p. 16 | Mission Notes

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Nov 26, 1903

Mission Notes

The plates for the embossed printing of the Gospels in Tamil and Bengali, two Indian tongues, for the blind, have been completed, and the Telugu Gospel is in progress.

In one Korean city with a population of about sixty thousand, a band of sixteen missionaries, medical and evangelical, have had the privilege of seeing nine hundred and nine converts during the year. The hospitals have been important factors in the propagation of the gospel, and the medical and the evangelistic work have been closely united.

The sale of Scriptures in Uganda for the first six months of 1903 amounted to more than seven hundred dollars. Surely the Bible is preparing the way for the last message.

In 1833 the first missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church reached the mission field. In 1903 the missionary operations had been extended to thirty-one fields, with a force of workers numbering six hundred and seventy-three foreign missionaries and eight hundred and fifty-one native ordained helpers. The first year, $824 was expended in the missionary enterprise, while $1,187,053 was expended in the fields last year.

A missionary journal describes the changed condition in the Flowery Kingdom from a few months ago: “In more than one city, missionaries are embarrassed by the abundance of gifts bestowed. In some cases non-Christian Chinese have put into their hands enough funds to build complete churches, hospitals, and schools. In Canton, for example, one Chinese woman has contributed three thousand five hundred dollars to add a children’s ward to the Woman’s Hospital in that place. A merchant in another city has presented the Presbyterian Board with $30,000 for a high-grade boys’ school.”

Mr. Zybiloff, a Russian explorer, has recently resided a whole year in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. He is a Buddhist, and speaks Tibetan, and so was able to pass as a lama. His account of this place is full of interest. All around the city is a wide street on which penitents prostrate themselves the whole length. The native traders are all women, and the regular population is ten thousand. Monasteries and temples abound, three near Lhasa having fifteen thousand monks, mostly engaged in learned pursuits. At Brabun there are nearly six thousand males of all ages, learning theology, the total of resident monks being eight thousand.—Missionary Review of the World.

In Spain there have been encouraging movements of late in parts of the land. In a village in the northwest a quarrel broke out between the priest and his flock over money matters. The latter sent for the Protestant pastor in a town about fifty miles distant, to preach to them. The result was that the whole place was moved, and at least twenty souls were immediately converted, and later on, about ten more. In the town of Marin, northwest Spain, at the end of 1902, four hundred Christians gathered together for special services, the Spirit of God fell on them in great power, and conversions followed. In the congregation in Corunna, after some special services, twenty souls gave themselves to God. In other parts, too, there have been tokens of life. This is wonderful. But the misery of the land is speedily increasing. Rome becomes more and more oppressive and corrupt, and the vices of the upper classes, the sufferings of the lower, and infant mortality are steadily increasing as the outcome of adulterated food, and too little of even that. A remarkable fact is that under such drawbacks the sales of God’s Word have not decreased, but actually increased. There is great unrest all over the land; strikes are the order of the day, making things worse. Class hatreds grow deeper. One wonders how the gospel can prosper or take root in such an immoral climate. It is because of the love of God in Christ. But a crisis is at hand.—Selected.

The present awakening in China is ably and concisely set forth in the report for 1902 of the Society for the Diffusion of Christian and General Knowledge among the Chinese. This society has for years been doing a great work in producing literature in the Chinese language, based on Christian principles. But since the recent upheavals in that empire, and the increase of the reform party, the opportunity for work and the demand for the literature put forth by this society have been unparalleled. We quote from the report: “The fact is that this year has been unprecedented in demand for professors, teachers, translators, and for books on foreign subjects.”

That China is waking up is further indicated by the travels of imperial princes, notably the visit of Prince Tsai Chen to the coronation in England, and of another to inspect the condition of education in Japan. Formerly no prince was permitted to spend a night outside of Peking. About seven hundred Chinese students are reported to have gone to Japan for study, and also some Chinese ladies, while the number of Europeans, Americans, and Japanese employed in schools and public offices in China is continually increasing. The railway syndicates, which were interrupted by the Boxers, are now at work again, and are extending their operations widely, while new postal regulations will result in widespread diffusion of books, newspapers, and reading-matter of all descriptions. As yet the amount of literature available to the Chinese is very limited. Only a small proportion of the reformers know English, and others are wholly dependent upon translations from the Japanese language or from the Western languages. A considerable number are learning the Japanese written language, which can be acquired in a short time, owing to the great similarity between the two. However, the danger is that in their translating from Japanese to Chinese, they will omit Christianity. Hence the great need of the work done by the diffusion society. Although the task is enormous, it is sure to have untold influence in that great empire.—Selected.