THE needs of the villages and hamlets of our country are very great. It is not too much to say, that in some parts of the land the Way of Salvation has not been proclaimed and made known to the people for years. There are districts in various counties, which, while smiling under the summer's sun, hardly have one ray of the light of the Sun of Righteousness to cheer them. This acknowledged darkness is a great grief to many godly people, for although there is much cause for thanking God for mission vans, colporteurs, and other agencies, which are at work to carry abroad the Word of God, still the need is appalling.
Can we do anything? Can I do anything to bring the Word of Life to these dark spots in our land?
Now we appeal to those of our Christian readers who ride a bicycle or tricycle; we would stir them to feel the enormous use they can be in the furtherance of the Gospel. We will suppose two Christians in a parish, or district, of one mind in the Lord—at least of one mind in lamenting the coldness, the indifference to Christ, and the lack of knowledge of the Way of Salvation around them. They join together in prayer, and they each devoutly say to the call of God, "Who will go for us?" "Here am I; send me." They map out the villages and hamlets within ten or fifteen miles of their home, they discover the dark spots around them, and they consecrate their cycles to the service of the Gospel—shall we say for one afternoon in a fortnight. Armed with a bundle of Gospel papers, they ride to the village ten miles off, and, making the acquaintance of the cottagers, leave there some half-dozen little booklets with the cheering word, "God willing, we shall be here again very soon.”
If this work were multiplied we should see its gracious results. It is a bright and cheery work, and we long to see more young people engaged in it. It is a work either sex can equally well engage in, and perhaps the woman will be the more successful in it.
Do think of the lonely and old Christian poor, with hardly one friend to say one word to them about Christ Will you not be the comforter of their loneliness?
We should be glad to hear from any who would engage in the work as suggested, and we should be glad to assist by supplying copies of FAITHFUL WORDS for the work. We do not encourage wholesale distribution, but earnestly appeal for individualizing, and for persistent effort.
Do use your cycle for Christ and His Gospel.