personal evangelism, stewardship, etc., I etc., have been duly stressed and perhaps over- - stressed. I acknowledge their part in our program, I but we have swung our pendulum entirely to one side. An awakening was necessary, and it came in I the working out of our theories by these lives who I have found the real meaning of living and the only I solution for the problems that confront the world I in the present generation Jesus Christ, the same I yesterday, today, and forever. I Jesus' teachings are very concisely worked out I in their four standards of living, so that there is no I ( doubt as to where you or I stand; and there is also I no doubt that freedom from sin is for you and for I me. I As I think about them I can only say, "They I went about doing good." The sharing of their ex- - I perience and their "absoluteness" have brought me I nearer to the reality of God's Kingdom, and have I presented me with a challenge and a growing j vision. God's blessing will follow them. I As for me, after the privilege of their contact, I accept the challenge and follow wherever the Mas- - j ter will lead. Joscfina Garcia. Despite criticism of all kinds which one is hear- - i ing concerning the Oxford Group, one thing must be granted, namely, that they have the "inner some-thing" which makes radiant personalities and that they give it to others in such a straightforward and practical way that one feels the necessity of yielding f all or nothing. To me that was their message! Many times I have wondered just how I was a sinner for I knew that I was supposedly one; but when I took the four standards of Christ which they give: Absolute Honesty, Absolute Purity, Absolute Unselfishness and Absolute Love and sat down and checked myself, there was no doubt in my mind. One cannot compromise with those standards. Then, because of their assurance of Christ's love if we sincerely desire it in our lives, I was enabled to feel it anew in a stronger and sweeter way. Last but not least, their clear and practical sug- - f gestions for the Quiet Hour helped me. The sense of God's love and guidance in all of life, coming to us through various avenues and especially through our thought life, has already meant another mile-stone in my experience. So, whatever criticism there may be of good or bad, I know that I have received something that has made all life vibrate with a new energy and love which I must pass on in my own way. Ruby I. Mattice. The inspiration which the Oxford Group brought I to me was a renewal of the challenge which came I with my Student Service assignment last fall. When H I met my class of junior girls, I knew that if I were H to meet their need in giving them the principles H which are shown in the-lov- e of Jesus Christ, I must il live those principles myself. Then I began to face JH myself squarely and try to live the pure life. I H knew I was striving to reach something, but the H Oxford Group gave me that something in their four H principles. H It meant much to me to see their intimacy with H Jesus as their personal friend. More than ever do H I covet His companionship. It is a real joy to see H their sincerity in the desire to change lives, and also H to see the results of their efforts. H My prayer is that He may live through me. H Mary Elizabeth Smith. As I think of the Oxford. Group there is a thrill H 3f joy and gladness in my heart, for their message of absolute honesty, purity, unselfishness and love made me stop to think what I had in my life that was keeping me from being those four things, what was keeping me from having the "abundant life in Christ." Today I have a new vision for service, and I with it has come a power from God that gives me a chance to do worthwhile things in His Kingdom. The Oxford Group, to me, give the foundation of the real, vital Christianity that every follower of Christ needs. T. A. Brocius. . From dishonesty in facing God, others and your- - ' self to absolute honesty; from things less fine and less worthwhile to absolute purity; from a life in which self held first place to absolute unselfishness; from petty dislikes, resentments, and prejudices to absolute love such is the four-fol- d challenge of the Christ as presented to us by the Oxford Group, f The lives and messages of this group were radiant i testimonies to the overflowing joy in the heart of IjI one fully surrendered to the will of God, and using the power of God to change lives for Him. Personally, I owe to the influence of the Oxford Group, the vital and joyous experience of the real-ity of Christ in my heart and the guidance of God in my life. With this has come a new vision of service, a deeper desire to win others for Him, and a new determination and power in my life enabling me more fully to meet the absolute standards of an absolute Christ. Laura Price. Being a Christian cannot be separated from liv-- I ing a Christlike life. Living in partnership with God I allows no compromise with sin, insincerity, impurity, I or selfishness. God's love requires all of my life. I A Christlike life cannot be hidden; neither can it I be bought or sold or given away; it must be shared. I Every Christian can face each day of living hon-- I estly, fearlessly, and joyfully, because he is keeping I fellowship with the God whose love is personal, I sympathetic, and self-sacrifici- Keeping fellow-- I ship does not result in passive introspection, sitting II like a self-satisfi- ed spectator to watch God change a life. It demands a willingness to face life squarely and to shoulder my own responsibilities under His leadership. The love of God with the whole self becomes the integrating force of personality, the way to abundant life, and the means of overcoming hatreds, habits, and resentments that have no place in Christlike living. It is the clarion call to the au-dacious adventure of helping His kingdom to come on earth, This is the message of the Oxford Group to me. Carplyn Haffner. "It is a matter of sharing your own sins rather than someone's else." "Christianity may be sym-bolized by the perfect triangle as long as there is nothing amiss in your relationship with your fellow-me- n or with God. Otherwise the Holy Spirit can-not reach you, for you have blocked the way. Get j rid of the hindrance, resentment, dishonesty, or j whatever it may be, and you also may have the radi-ance of Christ in your life." "Absolute Honesty, Absolute Purity, Absolute Unselfishness, Absolute Love." "Keep your Quiet Hour and listen to God." These phrases rang through my mind and brought conviction to my soul as I listened to mes-sage after message from members of the Oxford Group. As a direct result, I have passed one of the biggest milestones in walking the Way with Christ. No, I have not arrived ; If the goal were less than "absolute" I might be able to say that I had. At least, the vision of the Way is clearer. I can testify most positively that they are "life-changers- ." I commend their methods, their spirit and their message most heartily, because I saw Christ in them. Paradoxical though it may seem, their Christlike, individualistic approach to salvation is the only anti-dote for a world poisoned by selfishness. Mnrjorie Louise Smith. I never think of the Oxford Group and my con-tact with them that the old phrase, "fayre Phyllis with the mornynge face" does not come to my mind, for the radiant personality which vibrated through J their whole being and gloriously lighted the face : of each and every one of them made an indelibile k impression upon me. Too often we Christian folks have been busy about many things so busy that somehow we have neglected to keep vibrant in our lives the dominat-ing, radiancy that only close fellow-ship with the Master can give. We have been offer-ing the Master's way of living without offering the comradeship of the Master Himself. Only constant fellowship with Him can keep us so alive with His personality that others, through us, may come to $ see Him, know Him and love Him as we do, and it is a message of the reanimating of this joyous com-radeship with Christ that the Oxford Group has brought to me. A. Louise Sumwalt. A DOG WOULD GIVE HIS LIFE FOR THE SHEEP I The wind was singing softly through the dried I grass and the leaves were scraping and withering I as the cool winds whistled through the branches of I the trees. The mountains looked a little more grey I and the stillness of the evening was broken only by l the patter, patter of many little feet coming down H the mountain trail. H The shepherds had been in the mountains all H summer with their sheep and as the early winter ap- - H proached the sheep were being brought down to H the plains. Slowly moving ahead of the great flock JH were two covered wagons carrying the camp equip- - (H ment and the baby lambs. H The shepherds were moving in and out among H the sheep, watching for signs of distress and weari- - H ness of any kind, when suddenly the stillness was H broken by a cry, "Where is the old dog?" H Every shepherd became alert, looking here and H there. Somebody called "Here, Shep! Here, Shep!" H but there was no happy response with a quick, sharp H bark. H The men driving the wagons stopped the horses. The great flock gradually ceased to be a moving - ' .... , .m t I 1 '1 THE. KANSAS CITY DEACONESS 7 ji mass and became individual sheep as they rested and nosed about. One of the shepherds started briskly back up the trail, everybody watching and waiting for what could have become of the best old shepherd dog in that part of Wyoming? The sun gradually sank a little lower, the wind whistled a little louder, and the sheep began to draw a little closer together. The chief shepherd moved quietly about; but there was nothing to do but wait. After what seemed a long, long time, the form of a man was silhouetted against the sky; then a faint call and cry, "I found her!" Running could be heard, and at last there came in plain view the Ii shepherd carrying a small lamb across his shoulder, f and close at his heels was the old dog. A glad cry went up from the waiting shepherds. The old dog trotted along down the trail, never realizing that one little lamb would never have been missed among that drove of hundreds of sheep. She lay down to rest, her eyes big and soulful, her tongue hanging out, proving that she was tired. The wagons. began to move; the sheep gradually began to get in motion. The rise and fall of their backs made you think of ocean waves. The old dog was trotting along by the side of the flock. All at once somebody asked, "Does God know everybody by name?" The answer came, "Most certainly. He is the Good Shepherd. A dog would give his life for the sheep." Eunice Britt. WONDERFUL HANDS Some years ago a cowboy heard the story which has been the subject of this chapter (The Triumphal Entry). He listened very carefully and then said, "What wonderful hands he must have had!" WGre pres S ' do you say th n"Se "Well," he said, a man who can sit on a colt on which no one has ever sat before, and master it, and guide it, and soothe it when people are shrieking 'Hosanna' in its ears, and waving palms before it, I and throwing clothes in front of it, that man must have wonderful hands." Shall we not let Him master our mulish, ob-stinate, undisciplined lives? We have tried to con-trol them ourselves. Most of us have failed so often that we know that by ourselves we shall never suc-,- - ceed. But Jesus has wonderful hands. Those who " have asked Him to take control of their lives know that those hands are strong and tender to guide. And they look upon those hands with a great and ever-growing wonder, for the nail-pri- nt of love's utter-most is upon them. Leslie D. Weatherhead, "His Life and Ours." I ALUMNAE ASSOCIATION OFFICERS I President Grace Hutcheson H Vice-Preside- nt Elizabeth Hartman Recording Secretary Grace Vause H Corresponding Secretary Minnie Pike I Treasurer Bertha Moore H Treasurer (Love Gift Fund) Anna Neiderheiser I Historian Bertha Cowles I Editor K. C. D Anna Neiderheiser iHi RACE RELATIONS AND RACE PRIDE (Excerpts from an address by Pearl S. Duck, delivered I at the "Opportunity Tea" in New York City, on December 11. R Published in the January, 1933, issue of "Opportunity," a I Journal of Negro Life, published by tho National Urban I League.) nj It is a greater pleasure than I can possibly ex- - ; press to you to be with you here today. Many of your names I know, because I have listened to the r: music you have created and I have read your poems and books. But beside this, I have a sort of in-herited right here. I have not had the privilege of knowing many of your race, but when I was living in China as a little girl my parents used to tell me stories ... of their own childhood in the South, where my family has lived since before the Revo-lutionary War. But what they used to tell me with such pride that it put pride into me was that neither of my grandfathers, although they were landed men, and men of some wealth and position, was ever willing j to buy or sell human beings. Indeed, my paternal h grandfather seems at times to have been consider-abl- y persecuted because he made it a principle that he hired men irrespective of whether or not they were colored or white, and he paid them equal wages for equal work. So from my ancestors I have the tradition of racial equality and I am proud that it is so. But my belief in race equality does not rest only on family heritage. It rests also on the experience and observations of mv life. As vou know. I have lived always among a race other than my own. This I has given me an invaluable training in detachment, I so that I am able to look at white people as though I I were not one of them . . . I It seems to me there is nothing so stupid, so j I wicked, as pride in mere race and nothing more, no I matter where that pride is found. Yet I learned to I realize that such persons were not worthy of con-- I tempt or notice, not worth anger, even, and a poor I rickshaw puller in Shanghai taught me that. ... B One day I saw in Shanghai an American marine I give his rickshaw puller a brutal kick. The rick- - I shaw puller in Shanghai is proverbially the poorest I and most downtrodden of creatures. He drifts there H in extremest poverty from all over China. This one H was no exception. He was a middle aged man, and H starving thin, and he had been pulling a big Amer- - H ican half again his size. H I stopped and spoke to the American with in-- H dignation, and the Chinese puller watched this, per-- H fectly understanding what was going on, although H I spoke in English. At last he smiled and said to (H comfort me, "Never mind, Lady; look at him! You H and I see he is a man of' no understanding. Even H among white men if there is one of understanding H he does not behave like this." H The rickshaw man was completely superior and H he taught me this, that pride of race is always H strongest in those who have the least cause to be H proud of themselves. I have never found this to H fail; I have seen it work out truly in hundreds of H cases in the Far East where white men are few and H yet of many sorts. H But I am glad to have lived among those of an-- H other race than my own for yet another reason. It H has taught me not only to see and be ashamed of H 8 THE KANSAS CITY DEACONESS race arrogance in members of my own race, but I know through bitter experience what it is to suffer because others despise me for being white. The Chinese are an intensely proud people, they have a right to be proud ... I have always understood and accepted this pride. I have always, when I met a Chinese walking toward me in the same path, known that as a matter of course he would expect me to step aside and let him pass, and I have done I so. I do it now without thinking or noticing what I have done. But I do not feel either inferior or superior in the act I understand how it is he feels as he does and accept it, not as necessarily true to view. the fact, but simply able to see it from his point of I have had that strange and terrible experience of facing death because of my color. . . The only I reason I was not killed was because some of the others in that race knew me, under my skin, and today. risked their own lives for me, and so I am here I tell you this that you may know whereof t speak when I talk of race. I say again, I considei race feeling in any country, in any individual of any race, to be a deadly and poisonous emotion, the foe to humanity. Every man and woman of intelligence must fight it in himself, in herself, everywhere. And what shall we use as weapons in such a H fight? Not guns and swords. . . Race feeling thrives on wars. . . But you know your weapons. You are using them already. They are the weapons of solid achieve-men- t, which prove your equality to all races and H your special superiorities, those special gifts which H each race has to bring to others. When one of you H writes a matchless poem, creates a piece of music, H translates into words some portion of life, discovers a new truth in science, or lacking these special cre-- H ative gifts simply is dignified and noble personally, H here is the weapon which must vanquish race feel-- H ing. It will take time, it must take time, for any-- H thing permanent takes time, but it is the only true H and effectual way to convince the stupid and ig-- H norant. But achievement is your proof, the sign of H your greatness. . . H Bitterness is useless, it is childish and a sign of H weakness. What is it but the child's cry, "I'll show H you I'm as good as you are!" Nothing strong or H good can come out of bitterness. The spirit must H be sane, must be able to comprehend even where it H cannot admire or love. Understanding of the situa--H tion, steady, passionate determination and self con-- H trol, the highest achievement, here are the paths I to the goal. H ... I had rather be the wronged man than he I who wrongs. The burden is less. When I think and I remember on what terms your fathers were brought to this country, how they suffered and in what be-- I wilderment at their fate, and how you do still suf-- I fer and must suffer, I can only say with the great-- I est humility, "Forgive us, for we knew not what I we did." I You will have to forgive us over and over again, I I know. I know because I have had to forgive over I and over like that, too. But that long training in I forgiveness brings with it a reward. It is the re- - ward of tranquility of spirit a greatness. You are I always greater than the person you forgive, if you do truly forgive him, because you understand his I limitations and are not bitter. . . I I beg of you to be proud of your race, and that I is different from race pride. . . You are a race of I great gifts. You have strong and beautiful bodies, I lively imaginations, great poetic insight, profound I music in your hearts and voices, warm quick emo-- I tions, fine brains, a magic sense of humor. I Do not lose these gifts in not appreciating them. I The world needs them. Be proud of them, develop I them, let them be the tools of your achievement. I To me America is infinitely richer because here we I are not all of one race. And when I look at you I and remember your history, and recognize in you I the fine quality of your race and when I see what I you have done, I am proud to be your country-- I woman. PERSONALS May Faulkner spent January 8-- 29 in evangel- - I isuc worK in iiassett, Neb. Rev. Howard Blake, of Washington, D. C, a i ' member of the Oxford Group, called at the Train- - ing School on January 23. Eunice Britt conducted a two-wee- ks series of I evangelistic services at the Watson Memorial M. E. H Church, Independence, Mo., during January. Dr. H Grant A. Robbins is the pastor. Lawrence Leon arrived in the home of Dr. and H Mrs. J. J. Tretbar of Stafford, Kansas, on February i 5; weight, 8J4 pounds. Gladys Reid, '21, is his I mother. We welcome him into our large family H of little folk. We are sorry that the arrival of Marvin Lou, H son of Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Gray of San Francisco, H California, was omitted from our last issue. His H birthday will be celebrated on December 28. His H mother, Myrna Luechauer, was graduated from H K. C. N. T. S. in 1926. Rev. J. W. Ward of the Hamilton, Mo., Larger H Parish, accompanied by his daughter Belle, Miss H Beulah Henricks, and Miss Evelyn Bloomer, '32, H their deaconness, made a brief stay at the K. C. H N. T. S. on January 23. Other out of the city friends who have regis-- tered: Mrs. Julia A. Pebbles, Colorado Springs, H Colo.; Mrs. Elizabeth Mills, Carthage, Mo.; Mar-- H jorie Carson, Carol Carson and Beulah Ballinger, H fl all of Fort Scott, Kansas; Miss Itie Jones, Chanute, ( fl Kansas. "WHERE ARE YOU GOING, GREAT-HEART- ?" H "Where are you going, Great-Heart- ?" I "To break down old dividing lines; ? To carry out my Lord's designs; I To build again His broken shrines," "Then God go with you, Great-Heart- !" f "Where are you going, Great-Heart- ?" , "To set all burdened people free; To win for all, God's liberty; To 'stablish His sweet sovereignty." "God goeth with you, Great-Heart- ." Missionary Review of the World, February, 1933. 'H
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Title | The Kansas City Deaconess (Kansas City, Mo.), 1933-02-01 |
Year | 1933 |
Volume | 25 |
Number | 2 |
Subject |
Kansas City National Training School for Deaconesses and Missionaries Methodist Church -- Education Home missions Deaconesses -- Education Women in missionary work Women -- Education -- Missouri -- Kansas City Argentine Mission -- Kansas City National Training School Sheffield Mission -- Kansas City National Training School |
Description | If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:9. Vol. XXV KANSAS CITY, MO., FEBRUARY, 1933 No. 2 "HE DID IT" This is the refrain all down the years "He did it. He did it!" Mary Slessor couldn't cross Sauciehall Street in Glasgow by herself, but she became a White Queen among savage tribes in the heart of a foul jungle. Ask her how! "He did it." John Wesley was such a funny-looking wee scrap of a Church-of-England parson that he was a joke wherever he went, but once enkindled, once really in the new world, that little man climbed on to his horse and rode through England like a flaming torch, and the dispassionate historian writes, "The man who saved England in the eighteenth century was "John Wesley"; but Wesley only says again and again: "He did it." "He did it." "He took away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death." He can make you hate sin as you hate hell. He can deliver you from it. It can all be true for you. He can give you an inward peace that nothing can break. He can make that gray face of yours light up with a rapture. He can give you back your self-respet. He can help you to self-adjustment. He can put you on top of life instead of underneath it. He can steady your nerves. He can rid you of morbid self-interest and deliver you from fear. He can give you Life! --LESLIE D. WEATHERHEAD, "His Life and Ours." 2 THE KANSAS CITY DEACONESS The Kansas City Deaconess Published Monthly in the interest of the Kansas City National Training School of the Woman's Home Missionary society. EDITOR; ANNA NEIDERHEISER. Subscription price. 25 cents. Anyone sending in ten subscriptions at one time may send in the eleventh name, to whom the paper will be sent free for a year. If You See a Blue Mark Here Your subscription Has Expired. All correspondence concerning contributions, and subscriptions should be addressed to the Editor, Miss Anna Neiderheiser, corner East Fifteenth Street and Denver Avenue, Kansas City, Mo. Entered as second-class matter, October 27, 1908 at the post-office at Kansas City, Mo., under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, October 3, 1917. KANSAS CITY, MO., FEBRUARY, 1933 EDITORIAL Our Commencement date has been set for May 23, with Bishop Chas. L. Mead as the speaker. The Music Department of the Kansas City National Training School will give a concert in Bancroft Chapel, on Thursday and Friday evenings, February 16 and 17. This is under the auspices of the W. H. M. S. Auxiliary of the Training School, to help raise their pledge for Sheffield Neighborhood Center. It is always an inspiration to the Kansas City H National Training School family to have with us Dr. Claudius B. Spencer, and on January 18 we had that privilege. Dr. Spencer has been a faithful and discerning friend of K. C. N. T. S. through the years. We bring a few thoughts from his recent message to us on "Christian Soul Culture." "Always be bringing into your task that which you can bring out as necessity requires." "There is a wholesome unrest, disquiet, and dissatisfaction with the levels on which we are living." "Be storing up great reserves." "Carry with you into deaconess "work, or into whatever line of service you enter, I that investment of effort and ideals which always I beckon you to the higher ranges of life." "May I there be here such yeast, such illumination as shall I make this a place from which shall go those forces I in life which shall make this more and more a I Christlike world." Miss Eleanor Gairdner of Cairo and Somerville 1 College, Oxford, and Miss Jean Hood of Edinburgh, both members of the Oxford Group, were with us for a service on Tuesday evening, January 24. This ' service and other services with the larger group have led to a definiteness of spiritual awakening and experience in our family that is very helpful to all. Miss Corinne Clough of our Religious Education Department is a member of the faculty of the Lead-ership Training School of the Council of Churches of Kansas City. She is teaching Course No. 43, Or-ganization and Administration of the Junior De- - r partment. This school began on January 13 and ! is held on Tuesday evening for twelve weeks. Mrs. Elsie Hill Gott, '16, who for a number of I years was at the head of our Music Department I before her marriage, is in her second year as Social I Case Worker with the City and County Associated H Charities in Springfield, Mo. H During January, at the Jackson Avenue Chris-- ' I tian Church, Miss Grace Hutcheson of our faculty H taught a six-less- on course in "Primary Materials and H Methods" in their Standard Teaching Training H School. There was an enrollment of fifteen in the A Leadership Training School, to be held on Monday evening of each week for six weeks, began on February 6th in Cameron, Mo. This school es Methodist churches in the Cameron Larger Parish; the Christian, Baptist and Presbyterian churches in and around Cameron. Miss Corinne H Clough of our faculty is teaching "Junior Materials H and Methods." H Mrs. Louis M. Potts, secretary of the Western H Training School Bureau, was a welcome guest at H the Kansas City National Training School on Jan- - H uary 18th. ' It was a real treat to have as guests on January 30th, Miss Ella Watson, corresponding secretary of the Topeka Branch, Woman's Foreign Missionary Society; and Dr. Mary E. Shannon, president of Isa- - bella Thoburn College, Lucknow, India. Dr. Shan-no- n sails soon for India, to resume her work. jH The poignancy of sin's penalty is not so much i'J anything that happens to us from without but the ,H spiritual blindness that creeps upon us from within. Leslie D. Weatherford, "His Life and Ours." I SHEFFIELD NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER H It is very interesting to sec what a dish nnd H spoon can do to the life of an individual, especially H when these articles have been a Christmas gift. A H few days ago one of the Mexican mothers said: "I H am trying so hard to do things as the teachers at H the Mission teach us to do them. I never knew it H was so much fun to set the table and sit down to H cat until I tried it after Christmas. And I think that H is one reason why my children do not cry as much H as they did." H This is only one of several homes that seem H neater and brighter, and where the mother is trying H to be more of a companion to her children, rather H than acting arbitrarily or as a dictator. M' These mothers are now very interested in making H rag rugs and tea-towe- ls. H The young men are enthusiastically engaged in H basketball practice; . and through this several are H coming to Sunday school. Mr. Harold Wallace, from H Watson Memorial Church, Independence, Mo., H coaches this group. H The intermediate boys have also organized a H basketball team, under the leadership of Mr. Karl H Kreuger, from Agnes Avenue Church. H The junior girls have recently organized a Home H Guards group. They are much interested in the H study of the different races living in the United H States. One little girls said, "I didn't know before H that so many different races could live together as H brothers and sisters." H The other evening in English class, after one of H the women had spent a very long, hard hour point- - ing out the words, "I live in a house," then trying H to make her tongue say them and her fingers write H them, she said: "I never knew before that a book H and, a pencil could be so much fun." Just now sev-- H enteen men and women are having a lot of fun H learning to read and to write English. A few of H these are learning to read and to write for the first H time in their life. H Yes, everyone from the little tots up to the fathers H and mothers are having fun at the Sheffield Neigh- - H borhood Center, learning the simple, routine things H of daily living. H Elizabeth M. Brown. l AS A GUEST SAW THE ARGENTINE MEXICAN MISSION H Oh, Mrs. Smithfield, I am so glad you have come H to visit the Mission! You were fortunate to come H just when you did,- for I think you will be interested H in what is going on. H I see you-- are curious about what is going on in H the dining room. That is Mrs. DeLeon meeting with H her recreation committee for the Young People's I Service. One might think a committee of the State I Legislature were in session, the way every least de- - I tail is planned. I like to hear the young folks laugh, H don't you? I That is Miss Stovall with her music and worship I committees, in the club room. Sometimes I wonder I" why it takes so much time for planning, but the i results show that it pays. I Here is a letter which reveals the influence of 1 this service in more than one life. One night the IS discipline was bad because a group had come just j to see what was going on. The president (one of i our boys) kept his poise during the meeting, but j went home disappointed and concerned. After giv- - ing the matter much thought he wrote a letter, part of which I shall read to you : J "The purpose of this organization is to provide for clean friendship and wholesome recreation. In j its Sunday meeting there is a time for games, music, business and worship. We want everyone to have a good time in the games and to remember during the worship service that we are in church. We must be respectable and act as if we were in church and not in a pool hall." It took courage to have that letter read before the whole group! Our young people's work is worth while. During the past month we had 175 present. ' : Now we can visit in the club room. This is a sample of handwork done by the youngest group. Miss Rapier, the teacher, is a volunteer. She took home such a happy report to her mother that she, too, has asked to help. Every afternoon we have a club meeting. The total attendance for the month was 435 boys and girls. Here in the office is the month's report, on this chart. The staff made 88 parish calls; 144 on busi- - : ness; 136 sick and hospital calls. We gave out 15 t, baskets of food; 42 glasses of fruit and jelly; 124 quarts of milk; 2 comforts; and many pairs of shoes. We'll go down to the first floor. Just now it is the nursery-kindergart- en room, where we had a total of 380 little tots this month. At four o'clock it will be a gymnasium; and tonight it will be the music room, where the "Rio Grande Serenaders" practice. Please come back on Sunday to our Church School and Vesper Service. You will enjoy the class ' work; then the quiet reverence of the vesper service, where through music, prayer and sermon we try to truly represent our Christ. A total of 336 attended this service. Tell all your friends how much we need their prayers and their help, that we may carry on this i work aright. i Goodby, Mrs. Smithfield. Come again! Catherine Ferguson. "WHERE THERE IS A WILL THERE IS A WAY" I Chapter II I When Myrtle Schultz presented the discourag-- I ing letter from the Woman's Home Missionary So- - I ciety concerning the House Party for Methodist I Maidens, to her father and mother, they tried very I hard to be sympathetic but the impossibility of a I trip to Kansas City in June lessened their interest. I Then protracted meetings at the Methodist fl Church engaged the interest of everybody. Some folks were getting saved; others were renewing their trust in God's guidance. Tlie days slipped by, and for the time being the trip to Kansas City was forgotten. On Monday morning after the meetings closed, Myrtle awoke with a feeling of loneliness. The evan-gelist and his wife had driven to another town. The humdrum of daily living must go on. No, God hadn't II gone! She must ask guidance for this new day. The new vision that she had received during the meet-ings must be adapted to her daily life. Jesus Christ had become a living reality. She would get dressed in a hurry and have her quiet time before her mother called. As she sat very I still on the edge of her bed, asking God's guidance for the day, the vision of Jesus by the Sea of Galilee came to her. She found the Scripture and read: "Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith I God seemed so near as she dropped on her knees, saying, "Show me, Lord, what Thou wilt have me to do!" The voice of her mother interrupted her me-dial tation, calling her to come and help get breakfast. After breakfast, Father Schultz took the family Bible and read from Mark, the fourth chapter: "Why are ye so fearful?" Myrtle felt that the fl words were standing out in red letters in her brain. What was God telling her to do? Was it the House Party in June? She had decided during the meetings that God wanted her to drop the idea it was selfish perhaps God had a plan, after all. She would tell her mother her experience and see what she would say. H H While they were doing the breakfast work, Myr-- fl tie told her mother about the morning devotions, H and asked her advice about dropping the House . H Party idea or trying to do something. H "Where there is a will there is a way," quoted Mrs. Schultz. "Have you talked to Erma Wood and H Freda Smith? Call Marjorie Reed, and renew your H high school club you once knew as the "Big Four." Invite them over for supper tonight. We'll have waf-- H fles. Perhaps you can work out a plan. There are four months to plan and work." HI Myrtle was so delighted with her mother's en-- Hi thusiasm that she ran for the telephone, saying H laughingly, "Four months four girls now for four H telephone rings!" H The girls all were delighted to eat a waffle sup- - H "p"er at the Schultz home and such talking and Hi planning! Erma said she would like to start for the H House Party at once ! But they decided that a House H Party Club would be the best move, with the motto : H "Where There is a Will There is a Way." H Each girl promised to do without every bit of H candy, gum, or luxury of any kind until the Fourth of July, and save the nickels and dimes. H As the girls were bidding him good-nigh- t, Mr. I Schultz said, "If you keep the promise to do without H sweets until after the House Party, you can have I my Ford to drive to Kansas City." And such screams of delight as there were at Mr. Schultz' remark! l Myrtle went part way with the girls. It was cold, with deep snow, and the moon shone clear and bright. As the four girls came near the old oak tree, Myrtle remembered her experience there when she had received the home missionary lettr. "Come, girls, let's get up on the rock under the old oak and thank God for helping us to get rid of that old fear that 'We can't.' " As they stood on the rock under the old oak in the moonlight, with arms around each other, Myrtle I prayed: "Make us four big-soul- ed girls, ready for I hard work and sacrifice, that we may know Thee I and Thy workers. Amen." As the girls went on home, Myrtle stood for a I little while under the old oak. Looking up into its branches, she whispered, "Next month my soul will ? I be stretched a little bigger." I E. B. 1 CHILDREN PRAYING "Let us not forget, 0 God, that many of your black children, our brothers, work long hours in the cotton fields and mills while we are at school ; and play. Let us not forget, 0 God, that many of your brown children, our brothers, live on less than three cents a day while some of us have more than we need. Let us not forget, 0 God, that many of your yellow children, our brothers, suffer pain, disease, and want with no one to help them while many care for us. Let us not forget, 0 God, that many of your red children, our brothers, suffer poverty and neglect because of our unjust treatment. Our Father, may we recognize all boys and girls, no matter what the color of their skins, as Thy children, and may we treat them as our brothers. Hear our prayer, 0 God. Amen." H OUR CONTACT WITH THE OXFORD GROUP I Many things both critical and commendatory I are being said and written these days about the Ox- - H ford Group, who spent several days in Kansas City j, H recently. We feel inclined to speak only from our iH own experience. II Their exaltation of Jesus Christ as a personal H Savior from sin as it appears in life in a concrete H form, brought a spiritual awakening in our group H which is truly changing lives. The difference be- - H tween knowing about God and realizing God is be- - H ing manifested to us daily. H We will let some of our students tell you of the H new life that has come to them. All but two of H these are from our Senior Class. We hope that some H of their joy may carry through the printed page. H All through this year I have been searching for H the answer to many questions, chief of which was, iH "I H' THE KANSAS CITY DEACONESS 5 j "Why can't, or don't, I live up to the Christian idenls of life in which I believe, and which I desire so much to really live?" When I first heard of the message which the Oxford Group Movement was bringing, I felt that here was an answer. When I heard them, I knew it was the message I needed, and since then I have been proving it. They recalled to my thinking in a very definite way and in simple everyday phraseology a few prin-ciples through which I could live absolutely the Christian life which I so thoroughly believe it is possible to live, through giving Jesus Christ abso-lute I control. believe that for me it will be a conscious striv-ing daily for the growth in Christian living which '1 I know is mine for the taking. It will mean stopping to think and pray whenever I feel within myself I attitudes, reactions and feelings which I hate be-cause they are so Before now I have often let them remain, not making the effort to con-trol them, and then hating myself for having them. In the last two weeks I have stopped and asked God to take them out of my heart whenever I first felt them there; and He has done it. In their place has come each time a new and deeper understanding and love. It is because I have willingly faced them honestly, seeing their selfishness. It is these same atitudes, reactions, feelings and motives which govern my actions. Through giving Christ control of these, He has control of my actions, and all of my relationships with others. This is the answer to my question, "How can I live the Christian life which I believe it is possible to live?" It has come to me through contact with that group who are also living it, the Oxford Group. Beatrice Greene. H The Oxford Group Movement has once more H pi'oven to me God's infinite love and understanding H of His children. H This is, as they say, a very ancient movement, H started some two thousand years ago in Palestine, by the One who died for you and for me. I Since then, many times have we fallen into con-- H troversies of doctrines and creeds, forgetting our H real mission in life. Then our Lord in His wonderful H understanding and fatherly way leads us back to H,'i His fold by such a movement as this. It only takes one willing heart "Here am I, I Lord, send me" and the vision grows. I We have gone in a very roundabout way to take Salvation to others, forgetting many times our sins. I Methods, personal evangelism, stewardship, etc., I etc., have been duly stressed and perhaps over- - stressed. I acknowledge their part in our program, I but we have swung our pendulum entirely to one side. An awakening was necessary, and it came in I the working out of our theories by these lives who I have found the real meaning of living and the only I solution for the problems that confront the world I in the present generation Jesus Christ, the same I yesterday, today, and forever. I Jesus' teachings are very concisely worked out I in their four standards of living, so that there is no I ( doubt as to where you or I stand; and there is also I no doubt that freedom from sin is for you and for I me. I As I think about them I can only say, "They I went about doing good." The sharing of their ex- - I perience and their "absoluteness" have brought me I nearer to the reality of God's Kingdom, and have I presented me with a challenge and a growing j vision. God's blessing will follow them. I As for me, after the privilege of their contact, I accept the challenge and follow wherever the Mas- - j ter will lead. Joscfina Garcia. Despite criticism of all kinds which one is hear- - i ing concerning the Oxford Group, one thing must be granted, namely, that they have the "inner some-thing" which makes radiant personalities and that they give it to others in such a straightforward and practical way that one feels the necessity of yielding f all or nothing. To me that was their message! Many times I have wondered just how I was a sinner for I knew that I was supposedly one; but when I took the four standards of Christ which they give: Absolute Honesty, Absolute Purity, Absolute Unselfishness and Absolute Love and sat down and checked myself, there was no doubt in my mind. One cannot compromise with those standards. Then, because of their assurance of Christ's love if we sincerely desire it in our lives, I was enabled to feel it anew in a stronger and sweeter way. Last but not least, their clear and practical sug- - f gestions for the Quiet Hour helped me. The sense of God's love and guidance in all of life, coming to us through various avenues and especially through our thought life, has already meant another mile-stone in my experience. So, whatever criticism there may be of good or bad, I know that I have received something that has made all life vibrate with a new energy and love which I must pass on in my own way. Ruby I. Mattice. The inspiration which the Oxford Group brought I to me was a renewal of the challenge which came I with my Student Service assignment last fall. When H I met my class of junior girls, I knew that if I were H to meet their need in giving them the principles H which are shown in the-lov- e of Jesus Christ, I must il live those principles myself. Then I began to face JH myself squarely and try to live the pure life. I H knew I was striving to reach something, but the H Oxford Group gave me that something in their four H principles. H It meant much to me to see their intimacy with H Jesus as their personal friend. More than ever do H I covet His companionship. It is a real joy to see H their sincerity in the desire to change lives, and also H to see the results of their efforts. H My prayer is that He may live through me. H Mary Elizabeth Smith. As I think of the Oxford. Group there is a thrill H 3f joy and gladness in my heart, for their message of absolute honesty, purity, unselfishness and love made me stop to think what I had in my life that was keeping me from being those four things, what was keeping me from having the "abundant life in Christ." Today I have a new vision for service, and I with it has come a power from God that gives me a chance to do worthwhile things in His Kingdom. The Oxford Group, to me, give the foundation of the real, vital Christianity that every follower of Christ needs. T. A. Brocius. . From dishonesty in facing God, others and your- - ' self to absolute honesty; from things less fine and less worthwhile to absolute purity; from a life in which self held first place to absolute unselfishness; from petty dislikes, resentments, and prejudices to absolute love such is the four-fol- d challenge of the Christ as presented to us by the Oxford Group, f The lives and messages of this group were radiant i testimonies to the overflowing joy in the heart of IjI one fully surrendered to the will of God, and using the power of God to change lives for Him. Personally, I owe to the influence of the Oxford Group, the vital and joyous experience of the real-ity of Christ in my heart and the guidance of God in my life. With this has come a new vision of service, a deeper desire to win others for Him, and a new determination and power in my life enabling me more fully to meet the absolute standards of an absolute Christ. Laura Price. Being a Christian cannot be separated from liv-- I ing a Christlike life. Living in partnership with God I allows no compromise with sin, insincerity, impurity, I or selfishness. God's love requires all of my life. I A Christlike life cannot be hidden; neither can it I be bought or sold or given away; it must be shared. I Every Christian can face each day of living hon-- I estly, fearlessly, and joyfully, because he is keeping I fellowship with the God whose love is personal, I sympathetic, and self-sacrifici- Keeping fellow-- I ship does not result in passive introspection, sitting II like a self-satisfi- ed spectator to watch God change a life. It demands a willingness to face life squarely and to shoulder my own responsibilities under His leadership. The love of God with the whole self becomes the integrating force of personality, the way to abundant life, and the means of overcoming hatreds, habits, and resentments that have no place in Christlike living. It is the clarion call to the au-dacious adventure of helping His kingdom to come on earth, This is the message of the Oxford Group to me. Carplyn Haffner. "It is a matter of sharing your own sins rather than someone's else." "Christianity may be sym-bolized by the perfect triangle as long as there is nothing amiss in your relationship with your fellow-me- n or with God. Otherwise the Holy Spirit can-not reach you, for you have blocked the way. Get j rid of the hindrance, resentment, dishonesty, or j whatever it may be, and you also may have the radi-ance of Christ in your life." "Absolute Honesty, Absolute Purity, Absolute Unselfishness, Absolute Love." "Keep your Quiet Hour and listen to God." These phrases rang through my mind and brought conviction to my soul as I listened to mes-sage after message from members of the Oxford Group. As a direct result, I have passed one of the biggest milestones in walking the Way with Christ. No, I have not arrived ; If the goal were less than "absolute" I might be able to say that I had. At least, the vision of the Way is clearer. I can testify most positively that they are "life-changers- ." I commend their methods, their spirit and their message most heartily, because I saw Christ in them. Paradoxical though it may seem, their Christlike, individualistic approach to salvation is the only anti-dote for a world poisoned by selfishness. Mnrjorie Louise Smith. I never think of the Oxford Group and my con-tact with them that the old phrase, "fayre Phyllis with the mornynge face" does not come to my mind, for the radiant personality which vibrated through J their whole being and gloriously lighted the face : of each and every one of them made an indelibile k impression upon me. Too often we Christian folks have been busy about many things so busy that somehow we have neglected to keep vibrant in our lives the dominat-ing, radiancy that only close fellow-ship with the Master can give. We have been offer-ing the Master's way of living without offering the comradeship of the Master Himself. Only constant fellowship with Him can keep us so alive with His personality that others, through us, may come to $ see Him, know Him and love Him as we do, and it is a message of the reanimating of this joyous com-radeship with Christ that the Oxford Group has brought to me. A. Louise Sumwalt. A DOG WOULD GIVE HIS LIFE FOR THE SHEEP I The wind was singing softly through the dried I grass and the leaves were scraping and withering I as the cool winds whistled through the branches of I the trees. The mountains looked a little more grey I and the stillness of the evening was broken only by l the patter, patter of many little feet coming down H the mountain trail. H The shepherds had been in the mountains all H summer with their sheep and as the early winter ap- - H proached the sheep were being brought down to H the plains. Slowly moving ahead of the great flock JH were two covered wagons carrying the camp equip- - (H ment and the baby lambs. H The shepherds were moving in and out among H the sheep, watching for signs of distress and weari- - H ness of any kind, when suddenly the stillness was H broken by a cry, "Where is the old dog?" H Every shepherd became alert, looking here and H there. Somebody called "Here, Shep! Here, Shep!" H but there was no happy response with a quick, sharp H bark. H The men driving the wagons stopped the horses. The great flock gradually ceased to be a moving - ' .... , .m t I 1 '1 THE. KANSAS CITY DEACONESS 7 ji mass and became individual sheep as they rested and nosed about. One of the shepherds started briskly back up the trail, everybody watching and waiting for what could have become of the best old shepherd dog in that part of Wyoming? The sun gradually sank a little lower, the wind whistled a little louder, and the sheep began to draw a little closer together. The chief shepherd moved quietly about; but there was nothing to do but wait. After what seemed a long, long time, the form of a man was silhouetted against the sky; then a faint call and cry, "I found her!" Running could be heard, and at last there came in plain view the Ii shepherd carrying a small lamb across his shoulder, f and close at his heels was the old dog. A glad cry went up from the waiting shepherds. The old dog trotted along down the trail, never realizing that one little lamb would never have been missed among that drove of hundreds of sheep. She lay down to rest, her eyes big and soulful, her tongue hanging out, proving that she was tired. The wagons. began to move; the sheep gradually began to get in motion. The rise and fall of their backs made you think of ocean waves. The old dog was trotting along by the side of the flock. All at once somebody asked, "Does God know everybody by name?" The answer came, "Most certainly. He is the Good Shepherd. A dog would give his life for the sheep." Eunice Britt. WONDERFUL HANDS Some years ago a cowboy heard the story which has been the subject of this chapter (The Triumphal Entry). He listened very carefully and then said, "What wonderful hands he must have had!" WGre pres S ' do you say th n"Se "Well," he said, a man who can sit on a colt on which no one has ever sat before, and master it, and guide it, and soothe it when people are shrieking 'Hosanna' in its ears, and waving palms before it, I and throwing clothes in front of it, that man must have wonderful hands." Shall we not let Him master our mulish, ob-stinate, undisciplined lives? We have tried to con-trol them ourselves. Most of us have failed so often that we know that by ourselves we shall never suc-,- - ceed. But Jesus has wonderful hands. Those who " have asked Him to take control of their lives know that those hands are strong and tender to guide. And they look upon those hands with a great and ever-growing wonder, for the nail-pri- nt of love's utter-most is upon them. Leslie D. Weatherhead, "His Life and Ours." I ALUMNAE ASSOCIATION OFFICERS I President Grace Hutcheson H Vice-Preside- nt Elizabeth Hartman Recording Secretary Grace Vause H Corresponding Secretary Minnie Pike I Treasurer Bertha Moore H Treasurer (Love Gift Fund) Anna Neiderheiser I Historian Bertha Cowles I Editor K. C. D Anna Neiderheiser iHi RACE RELATIONS AND RACE PRIDE (Excerpts from an address by Pearl S. Duck, delivered I at the "Opportunity Tea" in New York City, on December 11. R Published in the January, 1933, issue of "Opportunity," a I Journal of Negro Life, published by tho National Urban I League.) nj It is a greater pleasure than I can possibly ex- - ; press to you to be with you here today. Many of your names I know, because I have listened to the r: music you have created and I have read your poems and books. But beside this, I have a sort of in-herited right here. I have not had the privilege of knowing many of your race, but when I was living in China as a little girl my parents used to tell me stories ... of their own childhood in the South, where my family has lived since before the Revo-lutionary War. But what they used to tell me with such pride that it put pride into me was that neither of my grandfathers, although they were landed men, and men of some wealth and position, was ever willing j to buy or sell human beings. Indeed, my paternal h grandfather seems at times to have been consider-abl- y persecuted because he made it a principle that he hired men irrespective of whether or not they were colored or white, and he paid them equal wages for equal work. So from my ancestors I have the tradition of racial equality and I am proud that it is so. But my belief in race equality does not rest only on family heritage. It rests also on the experience and observations of mv life. As vou know. I have lived always among a race other than my own. This I has given me an invaluable training in detachment, I so that I am able to look at white people as though I I were not one of them . . . I It seems to me there is nothing so stupid, so j I wicked, as pride in mere race and nothing more, no I matter where that pride is found. Yet I learned to I realize that such persons were not worthy of con-- I tempt or notice, not worth anger, even, and a poor I rickshaw puller in Shanghai taught me that. ... B One day I saw in Shanghai an American marine I give his rickshaw puller a brutal kick. The rick- - I shaw puller in Shanghai is proverbially the poorest I and most downtrodden of creatures. He drifts there H in extremest poverty from all over China. This one H was no exception. He was a middle aged man, and H starving thin, and he had been pulling a big Amer- - H ican half again his size. H I stopped and spoke to the American with in-- H dignation, and the Chinese puller watched this, per-- H fectly understanding what was going on, although H I spoke in English. At last he smiled and said to (H comfort me, "Never mind, Lady; look at him! You H and I see he is a man of' no understanding. Even H among white men if there is one of understanding H he does not behave like this." H The rickshaw man was completely superior and H he taught me this, that pride of race is always H strongest in those who have the least cause to be H proud of themselves. I have never found this to H fail; I have seen it work out truly in hundreds of H cases in the Far East where white men are few and H yet of many sorts. H But I am glad to have lived among those of an-- H other race than my own for yet another reason. It H has taught me not only to see and be ashamed of H 8 THE KANSAS CITY DEACONESS race arrogance in members of my own race, but I know through bitter experience what it is to suffer because others despise me for being white. The Chinese are an intensely proud people, they have a right to be proud ... I have always understood and accepted this pride. I have always, when I met a Chinese walking toward me in the same path, known that as a matter of course he would expect me to step aside and let him pass, and I have done I so. I do it now without thinking or noticing what I have done. But I do not feel either inferior or superior in the act I understand how it is he feels as he does and accept it, not as necessarily true to view. the fact, but simply able to see it from his point of I have had that strange and terrible experience of facing death because of my color. . . The only I reason I was not killed was because some of the others in that race knew me, under my skin, and today. risked their own lives for me, and so I am here I tell you this that you may know whereof t speak when I talk of race. I say again, I considei race feeling in any country, in any individual of any race, to be a deadly and poisonous emotion, the foe to humanity. Every man and woman of intelligence must fight it in himself, in herself, everywhere. And what shall we use as weapons in such a H fight? Not guns and swords. . . Race feeling thrives on wars. . . But you know your weapons. You are using them already. They are the weapons of solid achieve-men- t, which prove your equality to all races and H your special superiorities, those special gifts which H each race has to bring to others. When one of you H writes a matchless poem, creates a piece of music, H translates into words some portion of life, discovers a new truth in science, or lacking these special cre-- H ative gifts simply is dignified and noble personally, H here is the weapon which must vanquish race feel-- H ing. It will take time, it must take time, for any-- H thing permanent takes time, but it is the only true H and effectual way to convince the stupid and ig-- H norant. But achievement is your proof, the sign of H your greatness. . . H Bitterness is useless, it is childish and a sign of H weakness. What is it but the child's cry, "I'll show H you I'm as good as you are!" Nothing strong or H good can come out of bitterness. The spirit must H be sane, must be able to comprehend even where it H cannot admire or love. Understanding of the situa--H tion, steady, passionate determination and self con-- H trol, the highest achievement, here are the paths I to the goal. H ... I had rather be the wronged man than he I who wrongs. The burden is less. When I think and I remember on what terms your fathers were brought to this country, how they suffered and in what be-- I wilderment at their fate, and how you do still suf-- I fer and must suffer, I can only say with the great-- I est humility, "Forgive us, for we knew not what I we did." I You will have to forgive us over and over again, I I know. I know because I have had to forgive over I and over like that, too. But that long training in I forgiveness brings with it a reward. It is the re- - ward of tranquility of spirit a greatness. You are I always greater than the person you forgive, if you do truly forgive him, because you understand his I limitations and are not bitter. . . I I beg of you to be proud of your race, and that I is different from race pride. . . You are a race of I great gifts. You have strong and beautiful bodies, I lively imaginations, great poetic insight, profound I music in your hearts and voices, warm quick emo-- I tions, fine brains, a magic sense of humor. I Do not lose these gifts in not appreciating them. I The world needs them. Be proud of them, develop I them, let them be the tools of your achievement. I To me America is infinitely richer because here we I are not all of one race. And when I look at you I and remember your history, and recognize in you I the fine quality of your race and when I see what I you have done, I am proud to be your country-- I woman. PERSONALS May Faulkner spent January 8-- 29 in evangel- - I isuc worK in iiassett, Neb. Rev. Howard Blake, of Washington, D. C, a i ' member of the Oxford Group, called at the Train- - ing School on January 23. Eunice Britt conducted a two-wee- ks series of I evangelistic services at the Watson Memorial M. E. H Church, Independence, Mo., during January. Dr. H Grant A. Robbins is the pastor. Lawrence Leon arrived in the home of Dr. and H Mrs. J. J. Tretbar of Stafford, Kansas, on February i 5; weight, 8J4 pounds. Gladys Reid, '21, is his I mother. We welcome him into our large family H of little folk. We are sorry that the arrival of Marvin Lou, H son of Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Gray of San Francisco, H California, was omitted from our last issue. His H birthday will be celebrated on December 28. His H mother, Myrna Luechauer, was graduated from H K. C. N. T. S. in 1926. Rev. J. W. Ward of the Hamilton, Mo., Larger H Parish, accompanied by his daughter Belle, Miss H Beulah Henricks, and Miss Evelyn Bloomer, '32, H their deaconness, made a brief stay at the K. C. H N. T. S. on January 23. Other out of the city friends who have regis-- tered: Mrs. Julia A. Pebbles, Colorado Springs, H Colo.; Mrs. Elizabeth Mills, Carthage, Mo.; Mar-- H jorie Carson, Carol Carson and Beulah Ballinger, H fl all of Fort Scott, Kansas; Miss Itie Jones, Chanute, ( fl Kansas. "WHERE ARE YOU GOING, GREAT-HEART- ?" H "Where are you going, Great-Heart- ?" I "To break down old dividing lines; ? To carry out my Lord's designs; I To build again His broken shrines," "Then God go with you, Great-Heart- !" f "Where are you going, Great-Heart- ?" , "To set all burdened people free; To win for all, God's liberty; To 'stablish His sweet sovereignty." "God goeth with you, Great-Heart- ." Missionary Review of the World, February, 1933. 'H |
Creator | Anna Neiderheiser, ed. |
Publisher | Published in the interest of the Kansas City National Training School for Deaconesses and Missionaries, 1908- |
Publisher.digital | Saint Paul School of Theology |
Contributors | Preparation by State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia, MO. Digitized by iArchives, Provo, UT. |
Type | Newspaper |
Format.digital | |
Identifier | KCD 1933-02-01 |
Language | Eng. |
Rights | This work by Saint Paul School of Theology is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License. |
Note | Digitized 2012 with funds from a Library Services and Technology Act grant award administered by the Missouri State Library. |
Location | HERITAGE BV4176.K35 A53 |
OCLC number | 70992408 |
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