Missionary Reports and Hindu Worship
THE Baptist Missionary Society of Great Britain reports the receipt, during the past year, of $380,000, the largest amount received in any one year, except the centenary year. The expenses have been larger than the receipts, but a small balance of the Centenary Fund and a special contribution from the treasurer met the deficit. The reports from the field are encouraging, especially from China, where 400 converts have been baptized, an unusually large number. THERE are 330,000,000 Hindu gods, and each one has its own special form and its own peculiar power. The chief gods are Brahma, the Creator; Vishnu, the Preserver; Siva, the Destroyer. Vishnu and Siva are found in many different forms as idols to be worshiped in the temples of India. Rich people have idols in their houses for daily worship, and they pay a priest to come every morning to wake up the idols, wash and dress them, and offer them food.—Gospel in All Lands. THE board of missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, reports total receipts for the past year as $478,327, including $244,463 for foreign missions, an increase of $7,105; $133,948 for domestic missions; $18,000 by the Woman's Parsonage and Home Mission Society, and $81,916 by the Woman's Foreign Mission Board. After careful consideration it was decided to limit the appropriations for the coming year to $200,000. In the four foreign fields the board has 105 missionaries (including wives); 268 native helpers; 8,756 members (an increase of 906); 71 schools, with 2,081 scholars; 247 Sunday-schools, with 6,862 Sunday-school scholars; 19 Epworth Leagues, with 587 members; 1 hospital and 3 dispensaries. ACCORDING to Rev. W. E. Geil, there are now but 201 Samaritans, these living near Gerizim, where every year is held a feast of the Passover. Of this number 111 are males and 90 females. Held by these is the celebrated12copy of the Samaritan Pentateuch, which they claim to have been written by Aaron's great-grandson. Certain it is the manuscript is very old, tho hardly as old as they say. It is preserved in a costly case of silver, wrapped about with a cover of rich Phenician cloth.