T°

O missionaries in Japan it is often a puzzling question how best to set to work. How shall we reach people, how get them to church, how even enlarge our circle of acquaintances and so extend our influence? Here, for instance, in Kawagoe is a little band of Christians in a town of 20,000, "not yet believers," all except the few either disliking or utterly indifferent to Christianity. We cannot just go into peoples' houses and say, "I've come to talk to you about Christianity."

Foreigners especially, still struggling with the intricacies of the language, must by many indirect ways make friends and try to get people to want to hear about the religion they come to teach. One of the best methods of work in many places has been found to be the kindergarten.

The government as yet pays very little attention to kindergartens. In Kawagoe there is no oversight by the city au

thorities, and no restriction as to Christian teaching. For some time we thought of starting a kindergarten, but could find no Japanese teacher who was a Christian. So we sent one of the graduates of St. Margaret's School to be trained and when she had finished the course we opened the kindergarten in February, 1907. It is called the Sendan Kindergarten. Sendan is the name of a plant about which there is a proverb: "The sendan gives out a delicious fragrance even while it has only two leaves." Which, being interpreted means: "Even little children may display signs of superexcellence."

We began in a modest way, renting a small house in the part of the town where there seemed to be the greatest need for such work. It is an attractive house with sliding paper walls and soft matting floors in the usual native style, and the yard is especially pretty. When we rented this house there was a fox shrine in the corner of the garden. We

took it for granted that the owner would remove this, but after we had moved in we found out our mistake. Move that shrine and bring down all the wrath of the god on him! No, indeed, what sacrilege even to think of it! He would not even allow us to take the risk of the god's anger by having it moved ourselves. We could not have a Christian kindergarten with a shrine to the fox god in the garden. So after much argument and persuasion the owner finally allowed us, at our own expense, to put up a high fence around the shrine, which effectually divided it from our part of the garden.

Next door is a large primary school, and so usually the older brothers and sisters bring the kindergarten children on their way to school.

Children the world over are lovable, but surely none are more so than Japanese children at the kindergarten age. As we go into the house they all come flocking to the door crying "Sensei Ohayo"-Good morning, teacher. And then down they go on the floor and bow their heads to the matting in greeting. There are thirty-five children enrolled

keep them good children that day. Then there are many songs, games indoors and out, paper-cutting, block-building and various things on different days. Once a week there is a Bible story, and it is remarkable how those little ones understand and remember. At eleven o'clock they are ready for their o bento-honorable lunch. All sit on the floor around the low tables and take their little lunch boxes out of gay-colored handkerchiefs, in which they are always wrapped. They sing a blessing and then open come the boxes, and every chop-stick is busy.

I wonder how an American child would enjoy their lunches? There is always rice and usually fish or some vegetables, all prepared in a way very different from ours. These children seem to enjoy it quite as much as American children do ham sandwiches and cake.

At noon they sing a farewell song and go home. Many of the mothers have become friendly and come to church and to the Christian meeting held especially for women once a month. We are going to have monthly mothers' meetings just for the kindergarten mothers, and try to

211

know them better and interest them more in Christianity.

Sunday afternoons we have a Sundayschool for the kindergarten children and any others who will come. The first week we put up a sign on the fence saying that the next Sunday all children would be welcome. The paper was torn down; we put it up again, and again it was torn down. But on Sunday fifty children came to see what queer thing was going to happen, and they were as quiet as could be. The Sunday-school has had its ups and downs, as they all do, but while some children leave as soon as their curiosity is satisfied, there are always some faithful ones who come in rain or shine.

The present house is much too small for the kindergarten. If we had a larger one, we could take more pupils and also do much better work. But a larger house is not to be rented, and at the best a Japanese house is not suitable for a school. We should like to be able to build a simple house designed especially for a kindergarten. Doesn't some one in America want to help us do it?

SEVEN MEN WHO ARE LIVING EXAMPLES OF WHAT THE AMERICAN CHURCH CAN DO FOR NEGRO LADS

Rev. H. B. Delaney,

St. Augustine's School,

Raleigh, N. C.

Rev. J. W. Perry, Tarboro, N. C.

Rev. J. H. M. Pollard, Archdeacon of North Carolina

Rev. P. P. Alston, Charlotte, N. C.

P

ERHAPS the most perplexing question before the American people to-day is, "What shall be done with the 10,000,000 Negroes and their descendants in the future development of the Republic?" In the great army of children and youth in our schools of all classes, some 18,000,000 in number, there are about 2,000,000 of Negro boys and girls, and their actions in the next few years must have a good or evil effect upon the whole country.

To understand fully the real help that the Church is to Negro boys and girls, it is necessary to live among them and see for one's self the gradual change in their character and conduct as the dignified purity of the Church and her teachings become more and more a part of their very being.

As they come to know the Church they begin to realize that true religion and undefiled is not simply a big "shout" or "emotional exclamations," but that there is such a thing as "Duty to God" and

"Duty to one's neighbor." Let the boys and girls of any race learn these two things and strive earnestly to live them, and the inevitable result must be good citizens.

In the proper training of these boys and girls the Church has a golden opportunity, and she can do much to shape the future destiny of this race if she will only grasp her opportunity. The older members of the race will perhaps always be emotional and sensational in their religion, but the younger, the more intelligent, are yearning for a truer, purer form of worship. The younger ones no longer feel that you must go into the graveyard at midnight to pray or you "can't get converted." Once upon a time the "converted" were expected to go from door to door and inform all the Christians that their "feet had been plucked out of the mire and the clay and placed on the rocks of eternal ages." Now the graveyards are deserted, the "door-todoor" custom largely abandoned and the "converts" are expected to act as ration