tibmvy of t:he Cheoiocjicai ^eminarp
PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY
FROM THE LIBRARY OF
ROBERT ELLIOTT SPEER
BV 2060 .B72 1904
Brain, Belle Marvel, 1359
1933.
Holding the ropes
HOLDING THE ROPES
A
HOLDING T
ROPES:
-,
%/CAL t
Missionary Methods for Workers at
Home
BY
BELLE M. BRAIN
AUTHOR OF " FUEL FOR MISSIONARY FIRES," " THE TRANSFOR-
MATION OF HAWAII," " FIFTY MISSIONARY
PROGRAMS," ETC.
FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY
NEW YORK AND LONDON
I9O4
'¥
&
Copyright, 1903 and 1904,
BY
FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY
{Printed in the United States of America)
Published June, 1904
" We saw there was a gold mine in India," said Andrew
Fuller, in 1793, after listening to the stirring words of
John Thomas, who had been pleading for India, " but
it seemed almost as deep as the center of the earth.
1 Who will venture to go explore it ? ' we asked."
" I will go down," responded William Carey, " but
remember that you must hold the ropes."
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. The Bible in the Missionary Meeting . 1
II. Prayer in the Missionary Meeting . . 20
III. Music in the Missionary Meeting . . 41
IV. How to Interest the Individual — A Study
of the Turning-points of Great Mis-
sionary Careers 61
V. Missionary Training in the Home
VI. The Missionary Library
VII. The Mission Study Class .
VIII. Missions in the Sunday School .
IX. The Money Problem .
X. Practical Work for Missionary Societies 156
XI. Who's Who in Missions .... 173
XII. Great Statesmen in the Witness-Box . 180
XIII. Great Thoughts of Master Missionaries 206
74
90
106
122
137
Hn irntrofcuctorp WLotb
Thousands of Christians must remain at
home for every one who is permitted to go to
the front, but they are not therefore excused
from active service. Christ's " Great Com-
mission " is binding upon all alike, and they
must go by proxy who cannot go in person.
Those who are " Holding the Ropes " have
an equal responsibility with those who are en-
gaged in the hand to hand work of rescue.
There are many encouraging indications that
Christians at home are beginning to realize this
responsibility more than ever before. The
growing interest in the need of the non-Chris-
tian world and in the progress of the Kingdom
of God is shown by the development of mission-
ary periodicals, by the remarkable multiplica-
tion of missionary books, and in the large num-
ber of classes that have recently been formed
among women and young people for the sys-
tematic study of missions. Some knowledge of
ix
AN INTRODUCTORY WORD
the world-field is coming to be considered an
essential part of a Christian education.
But it is one thing to have missionary facts
at one's command or to hold a meeting for the
study of the progress of the Kingdom ; it is
quite another to make those facts live, or to
conduct the meeting so that it will have real in-
terest and power. The study of missions is a
science, and the management of a missionary
meeting is an art.
Not long ago we saw a prescription war-
ranted to " kill a missionary meeting." It
was not a patent medicine of which any trust
has the monopoly, for there are too many home-
made concoctions of a similar sort which do
quite as effective execution. The prescription
may be stated somewhat as follows :
Take one dimly lighted church parlor, at a tempera-
ture not to exceed sixty degress; add a few people — the
older the better — drawn together by a strong sense of
duty and an apologetic announcement. Begin to stir to
slow music or a formal prayer at from five to twenty
minutes late; drop in one at a time, ad infinitum, some
not over-fresh facts relating to the geography and cus-
toms of any mission field. Close up all outlets and let
stand, but do not fail to extract a few pennies from
each atom present.
AN INTRODUCTORY WORD
Miss Brain has given us in this volume an
antidote and a substitute for all such treat-
ment. If adopted and adapted, we believe that
her suggestions cannot fail to resurrect dead
meetings and to make them living forces in the
evangelization of the world. There is no excuse
for a dull or dead missionary meeting; it ought
to be the most inspiring and interesting gather-
ing imaginable. The author of the following
chapters tells us how to make them such. Her
suggestions are not based on mere theories and
impractical ideals, for her methods have been
tested and have proved successful. The papers
were originally prepared for The Missionary
Review of the World, and first appeared in the
pages of that magazine. They have therefore
already been widely used, and there have been
many urgent requests for their publication in
a form adapted for frequent reference. As a
result of wide experience and systematic study
Miss Brain has been able to give us a volume
which meets a real need, and which will enable
us to realize some of our ideals.
Delavan L. Pierson.
Brooklyn, New York.
xl
Ube Bible in tbe Missionary /l&eetina
The greatest of all missionary books is the
Bible. Without it there would be no missionary
work. The most helpful of all missionary
libraries is the " little library of sixty-six small
books, usually bound together as one great
Book, which has been the inspiration of every
missionary and missionary worker since the
world began."
Too little use is made of the Bible in the mis-
sionary meeting. In many societies, where the
most elaborate preparation is made for the re-
mainder of the program, little or no thought
is given to the Scripture lesson. It is true that
reading the Bible at the opening of the mis-
sionary meeting is an almost universal custom,
but too often it is done merely as a matter of
form and not with the definite purpose of accom-
plishing something. The idea seems to prevail
that if the Bible is read, no matter how, a holy
service has been performed and a blessing is sure
HOLDING THE ROPES
to follow. Yet to be effective the Scripture les-
son must be carefully and prayerfully selected,
impressively read, and its teachings forcibly
applied. Otherwise it will make but little im-
pression and leave scarcely a memory behind.
The writer recalls a missionary meeting where
the Scripture lesson, selected hastily at the last
moment, was read in so perfunctory a manner
that less than half an hour later, when a test
was made, not a single person present was able
to tell what had been read! It was one of the
most striking missionary passages in the Bible,
yet it had made no impression whatever.
On another well-remembered occasion a mis-
sionary worker of no little prominence was asked
to read the Scripture lesson at a missionary con-
ference. The passage selected was obscure, with
seemingly no bearing whatever on the cause of
missions. As he made no comment and drew no
parallels, his hearers are still in ignorance of
the lessons he intended to convey. Selecting in-
appropriate passages is, unfortunately, not an
uncommon failing. The writer recently heard
of a leader of a children's mission band who
opened her meeting by reading an entire chapter
from the book of Lamentations !
2
BIBLE IN MISSIONARY MEETING
At still another meeting, the leader, who, by
the way, was the pastor of the church, contented
himself by having the congregation turn to the
back of the hymn-book and read a short psalm
not specially missionary in character. This
practise is becoming so prevalent, and is such
a poor makeshift for a Scripture lesson, that
one could almost wish that the psalms might be
omitted from future editions of the hymn-book.
Responsive readings and concert readings can
be made effective, but it requires special care to
make them so.
Instances such as the foregoing, which could
probably be duplicated by any one in the habit
of attending missionary meetings, go to show
the careless and ineffectual way in which the
Scriptures are used. The result is a great loss
of power.
THE BIBLE IN THE DEVOTIONAL SERVICE
There are many profitable ways of using the
Bible in the devotional service of the missionary
meeting. The wise leader will sometimes use
one, sometimes another.1
1 Every missionary worker should have a " Missionary
Bible," such as that described by William D. Murray,
3
HOLDING THE ROPES
To be effectual the Scripture lesson need not
be long. Sometimes a single text, followed by
a few pointed remarks, will make a deeper im-
pression than a whole chapter aimlessly read.
For example : " Carest thou not that we
perish?5' (Mark iv: 38). These words of the
disciples to the Master on the Sea of Galilee
may well be taken as the cry of the forty million
heathen who die every year in foreign lands.
Forty million will die during the ensuing year.
They are passing away at the rate of one hun-
dred thousand a day. Every tick of the watch
sounds the death-knell of a heathen soul. With
every breath we draw four souls pass away
in the Sunday-School Times of January 15, 1898. It is
an ordinary copy of the Bible in which he has gathered
four different kinds of material: 1. Autographs of
missionaries and missionary workers. 2. Charts giving
facts and statistics. 3. Sayings of great missionaries.
4. Striking missionary texts. " This Bible has been
nearly ten years in growing," says Mr. Murray. " Its
first usefulness might be called personal. It has in-
creased my interest in missions, it has made my prayers
definite, it has made me more efficient as a worker in
the mission cause. Another use has been public. I have
found here material for missionary talks, and the things
which have helped me have been where 1 could pass
them on to others."
BIBLE IN MISSIONARY MEETING
never having heard of Christ. " Carest thou
not that they perish? "
Uniting two texts somewhat similar in
thought sometimes impresses a stronger lesson
than using either alone. For example :
" I must be about my Father's business " (Luke
ii : 49 ) .
"The King's business requireth haste" (I. Samuel
xxi:8).
Also,
"Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it" (John ii:5).
" See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh" (Hebrews
xii:25).
Selecting a " golden text " from the Scripture
lesson for the day and placing special emphasis
upon it is an excellent plan. Such passages as
the following are adapted to this purpose:
The Feeding of the Five Thousand (Matthew xiv:15-
21). Golden Text: " Give ye them to eat" (v. 16).
The Story of the Lepers at the Siege of Samaria
(II. Kings vii:3-16). Golden Text: "We do not well;
this day is a day of good tidings and we hold our
peace " (v. 9).
Our Lord's Inheritance (Psalm ii). Golden Text:
" Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine
5
HOLDING THE ROPES
inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for
a possession "(v. 8).
Whenever possible it is well to make the Scrip-
ture lesson appropriate to the topic for the day.
For a meeting on the mountain people of the
South, read the parable of the lost sheep
(Matthew xviii : 11-13), impressing the thought
that missionaries to these people have literally
gone to the mountains to " seek that which has
gone astray." For a meeting on the Chinese
and Japanese in America, use the story of
Philip and the Ethiopean eunuch (Acts viii:
26-39) — the story of a " home missionary work
for a foreign missionary subject." Like the
eunuch, many a converted Chinese or Japanese
has gone "on his way rejoicing" and carried
the Gospel to his countrymen in a distant land.
For a Christmas meeting, read " The First
Christmas Gifts " (Matthew ii : 1-11), and call
attention to the significant fact that the first
offerings to the Lord Jesus were brought by
Gentile worshipers.
Making slight changes in familiar texts,
adapting them to present-day conditions, is
another excellent plan. Texts showing the
6
BIBLE IN MISSIONARY MEETING
world-embracing character of Christ's mission
can be made most effective by changing them to
suit the attitude of various classes toward the
cause of missions. Irreverent tho it may sound,
John Smith, who does not believe in missions,
either home or foreign, and has no concern for
any soul save his own, reads thus : " This is a
faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save
John Smith." The member of the First Fres-
byterian Church, who believes in working within
the limits of his own church walls but nowhere
else, reads thus : " The field is the First Presby-
terian Church." The resident of New York
City who believes in city missions, but does
nothing toward saving his nation or the world,
reads thus : " The Father sent the Son to be the
Savior of New York City." The citizen of the
United States who believes in home missions but
not in foreign, reads thus : " God so loved the
United States that He gave His only begotten
Son." Only those who believe in world-wide
missions read thus : " This is the Lamb of God
that taketh away the sin of the world."
Following the Scripture lesson with a few
terse questions is an excellent way of concen-
1
HOLDING THE ROPES
trating thought upon it and bringing out its
teachings. The following questions on I. Co-
rinthians xvi : 2 have been suggested :
1. How often are we to give? (Upon the first day
of the week.)
2. Who are to be givers? (Every one of you.)
3. What method should be used in giving? (Let
every one of you lay by him in store — i. e., set apart a
certain portion.)
4. What is to be the measure of Christian liberality?
(As God hath prospered.)
It is sometimes a good plan to call upon the
society to give the Scripture lesson. Either
with or without previous notice, let the leader
ask those present to name some of the things
given to God by prominent Bible characters
(Isaiah gave himself, Hannah gave Samuel, the
widow gave her mite, the little lad his " five
loaves and two small fishes," Dorcas her needle,
etc.). This is a most helpful lesson. For
another meeting those present may be asked to
repeat some of Ihe promises to which Judson
referred when he said : " The prospect is as
bright as the promises of God."
A very effective lesson, contrasting the idols
of the heathen with the Jehovah God of the
8
BIBLE IN MISSIONARY MEETING
Christian, may be given as follows : Read Isaiah
xl:9-31, describing the majesty and power of
God, and give special emphasis to the words,
"Behold your God!" (v. 9). Then, holding
up an idol, say, " Behold the heathen's god ! "
and read Psalm cxv : 4-8.
STUDYING THE BIBLE AS A MISSIONARY BOOK
In addition to reading the Scriptures during
the devotional service, it would be well for every
missionary organization to devote some time to
the systematic study of the Bible as a mission-
ary book. Because so few have done this, the
average Christian has no clear conception of
the place of missions in the plan of God.
Many, even among missionary workers, are
so ignorant of the Scriptural foundations on
which missionary operations rest, and of the
great promises and prophecies by which the
ultimate triumph of world-wide missions is as-
sured, that their faith is shaken by every tem-
porary wind of adversity that seems to threaten
the missionary cause. Such events as the Boxer
outbreak or the capture of Miss Stone fill them
with apprehension concerning the final outcome
of the work.
9
HOLDING THE ROPES
Half an hour, or even a quarter of an hour,
devoted to a systematic study of the Bible at
the monthly missionary meetings, not as a part
of the devotional service, but as a regular num-
ber on the program, would do much to correct
all this. The result would be a band of strong
and reliable workers, able to give a reason for
the hope that is in them, and standing strong
in the faith that the day will come when the
kingdoms of the earth shall have become the
kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ.
Two series of lessons, each containing twelve
studies, are here recommended for the use of
societies or individuals willing to take up such
work. The first was suggested by a study of
the opening chapters of Smith's " Short His-
tory of Missions " and Barnes' " Two Thou-
sand Years of Missions Before Carey." The
second is taken from Beach's admirable little
text-book, " New Testament Studies in Mis-
sions."
I. — THE GENESIS OF MISSIONS
1. The Missionary Covenant: "In thy seed shall all
the nations of the earth be blest" (Genesis xxii:18).
2. The Missionary Messages of the Prophets.
3. Missions in the Hebrew Hymn-book.
10
BIBLE IN MISSIONARY MEETING
4. The Messiah Missionary.
5. Missionary Key-notes of the First Christian Hymns:
The Benedictus (Luke i: 68-79); the Annunciation to
the Shepherds (Luke ii: 10-12); and the Nunc Dimittis
(Luke ii: 29-32).
6. The Great Commission (Matthew xxviii: 18-20;
Mark xvi:15; Luke xxiv: 46-49; John xxi: 21, 22; Acts
i:8).
7. The Birthday of Christian Missions (Acts ii: 1-41 :
" Fifteen nations heard the Gospel, and a missionary
force of three thousand was created in a day").
8. The Divine Program of Missions (Acts i:8).
9. " Beginning at Jerusalem " — the City Mission
Period (Acts ii : 42-viii : 1 ) .
10. "In all Judea and in Samaria" — the Home Mis-
sion Period (Acts viii.-xii.).
11. "Unto the uttermost parts of the earth"— the
Foreign Mission Period (Acts xiii.-xxviii.).
12. Missionary lessons from the Epistles.
II. — NEW TESTAMENT STUDIES IN MISSIONS
Part. I. — Missions in the light of the Gospels
1. Parallels between the life and work of Jesus and
those of modern missionaries.
2. Gospel teachings concerning the Gentile nations.
3. Messengers to the world.
4. Missionary fruitfulness.
5. Hardness and opposition in missionary service.
6. The personal call to missionary work.
Part II. — St. Paul and the Gentile World
7. The development of Paul the missionary.
8. Condition of the Gentile world in St. Paul's time.
11
HOLDING THE ROPES
9. St. Paul's missionary aims and methods.
10. St. Paul as a missionary teacher.
11. Difficulties encountered by St. Paul in prosecuting
his work.
12. What St. Paul and his associates accomplished
toward the evangelization of the Gentile world in their
own generation.
STORIES OF SPECIAL TEXTS
Tho not always distinctively missionary in
character, texts and Scripture passages asso-
ciated with great missionaries or connected with
important events in missionary history can be
used with profit in the missionary meeting.
Ezekiel xxxvii:9, 10, containing the words,
" Come from the four winds, O breath, and
breathe upon these slain that they may live,"
is notable as the text of the first sermon preached
in the native tongue on the American continent.
The preacher was John Eliot ; the date, October
28, 1646. By a strange coincidence the name
of the chief in whose wigwam the sermon was
preached was Waban, the Indian word signify-
ing " breath " or " wind." This made a deep
impression on the red men, and was regarded as
a good omen by them.
Isaiah liv : 2, 3 was the text of Carey's
famous sermon preached at Nottingham, May
12
BIBLE IN MISSIONARY MEETING
31, 1792, which resulted in the formation of the
Baptist Missionary Society, and ushered in the
remarkable period known as the missionary cen-
tury. The two divisions of this sermon — (1)
"Expect great things from God," (2) "At-
tempt great things for God " — have become
famous mottoes of the Church. Another text
associated with Carey is Psalm xlvi : 10. On
the Lord's day following the disastrous fire at
Serampore, which destroyed property valued at
nearly $50,000, including his valuable Sanscrit
and other translations, he preached on the words,
" Be still, and know that I am God," and set
before his hearers two thoughts: (1) " God has
a sovereign right to dispose of us as he pleases,"
(2) " we ought to acquiesce in all that God does
with us and to us."
II. Kings xiii : 21 — " As they were burying a
man, behold, they spied a band of men ; and they
cast the man into the sepulcher of Elisha; and
when the man was let down and touched the
bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood upon his
feet " — was the peculiar text chosen by Gordon
Lathrop for his powerful discourse delivered at
an anniversary of the Church Missionary So-
ciety, held in Westminster Abbey, three weeks
13
HOLDING TH*E ROPES
after the funeral of Livingstone. The great
audience, seated over the spot where the great
missionary had been so recently laid to rest, was
intensely moved when the speaker exclaimed:
" Let the whole Church touch his bones and rise
to a new victory for God."
Genesis i:l and John iii:16 are the texts
that won Joseph Hardy Neesima to the Chris-
tian faith. The first, found in an abridged
copy of a Chinese Bible in the library of a
friend in Japan, revealed to him God as the
Creator of the universe. The second, slowly
spelled out in an English Testament, while
working his passage to America on board the
Wild Rover, revealed to him God as the Savior
of mankind.
I. Corinthians i : 26-29 was wondrously used
of God as a means of leading Dr. Clough, the
hero of Ongole, to a right decision of a most
perplexing question. There was a flourishing
school at Ongole, attended by over sixty hi^h-
caste boys, the entire cost being borne by their
fathers. All went well until three low-caste
men presented themselves for baptism. The
missionary received them gladly, but the Brah-
mans declared that if he had any more to do
u
BIBLE IN MISSIONARY MEETING
with them they would withdraw their support
from the school. It was a grave situation, and
Dr. and Mrs. Clough retired to separate rooms
to lay the matter before God. By a curious co-
incidence each had the same experience. After
prayer each took up a Bible, and, opening it at
random, was directed to the words found in
I. Corinthians i : 26-29. Next morning Dr.
Clough announced his decision to receive low-
caste converts, whereupon everybody left the
school and the Brahmans became bitterly hostile.
But God honored the work done according to
His plan, and ere long great ingatherings began
that are almost without a parallel in missionary
history.
Psalm lxii : 5-8 has a most pathetic interest on
account of its use by Allen Gardiner, the hero-
martyr of South America. While attempting
to carry the Bread of Life to the heathen of
Terra del Fuego, Gardiner starved to death with
six heroic companions. When the bodies of the
" deathless seven " were discovered a hand was
found painted on the rocks, and beneath it
" Psalm lxii : 5-8." The choice of these words,
under such circumstances, shows how strong
and unshaken was the faith of this martyr band.
15
HOLDING THE ROPES
Luke vi : 30 was once a cause of great per-
plexity to Henry Richards, the famous Baptist
missionary on the Kongo. It was his custom
to translate a few verses from Luke's Gospel
every day and expound them to his dusky
hearers. These people were notorious beggars,
and asked for everything they saw. When he
came to the text, " Give to every man that ask-
eth of thee," he did not know what to do with
it. His first thought was to omit it ; his second,
to say that it was not to be followed literally ;
but neither satisfied his conscience. After two
weeks of prayerful consideration, he decided to
give out the verse just as it was written and take
the consequences. After that, no matter what
the people asked for he freely gave it to them.
They were deeply impressed by this, and at
length not only stopped asking, but brought
back much of what they had taken away. Ere
long the great awakening began, known in mis-
sionary history as the " Pentecost on the
Kongo."
I. Samuel xxx : 24 — " As his part is that
goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be
that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part
alike " — is called Hannington's text, because
16
BIBLE IN MISSIONARY MEETING
he used it so frequently in sermons and ad-
dresses.
Jeremiah xlv : 5 — " Seekest thou great things
for thyself? Seek them not, saith the Lord "
— was Henry Martyn's favorite text — a most
significant one in view of the fact that he was
a brilliant scholar, winning the highest honors
during his college course, and so full of worldly
ambition that he chose the law as a profession
rather than the ministry, " chiefly because he
could not consent to be poor for Christ's sake."
Psalms cxxi (the Travelers' Psalm) and cxxxv
are known as Livingstone's psalms, because they
are the ones he selected to read on that mem-
orable morning in November, 1840, when he
bade farewell to father and mother, and the old
Scotch home at Blantyre, and sailed away to
his distant field.
Of all texts connected with missionary his-
tory, none seems more inappropriate than
Genesis xlv : 24 — " See that ye fall not out by
the way " — which, together with Isaiah xli : 10,
was inscribed on a brass plate presented by two
ladies to the pioneer band of twenty-five mis-
sionaries who sailed for the South Seas on board
the Duff in August, 1796. It recalls Marie
17
HOLDING THE ROPES
Corelli's startling dedication of " The Master
Christian " : " To Churches quarreling in
the name of Christ," and should remind us
that missionaries are, after all, only human,
and are exposed to the same temptations as
Christians who stay at home.
Matthew xxviii : 20 has been a source of com-
fort to countless missionaries in the field, but to
none more so than to James Gilmour at the be-
ginning of his lonely work among the nomad
Mongols. " Companions I can scarcely hope to
meet," he says, " and the feeling of being alone
comes over me till I think of Christ and His
blessed promise, ' Lo, I am with you alway, even
unto the end of the world.' No one who does not
go away, leaving all and being alone, can feel
the force of this promise; and when I feel my
heart threatening to go down, I betake myself
to this companionship, and, thank God, I have
felt the blessedness of this promise rushing over
me repeatedly when I have knelt down and
spoken to Jesus as a present companion, from
whom I was sure to find sympathy." *
1 For the stories of other texts see " Modern Heroes
of the Mission Field," pp. 69, 131-133, 171, 209; "Irene
Petrie," pp. 60, 61, 63; "Modern Apostles of Missionary
18
BIBLE IN MISSIONARY MEETING
Byways," pp. 11, 15, 35, 36, 50; " Pilkington of Uganda,"
p. 98; " Islands of the Pacific," pp. 258, 259; " New Acts
of the Apostles," pp. 126, 231 ; Thompson's " Moravian
Missions," pp. 34, 183, 198, 199; "Mosaics From India,"
pp. 82, 83; "Life of James Chalmers," p. 136; Thomp-
son's "Foreign Missions," pp. 373, 374; The Missionary
Review, February, 1888, p. 106; July, 1893, p. 502; Feb-
ruary, 1896, p. 83; February, 1902, p. 94; February,
1903, p. 148.
19
II
draper in the /nMssionar£ /IDeeting
Of all the forces God has placed at our dis-
posal for winning the world to Christ the great-
est is that of prayer. Through its mighty
power marvelous achievements have been
wrought ; for lack of it the progress of the
kingdom has been seriously retarded. The ab-
solute dependence of missions upon prayer is
shown by the following words of great leaders
in the work :
Every step in the progress of missions is directly-
traceable to prayer. It has been the preparation of
every new triumph and the secret of all success. —
Arthur T. Pierson.
Epochs of prayer are the most significant epochs in
the history of Christ's kingdom. Trace ahy stream of
blessing back far enough, and its source will be found
above the clouds. — Augustus C. Thompson.
Everything vital in the missionary enterprise hinges
upon prayer. — Johk R. Mott.
Every element of the missionary problem depends for
its solution upon prayer. — Robert E. Speer.
20
PRAYER IN MISSIONARY MEETING
Yet, to a great extent, prayer is an unused
power in missionary work. The average mis-
sionary organization " plays at prayer," and
does not even play at it very hard.
In most societies prayer is at once the most
important and the least important item on the
program — the most important in that no so-
ciety dares to begin without it ; the least im-
portant in that scant time and little thought
are given to it. Too often an opening prayer
is offered largely because it is the proper thing
to do, and the omission of it would offend both
God and man. An almost superstitious feeling
seems to prevail, that if the heads are bowed for
a few moments while a brief petition is offered,
or the Lord's Prayer is repeated (not prayed)
in unison, all will be well, and the society may
safely proceed to other business. Yet prayer
that is offered merely for the sake of praying
can not prevail with God, and leaves scarcely a
memory in the heart of man. A few turns of a
prayer-wheel from Tibet would serve the pur-
pose nearly as well.
The writer recently attended a missionary
meeting which was opened by a most eloquent
prayer. It was a model of its kind, yet so easily
21
HOLDING THE ROPES
did the polished sentences roll out, and so in-
definite were its petitions, that less than half an
hour later, when a test was made, no one present,
including the one who offered it, could remem-
ber a single petition of it, or even state its gen-
eral trend.
At another meeting the leader called for sen-
tence prayers. Those present responded with a
number of well-worded petitions, but at the
close, when they were unexpectedly asked to tell
for what they had prayed, only two could re-
member! They had probably been more con-
cerned over the rhetorical excellence of their
phrases than with the substance of their peti-
tions, yet a halting phrase from the heart is in-
finitely better than a polished sentence from the
head.
The lack of prayer in the missionary meet-
ing is due to several causes. In the first place,
the number of those willing to lead in prayer is
usually limited. There can not be much inter-
cession because there are so few intercessors.
In some societies the Lord's Prayer is repeated
at every session because none of the members
will lead in prayer, and in others the entire
burden of supplication rests on one or two.
PRAYER IN MISSIONARY MEETING
If these are absent, the society is in de-
spair.
A pastor's wife, who was formerly secretary
of a Young Woman's Christian Association, re-
lates an incident that would be amusing were it
not so reprehensible. One afternoon a lady
from a near-by church came to the office of the
association in great haste. " We are in
trouble ! " she exclaimed. " Mrs. W is ab-
sent, and no one else will pray ! We can't begin
the meeting! Won't you please come over and
pray for us?" The secretary went at once. "I
felt," she says, " that they needed praying for
in more senses than one."
In the second place, there is a widespread feel-
ing, seldom expressed, and not always realized,
that in view of the vastness of the field, the hun-
dreds of missionaries and millions of Christless
souls, it is impossible to exert an influence
through prayer. The supplications of some
mighty man of God — a Pastor Harms, a George
Miiller, or a John G. Paton — might indeed pre-
vail, but not so the petitions of an obscure be-
liever in an unknown missionary society. Yet
the humblest believer may become mighty in
supplication. The apostle James is careful to
HOLDING THE ROPES
explain that Elijah, who, for three years and a
half, controlled the rainfall by his prayers, was
" a man subject to like passions as we are."
The God of Elijah still rules the universe, and it
is a glad tho solemn thought that the devout
Christian of to-day may, through prayer, con-
trol the showers of spiritual blessing from on
high.
SOME SECRETS OF PREVAILING PRAYER
But prayer in the missionary meeting is lack-
ing not only in quantity, but in quality as well.
Missionary leaders should, therefore, endeavor
to learn some of the secrets of prevailing
prayer.
The first lesson we need is that of definiteness
in prayer. There should be more real praying
for specific things. It was said of Gossner that
he " prayed open both hearts and pocketbooks,
prayed up the walls of a hospital, prayed mis-
sion stations into being." Having the same
great promises, any missionary society may
pray workers into the field, money into empty
treasuries, and heathen souls into the king-
dom of God. Individual missionaries and
special fields should be prayed for by name, and
PRAYER IN MISSIONARY MEETING
not in the roundabout fashion that, by reason
of long usage, has become almost a law of
prayer. Sir John Patteson took a long step in
advance when, at family worship, he began to
pray for " John Coleridge Patteson, missionary
bishop," instead of " the absent member of this
family," as had been his custom. The dying
prayer of John Hunt is a model of definiteness :
" O let me pray once more for Fiji! Lord, for
Christ's sake bless Fiji! Save Fiji! Save Thy
servants ; save Thy people ; save the heathen in
Fiji!"
Another lesson we need is that of agreement
in prayer. The promise of the Master, " If two
of you shall agree on earth as touching any-
thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for
them of my Father which is in heaven " (Mat-
thew xviii:19), is often quoted but seldom
used in a way to insure its fulfilment. If the
members of a missionary society would select
certain definite objects, and enter into a cove-
nant to pray for them both publicly in the meet-
ings and privately at home, their power in
prayer would be increased a hundred-fold.
A third lesson is that of expectancy in
prayer. It is the prayer of faith that prevails
25
HOLDING THE ROPES
with God. In his matchless text-book, " With
Christ in the School of Prayer," Andrew Mur-
ray says: " As long as in prayer we just pour
out our hearts in a multitude of petitions, with-
out taking time to see whether every petition is
sent with the purpose and expectancy of get-
ting an answer, not many will reach the mark."
Probably nowhere are prayers so frequently
offered with little or no expectation of an an-
swer as in a missionary meeting. This is due
partly to a lack of faith in the promises and
prophecies of God and partly to the remote-
ness of the mission field. It seems incredible to
many that a prayer offered in New York can
be instantaneously answered in Calcutta. Yet
with an omniscient, omnipresent God, distance
is no hindrance. Through the divine telegraphy
of prayer, which needs neither wire nor key, but
simply a heart in tune with God, the remotest
soul may be reached in an instant of time.
Prayer which combines the elements of defi-
niteness, agreement, and expectancy has a
power well-nigh unlimited with God. This is
illustrated by the " Story of the Seventy " in
Mrs. Geraldine Guinness Taylor's history of
the China Inland Mission. About the year 1880
PRAYER IN MISSIONARY MEETING
the mission began to be seriously embarrassed
for lack of men. Opportunities were opening in
districts long closed to Gospel effort, but there
were no workers to enter them. In the autumn
of 1881 a number of the China Inland mis-
sionaries met at Wu-chang for conference with
Mr. Hudson Taylor. As they prayed they be-
gan to realize that while they had been urgent
in pleading for open doors, they had neglected
to ask for men to enter them. Believing that
God would supply all their need, they took a
sheet of paper, and went over their whole vast
field, province by province, noting the points in
each where reinforcements seemed absolutely
necessary. When at length they came to an
end, it was found that no less than seventy new
workers were needed — an overwhelming number,
in view of the fact that their entire staff was
less than a hundred, and that the growth of
fifteen years. But, believing it to be God's
plan, they then and there covenanted together
to plead daily with God in agreed prayer for
the coming of the seventy within three years.
So confidently did they expect an answer that,
before they separated, a thanksgiving service
was held, in which they thanked God for what
27
HOLDING THE ROPES
He was going to do. Note the result. At the
end of three years not seventy, but seventy-six
new missionaries were at work in China! God
had given more than they had asked.
SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS
In every missionary meeting there should be
much prayer, not only in connection with the de-
votional service, but at appropriate intervals
throughout the entire session.
The ideal way to open the meeting is by a
brief season of silent prayer for God's blessing
and the Spirit's presence. No other form of
devotion so quickly solemnizes the heart as this,
which brings every soul face to face with God.
Calling for sentence prayers, consisting of a
single petition for some definite object, is an
excellent plan. It not only gives opportunity
to a large number to take part, but teaches
brevity and conciseness of petition. That such
prayers are acceptable to God may be learned
from a study of Bible prayers, which are, as a
rule, very short. "Lord, save me!" (Mat-
thew xiv: 30), Peter's prayer for himself, and
"Lord, help me!" (Matthew xv: 25), the
Syro-Phenician woman's prayer for her child,
PRAYER IN MISSIONARY MEETING
consist of but three words each, yet they were
speedily and wondrously answered. It is always
wise to designate the way of closing a series of
sentence prayers. This may be done by ap-
pointing some one to make the closing prayer,
by uniting in the Lord's Prayer, or by singing
a prayer-hymn while the heads are still bowed.
A chain of prayer, which usually consists of
several prayers, fewer in number but longer in
petition than sentence prayers, is a very helpful
plan. The names of those who participate
should always be announced beforehand, so
that they may follow one another in order, and
if special topics are assigned, they should be
written on slips of paper and distributed before
the meeting opens.
The Lord's Prayer is more widely used than
any other form of petition. It is universally
repeated, but seldom really prayed. Missionary
leaders could render no greater service to the
cause of Christ than to teach a correct use of its
matchless missionary petitions. " If all true be-
lievers could only unite," says Bishop Thoburn,
" not in repeating the words merely, but in ut-
tering from the heart, the first petition of our
Lord's Prayer, ' Thy Kingdom come,' the na-
29
HOLDING THE ROPES
tions would be shaken, and the Kingdom of God
begin to advance with mighty strides toward
universal triumph."
Praise as well as prayer should have a place in
the missionary meeting. There should be gen-
eral thanksgiving for the progress of Christ's
kingdom in the world, and specific praise for
special blessings granted in the work. Each
issue of India's Women and China's Daughters,
the organ of the Church of England Zenana
Missionary Society, contains two long lists of
requests, one for praise, the other for prayer,
which societies and individuals are urged to use.
Maps are an invaluable aid to intercession.
No great orator at the Ecumenical Conference
inspired more prayer than the map that hung
above the platform of Carnegie Hall, its great
dark patches revealing how much land remains
yet to be possessed of God. At the opening ses-
sion of the Free Assembly of Scotland, in 1886,
the Moderator, Dr. Somerville, declared that
the best prayer-book for daily use was a pocket
atlas of the world, and proved his assertion by
a series of remarkable prayers in which he daily
interceded for all the nations of the earth in
turn. Every state and territory in the United
30
PRAYER IN MISSIONARY MEETING
States, and many of the larger cities, were pre-
sented at the throne of grace by name, as were
also the principal cities and divisions of India,
China, and other heathen lands.
An almost ideal season of map-inspired
prayer was recently observedJby the study class
of a Young Men's Christian Association. With
a map of the world before them, they spent an
hour and a half in silent prayer, pleading in-
tensely and earnestly for the conversion of the
world. One by one the fields were taken up until
the globe was girdled with petition. No word
was spoken save by the leader, who, from time to
time announced the countries in their turn.
In societies where only a few of the members
are willing to take part in prayer a constant
effort should be made to increase the number.
Sentence prayers, or short Scripture prayers
written out on slips of paper, are very helpful
for this. Many a timid soul has been led to pray
for the first time in public through being asked
to be one of many to offer a single brief peti-
tion or read a Bible prayer.
In the average society the session is so short,
and so much is crowded into it, that there is in-
sufficient time for prayer. To remedy this, every
31
HOLDING THE ROPES
missionary organization should have connected
with it a prayer circle composed of those willing
to meet for a few moments before the regular
meeting, or at some other convenient time, to
pray for certain specific things ; or, if meeting
together seems impracticable, a covenant might
be entered into to pray daily at some stated
hour in the home. Few leaders realize what can
be accomplished in this way.
For nearly five years it was the privilege of
the writer to be the leader of a young people's
missionary organization that had many remark-
able experiences of answered prayer. Every-
thing connected with the society was taken to
God, not only by the leader, but by an " inner
circle " of praying ones. The answers were
often according to God's own scale, " Exceed-
ing abundantly above all that we ask or think."
In making the programs, God was always asked
to give the wisdom promised in James i : 5
The result was a series of plans that were not
only greatly blest to their original users, but
that, printed later in a little book, have been
widely used throughout the United States and
Canada, and, to some extent, across the sea as
well. The programs being made, God was al-
32
PRAYER IN MISSIONARY MEETING
ways asked not only to make the young people
willing to take the parts assigned, but also to
make them faithful in the carrying of them out.
It is worthy of note that of the seven hundred
assignments made in five years' time, less than
a dozen failed in any way. In response to con-
tinuous prayer for more helpers and deeper in-
terest, the society grew steadily in numbers and
power. One by one the young people were
prayed for by name (not publicly, of course),
until they were drawn into the work, some of
them giving up all forms of doubtful amuse-
ment in order to enter more fully into the ser-
vice of the Lord. Prayer was offered, too, that
God would call some of their own number to the
mission field. In answer to this, five of the
young people pledged themselves, God permit-
ting, to become foreign missionaries.
It was the custom of the leader, after select-
ing the Scripture lesson for each meeting, to
pray that God would bless His Word and make
it fruitful in some soul. No prayers were an-
swered more signally than these. On one oc-
casion the text selected was II. Samuel xxiv:
24 — " Neither will I offer burnt offerings unto
the Lord my God of that which dost cost me
S3
HOLDING THE ROPES
nothing." A stranger who was present that
evening — the treasurer of a large church in a
neighboring city — was so deeply impressed with
the words, which he had never before noticed in
the Book, that on his return home he had them
printed on the collection envelopes of his
church.
Large boxes of books and other literature
were frequently sent to destitute districts in the
West. Before starting them off, prayer was
always offered that God would bless and use
their contents. On one of these occasions the
young man who led in prayer asked that " some
soul might be led to Christ through something
in that box, and that we might hear of i£." A
few months later a letter came, saying that the
mother of a large family of children had been
converted through reading one of the books in
that very box.
One of the most remarkable answers to prayer
was granted at an all-day missionary meeting in
a neighboring city, where the leader of the
society and a valued assistant had gone to con-
duct a young people's hour. It was to be held
at the close of the afternoon session, and the
pastor's wife was very dubious about the at-
34
PRAYER IN MISSIONARY MEETING
tendance. A literary club to which many of
the young women belonged was to meet at the
same hour, and a large party was to be given
in the evening. The outlook was dark indeed.
But during the noon hour a little meeting was
held, with but half a dozen present, in which
the matter was laid before God in prayer.
Early that afternoon the young women began
to come in twos and threes, and when the meet-
ing opened, the room was crowded to the doors.
ENCOURAGEMENTS TO PRAYER
Every missionary society, to increase its faith
and encourage the spirit of supplication, should
study prayer and its answer in missionary his-
tory. The following examples have been se-
lected from an almost countless number to show
the power of prayer in every phase of the mis-
sionary problem.
1. Open Doors, — At the beginning of the
nineteenth century almost the whole world, out-
side of Christendom, was closed to missionary
effort. Now, in answer to prayer for open
doors that was made without ceasing by the
Church of Christ, practically the whole world
is open to the Gospel. Dr. Pierson says :
35
HOLDING THE ROPES
During the year 1858, Japan, after two centuries of
sealed ports, made treaty with Great Britain; China
enlarged the rights conceded sixteen years before; India
became part of Britain's world-wide empire, and zenanas
were penetrated by Christian women; Italy laid the
basis of her new era of freedom; Mexico threw open her
doors to the Protestant missionary — all this and much
more within a twelvemonth. In that one annus mirabilis
two-thirds of the entire population of the globe were
suddenly brought within the reach of a full Gospel and
an open Bible. It was that same year that the week
of prayer began, upon the recommendation of the mis-
sionaries in Lahore, and how quickly the answer came !
2. Laborers. — Open doors call for men to
enter them, but this need, too, has been met by
prayer. " Pray ye therefore the Lord of the
harvest, that He would send forth laborers into
His harvest," is a Divine command that has
never been obeyed in vain. Reference has been
made to the prayers of the China Inland Mis-
sion for seventy new missionaries within three
years. In the autumn of 1886, when again
doors were opening everywhere before them,
they began to pray for one hundred new mis-
sionaries during the ensuing year. Again God
honored their faith. Of the six hundred candi-
dates who applied, one hundred were selected
and sent to China before the close of 1887.
36
PRAYER IN MISSIONARY MEETING
Equally notable was the answer granted to the
Church Missionary Society in 1884. There
was a pressing need for workers, and a day of
special intercession was appointed in the hope
of meeting it. The day preceding it, however,
Secretary Wigram was called to Cambridge,
where there was a deep spiritual movement
among the students. Before midnight one hun-
dred men had volunteered for foreign missions,
and next day he returned to his colleagues to
quote the old promise : " Before they call I will
answer; and while they are yet speaking I will
hear."
3. Money. — Reinforcements of men call for
enlarged gifts of money, but the history of
missions proves that there will be no lack of this
when God, not man, is depended upon to supply
it. When Hudson Taylor and his associates
asked for one hundred new missionaries they
asked also for money to send them. And know-
ing that if it came in small amounts it would
necessitate an increase in office force, they asked
that it might be given in large amounts. It is
worthy of note that the entire amount (about
$50,000) was paid in eleven payments. The
financial record of Pastor Harms' mission has
37
HOLDING THE ROPES
been called a " spiritual study in statistics."
In fifty years the congregation of simple Ger-
man peasants at Hermannsburg raised the vast
sum of $2,141,657 for their missionary work
through prayer, and so nicely was demand bal-
anced by supply that, tho their expenditures
varied greatly from year to year, the income
varied in exact proportion, so that a deficit
never occurred at any time.
4. Revivals. — Every great ingathering on
the mission field may be directly traced to
prayer. Mary#Moffet wrote in South Africa:
The Spirit of God has commenced His operations,
and surely He will go on. Oh, for a more general spirit
of prayer and supplication ! I hear from my friend,
Miss Leeds, that the very time of the awakening here
was the season of extraordinary prayer among the
churches at home. What a coincidence and an encour-
agement to persevere in that most important part of
Christian duty!
In 1846 the first of a remarkable series of
revivals occurred in Miss Fiske's school in
Persia. By comparing dates it was found
that on the memorable morning when first the
showers began to descend in Oroomiah, Mary
Lynn had said to her pupils at Mount Holyoke :
38
PRAYER IN MISSIONARY MEETING
" We must pray more for Miss Fiske and her
school of Nestorian girls." Of the subsequent
revivals, some began on the day of the monthly
concert at home, others on the first Monday in
January, which was at that time devoted to the
missionary cause.
5. Preservation of Missionaries. — The power
of prayer to protect and deliver missionaries in
time of peril is strikingly shown in the life of
William Burns. Arriving in Chao-chou-fu on
the eve of the war which broke out between
China and Great Britain, he was arrested and
ordered sent to Canton. The relations of
China with foreign nations were so disturbed
that he was in the greatest danger. Yet no
harm came to him. Why? In the diary of
a noble Scotch woman occurs this entry:
Mr. Burns was safely kept through his arrest and
imprisonment in China. Comparing the dates, I find
that we were met in prayer for him during his dan-
gerous journey under guard of the Chinese officials.
Instances similar to this have occurred in the
lives of many a worker in the field.
For other instances of answered prayer see
" Foreign Missions," by A. C. Thompson,
39
HOLDING THE ROPES
Lecture 8 ; " The New Acts of the Apostles,"
by A. T. Pierson, Part V. ; " The Life of John
Kenneth Mackenzie," by Mrs. Bryson, Chapter
9 ; "In the Tiger Jungle," by Jacob Cham-
berlain, Chapter 1 ; " The Story of the China
Inland Mission," by Geraldine Guinness Tay-
lor; "Prayer and Missions," by Robert E.
Speer ; " Praying and Working," by W. H.
Stevenson ; " Pioneering in the New Hebrides,"
by John G. Paton, and almost all missionary
biographies.
40
Ill
ZlDusfc In tbe /HMssfonars Meeting
Music is an important factor in the mission-
ary meeting. So great is the power of sacred
song to " help the human heart to love, to dare,
and to aspire," that many a soul has been led
to yield itself to God and obey his call to mis-
sionary service through the singing of a hymn.
Two such instances have come within per-
sonal knowledge of the writer. One was that
of a young man who possessed a fine bass voice
and was a member of the quartet choir in a
prominent city church. He had long been a
confessed follower of Christ, but was just be-
ginning to see the beauty and privilege of a life
of service, when one evening the pastor an-
nounced, in closing, a well-known missionary
hymn. As the young man sang the stirring
words he heard God's voice calling him to the
mission field. Intensely moved, he went at once
to the home of a trusted friend for advice.
41
HOLDING THE ROPES
Obeying the call involved the giving up of cer-
tain bright business prospects, and probably the
breaking of a tender tie, yet that night, ere
he slept, the young singer made the resolve,
" God permitting, I will be a foreign mission-
ary," and shortly after enrolled himself among
the Student Volunteers.
The other instance was that of an earnest
Christian girl who felt that God was calling her
to the mission field, but was quite unwilling to
go. A sore struggle had been going on in her
heart for months, when one day at a young
people's meeting at a summer assembly the
hymn, " I surrender," was announced. Unwill-
ing to sing with her lips words that her heart
was refusing to utter, she kept silent and did
not join in the singing. At the close of the
meeting she crept away in an agony of soul,
once more to lay the matter before God in
prayer. Ere long the victory came, and with
it came the peace of God. With a joy that had
long been a stranger to her soul, her heart
echoed and reechoed the refrain, " I surrender,
I surrender, I surrender all ! "
Music, however, is not always effective in the
missionary meeting. Too often the service of
MUSIC IN MISSIONARY MEETING
song, tho fairly good from a musical stand-
point, is lacking in spiritual power. This is
largely due to the fact that so little attention
is paid to the words. " Music is wings, and
the words are the body," says Dr. A. F.
Schauffler. " As wings without a body are of
no use, so music that does not help the words
is of no avail from a spiritual standpoint."
The thoughtless singing of a hymn must
really be a serious offense in the sight of God.
The writer has never forgotten the exhortation
of a good old Presbyterian pastor in Cincinnati,
Ohio, who, after announcing a hymn expressing
deep consecration and loyal love to Christ, said
to the congregation : " Now, my dear people, I
beg of you, do not s'mg lies to the Lord this
morning! "
The contrast between the sentiments of a
hymn and the conduct of the singers is some-
times painfully apparent. One of Dr. John
Hall's favorite stories was of a pious Scotch-
man who lustily sang the words:
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all
43
HOLDING THE ROPES
and as he sang fumbled in his pocket to find
the smallest coin he had for the contribution
box.
Another serious hindrance to the spiritual
power of music is the use of inappropriate
selections. Elaborate anthems rendered largely
for the gratification of the musical faculty, and
not in a true spirit of worship to God, are out
of place in missionary meetings. So also is
secular music of any kind. The practise of
having secular solos in the hope of attracting
those not interested in missions is deplorable.
No matter how beautiful and pleasing such
music may be, it has no place on the missionary
program.
SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS
Every missionary organization should have
a committee to take charge of the music and see
that it is made an attractive feature of each
meeting. An accompanist should also be ap-
pointed, and either a precentor or choir to lead
the singing, but it is well to remember that the
power of sacred song is immeasurably increased
when " the hands that touch the organ keys and
the voices that lead in singing psalms and
44
MUSIC IN MISSIONARY MEETING
hymns and spiritual songs are at the disposal
of the Holy Ghost and usable as His instru-
ments."
While it is well, occasionally, to arrange for
appropriate solos and duets, music in the mis-
sionary meetings should largely consist of con-
gregational singing. The method of conduct-
ing it, however, may frequently be varied.
1. Stenciling the words of special hymns on
large sheets of paper or muslin, and singing
from them instead of from books, is an excellent
plan which concentrates the attention and pro-
duces fine results.
2. Responsive singing, rightly conducted,
can be made very effective. In hymns such as
"The Light of the World" and "What a
Wonderful Savior ! " where two lines of each
stanza are alike, one division of the society may
sing the first and third lines and the other re-
spond with the second and fourth, all uniting
in the chorus. In such hymns as " Revive Us
Again " and " Bringing in the Sheaves," where
the repetition occurs in the chorus, the entire
society may sing the stanzas and the two
divisions alternate in the lines of the chorus.
"Watchman, Tell Us of the Night" should
45
HOLDING THE ROPES
always be sung antiphonally, either by a choir
and the society, or by two divisions of the so-
ciety.
3. Reading the words of a hymn instead of
singing them is helpful sometimes. It may be
done either responsivcly or in unison, and is
especially to be recommended where the number
present is too small, or the voices not strong
enough for good congregational singing.
4. Professor Amos R. Wells makes the fol-
lowing suggestion, which is well worth adopt-
ing:
Choose a missionary hymn that shall be sung at all the
missionary meetings for the year — not some flippant
song, but some grand old hymn of the faith. It should
be committed to memory, and at the beginning of every
missionary meeting the entire company should rise and
sing it with fervor.
5. Making slight changes in familiar hymns
to adapt them to special occasions may some-
times be done with good effect. The hymn
" Christ for the World We Sing " lends itself
nicely to this method ; for example, in a meeting
on Japan, the name of the country may be
substituted for the words " the world " :
40
MUSIC IN MISSIONARY MEETING
Christ for Japan we sing,
Japan to Christ we bring.
For a home missionary meeting the words
" our land " may be used, and for world-wide
missions each stanza might be sung in a dif-
ferent way — 1. Christ for the world; 2. Christ
for our land ; 3. Christ for our state ; 4. Christ
for our homes.
At one of the sessions of Woman's Day at
the Ecumenical Conference a very effective
change was made in the third stanza of Heber's
famous hymn :
Can / whose soul is lighted
With wisdom from on high,
Can / to men benighted
The lamp of life deny?
6. Connecting hymns with the Scripture pas-
sages which inspired them calls attention to the
words and deeply impresses their lessons. Thus :
" Jesus Shall Reign Where'er the Sun " should
be used in connection with Psalm lxxii ; " Joy
to the World " with Psalm xcviii ; " Hark ! the
Voice of Jesus Calling " with Isaiah vi : 8, and
" Ye Christian Heralds, Go, Proclaim " with
Mark xvi: 15.
47
HOLDING THE ROPES
7. Native airs from missionary lands sung
by persons dressed in native costume affords a
pleasing innovation. Such music rarely has a
spiritual value, but, like pictures and curios,
it serves a noble purpose in creating interest in
foreign peoples and foreign lands.
MISSIONARY STORIES OF THE HYMNS
Hymns associated with great missionaries
and famous native converts, or connected with
notable events in missionary history, are appro-
priate for use in the missionary meeting. An
entire evening may be profitably devoted to a
missionary song service, in which such hymns
are sung and their stories told.
" From Greenland's Icy Mountains," the
greatest of all missionary hymns, was written
by Reginald Heber, the young rector of Hod-
net, who afterward became the beloved Bishop
of Calcutta. During the week preceding
Whitsunday, in 1819, he went to Wrexham to
assist his father-in-law, Dean Shirley, with the
services. A royal mandate had been issued call-
ing for a missionary collection at the morning
service, and on Saturday afternoon, in the pres-
ence of a few friends in the rectory parlor, Dr.
48
MUSIC IN MISSIONARY MEETING
Shirley requested his son-in-law to write a hymn
for the occasion. The young rector, whose
heart had been deeply stirred by the story of
Henry Martyn's life, complied at once. Re-
tiring to a window of the room he wrote out
the first three stanzas of the hymn that has
made his name immortal, and, returning, read it
to his companions. One change only was made,
and that a slight one — the word " heathen "
being substituted for " savage " in the second
verse. Dr. Shirley was abundantly satisfied,
but young Heber declared it incomplete, and,
withdrawing again for a few moments, wrote
out the matchless lines of the concluding verse.
The following extract from Heber's journal,
written on his voyage to India in 1823, adds
much to the interest of the second verse:
Tho we were now too far off to catch the odors of the
land, yet it is, we are assured, perfectly true that such
odors are perceptible to a very considerable distance.
In the Straits of Malacca a smell like that of a haw-
thorn hedge is commonly experienced, and from Cey-
lon, at thirty or forty miles, under certain circumstances,
a yet more agreeable scent is inhaled.
"Tell It Out among the Heathen," Miss
Havergal's stirring hymn, was written one Sun-
49
HOLDING THE ROPES
day morning in Wales, while the church bells
were ringing. Being too ill to attend the
service, she poured forth the longing of her
heart in verse. Dr. Duffield calls attention to
the fact that both the words of the hymn and
the tune written for it by Mr. Sankey suggest
the chiming of the bells.
" I Gave My Life for Thee," another hymn
by Miss Havergal that has rendered good ser-
vice in the missionary meeting, was written in
Germany in 1859. It was inspired, so she tells
us, by a picture of Christ, crowned with thorns,
beneath which were the words :
"I gave my life for thee;
What hast thou given for me?"
Since Miss Havergal attended school at Dus-
seldorf, and afterwards visited the place, it is
believed by many that the picture to which she
refers was the Ecce Homo of Sternberg in the
Dusseldorf Gallery, which, with the same in-
scription underneath, so powerfully impressed
Count Zinzendorf when he saw it in 1719-
" Christ for the World We Sing " was in-
spired by the motto of the Ohio State Young
Men's Christian Association convention, held in
50
MUSIC IN MISSIONARY MEETING
Cleveland in 1869. The words of this motto,
"Christ for the World, and the World for
Christ," wrought in evergreen over the plat-
form, so deeply impressed the Rev. Samuel Wal-
cott, D. D., that at the close of one of the even-
ing sessions, while walking home alone through
the streets, he " put together " the four stanzas
of this favorite hymn.
" A Mighty Fortress is Our God," the grand
old hero-psalm of Luther, was sung as a part-
ing hymn by the first band of missionaries sent
forth by Pastor Harms in 1853. At a great
farewell service held in the old church at Her-
mannsberg, the departing missionaries — sixteen
in number, and all men — stood up at the close
of the sermon and sang the words so dear to
every German heart. " There was something
noble," says Dr. Stevenson, " in those humble
men setting their faces toward the savages in
Africa, and flinging back such lofty music out
of brave, composed hearts."
" All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name ! " con-
ceded by all to be the most inspiring hymn in
the language, was used as the opening number
of the Ecumenical Conference held in New York
in 1900. Few who were present will ever for-
51
HOLDING THE ROPES
get the inspiring moment when the vast audi-
ence arose, and with glad, exultant voices
poured forth this triumphant pean of praise
A touching incident, showing the power of the
hymn, comes to us from India. One day, on
the streets of a village, a missionary came in
contact with a man who belonged to a fierce
and warlike mountain tribe to whom, as yet, the
Gospel had never been preached. Determined
to " carry Jesus to them," at great personal
risk Jne started for their country, taking, among
other things, his violin. After a two days'
journey he reached his destination, only to find
himself surrounded by hostile savages, who
pointed their spears at his heart. Death
seemed imminent, but taking out his violin he
began to sing and play the first verse of " All
Hail the Power of Jesus' Name ! " Finding
himself unharmed, he sang on and on until at
length he dared to open his eyes. Great was his
amazement to find the spears dropped and the
people ready to welcome him. Their savage
hearts had been conquered by a hymn.
" Yes, My Native Land, I Love Thee," Dr.
F. S. Smith's beautiful hymn, was sung at the
farewell service in 1836, when Marcus Whit-
52
MUSIC IN MISSIONARY MEETING
man and his bride were about to start on their
long journey to Oregon. Mrs. Whitman was
gifted with a voice of remarkable sweetness,
and had long been a member of the choir. So
dearly was she loved, that when this hymn was
announced the congregation was unable to sing
it. They began bravely enough, but were soon
overcome by emotion. The bride alone con-
tinued to the end, singing the last stanza in
clear, unwavering tones while many around her
sobbed aloud.
" Before Jehovah's Awful Throne," Wesley's
revision of Watts' version of the One Hundredth
Psalm, was used in a notable way by Commo-
dore Perry while knocking at the gates of
Japan in 1853. On the morning of July 10,
the first Sunday in Japanese waters, when divine
service was held on board the flag-ship, the
stars and stripes being spread over the capstan
for a pulpit, the chaplain, at Perry's request,
announced this hymn. No more appropriate
one could have been selected. As the band
struck up the notes of Old Hundred, the grand
old hymn echoed and reechoed across the Bay
of Yeddo, summoning a heathen nation to the
worship of the living God.
53
HOLDING THE ROPES
" O God of Bethel, by Whose Hand," was
David Livingstone's favorite hymn. It greatly
cheered him during privations and sufferings of
his long journeys through Africa, and it was
sung at the great service in Westminster Abbey,
when, on April 18, 1874, his body was finally
laid away to rest. " O Thou From Whom All
Goodness Flows " was a source of much comfort
to Henry Martyn when reviled and persecuted
for the sake of Christ on the mission field. After
a prolonged and wearisome discussion with a
Mohammedan concerning the doctrine of the
divinity of Christ, he wrote in his diary, under
date of August 23, 1811 :
It is this doctrine which exposes me to the contempt
of the learned Mohammedans. Their sneers are more
difficult to bear than the brickbats which the boys some-
times throw at me; however, both are an honor of which
I am not worthy. How many times a day have I occa-
sion to repeat the words:
If, on my face, for Thy dear name,
Shame and reproaches be,
All hail reproach, and welcome shame,
If Thou remember me.
On June 12, 1812, so the diary says, the scene
was repeated, and again the saintly missionary
found comfort in his favorite hymn.
54
MUSIC IN MISSIONARY MEETING
The matchless hymn, " The God of Abram
Praise," which Montgomery placed above all
others for majesty and elevation of thought,
has been a source of comfort to many mission-
aries. " Many times," says Richard Pattison,
a devoted missionary to the West Indies, " in
storms on the ocean, or in crossing from one
island to another in small vessels, I have held
on by a rope and sung:
4 « The watery deep I pass,
With Jesus in my view;
And through the howling wilderness
My way pursue,
and I have felt my faith in God wonderfully
strengthened."
" Arise, My Soul, Arise," Wesley's hymn
that has been blest to the conversion of so many
souls, has acquired a pathetic interest through
its association with Allen Gardiner and the
" Deathless Seven," who, while attempting to
carry the Gospel to Terra del Fuego, starved to
death at Spaniard's Harbor. John Badcock
was the first of the seven to die, and this hymn
was his parting song. As he lay in the narrow,
leaky cabin of the Speedwell, he asked Richard
55
HOLDING THE ROPES
Williams, who lay beside him, to sing it with
him, and shortly after passed away.
"Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me," the hymn
so dear to every Christian heart, is especially
significant throughout the Orient, where the
followers of Buddha and the devotees of Hindu-
ism are willing to perform any task, no matter
how difficult or how repulsive, in the hope of
escaping the pain and sorrow of countless rein-
carnations. Mrs. Bainbridge tells of a woman
who, in order to make merit, dug with her own
hands a well twenty-five feet deep and from ten
to fifteen feet across. Not until long after
completing this difficult task did she learn of
free salvation through Christ. She was an old
woman eighty years old when Mrs. Bainbridge
saw her, but she was able to stretch forth the
poor old crippled hands that had performed
such incredible labor in an endeavor to obtain
salvation, and sing with her visitor:
Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling.
" Jesus, and Shall it Ever Be," the hymn
written by Joseph Grigg when but ten years
old, was sung at the baptism of Krishna Pal,
56
MUSIC IN MISSIONARY MEETING
the first Hindu convert who had the faith and
courage to endure the odium of a public confes-
sion of Christ. This notable baptism took
place at Serampore on the last Lord's day of
the year 1800, the hymn being sung just before
Carey " desecrated the Ganges " by leading
down into one of its tributaries two candidates
for immersion, his son Felix and Krishna Pal.
" I'm Not Ashamed to Own My Lord " was
used by Mackay, of Formosa, to strengthen the
faith of A Hoa, his first convert, who had be-
come his efficient helper, but was early learning
that the path of service is sometimes strewn with
thorns. When Dr. Mackay was preaching for
the first time in Kelung, a heathen city in North
Formosa, he was surrounded by a mob of angry
idolators, among them some of A Hoa's old
associates, whose hatred for the missionary was
only exceeded by their contempt for his con-
vert. What followed can best be told in Dr.
Mackay's own words:
I turned to A Hoa and asked him to address the
people. It was a moment of testing. Never before had
he spoken for Christ in the public street, and it was
only a few months since he himself first heard the Gos-
pel. As he heard the vile and scornful words of his
57
HOLDING THE ROPES
old comrades, he was silent and hung down his head.
Immediately I read the first verse of a hymn, and we
sang it together. It was the old Scotch paraphrase that
has so often put iron into the blood and courage into
the hearts of trembling saints:
" I'm not ashamed to own my Lord,
Or to defend His cause;
Maintain the glory of His cross,
And honor all His laws."
It was enough. A Hoa raised his head, and never again
was he " ashamed." Looking out over the angry mob, he
addressed them in the calm, clear tones of a man who
believes and is not afraid.
" Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken," was sung
in a most touching manner by Sooboonagam
Ammal, a high-caste Hindu convert of Madras,
on the occasion of her public confession of
Christ. The daughter of a learned and in-
fluential Brahman of the strictest sect, she had
been reared in seclusion in a home of wealth
and luxury. The youngest and most petted
child of the household, all that money could
buy or love could devise, had been lavished upon
her. Her clothing was of the richest silk, her
jewels rare and costly. She was, too, unusually
devout in her worship of the gods, and from
58
MUSIC IN MISSIONARY MEETING
early childhood there was no idolatrous cere-
mony into which she did not enter with zest.
Yet, when she learned of Christ through the
ladies of the Methodist Episcopal Zenana Mis-
sion of Madras, she gave herself wholly to Him,
and, finding that she could not serve Him in
her home by reason of the bitter opposition of
her relatives, she decided to forsake all — home,
friends, the mother she loved so well, her high
rank, her wealth, her costly jewels — and seek a
refuge with the missionaries. On Christmas
night, 1895, she made her flight, going under
the cover of darkness to the headquarters of
the mission. Five weeks later, notwithstand-
ing the earnest efforts of her relatives to win
her back, she publicly confessed Christ and was
baptized. At the close of the service, at her
own wish, she sang the words which so well ex-
pressed her feelings that they seemed to have
been written especially for her:
Jesus, I my cross have taken,
All to leave and follow Thee;
Destitute, despised, forsaken,
Thou, from hence, my all shall be.
" In the Secret of His Presence," " O Thou
59
HOLDING THE ROPES
My Soul, Forget No More," " Take My Heart
for Thine, Jehovah," and " Awak'd by Sinai's
Awful Sound," four devout hymns that have
proved most useful to the Church, are worthy
of special note, because they are the work o£
Christian converts in mission lands. The first
was written by Ellen Lakshmi Goreh, a high-
caste Hindu girl, born in Benares in 1853, who,
after her conversion developed rapidly in the
Christian life, and became a missionary to her
people; the second, by Krishna Pal, Carey's
first convert, who became an earnest Christian
and an eloquent preacher; the third, by the
native pastor of the Ampamarianan (" Rock
of Hurling") Church, in Madagascar, who
wrote it in prison shortly before his death ; the
fourth, by Samson Occom, a famous Indian
preacher of New England.
60
IV
l&ow to "(Interest tbe 1fnfc>i\>ifcual in /IDissf oris
A STUDY OF THE TURNING-POINTS IN THE
CAREERS OF GREAT MISSIONARIES 1
The supreme object of every missionary or-
ganization should be to interest those not in-
terested in world-wide missions, and to increase
the interest of those already enlisted in the
work. Yet there were scores of missionary so-
cieties in the United States last year that failed
to add a single name to the roll of those soundly
converted to the missionary cause.
JThis topic is an excellent one for use on a missionary
program. It is appropriate for any missionary meeting,
but especially so for the missionary concert or a con-
ference on missions. In introducing the topic, let the
leader to whom it has been assigned speak briefly of the
importance of interesting those not interested in mis-
sions, and follow it with instances of how great mis-
sionaries were led to devote their lives to the work.
Then let him call on those present to tell, in a sentence
or two, how they first became interested, and close with
an appeal to all present to try to interest at least one
person in missions during the coming year.
61
HOLDING THE ROPES
This deplorable state of affairs was largely
due to the fact that comparatively few mission-
ary workers put forth individual effort for those
not interested in missions. Believers in Christ
are not, as a rule, won en masse; neither are
believers in missions. In both cases they are
best " hand-picked." Christians are frequently
urged to keep prayer-lists of those they hope
to win to Christ. Missionary workers would do
well to keep similar lists of those they hope to
interest in missions. If each worker would win
one other worker to the cause each year, the
evangelization of the world would soon be an
accomplished fact.
The question of how to interest individuals
in missions is therefore one of vital importance
to every missionary worker. In no way can so
much light be thrown upon the subject as by
studying the lives of great missionaries and
noting what sent them to the foreign field.
What has interested individuals in the past will
give the best clue to what will interest them in
the future.
Alexander Duff, the pioneer of higher educa-
tion in India, owed his first interest in missions
to pictures of idols shown him by his father on
62
HOW TO INTEREST THE INDIVIDUAL
Sunday afternoons. Tho but four years old,
his young heart was so stirred with compassion
for the heathen who worshiped such hideous
things that the impression never left him. This
early interest was intensified in his student days
by the lectures of Chalmers and the addresses
of the great missionary pioneers, Morrison and
Marsden.
Alexander Mackay, whom Stanley pronounced
the greatest missionary since Livingstone, also
became interested in missions in childhood. The
stories of missionary heroism related to him by
his mother, and the map of Africa on which his
father traced the journeys of Livingstone then
in progress, fired his young heart with mission-
ary zeal. His thought was later turned to the
foreign field by the " Life of Patteson " and by
the report of a lecture on Madagascar which
his sister had sent him ; but the immediate cause
of his giving his life to Africa was the appeal
of Stanley for missionaries for Uganda.
Eliza Agnew's purpose to become a mission-
ary was formed while at school in New York
City, when but eight years old. One day,
during the geography lesson, the teacher
pointed out the Isle of France on the map,
63
HOLDING THE ROPES
and told the children not to forget it, for Har-
riet Newell, one of his former pupils, was buried
there. As he told the story of her sweet young
life and early death, Eliza Agnew's heart was
so deeply touched that she decided then and
there that when she grew to womanhood she
" would go as a missionary to tell the heathen
about Jesus."
The first flame of missionary zeal kindled in
the heart of William Carey was the result of
giving daily lessons in geography in his little
school at Moulton. As he studied the map of
the world, with its vast regions lying in spiritual
darkness, his heart was overwhelmed, and he
began to gather information about various
heathen lands. A copy of Cook's " Voyages "
falling into his hands about this time, fanned
the flame and fed the growing impulse, until his
whole mind became absorbed with the thought
of preaching Christ to all the world.
Writing an essay on missions made John
Ludwig Krapf, the great' African explorer, a
missionary. When about fourteen years of age
the principal of the school which he attended
read to the pupils a pamphlet on the spread of
Christianity in heathen lands. Never before
64
HOW TO INTEREST THE INDIVIDUAL
had young Krapf heard anything of missions,
but the subject took such a hold upon his mind
that he at once asked himself the question,
" Shall I be a missionary and go to the
heathen ? " This question was answered in the
affirmative, and shortly after he offered himself
as a missionary student at Basel.
Adoniram Judson, David Livingstone, John
Scudder, Henry Martyn, and Samuel Marsden
became missionaries as a result of reading mis-
sionary literature. Buchanan's " Star of the
East," telling of missionary work in India,
changed the whole course of Judson's life, and
led him to give up the pleasant prospect of an
assistant pastorate in Boston for the hardships
of a missionary career in foreign lands, Gut?-
laff's " Appeal in Behalf of China " falling into
the hands of David Livingstone, led him to offer
himself for work in the Middle Kingdom, but
the Opium War blocked the way, and Robert
Moffat won him for Africa. A little tract, en-
titled " The Claims of Six Hundred Millions,
and the Ability and Duty of the Churches Re-
specting Them," lent him by one of his lady
patients, led Dr. Scudder, the first medical mis-
sionary from America, to give up his lucrative
65
HOLDING THE ROPES
practise in New York City and go to Cey-
lon.
Jonathan Edwards' " Life of David Brain-
erd " sent Henry Martyn to India. Previous
to this his heart had been deeply stirred by the
missionary sermons of his pastor, the Rev.
Charles Simeon, but it was the self-denying life
and heroic labors of the " Missionary- of the
Wilderness " that gave him courage to break
the dearest ties of earth and bury himself in a
heathen land. This same " Life of Brainerd "
was also the means of inspiring Samuel Marsden
to undertake his great work for New Zealand.
While sailing across the seas to take up his
heavy task as chaplain to the convicts of New
South Wales, he read the story of Brainerd's
work. So deep was the impression made that,
in addition to his appointed duties, he began to
work for the Maoris also.
John Williams, like Henry Martyn, owed his
first interest in missions to his pastor, the Rev.
Matthew Wilks, whose faithful sermons on the
subject stirred his very soul. When an appeal
came for helpers he responded eagerly, and at
the age of twenty-one sailed away to the island
field where he was to earn the title " Apostle
m
HOW TO INTEREST THE INDIVIDUAL
of the South Seas " and win a martyr's
crown.
Two famous missionaries, Fidelia Fiske and
John Coleridge Patteson, decided to go to the
foreign field while listening to the addresses of
returned missionaries. Miss Fiske's interest
dated back to the departure of her uncle, Pliny
Fiske, for the Holy Land, when she was but
three years old; later, at Mount Holyoke, she
came under Mary Lyon's magnetic influence, but
it was the appeal of Dr. Perkins that led her
to offer herself for Persia. Bishop Patteson's
interest also began at an early age through
hearing stories of missionary heroism related in
his home. But it was while at Eton that he
first heard God's voice calling him to the foreign
field. One Sunday afternoon, in company with
his fellow-students, he went to hear Bishop
Selwyn tell of his work in the Southern Seas.
As he listened to the burning words of the great
missionary he determined to follow in his steps.
Twelve years later he accompanied him to his
distant field.
Trying to persuade others to go as mission-
aries— working for missions, it might be called
— led Hans Egede and Melinda Rankin to be-
67
HOLDING THE ROPES
come missionaries themselves. From the day
that Hans Egede found an old book containing
the chronicles of the long-lost colony of Eric the
Red, he began to urge upon his countrymen the
duty of sending missionaries to Greenland. But
by and by, perceiving that it did not look well
for him to urge others to go while he remained
at home, he determined to undertake the work
himself. After the close of the Mexican War,
Miss Rankin tried in vain, by the use of tongue
and pen, to arouse the churches of the United
States to a sense of their duty to the Mexicans.
But at last she was led to exclaim : " God help-
ing me, I'll go myself ! "
It was giving to missions that won Cyrus
Hamlin, founder of Robert College, to the mis-
sionary cause. The turning-point in his career
dates back to an annual muster day — always a
great holiday in his New England home — when,
after a hard struggle, he dropped into a mis-
sionary box, for the education of a heathen boy,
the whole of seven cents, given him by his mother
to spend as he pleased. In consequence of his
generosity he was obliged to go without his
dinner. Long years after he declared, in his
quaint way, that he " came out of that mission-
68
HOW TO INTEREST THE INDIVIDUAL
ary box," and with him five other missionaries
who went to his church and dropped pennies into
this self-same box.
Robert Morrison and James Gilmour are
notable examples of men who became great mis-
sionaries, not as a result of any striking ex-
ternal incident, but simply from a desire to obey
the " last command of Christ." The study of
their Bibles made them missionaries. The pole-
star of Morrison's life was duty, and it was a
solemn sense of his duty to his Lord, and his
duty to the heathen that led him to devote his
life to China. Gilmour's decision was made
during his college course. Two questions de-
manded an answer — how to serve God and where.
In response to the first, he entered the ministry ;
in response to the second, he became a mission-
ary. Common sense, he says, told him to go
where the work was most abundant and laborers
most scarce. " But," he adds, " I go as a mis-
sionary, not that I may follow the dictates of
common sense, but that I may obey that com-
mand of Christ, ' Go into all the world and
preach.' "
John G. Paton, whose autobiography has
sent many a missionary to the field, attributes
69
HOLDING THE ROPES
his interest in missions to the prayers of his
father and mother at the family altar. When
he decided to become a missionary, they said to
him : " When you were given to us, we laid you
upon the altar, our first born, to be consecrated,
if God saw fit, as a missionary of the cross, and
it has been our constant prayer that you might
be prepared, qualified, and led to this very de-
cision."
SOME PRACTICAL LESSONS
There are many lessons to be learned from
this study of the impelling forces that led noble
men and earnest women to choose foreign mis-
sions as a life-work. First, there is the prac-
tical lesson of how to interest others. The in-
stances given show that hearts are touched and
impulses implanted in many different ways.
Pictures, books, maps, stories, sermons, tracts,
addresses, writing missionary papers, doing mis-
sionary work, giving missionary money, study-
ing the Bible, prayer — each in turn has been the
means, under God, of sending one or more great
workers to the field.
The same means used by the Christian
workers of to-day will, with God's blessing,
70
HOW TO INTEREST THE INDIVIDUAL
produce similar results. This was proved by
the testimonies given at the Ohio State Chris-
tian Endeavor Convention, held in Zanesville in
1902. At a conference conducted by the writer
the young people were asked to tell, very briefly,
what first interested them in missions. A large
number of responses were given, among them the
following :
"Writing missionary papers and studying missions in
a study class."
" Helping to support a boy in a mission school."
" Realizing God's love for all mankind."
" Fulfilling the dying request of my mother to see
that her missionary money was paid."
" The influence of my teacher at school, who was pre-
paring to go to the foreign land where she is now at
work."
" Reading missionary periodicals that came into our
home."
"Writing a paper on child-widows in India."
" Coming into contact with missionaries from the
field."
" A course of lectures delivered by Dr. Schaff at
Lane Seminary."
" Reading missionary letters received by a neighbor."
" Contact with Student Volunteers."
" Hearing missionary addresses at conventions."
Then there is the lesson of individual responsi-
bility. It is worthy of note that the majority
71
HOLDING THE ROPES
of these great missionaries received their in-
spiration by contact with some one soul ablaze
with missionary zeal. The lives of Paton,
Mackay, Duff, and Hamlin teach the duty and
responsibility of parents in the home, those of
Martyn and Williams the privilege and power
of the pastor in the pulpit. The experiences of
Eliza Agnew and Dr. Krapf reveal opportu-
nities little dreamed of that are open to the
school-teacher who is faithful to his Lord. The
calls of Patteson and Judson, Marsden, Living-
stone, and Scudder give a hint of the tremen-
dous influence exerted by missionary writers and
speakers, and, above all, by the returned mis-
sionary from the field.
The susceptibility of the child mind to receive
life-impressions is another lesson that must not
be overlooked. Miss Fiske was only three years
old, and Dr. Duff but four, when their interest
in missions began, and Eliza Agnew formed her
life-purpose at the age of eight. Sunday-
school teachers, Junior workers, and leaders of
children's mission bands should keep this con-
stantly in mind.
Still another lesson is the lesson of encourage-
ment. Missionary workers are prone to be dis-
72
HOW TO INTEREST THE INDIVIDUAL
couraged because so little fruit appears as the
result of all their toil. Yet seed faithfully
sown, and carefully watered by prayer, will
sooner or later yield an abundant harvest and
receive a rich reward. The parents, teachers,
pastors, writers, and speakers who so deeply im-
pressed the strong young souls of earlier days
little knew what great results were to come from
their humble efforts. Nor do you. If you are
faithful to your trust God may use you to in-
spire some soul to do a work in the future as
great and as glorious as any that has been
wrought in the past.
73
flDtesionarp Graining in tbe 1bome
The missionary training of children should
begin, first of all, in the home. Nowhere can
so strong and sure a foundation for missionary
interest and activity be laid as here. " I believe
there ought to be education in missions from the
cradle," says Dr. Pierson, " and then, as the
child's mind and heart are inspired with a desire
for the uplifting of mankind, the fire to be fed
with fuel appropriate to the measure of the
child's intelligence."
Too little importance has been attached to
this matter and too little stress laid upon it.
We have had books and articles, addresses and
conferences galore, on how to interest the young
people in the Christian Endeavor Society and
kindred organizations, but practically nothing
on how to interest the little people in the home.
Yet this is a matter of primary importance.
On it depends, to a great extent, the solution of
74
MISSIONARY TRAINING IN THE HOME
the whole missionary problem. Note the sig-
nificant words of Mr. John R. Pepper, of the
International Sunday-school Lesson Committee,
uttered before the New Orleans Missionary Con-
ference in 1901 :
I verily believe that the heathen nations can be con-
verted to the religion of Jesus Christ in one generation if
the Church will but rear a generation to do the work.
. . . I am profoundly impressed with the fact that we
will never have an irresistible, all-conquering line of
royal givers of gold, silver, or selves, until we rear
them, and the first lesson of this culture in real, honest
heart-yearning for the salvation of the whole world must
be received in the springs and fountains of early child-
hood, if we would see the largest yield therefrom.
There are three great reasons worthy of care-
ful consideration why little children should be
early trained in avenues of service to Christ and
the lost world He came to save: 1. For the
good of the child itself. 2. For the sake of
what it can accomplish for the cause. 3. To fit
it for the responsibilities of the future. Each
of these will be briefly considered as follows :
I. THE GOOD OF THE CHILD ITSELF !
In these days when snares and pitfalls for
the young abound on every hand, all active,
75
HOLDING THE ROPES
loving interest that a child can be induced to
take in a great and noble cause that absorbs its
thought and demands from it a portion of both
time and money, is a positive safeguard to it.
Then, too, the building of character begins at
a very early age, and if that character is to be
good and true and noble, the highest ideals
should be laid upon it during the plastic period
when the child is most easily molded. On this
point Dr. Pierson has spoken most powerfully
as follows :
Nothing is so subtly fatal to all true symmetry of char-
acter as simple selfishness. There is as truly peril in a
self-indulgent home as in a positively vicious one. Let a
child begin by being pampered, petted, indulged, taught
to gratify whims and selfish impulses, and you have given
a carnal tendency to the whole life. Now there is this
precious fruit of very early training in the missionary
spirit, that your boy or girl gets another center of revo-
lution outside of self. Others' wants and woes are
thought of, and the penny that would be wasted on
sweets is saved for the missionary box. Where mission-
ary songs are sung at the cradle and prayers for the
heathen are taught to lisping lips at the mother's knee,
where simple facts about the awful needs of pagan homes
and hearts are fed to the children as food for thought
and tonic for self-denial, and the habit is thus early im-
parted of looking beyond personal comfort and pleasure
and feeling sympathy for lost souls, a new and strange
76
MISSIONARY TRAINING IN THE HOME
quality is given to character. It is no strange thing,
therefore, that in homes where a true missionary atmos-
phere is habitually breathed, we find children insensibly
growing up to devote themselves and their substance to
God.
II. WHAT THE CHILD CAN ACCOMPLISH FOR THE
CAUSE
Children, even very little children, are a
greater factor in missionary work than we real-
ize. What they actually accomplish is by no
means inconsiderable, and far greater than we
give them credit for. If their efforts should
suddenly cease, many a missionary wheel would
stop revolving. Since the day when the Lord
Jesus used a little lad's five loaves and two small
fishes to feed the hungry multitude He has been
using children's gifts to bless the world. The
figures are not at hand to show the amount
given to missions by the children of Christen-
dom, but it is undoubtedly a vast sum. In pro-
portion to their income, children are the largest
givers in the world. Nor are their prayers to
be despised. Few among older Christians pray
with the simple faith and loving confidence of a
little child. If only the curtain were drawn
aside, we should probably find that many of the
77
HOLDING THE ROPES
blessings granted to the cause of missions have
been given in answer to the prayers of Christ's
own little ones. " Thank God for bairns'
prayers," wrote James Chalmers from New
Guinea ; " I like best the prayers of children."
III. TRAINING THE CHILD TO BEAR THE RESPON-
SIBILITIES OF THE FUTURE
A study of missionary biography shows
that many of those who have done the most for
the cause received their first missionary inspira-
tion from their parents in the home. The im-
pressions gained during the formative period of
childhood are never really lost, and seed sown
in the nursery, tho it may lie dormant for years,
will at length spring up and bear abundant
fruit. This was the case with Robert Moffat,
David Livingstone, Alexander Duff, Cyrus
Hamlin, Jacob Chamberlain, and other great
missionary heroes. It is also true of many
whose work has been to " hold the ropes " at
home.
It is a solemn thought, freighted with no little
responsibility, that from among the children in
our homes to-day must come the great mission-
aries and missionary givers of to-morrow. Ere
78
MISSIONARY TRAINING IN THE HOME
long these little ones, now so dependent upon our
care, are to be entrusted with the money power
of the Church, and upon them will rest the
burden of preaching Christ in all the earth.
There are endless possibilities wrapped up in
their young lives. Dr. Lyman Abbott once used
this illustration:
I pluck an acorn from the greensward, and hold it to
my ear, and this is what it says to me:
II By and by birds will come and nest in me. By and
by I will furnish shade for the cattle. By and by I will
provide warmth for the home in the pleasant fire. By and
by I will be shelter from the storm to those who are
under the roof. By and by I will be the strong ribs
of a great vessel, and the tempest will beat against me
in vain while I carry men across the Atlantic."
" Oh, foolish little acorn, wilt thou be all this ? " I ask.
And the little acorn answers: "Yes; God and I."
Borrowing Dr. Abbott's thought, Dr. J. R.
Miller has applied it to a little child. We in
turn apply it to the missionary possibilities of
a little child.
I look into the face of a company of little children,
and I hear a whisper, saying:
" By and by I will be a blessing to many. By and by
I will give money to the Lord Jesus for His work. By
and by I will teach many to love the cause of missions.
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HOLDING THE ROPES
By and by I will cross the ocean to carry the Gospel to
those who have it not. By and by I will turn many from
worshiping idols to serve the living God. By and by
I shall finish my course and be among the glorified with
my Redeemer."
"You, frail, powerless little one?" I ask.
And the little child makes answer : " Yes ; Christ
and I."
SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS
The responsibility for missionary training in
the home lies, of course, largely with the parents,
yet it has frequently devolved upon some other
member of the household!. Count Zinzendorf,
the illustrious " father of modern missions,"
owed his early training to his grandmother, the
gifted and pious Baroness von Gersdorf, while
the Earl of Shaftesbury, the staunch advocate
of missions both at home and abroad, attributed
his first interest in things spiritual to his devoted
old nurse, Maria Millis. It is, however, .the
parents' rightful privilege, and those who, for
any reason, allow it to be assumed by others,
neglect a great duty and miss a great reward.
" Take this young child and nurse it for Me,"
is a command laid upon every Christian parent's
heart.
The creation of a missionary atmosphere is a
80
MISSIONARY TRAINING IN THE HOME
matter of primary importance. A child reared
in a home where missionary books and maga-
zines crowd the library table, where missionary
maps and pictures adorn the walls, and where
prayer for missions is daily offered at the family
altar, unconsciously imbibes the missionary
spirit, even tho no direct influence is brought
to bear upon it. " I have always believed in
missions," said an earnest Christian woman not
long ago ; " it would have been impossible for
one brought up in our home to do otherwise."
The history of missions furnishes no more
beautiful picture of early missionary training
than that of Mackay, of Uganda. Both
parents were deeply interested in missions, espe-
cially in Africa, where Livingstone was then
making his great explorations. The " Proceed-
ings of the Royal Geographical Society " came
regularly to the home, and the works of Living-
stone, Speke, and Grant were purchased as soon
as published. On a map in the study the father
traced with his boy the course of the newly dis-
covered rivers, and explained the important part
missionaries were taking in the opening up of
the great continent.
On the long Sabbath evenings, when the
81
HOLDING THE ROPES
father was preaching at some distant kirk, the
mother taught the boy. The lessons were from
the Bible and the catechism. If they had been
well learned, the reward was a thrilling mission-
ary story that filled his young heart with mis-
sionary zeal. " Would you like me to go to
Africa, mother? " he asked on one of these
memorable occasions. " Not unless God prepares
you for it, my boy," was her reply ; " but if the
call comes, see that you do not neglect it."
Small wonder is it that in after days the boy
became, to borrow Stanley's phrase, " the great-
est missionary since Livingstone."
Among the chief delights of childhood are
stories, games, and pictures. These should be
preempted for the missionary cause, and made
to do duty as a means of imparting missionary
inspiration and instruction.
1. Stories. — Missionary literature abounds
in fascinating stories of strange lands and
peoples, and thrilling adventures of mission-
aries among them. Little children will sit en-
tranced while such stories are either read or
told to them, and stories heard at mother's
knee are rarely, if ever, forgotten. With
many parents the problem is where to find
82
MISSIONARY TRAINING IN THE HOME
suitable material. As long as the child is will-
ing to take his reading second hand, the solu-
tion is not difficult, for almost every mission-
ary magazine and book contains one or more
stories that can be retold in language suitable
to the childish comprehension. But at the age
of seven or eight, when the average American
child begins to evince a desire to read for itself,
the problem grows more difficult, for there are
almost no missionary books suitable for begin-
ners. Herein lies the great lack in missionary
literature. There are, of course, many excellent
children's magazines and papers which should
be in every home, but, as a rule, a child loves a
book better than a paper. Twenty years ago
there was a similar lack in secular literature, but
in recent years many gifted pens have been at
work, and there is now a long list of most at-
tractive books for beginners on a great variety
of topics. It is to be hoped that the need may
soon be met in missionary literature also.
Of books especially attractive to children,
" The Story of John G. Paton " undoubtedly
heads the list. One little lad, whose mother ap-
plied to the writer for a book to interest him in
missions, was so delighted with it that he insisted
HOLDING THE ROPES
on hearing all of it twice, and begged his mother
" not to stop reading the part about the sinking
of the well until he had heard it a thousand
times ! "
Egerton R. Young's " On the Indian Trail "
and "My Dogs in the Northland," S. M.
and A. E. Zwemer's " Topsy-Turvy Land,"
and Hannington's " Peril and Adventure in
Central Africa," are also great favorites.
Hamlin's " My Life and Times," Chamberlain's
"In the Tiger Jungle," and "The Cobra's
Den," Hotchkiss' " Sketches from the Dark
Continent," Williams' " Missionary Enterprises
in the South Sea Islands," Gale's " Korean
Sketches " and " Mackay of Uganda," by his
sister, are gold-mines of stories attractive to
little folks, tho they also include much that is
beyond their comprehension. Tho not espe-
cially missionary in character, Carpenter's
" Geographical Reader of Asia," Jane Andrews'
" Seven Little Sisters," and Isaac Taylor Head-
land's " Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes " and
" The Chinese Boy and Girl," are invaluable in
creating an interest in foreign lands and peoples.
2. Games. — Playing missionary games is one
of the best ways of imparting missionary in-
84
MISSIONARY TRAINING IN THE HOME
struction in the home. It is said that knowledge
gained in play is more easily acquired and
longer retained than that gained in any other
way. A prominent educator declares that his
whole life has felt the impress of the old game
of " Authors," played in his childhood, and
attributes to it much of his love for books. And
many a student of the Word is ready to testify to
having gained his first knowledge of Bible char-
acters through the Scripture games played in the
home circle on Sunday afternoons. Missionary
games similar to these would do much to remedy
the woful ignorance which prevails concerning
great missionary heroes and their notable
achievements. Unfortunately there are very
few missionary games available. Simple ones
can, however, be easily made at home.1 In the
matter of both books and games English so-
cieties are far in advance of our own. The
Church Missionary Society provides a fine array
of printed matter for little people, including
missionary alphabets, painting-books, and pic-
ture-books for the little ones in the nursery, and
missionary lotto and other games for those who
are more advanced.
i For suggestions along this line see Chapter XI.
85
HOLDING THE ROPES
ounce of picture is worth a ton of talk."
This is, of course, a mere hyperbole, yet so
great is the influence of pictures that it de-
mands thoughtful attention from all parents
who seek to train their little ones aright. Two
illustrations suffice to show their power. Not
long ago there came to the Home of the Friend-
less, in one of our Western cities, a beautiful
and accomplished girl, brought there from a
Christian home of wealth and refinement by her
bent and broken-hearted father. When the
matron, in accordance with her custom, ques-
tioned the girl concerning the cause of her
downfall, she answered, with sobs and bitter
tears : " It was a picture, a nude figure, in my
father's dining-room. It ruined me and broke
my parents' hearts."
In marked contrast to this sad story of an
impure picture that so terribly wrecked a life,
is that of Count Zinzendorf and the Ecce Homo
of Sternberg, showing the power of a pure and
noble picture to uplift a soul. In 1719 the
young count, who was destined by his uncle for
a brilliant social career, was sent on a tour of
foreign travel to complete his education and
86
MISSIONARY TRAINING IN THE HOME
wean him from his devotion to the service of
God. It was a time of testing; but as the
young nobleman stood before the famous paint-
ing in the Dusscldorf Gallery and gazed into
the sad, expressive face of the crucified Re-
deemer, he renewed his consecration vows and
returned home resolved to serve God as never
before.
The power of pictures to plant a missionary
purpose in the heart of a child is shown in the
lives of Duff, of India, and Richardson, of
Madagascar, both great heroes of the Cross.
The former traced his first desire to be a mis-
sionary to pictures of idols shown him by his
father at the age of four; the latter to a pic-
ture of the martyrdom of the native Christians
of Madagascar, shown him by his teacher at the
age of seven.
The wealth of pictures that make our present-
day books and magazines so attractive consti-
tute one of the best aids to the study of mis-
sions, and are a great delight to children. They
can be used in many ways. By clipping them
and pasting them in an ordinary scrap-book,
very pretty picture-books can be made. Those
pictures that are worthy of it may be mounted
87
HOLDING THE ROPES
on cardboard and framed in narrow molding or
passe partout. Especially to be commended are
the Orient Pictures issued by the American Bap-
tist Missionary Union. Printed on heavy paper,
and reproduced from the best missionary photo-
graphs available, they are true works of art,
and worthy of a place in any home. Curios, as
well as pictures, have a place in the missionary
training of the young. For this reason a mis-
sionary museum is an excellent thing, especially
for boys, in whom the collective spirit is usually
so pronounced. A stamp collection, which
brings the boy in touch with every foreign field,
might form a part of this.
Hand in hand with missionary instruction in
the home must go practical training in mission-
ary work. If the child's missionary develop-
ment is to be complete, it must be early taught to
give its pennies to the Lord Jesus for His work,
and to pray for the children of foreign lands
and the missionaries who work among them.
In the matter of giving, American mothers may
learn a lesson from their Hawaiian sisters. In
the early days of Christianity in the islands it
was the custom of many a mother to put a
bright coin in her baby's hand and hold it over
88
MISSIONARY TRAINING IN THE HOME
the contribution-box. If the tiny fingers held
on to the shining piece, she gently shook it until
it fell, with a merry ring, into the box below.
Thus trained, the Hawaiians became noted for
their liberality. Surely a plan that worked so
well will bear transplanting.
89
VI
Ube Missionary Xibrarp
HOW TO GET IT AND HOW TO USE IT
The rapid growth of missionary literature
during the nineteenth century has undoubtedly
been one of the chief factors in the marvelous
development of missionary interest in recent
years. Information has been the key of in-
terest, unlocking hearts and pocketbooks, send-
ing missionaries to the field, and causing money
to pour into missionary treasuries. It is a sig-
nificant fact that the missionary society in Great
Britain (the Church Missionary Society), which
expends the largest sums on missionary print-
ing, has also the largest income f r missionary
work.
During the first eighteen centuries of the
Christian era the literature of missions was
limited indeed. Dr. Pierson has called our at-
tention to the fact that when Christ gave His
last command there was not one Christian book
90
THE MISSIONARY LIBRARY
in existence. " The Church had no literature
for nearly a century, and had to wait fifteen cen-
turies for a printing-press and three more for
any missionary literature outside of the Acts of
the Apostles." But during the past one hun-
dred years so many gifted pens have been at
work that there is now a vast catalog of books
on missions, that are intensely interesting and
of a high order of literary merit. To make
these books easy of access to the Church, and
to bring individual Christians into contact
with them, is the purpose of the missionary
library.
HOW TO SECURE A LIBRARY
Missionary books, tho well printed, attract-
ively bound, and finely illustrated, are, as a
rule, so inexpensive that no church need be with-
out at least a small missionary library. Even
churches in remote rural districts may, through
well-directed effort, come into the possession of
enough books to assist in preparing programs
and make possible the formation of a study-
class or reading-circle.
The best way to introduce the subject is to
devote an evening to the importance of mission-
91
HOLDING THE ROPES
ary reading and the corresponding need of a
library. Call it " An Evening with Missionary
Books," and make the program as bright and
attractive as possible. Have some one give " A
Chat About Missionary Books," conduct an
open parliament on " The Most Interesting Mis-
sionary Book," and have selections read from
some of the most famous books.
Having thus introduced the subject, the next
step is to secure the books. There are several
methods of doing this, each of which has proved
successful in many churches:
1. Start a subscription paper and ask for
contributions of money in sums ranging from
five cents upward.
2. Make a list of all the books desired, with
the price of each, and canvass the congregation
for persons willing to donate one volume.
Strange to say, many who would refuse money
will readily agree to buy a book. In some
churches the desired result has been obtained by
printing the list in the church calendar or pub-
lishing it on a bulletin-board. It is a good plan
to ask the donors of the books to read them be-
fore putting them in the library.
3. A Christian Endeavor society in one of
92
THE MISSIONARY LIBRARY
the larger cities secured a fine library by giving
a book social. The missionary committee wrote
to a prominent publishing house, and asked
them to send a selection of their best missionary
books on approval. At the social these books
were put upon a table, and the members of the
society were urged to examine them and buy
the most attractive ones for the library.
4. Another plan is to ask some one person in
the church to give the library. Another is to
devote part of the regular funds of the society
to the purpose. These are undoubtedly the
easiest ways, but probably not the best. On the
principle that people care most for what costs
them something, interest in a library given by
many will be far greater than in one given by
an individual or by the society as a whole.
5. In churches where it seems impossible to
get either money or books, it is a good plan to
ask those who have missionary books in their
own libraries either to lend them for a limited
time or give them outright. In this way the
nucleus of a library may be formed that will in
time lead to better things.
Having obtained the library, it is important
to keep it up to date by the addition of bright
93
HOLDING THE ROPES
new books as they are issued from the press;
otherwise interest in it will lag. In some so-
cieties a fund for this purpose is created by
charging five cents for each book read and a
fine of a cent a day for each book overdue.
THE KIND OF BOOKS TO BUY
Great care must be exercised in selecting books
for the library, especially when they must be
limited in number. Books suitable for the pur-
pose may be broadly divided into six classes,
each of which should be represented by one or
more volumes :
1. Books on methods of work for the mission-
ary committee. There are now a number of
small and inexpensive ones that are almost in-
dispensable to the missionary worker.
2. Historical books, such as Barnes' " Two
Thousand Years of Missions Before Carey "
and Leonard's " A Hundred Years of Missions."
Besides these the library should contain a his-
tory of missions in its own denomination, such
as Speer's " Presbyterian Foreign Missions," or
Merriam's " A History of American Baptist
Missions."
3. Biographies of great missionaries. Since
94
THE MISSIONARY LIBRARY
this is the most fruitful of all missionary litera-
ture, it should be largely represented in the
library. At the head of the list all will prob-
ably unite in placing Paton's matchless volumes,
tho Blakie's " Personal Life of David Living-
stone," Hamlin's " My Life and Times," Griffis'
" Verbeck, of Japan," and many others, are
scarcely less popular. Bryan's " Life of John
Kenneth Mackenzie " has a double value, giving
not only the story of a great life, but also vivid
pictures of medical missionary work in China.
4. Books descriptive of foreign lands and
people. These include such delightful books as
Gale's " Korean Sketches," Denning's " Mosaics
from India," and Smith's " Chinese Character-
istics." Under this head, too, come books of
travel. These must be chosen with special care,
for many of them give wrong impressions of
missionary work and incorrect information about
missionary lands. Some of them, however, are
perfectly reliable and much too valuable to be
omitted. It was Cook's " Voyages," an early
book of travels, that fed Carey's missionary im-
pulse and inspired the great wave of interest
throughout Great Britain that culminated in
the rjurehase of the Duff, and the sending out
95
HOLDING THE ROPES
of the first band of missionaries to the South
Seas in 1796.
5. Stories of missionary work in heathen
lands. These are often as fascinating as the
most romantic fiction. They include such
thrilling books as Young's " On the Indian
Trail," Pierson's " Miracles of Missions," and
Chamberlain's " In the Tiger Jungle " and
" The Cobra's Den."
6. Books of missionary fiction founded upon
fact. These are invaluable, appealing to a
class of readers that nothing else will touch.
" The Bishop's Conversion," " The Sign of the
Cross in Madagascar," " A Chinese Quaker,"
and others of a similar character undoubtedly
have a great mission to perform.
Two classes of books it would be well to avoid :
large and expensive volumes that are of value
mainly to specialists, and old and uninteresting
books that are of little use to anybody. Because
a book is old, however, it is not necessarily un-
interesting. " Missionary Enterprises in the
South Sea Islands " was written by John Will-
iams three-quarters of a century ago, yet few
books of recent date surpass it in interest.
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THE MISSIONARY LIBRARY
HOW TO USE THE LIBRARY
The first requisite to a well-managed library
is a good librarian, upon whose energy and en-
thusiasm much of its success depends. The
ideal librarian should be thoroughly interested
in missions and well acquainted with missionary
books, willing to assist those in search of ma-
terial for papers and talks, and able to suggest
books to individual readers suited to their taste
and likely to win their attention.
The library should be kept in a prominent
place, easy of access to all, either on a shelf or
in a case without doors, so that the books can
be examined and taken out at pleasure. If the
case has doors, either keep them unlocked or
take them off altogether. This may occasion-
ally result in the loss of a book, but it is better
to lose a few books than to bury them in a
closed case where they are seldom or never
used.
But while it is wise to make the books easy of
access, strict rules should be made requiring them
to be returned within a given time — say, two
weeks, as in other libraries, with a possible ex-
tension, provided no one is waiting for the book.
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HOLDING THE ROPES
All books should be marked with the name of the
church or society, and a careful record kept of
the dates on which they are taken out and the
name of the person taking them.
The books should be kept uncovered — at least
until the bindings become worn and unsightly
from use. On this point Mr. Harlan P. Beach
says : " I have learned from our college work
that it is not best to cover missionary books. If
you cover them you put a coffin around them,
and that is the end of them."
Having secured the library and put it in good
running order, the next problem is how to get
the books read. The old adage, " You may
take a horse to water, but you can't make him
drink," finds its parallel in the missionary com-
mittee that leads a society up to a well-filled
case of attractive books, but can not induce any
one to read them.
But such a committee need not despair. Ex-
perience proves that by persistent effort and the
use of tactful methods an appetite for mission-
ary literature can be created that will make the
books in demand. The results that follow are
so great and so lasting as to be worth all the
effort expended. " One good missionary book
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THE MISSIONARY LIBRARY
carefully read," says a wise worker, " is of more
permanent value than a dozen speeches."
The first thing for the missionary committee
to do is to set a good example by reading the
books themselves. Otherwise, as Professor
Amos R. Wells wittily says, " they will be in
the position of a bald-headed man selling a hair-
restorer ! " Having faithfully taken this first
step, the committee will be in a position to put
into execution some of the schemes devised by
missionary workers to induce people to read.
Here are a dozen plans, each of which has been
tried with good success :
1. When planning programs for the meet-
ings, provide a number of topics that necessitate
the use of missionary books. In assigning these
to the members of the society, furnish with them
a list of references to books in the library where
suitable material may be found.
2. Print lists of all the interesting missionary
books available, not only in the missionary li-
brary, but in the Sunday-school and public
libraries as well, and distribute them among the
young people. Then ask them to pledge them-
selves to read a given number in a given time
— one a month, four a year, or two during the
99
HOLDING THE ROPES
summer vacation. It will add to the interest to
keep a record of all the books read, either in a
blank-book or on a sheet of cardboard hanging
on the wall.
3. Make short, bright book reviews or book
summaries a feature of the program, and when
new books are added to the library, give " book
notices " of them, calling attention to their
most attractive features.
4. Professor Wells makes the following good
suggestion : " Have a bold placard staring
people in the face in the prayer-meeting room,
bearing on it the words, ' Have you read " The
Cobra's Den " ? ' or whatever book it is desired
to push at the time."
5. At the close of some missionary meeting,
or at a missionary social, put all the books
in the library on a table and ask those present
to examine them. Turning the leaves and look-
ing at the pictures will often lead people to read
the books.
6. Organize a missionary reading-circle to
meet successively at different houses for the pur-
pose of reading aloud some interesting book.
This is an excellent way to develop a taste for
missionary literature. So also is the study-
100
THE MISSIONARY LIBRARY
class, which provides for the thorough study of
one book, and necessitates frequent reference to
others.
7. Have selections from the most popular
books read at missionary meetings and mission-
ary socials. Nowhere can better material for
the missionary elocutionist be found than here.
For the missionary meeting the following selec-
tions would be both entertaining and appro-
priate :
"The Sinking of the Well," from "The Story of
John G. Paton."
" God on the Rock," from " On the Indian Trail."
" In the Tiger Jungle," from Jacob Chamberlain's well-
known book.
" A Sabbath-keeping Baker," from " My Life and
Times."
"A Life for a Life," from "The Apostle of the
North, James Evans."
" The Search for a Word," from " Sketches from the
Dark Continent."
" A Snow-bound Christmas," from " Recollections of
a Missionary in the Great West."
For a missionary social, nothing could be
more entertaining or mirth-provoking than such
readings as
"The Korean Boy," from "Korean Sketches."
101
HOLDING THE ROPES
" Nelwang's Elopement," from " The Story of John
G. Paton."
" The Spotted Tiger Foiled," from " The Cobra's Den."
" Mackay as Undertaker," from " Mackay, of
Uganda," by his sister.
8. For some missionary meeting select three
books, and ask three persons each to read one
of them and come prepared to relate the most
thrilling experience recorded in it. For another
meeting ask five persons to read five biographies
and give the strongest lessons to be learned from
them. Or have ten persons read ten books and
give an instance of answered prayer recorded in
each. Still another plan is to assign each chap-
ter of a book to a different person and have it
reviewed as a serial, each person giving the gist
of a chapter.
9. Many who would refuse to read an entire
book can be induced to read portions of one.
For this purpose keep a list of references to
books in which interesting chapters and para-
graphs can be found.
10. The pastor can do much to promote mis-
sionary reading by suggesting interesting books
to be read. It was the custom of Dr. Arthur
Mitchell to take a book and read it and master
102
THE MISSIONARY LIBRARY
it, and then give his people the most striking
incidents in it, clothing them in his own lan-
guage. The result was that his people were
filled with missionary zeal, and each church he
served as pastor became a leader in missionary
work.
11. Distributing the following questions
among the young people, or discussing them at
some meeting, will reveal to them how much
time they devote to works of fiction and how
little to books on missions, and perhaps induce
them to pursue a better course:
How many novels have you read? How many mis-
sionary books?
What novel did you read last? What missionary
book?
What novel do you expect to read next? What mis-
sionary book?
12. The " Unanimous Library " scheme de-
vised by Mr. W. L. Amerman, of New York
City, is an excellent one that could be used to
advantage everywhere. The idea is for each
society to buy a book (for obvious reasons it is
best to select a small one), with the understand-
ing that it is to be read by every member of the
society. In order to " make it unanimous,"
103
HOLDING THE ROPES
some are induced to read it who would not other-
wise do so. In pursuance of this plan a large
number of Christian Endeavor societies in the
New York City Union bought a little library of
four small books and endeavored to get them
read by all their members. The results were
surprising. In one church where there were
three societies (junior, intermediate, and senior)
one book was read by four hundred and thirty-
eight different persons within a given time.
UTILIZING THE PUBLIC LIBRARY
If a free public library is accessible, the ma-
terial in it should be utilized. The number of
volumes on strictly missionary topics is usually
somewhat limited in public libraries, but the de-
partments of history, biography, travel, eth-
nology, and sociology contain a great wealth of
material that is invaluable to the student of mis-
sions. In most libraries this material is little
used, largely because it is unknown.
By concerted action on the part of the mis-
sionary workers of any community, the quantity
of missionary literature in the public library
may be considerably enlarged and its circulation
greatly increased. Here are some of the privi-
104
THE MISSIONARY LIBRARY
leges which have been sought and obtained in
many large libraries that might be secured by
missionary workers everywhere:
1. A special catalog of all the books bear-
ing directly or indirectly on the subject of mis-
sions.
2. The massing of all books bearing on mis-
sions in a special alcove — temporarily, if not
permanently.
3. One or more shelves devoted to strictly
missionary books.
4. The addition of new books, from time to
time, recommended by missionary workers and
needed by them for special work.
5. A special rack in the reading-room, upon
which current numbers of the leading missionary
magazines may be found.
In many States there is now a well-developed
system of traveling libraries, by means of which
a good assortment of books may be obtained for
the, cost of transportation. These libraries, too,
should be utilized by missionary workers, espe-
cially in localities where there is no public li-
brary and the books accessible are limited in
number.
105
VII
XTbe iTOMsston Stufcs Class
There are three ways of diffusing missionary
information in use at the present time — the mis-
sionary meeting, the reading circle, and the
study class ; and the greatest of these is the
study class.
The missionary meeting is, and ever will be,
the best agency for reaching large numbers and
sowing broadcast the seeds of missionary enthu-
siasm. But the information presented is, al-
most of necessity, fragmentary and incomplete,
and so little in the way of individual effort is
called forth that the knowledge gained is likely
to be the acquisition of the few who take part
rather than of the society as a whole. The read-
ing.circle is, in some respects, better than the mis-
sionary meeting, but it is defective in that it
requires but little exercise of the mental facul-
ties, and fails to stimulate individual research.
The knowledge gained is rarely a permanent
acquisition; like all desultory reading, it seldom
106
THE MISSION STUDY CLASS
makes a lasting impression on the mind. The
study class stands preeminent in that it requires
systematic study on the part of every member of
the class. Its great value lies in the fact that
it possesses the rare quality of producing mis-
sionary leaders. Some one has called it the
" best of all manufactories of missionary work-
ers," and such, indeed, it has proved wherever it
has been tried under favorable circumstances.
The quantity of seed sown is not so great as in
the missionary meeting, but a larger proportion
bears fruit. If a church lacks missionary lead-
ers— and where is the church that does not ? — the
best remedy is to organize a study class, not to
take the place of the missionary meeting, but to
supplement it, very much as classes for Bible
study supplement the devotional meeting and the
public preaching of the Word.
THE ORIGIN OF THE MISSION STUDY CLASS
The mission study class, in its present form,
is of comparatively recent origin. In reality,
however, it dates back to the students of Andover
College, nearly a century ago, who, stimulated
by the Haystack Heroes, made the study of mis-
sions a prominent feature of their meetings.
107
HOLDING THE ROPES
Their example was followed, to a limited extent,
by students in other colleges throughout the cen-
tury. After the organization of the Intercol-
legiate Young Men's Christian Association the
idea became more prominent, and in the year
1891 an impetus was given to it .by the pub-
lication of a series of outline mission studies in
the organ of the association.
The honor of establishing organized work in
systematic mission study belongs, however, to
the Student Volunteer Movement. In February,
1893, when the Student Volunteer, the organ of
the movement, was first issued, a series of foreign
mission studies was begun, and the formation of
classes in every college urged. A year later,
the outline system having proved unsatisfactory,
the use of text-books was adopted, and the
office of educational secretary created. Since
1895 this office has been filled with rare ability
by the Rev. Harlan P. Beach, formerly a mis-
sionary to China. The growth of the work in
ten years has been phenomenal. Twenty-six
courses of study have been prepared, and mis-
sionary libraries, costing tens of thousands of
dollars, have been introduced into the colleges.
An average of five thousand students a year
108
THE MISSION STUDY CLASS
have been enrolled in study classes, and text-
books have been called for at the rate of ten
thousand copies a year. The result has been
not only the volunteering of a considerable num-
ber of young men and women, but an increased
intelligence in missions on the part of can-
didates offering themselves to the various
Boards.
The great success achieved among the students
led to the adoption of systematic mission study
by several denominations, the text-books being
those of the Student Volunteer Movement, with
special denominational features added. Next
the women took it up, and at a conference of all
the Women's Boards of the United States and
Canada, the course for women's societies, known
as the " United Study of Missions," was decided
upon. The sale of more than fifty thousand
copies of the first two text-books of the series
speaks eloquently of the favor with which they
have been received. Early in 1902 the Young
People's Missionary Movement fell into line, and
announced a series of text-books for young peo-
ple, to be known as the " Forward Mission Study
Courses." Stimulated by the Silver Bay Con-
ferences of 1902 and 1903, and pushed by the
109
HOLDING THE ROPES
denominational boards, the work is growing with
great rapidity. During the first year ten thou-
sand young people were enrolled in classes, and
the next year, within two months of its publica-
tion Mr. Beach's biographical text-book on
China reached a sale of nearly twenty thousand
copies. Such a vast army of students, young
people, and women, concentrating time and
thought on mission study, certainly argues well
for the future. Gratifying reports of increased
interest and enlarged giving are already coming
in, and should the work continue it will un-
doubtedly usher in one of the greatest revivals of
missionary enthusiasm in the history of the
Church.
STEPS PRELIMINARY TO ORGANIZATION
In organizing a mission study class, especially
where such work is attempted for the first time,
there are many points which should be thor-
oughly discussed by the committee in charge be-
fore the matter is publicly announced.
Time. Experience proves that it is unwise to
combine the study class with any other meeting.
Wherever possible, a separate session of from
sixty to ninety minutes should be devoted to it,
110
THE MISSION STUDY CLASS
the day and hour to be determined by local con-
ditions. The result will be smaller classes, but
more efficient work. The sessions should be held
weekly until the completion of the course, rather
than fortnightly or monthly. This brings them
close enough together to sustain the interest, yet
far enough apart to admit of thorough prep-
aration. It will be found easier to secure mem-
bers for a class that meets once a week for a
brief period than for one that meets once a
month during a large part of a year.
The separate session, held weekly, tho emi-
nently desirable, is not absolutely essential to
success, and no society should give up the idea of
organizing a class because ideal conditions can
not be secured. The Advance Club of Rockf ord,
111., an undenominational association of Chris-
tian women, organized for missionary study, has
achieved magnificent success with meetings held
once a fortnight, and many a woman's society
has done good work by devoting six of the regu-
lar monthly meetings of the year to the United
Study of Missions lessons. Witness also the
notable work accomplished by the Baptist
Young People's Union through the use of the
Conquest Missionary Courses, which provide
111
HOLDING THE ROPES
twelve lessons a year, to be used once a month at
the regular meeting of the young people's so-
ciety. Good work has also been done in a few in-
stances by devoting the church prayer-meeting
or the young people's meeting to the work for a
period of six or eight consecutive or alternate
weeks.
Place. The place of meeting can best be de-
termined by the size and character of the class.
For small classes a private house, centrally lo-
cated, is undoubtedly best. For large classes the
church is better, especially if a well-lighted, well-
ventilated room is available. If possible, the
class should be seated around tables to facilitate
the taking of notes.
Membership. If the class is too large, actual
study is next to impossible. Experts declare
that the enrolment should never exceed ten or
twelve, and that if more apply, it is better to
start another class. Some of the most successful
classes have had from three to five members only.
It is well to remember that quality is better than
quantity, and admit only those who are thor-
oughly in earnest. It is a fatal mistake to urge
any one to join on the plea that little or no
work will be required. In order that the nature
112
THE MISSION STUDY CLASS
of the class and the requirements of membership
may be fully understood, some pledge, such as
the following, may be used:
1. I will be present at every meeting of the class, unless
prevented by unforeseen circumstances.
2. I will secure a copy of the text-book to be used.
3. I will endeavor to devote not less than
minutes to the study of each lesson.
4. I will prepare the special work assigned me to the
best of my ability.
5. I will pray daily for the spread of Christ's King-
dom in the earth.
The Leader. One thing essential to success-
ful study-class work is a competent leader. The
necessary qualifications for this all-important
office are three:
1. A deep and abiding interest in missions.
" Let him who would move and convince others,"
says Carlyle, " be first moved and convinced
himself."
2. Ability to teach, rather than to lecture.
The class will profit by the work in direct pro-
portion to their own intellectual effort.
3. Willingness to devote time to thf necessary
study. An extended knowledge of missionary
history and a wide acquaintance with missionary
literature are not essential, but a good leader
113
HOLDING THE ROPES
must have a thorough knowledge of the text-
book chosen. To give opportunity for thor-
ough preparation, both text-book and leader
should be chosen long in advance of the organi-
zation of the class.
The question of leadership is often a perplex-
ing one. A common error is that of asking the
pastor or some prominent church official who is
not specially qualified for the work to undertake
it. No matter how broad his previous knowledge
of missions, unless the leader has teaching ability
and time to master the text-book, the result will
be a lamentable failure.
Course of Study. For beginners in syste-
matic mission study a text-book should invari-
ably be used. The lists of questions, references
to other literature, and outlines of study which
they furnish simplify the work both for teacher
and class. With experienced leaders and ma-
ture classes, especially those having access to
large libraries, a syllabus may be used instead of
a text-book. Excellent text-books have been
prepared by the Student Volunteers, the
Women's United Study Committee, and the
Young People's Forward Mission Study Com-
mittee. These treat of great mission fields, great
114
THE MISSION STUDY CLASS
missionaries, periods of missionary history,
medical missions, and other phases of missionary
work at home and abroad.
With such a wealth of text-books available,
many classes will be perplexed to know how to
make a wise selection. For those who have never
before attempted systematic mission study, a
short biographical course, such as Beach's
" Knights of the Labarum," or Taylor's " Price
of Africa," is by far the best. These are less
difficult and take less time than the study of a
mission field or a period of missionary history,
and require no previous knowledge to make them
interesting. Biography is the most fruitful
of all missionary literature and is calcu-
lated to develop interest and arouse enthusi-
asm more quickly than any other form of
study.
ORGANIZING THE CLASS
Having fully discussed the foregoing points,
the next step is to secure members for the class.
Perhaps the best way to do this is by personal
invitation to those who give large promise of
future usefulness. Another way is to devote one
session of the young people's society to a mis-
115
HOLDING THE ROPES
twelve lessons a year, to be used once a month at
the regular meeting of the young people's so-
ciety. Good work has also been done in a few in-
stances by devoting the church prayer-meeting
or the young people's meeting to the work for a
period of six or eight consecutive or alternate
weeks.
Place. The place of meeting can best be de-
termined by the size and character of the class.
For small classes a private house, centrally lo-
cated, is undoubtedly best. For large classes the
church is better, especially if a well-lighted, well-
ventilated room is available. If possible, the
class should be seated around tables to facilitate
the taking of notes.
Membership. If the class is too large, actual
study is next to impossible. Experts declare
that the enrolment should never exceed ten or
twelve, and that if more apply, it is better to
start another class. Some of the most successful
classes have had from three to five members only.
It is well to remember that quality is better than
quantity, and admit only those who are thor-
oughly in earnest. It is a fatal mistake to urge
any one to join on the plea that little or no
work will be required. In order that the nature
112
THE MISSION STUDY CLASS
of the class and the requirements of membership
may be fully understood, some pledge, such as
the following, may be used:
1. I will be present at every meeting of the class, unless
prevented by unforeseen circumstances.
2. I will secure a copy of the text-book to be used.
3. I will endeavor to devote not less than
minutes to the study of each lesson.
4. I will prepare the special work assigned me to the
best of my ability.
5. I will pray daily for the spread of Christ's King-
dom in the earth.
The Leader. One thing essential to success-
ful study-class work is a competent leader. The
necessary qualifications for this all-important
office are three:
1. A deep and abiding interest in missions.
" Let him who would move and convince others,"
says Carlyle, " be first moved and convinced
himself."
2. Ability to teach, rather than to lecture.
The class will profit by the work in direct pro-
portion to their own intellectual effort.
3. Willingness to devote time to thp necessary
study. An extended knowledge of missionary
history and a wide acquaintance with missionary
literature are not essential, but a good leader
113
HOLDING THE ROPES
asked to be on the lookout for photographs,
curios, or other objects that would illustrate the
lessons and add interest to them.
ORDER OF EXERCISES
The program for the lesson hour will depend
largely on the length of the sessions, the experi-
ence of the leader, and the ability of the class.
The following schedule, prepared by Dr. T. H.
P. Sailer, Educational Secretary of the Presby-
terian Board of Foreign Missions, and an
acknowledged expert in study-class work, is
probably the best yet devised :
1. Scripture Reading. — Select a brief passage that
brings out some one thought connected with the lesson.
2. Prayer. — Let the member, who should be notified in
advance, seek to be brief but definite.
3. Assignment of the Next Lesson. — Let the leader
state clearly the subject of the next lesson, and the
pages of the text-book to be studied. Let him indicate
the subjects of most importance, telling upon what to
concentrate, and what to skim or omit. Let him give out
questions requiring independent thought. Assignments
to individuals (see Nos. 4 and 7) should be made as
largely as possible in writing, and given out either before
or after the meeting.
4. Review. — Let a member, previously appointed, give
in not over three minutes (a) a brief review of the last
lesson, mentioning only the points of the greatest im-
118
THE MISSION STUDY CLASS
portance, together with a conclusion to be drawn from
each; or (b) a still more condensed review of the course
from the beginning, giving one or two thoughts, rather
than facts, connected with the lesson.
5. Personal Impressions. — Let each member mention
in a sentence what was personally most impressive in the
last lesson.
6. Questions on the Advance Lesson by the Leader. —
Upon the skill with which this is done success in teach-
ing depends. The assignment at the previous lesson
should be closely followed.
7. Papers. — Have two or three (never more) papers or
talks by members previously appointed, introduced where
most appropriate.
8. Debate. — If it can be ascertained by a show of
hands that members have differed in opinion on any point
in the lesson, an impromptu debate might be arranged.
9. Closing Impressions. — Let the leader sum up and
try to leave a sense of individual responsibility.
10. Closing Prayer. — A number of sentence prayers
may be called for.
A NOTABLE MISSION STUDY CAMPAIGN
During the winter of 1902-3 the missionary
committee of the New York City Christian En-
deavor Union carried on a mission study cam-
paign which produced great results, and is
worthy of imitation. In his annual report of
June, 1903, Mr. W. L. Amerman, the efficient
chairman of the missionary committee, tells of
the work as follows :
119
HOLDING THE ROPES
Last year's successful effort for the " unanimous "
reading of several selected missionary books afforded en-
couragement and preparation for something far more
difficult — a campaign for the study of a single book,
" The Price of Africa."
To supply the first requisite, teachers or leaders, plans
were made immediately after the return of our dele-
gates from the Silver Bay Conference, in August, 1902,
which resulted in the formation, in October, of six normal
classes, practically one in each district, led by expert
teachers. The executive committee of the Union made
a liberal appropriation for printed matter and other
helps, and for compensating any of these teachers in
cases where the use of time was involved which could
not otherwise have been available.
An average number of fifty-six students attended each
of the eight or more sessions of these normal classes,
twenty-five of whom, after January 1st, organized in their
own societies a second series of classes, and pursued the
same course, enrolling nearly two hundred students, and
generating widespread interest. Many details of this
campaign, for which we have not space here, may be
found in a disseminating article in the June, 1903, num-
ber of the Assembly Herald, published by the Presby-
terian Board.
The work of the Sixth District will serve to illustrate
that in others, and certainly deserves a special paragraph.
The leader of the normal class was Miss Miriam L.
Taylor, who had formerly been missionary chairman of
the district. Six of the nine members of the class later
organized circles of their own, teaching the same course,
the attendance averaging eight per session. The interest
and diligence shown were very gratifying. In two cases
these latter students have begun to lead study classes on
120
THE MISSION STUDY CLASS
the same lines, making the third series, popularly known
as " the grandchildren.'1 Commencement exercises were
held by the normal class with good effect, and another
gathering celebrated the completion of the course by the
second set of circles. Individual societies report much
increased interest in the cause of missions as a result of
this work.
Next year's campaign will be upon similar lines. Nor-
mal classes may not be required, but two general series
of circles will be arranged, one beginning in October and
one in January.
Such a mission study campaign could be con-
ducted anywhere. The work of the Sixth Dis-
trict, as outlined by Mr. Amerman, shows how
well the plan is adapted to small cities as well as
large ones. There are few places where the
service of an expert teacher could not be secured
to lead a normal class of the representatives of
the young people's societies or the women's so-
cieties. These in turn could organize classes in
their own churches or societies.
121
VIII
/HMssions in tbe 5unfca£=scbool
Of all the organizations within the Church,
none offers so promising a field for fostering
missionary interest and prosecuting missionary
work as the Sunday-school. It is a permanent
institution, found everywhere, and its member-
ship embraces both sexes and all ages — boys as
well as girls, men as well as women. Nowhere
can so large and representative a number be
reached as here.
The Sunday-school is, too, the logical place
for laying the foundations for missionary work.
The Bible is its text-book, and the Bible is essen-
tially a missionary book. The universal salva-
tion of mankind is one of its great central
themes, occupying large space in both Old and
New Testaments.
Yet to a great extent the Sunday-school is a
neglected factor in missionary work. In his re-
cent book, " The Evangelization of the World
122
MISSIONS IN SUNDAY-SCHOOL
in this Generation," John R. Mott declares that
" it is, in some respects, the largest undeveloped
resource of the Church."
Three causes can be found for this: (1)
Until recently the mission boards have put forth
little or no systematic effort to introduce the
study of missions into the Sunday-school. (2)
With few exceptions, the great leaders of Sun-
day-school work have had a mistaken idea that
missionary teaching in the Sunday-school is
somewhat of a departure from the avowed pur-
pose of the Sunday-school to teach the Word of
God. (3) The average Sunday-school worker
cares so little about the great work our Lord
has laid upon the Church that he feels no obli-
gation whatever to train those under his care
along missionary lines. It is a strange fact
that, while no one who openly violates any of
the Ten Commandments is allowed to teach in
the Sunday-school, thousands are welcomed to
the ranks who are utterly indifferent and openly
disobedient to the Last Command. The writer
has personally known of a superintendent who,
in the face of the overwhelming testimony to
the contrary, declared it impossible for a China-
man to be a true convert to Christ, and a teacher
123
HOLDING THE ROPES
who regarded the whole scheme of missions as a
foolish and useless absurdity. In selecting of-
ficers and teachers, it would be well to remember
the words of the late B. F. Jacobs :
" A Sunday-school worker who is not a mis-
sionary worker is out of place."
In many a Sunday-school the text-book is the
Bible, with missions practically eliminated from
its pages. The result is that in the mind of the
average Christian, even tho he has attended
Sunday-school faithfully all the days of his life,
there is no connection between the extension of
God's kingdom, foretold in the Bible, and the
progress of God's work in the world to-day. To
him the great promises and prophecies of the
coming of the Kingdom convey no assurance of
the ultimate triumph of world-wide missions.
This was demonstrated in the summer of 1900,
during the Boxer uprising, when not only the
world, but multitudes in the Church, predicted
the complete annihilation of missions in China.
Yet the Word of God clearly teaches that the
kingdoms of the earth (China included) are to
become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His
Christ. Many who glibly quote Judson's fa-
mous words, " The prospects are as bright as the
124
MISSIONS IN SUNDAY-SCHOOL
promises of God," would be confused if asked
to repeat some of the promises the great apostle
to the Burmans had in mind.
Some missionary leaders feel that the lack of
missionary teaching in the Sunday-school can
only be remedied by special missionary lessons,
assigned by the International Lesson Committee.
Others feel that special lessons are neither neces-
sary nor desirable, since in the regular lessons of
almost every quarter opportunities for teaching
missions occur with great frequency. It could
hardly be otherwise with lessons taken from a
book so saturated with the spirit of missions as
the Bible. The trouble is not so much with
the lessons as with those who teach them. The
average teacher, even when willing, knows little
or nothing about missions and is, therefore,
unable to teach a missionary lesson success-
fully.
In view of this deplorable fact, training the
teachers and firing them with missionary zeal
would seem to be a better remedy. This could,
perhaps, be accomplished through the teachers'
meeting by appointing some competent leader
to suggest methods of teaching the missionary
lessons whenever they occur. Missionary maga-
125
HOLDING THE ROPES
zines and Sunday-school journals could also
render good assistance by devoting space each
month to the missionary aspect of the Sunday-
school lessons and furnishing material to make
them interesting. This was a regular feature of
one prominent missionary magazine some years
ago, but unfortunately it has been discontinued.
The devoting of a column to missions in the
Sunday-school journals of the Methodist Epis-
copal churches, both North and South, is a step
in the right direction.
Teaching what the Bible says about missions,
is, however, not sufficient — the Sunday-school
must know something of missions in the world to-
day. The children should study, not only the
Acts of the Apostles of old, but also the acts of
the great army of new apostles that God has
raised up for the evangelization of the world;
not only the lives of the grand old heroes of
Bible times, but also the lives of the great mis-
sionary heroes of modern times.
In many schools study of modern missions is
provided for by devoting an entire session once
a quarter to special missionary exercises. In
others a certain Sunday in each month is desig-
nated as Missionary Sunday. The lesson is
126
MISSIONS IN SUNDAY-SCHOOL
taught as usual, but the collection is for mis-
sions and the opening and closing exercises are
missionary in character. The first plan is good,
the second far better. The observance of a
monthly missionary Sunday in no way interferes
with the regular work of the school, yet the sub-
ject of missions is made a special feature at
twelve sessions in the year.
Missionary study in the Sunday-school should
begin in the primary'department, or kindergar-
ten class, if there is one. Some schools begin
with the babies of the " cradle roll," on the as-
sumption that no child is too young to be taught
to give. Mite-boxes are sent to the babies, with
the request that the parents see that a gift is
dropped in each week.
Experience proves that even very young chil-
dren are capable of comprehending and remem-
bering stories of missionary heroes and their
work. A primary teacher who recently delighted
her children with stories from the life of John
G. Paton was much gratified to learn, during
the week following, that one little fellow, not
more than five years old, had given his mother a
graphic account of the sinking of the well on
Aniwa.
127
HOLDING THE ROPES
PLANS FOR MISSIONARY SUNDAY
Rightly conducted, Missionary Sunday be-
comes the brightest Sunday in the month, a day
to which the children look forward with eager
longing and keenest interest. The following
suggestions are offered in the hope that many
schools may be induced to regularly observe
such a day :
1. Maps. — Every Sunday-school should own
a large missionary map of the world for use in
its missionary exercises. It is not wise to keep
it in view all the time, for it will prove a far
greater attraction if used only on special occa-
sions. But the children should always find it in
place on Missionary Sunday.
Such a map may be used in many ways. If
the mission fields are studied month by month,
the stations should be marked by inserting little
gold-headed fasteners, such as are used to brad
papers together. At the end of a year the map
will be dotted over with them, showing at a
glance where the missionaries are at work.
Another map plan that never fails to please is
taking imaginary journeys to and from the mis-
sion fields, or tracing the actual journey of some
128
MISSIONS IN SUNDAY-SCHOOL
real missionary, by means of colored cords
stretched from point to point.
The fields or stations to which the school has
sent money should also be marked on the map,
using gold stars or tiny flags for the purpose.
This plan, used in Ralph Wells' school in New
York City, greatly delighted the children, and
had no small influence in increasing their gifts.
2. Music. — The singing of stirring mission-
ary hymns should be a feature of both opening
and closing exercises. A few of the best hymns
should be memorized, so that they can be sung
without books. It is a good plan, too, to con-
nect hymns with the passages of Scripture upon
which they are based. It makes the children
think, and impresses the lesson of the hymn
upon the memory. Thus, before announcing the
hymn, " Jesus shall reign where'er the sun,"
read parts of Ps. 72, and ask the school to name
the hymn it suggests. " Christ for the world we
sing, the world to Christ we bring," takes on
new meaning when connected with John iii:16
and Ps. ii : 8, the first text telling that God gave
Christ to the world, the second that He will
give the world to Christ.
Hymns connected with great events on the
129
HOLDING THE ROPES
mission field will also prove inspiring. " Jesus, I
my cross have taken," will convey a stronger
lesson than ever before when the children learn
that Sooboonagam Ammal, a high-caste Hindu
girl who gave up all for Christ, committed it to
memory and sang it at her baptism because it so
fully expressed her feelings.1
3. Supplemental Lessons. — In up-to-date
schools, where a supplemental course of Bible
study is in use, the lessons on Missionary Sunday
should have to do with missions. Such questions
as the following should be asked and the answers
memorized:
" What is the Great Commission? "
" What did the Duke of Wellington call ' Our
Marching Orders ' ? "
" Where are we to witness for Christ ? "
" What inheritance did the Father promise to
the Son?"
" What promises point to the final success of
missions? "
" What command did Christ give about pray-
ing for laborers? " '
i For the missionary stories of other hymns see chap-
ter iii.
2 Many of the suggestions made in chapter i. are appro-
priate for use in the Sunday-school.
130
MISSIONS IN SUNDAY-SCHOOL
4. Prayer. — Missionary Sunday affords a
great opportunity for training children to pray
for missions. Dr. A. C. Thompson asks : " Is
it too much for even young children to plead in
the fullest sense of the word, 6 Thy Kingdom
come, thy will be done in earth [in all the earth]
as it is in heaven ' ? "
The Jews had a saying, " He prays not at
all in whose prayers there is no mention of
the kingdom of heaven." The large measure
of truth there is in this may be learned from
a study of the model prayer our Lord gave to
His disciples. There should, therefore, be
prayer for the world-wide spread of the Gospel
at every session of the Sunday-school. This
is customary throughout the Moravian Church,
and should be in all denominations. The prayers
on Missionary Sunday especially should be
marked by brief, simple petitions, such as every
child can comprehend. And these petitions
should be for definite things — for money, for
laborers, for special objects supported by the
school, for children in heathen lands, and for
individual missionaries by name. The children
should be urged, too, to pray daily for missions
in their homes.
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HOLDING THE ROPES
5. Talks on Missions. — During the closing
exercises, following the lesson, from ten to
twenty minutes should be given to short, bright
talks on missionary topics. These may be mis-
cellaneous, or a series so closely related as to
deserve the name of systematic missionary
study.
In many schools the topics for the monthly
talks are the mission fields of the denomination
to which the school belongs. Study of this kind
can be made intensely interesting to children, es-
pecially if wise use is made of pictures, curios,
and maps. Dressing children in native costume
and having them sing native hymns form pleas-
ing innovations.
Such talks on missions, when faithfully given,
and accompanied by prayer, have influenced
many young lives and sent many a missionary
to the field. A notable example of this is found
in the autobiography of James Chalmers, the
Hero-martyr of New Guinea, who says:
I was almost fifteen years of age when I came to the
great decision of my life. I remember it well. Our
Sunday-school class had been held in the vestry as usual.
The lesson was finished, and we had marched back into
the chapel to sing, answer questions, and to listen to a
132
MISSIONS IN SUNDAY-SCHOOL
short address. I was sitting at the head of the seat, and
can even now see Mr. Meikle [the superintendent] taking
from his breast-pocket a copy of the United Presbyterian
Record, and hear him say that he was going to read an
interesting letter to us from a missionary in Fiji. The
letter was read. It spoke of cannibalism, and of the
power of the Gospel, and at the close of the reading,
looking over his spectacles, and with wet eyes, he said,
" I wonder if there is a boy here this afternoon who will
yet become a missionary, and by-and-by bring the Gos-
pel to the cannibals?" And the response of my heart
was, " Yes, God helping me, I will." So impressed was I
that I spoke to no one, but went right away towards
home. The impression became greater, the further I
went, until I got to the bridge over the Aray above the
mill, and near to the Black Bull. There I went over the
wall attached to the bridge, and kneeling down prayed
God to accept of me, and make me a missionary to the
heathen.
Hero Sunday. — Another plan that can be
used to advantage during an entire year is the
celebration of missionaries' birthdays, very much
as authors' birthdays are celebrated in the pub-
lic schools. For this purpose select twelve great
missionary heroes, assigning each to the month
in which his birthday falls. On Missionary Sun-
day— perhaps it would be better to call it Hero
Sunday during this year — give a very brief out-
line of the hero's life, and follow it with short,
bright stories or anecdotes of his work. Chil-
133
HOLDING THE ROPES
dren will enjoy these far better than a compre-
hensive, detailed sketch, and remember them
twice as well. At the close have the school memo-
rize some famous saying of the hero of the day.1
Missionary " memory gems " are well worth
learning.2
Pictures of the missionary, either a large one
to hang on the wall, or small ones to distribute
among the classes, add much to the interest, as
do also curios and music from the land in which
he worked.
The following list is suggested for schools de-
siring to carry out this plan :
January — Cyrus Hamlin
February — Titus Coan
March — David Livingstone
April — Bishop Patteson
May — John G. Paton
June — Allen Gardiner
July — Samuel Marsden
August — William Carey
September — Marcus Whitman
October — Alexander Mackay
i Quotations from great missionaries will be found in
chapter xiii.
2 Another plan for teaching the names and achieve-
ments of missionary heroes will be found in chapter xi.
134
MISSIONS IN SUNDAY-SCHOOL
November — John Eliot i
December — Robert Moffat
THE MONEY POWER OF THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL
The financial possibilities of the Sunday-
school are great beyond computation. Mr.
Mott says:
In 1890 the number of children in the Sunday-schools
of Protestant lands exceeded 22,000,000. If they were
trained to give even two cents a week per member, it
would yield an amount greater than the present total
missionary gifts of Christendom. That this is not an
unreasonable estimate is proved by the actual practise
in many schools.
Wherever systematic effort has been made to
interest schools in missionary giving the results
have been surprising. The children of the
American Board raised $46,000 for the Morn-
ing Star, contributing it in ten-cent shares.
The children of England built the John Will-
iams, and gave $29,000 besides to other ships of
the London Missionary Society ; the children of
Scotland built the David Williams, and the
i Eliot's birthday is unknown, but tradition places it
in November. Since no great missionary seems to have
been born in that month, his name may well be used to
fill the vacant space.
135
HOLDING THE ROPES
children of Australia gave $25,000 to the Day-
spring, John G. Paton's missionary ship. In
1902 the Sunday-schools of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church, North, raised $400,000 for mis-
sions, about one-third of the sum contributed by
the entire denomination.
These facts go to show that the Sunday-
school is a veritable gold-mine, capable of yield-
ing large returns for missionary work. It is un-
fortunate that, in most denominations, it is a
mine that is being worked to a limited extent
only. This cuts off a large source of revenue
from the mission boards, and, worse still, de-
prives the children of that training in benevo-
lence essential to their growth in grace, and so
important in view of the fact that, ere long,
they will be in control of the money power of
the Church.
On the other hand, it is not well to lay too
much stress on the financial side, for men as well
as money are needed for the work, and the Sun-
day-school must be trained to furnish both.
136
IX
Ubc flDones problem
Money is an important factor in winning the
world to Christ. Without it the wheels of mis-
sionary activity would soon cease revolving.
With it, in sufficient quantities, the work could
be widely extended and rapidly pushed in all
directions. " One thing alone hinders the prog-
ress of the Kingdom," says the Rev. W. D. Sex-
ton, " and that one thing is lack of money.
The whole world is ready and waiting for the
Gospel, the Boards of the Church are organized
to meet the need, and men are offering them-
selves for the work; but the treasuries are
empty, the officers compelled to call a halt, and
the whole line of Christ's army forced to rest
upon its arms."
The relation of money to missions is a vital
one. The gold of the universe is not sufficient
to purchase pardon for even one immortal
soul — " Ye know that ye were not redeemed with
137
HOLDING THE ROPES
corruptible things as silver and gold " — yet in a
sense money can buy salvation for millions of
Christless souls. It bears much the same rela-
tion to soul-saving that it does to life-saving.
A bank-note would make a very poor plaster to
alleviate bodily pain, and it is powerless to wipe
away the stains of sin, yet in the one case it
can effect a cure by commanding the skill of the
physician and the potency of the drug, and in
the other by sending forth the heralds of the
Cross and scattering broadcast the leaves of the
Book which are for the healing of the na-
tions.
Giving the Gospel to every creature is the
greatest work in the world, the most colossal
enterprise ever undertaken by man. For its suc-
cessful prosecution it necessarily requires vast
sums of money — not vaster, however, than the
Church is abundantly able to supply. Owing to
the rapid increase in the financial resources of
Protestant Christians during the last half cen-
tury, the money power of the Church is practi-
cally unlimited. It is estimated that in the
United States alone the wealth of the evangeli-
cal Church members aggregates more than
twenty billion dollars, and that it is increasing
138
THE MONEY PROBLEM
daily at an amazing rate. A mere fraction of
this sum would suffice, with God's help, to give
the Gospel to every creature within a brief
period of time.
Yet no phase of the missionary problem is
more difficult to solve than the financial one.
Notwithstanding the enormous money power of
the Church, there are few missionary organiza-
tions that are not perplexed concerning money,
and seriously hampered for lack of funds ; and
of the inadequate amounts that find their way
into missionary treasuries as the result of end-
less effort, a large proportion is given grudg-
ingly and of necessity — wrested from unwilling
purses, sometimes by methods dishonoring to
Christ and belittling to the cause of missions.
There is surely something wrong with the whole
system of missionary finance.
But difficult as it is, the money problem is not
incapable of solution. The Moravians solved it
long ago, and so did Pastor Harms. " If the
Moravian standard were reached by the other
Reformed churches," says Mrs. Isabella Bird
Bishop, " they would contribute £140,000,000
a year." The Central Presbyterian Church of
New York City is solving the problem at the
139
HOLDING THE ROPES
present time; so is the First Presbyterian
Church of Wichita, Kansas ; so is an increas-
ingly large number of churches, young peoples'
societies, and Sunday-schools that have brought
their gifts up to an almost ideal standard.
How has it been done? In every instance
prayer has been the key. Yet not prayer that
sits by with folded hands and waits for God to
perform miracles, but prayer accompanied by
tireless effort and faithful work.
SOME SECRETS OF SUCCESS
A thorough study of the underlying causes of
the remarkable results attained in individual
churches and societies has revealed the following
secrets of success, which should be thoughtfully
pondered :
1. The inculcation, through prayer, the
study of the Word and the dissemination of mis-
sionary information, of a spirit of obedience to
Christ's command to give the Gospel to every
creature. This should always be the first step
in the solution of the money problem. It is a
serious mistake to push the financial side before
laying the foundations for a deep and abiding
interest in the cause. In too many churches
140
THE MONEY PROBLEM
m-i-s-s-i-o-n-s spells money. The people hear
nothing whatever of the work, save in connec-
tion with the contribution-box. On this point
two well-known missionary leaders have spoken
forcibly as follows:
Great harm is done by hammering on the money ques-
tion when hearts are not touched and news of the work
is not given. If I became pastor of a very narrow-
minded and anti-missionary church, I am inclined to
think that I would not ask for an offering for mis-
sions until the people proposed it. But they would have
to take the facts, or stay at home, or have a farewell
sermon. — Rev. John- W. Conklin, Field Secretary of
the Reformed Church in America Board of Missions.
Mission literature, mission meetings, and mission
preaching have had so much of the ring of the dollar in
them that people have begun to shun them. We who
push the work must never lose sight of the dollar, of
course, but the sooner we learn to bait the hook, so that
people will not see the silver until they are on it, the
better it will be for the work. We should have more
mission sermons that people do not know are mission
sermons, more missionary meetings without collections,
more deepening of the spiritual life, more to interest
and instruct pleasantly without bringing up the idea
of finance — until missions have such a hold on the people
that they will not shrink from " closing the bargain "
when we name to them the price. — Alva M. Kerr, Treas-
urer of the Board of Missions of the Christian Church.
2. Thorough instruction concerning stew-
141
HOLDING THE ROPES
ardship. This is the second step in solving
the money problem. The great majority
of professing Christians have not as yet
learned even the first principles of Christian
giving. Not many, perhaps, go as far as the
old woman who thanked the Lord she had been
a church-member fifty years and it had never
cost her a cent, but comparatively few recog-
nize God's claim upon their money, and render
an amount adequate to the benefits received.
Yet the Word of God clearly teaches that money
is a trust and that we are stewards responsible
for the wise use of every penny entrusted to
our care. When Christians realize this there
will be no more deficits in the treasury of the
Lord. A Baptist pastor who was recently
asked to give the secret of his remarkable suc-
cess in promoting Christian giving, said:
Our method is based on the thorough indoctrination of
the people in the matter of stewardship. That work
which can only be done by the pastor in sermons, Bible-
readings, question-boxes, prayer-meeting talks, etc.,
really requires many consecutive weeks of hard and
painstaking labor. But once done it is the foundation on
which everything is built. There is no sure and quick
way. It is all work and work with God's Word, brought
home to the consciences of the people.
142
THE MONEY PROBLEM
3. The promotion of systematic and propor-
tionate giving. The principle of stewardship
involves the practise of systematic and propor-
tionate giving — systematic giving being the
setting apart of a definite sum regularly and
from principle, rather than spasmodically and
from impulse, and proportionate giving being
the systematic offering of a fixed percentage of
the income to the Lord. The difference between
the two is illustrated by the story of the young
man who decided to give fifty cents a week to
missions. His salary at the time was $10 a
week. In the course of a few years it was in-
creased to $50, yet he still continued to give
fifty cents — no more, no less. This was sys-
tematic giving, but not proportionate. The
amount he gave away bore no relation whatever
to the amount he was receiving.
Wherever systematic and proportionate giv-
ing is faithfully practised there is money enough
and to spare. The percentage given must, of
course, be left to the individual conscience, but
God's Word seems clearly to indicate that the
tenth is the minimum proportion. In a little
pamphlet telling how the First Presbyterian
Church of Wichita, Kansas, increased its con-
143
HOLDING THE ROPES
tributions from $500 to $5,500 per annum,
the pastor, the Rev. Charles E. Bradt, says :
I hold constantly before my people the Scriptural idea
of stewardship — namely, that all we have is entrusted of
God, to be used for the extension of His Kingdom and
the salvation of men through the preaching and teaching
of Jesus Christ; that, however poor, they should pay into
the Lord's treasury not less than a tenth of their income;
this tenth to go to distinctively Christian lines of work;
that the tenth is only the beginning of what most persons
should contribute.
4. Enlisting every Christian in the work.
Enlarging the number of contributors is one of
the most potent ways of increasing the revenue
for missions. If every Christian, young and
old, rich and poor, could be induced to give even
a small amount, the money problem would be
quickly solved. If the one hundred and forty
million Protestant Christians in the world gave
an average of five cents a wreek — the price of a
cigar, a street-car fare, or a glass of soda — it
would aggregate more than $360,000,000 a
year! Too much reliance has been placed on
the large gifts of the few, too little on the small
contributions of the many. Dr. Josiah Strong
tells of a church that took up a collection of
$1,100 for home missions. Of this sum, $600
144
THE MONEY PROBLEM
came from one member and $300 from another,
leaving but $200 from the remainder of the
congregation. The people congratulated them-
selves on their generosity, but in reality they had
not done well. By carefully and systematically
" gathering up the fragments " that remained,
the amount might easily have been doubled.
Small gifts are needed as well as large ones —
the one no less than the other. Even in the
sight of man ten dimes aggregate as much as
one dollar, and in the sight of God they are
often far more precious. It was the mite of
the widow, not the millions of a merchant prince,
that received the commendation of the Master
— not because it was a mite, but because it
represented rare self-sacrifice and true de-
votion.
5. Appealing to right motives for missionary
giving. This is a matter of primary impor-
tance, for motive largely determines both the
quantity and quality of missionary money.
Appeals should be based on love to Christ and
obedience to His command rather than on har-
rowing stories of terrible suffering in heathen
lands. Compassion is a legitimate motive, but
owing to the innate selfishness of man it is apt to
145
HOLDING THE ROPES
be shortlived. Dr. William Ashmore used to tell
a story that illustrates this. A wealthy old lady
who lived in much comfort awoke one morning
to find it bitterly cold and the fire gone out in
her room. " Mary," she said to her maid, " I
am afraid those people in the alley are suffer-
ing. When you have lighted my fire and given
me my breakfast, you may carry them a bucket
of coal and a basket of food." An hour later,
when a cheerful fire blazed on her hearth, she
said, as she sipped her hot coffee in bed:
" Mary, you need not take anything to the
people in the alley. The weather has mod-
erated so much they can not be suffering now."
Appeals based on pastoral pride, church repu-
tation, or denominational loyalty, can not foster
true liberality. Dr. Pierson declares that gifts
secured in this way are not gifts at all, but
simply purchase moneys, and illustrates his
point as follows :
If you give a hundred dollars because your neighbor
has given the same, and you are too proud to seem behind
him, you have given nothing; you have simply bought
your own respectability. Again, if you give a hundred
dollars to have your name appear in the published list
of generous donors, you have given nothing; you have
'paid so much for popular applause.
146
THE MONEY PROBLEM
6- Reviving the spirit of self-sacrifice. Com-
paratively few Christians of the present day
know the meaning of the word sacrifice from
practical experience. This is largely because
there is little in twentieth-century Christianity
to call it forth. " It is a real sacrifice to give
my tenth," said a Christian woman recently,
" and I do not feel that my church is in special
need of sacrifice." The missionary on the field,
however, is expected to make great sacrifices for
the salvation of the world; why not the well-
to-do Christians at home? The same obliga-
tion rests upon both. In the sight of God the
millionaire Christian has no more right to a
mansion on Fifth Avenue than the humble mis-
sionary to a palace in India. When Christians
at home practise the same self-denial as the
missionary on the field there will be no money
problem to solve.
7. Giving money instead of raising it. One
of the most serious mistakes of the past has
been the raising of money for missions by means
of fairs and festivals, lectures, concerts, and
what-not. In the first place, they do not pay
very well, and, in the second they are dia-
metrically opposed to the methods taught in
147
HOLDING THE ROPES
the Word. Imagine the church at Antioch
eating ice-cream or giving a concert to help pay
the expenses of Paul's missionary work ! In a
recent article in the Assembly Herald, Mr. John
Willis Baer says :
Money for the Lord's work: shall we give it, or shall
we raise it? When money is wanted, usually the first
resort is not to " fasting and prayers, but to festivals
and fairs." This is raising money, not giving it. I
appeal for a spirit of consecration which will compel us
to give more and raise less. The net result in the end
will be very much more money available for the Lord's
work.
8. Assuming the support of a missionary.
Chaining churches and societies at home to
needy fields of work abroad is proving one of
the most fruitful ways of increasing missionary
revenue. During the last few years the Missions
Boards have changed their policy of insist-
ing that all contributions shall be paid into the
treasury without restriction as to object. This
is, perhaps, the ideal way, but human nature is
weak, and the average man is more easily in-
terested in concrete giving to a special object
than in abstract giving to a general fund.
Wherever a church or society has assumed the
148
THE MONEY PROBLEM
support of a missionary, undertaken the erec-
tion of a building, or taken a share in the work
of a station, the increase in contributions has
been very great, ranging, in many cases, from
fifty to twenty-five hundred per cent. There
are, of course, drawbacks to the plan, but the
burden of proof goes to show that the disad-
vantages are overbalanced by the advantages.
9. The adoption of a systematic and busi-
ness-like method of collecting funds. This is
one of the essentials of success. Too many
societies simply pass the basket at their meet-
ings, the members giving or not, as they please,
and too many churches depend upon an annual
collection, which is at best a precarious plan.
If the pastor is not specially interested, and no
notice is given beforehand, the people come un-
prepared to give. If the weather is bad, or an
epidemic of sickness prevails, or many persons
are away from home, the percentage of at-
tendance is small and the offering correspond-
ingly poor. Unless special effort is made to
reach the absentees (and this is seldom done)
the result is a loss which is never retrieved.
1.49
HOLDING THE ROPES
SUCCESSFUL METHODS OF COLLECTING FUNDS
Almost every successful method of collecting
money for missions is based on a system of
definite pledges, payable once a week or once
a month. The reason for this lies in the fact
tho small sums frequently contributed amount
in the end to a surprising total, they are much
more easily secured than larger sums paid at
one time. Thus two cents a week is more
readily promised than $1 a year, yet in reality
it amounts to four cents more. And ten cents
a week seems a trifling sum compared with $5
a year. Many will cheerfully give the former
sum to whom the latter would seem an impos-
sibility.
Two cents a week. The simplest of all
pledge systems is known as the two-cents-a-week
plan. It has been widely and successfully used
as a starting-point in systematic giving by
women's organizations and young people's so-
cieties, and its vindication lies in the enormous
sums that have been paid into the treasury as
a result of its use. The giving of a penny a
week — two cents in our money — was first pro-
posed by William Carey in his famous Enquiry,
150
THE MONEY PROBLEM
published in 1792. It is a pitifully small sum,
yet largely in excess of the average amount
given for missions. " The churches, whether
by themselves or by societies," says Dr. George
Smith, " have yet to organize themselves up to
the level of Carey's penny a week."
Five times two is ten. An enlargement of
the two-cents-a-week plan, devised by Mr. W.
L. Amerman, and successfully used by many
Christian Endeavor societies, is known as the
five-times-two-is-ten plan. It is based on the
principle that the best way to interest people
in missions is to put them to work, and that
the best results in giving come from the col-
lection of small contributions regularly from
many people. In the five-times-two-is-ten plan
each person takes a pledge to give two cents a
week himself, and collect a like amount from
four other persons, preferably those who are
not already giving to missions. Ten collectors
constitute a division, and are assigned to a divi-
sion treasurer, who thus becomes responsible for
ten times ten cents — a dollar a week. " The first
year we tried it," said Mr. Amerman, " we had
fifty members of our Christian Endeavor Society
and fifty outsiders working on it — one hundred
151
HOLDING THE ROPES
in all. At the end of the year the receipts
amounted to about $500. Here were one hun-
dred workers influencing four hundred people —
a total of five hundred doing something for
missions."
Proportion pledges. Societies that have al-
ready taken the first steps in learning to give
should introduce a system of pledges in which
the amounts promised are proportionate to the
ability of the giver. The usual method is to
circulate pledge-cards with blank spaces for the
name, address, and amount contributed. When
these are signed and returned, the subscriber
is furnished with a series of envelopes, or a mite-
box, in which to deposit his offerings.
Taking shares. Where the support of a mis-
sionary is assumed or other special work under-
taken, it is a good plan to divide the amount
needed into shares and issue certificates of stock.
The value of this plan was demonstrated half a
century ago, when the Congregational Sunday-
school children built the Morning Star, con-
tributing the entire cost in ten-cent shares.
There are many still living who attribute their
first interest in missions to part-ownership in
the little vessel, and still cherish the worn and
152
THE MONEY PROBLEM
faded certificates issued to subscribers years
ago. That the share plan is still workable is
proved by the experience of the Thirteenth
Street Presbyterian Church of New York City.
A few years ago, being in need of $850 for the
support of a missionary, a blackboard was
divided into one hundred and seventy squares,
each one representing ten cents a week, or $5 a
year. This was displayed at the church prayer-
meeting, and the members asked to take the
shares. As each share was taken an X was
placed in a square. In less than an hour every
square was filled, the whole amount having been
quickly and enthusiastically promised. In an-
other church where the share plan was used, the
unique idea was conceived of making the shares
equivalent to the salary of the missionary for
one day.
The treasurer. The success of every system
of collecting funds depends largely upon the
committee in charge. The treasurer, espe-
cially, must thoroughly understand his business.
Upon him devolves the duty of keeping strict
accounts, making clear and accurate reports,
and preventing payments from becoming irreg-
ular. Reminding people of their obligations
153
HOLDING THE ROPES
and keeping them up to their promises is the
most difficult part of the task. This, however,
can be easily accomplished by issuing a report in
which numbers appear instead of names. This
plan was successfully tried in the Christian En-
deavor Society of the First Presbyterian
Church, Springfield, Ohio. When the pledge-
cards were signed they were handed at once to
the treasurer, who entered them on his books,
and assigned a special number to each. Sets
of envelopes were then given out, bearing these
numbers instead of the names. At the end of
the term (the pledges called for six monthly
payments) the treasurer mimeographed a re-
port, showing what each number had pledged
and paid in, and sent a copy to each member of
the society. As no one knew the identity of the
numbers save the treasurer and the individuals
to whom they had been assigned, no exception
was taken to the publicity of the published
report ; but those who were in arrears promptly
paid what they owed.
154
THE MONEY PROBLEM
REPORT OF Y. P. S. C. E. MISSIONARY
FUND
TERM ENDING JUNE 30, 1900
Amount
Total
Total
Number
Pledgbd PER
Amount
Amount
Month
Pledged
Paid
1
$0.25
$1.50
$1.50
2
50
3.00
3.00
3
10
60
60
4
1.00
6.00
8.00
5
8
48
60
6
5
30
30
7
3.00
18.00
18.00
8
25
1.50
50
9
0
0
2.00
10
10
60
0
11
15
90
90
12
60
3.60
3.60
Totals . .
$6.08
$36.48
$39.00
Amount pledged
Amount paid, not pledged
Amount pledged, not paid
Total amount received
$36.48
4.12
1.60
39.00
R-
Trea&urer.
155
X
practical Morfe for /HMs9ionar£ Societies
A missionary society, to attain the highest
ideals of efficiency, should have both food and
exercise. In spiritual growth as well as phys-
ical, these two things are essential to perfect
development. Yet in many societies this fact
is totally ignored. Food of the best quality,
served in the most appetizing manner, is pro-
vided in abundance, but rarely, if ever, is there
exercise enough to make it digest well. For this
reason many a society that might be large and
active is small and weak, and in a state of
lethargy from which it seems impossible to
arouse it.
In the old days God greatly blessed the work
of willing hands and put a high value upon it.
It is a significant fact that in the strongest Old
Testament texts about consecration the mar-
ginal reading of the word is " fill the hand."
Thus, Moses says, in Exodus xxxii : 29, " Fill
156
MISSIONARY SOCIETIES
your hands to-day to the Lord, that He may be-
stow a blessing upon you this day," and David
asks, in I. Chronicles xxix: 5, "Who, then, is
willing to fill his hand this day unto the Lord? "
In the building of the tabernacle there was need
not only of gold, silver, and precious stones,
fragrant woods, sweet spices, and anointing
oils, but of the blue and purple and scarlet, the
fine linen and the goats' hair, which the wise-
hearted women spun with their hands. In the
building of the spiritual Kingdom of our Lord
to-day there is a place for the work of the hands
as well as of the heart and brain.
There are thousands of societies within the
Church — women's, young people's, and chil-
dren's— that are already rendering noble serv-
ice along the line of practical work for missions,
but there are thousands of others that are neg-
lecting it. In the hope of enlisting these, the
following plans are outlined.
HOME MISSIONARY BOXES
Sending boxes of clothing, table-linen, and
bedding to home missionaries is such an im-
portant part of the work that every society
should have a share in it. Supplies of this kind
157
HOLDING THE ROPES
are most acceptable to these overworked and
underpaid servants of the Church, and in many
cases are an absolute necessity to them. The
salaries they receive are usually inadequate un-
less supplemented by a well-filled box.
By applying to its denominational Board of
Home Missions any society can secure the name
of a missionary in need of such assistance, to-
gether with a list of things needed, the number
in the family, measurements for clothing, and
sizes for hats and shoes. Filling such a box is
not only a great pleasure and a sacred privilege,
but also a solemn obligation which should not bo
carelessly assumed. Sore disappointment, and
in some cases bitter suffering, has resulted from
societies undertaking such work and doing it
inadequately. The Home Mission Monthly re-
cently published two letters which illustrate this.
One was from a minister in a section of the West
where the winters are very cold. He had asked
for a coat and overcoat, but the church was un-
able to provide these because it was sending out
five other boxes at the same time! Most of the
articles sent were second hand, and notwith-
standing the careful measurements given, many
of them were much too small to be of use. Yet
158
MISSIONARY SOCIETIES
the missionary adds : " We are extremely thank-
ful for what has been given, and have so in-
formed the givers."
The other letter came from the wife of a mis-
sionary who had felt obliged to give up his work
because of the impossibility of supporting his
family on the salary received. At the urgent
request of the Presbytery, however, he con-
sented to remain and ask for a box, hoping
that, with its assistance, he could keep the wolf
from the door. But, alas ! when it came it
proved to be of little value. With the exception
of a small list of bedding and a few articles of
underwear, everything in it was not only second
hand, but so much worn and soiled as to be unfit
for use. Besides this, many things were too
small by several sizes. The writer adds:
I trust you will not think we are complaining at all,
for we are not; but we are very much disappointed, and
the children had looked forward with so much pleasure to
the box for their new clothes, and not one thing for
them. We don't know what we are to do, as our salary
is so small that we haven't money to get necessary cloth-
ing. Do not understand me to say that I object to a
part of it being second hand. Anything that is good,
and can be made over for myself or the children, I would
gladly receive. I suppose the ladies did the best they
could, and I have thanked them for their kindness.
159
HOLDING THE ROPES
In marked contrast to these inadequate and
disappointing boxes are the countless well-filled
ones that are a source of great delight and un-
told comfort to their recipients. To be ideal,
a box should contain not only every article
asked for by the missionary, correct in measure-
ment, and either new or only slightly worn, but
also a roll of rag-carpet, books for every mem-
ber of the family, candy and toys for the chil-
dren, and little things to brighten the home — a
picture to hang on the wall, a bright bit of
drapery for the mantel, a new cover for the
couch-cushion, an embroidered centerpiece or a
dainty bit of china for the tea-table. Some so-
cieties have a beautiful custom of putting an
envelope containing a bank-note into the vest
pocket of the missionary's suit and pinning
another to the dress of his wife.
In societies where box work is new, or the in-
terest in it lagging, it is a good plan to have
some one read " God's Box," " The Box from
St. Mark's," or some similar story, showing the
need of such work and the blessings it carries
with it. Another good plan in vogue in many
societies is to display the contents of the box at
the mid-week prayer-service shortly before it is
160
MISSIONARY SOCIETIES
packed. This not only serves to create an in-
terest in the box and the missionary to whom it
is going, but also prepares the way for a more
intelligent interest in the letter of acknowledg-
ment that sooner or later will be received.
Boxes should be sent by freight, prepaid, and
fully covered by insurance. Neglect of the lat-
ter point is likely to result in serious loss. A
well-filled box, valued at more than $200, sent
out by a society that neglected to insure it,
was completely destroyed in a wreck. All that
could be collected from the railroad company
was $20 — less than one-tenth of its value.
Boxes of clothing somewhat different from
the foregoing are very acceptable in home mis-
sionary schools, especially among the freedmen
of the South, where it is often a problem to pro-
vide clothing for students too poor to buy it
for themselves. Second-hand shoes and gar-
ments of all kinds, too much worn to be sent to
a home missionary family, can be utilized here.
" We can use anything }rou are pleased to send,"
writes the superintendent of one of these
schools ; " shoes, pieces of carpet, small pieces
for quilts, anything along the line of house-
furnishing or wearing apparel. We have needy
161
HOLDING THE ROPES
boys, ranging from six to eighteen ; girls like-
wise. They are taught in the sewing-classes to
mend, darn, cut, and fit, and do all kinds of
plain sewing. The pupils will make over ma-
terial, and find use for whatever is sent."
DISTRIBUTING GOOD LITERATURE
In Christian homes throughout the land there
are large quantities of books and papers lying
idle that would be invaluable to the missionary
in the field. Collecting and distributing these
is excellent work for any society. In an ad-
dress recently delivered at Northfield, the Rev.
Charles W. Gordon (" Ralph Connor") said:
I believe in literature. I used to carry in my saddle-
bags loads of illustrated papers and magazines, and all
the miners' shacks were decorated with them. They were
always glad to see me with that pile at my back. In our
country [Canada] we owe a very great deal to an or-
ganization which was set in motion by Lady Aberdeen —
the " Aberdeen Society," which gathers magazines from
all the towns and cities in eastern Canada, and sends
them out to missionaries and others in the West.
Supplies of literature for distribution can be
obtained by public notices from the pulpit, sup-
plemented by private solicitation. Everything
sent in should be carefully sorted, and all that is
162
MISSIONARY SOCIETIES
worthless or hurtful in tendency be cast aside
and burned. Books not in good condition
should be carefully mended, and all that are
worn or faded in appearance be brightened by
the addition of neat covers of percaline or cam-
bric in various tints and shades.
Part of this literature may be reserved for
city missionary work, but the bulk of it should
be sent to needy portions of the great home
missionary field. A box containing forty or
fifty books suitable for a Sunday-school library,
sent out West or down South, would be a great
help to some struggling little Sunday-school, es-
pecially if it is in a district destitute of good
reading-matter. One society that sent out sev-
eral such libraries found that they had been the
means of keeping three Sunday-schools open all
the winter in a region where no other religious
services were held. It had been customary to
close the schools for several months each year
on account of the severity of the weather, but
such was the eagerness of the people to read the
books that they were willing to brave both
storm and cold in order to obtain them.
Boxes of papers and magazines are, as Ralph
Connor says, of great service to missionaries in
163
HOLDING THE ROPES
rough mining districts and on the frontier. The
address of some worker to whom they may he
sent can be obtained by writing to the denomi-
national Boards of Home Missions, or to the
headquarters of the American Sunday-school
Union in Philadelphia. Mailing copies of
papers or magazines to individual addresses
regularly once a week or once a month is a very
helpful plan. Names and addresses will be
gladly furnished by any home missionary. One
young girl to whom a copy of the Herald and
Presbyter was sent every week wrote that it
was the only paper received in her neighborhood,
and that it was eagerly read from cover to
cover, not only in her own home, but in several
others to which it was loaned in turn. Those
who have a wealth of literature in their homes
and hear the postman's knock three times a
day, little guess of the dearth of reading-mat-
ter in these less-favored homes, nor of the inter-
est and pleasure excited by the advent of a piece
of mail-matter regularly once a week.
FOREIGN MISSIONARY BOXES
Sending boxes of small articles, suitable for
Christmas gifts and school prizes, to mission-
164
MISSIONARY SOCIETIES
aries in the foreign field is fascinating work,
but not always advisable on account of the ex-
pense involved. The cost of transportation is
so heavy that it frequently exceeds the value of
the contents of the box. Thus, a missionary in
India reports having paid $30 freight on a box
worth much less than that amount, and a worker
in Japan tells of receiving one containing a lot
of old Sunday-school quarterlies, a few picture
papers, and some antiquated Sunday-school
books, such as her father read when a child.
Nothing could be used excepting a few of the
picture papers, yet the freight amounted to
several dollars.
So grievous has been the experience of the
missionaries, and so serious the waste of money,
that many missionary leaders discourage the
idea of sending such boxes at all. Others, know-
ing that there are societies in America that need
the stimulus of such work and missionaries on
the field that need such help, advocate it
strongly. Perhaps the wisest course is not to
omit it entirely, but to do it in so judicious and
economical a way that it will cease to be un-
profitable. Societies undertaking such work
should give careful attention to the following
165
HOLDING THE ROPES
directions, which the writer is enabled to give
after an extended correspondence with the va-
rious Women's Boards.
1. Do not take money from the treasury,
either to purchase articles for the box or to pay
the cost of transportation. Many of the things
called for can be provided without cost from
materials found in every household, and, as
large and expensive things are less useful than
small and inexpensive ones, those that must be
purchased can easily be secured as donations
from the members of the society. A very good
plan is to give a mission-box party and make
the admission any article needed — a small toy,
a box of marbles, a towel, or a spool of thread.
2. Do not send worn-out articles or old books.
These are quite useless, as are also garments of
any kind unless specially asked for by the mis-
sionary. Things that melt should never be sent
to warm countries unless protected in some way.
One box that went to India was a total loss, be-
cause it contained a large quantity of soap,
which melted and spoiled the entire contents.
3. Do not forget that the needs of the fields
differ greatly. Things that are useful in one
country are comparatively useless in another.
166
MISSIONARY SOCIETIES
The following articles, however, seem to be
wanted everywhere: Smal1 work-bags, needles,
pins, needle-books, thimbles, scissors, spool cot-
ton, lead and slate pencils, pens, crayons,
erasers, small note-books, writing-pads, beads
of all kinds, picture-books, scrap-books, Christ-
mas-tree decorations, balls, marbles, tops,
knives, mouth-organs, remnants of pretty calico
or other material two or three yards in length ;
cut and basted patchwork four or five inches
square, for teaching the children to sew ; hand-
kerchiefs, towels, combs, brushes, and cakes of
soap, each wrapped in a wash-cloth.
Dolls are .in universal demand, and are
greatly prized in every missionary land. They
should be about nine inches in length and strong
enough to stand fairly rough handling. Those
sent to Oriental countries should have dark hair
and eyes, as light hair and blue eyes are not ad-
mired in either dolls or people. " I don't want
this light-haired dolly," sobbed a little girl in
India ; " only ugly old women have light hair ! "
The dolls should be simply dressed in clothes
that will wash, and that can be taken off and
put on again. They should, too, be dressed in
gay colors (the gayer the better), but never in
167
HOLDING THE ROPES
white, as in many lands this is the symbol of
mourning. They should all be about the same
grade, for there are never enough handsome
ones in elaborate costumes to go around, and
two or three children can not be favored above
the rest. Tiny dolls, not more than a finger in
length, dressed in ribbon, are regarded as great
prizes by the kindergarten children.
Picture-cards of all kinds are also in great
demand, and can be used in unlimited quantities.
It is usually best to send them by mail, carefully
and strongly tied, and with the postage fully
paid. Care should be taken to send nothing ob-
jectionable. Missionaries can not use advertise-
ments for liquor or tobacco, comic cards which
might be misunderstood, nude figures, or pic-
tures of women in corsets or low-neck dresses.
Where there is writing on the back of a card,
clean white paper should be pasted over it.
4. Select for packing a strong wooden box,
made of boards at least one-half or three-quar-
ters of an inch thick, free from knot-holes and
well joined. Scrape off all marks, either of ink
or paper pasted on, and line it with tar paper
or some waterproof material. Table oilcloth is
recommended, because it is so useful afterward.
168
MISSIONARY SOCIETIES
Pack the box closely and carefully, so that noth-
ing can rattle around and be broken. Do not
fill empty spaces and corners with old paper,
but use instead small towels, dusters, wash-
cloths, or remnants of material of any kind.
5. Send the box, not direct to the mission
field, but to the headquarters of the Mission
Board, where it will become part of a general
shipment and be forwarded at much less cost
than if sent alone. Accompanying the box
should be a letter sent by mail, containing the
receipt from the railroad or express company,
and a list of its contents with estimated values,
for use in the custom-houses of foreign ports.
All expenses of transportation and duty should
be met by those who send the box. The slender
salary of the missionary must not be allowed
even to share in this burden. Some Mission
Boards wisely refuse to forward boxes that are
not prepaid, unless an order is shown from the
missionary. The cost of sending is usually
made up of three items: 1. Transportation
from the local society to the Mission Board,
which must be prepaid. 2. Transportation
from the Mission Board to the missionary,
which can be paid as soon as notification is re-
169
HOLDING THE ROPES
ceived of the amount. 3. Charges for duty,
which usually can only be met at the other end.
To make the gift complete, the society should
ask the missionary for this bill and make re-
imbursement as soon as possible.
This work undoubtedly involves a great deal
of time and trouble and no little expense, yet in
some fields at least, it is work that pays. " Think
of the help to the missionaries," writes a worker
in India, " think of the encouragement to the
teacher and the scholar, and be not weary in this
grand work, making people on both sides of the
globe happier and better."
WONDER-BAGS
Filling a wonder-bag is delightful work for
any society that desires to brighten the life of
an individual missionary or a missionary fam-
ily, either on the home or foreign field. This
consists of a large bag filled with gifts and let-
ters which are to be drawn out, not all at once,
but at certain specified times — once or twice a
week, or on special dates, according to direc-
tions. The bag itself should be made of cre-
tonne, denim, or canvas, and finished with draw-
strings of tape or ribbon. As it will be useful
170
MISSIONARY SOCIETIES
afterward, it should be not only strong and
durable, but pretty and attractive. Wrap each
gift in tissue paper, mark it with the name of
the donor and tie it with narrow ribbon, leaving
one end long enough to be used in drawing it
out of the bag. Pack the parcels carefully,
placing heavier ones at the bottom, and let the
long ends of the ribbons hang out at the top.
Gifts appropriate for special days, such as
Christmas, New Year's, Easter Sunday, Fourth
of July, the missionary's birthday, " a weary
day," or a " discouraged day," may be desig-
nated by tiny cards attached to their ribbons.
The California Yearly Meeting of Friends
recently sent wonder-bags to their missionaries
in the Kotzebue Mission in Northern Alaska,
wTho receive mail but once a year, and wrork so
much of the time in cold and darkness. Each
bag contained fifty-two articles, one of which
was to be drawn out every Wednesday, at the
time of the mid-week service, when the church at
home is remembering them in prayer.
In selecting gifts for a wonder-bag it is well
to remember that whatever would please a friend
at home wrould be acceptable to the missionary
in the field. There seems to be an impression
171
HOLDING THE ROPES
abroad that being a missionary makes one so
heavenly minded and so " other-worldly " that
the love of the beautiful is entirely lost. But
this is not so. " Do send me a pretty blue
dress," wrote the wife of a home missionary who
had been asked to tell frankly just what she
longed for ; " I am so tired of the dull browns
and somber blacks that come every year in the
box." People seem to think, too, that mission-
aries care for nothing but religious literature.
Some years ago, being in search of a bright,
new book for a friend in India — something that
would rest and refresh her, and take her mind
off the depressing sights and sounds of her
work — the writer appealed to a clerk in a book-
store for help. She thought a while, and then
brought out a copy of " Pilgrim's Progress,"
saying she could think of nothing else appro-
priate unless it was a Bible ! " Pilgrim's Prog-
ress " was good, and the missionary loved it
dearly, but for the purpose in view " Mrs.
Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch," with its whole-
some fun and sunny philosophy, would have
been far better.
172
XI
WLho'8 TKIlbo in /HMssfons
One of the serious hindrances to the cause of
missions is the deplorable ignorance which pre-
vails in the Church concerning great mission-
aries and their notable achievements. The large
majority of professing Christians do not even
know the names of the great heroes of the Cross
that have gone forth, at the command of Christ,
to plant the Gospel in heathen lands. " Every
boy of fifteen is familiar with the achievements
of army and navy heroes," said S. Earl Taylor
at the Ecumenical Conference, " but if a com-
pany of young people is asked to name the he-
roes of the Cross, embarrassing silence follows."
Missionary heroes, with perhaps a few excep-
tions, have never been the world's heroes ; but
they are God's heroes, and the children of the
Church should be taught at least their names.
To assist in this, the following list of questions
has been prepared, the answers to which are the
173
HOLDING THE ROPES
names of great missionaries. These questions
can be used in many ways, among them the fol-
lowing :
1. Once a month, on Missionary Sunday,
have the children of the Sabbath-school learn
from three to five of the questions and answers,
and at the end of the year conduct a review of
the whole. If there is time, a short, bright
story might be told about each missionary, and
one of his famous sayings be committed to
memory.
2. Print or mimeograph the questions on slips
of paper, distribute them in the Sunday-school
or young people's society, and offer a mission-
ary curio or book to the one handing in the best
list of answers by a given date. This is an ex-
cellent plan for pastors and Sunday-school
superintendents.
3. For a missionary social prepare lists of
questions, with spaces for answers opposite, and
give one to each guest, together with a pencil.
At the end of a specified time (half an hour or
more) read the correct answers and have the
guests correct their papers. If desired, a suit-
able prize may be awarded to the victor. An-
other way is to select as many of the questions
174
WHO'S WHO IN MISSIONS
as there are persons present, and write them on
cards tied with narrow ribbon. Pin these on the
guests, and have them make lists of the mission-
aries represented. Paper and pencils must, of
course, be provided for this purpose.
4. A very instructive game, appropriate both
for the mission band and the home circle on Sun-
day afternoon, can be made by writing fifty of
the most important questions on plain white
cards. In playing the game, seat the children
around the table in a circle and deal out the
cards until each has the same number — two,
three, or four, as seems best. Place the remain-
der of the pack on the table, face downward.
Let A (the first player) ask B (the player on
his right) the question on one of the cards. If
B can answer correctly, he takes the card and A
draws another from the pack. If B fails to an-
swer, A passes the question to C (the next
player on the right), and so on around the cir-
cle. Whoever gives the answer gets the card.
The one who holds the most cards at the end
wins the game. Another way to use the game is
to choose a leader and give him all the cards.
Then let him ask the questions, one at a time,
and call for volunteer answers. The one an-
175
HOLDING THE ROPES
swering first gets the card. It is sometimes a
good plan to conduct the game like a spelling-
match.
QUESTIONS ON AFRICA
Who was the first missionary to South Africa? George
Schmidt, the Moravian Brother.
What skeptical Dutch physician became a Christian
and went to Africa as a missionary when over fifty years
of age? Theodosius Vanderkemp.
What great missionary was the means of attracting
David Livingstone to Africa? Robert Moffat, the " Hero
of Kuruman."
What schoolmaster, in seven years' time, formed the
rescued slaves of Regent's Town into a model Chris-
tain community? William Johnson, of Sierra Leone.
Who discovered Kenia, the highest mountain in Africa?
Johann Ludwig Krapf, a German missionary.
Who discovered Kilimanjaro, the great snow-capped
peak of equatorial Africa? Johann Rebmann, a German
missionary.
Who was the greatest discoverer of the nineteenth cen-
tury? David Livingstone, a medical missionary.
Who was the first black bishop of Africa in modern
times? Samuel Adjai Crowther, Bishop of the Niger.
Who was the first leader of the Universities' Mission to
Central Africa? Charles Frederick Mackenzie, the
" Martyr of the Zambesi."
Whom did Stanley pronounce " the greatest missionary
since Livingstone " ? Alexander M. Mackay, the en-
gineer-missionary.
Whose last words were: "Tell the king that I die for
the Baganda, and purchase the road to Uganda with
176
WHO'S WHO IN MISSIONS
my life " ? James Hannington, the " Martyr-bishop of
Uganda."
What heroic French missionary has labored for more
than forty years among the Basutas on the Upper Zam-
besi? Francois Coillard.
What family gave to Kongoland six of its members,
each of whom lies in an African grave? The Comber
family.
To what missionary on the Kongo were pentecostal
blessings granted when he stopped preaching the Law
and began to proclaim the Gospel? Henry Richards,
the " Hero of Banza Manteke."
What world evangelist who preached the Gospel in
every continent endeavored to establish self-supporting
missions in Africa? Bishop William Taylor, the "Flam-
ing Torch."
What African ruler is a strict prohibitionist — " prob-
ably the only royal prohibitionist in the Dark Conti-
nent"? Khama, the "Temperance Apostle of South
Africa."
Who translated the first Bible printed in America?
John Eliot, the " Apostle of the Red Men."
What prominent colonial family, through five suc-
cessive generations, engaged in mission work among
the Indians? The Mayhew family.
Who was the most gifted native missionary of the
eighteenth century? Samson Occum, the Indian
preacher of New England.
What missionary to the Indians gave the longest and
most effective term of service? David Zeisberger, the
"Apostle to the Delawares."
What devout young missionary to the Indians spent
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HOLDING THE ROPES
much time in the woods alone with God, interceding for
his work? David Brainerd, the "Missionary of the Wil-
derness."
Who invented the Cree syllabic alphabet, by means of
which thousands of Indians have been taught to read
the Word of God? James Evans, the "Apostle of the
North."
WTho opened the first wagon-road across the Rocky
Mountains? Marcus Whitman, the "Hero-martyr of
Oregon."
WTho established a model village of Christian Indians in
Alaska ? William Duncan, the " Hero of Metlakahtla."
Who founded missions in Alaska? Dr. Sheldon Jack-
son, now United States Commissioner of Education in
Alaska.
Who is the first native missionary to Alaska? Ed-
ward Marsden, a Tsimshean Indian.
Who has greatly enriched missionary literature by his
stories of work among the Cree and Salteaux Indians?
Egerton R. Young.
What famous frontier bishop was a life-long friend of
the Indians of his diocese? Henry Whipple, the first
Bishop of Minnesota.
What Austrian nobleman of the seventeenth century
laid aside title and estates to become a missionary to
Dutch Guiana? Baron Von Welz, the "Apostle to the
Gentiles."
What officer of the Royal English Navy was a pioneer
missionary to two continents? Allen Gardiner, the
" Hero-martyr of South America."
Who laid the foundations of Protestant missions in
Mexico? Melinda Rankin.
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WHO'S WHO IN MISSIONS
Who baptized the first Protestant convert in China, and
ordained the first native Chinese evangelist? Robert
Morrison, the " Apostle of China."
What Scotch shepherd shared with Morrison the honor
of translating the entire Bible into the Chinese tongue?
William Milne, the second Protestant missionary to
China.
What learned missionary to China served as Commo-
dore Perry's interpreter on his famous entry into Japan?
S. Wells Williams, author of " The Middle Kingdom."
What early missionary to China obtained a government
position and carried on a great work at his own expense?
Karl Giitzlaff.
Who "opened China at the point of his surgeon's
lancet " ? Peter Parker, the first medical missionary
to China.
Who founded the "largest mission to the largest mis-
sion field in the world " ? J. Hudson Taylor, of the
China Inland Mission.
What Scotch evangelist spent twenty years touring
through China dressed in native costume? William C.
Burns.
Who established the first Protestant mission in Cen-
tral China? Griffith John, at Hankow.
Who won great favor for medical missions in China by
his successful treatment of the wife of Li Hung Chang?
John Kenneth Mackenzie, the " Beloved Physician of
Tien-tsin."
Who invented a system of characters by which the
blind in China can be easily taught to read? William H.
Murray, of Peking.
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HOLDING THE ROPES
Who spent twenty years in lonely wanderings among
the nomad Mongols? James Gilmour, the "Hero of
Mongolia."
Under whose leadership has Manchuria become one of
the most hopeful fields in China? John Ross.
Who made the first missionary journey to preach the
Gospel in Europe? The apostle Paul.
Who laid the foundations of Teutonic literature by in-
venting an alphabet and translating the Bible? Ulfilas,
the " Apostle to the Goths."
What soldier-missionary became the " Apostle of the
Gauls " ? Martin, of Tours.
What missionary of Scottish birth accomplished the
evangelization of Ireland? Patrick, of Tara.
What missionary of Irish birth won Scotland for
Christ? Columba, of Iona.
Whom did Gregory the Great send to England to
Christianize the Anglo-Saxons? Augustine, of Canter-
bury.
What English missionary laid the foundations of
Christian civilization in Germany? Boniface, the
" Apostle of Germany."
Who was the first medical missionary? Anskar, the
" Apostle of the North."
WThat artist-missionary painted a picture of the Last
Judgment which led to the establishment of Christianity
among the Slavs? Methodius, with his brother Cyril,
the " Apostles of the Slavs."
What Scotch pastor of an English church, while on a
vacation in Paris, heard a Macedonian cry that led him
to establish a great Protestant mission in France?
Robert W. McAll, founder of the McAll Mission.
180
WHO'S WHO IN MISSIONS
INDIA
Who were the first Protestant missionaries to India?
Bartholomew Ziegenbalg and Henry Pliitschau.
Who was the most prominent figure in India during
the latter half of the eighteenth century? Christian
Friedrieh Schwartz, the "Councillor of Tan j ore."
WTho was the greatest scholar in India in the early part
of the ninetenth century? William Carey, the "Father
of Organized Missions."
Who composed the " Serampore Trio " ? William
Carey, Joshua Marshman, and William Ward.
Who was the first woman missionary to India? Han-
nah Marshman.
Who is called the greatest of American missionaries to
foreign lands? Adoniram Judson, the "Apostle of
Burma."
Who were the first American women to go as foreign
missionaries? Ann Hazeltine Judson and Harriet At-
wood Newell.
Who wrote the greatest of all missionary hymns?
Reignald Heber, Bishop of Calcutta.
Who was the most eloquent missionary orator of the
nineteenth century? Alexander Duff, pioneer of higher
education in India.
Who was the first American physician to become a
medical missionary? Dr. John Scudder.
Who trained so many native girls that she was called
the "Mother of a Thousand Daughters" in Ceylon?
Eliza Agnew, principal of Ooodooville Seminary for
forty years.
Who " opened the zenanas of India at the point of
an embroidery needle " ? Hannah Catherine Mullens.
Who established the Indian Witness, one of the most
181
HOLDING THE ROPES
important Christian periodicals of India? James Mills
Thoburn, M. E. Bishop of India and Malaysia.
Who founded the first woman's college in India? Isa-
bella Thoburn, at Lucknow.
Who was the first woman to go as a medical mission-
ary? Dr. Clara Swain, of Barielly, India.
Who was pastor of the largest Baptist church in the
world at the close of the nineteenth century? John
Everett Clough, the " Hero of Ongole."
What veteran missionary is called " The Prince of
India's Story-tellers " ? Jacob Chamberlain, of the
Arcot Mission.
What American missionary who contracted leprosy in
India is devoting her life to the lepers of Chandag?
Mary Reed.
Who has the most remarkable memory of any woman
in the world ? Pundita Ramabai, the " Hindu Widows'
Champion."
THE ISLANDS
Who was the founder of Godthaab, the capital of
Greenland? Hans Egede, the "Apostle of Greenland."
What chaplain of a convict colony in Australia intro-
duced Christianity among the Maori cannibals? Samuel
Marsden, the " Apostle of New Zealand."
Whose first duty on the mission field was to bury the
heads, hands, and feet of eighty victims of a cannibal
feast? James Calvert, of Fiji.
WThat missionary is said to have won the greatest
number of converts to Christ of any since the days of
the apostles ? John Williams, the " Apostle of the South
Seas."
Whose memorial tablet bears these words: "When he
landed in 1848 there were no Christians here; when he
182
WHO'S WHO IN MISSIONS
left in 1873 there were no heathens " ? John Geddie, of
Anietyum.
Who was pastor of the largest church in the world in
the middle of the nineteenth century? Titus Coan, of
Hilo, Hawaiian Islands.
Whom did Robert Louis Stevenson wish to outlive,
that he might write his biography? James Chalmers, the
"Martyr of New Guinea."
Whose diocese in the South Seas, through an error in
transcribing, was the largest ever assigned to one bishop?
George Augustus Selwyn, Bishop of New Zealand.
What Eton schoolboy, who become a great missionary,
was saved from a tragic death by Queen Victoria? John
Coleridge Patteson, the " Martyr-bishop of Melanesia."
Among modern missionaries, whose life furnishes the
greatest number of miraculous deliverances from danger?
John G. Paton, the " Hero of the New Hebrides."
WTho celebrated the twelfth anniversary of his arrival
on the mission field by partaking of the Lord's Supper
with twelve hundred of his converts? George Leslie
Mackay, the " Hero of Formosa."
Who first preached the Gospel in Japan? Francis
Xavier, the " Apostle of the Indies."
Who founded the Imperial University of Tokio and
served as confidential adviser to the Japanese govern-
ment for nearly fifteen years? Guido F. Verbeck, "A
Man Without a Country."
Who compiled the great Japanese-English Dictionary
and was the chief translator of the Japanese Bible?
James C. Hepburn, the first medical missionary to
Japan.
WThat native Japanese, educated in America, was
183
HOLDING THE ROPES
founder of the Doshisha, the great Christian college of
Japan? Joseph Hardy Neesiraa.
MOHAMMEDAN LANDS
Who was the first missionary to the Moslems? Ray-
mund Lull.
What chaplain of the East India Company was the
first missionary to Moslems in modern times? Henry
Martyn, in Persia.
Who founded a famous school for Nestorian girls at
Urumia? Fidelia Fiske, of Persia.
What medical missionary, who completed the transla-
tion of the Arabic Bible, was regarded as the greatest
Arabic scholar in the world? Cornelius Van Dyck, of
Beirut, Syria.
What missionary to Syria gave to the world the most
important and trustworthy of all books on the Holy
Land? William M. Thomson, author of the "Land and
the Book."
WTho is the first woman to whom permission was
granted to practise medicine in the Turkish Empire?
Mary Pierson Eddy, medical missionary to Syria.
Who founded Robert College, the great Christian Col-
lege at Constantinople? Cyrus Hamlin, missionary to
Turkey.
What daughter of an English archbishop devoted her
life to work among the children of Cairo? Mary
Whateley, the "Lady of the Book."
What champion bicycle-rider and eminent scholar of
Great Britain founded a mission to the Moslems of
Arabia? Ion Keith-Falconer, the "Martyr of Aden."
MISCELLANEOUS
What ancestor of the present Empress of India was
184
WHO'S WHO IN MISSIONS
the first Protestant king to support and originate mis-
sions to the heathen? Frederic IV., of Denmark.
Who published the first regular missionary periodical?
Augustus Herman Francke, professor in the University
of Halle.
Who laid the foundations for the missionary activity
of the Moravian Church? Count Zinzendorf, the
" Father of Modern Missions."
Who conducted a prayer-meeting in the shelter of a
haystack that resulted in the birth of the first Ameri-
can missionary society? Samuel J. Mills, the "Father
of American Missions."
WThat American college president exerted so strong
an influence for missions that more than seventy of her
pupils became foreign missionaries? Mary Lyon, of
Mount Holyoke.
What popular English authoress devoted the proceeds
of one novel to fitting out a missionary ship, and of
another to building a missionary college in New Zealand?
Charlotte M. Yonge.
Who were the only two medical missionaries in the
world at the close of the eighteenth century? John
Thomas in India, and Theodosius Vanderkemp in South
Africa.
What Moravian family, through six successive genera-
tions, has sent representatives to the foreign mission
field? The Bonisch-Stach family.
185
XII
Great Statesmen In tbe Witnesses1
I. TESTIMONIES OF AMERICAN STATESMEN TO THE
VALUE AND SUCCESS OF FOREIGN MISSIONS
At the opening evening session of the Ecu-
menical Conference, held in New York in 1900,
there sat upon the platform three great Ameri-
can statesmen — William McKinley, Benjamin
Harrison, and Theodore Roosevelt. It is
worthy of note that the great occasion that
brought together these three Presidents of the
i This exercise was prepared at the suggestion of the
Rev. Henry N. Cobb, D. D., Secretary of the Board of
Foreign Missions of the Reformed Church in America.
It is designed to meet the objections to missions that have
multiplied so rapidly of late, especially in regard to the
Boxer outbreak and the capture of Miss Stone. Missions
need no apology. They stand on the authority of our
Lord Himself. Yet it will undoubtedly influence many,
especially among the men, to hear statesmen of high rank
and unquestioned ability testifying to the value and
success of foreign missionary work.
Write the testimonies on slips of paper, and distribute
them before the meeting begins to persons who will read
186
STATESMEN IN THE WITNESS-BOX
United States — past, present, and future — was
a missionary meeting. President McKinley and
Governor Roosevelt were there to extend to the
delegates and missionaries the respective wel-
comes of the nation and the state, while General
Harrison served in an official capacity as Hon-
orary President of the Conference. Each of
these three great men was a soldier in addition
to being a statesman, having won distinction on
the battlefield as well as in the halls of state.
No one could charge them with being dreamers
or sentimentalists, yet each was there to give
strong and hearty testimony to the value of
Christian missions — testimony that carried
added weight because it was not the perfunc-
tory utterance of public officials, but the hearty
tribute of Christian men, known to be regular
in church attendance and sincere in their observ-
ance of religious rites. In his address of wel-
come, President McKinley said in part:
them clearly and distinctly. In conducting the exercise
the leader should give all explanatory notes — the names
of the statesmen, their official positions, etc., calling on
those who hold the slips for the testimonials only. This
exercise would be especially appropriate for meetings
held on or near McKinley's birthday, which occurs on the
29th day of January.
187
HOLDING THE ROPES
I am glad of the opportunity to offer without stint
my tribute of praise and respect to the missionary effort
which has wrought such wonderful triumphs for civili-
zation. The story of Christian missions is one of thrilling
interest and marvelous results. The services and sacri-
fices of missionaries for their fellow men constitute one
of the most glorious pages of the world's history. The
missionary, of whatever church or ecclesiastical body,
who devotes his life to the service of the Master and of
men, carrying the torch of truth and enlightenment, de-
serves the gratitude, the support, and the homage of man-
kind. The noble, self-effacing, willing ministers of
peace and good will should be classed with the world's
heroes. . . . Who can estimate their value to the
progress of nations? Their contribution to the onward
and upward march of humanity is beyond all calculation.
They have inculcated industry and taught the various
trades. They have promoted concord and unity, and
brought races and nations closer together. They have
made men better. They have increased the regard for
home; have strengthened the sacred ties of family; have
made the community well ordered, and their work has
been a potent influence in the development of law and the
establishment of government.
Governor Roosevelt's address included the
following testimony to the value of mission
work among the American Indians:
It has not been my good fortune to be able to see at
close range the work done in foreign missions, techni-
cally so termed, but it was once my privilege to see, close
up, the work done in a branch of mission work that is,
188
STATESMEN IN THE WITNESS-BOX
in every sense but the technical, foreign missionary
work — I mean work on the Indian reservations of the
West. ... I became so interested in it that I trav-
eled all over the reservations to see what was being done,
especially by the missionaries, because it needed no time
at all to see that the great factors in the uplifting of
the Indians were the men who were teaching them to be
Christian citizens. When I came back I wished it had
been in my power to convey my experiences to those
people — often well-meaning people — who speak about the
inefficiency of foreign missions. I think if they could
have realized but the tenth part of the work that had
been done they would understand that no more practi-
cal work, no work more productive of fruit for civiliza-
tion, could exist than the work being carried on by the
men and women who give their lives to preaching the
gospel of Christ to mankind.
In responding to the addresses of welcome
given by President McKinley and Governor
Roosevelt, General Harrison, whose utterances
throughout the Conference were especially not-
able, gave this testimony to the law-abiding
character of missionary work:
The Church is not a revolutionary hooter. The Church
of God, as it was started on its way by its Lord and
Master, did not stir up rebellion, did not set men
against their governing officers. " Tribute to whom
tribute is due." Let Caesar have his tribute. Respect
for our magistrates, as the representatives of the chief
magisterial power above, our Gospel teaches. And these
189
HOLDING THE ROPES
missionaries going into these foreign lands do not go to
disturb the political conditions of the states they enter.
Not at all. They preach no crusade, incite no rebellion,
but work by instilling the principles of the Gospel of
Christ — the doctrine of the purity of man; that God
made of one blood all people; that not titles, nor rulers,
nor the outer things at all, but the heart is the seat of
judgment and esteem; and this doctrine, working its
quiet way through the world, will yet bring in the King-
dom that is promised.
No class of men are better able to judge the
work of foreign missions than the diplomatists
who serve our country in foreign lands. Being,
as a rule, men of high character and standing,
and having abundant opportunity to see for
themselves, they may be regarded as expert
witnesses upon whose testimony it is safe to rely.
In an address delivered by Colonel Denby on his
return from China, where he served as United
States Minister from 1885 to 1898, he says:
I have made a study of missionary work in China. I
took a man-of-war and visited almost every open port in
the empire. At each one of the places I visited I in-
spected every mission station. At the schools the schol-
ars were arrayed before me and examined. I went
through the missionary hospitals. I attended synods and
church services. I saw missionaries in their homes; I saw
them all, Catholic and Protestant, and I have the same
opinion of them all. They are all doing good work;
190
STATESMEN IN THE WITNESS-BOX
they merit all the support that philanthropy can give
them. I do not stint my commendation, nor halt, nor
stammer about work that ought to be done at home in-
stead of abroad. I make no comparisons. I unquali-
fiedly and in the strongest language that tongue can
utter give to these men and women who are living and
dying in China and in the Far East my full and unadul-
terated commendation. My doctrine is to tell, if I can,
the simple truth about them, and when that is known, the
caviling, the depreciation, the sneering, which too often
accompany comments on missionary work, will disappear;
they will stand before the world, as they ought to stand,
as benefactors of the people among whom their lives are
spent, and forerunners of the commerce of the world.
In a communication to the Boston Herald
the Hon. George F. Seward, who served for
many years as Consul-General to China, and
from 1876 to 1880 as United States Minister
there, says:
During my twenty years' stay in China I always con-
gratulated myself on the fact that the missionaries were
there. There were good men and able men among the
merchants and officials, but it was the missionary who ex-
hibited the foreigner in benevolent work, as having other
aims than those which may be justly called selfish. The
good done by missionaries in the way of education,
of medical relief, and of other charities, can not be over-
estimated. If in China there were none other than mis-
sionary influence, the building of that great people would
go forward securely. I have the profoundest admiration
191
HOLDING THE ROPES
for the missionary as I have known him. He is a power
for good and peace, not for evil.
On his return to his home in Minneapolis the
Hon. John Goodnow, Consul-General of the
United States at Shanghai, who achieved much
distinction by his skilful conduct of affairs dur-
ing the commotions in China in 1900, was
greeted by a large company, who listened to an
account of his experiences with intense interest.
Though not regarded as having any special in-
terest in missionaries, he paid this tribute to
their work :
The thing that makes us most popular in China is the
work of our missionaries. The fact that the American
nation and the American people stand in better rela-
tions toward the Chinese nation and people is due almost
wholly to these facts: First, the work of the missionaries
proper, by preaching the Word; second, the splendid
work of the medical missionaries with their hospital ser-
vice, where thousands and thousands of poor natives are
treated and cared for; and, thirdly, to the fact, com-
monly recognized by the Chinese of intelligence, that the
American people do not want Chinese territory.
The Hon. John W. Foster, formerly United
States Secretary of State, and Minister in turn
to Mexico, Russia, and Spain, and who served by
invitation of the Emperor of China as counselor
192
STATESMEN IN THE WITNESS-BOX
for China in making a treaty with Japan, in the
Missionary Herald for October, 1900, says:
My observation is that the mass of people in China do
not object to the missionaries. As a class, the Chinese
are not fanatics in religion, and if other causes had not
operated to awaken a national hostility to foreigners, the
missionaries would have been left free to combat Bud-
dhism and Taoism, and carry on their work of establish-
ing schools and hospitals. . . . China stands in
great need of Christianity. The teachings of Confucius,
among the wisest of non-Christian philosophers, has had
unlimited sway for twenty-five centuries; and this highest
type of pagan ethics has produced a people the most
superstitious and a government the most corrupt and in-
efficient. Confucianism must be pronounced a failure.
The hope of this people and its government is in Chris-
tianity.
General Lew Wallace, author of " Bcn-Hur,"
and formerly United States Minister to Turkey,
says:
When I went to Turkey I was prejudiced against mis-
sionaries, but my views of them and their work have
completely changed. I found them to be an admirable
body of men doing a wonderful educational and civiliz-
ing work outside of their strictly religious work. . . .
When abroad in the East I have found the best and
truest friends among the missionaries located in Con-
stantinople. I have often been asked; "What of the
missionaries of the East? Are they true, and do they
serve their Master?" And I have always been a swift
193
HOLDING THE ROPES
witness to say — and I say it now solemnly and emphati-
cally— that if anywhere on the face of this earth there
exists a band of devout men and women it is there.
Hon. E. F. Noyes, United States Minister to
Turkey, reporting on the relations between our
country and the Ottoman Empire, wrote thus:
The salutary influence of American missionaries and
teachers in the Turkish Empire can not possibly be over-
rated. By actual observation I know that wherever a
conspicuously intelligent and enterprising man or woman
is found in the East, one imbued with the spirit of mod-
ern civilization, it is always found that he or she was
educated at an American school or college in Constanti-
nople, Alexandria, Cairo, Asyoot, or Beirut. With the
educational influences comes a demand for the refine-
ments and comforts of civilized life. The Arab youth
who has graduated at the college in Beirut is no longer
content to live in a mud-pen, clothe himself in filthy
rags or not at all, and to live on sugar-cane.
In his valuable book, " Persia and the Per-
sians," Hon. S. G. W. Benjamin, formerly
United States Minister to Persia, writes as
follows :
The American missionaries have now been laboring
fifty years in Persia. There are captious persons who
ask, " Well, how many converts have they made ? Would
they not do more by staying at home? " Altho this is not
a fair way to judge of the value and results of missions,
194
STATESMEN IN THE WITNESS-BOX
I have no hesitation in affirming that the missionaries in
Persia have made as many converts as an equal number
of clergymen in the United States during the same pe-
riod. . . . American missions in Persia may be slow,
but they are an enduring influence both for secular as
well as for religious progress. Their growth is cumu-
lative and their power is mighty.
In 1882 the Hon. Elisha H. Allen, Hawaiian
Minister to the United States, and for twenty
years Chief-Justice and Chancellor of the
Island Kingdom, gave this testimony:
I have a very high appreciation of the great work
which the American Board has accomplished. No one
can fully appreciate it unless by a visit to the country
which has been blessed by its labors. ... It was
a great triumph to have saved the nation, and to have
brought it within the family of nations, which was so
important to Christian civilization and to the commerce
of the world, and more especially of the United States.
Hon. David B. Sickles, for five years United
States Consul at Bangkok, gave the following
testimony to the value of missions in Siam :
The American missionaries in Siam, whom I have ob-
served for several years, have accomplished a work of
greater magnitude and importance than can be realized
by those who are not familiar with its character. Largely
through their influence slavery is being abolished, and
the degrading custom of bodily prostration is not now
195
HOLDING THE ROPES
compulsory. Wholesome and equitable laws have been
proclaimed, criminals have been punished by civilized
methods, literature and art have been encouraged by
the King and ministers, an educational institution has
been established by the government, and reforms have
been inaugurated in all its departments. . . . Before
I went to the Far East I was strongly prejudiced against
the missionary enterprise and against foreign mission-
aries; but after a careful examination of their work, I
became convinced of its immense value.
In a recent number of the Independent, the
Hon. Hamilton King, United States Consul-
General to Siam, gave a glowing account of
mission work among the Laos, as he saw it dur-
ing a journey through their country. He says:
In this field the influences of Christian civilization,
divorced to a very large degree from those evils that
generally go hand in hand with it, have been brought
to bear upon the Oriental mind through the agency of
the Christian mission alone. As we approached the city
of Chiengmai, where the work has been longest in opera-
tion, it was interesting to mark the external evidences of
improvement that greeted us. Each day the women that
we met were more neat and trim in appearance; their
faces wore a more hopeful look, and they bore the mark
of better things in their lives. The roads became better.
Better-tilled fields, better-kept fences, better houses,
more thrifty homes, and a general improvement in all
that goes to make up a prosperous and thrifty people
were evident in this province. On the morning after my
196
STATESMEN IN THE WITNESS-BOX
arrival, as I stood before an audience of six hundred
people in the commodious church, I said to myself:
" This is the best thing I have seen in Siam. The Gospel
has the right hold upon this people's lives, and is lift-
ing them."
The Hon. John Barrett, United States Min-
ister to Siam from 1894 to 1898, who was with
Dewey at Manila, and is now serving as Com-
missioner-General to Asia for the St. Louis
World's Fair, loses no opportunity to say a
good word for missions. In an address de-
livered before the New Orleans Missionary Con-
ference, in 1901, he spoke as follows:
Going out to Asia seven years ago, as United States
Minister to Siam, I was in a degree prejudiced against
missionaries. Returning to America six years later, I was
convinced of the practical value and importance of
their work. Four years' official residence in Siam, a
year or more in China and Japan, and another in the
Philippines, aroused me to an appreciation of America's
mighty responsibilities and opportunities, missionary and
commercial, in the Far East. . . . Summarizing in
briefest terms possible some points in favor of mission-
ary work from a layman's point of view, we enumerate
the following: 1. In my experience as a United States
minister one hundred and fifty missionaries scattered
over a land as large as the German Empire gave me less
trouble than fifteen business men or merchants. 2.
Everywhere they go, in Siam or Burma, in China or
Japan, they tend to raise the moral tone of the commu-
197
HOLDING THE ROPES
nity where they settle. 3. They are the pioneers in edu-
cation, starting the first practical schools and higher in-
stitutions of learning, teaching along lines that develop
the spirit of true citizenship as well as of Christianity.
4. They develop the idea of patriotism, of individual re-
sponsibility in the welfare of the State. 5. They carry
on an extensive medical and surgical work, build hos-
pitals, and encourage sanitary measures, and have been
the chief agency throughout Asia to check the spread of
diseases like smallpox, cholera, and the plague. 6. They
do a great work of charity and teach the idea of self-
help among masses otherwise doomed to starvation and
cruel slavery. 7. They are helpful in preparing the way
for legitimate commercial expansion, and almost in-
variably precede the merchant in penetrating the in-
terior. 8. They have done more than either commerce or
diplomacy to develop respect for American character
and manhood among the countless ignorant millions of
Asia. 9. They are a necessity to the Asiatic statesmen
and people to provide them with that instruction and in-
formation required to undertake genuine progress and
development.
II. TESTIMONIES OF BRITISH STATESMEN
The testimony of British statesmen to the
value of foreign missions is fully as strong as
that of American statesmen, and is especially
notable in view of the following conviction
embodied by the directors of the East India
Company in a resolution passed in Parliament
in 1793:
198
STATESMEN IN THE WITNESS-BOX
The sending of missionaries into our Eastern posses-
sions is the maddest, most extravagant, most expensive,
most unwarrantable project that was ever proposed by a
lunatic enthusiast. Such a plan is pernicious, impolitic,
unprofitable, unsalutary, dangerous, unfruitful, fan-
tastic. It is opposed to all reason and sound policy; it
endangers the peace and security of our possessions!
Less than one hundred years later, at a pub-
lic meeting in London, Lord John Lawrence,
the greatest of all the English Viceroys of
India, said:
Notwithstanding all that the English people have done
to benefit India, the missionaries have done more than
all other agencies combined.
In an address delivered at Tan j ore, Lord
Napier, Governor of Madras, said:
The benefits of missionary enterprise are felt in three
directions — in converting, civilizing, and teaching the
Indian people. It is not easy to overrate the value in
this vast empire of a class of Englishmen of pious lives
and disinterested labors, living and moving in the most
forsaken places, walking between the government and the
people, with devotion to both, the friends of right, the
adversaries of wrong, impartial spectators of good and
evil.
In a lecture on " Christianity Suited to all
Forms of Civilization," delivered in London,
199
HOLDING THE ROPES
Sir Bartle Frere, formerly Governor of Bom-
bay, said:
Whatever you may have been told to the contrary, I
assure you that the teaching of Christianity among one
hundred and sixty millions of civilized, industrious Hin-
dus and Mohammedans in India is effecting changes,
moral, social, and political, which for extent and
rapidity of effect are far more extraordinary than any-
thing you or your fathers have witnessed in modern
Europe.
Sir Richard Temple, who spent thirty years
in India, and filled the offices of Commissioner
of the Central Provinces, Lieutenant-Governor
of Bengal, Governor of Bombay, and Finance
Minister of India, says in his book entitled " In-
dia in 1880":
Missionaries have often afforded to the government and
to its officers information which could not have been so
well obtained otherwise. They have done much to eluci-
date before their countrymen, and before the world, the
customs, the institutions, and the feelings of the natives.
They have contributed greatly to the culture of the
vernacular language, and many of them, as scholars,
historians, sociologists, or lexicographers, have held a
high place in Oriental literature, and have written books
of lasting fame and utility.
In a meeting held in Calcutta shortly before
200
STATESMEN IN THE WITNESS-BOX
his return to England, Sir Augustus Rivers
Thompson, Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal,
said:
In my judgment, Christian missionaries have done
more real and lasting good to the people of India than
all other agencies combined. They have been the salt of
the country and the true saviors of the empire.
Sir Charles Aitchison, Lieutenant-Governor
of the Punjab, a man of large and varied
official experience in India, says:
From a purely administrative point of view, I should
deplore the drying up of Christian liberality to missions
in this country as a most lamentable check to social and
moral progress, and a grievous injury to the best in-
terests of the people.
In an article contributed to the Nineteenth
Century, Sir William Hunter, the distinguished
Indian administrator, says :
The careless onlooker may have no particular convic-
tions on the subject, and flippant persons may ridicule
religious effort in India as elsewhere. But I think few
Indian administrators have passed through high office,
and had to deal with difficult problems of British gov-
ernment in that assembly, without feeling the value of
the work done by the missionaries.
201
HOLDING THE ROPES
In the first of a series of addresses on Foreign
Missions delivered at Cornhill in March, 1903,
Sir Mackworth Young, late Lieutenant-Gov-
ernor of the Punjab, spoke as follows:
Forty years' experience of the Indian Civil Service has
brought me to the conclusion that power in India has
been entrusted to Great Britain for the propagation of
Christianity. I regard the work done by missionary
agencies in India to exceed in importance all the work
done by the Indian Government since its commence-
ment.
General Sir Charles Warren, Governor of
Natal, whose special mission was the pacification
of Zululand and Bechuanaland, gave this testi-
mony:
For the preservation of peace between the colonists
and the natives, one missionary is worth more than a
whole battalion of soldiers.
In an address delivered in Glasgow, Henry E.
O'Neill, Esq., British Consul at Mozambique,
spoke thus:
I must say that my experience of ten years in Africa
has convinced me that mission work is one of the most
powerful and useful instruments we possess for the
pacification of the country and the suppression of the
slave-trade.
202
STATESMEN IN THE WITNESS-BOX
III. TESTIMONIES OF GREAT STATESMEN OF
HEATHEN LANDS
To these remarkable testimonies of eminent
statesmen in Christian lands may be added those
of the great statesmen of heathen lands, who
have expressed their appreciation of the work
of Christian missionaries in behalf of their
countrymen. Among these is that of Li Hung
Chang, whom General Grant pronounced one
of the four greatest statesmen of the world in
his day. During his visit to the United States
in 1896 Li Hung Chang received a deputation
from the American missionary societies at the
Hotel Waldorf. In response to an address pre-
sented by Dr. Ellinwood, the great viceroy
spoke as follows :
The missionaries have not sought for pecuniary gains
at the hands of our people. They have not been se-
cret emissaries of diplomatic schemes. Their labors have
no political significance, and the last, not the least, if I
might be permitted to add, they have not interfered with
or usurped the rights of the territorial authorities.
. . . A man is composed of soul, intellect, and body;
I highly appreciate that your eminent Boards, in your
arduous and much esteemed work in China, have neg-
lected none of th§ three. I need not say much about the
first, being an unknowable mystery of which our great
203
HOLDING THE ROPES
Confucius had only an active knowledge. As for intel-
lect, you have started numerous educational establish-
ments which have served as the best means to enable our
countrymen to acquire a fair knowledge of the modern
arts and sciences of the West. As for the material part
of our constitution, your societies have started hospitals
and dispensaries to save not only the soul, but the bodies
of our countrymen. I have also to add that in the time
of famine in some of the provinces you have done your
best to the greatest number of sufferers to keep their
bodies and souls together.
Marquis Ito, Japan's great statesman, upon
whom Yale University conferred a degree dur-
ing his recent visit to America, gratefully ac-
knowledges his country's indebtedness to mis-
sions. He says:
Japan's progress and development are largely due to
the influence of missionaries exerted in right directions
when Japan was first studying the outer world.
Chulalongkorn, King of Siam, who is re-
garded as the most humane and progressive
monarch in the East, is a firm friend and stanch
supporter of missions in his kingdom. He says :
American missionaries have done more to advance the
welfare of my country and people than any other foreign
influence.
Added to this word from the king is this testi-
204
STATESMEN IN THE WITNESS-BOX
mony from Prince Damrong, Minister of the
Interior, addressed to the Hon. Hamilton King,
United States Minister to Siam:
I want to say to you that we have great respect for
your American missionaries in our country, and appre-
ciate very highly the work they are doing for our people.
I want this to be understood by every one; and if you
are in a position to let it be known to your countrymen,
I wish you would say this for me. I have just now more
especially in mind my visit to Chieng-mai. The work of
your people is excellent. I can not say too much in praise
of the medical missionaries there especially.
205
XIII
Great Ubougbts from ZlDaster /llMsstonarf es
The stirring words of great missionaries have
been called " the battle-cries of the Church."
Together with the notable utterances of promi-
nent workers in the home land, they have done
much to advance the cause of missions. They
can be used in missionary meetings with very
good effect, especially if the selections are from
various sources and all along one line of
thought. The following suggestions may be
helpful :
1. Ask the members of the society to come
prepared to give missionary quotations in re-
sponse to their names at roll-call.
2. Write out a score or more of quotations
on slips of paper and number them. Distribute
these at the meeting, and have them read at
appropriate times, calling for them by number.
3. Select a dozen of the most famous quota-
tions and read them one at a time, calling on
those present to give the author of each. This
206
MASTER MISSIONARIES
makes a test exercise that is both interesting
and effective.
4. Select several strong, terse quotations,
and use them as wall-mottoes to adorn the room
in which the meetings are held. They can
either be painted on muslin or cut from card-
board and tacked into place.
5. Use one of the most striking quotations
as a motto for the year's work.
6. For missionary teas or other social mis-
sionary gatherings, souvenirs appropriate to
the topic for the da}' can be made, and the
quotations used in connection with them. For
example, at a meeting on Siam tiny flags of red
ribbon may be made, and a white elephant cut
in outline from white paper pasted on one side,
and a slip of paper bearing a missionary quota-
tion on the other. Chinese flags (a black
dragon on a yellow ground) and Japanese flags
(a red circle on a white ground) can be easily
made in a similar manner. For a meeting on
Africa, small outline-maps may be cut from
stiff black paper, and a quotation put on the
back of each. For a Christmas meeting, tiny
stars or bells cut from cardboard are pretty and
appropriate.
207
HOLDING THE ROPES
THE MISSIONARY OBLIGATION
The conversion of the world is the will of Christ, and
therefore it is our bounden duty and service. — Bishop
Selwyn.
" Here am I ; send me — to the first man I meet or to
the remotest heathen " — this is the appropriate response
of every Christian to the call of God. — Augustus C.
Thompson.
That land is henceforth my country which most needs
the Gospel. — Count Zinzendorf.
While vast continents are shrouded in almost utter
darkness, and hundreds of millions suffer the horrors of
heathenism or of Islam, the burden of proof lies upon
you to show that the circumstances in which God has
placed you were meant by Him to keep you out of the
foreign field. — Ion Keith-Falcoxer.
I can not, I dare not, go up to judgment till I have
done the utmost God enables me to do to diffuse His
glory through the world. — Asahel Grant.
Tho you and I are very little beings, we must not rest
satisfied till we have made our influence extend to the
remotest corner of this ruined world. — Samuel J. Mills.
I tell you, fellow Christians, your love has a broken
wing if it can not fly across the ocean. — Maltbie Bab-
cock.
It is manly to love one's country. It is Godlike to
love the world. — J. W. Conklin.
Our Savior has given a commandment to preach the
Gospel even to the ends of the earth. He will provide
for the fulfilment of His own purpose. Let us only
obey! — Allen Gardiner.
It was not so much a call to India that I received as
an acceptance for India. — Bishop Thoburn.
208
MASTER MISSIONARIES
There was a time when I had no care or concern for
the heathen; that was when I had none for my own
soul. When by the grace of God I was led to care for
my own soul, I began to care for them. In my closet
I said : " O Lord, silver and gold have I none. What I
have I give: I offer Thee myself! Wilt Thou accept the
gift?" — Alexander Duff.
Every young man and woman should be a junior part-
ner with the Lord Jesus for the salvation of the
world. — Jacob Chamberlain.
We are the children of the converts of foreign mis-
sionaries, and fairness means that I must do to others
as men once did for me. — Maltbie Babcock.
Some can go, most can give, all can pray. — Anon.
" Look to your marching orders. How do they
read?1' — The Duke of Wellington to a young cvrate
who spoke disparagingly of foreign missions.
THE CHURCH AND WORLD-WIDE MISSIONS
The Church which ceases to be evangelistic will soon
cease to be evangelical. — Alexander Duff.
The Church of Christ will be incomplete as long as
the representatives of any people, nation, or tongue are
outside its pale. — Alfred Oates.
Every man, woman, and child in heathen darkness is
a challenge to the Church. — S. Earl Taylor.
It is my deep conviction, and I say it again, that if
the Church of Christ were what she ought to be, twenty
years would not pass away until the story of the Cross
would be uttered in the ears of every living man. —
Simeon H. Calhoun.
Every church should support two pastors — one for the
thousands at home, the other for the millions abroad. —
Jacob Chameerlain.
209
HOLDING THE ROPES
We are playing at missions. — Alexander Duff.
The Church has been divided into three classes — mis-
sion, omission, and anti-mission. — Anon.
The greatest hindrances to the evangelization of the
world are those within the Church. — John R. Mott.
In foreign missions the Church of Christ has found
its touchstone, its supreme test, its ultimate vindication. —
Caroline Atwater Mason.
The Church has no other purpose in existence, no
other end to serve save the great end of giving the
Gospel to the world. — Bishop Hendrix.
MONEY AND THE KINGDOM
We can not serve God and mammon, but we can serve
God with mammon. — Robert E. Speer.
At the present time one thing alone hinders the prog-
ress of Christ's Kingdom, and that one thing is the lack
of money. — W. D. Sexton.
There is money enough in the hands of church mem-
bers to sow every acre of the earth with the seed of
truth. — Josiah Strong.
There is needed one more revival among Christians, a
revival of Christian giving. When that revival comes,
the Kingdom of God will come in a day. — Horace Bush-
nell.
Christians should regard money as a trust. They are
stewards of Jesus Christ for everything they have, and
they ought to see His image and superscription on every
dollar they possess. — Theodore L. Cuyler.
The man who prays " Thy Kingdom come," and does
not give some just proportion of his income to promote
the Kingdom, is a conscious or unconscious hypocrite. —
Francis E. Clark.
210
MASTER MISSIONARIES
Nine-tenths with God are worth far more than ten-
tenths without God. — President J. W. Bashford.
A deified appetite outranks a crucified Christ. — F. T.
Bayley.
I am tired of hearing people talk about raising money;
it is time for us to give it. — John Willis Baer.
The best way to raise missionary money: Put your
hand in your pocket, get a good grip on it, then raise
it! — Miss Wishard.
More consecrated money — money which has passed
through the mint of prayer and faith and self-denial
for the Lord's sake — is the greatest demand of our
time. — A. J. Gordon.
Give until you feel it, and then give until you don't
feel it. — Mary Lyon.
prayer and missions
Let us advance upon our knees. — Joseph Hardy
Nee si ma.
Whoever prays most, helps most. — William Goodell.
Prayer and missions as as inseparable as faith and
works. — John R. Mott.
Every step in the progress of missions is directly
traceable to prayer. It has been the preparation for
every new triumph and the secret of all success. —
Arthur T. Pierson.
He prays not at all in whose prayers there is no men-
tion of the Kingdom of God. — Jewish Proverb.
He who faithfully prays at home does as much for
foreign missions as the man on the field, for the nearest
way to the heart of a Hindu or Chinaman is by way
of the throne of God. — Eugene Stock.
He who embraces in his prayer the widest circle of his
211
HOLDING THE ROPES
fellow creatures is most in sympathy with the mind of
God. — Dean Gouldburn.
Thank God for bairns' prayers. I like best the
prayers of children. — James Chalmers.
Unprayed for I feel like a diver at the bottom of a
river with no air to breathe, or like a fireman on a
blazing building with an empty hose. — James Gil-
mour.
Every element in the missionary problem depends for
its solution upon prayer. — Robert E. Speer.
Prayer and pains through faith in Jesus Christ will
do anything. — John Eliot.
medical missions
I am a missionary, heart and soul. God had an only
Son, and He was a missionary and a physician. A poor
imitation of Him I am, or wish to be. In this service
I hope to live, and in it I wish to die. — David Living-
stone.
The medical missionary is a missionary and a half.
— Robert Moffat.
Medical missionary work is the golden key that is
to-day unlocking many of the most strongly barred
fortresses of Satan. — Irene H. Barnes.
There is certainly no such field for evangelistic work
as the wards of a hospital in a land like China. — John
Kenneth Mackenzie.
The history of medical missions is the justification of
medical missions. — Encyclopedia of Missions.
All genuine missionary work must in the highest sense
be a healing work. — Alexander Mackay.
The work of medical missions must not be advocated
simply as a life-saving agency. Without the Bible in
one hand, the medicine-case is not wanted in the other.
212
MASTER MISSIONARIES
The objective point of the work must be soul-winning. —
Dr. Anna W. Fearn, China.
HINDRANCES TO MISSIONS
The Gospel has no greater enemy on the West Coast
of Africa than rum. — Dr. Polhemus.
Satan has no better agent to destroy the African than
foreign liquor. — Henry Richards.
In the Kongo Free State the battle will be between
the bottle and the Bible.— F. P. Noble.
Africa, robbed of her children, rifled of her treasures,
lies prostrate before the rapine and greed of the Chris-
tian nations of the world. A slave-pen and battle-field
for ages, Christian nations — instead of binding up her
wounds, like the good Samaritan; instead of passing
by and leaving her alone, like Levite and priest — have
come to her with ten thousand ship-loads of rum, hell's
masterpiece of damnation. — Charles Satchell Morris.
The slave-trade has been to Africa a great evil, but
the evils of the rum-trade are far worse. I would rather
my countrymen were in slavery and kept away from
drink, than that drink should be let loose upon them. —
Rev. James Johnson, a native African pastor.
The accursed drink traffic has been one of the greatest
hindrances to the spread of civilization and Christianity
in heathen lands. — H. Grattan Guinness.
Christian nations have held out to the heathen races
the Bible in one hand and the bottle in the other, and
the bottle has sent ten to perdition where the Bible has
brought one to Jesus Christ. — Theodore L. Cuyler.
The men who like Paul have gone to heathen lands
with the message, "We seek not yours, but you," have
been hindered by those who, coming after, have reversed
the message. Ruin and other corrupting agencies come
213
HOLDING THE ROPES
in with our boasted civilization, and the feeble races
wither before the hot breath of the white man's vices. —
Benjamin Harrison, at the Ecumenical Conference.
Our consecration of life, property, strength, to the
conversion of China's millions is largely neutralized by
the ill-omened opium traffic. — T. G. Selby.
From ancient times to the present day there has never
been such a stream of evil and misery as has come down
upon China in her receiving the curse of opium. — Sien
Lien-Li, a Chinese government official.
Oh, the evils of opium ! The slave-trade was bad ; the
drink is bad; the licensing of vice is bad; but the opium
traffic is the sum of all villanies. — J. Hudson Taylor.
The devil hovers over India with his hands full of
poppy seeds. — Anon.
failure and success
The word " discouragement " is not found in the dic-
tionary of the Kingdom of Heaven. Never let yourself
use the word if you have God's work to do. — Melinda
Rankin.
It is a mark of Christianity to attempt the impossible,
and through God's blessing gloriously achieve the same.
— Judson Smith.
We can do it if we will. — Samuel J. Mills.
A true missionary never knows defeat. — A. A. Fulton.
I refuse to be disappointed; I will only praise. —
James Hannington.
While God gives me strength, failure shall not daunt
me. — Allen Gardiner.
Let me fail in trying to do something rather than to
sit still and do nothing. — Cyrus Hamlin.
Our remedies frequently fail; but Christ as the remedy
for sin never fails. — John Kenneth Mackenzie.
214
MASTER MISSIONARIES
Do what you can in the strength of God and leave the
results in His hands. — Johank Ludwig Krapf.
There are two little words in our language which I
always admired — " try " and " trust." Until you try you
know not what you can or can not effect; and if you
make your trials in the exercise of trust in God, moun-
tains of imaginary difficulties will vanish as you ap-
proach them, and facilities which you never anticipated
will be afforded. — John Williams.
China has no sorrow that Christ's message can not
cure; India has no problem it can not solve; Japan no
question it can not answer; Africa no darkness it can
not dispel. — Judson Smith.
Expect great things from God; attempt great things
for God. — William Carey.
Get close to the hearts you would win for Christ. Let
your heart be entwined with their hearts; let no barrier
come between you and the souls you would reach. —
George L. Pilkington.
Kindness is the key to the human heart, whether it be
that of savage or civilized man. — John Williams.
And this also I learned, that the power of gentleness
is irresistible. — Henry Martyn.
Results must be left in the hands of God. — Bishop
Selwyn.
Even if I never see a native converted, God may
design, by my patience and continuance in the work, to
encourage future missionaries. — Henry Martyn.
Prayer and pains, through faith in Jesus Christ, will
do anything. — John Eliot.
Nothing earthly will make me give up my work in
despair. I encourage myself in the Lord my God and
go forward. — David Livingstone.
215
HOLDING THE ROPES
INDIRECT BENEFITS OF MISSIONS
Missionaries to a barbarous people deserve a vote of
thanks from the commercial world. — Robert Moffat.
Few are aware how much we owe the missionaries.
We must look to them not a little for aid in our efforts
to advance further science. — Louis Agassiz.
Foreign missions are not only foreign missions, they
are home missions, purifying the home life with that
larger conception of charity, redeeming the home life
with that worthier conception of Christ, which they
teach and give. — David H. Greer.
As the commercial and even the political life of
modern nations depends upon the extent and persistency
of their foreign trade, so does the life and prosperity of
the home Church depend upon the extent and energy
with which she prosecutes her foreign missionary enter-
prise.— George F. Pentecost.
MISSIONARY LANDS AND LABORS
When China is moved it will change the face of the
globe. — Napoleon at St. Helena.
It is a great step toward the Christianization of our
planet if Christianity gain an entrance into China. —
Neander.
Rock, rock, when wilt thou open to my Savior? —
Francis Xavier, at Sancian, while seeking an entrance
to China.
The great bars are gone and China is open; not the
rim of China, but China. This great empire is sure to
be one of the dominant world-powers in the future. In
working for China we are working for all nations and
for coming ages. — Chauncey Goodrich.
216
MASTER MISSIONARIES
Win China to Christ, and the most powerful strong-
hold of Satan upon earth will have fallen. — Mr. Wong.
China is under the hammer, and the devil is an active
bidder. — A Missionary to China.
China may seem walled around against the admission
of the Word of God; but we have as good ground to
believe that all its bulwarks shall fall before it as Joshua
had respecting the walls of Jericho. — Robert Morrison.
All I pray for is that I may patiently await God's
good pleasure, and, whether I live or die, it may be for
His glory. I trust poor Fuegia and South America will
not be abandoned. — Last journal of Allen Gardiner.
THE IMPORTANCE OF HOME MISSIONS
Our plea is not, " America for America's sake," but
" America for the world's sake." If this generation is
faithful to its trust, America is to become God's right
arm in his battle with the world's ignorance and oppres-
sion and sin. — Josiaii Strong.
It is ours either to be the grave in which the hopes of
the world shall be entombed, or the pillar of cloud which
shall pilot the race onward to millennial glory. — Alex-
ander Hamilton.
Five hundred years of time in the process of the
world's salvation may depend on the next twenty years
of United States history. — Austin Phelps.
America Christianized means the world Christianized.
— Professor Hoppin, of Yale.
America is another name for opportunity. Our whole
history appears like a last effort of Divine providence
in behalf of the human race. — R. W. Emerson.
Love of God and love of country are the two noblest
passions in a human heart. And these two unite in home
missions. A man without a country is an exile in the
217
HOLDING TIJE ROPES
world, and a man without God is an orphan in eternity.
— Henry Van Dyke.
If America fail, the world will fail. — Professor Park,
of Andover.
As America goes, so goes the world in all that is vital
to its moral welfare. — Austin Phelps.
heroic devotion to the service of CHRIST
I declare, now that I am dying, I would not have spent
my life otherwise for the whole world. — David Brainerd.
If I had a thousand lives to live, Africa should have
them all. — Charles Frederick Mackenzie.
Tho a thousand fall, let not Africa be given up. —
Melville Cox, as he lay dying urith African fever.
Had I ten thousand lives, I would willingly offer them
up for the sake of one poor negro. — William A. B.
Johnson.
Tell the king, Mwanga, that I die for the Baganda,
and purchase the road to Uganda with my life. — Last
words of James Hannington.
Tell the committee that in East Africa there is the
lonely grave of one member of the mission connected
with your society. This is an indication that you have
begun the conflict in this part of the world; and since
the conquests of the Church are won over the graves
of many of its members, you may be all the more assured
that the time has come when you are called to work for
the conversion of Africa. Think not of the victims who,
in this glorious warfare, may suffer or fall; only press
forward until East and West Africa are united in Christ.
— Johann Ludwig Krapf, after the death of his wife
and infant daughter.
If I thought anything would prevent my dying for
China, the thought would crush me. — Samuel Dyer.
218
MASTER MISSIONARIES
I have been in India twenty years, and if I had twenty
lives to live I would give i^iem all to that sin-cursed land.
— Mrs. J. C. Archibald.
Recall the twenty-one years, give me back all its ex-
perience, give me its shipwrecks, give me its standings
in the face of death, give it me surrounded with savages
with spears and clubs, give it me back again, with spears
flying about me, with the club knocking me to the
ground, give it me back, and I will still be your mis-
sionary ! — James Chalmers.
My heart burns for the deliverance of Africa. — Alex-
ander Mackay.
I see no business in life but the work of Christ, neither
do I desire any employment in all eternity but His
service. — Hexry Martyx.
Even if no one should be benefited and no fruits fol-
low my efforts, yet I will go, for I must obey my Savior's
call. — Leoxard Dober, the first Moravian Missionary.
I want the wings of an angel and the voice of a trum-
pet, that I may preach the Gospel in the East and in
the West, in the North and in the South. — Thomas
Coke.
My Jesus, my King, my Life, my All, I again dedicate
my whole self to Thee. — David Livixgstoxe, in his jour-
nal on his last birthday, save one.
Death alone will put a stop to my efforts. — David
Livixgstoxe.
I have one passion; it is He, He alone. — Couxt Zix-
zexdorf.
Now let me burn out for God. — Hexry Martyx.
If I had a thousand souls and they were worth any-
thing, I would give them all to God. — David Braixerd.
Here am I, Lord, send me; send me to the ends of the
earth; send me to the rough, the savage pagans of the
219
HOLDING THE ROPES
wilderness; send me from all that is called comfort in
the earth; send me even to death itself if it be but in
Thy service and to promote Thy kingdom. — David
Brainerd.
missionaries' mottoes and covenants
Fidelity, Perspicuity, and Simplicity. — Morrison's
Motto.
Be thou mine, dear Savior, and I will be Thine. — Zin-
zendorf's Covenant, entered upon at the age of four
years.
Turning care into prayer. — The favorite expression of
John Hunt, of Fiji.
I'll tell the Master. — Miss Agnew's words in time of
perplexity or trial.
Having set my hand to the plow, my resolution was
peremptorily taken, the Lord helping me, never to look
back any more, and never to make a half-hearted work
of it. Having chosen missionary labor in India, I gave
myself wholly up to it in the destination of my own
mind. I united or wedded myself to it in a covenant,
the ties of which should be severed only by death. —
Duff's Covenant.
Christ is conquering; Christ is reigning; Christ is tri-
umphing.-— Charlemagne's Motto.
I will place no value on anything I have or may pos-
sess, except in relation to the Kingdom of Christ. If
anything I have will advance the interests of that King-
dom, it shall be given up or kept, as by keeping or giving
it I shall most promote the glory of Him to whom I owe
all my hopes, both of time and eternity. May grace be
given me to adhere to this! — Livingstone's resolution
made in young manhood.
220
MASTER MISSIONARIES
MISCELLANEOUS
Facts are the fingers of God. To know the facts of
modern missions is the necessary condition of intelligent
interest. — Arthur T. Pierson.
Information is the true foundation of missionary in-
terest. Special appeals will arouse enthusiasm for a
time, but it will not last. — Charles Cuthbert Hall.
The greatest foes of missions are prejudice and in-
difference, and ignorance is the mother of them both.
— A non.
Those that do most for the heathen abroad are those
that do most for the heathen at home. — John G. Paton.
If you want to serve your race, go where no one else
will go and do what no one else will do. — Mary Lyon.
Whatever Providence gives you to do, do it with all
you heart. — Fidelia Fiske.
The lesson of the missionary is the enchanter's wand.
— Charles Darwin.
He who loves not lives not; he who lives by the Life
can not die. — Raymond Lull.
A true disciple inquires not whether a fact is agreeable
to his own reason, but whether it is in the Book. —
Adoniram Judson.
Emotion is no substitute for action. You love Africa?
"God so loved that He gave" — what? Superfluities?
Leavings? That which cost Him nothing? — George L.
PlLKINGTON.
Men who live near to God, and are willing to suffer
anything for Christ's sake without being proud of it,
these are the men we want. — Adoniram Judson.
It is how we live more than where we live. — Fidelia
Fiske.
I shall not live to see it, but I may hear of it in heaven,
221
HOLDING THE ROPES
that New Zealand, with all its cannibalism and idolatry,
will yet set an example of Christianity to some of the
nations now before her in civilization. — Samuel Marsden.
Everywhere God's strong hand was busy during the
nineteenth century, preparing a highway among the
nations of the world for his spiritual and eternal king-
dom on the earth. — James S. Dennis.
Gospel and commerce — but it must be Gospel first.
Wherever there has been the slightest spark of civiliza-
tion in the Southern Seas it has been because the Gospel
has been preached there. Civilization! The rampart
can only be stormed by those who carry the Cross. —
James Chalmers.
No missionary is better employed than the competent
translator. — Canon Edmunds.
Were I to go to heaven to-morrow I should do what
I do to-day. — John Eliot.
To learn facts takes pains and patience, but nothing
save holiness commands such homage as a thorough
mastery of facts. It is the rarest and costliest product
in the mental market. — Arthur T. Pierson.
The spirit of missions is the spirit of the Master — the
very essence of true religion. — David Livingstone.
Men in the most difficult and dangerous fields should
be the best armed and the best equipped. — James Gil-
mour.
wise answers of master missionaries
" Mr. Morrison," asked the owner of the ship on which
the great " Apostle to China " was about to sail for
Canton, " do you really expect to make an impression
on the idolatry of the Chinese Empire?"
" No, sir ! " answered Morrison with dignified stern-
ness. " No, sir ; but I expect God will."
222
MASTER MISSIONARIES
" My imperial master, the Czar," said a Russian
official to Dr. Shauffler on one occasion, " will never allow
Protestantism to set foot in Turkey."
" My imperial Master, Christ," replied the great mis-
sionary calmly, " will never ask the Czar of Russia
where He may set His foot or plant His kingdom."
" Do you not think, Dr. Carey," asked a Governor-Gen-
eral of one of the provinces of India, " that it would be
wrong to force the Hindus to be Christians?"
" My lord," was the reply, " the thing is impossible ;
we may indeed force men to be hypocrites, but no power
on earth can force them to become Christians."
"What can I do for Christ?" Bishop Selwyn was once
asked.
" Go where He is not and take Him with you," was
the wise reply.
" Goodell, we will have to leave," said Hamlin to his
fellow-missionary in 1851, when the Sultan of Turkey
ordered the expulsion of the missionaries; "the Sultan
has issued an edict and the British ambassador and the
American consul both say it is no use to resist."
" Hamlin," replied Goodell, " the Sultan of the uni-
verse can change all this."
Next day, suddenly and unexpectedly, the Sultan died,
and the edict was heard of no more.
"What are the prospects in Burma?" Adoniram Jud-
son was asked.
" The prospects are as bright as the promises of God,"
was his reply.
223
HOLDING THE ROPES
" What are the discouragements in your work ? " Dr.
John Scudder was asked while at home on furlough.
" I do not know the word," he replied ; " I long ago
erased it from my vocabulary."
" Was it faith or love that influenced you most in
going to Burma? " Judson was once asked.
" There was in me at that time little of either," the
great missionary replied ; " but in thinking of what did
influence me, I remember a time out in the woods be-
hind Andover when I was almost disheartened. Every-
thing looked dark. No one had gone out from this
country. The way was not open. The field was far
distant, and in an unhealthy climate. I knew not what
to do. All at once Christ's ' last command ' seemed to
come to my heart directly from heaven. I could doubt
no longer, but determined on the spot to obey it at all
hazards for the sake of 'pleasing the Lord Jesus Christ.
If the Lord wants you for missionaries, He will send
that word home to your hearts. If He does so, you
neglect it at your peril."
" Have you ever repented being a missionary?" Henry
Martyn said to Vanderkemp in his old age.
" I would not exchange my work for a kingdom," was
the heroic reply.
224
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