Mission Notes

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Jan 19, 1905

THE Church Missionary Society is about to build and equip, at Khartum in the Sudan, a girls’ school, in memory of General Gordon.

A MISSIONARY of the Presbyterian Church of England describes ten days’ touring among the villages near Chiang Hoa, Formosa, and adds: “It is a great comfort to be able to roam all over a heathen country, and yet seldom be more than a mile from a Christian dwelling.” The progress of the kingdom is emphasized by this sentence.

PRESBYTERIAN missionaries report that in Japan, Buddhism is studying and adapting Christian methods, forming Young Men’s Associations, establishing great schools, inviting Christians, and even missionaries, to take place among the lecturers to the students. The Buddhists are hoping to capture the secret of the energy and the power of Christianity. When they have found the secret, they will no longer be Buddhists, but Christians.

AN old and influential Japanese priest is said by Mr. Schumaker (A. B. M. U.) to have discussed in a temple lecture Christian work for women in Japan. “In Tokyo,” he said, “there are about seventy-five girls’ schools. Of these, about fifteen are Christian, and only one is Buddhist. Mark well my prophecy that in forty years Japan will become Christian!” The man may have spoken as foreseeing calamity, but few who watch Japan can doubt his foresight.

PRINCE RAMAZAN, one of the relatives of the native king of Toro, Uganda, Central Africa, is a boy of fifteen, and a Mohammedan. Because the Mohammedans of that region are very ignorant, a Christian lad has been employed to teach him to read and write. This has led the prince to write to the prime minister of Uganda, asking to be educated as a Christian. His letter contains this passage: “This is a very bad religion; it is a religion of death. I want to become a Protestant, and join Mr. Hattersley’s school for chiefs.” The boy wants education; he may find Christ.

A BAPTIST missionary in Japan tells of a scene before the communion table, when a Japanese Christian, with strong emotion, insisted on confessing a sin before he would partake of the Lord’s supper. The sin was this: “In the rush and hurry of wheat harvest and of setting out rice plants, my mind was distracted with the work, and for two days I did not take time to compose it to think upon the loving-kindness of my Lord. . . . That I should have been so ungrateful overwhelms me with shame and confusion of face.” Missions are worth while when they bring to us from converts in the far East words that stir the secret springs of our own life.