nineteen hundred and forty-six - Amazon Web Services

FOREIGN MISSION BOARD 289
classes in two grammar schools and in Baldwin High School. There are Sunday
schools in Kahului and Makawao, and two Bible classes reaching people above
school age.
On April 22, 1945, the Kahului Baptist Church was organized with twentyseven
members. Dr. J. T. Williams was present and preached the dedicatory
sermon. Since that time the membership has increased to forty^six. Although
most of the members live in Kahului, there are from one to ten in each of the
mission centers. Rev. Edwin Dozier has been acting pastor, visiting the church
occasionally and carrying on a ministry for Japanese-speaking people. Regular
Sunday morning services have been conducted by four splendid Baptist Marine
chaplains. The other services of the church are conducted by the missionaries.
The work in Maui was fortunate at the beginning in securing the use of
public halls for its activities. That has proven a mixed blessing in that it
gives to the work a sense of being merely temporary. As soon as the church
can buy land and build, there will be a feeling of security and permanence.
The building fund has grown steadily, and with the usual aid of the Board to
a mission church, we shall be ready to build as soon as a suitable lot is obtained.
God, in his providence, saw fit to send to the field, in October, 1945, a fine
new worker, Miss Bertie Lee Kendrick. We urgently need a missionary pastor
and his wife to give full time to the work. We trust God and Southern Baptists
to meet that need. Hitherto the Lord has led us. We trust him for the
tomorrows.
HAWAII
CHARLES A. LEONARD
The 70,000 residents of this, the Big Island, consist of Japanese, Hawaiians,
Filipinos, Porto Ricans, Portuguese, Chinese, and Caucasians other
than those already mentioned the order is in point of numbers. Baptist work
centers in Hilo which has a population of 28,000 and is the second largest city
of the Territory.
Since there was no group with whom we could begin here, it has been
necessary to start with the opening of Bible classes and Sunday schools, weekday
religious education classes, centers for preaching, and general gospel broadcasting.
Three Sunday schools have been started, the enrollment of each
ranging from twenty-five to forty. Three religious education classes have been
opened here in Hilor and two in neighboring towns. The total attendance of
125 is on the. increase.
At two places where preaching services are held, thirty-five have accepted
the Lord, but none is yet ready for baptism. A public address system makes
possible preaching to large numbers in the parks and in needy neighboring
towns. Missionary addresses and other assistance is given the few evangelical
groups on the Island. At the close of a service in a principal town, sixteen
young people dedicated their lives to Christian work. Many thousands of
gospel tracts and booklets have been distributed, along with hundreds of New
Testaments for service men. It is a pleasure to entertain some of these men
in our home.
Dark heathenism on these islands is as rank as in Japan or China, and the
ignorance regarding God's Word and what it means to be a Christian is
appalling. Some of the situations we meet are hard and discouraging, but
those who have become Christians give promise and encouragement.
The assistance of a Christian layman who speaks Japanese, and the help of
Miss Lila Watson, who came recently on her way to China, are much appreciated;
but we need other missionaries to work permanently here and elsewhere
on the Big Island. Another need is a suitable building as a center of work
in Hilo, and a missionary residence. Join us in prayer for these, and especially
for the salvation of the people, who so greatly need the Lord.
UNIVERSITY AVENUE MISSION
MAURICE ANDERSON
After working with the Sunday school and Baptist Training Union of Olivet
Church for a few months, Dr. and Mrs. Anderson and Miss Thomas organized
a Sunday school in the Bible School building at the morning worship hour.
This is recognized as a mission of Olivet Church. A few months later they
resigned their responsibilities at Olivet to develop the new mission.