The South India Mission by A. G. Daniells

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 22, 1915

The South India Mission

By A. G. Daniells

OUR first week in India was spent with Brother and Sister J. S. James in their large territory in the southern part of India. Through various reports to the Mission Board, the REVIEW, and the sessions of the General Conference, I had felt fairly well acquainted with this mission; but once more I learned how much clearer one's vision becomes, and how much more real and tangible everything seems, when one is on the ground itself. This visit had a number of surprises for me. I was aware that the South India Mission embraced the Madras Presidency and the island of Ceylon; but it was not until I traveled over the territory, getting hurried glimpses of the country, the cities, the villages, and the people in their varied conditions, that I obtained anything approaching a true conception of this mission. It is much larger than I had realized. Its western boundary is washed by the Arabian Sea for a distance of about five hundred miles; while the eastern shore stretches 1,200 miles along the Bay of Bengal—farther by two hundred miles than from New York City to Chicago. And in this territory there are over fifty million people—more than half the entire population of the United States.

It was in this mission field that Ziegenbalg, Plutschau, and Schwartz, the first Protestant missionaries to all India, carried forward their wonderful work. The two former located near the coast in the district of Trichinopoli in 1706. Schwartz located in the city of Trichinopoli in 1750. These men were missionaries of the apostle Paul's stamp. Great success attended their efforts, and today, after nearly two centuries of missionary endeavor in India, more than one half of all the Protestant Christians in this entire land are to be found in the Madras Presidency where these pioneers did their work.

The program that had been arranged for us included a visit to our Nazareth Mission station in the extreme southern part of the field. An all-night's ride from Trichinopoli brought us to Tinnevelli. Here we changed from the railway train to bullock carts, called bandies in this region. A bandy is a two-wheeled cart with a cover of some sort stretched over a framework to protect the passengers from the sun.

The box of the cart is about six feet long, four feet wide, and six inches deep. The cover is about three feet at its highest point above the bottom of the box. As there are no seats in the bandy, the most comfortable way to ride is lying full length in the cart box. Rugs were spread on some straw in the bandies, pillows were provided, the bullocks were attached, and we crawled in for a twenty-four-mile ride. There were six in our company, including Professor Salisbury and Brother and Sister James. There was also the formidable stack of luggage a company of that number usually carries in India. Four bandies were required for the journey. We started at nine in the morning, and reached our mission at six in the evening.

When two or three miles from the mission station, we were met by some of the teachers and students and a number of the members of the church. They had come with a native band, to welcome us and escort us to the station. After cordial greetings, the band led the way, being followed by teachers, students, brethren, and our caravan of bandies. The music and the unusual procession attracted large numbers of villagers, many of whom kept joining us until our number became quite imposing by the time we reached the station. From the veranda of the bungalow we gave a brief address expressing our appreciation of the enthusiastic reception given us. Then all separated to get ready for the evening service.

I was very much encouraged by what I found at this mission station. Brother James began work here seven years ago. The response made by the people to the message he presented led to the establishment of a permanent station. Three acres of land could be secured just outside the village. But before a final decision was made to locate on this site and erect buildings, a well was sunk on the place to ascertain whether an abundant supply of good water could be secured. The test gave the fullest satisfaction. Then the ground was secured, and the buildings were erected. The precaution taken by Brother James to be sure of having plenty of good water, should always be taken by missionaries before purchasing land and erecting buildings for mission stations.

SCHOOL AND CHURCH BUILDING, NAZARETH, SOUTH INDIA

We have three buildings at this station—the bungalow, the school, and the dormitory. The bungalow is a brick structure well planned and substantially built. It provides a good home for those in charge of the mission. It cost a little less than $2,000. The school building cost only $400, and the dormitory for boarding students but $83. Both the school and the dormitory are too small for the work now being carried on at this mission. At the time of our visit

there were 118 students attending the school—87 boys and 31 girls. The regular schoolrooms were full, and one class was being held on the veranda of the school building, another in the dormitory, a third on the veranda of the bungalow, and yet another in a shed. How all this can be managed in the rainy season is a problem.

The dormitory for the boarding students was also badly overcrowded. It is only thirty by thirty feet. In it were living the preceptor and his family, nine girls, and nineteen boys. The only room for the boys is eight by ten feet. Each boy is required to have a chest in which to keep his clothes, books, stationery, pen and ink, comb, etc. Nineteen of these chests in a room only eight feet wide and ten feet long left little space for the boys. When I inquired where the boys slept, I was told, “On the floor of the dining room.” The girls had no better provision. Sometime, and not too far away, money should be provided for a larger and better dormitory for these youth.

I was greatly pleased with the work being done at this station. For two or three years almost the entire work has been carried on by our Tamil brethren, no European being on the place. Brother E. D. Thomas is in charge, and is assisted by seven teachers, five of whom are our own baptized members. Brother Thomas and his assistants have all embraced the message since Brother James began work in Nazareth seven years ago.

As nearly as I could judge, these teachers are doing excellent work. The students are Hindus, Roman Catholics, etc. Some have no religion. Yet with this medley we found a strong spiritual influence pervading the school. Thirteen of these students have given their hearts to the Lord, and united with the church. They are earnest, wide-awake young missionaries. Every month they are allowed to go out to the villages to sell papers and tracts. Sometimes they walk twenty miles doing this work. They are making a good impression in all that region, and men are bringing their boys from all directions to place them in the school. When I was there, two men came from villages miles away in opposite directions, to see about getting their boys in the school.

During the week of prayer some of these Christian boys gave a part of the rice allowed for their daily food, in order to make offerings to foreign missions. They denied themselves the food they really needed for their growth and work. None of these boys use tobacco in any form, and they have abandoned everything that savors of heathenism. The girls who have become Christians have shown the same zeal. They have done what is probably the hardest thing for a girl in India to do,—taken off all their jewelry, bracelets, rings, neck rings, anklets, toe rings, and all. The ears of some were so disfigured by the heavy rings hanging in them from infancy, that it was necessary to perform surgical operations to restore them to something approaching their natural condition. All this they have done for their Lord and Master. They are good girls, and will make good wives for the Christian boys who are preparing for service in the Lord's work.

In an address presented to us by the members of the faculty of the Nazareth school on the occasion of our visit, they said:—

The object of this work is to lay a true foundation in the lives of the students for a future Christian building; to teach them the special truths for which we as a people have been called into existence; to encourage them to practice these truths and to spread them throughout the sphere of their influence; to develop a thorough Christian experience and beget in them a lasting desire to become earnest workers for the Lord in carrying this message to the millions of South India. Believing the Scriptures to be the foundation of all true education, and recognizing its importance in a school curriculum, much emphasis is placed on the teaching of the Bible. We have already seen some of the results of our efforts in this direction. Of our students, thirteen have been baptized. One boy has connected with the office work at Trichinopoli, another boy has taken up duties in the school while continuing his education, and others are being prepared to take up responsible work in connection with this cause at an early period. We also see a great change for the better in the lives of the Hindu children of our school.

The church membership at this station is close to seventy, with a Sabbath school of 135. They are faithful in the payment of tithes and offerings for the support of the work. The total amount paid in 1913 was $260, and in 1914, $400. This is not a large amount, but they are poor people, and it means much to them.

It was surely a great privilege to visit these dear fellow believers who are so happy and earnest in the truth. I could not but wish that we had hundreds of such stations scattered over India.

The work done at the Nazareth station represents the most we have done so far for the fifty millions of the South India Mission field. In August of last year work was begun in Pondicherry, a French settlement on the coast about one hundred miles below Madras. Brother and Sister V. E. Peugh and a Tamil brother located here to look after an interest that had been awakened. In November Brother James visited this place

and baptized seven believers — four men and three women. Others are being taught and prepared for baptism.

Brother and Sister Morrow, who came to India last year, have located in Bangalore. They are studying the Tamil language with a view to engaging in the vernacular work.

All the workers in the South India Mission, and in all India as well, were delighted to have Brother and Sister Lowry return. They will begin work in a new center. Brother Lowry has a good knowledge of the Tamil language. He loves the field, and it is believed his work will be blessed to the salvation of many.

At the recent biennial conference it was decided to establish the headquarters of the South India Mission in the city of Madras. This will enable Elder James to carry on evangelistic work among the European-speaking people.

The task in this mission field alone is stupendous. Besides the seventeen million persons speaking Tamil, there are twenty million who speak Telugu. Although no direct effort has yet been made by us for the Telugu people, a few have embraced the message and united with us. Great opportunities are now in sight among these people, and we must begin work for them without delay. Plans are laid to have a man and his wife located among the Telugus this year.

Then there is Ceylon, with its millions. Every worker in India feels that Ceylon should be entered now. It should be made a separate mission division under permanent leadership. It is hoped to have a brother and his wife located in Colombo in a few months.

Knowing the value of literature in this work, Brother and Sister James are struggling hard to produce and circulate papers and tracts in the five different languages spoken in their field. But their facilities and physical powers seem so limited for this great task. O, how greatly, how terribly, we need workers and means for this stupendous undertaking! If ever the church of God should pray the Lord to send forth laborers into the field, it is now. Will not those who read this report pray for this most fervently? The Lord will surely hear the united, fervent prayers of his people.

A. G. DANIELLS.