A Century of Mission Work

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D.C. · Aug 8, 1907

A Century of Mission Work

THE Missionary Review of the World for June makes the following comparisons for China between the years 1807 and 1907. In 1807 the following were the conditions: not one Chinese Protestant Christian. In 1842, after thirty-five years, there were only six church-members, and in 1860 only about 1,000. Morrison was the only Protestant missionary. There were no native helpers. No part of the Bible was in print, nor were there any Christian books or tracts in Chinese. Even fifty years later the number of such books in circulation was almost a negligible quantity. China was closed against the gospel. Even in 1857 only the five treaty ports were open to the missionaries.

In 1907 the following are the conditions: more than 160,000 church-members, representing a Christian community of some half a million souls, in every province of the empire; more than 3,800 foreign missionaries (these are to be found in every provincial capital and in most of the large cities); nearly 10,000 Chinese preachers, teachers, colporteurs, and other native helpers. More than 3,000,000 copies of the Scriptures, in whole or part, were sold in China last year. From Hankow alone during the past thirty years, more than 26,000,000 Christian books and tracts have been issued and circulated. The whole of China is open to missionary work—eager for new light, new knowledge, new life.

The transformation is certainly a remarkable one, especially in view of the fact that but little was accomplished during the first fifty years of missionary activity. It is indicative of the quick work which the Lord designs to do in the earth in the last generation of men.