PAGE PETER MAGUMBENI PLAYING NATIVE PIANO.. .245 MR. AGNEW, MISS ALLEN AND BOYS OF THE SCHOOL AT JO MRS. AGNEW AND CHILDREN AT MR. AGNEW'S GRAVE. 292 THE WIDOW AND FATHERLESS CHILDREN. .308 MAP OF SOUTH AFRICA. ..318 INTRODUCTION We do not know what God might have done for the universal publication of the gospel, but we know what he has not done. So far as we are able to see, God, in the great work of saving men, might have commissioned angels in their dazzling brightness and glory to go through the world publishing the glad tidings of salvation, but we know he has not done it. This work, with its responsibilities and its glory, is committed to human hands. The ordained method for the accomplishment of this grand purpose seems to be-gracious provision, divine power and human agency. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, says: "For we are laborers together with God" (1 Cor. 3: 9); John, in his introduction of his gospel, says: "There was a man sent from God" (Jno. 1: 6); and, in his final commission for the spread of the gospel, Jesus said to the men whom he called: "Go ye therefore and teach all nations" (Matt. 28:19). In a very important sense, therefore, the divine plan seems to be, “man the savior of man." And in this method divine wisdom is clearly manifest; for, whatever of superiority, either in power or glory, there may be in angelic natures, and however much angels may excel in the gift of utterance, no angel could possibly, from personal experience, testify to the power of God's grace to save from sin. But a redeemed human being cannot only preach the gospel, but can testify as well that Jesus Christ hath power to blot out transgressions and to cleanse from all unrighteousness. Saul of Tarsus, terror-stricken and astounded, heard. the Lord Jesus speaking from heaven and saying: "But rise, and stand upon thy feet; for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness" (Acts 26:16); and, to this day, by one means or another, God calls men to the great work of spreading the glad tidings of salvation both in the home and in the foreign field. In the following pages we have a sketch of the life of a man who, by the circumstances both of his birth and early training, was prepared for the work to which God by his Spirit and providence later called him. From his Protestant Irish parentage he inherited a dislike for mere forms and ceremonies, and from his early religious training, among the dissenters, he acquired a regard and love for the principles of truth and righteousness early instilled into his mind. Moreover, in the providence of God thrown upon his own resources while yet a mere youth, he acquired in an unusual degree that spirit of selfreliance so necessary to success in the foreign mission. field. No one can read the following record of his heroic self-denials, struggles and sacrifices in the accomplishment of his God-given work without having his conceptions of what constitutes whole-hearted and practical consecration to God broadened and his sympathy with foreign missionary work greatly quickened. The narrative will be found highly entertaining, instructive and inspiring to old and young alike. Personal acquaintance with Mr. Agnew, and more or less knowledge of his work during all the years he spent on the foreign field, assure me that the character of the man and the value of his service to the church render it eminently proper that such a record of his life and labors as follows should be given to the reading public; while many years of personal acquaintance with the author of the work, as also his established reputation as a writer, and the interest and carefulness with which he has evidently devoted himself to its production, convince me that the volume he has produced will be received and read with general interest and satisfaction. ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA. EDWARD P. HART. |