Our Young People and Our Foreign Mission Enterprise by J. N. Anderson

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 5, 1911

Our Young People and Our Foreign Mission Enterprise

By J. N. Anderson

J. N. ANDERSON

At the Foreign Mission Conference of North America held in New York City, January 11, 12, of this present year, one of the representatives speaking of the Young People’s Missionary Movement as an educational agency in fitting young people for the mission fields in the immediate future, spoke as follows:—

“It is estimated that the population of the world is increasing 240,000,000 every decade. The problem of securing missionaries for the foreign missionary boards of North America between 1915 and 1935 is therefore to be a larger one than in the past. Those who are then to volunteer are now among the young

people needing instruction. The missionary societies of the continent must take a long look into the future, not only with reference to money, but also to candidates. This is one of the great functions of the movement and of the educational departments of the boards.

“I want to lay upon the heart and the conscience of all here this burden of responsibility, that the twenty million young men, women, and children of North America now within the influences of the Christian churches we represent may be so trained through the years of their developing life that they will be inclined favorably toward missions and the ministry for their life-work. I trust you may be given grace to lay the need of this great, and as yet largely unreached, army of the young in the churches upon the hearts of the men who compose your executive committees. The plan for their future missionary education must be so generous in its provisions and so persistently and wisely executed that with the increase of wealth and gifts we may have also that increase of the gift of life which is absolutely essential for the world-wide extension of the kingdom of Christ.”

In the face of such appalling facts—a world of 1,500,000,000 souls increasing in population at the rate of 240,000,000 a decade, with a large two thirds out-and-out heathen or followers of the false prophet—in the face of such facts what indeed could a thoughtful Christian propose to do other than what is set forth in the above paragraphs? There is nothing more vital to the cause of foreign missions at the present moment than the work of equipping our children and young people for the world-wide missionary task that lies before us. We believe that God has separated us as a people for the very purpose of making us the bearers of the advent message to all the world; this is our one mission in the world. To fulfil our duty, and effect the divine end of carrying the message of Christ’s soon coming to all the world, we must above all Christian people fully realize the fact that our first and chief concern is to inspire our young people with the true missionary spirit, and give them such a training that they may enter on their task with intelligence and efficiency.

Washington Foreign Mission Seminary.