CHAPTER X 



JESUS' EXAMPLE FOR SUCH WORK 



I went out to India having specialized in philosophy 

 and hoping to be an evangelist. I end up by being a 

 missionary farmer. I have had friends tell me they 

 could not see why I am interested in the things in which 

 I am interested. They ask what plows, harrows, tractors, 

 silos, threshing machines, and better cattle have to do 

 with the evangelization of India. Bulletins upon the 

 use of manure and silage are good, but what is their 

 value as missionary tracts? 



I am accused of having lost my first love and of hav- 

 ing grown cold, of having become a materialist, and of 

 having lost my aspirations, of being indifferent to spirit- 

 ual and eternal things, of caring only for the things of 

 time and sense, the things that shall pass away, that are 

 not eternal. Now I cannot be indifferent to such criti- 

 cism from such sources. I do not doubt the honesty and 

 kindliness of my critics. It behooves me therefore to 

 see what there is in such criticism. For, if it is true and 

 justified, my work is a hindrance rather than a help to 

 the spread of Christ's kingdom in India. I should 

 deeply deplore such a result. 



In speaking of this criticism I do not wish to give the 

 impression that the whole missionary body is opposed 

 to this kind of work. In fact there is a very large 

 majority who heartily approve and wish it God speed. 



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