with? That class of God's devoted servants who have given up all
to go for Him to the far corners of the earth? Let anyone else be hard
to get along with, but surely not missionaries!

Well, missionaries (excepting some feeble folk like me) are the salt
of the earth. At the same time, my experience on the foreign field
leads me to the conclusion that it takes a good deal more grace to
live happily with one's fellow workers on the foreign field than it
does at home. Why? The reasons are varied. I think I can safely say
that most missionaries are rather strong-minded. If they were not,
perhaps they would never have gotten to the foreign field! They know
what they want to do, and they know how they want to do it. Most
missionaries will agree on the task to be accomplished; but what are
the best means to accomplish it--that is not always so easy to agree
upon! The older worker may think the younger worker's plans wild and
impracticable. The younger worker may think the older worker stodgy
and in a rut. Perhaps both may be right. Happy the fellow workers who
can learn to discuss their pet ideas without heat! Happy the fellow
workers who can develop just the right combination of initiative and
co-operation!

It is hard to realize how closely one is shut up to a fellow worker on
the mission field. Probably there are no others of your own race in
the place where you live. At home one can live with one group, work
with another, and have special friends that are entirely apart from
either group. On the field there is no one else--no one who speaks
your native tongue, understands your background, or has the same
pattern of thought as yourself. Perhaps you are stationed with one
other worker. Every human heart longs for some special friend; but
this fellow worker may not be one you would have chosen for a special
friend. Perhaps she has some mannerisms that are irritating to you.
Perhaps you like dogs and she hates them. Perhaps she believes in
being extremely economical and you like to spend money more freely. In
some ways, as two single missionaries live and work together, the
relation is as close as that between husband and wife; but in this
case the two _have not chosen one another_. Of course the relationship
is not established for life; and the missionary who finds herself
paired off with an uncongenial fellow worker may console herself by
hoping that a change will come soon. That frame of mind, however, is
not exactly con