The Ohio Independent Baptist, August 1966

Returning to India E~. ote: Recently l\e l\ere hies ed in hea~1ng Re" . John V\ ilken peak concemin~ India. l\'e a ked for thi~ article o t hat other hear t might a l o be burdened. Pray for thee folk! Thi great land hac; heen n1uch in the new the la t fe\A.' years. Ind ia i a ht1 ngr)' country - Plz)'sical!,,. M e 11 - tt1ll_r a nd .. <;pirit11all}·. Pl1}'Sical(v - There are 480 n1il– Ji on people triving to live in a country o ne third the s ize of the Ll nited tate and for the mo t part the farming i carried on the san1e way it was thousand of year ago, plowing with oxen and a pointed c;tick. pl anting by hand, harvesting, threc;hing, cleaning, grinding, etc., all hy hand in the vill age where abot1t 81cc of the people live. Con equent– ly. people are hungry physically. 480 million people and 200 million cattle wou ld have had an average of little n1ore than ten ounce of food each per day in 1964 had it not been for 1mportc; of foodstu ffs. Seeking the Lost in Alaska 1vt ay 29, 1965, another milestone for Alan and Eleanore Patter on, for graduation from Los Angeles Baptist Theological Seminary marked three long years in further preparation for the work that is ahead. Then, with POMP A D CIR UMSTA CE sti ll r1ng1ng in our ears and a little Dodge Dart packed as tight as a drt1m \VC headed across the hot de - ' ert on our wa~ 1 to leveland, Ohio. ur applications for work in Ala'>ka u11der Baptist Mid-Mi sions would be cc)n1pleted after our appearance be– fore t ~1e 1 i sion ounci l and the two \.veek JJrograr11 called the " cr11i– nar. '~ \Ve l ' 11C\.\' t}1at " 1od hacl leti Lt all the way" a we signed the ,tr– t icles f c1gre 111ent rtt the er1cf of this J)eriod. \~'i:; knew a) tt1at it \'.Va ll i o, 1 ereig11 " 'i ll for ti to rett1r11 t Ala a. '] J1e c}1illing vli11d ancl tl1e l1u1g 111 squi t es oi Ala l a Y.'i:;r 11 >t ,11 " to u , Jor v,l J1ad pc11t fot11 y~a , in a 11 all A1t1al,a ka11 l 11clia11 illag t111d r a11 i11t rtl 11 111ir1ati 1Jal 111ssio1 . \ i1l1 trcJng l"la11ti tic c 11 - , ict 1 ,n~ 1 es1gnation fr 111 111 111i i 11 ,~ds 111 ,1t,1ble. '" \l\ Y-ere 111aki11g lu11 1lla11s t r IL1111 t111 I ~1 1 1,11 t 1 11s~1 11"~ l ut tl11er Lll)JlOI t ic JUI ... I , 1 1 , I' 11 t d t I n Is t 1 i u • I c, Ill 1 ~ tt d l1gl1t. I J 11\1 t C 11( > 111 '11 TH OHIO I t D PEND N BAPTIST Rev. & Mrs. John Wilkens M e11tall)· - Over 45 million stud– ents are in chool today compared with 14 million in 1947 - and yet there a re about 76% of the people illiterate. Adult study classe are very popt1lar and many n1ore are needed. Literature i in demand in many place and languages. Whatever the n1a terial , it will be read. Communi ts are providing much attractive ma- I did not always look upon this task a optin1i tically a Eleanore did , but once we began to pre ent the work of Ala ka to the churche , it wa very refre hing to n1eet tho e who pron1i ed to uphold u in prayer. By December , we aw that we could make our tenative departure date to rett1rn to the country that we love. Our heart were thrilled with the joy of the Lord as we a\\ the fi nal cht1rch take on our upport. We then drove to ewhall , ali- f orn i a, and for one n1ore n1onth f i111<ihed ttp the che(it1l e \\ hich we had r11ade. On March 24, l 966, we fottnd ot1r– ~clve on the Ala ka Highway \\. ith Re v . & Mr . Al an Patter on tcri al - l1t1t we are not . .\'pi, i111t1 ll)· - r ndi a i a very rc– l1 gio t1~ cot1nt ry - Paul coti ld h,1ve certainly said, ., fe n of Indi a, I per– ceive in every way - on every hand and with every turn I make - that you are mo t religiou . ' (Ampli fied .T. Act 17: 22) According to the tate man ( a lead ing new paper of India) datelined ew Delhi, o– vember 5, 1964, Hindu increa ed 20.29% from 1951-1961, to a total of 3 66.502 million ; hri ti an 27 .38 °0 to 10.726 million ; Buddi t 1,67 1 r (l to 3.25 million ; Mo lem 25 .61 lie to 3 5 .41 4 million. Other religions al o howed increa e . All of the e ta– ti tic indicate that India i piritually hungry that Satan i offering uh– titute , and that we should try all the harder to pre ent them with the mes age of the Go pel. India i in need of help, and given in the right way thi help will be ap– preciated and received. Would yot1 a k God what He wot1ld have you 1 do about thi ? Total comn1itment L needed - token comn1itn1ent will no longer do. the beautiful warn1 weather of ot1th– ern California behind u , and nothing ... but ice, lt1 h now and n1t1d that lay ahead. Our goal wa Fairbank , the econd large t cit)' of Ala, ka which lie in the '"Golden Heart of the orth. ' ' The town of F airbank~ wa born a n1en grubbed ab ut in the mire of the earth looking for that preciou yellow n1etal called gold. The aloon and dance hall relie e(i the ten ion of the e pro pector and. e\cn toda 1'. thi atn10 ph re pr \ ail ~o a cer ta in degree. Ian) change. ha c been n1ade, bt1t there arc hearts that are need) and tht 1 • the gt)lLt that \\C ca111c here for. Ho\\ 1._ 11 do11e ') Onl\ b) d or to dl)Or \ 1s1t,1t1L)tl a 11 "' c reach the e pcoplt.: ,, 1th the n1e\~<1ge or life. ..lt1U 1t l\ Olll d~~1rc ... lL) ~ee tt l~apt1~t ( 'ht1rch here 111 ( l)l lcge \Vhich \v1ll pt ocl .. 1i111 thi" 111css.. 1gc t l) t ht)\C \\ ht) lt \ l1c1 e. (. 'ol lcge Is ., ~,11allc1 sc t1l)t1 l)l l~\111 l1a11l, ,, 1th the l1l\ Cl \ll\ t)t .r\ l~l\l,l ltt,t tfl)\\ 11 lht~ fl)tlli \\ e t ) ha, t a 11rogra111. \\ c l1t1l)C tl, l..,cgi11 ,, 1tl1 a ,, t:ek nigl1t B,l..,lc "tltli\ . 1\ ~ ~t)C)11 as tl1t~1e drC ~11 Ltgl1 t,e– lie, e, "· \\ t:: ,, ill l)I ga11i1. ~ 111t() .. lla1Jtist lllll \.Jl . Olli' n11,l1.,si~ is l 11 lllc \ isit. - til)tl as1) t , nll alrt'l I tl1 g ~l t l l1as \) 11 lei t i11 lll ' lll\ llt'111t:s l)f tl1is ar a. \\ 1 t ll> )\ l l\lr Jll',l\Crs I,, t I la i l ; a 11 I 111 1 l c;, s 111 t , 11 ,>tir , a at1 ,,1 tt 111igl1t ,tt 11cl tt, ( \l)I gl l1 aJ) tist l1\1r t1 it1st a little ,, d lit f l :iirlJ 11ks. AUGUS 1966 PAGE 7