ngement may at first appear to those unaccustomed to it, it
must be remembered that a method somewhat similar to this was in use in
the Temple in Jerusalem, when our Lord Jesus, taking his seat opposite
the treasury, saw the poor widow cast in her two mites and commended her
very highly.

It was not unusual for the deacon to announce before hand the amount
needed and then, as the offerings are presented, to state the amount
received from time to time, until finally the whole amount is obtained.
This part of the service was always enlivened by singing some
soul-stirring songs, that everybody could sing. Occasionally it would
take the form of a good natured rivalry, as to which could appear the
most happy and joyous, the deacon, vociferously announcing from time to
time as their offerings came in, the latest result of the collection,
or, the people, whose merry singing would occasionally develop into a
shout of ecstatic enjoyment, on the part of one or more of their number.

PRIMITIVE MID-WEEK MEETINGS

The early preachers, having monthly appointments, were always very
faithful in exhorting and encouraging the elders of their distant
congregations to maintain regular Sabbath services, for the study of the
Bible and Catechism, and a mid-week meeting for praise and prayer. The
people were encouraged to attend all these meetings and cordially
co-operate with the elders in making them interesting and instructive.

The older generation at Forest was one that had a foretaste of slavery
in their early days, but not a day of school privileges, except as the
Bible was read or taught at their meetings on the Sabbath. The lack of
school privileges in the neighborhood and its remote seclusion from the
outside world, had the effect of leaving these colored people to
continue their primitive ways and methods of doing things, to a later
date than in many other more highly favored communities.

The following narrative contains an account of the mid-week meetings
held at Forest about the year 1897 when Miss Bertha L. Ahrens, a white
missionary teacher of our Freedmen's Board opened a mission school in
the chapel. It shows how the people, that lived in the gross darkness of
utter ignorance, groped for the light and earnestly endeavored to extend
it, when the gospel was first presented to them.

The mid-week meetings are held regularly when not prevented by rain or
cold weather. The people live in little shanties scattered through th