Samuel Austin Moffett - Letters and Papers, 1905-1906 - 1906g

THE CHINESE RECORDER

AND MISSIONARY JOURNAL

Published Monthly by the American Presbyterian Mission Press, 18 Peking Road, Shanghai,
China

Subscription $3.50 (Gold $1.75) per annum, postpaid.

Vol. XXXVII.

May, 1906

No. 5.

Policy and Methods for the Evangelization
of Korea.

By Rev. Samuel A. Moffett, D.D., Pyeng-Yang

(The following paper has proved so useful and inspiring to several of the younger missionaries in China to whom the
manuscript had been lent, that we have obtained the consent of the author to its publication for the benefit of a much larger number.
- Ed. Recorder).

T aking precedence of and more important than any mere policy or methods are the basal

principles or convictions which underlie the work of evangelization and from which it obtains its
vitality. To Dr. Herrick Johnson I shall ever be grateful for the expression “A vivid and abiding
sense of the Divine reality of the Gospel message,” an expression which has gripped me as
expressing the basal principle upon which must rest any successful policy or method for
evangelization. The reality of sin, of its exceeding sinfulness and the awfulness of its
punishment, the wrath of God; the reality of repentance and the absolute remission of sin to the
truly penitent; the reality of the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, of faith in Christ as the one
and only way of salvation, - the supernatural, divine reality of this message vividly and abidingly
grasped as a profound conviction that this Gospel is the power of God unto salvation and that
God is able and willing to save any and all who come unto Him, is pre-eminently the sine qua
non for the missionary in order to affect profoundly any people for their salvation - for
evangelization.

I would place therefore -

First. - The cultivation and conservation of this conviction, for upon this Satan makes his
chief attack, knowing full well that in so far as he weakens this conviction, in so far he has
blunted the most formidable instrument in the hands of the missionary in his warfare against
Satan’s dominion over the world and in his evangelization of the world for his Lord and Master
Jesus Christ. I am deeply convinced that our greatest need in the evangelization of Korea is
unquestioning reliance upon the Gospel itself, the Word of God in its principal teachings of sin
and salvation; a belief that when God ordained that by the foolishness of preaching men were to
be saved, He ordained that which in His infinite wisdom He knew to be the best agency for the
redemption of man; a belief that the Spirit of God does and will honor the use of the Word of
God alone and that in so far as we trust in secondary agencies for reclaiming the heathen, in so far
we have given up faith in the primary agency and prevent the Spirit of God from using His
instrument which God ordained should be the means for the salvation of the world. What will
militate most against the evangelization of Korea will be a lack of faith in the power of the

May/1906 - p.2 S.A.M.

Gospel itself, a belief (not acknowledged nor consciously held but nevertheless real) that there
must be something used as a bait to bring people under the power of the Gospel, that secondary
agencies which appeal to the natural man must be used as an attraction which will dispose
favorably to a hearing of the Gospel. The danger is that there be a relegating of the Gospel (not
avowedly or intentionally, but practically) to the secondary place, - an elimination to a large
extent of the very means and the only means which the Spirit of God has given us to believe that
He will use to bring souls into reconciliation with God. This will be avoided in proportion as we
are possessed by the conviction and a vivid and abiding sense of the Divine reality of the Gospel
message.

Second. - I would place next in order for our thought (not distinguishing as to order of
importance) - the determination to make it the one chief interest, the all absorbing task of one’s
life to preach this Gospel and bring it into contact with the people in the belief that the Gospel
message is the one thing of importance to every man, the one thing which he needs. Nothing
should come in to prevent a close, intimate, loving contact with the people, a sympathetic
entrance into their inner life, their ways of thinking, their weaknesses, prejudices, preferences,
their trials and sorrows and spiritual struggles, - a real love and sympathy for them, not an
abstract interest in them as so many heathen to be converted, baptized and reported upon as so
much in the way of mission assets, but an unfeigned, living, personal touch and love and
sympathy for individuals with a heart yearning for a transformation of their lives through a
personal faith in Christ. Dominated by a sense of the supreme importance of our message to this
people as the one and only reason for our being here, as the one and only thing in which we are
interested or which we have which is of any real use to them, we shall in daily contact inevitably
give the impression that we ourselves believe there is nought of really great import to them but
the truths of sin and salvation and that practically we have no other interest and nought else of
real interest, our message being the supreme concern of man, both for this life and that which is
to come. This conviction deeply inwrought into our very being and dominating us we will talk,
walk, eat, sleep and think the Gospel all day and every day in natural, informal contact with any
one and every one until the conviction is forced upon others that we believe this to be the
supreme interest of life and that our all-absorbing passion is the work of soul-savmg, of soul-
developing.

Third. - The conviction that the spiritual advantages of Christianity are pre-eminently the
advantages, the value of the Gospel message and therefore the placing of the spiritual advantages
in the forefront and the basing of all appeals upon these. There are many secondary advantages,
the results of Christianity, and the temporal blessings which accrue to the Christian are often very
great indeed and stand out with great prominence. These are the advantages which appeal to and
receive the commendation of the statesman, the reformer, the politician, the merchant, the man of
the world; but in the proclamation of the Gospel, when the material, financial, intellectual or
political advantages of the spread of Christianity are placed in the forefront, then the appeal is to
the natural man, to the lower motives, and this appeal to any other motives than the highest based
upon man’s spiritual needs is a discarding of the most powerful agency placed in our hands, is a
dropping of the use of the supernatural, and indicates a lack of faith in the spiritual and in the
power of the Spirit of God to affect by spiritual truth in its appeal to man’s spiritual needs his
acceptance of the Gospel. The Spirit of God does not bless lack of faith but does honor and bless
an unquestioning faith and reliance upon spiritual means to affect spiritual ends. With an implicit
faith in the power of the appeal to man’s spiritual needs - the keeping in the background of all
the secondary advantages of political influence, of worldly advancement, of educational
opportunities, anything which appeals most strongly to man’s selfish nature, and the placing in
the forefront always and everywhere the joy of reconciliation and communion with God, the
relief from sin and its punishment, the assurance of the love of God and of the pardon of sin, the
hope of eternal life, the comfort and peace of the believer from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit,

May/1906 - p.3 S.A.M.

the sympathy and help of Christ in all the trials and sorrows and struggles of life, the eventual
triumph of justice and righteousness and the establishment of God’s kingdom in righteousness
and glory - these great uplifting, inspiring truths which are the preeminent and real and eternal
blessings of Christianity - the keeping of these in the forefront and appealing to men to believe in
Christ because of the inherent eternal need of man as a spiritual being for these blessings of
fellowship with God through Jesus Christ - this is to make use of that which the Spirit of God
delights to honor and which becomes the power of God unto salvation giving as the result in the
hearts and minds of men a faith which rests upon no mere temporary or temporal advantage but
rests solidly upon the eternal verities of spiritual truth. With a conviction born of an experience
of the inestimable worth of these spiritual blessings we can hold forth to these people the spiritual
joys and blessings of Christianity as far outweighing in importance and value any material
prosperity, and can bring them to the same appreciation of the value of spiritual blessings, so that
with Paul they will count all but loss in order to win Christ and will count as their greatest, most
priceless treasure their fellowship with Christ, to retain which they will willingly endure
persecution, the loss of all worldly gain or possessions, yea even life itself, and will count it all
joy to suffer and to endure persecution for His sake. According to one’s convictions as to the
relative value of the advantages to be derived from Christianity, will be the policy he will pursue
in presenting Christianity to the people, and for the real evangelization of Korea I do not think we
can exaggerate the importance of this as one of the underlying, basal principles - a conviction
that the spiritual advantages are pre-eminently the advantages to be placed in the forefront and
upon which the appeals to men are to be based. In order to this, certain distinctions must be
clearly made and kept constantly in mind. Reformation is not redemption. Salvation from sin,
not mere moral reformation, is the essence of the Gospel message. Civilization is not
Christianity. Western ideas, customs and inventions are not an essential part of Christianity. In
fact many Oriental ideas and customs conform more nearly to the scriptural ideas than do some of
the peculiar notions and customs of the Western world and the introduction of much that is
considered a part of Western civilization is a hindrance rather than a help to spiritual life. Our
commission is to introduce spiritual Christianity, not Western civilization. Education is not
regeneration. We are not called upon in the evangelization of Korea to provide a secular
education for the heathen, but are commissioned to preach the Gospel to the heathen and to
establish the Church of Jesus Christ. We might educate the heathen for centuries and yet fail to
establish the church or evangelize the nation, but we cannot establish the church without having
as a natural and necessary outgrowth of the church a Christian education for its own people a
powerful factor of the church in the evangelization of the nation. I quote Mr. Speer as follows:
“Let us not confuse evangelization with the accessory and necessary results of evangelization
which flow from it.” Evangelization “plants among communities of men forces that create new
social combinations. Missions are powerful to transform the face of society, because they ignore
the face of society and deal with it at the heart.”

Fourth. - A strong faith, a victorious, enthusiastic faith in God and His message. A faith
in the power of the Gospel itself to carry conviction to the heart of any man and to do for the
heathen all that it has done and now does for us. We need to believe and act upon the belief that
it can transform character, lead to true repentance and hatred of sin, give strength to resist
temptation and overcome sin, uphold in a consistent Christian life, and comfort and sustain in the
midst of persecution, trial, sorrow and loss. In the face of prominent failures, in spite of keen
disappointment in given cases, - one needs to grasp with a firm faith the fact that the Spirit of
God can and does show His own great power in the lives of others and that through the exercise
of faith these people can and do reach the same heights of spiritual attainment and enter into the
same appreciation of spiritual truth which we do. Alas, too many become like those of whom a
friend in another mission wrote me “some whom long years of waiting have rather - not
discouraged but disciplined to expect little.” Such a state of mind will not accomplish the

May/1906 - p.4 S.A.M.

evangelization of Korea. We need a faith which expects great things, large results, and knows
that God will grant them. Faith is the evidence of things not seen, and the Spirit-filled vision can,
with the eye of a buoyant, enthusiastic faith, see great results even though not yet accomplished,
and can gain the victory over these feelings of depression and discouragement, and victoriously
resist submission to the state of mind which expects but little. The heart is taken out of one’s
work, - it becomes mere routine and drudgery, if faith has been undermined so that the note of
victory is lost. I believe in enthusiasm - in enthusiastic faith. Enthusiasm may be more natural
to some natures than to others, but it is a tremendous element in one’s influence and has a power
to communicate faith and zeal. How a real faith - a real grasp of the Gospel message and a real
appreciation of the work of evangelization - can fail of enthusiasm, is a mystery. There is often
far more of unbelief in our minds than we are aware of, and this unconscious and unrecognized
unbelief will often explain the failure to receive a blessing and to accomplish results. “He could
not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.” God delights to honor faith. He
cannot work mightily in the presence of unbelief. Our own lack of faith shuts out the power of
God.

Fifth. - The missionary’s own spiritual life is one of the most important basal
considerations or factors in evangelization. The missionary himself is the great factor in
evangelization. His character, his attitude towards truth and life, determine very largely the place
in evangelization which the church and those under his influence take and the influence they
exert. We need to be men who will not compromise with sin, men who will set up the scriptural
standard which God has set up and will not deviate one whit from that standard in their
requirement. Whatever the peculiar conditions in heathendom we have no authority for letting
down the Divine standard on moral questions. In dealing with ourselves we should “never
couple faith in the atonement of Christ with a feeling of security in the violation of a single
commandment” (Chalmers) and however lenient and loving we may be in dealing with others
who have fallen into sin and come short of God’s law, in their discipline the failure to set up the
one standard and to

brand as sin anything short of that standard is to undermine the whole foundation of Christian
morality and Christian character, and to build a church on no spiritual foundation, weak and
powerless as a moral or spiritual force. Better far a Gideon’s band of men thoroughly determined
to make no compromise with sin and to strive for the highest and holiest attainments, than a
whole host of nominal Christians satisfied to come short, taught that they may with impunity
come short of the Divine standard - men who have committed spiritual suicide by a deliberate
giving up of the law of God as the standard of Christian living. Dr. Dale writing of evangelists
says: “What tells most is neither his earnestness nor his perfect certainty of the truth of the
Christian Gospel, but the fact apparent to those who listen that his certainty rests on his own
direct and personal knowledge of the eternal realities of which he is speaking.” If God’s Word is
the standard by which our own life is regulated and if to us the spiritual blessings of
reconciliation with God, our fellowship with Jesus Christ, the assurance of eternal life, are our
chief joy and privilege and we daily experience them in our own lives, then we can go forth to
present in all faith these spiritual privileges as the supreme gift of the Gospel unto a people
whose despair will be exchanged for hope, whose darkness will be dispelled by light, whose fear
and misery and degradation in sin and iniquity will give way to love and joy, peace and
righteousness.

I place the above convictions foremost as the basal principles upon which any methods
of evangelization must be founded, for I believe that the deep underlying convictions of the
missionary have more to do in evangelization than the mere methods adopted. In fact the
missionary’s convictions determine the methods and policy not in their mere external form and
nomenclature but in their inner principles and their daily outworking, their essence, their spirit,
their life - that which goes into and determines and is essentially the real policy and method - the

May/1906 - p.5 S.A.M.

vital force of them which determines their influence and results. I would therefore lay the greater
emphasis upon what has already been written rather than upon the following suggested methods
to be pursued in the evangelization of Korea. I shall not attempt an exhaustive enumeration of
methods and I shall purposely omit some methods which are rightly and successfully used, not
attempting to be either inclusive or exclusive but merely to mention a few methods adopted in
our work in Northern Korea which I believe to be the most important factors in its development.

I think these factors have been

First. - The wide-spread preaching of the Gospel message in its simplicity. There should
be a perfectly frank, candid, natural avowal of one’s mission and a presentation of the Gospel
message to all, to every one with whom one can come in contact as the most natural subject of
conversation and interest, aiming to make the Gospel known over as wide an extent of territory as
can possibly be covered from some strategic point as the centre of operations. If the Gospel can
be made the subject of conversation among the people by the wide-spread dissemination of tracts
and the extended itineration of the missionary, a great point has been gained. The methods
adopted to secure this will differ largely according to the personal preferences and the disposition
of the missionary. Some will adopt the formal preaching to crowds upon the street or in the
market place, or the opening of street chapels, but a method better adapted to the genius of the
Korean people seems to me to be the constant, daily natural and informal conversation with
individuals and small groups of people, in friendly intercourse along the wayside, in the inns, on
the street, in the shops, in the country village, anywhere and everywhere, with the invitation to
visit you in your “sarang” for further conversation on this vital topic. The wide-spread informal
dissemination of the Gospel news will result in bringing to you visitors from a wide territory,
while the “sarang” work will give opportunity for hand to hand, face to face, heart to heart
dealing with individuals in a personal earnest way with undisturbed, clear and pertinent
presentation of the claims of the Gospel, which has been most prolific in genuine conversions. In
Korea what takes place in your “sarang” is soon heralded far and wide and often what is said to
an individual there will reach a far larger audience than what is proclaimed to a crowd on the
street. I would emphasize the value of seeking to reach a wide extent of territory in the initial
stages. In the early stages of work the conversion of ten men from ten different sections will
accomplish more than the conversion of ten men in one section only, for each one of these ten
becomes the subject of conversation over a wide area and the Gospel news is thereby spread
abroad to a far larger audience; instead of one group of Christians being formed, one may soon
have ten places of worship each to be developed into a church.

Second. - The use of the Bible. Emphasis should be placed upon the fact that your
message is not yours but the message of the living God, whose existence and the inspiration of
whose word are facts to be proclaimed, not propositions to be proved. Rest your authority upon
the Scriptures, the authoritative Word of God, which claims man’s obedience. Get men to read it
- read it to them and make it known as God’s message which speaks for itself and needs no
apology. Dr. Chalmers says: “We firmly believe that there is no one position of theology which
can be more strongly and more philosophically sustained than the self-evidencing power of the
Bible.” Keep oneself in the background, one’s own knowledge and wisdom and superior powers
of argumentation and discourse, and keep in the forefront the Word of God, which is the
supernatural agency of the Spirit of God for reaching the hearts of men with God’s authoritative
claim upon them. By far the most efficient means for the evangelization of men is the Bible
itself, and our efforts should be to get it into the hands of men, to arouse in them a desire to read
it, to constantly appeal to it as the source of our authoritative message and as containing God’s
own message to men for their welfare and happiness and as being of inestimable importance to
them. I believe in the use of tracts, but primarily as a means of explaining the Scriptures and to
lead to a study of the Scriptures. To this end I should advocate the use of such tracts as “The
Nevius’ Catechism,” “Discourse on Salvation,” “The Two Friends.” “The Guide to Heaven,” and

May/1906 - p.6 S.A.M.

Mrs. Jones’ most helpful primer for those who cannot yet read the Korean character. These,
however, are powerful, because they are a simple presentation of fundamental Scripture truths
and turn the attention of the people to the Bible itself.

Third. - The Catechumenate. Particularly in the initial stages of work and for the
conservation of the results of one’s preaching and teaching, I look upon the public reception of
catechumens as one of the most effective methods and one of far reaching influence. Just as soon
as a man gives evidence of a knowledge of sin, of a desire to worship God, and of an acceptance
of Christ as his Saviour from sin, he should be encouraged to make a public confession of sin, of
faith in Christ, and of his intention to lead a Christian life. The object of it is three-fold: first, it
assists a man to reach a decision, and the very decision is a means of strengthening him, helping
him to cut loose from his past life and ideas by holding before him a definite step to be taken;
second, it is a formal recognition of his desire to be a Christian and an enrolling of him in a class
for instruction so that he becomes connected with the church in a way that necessitates some
provision for his systematic instruction and oversight; third, it is a means of witness bearing to
others and puts him in the position of at once making known to others the fact that he has
identified himself with Christianity. Reception into the catechumenate is an extension of the
hand of Christian fellowship, encouraging one in his first formed intentions to renounce
heathenism and accept Christ. I look upon it as more particularly valuable as an agency in the
early stages of work furnishing a means of recognition and organization of first converts before
the church with its baptized membership and fuller organization becomes the more prominent
exponent of Christianity. The more systematic and thorough the Biblical instruction of the
catechumenate, the more valuable will this factor prove in evangelization.

Fourth. - The infusion of an enthusiastic evangelistic spirit into the first converts and
continuously into the whole church. The importance of this can scarcely be exaggerated, and it is
worth our while to wisely plan to develop this and to avoid the development of the opposite spirit
of service where mercenary motives develop apparent evangelistic zeal. For this reason the
employment of men and women to preach in the early stages of work, and the use of much money
in initiating work of any kind, is to be deprecated, for thereby people are attracted by an
unintentional appeal to mercenary motives to make profession of Christianity. The inculcation
and development of an overwhelming desire to make known to others the message of salvation
which brings peace and joy with the sense of forgiveness and reconciliation with God, simply
from an experience of the same in one’s own heart, will do more than any other one thing for the
wide-spread evangelization of Korea. When this spirit of voluntary, joyful, enthusiastic
propagation of the truth has become characteristic of the early converts and the church, the4
employment of men proportionately with the development of the church will not be a hindrance
but a help to evangelization. I am satisfied, however, that this spirit can be secured only through
the deep convictions of the missionary, working out in his own life this same enthusiastic
evangelistic spirit, so that by example rather than by exhortation he infuses this spirit into the first
converts who come into closest contact with him, reading and knowing his inner real self most
clearly. Real enthusiasm begets enthusiasm; conviction begets conviction. A man all on fire
with and dominated by this spirit is a tremendous power,, and the cumulative force of a whole
church of such men is more irresistible than an avalanche. A church constantly at work seeking
to convert men - peddlers carrying books and preaching as they travel selling their wares,
merchants and inn-keepers talking to customers and guests, travelers along the roads and on the
ferries telling of Jesus and His salvation, women going to the fields, drawing water at the well,
washing clothes at the brooks, or visiting in heathen homes, all talking of the Gospel and what it
has done for them is a method of evangelization than which none is more powerful. To Yi
Yeng En - now with the Lord - I ascribe the greatest influence in the development of this spirit
in our Northern work. He never allowed a man to pass the examination for admission to the
catechumenate or the church without impressing upon him this as his first duty and privilege as a

May/1906 - p.7 S.A.M.

Christian. From him came the practice of questioning the advisability of admitting to the church
any one who had not first made known to his family and neighbors what great things the Lord had
done for him. I do not hesitate to place this as the foremost factor in the wide-spread
development of our work in Northern Korea.

Fifth. - Bible Study Training Classes. For the development of the church as the great
evangelistic agency I know of nothing aside from the Sabbath services for Bible study and
worship, more perfectly adapted to the conditions in Korea than the system of Bible study
training classes which has already become such a great factor in our work. They are adapted to
the genius of the Korean people and fit in admirably with their methods of life and study. As
explanatory of these classes I quote from an article prepared by Mr. Hunt, of Pyeng-yang, as
follows: “The education of the whole church, all its membership, young and old, literate and
illiterate, is being undertaken systematically and largely by training classes in which the textbook
is the Bible. Some of these are representative in character; the attendance coming from every part
of the field; others are local, meant only for the members of a particular group. Some are
attended only by men, others only by women, but in most of the country classes both men and
women are taught, though in separate divisions. Sometimes these classes are taught entirely by
the missionaries or by the missionary and several helpers, but more often by the helper alone.
Bible study is the object of the class, but prayer, conferences and practical evangelistic effort are
prominent parts of the work . . . The Christians have learned that it is only right to put aside their
occupations for several weeks each year for the special study of the Word of God .... This
method is honoring to God’s Word and teaches all the authority of God in their lives. His word,
rather than that of the helper or the missionary, early becomes the Christian’s rule of faith and
practice. This method of education tends to bring about a mutual understanding between the rank
and file, and the leaders, helpers and missionaries, so unifying the young church that it presents a
solid front and is made more of a power in the midst of heathenism. The surest way to make a
distinction between the church and the world is to set men to study the Bible and to preach its
truths. This system is cumulative in its results. ... It makes of the church an army skilled in the
use of God’s Word. Among the many advantages of these classes is that they afford an occasion
to develop qualities of true leadership. Opportunities for preliminary training and trial as well as
for more careful selection are almost without end.” To this I would add that the classes cannot be
begun too soon, for in their essential features they are applicable alike to inquirers and
catechumens, church members, leaders, helpers, evangelists, and the ministry itself, to women
and children as well as to men, to the ignorant, even those unable to read as well as to the
educated scholars. The whole church is made to feel the result of these classes, and from them
the men go forth with an enthusiasm and an evangelistic zeal coupled with a knowledge of the
Scriptures which enable them to become intelligent as well as zealous heralds of the Gospel
message.

Sixth. - The development of trained helpers, evangelists and ministers. This is an integral
part of evangelistic work. Here is specifically the province of mission educational work which, 1
believe, should be a development from within the church, a result of, and indissolubly connected
with, the evangelistic work; it in turn becoming one of the powerful factors in producing a
geometrically progressive advance in evangelization. It is only a perversion of educational work
which is brought into an antagonistic relation to evangelistic work. Since the complete
evangelization of any land will be effected only through the agency of native evangelists and
pastors, the development and training of these becomes, with the establishment and growth of the
church, an increasingly important phase of evangelistic work. The foreign missionary is the
important agency in the initial stages of evangelization for the foundation and establishment of
the church, but the native church itself must become the agency for the complete evangelization
of the nation, and from the church should come the institutions and the men which are to be the
permanent factors. In the development of these leaders we need to provide for the training of two

May/1906 - p.8 S.A.M.

classes of men. In Korea, for years to come, the bulk of the work of leading the church must be
done by men who show gifts for such work but who cannot be given the thorough preparation for
the ministry which is the result of a common and high school, a collegiate and seminary
education. We want and must have some such men, but all experience shows that the number of
such men is never equal to the demand, not even in the church at home with its elaborate system
of collegiate and theological education. We must make provision for this systematic and
thorough theological instruction for the training of a ministry, but we must also in the meantime
and for years to come depend even more largely upon a class of men taken from among the more
mature Christians who can be taken through a course of instruction less absorbing of time and not
too exhaustive of the mental and physical strength of the men. Since the preparation of most of
this paper there has come into my hands an article written by our beloved secretary, Dr. F.F.
Ellinwood, whose counsel and guidance have been such helpful features in the establishment and
development of mission work in Korea, and who today, in America, rejoices with us over the
results of the work of the Spirit of God in Korea these twenty years. It is particularly appropriate
that I should close this paper by quoting from that article that which expresses better than I can
my own convictions on this factor in evangelization as follows: “I have spoken of individual
training, but each mission should at an early day make provision for a more systematic and
thorough ministerial education. ... I urge this as a means to the ultimate end of evangelization. 1
am more and more persuaded as the years go by that the educational work on our mission fields
should be directed mainly to this specific end, that the great spiritual aim, namely of the
conversion of men, should uniformly and always take the lead. An excellent plan is now found in
many missions of forming normal classes for Bible study to which the field workers are called for
a limited time during the season less favorable for itineration. Such periods of study are valuable
not only for the instruction given, but for the opportunity of gaining a spiritual uplift for both the
missionary and his helpers. I would gladly see a normal department connected with our most
thoroughly established missionary colleges, so that while some students gain an advanced
preparation, others may be fitted for immediate work. ... As relating to the ordinary missionary
boarding-school on the one hand and the secular college on the other, there should be greater
prominence given to the training of preachers and religious helpers. ... I am not sure, but it
would be better economy of our resources, always too small, to give greater comparative
attention to an older class of pupils, carefully selected with reference to their intellectual ability
and spiritual qualifications for evangelists. ... I am persuaded that the great volume of our
educational work should be directed toward the simple preaching of the Gospel, and to the
training of men by short courses for that purpose. The hope we entertain for the ingathering of
tens and hundreds of thousands in the near future depends mainly, I believe, upon the
enlargement of our native ministry.” Then follow these words, weighty with the spirit of
exhortation to us to whom has been committed the work of the evangelization of Korea. “The
Great Commission of our Lord pointed directly and in plain terms to the co-temporary work of
evangelization as the great errand of the church. The disciples were not taught to spend their
time in preliminary operations looking to evangelization by others after their work was done.

The word was, ‘Go and teach all nations’. . . The command of Christ was primarily to those of
His own age, and He gave them a large task to perform, surely. That command reiterates itself
with each new generation and the mission or Board or the church at large is culpably remiss if
willingly it occupies itself only with preliminary work instead of hastening to the rescue of the
millions who know not the Gospel and with whom it will soon be too late.”

(originally written for a conference of Protestant missionaries, September 22, 1904, on the twentieth anniversary of the arrival of
the first Protestant missionary in Korea and excerpts published in The Korea Field, Seoul, Korea, November, 1904, pp. 193-198.
Republished in full in the above journal, a copy of which is in the Samuel Hugh Moffett collection of Samuel Austin Moffett
papers)

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