CHARLES H. WELCH
92
of the beloved partner of my joys and sorrows, my fights and my fears, demand a tribute from me here, however I
may falter in the rendering of it. I am, however, partly relieved of this very personal matter by the receipt of a letter,
which says in the language of an observer, something of what I feel and would like to include in this survey.
A friend who saw these articles in manuscript form wrote a letter, one page of which we extract and print here:
`However difficult your early days - how wonderfully blest you were to have been given such a partner as
Mrs Welch - what a joy to see her receive her reward for all the years of toil and sacrifice in so many ways;
readiness to aid in the most difficult and laborious part of the work - cleaning the chapel at the
commencement, caring and looking after the most difficult little ones at the school, carrying heavy bags of
eats to the Chapel, suffering much loneliness as she must have done in the early years - always seeing you
had your best bib and tucker when going on your visits, sending you off with her blessing and upholding you
in prayer whilst away. You may be - and are - a remarkable man, but you have an equally remarkable wife.
I repeat, nothing is lost, she is a splendid witness to all Christian women, of a life of sacrifice - patience with
such a man as yourself, which must needs surpass that of Job sometimes, and labours beyond her physical
strength.
God bless you both abundantly,
Yours, tremendously privileged to know both'
(Signed) ............
`DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH' and the
`REGIONS BEYOND'.
We have already shown that some of our publications were prepared and issued in order that our position
regarding certain vital issues should be clear to friend and foe alike. These booklets were The Deity of Christ, The
Reconciliation of All Things and Sin, and its Relation to God. The reader is aware from the first page that these
booklets were written in the midst of controversy and were the product of contention for the faith. The Berean
Expositor itself also was the product of necessity. I had no `urge' to write as some authors and writers have
admitted - indeed, had I followed my bent, I should have been an artist, but `necessity was laid upon me' and there
was nothing for it but to launch out into the deep and put the message that had been entrusted into print. Never have
I written or published The Berean Expositor just because I felt I would like to edit `a religious magazine', for by so
doing I spoiled my worldly prospects, used up time and strength without remuneration and without recognition,
receiving insults where one might have expected gratitude, and experienced ostracism and loneliness while
explaining the fellowship of the Mystery.
Dispensational Truth, a book of some 300 pages, was issued in the year 1912. It was the firstborn of three
similar volumes and it made its entry into the world when the author was almost at his wits end to obtain the bread
that perisheth. Most if not every one of Paul's epistles were elicited by the immediate needs of the churches. It is
evident that he did not sit down and intentionally write a treatise or a book. In like manner Dispensational Truth
was conceived. I did not take up the pen and say to myself I will write a book and call it Dispensational Truth. It
came about in a more homely way. A young man, whose mother had come into the light, and who had opened her
home for meetings along the lines of Dispensational Truth, paid me a visit, and for several hours asked questions
and received answers. At the close of the long interview he said `Why don't you put all this into a book? There
must be many like myself who would appreciate such a work'. I just told him simply and frankly that it was a
matter of money. I would gladly do the work, but I had not a single penny in the world to spend on such an
undertaking. He said he felt sure that he could raise the amount needed among his friends. In this he proved to be
too sanguine, but his enthusiasm was fruitful, for at a meeting held subsequently at my parent's house in Denmark
Park, a promise of £50 was made by those there gathered, and with this as an earnest I prepared to write the book.
Before a line could be written I was obliged to enter hospital and undergo an operation - which I am thankful to
say was successful - but which left me in the predicament that I could only stand up or lie down. A brother in the
Lord kindly invited me to spend a few weeks at his home in Sunningdale, Berkshire, and there I spent my
convalescence, standing at a desk writing a few pages, or lying prone on the grass outside to get over the strain.