THE VALUE OF FOREIGN MISSIONS
By A. G. Daniells
THE supreme purpose of the foreign missions movement now carried forward by the Christian churches is, to evangelize the non-Christian world. This is the highest, the truest, and the most enduring service men can render to their fellow men. The reign of sin in the hearts of men is the cause of all the unspeakable sorrows of the human race. The Son of God came into the world to break this reign of sin, and thus set men free, and eventually bring to an end all suffering and sorrow. The gospel is the revelation of that great truth, for it is "the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." Rom. 1:16. This is the hope, and the only hope, of sinners. It is the grandest message that can be borne to the ears and hearts of the heathen wandering in the valley of the shadow of death. And this is the message proclaimed by the missionaries who have gone to heathen lands. MILLIONS HAVE ACCEPTED HIM
The great world-wide, thoroughly organized foreign missions movement in behalf of the heathen has been in operation a little more than a century. The results are known the world over. Millions have accepted Christ as their Saviour. And all who have done so sincerely, have been lifted to a higher life. They have had a revelation of the character and results of sin, and also a revelation of Christ as the Saviour from sin. This revelation has wrought in them a marvelous transformation of life. It has banished superstition, savagery, and cannibalism from different classes of people in various groups of islands, and from large sections of country in all the continents of the world. The most thorough investigation shows that the gospel of Christ lifts all classes of people who receive it, to a new life. It Christianizes them, and that makes them a truly civilized people. But the results of this great evangelizing movement represent only one side of the undertaking. On the other side are the missionaries,—their toil and self-sacrifice,—and the means required to support the work. The combined annual reports from the various mission boards and societies show that there are at the present time about twenty-five thousand European and American missionaries making Christ known in heathen lands. These are assisted by one hundred ten thousand native evangelists and workers. To maintain this splendid work, the churches in the home lands contribute twenty-five million dollars annually. The native Christians each year raise between seven and ten million dollars to push this work along in behalf of their own people. The toil and the sacrifice, the separations and the sorrows, involved in this movement for a single year, are too great either to trace or to express. Every year, death reaps its cruel harvest. Filling the gaps breaks hundreds of family circles, and causes the repetition of hard labor to master the languages and make the necessary adjustments all around. To hold the ground already occupied, and to enter the doors everywhere thrown open to the missionary forces, requires constant and earnest efforts on the part of all believers in foreign missions. And the work of raising funds can never cease. The years pass quickly, and consume the annual appropriations. There can be no let-up in giving. The movement is on in full force. The missionaries, with their wives and children, are at the front. The schools, printing houses, and dispensaries are all operating. This great work cannot stop. To continue implies the full expenditure of present appropriations, and that calls for continued giving on as large a scale as the church has ever contributed to the cause of foreign missions. And why should not a work so helpful, so uplifting, and so transforming, continue and steadily enlarge? If any endeavor in the world is worth while, this is. If money is of value for any purpose, it is of special value in this movement. The unnumbered blessings the gospel has brought to us in the home land, the new life and hope it has brought to millions in heathen lands, and the great needs of the multi-millions who are still without it—all these appeal to us to go on recruiting and giving for foreign missions. A. G. D.