by Rev. Malcolm MacInnes, M.A., Ullapool
In writing to Philemon, Paul sent greetings to “the church in thy house”. The Saviour had said “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them”, and, evidently there were such with Philemon. The Word of the Lord shall prosper in the thing whereto He has sent it, “for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few”. In the hope of such truths I left Scotland on the first of August to spread the Gospel of free and sovereign grace in Fornaci di Barga, Italy. In a country which is predominantly Roman Catholic, but where “All religious confessions are equally free before the law”, this was a wonderful opportunity of declaring the Truth as it is in Jesus. At Pisa airport I was met by the Marchi family, with whom I stayed during my time in Italy.
Forty miles north-east of Pisa, in a tree-clad valley, there lies a small town — this is Fornaci di Barga. The population, of about five thousand, live in a scattered area, and a large number of them work in the local metallurgical factory. The remainder of the working population are engaged in the ordinary employments common to any small town, or in private business, which they run in their homes.
As might be expected the vast majority of the population are of Roman Catholic persuasion. A small percentage profess Communism, but, of these, some still attend the services in the Roman
Catholic chapel. In the midst of such darkness there is a small group of people who meet together to worship God and to study the Scriptures. This is “the church in thy house” in Fornaci di Barga. Of this group, some, I am fully persuaded, are new creatures in Christ Jesus; some are seekers after Truth; while others, having seen the inconsistency and deceit of the Church of Rome, are seeking a refuge. It was to minister to this group that I went to Fornaci de Barga.
During my time in Italy I held two services each Lord’s Day, and a prayer-meeting during the week. At these services I delivered an exposition of some portion of Scripture, after which there followed a discussion on the subject raised, or on one kindred to it. On other evenings worship was held in one of the houses, and, as was customary after the services, a discussion followed. During these discussions, I not only endeavoured to expose the errors of the Papal system, but also received an insight to the pressing needs of the people. The subjects of discussion included these — Christ, the One Foundation of His Church; Christ, the One Mediator; Christ, the One Intercessor within the Veil; Christ, the sufficient righteousness of every believer; salvation “without money, and without price”; the two sacraments of the Scripture as opposed to the seven of the Church of Rome; and “the non-existence of purgatory”. During my second week in Italy we started a study of the Epistle to the Romans, but as the time was limited we discussed selected passages only. There were also some practical, domestic, and social problems, but in all these there was the encouraging element that the inquirers were seeking guidance from the Word of God. The teaching and traditions of Rome have prevailed for so long that all are expected to remain within its fold. Such is the darkness and the false teaching which have prevailed, that many are literally afraid of the “Protestant Bible”. It is pathetic to see the homage done to pieces of marble, of wood, and of stone; and in many places the only “light” is that of “the candle”! In many houses which I visited there were “madonnas” and the crucifix, but some householders agreed to remove these, and I hope to arrange that wall-plaques with a text of scripture in Italian be sent to them. These will take the place of the crucifix. It was spiritually refreshing and encouraging to meet, in such a priest-ridden land, souls which rejoiced in Christ their Saviour, and which desire the sincere milk of the Word of God.
The hope of those who have severed their connection with the Church of Rome is that they shall one day have a “public place of worship”, to which they feel, more people would come. They deserve our encouragement; they request our prayers. We read that “the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for
his friends”. We are, in Britain, under the shadow of a threatening bondage because of a false sense of charity on the part of many professed Protestants of liberal persuasion. Pray, not only that our own liberty be preserved, but that others may come to enjoy such Gospel blessings. The Lord may turn our captivity when we “pray for our friends”.
REPORT BY DEPUTY TO U.S.A. AND CANADA
Rev. D. B. Macleod, M.A.
I left Detroit on 25th June, 1968, accompanied by Mr and Mrs Lawson. We crossed from the United States into Canada by driving through the tunnel which connects the city of Detroit with the city of Windsor on the Canadian side. On our way to the Niagara Falls, where we had arranged to meet Mr James Fraser, Toronto, we passed near the cities of London and Hamilton, the names of which could not fail to remind us of the British origin of a considerable proportion of the Canadian people. At Niagara, Mr James Fraser was patiently waiting our arrival, our car journey having taken longer than we had anticipated. It was indeed a pleasure to meet him again, the last time having been, strangely enough, in the Manse in London during the late Rev. J. P. MacQueen’s ministry there.
This was my first visit to the Falls and it was an experience not soon to be forgotten. The Falls were a tremendous and awe-inspiring sight. The impression of irresistible power conveyed to the mind as the flood of water flows over the ridge of the falls and plunges into the gorge so far below is altogether overwhelming. How fitted is such a sight to lead our mind out to consider higher things. If this whisper of God’s power displayed in the work of creation is so great, how much more tremendous and overwhelming must be, on the one hand, the revelation of the saving power of His grace in delivering from eternal death, and on the other hand, the revelation of the crushing weight of His destroying power against those who die in their sins.
Mr Fraser proved a most interesting and helpful guide to us, taking us over the places of interest at the Falls and we were very indebted to him for his kindness. Here I parted company with the kind friends from Detroit, they to spend the night at Hamilton before journeying home the next day, while I continued my journey to Toronto with Mr Fraser. We reached there late at night. The next two or three days were spent in this city during
which time I had the opportunity of meeting many of the friends who attend the Bloor Street Church as well as other friends from Scotland. I also had the privilege of being entertained by a number of the friends in the city. I was very glad to have the opportunity again of meeting the pastor of the Bloor Street congregation, Rev. Hamstra, and on the Wednesday evening I had the weekly meeting in his church. It was a privilege also to meet Mrs Fraser (a sister of Mrs Grant, Inverness) who is well known to the Deputies who have visited Toronto. My time very quickly passed, and before long I was getting ready to continue my journey. Mr James Fraser and his wife (who is a sister of Mrs Murray, Applecross) showed me much kindness and it was indeed pleasant to be with them and to meet their lovely children.
My next stop was Winnipeg. The two hours and twenty minutes flight there from Toronto was pleasant and during the flight I had a good view of Fort William and Port Arthur, two great grain ports of Canada, nestling at the head of Lake Superior. Flying at 30,000 feet it was possible to see for very many miles all around. As we approached Winnipeg at a low altitude the city stood out quite clearly in the middle of the surrounding prairie land. Meeting me at the airport were four of the Winnipeg friends who drove me to Mrs Fraser’s house where I was to stay during my time in Winnipeg.
During the six weeks I have spent in Winnipeg I have held the services on Sabbath and the prayer-meetings on Wednesday, except one Wednesday when I paid a visit to a new town, Thompson, far north in Manitoba, where I held a service in a Mission Hall. The congregation here in Winnipeg is small and most of the people are elderly but there are among them those who truly fear the Lord. Were it not for this, Winnipeg would be a very desolate place, although we do not doubt but that the Lord has some of His own in the city who are unknown to us. What need there is in Winnipeg, as elsewhere, that the Lord would come in the power and blessing of His Spirit to awaken the dead and to revive the living. It is only in this way that His Cause in Winnipeg, connected with us as a Church, can be built up or even maintained. And that He is able to do it, of that we have no doubt. His Word to us in connection with such a time of reviving is — “I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them.” (Ezek. 36, 37). May the Lord grant to His people everywhere the Spirit of grace and supplications that they might plead for the prosperity of the Lord’s Cause in Canada and America, in Africa and Australia, at home and throughout the whole world. “And let the whole earth be filled with His glory; Amen and Amen.” (Psalm 72, 19).