Page 45 - Malaysia by John Russel Denyes

The Town Hall was rented and nightly preach-
ing services were begun. On the fourth evening
the first break came, and several were converted.
The meetings continued for three weeks, and at
the end of that time seventeen had decided to
unite with the Methodist Church. Two of these,
John Polglase and F. J. Ben j afield, had been mem-
bers of the English Methodist
First Fruits Church, and they were taken into
full membership. The other fifteen
were received on probation. It was with this little
church, and with the promise of only such support
as they could give him that Mr. Oldham was left,
while Dr. and Mrs. Thoburn and Miss Battie re-
turned to India.
From 1885 to 1887 Dr. and Mrs. Oldham carried
on the work alone, but during the next three years
there followed in rapid sucession the arrival of
the Rev. George A. Bond and wife. Miss Sophia A.
Blackmore, Rev. Ralph W. Munson and wife, the
Rev. Benjamin F. West, M. D., and wife, the Revs.
William T. Kensett, William N. Brewster, W. G.
Shellabear, and Charles A. Gray, and Dr. Henry
L. E. Luering. Since that time more than a hun-
dred and fifty other names have appeared in the
lists of appointments. In 1918 the Foreign Staff
numbered 94. Of the others, some have gone to
their reward, but most of them, broken in health,
have returned to the homeland to stay.
Seeing the need of work among the women of
Malaysia Mrs. Oldham sent an appeal to Mrs.
Mary Hind, then secretary of the MinneapoHs
Branch of the Woman's Foreign
Woman's Missionary Society. There was
Work Begun no money in the treasury to open
new work, but Mrs. Nind said:
''Frozen Minnesota will yet, God helping her,
plant a mission at the equator;'' and personally
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