A ROCKY FOUNDATION

  Roddy Roderique had served seventeen years of a life-sentence and was appealing for an early release before the high court in Montreal. His pastor, Charles Seidenspinner, was testifying on his behalf. "Why should this man be released?" asked the Crown Attorney. "Because God has come into his life, and changed him, and will hold him steady" replied the pastor. "What do you mean `God has come into his life?"' asked the judge. He listened thoughtfully as the pastor shared in detail how Christ transforms a life. The judge then asked a loaded question: "Suppose this man is released. Would you want him for a neighbor?" "Your Honor," said the pastor, "that would be wonderful! Some of my neighbors need to hear the same message that changed his life." Roddy was released, and today he's living for the Lord and is active in his church (D. J. De Haan). God chose Israel to be a light to the nations (Isa. 43:10, 12). In I...

  In 1901 Charles Cowman and his wife Lettie moved to Japan as missionaries. One evening they climbed up a mountain near a large Japanese city. They sat quietly on a bench. In every direction, they could see villages and towns. In their hearts, they knew that there was no Christian witness in any of these. Then suddenly it seemed to Charles that Christ himself was standing beside him. He heard him say, “I gave my life for these villages, too. Won’t you go and tell them for me that I want to be their Savior?” Charles immediately answered, “Yes, Lord. I will go.” From that time Charles’ vision was to see the Gospel shared with every person in Japan. In 1912 he proposed sending trained evangelists to visit every household and leave information about Christianity. This became known as The Great Village Campaign. Japanese evangelists who had graduated from Tokyo’s Bible Training Institute walked through the provinces, bags on their shoulders stuffed with tracts. They carrie...

                   Charles and Lettie Cowman left America on February 1, 1901, to serve as missionaries in Japan. They were received by Juji   Nakada and together they pursued their dream of starting a Bible training institute. According to Charles “the aim of the institute would not be to produce classical scholars, but young men and women who could handle their mother tongue with effect, who were steeped in the Bible and who could so proclaim it as to arrest and influence all classes of people” Within a few months of being in Japan, that dream became a reality. They were able to open a mission hall where Nakada could preach the Gospel and train leaders. The hall held Bible classes in the daytime and was the venue for evangelistic services in the evening. This was the beginning of the Oriental Missionary Society. In 1902, Ernest Kilbourne joined Cowman and Nakada to assist in the growing ministry. A small monthly periodical c...