The why and how of foreign missions

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YOUNG PEOPLE'S MISSIONARY MOVEMENT OF THE

UNITED STATES AND CANADA

THE WHY AND HOW
OF FOREIGN MISSIONS

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■^ ■ ■■ ■ miiBw

THE WHY AND HOW

OF
FOREIGN MISSIONS

ARTHUR JUDSON BROWN

AUTHOR OF
The Nciv Era in the Philippines
New Farces in Old China
The Foreign Missionary

THIRD EDITION

BAPTIST FORWARD MOVEMENT FOR.

MISSIONARY EDUCATION

Published for

THE AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONARY UNION

BY

THE AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY
1701-0! Chestnut Street, PHILADELPHIA, PA.

Copyright, 1908, by

Young People's Missionary Movement

of the United States and Canada

TO THE

FRIENDS IN THE HOME

CHURCHES WHO HAVE LOYALLY

SUSTAINED THE CAUSE OF FOREIGN

MISSIONS, NOT ONLY BY THEIR

GIFTS, BUT BY THEIR

SYMPATHY AND

PRAYERS

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGB

Preface xi

I The Foreign Missionary Motive and Aim. .. i ^K^^Lr^^
II Foreign Missionary Administration. .• 31

III Qualifications and Appointment 65

IV The Financial Support of the Missionary %^,cr-aM ,

Enterprise 89 /T"

V The Missionary at Work 117

VI The Native Church 147

VII The Missionary Enterprise and its Critics. . 175

- VIII The Spirit of the Missionary 209

IX The Home Church and the Enterprise 233

Select Bibliography 265

Index 275

VII

ILLUSTRATIONS

Pioneer Missionaries Frontispiece

Representative Native Christians Page 19

Educational Missions :

Wu-chang, China " 57

Vellore, India " 57

Madras, India " 107

Freetown, West Africa " 107

Madura, India " 121

Serampur, India " lai

Mission Printing Presses:

Tokio, Japan " 127

Rangoon, India " 127

Medical Missions:

Operating Room and Hospital, Madura,

India " 131

Military Company, Wu-chang, China " 167

Football Team, Lahore, India " 167

Educational Missions :

The Doshisha, Kioto, Japan " 181

Kindergarten, Hiroshima, Japan " 181

Industrial Missions :

Lace Makers, Madras, India " 201

Aluminum Workers, Ongole, India " 201

Builders, Quiongoa, Africa " 201

Medical Missions:

Zenana Mission Hospital, Bareilly, India. . " 221

Severance Hospital, Seoul, Korea " 221

Industrial Missions :

Weaving, India " 249

Lace Making, India " 249

Churches :

Baroda, India " 259

Ahmednagar, India • ••• " 259

Paoting fu, China " 259

Seoul, Korea .« " 259

ix

PREFACE

This book has been prepared in compliance
with a request of the Young People's Mis-
sionary Movement for a succinct statement of
those aspects of the modern foreign mission-
ary enterprise which are of special interest to
laymen, in a form adapted to the needs of busy
people and of mission study classes. It there-
fore discusses the chief motives that prompt
to foreign missionary effort, the objects that
are sought, the methods of handling and ad-
ministering funds, the kind of persons who are
appointed to missionary service, the work that
they are doing, the difficulties they encounter,
the spirit they manifest, and the objections and
criticisms which disturb so many people at
home. Prominence is given to the large prob-
lems which are involved in the magnitude of
the foreign missionary enterprise, and in the
changing world conditions caused not only by
the religious but by the political, commercial,
and intellectual movements of our age.

Those who are familiar with the author's
larger book. The Foreign Missionary, will
note that much of the material of this book has
been taken from that volume. The present
work, however, is not a condensation of the
larger one, nor is it intended to take its place.

xi

Xll

Preface

The idea in this book is simply to take such
parts of The Foreign Missionary as may be
of special interest to laymen who desire a
brief statement of the essential elements of
the foreign missionary movement, leaving
The Foreign Missionary, not only as a work of
reference, but as a preferable volume for
student volunteers and missionaries.

I gladly acknowledge valuable assistance
from the Editorial Committee of the Young
People's Missionary Movement in adapting
this book to the use of mission study classes.

Arthur Judson Bronm.
New York City,
June I, 1908,

THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY MOTIVE

The goal of history is the redemption of the
world. The consummation of all missionary en-
deavor will be when the knowledge of Jesus Christ
has become universal. Hence, the aim of missions
is to make Jesus Christ known to every creature,
so that he may have an intelligent opportunity to
accept him as his Savior.

— ^7. Ross Stevenson

So, to sum the matter up, the Christian missionary
motive is threefold. We are summoned by God in
Christ to join with him in doing that work of saving
grace toward men which is nearest to his heart, and
we cannot refuse : loyalty to God and Christ constrains
us. We have received in Christ the best good in life,
and are impelled from within to impart it: love to
men constrains us. The world needs the gift, and needs
it now: and the tremendous want constrains us. The
threefold motive is justified by present facts and by
eternal realities, and there is nothing that can legiti-
mately deprive it of its force, except the full accom-
plishment of the end. No special views are needed
to enforce the motive. Taking the world exactly as
it is and as all sound knowledge finds it, the motive
is sufficient. But it is a spiritual motive, and must
therefore be spiritually discerned.

^William Newton Clarke

R

THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY
MOTIVE AND AIM

ECENT . years have seen some change of ||Jfp°^a'

of
asis

emphasis in the motives which prompt
men to engage in the foreign missionary en-
terprise. Some motives that stirred our
fathers are not as strongly operative to-day,
but others have emerged that were then but
vaguely discerned.

It is now generally recognized that mission worldlview
work must be prosecuted amid changed con-
ditions. Our constituency has a knowledg e of
the non-christian world that in the past it did
not have. Men in our churches are no longer
so ignorant of other peoples. Books and mag-
azine articles have dissipated the mystery of
the Orient. Electricity enables the newspapers
to tell us every morning what occurred yester-
day in Seoul and Peking, in Rangoon and
Teheran. Our treatment of the Chinese and
the Negro testify to the fact that race preju-
dice is still strong. Nevertheless, the white
man does not look down upon the men of
other races as he did a century ago. He recog-

4 Why and How of Foreign Missions

nizes more clearly the good qualities which
, some of the non-Christian peoples possess. He
hears more of the industry of the Chinese and
the intellect of the Hindu. This recognition is
not unmingled with fear. No white man of to-
day despises the Japanese, certainly not in
Russia; nor can any one view with unconcern
the evidences of awakening- national life among
the teeming myriads of the Orient.
Dispelled The transition from the first century of Pro-
testant missions to the second century
is attended by no more significant change
than this. People at home are no longer
under illusions as to what non-christians are,
and they, in turn, are no longer under illusions
as to what_we are. The romance of missions
in the popular mind has been largely dispelled.
The missionary is no longer a -hero to the
average Christian, but a man with a message
to his fellow man.
MiB*.ionar°y There are, too, certain movements of theo-
leation |Qgjj.j^2 thought which must be considered.
Whatever we may think of them, we cannot
ignore their prevalence, nor should we argue
that they are inconsistent with missionary in-
terest. No man should be allowed to feel that
he is exempt from the missionary obligation
because he is not influenced by our particular
motive, or because he adopts a dififerent inter-
pretation of Bible teaching regarding certain

Foreign Missionary Motive 5

doctrines. We may deplore his interpretation,
but we cannot admit that it releases him from
the duty of cooperating in this work. Every
man who believes in a just and loving personal
God and receives the benefits of Christianity,
whether he shares our theological convictions
or not, should aid in the effort to communicate
those benefits to races that do not have them.

Changes in the political and economic life Mo«i°"center5
of the world, in the attitude of the Christian *°c''"='
nations toward the non-christian, and their atti-
tude in turn toward us, do not impair the
primary_missionary motive.. _Rather_do they
increase it. No changes that have taken
place or that can possibly take place
can set aside the great central facts
that Jesus Christ is the temporal and
eternal salvation of men, and that it is
the duty of those who know him to tell others
about him. There may be questions as to
method, but no objection lies against the essen-
tial enterprise that does not lie with equal force
against the fundamental truths of the Chris-
tian religion. Through all the tumult of theo-
logical strife, the one figure that is standing
out more and more clearly and commandingly
before men is the figure of the Son of Man,
the Divine and Eternal Son of the Ever-Liv-
ing God. In him is the true unity of the race
and around him cluster its noblest activities.

6 Why and How of Foreign Missions

No matter how much Christians may differ as
to other things, they will be more and more
agreed. as to the imperative duty and the in-
spiring privilege of preaching Jesus Christ to
the whole world.
Primary and Foreign missionary motives may be divided
Motives into two main classes, primary and secondary,
though this classification is arbitrary and
though there may be difference of opinion as
to the class to which certain motives properly
belong. The primary motives, as we conceive
them, are three.
^hri°tian ^- The Soul's Expcrjence in Chris t. In
*''p^"^'"=>^roportion as this is genuine and deep, will we
desire to communicate it to others. Propaga-
tion is a law of the spiritual life. The genius
of Christianity is expansive. Ruskin reminds
us of Southey's statement that no man was
ever yet convinced of any momentous truth
without feeling in himself the power as well as
the desire of communicating it. That was an
exquisite touch of regenerated nature, and one
beautifully illustrative of the promptings of a
normal Christian experience, which led An-
drew, after he rose from Jesus' feet, to find
first his own brother, Simon, and say unto
him : " We have found the Messiah. . . .
He brought him unto Jesus." No external
authority, however commanding, can take the
place of this internal motive.

Foreign Missionary Motive 7

People who say that they do not believe in fol,'^°n"i?e
foreign missions are usually quite unconscious
of the indictment which they bring against their
own spiritual experience. The man who has
no religion of his own that he values of course
is not interested in the effort to make it known
to others. One may be simply ignorant of
the content of his faith or the real character of
the missionary movement, but as a rule those
who know the real meaning of the Christian
experience are conscious of an overmastering
impulse to communicate it to others.

g.^ The World's Need of Christ. He who ANeedyworw
knowledge that is essential to his fellow
m^ is under obligation to convey that know-
ledge to them. It makes no difference who
those men are, or where they live, or whether
they are conscious of their need, or how much
inconvenience or expense he may incur in reach-
ing them. The fact that he can help them is
reason why he should help them. This is an
essential part of the foreign missionary im-
pulse. We have the revelation of Qod which
is potential of a civilization that benefits man,
an education that fits him for higher useful-
ness, a scientific knowledge that enlarges his
powers, a medical skill that alleviates his suf-
ferings, and above all a relation to Jesus Christ
that not only lends new dignity to this earthly
life but that saves his soul and prepares him

8 Why and How of Foreign Missions

for eternal companionship with God. "In
none other is there salvation." Therefore, we
must convey this gospel to the world. There
is no worthy reason for being concerned about
the salvation of the man next to us which is
not equally applicable to the man five thousand
miles away,
souf Re\1i?r °d "It IS hard to realize this concerning those
who are so distant?" Precisely; foreign mis-
sionary interest presupposes breadth of soul.
Any one can love his own family, but it takes
a high-souled man to love all men. He who
has that which the world needs is debtor to the
world. The true disciple would feel this even
if Christ had spoken no command. The mis-
sionary impulse would have stirred him to
spontaneous action. Christ simply voiced the
highest and holiest dictates of the human heart
when he summoned his followers to mission-
ary activity. The question whether the
heathen really need Christ may be answered
by the counter-question: Do we need him?
and the intensity of our desire to tell them
of Christ will be in proportion to the intensity
of our own sense of need.

We do not hear as much as our fathers
heard of the motive of salvation of the
heathen. Our age prefers to dwell upon the
blessings of faith rather than upon the conse-
quences of unbelief. And yet if we believe
that Christ is our " hfe." it is impossible to

Salvation Still
the Aim

Foreign Missionary Motive 9

avoid the conclusion that to be without Christ
is death. Reason as well as revelation tells
us that man has sinned, that " the wages of
sin is death," and that this truth is as applica-
ble to Asia and Africa as to Europe and
America. We grant that it is possible that
some who have never heard of Christ may be
saved. The Spirit of God is not shut up to
the methods that have been revealed to us.
He works when and where and how he pleases.
In ways unknown to us, he may apply the ben-
efits of redemption to those who, without op-
portunity to accept the historic Christ, may
live up to the light they have. Missionaries
tell us that they seldom find such cases; btit
we should not dogmatize regarding every indi-
vidual of the millions who have never
been approached.

Taking non-christian peoples as we know ?,*»'= °f . .

=> . , Non-Christian

them, however, it is sorrowfully, irrefutably p=opie
true that they are living in known sin, and
that by no possible stretch of charity can they
be considered beyond the necessity for the re-
vealed gospel. Various statements and figures
are used in the New Testament to express the
condition of those who know not Christ, but
whether they are interpreted literally or figu-
ratively, their fundamental meaning is plain.
Jesus came "to save," and salvation is from
something. A charitable hope that some are

lO Why and How ot Foreign Missions

living like the pious ^Hebrews before the in-
carnation does not lessen our duty to give them
the clearer knowledge, which, like Simeon of
old, they would eagerly welcome, nor does it
modify in the least our obligation toward the
masses who are living on a lower level. The
Light shines for all, and those who see it must
spread the tidings; for every man, however
degraded, is

"Heir of the same inheritance.
Child of the self-same God.

He hath but stumbled in the path
We have in weakness trod."

Christ's ^yj) The Command of Christ. T he circum-
stances were inexpressibly solemn. He had ris-
en from the dead and was about to ascend to
the Father. But ere he left his disciples, he said
unto them : " All authority hath been given
unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye there-
fore, and make disciples of all the nations,
baptizing them into the name of the Father
and of the Son and the Holy Spirit: teach-
ing them to observe all things whatsoever I
commanded you: and lo, I am with you al-
ways, even unto the end of the world."-^ A
little later, he reiterated the charge : " Ye
shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and
in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the utter-

'Matt xxviiL i8-ao.

Command.

Foreign Missionary Motive ii

most part of the earth."^ "And he lifted up
his hands and blessed them"^ "And a cloud
received him out of their sight."'

There is no gainsaying that command. ^^'p^AISI-'o^ae,
Whether we consider the Person who gave it,
the circumstances in which it was gfiven, or
the duty imposed, we must regard it as the
weightiest of utterances. If it were the only
motive, foreign missionary work would be a
mechanical performance of duty, the mission-
ary merely an obedient soldier; but taken in
connection with the preceding motives, it adds
the impressive sanctions of divine authority.
It is the bugle call which, to the true soldier,
never loses its thrilling, response-compelling
power. It is not a request; not a suggestion.
It leaves nothing to our choice. It is an order,
comprehensive and unequivocal, a clear, per-
emptory, categorical imperative : " Go !"

No one can read the New Testament with- II;*^"p""= . ,

Thoueht of Christ

out seeing that the evangelization of the world
was the supreme thought of Christ. He came
into the world to save it. He sought, not
merely for the rich and influential, but for
men as men, irrespective of their wealth or
position. When the blind beggar cried out to
him for help, he said unto him : " Go thy
way ; thy faith has made thee whole."* When
he saw the famishing multitude, he " had com-

» Acts i. 8. " Luke xxiv. so. » Acts i. 9. * Mark x. 52.

12 Why and How of Foreign Missions

passion on them, because they were as sheep
not having a shepherd."^ He could not bear
to see men perish, and the thought of it caused
him keenest agony. He was himself a mis-
sionary, and his entire ministry was a mis-
sionary ministry. While his earthly life was
confined to Palestine, he made it clear that
the scope of his purpose was world-wide. He
plainly said : " Other sheep I have, which are
not of this fold : them also I must bring, and
they shall hear my voice."^ He declared that
" God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on
him should not perish, but have eternal life."*
He taught the sublime truth of the Fatherhood
of God and the brotherhood of man. He
broke down the partition wall between Jew
and Gentile. In an age when men regarded
men of other races as foes, he said : " Love
your enemies." He showed the race-proud
Jews that the Samaritan was their " neigh-
bor." Going " into the borders of Tyre and
Sidon," he saved a poor Syrophoenician wo-
man.* From heaven he gave Paul his com-
mission to the Gentiles. With a vision of
world conquest, he exclaimed : " I say unto
you, that many shall come from the east and
the west, and shall sit down with Abraham,

•Mark vi. 34. 'John x. 16. 'John iii. 16. 'Marie vii.
34-26.

Foreign Missionary Motive 13

and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of hea-
ven."i "And I, if I be lifted from the
earth, will draw all men unto myself."^

And still the world's evangelization is his Thlughtstln
supreme thought. He is " the same yesterday ,
and to-day, yea and for ever." He knows no
distinction of race or caste. He loves men,
and, as Phelps has said, the most attractive
spots to him are "those which are crowded
with the densest masses of human beings."
Now, as of old, the Son of Man looks upon a
sorrowing, dying world with pity unutterable.
This is the attitude of the divine heart.
Christ said that when the prodigal " was yet
afar off, his father saw him, and was moved
with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck
and kissed him." Seeing him " afar off " of
course means that he was looking for him,
gazing often and with fatherly yearning far
down the road on which he hoped and prayed
and knew that the wanderer would soon come.

His love seeks the most distant. We com- ofT"^
placently imagine that God loves us more
than any other people; but the Shepherd who
left the ninety and nine sheep in the wilder-
ness and sought the one that was lost is surely
most tenderly solicitous, not about us in our
comfortable, gospel-lightened homes, but about
the oppressed blacks of Africa and the starv-

*Matt. viii. ii. 'John xii. 32.

14 Why and How of Foreign Missions

ing millions of India. Whoever fancies that
God does not love all men and that Christ does
not desire the salvation of all men but dimly
sees the truth. Jehovah is the God of the
whole earth. Christ " is the propitiation for
our sins; and not for ours only, but also for
the whole world."^
^Dulbed"nM Since the salvation of men is Christ's su-
preme thought, it should be ours. How is it
possible for one who professes to follow Christ
not to believe in missions, when missions are
simply the organized effort to carry out the
will of the Master ? Men talk about heresy as
if it related only to the creed. Jesus said, " I
and the Father are one;" but he also said,
" Go ye into all the world, and preach the
gospel to the whole creation." Is it not as
heretical to deny one statement as the other?
Failure to do the will of Christ emasculates
the essential idea of the Church. There may
be a noble edifice, a large congregation, bril-
liant oratory, inspiring music; but if the Mas-
ter's call is not heard and heeded, it cannot
be a church of the living God.
, Negiec?'" Those who are solicitous about the salva-

Uachnstian

tion of the heathen who die without having
heard of Christ may well add some concern
about the salvation of professed Christians
who, with the Bible in their hands, the com-

1 I John ii. is.

Foreign Missionary Motive 15

mand of Christ sounding in their ears, and the
condition of the lost world before their eyes,
manifest but languid interest in the effort to
save the world. It is difficult to understand
how those who profess to serve Christ can
be indifferent to the most important work
which Christ has committed to his followers,
or how they can expect his blessing while they
neglect his specific injunction. " If a man love
me, he will keep my word," said Christ;^ and
the word is, "Go, preach." These words
surely mean that Christ intended every one
of his disciples to have some part in the
effort to make the gospel known to all men,
either by personally going or by giving
toward the support of those who do go. The
obligation is laid upon the conscience of every
Christian. This majestic enterprise is of di-
vine authority. When a young clergyman
asked the Duke of Wellington whether he did
not deem it useless to attempt to convert India,
the great general sternly replied, " What are
your marching orders, sir?" If we believe in
Christ, we must believe in foreign missions.

Foreign missions, therefore, is not a side who'rch'uKh"'
issue, the object of an occasional " collection ;"
it is the supreme duty of the Church, the main
work of the Church. So the first disciples un-
derstood it, for they immediately went forth

ijohn ziT. as.

i6 Why and How of Foreign Missions

as missionaries. It is interesting to note that
the word " apostle " is derived from a Greek
word which means one sent forth, a messen-
ger, and that the word " missionary " comes
from an original which is simply the Latin
equivalent of the Greek apostle. Therefore
the modern apostle is the missionary, and
while men at home are disputing over apos-
tolic succession, the foreign missionaries, who
are the real apostles of the present, are doing
what their lineal predecessors did — "going
away " from home to preach the gospel to the
scattered nations of the earth,
"^cre^tion' Wc may well be awed by the majesty of
Christ's declaration; a lonely Nazarene, sur-
rounded by a handful of humble followers,
calmly bidding them carry his teaching to the
most distant nations. They were not to con-
fine their efforts to their own country. " The
whole creation " must be reached. No excep-
tions are to be made. Christ did not say,
" Teach all nations, save those that you deem
beneath you;" nor did he say, "Preach to
every creature, except the Hindu and Buddhist
and Mohammedan, who have religions of
their own." He made the scope of his com-
mand absolutely universal.
A R=a«-ed j^ jg ^^^ purpose of God, said Paul, " to
reconcile all things unto himself." We should
never lose sight of the grandeur of this con-

Foreign Missionary Motive 17

ception. Christianity is not a life-boat sent
out to a sinking ship to rescue a few passen-
gers and let the rest go to the bottomi. It will
save all the passengers, unless they refuse to be
saved, and it will save the ship. The Bible
looks to a redeemed earth. Let us hope and
pray and work for nothing short of that stu-
pendous consummation. Limiting the grace
of God, doubting its adequacy for all men,
acting as if it were for America and not for
Africa and the islands of the sea, are sins
against the Holy Ghost.

These are and ever must remain the pri-
mary motives of the missionary enterprise.
There are others, however, of a secondary
character, which are influential with many
people and which may be briefly enumerated.

I. In many ways the missionary is " the ad- ^""'"°*'° ii.
vance agent of riyijiyatinn " As the product
of centuries of Christian civilization, with all
its customs and ideals, he appears in a rude
village in Africa. He opposes slavery, poly-
gamy, cannibalism, and infanticide. He teaches
the boys to be honest, sober, and thrifty; the
girls to be pure, intelligent, and industrious.
He induces the natives to cover their nakedness,
to build houses, and to till the soil. He in-
culcates and exemplifies the social and civic
virtiips H is own homc and his treatment of
his wife and daughters are object-lessons in a

i8 Why and How of Foreign Missions

community which has always treated woman
as a slave. The inertia of long-established
heathenism is hard to overcome, but slowly it
yields to the new power, and the beginning of
civilized society gradually appears. Volumes
might be filled with the testimonies of states-
men, travelers, and military and naval officers
to the value of missionary work from this
view-point, and the cumulative power of this
class of evidence is doubtless a large factor
in the growing respect for missions in the
public mind. This motive appeals more par-
ticularly to persons of the intellectual type.

2. The philanthropic motive is stirred
by the consciousness of human brotherhood
and the natural desire to relieve the appalling
juffering -and igno rance . which prevail
throughout the heath«i world. Christ is the
Great Physician -now as of old. As we see
the prevalence of disease and misery, the un-
tended ulcers, the sightless eyes to which the
surgeon's skill could bring light, the pain-
racked limbs pierced with red-hot needles to
kill the alleged demon that causes the suffer-
ing, and the fevered bodies that are made ten
times worse by the superstitious and
bungling methods of treatment, our sympa-
thies are profoundly moved, and we freely
give and labor that such agony may be allev-
iated. Medical missions with their hospitals

BisHOP'VbiTSU Honda
Japan

Rev.T.H.Yun
korean prince

1

Foreign Missionary Motive 19

and dispensaries strongly appeal to this mo-
tive, as do also educational missions with their
teaching of the principles of better living.
The gospel itself is sometimes preached and
supported from this motive, for it is plain
that the sufferings of men are diminished and
the dignity and the worth of life increased by
the application of the principles of Christian-
ity to human society. This motive appeals
strongly to those of the emotional type.

3. The argument from results is the most DB^re fm
decisive with many people of the utilitarian
type. They want to see that their money ac-
complishes something, to know that their in-
vestment is yielding tangible return. They
eagerly scan missionary reports to ascertain
how many converts have been made, howi
many pupils are being taught, how many
patients are being treated. Telling them
of successes achieved is the surest method
of inducing them to increase their gifts.
Mission boards often find it difficult to
sustain interest in apparently unproductive
fields, but comparatively easy to arouse en-
thusiasm for fields in which converts are
quickly made. The Churches are eager and
even impatient for results. Fortunately, in
many lands results have been achieved on such
a scale as to satisfy this demand. But in other
lands not less important weary years have had

20 Why and How of Foreign Missions

to be spent in preparing the soil and sowing
the seed, and hard-working missionaries have
been half disheartened by the insistent popular
demand for accounts of baptisms before the

harvest-time has fairly come.

^Jncri^l'nliy There is, apparently, a growing disposition
Emphasised ^.^ g^^jj. ^j^-g ^^^^j^ ^.j^gg q£ motivcs. The basis

of the missionary appeal has noticeably
changed within the last generation. Our com-
mercial, humanitarian, and practical age is
more impressed by the physical and the tempor-
al than the actual and the utilitarian. The idea
of saving men for the present world appeals
more strongly than the idea of saving them
for the next world, and missionary sermons
and addresses give large emphasis to these
motives. We need not and should not under-
value them. They are real. It is legitimate
and Christian to seek the temporal welfare of
our fellow men, to alleviate their distresses, to
exalt woman, and to purify society. It is,
moreover, true and to the credit of the mis-
sionary enterprise that it widens the area of
the world's useful knowledge, introduces the
conveniences and necessities of Christian civ-
ilization, and promotes wealth and power;
while it is certainly reasonable that those who
toil should desire to see some results from
their labor and be encouraged and incited to

Foreign Missionary Motive 21

renewed diligence by the inspiring record of
aciiievements.

But these motives are nevertheless distinct- rmp°'tanlV
ly secondary. The benefits mentioned are ef-
fects of the missionary enterprise rather than
primary motives for it, and the true Christian
would still be obliged to give and pray and
work for the evangelization of the world, even
if not one of these motives existed. More-
over, with the wider diffusion of knowledge,
some of these considerations are becoming
relatively less important. Japan, India, and
the Philippines have schools which give ex-
cellent secular training, and philanthropic in-
stitutions under secular auspices, though un-
doubtedly due to Christian influences, are be-
ginning to come into existence. As for civil-
ization, some non-christian lands already have
civilizations of their own, more ancient than
ours, and, so far as moral questions are not
involved, quite as well adapted to their needs,
while our own civilization is not by any means
wholly Christian. Whether men are civilized
or not, we must continue our missionary work.
The achievements of a hundred years of mis-
sionary eflfort are encouraging; but if they
were not, our duty would not be affected. We
are to do what is rigl^t, though we never see
visible results. Christ's life was a failure,
from the view-point of his own generation; so

22 Why and How of Foreign Missions

were the efforts of Paul and Peter and
Stephen; but later generations saw the rich
fruitage. Like them, the true missionary toils
from motives that are independent of present
appearances. He knows that he is working
with God, for God, and in obedience to God,
and, with Faber, he is confident that in the
end,

"He always wins who sides with God;
With Him no chance is lost"

AimstoBrKept jj jg important that wc should have a clear
idea of the aim of the missionary enterprise.
Of course, all know in a general way that it
is proposed to "convert the heathen;" but be-
yond that, many who support the work and even
some who apply for appointment appear to
have only vague ideas. But the missionary
movement is not a mere crusade. It has cer-
tain definite aims, and these aims must be
kept clearly in mind if the work is to be in-
telligently and efficiently done.
^ ^°sav"or First of all, the aim is to present Christ so
intelligently to men that they will accept him
as their personal Savior.
im^niEMtiy Emphasis should be laid upon the word " in-
Knowa telligently." This idea excludes the hurried
and superficial presentation of the gospel. It
is not enough to go into a non-christian com-
munity, proclaim Christ for a few days or

Foreign Missionary Aim 23

months, and then pass on, in the belief that
we have discharged our responsibihty. Even
'Americans and Europeans with all their gen-
eral knowledge do not grasp new ideas so
quickly as that, and we cannot reasonably ex-
pect other races to do so. To a large part of
the non-christian world, Christ is still un-
known, even by name, and a great majority
of those who have heard of him know him
only in such a general way as most people in
this country have heard of Mencius or Zoro-
aster. Of his real character and relation to
men, they know nothing, nor does it ever oc-
cur to them that they are under any obliga-
tion to him. Moreover, what little they have
heard of him as a historical personage is be-
clouded and distorted by all the inherited and
hostile presumptions of age-old prejudices,
superstitions, and spiritual deadness. In such
circumstances, to make Christ intelligently
known is apt to be a long and perhaps a weari-
some effort. Carey in India and Morrison in
China toiled seven years before their hearts
were gladdened by one solitary convert. Tyler
in South Africa saw fifteen laborious years
pass before the first Zulu accepted Christ,
while Gilmour preached for twenty years in
Mongolia before visible results appeared.
After the Asiatic mind once fairly grasps the
new truth, progress usually becomes more

24 Why and How of Foreign Missions

rapid ; but at first and sometimes for long per-
iods, it is apt to be painfully slow. The mis-
sionary and the Church that supports him
often have need of patience.
Rniritnai Rnd in_ In urgiug cmphasis on the evangelistic phases
— — *of the virork, we are not unmindful of the value
of other forms of missionary activity. The
missionary is following the example of Christ
in alleviating the bodily sufferings of men,
while it is absolutely necessary to translate and
print the Bible, to create a Christian literature,
to teach the young and to train them for leader-
ship in the coming Church. Man must be in-
fluenced at every stage of his career and
shown that Christianity is adapted to his
present state as well as to his future life.
Nevertheless, hospitals and schools and
presses are means, not ends. They are of val-
ue just in proportion as they aid the evange-
listic effort, either by widening its opportunity
or by conserving its results. The aim is not
philanthropic or educational or literary, but
spiritual. It is a new birth, ah internal, not
an external transformation, that men most
vitally need. The external transformation
will follow.
^" '"'^'chS^ch "^^^^ personal presentation of Christ with a
view to men's acceptance of him as Savior is
to issue as soon as possible in the organization
of converts into self-propagating, self-sup-

Foreign Missionary Aim 25

porting, and self-governing churches. This is
a vital part of the missionary aim. Christian-
ity will not control a nation's life as long as it
is an exotic. It must become an indigenous
growth. To this end, effort must be put forth
to develop the independent energies of the
converts. The new convert is usually a spir-
itual child, and like a physical child, he must
be for a time "under tutors and governors;"
but the instruction looks to the development
of self-reliant character. In the words of
Lawrence : " God's great agent for the
spread of his kingdom is the Church,
. . . . and missions exist distinctly for
the Church. . . . Then the Church of each land,
thus planted, must w'in its own people to
Christ-'.'i

SUGGESTIONS FOR USING THE QUESTIONS

Mast of these questions are thought questions. That
is, they require for their answers some original think-
ing. This form of question has been chosen for in-
sertion in the text-book (i) because questions which
constitute a mere memory test of the facts of the text
can easily be constructed by any leader or member who
makes an outline of the principal facts, and (2) be-
cause mere memory questions, although they have their
uses, yield far less than thought questions either in
mental development or in permanent impression. In

' Lawrence, Modern Missions in the East, 31.

26 Why and How of Foreign Missions

some cases complete answers will be found in the text-
book; usually statements that will serve as a basis
for inference; but a few questions appeal solely to the
general knowledge and common sense of the student.
The greatest sources of inspiration and growth will
be, not what the text-book adds to the student, but
what the student adds to the text-book; the former is
only a means to the latter.

In using these questions, therefore, let the leader first
gather from the chapter or from previous chapters
all that relates to the subject It will be found profit-
able to jot down this material so that it will be all
under the eye at once; then think, using freely all the
knowledge, mental power, and reference books avail-
able. For the sake of definiteness, conclusions should
be written out It is not supposed that the average
leader will be able to answer all these questions satis-
factorily; otherwise, there would be little left for the
class session. The main purpose of the session is to
compare imperfect results and arrive at greater com-
pleteness by comparison and discussion.

It is not probable that the entire list of questions
will be used in any one case, especially when the sessions
last only an hour. The length of the session, the ma-
turity of the class, and the taste of the leader will all
influence the selection that will be made. In many cases
the greatest value of these questions will be to suggest
others that will be better. Some of the questions will
require more mature thought and should be made the
basis of discussion.

There has been no attempt to follow the order of
paragraphs in the text-book in more than a general
way.

Foreign Missionary Motive 27

QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER I

Aim: To Determine an Adequate Aim for Foreign
Missions Based Upon Adequate Personal
Motives

1. What is your definition of a Christian?

2. What are the principal privileges of the Christ-
tan life? Arrange in the order of their im-
portance.

3. How do they seem to you to compare in value
with mental or physical benefits?

4. To what part of mankind are these privileges
open?

5. Is there anything in the nature of these privi-
leges that would especially lead you to share
them?

6. What would you take to permit your sister,
or daughter, to grow up from infancy in heath-
en society?

7. Would she not have a chance of being saved,
if she lived up to the light she had?

8. Would you be satisfied to have her merely sur-
rounded by the influences of Christian society?

9. What would she miss by not having a person-
al knowledge of Christ?

10. What parts of the world seem to you to be
in the most need of Christianity?

TI. What do you understand to be the purpose
for which Christ came into the world?

12. How wide- reaching was this purpose?

13. What place did it have in his thoughts?

14. How did he expect it to be carried out ?

15. What passages of Scripture can you quote in
support of your opinions on the last three
questions ?

28 Why and How of Foreign Missions

16. What do you consider the principal personal
obligations resting on every Christian?

17. What is the relation of these obligations to the
privileges of the Christian life?

18. What claim has foreign missions upon Christ-
ians who happen to be interested in other
things instead?

19. What place ought it to occupy in the prayer
and giving and service of the average Christ-
ian at home?

20. Word what seems to you the strongest motive
for pursuing the work of foreign missions.

21. Are there any reasons why the responsibility
of the present generation is greater than that
of those that are past?

22. Tell all the things you would need to know and
do, in order to make Christ intelligently known
in a heathen village, where he, had never been
preached.

23. Would it be sufficient to make a correct
statement of the way of salvation just once
to each individual in the village?

24. Would you consider that you had fulfilled j'our
Christian duty to your own brother when you
had done that much for him?

25. What is there in the two cases tliat is not
parallel ?

26. Should we expect our missionaries in person
to make Christ intelligently known to each
individual of the heathen world?

27. By what agency will the mass of the non-
christian world be evangelized?

28. What is the principal aim of the foreign
missionary force?

29. To what extent will the civilizing motive
contribute to this aim ?

Foreign Missionary Motive 29

30. To what extent, the philanthropic motive?

31. In what way might the desire for results
hinder the complete realization of this aim?

32. In view of the combined motives for foreign
missionary work how does its claim on the
individual Christian and on the Christian
Church seem to you to compare with that of
other causes?

References for Advanced Study. — ^Chapter L

I. Motives for Foreign Missions.
Barton: The Unfinished Task, II.
Behrends : The World for Christ, I.

Bliss: A Concise History of Missions, Part III,
Chap. I.

Clarke: A Study of Christian Missions, I, II.
Mott: The Evangelization of the World in This
Generation, II.

Ray: The Highway of Mission Thought, I.
Speer: Missionary Principles and Practice, III.
Stock: A Short Handbook of Missions, III, IV.
World-Wide Evangelization, (Toronto Conven-
tion) 29-36.

II. Aims of Foreign Missions.
Barton: The Unfinished Task, I.

Clarke: A Study of Christian Missions, HI.

Hall: The Universal Elements of the Christian

Religion, I.

Martin : Apostolic and Modern Missions, II.

Missionary Issues of the Twentieth Century,

23-32.

Mott: The Evangelization of the World in This

Generation, I.

Speer: Missionary Principles and Practice, IV, V.

Welsh : The Challenge to Christian Missions, X.

FOREIGN MISSIONARY
ADMINISTRATION

»i

The great problem in the administration of missions
is to combine in due proportions decentralization in
the conduct of details and centralization in the settle-
ment of principles. On the importance of the former
all are agreed ; but not on the value of the latter. There
has sometimes been a tendency to resent the control
of a central body on the ground that its members
cannot know the mission as well as those actually in
the field. To a large extent, however, the reverse
is the case. The central body, no doubt, cannot know
the details of any one particular mission so well as
the missionaries in that mission; but those missionaries
only know their own mission, while the central body
can know, and often does know, the missions of
the society generally, and in considering questions of
missionary policy and method the experiences of several
missions is often the best guide for the administration
of any one of them. Moreover, the central body gen-
erally comprises not only clergymen and laymen in
the home Church who have made a careful study of
the missionary problems, but also retired missionaries
of long experience from different parts of the world,
and civil and military officers who have been the friends
and supporters of missions in the countries where they
served, particularly in India.

— Eugene Stock

s»

II

FOREIGN MISSIONARY
ADMINISTRATION

\T7"0RLD evangelization being the su- ^fc^saVy''^"'"''
* " preme work of the Church, the
method of administration should be com-
mensurate m scope and dignity with the task
to be performed. Such a work cannot be
properly done by individuals, nor by congre-
gations acting separately. It is too vast, the
distance too great, the single act too small.
,Local churches d o not have the experienc e in
dealing with missionary problems, nor the corn-
prehensive knowledge of details n ecessary for
the proper conduct of such an enterprise.
Moreover, the individual may die or lose his
money. The single church may become in-
different or discouraged. Even if neither of
these alternatives happened, the work would
lack stability. It would be fitful, sporadic, too
largely dependent upon accidental knowledge
or temporary emotion. A chance newspaper
article or a visit from some enthusiastic mis-
sionary might direct a disproportionate stream
of gifts to one field, while others equally or

33

34 Why and How of Foreign Missions

perhaps more important would be neglected.
The wise expenditure of large sums of money
in far distant lands, the checks and safeguards
essential to prudent control, the equitable dis-
tribution of workers and forms of work, the
proper balancing of interests between widely-
scattered and isolated points, the formulation
of principles of mission policy — all these re-
quire a central administrative agency.
^c?pe«tiSns Foreign missionary work is in remote
lands, in dififerent~ianguages, among diverse
peoples. It is, moreover, a varied and com-
plex work, including not only churches, but
day-schools, boarding-schools, industrial
schools, normal schools; colleges, academic,
medical, and theological; inquirers' classes,
hospitals, and dispensaries ; tlie translation ;
publishing, and selling of books and tracts;
the purchase "and care of property; the health
and homes and furloughs of missionaries;
fluctuating currencies of many kinds ; negotia-
tions with governments ; and a mass of details
little undersood by the home Church. Prob-
lems and interrelations with other work are
involved, which are entirely beyond the ex-
perience of the home minister, and which call
for an expert knowledge, only possible to one
who devotes his entire time to their acquisition.
*"'li°"c; Dr. Cust says that "the conduct of mis-
sions in heathen and Mohammedan countries

Foieign Missionary Administration , 35

I
has already risen to the dignity of a science,
only to be learned by long and continuous prac-
tise, discussion, reading, and reflection ; it is the
occupation of the whole life and of many hours
of each day of many able men selected for the
particular purpose by the turns of their own
minds, and the conviction of their colleagues
that they have a special fitness for the duty."

Mr. Wm. T. Ellis, who made a special in- MUsTSSf"*
vestigation of missionary work in 1907,
wrote from Japan : " My own observation
leads me to conclude that independent mis-
sions make more stir in the homeland,
where the money is being raised than they do
here. They are usually temporary, since
they depend upon one man. . . . The only
effectual missionary work that can be pursued
is that conducted on a broad basis and a long-
continued plan by the great Churches of Japan
and of Christian lands."

It is neither safe nor businesslike for the eiumphbc
Church to leave such an undertaking to out-
siders. The Lord's work as well as man's
work calls for business methods. The Church
must take up this matter itself. It must form
some responsible agency, whose outlook is
over the whole field, and through which indi-
viduals and churches may work collectively
and to the best advantage; some lens which
shall gather up all the scattered rays of local

36 Why and How of Foreign Missions

effort and focus them where they are needed;
some institution which, though " men may
come and men may go," shall itself " go on
forever." Recognizing these things, each of
the leading denominations has constituted
a board^ of foreign missions as the great chan-
nel through which it shall unitedly, wisely,
and systematically carry on this work for hu-
manity and God.
A^uxihl^y -^11 auxiliary denominational agencies are
Agencies gupposcd to coopcratc with this board, sending
their money to it for administration. There
is no exception to this in most Churches; but
in a few, as for example, the Methodist Episco-
pal Church, the women's societies are sepa-
rately organized and administer their own
funds. Every secretary could speak warmly
appreciative words of the loyalty and efficiency
of many of these organizations.
°'^^olBolJ-dV?S The organic relation of a board to the
Churches (^j^yj-ch that it reprcscnts is naturally affected
by the ecclesiastical system that is involved.
The Methodist Episcopal, Protestant Episco-
pal, Presbyterian, and other bodies that have
an authoritative denominational organization,
have created boards that are directly amena-
ble to the supreme judicatories of the Church.
Churches like the Baptist and Congregational,

'For the sake of unity the word board is used in placs
of committee, conference, society, or union, to designate tlie
denominational missionary organization.

Foreign Missionary Administration 37

that do not have such denominational organiza-
tion, or that, Hke the Church of England, have
more than one board of foreign missions, act
through missionary societies which, though
having no formal relation to an ecclesiastical
body, are nevertheless distinctively Church
agencies with the same scope and authority as
other boards. The societies of these Churches
are not, therefore, " independent," in the sense
in which we have used that term.

The method of selection varies. In seiectionand

Composition

Churches that have a governing judicatory, "'Boards
the members of the board are chosen by that
judicatory. In the Methodist Episcopal
Church, the General Conference appoints a
Board of Managers consisting of thirty-two
ministers and thirty-two laymen, together
with the bishops who are ex-officio members.
In the Protestant Episcopal Church, the Gen-
eral Convention elects a Board of Managers
consisting of fifteen clergymen and fifteen
laymen, together with sixteen bishops as ex-
officio members, making a total board of
forty-six. The Presbyterian General As-
sembly elects a Board of twenty-one members,
of whom eleven are ministers and ten laymen.
The American Board of Commissioners for
Foreign Missions, representing the Congre-
gational churches of the United States and
Canada, consists of 400 corporate members.

38 Why and How of Foreign Missions

who are elected by the Board upon nomina-
tion of ecclesiastical bodies; though to avoid
confusion it should be borne in mind that the
term Board, as used by the Congregational
Church, does not refer to the executive body
that is styled board in this book, its functions
being discharged by a Prudential Committee
of twelve persons elected by the Board.
Among Baptist churches of the Northern
States, the corresponding body is called the
American Baptist Missionary Union, and is
composed of all individuals and representatives
of churches that contribute toward the sup-
port of the work. There is a Board of Man-
agers consisting of seventy-five members, "of
whom not more than three fifths shall be min-
isters and not less than one fifth shall be
women." This Board of Managers in turn
appoints an Executive Committee of fifteen,
eight being ministers and seven laymen, and
this Executive Committee, like the Prudential
Committee of the American Board, is the real
board in the sense in which the term is popu-
larly understood. With the Southern Baptists,
the board ife a standing committee of the South-
ern Baptist Convention. This committee has
administrative powers during the intervals be-
tween the sessions of the convention and acts
under instructions from the convention.

Foreign Missionary Administration 39

The majority of the members of a board g°?^^sS'rny''"*
usually live in or near the city in which the '-°'=*'"'«''
board is located, because "experience has proved
that a few men, each of whom can be easily
reached, all of whom have a vital interest in
the trusts confided to them, will perform any
given labor more efficiently than a large board
whose members are so diffused as to be sel-
dom collected, or as to forget the claims of a
duty whose immediate field is far away."

But though the members of a board are saykHouli^
chosen from one part of the coutrh-y, they are BoSlt" "*
not sectional in spirit. There are no
wiser ministers in the country than those
who are on our boards of foreign missions.
There are no more sagacious business men
than the lay members of those boards. Those
who sneer at mission boards forget that they
are composed not only of distinguished cler-
gymen, but of bank presidents, successful
merchants, railroad directors, great lawyers,
managers of large corporations — men who in
the commercial world are recognized as au-
thorities and are implicitly trusted. Is their
judgment of less value when they deal with
the extension of the kingdom of God?

These men devote much time and labor to |»'f;\""«"°«
the affairs of the boards, leaving their own
work, often at great inconvenience, to attend
board and committee meetings, earnestlv and

40 Why and How of Foreign Missions

prayerfully considering the things that per-
tain to this sacred cause. Yet they receive
no compensation whatever, freely giving the
Church the benefit of their ripe experience
and business capacity. It would be necessary
to pay a large sum to command their services
for any other cause, if indeed they could be
commanded at all. One of them has said:
" I could not be hired to do this work for
$5,000 a year, but I will do it gratuitously
for the sake of Christ and my brethren."
The r.hiir rlip.'; n-ofp much to their boards. What-
ever their shortcomings, these agencies are un-
selfishly and self-sacrificingly administering the
great trust that has been committed to them,
and thaugh they may make occasional mis-
takes, their loyalty, devotion, and intelligence
are a reasonable guaranty that they will
wisely serve the cause that is as dear to them
as to others.
^"fficMs The executive officer of a board is the sec-
retary, the larger boards having several sec-
retaries. Some make the treasurer also an
executive officer, but others do not. These
officers are usually elected by the board, but
sometimes, as in the Methodist Episcopal
Church, by the General Conference. The
editor of The Interior, in discussing the per-
sonnel of the mission boards, says that " so
far from a ministerial life unfitting a man for

Foreign Missionary Administration 41

practical affairs, the Church has command of
the best brains in the country for the least
money, and makes fewer business mistakes
than the great corporations of which we hear
so much." Devoting their entire time to the
great interests entrusted to their supervision,
secretaries of course receive a salary, though
it is modest compared with the salaries paid
by the larger city churches. It may interest
some who imagine that a secretaryship is one
of the soft seats in Zion to know that Dr.
William N. Clarke says that, " in respect of
responsibility and laboriousness, there is
scarcely any other Christian service that is
comparable to that of the officers of such so-
cieties. Missionary secretaries have to con-
duct a work of which the delicacy and diffi-
culty are very largely unappreciated." Dr.
Henry H. Jessup, of Syria, testifies, out of
his personal experience as a substitute during
the illness of a secretary : " Among the hard-
est-worked men in the missionary ranks are
the secretaries and treasurer of the board." '

The boards meet regularly once or twice Do'ij."/" '°''
each month. The docket often includes forty
or fifty items, and comprehends phases of
Christian work which in America are usually
distributed among half a dozen different. •
boards, besides several undenominational and
philanthropic agencies. Each denomination.

42 Why and How of Foreign Missions

however, has but one foreign board, and that
single agency must concern itself not only
with informing the churches and developing
their interests and gifts, but with a multitude
of details incident to the conduct of so vast
and varied an enterprise and its related finan-
cial, industrial, political, educational, medical,
and diplomatic problems.
Range of Office "The oflfices of oue of our great societies
are as busy a hive of workers as any financial
or mercantile institution. Receipts of sums
varying from a few cents to thousands of dol-
lars, and in many cases aggregating over a
million, are recorded, acknowledged, cared
for; accounts are kept with every variety of
manufacturer and merchant; payments are
made through the great banking houses of
Europe and Asia to thousands of agents in
every country, American and foreign; corres-
pondence affecting not merely the spiritual
but temporal welfare of millions upon millions
^ of people is carefully considered and filed
away for reference at any moment; books are
published in widely different languages; large
investments in real estate and in buildings are
made; diplomatic questions, sometimes of im-
mense importance, are considered. In fact,
there is probably no other organization in the
world, except a national government, that car-
ries on so varied and as important lines of

Foreign Missionary Administration 43

business as does a foreign missionary so- S
ciety."* -*

The board is divided into committees rep- committee. «nd

^ Departments

resentmg the various mission fields, and there
is, in addition, a finance committee to advise
■with the treasurer on the details of his office.
The administration of the larger boards is
divided into departments, each officer conduct-
ing the correspondence relating to his own de-
partment. Much of that correspondence is
with the individual missionary, for the secre-
tary tries to keep in close touch with him and
to form the channel through which the inter-
est and cheer and love of the home churches
flow out to the lonely workers far away.
Questions affecting mission expenditure and
policy however and all official requests to the
board the secretary takes into the "executive
council," which is composed of all the officers
of the board. There each question is dis-
cussed and a judgment reached, which, at the
next meeting of the board, is presented to
that body by the secretary in charge, and the
action is not complete until it has been ratified
by the board. Matters of special importance
are considered by a committee of the board in
conjunction with the council. It will thus be
seen that there is little opportunity for one-
man power in the workings of a board, inas-

iDr. Edwin M. Bliss.

Careful Financial
Methods

44 Why and How of Foreign Missions

'jnuch as each secretary must submit his con-
clusions for the approval, first, of the council,
and second, of the board itself, and in special
cases, of a committee besides.

In the handling of money great care is
taken. Not only is every sum received
promptly acknowledged to the giver, but a
public report is made in the annual report of
the board, which is printed and mailed to each
minister of the denomination, while extra
copies are freely given to any laymen who
request them. Some boards, in addition,
print their receipts each month in their mis-
sionary magazines. An annual contract is
made by many of the boards with a firm of
certified public accountants, whose representa-
tives walk into the office at any time, take pos-
session of all books and vouchers, and audit
all accounts, making their report, not to the
treasurer, but directly to the finance commit-
tee of business men. Every possible precau-
tion is taken to secure entire accuracy, and so
great is the care exercised and so complete is
the system, that it is not believed that any ser-
ious mistake could escape prompt detection.
In 1897, a Buffalo banker and a Pittsburg
merchant made an exhaustive examination of
the financial methods of one of the great
boards, and they bore " testimony to the com-
plete and businesslike methods that are fol-

A Sacred Trust

Foreign Missionary Administration 45

lowed in the office management, which, we be-
lieve, are fully up to the best practise in the
leading financial and industrial institutions of
the country, and give assurance that the busi-
ness entrusted tO' this office is promptly, effi-
ciently, and economically conducted." Like
testimony would have followed an inquiry
into the methods of other boards. The In-
terior declares that "it can be proved that no
trust company handles more money at a less
expense, with smaller per cent, of loss, than
the benevolent agencies of our Church."

The majority of the members and officers
of the board are or have been pastors, and
the others are members and contributing lay
officers of churches. They know, therefore,
apart from the board's correspondence, that
the money they receive comes, not only from
the rich, but from the poor; that it includes
the widow's mite, the working man's hard-
earned wage, and that it is followed on its
mission of blessing by the prayers of loving
hearts. So the boards regard that money as
a sacred thing, a trust to be expended with
more than ordinary care.

Each mission is required to make an esti- Annual Estin
mate of its needs for the year, not in a lump
sum, but in an itemized statement. These
estimates are carefully scrutinized by the exe-
cutive officers of the board. Then the proba-

46 Why and How of Foreign Missions

ble income is carefully computed on the basis
of average receipts for a series of years, and
any " signs of the times " that may indicate
an increase or a decrease. The grant is then
made, such a " cut " being imposed upon the
total estimates as may be necessary to bring
them within the limits of expected income.
'^'^Eipin'dTtire Some cxpcuditure for administration is, of
Indispensable coursc, indispcusable. The work could not
be carried on without it, for a board must
have offices and the facilities for doing its
work. The scale of administration is largely
determined by the ideas of the Church which
the board represents and the work that it is
required to do. It is hardly fair to cite the
low administrative expense of certain inde-
pendent agencies, for they do not assume such
responsibilities for the maintenance of their
missionaries as the Church boards. The
churches want their missionaries adequately
supported for a life-work, and that involves
an administrative agency commensurate in
expensiveness with the obligations that
must be assumed. Still, the cost of adminis-
tration of the denominational boards is surpris-
ingly low. The exact percentage varies, as
some have free rentals and unpaid agents,
and as the cost of stimulating the churches is
not always considered administrative. In
general, it may be said that the amount for

Foreign Missionary Administration 47

administration proper ranges from five to
eight per cent. That is, it takes but little
more than the value of a foreign postage
stamp to send a dollar to Asia or Africa.

Is there any mercantile concern doing a Relatively lbw

, . , . . , . . Cost

great busmess and requirmg the services of a
large number of persons scattered all over the
mrorld, whose percentage of expenditure for
administration is so low? Professor Henry
yan Dyke once made inquiries of several large
corporations, railway, manufacturing, and
mercantile, and he found that the average
cost of administration was 12.75 P^'' cent.,
while in one great establishment it rose to
twenty per cent. The manager of one of the
large department stores in New York told me
that his expense for administration was
twenty-two per cent., and he expressed aston-
ishment that the board's cost was only about
one-quarter of that. The cases are not en-
tirely parallel; but after making all reason-
able allowance for differences, the essential
fact remains that the cost of missionary ad-
ministration is remarkably low. About nine-
ty-five cents out of every dollar go to the work
in some form. Dr. John Hall of New York
once said : " I have been closely connected
with the work for more than a quarter of a
century, and I do not hesitate to say that it
would be difficult to find elsewhere as much

48 Why and How of Foreign Missions

work done at so moderate a cost as in our mis-
sion boards."

Question of Debt jt is morc difficult than many might
imagine to manage a great board so as to
avoid debt. The work, being conducted on so
large a scale and over so vast a territory,
cannot be hurriedly adjusted to financial
changes in the United States. It has been
gradually developed through a long series of
years, and must from its nature be stable. A
board cannot end its work with the year and
begin the next year on a different basis. It
operates in distant lands, some so remote that
from four to six months are required for the
mere interchange of letters. Plans and pledges
must therefore be made far in advance. In
these circumstances, it is not easy to forecast
the future; but the boards must do so, or try
to.

True Financial Morcover, missionaries are sent out for a

Policy Toward ... . _^, , ,. ,

Missionaries hie scrvice. i hey cannot be discharged at
any time, as a merchant discharges a clerk.
True, the board reserves the right of recall;
but it justly feels that it should not exercise
it, save for serious cause in the missionary
himself. Foreign missionaries, too, are not
situated like home missionaries — among peo-
ple of their own race, with partially self-sup-
porting congregations behind them, and with
larger churches within callj, in case their

Foreign Missionary Administration 49

board fails them. They are thousands of
miles away, among different and often hostile
races, and with usually no local resource. In
such circumstances, the board simply cannot
abandon them. It must pay their salaries and
pay them promptly; and it does so. The
boards have retrenched in many other ways,
but the foreign missionary has received his
full salary, and that, too, the very day it was
due. We believe that the home churches will
sustain the boards in that policy, that they do
not want them to send a forlorn hope into
!A.sia and Africa, and then desert it. This
policy, however, while only just to the mis-
sionaries, involves risk to the boards.

Another difficulty experienced by the licome"'"*^ "'
boards is the uncertainty of income. The
churches will not pay in advance. The aver-
age church does not even make pledges, and
has no adequate system of raising money.
The tide of beneficence ebbs and flows in the
most startling ways, and of course the board
is often in danger of debt. The wonder is
that the debts are not larger. Within sixty
days of the close of its last fiscal year, one
board lacked $513,000 of the sum needed to
meet its pledges to the missions, ten months
having brought only about half of the
amount needed for the year. If the board
had not borrowed at the banks during those

50 Why and How of Foreign Missions

lean months, its missionaries would have suf-
fered for the necessaries of life and its
schools and hospitals would have been ser-
iously crippled. Suppose some unforseen
emergency had occurred in the last two
months to diminish the gifts that were nor-
mally expected at that period — a financial
panic, a St. Louis flood, or a San Francisco
earthquake — debt would have been inevitable.
Giving as Related The perplexities of administration are
greatly increased by the special object system.
The basal reason for giving should not, of
course, lie in a particular person or institu-
tion, but in the considerations that were stated
in the chapter on " The Foreign Missionary
Motive." However, giving to objects as-
signed from the authorized work by the
boards themselves can be so safeguarded as
to be helpful. It often makes the cause con-
crete and strengthens the sense of responsi-
bility for its maintenance. The inclinations
of earnest and friendly people to maintain
the work by special object giving should not
be indiscriminately opposed, but wisely
guided. Within proper limits, they may be
made to subserve wise ends.
^m«^t But when the giver insists on having a par-
ticular native pupil or helper assigned to him
and to have letters from or about the native
thus supported, serious difficulties emerge.

..>f-.''.&lUS*fo'.lv

Foreign Missionary Administration 51

The larger boards have from thirty to fifty
thousand of such scholars and helpers. These
myriads of individuals are constantly chang-
ing, and their comings and goings and habits
and progress are subject to greater fluctua-
tions than in a like number of people at home.
Imagine the plight of a teacher of a primary
school in America if, in addition to her labors
in and out of the classroom, she were expected
to correspond with the parents of all her pu-
pils, tell each pupil what he should write to
his parents, and correct every letter that he
sent. The plight of the missionary is ren-
dered far worse by the fact that the children
are not accustomed to write letters and do not
know our language, so that when a letter has
been laboriously gotten into shape, the un-
happy teacher must add to her assistance in
composition the toil of translating it into
English, writing it out by hand, and mailing
it. Such demands upon a missionary are al-
together unreasonable, and when the giver
adds a demand for a photograph of a scholar
or helper, who never had a picture taken in
his life, with perhaps no photographer within
a hundred miles, and no money to pay one if
he were available, patience is apt to be ex-
hausted.

There are, moreover, administrative per- ^"ifg""''^ """^
plexities involved in such excessively special-

52 Why and How of Foreign Missions

ized giving. Suppose a citizen should refuse
to contribute toward the expenses of his
community unless his money could be applied
to the grading of the street in front of his
house, or to the salary of the teacher who in-
structs his children. How could the adminis-
tration of any municipality be conducted, if
each man insisted on having some particu-
lar item of city expenditure assigned to him?
The donor does not usually suspect the difficul-
ties in his selection of a special object. He
naturally chooses the most attractive phases
of the work, while others less attractive but
equally important are ignored. Still less does
it occur to him that it has an unfortunate in-
fluence on native helpers to know that they
are specially supported from America. Cen-
turies of poverty and oppression have predis-
posed most Asiatics and Africans to undue
reliance upon the missionary. Experience has
shown that extraordinary care must be exer-
cised in the distribution among them of for-
eign money, lest they be pauperized in spirit
and led to a dependence upon America de-
moralizing to themselves and incompatible
with that spirit of self-reliance that we are
earnestly endeavoring to inculcate.
'^"'sch°oo!»"Ind Sometimes, too, the scholar supported does
Helpers j^^^ ^.^j.^^ ^^^ -well. All children in mission

schools are not saints; if they were, missions

Foreign Missionary Administration 53

would not be necessary. Some have to be dis-
missed for bad conduct. Some are taken
away by their heathen parents, while in Africa
it is not uncommon for a father to sell his
daughter to a licentious white trader. Even
the Christian helper may prove to be incom-
petent or mercenary and have to be dismissed.
The heritage of centuries of heathen license
and deceit is not easily overcome in a few
years. The missionaries exercise great care
in selecting helpers, and lapses are excep-
tional; but they do occur, and when they do,
the resultant harm is greatly augmented if
particular givers in America are involved.

Readjustments in appropriations are fre- Kquitabie
quently necessary because the boards are un-
able to furnish sufficient funds to carry on
every department of the work as estimated
by the missions. It is seldom practicable for
a mission to adjust a cut on the basis of spe-
cial contributions from home. It cannot de-
velop envy and irritation by reducing one
native helper's salary and leaving another un-
touched, maintain one department of work at
full strength and almost annihilate another.
The distribution of funds must be equitable,
each form of work bearing its proper share
of retrenchment, and the guiding principle
must be the interest of the cause. This being
the case, it is possible that the exigencies of

54 Why and How of Foreigfn Missions

the work may at any time require an increase
or decrease or even the total discontinuance
of expenditure for any specific object.
corre''s"§ndl^« It would be impossible for a board to make
each one of these changes the subject of cor-
respondence with givers, for the reason that
the objects thus supported are thousands in
number, that they are scattered all over the
world, that the distances are so great that
long periods are required for the mere inter-
change of letters, and that the givers also are
numerous and widely distributed.
«-S^*'/ ^f" ''■°l?^ Constituents and missionaries should un-

Gifta Is Desirable

derstand that the object of the boards in de-
siring to control gifts is simply in the interest
of the work, that they wish to have the Lord's
money used to the best advantage, and that they
have no disposition to alter the direction of a
designated gift, but only to safeguard the in-
terests of the cause and to provide for emer-
gencies and for necessary changes.
°''^*th'°u*dget These perplexities of special object giving
are increased by the disposition of many peo-
ple to give to objects outside of the authorized
budget. The missionaries, assembled in an-
nual meeting, carefully consider the work
that should be done and forward their esti-
mates to the board. On the basis of these es-
timates, the board makes "the regular
grants," pledging in them the largest sum

Foreign Missionary Administration 55

that there appears to be a reasonable prob-
ability will be received. Plainly, therefore,
the first duty of givers, if they would truly
serve the work, is toward these grants, since
they include the objects which the mission-
aries themselves have decided to be of first
importance. Therefore, to demand that
money shall be applied to some other purpose
is virtually to insist upon giving to the less,
rather than to the more important work.

" It is a singular fact," observes Dr. E. E. unffvoJIbto
Strong, " that so many donors fancy that they
can get information as to the best use to be
made of their gifts through individual ap-
peals, rather than by taking the tmited judg-
ment of the missionaries on the ground and
the executive committees at home." The ef-
fort to evangelize the world must not degen-
erate into a sporadic and spasmodic individ-
ualism. A board cannot spend $50,000 this
year on a mission which has happened to have
several good speakers at home on furlough,
and $30,000 the next year because the fur-
loughed missionaries from that field were ill
or ineffective on the platform. The scale on
which money should be expended in a given
field cannot be wholly determined by the
amount of money offered for it, or the vary-
ing degree of success which a missionary may
have in presenting it to home audiences, or

56 Why and How of Foreign Missions

the newspaper articles that may happen to in-
terest a reader; but it must be decided by the
relative needs of that field, the funds that are
available for the whole enterprise, and the
policy that has been adopted by the board.
Otherwise, demoralizing elements of uncer-
tainty and inequality are introduced.

The s tation Plan The boards have tried various expedients
in the effort to harmonize the proper wishes
of special object givers with the interests of
the work. One of the best is called the
"share" or "station plan," which assigns
the giver a part of the budget which must be
raised for the station in which the donor
wishes his gift used. Money is received, not
for an individual scholar or native worker or
school, but for the station. This plan is prov-
ing satisfactory alike to givers, boards, and
missionaries. It allows a flexible use of mis-
sion funds in accordance with the best judg-
ment of the missionaries and the changing
necessities of the work, provides a support
for all departments and not simply for a few,
makes it possible to furnish adequate infor-
mation, gives room for steady advance of in-
terest and gifts, instead of fixing limits, and
insures the continuance of the gift to the per-
manent work uninfluenced by changes in per-
sonnel.

op.nnes»ofMind Viewing missionary administration as a

Foreign Missionary Administration 57

whole, there is undoubtedly occasional ground
for criticism. Every board would admit that,
in deciding a myriad of perplexing questions,
many of them delicate and difficult and on
which good men differ, some errors of judg-
ment occur. The attitude of officers and mem-
bers should be one of openness of mind toward
such modifications of policy or method as
conditions may require. The fact that they did
a thing last year is not a conclusive reason
why they should do it next year. Emerson
says that consistency is the virtue of small
minds. We should do what we believe to be
right before God to-day, whether or not it is
what we did yesterday. The man who cannot
change his mind, when conditions have
changed, is not fit to be an administrator of
a great enterprise. He is worse than a weak
man, for the latter is amenable to advice,
while the former is as inaccessible to reason as
a mule. It is probable, however, that if any
one were to make a list of the real defects in
present administrative methods, he would read-
ily learn on inquiry that the boards already
know those defects and that they are earn-
estly striving to remedy them. Dr. William
N. Clarke expresses the following opinion:

" The sharpest criticism usually comes M^utuai
from those who know the work only from Desirable

S8 Why and How of Foreign Missions

the outside, and have no idea either of its
real magnitude or of the immense complica-
tions that it involves. Large parts of the
work of missionary boards imply matters that
are confidential in their nature. A certain
amount of reserve is absolutely required by
justice and by the interests of the work. Mat-
ters that can be openly discussed are often fully
intelligible only to those who know great
classes of surrounding facts. When a society
or board is blamed about some occurrence on
the foreign field, there is almost sure to be
involved some personal matter in which prej-
udice for or against some one may easily mis-
lead an outside judgment, and even in the in-
ner circle a just and wise judgment requires
the utmost caution. All administrative work
is of course justly open to candid and reasoa^ ,
able criticism, and no missionary society ex-
pects or asks to escape it; but there are com-
paratively few persons who are thoroughly
qualified to criticize the administration of the
igreat missionary organizations except in a
very general way. Even for those who have
intimate knowledge enough to be capable of
intelligent criticism, it often proves far easier
to see faults in the policy of the great societies
than to propose radical improvements upon
their general method of administration. It is
a case where correction even of acknowledged

Foreign Missionary' Administration 59

faults, thotigh it be ever so much desired, is
often beset with unsuspected difficulty. Hence,
the case is one that evidently calls for mutual
confidence and loyal cooperation among those
who are interested together in missions. . . .
The fact ought to be taken more closely home
to the popular Christian heart that a mission-
arj' society is conducting a work of exception-
al magnitude and difficult].', under conditions
that render misjudgment of its doings ex-
tremely easy: and that its officers deserve
sympathetic and respectful judgment from all
their brethren."^

All the boards are gi\'ing increasing at- intelligent
tention to the principles of an intelligent and
comprehensive policy. They feel that the
days of sentimentalism in foreign missions
have passed. They are not conducting a cru-
sade, but a settled campaign, and they are
planning it with such skill and prudence as
they possess. They study the broad princi-
ples of missions, read the lessons cf a hundred
years of missionary effort, abandon plans that
have been fotmd defective and adopt new ones
which promise better results. Every year,
the ofiScers and representatives of about fifty
boards of the United States and Canada meet
for conference as to the best methods for car-
rying on missionary operations, and an

M StmJy »f Christian itissions, i:S, 134, 13s.

6o Why and How of Foreign Missions

amount of care and thought is given to the
whole subject that would surprise the average
critic. The boards are earnestly trying to
administer this great trust wisely, economic-
ally, and effectively, and on sound business
and scientific as well as religious principles.

A Work of Faith Jt .^^JU Ijg gggjj f j-oj^ ^11 ^jj^^ jj^g {jggjj g^j^J

that there is no ground for the assumption of
some that the work of a Church board is not
a faith work. At the beginning of each year,
the board makes and guarantees its appropri-
ations solely on the faith that God will move
the Church to provide the necessary money.
Since he has ordained that this work shall be
supported by the gifts of his people, it is fair
to assume that he will bless them when they
move unitedly and prayerfully for the ac-
complishment of the chief work that he has
laid upon them, and that he is quite as apt
to guide the men whom the Church " looks
out" as "of good report, full of the Spirit
and of wisdom" and appoints "over this
business," as he is to guide any independent
agency or individual, however sincere or en-
thusiastic.
Th'ro''ug°"p*rl?er Thcse men regard the work as of divine
authority and of beneficent character. They
reverently look to the Holy Spirit as the ad-
ministrator of the enterprise, believing that
their chief reliance must be upon his guid-

Foreign Missionary Administration 6i

ance. They realize that God is not limited to
human methods, and that the failure of a
cherished plan may not argue injury to the
cause, but only defects in the plan. They
feel that their only safety is to keep close to
Christ and to seek to know his will. Prayer,
therefore, begins and pervades all delibera-
tions, and wings every appeal for funds.
Heavy as are the anxieties and responsibili-
ties, every board counts it an honor and a
privilege to represent the Church of God in
the administration of this noblest of all Chris-
tian activities.

QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER II

Aim : To Understand the Machinery that has been
Created by the Church for Carrying out its Aim

1. How would foreign missionary work be con-
ducted if we had no denominational mission-
ary boards?

2. Why would it not be possible at present, to
have a single board, representing the entire
Christian Church ?

3. What would be the advantages of having each
congregation conduct its work on the foreign
field directly, and separately?

4. What would be the disadvantages of this ar-
rangement ?

5. How, in this case, would a missionary secure
appointment, if his own congregation was un-
able to send him out?

62 WHy and How 6i Foreign Missions

6. How would the work on the fidd compare in
equipment with that which is now conducted
by the boards?

7. What are the advantages and disadvantages
of independent missionary societies?

8. Other things being equal, would you prefer
' to own stock in a small and recent, or a large

and old company, doing business in Asia?

9. What application has your answer to boards
and independent societies?

10. Sum up all the advantages of denominational
boards as effective missionary agencies, over
separate congregations and independent so-
cieties.

11. Sum up the principal features of the work of
the board of foreign missions, considered as a
business enterprise.

12. How does it seem to you to compare in mag-
nitude and diiEculty with that of the other
boards of the Church?

13. What sort of men should be secured as secre-
taries of boards of foreign missions?

14. Name some of the principal subjects that a
board secretary ought to be acquainted with.

15. What kind of salaries should they receive?

16. What are the arguments for increased economy
in the administration of foreign missionary
boards ?

17. What are the arguments for larger expendi-
ture?

18. How is a board to advertise its work effective-
ly, and yet escape the criticism of extrava-
gance?

19. What are the advantages of permitting persons

Foreign Missionary Administration 63

at home to support individual children in mis-
sion schools abroad?

20. State five principal difficulties involved in this
plan.

21. If you were a missionary, what would you
think of a home Christian who insisted on
having a scholar in spite of these difficulties?

22. What are the arguments for and against giving
money for objects outside the budget?

23. Under what circumstances should missionaries
on furlough be permitted to solicit money for
their own work?

24. Does the station plan seem to you to" be a sat-
isfactory arrangement? Give reasons for your
view.

25. What knowledge should a person have, in
order to pass intelligent criticism on a board
of foreign missions?

26. What improvement can you suggest in the
management of foreign missionary boards?

27. What are the three principal difficulties in
the order of their importance, that boards have
to meet?

28. What ways can you suggest of meeting these
difficulties ?

29. What is the part of the individual congrega-
tion in the matter?

3a What is the part of the individual Christian?

References for Advanced Study. — Chapter II

I. Foreign Missionary Administration.

Baldwin: Foreign Missi9ns of the Protestant
Churches, IV.

64 Why and How of Foreign Missions

Barnes : In Salisbury Square, IV, V, VI.

Bliss: A Concise History of Missions, Part III,
Chap. II.

Clarke: A Study of Christian Missions, VI.

Stock : A Short Handbook of Missions, Part I,
Chap. VIII.

^The leader should make an effort to obtain information re-
garding the administration of the mission board or society of
his denomination through the secretary of the board, whose
name appears near the end of "Suggestions to Leaders of
Classes" on The Why and How of Foreign Missions.

QUALIFICATIONS AND
APPOINTMENT.

6s

The first point that I shall emphasize refers to
your physical nature. You will want to take with
you to your field of labor a sound, healthy, vigorous,
and normally developed body.

— George Scholl ;

Let the most thoroughly Hisciplined faculties and
the noblest powers of the Christian world be con-
secrated to work of such a character. We do not plead
for missionaries to go forth to teach science, but for
missionaries who possess a scientific mind; no;' for
men to proclaim or teach the philosophies of the world,
but for men who have as a part of their equipment a
philosophic mind.

-^. H. Wainright

In the first place, only a man whose mind is per-
vaded by the immediate personal presence of the Holy
Spirit, can reveal Christ to those seeking him. The
first great work which we have in any mission field
is that of making Christ known to the people.

— James M. Thoburn

In the mission field abroad, as in fact at home, too,
character counts for more than learning, for more
than skill. Character, humanly speaking, is almost
everything.

—Eugene StocH

66

Ill

QUALIFICATIONS AND
APPOINTMENT.

IT is a mistake to suppose that any nice, carefui selection
^, 1 r . . bf Candidate

pious youth can become a foreign mis- j

sionary. The critic who imagines that |
weakhngs or milksops can be appointed,/
might apply for a ppointment himself anH spp '
Large churches, after spending a year or
more in considering scores of highly recom-
mended ministers, sometimes give a unani-
mous call to an unworthy man. So a board
occasionally errs. But as a rule, the rigorous
methods now employed quickly reject in-
competent candidates, while the increasing mis-
sionary interest in colleges and seminaries
gives the choicest material to select from.
The boards do not appoint the pale enthusiast
or the romantic young lady to the foreign
field, but the sturdy, practical, energetic man
of affairs, the woman of poise and sense and
character. It is not the policy to send a mul-
titude of common men, but a comparatively
small number of picked men, the highest types
of our Anglo-Saxon Christian character and
culture. Imitating the example of the Church
67

68> Why and How of Foreign Missions

at Antibch in setting apart as foreign mis-
sionaries Paul' and Barnabas, the modern
Church selects the best that apply for this ser-
vice. The result is that foreign missionaries
are fast becoming a picked class, far above
the average in intelligence, character, and de-
votion.
Tests Imposed -yy^g would Hot givc thc impressioH that the
boards insist upon an impracticable standard,
nor should modesty deter any young man or
woman from applying. The tests imposed are
not merely scholastic. Sometimes the honor
members of a graduating class have been re-
jected and men of lesser academic distinction
appointed, because investigation has shown
that the latter gave better promise of real
usefulness. High grades sometimes coexist
with serious defects of character. Many of
the prize men of our colleges are never heard
of in after life, while others, who, like General
Grant, made no special mark as students,
have developed splendid qualities.

It may be well to indicate the qualifications
that are required, not only for the guidance
of young people who are contemplating appli-
cation, but for the information of laymen who
may not be familiar with the subject, and who
often hear misleading statements regard-
ing it.

Foreign missionaries often live and work

Qualifications

.Health

Qualifications and Appointment 69

in such trying climates, amid such insanitary
surroundings, exposed to such malignant dis-
eases, and under such nervous strain, that only
men and women of sound constitution and
vigorous health should be appointed. It is
important therefore to ascertain whether one
is free from physical defects or tendencies
that might shorten life. This question is one
to be determined, not by the applicant, but by
a physician, and the board insists on a rigid
examination, usually by a physician of its own
selection.

After thirty, one's ability to acquire a free, ^^fj:^^?!!?-
coUoquial use of a foreign tongue rapidly di-
minishes. Moreover, one's ability to adapt
himself to a different environment becomes
less easy as the years pass. It is better that
the transfer to new conditions and the study
of a difficult language should begin before
either the physical or intellectual life becomes
so fixed that it is hard to acquire new things.
The probable duration of effective service also
shortens rapidly as one moves toward middle
life. For these reasons, the boards do not
like to accept any one over thirty-three, un-
less other qualifications are exceptionally
high, in which case the age of acceptance is
occasionally extended to thirty-five.

Graduation from both college and prnfps- Educ«tion
sional school is ordinarily required in men.

70 Why and How of Foreign Missions

and at least a high school training in women.
The boards insist, too, that the student's
record shall be such as to show that he pos-
sesses more than average intellectual ability.
A considerable part of the work of the mis-
sionary is intellectual. His daily problems re-
quire a trained mind. Moreover, in many
fields he comes into contact with natives
whose mental acumen is by no means con-
temptible. While, therefore, a board will not
reject a candidate because he does not stand
near the head of his class, it will reject him
if his grades indicate mediocrity. The con-
siderations that occasionally lead the Church
at home to ordain a man who has not had a
full course may lead a board to send one to
the foreign field, but such cases are excep-
tions.
Thoae Without Graduatcs of technical schools are needed

Theological

Training evcry year by some of the boards. Physi-
cians are nearly always in demand. Colleges
and boarding-schools frequently call for re-
cruits who are specially qualified for teaching.
Sometimes mechanical and electrical en-
gineers are needed for special chairs. Several
boards have sought graduates of industrial
and agricultural colleges for ^industrial
schools. Hospitals often ask for trained
nurses to act as matrons and head nurses.
Mission presses call for superintendents who

Qualifications and Appointment 71

understand printing, while some of the larger
missions can use to excellent advantage lay-
men of commercial experience as treasurers,
builders, and business agents. Of course the
number that can be used in some of these
ways is not great The all-round c andidate
who can do anything that is assigned him is
in chief demand.

The boards make careful inquiry as to exe-
cutive ability and force of cliaracter. Many
a man can do good service in the homeland
who could not succeed on the foreign field.
The duties of a missionary are not like those
of a pastor at home, who usually succeeds to
an established work, who finds methods al-
ready so largely determined that his duty is
ratlier one of modification tlian of origina-
tion, and who has wise coimselors in his
church officers. The missionary's functions
are rather those of a superintendent. He
must be a leader and organizer, ilere piety
will not make a missionary, any more than
mere patriotism will make an ambassador.
The boards lay stress on energy, initiative,
and self-reliance. They inquire whether the
candidate has qualities of leadership and
whether, in general, he is a strong man.

Common sense is a much rarer quality
than might be supposed, and not a few can-
didates go down under the searching inquiries

Executive Ability

72 Why and How of Foreign Missions

that the boards make regarding it. Some
brilliant men lack the balance of judgment,
the homely good sense, that are indispensable
in a useful missionary. The foreign mission-
ary must deal with a variety of problems and
conditions that call for the practical man as
distinguished from the visionary. The direc-
tion of native helpers, the expenditure of con-
siderable sums of money, the superintendence
of building operations, the settlement of the
questions that are constantly arising among
native Christians, the adjustment to all sorts
of persons and conditions — these and other
matters that might be mentioned cannot be
prudently committed to unbalanced men, how-
ever pious or healthy or intellectual. Gov-
ernor Brown, of Georgia, used to say that "if
the Lord has left judgment out of a man, there
is no way of getting it in." The mission field
is not the place for the dreamer, the crank,
the mere enthusiast. The quality of good
sense is so often developed in the school of
privation that some of the best missionaries
have been men who were forced by poverty
to work their own way through college, for
the necessity that was thus laid upon them
developed those qualities of alertness, self-
reliance, and good sense that are of high
value in missionary life.

Purpose and rr<i , • .

Persistence Ihc missiouary movement is not a spas-

Necessarv *■

Qualifications and Appointment 73

medic crusade. It is not an easy life. The
romantic halo about it is chiefly in books. It
should not be entered upon, therefore, by
those who are prone to rapid alternations of
feeling, or who are easily discouraged, or who
are incapable of persevering toil. The stu-
dent who has volunteered under the impulse
of emotional excitement should give his new
purpose a reasonable testing period before
making application for appointment. The
man who is always conceiving great projects
and never carrying them out is another t)rpe
that is not desired. Most of the boards have
had experience with such missionaries amd
they do not want any more. The man of
patient persistence in well-doing, who does
not easily lose heart, who courageously and
inflexibly sticks to his work, however dis-
couraging it may be, the man who, like Gen-
eral Grant, "proposes to fight it out on this
line if it takes all summer," is the t3rpe that
is wanted for missionary service. Mission-
ary employment is expected to be for life, and
no one should apply who is not willing to
consecrate himself irrevocably to it, who can-
not make light of privations and "endure
hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."
A veteran missionary, in asking for an asso-
ciate, wrote: " Send us a despiser of difficul-
ties, who will not be discouraged under the

74 Why and How of Foreign Missions

most adverse circumstances, who will unite
unflinching courage with consummate tact,
know how to do impossible things and main-
tain a pertinacity that borders on stubborn-
ness with a suavity of manners that softens
asperity." That is expecting a good deal of
human nature, but it indicates the ideal that
we have in mind.
Tem1.lr"mcat Ability to work harmoniously with others
" ts a prime qualification. The mission circle is
the very worst place in the world for a quar-
relsome man or woman. One such mission-
ary will wreck the happiness and perhaps the
efficiency of a whole station. No degree of
ability or force of character can make a mis-
sionary of that type tolerable. Indeed, the
stronger he is the more trouble he makes.
Then there is the man, or the woman^ who
takes personal ofifense when his or her plans
are opposed. Most troublesome of all is the
type of Christian who is so certain that God
has, in answer to prayer, shown him what
ought to be done, that he is wholly inaccessi-
ble to the arguments of others. It does not
occur to him that his associates also pray and
that God may guide them as well as him. A
vast amount of unregenerate pugnacity and
narrow-mindedness in this world passes for
" fidelity to the truth as I see it."

A cheerful spirit is as essential as ability to

Qualifications and Appointment 75

work with others. Some otherwise very ex-
cellent people are by temperament despondent.
They magnify difficulties and imagine them
where they do not exist at all. Present to
them any proposal, and they will see all the
objections to it first. They never weary of
bemoaning the shortcomings of their fellow
Christians. They walk about Zion and mark
the defects thereof and tell them to the public.
They remind one of the old Scotch elder, who
lugubriously said of his church of three hun-
dred members : "There be nae real Christians
here — except masel' an' Sandy, an' some-
times I hae ma doots aboot Sandy." "Good
Lord, deliver us ! " is the prayer of the mis-
sionaries already on the field regarding all
these types.

The candidate who holds opinions of doc- S*™""'?"^

t^ Doctrinal Viewi

trine or polity that are not in accord with
those of the Church with which he would be
associated as a missionary falls under the
general head of incompatibility. Variance of
this kind may be, and ordinarily is, held from
(thoroughly praiseworthy motives, and it is
not the province of a board to attempt to con-
vince the candidate that he is wrong or to
bring any pressure whatever to bear upon
him to change his views. It simply notes the
fact that the candidate probably could not
harmonize with missionaries who hold a dif-

76 Why and How of Foreign Missions

ferent position. This objection would not, of
course, apply to those variations of belief that
are within the recognized limits of evangelical
faith as held by the Church to which the can-
didate belongs. In no denomination is the
ministry entirely homogeneous as to questions
of doctrine, nor do the boards insist that the
missionary body shall be. There are the same
differences of this kind among missionaries
that are to be found at home. We are refer-
ring now to those questions that would dif-
ferentiate a candidate from the whole body of
his associates and introduce embarrassing
complications among them. Hobbies or ec-
centricities of any kind are considered more
or less objectionable as tending to divide those
who ought not to be divided and to affect in-
juriously the influence of the missionary body
upon the natives, who are always quick to ob-
serve and to comment upon such differences.
M.rri.ee It is a mistake to suppose that the boards
insist upon marriage. Indeed, some boards re-
quire their men to go out single, but permit
them to marry after learning the language
and proving their fitness for missionary life.
Other boards advise this course, but leave it
to the judgment of the candidate. The ob-
jections to deferring marriage do not, as a
rule, relate to the work, but come from fam-
ilies on the field, who do not feel prepared to

Qualifications and Appointment T]

board young men. Traders and Roman
Catholic priests usually keep " bachelors'
hall," and where a couple of young mission-
aries are together, there is no valid reason
why they cannot do so for a year or two if
necessary. No Protestant board advocates
the celibacy of missionaries. All appoint
married men; but almost all have certain
forms of work that can better be done, for a
time at least, by single men. A candidate,
therefore, who has not already arranged for
marriage, need not feel that he is under any
pressure to do so. If, after a few years on
the field, he wishes to marry, the board will
have pleasure in sending his fiance to him,
provided, of course, she is found to possess
the necessary qualifications for missionary
life. So many missionaries and friends are
constantly coming and going, that there is
seldom any difficulty in finding suitable com-
panionship for the young ladies.

The fiance must make a separate applica- Fra'nt"**'**'''''
tion, and it will be as carefully investigated as
that of the man whom she is to marry. No
woman should go to the foreign field simply
because she is the wife of a missionary. Life
in a heathen land is so trying, from the view-
point of home standards, that the wife who
is not in deep spiritual S3rmpathy with her
husband's missionary work and purpose will

78 Why and How of Foreign Missions

almost certainly become lonely, discontented,
and depressed. She may successfully fight
against this for a time, but in the end she
will not only become unhappy herself, but she
will probably make her husband unhappy,
while it is not improbable that her health will
give way and that he will be compelled to
give up his life's plans and return home with
an invalid wife. Most of the boards have had
such costly experiences of this kind that they
are disposed to make careful inquiry regard-
ing the qualifications of those who expect to
become the wives of missionaries.
MissTiiTaTies ^^^ wives of missionarics are regarded as
associate missionaries, uniting with their hus-
bands in desire and effort to give the gospel
to the unevangelized. It is expected that, so
far as is consistent with their strength and
household duties, they will learn the language
and take part in missionary work.
Children 5q many candidates have to be declined on
account of their families that it is proper to
add that, while the boards cordially recognize
their privilege and duty in relation to child-
ren that are born on the field, the boards hes-
itate where there are children prior to appli-
cation for appointment. It costs much more
to transport such families to the field and
more to house them after their arrival. A
mother finds it difficult to get the time and

Qualifications and Appointment 79

strength for language study, and there is al-
ways a possibility that such missionaries will
have to resign because they find the foreign
field unfavorable to the health of their child-
ren. Ordinarily, therefore, most boards do
not like to appoint candidates who already
have children, though they do this in excep-
tional cases.

It need hardly be said that if any one of chrilSa _

^ "' . Character

the qualifications that have been mentioned is andspirituai^
more indispensable than the others, it is spir-,
itual life. No matter how healthy or able or
well educated, the successful candidate must
have a sound, well-developed Christian charac-
ter. The boards do not commission mere
physicians or school-teachers, but missionaries.
The medical graduate who simply wishes to
practise his profession in a great mission hospi-
tal in Asia, the professor whose ambition is
only to build up a flourishing school, the youth
who wants to see strange lands and peoples
or who is animated by the spirit of adventure,
are not wanted. Missionary work in all its
forms is distinctly spiritual in spirit and aim.
David Livingstone, when asked what were
the chief requirements of a successful mis-
sionary, gave as the first : " A goodly por-
tion of God's own loving yearnings over the
souls of the heathen." The boards, therefore,
place great stress on the candidate's spiritual

8o Why and How of Foreign Missions

experience and his motives for seeking mis-
sionary service. The missionary should be
above everything else a spiritual g^ide. In-
quiries on this point are carefully made, and
if there is reason to doubt the spiritual influ-
ence of a candidate, he is certain to be de-
clined.

other Desirable Qthcr considcrations may emerge in par-
ticular cases. Some experience in teaching or
*■ Christian work, and a knowledge of music in

women candidates and of bookkeeping in
men, while not usually required, add to the
attractiveness of an application. The quali-
fications that have been mentioned, however,
are those that are generally sought for by the
boards. Taken together in this way they may
appear to constitute a formidable list; but this
enumeration should not ease the conscience
of any young man or woman who is consid-
ering the question of going to the foreign
field.

^"o°Appffc"nts ^^^ health, imperfect education, dependent
relatives, inability to work harmoniously with
others, and age that forbids hope of acquir-
ing a difficult language are valid reasons for
not applying; but unless some such positive
disqualification is known to exist, the proper
course is to correspond with the secretary of
i-^the board and he will gladly give all needed
counsel. A general sense of unfitness for so

Qualifications and Appointment 8i

noble a calling is not an adequate reason for
failure to apply. Such modesty is apt to be
the refuge of those who are quite willing to
have an excuse to stay at home. One should
not be deterred because of reports that men
are being rejected for want of funds or for
any other reason. The financial situation
may have changed, or an unexpected vacancy
may have occurred. The fact that an appar-
ently good man of one's acquaintance has
been declined is not necessarily a reason for
discouragement, for the board may have dis-
covered some defect that his friends did not
suspect, or the trouble may have been with
his fiance. No matter what one hears, if he
feels that he ought to go to the foreign field,
he should send in his application and place
upon the board the responsibiHty of dealing
with it.

There is no disgrace in being rejected, for rIj'«"^"'"''
it will readily be seen that a number of the
reasons mentioned above may be providential
in character, and, while hindering one's going
to the foreign field, might not hinder a suc-
cessful life for Christ in the homeland.
Moreover, the boards consider all applications
as confidential, so that the fact of rejection
need not be known beyond the limited circle
of the friends whose private opinions it is
necessary for the board to seek.

82 Why and How of Foreign Missions

''"^""Makii!" The procedure in making application is
Application simple — writc to the secretary of the board
and he will send a set of application blanks
and all needful information. The secretary,
on receiving the formal application, corres-
ponds with those who know the candidate.
Some boards have a printed list of questions
for this purpose, as they have learned from
experience that, while most people will tell the
truth, they will not tell all the truth unless defi-
nite questions are asked and a specific answer
insisted upon. The time required for this in-
vestigation is ordinarily about two or three
months, though in special cases it may be
shorter or longer.
Conference at As a further prccaution, a few of the boards

Headquarters , i , .... ,

have adopted the plan of brmgmg newly ap-
pointed missionaries to their headquarters for
a conference of a week or ten days. These
conferences have proved to be of great inter-
est and value, enabling the secretaries to pass
the appointees in careful review before going
to the field, establishing at the outset rela-
tions of personal friendship, acquainting the
new missionary Mrith some of the lessons of
missionary experience and the main features
of missionary policy, and clarifying his opin-
ions on a number of important matters.
Mi.«on.ry Call fj^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ whether he is called

of God to be a missionary? The divine sum-

Qualifications and Appointment 83

mons is made known in a variety of ways.
Some men are conscious of a call almost as
distinct and commanding as that of the
Apostle Paiilr But probably few have such
an experience, and the lack of it should not
be regarded as an indication that one has no
call to missionary service. God's will is of-
ten made known in quieter ways. Many theo-
logical students make the mistake of assum-
ing that the absence of an external perempt-
ory call means that they should stay at home.
The result is that scores look for home pas-
torates because they " have no call to go
abroad." The assumption should be just the
reverse. If God calls a man to preach the
gospel at all, surely the presumption is in
favor of the field where the work is the great-
est and the workers are fewest. With an av-
erage of one minister for every 514 people at
home and candidates thronging every vacant
pulpit, while abroad there is an average of
but one for every 174,000 of the population;
with all the doors of opportunity wide open
and the mission boards vainly appealing for
more men — it is preposterous for the average
student to assume that he should stay in
America unless a voice from heaven summons
him to go to the needy millions of Asia or
Africa. In the language of Keith-Falconer:
" While vast continents are shrouded in al-.

84 Why and How of Foreign Missions

imost utter darkness, and hundreds of millions
suffer the horrors of heathenism or of Islam,
the burden of proof lies upon yo yJiO show that
the circumstances in which God has placed
you were meant by him to keep you out of
t:he foreign mission field."
Question of Need fhe plea that there are needs at home is
mere quibbling, in view not only of the facts
already stated, but of the further fact that
about ninety-eight out of every hundred
students are staying at home. It is probably
fair to say of any given student that there is
no need of him in the home field that is at all
commensurate with the need of him on the
foreign field. His proper attitude therefore
should not be, " Why should I go as a foreign
missionary," but " Why should I not go ?"
The late James Gilmour, the famous itinerant
missionary to the Mongol tribes, wrote of
. this period in his student life: "Even on the
low ground of common sense I seemed to be
called to be a missionary. Is the kingdom a
harvest field? Then I thought it reasonable
that I should seek the work where the work
was most abundant and the workers fewest."
" This was the plain common-sense process
by which that apostle to Mongolia reached a
decision as to duty."

Qualifications and Appointment 85

QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER III

Aim: To Understand What Sort of Persons are
Needed for Foreign Missionary Work and How
They are Appointed

1. Make out a list of questions which you think
a board should submit to missionary candidates
on the subject of physical qualifications.

2. What answers to these questions would you
accept as satisfactory?

3. Make out a list of questions on the subject of
educational and mental qualifications, and indi-
cate satisfactory answers.

4. Make out a list on the subject of personal
character and ability, and indicate satisfactory
answers.

5. Make out a list on the subject of spiritual
qualifications, with satisfactory answers.

6. To what persons, besides the candidate would
you apply for information on these topics?

7. What questions would you put to these others
that you would not put to the candidate?

8. Under which head would you consider it
most important to have strongly favorable
testimony?

9. Under which head would you be most prepared
to accept testimony not altogether favorable?

10. Would you accept a candidate who had never
led any one to Christ?

11. What sort of courses would you advise a <
college freshman to take in preparation for
the foreign field?

12. What special work would you recommend for
a theological student?

13. What special work, for a medical student?

86 Why and How of Foreign Missions

14. What sort of training would you advise for
a young woman volunteer 16 years of age
during the time that must intervene before she
went to the field?

15. Whose fault is it that the average ability of
missionaries is not higher?

16. What besides personal qualifications might lead
an application to be accepted at one time and
rejected at another?

17. What advantage is it for a board to have more
candidates than it can send out?

18. What percentage of persons in the United
States do you think have the necessary phy-
sical qualifications for foreign missionary ser-
vice?

ig. What percentage have the necessary mental
and educational qualifications?

20. What percentage have the necessary qualifica-
tions as to character and ability?

21. What percentage have the necessary spiritual
qualifications ?

22. What percentage possess all these qualifica-
tions in the required degree?

23. What measure of responsibility do you think
rests upon this last-named class?

24. Name what you consider to be valid reasons
for those well qualified for the foreign field
to remain at home.

25. What constitutes a call to the foreign field?

26. Should those qualified assume that they ought
to stay at home unless they have a special call
to go abroad or that they ought to go unless
they have a special call to stay?

27. What proportion of those who ought to go
abroad do you think actually do go?

Qualifications and Appointment 87

28. What measures can you suggest for securing the
volunteers that are needed and that ought to
respond ?

29. What would you tell a person who suspected
he was called to the foreign field but who was
not yet willing to make a decision?

30. What would you tell a person who was wil-
ling to go but who seemed hardly to possess
the proper qualifications?

31. What responsibilities rest on those not qualified
to go abroad or hindered for valid reasons?

32. How much compared with those who go to
the field ought they to be willing to sacrifice
for the cause?

References for Advanced Study. — Chapter III

I. Qualifications for Foreign Missionary Work.^

Call, Qualifications, and Preparation of Candi-
dates for Foreign Missionary Service, 23-243.
Ecumenical Missionary Conference, Vol. I, 301-
308; Vol. II, 205-210.

Speer: Missionary Principles and Practice,

VII.

Students and the Missionary Problem, 168-185.

Students and the Modern Missionary Crusade,

101-128.

The Student Missionary Appeal, 69-81.

World-Wide Evangelization, 63-85.

^Persons desiring to know the requirements of candidates for
the foreign field of their mission board, should write the sec-
retary of the board, whose name appears near the end of "Sug-
gestions to Leaders of Classes" on The Why and How of For-
eign Missions^

88 Why and How of Foreign Missions

II. What Constitutes a Call to Foreign Missionary
Work?

Baldwin: Foreign Missions of the Protestant
Churches, III.

Call, Qualifications, and Preparation of Candi-
dates for Foreign Missionary Service, 1-22.
Gibson: Mission Problems and Mission Methods
in South China, 312-321.
Thoburn: Missionary Addresses, II.
Thompson: Griffith John, II.

THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF THE
MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE

So

The Church ought to regard the provision of am-
ple funds for the prosecution of its great campaign as a
matter of course, as its most elementary duty. But
it should give much more than subscriptions and col-
lections. It should give keen and eager interest, un-
failing sympathy, intelligent and fervent prayer. That
is "support of missions."

— Eugene Stock

If it were possible to secure a general consensus
of judgment from a large number of people as to how
a missionary ought to live in order to exert the most
profound and permanent influence over the people
to whom he is sent, there would probably be practical
unanimity in the conclusion that he ought not to live
in what is called 'luxury,' even if such privileges
were to be provided by the missionary society that
supports him. . . . There are many who have formed
in their minds a conception of the missionary living
rudely, without any of the common comforts of life,
enduring the severest hardships and perils amid most
forbidding surroundings. This conception has become
so thoroughly fixed in the minds of many good Chris-
tians in civilized countries, that it is something of a
shock to them to know that the missionary ordinarily
lives in a comfortable house with a good roof over
his head, and a comfortable bed to sleep upon at
night, and that he has daily sufficient food for the
proper nourishment of his body.

— James L, Barton.

90

IV

THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF THE
MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE

''T^HIS is a subject that interests the lay- tilfidllSood

•^ man who gives as well as the student
who volunteers. There is special reason for
discussing it, because it is often misunder-
stood.

It should be borne in mind at the outset support Rather
that the principle i s support r ather than com-^c ompenaatioa
pensation. Inquiry is made as to the cost
of a reasonably comfortable living, and a sum
is assigned 'that covers that cost. The amount
varies in different fields, as the cost of living
varies. A married man gets more than a sin-
gle man, because two are to be supported,
instead of one. The birth of a child brings
a small additional allowance, usually $ioo
a year, because it means an increased expen-
diture. This is sometimes criticized, but any
parent in the United States can give a critic
valuable information as to whether a child can
be fed, clothed, and educated on $ioo a year.

Most of the boards make a flat rate for l^'^'i?" .
all the missionaries of a given region, pay-
ing the same amount to the new recruit as
91

92 Why and How of Foreign Missions

to the veteran. Other boards grade salaries
according to length of service, paying a mini-
mum amount for the first term, a little larger
sum for the second term, and a still larger
one for the third. This plan is growing
in favor, as it recognizes the fact that expenses
increase with enlarging work and family;
but no distinction is ever made on the ground
of relative ability or responsibility. The most
famous preacher, the president of a great uni-
versity, and the superintendent of the largest
hospital, receive precisely the same salary as
the humblest member of the mission.
Evangelists, educators, and physicians are all
paid the same salaries. Single men usually re-
ceive a little more than single women, not be-
cause they are considered as worth more,but|be-
cause it costs them more to live, as they more
often require separate establishments, while
single women can usually live with some fam-
ily or in a school.
"^"'^sMafy It will be seen that it is not possible to
state any particular figure that would apply
to all fields. The average salary is about
$550 for a single missionary and $1,100 for
a married one. This is not designed to cover
house accommodations, which are provided
in addition.
Ad«qu^te^lc«ie The scalc of support is intended to be ade-
quate to the needs of a Christian worker who

Support of Missionary Enterprise 93

is not luxurious in his tastes, and the prom-
ised sum is promptly paid. It covers, how-
ever, only reasonable needs, and while minis-
ters in this country may look forward to an
increase, sometimes to large figures, the most
eminent foreign missionary expects only
modest support to the day of his death. Other
foreigners in non-christian lands are paid far
more liberally than missionaries. It is as true
now as when Macaulay wrote, that "all
English labor in India, from the labor of the
governor-general and the commander-in-
chief down to that of a groom or a watch-
maker, must be paid for at a higher rate than
at home. No man will be banished, and ban-
ished to the torrid zone, for nothing."

Business men, who have commercial deal- by'contrYs"''*"
ings with Asia and Africa, say that they have
to pay three times the salaries that are paid ^

in America, in order to induce their clerks
and agents to stay abroad. One of the latter
is reported to have said that he " would rather
hang on to a lamp-post in the United States
than to have an estate and a palace amid the
heat and dust and snakes and dirt and fevers
and fleas of a t5rpical Oriental country." Such
discomforts do not characterize all mission
lands, but they do characterize many of them.
The fact that some restless adventurers pre-
fer an African jungle or an Asiatic port does

94 Why and How of Foreign Missions

not invalidate the statement that the average
man will not live amid such conditions unless
he is tempted by the hope of rich gains. But
missionaries like Dr. Henry H. Jessup, the
famous Syrian preacher and former Moder-
ator of the Presbyterian General Assembly,
Dr. D. Z. Sheffield, President of North
China Union College, Dr. H. H. Lowry,
President of Peking University, Dr. John G.
Kerr, the celebrated surgeon, and dozens of
other distinguished missionaries who couldl
have commanded large salaries if they had
stayed at home, have received simply the ordi-
nary missionary income of $i,ooo or $i,ioo a
year and house rent.
Re°5ou?c=s Nor has the missionary the local resources
of the home missionary. He cannot accept
money from native Christians for his personal
use without exposing himself to the charge of
mercenary motives in coming among tliem. It
is hard enough at best for them to understand
his disinterestedness. He must be able to say :
"I seek not yours, but you." Therefore if he
earns money, he turns it over to the board, so
careful is he to avoid even the appearance of
self-seeking.
Price. of sugpiic, jj jg misleading to say that "a dollar will
go further in a heathen land than in America,"
It may, perhaps, in the purchase of some na-
tive supplies, but not in the articles which Eu-

Support of Missionary Enterprise 95

ropeans and Americans deem necessary. The
average mission land does not produce the
kinds of food and clothing that a white man
has to use, and the missionary must usually
buy in the homeland, paying the same price
that the average American at home pays and,
in addition, the cost of freight across a con-
tinent or an ocean, usually both. True, he
can sometimes purchase a part of his supplies
at a local store at exorbitant prices; but as a
rule he finds it cheaper to buy his food and
clothing in London, New York, or Chicago.

The change in economic conditions in re- of L?v!ng '^ *^°*'
cent years has seriously affected the mission-
ary. The cost of living has risen as rapidly
on the foreign field as at home, but the sal- j
aries have risen very little or not at all. A J
committee of the Laos Mission writes : " The
cost of vegetables, fruit, chickens, eggs, fuel,
and coolie hire has doubled, and in some cases
trebled, within the past twelve years. There
has also been a constant advance in the prices
of meat and milk. We do not mention such
luxuries as Irish potatoes, which sell at $24
per bushel (too dear for a missionary's
purse) ; nor ham, which sells at sixty cents
per pound."

This upward movement is spreading all Amiri'^a^""*''
over the world. A missionary in South
America writes : " Multiply American prices

Give

96 Why and How of Foreign Missions

of shoes by two and a half, clothing by two,
cheap cloth by three, underclothes by four,
hats by three, and you will have the prices
of the same qualities of the same articles
here."
Mi„'jo"ar"§tS It should be borne in mind, too, that the
missionary has many calls upon his charity.
Pastors of large city churches know how
numerous such calls are at home. But there
is probably no other Christian worker in the
world upon whom they press so heavily as the
foreign missionary. He is among multitudes
of poverty-stricken people. There are no
charitable agencies, as at home, to which they
can be referred, nor are there well-to-do lay-
men who can help in bearing the burden. The
sick and starving are continually appealing
to him. Moreover, as he organizes the con-
verts into churches, he wishes to impress upon
them the duty of giving as a Christian grace,
and in order to make his teaching effective,
he must set the example. We do not know of
any missionary who gives less than one tenth
of his salary in these ways, and many give a
much larger proportion. If Christians at
home would give as liberally as missionaries,
the whole enterprise would be far more gener-
ously supported.
An Absurd In the light of these facts, the absurdity of
the criticism that " missionaries live in lux-

Criticism

Support of Missionary Enterprise 97

ury" will readily be seen. Missionaries who I
can " live in luxury " in such circumstances S
must be remarkable financiers. The fact is J
that the missionary is seldom able to save
anjrthing, and if he breaks down, he becomes
dependent.

Globe-trotters who have eagerly accepted statements
missionary hospitality have sometimes been
guilty of base ingratitude in their accounts of
it. Oppressed by their loneliness and hungry
for tidings from the homeland, the mission-
ary and his wife heartily welcome the visitor
and, in honor of the occasion, bring out their
little household treasures, put on their best
clothes, and prepare a dinner far better than
they ordinarily have or than they can really
afford. Then the guest goes away to prate
about the extravagance of missionaries. A
friend once gave Mrs. Hepburn of Japan a
large turkey, a costly gift in Japan. That
very day, an American traveler called with a
letter of introduction. She invited him to
dinner, and he wrote home, and his statement
was printed in several newspapers, that the
most expensive meal he had eaten in his tour
around the world was at the table of a foreign
missionary !

" But I hear that a certain missionary keeps QSe.lfon"**
four servants while I can afford but one!"
cries a wife in America. Allow us to suggest

98 Why and How of Foreign Missions

some considerations which may not have oc-
curred to this wife.
M^hodl First, her one servant doing general house-
unavoidabie y^,Q^y. mgans as much help as four servants
mean in a heathen land. A cook in India will
do nothing but cook; a sweeper nothing but
sweep; a water-drawer nothing but draw
water; and so on through the whole list, each
one, moreover, performing his task in a spirit
the reverse of strenuous. A cook would die
rather than touch a broom, for he would break
his caste. " If," writes a missionary wife,
" my own pleasure were consulted, I would
certainly prefer working in my own home to
visiting dirty homes infested with vermin and
offensive odors. It seems a little strange
that the missionary who pays her servants out
of her own salary is so much blamed for what
she would gladly help if she could."
Our Municipal Sccoud, cousidcr, too, that at home we all

Arrangements ' ' '

Aid Us have many assistants whose services we fail to
take into account in comparing ourselves with
foreign missionaries. The mail-carrier de-
livers our mail without cost to us; but the
missionary usually has to hire some one to
get his mail from the post-office, which is
probably miles away. We can travel on a
street-car or a railway train; but the mission-
ary must employ coolies to carry him in a
chair or wheel him in a barrow or row him in

Support of Missionary Enterprise 99

a boat to his preaching appointments in out-
lying villages. The city policeman patrols
our street; but the foreigner in Asia and
Africa must engage a watchman or have all
his belongings stolen. The grocer calls at our
house for orders and delivers the goods; but
the missionary must have a native to do his
marketing, as in many cases the native shop-
keepers will ask a foreigner several times
what they would ask their own people, and
will come down to a reasonable figure only
after hours of wearisome haggling; for time
is no object to an Oriental. Our complex and
highly developed civilization in Europe and
America enables the average man to avail
himself daily of the labors of scores of others'.
The missionary, living in more primitive con-
ditions, must hire servants, or neglect his work
and spend the greater part of his time doing
things himself that natives can do just as well
and at smaller cost.

Third, the foreign missionary, living as he °p" "°"|= '^^ll
does in lands where hotels are few and vile
and where Oriental ideas of hospitality pre-
vail, is forced to keep open house for all
comers. The occasional traveler and the con-
stantly passing and repassing missionaries of
his own and other churches must be freely
entertained. The natives, too, call in ap-
palling numbers. The host, like Abraham of

lOO Why and How of Foreigfn Missions

old, must hasten to set meat and drink before
every guest, for failure to do so would be
deemed a breach of hospitality and an offense
which wotjld probably end the missionary's
influence. A missionary's wife in Syria says
that she often had twenty to meals and a hun-
dred callers in a single day, all of whom had
to be served with cakes and coffee or lemon-
ade. Another in China had 4,580 women vis-
itors in one year, besides men and children.
Tea had to be provided for all that host.

'ulSn m's^'iSn Fourth, would it be common sense to send
Workers ^^ educatcd Christian woman as a foreign
missionary, and then force her to spend her
time in cooking meals and washing dishes,
when she can hire native servants who are
glad to do that work for a few cents a day?
Julian Ralph, writing from Asia on this sub-
ject, says : " I demand that the missionaries
keep servants. They are paid to give their
time to missionary work, and, especially in
the case of a wife and mother, I claim she has
no right to do housework, sewing, and similar
work and give only her leisure from such
things to that service for which she has a
regular salary."

''"NafivM^Do" Some people innocently ask, "Why don't
missionaries live as the natives do?" Such
people probably do not know how the natives
live. The African fastens a yard of calico

Support of Missionary Enterprise loi

around his waist, ties a string of beads about
his neck, and fancies himself dressed for all
occasions. Bare-headed, bare-chested, and
bare-footed, he exposes himself to the fierce
rays of the tropical sun, and when night
comes, with its chill air and drenching dew,
he sleeps upon the ground. An American
doing that would be smitten with African
fever within twenty-four hours. The Chinese
lives contentedly and works hard on a hand-
ful of rice a day, and in a dark, unventilated
room, not much larger than the kennel in
which the reader keeps his dog. Would the
critic live that way? Could he? A typical
heathen woman does all the drudgery of the
household, collects fuel, tills the fields, and
secures and prepares the food. Do the critics
at home want their wives to do such work?
Burmese children run around naked until they
are about ten years of age. Would we allow
our children to do so ?

Live as a heathen does? The heathen does sufii"ci'ent

not live. The dea tlT-r^tP nf hpatViPnicm ;g Argument

app alling. J he mendie of consumption and
pneumonia and fevers and cholera and small-
pox. The children are carried off in regi-
ments by diphtheria and measles and scarlet
fever and cholera infantum; while as for the
women, at the age of forty, when the English
and American woman is in the full splendor

102 Why and How of Foreign Missions

of her beauty, the t3rpical heathen woman is
old and withered.
An Experiment jf ^ny critic Tcally imagines that he could
live as the heathen live, let him try it. Let
him build a hut in his back yard — no floor but
the beaten earth, no windows but latticed or
paper-covered openings, no bed but a hard
platform, no stove but an open fire in the mid-
dle of the room, no chimney but a hole in
the roof through which the smoke rises and
the wind and rain and snow fall, and no fuel
but manure mixed with grass, made into
cakes by his wife or daughter and dried in the
sun. For food, let him buy three bushels of
com. It will sustain life for several weeks
and cost but a dollar. Have the wife pound
it between two stones, mix it with water and
bake it in the ashes. Then let him eat corn
for breakfast and com for diimer and com for
supper, and the next day eat corn for break-
fast and corn for dinner and com for sup-
per, and before many days have passed,
even the most obtuse critic will know why
the foreign missionary does not and cannpt
live as the natives do.
^EcoBomy No, the boards are not going to ask for-
eign missionaries to live as the natives do.
The missionary is a civilized man and he
needs some things that the uncivilized man
does without. Making all due allowance for

Support of Missionary Enterprise 103

exceptional places, it still remains true that
the average foreign missionary lives and
works under a strain which few at home real-
ize, and it would be folly to compel him to
adopt a mode of life that would wreck his
constitution in a few years. Common sense
dictates that, having incurred the expense of
sending him out, he should be so equipped
that he may be able to do the work for which
he was sent. The disastrous experience of
the American army in Cuba taught the gov-
ernment that it is poor policy to economize in
the support of soldiers. A division of in-
valids is worth little in a campaign. Shall the
Church be less wise in taking reasonable care
of its men?

We grant that there are richer natives who st?ndlrd°*
live on a much better scale; but their expendi-
tures are so great that a missionary could not
possibly equal them. The Chinese mandarin
and the East Indian noble often spend money
lavishly; but even then, their ideas of comfort
differ so widely from ours that their homes
could scarcely be deemed ideal by the average
American. Thousands of young men in Eng-
land have pleasanter bedrooms than the Em-
peror of China, and the average mechanic in
the United States has a more comfortably
warmed house than a samurai of Japan, in
spite of the costly furs that lie on his floor and

104 Why and How of Foreign Missions

the elaborate carvings that adorn his room.
The food and general manner of life of the
wealthier classes in Asia would quickly under-
mine the health of a European or American.
^"^NoJ^t"!! ^* ^s said that the missionaries of certain
Disregarded independent organizations are not maintained
as are the missionaries of the denominational
boards. This is an error, so far as the best
of these societies are concerned. The actual
salary may be smaller, but there are allow-
ances that the denominational boards do not
make, so that the net result to the missionary
is practically the same. There are, however,
independent societies of which the statement
is true; but the frequent result is suffering
that ought to have been avoided, or else, as
one missionary writes, "The independent
missionary cultivates friendly relations with
some neighboring board missionary; his calls,
by a singular coincidence, usually happening
about meal-time." A disregard of means
that God has provided is neither religion nor
business. The Christian at home has no right
to demand all the good things of life for him-
self — comfortable house, abundant food, ade-
quate clothing — and then insist that his per-
sonal representative in preaching the gospel
abroad shall be half-starved. If it is a Chris-
tian's duty to live like a tramp without visible
means of support, let the home pastor and lay-

Support of Missionary Enterprise 105

man set the example. It is easier to do it
here than in a heathen land and less dan-
gerous to health.

It should be remembered, too, that the mis- The Missionary

. ,. . Home an Object-

sionary represents not only a superior religion lesson
but, in some lands at least, the more decent
style of living which has resulted from that
religion. It is, though a subordinate, yet a
real part of his mission to exemplify this. His
better house and mode of living are them-
selves an object-lesson of the uplifting influ-
ence of Christianity. He would be untrue to
his faith if he abdicated the function of a
Christian gentleman and lived like a barbar-
ian. He goes out to bring the heathen up to
his level, not to go down to theirs.

Nor would personal degradation be more ^j^Yrific"
likely to win the natives to Christianity.
Dr. John Forman, of India, made a per-
sistent effort to live like the natives. He
rented a small room, wore cheap clothes, and
ate the simplest food. He writes : " What I
had longed for was to get near the people, to
convince them that I really was working only
for their salvation and that I was denying my-
self for them. I was never more thoroughly
earnest about an3rthing I undertook, and never
have I felt that I made a more dismal failure.
Everything turned out just as I had not ex-
pected. They seemed to regard me as nothing

io6 Why and How of Foreign Missions

but poor white trash. The idea that I had
voluntarily given up anything or was denying
myself never occurred to them. I was still
the same government oflficial, only had not
succeeded in getting a very remunerative posi-
tion. I had less influence instead of more.
I met with a great deal of opposition, a vast
amount of ridicule, and had no end of yelling,
hooting, and hand-clapping from the small
boys, but my success seemed to end there."
Different Modes fhe fact is that an American simply cannot
equal an East Indian fakir in his mode of
living. The latter sprinkles himself with
ashes, begs his frugal meals, wears nothing
but a loin-cloth, subjects himself to frightful
austerities, performs his devotions in public
places, and never washes himself. The plain-
est living possible to a foreigner impresses
the natives as luxurious in comparison with
their own devotees, and therefore has abso-
lutely no good effect upon them,
'"'wrecke'd'by Somc missionaries, who do not believe in
Wrong Theories ^gards or fixcd Salaries, have gone out inde-
pendently, with the intention of supporting
themselves by teaching or some other kind of
work, or of subsisting on the direct spontan-
eous gifts of individuals or local churches at
home. The results have usually been disas-
trous. Dr. Lawrence said that it seemed to
him " that India was literally strewn with the

■■■■BBiHiHHK:^

Support of Missionary Enterprise 107

wrecks of mission work begtin by such inde-
pendent missionaries, but for one reason and
another abandoned. Much the same is prov-
ing true of Africa."

A missionary who has no means of his own ui^Be^s°A^e°nY^
cannot hve in Asia or Africa without a salary.
He cannot reasonably expect the poverty-
stricken natives to support him. If he sup-
ports himself, he must toil in a way that will
undermine his health, secularize his life, and
probably expose him to the charge of mer-
cenary motives. If he depends upon a salary
from home, a board is the best agency for its
collection and payment. A missionary once
declined to receive further salary from his
board on the ground that the Holy Spirit had
directed him " to trust the Lord to support
him by the voluntary gifts of his people."
Such a request indicates a confusion of ideas.
Does not the Lord provide money that his
people send through a board? It is not a
question whether a missionary shall receive
money for his support; it is whether he shall
receive it in the orderly way that the people
of God, led by his Spirit, have instituted. A
Christian worker who refuses a salary either
receives a larger sum than he ought to have,
with the attendant injustice to givers and
waste of the Lord's money, or he receives
less than he ought to get, with the attendant

io8 Why and How of Foreign Missions

injury to his ovra health and wrong to those
who are dependent upon him. When Mr.
Moody conducted a series of meetings in a
certain city, he agreed to a definite payment for
his services^ and all believed him to be both
pious and sensible. Another evangelist, a
year or two later, refused to enter into any
financial compact or to allow any collections
or subscription papers, stating that he would
take only what the Spirit of God prompted
the people to give. The result was not only
embarrassment for the committee in charge,
but, in the end, a considerably larger sum than
he ought to have had.
A Sensible View It appcars rcasonablc to insist that if a
missionary ought to go to the foreign field
at all, the home Churdi ought to send him
and maintain him, unless he has a personal
income that suffices for his wants, and that
gifts for his support should be sent through
the established agency of the Church to
which he belongs. Faith and piety are con-
sistent with common sense.
Regular Salary The Qucstion has oftcH been mooted

Payments ^

whether a board, instead of guaranteeing the
missionary a fixed salary, should not simply
send him his proportion of whatever sum it
may receive. But the receipts of all the
boards come in very irregularly and seldom
equal expenditures for the first eight months

Support of Missionary Enterprise 109

of a fiscal year. If a board simply distributed
receipts as they came in, the missionaries
would not have enough to live upon for two
thirds of the year. They would suffer for
the necessaries of life, or they would have to
run up debts that would seriously compromise
their missionary reputation.

The plan impresses us as visionary and un- The church Must
businesslike. No sensible layman would '^^"y ^^e Risk
dream of conducting his business on any such
basis. Nior should we expect grocers and
butchers and clothiers of heathen or Christ-
ian lands to supply missionaries with the
necessaries of life, with the understanding
that they will be paid for, if the Lord
moves his people to provide the funds. If
that scheme is a good one, why should it not
be made equally applicable to ministers at
home ? There is no valid reason why it should
be confined to the foreign missionaries. We
believe that the only sound principle, both in
faith and in business, is that the Church
should, through a duly constituted board, as-
sume responsibility for the support of the mis-
sionaries that it sends out. When God calls
men to go, he calls his people to send. If there
is financial risk to be taken, the Church should
take it. It is neither fair nor Christian to un-
load its proper responsibilities upon the al-
ready over-burdened missionaries.

Too Luxurious

1 10 Why and How of Foreign Missions

Missio"?res"ot Information about the houses of mission-
aries is frequently desired, especially by those
who have been disturbed by statements that
they are equal to the houses of native noble-
men. A similar statement might be made
about the houses of many American me-
chanics. We do not deny that the mission-
ary's dwelling often appears palatial in com-
parison with the wretched hovels in which
the natives herd like rabbits in a warren.
Shattered health and rapidly filled cemeteries
have taught missionaries that, if they are to
live, they must go a little apart from the mal-
odorous, insanitary, human pigsty, with its
rotting garbage and open cesspools, select a
site high enough to afford natural drainage,
and build a house with a sufficient number of
cubic feet of space for the persons who are to
occupy it. Then the natural taste of the hus-
band leads him to make a little lawn and to
set out a few shrubs and flowers, while in-
doors his wife sensibly makes everything as
cozy and attractive as she can with the means
at her disposal. As it is supposed to be a
home for life, articles by gift and purchase are
gradually accumulated, and it really becomes
a pretty place in time. Contrasting as it does
with the miserable habitations of a heathen
city, it attracts attenion; but its attractiveness
is not due to the lavish expenditure of money.

Support of Missionary Enterprise iii

but to the good taste and inventiveness of a cul-
tivated, intelligent family.

The visitor approaching Fusan, Korea, is ^JnuSar/pusan
apt to remark upon the buildings that stand
conspicuously upon the hill, and to hear a
sneer about the selfishness and ostentation of
missionaries in selecting the best sites. The
facts are that when the missionaries went to
Fusan, they could not afford to buy in the
city, and they took the hill site because it was
unoccupied and cheap, paying just $75 for
the whole tract on which church, hospital, and
residences now stand. The owner was glad
to get that price, as the land was then prac-
tically valueless. That time has proved it to
be the best site in Fusan, and that the mission
occupation of it led others to seek the neigh-
borhood so that the place is now valuable, is
simply a tribute to the good judgment of the
missionaries.

Another illustration occurred in Persia, " palace^"
where the missionaries were accused of hav-
ing for a summer resort at Lake Urumia
" one of the finest palaces in all the land."
The " palace " referred to was an old,
abandoned one-story and basement mud build-
ing, which the owner was delighted to sell to
the missionaries for $80. They fixed it up
as best they could with a private gift of $170
from a kind-hearted lady in St. Louis, and then!

112 Why and How of Foreign Missions

the several missionary families of Urumia
took turns in occupying it for a few weeks
during the heated term.
^^'^MiL^onary ^ ^^^ missionary residences in different
Residences lands havc been built by wealthy relatives for
particular missionaries, and occasionally one
is built as a memorial for a deceased friend.
But the average missionary residence costs
from $2,500 to $3,000, including land. Build-
ing in most fields is quite as expensive as at
home. Indeed lumber, glass, and hardware
can often be imported from England or Am-
erica cheaper than they can be bought on the
field. Many missionary houses in China and
Korea contain Oregon lumber, Pittsburg win-
dows,, and Birmingham metals. The reader
can therefore judge for himself how palatial
such a place must be. The average missionary
residence is about like the home of a country
clergyman or school-teacher in England and
America; though in the tropics, the fertility
of the soil, the luxuriance of palms and foliage-
plants, and the cheapness of labor make it
easier for the missionary to have beautiful
grounds.

Support of Missionary Enterprise 113

QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER IV

Aim : To Understane why Missionaries Receive the
Salaries They do

1. In the Society of Friends, the ministers receive
no salaries. What art the advantages of this
arrangement ?

2. What are the principal arguments against it?

3 If the ministry is to be salaried, what prin-
ciples should determine the amount each
individual is to receive?

4. How ought the homes of ministers to compay
with those of their congregations?

5. What possible abuses of the system should
be guarded against?

6. Is a congregation which desires an able man
justified in offering an "attractive" salary?

7. To what extent should the principles which
govern the support of ministers at home apply
to missionaries on the foreign field?

8. What arguments can you give for paying
missionaries smaller salaries than the average
home minister?

9. What arguments can you give for paying them
larger salaries?

10. What likelihood is there that any one would
become a foreign missionary from sordid
motives ?

11. Name the principal sacrifices that a missionary
is called upon to make.

12. What salary would compensate you for these
sacrifices if you had no heart interest in the
work?

13. What would you judge as to the relative attrac-

)i

114 Why and How of Foreign Missions

tiveness of the ministry at home and on the
foreign field from the relative numbers in each
calling?

14. What percentage of the missionary force do
you think would have received larger salaries
if they had remained at home?

15. In what degree of "luxury" ought a mission-
ary to live?

16. What are the arguments for and against as
attractive a Western home as his salary per-
mits?

19. Would it be true economy for the missionary's
wife to have no servants and do her own
housework ?

20. In what expense is the board involved when
a missionary breaks down?

21. How long would it be before a new volunteer
would equal a retiring missionary in eEBciency?

22. From a business standpoint what is the rela-
tive importance of care of healtli by a mission-
ary and a home minister?

23. Do you think that critics would really remain
satisfied if missionaries lived as the natives do?

24. What are the arguments for and against self-
support by missionaries?

25. Would it ordinarily take more or less time
for an American to earn his support in this
country than in China?

26. How muc' longer would it take to build up
a strong native cl.urch if the missionaries gave
only the time not required for self-support to
the work?

27. Would the missionary force be increased in
efficiency if the policy of self-supporting mis-
sionaries were adopted?

i

Support of Missionary Enterprise 115

28. What is there in the case of the Apostle Paul
that is not parallel?

29. Is the Christian Church really too poor to pro-
vide a support for missionaries?

30. Where does the responsibility rest for seeing
that the missionary enterprise is properly fi-
nanced ?

31. What money do you think you have invested
more economically and profitably than that
which you have given to foreign missions?

Ireferences for Advanced Study. — Chafter IV

I. Missionaries and Luxurious Living.

Barton: The Missionary and His Critics, IX.
Mason: The Little Green God, II.

II. Housekeeping and Servants.

Maxwell : The Bishop's Conversion, XII.
Nevius: China and the Chinese, Z5$-3S7-
Rowe: Every-Day Life in India, XXII.
Underwood: With Tommy Tompkins in Korea,
XIL

THE MISSIONARY AT WORK

"7

The practical value of educational missions may
' be inferred from an incident in the work of certain
missionaries in the interior of Africa. They gave
themselves wholly to evangelistic work without any
effort at education, under the mistaken idea that pro-
claiming the gospel to those who had not heard it was
the beginning and the end of missionary endeavor.
After years of faithful preaching, the gospels were
translated into the native language, when it was dis-
covered that none could read!

— Wilson S. Naylor

In some missions the evangelistic agency has been
overshadowed by some other department of activity.
While the importance of the other agencies must not
be minimized, the neglect of presenting the gospel
would be disastrous to the whole missionary enterprise.
Among the people every effort must be made to heal
their physical ills, to care for them in distress, to teach
them the means of obtaining an honest living, to raise
up an intelligent and efficient leadership, yet it must
be borne in mind that the dominating purpose of mis-
sions is to make Christ preeminent in the lives of the
millions. If any department may be magni-
fied it is the evangelistic, but unquestionably the wiser
plan is to have all these vital agencies permeated with
the spirit of winning the allegiance of the people to
the Master.

— James M. Thobtim

ii8

Y

THE MISSIONARY AT WORK

THE variety and scope of the foreign mis- ^^,'^''<'°*'y''
sionary's work are in sharp contrast
with the work of the minister at home. The
latter hardly realizes to what an extent his
efforts are reinforced by the results of cen-
turies of religious teaching. These helps do
not exist in most non-christian lands, and
therefore the missionary must create them.
He must found not only churches, but schools,
hospitals, printing-presses, kindergartens, or-
phanages, and the various other kinds of
Christian and benevolent work carried on in
this country. He must train up a native min-
istry, erect buildings, translate and print
books and tracts and catechisms. The
gospel must be so presented as to touch
the lives of men at many points, and
they must be helped in making the
adaptation to new conditions. In some lands,
the missionary must even teach the men how
to make clothing, to build houses, and to cul-
tivate the soil; while his wife must show the
119

I20 Why and How of Foreign Missions

Intensity

and Wide

Range

Pour Main Lines

women how to sew and to cook, to care for
children and to make a decent home.

The phrase " missionary at work " is there-
fore not a misnomer. Those who imagine
that "missionaries have an easy time" little
realize the heavy and persistent toil that is in-
volved in missionary effort. Foreign mis-
sionaries are among the hardest worked men
in the world. Much of this work, too, is done
in unfavorable climates and amid conditions
that tell heavily upon the strength and
nerves. The typical hospital, with work
enough for two or three physicians^ has but
one medical missionary, and he must perform
every operation and attend every sick patient,
save for such native assistants as he may be
able to snatch a little time to train. Sdiools,
which at home would have a half dozen or
more teachers, have but one or two. The or-
dained missionary often finds himself obliged
to unite the adaptability of a jack-of-all-
trades to the functions of an archbishop.

The ordinary work of the foreign mission-
ary is along four main lines. Probably the
first impression of the traveler is of the

Educational Work

yatLAwnnal

*fe

sf the Children

This is partly because it is represented by
institutions that are more conspicuous, partly

The Missionary at Work 121

because children are much in evidence in a
typical heathen city. They are sweet-faced,
bright-eyed children, to whom one is in-
stinctively drawn. One hears tlie patter of
their wooden sandals in the streets of Japan.'
He sees their quaintly grave faces in the rice-
fields of China. He never wearies of watch-
ing their brown, chubby little bodies on the
river banks of Siam. His heart aches as he
sees their emaciated limbs and wan looks in
India. Everywhere their features are so ex-
pressive, that he feels that they ought to have
a better chance in life and that he ought to
help them to get it, while new meaning ir-
radiates the words : " It is not the will of
your Father .... that one of these
little ones should perish."

In this spirit, one of the first and most lov- schoou and Their

, . .... . , , Beneficent

mg duties of the missionary is to gather these Servue
children into schools and to teach them for
this life and the life to come. Day-schools of
primary grade are, of course, the most num-
erous and they reach myriads of little ones.;
Above them are the boarding-schools, where
children are under the continuous care of the
missionary. If he be a benefactor of the race"\
who makes two blades of grass grow where s
one grew before, what shall be said of the mis- /
sionary who takes a half-naked urchin out of )
the squalor of a mud hut, where both sexes S

122 Why and How of Foreign Missions

I and all ages herd like pigs, teaches him to
I bathe himself, to respect woman, to tell the
I truth, to earn an honest living, and to serve
iQod. It means even more for the girls than
ffor the boys, for heathenism, which venerates
vanimals, despises women. In sacred Benares,
India, I saw a man make reverent way for a
cow, and a little farther on roughly push a
woman out of his path. I saw monkeys in
the protected luxury of a temple, while at its
gates starving girls begged for bread. Is
there any work more Christlike than the gath-
ering of these neglected ones into clean dormi-
tories and showing them the meaning of vir-
tue, of industry, and of that which does not
exist throughout all the pagan world, except
where the gospel has made it, a pure, sweet
Christian home?
Higher Schools Colleges and normal, medical, and theologi-
cal schools take the more promising grad-
uates of the boarding-schools and train them
for special work among their own people.
The equipment of these institutions is often
very humble as compared with the magnifi-
cent buildings of many of our home colleges;
but we may safely challenge Europe and Am-
erica to show colleges which have achieved
more solid results with such limited resources.
JMany a mission college turns out well-trained
/men on an income that would hardly keep a
Uiome university in lights and fuel.

The Missionary at Work 123

These schools and colleges are exerting an ^fl"e"ce*
enormous influence. They lead many students
to Christ. They undermine the superstitions
and dispel the prejudices of many who are
not immediately converted. They give the
missionary access to new villages and zena-
nas and familiarize the heathen mind with
Christian conceptions. They often form the
most effective means of reaching the upper
classes. Scores of mission schools are edu-
cating the sons and daughters of officials,
noblemen, and in some countries, of royal
princes.

An interesting illustration of the oppor- LedbyaChiid
tunities thus created occurred in Bangkok,
Siam. A nobleman, whom the missionary
had vainly tried to lead to Christ, sent his
only son to the Christian Boys' High School.
A year or two later, in sen epidemic of cholera,
the boy died. The missionary gently told the
stricken parents of the Good Shepherd, who
sometimes took a lamb in his arms to induce
the sheep to follow him. Deeply moved, the
father sketched an outline of the incident and
bade an artist paint it. He showed us the
picture: a shepherd, with a kindly face, carry-
ing a lamb in his bosom, while afar off two
sheep, which had been walking away, were
turning with wistful eyes to follow their
loved one. " Now," said the nobleman, " I

124 Why and How of Foreign Missions

want to give 10,000 ticals to build a church
in recognition of God's dealings with me
through my boy." And we said: It is as
true now as of old that " a little child shall
lead them."
Dncompromising- AH m is sjon schools are uncompromisingly
Christian. _ The Bible is the chief text-book.
Jesus is the great Teacher. Prayer is the
atmosphere. Japan tested mis,sibnary fidelity
to this position. All avenues of preferment
lead from the schools which have government
recognition. The mission schools were thus
recognized ; but one day, the Minister of State
for Education issued an order forbidding any
religious instruction in schools approved by
the government. The missionaries had to
choose that day whom they would serve.
Severance from the government system lof
education meant that students would be, in
effect, debarred from the university and from
many positions that are coveted by the pat-
riotic Japanese. But the missionaries and the
boards said: "We cannot use missionary
funds to give the young people of Asia a
purely secular education; we are here for
Christ's sake, and for his only." The result
was that some schools had to be closed and
that the attendance of others dwindled from
hundreds to dozens. It looked for a time as
if the end of mission educational work in

The Missionary at Work 125

Japan had come; but a mighty protest went
up from the Christian people of all lands.
iThe public opinion of Christendom, to which
Japan is keenly sensitive, made her statesmen
feel that a backward step had been taken.
The order was not enforced, and to-day the
mission schools are fuller than ever and with
a tremendously enhanced influence, because
in the hour of emergency, they would not buy
the favor of the state at the cost of their
faith. The missionary repudiates the state-
ment of a professor at home that "the uni-
versity is not responsible for the character of
its graduates." Character is precisely what j
mission institutions are responsible for, and/
in the schools and colleges on the foreign field,/
the Protestant Churches are producing it. J

The hope of the future is largely in these f ^Ifudue °°''°
schools. In many lands, the missionary en-
counters an opposition from adults that can
only be compared to a wall. It is often diffi-
cult to break down that wall by direct attack;
for inherited prejudices, social, business, and
religious associations, and that fixity of char-
acter which usually comes with mature years
ill every land combine to make it hard to in-
duce an adult to abandon the faith of his an- i,
cestors. The mission school undermines that
wall. It__t akes character a t a plastic period

wl _f i Tl fi pPS it f*""" <-Vie.^ti<-iiro -

126 Why and How of Foreign Missions

Asiatic N^aTionf Thc Opening of Asia to the influences of
the modern world and the development of
the native churches give special emphasis to
the question of higher education. The need
is emphasized by the fact that leading Asiatic
nations are beginning to appreciate the im-
portance of Western learning and are estab-
lishing colleges of their own. Hindu, Budd-
hist, and Moslem institutions will not, of course,
train men for Christian leadership. The
Churches must provide the needed facilities or
see their young men go to schools dominated
by antichristian influences. That the boards
and the missions realize this is seen in the
fact that there are now on the foreign field no
less than 29,000 mission schools, of which
more than 1,300 are of the higher grades, the
total number of pupils being 1,304,905.

Another department of missionary ac-
tivity is

Literary Work

Bible Translation Protcstantism bclieves that a knowledge of
the Word of God is indispensable to intelli-
gent and permanent faith. Therefore one of
the duties of the missionary is to translate the
vl)Bible into the vernacular. We often hear that
the Bible is now accessible to practically all
the nations of the earth. It is true, and the
missionary is the one who has made it so.

The Missionary at Work 127

Books and Tracts

GtJ

Bible translation, however, is not all of this
work. Many books and tracts must be pre-
pared. Most of the literature of the heathen
world is unclean. There are, indeed, some ex-
cellent writings in the sacred books of Hin-
duism, Buddhism, and Confucianism; but at
their best, they are merely ethical and
are intermingled with a vast mass of error,
puerility, and superstition. The books in
common circulation are usually saturated
with heathenism, if not actual immorality.
The missionary, therefore, must create a
Christian literature. This involves both
translation and original composition.

Publishing has to follow preparation. Mission Presses

Many lands had no printing-presses when the
missionary arrived; so he had to create and
operate them. He was among the first to
see the providential significance of movable
type and the application of steam to the print-
ing-press. To-day, 160 presses are conducted
by the Protestant mission boards in various
parts of the world, and they issue annually
about 400,000,000 pages of a Christian liter-
ature and the Word of God. The mission
presses in Shanghai are exerting an enormous
influence on the thought of one third of the
human race, one of them printing over 97,-
000,000 pages a year. An interesting illus-
tration of this occurred when 10,000 Christian

128 Why and How of Foreign Missions

women of China presented a copy of the New
Testament, bound in silver and gold, to the
Empress Dowager on her sixtieth birthday.
The gift excited so much interest in the im-
perial palace that the Emperor purchased a
copy for his own use.
Far.re|c^in| That Chinese Bible has gone into many a
yamen as well as into myriads of humble
homes. A medical missionary, calling on the
late Viceroy Li Hung-chang, found him read-
ing a New Testament printed on the Shanghai
mission press, and when a servant took the
book away as the physician entered, the Vice-
roy said: "Do not put that in the library,
take it to my bedroom, I will read it again."
The mission press in Beirut, Syria, is prob-
ably doing as much as all other agencies com-
bined to influence the Mohammedan world;
for there the Bible is printed in the language
that is spoken by two hundred million souls.
Scriptures and explanatory books and tracts
go forth from that unpretentious building,
which are read not only in Syria and Pales-
tine, but in Asia Minor, Arabia, Egypt,
Tunis, Algeria, Morocco, India, and among
the Arabic speaking colonies of North and
South America.

The Bible Societies give valuable coopera-
tion in this department of mission work, pay-
ing the cost of printing the Scriptures, and.

Bible Societies

The Missionary at Work 129

through their agents and colporteurs, aiding
greatly in distributing them. These Societies
should therefore be considered an integral
and a very important -part of this large de-
velopment of missionary effort.

Emphasis may properly be laid upon liter- p°^"^l^^'s^ e
ary work as a missionary agency. The peo-
ples of Asia are not so much accustomed to
public discourse as Western races. The
priests of the native religions seldom or never
preach, and it is much more difficult to influ--
ence people in that way than it is in England
and America. The Chinese, in particular, are
preeminently a people of books. Buddhism
converted them, not by preaching, but by lit-
erature. The essay, the pamphlet, the pla-
card, and more recently the newspaper, are
the common means of disseminating ideas.
Christianity must make a larger use of this
method if it is to supersede Buddhism and
Confucianism.

The printed Bible goes where the living wide

, T 1 • • 1 DisseminrntioB

voice cannot be heard, it brmgs its truths to
men in the quiet hour. The force of its mes-
sage is never lessened by controversy or per-
verted by error. Within a century, over 200,-
000,000 copies of the Bible have been printed
in 360 different languages. If every mission-
ary were to be banished, God's Word wou4i
remain in Asia, a mighty and indestructible

130 Why and How of Foreign Missions

power, operating as silently as the sunshine,
but containing within itself the stupendous
potency of a world's regeneration. To-day,
the Persian and the Hottentot, the Korean and
the Siamese are reading in their own tongues
that "He is able to save them to the utter-
most that come unto God by him," and we
know that God's Word shall not return unto
him void.

A phase of missions that touches all hearts
is the

Medical Work

Exampieof Christ Christ himsclf sct the example by minister-
ing to the sick. Indeed, he cited among the
proofs of his Messiahship that "the blind re-
ceive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers
are cleansed, and the deaf hear." Twenty-
four of his thirty-six recorded miracles were
of physical healing, and there must have been
scores of others, for we read that "all they
that had any sick .... brought them
unto him; and he laid his hands on every one
of them, and healed them." So medical work
is an essential part of our Christian service in
heathen lands. We cannot "pass by on the
other side" those countless sufferers or shut
our ears to their cries of agony.
1 1 Non-christian lands are lands of pain. All
the diseases and injuries common in America,

Pain Aggravated
by Si'i^eistition

The Missionary at Work 131

and others far more dreadful, are intensified
by ignorance, filth, and superstition. An
Oriental tour fills the mind with ghastly
memories of sightless eyeballs, scrofulous
limbs, and festering ulcers. If our child is
ill, a physician's understanding of the case
and its remedy, the s)mipathy of friends, and
the sweet comforts of the gospel, make the
sick chamber a place of peace and probable
recovery. But in most heathen lands, illness
is believed to be caused by a demon that has
gotten into the body, and the treatment is an
effort to expel it. Drums are beaten or horns
blown beside the sufferer, in the hope that
they will frighten away the demon. Hot
fires are built to scorch it out, and of course
the fierce heat adds to the distress of the pa-
tiient. Sometimes even worse methods are
employed. "What are those scars which so
thickly dot the body?" we asked Dr. Neal, in
China, as he examined a wan, pitiful little
girl who had been brought in. " Places where
hot needles have been thrust in to kill the
spirit which is believed to have caused the
pain," was the startling reply. " What a hor-
rible foot!" we ejaculated, as we looked with
Dr. Avison in Korea on a poor fellow who
had hobbled into our room. A fall had made
a bruise. A native doctor had told him tliat
a demon had taken possession of it and that

132 WHy and How of Foreign Missions

he should smear it with oil and set it on fire.
Dirt and flies had aggravated the resultant
sore, till the whole foot was Uterally rotting
away.
Wonderful The horTors of superstitious maltreatment
of the sick and injured are relieved in many
lands only by medical missionaries who walk
through those regions of pain Jn the name
and spirit of the Great Physician, cleansing
filthy ulcers, straightening deformed limbs,
giving light to darkened eyes, healing fev-
ered bodies, robbing death of its sting and
the grave of its victory, and showing to weary
multitudes that

"Thy touch has still its ancient power.
No word from thee can fruitless fall."

Heroic Ministry jn ^he Syrian city of Hums we saw the sick
flock to Dr. Harris as of old they doubtless
flocked to Christ, and he gave such relief to
scores of sufferers that men who would have
stoned a preacher reverently listened to the
physician while he talked to them of Christ.
The day we entered Allahabad, India, 170
people died of the plague. Corpses were
hourly carried through the streets. Shops
were closed. The authorities, finding that
preventive measures provoked dangerous
riots, helplessly allowed the pestilence to run

The Missionary at Work 133

unchecked. Half the population had fled; but
the medical missionary stood heroically at her
post, freely going among the sick and dying,
responding both by day and night to every
appeal for help, giving what aid was possible
in that swiftly fatal scourge, and telling all
of the healing of the soul in Christ. Few men
anywhere will touch a leper, but the medical
missionaries lovingly seek them in a score of
places, mitigating the horrors of a disease for
which no cure is known and faithfully apply-
ing the remedy for the soul's leprosy.

A total of over 1,100 hospitals and dispen- ^^^^^p'^^^^'^^
saries are being maintained on the foreign field
by the Protestant boards and they treat yearly
about 2,500,000 patients. No other phase
of mission work has done more to soften
hearts and to open doors, no other been more
fruitful in spiritual results. Standing in one
of those humble buildings and watching the
tender ministries to suffering, one feels sure
that God loves the place, and he rejoices that
in Asia as well as in America, men can say:

"The healing of the seamless dress

Is by our bed of pain;
We touch him in life's throng and press,

And we are whole again."

An unqualified statement that the fourth ^'ofk™'"'
department of missionary activity is Evangelistic

134 Why and How of Foreign Missions

Evangelistic Work

might give a wrong impression, for all forms
of work are supposed to be evangelistic in
spirit and in aim. Educational work is de-
signed to reach the children for Christ and
to train men for the ministry and
other forms of Christian work. Literary
work prepares and publishes the Bible and a
helpful literature, that all may know the gos-
pel by the printed page as well as by the
spoken word. Medical work is intended not
only to relieve suffering, but to do it in Christ's
name and in such ways that the patients will
accept Christ. There remains, however, much
work that is distinctively evangelistic. Its
magnitude may be inferred from the fact that
there are now no less than ii,ooo organized
churches and a large number of unorganized
congregations, with 1,816,450 adult commun-
icants and 4,351,138 adherents, of whom
1,272,383 are enrolled inquirers,
''"mnerationt The dircct preaching of the gospel natur-
ally has a prominent place. There is an in-
creasing number of churches in which there
are stated sermons; but the main evangelistic
work is done in less pretentious, though not
less effective ways. The message is pro-
claimed in humble street chapels, in crowded
bazaars, in secluded zenanas, from house to

The Missionary at Work 135

house, and on long country tours. The itin-
erations often occupy several months and in-
clude the visitation of hundreds of villages.
All sorts of conveyances are used. Elephants,
camels, horses, mules, donkeys, canoes,
launches, schooners, house-boats, wheelbar-
rows, jinrikishas, bandy-carts, bicycles, and
railroad trains, all serve the missionary's pur-
pose as occasion offers, while not infrequently
he travels on foot.

There are no bounds to the zeal of the iti- ze»ionsToii
nerant missionary. A toilsome journey on
elephants through the jungles of Laos brought
us to Saturday night with the weary ejacula-
tion: "Nlow we can have a day of rest!"
The next morning we slept late; but the mis-
sionaries did not, for they spent an hour be-
fore breakfast in a neighboring village, dis-
tributing tracts and inviting the people to
come to a service at our camp at ten o'clock.
It was an impressive service — under a spread-
ing ho tree, with the mighty forest about us,
monkeys curiously peering through the
tangled vines, the huge elephants browsing on
the bamboo tips behind us, and the wonder-
ing people sitting on the ground, while one
of the missionaries told the deathless story of
redeeming love. The other missionary. Dr.
Daniel McGfilvary, was not present. Seventy-
four years old though he was, he had walked

136 Why and How of Foreign Missions

three miles under a scorching sun to another
village, and was preaching there. And we
said: "If that is the way the missionaries
rest, what do they do when they work?"
Splendid Fidelity xhis is but a Sample of the evangelistic
fidelity that we saw everywhere. Missionaries
whose immediate assignments are to medical
or educational work take their turns in coun-
try touring. A physician in Africa never did
a better thing for Christ than on a trip of
which he wrote :
'"'^t:o°ut "I returned last week from a tour of sev-
enteen days through the Utum country. The
wet season was at its worst. All the rivers
were flooded and the swamps were terrible to
get through. Almost every day, I waded in
water waist deep, sometimes for hours at a
time. Much of my trip was through a country
from which we had never been able to get
any schoolboys, as the people were afraid to
let them go so far from home and with white
men of whom they knew but little. I went
with the determination not only to preach the
gospel, but to bring back with me some boys
for our school. I knew if I could get a few
for a start, we would get plenty in years to
come. The Lord answered my prayers, and
when we marched back through streams and
forests, about seventy prospective pupils went
with me. That long line of children, so

The Missionary at Work 137

ignorant and needy, some footsore and weary,
marching away from their homes of darkness
and sin towards the Hght of the dear Savior
who died for them, was a sight which would
move a heart of stone. Sometimes a mother
in parting from her child would follow along
for miles and then take me by the hands, and
with tears rolling down her cheeks, say:
'Doctor, that is my only child, you will take
good care of him, won't you?' Human nature
is very much the same here as elsewhere."

Claims of Other Work
Reform movements in a community natur- Reform

11 r ■ . 1 f 1 1 • Movements

ally grow out of spiritual work, but there is a
difiference of opinion as to the missionary's
direct relation to them. Some urge that the
missionary should not concern himself at all
with such movements, his efforts being to instil
in the msinds of men the formative principles
of the Christian religion and then leave these
to work their legitimate results through saved
men.

Others, however, insist that the missionary Application of the
cannot be indifferent to the practical applica- P"'='"=a"5°=P'='
tion of the gospel to human society; that
when orphans in India are starving, his ef-
forts should include bread as well as exhor-
tations; that when opium-smoking in China^

138 Why and How of Foreign Missions

is an effectual bar to the entrance of the gos-
pel, the missionary should ally himself with
the effort to remove that bar; and that where
the blind, the insane, the deaf and dumb are
entirely neglected, the missionary who passes
"by on the other side" exposes himself to
the indignant censure which Christ visited
upon the heartless, hypocritical priest and
Levite.
Its Cure .f Many j^ g^gj^g ^^ ^g ^^^^ ^jjg mediate course is

the proper one. The gospel was intended to
save men both for this life and for the life
to come, and when a missionary goes among
people who are wholly ignorant of the bear-
ings of the gospel upon human life, it is surely
within his province to show them how to live
in time as well as eternity. This, as a matter
of fact, is what the missionaries are doing.
It is no small evidence of the value of mission
. work that missionaries have founded and are
maintaining 333 asylums of various kinds for
the afflicted and dependent classes. Though
reform movements are results rather than ob-
jects of the missionary enterprise, they are
nevertheless of value. Missionaries have done
I more than all others combined to lessen the
evils of slavery, infanticide, intemperance,
concubinage, opium-smoking, the degradation
of woman, and kindred evils.

The Missionary at Work 139

A signal instance of the usefulness of the AbSiuif/din
missionary in matters of reform occurred in ®"""
Siam. Gambling is the national vice. It was
licensed and even encouraged by the govern-
ment. The demoralizing consequences can be
readily understood. This vice was vigorously
combatted by the missionaries, led by the
Rev. Eugene P. Dunlap and powerfully rein-
forced by the Hon. Hamilton King, the Am-
erican Minister. They frankly represented to
the King that gambling was inimical to the
best interests of Siam and that the money
that the government derived from it was ob-
tained at a ruinous cost to character and legit-
imate industry. The King listened, and the
result was the issuance of a royal decree, Jan-
uary, 1905, ordering the abolition of these
gambling concessions by April, 1907.

Another illustration occurred in Shanghai, piiTen ^n cwnl
China, where there are about 20,000 Chinese
prostitutes. Distressed by their pitiful lot,
Mrs. George F. Fitch opened a rescue home
to which the slave girls could flee for refuge.
The home has attracted wide attention and
it witnesses powerfully for Christ. A high
official visited it one day with his wife, and
as he noted the sweet ministries to the fallen,
he marveled and said to his wife : " Nobody
but Jesus' people would do this." That sen-
tence vividly expresses the world-wide dif-

I40 Why and How of Foreign Missions

ference between the Christian and the non-
christian. It is at once an indictment of Con-
fucianism and a justification of missions.
Nobody but "Jesus' people" are doing these
things.
Time Required j^ jg apparent from all that has been said
that the working out of so vast a movement
as the missionary enterprise will require time.
This is not a crusade whose object is to be at-
tained by a magnificent spurt. Error and
superstition are interwoven with the whole
social and political fabric of the non-christian
world and they are not to be overturned in a
day. " We are," observes Benjamin Kidd,
" in the midst of habits and institutions from
which our civilization is separated by a long
interval of development, where progress up-
ward must be a long, slow process, must pro-
ceed on native lines, and must be the effect of
the example and prestige of higher standards
rather than the result of ruder methods."
Long Process in Most gTcat rcconstructions of society have
come slowly, and religious transformations
have been no exception. Christianity was
three hundred years in conquering Rome, and
even then the Roman world was far from com-
plete conversion. The gospel has been oper-
ating on the peoples of northern Europe and
their descendants for more than a thousand
years, and no Christian feels that the work

The Missionary at Work 141

is done. It is to be hoped that other peoples
will not take as much time as we took; but
we cannot reasonably expect that a few de-
cades will suffice.

Moreover, we must count now on more strenuous

' Opposition but

Strenuous opposition from the non-christian certain victory
religions. At first, they were contemptuously
indifferent to the missionaries. But as the
priests see more clearly what radical changes
Christianity involves, that it is " turning the
world upside down," contempt and indiffer-
ence are giving place to alarm. The ethnic
faiths are therefore setting themselves in bat-
tle array. It would be foolish to ignore their
power, foolish to imagine that we are seeing
the last of Buddhism in Japan and Siam, of
Confucianism in China, of Hinduism in
India, and of Mohammedanism in Turkey.
Heathenism will die hard. The world, the
flesh, and the devil are in Asia as well as in
America, and are fighting more fiercely. It
is no holiday task to which we have set our-
selves. It is a gigantic struggle in which there
are against us " the principalities, the powers,
the world rulers of this darkness." Need have
we of patience, of determination, of "the
strength of his might" and "the whole ar-
mor of God." We must sternly face our task
in the spirit of the man of whom Browning
said : He

142 Why and How of Foreign Missions

"... never turned his back but marched
breast- forward ;

Never doubted clouds would break;
Never dreamed, though right were worsted,

wrong would triumph;
Held we fall to rise, are bafiSed to fight better.

Sleep to wake."

The issue is not doubtful, for, "If God is for us,
who is against us?"

QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER V

Aim : To Realize the Variety and Value of the
Work Included in the Foreign Missionary
Enterprise

1. Write out all the forms of work engaged in by
missionaries mentioned in the chapter and sug-
gested to you by reflection.

2. How many of these are ordinarily engaged in
by ministers at home?

3. How does the task of the missionary as a whole
compare in magnitude and difficulty with that
of the average minister at home?

4. In the light of the work needed, reconsider
your opinion on the subject of the most de-
sirable qualifications for a missionary.

5. Reconsider your opinion as to the way in which
missionary training should differ from that
of the minister at home.

6. Need a missionary be qualified along all these
lines in order to be useful?

7. In preparing to teach a class of heathen
children, what things ought a missionary to
try to find out about their home life? Why?

The Missionary at Work 143

8. What, about their personal ideas and attitudes ?

9. What, about any past instruction they may have
received ?

10. What would it be desirable to knovir about the
local surroundings and society?

11. In what way should the curriculum in a mis- ^
sionary school differ from that of schools
of the same grade in this country?

12. What are some' of the difficulties that a mis-
sionary teacher must expect to encounter?

13. What should be his principal educational aims?

14. In view of the aim of missionary work, why
is it so important for the missionary to es-
tablish elementary schools?

15. Why are higher schools necessary?

16. What are the advantages of boarding-schools
over day-schools?

17. What things besides the language ought a mis-
sionary to know in order to be a successful
translator ?

18. What advantages has the literary over any
©ther of the forms of work?

19. What various kinds of literature ought to be
distributed in order to build up a strong native
Ghurch ?

20. What are the special advantages of medical
work as a missionary agency?

21. AVhat measures would you take to secure the
greatest evangelistic efficiency in a dispensary
and hospital?

22. In what ways should missionary addresses
differ from sermons in this country?

23. What things ought the missionary to study
'm preparing his addresses?

><

144 Why and Kow of Foreign Mis.

24. Why is it itrportant for him to be well ac-
quainted with local customs?

25. What special advantages has the wangelistic
missionary over those engaged in other forms
of work?

26. Which of these four forms of work does -nost
on the whole to build up the native Church?
Give several reasons for your opinion.

2f. In what ways is each of these forms a necessa-
ry supplement to the other three?

28. Has Christianity a message only for the in-
dividual, or for society as well?

29. Have Christians in this country any duty to
society except to evangelize it?

30. What should be the attitude of the mission-
ary toward non-christian society as a whole?

31. What reasons have we for believing that the
progress of Christianity on the foreign field
will be more rapid than it was in Europe?

32. Sum up the principal needs of the work on
the field.

References for Advanced Study. — Chapter V
I. Educational Work.

De Forest: Sunrise in the Sunrise Kingdom,

118-131.

Naylor : Daybreak in the Dark Continent, 156-159.
Soothill : A Typical Mission in China, XII.
Thobum: The Christian Conquest of India, 173-
178.

II. Literary Work.

De Forest: Sunrise in the Sunrise Kingdom,
142-150.

The Missionary at Work 145

ji!cumenical Missionary Conference, XXVI.
Soothill: A Typical Mission in China, XIII.
Thobum: The Christian Conquest of India, v.g-
182.
III. Medical Work.

De Forest: Sunrise in the Sunrise Kingdom,

131-134.

Naylor: Daybreak in the Dark Continent, igi,
152.

Soothill : A Typical Mission in China, III.
Noble : The Redemption of Africa, 551 561.
IV. Evangelistic Work.

De Forest: Sunrise in the Sunrise Kingdom,

X 14-1 18.

Gibson: Mission Problems and Mission Methods

in South China, VI.

Jack: Daybreak in Livingstonia, VIII, XVIII.

Naylor : Daybreak in the Dark Continent, 152-154.

Thobum: The Christian Conquest of IncKa, 168-

173-
V. Industrial Work.

Naylor : Daybreak in the Dark Continent,^ 154-156.
Ecumenical Missionary Conference, XXIX.
Noble: The Redemption of Africa, 562-578.
Stewart: Dawn in the Dark Continent, 178-196.

THE NATIVE CHURCH

ur

As to mission Church administration, for the
sake of the future of the Church the missionary should
train the churches with a view to speedy self-govern-
ment and self-propagation. Some missionaries pos-
sessed of a strong individuality assume in themselves
all the functions of the executive; they are in them-
selves bishop, priest, deacon, and elder; with their
strong personality and fulness of energy they have not
the patience to bend to the drudgery of training na-
tives; therefore they take all of the responsibility upon
themselves. But this only means disaster in the future,
for when the strong man leaves the field, his work
falls to pieces. For the sake of the Church and for
the future of the Church we must subordinate self
and selfish tendencies and bend our energies to get
the best we can out of the native Christians.

— Frederick Galpin

The use of mission funds should be limited to the
support of missionaries, the issue of literature,
the founding of schools and hospitals and their support,
and some help in the erection of church buildings.
Converts should from the first be instructed in the
necessity of sharing the burdens of Church work.
The self-support of native churches should be facili-
tated by simplicity of organization, to the extent even,
if necessary, of delaying for a time the full develop-
ment of the pastorate.

— George B. Winton

I+8

VI
THE NATIVE CHURCH

THE development of a native Church ^"J'rdberents
is one of the most encouraging results
of foreign missionary effort. The number
of adult communicants on the foreign field
is now 1,816,450. There are, besides,
1,272,383 adults who, having professed their
faith in Christ, have been enrolled as catechu-
mens and inquirers and are under special in-
struction with a view to full membership in
the near future, while adherents number 4,3 51,-
138. The word "adherent" has a more defi-
nite meaning on the foreign field than at home,
for it usually signifies that a member of a
non-christian community has publicly separated
himself, in name and position at least, from the
religion of his country, and though not yet
ready, in the judgment of the missionaries,
to be baptized, he attends the church, and is
willing to be known by his neighbors as a
Christian.

This already considerable native Church Million"poiicy
is growing at the rate of nearly 150,000 com-
municants a year. The development of such a
Church naturally brings into prominence cer-

149

150 Why and How of Foreign Missions

tain questions of mission policy. We have al-
ready seen that the aim of the missionary en-
terprise includes the development of an in-
digenous native Church. To this end, the
native Church must be trained to self-propa-
gation, self-support, and self-government.

Self-propagation _ Sclf-propagation is insisted upon as soon as
converts appear. They are taught from the
beginning that as soon as they become Christ-
ians, the missionary motive should become
operative within them, and that they are un-
der precisely- the same obligation as Chris-
tians in Europe and America to give the
knowledge of Christ to others.

christ'knd p^aui This was the way Christ himself worked
during his earthly ministry. He preached
both to individuals and to multitudes wher-
ever and whenever he had opportunity; but
one of his chief efforts was to train up a band
of disciples to perpetuate and extend the work
after his departure. Paul also worked in this
way. He would go to a city, preach the gos-
pel, gather a band of disciples, organize them
into a church, remain long enough to get
them fairly started, and then go elsewhere.
^'"^'Mky°Takf The modem missionary will have to remain
Centuries ^ ggod deal longer than Paul did, for he does
not find such prepared conditions as the great
apostle found in the Jews of the dispersion.
A land may be evangelized in a generation,
but the Christianizing of it may be the toil-

THe Native Church 151

some process of centuries. Moreover, when
the object has been attained in one country,
the responsibihty of the missionary and of
the home Church will not cease, but simply be
transferred to other populations. It is a long »
campaign upo n which \?e have entered, but
we should resolutely keep our purpose in
mind.

This is not only wise in itself from the view- c™?°stflniL*°
point of the success and permanence of the MUsiilaries
work, but it is absolutely necessary from the ^'°°^
view-point of the men and money that are
available. It is impossible for the Churches of
Europe and America to send out and main-
tain enough missionaries to preach the gos-
pel effectively to all of the thousand millions
of the unevangelized world. To attempt this
would be as foolish as it would be for a gov-
ernment to make an army" out of major-gen-
erals, while making no provision for subalt-
erns, non-commissioned officers, and privates.

Appeals to flood the foreign field with mis- wlrkeVs Must
sionaries ignore the part that the native ^^s^J^^
Church is to play in its evangelization. They
apparently assume that the native Christians
have no responsibility for making Christ
known to their countrymen, or that they will
not discharge it, and that the entire burden
of evangelizing rests so exclusively upon for-
eigners that the people will never hear the

152 Why and How of Foreign Missions

gospel unless great numbers of white men
are sent to preach it. Such an assumption
is fundamentally wrong. The native worker
is better for this direct evanfrelism anyway.
iJETe can live more economically than a for-
eigner, and he h^'a knowledge of native
idioms and ways of thinking and manners and
customs that no foreigner can ever obtain.
Moreover, there is no gulf of race between
him and his countrymen. There is much
about the Asiatic and the African that will
ever remain inscrutable to the American and
the European. The former, in particular, is
apt to be secretive and to make his outward
manner a mask behind which there may be
thoughts wholly unsuspected to a foreigner.
But the native helper is able to get behind that
mask, and just because he is a native and prob-
ably one of supenor force of character, the
people will be more influenced by him than
by the missionary.
MoEt Converts Most couvcrts are now made by native

Now Made by J

Native Helpers hclpers. Dr. John Ross O'f Manchuria, in
reporting 1,200 conversions to one of the
Shanghai Conferences, said that " the first
principles of Christian instruction were im-
planted almost invariably by the natives," and
that he could not "trace more than four and
twenty who were directly the converts of the
foreign missionaries." Others at the confer-

The Native Church 153

ence declared that five hundred native evange-
lists wrould be a far greater power in China
than five thousand foreigners. The chief work
of direct evangelization in Korea is now being
"done by the Korean Christians themselves,
and the result is an almost continuous in-
gathering. ~-- — — —
This is not meant to minimize the need of Rjinfo°«m=nts
reinforcements. The present force is far too ^''" deeded
small for effective superintendence in many
fields. The home Church should not relax its
efforts to provide a more adequate supply of
foreign workers ; but while it is doing this, the
missions should give more persistent effort to
the development of a native agency.

We are not unmindful of the practical diffi- Requt^e'din using
culties that beset this problem. In hardly any ^^''"^ '"''"'^''^y
other part of the mission work is there so
much need of prudence. Hundreds of natives
want employment who are quite unfit for it.
Nor is every one who is willing to work with-
out pay qualified for efficient service. But
these difficulties, and others that might be
mentioned, can be overcome. The more suc-
cessful the work, the more essential it is to
develop the native ministry that is indispen-
sable to conserve the evangelistic results al-
ready attained and which we hope to attain
in yet larger measure in the future. The work
will not be self-supporting in any proper ■ " '

154 Why and How of Foreign Missions

sense, but on the contrary will become ruin-
ously expensive if a large part of it must con-
tinue to be performed by foreign missionaries
instead of by a native ministry supported by
the people.
supp^tAiLo The native Church should be led to self-
—. g.';"'-^'''^ support as well as self-propagation. Here,
also, the difficulties are formidable. The mis-
sionary goes to the heathen representing not
only a superior, but a more expensive type of
civilization. His scale of living, while mod-
erate from our view-point, appears to them
princely. Centuries of abject poverty and of
despotic government have predisposed most
Orientals to accept with eagerness whatever
is given them. Accustomed to living, or
rather half-starving, on an income of from'
thirty to one hundred dollars a year, the na-
tive regards the missionary on a salary of
$ 1,000 not only as an individual of wealth,
but as the representative of untold riches in
the homeland. He is therefore tempted to go
to him for the sake of the loaves and fishes,
and this temptation is enormously strength-
ened if he gets the impression that the mis-
sionary may employ him as a helper, or that
some individual or society in America may
support him.
A Temptation to The missiouary, in turn, is tempted to the
■"' free use of money by the wretchedness ot the

The Native Church 155

people and by the prospect of the visible re-
sults vsrhich may be temporarily secured by a
liberal financial policy. Would-be converts
flock to him in such circumstances; many
helpers can be hired to apparent advantage,
and buildings can be cheaply rented and fur-
nished. But if he yields to the temptation,
"he puts himself and the young Church in a
false relation at the outset. It is better to
teach the converts to make their own arrange-
ments, the missionary guiding by advice from
his larger experience of their probable require-
ments, and only in the last resort giving pe-
cuniary help."^

This policy is not always agreeable to the uSaioll^"^"^
native helper. As an employee of the mis- "pp"'''
sion, he had the power of that body behind
him and was virtually independent of his peo-
ple; now he is more subject to their caprice.
His support, too, becomes more uncertain;
for the natives are not such prompt paymas-
ters as mission treasurers, nor can they al-
ways pay adequate salaries.

On this point we must be increasingly firm. Not'ouarantM"^'
Leading an able-bodied man to Christ does support
not involve responsibility for his temporal
support. He made his living before his con-
version; why should he not do so after it?

' Gibson, Mission Problems and Mission Methods in South
China, 193.

156 Why and How of Foreign Missions

Persecution may hinder him for a time; but
better far that he should suffer a little than
that he should be pauperized at the outset.
Christianity does not unnerve a man. It in-
creases his ability to fight the battles of life.
No native should be allowed to get the im-
pression that if he becomes a Christian, he
will be given a job and a salary, even though
the job be so sacred a one as preaching the
gospel.

^"tochiracul ^"'" ^"*y ^^ *° ^^^^ Christianity in Asia,
not to carry it, to give the gospel, to found
its institutions, to aid them so far as necessary
in their infancy, but to insist that as soon as
practicable they shall stand upon their own
feet. We must be patient and reasonable;
for now, as of old, it is the common people
who hear Christ gladly, and in Asia the com-
mon people are pitifully poor. We must not
withdraw aid so rapidly as to injure the work.
But the spirit of self-help is as vital to char-
acter abroad as it is at home. Strength comes
with independence, and we must not devital-
ize the Christians of Asia by indiscriminate
and unnecessary charity.

Native Money for „, . , t •,• . r r

Native Workers 1 hcrc IS of coursc s. legitimate use of f or-
eign money in the earlier stages of the work.
Infancy must be helped. The boards should
make such appropriations as an equitable dis-
tribution of funds will permit for the employ-

the Goal

The Native Church 157

merit of native evangelists and helpers; but
the number should be limited to real needs
and the salary should be only that which will
enable them to live near the plane of their
countrymen, while they should be made to un-
derstand clearly that this pecuniary arrange-
ment is temporary. We must insist, in season
and out of season, line upon line and precept
upon precept, that while the missionary, being
a foreigner, will be maintained by the people of
America, the native pastors must not look to
the boards, but to their own people, for their
permanent support. It will take a long time
to reach it, but the ideal should be foreign
money for foreign missionaries and native
money for native workers.

We should resist the temptation to an arti- silf-s'up^oVtlng""
ficial growth which the free use of money can ^^'^'"^
beget. A Church developed by foreign money
is built on quicksand. One self-reliant church
is worth more to the cause of Christ than a
dozen dependent ones. There must, of course,
be due regard to local conditions. Neither
the missions nor the boards should violently
revolutionize in fields where the opposite pol-
icy has been long pursued. Self-support can-
not be attained by immediately discharging
all native helpers, or by so reducing the work
that nothing will be left to support. Change
must be gradual; but no land will ever be

158 Why and How of Foreign Missions

evangelized until it has a self-supporting na-
tive Church. Let us work and give and pray
for this essential aim of missionary effort.
"' Na?ive'l"iift'hil ^^ *^^s connection, it may be v\rell to state
Country ti^a,t friends in the homeland should observe
greater caution in responding to the appeals
of the Orientals who are flocking to England
and America in increasing numbers. We do
not refer to those who have availed themselves
of the facilities afforded by the mission
schools in their native land and who have
come here for the purpose of taking further
studies with a view to supporting themselves
afterwards. Some of these men should be
encouraged. But if financial assistance is
needed, it should be given as tuition is gener-
ally given to students in our home colleges,
and never from missionary funds; nor should
any one imagine that he is doing the mission-
ary cause a service by aiding an Oriental to
"return and preach the gospel to his ovVn
people." The opinion of boards and mission-
aries is emphatic, that, with very rare excep-
tions, chiefly among the Chinese and Japan-
ese, Orientals that have been trained abroad
are not so helpful as many in the homeland
imagine. The difficulties involved are often
independent of the question of personal char-
acter. Experience has shown that native con-
verts can be most economically and effectively

The Native Church 159

trained for Christian work in their own coun-
try, in the institutions which are now in op-
eration in almost every mission field, and
which have been founded at considerable ex-
pense chiefly for this purpose. A sojourn in
Amerita usually develops tastes which render
an Asiatic discontented with the financial sup-
port which the native Church or the board can
give him, and makes him so conceited and
overbearing in manner that he is heartily dis-
liked by other native helpers. He thus be-
comes a source of trouble, rather than of help.,

The policy of encouraging these young men Disadvantage, oi
to come to America thwarts wise plans for
higher education on the fields, creates irrita-
tion among the whole force of native agents,
stimulates a worldly ambition, cuts off pat-
riotism and race sympathy, and really cripples
the influence which it is supposed to increase.
Not infrequently, too, it leads to imposition
upon the home churches and to the diversion
of funds to personal uses which are supposed
to go for missionary objects. Many Orientals
have made a good living in this way, and some
have been able to buy property and to loan
money on bond and mortgage. It is always
wise to refer all appeals for assistance to the
board, which can judge better than any one
in the churches whether a given native can be
employed to advantage.

Native Church

i6o Why and How of Foreign Missions

^'''"ArsD'anTim The self-govemment of the native Church
is an equally essential part of the missionary
aim, though it may not be so quickly realized.
Nevertheless, its ultimate attainment should
shape our policy, and the native Church should
be stimulated to self-support and self-propa-
gation by being frequently reminded that both
are indispensable prerequisites to independ-
ence. It is as idle in Asia as in America to
imagine that men can live on the money of
others without being dependent on them.
cont?of"ythl As for the missionary, he should frankly
say of the native Church what John the Bap-
tist said of Christ : " He must increase, but
I must decrease." If there is ever to be a
self-supporting, self-governi'ng, and self-prop-
agating native Church, we must anticipate the
time when it will be in entire control. More
and more definitely should missionary policy
recognize the part that this growing Church
ought to have in the work. In the past, the
typical missionary has been primarily an
evangelist to the heathen. He had to be, for
his was often the only voice from whom the
message could be heard. The mission has
been paramount and has been expected to run
everything. Whatever was wanted, the board
was asked to supply. But a native Church has
now been created, and from now on we must
concede its due share of responsibility for

The Native Church i6i

making the gospel known and for directing
the general work. Many things need to be
done in non-christian lands which it is not
the function of the boards to do. Our busi-
ness is to plant Christianity and help to get it
started, and then educate it to take care of
itself.

It is true that, in some lands, the native M^sts/""'
Church is yet in its infancy, and that it should Sta?nUhTn*°''
have aid and counsel; but we should hold '^"'''°"'y
resolutely in view the principle that the mis-
sion is a temporary and diminishingly author-
itative body, and that the native Church is a
permanent and increasingly authoritative body. ^

Even though the mission remains a century
or more, as it must in some lands, this ftuida-
mental distinction should not be overlooked.
A policy which builds up a big, all-powerful
and all-embracing foreign mission is inherently
and radically unsound. We are not to imitate
the pope of Rome by claiming to be the spirit-
ual rulers of the world. We are simply help-
ers and coworkers.

It takes a great deal of grace for the mis- Kmb"r°Lment
sionary, after having been the supreme au- "> Missionaries
thority for years, to accept a place subordin-
ate to that of the natives whom he has trained.
Missionaries in some fields already find them-
selves ib this position, and they would hardly
be human if they did not feel uncomfortable.

1 62 Why and How of Foreign Missions

The spirit of independence has become so in-
tense in Japan that many of the native leaders
would have the Church refuse to recognize a
congregation or preacher that receives foreign
aid. Such a spirit of self-sacrificing inde-
pendence is far more hopeful than flabby and
supine acquiescence in external leadership. We
cannot, however, view some phases of the sit-
uation without anxiety, nor can we fail to dis-
cern how embarrassing the position of the
missionaries must be.
Na^onaUsHc ^hc uew consciousuess of power that was
Feeling noted in a preceding chapter is powerfully in-
fluencing this spirit. While some peoples are so
lacking in independent vigor, or are so accus-
tomed to be dominated by foreigners that
they look up to the missionary as a superior
being, others, notably the Japanese, Chinese,
and East Indians, are of a more virile and
haughty type. The attitude of a convert
toward a missionary is naturally influenced
by this racial spirit. He is still an Oriental,
and he shares, to some extent at least, the ir-
ritation of proud and ancient races as they
see the white man everywhere striving for the
ascendancy. The growth of the native Church
in numbers and power has developed within
it a strong nationalistic feeling, a conviction
that the natives should be independent of for-
eign control in religion as in government. This

The Native Church 163

is, of course, natural; but it involves some re-
adjustments that are not easily made.

What shall be the creed and polity of the creed and Pouty

i-n , t 1 /• . ., , .of Native Church

native Church, and how far shall the mis-
sionary seek to shape them according to his
own ideas? This is one of the related prob-
lems which is becoming more and more diffi-
cult and delicate. The missionary from the
West, trained in the tenets of a partifcular de-
nomination, born and bred to regard its creed
and polity as the ones most in accord with the
Word of God, is very apt to feel that they
should be repeated on the foreign field. But
we must more clearly recognize the right of
each autonomous body of Christians to de-
termine certain things for itself. We cannot,
indeed, ignore the risks that are involved.
There is sometimes ground for grave concern.
Will the rising Churches of Japan, of China,
of India, be soundly evangelical? God grant
that they may be. But who is to be the judge
of soundness ? And with respect to undoubted
doctrines, to what extent should we impose
our Western terminology upon Eastern
Churches? We must be fair enough to re-
member that, in the course of nearly two
thousand years, Christianity has taken on
some of the characteristics of the white races,
and that missionaries, inheriting these char-
acteristic% have more or less unconsciously;

164 Why and How of Foreign Missions

identified them with the essentials. Perhaps
this is one reason that Christianity is so often
called by the Chinese "the foreigner's reli-
gion," a saying which indicates an entire mis-
conception of its real character.
Framed *undtr Our crccds wcre formed in times of heated
circums^tanle^' controvcrsy, and their statements are massed
in such a way as to be effective against the
particular errors which were prevailing at
those times. The result is that some of these
creeds are impregnable fortifications on sides
from which no special attack is likely to be
made in present-day Asia or Africa, while
other positions, which are seriously menaced,
are unguarded. It is difficult for us to realize
to what an extent our modes of theological
thought and our forms of Church polity have
been influenced by our Western environment
and the polemical struggles through which we
have passed. The Oriental, not having passed
through those particular controversies, know-
ing little and caring less about them, and hav-
ing other controversies of his own, may not
find our forms and methods exactly suited to
him. It seems, therefore, not only just to the
Asiatic Christians but in the interest of evan-
gelical truth, that the creed and polity of the
native Church should be reasonably adapted
to the exigencies of Asia, just as our creed
and polity have been adapted to the exigencies
of Europe and America.

The Native Church 165

Why should not the Orientals who have fo's'lfl^ugh?''
accepted Christ as Lord have some liberty in
developing for themselves the methods and
forms of statements vfhich logically result
from his teaching? Possibly some of our
methods and statements are not so essential
as we imagine. With all due insistence on
the necessary elements of our faith, let us ac-
cord the native Church the same freedom
which we have demanded for ourselves, and
refrain from imposing upon other peoples
those externals of Christianity that are dis-
tinctively racial.

When, however, this position is agreed to, 5Yme" '**'"' '^'^
the problem is by no means solved. There is
practical unanimity among missionaries that
the native Churches should be self-governing
in time; but when is that time? There is
room for wide difference of opinion as to
whether a particular Church has attained that
maturity and soberness of judgment which fit
it to manage prudently its own affairs and to
shape its own theological and ecclesiastical
development. It is to be feared that in some
places this independence is coming before the
Church is really fitted for it. And yet it is
perhaps only right that, in respect of polity as
of doctrine, we should consider whether we
are to be the final judges of fitness. Our
Anglo-Saxon ancestors would not permit

i66 Why and How of Foreign Missions

other Churches to decide when they were
competent to govern themselves. They felt
that they were the proper persons to determine
that. Nor did American Christians allow
their mother Churches in Europe to settle this
question for them. Everywhere in the his-
tory of Protestant Christianity, the principle
has been recognized that any considerable
body of believers has the right to decide for
itself whether or not it should be dependent
upon others. Shall we deny to the Churches
of Asia a principle which we cherish as fun-
damental ?
Our Natural jn considering this matter, we must take

Disposition to o '

cantroi too Long jnto Consideration the natural disposition of
man, from- which even grace does not emanci-
pate, to hold on to power as long as pos-
sible. It is notoriously difficult for parents to
realize that their son is growing up to man-
hood and has a right to settle some questions
for himself. This is even more apt to be true
of the home Church and the mission in deal-
ing with native Christians of a different race,
who never will see some things as we see
them, nor be disposed to do some things as we
have done them. It is extremely difficult, in
such circumstances, for the missionary to pur-
sue a wise course between the extremes of
prematurely hastening and unduly retarding
the independence of the native Church. ,We

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The Native Church 167

must balance our own judgment with the
clearly expressed judgment of the native
Christians themselves, and with our belief in
the common guidance of the Spirit of God.

The rather extraordinary objection has been FitVfor Liberty
urged that if the native Church becomes self-
supporting and self-governing, the mission-
ary cannot control it. But why should he
control it? Because the native brethren are
not fitted for independence? When will they
be, if they are not given a chance to learn?
Shall we wait until they equal the American
and European Churches in stability? Will
a century of dependence develop those quali-
ties which wise self-government requires?
We must remember that certain essential
qualities of character can be developed only
by the exercise of autonomy. "It is liberty
alone," said Gladstone, "which fits men for
liberty. This proposition, like every other in
politics, has its bounds, but it is far safer than
the counter-doctrine, wait till they are fit."
The way to teach a child to walk alone is not^
to carry him until he becomes a man, but to/
let him begin to toddle for himself while he )
is still youngT He will learn faster by prac-)
tise and tumbles than by lying in his mother'.s/
arms.

What if the native Churches do make some Gr!lt^!tBv°is*"
mistakes? The Epistles of Paul show that

1 68 Why and How of Foreign Missions

some of the early Churches fell into grievous
errors; but he did not refuse them independ-
ence on that account. The Churches of Europe
and America have made colossal blunders,
some of them resulting in dire calamities.
The native Churches can hardly do worse and
may do better. We can give them the benefit
of our experience without keeping them per-
petually in leading-strings. They need a cer-
tain amount of restraint and counsel; but that
restraint and counsel are most effective when
they are moral rather than authoritative. Bet-
ter far a few falls and bumps than continual
babyhood.
Fundamfn°tai F^ar of the independence of the native
Errors Church may sometimes have justification, but
too often it appears to be based upon four
fundamental errors: first , that we need to be
afraid of our avowed aim to establish a self-
supporting, self-governing, and self-propagat-
ing Church: second, that the Church in Asia
must be conformed to the Church in England
or America ; third, that we are responsible
for all the future mistakes of a Church which
we have once founded; fourth^ that Christ
who "purchased" the Church and who is its'
"Head" cannot be trusted to guide it.
^Vri?h\"Sur Let us have faith in our brethren and faith
an^dTn Go3 ^ God. When Christ said that he would be
with his disciples always, he meant his dis-

The Native Church 169

ciples in Asia and Africa as well as in Europe
and America. The operations of the Holy
Spirit are not confined to the white races.
Are we to take no account of his guidance?
He is still in the world and will not forsake
his own. We should plant in non-christian
lands the fundamental principles of the gos-
pel of Jesus Christ, and then give the native
Church reasonable freedom to make some
adaptations for itself. If, in the exercise of
that freedom, it does some things that we de-
precate, let us not be frightened or imagine
that our work has been in vain. Some of the
acts of the native Church which may impress
us as wrong may not be so wrong in them-
selves as we imagine, but simply due to its
different ways of doing things.

The Bible was written by Asiatics in afnof^our^R^f^lSn*
Asiatic language. Christ himself was an)
Asiatic. We of the West have perhaps only)
imperfectly understood that Asiatic Bible and)
Asiatic Christ, and it may be that by the\
guidance of God's Spirit within the rising
Churches of Asia a more perfect interpreta-
tion of the gospel of Christ may be made
known to the world. •*

"Our little systems have their day;

They have their day and cease to be;
They are but broken lights of thee.

And thou, O Lord, art more than they."

170 Why and How of Foreign Missions

The attitude of the Church at home toward
Inspiring st|ry of thcsc Struggling Churchcs on the foreign field
Foreign Churches ghould be appreciative and respectful. The
local congregation is usually small in num-
bers and poor in this world's goods. It is sur-
rounded by a vast mass of heathenism and su-
perstition. It often encounters the hatred of
heathen priests and the contemptuous anger
of the official classes. Many of its members
have endured bitter persecution. Some have
been disowned by their families, deprived of
their property, scourged, imprisoned, and
killed. If the story of thousands of them
could be written, it would be one of the most
inspiring records in the development of the
Church of God. Making all due allowance
for those who have been actuated by improper
motives or who have shown themselves lazy
or incompetent, the fact remains that multi-
tudes have been loyal, humble, and loving
servants of God. They need and they should
receive in abundant measure our sympathetic
and prayerful cooperation.

QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER VI

Aim : To Understand the Problems Involved in the
Great Aim of Foreign Missions

I. If the heathen and Moslem world be esti-
mated at 1,000,000,000, what number of them
are still unreached?

The Native Qiurch 171

2. If we have less than 8,000,000 communicants
and adherents at the end of a hundred years
of missions, how long would it take at the
same rate to Christianize the world?

3. What should be the missionary policy in order
to accelerate this rate of progress?

4. Sum up all the advantages that the missionary
has over the native convert as an evangelist.

5. Sum up all the advantages which the native
convert has over the missionary.

6. In view of these relative advantages, how
should the work be divided between the mis-
sionary and the native evangelist?

7. What is the relative importance to the mission-
ary of these three forms of work: (i) Preach-
ing to the unevangelized ; (2) dealing with
inquirers; (3) training native workers.

8. In view of your answer to the last question,
what sort of training ought the missionary
candidate to receive?

9. To what extent ought the missionary policy
to be followed by the ministry at home?

10. If you were a missionary, what precautions
would you take in employing a native as an
evangelist ?

11. What other special methods would you employ
to render the native Church self-propagating ?1

12. In what ways can the educational work co-
operate in rendering the native Church self-
propagating?

13. In what ways can the literary work cooperate?

14. If you were a missionary, would you feel
justified in suggesting the duty of giving to
a convert who had not one tenth of the com-
forts of life which you enjoyed?

172 Why and How of Foreign Missions

15. At what point should the subject of giving
be presented to the native convert?

16. What things that the native Church would
otherwise be deprived of should be supplied
from the mission funds?

17. What things would it be better for the native
Church to forego until it can pay for them
itself?

18. Give the arguments for and against a free
use of mission funds in the support of the
native Church.

19. What measures would you take to increase
self-support in a native congregation that had
been backward in this respect?

20. In what ways will self-support stimulate self-
propagation and self-government?

21. What are the advantages and disadvantages
of educating native Christians in this cotmtry?

22. In what ways is the missionary better fitted
than the native to govern the native Church?

23. What are the principal dangers in allowing the
native Church too much self-government?

24. What are the principal dangers of allowing the

native Church too little self-government?

25. What measures should you take as a mis-
sionary to avoid both of these classes of dan-
gers?

26. What do you think will be the ultimate connecr
tion of the churches founded in China by
different denominations, with each other and
with churches in this country and Great
Britain?

The Native Church 173

References for Advanced Study. — Chapter VI

I. Self-Propagation.

Centenary Missionary Conference (Shanghai,

1907), 16-18.

Ross: Mission Methods in Manchuria, VI.

II. Self-Support.

Brown: New Forces in Old China, XXIII.
Centenary Missionary Conference (Shanghai,
1907), 11-16.

Ecumenical Missionary Conference (New York,
1900), XXXV.

Jones: India's Problem; Krishna or Christ, 274-
277; 282-286.

Ross: Mission Methods in Manchuria, IX.
Noble : The Redemption of Africa 241, 265, 307,
309-316.

III. Self-Government.

Centenary Missionary Conference (Shanghai,

1907), 8-1 1.

Ross: Mission Methods in Manchuria, VIII.

IV. Character of Native Converts.

Brown: New Forces in Old China XXII.
Gibson: Mission Problems and Mission Methods
in South China, X.

Jack: Daybreak in Livingstonia, 334-336.
Soothill: A Typical Mission in China, VII.

arHE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE
AND ITS CRITICS

»7S

Many men who at home moved in good society
and were active members in a Christian church, are
now living in some Eastern city in a manner that dis-
graces the name of our Christian civilization. Some
native critics, seeing this, say: "Christianity will not
endure exportation to the East" It cannot be ex-
pected that among such as these, who know no Sabbath,
and who have abandoned, for the present at least,
restraint against intemperance and impurity, there will
be found any who do not hate the very name mis-
sionary because of the condemning conscience that the
suggestion arouses in themselves.

— lames L. Barton

The longer one stays in India the more evidence
one has that the future well-being of this country,
and above all, the extension, permanence, and quality
of British influence, depend largely upon the progress
of missions.

— lames Bryce

The enemies of foreign missions have spoken
tauntingly of the slowness of the work and of its great
and disproportionate cost, and we have too exclusively
consoled ourselves and answered the criticism by the
suggestion that with God a thousand years are as one
day. We should not lose sight of the other side of that
truth — one day with him is as a thousand years. God
has not set a uniform pace for himself in the work of
bringing in the kingdom of his Son. He will hasten
it in his day. The stride of his Church shall be so
quickened that commerce will be the laggard. Love
shah outrun greed.

— Benjamin Harrison

176

VII

THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE
AND ITS CRITICS

T

HE purity of the missionary's motive and Honest

--, ft< 11 Criticism

the unselfishness of his work do not exempt Legitimate

hfm from criticism, nor should they. Any en-
terprise which depends upon public support
is a fair object of criticism. Boards and mis-
sionaries are human and have their share of
human infirmities. They have a right to in- /
sist that criticism shall be honest; but within i
that limit, any one has a right to scrutinize
their methods and work and to express his ^
conclusions with entire frankness.

Critics should remember, however, that the conditions Make

' Mistakes

foreign missionary enterprise deals with agents inevitable
who are not mechanical instruments or sol-
diers amenable to military discipline, but liv-
ing, intelligent men and women who, like
critics, are fallible; who are scattered all over
the world ; whose acts often appear strange be-
cause determined by conditions which people
at home do not understand ; and that some mis-
takes are inevitable when men of one race
attempt to live among and influence those

177

178 Why and How of Foreign Missions

1 of a different race. [jVe shall know everything
/ and do things just right when we get to heaven ;
) but on earth we must feel our way along and
(learn by experience. Home enterprises, busi-
ness, educational, philanthropic, and religious,
are exposed to a constant fire of criticism, some
of it just. It is notorious that men conducting
them often blunder, and that the result is fre-
quently waste, duplication, and even failure.
Why then should we demand perfection of
foreign missionaries, especially when their
work is conducted under difficulties far more
numerous and formidable? We do not object
„to the fact of criticism; we simply urge that
it be reasonable and made with due regard
to conditions.
■''*"c?uicilms^ Criticism of missionaries and their work may
. be roughly divided into four classes:
Fn>n°d^ First, those which come from friends of
the work who see defects, or think that they do.
Some of these criticisms are undoubtedly just,
and should be heeded. Others are based on
misapprehensions, and should elicit temperate
explanations. The attitude of the boards and
the missionaries toward this whole class of
critics should be that of the inspired writer
who said: "Faithful are the wounds of a

JriendZ ~~

FromThose w^ho Second, cHticisms which come from those

who are ignorant of the real character, aims,

Missionary Enterprise and Its Critics 179

and work of the missionary and the methods
of mission boards. This is a large class. There]
are many people who have never seen mission-
ary work, or met a missionary, or read a mis-
sionary book, but who, seeing in the newspa- '
pers or hearing from some friend the class J
of criticisms to which reference has just been^
made, jump to the conclusion that they arcj
true. 3

The increasing interest in Asia and the com- G"be-tro°te«
parative ease with which it can now be visited
are rapidly enlarging the stream of foreign
travelers. Unfortunately, many of them are
mere globe-trotters, knowing little and caring
less about missionaries, people who at home are
only languidly interested in Church work and
who do not know what religious effort is being
put forth in their own city. Abroad, they
usually confine their visits to the port cities
and capitals, and become acquainted only at
the foreign hotels and clubs. They seldom
look up foreign missions and missionary work,
but get their impressions from more or less
irreligious and dissolute traders and profes-
sional guides. What they do see of missions
sometimes misleads them. Typical mission
work can seldom be seen in a port city.
The natives often exhibit the worst traits of
their own race, or are spoiled by the evil ex-
ample of the dissolute foreign community. The

i8o Why and How of Foreign Missions

mission buildings are apt to be memorials or
other special gp^fts, and give a misleading im-
pression as to the scale of missionary expendi-
ture. Hearing the sneers at the clubs and ho-
tels, and without going near the missionary
himself, the globe-trotter carries away slanders,
which, on his return, are sensationally paraded
. in the newspapers and eagerly swallowed by a
s^ullible publia The Hon. Edwin H. Conger,
/former American Minister to China, wrote:
I "The attacks upon missionaries by sensational
/press correspondents and globe-girdling trav-
elers have invariably be en made without J aiowl-
edge or investigation, and nine tenths &i them
^re the veriest libel and the grossest slander."
questioninl^a ^^ ^^ oftcu interesting to propound some
Critic questions to such a critic. An American mer-
chant returned from China to say that mis-
sions were a failure. Whereupon his pastor
proceeded to interrogate him. "What city
of China did you visit?" "Canton," was the
reply. "What did you find in our mission
schools which impressed you as so faulty?"
The merchant confessed that he had not seen
any schools. "And yet," said the pastor, "our
board alone has in Canton a normal school,
a theological seminary, a large boarding-
school for girls, and several day-schools, while
other denominations also have schools. Well,
what was there about the mission churches

Missionary Enterprise and Its Critics i8i

which so displeased you?" Again the mer-
chant was forced to confess his ignorance; he
did not know that there was a church in Can-
ton till his pastor told him that there were, in
and near the city, scores of churches and chap- ^
els, some of thfem very large, and with preach-
ing not only every Simday but, in some
instances, every day.

"But surely you were interested in the hos- nlS^iosures
pitals," queried the pastor. "One of the largest
hospitals in Asia stands in a conspicuous posi-
tion on the river front, while the woman's
hospital in another part of the city is also a
great plant, with a medical college and a
nurses' training school connected with it."
Incredible as it may seem, he knew absolutely
nothing about these beneficent institutions.
Further inquiries elicited the admission that
the critic knew nothing of the orphanage, or
the school for the blind, or the refuge for
the insane, and that he had made no effort
whatever to become acquainted with the mis-
sionaries. He was a little embarrassed by
this time, but his questioner could not refrain
from telling him the old story about the En-
glish army officer and the foreign missionary
who met on an ocean steamer. The army of-
ficer had contemptously said that he had lived
in India thirty years and had never seen a na-
tive Christian. Shortly afterward, he recited

,i82 Whjr and How of Foreign Missions

with gTisto his success in tiger-hunting, de-
claring that he had killed no less than nine
tigers. "Pardon me," gently said the mis-
sionary, "did I understand you to say that
you have killed nine tigers in India?" "Yes,
sir," replied the colonel. "Now that is remark-
able," continued the missionary, "for I have
lived in India for thirty years and have never
seen a tiger." "Perhaps, sir," sneered the col-
onel, "you were not looking for tigers." Pre-
cisely," was the answer of the missionary,
"and may not that have been the reason why
you never saw any native converts?"
outwar'd°shS'w" When Mr. Stead got the impression that
"If Christ came to Chicago," with its thous-
ands of churches and Christian institutions of
every kind, he would find little but vice and
crime, it is not suprising that the casual trav-
eler sees few external signs of Christianity
in a populous pagan city. It was Christ him-
self who said : "The kingdom of God cometh
not with observation," or as the margin reads,
"not with outward show."
^""wuhSut Third, criticisms which are based on want
sympathyjor^the ^f sympathy with the fundamental motives
Motive and aims of the missionary enterprise. It is
sometimes wholesome for those who live in a
missionary environment to ascertain how their
methods appear to people who are outside of
that environment. Attention may thus be called

Missionary Enterprise and Its Critics 183

to defects •which would otherwise escape no-
tice. Men, however, who are opposed, not
merely to certain methods, but to the essen-
tial character of the movement itself can hardly
be considered fair critics. They will never
be silenced, because they are inaccessible to the
Christian argument. Their criticisms have been
demolished over and over again, but they re-
appear unabashed within a month. Even
when their objections are overcome, their op-
position remains. Critics of this class will
always ridicule the effort to propagate a re-
. ligion which they do not practise. They do
not confine their criticisms to the missionary,
but sneer at churches at home, declaring that
ministers are hirelings and communicants h5rp-
ocrites. It does not necessarily follow that
the criticisms of such men are unfounded; but
"it is within the right of the missionary to
protest against being arraigned by judges habit-
ually hostile to him, and it is within the right
of the public to scrutinize the pronouncements
of such judgments with much suspicion."

Some of the critics of this class live in l"'ell!ZiV^ts
Europe and America, but many of them reside TJaVeitd Laymea
in the treaty ports of non-christian lands. We
do not mean that the foreign colonies in the
concessions are wholly composed of such men.
They include, on the contrary, some ex-
cellent people to whose sympathy and help-

t

184 Why and How of Foreign Missions

fulness the missionaries are greatly indebted.
We are not quoting missionaries, however, but
widely traveled laymen in the statement that
the life of the typical foreigner in Asia is such
that a missionary cannot consisently join in
it, no matter how cordial his desire to be on
friendly terms with his countrymen. Col-
quhoun declares that foreigners in China go
to get money and then return, do not learn
the language, have little intercourse with na-
tives and know little about them. Mr. Fred-
erick McCormick, for six years Associated
Press correspondent in China, says that "the
foreign communities are not in China, but at
China," simply "ranged on the shore;" that
"they carry on their relations with China
through a go-between native;" that their "so-
ciety is centered about a club, of which the
most conspicuous elements are the bar, race-
track, and book-maker;" and that "the life,
for the most part, of the communities is in
direct antagonism to that of missionaries"
who live and work among the Chinese.
Those ^^o« Fourth, criticisms which spring from con-
flicting interests. Such are the objections
which originate with traders who sell rum in
Africa and opium in China, who traffic in the
virtue of native girls, or entice away coolies
under specious " contracts " which result in
virtual slavery. Some regions have long been

Fron

Interests Conflict

Missionary Enterprise and Its Critics 1185

infested by men of this infamous type, and
while some of their nefarious practises have
been broken up, others still continue. Almost
every port city in non-christian lands has dens
of vice which are kept by white men or women
and which pander to the lowest passions. Men
of this kind are, of course, virulent haters of
missionaries. Charles Darwin asserted that
"the foreign travelers and residents in the
South Sea Islands, who write with such hos-
tility to missions there, are men who find the
missionary an obstacle to the accomplishment
of their evil purposes." There are, too, native
priests who, like the silversmiths of Ephesus,
find their craft in danger, and circulate false-
hoods regarding missionaries as political plot-
ters or adepts in witchcraft. It is not unconP"
mon in Chinese cities for placards to be con-
spicuously posted, charging missionaries with
boiling and eating Chinese babies. -J

Let us now take up some current criticisms.
Several of the most common have already
been considered in connection with other chap-
ters, and need not be repeated here.

" Missionaries are inferior men." The man TJlfilor''""""
who makes this objection simply shows that
he does not know missionaries or that he is
generalizing from some exceptional individual.
There are undoubtedly missionaries who say
and do foolish things, just as some of us

i86 Why and How of Foreign Missions

at home do, and once in a while one proved
to be incompetent. Ninety-fp wr ppi* fpnt. of the
business men of the United States are said
to fail at some time in their lives. Why, then,
should a few missionary failures be deemed
an adequate ground for condemning the whole
class ? The reader who hears criticisms which
impress him as serious should demand names
and particulars and forward them to the board
with which the missionary is cormected. The
boards have neither desire nor motive to shield
misconduct. They will promptly investigate
and take such action as the facts may justify.
testSSlny Travders and officials like Charles Darwin,
Lord Lawrence, Sir Harry H. Johnston, Sir
Robert Hart, Sir Mortimer Durand, the Hon.
Ifohn W. Foster, the Hon. William Jennings
Bryan, Mrs. Isabella Bird Bishop, tie Hon.
Charles Denby, and scores of others, have
borne high testimony to the worth of mission-
aries. Those who do not confine their observa-
tions to treaty-port hotels or draw upon their
imagination for facts, but who have eyes to
see and ears to hear the mighty forces which
are gradually inaugurating a new era in Asia,
report that the real missionary is an educated,
(ievoted man, the highest type of Christian
character, and that in the spirit of the Master,
he heals the sick, teaches the young, translates
the Bible, creates a wholesome literature, and

Missionary Enterprise and Its Critics 187

inculcates those great truths of the Christian
religion to which Europe and America owe
whatever of true greatness they possess. No
one is perfect, but the man who can write only
evil of such men and women does so at the ex-
pense of either his intelligence or his candor.

"Converts are not genuine, but are attracted Q^°^y^^,^ **"*
to the missionary by the hope of employment
or support" The number of native communi-
cants in connection with foreign missionary
churches is 1,816,450, besides 1,272,383 en-
rolled catechumens; but the total number of
native agents is only 95,876, many of whom
are paid either wholly or in part by the native
Christians themselves. Making all due allow-
ance for others who are employed as servants or
who receive assistance in schools, the number
who are aided in any way by the foreigner
is relatively insignificant. The great body or
native Christians have no financial motive
whatever for confessing Christ. The Hon?
Charles Denby, for thirteen years American
Minister at Peking, has reminded the world,
that during the Boxer uprising, "the province
of Chih-li furnished 6,200 Chinese who re-
mained true to their faith in spite of danger,
suffering, and impending death. It is said
that 15,000 converts were killed during the
riots, and not as many as two per cent, of them
apostatizcxi. In the face of these facts, the

i88 Why and How of Foreign Missions

old allegation that the Chinese converts are
treacherous, venal, and untrue, must be re-
nounced. Let us not call them 'rice Christians'
any more."
irritation^Aro^usId "Missionarics needlessly irritate the Chi-
nese by interfering with native law-
suits." A difference should be observed
here between the practise of the European
Roman Catholic missionaries and the American
Protestant missionaries. The former champion
the cause of their converts, particularly when
they believe that lawsuits are instigated by the
opponents of Christianity. It is the policy
of the Protestant boards and missions to dis-
courage such interference, and the missionaries
themselves are more and more clearly seeing
the imprudence of it. Comparatively seldom
now does a Protestant missionary give offense
in this matter.
"Mis^onaries "Missionarics are universally hated by the
natives, while the ordinary foreigner is toler-
ated." This is grossly untrue. The mission-
aries are far more popular with the people than
any other foreigners. They travel freely, un-
armed and unprotected, and it is comparatively
seldom that they are molested. When they
are attacked, it is by a class of ruffians who,
in the slums of an American city, attack a Chi-
nese gentleman on the streets. Imperial edicts
have specifically declared that "the Chinese

Natives"

Missionary Enterprise and Its Critics 189

Government .... is not opposed to the
work of the missions." It would be easy to
fill pages with extracts from edicts commend-
ing the missionaries and their work. In 1895,
the Prefect of Nanking issued a proclamation
which included the following passage :

"Now having examined the doctrine halls APrtfectswords
in every place pertaining to the prefecture,
we find that there have been established free
schools where the poor children of China may
receive instruction; hospitals where Chinamen
may freely receive healing; that the mission-
aries are all really good; not only do they not
take the people's possessions, but they do not
seem to desire men's praise. Although Chi-
namen are pleased to do good, there are none
who equal the missionaries."

During their visits in America, both Vice- High offilials"'
roy Li Hung-chang and Viceroy Tuan Fong
freely expressed their gratitude for the services
of the missionaries, the latter declaring that
"the awakening of China may be traced in
no small measure to the hands of the mission-
aries; they have borne the light of Western
civilization to every nook and comer of the
Empire." In 1900, the people of Paoting fu
murdered the missionaries; but they soon re-
alized their mistake, gave land for a better
station site, and presented to the new mission
hospital a silk banner on which was worked

190 Why and How of Foreign Missions

in letters of gold: "This place bestows grace
on the Chinese people." In the same city, a
high official visited the mission church and,
seeing the ten commandments upon the wall,
said to the missionaries: "If you can get that
teaching into the minds of my soldiers they
/will be good soldiers. I see now one notable
(characteristic of Christianity: it seems to have
(the power to go out from oneself to others;
Ut is not self-centered, but works for others.",
""""'oenby" ^hc Hon. Charles Denby, late American
statement Minister to China, probably was as competent
to pronounce upon this question as any one,
and he wrote : "On an analysis of the bitter an-
tichristian movement, we find that it is largely
to be explained as primarily antiforeign; that
is, largely directed against missionaries solely
as foreigners, not solely as teachers of a for-
eign religion. The missionaries, in the vast
majority of cases, are loved by those Chinese
with whom they succeed in establishing in-
timate relations, and they are almost univer-
sally respected by all classes in the communities
in which they are well known."
'^"'^A"p«?ia?io°n -A. large volume would be required to quote
princer.'lnd the appreciative words of Asiatic and African
Officials princes, nobles, magistrates, and people, wher-
ever they have become acquainted with the
real character and objects of the missionaries
and have been able to separate them from the

Missionary Enterprise and Its Critics 191

white men who have political or commercial
designs. Hardly a month passes without
some substantial token of this appreciation in
the form of gifts to mission institutions. The
Empress Dowager of China, the Mikado of
[Japan, the Emperor of Korea, the King of
Siam, East Indian, African, and South Sea
princes without number, and even Moslems,
have made such gifts; while scores of officials,
like the Chinese Governors of Shan-tung and
Formosa and the Siamese Minister of the In-
terior, have tried to secure missionaries for the
presidency of government colleges or for other
responsible posts.

"Missionaries make trouble for their ownJ^^^^^!^^^^ilf„
governments." The Hon. William H. TaftJ^^^'/rnmelits"
Secretary of War, in an address in New York
City, April 20, 1908, referred to this criticism
and emphatically denounced it as unfounded.
[Well-informed government officials do not
complain about missionaries as a class,
though they may sometimes object to
the indiscretion of a particular individual.
iSuppose the missionary does occasionally need
protection; he is a citizen, and what kind of
a government is it which refuses to protect its
citizens in their lawful undertakings ? No one
(questions the right of a trader, however dis-
solute, to go wherever he pleases and to be
defended by his country in case of danger.

192 Why and How of Foreign Missions

Has not a missionary an equal right to the bene-
fits of his flag? The Hon. John Barrett,
formerly American Minister to Siam, says that
r; r^SO mission workers gave him less trauble in
r ' S five years than fifteen merchants gave him in
^ve months.
"**'fnju?e^a^d "Missionarics injure and denationalize their
ThSr"con°verts" converts." Christianity never injured or de-
nationalized any one. It simply made him
a better man — ^more honest, more intelligent,
more charitable, more loyal to his own country.
Why should it injure an Asiatic or African
to stop worshiping demons and to begin wor-
shiping the true God ; to renounce drunkenness,
immorality, and laziness, and become a sober,
moral, and industrious citizen? The fact is
that native Christians in Asia and Africa are
the very best element in the population. The
Chinese Government made a large grant for
indemnity for the lives of the Chinese Christ-
ians who were murdered during the Boxer
uprising. How much it meant to the poor
survivors will be understood from the fact that
the share of the Christians in a single county
was 10,000 taels. But none of the Christians
in that county would accept the indemnity.
They took compensation only for the property
they had lost ; but they gave one tenth of that
to support several Chinese evangelists to preach
the gospel to their former persecutors, and

Missionary Enterprise and Its Critics 103

afterward they tried to raise a fund to pay
back to the government the indemnity that
they did receive. Such a course indicates both
genuineness of faith and loyalty to the Em-
peror.

"Missionaries preach sectarianism instead p^'^i^""""'^
of fundamental Christianity." This is precise- sectarianism-
ly what they do not do. There is far less
sectarianism on the foreign field than at home.
Denominational lines are often virtually oblit-
erated. Where they are prominent, the fault
is usually with the home Church. The mission-
aries have already united in several lands, and
they would do so in some others, if the ec-
clesiastical authorities at home would permit
them.

"There is much to be done in our own land, "Chadty Begins,

' at rlome

and charity begins at home." One might urge . '
with equal truth that education begins with the/
alphabet; but it ends there only with the feeble-l.
minded. A New York pastor says that wen
ought to give less for foreign missions andl
more for the conversion of "the foreigners
within the shade of our churches." If, how-
ever, he had looked into the Report of the
Charity Organization Society of New YorkJ
he would have found a list of 3,330 religious
and philanthropic agencies in his own city..
The first tfme I visited New York's slum dis-'
trict, I was amazed by the number of missions.

194 Why and How of Foreign Missions

!A; higli authority declares that "there is no
other city in the world, except London, where
more is being done to point the lost to the Son
of God than in New York."
wofkwsatHome Many have seen the statement that St.
Louis has one church for 2,800 of population,
Chicago one for 2,081, Boston one for 1,600,
and Minneapolis one for 1,054. In the United
States there are about 197,000 Protestant
churches, or one for every 380 of the non-
Catholic population, one Protestant minister
for 5 14, one Christian worker for seventy-five,
and one communicant for four. Talk about
the relative needs of the United States! In
a town of 8,000 people, there are three Pres-
byterian, three United Presbjrterian, three
Methodist, two Episcopal churdies, and one
Christian church. "For every missionary the
/ Church sends abroad, she holds seventy-six at
/ home." A million Americans are engaged in
distinctively religious work, about 150,000 of
whom devote themselves to it as a separate
profession. In the light of these facts, the
statement that "the Church cannot see the
misery which is under her own nose at home"
appears rather absurd.
^^Abro'ad How is it abroad? In South America there
is only one ordained missionary for 154,000
people; in Africa and India, for 186,000; in
Siam, for 200,000; and in China, for 603,000!

"*

Missionarjr Enterprise and Its Critics 195

Dr. Arthur Mitchell wrote of a journey of
only twenty-four hours from Hang-chou to
Shanghai: "I was absolutely awestruck and
dumb as I steamed past city after city, great
and populous, one of which was a walled city
of 300,000 souls, without one missionary of
any Christian denomination whatever, and
without so much as a native Christian helper
or teacher of any kind. That silent moon-
light night, as I passed unnoticed by those
long, dark battlements shutting in their pagan
multitudes, was one of the most solemn of
my life; and the hours of daylight, when
other cities, still larger than many of our
American capitals, were continually coming in-
to view, and the teeming populations of the
canals and rivers and villages and fields and
roads were before my eyes, kept adding to
the burden of the night."

As for money, the running expenses of all the ^,f "/^jj,
churches in the United States absorbed $158,- ^br™!!'"'
000,000 in 1900. In New York City alone
they were $8,995,000. These figures are ex-
clusive of the cost of new structures, general
charities, mission contributions, and other ob-
jects. The cost of maintaining the Protestant
Episcopal churches in the United States for
that year was $14,606,000; Presbyterian, $20,-
375,000; Baptist, $12,348,000; Methodist,
$26,267,000; and Roman Cathohc, $31,185,-

196 Why and How of Foreign Missions

000.^ Almost fabulous sums are given to col-
leges and libraries and philanthropic institu-
tions in America, two men, Mr. John D.
Rockefeller and Mr. Andrew Carnegie, hav-
ing contributed over $200,000,000 within
less than two decades, the former bestowing
$32,000,000 on the General Education Board
in a single gift. The yearly aggregate of large
individual gifts to educational and charitable
institutions is over $150,000,000. How much
of this enormous sum goes to foreign missions
has not been separately estimated; but the to-
tal income of all the boards in the country
is only $8,972,418, and as the bulk of that
comes in small sums from congregations, it is
evident that but little, if any, more than $1,-
000,000 of these large individual gifts goes
abroad. In general, our home churches spend
ninety-four cents in America, for every six
cents that they give for the evangelization of
the world. Of England and Ireland, it is said
that the income of their churches approximates
$150,000,000, and that of this immense sum
only $8,000,000 is spent on missions to the
heathen.
risti|nity^s j^ .^ ^^^^ ^^^^ thcrc are unconverted people

Movements at homc ; but what would be thought of a busi-
ness man who declined to sell goods outside
of his own city until all its inhabitants used

1 Christendom Anno Domini , 1901, Vol. I, S33. 534-

Missionary Enterprise and Its Critics 197

them? The fact that some Americans are ir-
religious does not lessen our obligation to give
the gospel to the world. If the early Church
had refused to send the gospel to other nations
until its own nation was converted, Christian-
ity would have died in its cradle, for the land
in which it originated was never really Christ-
ianized and is to-day Mohammedan. The
argument that our own land is not yet evan-
gelized would have made the Church at An-
tioch disobey the command of the Holy Spirit
to send forth Paul and Barnabas. It* would
have kept Augustine of Canterbury from carry-
ing the gospel to England. It would have
prevented the founding of churches in America,
and would, to-day, cripple all our home mis-
sionary work, since there is no other part of
the United States .more godless than the East-
ern States where the gospel has been known
the longest. Christ did not tell his disciples
to withhold his faith from other nations until
they had converted Palestine; he told them to
go at once into all the world and preach the
gospel to the whole creation ; and it is because
they obeyed that command that we have the
gospel to-day.

The arsrument that we ought to convert Present Duties

° , . 111 ^°'^ Confined

America first because it would then convert the *« America
world, is„one of those glittering generalities
that do not bear analysis. America has had

198 Why and How of Foreign Missions

the gospel for two hundred years, and is not
converted yet. England has had it more than
a thousand years, and is as far from conver-
sion as America. How long will it be at this
rate before our homelands will be saved?
Must countless millions die without Christ,
while we are trying to win white men,
most of whom have heard of him hundreds
of times? Not so did Christ direct his disci-
ples. He did not tell them that the best way to
influence the world was to regenerate their
own land, though such an argument would
have had greater force than it has now. He
sent them out with orders to preach at once
not only at home but abroad. It is the duty of
American Christians to seek to convert Ameri-
ca, and the British Christians to seek to con-
vert Great Britain. But' that is not their
only duty, just as the conversion of
Palestine was not the only duty of the
early Church. I am not urging neglect
of our responsibilities at home, but sim-
ply replying to the frequent objection that
they are a reason why subordinate attention
should be given to our responsibilities abroad.
The Christian of to-day, like the Christian of
the first century, has a God-ordained mission
to the world which cannot wait upon the in-
difference or hostility of people at home.
i^i^an Absu'rTt" Indeed no nation ever will be wholly Christ-

Missionary Enterprise and Its Critics 199

ianized, for not only will there always be in-
dividuals who refuse or neglect to accept
Christ, but before any one generation can be
converted, a new generation of young people
will have grown up and the work must thus
be ever beginning anew. The argument, there-
fore, that we should not preach the gospel
to other nations until our own has been con-
verted issues in an absurdity, since it would
perpetually confine Christianity to those na-
tions which already have it and would forever
forbid its extension.

"Missionaries are forcing another civiliza- An Ai/en
tion on lands which already have civilizations upinxhem
of their own that are adapted to their needs."
No other objection is more common and no
other is more baseless. The missionary does'
not force his civilization upon the natives, nor
does he interfere with native customs, except
when they are morally wrong. A higher type
of civilization does indeed follow the labors
of the missionaries; but this is an incidental
result, not an object. Even if it were other-
wise, the Hon. Charles Denby expresses the
opinion that, "if by means of gentle persuasion
we can introduce Western modes and methods
into China, we are simply doing for her what
has been done, in one way or another, for every
nation on the globe." As for forcing religion,
no native is obliged to become a Christian LanguSIt"

200 Why and How of Foreign Missions

fagainst his will. The missionary simply of-
r fers and explains the gospel. Surely he has as
i much right to do this as English and American
; manufacturers have to ofifer and explain their
(^flour and cotton and machinery and liquor.
"To talk to persons who choose to listen; to
throw open wide the doors of chapels where na-
tives who desire may hear the Christian faith
explained and urged upon their attention; to
sell at half-cost or to give the Bible and Christ-
ian literature freely to those who may care to
read; to heal the sick without cost; to instruct
children whose parents are desirous that they
should receive education — surely none of these
constitute methods or practises to which the
word 'force* may be applied, under any allow-
able use of the English language."^
'""■"' ^e'l'ood "The religions of other races are good
^"""■^''" enough for them." Then they are "good
enough" for us, for the peoples of "other races"
are our fellow men, with the needs of our com-
mon humanity. We have not heard, however,
of any critic who believes that Islam or Hin-
duism or Buddhism are "good enough" for
Europeans and Americans, and we have scant
respect for the Pharisaism which asserts that
they will suffice for the Persians and East
Indians and Chinese.
The N«d^2 "^^^ Chinese are justly considered the strong-

•The Hon. Chester Holcombe.

Missionary Enterprise and Its Critics 201

est of the non-christian races, but Chang Chih-
tung. Viceroy of Hu-peh and Hu-nan, writes
with sorrow of " lethargy, sensuality, and
vice," and he frankly adds: "Confucianism,
as now practised, is inadequate to lift us from
the present plight."^ The Emperor himself
recognized the justice of this characterization,
for he declared in an imperial rescript that
he had "carefully inspected the volume" and
that "it embodies a fair and candid statement
of facts." Answering a question whether it
is worth while to send foreign teachers to sup-
plant the old religions by Christianity, the Hon.
Charles Denby wrote: "As Buddhism un-
doubtedly exercises a salutary influence on the
national life of China, so the introduction of
Christianity now will instruct, improve, and
elevate the Buddhists. The adoption of
Christianity means to the Chinese a new educa-
tion. He becomes mentally regenerate. He
abandons senseless and hoary superstitions.
His reasoning powers are awakened. He
learns to think. The world has not yet dis-
covered any plan for the spreading of civiliza-
tion which is comparable to the propagation
of Christianity."

It is difficult to understand how an Ameri- fiJV wm""^,""*^
can or European who inherits all the blessings Ancestors
of our Christian faith, can deny those bles-

» Chang Chih-tung, China's Only Hope,7^, 75, 95, 96, 123,
145.

2oa Why and How of Foreign Missions

sings to the rest of the world. Christianity
found the white man's ancestors in the forests
and swamps of northern Europe, considerably
lower in the scale of civilization than the Chi-
nese and Japanese of to-day. Jerome wrote
that when "a boy, living in Gaul, he beheld
the Scots, a people in Britain, eating human
flesh; though there were plenty of cattle and
sheep at their disposal, yet they would prefer
a ham of the herdsman or a slice of the female
breast as a luxury." The gospel of Christ
brought us out of the pit of barbarism. Why
should we doubt its power to do for other
races what it has done for ours ?
"for^Au The notion that each nation's religion is
best for it, and should, therefore, not be dis-
turbed, is never made by those who have a
proper understanding of Christianity or of its
relation to the race. It is based upon the old
paganism which believed that each tribe had
its own god who was its special champion
against all the other gods. Such an idea is
not only false in itself, but it is directly con-
trary to the teachings of Christ, who declared
that his gospel was for all men and that it
was the supreme duty of his followers to carry
it to all men.
""AMompiis" "Missionaries are accomplishing very little."
Very Little" -pj^jg objcction might fairly offset the objection
that missionaries are making revolutionary

Missionary Enterprise and Its Critics 203

changes. Both cannot be true. The fact is
that missionary work is remarkably successful,
and more so now than ever before.

The justification of foreign mission effort ^ea(|r*inlrease
is not dependent upon tabulated results, but Ex'fectfd
it is nevertheless interesting to note them. The
natural presiunptions would be that Christ-
ianity would make very slow progress in a
heathen land, for it is regarded with suspicion
as an alien faith. It is opposed by a powerful
priesthood and at variance with long-estab-
lished customs. Family ties, social position,
caste prejudice, combine to keep one from
confessing Christ. It would not be reasonable,
therefore, to expect as high a percentage of
increase as at home, where centuries of Christ-
ian work have prepared the soil and created
an atmosphere, where Christianity is popular
and worldly motives blend with religious to
attract men to the Church.

But what are the comparative facts? The Gli^r^%''hl For,
average annual increase of the Protestant ^^s^PMi
Churches in America is .0283 per cent.^, while
the increase on the foreign field is .0685 per
cent.2 The government census in India shows
that while the population from 1891 to 1901
increased two and a half per cent., the Protest-
ant Church membership increased fifty per

iDr. H. K Carroll, The Christian Advocate, 1903-1908.
•Dr. D. L. Leonard, Missionary Review of the World,
1903-190S.

204 Why and How of Foreign Missions

cent. The gain in China in twenty years has
been over lOO per cent.^ The first Protestant
missionary arrived in the Philippine Islands in
1899; within nine years about 30,000 adult
communicants were received. In 1886, the
Korea missionaries reported the first convert.
Seven years later, there were only about 100
in the whole country. Now there are 120,000
Christians. While not all mission fields have
been as fruitful as those that have been men-
tioned, the general rate of progress is excellent,
the number of baptisms in foreign mission
lands in 1907 being 141,127.
withouf^pl^r^ui I" spite of the advantages in Europe and
America — ^historic associations, favorable pub-
lic opinion, splendid churches, numerous work-
ers — Christianity is making more rapid pro-
gress on the foreign field than in the home field.
We have been working in heathen lands only
about a hundred years, in most fields far less
than this, and yet the number of converts is
already greater than the number of Christians
in the Roman Empire at the end of the first
century. No other work in the world is so suc-
cessful and no other yields such large returns
for the expenditures made.
^^°°TrenchYnt "^'^ snccr at missionaries," said Canon Far-
conciusion rar, — "a thing so cheap and so easy to do —

^From 80,682, in i887to 191,985, in 1906, not counting 136,-
126 catQchuznens.

Missionary Enterprise and Its Critics 205

has always been the fashion of libertines and
cynics and worldlings. So far from having
failed, there is no work of God which has re-
ceived so absolute, so unprecedented a blessing.
To talk of missionaries as a failure is to talk
at once like an ignorant and faithless man."

QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER VII

Aim : To Estimate the Value of the Cuekent Criti-
cisms Against Missionaries

1. What are the principal difficulties encoun-
tered by the foreign missionary that are not
ordinarily found at home? Arrange these
in order of importance.

2. How well prepared are the social customs of
non-christian lands to fit in with a religion like
Christianity?

3. In what ways do the differences of traditions
and ideals tend toward misunderstanding be-
tween the people of the East and the West?

4. How long and under what circumstances do
you think a man ought to study problems
created by these difficulties in order to criticize
them intelligently?

5. Is there any class of persons who have better
opportunities than the missionaries to study
these problems intelligently?

6. For what reasons is the average missionary
better qualified to understand the people than
the average trader or diplomat?

7. What arrangements have missionaries on the
field for exchanging views with one another
and shaping broad policies?

2o6 Why and How of Foreign Missions

8. What criticisms have you heard from tiiose who
were earnest friends of the enterprise?
9. Do these criticisms involve the general body
of missionaries, or only certain individuals?

10. Are these criticisms more serious than those
passed by earnest Christians on methods of
work at home?

11. Do they justify failure to support the enter-
prise?

12. Which body do you think has the best right
to criticize the other, the missionaries or the
home Church?

13. What credentials have we a right to demand
from critics of missions? ,

14. What questions would you ask of a globe-
trotter who returned with an unfavorable im-
pression of missionary work?

15. Why is it that so many casual travelers re-
ceive such impressions?

16. If some missionaries are really inferior men,
do you think it is the fault of the denomination-
al boards?

37. What wise and practicable measures at pres-
ent neglected would you suggest to raise the
standard of the missionary body?

18. What percentage of Church members in this
country do you consider "genuine?"

19. Do you think a larger percentage would endure
martyrdom for Christ than was true of the
Chinese Christians?

20. What special motives has the missionary more
than all other foreigners for cultivating the
friendship of the people among whom he
works ?

Missionary Enterprise and Its Critics 207

21. What more than others have missionaries
done for the communities in which they live?

22. Would we be justified in witholding Christ-
ianity from a nation, even if the presentation
of it should arouse hatred in some individ-
uals?

23. How would you solve the problem of deliv-
ering a man from deg^rading national customs,
without denationalizing him in any way?

24. Was the Church at home more or less strong
than it is to-day when the Holy Spirit sent
out Barnabas and Paul?

25. What would you consider a fair distribution
of workers and money between the 80,000,000
of our population at home and the over 300,-
000,000 of the non-christian world, for whom
the Christians of America may justly be held
responsible?

2(5. If God really intended Christ for the whole
world, which has the better reason to complain
of neglect, the Church at home or the Church
abroad?

27. Why is the civilization of Christendom super-
ior to that of the non-christian world?

28. What has Christianity done for the civiliza-
tion of Europe?

29. Will the Christ who has been a blessing to
Europe be a curse to Asia and Africa?

30. How do you account for the fact that Christ-
ianity progresses more rapidly on the foreign
field than at home, if the work is not well-
pleasing to God?

2o8 Why and How of Foreign Missions
References for Advanced Study. — Chapter VII

I. Testimonies of Statesmen Regarding the Value
of Foreign Missions.

Barton : The Missionary and His Critics, VI, VII.

Brain: Holding the Ropes, XII.

Denby: China and Her People, Vol. I, XVII.

Holcombe: The Real Chine: e Question, VI.

Johnston: The Colonization of Africa, VIII.

Speer: Missionary Principles and Practice,

XXXV.

Welsh : The Challenge to Christian Missions, 175-

188.

II. Testimonies of Travelers regarding the Value of
Fpreign Missions.

Barton: The Missionary and His Critics, III.

Bishop: The Yangtze Valley and Beyond,

XXXIX.

Geil: A Yankee on the Yangtze, II.

THE SPIRIT OF THE MISSIONARY,

309

Mrs. Judson chose to give up her duldren for
her Lord's poor children in Burma; and after many
a long tender caress, she had bidden them good-by,
and the great steamer turned her prow toward the open
sea. The almost broken-hearted mother stood and
watched the vessel until through the mist in her eyes
it had ceased to be even a speck on the distant horizon,
and then turning into her room sank into her chair
and exclaimed: "All this I do for the sake of my
Lord."

— Charles B. Galloway

To this is added the decision to spend that life
of chosen poverty in a foreign land, in most cases,
amid unfavorable surroundings, far away from per-
sonal friends, among people who misunderstand his
motives and misinterpret his acts. In his life the
missionary faces with the people the uncertainties of
pestilence, and he is always amid the insanitary con-
ditions of uncivilized lands. Whatever may be said,
viewed from a merely physical standpoint, the life of
the missionary is full of personal sacrifice from be-
ginning to end.

— James L. Barton

Tell Horace's mother to tell my boy Horace that
his father's last wish is that, when he is twenty-five
years of age, he may come to China as a missionary.
—Horace Tracy Pitkin

yiii

THE SPIRIT OF THE MISSIONARY,

WE join the missionary in protesting LiLVouiVr'^
against the impression that he is essen- christians
tially different from other good men. There
is no halo about his head. He is not a saint on
a pedestal. He does not stand with clasped
hands and uplifted eyes, gazing rapturously in-
to Heaven. We have met more than a thous-
and missionaries, and we have been impressed
by the fact that they are neither angels nor
ascetics, but able, sensible, and devoted Christ-
ian workers. The tjrpical missionary is more
like a high-grade Christian business man o£
the homeland than a professional cleric. He
is preeminently a man of affairs. He makes
no pathetic plea for sympathy for himself, but
he wants cooperation in his work, and to have
people at home feel that the work is theirs as
well as his.

The physical hardships of missionary life Hards"/ s in
are less than are commonly supposed. Steam DcIZasM"'
and electricity have materially lessened the iso-
lation that was once so trying. Mail, which
a generation ago arrived only once in six

311

212 Why and How of Foreign Missions

months, now comes once or twice a week.
Swift steamers bring many convenfences of
civilization that were formerly unobtainable.
The average missionary has a comfortable
house and sufificient food and clothing. His
labors, too, have been lightened in important
respects by the toil of his predecessors. He
finds languages reduced to written form, text-
books to aid him in his studies, and a variety
of substantial helps of other kinds.
stiu^AbJund There are many fields, however, where con-
ditions are not so pleasant. Those who com-
plain of a New York August can hardly
realize the meaning of an Indian hot season,
when life is almost unendurable by night as
well as by day for months at a time. The West-
em world is appalled by a case of bubonic
plague on an arriving ship, and it frantically
quarantines and disinfects everything and ev-
erybody from the suspected country ; but during
all those awful months when plague raged
unchecked in India, the missionaries steadily
toiled at their posts. We are panic-stricken
if cholera is reported in New York harbor
or yellow fever in New Orleans; but cholera
nearly always prevails in Siam, and yellow
fever in Brazil, while smallpox is so common in
Africa that it does not cause remark. Sani-
tation means much to the Anglo-Saxon; but,
save in Japan, the Asiatic knows little about

Spirit of the Missionary 213

it and the African nothing at all. What would
be the condition of an American city if there
were no sewers or paved streets, if garbage
were left to rot in the sun, and all ofifal were
thrown into the streets? That is actually
the condition in the villages of Africa
and in most of the cities of Asia, ex-
cept where the foreigner has forced the
natives to clean up. Several years ago
a Methodist bishop solemnly affirmed that
he identified seventy-two distinct smells in
Peking. The city is cleaner now, but it cannot
be called sanitary yet, while the native cities
of Chefoo and Shanghai appall the visitor by
their nastiness. Everywhere in the interior
vermin literally swarms in the native inns, and
usually in the homes of the people.

But while the physical hardships are less Hl^dsL ^
than are commonly supposed, the mental hard-
ships are greater.

First among these is loneliness. This is Loneliness
not felt so much in the port cities, for there are
foreign communities, occasional visitors, and
frequent communication with the rest of the
world. But in the interior the isolation is
very depressing. Letters from home friends,
which were at first numerous, gradually become
less frequent, till relatives and board secretar-
ies become almost the only correspondents and
the lonely missionary feels that he is forgotten

214 Why and How of Foreign Missions

by the world of which he was once a part —
"out of sight, out of mind."
*EnVironmint At homc, too, whilc we are conscious of a
Lacking downward pressure, we are also conscious of
a sustaining and uplifting force. Few of us
realize to what an extent we are upborne by
environment. There is everjrthing to buoy us
up — the companionship of friends, the re-
straints of a wholesome public sentiment, and
the inspiration of many meetings and confer-
ences. We are situated morally, as one is
sometimes situated physically in a crowd, so
wedged in that he cannot fall. But on the for-
eign field there is little to hold one up and
much to pull him down. There is no public
Christian sentiment to sustain, few associa-
tions to cheer, no support from large numbers
of neighboring friends and ministers.
A Constant straic j^- jg desperately hard to stand alone, and
the missionary must often stand alone. All
the customs of the country are against him;
all its standards below him. He receives
nothing, but is expected to give everything.
There is a constant strain upon his sjTnpathies
and his spiritual vitality, with nothing to feed
the springs of his own spiritual life. The ten-
dencies are down, down, always down. The
man who lives in an interior city of China or
Africa may be compared to the workman who
toiled in the caissons of the great bridge over

spirit of the Missionary 215

the East River, New York, where the pres-
sure of the unnatural atmosphere affected the
heart and lungs and imagination to the point
of utter collapse. In the words of Benjamin
Kidd:

"In climatic conditions which are a burden phSs"of^
to him ; in the midst of races in a different and *•"= tropics
lower stage of development; divorced from
the influences which have produced him, from
the moral and political environment from
which he sprang, the white man does not in
the end, in such circumstances, tend so much
to raise the level of the races amongst whom
he has made his unnatural home, as he tends
himself to sink slowly to the level around him.
In the tropics, the white man lives and works
only as a diver lives and works under water.
Alike in a moral, in an ethical, and in a political
sense, the atmosphere he breathes must be that
of another region than that which produced
him and to which he belongs. Neither phy-
sically, morally, nor politically, can he be ac-
climatized in the tropics. The people among
whom he lives and works are often separated
from him by thousands of years of develop-
ment."

Then there is the weary monotony of mis- wusionary^ufe
sionary life. The novelty of new scenes soon
wears off, and the missionary is confronted
by prosaic realities. It is impossible for the

2i6 Why and How of Foreign Missions

minister in the United States to understand the
depressing sameness of life in the interior of
China. The few associates of the missionary
are subject to the debihtating influences which
depress him. It is difficult for any woman in
America to know what it means for Mrs. A.
to live from one year's end to another without
seeing another white woman except Mrs. B.,
who, though a devoted missionary, is not ex-
actly the person that Mrs. A. would have chosen
for an intimate associate if she had been con-
sulted. We at home can choose our friends,
and if Mr. X. isj^not congenial, we do not have
to be intimate with him; but the missionary
has no choice. He must accept the intimacy
of the family assigned to his station whether
he likes it or not.
Separation from r^^ Separation from children is harder still.
There comes a time in the life of every mis-
sionary parent when he realizes that he cannot
properly educate his child amid the appallingly
unfavorable conditions of a heathen land. The
whole tone of society is so low that it is all
that the missionary can possibly do to keep
himself up to the level of the homeland. In-
deed, he is painfully conscious that he frequent-
ly fails to do it, and that one of the urgent
necessities of a furlough is not so much to get
physical rest, as to tone himself up again men-
tally and spiritually in a Christian atmosphere.

spirit of the Missionary 217

What then can be expected for his immature
child but degeneration?

The average missionary therefore must Parelts^Hik'ts
send his children to the homeland to be edu-
cated. We hope that none of the mothers
who read these pages will ever have occasion
to know what a heart strain is involved in
placing ten thousand miles in distance and
years in time between parent and child. There
are chambers of the human heart that are never
opened save by a baby's hand. ' After the ten-
drils of the soul's affection have wound round
a child, after a soft, tiny hand has been felt
on the face, and the little one's life has liter-
ally grown into that of the parent, separation
is a fearful wrench.

There is, too, the distress which every sen- D|yt«|s°'''^
sitive mind feels in looking upon suffering
that one is unable to relieve. Sir William
Hunter said that there are a hundred millions
of people in India who never know the sensa-
tion of a full stomach. An equally great num-
ber in China live so near starvation that a
drought or a flood precipitates an appalling
famine. All over Asia, one sees disease and
bodily injury so untended, or what is worse,
mistended, that the resultant condition is as
dreadful as it is intolerable. Dr. John G.
Kerr of Canton was so overcome by the suffer-
ings of the neglected insane in that great city

2l8 Why and How of Foreign Missions

that he could not endure them, and when he
could not get help from America, he started
an asylum at his own risk. Mrs. A. T. Mills
of Chefoo felt driven to the same course by
the pitiful condition of deaf-mute children.
Heathenism is grievously hard on the poor and
the sick and the crippled, while the woes of
women in maternity are awful beyond descrip-
tion. Yet, amid such daily scenes, the mission-
ary must live.
'^""nVb-^ng Then there is the mental suffering which
imrorau"ty comcs to auy pure-minded man or woman in
constant contact with the most debasing forms
of sin. Most Asiatics have no sense of wrong
regarding many of the matters that we have
been taught to regard as evil. They are un-
truthful and immoral. The first chapter of the
Epistle to the Romans is still a literal descrip-
tion of heathenism. Its society is utterly
rotten, and nowhere else in all Asia is it more
licentious than in Japan, which is lauded as
the most intelligent and advanced of all Asiatic
nations. We do not forget that there is immor-
ality in America, but here it is compelled to
lurk in secret places. It is opposed not only
by the Churches, but by civil law and public
sentiment. In Asia, vice is public and shame-
less, enshrined in the very temples. We saw
the filthiest representations of it in the great
Lama Temple in the capital of China. India,

Spirit of the Missionary 219

which boasts of its ancient civilization, makes
its most sacred places literally reek with vice.
The missionary often finds his own motives
grossly misjudged by hostile priests and prur-
ient people. The typical Asiatic scoffs at the
idea that the missionaries come to him for an
unselfish purpose. A single man is often mis-
understood; a single woman is nearly always
misunderstood. Heathen customs do not pro-
vide for the pure unmarried woman, and
charges are freely circulated, and sometimes
placarded on walls or buildings, in ways that
are most trying.

The soul in such an atmosphere feels as if suffocating
it would suffocate. The pressure of abnormal At"-"^?""'
conditions tends to debilitation. It sets nerves
on edge and exposes to diseases, mental as
well as physical.

Another phase of the strain of missionary spiritual Burden
life is the spiritual burden. To look upon my-
riads of human beings who are bearing life's
loads unaided and meeting life's sorrows un-
helped, to offer them the assistance that they
need for time and for eternity, and to have
the offer fall upon deaf ears — this is a grievous
thing. Nothing in the missionary life is harder
than this for the man or the woman who has
gone to the foreign field from true missionary
motives. It is akin to the strain that broke
Christ's heart in three years; for it was this

220 Why and How of Foreign Missions

that killed him, and not the nails or the spear.
Physical Danger r^^ie factOF of physical danger is not_ so
common now as formerly, but it is not wantmg,
even to-day. There are martyrs' graves m
India, China, Africa, Persia, Turkey, and the
South Sea Islands. In some lands, missionar-
ies are insolently denied the rights guaranteed
by treaty to every American citizen. Their
property is destroyed, their work hampered,
their freedom of movement limited, their very
lives menaced.
Mission^?e^ The critic impatiently asks: "Why do mis-
persisteri«y^oid gjonaries persist in remaining at their posts,
when they know that they are jeopardizing
their lives, and bringing anxiety to their rela-
tives and embarrassment to their government?
Why do they not fly to the safer ports, as the
British and American consuls often advise
them to do ?
Soldier s^rit Why? Partly for the same reason that the
Spartans did not retreat at Thermopylas, that
the engineer does not jump when he sees that
death is ahead, that the mother does not think
of herself when her boy is stricken with diph-
theria. Shall the missionaries leave the native
Christians to be scattered, the mission build-
ings to be destroyed, the labor of years to be
undone, the Christian name disgraced? The
missionary is a soldier; his station is the post
of duty. James Chalmers of New Guinea of

Spirit of the Missionary 221

whom Robert Louis Stevenson said: "He's
as big as a church," and who was finally
clubbed to death and eaten by cannibals, de-
clared that "the word 'sacrifice' ought never
to be used in Christ's service." And in a
speech in Exeter Hall fifteen years before his
death, he exclaimed: "Recall the twenty-one
years, give me back all its experiences, give
me its shipwrecks, give me its standing in the
face of death, give it me surrounded with sav-
ages with spears and clubs, give it me back
with the spears flying about me, with the club
knocking me to the ground — give it me back,
and I will still be your missionary."

Such missionaries form the "far-flung battle ?hln p"triot?c
line" of the Church of God. The patriotism
of Briton and American is stirred by the
thought that the sun never sets on their do-
minions; but a holier inspiration should thrill
them as they realize that the sun never sets
on their missionaries, who journey through
heat and cold, and dust and mud, burned by
the midday sun, drenched by sudden storms,
eating unaccustomed food, sleeping in vermin-
infested huts, enduring every privation inci-
dent to travel in uncivilized lands — and yet,
in spite of all, instructing native helpers and
church officers, settling disputes, visiting the
dying, comforting the sorrowing, and above
all and in all preaching the glad tidings of the

222 Why and How of Foreign Missions
kingdom; of God. It can be truly said of them :

"There is no place ihcy have not been,
The men of deeds and destiny j-

No spot so wild they have not seen.
And measured it with dauntless eye.

They in a common danger shared,
Nor shrunk from toil, nor want, nor pain."

""•"Devotion Missionary annals abound with inspiring in-
stances of devotion. The last act of Dr.
Eleanor Chesnut, one of the martyrs at Lien-
chou, China, was to tear off a portion of the
skirt of her dress and bind up an ugly gash on
the head of a Chinese boy, who had been ac-
cidently injured by the mob. The dying words
of Mrs. Machle were a plea to her murderers
to accept Christ. The last letter of Mr. Peale
was such a large-hearted expression of sym-
pathy with the Chinese that the Chinese min-
ister at Washington wrote: "His words seem
to me to have a prophetic ring ; in his untimely
death, America has lost a noble son and China
a true friend." The first message of Dr,
Machle, after the tragedy which cost the lives
of his wife and daughter, was not a demand
for revenge, but a vow to consecrate the re-
mainder of his life to the welfare of the Chi-
nese.
j^Vilfthe'wo°rk Some moral triumphs are greater than the
physical victories of war. A medical mission-

spirit of the Missionary 223

ary in Persia refused a palace and a princely
income as personal physician to the Shah, say-
ing : "I came to Persia to relieve the distresses
of the poor in the name of Jesus." An educa-
tor in China declined the high-salaried presi-
dency of an imperial university, giving as his
reason : " I want to translate the Bible and to
preach the gospel and to train up Christian
ministers." An old man in Syria rode horse-
back eight hours in a wintry storm to adminis-
ter the communion in a mountain village.
Another in Siam pushed his little boat up lonely
rivers swarming with crocodiles, and tramped
through snake and tiger-infested jungles, that
he might preach Christ. Still another in Laos
forgot his threescore and ten years and made
a solitary six months' journey that he might
take to distant peoples the tidings of the gospel.
Twenty-six days he was drenched with dew
and rain, ten times he had to swim his pony
across rivers, four days he wearily tramped
because his horse was too jaded to bear him.
A young woman in India walks painfully from
house to house under a blazing sun, but writes :
"This is a delightful work, it is good to be foot-
sore in such a cause." Another in S)rria stands
in a little gallery of a room containing about
ten people, besides cows and goats; the
mud floor reeking with dampness, the roof
dripping tiny waterfalls of rain, the air heavy

Pathetic Scenes

224 Why and How of Foreign Missions

with smoke, the missionary herself racked with
cough and flushed with fever; but tenderly
treating two hundred patients a week and writ-
ing: "I am very thankful to record God's
goodness to me; I do not believe that ever be-
fore into one person's life came such opportu-
nities as I enjoy." A physician in Korea
cleanses loathsome ulcers, opens the eyes of
the blind, and makes the lame to walk. A
refined woman in China makes regular visits
to a leper colony and ministers lovingly to re-
pulsive sufferers with sightless eyes and rotting
limbs.

And then the scene changes and a sick hus-
band in Turkey asks that the photograph of
his wife and children may be hung close to
his bed, that he might gaze with inexpressible
yearning into the faces of far-off dear ones
whom he never expects to see again in the
flesh. Alfred Marling, seventy miles from
a physician, dies in the furnace of African
fever, singing:

"How sweet the name of Jesus sounds!"

A mother in a Syrian shed lines a rude box,
places in it the still form of her child, sends
it away for distant burial ; and then goes back
to her sick husband and tries to keep up a brave
face and not let him know that her heart is
breaking. There are little groups of moving

spirit of the Missionary 225

people — ^husbands following to far-off ceme-
teries the hallowed dust of their wives, widows
walking behind the coffins of their husbands,
Rachel mothers weeping for their children and
"refusing to be comforted because they were
not." "Six weeks after my arrival in China,"
a missionary writes, "my wife, though but
shortly before in America adjudged physically
sound, died after only a week's illness. The
memories of the cold, bleak, January morning
when we laid her in that lonely grave upon the
hillside will not soon fade from my mind.
What a mournful little procession it was that
passed through the streets of hostile Tsi-nan fu
that day ! With but half a dozen of my new-
found friends, I followed the plain coffin borne
by coolies, whose jargon seemed all the more
unsympathetic because I did not undertsand
it. Oh ! the unspeakable desolation that sweeps
over a little community such as many of our
mission stations are, when death invades its
feeble ranks. And then the stifled wail that
reechoed from America three months later!"

Who can think untooved of that missionary wfaowln"
widow, who, when her husband died at an in- ^'^'"
terior station of Siam, and there was no place
nearer than Bangkok where the body could
be buried, caused the coffin to be placed in a
native boat, leaving a space of eighteen inches
wide and eight feet long on eadi side. She

226 Why and How of Foreign Missions

sat on one side and a friend on the other, and
the native boatmen pushed the craft out upon
the river. That was eight o'clock Friday-
morning. All day they journeyed under the
blazing tropical sun, and the reader can imag-
ine what that meant both to the living and
the dead. When darkness fell, the stars surely
looked down in pity upon that stricken widow
crouching so close to the dead body of her
husband that she could not avoid touching his
coffin. It was not until two-o'clock Saturday
afternoon that the pitiful ride ended at
Bangkok. Flesh and blood could not have
borne such a strain, if God had not heard the
dying petition of the husband, who, foreseeing
the coming sorrow, had brokenly prayed:
"Lord, help her!"
D"a°datHome ^^^ aloug thc missiouary picket-line are the
graves of the fallen. Since, two generations
ago, Dr. Lowrie buried his wife in India, and
Mrs. Reed saw her husband's body weighted
with shot and lowered into the ocean, hun-
dreds have laid down their lives. When the
soldiers of our country die in a foreign land,
a grateful nation brings their bodies home at
public expense. After the Spanish American
war, a funeral ship entered New York harbor,
amid the booming of minute guns from forts
and ships. Two days later, public buildings
were closed and ensigns were hung at half-mast.

Spirit of the Missionary 227

while the honored dust was borne through
the nation's capital to historic Arlington. Al
vast multitude thronged the beautiful city of
the dead. As the flag-draped coffins appeared,
a ghostly voice seemed to say to the silent
host: "Hats oflf, gentlemen! for yonder come
the riderless steeds, the reversed arms, the
muffled drums. Something is here for tears."
The President, admirals, generals, statesmen,
diplomats, bared their heads. The weird music
of "The Dead March" melted into the sweeter
strains of "Nearer, my God, to Thee." The
parting volleys were fired. Clearly and sol-
emnly the bugler sounded taps, and the mul-
titude turned away with tear-dimmed eyes to
talk of a noble monument to commemorate the
lives of heroes.

But the dead soldiers of the cross lie where h°"'-'''

Missionary

they fell on our lonely missionary outposts — Graves
amid the jungles of Africa, in the swamps of
Siam, beside the rivers of China, and under the
palm-trees of India. If we may adapt the
words of Mary H. Kingsley to a class that
she did not have in mind: "I trust that those
at home will give all honor to the men still
working in Africa, or rotting in the weed-
grown, snake-infested cemeteries and the for-
est swamps — men whose battles have been
fought out on lonely beaches far away from
home and friends and often from another

228 Why and How of Foreign Missions

white man's help, sometimes with savages, but
more often with a more deadly foe, with none
of the anodyne to death and danger given by
the companionship of himdreds of fellow sol-
diers in a fight with a foe you can see, but with
a foe you can see only incarnate in the dreams
of your delirium, which runs as a poison in
burning veins and aching brain — the dread
West Coast fever."
"^ wor°k«I Edward Everett Hale's poem, "All Souls,"
eloquently voices the debt which succeeding
generations owe to the courage and fidelity
of the forgotten missionary as well as to the
pioneer settler:

"What was his name? I do not know his name:
I only know he heard God's voice and came.
Brought all he loved across the sea.
To live and work for God — and me;
Felled the ungracious oak.
Dragged from the soil
With torrid toil
Thrice gnarled roots and stubborn rock.
With plenty piled the haggard mountainside.
And at the end, without memorial, died;
No blaring trumpet sounded out his fame;
He lived, he died ; I do not know his name.

"No form of bronze and no memorial stones
Show me the place where lie his moldering bones.

Only a cheerful city stands.

Built by his hardened hands ;
Only ten thousand homes.

Spirit of the Missionary 229

Where every day
The cheerful play
Of love and hope and courage comes.
These are his monument and these alone;
There is no form of bronze and no memorial stone."

QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER VIII

Aim : To Appreciate that Spirit which alone is
Sufficient for the Missionary in His Surround-
ings,

1. In what ways is the life of the ordinary miss-
ionary similar to that of minister, physician, or
teacher at home?

2. Mention a number of ways in which obsta-
cles that confronted the earlier missionaries
have been removed.

3. Name the three principal physical discomforts
of the average missionary in the tropics.

4. Mention the same of the average missionary
in the temperate zone.

5- What difference in this respect is there between
those working in civilized and uncivilized re-
gions?

6. Name all the classes of persons with whom
you have helpful social intercourse.

7. What are the principal things that render this
intercourse pleasant and helpful?

8. To what extent are you conscious of common
sympathies with your fellow citizens?

9. How do your privileges in this respect com-
pare with those of the average missionary?

10. iWhich of his social deprivations would be
hardest for you?

230 Why and How of Foreign Missions

11. How does the average missionary compare
with the average minister at home in oppor-
tunities for intellectual stimulus?

12. What are the things from which you derive
most spiritual inspiration and help?

13. How much of these are available for the mis-
sionary at a small station?

14. Try to estimate what you owe to the silent
influence of earnest men in your community.

15. Try to estimate what you owe to public opinion.

16. What effect would it have upon you to be
constantly surrounded by distress which you
were unable to relieve?

17. Why would you hesitate to have a brother of
yours live in a community that was lacking
in high moral ideals?

18. Try to estimate the moral strain upon those
living in heathen communities without a mis-
sionary purpose.

19. What do you think would be the eflfect on
yourself of having to preach for months or
years at a time without results?

20. How, in your opinion, would the average
critic of missionary work succeed in overcoming
these obstacles?

21. Was Christ ignorant of tile difficulty of the
task when he ordered his disciples to teach

all nations?

22. If you were starting as a missionary, what
resolves would you make as to your per-
sonal spiritual life?

23. What resolves would you make as to your
attitude toward your fellow missionaries?

24. What, as to your attitude toward the native
Christians ?

Spirit of the Missionary 231

25. What, as to your attitude toward the non-
christian natives?

26. To what extent would these resolves be useful
for Christians at home?

27. Name the principal things that bring spiritual
stimulus to the missionaries on the field.

28. What are the principal things that you would
include in a full definition of the missionary
spirit?

29. What is the reward to those who overcome
all these obstacles?

References for Advanced Study.— Chapter VIII

I. Learning the Language.

Fox: Missionaries at Work, III.

Graham: East of the Barrier, III.

Hotchkiss: Sketches from the Dark Continent,

V.

Tyler: Forty Years Among the Zulus, II.

Vemer: Pioneering in Central Africa, XXXV.

II. Physical Discomforts of Missionaries.

Fox: Missionaries at Work, III.
Lovett: James Gilmour of Mongolia, VI.
Mills: Africa and Mission Work, IV.
Tyler: Forty Years Among the Zulus, IX, X.

III. Heroism of Missionaries.

Butler: William Butler, IV.
Clark: Robert Qark of the Panjab, XIII.
Du Bose: Memoirs of J. L. Wilson,X, XI.
Mackenzie: Christianity and the Progress of
Man, VI.

Ray: The Highway of Mission Thought, VIII.
World-Wide Evangelization (Toronto Conven-
tion), 157-165.

THE HOME CHURCH AND THE
ENTERPRISE

x$3

I don't know anything that will commit the Church
of Christ more completely to the devotional life, that
will take it more often to the throne of Gk)d, that will
give it more permanently and consistently a sense of
the indwelling of the Spirit of Christ, than this habitual
confronting of the Church's task in the world.

— William Douglas Mackenzie

When we once see that systematic benevolence is
the most wide-reaching embodiment of spiritual energy
and the most Godlike expression of it, we conclude that
our next business as an organization is to cultivate
systematic benevolence. Ours is an educational move-
ment. The great test and sign of advancing culture
is systematic instead of spasmodic expression of the
soul.

— L. Call Barnes

Not alone are the workers to come and be equipped
by prayer; it is only by prayer that we shall call forth
the great energies by which the world is to be evan-
gelized. I believe as earnestly as any man in sending
out adequate numbers of missionaries from America,
but it is not by these men and women that the world
is to be evangelized. If we lay on these men and
women the whole work of evangelizing the world, the
product will not be worth the outlay. . . . And
only by prayer will great leaders be raised up in the
native Churches, and it is for these leaders that we
are waiting now in the missionary enterprise. As far
as the native Churches have had such leaders, during
the century that is gone, they had them as men of
prayer who were supported by prayer.

—Robert B. Spe^r

>34

JX

THE HOME CHURCH AND THE
ENTERPRISE.

WE have considered the phases of the for- ?onlfd«e'd"'**
eign missionary enterprise which are
most important from the view-point of the
home Christian. We have seen that the mo-
tives for the prosecution of the work are those
which form a necessary part of true Christian
character, and that they make their claim upon
every true follower of Christ. We have noted
that a vital part of the aim of foreign missions
is to place every land where it can do its own
home mission work, on a basis which was
reached by the nations of Christendom centu-
ries ago. The work of foreign rtiissions will
be done in China long before China is Christ-
ianized as far as America. We merely wish to
make it possible for China to Christianize
herself.

We have studied the administration of the we'kn^ig'^S us
boards, and found that they observe every
reasonable precaution in securing such economy
as is consistent with efficiency, both as to office
expenses and as to the support of mission-
aries on the field. The money contributed by
the Church is being conscientiously used. We

23s

236 Why and How of Foreign Missions

have explained the qualifications required in
candidates and the care with which they are
selected. Then we have seen the missionary
at work among the distinctive conditions that
confront him. We have observed the problems
involved in the establishment of a self-propagat-
ing, self-supporting, self-governing native
Church — the goal ot missionary endeavor. We
have examined the criticisms of missionaries
which are more or less current, and found them
to be for the most part products either of mis-
understanding or of antichristian prejudice.
Finally, we have shown something of the spirit
of the missionary, a spirit which we are under
equal obligation to exhibit. And now the ques-
tion arises: What are all these things to us?
The Measurej>f The foreign missiouary enterprise is not the
exclusive business of the workers on the field,
nor of the boards at home, nor does it rest
solely upon pastors or members of local mis-
sionary societies. It rests upon every individual
Christian. The responsibilities and privil-
eges of the Christian life are inseparable, and
no one who repudiates the former has any right
to claim the latter. If our nation were en-
gaged in a righteous war, and there came a
special call for troops, those best qualified to
go would feel the obligation to respond, while
enormous appropriations of funds would be
ungrudgingly made. If the first supply of

Home Church and Enterprise 237

troops proved inadequate, if our armies were
defeated and the national treasury exhausted,
it is safe to say that many would offer their
services who were not well fitted to go and
could ill be spared at home, while great finan-
cial sacrifices would be freely made by all
classes of citizens in furnishing the necessary
funds. Only the need would meaisure the
supply. We feel that, whatever the cost,
our flag must be supported when it goes forth
to war. In like manner, the need of the for-
eign missionary campaign ordered by Christ
is the measure of the obligation of the Church.
By a claim even higher than that of patriot-
ism, we have a right to expect that the needs
will be met.

What are the needs? In the first place, Larger Force

^ Needed

the force on the field must be greatly in-
creased. Making all due allowance for the
duty of the growing native churches, we ought
to have at least one man missionary for every
150,000 of the 1,000,000,000 people of the non-
christian world, besides a proportionate num-
ber of women workers. The present force con-
sists of only 8,537 "isn, clerical and lay, and
this number includes the sick, the aged, re-
cruits learning the language, and the consid-
erable number always absent on furlough. It is
safe to say that the effective force of men does
not exceed 7,000, or one for every 142,857 of

238 Why and How of Foreign Missions

the population. This means that the average
board would need to multiply its force nearly
three times in order to provide one man for
every 50,000 people of the non-christian lands.
Giving ieiu'ired '^° support this increase, the present rate
of giving must be proportionately enlarged.
Each man represents an annual cost of ap-
proximately $2,000, this sum covering not
only his support and that of his family, but
his outfit, traveling expenses, and the addi-
tional work which he calls into existence.
Thus, 14,000 more men, would involve an in-
creased expenditure of $28,000,000 a year,
and this would take no account of the prop-
erty that would be required for the residences,
colleges, boarding-schools, theological sem-
inaries, hospitals, and printing-presses which
would have to be provided and equipped.

If volunteers and funds are to be provided
on an adequate scale, the home Church must
be kept informed and aroused to the need.
What we lack is not ability, but interest. A
thoroughly awakened Church could accomplish
a large part of the aim of foreign missions
in a generation. If all congregations and in-
dividuals would do in proportion to their abil-
ity what some congregations and individuals
are already doing, some of us might live to
see the successful termination of the foreign
missionary enterprise; that is, each land, not

A Possible Goal

Home Church and Enterprise 239

indeed completely Christianized, but equipped
with a native Church able to handle its own
problems. The key to the present situation,
therefore, is found ultimately in the interest
of the home Church. Interest depends on the
right sort of knowledge. Our first need is for
a campaign of education.

The three main agencies of education are Ichoof""'""^
the home, the school, and the church. It has
come about that the first-named does very little
that is systematic, and that the two latter have
divided the field, one taking secular and the
other religious instruction. Whatever the
shortcomings of the school, it is at least at-
tacking its problems in earnest. It does its
work on a vast scale and expects taxpayers
to furnish it with adequate equipment. It
claims all the children of school-going age for
twenty to thirty hours each week, and pro-
vides trained and salaried teachers for their
instruction. If there is one thing to which the
American people are thoroughly committed,
it is secular education, and they view these
efforts and meet these demands with supreme
satisfaction.

When we turn to religious education, JJfffelPliou"
we find that much less is being done. The Ed""«°°
Sunday-school is a regular institution in every
section of the country, and an immense army
of scholars assembles everv week. Millions

240 Why and How of Foreign Missions

of quarterlies and other lesson helps are printed
annually, and countrq, state, an dnational or-
ganizations hold numerous conventions to dis-
cuss problems and arouse enthusiasm. We
have great cause for gratitude to God for all
that has been accomplished in the religious
instruction of our children and young people;
but in comparison with secular education we
must admit that there are three conspicuous
weaknesses in the system.
Insufficient I. Rcligious cducatiou receives only a frac-
"°* tion of the time that the secular school obtains,
the period available for class work being only
one fortieth as long. If we consider education
as the handing down of a body of information,
the secular school has certainly more to com-
municate, especially in these latter days. But
if the main purpose of education is to help
us to be and do, rather than merely to know,
the relative importance of the religious side
of education is greatly increased. In any
event, half or three quarters of an hour once
a week does not afford sufficient time.
Rliatlvlfy 2- Teachers receive far less training for
Untrained feligious than for secular work. Small as
are the salaries of the teachers in public
schools, they are not paid over to those al-
together without qualification. On the other
hand, while the body of Sunday-school teach-
ers includes some of the most able and cul-

Home Church and Enterprise 241

tured people in the country, it also includes
many who could never pass the public school
test. In some localities, teachers are in such
demand that any one willing to take a class
is pressed into service, and no questions are
asked.

3. The curriculum of the Sunday-school cS^ruufum''*
is yet very meagre. This is almost a neces-
sary consequence of the two other weaknesses.
There is time for only one thing, which of
course is the Bible, and owing to the gen-
eral lack of trained teachers even this is too
often not presented in any richness of content.
'All other subjects are virtually excluded.

From the missionary view-point, these w^kn^seJ'''^*
weaknesses are most grievous. They mean
that millions of children pass through our
Sunday-schools without any adequate instruc-
tion on the greatest task of the Christian
Church, that millions of our young people
and adults are to-day without any more con-
secutive ideas on the subject than they may
have picked up in merely occasional mission-
ary sermons, or in the too fugitive treatment
of missionary meetings. How shall we reach
these persons with clear, connected, and in-
spiring missionary instruction?

The mission study class has been found a |;"''s'on°study
great help in the solution of this difficult prob- ^'"^^
lem. It avoids the time difficulty by holding sep-

242 Why and How of Foreign Missions

arate sessions for short weekly courses, at hours
that prove most convenient to the small groups
composing them. It is gradually supplying
a body of persons v^ho know something about
missions and are able to teach others. It will
probably be for some time to come the best
way of reaching young people and adults with
systematic missionary instruction. By filling
its members with knowledge and enthusiasm
it will help to make it practicable to introduce
an effective study of missions into the Sunday-
school. Sunday-school teachers of every
church should be strongly urged to enter a
mission study class each year to get a vision
of some field or phase of the missionary enter-
prise. Even under present conditions, they
will then have plenty of opportunity to develop
missionary spirit in their scholars. Without
such a vision, there is no likelihood that they
will accomplish anything under any condi-
tions, however favorable.
^"Le^ders ^^ ™"^* Spread systematic mission study
among all classes in the church, and especially
seek to bring under its influence those who
appear likely to be;:ome future leaders. If the
study and discussion of the facts presented in
this book have helped you, you owe it to the
church to share what you have received with
others by trying to enroll them as members
of new classes. You may feel ill-qualified to

Home Church and Enterprise 243

lead such a class, but the subject, rather than
your ability in presenting it, may arouse those
who will render to the cause a greater service
than is ever permitted to you. A series of sum-
mer conferences and winter institutes are held
every year for the express purpose of training
leaders in more effective methods of work, and
these conferences will be found suggestive and
inspiring.

The systematic study of missions which has Thirproptg'Snd'i
arisen in the past few years is one of the
most promising signs of the times. It should
be pushed until no congregation is without
one or more study classes for the training of
its Sunday-school teachers and the inspira-
tion of its workers. After the way in which
we have neglected this subject in the past,
we owe it a generous apportionment of time
and pains. A strong study class should prove
a power-house for all sorts of missionary ef-
fort in the church. It should lead to instruc-
tive and enthusiastic missionary meetings, to
campaigns of missionary reading, to the in-
troduction- of missionary exercises and supple-
mentary instruction in the Sunday-school, to
the formation of mission bands, and to in-
creased prayer and giving and service on the
part of all the church.

When it comes to giving, we must face GiTt"^^
the fact that the Church members' average an-

244 Why and How of Foreign Missions

nual gift for foreign missions is less than one
dollar per capita. Only about half of the mem-
bership of the average church participates in
the gifts for missions, and many pastors make
no adequate effort to reach the other half. A
committee of one denomination reported, a few
years ago, that nine tenths of the contributions
were made by one tenth of the membership.
Some whole churches give nothing at all, and
others give only through the women's societies,
the pastor and all his officers standing helpless-
ly or indifferently aloof. The plea that they are
small and weak reminds one of some little
home missionary churches, mere handfuls of
poor people, who send offerings for every
one of the boards of the Church. A feeble
congregation is made stronger by doing what
it can. The individual Christian needs to be
educated as to his relation to the world-wide
mission of the Son of God and to give propor-
tionately and prayerfully towards it, whether
he is rich or poor, in a small church or a
large one.
The Antipchian jf gygj. g. congregation had reason to as-
sign local burdens as an excuse for neglecting
foreign missions, it was the little church at
Antioch when the Holy Ghost said : " Separate
me Barnabas and Saul for the work where-
unto I have called them." It was the only
church in a large and wicked city. No church

Home Church and Enterprise 245

in all Europe or America has a greater work
at home, in proportion to its resources. The
devoted little band, however, never flinched;
but "when they had fasted and prayed and
laid their hands on them, they sent them away."
Why should not the modern Church, with its
vastly greater strength, equal the faith and
courage of the church at Antioch?

No sjrmpathy should be wasted over the tx*^u"e'"°The
common excuse that people do not have the colt?IIt
money that is required. They have it in
abundance, and they prove it by spending it
freely on things that minister to their pleas-
ure. If some have too many other burdens,
they should diminish them. The evangeliza-
tion of the world is too important an enter-
prise to take what is left after everything else
has been provided for. Many commercial en-
terprises employ more men and expend more
money than the Church would need for the
evangelization of the world. Business men
do not hesitate to attempt the most colossal
things in secular affairs. Not content with
the trade of America, they are competing with
other nations for the trade of the world. The
foreign commerce of the United States now
runs up to billions of dollars a year. On every
side, we hear of big buildings, big ships, big
factories, big steel plants, which cost immense
sums.

246 Why and How of Foreign Missions

^sflSda"! Why then should it be deemed fanciful for
the Church to attempt to raise for the evangeli-
zation of the world a sum which many of its
members would not regard as impracticable
for a secular enterprise? Shall we work for
our own enrichment on a vast scale and work
for God and our fellow men on a small one?
Surely the Church is able to do this thing.
I grant that not all the wealth of which we
hear so much is tributary to foreign missions,
that many Church members are in moderate
circumstances and that some of them are poor.
I remember, too, that there is Christian work
at home which must be supported. The fact
remains, however, that intelligent, prayerful,
systematic, proportionate giving on the part
of poor and rich alike would provide ample
funds, without injustice to any family or
home obligations. There are thousands of
Christians who do not hesitate to incur per-
sonal expenditures for a hundred times the
amount that they give to foreign missions.
Kxamp^ie The Moravian Church sets an excellent
example to Christendom as to what can be done
when Christians have the right ideas. Most
of its members are poor, but it supports one
missionary for every sixty of its membership;
whereas among Bantists. Congreeationalists,
Methodists, and Presbyterians, with far great-
er wealth, it takes an average of 6,146 mem-

Home Church and Enterprise 247

bers to support one missionary. Allowing for
the aid that Moravian missions receive from
the members of other Churches, the fact re-
mains that, if all Protestant Churches would
send out missionaries in the same proportion
as the Moravians, there would be half a mil-
lion missionaries on the field, a number far
in excess of the number that it Tvould be wise
to send.

We need not go into questions of method Having a Meth.<i
of raising money. Effective ways of doing a
thing will be easily found by one who is
determined to do it. The boards will gladly
send detailed information to all who ask for
it. The important thing is to have a method,
and to work it in such a way as to secure
some offering from every individual, not nec-
essarily large in amount, but proportionate
to ability, and to reach the absentees as well
as those who are present.

We protest, however, against "the two-cent- a Beiittung scaie
a-week" plea. It does not secure the gift of
the poor, it benumbs the liberality of the rich,
and it belittles the whole enterprise. Fancy
a minister standing before a congregation,
whose typical member is wearing $50 worth
of clothing and $25 worth of jewelry, whose
household furniture has cost several thous-
and dollars, who smokes from ten to fifty
cents' worth of tobacco a day, and who com-

248 Why and How of Foreign Missions

mands not only the conveniences, but many
of the luxuries of life — fancy telling such a
man that his foreign missionary responsibil-
ities are met by a gift of two cents a week!
He spends more than that for blacking his
shoes. A proportionate gift for the average
la3TTian is not pennies at all, nor even silver,
but bills or checks.
Broader^spiru ^^ jj^gj^j^ ^^^^ ^j^^^ Hiissionary operations

have gone about as far as they can go in de-
pendence upon the passing-the-hat method
among those who happen to be present at a
given service. Inquiry in a certain State de-
veloped the fact that only forty per cent,
of the reported membership attended church
on a Sunday morning of average weather
conditions. Business men who are present
seldom carry much cash on their persons.
Large givers never have proportionate sums
with them. If, in response to an appeal, they
empty their pockets, they are doing all they
can do, or, at any rate, all they will do under
that system. This is an era of large private
gifts. Almost every week we hear of some
one bestowing $100,000 or $1,000,000 on a
college or library or hospital. The chief de-
pendence of our educational and charitable
institutions is upon contributions of this char-
acter. Is it not almost farcical for the Church
to endeavor to maintain churches, hospitals,

L/\CE
MAKING
INDIA

Home Church and Enterprise 249

schools, colleges, theological seminaries, print-
ing-presses, and a host of missionaries and na-
tive helpers, by plate collections as an annual
incident of public service ? If we are to give
the gospel to the world we must raise money
for missions as we raise it for other big enter-
prises, by subscription. The wisest pastors
are calling for pledges instead of cash. A man
who would unblushingly slip a quarter into
a collection basket would never dream of sign-
ing a card for such a sum. We have passed
the canal-boat and stage-coach days in foreign
missions as well as in transportation. We
must now have money in larger sums. Our
laymen are doing big things in business. Why
should they not do big things for God?

Each church should have a committee of Laymen
laymen to cooperate with the pastor in promot-
ing foreign missionary interest and increas-
ing foreign missionary gifts in the congre-
gation. This committee should do among the
men of the church what the woman's society
does so well among the women. Experience has
shown that the men will make prompt re-
sponse, if intelligent and systematic effort is
put forth to reach them. Right saunce

Whenever an effort is made to increase °*5To"ieS'"*
gifts for foreign missions, there are some
who raise a hue and cry about the alleged di-
version of funds from home enterprises. Al

250 Why and How of Foreign Missions

[Presbytery not long ago refused to permit
a missionary campaign within its bounds, on
the ground that it would interfere with gifts
for other causes. Yet official reports showed
that this Presbytery was giving nearly ten
times as much to home objects as to foreign.
There is a great work to be done in the home-
land, but it is not helped in the least fay
opposition to foreign missions. Giving to
world evangelization enlarges the mind, broad-
ens the sympathies, and so opens the springs of
benevolence that those who do most for for-
eign missions are usually the very ones who do
most for homemissions. Mr.JacobA. Riis,who
has toiled so indefatigably for the poor people
of New York City, says that "for every dol-
lar you give away to convert the heathen
abroad, God gives you ten dollars' worth
of purpose to deal with your heathen at
home." "A religion," adds Dr. Clarke, "can-
not be. really strengthened at home by de-
clining to extend its blessings abroad. It is
a complete misunderstanding of Christianity
to suppose that some Christian Church or
country, by concentrating its attention and
labors upon itself, can so accumulate power
as to be able to turn in full vigor to do its
Christian work for others at some later date.
It was said long ago that Christianity is a com-
modity of which the more we export the more

Home Church and Enterprise 251

we have at Home. It is equally true that the
less we export the less we may find at home."

The pastor has the chief responsibility in rfyL°t«"'""*'
this effort to arouse the Church. But not all
pastors are meeting their obligations in this
matter, and even the most zealous pastor can
accomplish little without the support of his
members. The first advance move may need
to come from some one in the congregation.
The work must be done whether the pastor
is willing to occupy his rightful place of lead-
ership or not.

Appeals should not be based solely on fi- con"dera«oS
nancial necessities. The cause is cheapened
by too much begging and pleading. The fact
that an enterprise wants money is not a suffi-
cient reason why it should receive it, nor is
the begging argument apt to secure anything
more than the beggar's temporary dole. Do
not apologize or talk about "the needs of the
board." As the late President Harrison pith-
ily said: "The man whose grocery bills are
unpaid might just as well talk about the needs
of his butler. Present your need, the needs
of the Church, the needs of the world, those
claims which Church membership implies and
which are more than life in that personal re-
lation with the great Head of the Church."
If hearers complain: "Missions, missions, al-
ways missions;" reply in the words of Bishop

i2S2 .Why and How of Foreign Missions

Doane of Albany: "Yes, always missions, be-
cause they are the life-blood, the heart-beat,
the lungs-breath of the body of Jesus Christ."
Personal There are many persons who can contribute

Devotion "' ^ .

wit^h Sound jjuj; little money to the missionary cause, who
are able to render service of positive value by
devoting their energies to stimulating in-
terest in the Church. Work of this kind may
count for more in the end than large gifts that
are now being received. Two things should
be kept in mind to this end. First, the service
should be offered in the same spirit of sacri-
fice which we expect our missionaries on the
field to manifest. The worker should not be
discouraged if the obstacles are at first very
great, but should work and pray the way
through to success. In the second place, great
care must be taken to avoid alienating people
by tactless behavior. We often see persons
of undoubted zeal and consecration who make
the cause they espouse a b3rword in the com-
munity on account of the methods they employ
to advertise it. It would be a good thing if
we could see ourselves more frequently as
others see us; the nearest approach to this is
the candid advice of friends who have sound
judgment.
*'°* ^"^sl'Sljnes We must keep prominent before the Church
the call to life-service on the field. There are
so many who are not free to go or who are

Home Church and Enterprise 253

not fit to go, that the burden of proof rests
heavily upon those who have the qualifica-
tions to show that they are exempt. Num-
bers of young men and women who have no
obligation that would prevent them from ac-
cepting a lucrative business position in a for-
eign land and whom the boards would be
glad to appoint drift into other lines of work
every year, largely because the claims of for-
eign missionary service have never been per-
sonally brought to their attention. If any
of us would feel gratified at having obtained
for some young friend the opportunity to earn
a good salary, we should feel that we had con-
ferred a much greater favor by enabling him
to have a personal share in the spread of the
kingdom of God abroad. If the end of life
is use and not gain, we should seek positions
of the greatest usefulness both for ourselves
and for others.

Studying, giving, and preaching, however, g'ay'nfchu^rch
will be of little avail unless praying accompan-
ies and pervades them. The foreign mission-
ary enterprise is essentially spiritual in char-
acter, and the prayers of the home Church are
a real asset in conducting it.

It is sadly true, however, that many profes- °fle^|em^°'^''^'
sing Christians never pray for the missionary '''3°'==
enterprise from one year's end to the other,
except unconsciously as they utter the Lord's

254 Why and How of Foreign Missions

prayer. What excuse can they give? Either
disbelief in the power of prayer or sheer ig-
norance and lack of interest would seem to be
the only possible answers. The latter may be
your fault or mine. There is greatly needed
some systematic effort to develop a praying
Church. Foreign missions should have a
stated place in the private and family prayer
of every Christian. It already has such a place
in thousands of homes. Many of the boards
publish year-books in which missionaries'
names and some phase of their work appear
in connection with each day of the year. Such
daily remembrance, especially if supplemented
by information to be found in the yearly re-
port of the board and the missionary maga-
zines of the Church, will in time give one a
sympathetic knowledge of the whole field and
bring no small cheer to the lonely workers far
away. Englishmen exulted in the fact that,
at a given hour on the day of Queen Vic-
toria's Jubilee, June 20, 1897, "God save the
Queen" was sung in all the churches and on
all the ships of the British empire, so that
■with the progress of the sun, jubilant voices
upraised the national anthem westward over
oceans and continents until the mighty chorus
rolled around the world. In like manner, if
Christians in the homeland were to lift their
voices in prayer for missions every morning.

Home Church and Enterprise 255

the entire globe would be belted daily with
never-ending petitions to God.

Such praying constitutes a more vital ele- f^^l^'^iHom^'
ment in missionary success than is commonly ib^rolJ''"'"'^^
supposed. The faith of the four friends who
brought the palsied man to Christ was one
of the essential factors in the miracle of grace
that followed. "And Jesus seeing their faith,
saith unto the sick of the palsy. Son, thy
sins are forgiven." The very largeness
of the enterprise summons us to a mighty con-
fidence in God. Foreign missions is the great-
est task in the world, but we are not conduct-
ing it alone. It was laid upon us by him who
declared that "all authority" was given unto
him and that he would be with his disciples "al-
ways." He is strong in power and infinite
'in resources, " able to save," and he calls us
to be coworkers with him. Enthusiam and
determination in our response will spell vic-
tory abroad.

The Church may well consider the relation P^^er Given for
of spiritual power to missionary zeal. It is
a fundamental law of the kingdom that power
is given to be used for others.

The New Testament makes this very clear. pro'd"°iS ?^i"*
The Holy Spirit was given in order that the Early witnesses
disciples might become witnesses.^ Before

^John XV. 26, 27; xvi. 7, 8; Acts i. 8.

256 Why and How of Foreign Missions

Pentecost, they had no interest in world evan-
gelization; but when the Holy Spirit came
upon them, they became evangelists to a man.
The remainder of the Book of Acts is a won-
derful record of evangelistic spirit and ex-
tensibn. The early Church was preeminently
a missionary Church and its members pro-
claimed the gospel in almost every part of the
then known world.
Deepening of j^ would be interesting to cite m detail the

Spiritual Life At- o

tended by Miss- iHustrations incamatcd in Ulfilas, Columba,

lonary Advance '

Rayniund Lull, and Von Welz. Significant
also from tliis view-point is the rise of Pietism
with its luminous names of Francke and
Spener, Ziegenbalg and Schwartz. Zinzendorf
and Moravianism, Wesley and Methodism,
have their place in such a study, for without
them we could hardly understand the new era
of missions which began with Carey. In
America, tlT« work of Brainerd and Edwards
was directly related to a new baptism of the
Holy Spirit. It was not an accident that sev-
eral of the missionary organizations of the
nineteenth century were born during the great
revivals of the first two decades, or a mere
coincidence that the forward movement in
missions that characterized the closing years
of that century 4ated from the extraordinary
revivals of 1875-6. The teaching of history
on this subject is unbroken. Every deepen-i

Home Church and Enterprise 257

ing of the spiritual life has been followed
by a new effort to give the gospel to the
world; but there is no record anywhere of the
Holy Spirit's power remaining with any
Church which did not use it in witnessing
for Christ.

Here is one cause of the poverty of spir- TheChurchMust

,.,. _^, „, , . ,. , , Live More With

itual life. The Church is living too much Christ
for itself. God has already given it enough
power to evangelize Europe and America half
a dozen times over. Is it reasonable to suppose
that he will increase that power simply for this
purpose? This suggests the remedy both for
a low spiritual vitality at home and the com-
parative failure to support the missionary en-
terprise on an adequate scale. The Church
must be spiritually quickened. Foreign mis-
sions is primarily a spiritual movement and
only spiritual people will adequately maintain
it. Dr. Arthur Mitchell was wont to say:
"The cause of foreign missions goes down to
the roots of the spiritual life, and we need
look for no abundance of fruit until that life
is enriched." When Henry Martyn, as he
lay burning with fever in Persia, received a
letter asking how the missionary interest of
the Church at home could be increased, the dy-
ing saint replied: "Tell them to live more
with Christ; to catch more of his spirit; for
the sph-it of Christ is the spirit of missions,

258 Why and How of Foreign Missions

and the nearer we get to him the more intense-
ly missionary we must become."
To-Day's imper- Never bcfore has the summons been so im-
at.ve Summons ^^^^^^^^ ^g j^ -g ^^.^ay. Practically the whole

non-christian world is now accessible. Men
in other spheres are recognizing the opportu-
nity. Governments are pressing into the open
doors and straining every nerve to influence
these awakening nations. Business firms in
Europe and America are keenly alive to the
situation and are sending their agents to the
remotest parts of the earth. The Greek and
Roman Catholic Churches are pouring priests
and brothers, monks and nuns, into heathen
lands and spending vast sums in equipping them
with churches and schools. The Mohamme-
dans are flooding Africa with zealous mission-
aries. The Protestant Churches should re-
double their efforts, that they may mold
these new conditions before hostile in-
fluences become established. It is not a
rhetorical figfure, but the sober truth that
it would take treble the sum that the
Churches are now giving to handle the
situation in an adequate way.
"We can^oH Each Church should immediately consider
its distinct missionary responsibility and effect-
ively plan to meet it. Many Churches are al-
ready doing this, and the others should follow
their example. There is no valid reason why

Home Church and Enterprise - 259

every city and village on the planet should not
hear the gospel within the next fifty years, and
have, too, a native Church so far developed
that it could assume the chief duty of com-
pleting the work. This is the tremendous
question of the day: Will the Church rise to
the opportunity which confronts her? The
cause of Christ is straitened, not by the Holy
Spirit, not by the heathen, but only by our-
selves. We believe, with Father Hecker, that
"a body of free men, who love God with all
their might, and yet know how to cling to-
gether, could conquer this modern world of
ours." "We can do it, if we will."

We are not prophets, but as we face the i^g 'STovemVn""'""
future, may we not see a vision, not the base-
less dream of the enthusiast, but the reason-
able expectation of those who believe that the
divine Hand guides the destinies of men.
This vision is that the movement for the evan-
gelization of the world will grow to more and
more majestic proportions until all men shall
know the Lord. Reports from widely sepa-
rated fields amply justify this vision. Every
mail is burdened with them. Apart from the
rapidly increasing number of converts, there
are unmistakable signs that a great movement
has begun. The very fact that heathen sys-
tems are passing from indifference to hostility
and feel obliged to conceal their coarser prac-

26o -Why and How of Foreign Missions

tises and to emphasize their better features is
a tribute to the growing power of Christian-
ity. Society in Asia is becoming more ashamed
of open vice. Standards of conduct are grow-
ing purer. The character of Christ is univer-
sally conceded to be the loftiest in history.
What Benjamin Kidd calls the altruistic ideas
of Christianity have been liberated in non-
christian nations and they are slowly but
surely transforming them. The traveler
in those vast continents becomes con-
scious of the working of mighty forces
that are creating conditions more favor-
able to the rapid triumph of the gos-
pel. He is impressed, not so much by the
actual number of those already converted, as
by the strength of the current which is sweep-
ing majestically toward the goals of God. He
feels, with Gibson, that the situation is sat-
isfactory; not that we are contented with our-
selves or with our work, but that "a crucial
experiment has been made. We know what
can be done and can predict results." We see
that we are in the trend of the divine purpose
and that " his day is marching on."
Petition for a Love "May the coustrainiug memories of the

Keeping Nothing ■' ° ,

Back cross of Christ and that great love wherewith
he loved us be so in us that we may pass that
love on to those who are perishing. May
he touch all our hearts with the spirit of self-

Home Church and Enterprise 261

sacrifice and with the inspiration of that love
of his which, when he came to redeem the
world, kept nothing back!" ^

QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER IX

Aim : To Realize the Personal Responsibility of
Ourselves and Other Christians at Home

I. Summarize as strikingly as possible a single
conclusion you have reached from each of the
preceding chapters.

2. In view of the need of the work, state what
you consider to be the duty of the average
Christian.

3. Compare the cost of the foreign missionary
enterprise in men and money with that of
the American navy.

4. Which is worse, a citizen who dodges his taxes,
or a Christian who dodges his foreign mis-
sionary obligation? Give reasons for your
view.

5. Wliat proportion of the 20,000,000 members
of evangelical Churches in the United States
would need to go abroad to supply the need
for men?

6. What would be the weekly assessment on each
Church member to raise the additional funds
needed ?

7. How does the fact that so many are ignorant or
indifferent affect the responsibility of those
who know something about foreign missions
and are interested in it?

'Mrs. Isabella Bird Bishop.

262 Why and How of Foreign Missions

8. What place ought a subject so important as
foreign missions to have in the education of
every Christian?

9. How does it seem to you to compare in im-
portance with ancient history?

10. How can we secure more time for religious
education?

11. How can we secure teachers with better
training ?

12. Arrange the subjects that should be included
in the curriculum of religious education in the
order of their importance.

13. What are the principal advantages of the mis-
sion study class as an educational agency?

14. What special responsibility do you think rests
upon those who have been members of a mission
study class?

15. Write out what you think might be done in
organizing mission study classes in your own
congregation.

16. What do you consider the principal reason
why comparatively so little money is given
to foreign missions?

17. What plans do you think would be most effec-
tive in increasing the amount given by your
own congregation?

18. What are the principal motives that should be
urged in making an appeal for money for for-
eign missions?

19. Mention several ways in which a home Christ-
ian of limited means might aid the missionary
enterprise.

20. What missionary organization ought each local
congregation to have?

ai. Wliat systematic m«thods should the local

Home Church and Enterprise 263

congregation adopt to raise up volunteers for
the foreign field?

22. How personal do you think you have a right
to become in suggesting foreign missionary
service to another?

23. What good excuses can you give for not pray-
ing for foreign missions?

24. What methods can you suggest for promoting
prayer for foreign missions in a community?

25. What suggestions for subjects of prayer have
you gained from this course?

26. In what ways will interest in foreign miseions
help- home missions?

27. Is any other cause so neglected in proportion
to its importance as is foreign missions?

28. Sum up the principal needs of the foreign
missionary enterprise.

29. Which of these needs in your opinion is
being most adequately and which least ade-
quately met?

30. Why are these needs especially urgent just
now?

References for Advanced Study. — Chapter IX

I. Christian Stewardship}

Bosworth : The New Testament Conception of the
Disciple and His Money. (Pamphlet)
Students and the Misjjpnary Problem (London
Conference), 153-166.

Students and the Modem Missionary Crusade
'(Nashville Convention), 606-609.

'Nearly every mission board or society can furnish good
pamphlets on this subject, so the Secretary of the denomina-
tional mission board or society should be addressed.

264 Why and How of Foreign Missions

The Church and Missionary Education (Pitts-
burg Convention), 133-138.

World-Wide Evangelization (Toronto Conven-
tion), 178-199.

II, Prayer and Missions.

Missionary Issues of the Twentieth Century (New
Orleans Conference), 80-88.
Mott: The Pastor and Modem Missions. V.
Murray: The Key to the Missicmary Problem,
IV, V, IX.

Pierson: The New Acts of the Apostles, Part II,
Chap. I; Part V, Chap. XIII.
The Church and Missionary Education (Pitts-
burg Convention), 153-169.

SELECT bibliography;

36s

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

General

Barton, James L. The Missionary and His Critics.
SJ4 X 734 ; PP- 23S ; 1906. Fleming H. Revell Co.,

New York. $1.00 net. ;

i

A trenchant reply to criticisms made by tourists, journalists,
foreign residents, government officials, and others, in regard to
foreign mission work.

Barton, James L. The Unfinished Task. 5 x 7^.
pp. 211; 1908. Student Volunteer Movement for
Foreign Missions, New York. 50 cents.

A splendid review of the meaning, obligation, extent, ob-
stacles, and success of Christian missions.

Bashford, James W. God's Missionary Plan for the
World. 5 y. 7yi; pp. viii, 178; 1907. Eaton &
Mains, New York. 75 cents.

The Biblical basis for missions and the divine method of
work, lllastrated by work in China.

Clarke, William Newton. A Study of Christian Mis-
sions. sJ4 X 7^ ; pp. 268 ; igoo. Charles Scribner's
Sons, New York. $1.25.

A thoughtful volume on missions and mission theory writ-
ten from the modern view-point.

267

268 Why and How of Foreign Missions

Dennis, James S. Christian Missions and Social Pro-
gress. 3 Vols. Illustrated; 6^ x 9. Vol. I.
pp. xvi, 468; 1897: Vol. II, pp. xxvi, 486; 1899:
Vol. Ill, pp. xxxvi, 675 ; 1906. Fleming H. Revell
Co., New York. $2.50 per vol.

Gives a full view of the social problems of the non-Christ-
ian world, and their solution by Christian missions. Un-
doubtedly the most superior work ever published on this sub-
ject.

Hall, Charles Cuthbert. The Universal Elements of
the Christian Religion. SJ^ x 7^; pp. 309; 1905.
Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. $1.25.
A conception of the world-position of Christianity from
the modern view-point.

Lawrence, Edward A. Introduction to the Study of
Foreign Missions. 5x75^; pp. 143; 1901. Stu-
dent Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions,
New York. 40 cents.

Contains chapters selected from Modern Missions in the East,
bearing upon some of the important phases of missionary
work and the work of the missionary.

Mackenzie, William Douglas. Christianity and the Pro-
gress of Man. S by 754; pp. 250; 1897. Fleming
H. Revell Co., New York. $1.25.

A splendid discussion of the work of the foreign missionary
as pioneer, translator, educator, and a factor in uplifting the
people.

Mott, John R. The Evangelization of the World in
this Generation. 5 x. 714; pp. 245 ; 1900. Student
Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions, New
York. $1.00.

A strong argument setting forth the meaning, obligation, pos-
sibilities, and essentials of world-wide conquest.

Select Bibliography 269

Speer, Robert E. Missions and Modern History. 2
Vols, syi X 8J4; pp. 714; 1904. Fleming H.
Revell Co., New York. $4.00.

An excellent discussion of twelve important world movemenls
affecting missions.

Welsh, R. E. The Challenge to Christian Missions.
S X 754 ; PP- 188 ; 1902. R. H. AUenson, London.
Cloth, 60 cents; paper, 30 cents.

-A convincing reply to the criticisms that foreign missions
cause political disturbances, are unnecessary, and produce no
results.

Lindsay, Anna R. B. Gloria Christ!. 5 x 7j4; pp. ix,
302; 1908. The Macmillan Company, New York.
Cloth, so cents ; paper, 30 cents.

An outline study of missions and social progress.

Religions

Menzies, Allan. History of Religion. S x 7; pp. xiii,
438; 1895. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.
$1.50.

A most satisfactory review of ancient and present-day reli-
gions from the modern standpoint.

Religions of Mission Fields as Viewed by Protestant
Missionaries. S x 7H; PP- x, 300; igoS- Student
Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions, New
York, so cents.

A brief yet comprehensive ftatement by missionaries of nine
of the most important non-christian religions.

270 Why and How of Foreign Missions

Africa

Jack, James W. Daybreak in Livingstonia. Illustrated ;
map; SM X 8; pp. 371; IQOO. Fleming H. Revell
Co., New York. $1.50.

A most excellent discussion of missionary methods based upon
the work of a great mission station in Africa.

Naylor, Wilson S. Daybreak in the Dark Continent.
Illustrated; maps; SJ4 x 7J^; pp. xiv, 315; 1908.
Young People's Missionary Movement of the
United States and Canada, New York. 50 cents.

The best brief, yet comprehensive review of Africa.

South America

Brown, Hubert W. Latin America. Illustrated; Sj4
X 7H'y PP- 308; 1901. Reming H. Revell Co.,
New York. $1.20.

The best general account of the people, their worship, and
missionary work, in South America.

Chinese Empire

Brown, Arthur Judson. New Forces in Old China.
Fourth Edition ; illustrated ; map ; SJ4 x Syi ;
pp. 382. Fleming H. Revell Co., New York.
$1.50 net.

One of the best informed, judicial, and really illuminating
books on China.

Gibson, J. Campbell. Mission Problems and Mission
Methods in South China. Illustrated; map;
554 X 8; pp. 334; 1901. Fleming H. Revell Co.,
New York. $1.50.

An excellent volume, treating missionary problems, their

failures, successes, and achievements.

Select Bibliography 271

Smith, Arthur H. China and America To-Day. SJ4 x
7J4; PP- 256; 1907. Fleming H. Revell Co., New
York. $1.25 net.

A stimulating discussioti of the relation of the United
States to China.

Soothill, W. E. A Typical Mission in China. Illus-
trated; SJ4 X 8J4; pp. xi, 293; 1907. Fleming
H. Revell Co., New York. $1.50.

Mission problems and mission methods discussed by one who
has had wide experience and knows how to write.

Centenary Missionary Conference (Shanghai, 1907).

Illustrated; 554 x 9; pp. xxxvii, 823. American

Tract Society, New York. $2.50.
This report contains the best material on missionary work in
China.

Indian Empire

Cochrane, Henry Park. Amofig the Burmans. Illus-
trated; S^ X 8; pp. 281; 1904. Fleming H. Revell
Co., New York. $1.25.

Treats Burmese religions, superstitions, and social customs,
and the results of missionary work, as seen by a missionary.

Fuller, Mrs. Marcus B. The Wrongs of Indian Woman-
hood. Illustrated; sH x 7K; PP- 302; 1900.
Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. $1.25.

Probably the best discussion of the wrongs imposed by
heathenism upon the women of India.

Jones, John P. India's Problem; Krishna or Christ.
Illustrated; sM x 8>i; pp. 381; 1903- Fleming
H. Revell Co., New York. $1.50.

Except for a general view in the first chapter, the whole
book is devoted to a discussion of the religions of India, with
the emphasis upom Hinduism. An extremely valuable volume.

37a tWhy and How of Foreign Missions

Japan

Bacon, Alice Mabel. Japanese Girls and Women.

4^ X 6J4; PP- 333', 1891. Houghton, Mifflin &

Co., New York. $1.25.
Gives an excellent view of the womanhood »f Japan, espe-
cially the life of the women of the higher classes.

De Forest, John H. Sunrise in the Sunrise Kingdom.

Illustrated; map; 5J4 x 7^; pp. 233; 1904- Young

People's Missionary Movement of the United

States and Canada, New York. 5° cents.

A brief and interesting account of Japan, its people, their

religions, and missionary work.

Korea

Gale, James S. The Vanguard. Illustrated; S^ x
8; pp. 320; 1904. Fleming H. Revell Co., New
York. $1.50.

A story of missionaries at work in Korea, illustrating the
effect of Christian missions.

Underwood, Horace G. The Call of Korea. Illus-
trated; 554 X 8; pp. 204; 1908. Fleming H.
Revell Co., New York. 75 cents net.
The most up-to-date missionary book on the subject.

Underwood, L. H. Fifteen Years Among the Top-
Knots. Illustrated; SJ4 x 8; pp. xviii, 271; 1904.
American Tract Society, New York, $1.50.

While this work has a denominational cast, yet it mentions
other missionaries and gives a most interesting peep into Korean
life.

Oceania

Brown, Arthur Judson. The New Era in the Philip-
pines. Illustrated; maps; sJ/^ x 8; pp. 314; 1903.
Fleming H. Revell Co., New York, $1.25. Paper-

Select Bibliography 273

covered edition, without illustrations. Student
Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions,
New York, 35 cents.

A most interesting account of a tour by a discerning missionar7
secretary.

Paton, James. John G. Paton's Autobiography.
Hebrides. Illustrated; map; SJ^ x 8; pp. xv, 869;
1898. Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. $1.50.

Probably the most stimulating and helpful account of a
modern missionary apostle.

Stuntz, Homer C. The Philippines and the Far East.
Illustrated; maps; S^ x 8; pp. 514; 1904. Jen-
nings and Graham, Chicago. $1.75-

A general view of the Islands, the people, the government,
and missionary work, by one with first-hand experience.

INDEX

27S

INDEX

Adherents, The status of,
149

Administration, 46; 51, S7

"Advance agent of civilza-
tion," The, 17

Africa, 9, 17, 23, 83, loi,
lOS, 184, 192, 212, 227, 258 ;
a recruiting trip in, 136,
137; Alfred Marling dy-
ing in, 224

African traits, 52, 100, 152

Age limit. The, 69 ,

Aim in mission work. The,
8-22, 235

"Alien civilization," An,
199

Allahabad, Plague scenes m,

133
All-round candidate. The,

71

American Baptist Mission-
ary Union, 38

American Board of Com-
missioners For Foreign
Missions, Z7

Ancestors, The white
man's, 202

Apostolic succession, 16

Appeals to high motives,
251

Application blanks, 82

Argument from results.
The, 19, 23

Asiatic, Christians, 164 ;
Churches, 164-169

Asiatics, Creeds of, 163;
colleges established by,
126 .

Associate missionaries, 78

Asylum, Dr. Kerr's, 218
Attitude of the Church at

home. The proper, 170
Avison, A patient of Dr.,

131
Awakening, nations, 258 ;

of China, 189

"Bachelors' hall," Tj
Bangkok, Incident in the

school at, 123
Baptist Church mission

methods, 36, 38
Barbaric ancestors. Our,

202
Barnes, L. Call, quoted,

234

Barrett, Hon. John, 192

Barton, James L., quoted,
89, 90, 176, 210

Bible, Asiatic origin, 169;
circulation, 127-129 ;
Societies, 128; transla-
tion, 126, 129

Bishop, Mrs. Isabella Bird,
186

Bliss, Dr. Edwin M., quot-
ed, 42

Boards, Duties and work of
mission, 36-43; their ob-
ject in controlling gifts, 54

Boxer uprising. The, 187

Brainerd, David, referred
to, 256

Brown, Governor, quoted,
72

Browning, quotea, 141

Bryan, William Jennings,
186

277

278

Index

Bryce, James, quoted, 176
Burial services contrasted,

226
Business plans. Modem co-
lossal, 344

Call, Missionary, 82-84; to
life service on the field,
252, 253
Campaign, not crusade, 59
Candidates, Selection of,

67-84
Canton, A visitor to, lao,

181; Dr. Kerr of, 217
Carey, William, referred

23, 256
Carroll, Dr. H. K., referred

to, 203
Central agency needed. A,

34. 35

Chalmers, James, quoted,
221 ; referred to, 220

Chang Chih-tung, quoted on
Confucianism, 201

Changes in world con-
ditions. Significant, 4

Charity at home, 193

Cheerfulness a requisite on
the mission field, 74

Chesnut, Dr. Eleanor, 223

Children, in heathen lands,
121 ; of missionaries, 78 ;
separation from, 216

China, 23, loi, 103, 112, 121,
137, 141, 163, 200, 214, 216,
217, 227 23s; awakening
of, 189; martyrs in, 187,
188; visitors in, 100

China's Only Hope, quoted,
201

Chinese, Bible, 128; other
books, 129; preference for
literature, 129

Christian, Asiatics, 169;
forms the central mis-

' sionary motive, 5-17; way

to influence the world, 198

Church agencies, 37

Church of England me-
thods, 37

Churches and workers, 194

Civilization as a missionary
motive, 17, 18

Civilizations, of some non-
christian lands, 21

Qarke, Dr. William N.,
quoted, 2, 41, 57, 93. 250

Clerks in Oriental countries,

93

Colleges, as a part of mis-
sionary educational work,
122-126 ; established by
Asiatics, 126

Co) iUhoun, quoted, 184

Comfort, Ideas of, 103

Command of Christ, The,
10, 16

Committee and departments.
Duties of, 43

Common sense most use-
ful, 71

Compensation not attempt-
ed, 91

Complex work in foreign
fields, 34

Confucianism, Chang Chih-
tung on, 201

Conger, Hon. E. H., quoted,
180

Congregational Church
methods, 36, 37

Converts, some statistics
concerning, 187

Cost, of administration, 46;
of home Churches and
institutions, 195, 196; of
living in heathen lands,

94
Cows, Respect accorded to,

122
Criticism, An absurd, 96;

Index

279

can be legitimate, 177,
178; from friends, 178;
from the ignorant, 178-
182; from the unsympa-
thetic, 182-184; from the
vile and criminal, 184,
185; other current types,
185-205

Cuba, Our experience in,
103

Cust, Dr., quoted, 34

Darwin, Qiarles, quoted,

185, 186
Deaf-mutes, Appeal of the,

218
Debt, The question of, 48
Denby, Hon. Charles, 186,

187, 190, 199, 201
Denominational boards, 36
Despisers of difficulties, 73
Discomforts of mission

lands, 93, 212, 213
Dispensaries, 133
Divine guidance assured,

168; looked for, 60
Doane, Bishop, quoted, 252
Doctrinal views, of candi-
dates, 75, 76; of native

Churches, 163-169
Donors, Conspicuous, 191 ;

perplexing requests of

some, 50
Dunlap, Rev. Eugene P., 139
Durand, Sir Mortimer, 186
Duties, The missionary's

varied, 221
Duty and apparent failure,

21

Early Church methods, 150,

197
Edicts, Favorable Chinese,

189

Education, Missionary, the
need and means of, 239,
240

Educational work as a mis-
sion agency, 120-126

Edwards, Jonathan, 256

Ellis. "William T., quoted,

35

Emperor of China s rescript.
The, 201

Empress Dowager of China,
gifts from, 191; New
Testament presented to
the, 128

England and America, Ori-
entals educated in, 158,159

England and Ireland, In-
come of churches in, 196

English officer and for-
eign missionary, 181

Errors of judgment, 57

Europe, The gospel in, 14a

Evangelistic work as a
mission agency, 134-137

Evangelization, The world's,

13-

Evangelizing, the process,

150-153

Executive ability of candi-
dates, 71

Exempt, A few may be,

253
Expense of administration,
46-48

Faith work. Missions a, 60
Faithful converts, 187
Fakir, The East Indian, 106
Falsehoods circulated, 185
Farrar, Canon, quoted, 204
Financial methods, 44, 48
Fitch, Mrs. George F., 139
Food and supplies, The
cost of, 95

28o

Index

Forman, Dr. John, quoted,

105

Foster, Hon. John W., i86
Francke, referred to, 256
Functions, The mission-
ary's varied, 71, 72, 221
Funds given visiting Orien-
tals often misapplied, 158,

IS9
Pusan, Korea, Missionary
site at, III

Gains, Proportionate, 203

Galloway, Charles B., quot-
ed, 210

Galpin, Frederick, quoted,
148

Gambling combatted in
Siam, 139

General Assembly of Pres-
byterian Church, action
of, zy

General Conference of
Methodist Episcopal
Church, action of, zTt 4°

Gibson, J. C, quoted, 155,
260

Gifts, Significant, 191

Gilmour, James, in Mon-
golia, 23; quoted, 84

Giving, An example in, 96;
appeals for, 251; educa-
tion in, 244; liberal, 249;
proportionate, 248

Gladstone, Wm. E., quoted,
167

"Good enough" religions,
200

Gospel, in Europe, The, 140;
work of the, 138; more
perfect interpretation of
the, 169

Grant, Qualities of General,
73

Hale, E. E., quoted, 228
Hall, Dr. John, quoted, 47
Hang-chou to Shanghai, 195
Hardships lessened, 211
Harris, Dr., in Syria, 132
Harrison, Benjamin, quoted,

176
Hart, Sir Robert, 186
Heathenism, Cruel aiid im-
moral, 218
Hecker, Father, quoted, 259
Hepburn, Mrs., of Japan, 97
Higher schools, Influence

of, 122, 123
Holcombe, Hon. Chester,

quoted, 200
Holy Spirit's power. The,

257
Home and foreign fields.

The, 249
Homs, in Syria, Dr.,

Harris in, 132

Hospitality, Requirements

of Eastern, 99, 100 •

Hospitals, dispensaries, and

patients. Statistics of, 133

Houses of natives and of

missionaries, no '
Hunter, Sir William, quot-
ed, 217

Ignorance, criticisms from,
178-182; dissipated, 3

Illness, Treatment of, in
heathen lands, 131

Income of boards uncertain,
49

Indemnity, The Chinese, 192

Independent, societies, 35,
104, 107; spirit in Japan,
162

India, 21, 23, 103, 121, 128,
137. 141. 163, 226; attempt
to convert, 15; mistaken
independent efforts in, 105-

Index

281

■ 107; princes' gifts to mis-
sions, 191 ; toil of mis-
sionaries amid the plague,

212

Indifferent Christians, 15
Individualism, Spasmodic,

5S
Industrial training, 70
Intellectual tests of candi-
dates, 68-70
Interference, a criticism, 188
Interior, The, quoted, 40, 45
Itineration, Details of, 135

Japan, 21, 33, 97, 121, 141,
163; gifts from the
Mikado, 191 ; independent
spirit, 162 ; licentious
tendency in society, 218;
test of missionary fidelity,
124

Jerome, St., on the early
Britons, 202

Jessup, Dr., Henry H., 41,

94
"Jesus' people," The, 140
Johnston, Sir Harry H., 186

Keith-Falconer, quoted, 83
Kerr, Dr. John G., 94, 217
Kidd, Benjamin, quoted,

140, 21S, 260
King, Hon. Hamilton, 139
Kingsley, Mary H., 227
Knowledge diffused, 3
Korea, Christians in, 153;

gifts from the Emperor,

191

Languages, Ability to ac-
quire, 69 _

Laos mission. An experi-
ence in, I3S; great in-
crease in prices, 95

Lawrence, Dr., quoted, 106

Lawrence Lord, referred to,

186
Lawsuits, Interference in

native, 188
Laymen, Effective methods

for, 247-249; witness of

widely traveled, 184
Leonard, Dr. D. L., referr-
ed to, 203
Li Hung-chang, and the

New Testament, 128 ;

friendly words, 189
Liberty in method for

Christians, 165
Lien-chou, Mob at, 222
Literary work as a mission

agency, 126-130
Literature, compared with

preaching, 129
"Live as the heathen do,"

100-103 ; Dr. Forman's

attempt, 105
Livingstone, David, quoted,

79 .
Lowrie, Dr., 226
Lowry, Dr. H. H., 94
Lull, Raymund, 256

M?.;aulay, T. B., quoted, 93

Machle, Dr. and Mrs.,
martyr spirit, 222

Mackenzie, William Doug-
las, quoted, 234

Manchuria, Converts in,
152

Marling, Alfred, 224

Marriage as a factor with
candidates, 76-78

Martyn, Henry, quoted, 257

Martyrs' graves, 220

McCormick, Mr. Frederick,
quoted, 184

McGilvary, t)r. Daniel, 13s

Medical work as a mission
agency, 18, 130-133

282

Index

Mencius, 23

Method necessary, 247

Methodist Episcopal

Church methods, 36, 40
Mikado, Mission gifts from

the, 191 •
Mills, Mrs. A. T., of Che-

foo, 218
Mission board, defined, 36;
how constituted in the
several denominations, 36-
38; members, 39,. 40; sec-
retaries, 40, 41 ; sessions,
41 ; working plans, 41-61
Mission, presses, 127; stu^y
and study classes, 241-243
Mission Problems and Mis-
sion Methods in South
China, 155
Missionaries' wives, 78
Missionary, administration,
32-61 ; call and candidates,
66-84, 252, 253; education,
238-243; giving and sup-
port, 90-112, 238, 243-252;
motives, 2-25; obligation,

236. 237, 258, 259; prayer
and spiritual consecration,
253-260; reinforcements,

237. 238; work, 1 18-142
Missions, Right balance of

home and foreign, 249,

250
Mistaljes, The uses of, 167
Mitchell, Dr. Arthur, quot-
ed, 195, 257
Money, Accurate handling

of, 44
Mongol tribes, James

Gilmour among, 84
Monotony of missionary

life, 215
Moody, Mr., definite a-

mount for his services, 108

Moravian Church an ex-
ample, 246 ; Zinzendorf
and Moravianism, 256
Morrison in China, 23
Motives in missions, 2-25
Municipal social helps, ab-
sence of, abroad, 98
Music, Knowledge of, an
advantage, 80

Nanking, Favorable proc-
lamation of the prefect of,
189

Native Church, Develop-
ment aimed at, 149-151 ;
right to autonomy, as re-
spects creed and polity,
160-170

Native money for native
workers, 154-156

Natives, Mental acumen of,
70; mode of life of, 100-
103

Naylor, Wilson S., quoted,
117

Neal, A patient of Dr., 131

Necessity for a native
Church, 151

Needs of the field, 237 ; rein-
forcements and funds, 238

Non-christian peoples. The
state of, 9, 17, 18, 21

Non-christian religions. Op-
position from the, 141

Object-lesson, The home an,

Obligation, The extent of

missionary, 4, 10, 11, 236
Ofllice work. Range of, ■ 42
Open mind desirable, 57
Opportunity, The Church's,

259
Opposition from non-chris-
tian religions, 141

Index

283

Orient no longer a mystery,
3.

Orientals, Drawbacks to
their education in West-
ern lands, 158; right to
develop their doctrinal
view of Christianity,
163-166

Paoting fu, Change of opin-
ion in, 189

Patience a requisite in the
work, 24

Paul's commission, 12; Paul
and Barnabas as models,
68; conditions in Paul's
time, 150

Peale, Last letter of Mr.,
222

Persia, Missionary "palace"
in, III

Persistence of missionaries,
220

Petition, A closing, 360

Philanthropic motives. The,
18

Philippine Islands, rapid
progress in, 204

Physical requirements, 69

Picked men on the field, 68

Pietism, 256

Pitkin, Horace Tracy, quot-
ed 210

Plague-stricken places, 133,
212

Policy, The correct mission-
ary, 160

Pope of Rome, Claims of
the, 161

Positions declined for gos-
pel reasons, 223

Prayer as a missionary
force, 253-255 ; essential to
development of the home
Church, 253

Preaching not an Oriental
method, 129

Presbyterian Church meth-
ods, 36, 37

Presses conducted by mis-
sion boards, 127

Prices, at the Laos Mission,
95; in South America, 96

Primary and secondary mo-
tives, 6, 17

Procedure in making appli-
cation, 82

Protection to missionaries,
191

Protestant Episcopal meth-
ods, 36, 37

Prudential Committee, The,

38.
Public and private assistants
in foreign lands, 98, 99

Qualifications required in
missionary candidates, 66-
80; other desirable quali-
ties, 80

Queen Victoria's Jubilee,
The anthem on, 254

Race prejudice, 3

Racial spirit, 162

Range of the missionary's
work, 42, 119

Reasons against a candidate
applying, not to have un-
due weight, 80, 81

Receipts irregular in reach-
ing mission boards, 108

Reconstructions come slow-
ly, 140

Recruiting tour in the Utum
country. A, 136

Reed, Mrs., 226

Reform movements, The
missionary and, 137, 139

284

Index

Rejection, Proper view of
a candidate's, 81

Religious books and tracts,
The influence of, 128

Requirements in a candi-
date. The chief, 79

R?sidences of missionaries.
The cost of, 112

Riis, Jacob A., quoted, 250

Risk of support on the field,
The Church to carry the,
109

Romance of missions dis-
pelled, 4

Ross, Dr. John, quoted, 152

Salaries, The system in, 92,

107
Sanitation, absence of, in

heathen lands, 212
SchoU, George, quoted,_ 66
Schools in non-christian

lands, 21
Schwartz, referred to, 256
Science, Missions a, 34
Sectarianism, least promi-
nent in mission work, 193
Secular work, The, 70, 71,

93, 124
Self-help vital to character,

156
Self-sacrificing devotion a-

broad, 220-228; at home,

39-45
Self-supporting church the

aim. A, 24, 157, 160
Servant question. The, 97-

100
Shanghai, The mission

presses in, 127; rescue

home in, 139
"Share" or "station" plan,

The, 56
Sheffield, Dr. D. Z., 94
Siam, Boys' school incident

in Bangkok, 123 ; gambling
in, 139; gifts from the
King, igi

Sick and starving people.
The, 96

Significant changes, 4

Slums, Missions in the New
York and London, 193,
194

Societies, The work of the
Bible, 128, 129

Society in Japan, The state
of, 218

South America, Prices in,
96

Southern Baptist Conven-
tion methods, 38

Special objects, Giving to,
50-55

Speer, Robert E., quoted,
234

Spener, referred to, 256

Spiritual aim in secular
work,24

Spiritual life. The, 79

Starvation always at hand
to the Chinese, 217

Statistics, adherents and in-
quirers, 134, 187 ; Bibles
or portions of Scripture
circulated, 128, 129;
churches and commuru-
cants abroad, 134, 187;
churches anid communi-
cants at home, 194; con-
verts in the mission field,
187; expense of mission-
ary administration, 47 ;
gains in the foreign field,
204; gifts in the home
field, largely to education
and literature, 196; hos-
pitals, dispensaries, and
patients, 133; incom« of

Index

28s

mission boards in United
States and Great Britain,
196; increase of force and
income needed, 237, 238;
martyrs among Chinese
Christians, 187; members
of mission boards, Z7t 38;
native agents, 187 ; presses
in mission fields and pages
issued, 127 ; prices of sup-
plies abroad, 95, 96; ratio
of increase of communi-
cants at home and
abroad, 203; ratio of
ministers and Christian
workers at home and
abroad, 83, 194; resi-
dences of missionaries,
112; running expenses of
churches at home, 195,
196; salaries of mission-
aries, 92; school totals,
126; visitors at mission-
aries homes, 100

Staying qualities. The, 73

Stead, Mr., referred to, 182

Stevenson, J. Ross, quoted,
2

Stevenson, R. L., referred
to, 221

Stock, Eugene, quoted, 32,
(i(), 90

Strain, A constant, 214, 219

Strong, Dr. E. E., quoted,
55

Subordinated relation of
missionaries, embarrass-
ments of, 161

Successes, Missionary, 203-
20s

Support only, not compen-
sation, 91

Supreme duty. The
Church's, 15

Supreme thought, Christ's,
14

Taft, William H., referred
to, 91

Technical training. Ad-
vantages of a, 70

Temperament always a fac-
tor, 74

Tests for candidates, 68, 69

Thoburn, James M., quoted
66, 118

Time required for recon-
struction, 140

Tour in the Utum country,
A, 136

Traders, Infamous, 184

Treatment accorded cows
and women, 122

Treaty ports. Foreign resi-
dents in the, 183-185

Tuan Fong, quoted, 189

Turkey, A gift of a, 97

Tyler in South Africa, 23

Ulfilas, referred to, 256
Unjust criticism, 97
Urumia, The mission home

at Lake, 11 1
Utum country. Experiences

in the, 136

Vice in the East, 218, 260
Voluntary gifts of the

people, to the workers,

107, 108
Von Welz referred to, 256

Wainwright, S. W., quoted,

66
Warren, Charles, quoted,

176
Wellington, The Duke of,

quoted, 15

286

Index

Wesley and Methodism,

256
Wid^y traveled laymen, 184
Wife of a missionary, The,

77
Winton, George B., quoted,

148
Witnesses, The early, 255,

256
Women, The status of, 122

Women's societies, ^(>
Work, The missionary's

varied, 119, 186
Workers, Churches and,

194, ips ; native money for

native, 156
World evangelization, 33

Zinzendorf and Moravian-
ism, 256
Zoroaster, 23

Forward Mission Study Courses

"Anywhere, provided it be forwakd." — David Living-
stone.

Prepared under the direction of the
YOUNG PEOPLE'S MISSIONARY MOVEMENT

OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA

. Editorial Committee: T. H. P. Sailer, Chairman,
R. P. Mackay, T. Bronson Ray, Howard B. Grose,
S. Earl Taylor, C. R. Watson, John W. Wood, H. F.
Williams.

The forward mission study courses are an out-
growth of a conference of leaders in young people's
mission work, held in New York City, December, 1901.
To meet the need that was manifested at that confer-
ence for mission study text-books suitable for young
people, two of the delegates, Professor Amos R. Wells,
of the United Society of Christian Endeavor, and Mr.
S. Earl Taylor, Chairman of the General Missionary
Committee of the Epworth League, projected the For-
ward Mission Study Courses. These courses have
been officially adopted by the Young People's Mission-
ary Movement, and are now under the immediate

direction of the Editorial Committee of the Move-
ment. The books of the Movement are now being
used by more than forty home and foreign mission
boards and societies of the United States and Canada.

The aim is to publish a series of text-books cov-
ering the various liome and foreign mission fields,
and written by leading authorities. The entire series
when completed will comprise perhaps as many as
forty text-books.

The following text-books having a sale of over
450,000 have been published:

1. Into All the World. A general survey of
missions. By Amos R. Wells.

2. The Price of Africa. (Biographical.) By S.
Earl Taylor.

3. Princely Men in the Heavenly Kingdom.
(Biographical.) By Harlan P. Beach.

4. Sunrise in the Sunrise Kingdom. A study of
Japan. By John H. De Forest.

5. Heroes of the Cross in America. Home Mis-
sions. (Biographical.) By Don O. Shelton.

6. Daybreak in the Bark Continent. A study
of Africa. By Wilson S. Naylor.

7. The Christian Conquest of India. A study
of India. By James M. Thoburn.

8. Aliens or Americans? A study of Immigra-
tion. By Howard B. Grose.

9. The Uplift of China. A study of China. By
Arthur H. Smith.

10. The Challenge of the City. A study of the
City. By Josiah Strong.

11. The Why and- How of Foreign Missions.
A study of the relation of the home Church to
the foreign missionary enterprise. By Arthur J.
Brown.

12. The Moslem World. A study of the Mo-
hammedan World. By Samuel M. Zwemer.

These books are published by mutual arrangemcnl
among the home and foreign mission boards, to whon;
all orders should be addressed. They are bound uni-
formly, and are sold for 50 cents, in cloth, and 35 cents,
in paper, postage extra.

BV2060 ^BS7"nM^*' '""'"^
'""'liiiiii'nSiiiiiiiin'iiiRLiteiiaP missions / Arthur

olin

3 1924 029 340 209

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