Nichols Edgar Mabel 1951 India

8/10/2019 Nichols Edgar Mabel 1951 India

1/28

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

xâstor,

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 governiîent 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 oneând

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


2/28

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


3/28

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 ,


4/28

\

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


5/28

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


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

cênt (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

maStteîto

bbpressing and

urgent

and began

tojâre

.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 î n

her

chosen

field, and followingîî^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 .


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.

Mail

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-


8/28

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


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


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


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


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

ofJûmn ^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.ê

intend to help only children ot ^h^î

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.


13/28

rem-i.nis^êBX' 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*

SSSgâM-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 jîble

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^


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


15/28

I i S r - Jo u r n e yQ ^ t nn

Pi>t~-ô t.r>r.Htf

r

J

6^

Tn

P

Coriinthiano 11

tU Chapter^

Paul

tells ol Ms labdra klid

jbÛl 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/aJÊ^

^

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

fî_ QjXAJl^

that which


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^ôvtgmbeT^ 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 sjâka 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^Ôêrl

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^^^î^dê^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


17/28

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


18/28

and was

interested

in what we

said

After âyer, 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

jâyer ^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 wâs 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


19/28

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


20/28

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,


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?^rmesôf

the

path.

>s*-eeflipes56 . wongwar is iSêgion of

Cherrapuhgi,-famous as

The

wettest spot in the

World . were warmly

greeted

oy

tne-êthren^

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

^îvj

their Lord in Chrisxian âptism.

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

peopleând

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 Mauôlikng. Yesterday we

received messages frofcêach

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

eithdrâtnolic

or Presbyteriru^ri^ry Schools.

e

have

proviaed

the

means for Ojêning 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^


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


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

Nichols Edgar Mabel 1951 India

Documents

Transcript of Nichols Edgar Mabel 1951 India