One of the Indian secretaries, Mr. Roy, addressed the soldiers at their own request for an hour and a half, and a remarkable scene of repentance was witnessed.  Men arose on all hands, confessing their sins in respect to these two special failings and requested that penalties be imposed upon them by their own priest in accordance with the custom of their religion, as a punishment for the past and as a guarantee for the future.  For nearly two hours the men filed by their priest receiving penalties.  Later on they held a service of their own in the Y M C A hut on Christmas day and took up a large collection of copper coins as a thank-offering to the Association.  They felt that it had been their one friend in a strange land.

It should be clearly understood, however, that of necessity, in the very nature of the case, the Government of India imposed upon the secretaries the strict obligation of silence regarding the propagation of Christianity.  They entered the work on the understanding that the men could live out the spirit of Christ and express it in silent ministry under the motive of Christian love.

It was striking to see how much real Christianity could be packed into life when speech was forbidden.  The pent-up prayer and love and sympathy of the workers was forced into the single channel of silent service.  It reminded one of those thirty years in our Lord’s life, in simple secular toil, which could only minister to the needs of men over a carpenter’s bench.

It is no small task to undertake to occupy all the leisure time of 25,000 men far from home, shut up in irksome camps, easily aroused by rumor or superstition.  The numbers increased until there were finally some 50,000 men to be cared for.  Athletic fields were secured and games were started.  Football and hockey were more played by the Indians than by the British troops.  Badminton and volley ball, races and track events, were also useful.  Indoor games, the gramophone, cinemas and concerts, and especially Indian dramas, were popular in the evening.  Lectures on geography, history, and moral subjects were well attended, and French classes were of practical benefit.

An incalculable service has also been rendered in writing letters for the great mass of ignorant soldiers to their families in the far-off Indian villages, miles away from a railway.  Illiteracy, superstition, and false rumors existed at both ends of the line.  Here is a man who has had no word from home since he left a year or more ago.  He hears a baseless rumor or heeds some inborn fear that his child is sick, or his wife unfaithful, or that he has been cheated out of his property.  Hundreds of homesick men whose whole lives have been bound up in the family circle pour in upon the secretaries, begging that they will write letters home for them.  Here you may see six or eight secretaries writing for hours each day, as fast as the men can dictate their messages and tell their stories.