Twentieth Year

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     Next month will mark the beginning of our twentieth year of publication. We began two decades ago without a single subscriber. For the first two years there were six of us who shared the expense of publication, until the subscription list began to build up. During all of the twenty years, Nell and I have never taken one cent from the MISSION MESSENGER. All of the work done in writing, editing, wrapping and mailing, has been donated with no thought of return. It has been a work of faith and a labor of love. It is probable that if we had thought we would be doing it for twenty years, we would never have started.

     Our reading list has been altered through the years. From time to time when we wrote about the abuses of various things, certain factions would be aroused, and conclude that we were "coming their way" and partisans would send in subscriptions, only to drop out when they learned that we would not be made the mouthpiece of any faction. Yet, through all of these years, some have been regular readers and students. They have seen a great many changes. As we have learned more of God's word and will, we have unhesitatingly affirmed our convictions. We have done so without regard to past writings. Some have not been pleased. They do not want the "status quo" disturbed. They prefer the serenity of surface thinking. They applaud when you criticize others; they resent fiercely any intimation that they could possibly be wrong on any point.

     But we do not force our views upon the brethren. We do defend our God-given liberty to state them. We do not propose to surrender our liberty to speak, but we will defend the right of all to disagree with what we speak. Perhaps we stand upon the threshold of the brightest day for Christianity in more than a century. There are signs throughout the whole world that men are being aroused to think. That is a great omen.

     A paper like this can exist only through help of its friends. There has never been enough in the fund to more than pay for three or four months in advance. But always in emergency someone has come through. Whether or not they always do remains to be seen. But subscriptions do not pay the cost of publication. Those who subscribe should not subscribe too far ahead, for when the editor dies the journal will stop. There is no provision for its continuance. We prefer that when we die it shall die with us. We believe that the truth we advocate will live on to God's glory!