Untitled - Memorial University of Newfoundland

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s tated repeatedly that he had n o i nt ere s t i n joining with an y
of them .
The Vaterses went on to Victoria, where in February 1924,
they rec e i ve d pe r mi s s i o n t o us e the Orange Lodge rent-free for
t wo weeks o f meetings . 102
Th e residents readily accepted a
f ormer so n. vaters ' attempt to coo perate with the Methodist
minister e nded whe n the l atter began pub LLcLy ridiculing the
meetings, wh i ch contin ued in t he Orange Hall fo r t he enti re
spring . "We knowingly s hun ned the spectacUlar, t he emotional,
sent ime nt a l ," Vaters wrote in 1974 . "We had no illusions ; we
cou l d suffer no defeat". No o f f eri ng s were c o l l e c t e d in the
i n i t i a l meetings . " I t must be a l l of God about us, " he
reas one d . "We would prove God" . '03 Thursday evening , Marc h
20 , 1924, brought a response similar to that ex pe r-Le nced in
the 19 19 Demarest campaign. 104
The re wa s the conscious brooding of the presence of
t he Holy Spirit ; one must move cautiously a nd let
the s p i rit ha ve His way . Then it was l i ke " a rushing
mighty wi nd" - -from heaven--"and it filled all
t he hous e, II a nd there was a rush towa rd t he a ltar .
Some could no t get a t t he a ltar- - it wa s filled just
before they go t so far- - and they knelt where the y
co uld f i nd place. lOS
Wha t crying ou t to God!
Forty individuals- -mos tly you ng married men Who later formed
t he nucleus of the Vi ct o r i a mi s s i on--we r e converted. Another
40 were added to the number the next; night .
In May 19 24 Eugene va t.e rc began editing and publishing a
mon t hly pe r iodical , The Independent communio n . It was
"d ed i cated to the wor k of God i n Newf ound l a nd, and elsewhere