This Year in the Mission Fields
By William A. Spicer
On another page is the report of the treasurer of the General Conference on the estimates and appropriations for 1911, as passed upon in the recent committee sessions. That column of figures is one of the cheering and stimulating signs of the times. Year by year the boundaries of this threefold message have enlarged. And the missionary gifts from the believers in the message have enlarged; and somehow, under the blessing of God, this advent people, small as they are, have seen their work extending to the ends of the earth. Outside observers are often surprised to see so small an organization extending its influence so widely. We know that the secret of it is the expanding power of the leaven of truth. The prophecy has marked out the way of this message to every nation and people, and a power beyond our human strength is continually pressing our boundaries outward. It is for this very gathering time that the prophet says:— “Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles.” Isa. 54: 2, 3. We not only see it, but we feel it. The pressure comes upon every soul in the ranks of this message. It is a call to work harder, to do more, to make greater sacrifices. Every person, every church, every conference, must give the response to the divine call. We may almost tremble at the call to still enlarge. But the voice cries: “Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed.” Verse 4. By the blessing of the Lord the third angel’s message, which is the last gathering call to the children of God, will be sounded in all the world. This year the appropriations provide for few new workers. This will be hard news for the fields; but the missionary force will accept it courageously, and the work in every field will go forward. The fact is, with the opening of many lands to the message, heathen lands particularly, the growth of native work and the increase of stations and out-stations require a continual increase of funds, regardless of increase in the number of missionaries sent abroad. Now, during 1911 it is for every soul to carry the burden of this expanding work upon his heart, to see if by the blessing of the Lord the gifts for the current year will not enlarge until the fields as they stand are not only supplied, but assurance given of ability of the mission treasury to sustain a stronger movement of fresh missionary helpers in 1912. The cords are lengthening; now we must strengthen the stakes. Just how the expanding work presses to-day is shown by the calls which the Mission Board had spread before it in the recent meetings. Here are but a few of them:— Japan called for a printer first of all, and for two or three evangelists to join young Japanese laborers, newly coming out of school, in tent and other lines of field work. Wherever the evangelists have gone the last season, they have reaped fruitage; and now is the time to work in that empire. Only the printer, however, could be provided for in the estimates. China called specifically for twelve workers, to engage in evangelistic, school, and canvassing work; and also for a superintendent for the field. The estimates provided for three of these workers only, the superintendent to go forward as soon as secured, the other two laborers to be put under commission, if possible, in the autumn. As to the Philippines, the call for another minister and one or two bookmen, already long deferred, had to be passed over once again. Mexico’s plea for one or two ministerial laborers, and for several canvassers, was agreed to as most moderate: but the supplying of Mexico’s need was deferred. In the West Indian Union it was agreed that the call for a superintendent12for British Guiana must be responded to, but that the canvassers for Porto Rico, the French-speaking canvasser for the French islands, and another French worker for Haiti, would have to be deferred, as also a man for a new division of the Central American field, unless the local field itself has the resources. As to the South American Union calls, it was agreed that if possible several more canvassers should be placed in the field, in addition to the two nurses and the bookman and wife who are now on the ocean sailing for Uruguay and Argentina. Other calls from Chile, Peru, and Ecuador had to be deferred. The new Brazilian Union had three posts where local funds were ready to support additional workers. In fact, two self-supporting conferences were without presidents, and one state with scores of Sabbath-keepers was absolutely without any laborer. Therefore the estimates provided for the transportation of three ministerial laborers, two to go from Europe, and one from the North Pacific Union. Further requests from Brazil for help in the way of appropriations for native training work and for nurses and Bible workers, had to be deferred. Word was sent to South Africa that the calls for help for additional stations and expansion would have to be cut down, much as the workers in practically every division of the mission fields wanted to see advantage taken of opening doors. India called earnestly for two ministers for the English-speaking field, two canvassers, a family for South India, a family for the Hindustani work, a lady Bible worker for English work, a family to work among the Karens in Burma, two nurses—man and wife—for a call from a native state hitherto unentered, and a teacher. In this list the committee was able to make appropriations for one family, that of an English-speaking preacher, to take up the long-neglected work in the great English-speaking centers of India. Surely the springing of the receipts will make it possible for one or two other of these urgent calls to be filled toward the close of the year. This list of calls is incomplete; but it suffices to show the needs unsupplied. Every request deferred means disappointment in the fields. But the workers will be not at all discouraged. They will hold the fort and still pray for re-enforcements. Our confidence is not in the number of laborers nor in the means available, but in the Lord, who can save by few as well as by many. Nevertheless, it is the Lord who calls us to give and go; and this Macedonian cry from all the four quarters of the earth will surely ring in our ears all through 1911. The flight of the third angel toward every nation and people calls for a cutting loose and a consecration of every available resource to the cause of God. The key-note of the correspondence from the populous fields is that the Lord is mightily working in behalf of this truth, and the end is near.