Alice Druscilla Merritt

Merritt, Mrs. Dow

Word has just come that Sister Dow Merritt has died at Kalomo, Northern Rhodesia, Africa. Brother and Sister Merritt have been in Africa for nearly fifteen years, with the exception of one furlough home. During the past three years they have been located at Kalomo, and associated with them have been Brother and Sister Hobby and Sister Rowe, and more recently Brother and Sister Reese. This group is carrying on a very fine program of work, which included publications in the native language, public preaching of the gospel, and the training of native leadership. During the year 1939 more than three hundred people were baptized in and around Kalomo. During the year 1940 nearly two hundred were baptized in and around Kalomo. Carrying on the publication work and the teaching of native workers and the preaching from village to village requires a great deal of expense. Brother and Sister Merritt have put from fifty to seventy-five dollars a month out of their own personal income into the expenses of this work, yet their personal income has been only about a hundred dollars a month. This means that they have given fifty to seventy-five per cent of their small personal income for expenses of their work in South Africa. The illness and death of Sister Merritt naturally entails a great deal of expense. We may be assured that Brother Merritt is in financial difficulty with these added expenses. A contribution of a few dollars would help him very much. Anyone can send directly to him by addressing the letter as follows and putting on a five-cent stamp: J. D. Merritt, Namwianga Mission, Kalomo, Northern Rhodesia, South Africa. Money can be sent by international post office money order or by personal check. Any money sent to the writer for Brother Merritt will also be forwarded to him, without one cent being deducted for postage or other expense. George S. Benson. Gospel Advocate, February 20, 1941, page 186.