There is romance in most stories of early pioneers coming to Australia. Two brothers, who were born and raised in Cornwall became sailors and joined a ship sailing for South Australia. Ship-life in the middle of last century was rough, cruel and often inhumane. The long voyage around the Cape of Good Hope and then down in the sub-antarctic weather of the Roaring Forties made life most uncomfortable. On arriving at Port Adelaide, the two young men from Cornwall had no desire to continue to endure ship-life. They had heard of the opportunities for a good life in Australia, so they decided to "jump ship". They made their way to the hills about Adelaide and came to Black Hill. Here they were befriended by a Dutch family--the Hambers. Mr. Hamber was a shepherd and had market gardens on the banks of the River Torrens, near Paradise. Since the sailors had no legal papers authorising their entry into Australia, they had to remain in hiding. Soon they established themselves in this quiet and scattered community and secured land on which to work and to develop a market garden.

      One brother, William G. Coventry, married a daughter of the Hambers. The Cornish man and the Dutch lass set up home. Of this couple, Charles Henry Coventry was born in 1862 at Athelstone. In 1882, he married Agnes Tomkins. The grandfather of Agnes had arrived in Australia on the "Eden" with his parents in 1840 when he was two years old.

      His claim to fame was that he became the first butcher in Adelaide. His family name, however, became associated with the sporting life of South Australia, particularly in the realm of football, establishing the Tomkin Cup. Of this marriage there were two boys and two girls, the third child was called Harold Roy Coventry. He was born in 1891 at Athelstone. While some members of the Coventry family remained in Athelstone until 1959, Charles Henry Coventry and his family moved to Aldgate Valley to establish an orchard and a market garden. Here Harold Roy attended school, first at Stirling and then later at Heathfield, until he was thirteen years of age, in 1903. While living at Aldgate Valley, Roy attended Salvation Army services and, in one of these, he made a declaration of faith under the "Army Flag". Since his family were strict Methodists, it was natural he attended a Methodist Sunday School and church services.

      After leaving school, he worked with his father in the market garden. Since the Coventrys had been brought up in the tradition of gardeners, they managed to make a living for their family. As the fruit trees needed some years to reach maturity and the gardens needed constant effort, it was not easy to provide for all the requirements of the family. Of course, the farm provided eggs, milk, butter and vegetables, but what about clothing, payment of rates and personal needs? By taking vegetables to the market, some money could be earned. This market was at South Terrace, Adelaide. The produce would be loaded on to the family cart on Sunday afternoon. When all the vegetables were on the cart and the horse harnessed to it, father and son (Roy) would set out on the long journey. Both walked beside the cart, up and down the steep grades of Mt. Lofty. They passed "the Eagle on the Hill" Hotel, then under the railway bridge, down the mountainside past Elder Smith's old homestead at the "Big Gum Tree" at St. George, and on to the highway leading to South Terrace. Here they reached the Adelaide Markets. It was a strenuous trip for a young lad. After such a journey, he was ready for a long sleep, but the call of the markets demanded he and father be up and about at 4 a.m. on Monday.

      The Coventry-stall was next to the Caldicotts' corner of the markets. This association of two families was to have significant consequences for future developments of Churches of Christ and their Overseas' Missionary programme.

      Although he had left school at thirteen, Roy was anxious to improve his education. Each Friday evening, he visited the library at Stirling East, which was about four miles from his home, They were lonely miles. Sometimes at dusk as he walked, he would whistle loudly to keep the "ghosts" away. Among the books he read, one was the story of the life of Mary Slessor, the young Scots lass who went out to Africa to advance the work that David Livingstone had commenced. This small lass from Scotland faced banks of fierce warriors who were set on making war. They would stand facing each other with gruesome weapons. By sheer faith in God and courage, she separated these warring factions. The example of this young woman was enough to stir the heart of Roy Coventry. He made up his mind to become a missionary and go to far off Africa.

      About the time he was fifteen years old, he found it necessary to leave home and live at Adelaide to lighten the burden on the family struggling to make a bare living in those difficult days. When he was sixteen he went to live with his Uncle Clarence and Aunt Emily. His Uncle and Aunt attended the services of the Church of Christ at Hindmarsh. Roy went along with them and enjoyed the fellowship of this church.

      Because he had some knowledge of fruit and flowers he had been able to secure a position as an attendant of a fruit and flower stall on the Adelaide Railway Station. These fruit stalls displayed fruit in season. When several barrows were lined up at the station they made a picturesque display. Passengers were eager to buy fruit for refreshment on their journey, and housewives found it convenient to buy their needs here to save them carrying them through the city streets. While this situation would provide some income for the lad, it promised little prospect of leading to a better future. Wisely, Roy Coventry now sought a position which could enable him to develop his natural talents and qualify for a career. He became apprenticed to a carpenter. During this period he continued to improve his skills by enrolling in a course on architecture. This course was made available by the International Correspondence School. The studies covered geometrical drawing, architecture and building construction. In addition, under the guidance of Uncle Clarence, he studied practical book-keeping. Unknown to Roy Coventry he was preparing himself for God's work in the future. Certainly God moves in a mysterious way.

      He next became apprenticed to a coach-building firm--Messrs. Duncan and Fraser.

      He was sixteen years or age and busy helping to build trams for the City of Adelaide. Before this there were horse-drawn trams which provided transport for travellers to the seaside and to the outlying suburbs. Apparently, his work was considered highly for he was chosen, at the age of nineteen years to go to Melbourne with a group of men to help construct electric trams for the district of Malvern.

      Writing of Adelaide in those early days he said, "The thing I do remember much more distinctly were the vagaries of the old horse-trams which were just finishing (the electric trams taking their place). One horse could pull an ordinary tram, but wherever there were hills, there were extra horses waiting. As a tram came

to a stop near the Cathedral, for example, an extra horse was hitched on the side of the tram and would run out-side the rails and help the other horse or horses up the hill. In North Adelaide (Park Corner) he would be unhitched. The driver would walk him down the hill again. The same thing happened on the hill up into King William Street. This was also true of the Thornton and Henley Beach trams, coming up the hill from Mile-End. Many of the horse-drawn trams were double-deckers, using two horses for the whole trip. They all went out as far as the electric trams do today: Prospect, Unley, Paradise, Henley Beach, Glen Osmond, etc." Speaking of the first electric trams he helped to build he says "There was only a mild wave, of excitement through the crowd when the tram took off down North Terrace."

      Throughout this period Roy Coventry attended. the Church, of Christ at Hindmarsh. This church had a missionary outlook. Mr. H. H. Strutton, a pioneer missionary to India had been, in membership in this church. Here A. T. Magarey, who was a keen supporter of missions in India, and donated the Magarey Bungalow at Baramati, took a leading role in the life of the church. The church at Hindmarsh partly supported Mr. Strutton, who went to India in 1895 to work with the Poona and Indian Village Mission.

      In 1910, when Roy Coventry was assisting in building electric trams, Mr. Strutton, on a furlough, visited his home church and spoke of work among the criminal tribes in India. In his address, he presented a challenge of the mission field. This could well be the time when the Lord called Roy Coventry and turned his thoughts from Africa to India. In 1911, Charles R. Scoville and his team of evangelists visited Australia. They held missions in Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth. It was now that Roy Coventry was baptised.

      His ambition now was to enter the College of the Bible in Victoria to prepare himself for his life's work. Before he could go to college he needed funds to pay his fees and board. Only by strict saving and sacrifice was this possible. By 1913, at the age of 22 years, he set out for the Glen Iris Bible College. The College of the Bible at Glen Iris had been established by the Federal Conference of Churches of Christ to train men for the ministry and for the personnel preparing to go into missionary service. Prior to this, men went to colleges in America. Many promising young preachers were attracted by opportunities in the United States of America and did not return to their homeland. To overcome this situation and to make it easy for men and women to secure a good training for Christian work, the College was established. At first it was located at Rathdown Street, Carlton, Melbourne. Then it was moved to Glen Iris. The location of the college is between the Gardiner and Glen Iris stations. These stations were then on a narrow-gauge line which joined the main suburban system at Burnley. At this time, 1913, the district of Glen Iris was mainly wide-open fields. The houses were few and far between. Roy Coventry would pass only one or two houses as he walked from Gardiner Station to the college. The main building of the College was a large two-storey residence, built back in the boom days which Melbourne enjoyed at the end of the 19th century.

      Through the college grounds, the Gardiner Creek flowed to join the Yarra River. On its way it flowed through fields and meadows. At this time, the natural beauty of the stream had not been destroyed by pollution nor by the result of storm-water being directed into it by town-planners. Over the creek, on the sloping hills, rising up from the valley, were violet farms. In season, the fragrance of the perfume of the violets added a new dimension to the beauty of the rural scene.

      The College course provided students with a thorough knowledge of the Old and New Testament, also a course on Church History, a history of Overseas' Missions and the practise of the art and delivery of sermons.

      At College, Roy Coventry was to renew fellowship with H. A. G. Clark with whom he had been friendly at Stirling, S.A. He also cultivated new friendships with men who had come from all the States of the Commonwealth. Among these was Dan Wakeley with whom he was especially close.

      Roy needed to improve the state of his finances. He sought work which would not interfere with his college studies. He was delighted to find he could make use of his knowledge of bookkeeping, which he had gained by his study of practical bookkeeping. A Mr. Ernie Meyer, a member of the Church of Christ at Berwick, engaged him to help keep his accounts and books in order.

      The country town of Berwick was situated in a beautiful valley, where the land was suitable for orchards and general farming. A Church of Christ was established there as the result of the efforts of an itinerant preacher. A small chapel was erected on the Princes Highway which passed through the village. In the district a group of Germans had settled. These people had come originally from Germany where they had faced persecution for their faith.

      Many of these people had become members of the local Church of Christ. Members named Hillbrick, Moysey, Myer, Ritchie, Aurisch, Metsantine and Warmbrumm and others made worthy contributions to the church in Australia. Here at Berwick, Roy Coventry met Ethel Warmbrumm, whom he married several years later.

      One of the rules the College laid down was that each man had to be associated with a church during his college course to gain practical experience. To meet this requirement and also to gain extra funds, Roy accepted calls to the churches at Bet Bet and Dunolly. After three years at college, at the end of 1915, he had completed his training and was ready to accept a call to serve on a mission field.

      The call came to Roy Coventry from the Overseas Mission Board of Churches of Christ. He was invited to go to India. To this end, he now made final preparations to set his affairs in order. The date of his departure was set for early 1916.

      He returned to South Australia to be with his family at Aldgate. He spent most of January there. He visited several churches and was invited to preach in some. The church at Hindmarsh arranged a farewell service and presented him with a purse of twenty golden sovereigns. What would they be worth today!

      After his final address at Aldgate before leaving Australia, he sailed on January 27th on the S.S. Karmela for Fremantle. He arrived there on January 31st. Roy Coventry spent about two weeks in Western Australia, visiting churches. He also enjoyed the beaches, the waterways of the Swan River and the various national parks.

      On February 15th, 1916, at 12.45 p.m. he left Fremantle for Colombo, on the S.S. Khyber. Before him lay the great and mysterious land of India. He would not then be fully aware of what awaited him. "In 1914 war broke on the world and in India there was an outbreak of loyal enthusiasm, not merely restricted to princes, soldiers and officials whose interests were linked with those of the British. Moderate nationalist opinion expected the war to last only a few months, and hoped that Indian help in achieving a British victory would bring its reward in a larger measure of self-government. A truce from political action followed the outbreak of war. Recruits flocked to the Indian Army and large contributions poured into the Red Cross and the War Loans. In London Ghandi pledged his support and was awarded the Kaiser-i-Hind medal in the Birthday Honours of 1915 for 'service to the British Empire'."

      As the war dragged on, however, enthusiasm declined. By 1916, recruiting under pressure was begun, and middle-class India found itself virtually forced to contribute to the War Loans. Prices began to rise. The rebellion in Ireland encouraged the extremists to believe that India, too, could free itself by violence. (See p. 18 "Nehru", by Michael Edwards.)

      Two men were now beginning to take up active missions to work for better political and social conditions for all Indians.

      Their work was to continue throughout the period Roy Coventry was in India.

      One was Mahatma Ghandi, a solicitor. At the beginning of the century, Ghandi was in South Africa with his friend C. F. Andrews. Ghandi, at that time, was seriously considering becoming a Christian. One Sunday morning, when Mr. Andrews was to preach at a nearby church, Ghandi asked if he might go and hear his friend preach. On the steps of the church, both Andrews and Ghandi were met by one or two of the deacons. They welcomed Mr. Andrews but informed Mahatma Ghandi that coloured people were not admitted to the church, which was for whites only. It is not, therefore surprising Ghandi never again considered joining a Christian Church! Thus a great ambassador for Christ was lost by those who acted so contrary to the spirit of Christ!

      Ghandi took up the fight for justice for his people very early in his life. In 1913 he led some 2,500 Indian labourers in a march from Natal to Transvaal in a protest against the South African Government. This non-violent resistance which Ghandi introduced made a strong impact on the authorities in South Africa. It has since been used by Social Reformers in other parts of the world, particularly in India.

      The other man to make a big impact on India was Jawaharlal Nehru, son of Motilal Nehru. The Nehru family had come from Kashmir. They were Hindus of a high cast. They were honoured with the title "Pandit" which means "man of learning". Motilal was a successful lawyer at Allahabad when his son, Jawaharlal was born on November 14th, 1889. Gaining a degree at Cambridge and qualifying as a lawyer, Jawaharlal returned to India. He found the profession of law uninspiring. After meeting Ghandi at the Lucknow Congress in 1916, he became interested in politics. He was encouraged by the fight the Irish were making for independence. But in the struggle for freedom, Ghandi advised Nehru not to act so as to get himself arrested. But the day after the "Dyer" massacre in 1919, when 379 Indians were killed and 1,200 wounded, the hopes of peace with Britain were dashed. Now Motilal and Jawaharlal Nehru, father and son, became co-partners with Ghandi in a freedom movement which was to take Nehru Jr. to the honour of being the first Prime Minister of Independent India in 1948-9. "In the greater world outside India, Nehru soon emerged as a statesman raising his country's prestige in international affairs. He became, in one sense, the voice of the New World, once denied a say in its own destiny, which now called out for recognition."

      These events were in the unknown future, at the time Roy Coventry was travelling to India. He was a new missionary looking forward with great hopes to what was to prove his life's

work. His ship, the S.S. Khyber, was steaming over the Indian Ocean towards Colombo.

      Life on the ship was made enjoyable for the young man who had been active in sport at school and college. He shared in deck sports such as deck-cricket. He enjoyed his match with the first class passengers. While life was enjoyable for the young man on this liner, he was reminded of the tragic and desperate life-struggle in which many of his fellow Australians were locked in the Middle East and in Europe. From time to time, troop ships were sighted. A grim reminder of man's inhumanity to man.

      Colombo was reached on February 24th. Since the Colombo harbour had no wharf accommodation for large liners, they anchored out in the harbour. Launches conveyed passengers to and from the ship and shore. The tropical sun, while nurturing dense jungle growth, was also a threat to the skin of the new arrival. Roy bought a topee: for only mad dogs and Englishmen go out into the midday sun unprotected. This and other transactions demanded an introduction into the business methods followed in the East. The price asked by the dealer at the first advance is not the real price. This is reached by a series of bargainings. At last the price is reduced until the actual figure is reached which satisfies both parties. H. R. Coventry needed a fan. The shopkeeper asked four shillings, but eventually, by bargaining, it was reduced to one shilling, or just a little more than ten cents.

      Colombo introduced the visitor to the manner in which human labour was used for the carrying out of work which animals performed in most Western lands in those days.

      Roy had his first ride in a rickshaw. The men who commit themselves to earning a living by pulling a rickshaw are under such physical strain, they reduce their life-expectancy. The average rickshaw man can carry on this task for only about four years. Then his heart gives out and he is so weak he cannot continue such work. Human life does not seem to be so valued in the East as in the West.

      Few visitors to Ceylon miss a tour which takes them to a Buddhist Temple. The Buddhist monk is there to greet him. He is usually a healthy looking man with some physical bulk and dressed in a saffron coloured robe. The priest will take the visitor to a statue of Buddha, usually some 18 to 20 feet in height, sitting cross-legged, with hands together in supplication and meditation. This attitude suggests the occasion when Gautama, the founder of the faith, experienced an "enlightenment" in which he grasped four truths:--

      1. An individual, or separate existence, is a curse.

      2. The cause of individual life is desire.

      3. The extinction of desire is the only escape from the misery of life.

      4. The extinction of desire is through the enlightened path of self-desire.

      The ultimate goal of life is reached when all consequential, or successions, of lives have been definitely overcome in a state of Nirvana, where the individual is merged into Supreme Spirit.

      It is interesting to note that only 0.7% of the population of India follow the teaching of Buddha.

      After a period of sightseeing and examining the type of life he was likely to find in his new home in India, H. R. Coventry rejoined the S.S. Khyber to sail to Bombay, his immediate destination. Here he met Mr. and Mrs. H. Strutton on February 29th. These were friends whom he knew in his home church at Hindmarsh. It was a happy occasion. These experienced missionaries could guide the new arrival into the life of Bombay and show him the sights of this large city. Bombay is one of the largest cities in the world. It is the financial and commercial centre of modern India, with a population, in 1970, of some six millions. It is the capital of the State of Maharashtra. Among the great buildings he visited was the Great Indian Peninsular Railway Station, an impressive stone and marble structure. Eastern Markets are always centres to fascinate Western visitors. In such a market Roy enjoyed the bargaining of buyers and sellers of produce needed for the family homes. Here were barbers, letter-writers, bootmakers; all carrying on their trade out on the pavements. While some of the main thoroughfares were wide, most streets were narrow, packed with humanity, many were beggars who set up their stands on the side pavements, finding shelter from the rains under a few newspapers or rags. Here, all day, in monsoon rains, they wait and beg. After coming from Australia, with its meagre population, (at that time there were three millions in Australia) to see this struggling, poverty-stricken mass of people was overwhelming and staggering. The imagination could not comprehend its vastness. The electric trains provided good, cheap transport but they were packed to overflowing. People hung where they could, even outside the carriages, as if they cared nothing for the safety of life. During the afternoon, the visitor enjoyed a trip with Mr. and Mrs. Strutton to Malabar Hill, and passed the Tower of Silence where the Parsees leave their dead to be devoured by vultures, thus, they said, saving the bodies from defiling the earth. These Parsees are followers of Zorastrianism, which had its origin in ancient Persia, or Iran. They worship the earth, water, sun, moon and stars. They are but a very small percentage of India's vast population.

      Margaret, the eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Coventry, writes of her relationship in her school with some Parsee girls. "The Parsee girls were Zorastrian by religion and were of Persian stock. They were descendants of people who had migrated some 350 years ago to the Bombay Province because of the religious persecution by the Mohammedans of Iraq and Assyria. With them came their priests who dressed as Old Testament 'fire priests', bearing a flame of fire from the 'Mother Flame' in Teheran . . . At twelve years of age the children went to the local temple which was built while we were at Panchgani. The sacred flame was brought from Bombay by a priest. The girls were expected to attend a 'thread' ceremony when a sacred thread or tape, was tied around their waist over a fine lawn undergarment. This thread must not touch the body. While others slept, the Parsee girls would say their prayers, standing and facing a little red light. They were not ashamed. They would untie the thread, shake it loose, not let it touch the floor, and then proceed to tie it around the waist. Each time it is tied, the ends are shaken out, then the next section is wound around. As they do this, they repeat prayers that are taught them by the priests. No one must touch them at this time, otherwise they are defiled, and must do it again. The sacred thread they considered protection from harm and pollution."

      When a Parsee dies, he must not die on the ground, otherwise the ground is polluted by the dead body. The earth, the water and the air are sacred. They must not be polluted. So the bodies are taken to a "Tower of Silence" which is very high. It has a concrete top which slopes to the centre, where lime works on the drying bones. (This is after the eagles and vultures have removed the flesh.) The lime dissolves the bones.

      Parsees were mostly very wealthy, because they keep their wealth within the family. They must not marry outside their faith. They are a close, kindly and peace loving people.

      From Bombay the missionary group now caught an electric train for Poona. The carriages were well constructed and comfortable. They were fitted with electric fans for the comfort of the passengers. Poona is an important centre. Here the "Pashwa" is located who provides a nominal leadership for a confederacy of chiefs who make up the Maratha State. In this State the Marathi language is spoken (an Indo-Aryan language). This

language is common among forty million people who live in the Western Central Provinces of India. The standard for this Marathi is that which is spoken at Poona. For that reason, the language school selected for H. R. Coventry was one situated at Poona. Here he was introduced to his "Pundit" (or learned man), from whom he was to take lessons in Marathi.

      From Poona the new arrival travelled some 64 miles to Dhond. After a brief stay here he went another 26 miles by a narrow-gauge-line train to Baramati, reaching the centre by 4 p.m. At Baramati, Mr. and Mrs. Strutton had laid the foundation of the Churches of Christ Missions in "Our India".

      Why did Churches of Christ in Australia establish missions in India?

      Mr. G. L. Wharton, of the American Disciples of Christ, was a pioneer missionary in the Central Province of India (now Madhaya Pradish). When he visited Australia in 1889, he so inspired the churches, especially the various women's groups, that a desire grew to respond to his call to send a worker from Australia to help in the Indian women's work at Hurda. The women's groups gave generous financial support to this appeal, Miss Mary Thompson agreed to answer this call. She went to India with the aim of giving her life for this work. Here in India she served Christ for forty years. In 1895, H. H. Strutton went to India to work with the Poona and Indian Village Mission. In this work he was supported in part by the Hindmarsh Church of Christ. While passing through Melbourne in 1893 on furlough he discussed missionary work with some leaders of the Churches of Christ there.

      H. Watson of Victoria, Australia, who was also working with the Poona and Indian Village Mission, visited the district of Baramati. He recognised the potential of this area as a location of a mission station. He wrote a letter to friends in Australia, setting out the needs of the Baramati district. Mr. and Mrs. Strutton and others also visited Baramati in October 1905. On their return to home-base, Lonand, they received a letter from Robert Lyall, the treasurer of the Australian Overseas Mission Board. This letter stated: "If you will choose out a suitable field for mission work, our churches will be prepared to finance such; and later send out missionaries to work the area."

      Mr. and Mrs. Strutton again visited Baramati. For a time they camped under a cedar tree, which still stands in the Boys' Home Compound. Later renting rooms in the town, Mr. and Mrs. Strutton now accepted the call to set up a mission-station at Baramati on behalf of the Churches of Christ in Australia.

      In the first year 3 acres of land, 2 minutes walk from the edge of the town, was purchased, a well sunk and farmland developed which produced a good crop. The foundations of the Magarey Bungalow was also laid. The responsibility for the Christian work in the Baramati district was now taken over from the Scottish Presbyterians who had discontinued activities. A long house, 158 feet by 45 feet was erected for residences. The first meeting of a Church of Christ at Baramati, India, was held on October 7th, 1906. Then, when the Magarey Bungalow was opened in 1907, Mr. and Mrs. Strutton became the first occupants.

      T. B. Fischer, who visited India, in 1912, described the mission situation at Baramati vividly. He wrote, "On the outskirts of the town stands the Magarey Bungalow, the chapel, the weaving house and the native Christian homes. One is struck with the contrast they present to the native town. The bungalow is a roomy, beautiful building, surrounded with shrubs and many-coloured flowers. The compound has a cheerful, inviting appearance and is like an oasis in a desert.

      "At Baramati we have the benefit of one of the Government canals, passing the full length of our mission property. This canal is called Nira, and is about five feet deep and thirty feet wide at this spot. It is a great asset to the town and to the district of Baramati. Our property is more valuable on account of our close

proximity to the canal . . . Boys from the compound and from the town greatly enjoy a swim in the water. The animals are brought along to drink from the cool stream. The women bring their saries and do their washing by pounding their clothes on a flat stone again and again and dipping them into the stream. They come down here to have their weekly wash. As soap was scarce, they take a stone from the canal bank and, standing in the water, rub themselves all over, as might be imagined the pumice would be used. Then, along came some of the women with their water-pots, deftly balanced on their heads. Walking along with steady, graceful tread, they approach the canal and fill their water-pots of the water in which thousands had bathed. They then take it home for drinking water! The canal also formed the baptistry for the church at Baramati. Here dozens had been baptised."

      The Magarey Bungalow, which had been built with mud bricks and semi-round tiles had ceilings of canvas, over which skunk-like civit cats raced and disturbed the peace of the house. Outside, and around the house, Mrs. Strutton designed and set out a landscape garden. Mrs. Strutton was an accomplished artist. Her beautiful garden had a circular pond in the centre. There a fountain of water introduced a fresh, cool atmosphere. In the centre was a rockery. Around the edge was a concrete wall on which missionary children delighted to walk and balance. Then, around all this, were trees and flowering shrubs. Creepers were so planted as to shade the bungalow from the heat of the sun.

      During Mr. Strutton's missionary work he came into contact with some of the members of the "criminal tribes". A few came to live on vacant land on the mission property, near the brick kiln, not far from the chapel. Then he met others who were working on the sugar-cane fields at Maligoan. They asked permission to come and live under the oversight of the mission. This led to a move to bring relatives into the Criminal Settlement. The development was so extensive, Government aid was requested. An appeal was made to Mr. O. H. B. Starte, who had been given charge of all the Criminal Tribe Settlements in the Bombay Presidency.

      Who were these people who were gathered into these Criminal Tribes? Throughout India they were known as "thieves" or "rogues". The native name for such a man was "Bhampta". In the Poona district, and also at Baramati, these people called themselves Takaris which means stone-dressers. These Bhamptas were originally expert "pick-pockets". Later they became railway thieves. To these people stealing was their caste occupation.

      All this activity was carried out according to strict rules. Children were taught to pilfer at bazaars. If unsuccessful, they were beaten. It used to be a rule that a young man could not

marry until he had stolen a nose-ring off a woman's face. At public fairs, the Bhat caste women entertained the crowds by dancing while the men folk moved among the people and picked pockets and pilfered anything available. Some of these groups of Bhamptas could be likened to gipsy tribes who move throughout India. They also engaged in "highway robbery". To these people this type of thieving was their way of life. In fact one chief of a criminal tribe said to his judge, "We are necessary. God has sent us on earth to punish the avaricious and the rich. We are a kind of divine scourge. And for the rest, without us, what would you judges do?"

      When the railways were built, these resourceful people adopted new methods to meet this change in the mode of travel. In crowded railway trains at night after conversation with passengers, the thief would notice a promising bundle or bag. On a pretext of sleep, he would generously offer to lie on the floor to make room for others. While they slept, he would get the valuables, either by slitting the packages or by substituting his own worthless bag for the other. He would then get out at the next station. His criminal work was done under the noses of the owners. In crowded bazaars, jewellery, necklaces, bangles and anklets were cut with a small curved knife conveniently located between the gum and cheek inside the mouth. Gold beads were hidden inside a skin pocket deep down in the throat. These Bhamptas had their own method of finding suitable markets for their goods. They had "receivers" among merchants in different villages.

      Many years ago the problem was brought home to the Government of India. Therefore a "Criminal Tribes Act" was passed. This was not very effective. By 1911, the "Criminal Tribes Act" was amended. Special powers were set up for dealing with these tribes. The amendment gave the Government powers to establish settlements in which men, women and children could be gathered and segregated from society, under supervision.

      In 1909, the Government of Bombay set apart Mr. O. H. B. Starte of the Indian Civil Service to experiment on the establishing of farms, but farmwork did not appeal. Then employment was found for many who came into settlements, in cotton mills. Mr. Starte found this experiment successful. It weaned many of these people from their life of crime.

      As we have noted, it was under this "Criminal Tribes Act" and under the permission and oversight of Mr. Starte that the Criminal Settlement was set up on the Baramati Mission land. Mr. Strutton was given the general oversight of this programme.

      The general mission work was also progressing. A Dispensary for treatment of patients, who had crowded the doors of the

Bungalow, was made essential, particularly in times of epidemics. A church building was erected in 1909. People were learning to weave. Profits from this proved to be very good. In 1912 Mr. Strutton became a member of the Baramati Municipal Council.

      By 1916 the growth of the Indian Mission field was demanding increasing financial support. The mission had reached a crisis. Could the work go on? This was the question being asked by members of the Foreign Mission Board in Australia. When H. R. Coventry went out to India, it was agreed that unless he could bring about some consolidation of the work there, then it might be necessary to close it down. Reg Bolduan, a co-missioner with Roy Coventry, made this claim. When speaking of Mr. Coventry, he said, "It was in the early years of the World War I, that he first went to India and found himself thrown into a situation so serious and difficult that one of a different mould would have given up. Indeed, and I had it passed on to me on good authority, it had been already tentatively decided to close the work in India--if Brother Coventry failed." lle did not fail!!

      Before Roy Coventry could take up the important work demanded of him, he had to learn the language of the common people. He attended his first Marathi Language class in the Nana Peth Protestant Mission Hall, Poona. The language school was conducted by a Mr. Fairbank. While at the school, Mr. Horace Wright, who had married Mr. Fairbank's daughter, asked Roy Coventry to come into the backyard of the boarding house at 2 Staveley Road to try out whether he had the power to find water by use of the "divining rod". Sure enough, as Roy held the rod, it started to turn downwards, very sharply, when he was over a narrow strip of ground. Mr. Wright exclaimed, "You've certainly got the gift of divining!" (called "dosher" today). Water was running under ground and the bending of the rod downwards, indicated the presence of the stream. This was a gift which brought him fame. He was able to use this gift to find water in underground springs, and to dig wells for the people. In 1944, the secretary of the Baramati church made this testimony of H. R. Coventry: "He can divine water. He used this natural gift freely for the good of cultivators. Whenever they approached him in their difficulties, he gave them kindly advice."

      Roy was one who loved the beauties of nature. At heart he was a country man. Having secured a bicycle, he travelled to country areas around Poona when he was free from study. From April 1st to May 31st, 1916, he stayed at the American Marathi Mission bungalow, Mahableshwar (84 miles from Poona) for the hot weather season and language school. The next morning he went out picking orchids. "These are lovely pink and white flowers," he wrote, "heavily scented, which cling to the limbs of trees . . . The hills in the area are covered thickly with dwarf trees and

      shrubs with soft green tints." With the eye of a country man, he recognised the richness of the red soil in these hills which presented beautiful views. He also took walks around the lake. Amidst all this beauty, he came face to face-with tragic aspects of Indian life. On the river bank, were the burning ghats (the funeral pyres). After the bones are burned, the ashes are thrown into the river. Although a law was passed in 1906 to prohibit the burning of the widow of a dead man, this custom called "Suttee", still prevailed in late 1916. During these walks around the lake, his own early life was brought back to him as he observed market gardeners at work in their vegetable and strawberry patches. The gardens were irrigated by waters drawn from the lake. Among the Indian workers, there were also Chinese who carried their produce in two baskets balanced on a pole set across their shoulders.

      While studies did take up time, he had opportunity for relaxation in various sports such as tennis, golf, horse riding and even polo.

      After some days away on vacation, H. R. Coventry returned to Poona and arranged to reside with Mr. Robertson, at 1 Staveley Road, where he was taking his language studies. On July 8th, Roy Coventry travelled by train from Poona to Baramati. While on this visit, he discussed with H. H. Strutton what his future plans in India ought to be. After reaching some decision, Mr. Strutton agreed to write to the secretary of the Overseas Mission Board (lra Paternoster) and seek the confirmation of the Australian Board.

      Later, he was informed by a letter that Ethel Warmbrumm might be able to leave for India by October. Confirmation of the good news reached him at Poona. When a letter came from Ethel on September 26th, she announced her departure from Australia on the "Arabia". Roy arranged for accommodation for them both after the wedding. Then news came that Ethel had left Australia on October 5th. Roy left for Bombay by train on October 23rd. The S.S. Arabia landed the Bombay passengers at 4 p.m. Amongst these were Ethel Warmbrumm and Elsie Caldicott. After their rough sea trip, they were delighted to be on land. They made a quick recovery from their sickness. After travelling by the Madras Mail from Bombay, they reached Dhond. By October 25th at 8 a.m. they arrived safely at Baramati. Here Roy left Ethel with the Struttons until the wedding date and returned to Poona by the night train. Of course Ethel was overcome by the strangeness of the countryside and the newness of the Indian way of life, but was delighted to be settled after so much travel.

      Within a few days several of the missionaries became ill. Roy was too ill to sit for his Marathi examination. Mrs. Strutton was not well and Miss Caldicott spent a few days in retirement. Bowedaker, Roy's pundit was also ill. However, by the wedding day, Saturday, November 18th, all had recovered except Mrs. Strutton who was not well enough to accompany Ethel to Poona. At Oidday, Roy Coventry and Ethel Warmbrumm stood together in the Nana Peth Presbyterian Church and were united in marriage in a service conducted by Dr. McNicol and Dr. Youngson. Miss Elsie Caldicott was bridesmaid. Tea was served at number 1 Staveley Road. At 3.15 the newlyweds took a train for Khundala on the Western Ghats and stayed at the Khundala Hotel. Their honeymoon was a brief weekend. On Sunday, after walking through the hills, they admired the sunset, amid

beautiful scenery. Next day, they walked toward Lonavlie catching a train for Poona at 5.30. Tuesday was spent unpacking. It was November 23rd when they went shopping to buy domestic needs for their new home. By the 28th Ethel Coventry began her language studies with her Pundit, and on December 4th entered the Language School.

      On Christmas Day, visitors from Australia, Ira Paternoster and W. Morrow, along with Elsie Caldicott, sat down with the Coventrys to an Australian Christmas dinner in India (Baramati).

      A few days later the missionaries met in Conference. Field Officers were elected: Chairman, Mr. Watson; Secretary, H. R. Coventry; and Assistant Secretary, Miss Cameron. Then in the Coventry home on December 31st they met to celebrate the Lord's Supper. Ira Paternoster spoke on the theme: "Remember Jesus Christ."

      With the Christmas holidays over, both Roy and Ethel Coventry were back to their language studies at Poona.

      The newly married couple were now aware of the tragic war situation. They knew how the Australians, along with other forces, had been compelled to withdraw from the battle for Gallipoli, they knew of the awful death toll involved, which included friends and relatives. Later, the Australians were engaged in fierce fighting in France and the Middle East. Losses within the Allied ranks increased. Many were killed, injured or taken captive. There was need to maintain and even increase, the ranks of the Allied Forces. In India extremists opposed the Allied Cause. They had little sympathy for the war effort. Only a few volunteers were coming forward and only a little money was being advanced to lift the War Loans to higher levels. As a result the authorities began to bring pressure, and even a degree of compulsion on the Indian population. Roy Coventry was called upon to give some time to active service and to attend military training. However, this did not last long. A law was introduced to exempt missionaries from military training.

      While giving attention to their language studies at Poona, the Coventrys took the opportunity to attend Church Conferences, lectures and meetings. This brought them into touch with Christians in other groups. They enjoyed the intellectual lectures given by Dr. Moulton: once he spoke on the work of the British and Foreign Bible Society. On another occasion, Roy heard this scholar give a lecture on the theme: "Organs in Europe". He spoke also on "Parseeism and Christianity" in which he revealed the purity of Parsee ideals at its very beginning and showed how it had degenerated to its present state.

      The young missionaries also came under the influence of Dr. McNicol who spoke on "The Indian Poetry of Devotion". Roy had

fellowship with Dr. Glover, who gave a glowing description of Cambridge and England. He even passed on a suggestion concerning the attitude of members of Churches of Christ. "You people," he said, "would be Baptists, if you were not so proud!"

      Now a vital change in the programme of Churches of Christ began to loom large. This was to affect the future of Mr. and Mrs. Coventry.

      At the time of the visit of Messrs. Morrow and Paternoster to India, from December 1916 to February 1917, the Government officials of the Bombay state and the American Marathi Mission, being impressed with the work Mr. H. H. Strutton had been able to perform among the Bhamptas at Baramati, now invited him to take charge of the very large Criminal Tribe Settlement of Sholapur, about 150 miles from Baramati. For this work he was to be honoured later by the Government, with the presentation of the Kaiser-i-Hind gold medal. Mr. Strutton accepted this important position. When the Struttons left Baramati, Mr. and Mrs. Coventry and Misses Cameron and Caldicott were called upon to take over the responsibility of the work at Baramati. Mr. Coventry was to take charge of the work among the Bhamptas.

      When H. H. Strutton had visited the Church of Christ at Hindmarsh, South Australia when on a vacation in 1910, he spoke to Roy Coventry of his work among the Criminal Tribes and presented a challenge of the mission fields of India. It seems as if God was calling this man to this particular type of work even before he went out to India. a few days after his arrival in India, Roy cycled out to Wadgaon, some fifteen miles from Baramati, and met the leaders of a party of Bhamptas.

      When in January 1917, Roy and Ethel Coventry took charge of this work at Baramati, they found a group of fourteen mud-walled, grass-roofed huts in one corner of the mission land. The Bhamptas from Wadgaon had come to live at Baramati under the protection of the missionaries. They did this because they had been harassed by the police (no doubt with good reason). Soon other families, from many parts, came to join them. Because this was a suitable area for "Settlement Work", it was decided to enlarge the site and purchase fifty acres of land above the canal, a sloping hillside near the railway station. Before this extension, all the mission property was below the canal. When the Government recognised this settlement work, authorities built a bridge across the canal for the convenience of the missionaries. This linked the two properties. The Magarey Bungalow, the Blake Memorial House, the F. M. Ludbrook Babies Home and the Dispensary, Workers' Houses and the Church building were all

built on the original site. On the new land, over the years, the criminal settlement was set up. The School was built on it, also workshops and offices. The Government provided the money for all the buildings on the site of the "Settlement". They also paid the running costs, salaries for staff, electric light and sanitary expenses and part of the educational costs.

      A ten feet high barbed-wire fence was erected, like a concentration camp. The people built their huts within the fence in neat rows. A guard was on duty day and night. During the day the gates were left open so the settlers could go out into the fields to work and visit the village. All were required to be at home at nightfall and answer the roll call.

      The missionaries (Roy and Ethel Coventry) were required to see that order was kept, that the people worked, sent their children to school and kept their houses tidy. Mrs. Coventry concentrated on supervising the women, children and babies, giving health instruction and milk when needed and providing medicines. Some Bhamptas, who had been in gaol for offences, were released from prison to join their families in the settlement and to live normal lives. Some of the men were given a reprieve from being sent to the Andaman Island Penal Colony. Roy Coventry recalled how six men arrived at his house in hand-cuffs and leg-irons and all roped to an armed guard. They were taken into the settlement and set free to live with their families in normal conditions. There was much rejoicing of the relatives. So the missionaries' constant efforts to reform these people, urging them to build homes and rear their children in the ordinary way of life, did bring results. After eight years of good behaviour, a man was set free to go and live in his native village or take up residence on missionary land.

      Mr. Coventry has reminded us that the first men who had settled in huts on the mission grounds did not form a legal settlement. They were just a group of criminals who lived voluntarily under the supervision of the missionaries. When the Coventrys arrived at Baramati in 1917, they found these people and were told by the local folk that "Some Bhamptas live there! They are criminals!" At that time there were fourteen grass huts in which 70 persons lived, within a little strip of land in a corner by themselves.

      By June 5th, 1918, Roy and Ethel faced their Marathi Examination. Both missionaries achieved distinction: Ethel gained a first class place and Roy a second class. By July, in another examination, Ethel gained a first class pass, but Roy under pressure of mission work, could not gain the pass standard.

HEATHFIELD PRIMARY SCHOOL, S.A.
REGISTER NO. 535
DATE OF ADMISSION 11.2.01
NAME: HAROLD ROY COVENTRY
DATE OF BIRTH: 4.2.91
NAME OF PARENT: COVENTRY CHAS. HY.
OCCUPATION: GARDENER
RESIDENCE: ALDGATE
DISTANCE FROM SCHOOL: 2 MILES
LAST SCHOOL ATTENDED: STIRLING EAST
LEFT FEB. 1901
STAYED AT HEATHFIELD
GRADES 3-5
LEFT HEATHFIELD SCHOOL 12.3.1904

      1901 1902 1903

      '2 5 2 33 '46 2 5 6/2 '46 ` 5 W2

      3 44 4 48 '54 4 43 355 4 41

ATTENDANCE RECORD
THE YEAR DIVIDED INTO QUARTERS THEN

      As the Great War was reaching its climax in Europe, causing untold suffering and reaping a tragic harvest of death from among the youth of the world, another disaster struck, with even more devastating results. There appeared in Spain a type of influenza which was more deadly than other types of sickness. It caused pneumonia. At first it was called "Spanish Influenza". This plague carried off more people than did all the wars, in all the theatres where battles were fought. It was more tragic in results than the four years of the holocaust of war. The records of the mission are full of pathetic stories of the attack of this virus on a people who were undernourished and unable to resist it. Whole families were wiped out. Many parents were carried off by this plague and children left orphans. The little mission dispensary was closed for most of the time the influenza was raging through the community, because the Indian sub-assistant surgeon was ill. Out of a population of 120 on the mission compound, 24 men, women and children died. Most of those left were too weak to work. Poverty stared many of them in the face. The missionaries were compelled to draw upon mission funds to prevent these people from starving. For over two months, about fifty persons were helped. "It was a pitiable sight to see men, who were once strong, come tottering along the short path to the bungalow to get their daily supply of grain. Then it was a joy to see them get stronger, and then be able to go back to work. What was done in this time of crisis won for the mission the undying love and esteem of the people."

      Was this work, undertaken by the missionaries among these Bhamptas, worthwhile?

      An outside opinion comes more convincingly than anything the Settlement workers may say. Here is the opinion of Mr. O. H. B. Starte, I.C.S. who was appointed by the Government of Bombay to find methods which could help to reform these people. He gave this official judgement on the effectiveness of the Baramati experiment: "This settlement for the Bhamptas was started in an unofficial way by Mr. H. H. Strutton, of the Australian Churches of Christ, about 1913 for such Bhampta families who came to him voluntarily. The original idea was to settle them on canal land, but this land eventually proved not to be available for this purpose. In the meantime the settlers found employment in Baramati town.

      "I have been watching this settlement", Mr. Starte added, "and in view of the fact that I was authorised to make experiments, I have from time to time, given small grants, from general funds at my disposal, to enable the Settlement to carry out various suggestions made by myself; for example, the employment of a man to work as a Settlement inspector, and the training of a few boys as masons and carpenters.

      "Having watched the settlement for four years, I am convinced that it can be made a success. I should have submitted proposals earlier, only there was a change in personnel in the management of the settlement. Mr. Strutton, who was in charge of the settlement in the commencement, left the work to take up the management of the settlement at Sholapur, joining the American Mission for this purpose, and his successor at Baramati, Mr. H. R. Coventry, was new to the country and I wished to wait and see how he could manage the work. He has carried on very successfully and so it seems that the time has now come to put the settlement on a fully legal basis, with proper grants in aid to enable the mission to develop the settlement efficiently. I have found the Bhamptas in the settlement contented and will cared for by the mission." Mr. Starte was an active member of the Baptist Church.

      While busy with local missionary tasks at Baramati, the Coventrys did not allow this to destroy their desire to widen their aims and their missionary vision. On February 4th, 1918, they travelled to Poona to attend a Missionary Conference, the theme of the Conference being:--"Criticisms of Missionary Methods". After the conference, they spent two days shopping in Poona, since there were no English shops at Baramati. They were then informed by the Governor's Deputy that they could now select a piece of land at Dhond for the erection of a hospital. The land chosen was not considered suitable for the hospital, but was used for other purposes later.

      Roy Coventry always fought for the rights of the Mission. During July, 1918, he went to Diksal by bicycle. Here there was property which had been given, by a deed of gift, by Dr. Shishadri to the United Free Church Mission. This property had not been occupied since 1890. The wife of Dr. Dutta who was a niece of Dr. Narayan Shishadri had laid claim to this property, but Roy Coventry pressed for it to be taken over for use by Churches of Christ. His persistence and tact was successful. On July 8th, he visited Shrigonda. Here Miss Cameron had taken up the work from Mr. Watson on April 16th, 1918. Mr. and Mrs. Watson left India for Australia on July 8th, 1918.

      Making a report of this work, Roy said, "I inspected orphanage buildings, tried to arrange for a contractor to do work, but his terms were too high. The work is progressing. The ladies seem to

be getting on well together. The dispensary is increasing its attendance again, after sinking very low--although medicine was given out free of charge; prejudices have now been overcome."

      By August, Roy reported that the walls were up to three feet, and windows were being set. That night, on his way to Poona, he slept on Dhond station. "The night was not very comfortable as Dhond station is full of bugs!" The purpose of his visit to Poona was to order timber for the Shrigonda Orphanage and to have an operation on his big toe.

      In the meantime he visited Indapur to set men to work on repairing the old mission building; that was August 17th. By the 20th he was again at Shrigonda and reported that the walls of the orphanage were up to five feet, the lime course had been put in. On September 7th, Roy, Ethel Coventry, Miss Blake went to Poona and there met Miss Caldicott; all went to the Methodist Church to hear Dr. Stanley Jones preach on "Ye Must be Born Again". On September 8th Roy travelled with Dr. Stanley Jones and Dr. Shumaker to Bombay to attend the Bombay Missionary Council's Conference held at "Bishops Palace". The next day he went to a Representative Council of Missions in the Y.M.C.A.

      By the 13th he was back at Baramati alone. He was alarmed at the continued prevalence of influenza. Many were dying. This made it imperative to establish the orphanage for the care of children left without parents.

      When he arrived on the 19th at Shrigonda, he found many sick with influenza. Returning to Baramati he found Dr. Gashwad's wife very ill. Within two days she was dead. Roy wrote, "I had to make a coffin, the first in my life." Since the pastor was ill he was compelled to conduct the funeral service. As reports came in of more deaths, he wrote, "These are days of real sadness. Death is on every side. I feel hopeless in my ignorance of medicine."

      But despite all this tragedy of death about him, Roy was forced to give attention to the ongoing programme of the Bhamptas Settlement. He needed to develop the site of the new settlement.

      Because of the inability of the men to work due to influenza, the mission began to issue grain with the understanding the men would repay as soon as they could return to work and wages.

      While surrounded by all this trouble and anxiety, Roy received a letter from Ethel, who was at Poona, announcing she was not well and the doctor was not able to attend her as they (Dr. Greenhill and Dr. Rankine) had influenza. It was agreed that Ethel now enter St. Margaret's Hospital. Roy went by train to Poona and found Ethel in Hospital. Miss Blake had gone with her due to the emergency. "I had come at the opportune time," Roy

      wrote, "and the Lord had diverted my footsteps and plans. I remained all day with her." Because of unforeseen problems, Roy called a Dr. Stackly to attend to Ethel. He was a doctor in the Royal Army Medical Corps. The doctor administered chloroform. An hour later, at 6 o'clock on October 1^st , a little daughter was born. They called her "Margaret" after the hospital. This hospital had been closed to other patients because doctors and nurses had been ill with the prevailing influenza. Roy, however, was permitted to stay the night. Next day he caught a train to Baramati. Miss Chappel and Miss Caldicott joined him at Dhond: all then proceeded to Baramati. The following day he went by "tonga" to Diksal, and found half the Christians down with the flu. He administered quinine to all the sick. Then caught a train to Poona and discovered Ethel and the baby fairly well.

      During this time both Roy and Ethel continued their study of Marathi, so they could be more useful in their ministry and also make more intimate contact with the common people. In view of the responsibility of the Bhampta Settlement and the supervision of the building of the orphanage at Shrigonda and the demands of the work at Diksal and then in addition the worry of the results of the influenza plague, it was not surprising he failed in his second year Marathi examination. Ethel, as usual, gained a good pass.

      Mr. and Mrs. Watson, who had gone to India from Victoria, Australia, worked with the Poona and Indian Village Mission, and then in 1912 worked in the Churches of Christ Mission at Diksal. During 1914, the Watsons moved to Shrigonda and began medical work. As this work grew, Miss Tilley and Miss Cameron were sent to help there. In 1918-19, the Watsons returned to Australia on furlough. This meant that for a time Roy Coventry was the only male missionary on the field in "Our India". He had to carry the responsibility of many decisions to be made on the field. He was now twenty eight years of age. He had been in this complex land for only a few years. However, there are indications he was meeting the situations in which he was placed with maturity and wisdom.

      One of the highlights of this dark period was the growth of the Christian life of the Bhamptas. On September 13th, 1918, Roy had begun a weekly service among these "criminal" people, with the help of a native pastor, Mr. Sarte. Roy was now free to go to Poona and go to the hospital and arrange for Ethel and Margaret to return home with him by train. The journey was fairly comfortable for all. They arrived home well. What a happy day it was for this missionary family! All were settled into their home comfortably. But this young missionary could not enjoy the peace of home for long. Calls of the mission would not let him rest. He must be about his "Father's business". Within a week, he had to leave Baramati and travel to Shrigonda and set the carpenters onto the job of erecting the roof on the orphanage building. He just returned from that demand when he was required on October 23rd to inspect the site selected for the hospital at Dhond. Seven acres of land had been set aside for this project.

      He wired Mr. G. T. Walden (the Overseas Mission Department Secretary) for funds to erect a Girls' Orphanage at Baramati and for money to relieve the needs of starving Bhamptas. Other calls to duty came upon him. On November 5th, 1918, Mr. Starte (the Government officer in charge of Settlement work in the Bombay Area) arrived to make the final decision about the extra land needed for the new Settlement. Legal requirements had to be given attention. Then the work of organising this new development had to be considered. By November 11th, 1918, Roy was buying stone for the erection of a Chapel. The next day he was at Shrigonda, inspecting the newly constructed roof on the orphanage building.

      Good news reached him on November 20th. J. Leach, a former teacher and a graduate of the College of the Bible, had been appointed as the new missionary to assist him in his growing and demanding work.

      At the quarterly meeting of the Missionary Council rules were drawn up to govern the activities of the orphanages. By December, Roy had completed all the details for the transfer of the property of the United Free Presbyterian Church to be handed over to the Australian Churches of Christ Mission.

      Roy had been expecting to receive instructions from Australia to give him the authority to begin the construction of the Chapel

at Baramati. Now the money needed to complete the work on the orphanage building at Shrigonda had arrived. He was able to exclaim: "Praise the Lord, for His mercy endureth for ever!"

      As soon as possible he was off to Shrigonda to give advice to builders on the finishing touches to the orphanage; then he came back to supervise the laying of the foundations of the Chapel at Baramati. By December, he was at Indapur to attend to a problem concerning the property which had been handed over from the Free Presbyterian Church. The local Council had been making use of this property. He made request for the Council to vacate the buildings by January 1^st, 1919.

      At Baramati, on Christmas Eve, preparations were made for the celebration of Christmas, particularly among the Bhamptas who gathered to enjoy the singing of Christmas Carols.

      On Christmas Day, a service was held. There were festivities to follow. A Christmas Tree was erected. All presents were attached to it. In the evening gifts were opened, followed by a Christmas dinner with all the traditional trappings of an English Christmas. Ham from Bombay, walnuts from Kashmir, plum pudding, and vegetables from the missionaries' garden. This was a great day of fellowship for the missionaries.

      Presents were distributed to the schoolchildren. The adults were not forgotten. They enjoyed tea and cakes. What a joy Christmas brought to these people who had once been held so long by the chains of Satan!

      At the year's end, on December 31st, Roy was able to look back and say, "Another year finished: a year full of experience". He did not dwell on the burdens of his responsibilities, nor the sorrows endured. He looked forward to the good things of the future--to 1919. At 9 a.m. a New Year's Service was held. Thanks were given for past blessings and prayers offered for guidance for the future. The key-note of the service was: "If God be for us, who can be against us." The Church at Baramati had a membership of 28, with some 24 from other communions who met with them in the new chapel.

      In February 1919, the Annual Conference was held. The co-workers and the missionaries agreed to form a "Home Mission Committee" to undertake work at Kulumwadi, near Indupur. All workers agreed to contribute half an anna from their salaries. During the evening all took part in a "Singing Procession", by marching through the streets of Shrigonda.

      By this time, there were several Convict Settlements in the Bombay State. A conference of managers was called at Bijaper, on February 24 to 26. At this conference Roy Coventry and the Struttons met again. There was a display of works by the members of the Settlements: this included woodwork, stone

cutting, needlework, sewing, tailoring, gardening, etc. judges presented their awards for those exhibits which reached a high standard of proficiency.

      On March 9th, 1919, Roy Coventry went to Dhond to meet Jack Leach, the new missionary, who arrived on the Bombay Mail from Madras at 1 a.m. On the l0th a welcome meeting was held and prayers were offered for the safe arrival of Mr. Leach. "We felt," said Roy Coventry, "our prayers had been heard and answered in a material way."

      Now the hot weather had come, the Coventrys escaped from Baramati for a few days to a beautiful bungalow called "Riverside". They had previously chosen this place at Lonavla in the Western Ghats. After a train trip they enjoyed a walk from the station to "Riverside".

      After this brief holiday Roy went to Poona to attend a lecture given by Dr. Eddy in the Kirleskor Theatre. The title of this lecture was "Man's search for God and God's Search for Man". There was a large audience made up of English-speaking Indians, many of them were Hindus. The next day, Dr. Eddy spoke to Christians in Nana Peth Chapel. His theme was "How to Find God".

      Roy was back at Baramati on March 19th, 1919. He now decided to use a method of preaching in which he appealed to the ear and the eye. He used a magic lantern. By use of slides he presented the story of the life of Christ. The Bhamptas in the Settlement were impressed by this new medium of presenting the good news". He also went out to surrounding centres where he found groups of people ready to watch and listen to the Word of the Lord.

      Work faced Roy at Baramati. He set in position the principal girders of the chapel on May 9th. On the 18th work on the outer walls of the Girls' Orphanage was commenced.

      Roy Coventry was invited to an important function at Sholapur. The Criminal Settlement there was under the care of the Struttons. Not only did he meet the Struttons, but also the Chief of Police, Mr. O'Gorman. He inspected the Settlement where 3,000 criminals were being reclaimed and fashioned into good citizens. But the purpose of the gathering was to share in a farewell to Mr. Starte, who had been in charge of all the Settlements in the Bombay Province. Mr. Starte was to leave by train for Bombay, join a ship and sail for England. Mr. Starte had gained much credit and praise for his work among the Criminal Tribes. A crowd of Settlement people gathered to farewell him. They honoured him with decorations of garlands.

      During this period much discussion was taking place among the missionaries about the future conduct of the missions. There was

a general feeling the Indians should be given a greater share in Mission work. Perhaps, this may be the reason why Mr. Sathe, an Indian Pastor, was, on August 5th, entrusted with money for the payment of workers at Diksal and Indapur. "He was the first Indian to be entrusted with funds."

      The completion of the Girls' Orphanage was a pressing demand. There were many children in need of help, having lost parents in the influenza epidemic. The builders continued to work with an all-out effort to complete this essential task. In addition, a room was required for the new missionary, Jack Leach. A room, attached to the Bungalow, had to be demolished because of bad cracks. This had to be rebuilt as soon as possible.

      Much excitement prevailed at Baramati on October 18th, when the new chapel was opened. Workers and boys from Shrigonda marched through the town of Baramati in a "singing" procession. Dr. Gaikwad made the opening remarks. Mr. Deshpanda, of Poona, who was the special speaker, gave an impressive address. Next day he spoke to the children. On October 19th at 3.30 p.m. five persons were baptised. Then a Communion Service was held at 4 p.m. when Roy Coventry spoke and Mr. Deshpanda preached.

      Roy was on the move again. This time with Mr. Escott. They made a four-hour ride by bicycle to Indapur. The village people thanked him publicly for opening a school for their children, for establishing a dispensary and commencing the Co-operative Society. They now asked that an English School be opened next. A Mohammedan voiced the people's thanks in a neat way, pointing out that Mission work was for the spiritual as well as for the bodily and mental welfare of the people.

      The missionaries were decorated with garlands. Indian refreshments were distributed. A brass band introduced gaiety to the proceedings. The joy of the missionary community was diminished somewhat on November 3rd. After a series of meetings at mission centres, Roy left Diksal for Baramati on his bicycle. He arranged for one of his Indian companions Ebrahim, to follow with his baggage on a cart. The luggage contained a handbag with Rs 200/- in silver, water bottle, shaving kit, pyjamas, etc. On his arrival at Baramati, Ebrahim reported that all had been stolen from the cart. The police were notified. A search was made for the lost money and goods, but no trace of lost goods could be found. Ebrahim was left in custody at the Government Dispensary, because he had suffered some slight injuries. He was allowed home next day. Reports came from some Brahmins that they had found the empty bag which had contained the silver, under a culvert on the road from Diksal to Baramati. The money, and other things were missing. Ebrahim denied the knowledge of the thief before the sub-inspector and

before Roy Coventry. The Inspector of Police interviewed Ebrahim and then told him to go to the Dharmshala, or Travellers' House for an over-night stay. He set out after tea, but did not go to the Travellers' House. He did not return home. No trace of Ebrahim was found.

      As the Christmas Season again approached, there were celebrations of this great event in the mission school and the Settlement. Children were given their presents, services were held to mark the great message of Christ's incarnation. Prejudice against the gospel was disappearing. Interest was being shown in the good news of salvation. The year of 1920 was about to begin. What hopes did it have?

      Events on a mission field could not be separated from those actions taking place within the nation. What moves were stirring the Indian nation?

      In May 1920, Nehru discovered an India of which he was barely aware. In that month two hundred peasants marched on Allahabad. They gathered on the banks of the Jumna. Nehru went to see them. They begged him to help them in their fight against greedy landlords. They urged him to return with them to see the conditions under which they lived. Never had Nehru stayed in a village. The poverty of the peasants, the wretched hovels in which they were forced to starve, the oppression of the landlords, and above all the cruel methods used by them, were setting alight a fire of rebellion which could spread to all parts of the nation. In response to this experience he wrote, "Looking at them and their misery and overflowing gratitude, I was filled with shame and sorrow . . . A new picture of India seemed to rise before me, naked, starving, crushed and utterly miserable. And their faith in us . . . embarrassed me and filled me with a new responsibility that frightened me."

      At the same time, the villages of India were discovering the message Ghandi was preaching. Ghandi was touching the very roots of India. Nehru said of him, "He is taking the masses with him." In August 1920, Ghandi introduced his method of opposition to the social and political ills of India by using a policy of non-violence and non co-operation. The British authorities were embarrassed. They set out to meet this situation by seeking to stir up an upsurge of loyalty by bringing the Prince of Wales to India. There was violence at Bombay when he arrived. Congress called upon all Indians to carry on a non co-operative attitude in all the celebrations planned for the Prince. The Prince found empty streets, only the English population were there to greet him. Perhaps there was an exception when a group of "untouchables" met him and asked for his co-operation to help them in their plight. His response was remarkable: "As the Prince (Edward Windsor) drew near to Delhi Gate on one of the journeys, twenty five thousand outcasts awaited his coming. They expected to see a car flash by and then to catch just a glimpse of him. But Edward, Prince of Wales, ordered his car to stop. An "untouchable" spokesman came forward, and in a little speech offered the love and loyalty of sixty millions of the "unclean". They begged the heir to the throne to intercede for them with his father, King George, the Emperor, that they might not be abandoned and be left to the tyranny of those who despised them and would keep them slaves. The Prince listened patiently, and then did an unexpected thing. He stood up before these "worse than dogs", spoke a few kind words, looked over them slowly, smiled, and brought his hand to the salute." He thus indicated they were people whom he regarded as having rights to be acknowledged. To salute a person is to indicate he is in a higher rank. Did the Prince regard these people so? The Prince's visit did not help them politically, but it pointed to the need of others to regard these lowly Indians as being in need of being considered persons whom God loves.

      Years later, the daughter of Nehru, Indira Gandhi, set out to regain her position of leadership by seeking the good will of the common people, even those on the lowest level, for there, she found, was the real power of India. One of her first public appearances in the campaign to gain re-election in 1919 was on a trip to Bihar, where thirteen "Harijans" (untouchables) had been murdered by landowners. When she neared the town her

jeep broke down. She took the only transport available--a lumbering elephant. Climbing on to the animal she proceeded to the village. "At first the people were suspicious," said one of her party, "then they saw the magnitude of her gesture. For the return trip, they formed a torchlight procession to lead her through the darkness. Indira Gandhi gave to them, and others, a feeling that even the poorest peasants had a share in the destiny of India."

      To reach India with the gospel, these poor peasants must be reached first. Roy Coventry found how they responded to the preaching of the gospel when he met them in the village markets, awaiting for someone to hire them. They were ready and eager listeners to the message he and his pastors preached. We, in the West, cannot understand just how depressed these untouchables were and perhaps, still are.

      Hinduism is responsible for the Caste System in India. The Ayrians were a fair-skinned people. When they entered India, they did not readily integrate with the dark-skinned natives. They kept apart from them. If they married into the dark-skinned race the offspring were segregated from the pure Ayrian race. The higher castes were the pure Ayrians. They were the priests and rulers, while the lower castes, who were compelled to undertake the unclean work, such as cleaning the streets, drains and disposing of the dead, were themselves considered unclean and untouchable. If the shadow of an unclean person fell on food, it too would be untouchable: it had to be thrown away. Travellers in the third-class carriages on railways would place their luggage on seats to keep outcast people from sitting next to them, lest they touch them. These outcasts would be compelled to sit on the floor. The Hindu system suggests the people who are outcasts had sinned in some previous state. If they observed the right rules in this life, they may return, by reincarnation into a higher caste.

      Near every town or village, there was to be found an outcast section, which consisted of hovels and filth. In the early morning the Mission preachers, invariably, found outcast men sitting around awaiting for someone to hire them (just as in the parables Jesus taught). These men were good listeners. Many heard the gospel and accepted Christ as Lord. The caste people, however, were usually too busy and indifferent to the call of Christ.

      Roy Coventry gave a vivid description of the conditions under which the "untouchables" lived. "They camp near each village," he wrote. "In 'Our India' alone there are about 40,000 of them. They live in filth as a rule, for their quarters are the rubbish tips of the villages. They do the dirty work and so are unclean. They are poor, despised and degraded to the level of animals. These people are in revolt against this age-long suppression. They say they will leave Hinduism. Whither will they go? These untouchables are eager for education and advancement.

      "The caste farmers are also usually very poor, in debt and illiterate. They listen readily to the gospel. About 80% of these people are on the land, but very ignorant. Here is a great challenge:--the rural workers, caste and untouchable alike, need our help. We look forward to doing more among these people."

      If a person is born into the untouchable caste, nothing he achieves can take him into a higher caste. Now Dr. Ambedkar, a very distinguished scholar, with high degrees from European Universities, was born an outcast. While he is honoured abroad, yet when he returned to his own village, he was treated like any other outcaste. Dr. Ambedkar objected to Ghandi calling outcasts "Harijans" or men of god, or men of Krishna. The Christians, who hail from this depressed class, objected to being linked with any idol or Indian god. "To the untouchable, Hinduism is a veritable chamber of horrors", Dr. Ambedkar added, "Nothing can be more odious and vile than that admitted social evils should be sought to be justified on the grounds of religion." While, since independence, it is illegal to discriminate against untouchables, that does not mean the principle of untouchability has been eliminated from the rule and practice of Hinduism in India. (See Hastings Encyclopedia of Religion).

      The land which had been secured for the "Criminal Settlement" across the canal from the Magarey bungalow had to be developed. A school-house and various outhouses were required. Roy Coventry had to build a manager's bungalow in stone. He employed stonemasons. He also trained carpenters to make doors and windows and furniture in teak. He designed and developed a wonderful garden. Poor soil was dug out and replaced with that from the Nira, a nearby river. He planted trees around the compound and set out an avenue along the driveway. All the settlers were brought into the new site. Each family was given a plot of ground on which to build a hut. The land was laid out in streets. Shady trees were planted. During 1920, a large number of new settlers arrived voluntarily. By the end of the year there were 261 persons in residence with forty four in the day school.

      The settlers were not employed on internal industries, but were sent out to work for employers of labour in the town and in the fields. This method was approved by Mr. Starte. At Baramati, work on the sugarcane fields provided employment for most of the year. To gain enough for a family to live reasonably well, it demanded most members of the family work: father, mother and older children. This was hard for mothers with young children. Once a man who was blind, sat on the front verandah of the bungalow, weaving seats and seat-backs, with cane, for chairs. He had lost his sight in a fight when a boy. He never lost his willingness to help others. By teaching them this worthwhile trade, they too became worthwhile citizens. His artistic gift in the

weaving of cane into useful patterns never ceased to create the admiration of missionary children.

      In 1922, three acres of land was leased from the Sugar Company. Twenty families were placed upon it under the direction of the Baramati mission. The project was a success. The manager of the Sugar Company was a Hindu, he remarked to Roy Coventry, "I am ashamed of myself and my fellow countrymen when I remember you have come thousands of miles to do work we should be doing for our own people. I will do all I can to help you."

      In 1922, Mr. Strutton, when revisiting Baramati, was full of praise for the work being achieved among the Bhamptas. The Government authorities also felt the size of the institution lent itself to efficient administration. They noted, "With an efficient administrator, Mr. H. R. Coventry, this work has grown and developed creditably."

      Older boys were put to work in the night school under competent artisans, learning masonry and carpentry. These classes helped to build the chapel, orphanage, school and manager's bungalow, etc. Many of the lads became efficient workers and earned high wages. Some were trained as tailors or for other professions. The prejudice against the Bhamptas began to fade away. The report on the Settlement indicated a general improvement among the people. It said, "The people are beginning to take pride in their children's progress at school, better homes are being built, less quarrelling is noticed. Drunkenness is far less frequent: there is a growing regard for honest labour and a dislike of their past lives."

      It was during this period when the Bhamptas were settling into their new environment that disaster struck the Coventry family. Roy became ill and while he was delirious with malarial fever, baby Harold (9 months) passed away after only three days of illness. Mother, father and two missionary ladies were left devastated. Father had to rise from his sick bed to take the service, first having made the coffin because of lack of staff. Trials such as these try one's faith.

      So from time to time missionaries seek to escape from the heat of summer and pressure of tensions. This was a time of great refreshment for the Coventry family. For one such vacation, they went to "Brooklands", a missionary rest-home. Here they were able to breathe the lovely mountain-air which is taken for granted by people from Europe and even by some who live in Australia. What a thrill it was to smell the fragrance of the sweet scented tea-tips, being pinched from the trees by workers in the gardens! This may be done only at certain seasons of the year. Then the tips are taken down into the valley to be dried and steamed and

later packed into tea-boxes for overseas' export. The family enjoyed the early morning toast and "local" tea brought to them by the servant. "No tea or toast, tasted so delicious as that hilltop tea!" The Missionary family now relaxed. Ethel and Roy could play with the family. The children played at "make-believe" houses, by setting out "rooms" with stones each undertaking an allotted part under the inter-twining branches of the pine trees.

      One lady sat on her verandah in front of her guest-house room, and painted gift cards with delicate shades of water-colour. She was 90 years of age. What a delight it was to be taken into the confidence of the elderly lady and be shown her dainty paintings!

      Within the settlement at Baramati, there were events which delighted the missionaries. In 1922, several persons in the Settlement made a confession of faith in Christ and were baptised. Five Indian Christians met and prayed within the Settlement and enjoyed communion with their Lord in the breaking of bread. These were the first fruits of the harvest reaped from among these Bhamptas.

      The political situation in India did not improve when Hindus attacked Muslims for slaughtering their sacred cows. The Hindu population was 82% of the whole of the Indian nation; while the Muslims made up some 11%. The two groups held, with fanatical zeal, their different faiths and would not yield to any compromise. This was to bring about the division of the nation and later to the establishment of the Indian and Muslim states. In the process, many lives were to be lost, and much unhappiness created.

      Despite these racial, religious and national differences within India, Roy Coventry continued his ministry at Baramati with zeal and confidence, having great faith in the Lord whom he served.

      Roy Coventry was a man of medium height, well built, healthy and vigorous. His face was aglow with a smile most of the time. Once he set his mind on a task he followed it through to the end. The Indian people loved both Ethel and Roy. The Coventrys loved India--this land of their adoption. Roy had a gift of making friends. While some of his co-workers criticised his actions, they later came to appreciate his fine qualities of leadership. He never spared himself to get a job completed. He was able to organise others to achieve fantastic amounts of work, in spite of their native Indian lethargy and despite their lack of knowledge of the task. To gain something for the mission which he regarded as a legal and rightful possession, he went out of his way to make sure the mission was not robbed of its just ownership. He set out to improve the lot of the people over whom he had some responsibility.

      In his early days at Baramati, he concentrated on the building programme, organising preaching programmes in the surrounding villages, setting up schools, orphanages, and a dispensary. He had a responsibility also to the church at Baramati. He appointed permanent pastors and preachers to villages and helped train men and women to go out and preach. He organised a group of women to serve as "Bible Women" to go into surrounding districts. He enjoyed his work. He never let life's troubles become irksome. He had a capacity to put aside responsibility and enjoy a time of recreation, such as hiking in the hills, playing tennis, cricket, and hunting. He was genuinely ready to be friendly with others.

      The weary round of work, day in and day out, was relieved by the arrival of Christmas. The mission made much of this joyful occasion. Large boxes of gifts reached Baramati from Australia. Before Christmas Day, there was much time spent in preparation. Gifts had to be wrapped and prepared for distribution to all the members of the Settlement. These included the Bible Women, preachers, teachers, dispensers, bullock-cart drivers, clerks, carpenters, stonemasons, bricklayers: all in the mission employ. The Christians and their children also received some item of clothing and a packet of sweets. Each parcel had the recipient's name. Each child in the Home at Baramati and Shrigonda shared in this outpouring of Christian love.

      On Christmas Eve, the bands played. All sang hymns throughout the night. People visited homes of friends where they enjoyed a cup of tea. Early in the morning women would arrive at the missionaries' house with lovely sweets. These were taken from the trays and replaced with fruit as a return compliment.

      At 10 a.m. in the chapel, decorated with flowers, palm leaves, a Christmas service was held. Then all the children from the homes, young and old, marched in procession, singing hymns, beating "tom-toms", clanging cymbols and using clappers. Then they went home for the afternoon siesta. Later all gathered in the school hall where the gifts were exchanged. The Spirit of Christ in this Christmas Season indicated the change which was taking place in the lives of people who once lived as criminals, thieves and highway robbers. Roy Coventry summed up the change by this story:--"One day, one of the older leaders came to my office excited. He said, 'See, here, Sahib! is a sari and a boy. One of the women stole this in the bazaar and gave it to this boy to bring home. I caught him. These people are spoiling our good name'." Mr. Coventry was able to restore the stolen article and punish the thief. This was due to the new moral outlook which had been developing in the Settlement. What a change the power of Christ had wrought in the lives of these people!

      Roy Coventry had a vision which included not just his work among the Bhamptas, but also the outreach of the Christian Church in other parts of India. He was linked with a Missionary Council which represented Christian Churches in the whole Bombay Province. But he had an interest even beyond this Council. He had studied a tradition of the Apostle Thomas, which said he brought the gospel to India. This story maintained that Thomas took the Gospel to Travancore in the year 52 A.D. Roy visited Travancore and was invited by Bishop Abraham Mar Thoma to stay with him. This Bishop was connected with a section of the Syrian Church. Roy noted, this Bishop had on his note paper, the legend: "Founded A.D. 52". If true, this would take the origin of the Mar Thoma church back to apostolic days. That such a tradition is true may not be possible to prove. In those early years, however, there was regular trading between the Mediterranean World and India, via the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. Those travellers used the trade-winds which blew regularly from West to East at a certain period of the year, and then in reverse at another. Sailors made use of these winds. There are colonies of Jews, said to be descendants of those who went to India before the Christian era. In the very early church history, there are references of Apostles visiting India. Pantaenus, of Alexandria, went to India to preach, and found Christians who had, in the year 189 A.D., copies of Matthew's Gospel.

      Roy Coventry found in Travancore a Christian Community of about 2,000,000--half Roman Catholic and half Non-Roman Catholic, in a population of some 7,000,000.

      He wrote, "One of the most significant pieces of united effort which I found on my visit was at Alwaye. There the Jacobites, Mar Thoma and Anglican groups united in staffing a coeducational college with some 450 students. In their beautiful chapel every Sunday morning, at 8 a.m., an Anglican Service was held; at 9 a.m. a Jacobite Service and at 10 a.m. a Mar Thoma Service. In the evening there was a united church service. I was fortunate to be present on the 25th Anniversary of the foundation of the college, Roy wrote, "when Bishop Jacobs gave an inspiring address".

      Social service seemed to be strongly inculcated into the minds of the students of the college. Nearby is the Alwaye Settlement, where Roy found poor boys and girls in several hostels, being

taught carpentry, weaving and agriculture. One of the college professors had resigned from the College. He was teaching primary school now along with other graduates, living with boys in the hostel.

      "I came away from Travancore," wrote Roy, "after spending one of the most remarkable ten days of my life, feeling here is an ancient church that has withstood the test of centuries. If Indian Christians are of that kind of stuff, then I have no fears for the future of the Indian Church. Through trial and even persecution, she will emerge triumphant and still honour and glorify Christ her Lord. Already the Indian Church has given many illustrious sons to the gospel, and she will give more."

      Returning to Baramati, encouraged by his visit to the great missionary work of those long-established churches, Roy Coventry and his family continued in their routine duties. These were relieved by the visits of Government Officials who came to supervise the activities of the various settlements in the Bombay Province. Perhaps it could be Mr. McLaughlan, who was next to the Governor of Bombay, called Commissioner, or Mr. Hudson, chief Education Officer, or Mr. Brown, a Police Superintendent who would make a visit to Baramati Settlement. These men would be entertained in the manager's bungalow. Ethel Coventry would act as hostess. Then, on occasions, the family would be invited to the official residence, the government bungalow. These would be highlights. The British Civil Service in India maintained a high standard of decorum; in the manner of such officials who had lived in Great Britain.

      At dinner at 8 p.m., there would be the official's servants in attendance. They would have white coats, turbans, and a red band worn diagonally across the body, with a brass plate on the breast. These men attended the tables, taking meat and vegetables to each guest to serve himself. The finger bowls, on fruit plates, completed the very elaborate setting of cutlery, cruet-set, silver salt cellars and pepper shakers. Then, on the water in the bowls tiny paper flowers unfolded as small paper circles were dropped on the water. At Christmas dinner bonbons were pulled, caps donned, nuts cracked. Then there was the excitement of hunting for trinkets, such as buttons and silver coins in the pudding.

      Finger bowls, cutlery, dinnerware had to be set out neatly and in right order. Food from vegetable and meat dishes had to be served from the left side. Table boys had to wait at the door, while guests and host ate, being ready to fetch anything they may be asked. They would wait until all the guests had finished before removing, from the right of the guests, the dirty dishes.

      Within the home, the servants had their daily schedule. The beds had to be made, the house swept and dusted. This had to be

done quickly and without speaking to anyone. The large storeroom was kept locked. Ethel Coventry would open up and take out the requirements for the day's meals. Cupboards, with valuables, were left under lock and key. If not, the temptation to steal was too strong for some servants to resist. Inexperienced missionaries have wanted to trust the Indians in the house, but have found sooner or later to their sorrow, how mistaken they have been.

      When visitors came from Australia, which was rare, it was quite an occasion. Mr. and Mrs. Reg Ennis and Lola, on their way to Europe, visited the Coventrys. Roy had learned to drive the "Chevrolet" which Miss Queenie Ashwood had presented to Miss Blake for use on the mission fields. Roy took the Australian visitors and their daughter and Margaret, for a drive. Such days relieved the weary monotony of the duties of the Settlement and the loneliness of boarding school.

      While the work of reclamation of criminals was taking place at the Settlement at Baramati, Mahatma Ghandi was seeking to gain independence and freedom for Indians by a programme of "disobedience" to Government laws and the use of non-violent opposition to the authorities ruling over them. He sought to make the poor Indians, independent, by introducing cottage manufactures, such as spinning cloth. India would not then be under any obligation to buy foreign manufactured cloth. This created unrest among the masses and brought embarrassment to British rulers in India. However, there was no reaction within the missionary settlements. The workers continued their unselfish tasks with sincere diligence.

      There were changes in the missionary staff at this time. Mr. and Mrs. J. Leach had to return to Australia because of Jack's ill-health. Dr. G. H. Oldfield arrived to work in the medical field. Later Miss J. Gibson came to India to be married to Dr. Oldfield. Dr. Oldfield found his task very difficult. He commenced his medical programme by working in a "garage". The Watsons had left India, for family reasons, from the missionary work which was so dear to them.

      During 1927, a great step forward was made. The indigenous churches in "Our India" were now linked into a Conference. The four churches: Baramati, Shrigonda, Dhond and Diksal were to work together to extend the outreach of the gospel in India. The officers elected were: H. R. Coventry, president; M. Y. Gaikwad, vice-president; Dr. K. L. Kolhutker, secretary; Dr. G. Bhambale, treasurer.

      The churches in Australia were becoming aware of the great burden Roy Coventry was carrying in the development of the missionary programme and in addition to this the responsibility

      of the Criminal Settlement. At a Federal Conference, a resolution was passed to the effect "that Brother Coventry be relieved of other work to give his full-time to the Criminal Tribes Settlement". While this resolution was passed at Conference, it was never put into action.

      The British Government was concerned about the growing unrest in India. Stanley Baldwin's Conservative Government in London appointed a Commission, made up of only British members, to enquire into the manner in which the British Government was carrying out its administration in India. The aim of the mission was to suggest ways by which the Constitution could be advanced to help the situation. The chairman was Sir John Simon. The Commission became known as the Simon Commission. Since no Indian was included in the membership of the Commission, the Indians objected to such a biased enquiry. The cry "Simon, go back!" became common throughout India. Youth groups took up the cry and repeated it everywhere. However, the Simon Commission did investigate the actions and ministry of Missions. It had nothing but praise for such work. It said of the missions: "The many admirably conducted schools and hospitals founded and maintained by Christian Missions of various nationalities and denominations, some of whom we visited during our tour throughout India, compel a tribute to the splendid service they render. It was the missionaries who were among the pioneers of education for the illiterate; they maintain some of the best medical institutions in the country and their work among women and children and for the depressed classes, is of special significance." While Sir John was speaking of all missionary work in India, the statement has special reference to the type of work H. R. Coventry was carrying out in the Settlement among the depressed classes, and the Criminal tribes of Baramati.

      The Hospital at Dhond was opened in 1927 by H. R. Coventry. He told of how land had been acquired free of cost, and free from rent and land revenue assessments. The Mission purchased two military wards and erected them on site. This was to be a temporary building, until the arrival of Dr. Oldfield. As we have seen, the doctor started work in a garage. Then, when the Ashwood Bequest was made available, it was possible to erect this hospital. Some of the material of the old building was used in this new construction.

      During this year (1929) the church at Baramati had made so much progress, the chapel had to be enlarged. This work was carried out under the supervision of Roy Coventry. On October 5th, the chapel was opened. The day was an occasion of great rejoicing. Twenty-four converts were baptised. There were now

      over seven hundred in residence in the Criminal Tribes Settlement. This involved additional work for the manager and staff.

      Early that year, Mrs. Coventry returned to Australia with Margaret, Muriel born February 1928 and Vera, June 1923, due mainly to the illness of Margaret. Toward the end of the year, Roy also returned to Australia to enjoy his furlough and to be with his family.

      At the end of 1930, Roy and the family returned to India. The 25th Silver jubilee meetings were postponed so that Roy and G. T. Walden, the official representative of the Australian Overseas Mission Committee, could join in the celebrations. At the final service on Sunday morning in the first week of January 1931, about 200 shared in the Communion Service. Mr. Strutton preached. At the close of the address, twelve made the "Good Confession". That day G. T. Walden baptised twenty into Christ, among whom was Margaret, daughter of Roy and Ethel Coventry.

      Already H. H. Strutton had made his mark in India by laying the foundation of the work among the Bhamptas at Baramati. Then he was invited to take charge of the very large Criminal Tribe Settlement at Sholapur, one hundred and fifty miles from Baramati. For his outstanding work, he was honoured by being awarded the Kaiser-i-Hind medal. In 1930, he was appointed to be the Government Supervisor of All Criminal Tribe Settlements in the Bombay State. Because of this move, the Industrial Settlement at Sholapur needed some temporary assistance in this emergency. The Australian Churches of Christ Missionary Board were asked to allow Mr. Coventry to be on loan to the American Marathi Mission at Sholapur for 1931-32. This was indeed an honour, not only for Mr. Coventry but also for the Mission work carried out by Churches of Christ in India.

      The people in this criminal tribe settlement were, in the main, Kaikadis. They were a group who had specialised in highway robbery. They were very intelligent and difficult to "lay by the heels". They had been a terror to the village people. They often committed murder. These people were a danger to life. They had been rounded up by the police and were located, at first, in an old fort. The police cared for them for a time. The Government in 1917, gave complete management of this large settlement at Sholapur to the American Marathi Mission. Government funds were used to maintain the running costs. To this work, as we have seen, H. H. Strutton was appointed to be the first missionary manager of an organised settlement in the Bombay Presidency.

      Sholapur City, with five large cotton mills, employed many thousands of workers. Here was an opportunity for the members of the Criminal Settlement to gain profitable work. In the early days, there was a great demand for labour at the cotton mills. The European manager of the mills was ready to employ the Settlement people.

      What did the management of this settlement involve? What was asked of Roy Coventry in this difficult situation?

      1. He had to keep the people busy and to find employment for them. Arrangements were made for the mills to make use of men, women and young people. Trades were taught to the young men so they could become masons, carpenters, or useful workers in the city streets.

      2. The "criminals" had to be under control. Staff was employed to supervise them. A ten foot barbed-wire fence was around the boundary. People had to observe rules which governed their movements in and out of the settlement daily.

      3. The sick must be given care. Efforts had to be made to keep everything sanitary. A doctor and nurse must be made available. Wells had to be inspected.

      4. The children must be provided with an education. There were 850 children in the day school. Classes were held to teach girls weaving and boys carpentry and the tinsmith's art, etc.

      Office work was involved in the conduct of a Co-operative Credit Society. Loans were advanced for home-building, weddings and trading. The people repaid the loans by instalments. There were few bad debts.

      The official attitude to the people in the Settlements throughout the Bombay Presidency was changing. Instead of referring to them as Criminal Tribes Settlements, they were named "Industrial Settlements" to get rid of the stigma "criminal". The Settlement at Sholapur was named "Umedpur"; The City of Hope. When we compare this reformation work within these "Settlements" with what we find in some of the prisons in the Western world today, even here in Australia, we must give high credit to what was achieved in these Indian institutions. Roy Coventry wrote: "When we consider that of the men inside the Settlement, nearly 500 of them would mostly be in gaol, if they were not in Settlements, we may realise the difference there is in their lives. The growing generation knows almost nothing of the past life. The Settlement and its free colonies are their home. In a recent political agitation in the Settlement engineered by some labour organisers, some allegations were made against our management. The worst we have done, apparently, was to transfer a man to another Settlement for misconduct. At the end of about 18 items in their petition they finally appealed and wrote: 'Whatever happens, we must not be transferred away from the Sholapur Settlement'. This was so much their home they did not want to be moved from it!"

      They were happy and contented to remain in it, whatever shortcomings it may be thought to have.

      These agitators might well have been linked with those who were at work in many parts of India. When Ghandi arrived at Bombay in 1931, Nehru had been arrested. Ghandi asked the Viceroy for a meeting. He also threatened civil disobedience unless the Viceroy agreed to his conditions. The Viceroy replied he could not negotiate while under threat. When Ghandi said civil disobedience was inevitable he was arrested early in 1932. Many Indians now acted in sympathy and went on strike.

      There was opposition to Ghandi within the Settlement at one time. Rev. J. F. Edwards, of Poona, in a paper representing Churches of the Marathi speaking area, wrote: "When H. H. Strutton was serving as an officer in charge of Criminal Settlements, he protected Ghandi from the anger of the criminal tribes. These people in the Settlement were so angry with Ghandi, they planned to attack him. Without Ghandi knowing, Mr. Strutton prevented any action and thus, probably, saved Ghandi's life."

      When the Coventry family moved to Sholapur, there had been rioting in the Settlement. Guards were placed at the gate to the manager's bungalow, and around the high barbed-wire fence surrounding the settlement. Ghandi was in the midst, inside "Yarawla" Prison, having been transferred from Poona because of bitter rioting and looting of Government buildings.

      During the 1932 September school holidays, the Coventry children were home on holidays. They were in the thick of all this trouble. The children thought all this was exciting. They felt very important with so many officials from the Police and Criminal Tribes Departments around them. The "Collector", a high Government official came to see Roy Coventry in his office. There were 56 policemen guarding the Settlement which had 3,000 of the worst type of criminals. Margaret Goninon (nee Coventry) writes: "I had to deliver letters from the bungalow to the office. When I arrived at the office, three quarters of a mile from the bungalow, father said, 'What are you doing here? You shouldn't have come!' I went into his office and waited while father said to a man inside, who stood in front of his desk, 'Go on, get out! I haven't got any more time for you!' The guards grabbed him, dragging him out of the door to the 'Lockup'. I had never seen such hatred in such horrible green snake-like eyes, nor had I seen my father in such a bad temper. I was terrified."

      It seems Roy Coventry was over-tired from lack of sleep and under tremendous pressure with the responsibility of supervising 3,000 people who were on a sit-down strike, and would not go to work at the Cotton fabric mills. Mr. Knight, the Commissioner, had been out to address the men but they refused to go back to work until Ghandi was released.

      In view of the firm, but reasonable stand that Roy Coventry took during this time of crisis, he came under notice of the high officials in the Bombay Provincial Government, and was recommended for the Kaiser-i-Hind medal (equivalent to the O.B.E.). King George V awarded this high distinction for meritorious service in the Criminal Tribes Settlement at a very difficult time.

      The award was announced in the "Times of India" of 1934. Margaret was given leave from College to go with the family to Poona, where the medals were to be awarded to the recipients.

      Margaret now takes up the story. "Mother and I had to go for a fitting for our evening dresses, my first: a pale blue silk, long and sleek. Mother's was black, slenderising. She wore her black and gold Indian wedding necklace, given instead of a wedding ring. I wore pearls with mine. All older women had elbow-length white kid gloves. Some carried gorgeous ostrich plume feathered fans, making Government House, Poona, a gorgeous spectacle of pastel-coloured evening dresses against the sombre black evening suits of the men, with a backdrop of pale green walls, golden acanthus leaf scrolls atop green columns, orange marigolds in golden urns, on green pedestals. When all were seated in the great hall, the Governor and Lady Bradbourne were escorted up the front steps, from a liveried Rolls-Royce. A fanfare of trumpets, a parade of Sikhs as body guard, entered the hall from the rear, complete in rainbow coloured turbans and red coats. The Governor and Lady Bradbourne, with aide-de-camp and ladies-in-waiting and the other officials of Government, entered the hall amid great, yet suppressed excitement.

      "When all were seated, each person to receive a decoration went forward in turn to the dais on which the Governor stood. He seemed very nervous. He said to father, 'This jolly pin isn't much good!'

      "After the Governor's speech, all retired to the verandahs, small reception rooms and gardens all aglow with coloured lights. Here a lovely supper, with drinks, was served. The fountain in the garden was illuminated and transformed into a rainbow. Mr. Knight, the Governor's representative for the Sholapur District, and the Chief of Police, Mr. Gormon, came to speak with the Coventry family. What a day it was! What an honour for H. R. Coventry!"

      During 1935, Mahatma Ghandi agreed that Christians and missionaries had a right to preach their gospel. He said, "I am a preacher myself." But he expressed opposition to Christian medical and educational programmes. This was based on the claim that it was by means of this social work people entered into the church. Other leading Indians denied this, claiming that hundreds, free from these gracious services, by their own freewill, accepted Christ as Lord.

      A building programme continued at Baramati under the direction of Roy Coventry. A small prayer room was erected on the compound as a quiet place for any Christian who needed to enjoy a time of quiet devotions. An Assembly Hall was also added. Rooms were built on to the School to meet the increase in numbers attending. During these activities, C. G. V. Thomas and Miss Grace Lambert joined the mission staff, in December 1935.

      India was in a state of turmoil with the British authorities, but in addition to all this trouble, there were internal divisions. Various religious groups within the Indian community were at war with one another. When pleas were made to Great Britain for independence, the question arose: What about the minority groups within the Nation, what will happen to them? Can these people be granted freedom and enjoy civil rights? To what extent will these groups enjoy freedom was a question the Indians would not or could not agree upon. Great Britain, as in other times, followed the rule: "Divide and Conquer". But this rule could not be pressed now. The great division in India was between the Hindus and the Muslim league. Ghandi and Nehru were the acknowledged leaders of the Hindus. Mohammed Ali Jinnah was the leading figure among the Muslims. The Muslims were comparatively newcomers to India. The first teachers of Islam followed the sea-route from the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf to the South of India in about the 7th and 8th centuries. Then, in the 13th and 14th centuries, Muslims associated with the Turkish Empire became teachers of their faith in India when the Turks expanded their Empire. They came down from the North-West into the centre of India, building great cities. The Muslims, holding to Abraham, to the Prophets and to the personal and invisible God could not conform to the Hindu system of numerous gods and an impersonal description of Reality, and the final end of all things in Nirvana.

      While, in the early days of the rebellion against Britain, these two groups were united, as time passed and the conditions for Independence began to be spelled out, there were serious differences, which ultimately demanded the division of India into two Nations: Muslim Pakistan and Hindu India. In the course of this separation there were tragic losses of life and much misery.

      Since the Christians direct their message to both groups, they were involved in this turmoil and were frustrated by the events. Roy Coventry and his associates could not escape from this anguish.

      Many trials faced the missionaries. While each may seem to be minor, yet when many were added together, they could become serious. One night, not long after Colin Thomas arrived in India (December 1935), Mr. and Mrs. Coventry and Colin Thomas were awakened by the cry: "Sahib! Sahib!" Miss Caldicot came running from the single-ladies house, "Winterbourne", saying "there are thieves stealing the Sorghum crop". The bullock cart driver, whose house was between the two bungalows and on the edge of the Sorghum field, had been awakened by noises. Roy Coventry and Colin Thomas rushed out of their bungalow with torch and cane (a defence against snakes). As Colin touched the door, something bit him. In his haste to catch the thieves, he did

not think of the mishap to himself. Both men rushed over to the field. Then the three men, Roy, Colin and the bullock driver ran in three directions around the boundaries. They found nothing amiss. When the men returned and Colin Thomas went to enter the door of the bungalow, he was bitten a second time. Shining the torch on the place he had touched, he found a scorpion. As a result, he was in agony for several days. Cutting the wound and washing away the blood did give some relief but the poison had been in the body too long and had travelled around the body. While scorpions may not kill, nevertheless, they can make a person very sick.

      During a special week of evangelical services during Relatives' Week, twenty persons made their decision for Christ. Among these was Vera Coventry, the second daughter of the Coventrys. In addition to this spiritual blessing, there was also the joy of experiencing drought-breaking rains.

      In 1937, Mr. and Mrs. Coventry returned to Australia on furlough. They had enjoyed such holidays back at home in 1922 and 1930. The two elder girls were of an age when they ought to remain in Australia to gain the benefits of higher tertiary education.

      At the farewell meeting, the Brahmin Secretary of the Baramati Municipality spoke of the eighteen years he had worked with H. R. Coventry. He praised the work of this Christian missionary. Mentioned his impartial attitude in giving ever-ready help to all castes and classes of men. To the people in the settlement, Roy Coventry had, over the years, been not only a guardian of law and order, but also a friend and brother.

      On Sundays, it was usual to hold a voluntary preaching service in the open-air when all the settlers could hear the gospel. There was a ready response to good teaching by those settlers who had goodwill, but there were always some obstreperous individuals who would not listen to any message spoken by members of the staff or by their fellow settlers. Looking back over twenty-two years they had been in India, both Mr. and Mrs. Coventry could see how God had worked in their midst at Baramati and in the settlement.

      The early 1930s were full of the tragic results of the Great Depression in the Western world. People who once had been rich were stripped of all their earthly possessions. Multitudes were unemployed. People starved in the midst of plenty. The economic system of the West had failed. There is little suggestion in the mission records to indicate the people in India were affected. The Australian churches could not keep their commitments to the level the mission work demanded. The missionaries were compelled to live at a lower standard of living. (Salary £2.0.0 a

week) The Indian population however was always at the lowest economical level. They could not sink any lower. They had always suffered hardship and poverty.

      When the Coventrys returned to Australia, the results of the Depression were still felt. There was a call for more and more social aid. The Churches of Christ Department of Social Services in Victoria introduced a co-operative system known as the Christian Fellowship Association. People who contributed to this fund could call upon it for help in time of need. This was similar to the Co-operative Credit Society Roy had introduced into the Industrial Settlement in India to help the Bhamptas to get out of the hands of the moneylenders. While the C.F.A. was not quite like this Indian scheme, yet it did seek to help people in need who did not want to take charity. Roy Coventry became associated with the Victorian Social Service Department. He went to the various churches to secure more members for the C.F.A.

      Roy Coventry had word the Indian Government had come to the conclusion that the work of reclaiming the Criminal Tribes had been so successful there was no need to continue it indefinitely. Moves were now introduced to withdraw financial support from this reclamation ministry. This would take place in the near future. Roy Coventry had now to consider what his ministry would be when he returned to India. He saw that part of his new programme would embrace a ministry to the outcaste people. Ghandi had called them "Harijan"--Children of God, or Children of Krishna. Many objected to being classified as children of a god. To be told they must give up eating meat and from drinking fermented palm-juice did not give them much advantage in the scheme of things in India. They wanted freedom and release from slavery. What were these people to do? Ghandi used his great influence to prevent them from becoming Christians. One statement coming to us from that time summed up the attitude of the missionaries. "There is no reason to fear that, for the sake of making proselytes, Christian missionaries are likely to fall into the error of trying to sweep this uncertain multitude into the Christian Community". One English writer put the position clearly, saying, "He, Ghandi, would have them become what he has called them, 'Children of God', but lacks all power to achieve his vision."

      After the death of Mrs. Strutton in 1939, Mr. Strutton visited Baramati and attended a church service in the Settlement. His report of this service is significant. "What impressed me most in the service of worship on Sunday," he said, "was not alone the increase in numbers attending, nor that they were better dressed, men and women alike, than heretofore. 1 noticed that the men, who came out of the vestry when the service was to begin (the officers of the church) and were on the plan for the day to read

the Scripture lesson, were sons of Bhamptas: in one case I knew the father had been a 'lifer' on the Andamon Islands. The presiding officer had begun life as an orphan thirty two years ago, right here . . . The Communion Service was orderly and impressive . . . and in a gathering of well over 200, there were few who did not put in an offering toward the church funds."

      The Second World War now agonised the whole world. India, because of her internal conflict and in view of the desire to seek independence, was again in turmoil. The leaders were aware of the threat of Nazism, but were not co-operative in Britain's struggle to gain freedom for all peoples. They wanted Hitler kept in his place. Even Nehru and Ghandi could not find a united way to lead India in this crisis. The advances made by Britain to seek the co-operation of India in the war effort did not meet with the approval of all. Hindus (Ghandi and Nehru) took one side, while the Muslims (Jinnah) the other. During this dangerous and unsteady time Mr. and Mrs. Coventry returned to India. In 1940, although the war conditions made sea travel hazardous, the missionaries, on furlough, made safe journeys. These included Dr. and Mrs. Oldfield, Misses Foreman and Cameron and now the Coventrys.

      Changes took place in the Settlement. In 1940 the penal section of the settlement was removed. Some 600 free settlers remained within the mission compound. While only 70 had accepted Christ (and of these 50 in 1965 were still in membership with the church at Baramati), the Christian impact was made evident in the reformed lives of very many. Dr. Picket in his book tells of what a head-man of a village said when asked if he noticed any difference when outcasts became Christians. This caste man said, "Animals have become men!" Perhaps this could be said of many of the converted Bhamptas.

      In 1941 it was announced in Australia that the Indian Government had closed the Baramati Settlement. The buildings, however, remained the property of the mission. So Roy Coventry began a new programme. He introduced an evangelical campaign in and around the villages near Baramati. Here he was welcomed by many Indians whom he had known over the years.

      Throughout this time (1942), despite the War, the work of the missions proceeded as if nothing were amiss. Roy reported, "We go along quietly in our little town. If it were not for the dryness and scarcity of things, we would scarcely know there is a war on."

      But this was to change. India was to face great danger after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour. The fall of Singapore, the invasion of Malaya, the entry of the Japanese armies into Burma,

      then the capture of Rangoon demanded full resistance by a united India. Winston Churchill acted and sent out Sir Stafford Cripps with a new plan. The British Government agreed to grant Dominion Status after the war. While this satisfied some, not all would go along with the plan. It seemed it gave Jinnah (the Muslim) much advantage. The plan was rejected. However, as Cripps was leaving India, Nehru called upon the Indian peoples to fight the Japanese should they invade the country. "We are not going to embarrass the British war effort in India," he declared. But Ghandi called for the British to "Quit India".

      At the end of the war, after the British elections and with the emergence of the Labour Government, India was given freedom. But the result was a divided India. Jinnah gained his Pakistan but at a terrible cost in blood and suffering.

      As we have noted Roy Coventry was anxious to work in unity with all those who love Christ. He was, for years, a member of the Bombay Representative Christian Council. In 1946 we find him President of that influential body. The editor of the "Dnyanodaya", a paper representing many Christian groups which was established in 1842, reported that the 35th Annual Meetings were held in the Y.M.C.A. Hall in Bombay on September 4th, 1946. The chairman was H. R. Coventry and the secretary was Elizabeth Moreland. "To both these officers", the editor reported, "the Bombay Representative Christian Council owes a deep debt of gratitude for both their work in preparing for the Council and also during the conduct of its sessions (under the stress of the Bombay riots). To the former for his opening message to the Council and to the latter for her strenuous and successful task of piloting the business." Miss Vawser was appointed one of the recording secretaries. In the opening address Roy Coventry made some significant statements which revealed his Churches of Christ training and background.

      "One of the many things said at the Cambridge Conference on Evangelism was," he said, "a united witness to common faith will help to make that faith more creditable. The call to evangelism is urgent. Disunity leads to a breakdown of witness; united witness will lead to the breakdown of division. We have achieved, perhaps, more Christian Unity in India than exists in Great Britain or the United States of America. This spiritual unity is very evident in this Council. Dr. Stanley Jones was right, I think, when he said in the last number of the N.C.C. Review, 'If we ask the question, "What do you believe?" we go apart. But if we ask the question, "Whom do you trust?" then we come together,' For we are united in Him. All we need is the outer expression of that already existing unity. If we act on the familiar words of Dr. Paton, 'Let us work together as though we are one, then we shall assuredly carry weight with our message, to carry conviction in our evangelistic approach, we just need this unity of purpose'."

      "Our faith is in the same Lord, even if our terminology is different. We are people of one Book: thank God for that. One Book which reveals to us all we know of Jesus' life, death, and glorious resurrection. It teaches us all we know of the way His church was formed, as the result of preaching of His evangel. That church on earth is essentially, intentionally and constitutionally one. We have divided it, but let us, in patience, come together in our witness that the world may believe.

      "As we meet in this Council, as we hope to meet in the Spiritual Life Centre, as we unite in the task of presenting Jesus to India, we are becoming more and more conscious of this great unity. It is truly the Holy Spirit, guiding and controlling our work for Him 'Who is one with the Father'.

      "I believe that from the Spiritual Life Centre, flaming evangelists will break forth onto the stony and thorn-choked land of India. Only by a fresh inbreathing of the Holy Spirit may we, ministers and people, catch again that flame of evangelism which has revived the church from time to time through the ages."

      While Roy Coventry was the president of the Bombay Representative Christian Council, he took a leading part in the establishment of the Nasrapur Spiritual Life Centre. For some time, many in Maharashtra had been planning, negotiating and praying for the setting up of such a centre where Christians may find a place to be quiet and to enjoy periods of private prayer. Miss Edna Vawser and Miss Picken of the American Marathi Mission, were associated with him in this enterprise. As Roy has said, they hoped that "from this Spiritual life Centre evangelists may go forth onto the stony and thorn-choked land of India and plant the seed of the Lord to bring a spiritual harvest in the coming days."

      What evidence have we from the Indian people themselves which would justify the sacrificial ministry of men and women like Roy Coventry who lived so long in India with famine, disease and social unrest? How did Mr. Coventry carry out his work? What methods did he use?

      In 1930, Krishnaji Gaikwad listened to the gospel preached by the missionaries. He believed in Jesus as his Saviour, but was afraid to make an open confession of that faith. Why ought this be so? The Hindu faith was held in such narrow bounds, that anyone who took a stand for Christ would be hated and dismissed from the caste in which he had been born. He would be cast off from the family, his fellow tradesmen and from the community in which he had been nourished. To break with this iron-bound system demanded superhuman power, At first Krishnaji did not dare to take this step. He and his wife were unhappy. They had lost their four children at an early age. Krishnaji thought it was due to some sin he had committed. Krishanji's father was a man who followed past customs and did not encourage his son to take the advice of the European doctors. It was during this state of sadness that Roy Coventry met Krishnaji and urged both the wife and the husband to visit the Missionary Dispensary and accept medical treatment. The doctor provided the needed help. As a result a healthy boy was born whom the parents called Samuel. The father was overjoyed. His faith in Christ increased. The next year the fear of the caste people disappeared. Then he made his confession of faith. Krishnaji declared, "There is no doubt that the work of the Holy Spirit continues and increases faith." Krishnaji now delighted to gather Hindu members of his family into his home and to testify what Christ had achieved for him.

      Within the Baramati Settlement for Convicts there was a free colony of men who had been released from restriction. Roy Coventry sought to bring some of these people into close fellowship with Christ. There was some opposition to the Gospel, but Mr. Coventry set up a Study Group for those interested in the message of Christ. At the end of August 1943, one Indian, by name, Shivram Kalu, said to him, "I want you to come to my house tonight. We are holding a Study Group there." It was a regular Wednesday night meeting. Before going to the meeting, Roy selected what texts he needed to use at such a meeting. All present at the meeting sang Christian hymns heartily. Then Shivram asked Roy to read the Scriptures and to pray. Some six men took part. Shivram now began to make excuses why he ought not make a decision. Roy came away from the gathering about midnight. On the Saturday evening, two men came to him along with a Christian deacon, they were Shivran and Dagadu.

      Shivram said, "I have resisted Christ, but now I am ready to yield to Him and be baptised at once." Dagadu also asked to be baptised. Several others were baptised with them.

      About this time, Keruba Babaji, a builder and a leading contractor's carpenter who worked in Baramati, said, "Sahib, I went to work this morning, but found I could not do anything right. I knew there was to be a baptism this morning and now I want to be baptised." Under a tree, Roy asked him if he believed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. He replied, "Yes!" In the service which followed when the call to make a decision was made, Keruba stood alongside eight lads who had responded. Each was then baptised.

      Keruba was one of those in the first group of boys in the settlement who were trained to become carpenters. That was in 1919. For over 24 years he had been under spiritual instruction. He never worshipped idols. All the time he was too busy working and caring for his family to make the decision for Christ, so he said. His wife was upset by his decision to accept Christ and threatened to turn him out of the house. He went away for a time but returned later. Then the wife sought Christian instruction. To see these Bhamptas coming forward to give themselves to Christ was a great joy to the missionaries. It showed their efforts had not been in vain.

      Patel (Headman) Waghmodi, the father of Hariba, lived at Bori, about ten miles from Baramati. Preachers from the Baramati mission visited the village. They presented the testimony that Christ works in the lives of men. Patel Waghmodi was the headman of the village. He was respected. A man of high caste. Hariba was born in the Waghmodi farmhouse which was made of mud brick and stone and was roofed with thatch. Some ten months after his birth, his mother died in a cholera epidemic. His grandmother cared for him for a few years. At the age of four or five, Hariba returned home. An elderly relative came to the house to help. The father had married a third time, in 1926. From about this time, Patel Waghmodi began to read the Christian Scriptures, instead of Hindu books. When Patel made his confession of faith, Mr. Escott baptised him in the Bori Canal. The village people came out to witness this event. From now on the new convert was persecuted. All food supplies were cut off, even water. The relatives of his "new" wife refused to let her return to him, unless he turned back to the Hindu faith. His water was contaminated, pigs strangled and dirt was thrown into his compound. His life was threatened. The Indian pastor and Roy Coventry were stoned on a visit to him. Brahmin leaders made attempts to bribe him to come back to their way of life. Patel had to travel 10 miles to Baramati to buy grain and to secure the necessities of life.

      The faith of the elder Waghmodi made such an impression on the villagers, six others became Christians. But there was such

opposition to them, they returned to their old faith. At one time Roy Coventry was in great danger on one of his visits to the Waghmodi home. By making an appeal to higher authorities, he compelled the wife's father to allow Patel's wife to return to him. Then the people began to poison the Waghmodis. His nephew died. Hariba became ill. Only the care of Dr. Oldfield was able to bring him back to health.

      When at school at Baramati, Hariba Waghmodi made his public confession of faith in Christ. He was then in seventh grade in the Marathi School. After Hariba matriculated, he attended the University of Bombay, and gained his Bachelor of Arts degree. After a period at Shrigonda, he was sent to the College of the Bible at Glen Iris, Victoria, Australia and gained the College Diploma. On his return to India in 1950, he married Miss Shalinibai Rawade, the headmistress of the Girls' School at Shrigonda. The couple then moved to Indapur to reopen the Friendship Centre with reading room, library and facilities for use by the general public. By 1954, Hariba was elected vicepresident of the new Committee of Management. In 1955 he was elected chairman. By 1959 he was the first Indian to be appointed the Secretary of the Board of Management. Dr. Patil from Dhond Hospital was elected chairman. In 1962 Hariba was appointed secretary of the Bombay Representative Council. This was a high honour for this Christian Indian.

      The political situation in India was moving to a crisis. There was conflict between the Muslim League and the Hindus. The Muslims under Jinnah, refused to co-operate in a united India. To break the impasse, the British Government decided to send a new viceroy to India. This was Lord Mountbatten, a great grandson of Queen Victoria. His instructions were to transfer power to the Indians by June 1947. His difficult task began in Delhi on March 22, 1947.

      India was now in a divided state. To hand over rule to such an India was impossible. There was violence everywhere. Law and order were in collapse. The situation was impossible. The condition of the country was such that Lord Mountbatten invited Jinnah and Ghandi to come to him so he could make an appeal to them to refrain from violence. Unfortunately, the appeal was without results. Partition of the country must now take place. This was the only way to avoid civil war. Nehru and Jinnah, the chief negotiators, sadly accepted partition. The British brought the day of transfer of power a year forward, or, as it had to be, on August 15th, 1947. Nehru declared disappointedly: "We are little men serving great causes. But because the cause is great, something of the greatness falls upon us also." Punjab was to be the line of division between the two new nations: India and Pakistan. Then the terrible massacres occurred.

      On August 15th, 1947, at midnight, India could claim to be free: free but divided.

      Roy Coventry had been in India almost from the time Ghandi and Nehru took an active and public part in the fight for independence and freedom. As we have stated, he arrived in India in 1916. He was, as we shall see, about to leave India in April 1947. He was to retire from the active work of the missionfield in "Our India".

      At the farewell meeting in April, in the large school hall which had been built under Roy's supervision, a large and representative gathering assembled. Mr. Shivaji W. Jadhav, whom Roy had helped to find Christ and was for twenty years headmaster of the Primary School at Baramati, and in 1947 was the secretary of the church there, spoke on behalf of the church, the farewell address. He summed up the wonderful work Roy Coventry had carried out so successfully for thirty-one years. The address was full of information. Mr. Jadhav expressed himself in simple and clear words. It aroused great admiration in the minds of those who heard it. The value of this statement was that it came from one whom Roy had brought to Christ and who had been in close touch with him over the years. "We all know the reason why we have assembled this afternoon," he said. "Mr. Coventry, (senior to all the missionaries) is about to leave for his native land. For that reason we are very sad indeed. The work he did from the very time of his arrival is worthy of remembrance and incapable of being expressed in words. Whatever has been done in this place, his part in it is paramount.

      "First of all, let me recount the work in the Settlement. This work was entrusted to the Australian Churches of Christ Mission. Here Mr. Coventry acted as manager for a long time. Among the inmates, the Takaries predominated. Among them were also found the Kaikadis, Bhats, and Bestors. Most of these were designated 'Criminal Tribes'. To bring such people as these to the level of human beings is no easy task. The people of the town had no confidence in them and would not employ them even in broad daylight. Mr. Coventry used to meet the people and train their children along right paths. So he made provision for vocational training, such as carpentry and tailoring.

      "Mr. Coventry built houses. In building these he used some of these people in order to give them the practical training that was required.

      "In addition, he gave religious instruction and proclaimed the Gospel among these people and pointed out to them the way of salvation and eternal life. And the Lord chose a large number from among these unto Himself and into His church. Praise be to His name!

      "Moreover, in order that these people may have permanent places of habitation, he started a building scheme for them. He sold them plots of land at very low rates. In this way, he did good to them.

      "He also procured land from the Government on this side of the canal and started a Christian Colony. For this the whole Christian community is greatly indebted to him.

      "He also acted in the capacity of Principal of the school for many years and tried hard to educate and to bring up orphaned and destitute children. Education is essential for progress, social and otherwise. The mission has given much attention to improve the state of the Christian Community educationally. Mr. Coventry has played a very prominent part here.

      "Although Mr. Coventry was engaged in social work and education activities, yet he gave much time to spiritual work as well. The, church in which we are assembled, was erected under Mr. Coventry's supervision. We read that the Lord went about doing good, healing the sick, feeding the hungry and comforting the orphaned. Mr. Coventry, in obedience to our Lord's last command, proclaimed the gospel in practical Christianity. Mr. Coventry, not only gave us spiritual messages, but he also ministered to our physical needs.

      "He went to no end of trouble to get an area of land in the town for a hall. He took a lot of trouble and gat the land very cheaply, and has started work on the hall. Though the building is not finished according to the plan, we hope he will complete it himself someday.

      "He proclaimed the gospel in the villages with co-workers, staying with them, sharing their lot. In this way, he came to know personally leading people in the villages. Many village headmen who had lost their "patilship", had it restored to them because of Mr. Coventry's efforts.

      "He took part in the activities of the Municipality and mixed freely with one and all.

      "In conclusion, I first of all thank God who has given to Mr. Coventry strength for all these varied tasks, and secondly thank Mr. and Mrs. Coventry for doing so much for us."

      In 1955, when H. M. Waghmode was elected the first Indian to be chairman of the Committee of Management, the Golden Jubilee was commemorated to mark the beginning of the work in "Our India". The Indian Christians were so anxious to have Mr. and Mrs. Coventry with them to share in this event, they raised half their fares. This required much sacrifice on their part, for they lived on a level so low they had just enough income to cover their daily necessities.

      On this visit Roy's concern for the development of the Mission in India was revived. He was worried about the converts who needed to leave Baramati and other mission centres to find work. What about the spiritual needs of these people?

      At this time the city of Bombay had grown to a population of 4 millions (1955). Bombay is about 157 miles from Dhond. On the way from Dhond to Bombay one passes through many new industrial centres. Poona has half a million people. A little over 100 miles east is the industrial city of Sholapur with 300,000 residents. To these centres many of the young Christians migrate. This reduces the number of members in such a place as Baramati. The largest number move to Bombay. Scores of these young people returned to have fellowship at the Jubilee Celebrations. Later, visiting some of these people, the Coventrys found them to be feeling their isolation. On the last weekend the Coventrys were in Bombay, they contacted some of the isolated members. With some they went to the Marathi service of the United Church of North India. Here, most of the local isolated members attended. In a reunion with them, Roy asked what they considered the best answer to their needs. They said they had communion only once a month or once a quarter. There was no church which practised immersion, except an English Baptist Church. They urged that land be purchased at Ambernath, an industrial town about 40 miles out of Bombay, but served by a good electric train service. There the mission could build a small church building and a pastor's house. The pastor could hold services for the members living in that area, and then he could travel to Bombay fairly often and help organise churches in several areas. Roy agreed with these men.

      Roy then set out his views as follows: "That it is important for the ongoing Christian Church to have the witness of the Churches of Christ in Bombay city as well as throughout the

      State as far as possible, since a witness to believer's immersion and the weekly observance of the Lord's Supper is almost neglected in the State.

      We ask our Indian Committee of Management to take steps to follow groups of our members as they migrate to towns and cities for employment and help them to organise local churches."

      "That we assist in three ways: 1. Support pastors until local members can do so; 2. Assist with the rental of buildings; 3. Purchase land at suitable centres and assist in erection of buildings."

      In order to make these propositions more effective, Roy Coventry suggested a sum of money be granted from Mission funds to initiate this programme.

      On returning to Australia, Mr. and Mrs. Coventry were able to spend time in quiet retirement. They shared fellowship with the families of Margaret, Muriel, Vera and Janet.

      Roy took ill in June 1962 and died in October 1963. Reg. Bolduan conducted the funeral service at Chadstone on October 28th, 1963. Since he had been a co-worker with the Coventrys at Baramati, he was able to speak from personal experience. He had known intimately this pioneer missionary. His remarks therefore are very relevant. They testify clearly to the quality of this man of God. "It was in the early years of World War I," said Reg. Bolduan, "that he first went to India and found himself thrown into a situation so serious and difficult that one of a different mould would have given up. Indeed, and I had it passed on to me on very good authority, it had already been tentatively decided to close the work in India, if . . . if Brother Coventry failed. But, you see, he did not fail. He was made of sterner stuff: there was about him a dogged determination. Once he made up his mind, and was sure he was right, neither friendly persuasion or unfriendly intimidations had any effect. Thus, building on foundations already laid by H. Strutton, he made it firmer and more secure, adding to it. It is probably true to say that, from the human point of view, he virtually, established the work at Baramati and in India.

      "His major interest . . . centred in the Criminal Tribes people . . . These people, some of them life-sentence men, were taught honest occupations under guidance and supervision. They became reliable workmen, carpenters, bricklayers, tailors, respected citizens; they became Christians.

      "Outside the Churches of Christ Mission he was known widely among other mission activities. He was the Mission's representative on the Bombay Representative Christian Council, also on the

board of the Language School and principal for a period, on the Council of the Christian Convention in the Nira-Bhima Valley.

      "In the local community, for many years, he was the Government nominee on the Municipal Council of Baramati, the School Board and the Local Roads Board."

      Mr. Bolduan stressed that the memorial to Roy Coventry may be seen at Baramati in the Settlement bungalow and the Chapel. See too, the lonely little grave in the cemetery, where he buried his only son, the pride of his youth and hope of life, and see the name "COVENTRY" engraved in stone.

      See also many of those who were once members of the Criminal Tribes and are now preachers of the Gospel, who, under the grace of God, were brought from darkness into marvellous light, by our brother, H. Roy Coventry.