The General Conference Missionary Exhibit by John Nevins Anderson

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 4, 1913

The General Conference Missionary Exhibit

By John Nevins Anderson

WITH the passing of time our General Conference sessions become increasingly missionary, both in spirit and in fact. The horizon of our missionary vision is constantly enlarged; this is largely due to the fact that with intense interest we follow our missionaries with our prayers and our offerings as they push on to new, extended fields in all parts of the world. The recent World Conference afforded striking evidence of this fact. A considerable number of the delegates were missionaries direct from the mission fields, the heathen, non-Christian lands. By their lively, inspiring reports and their many missionary "talks" the atmosphere of the entire Conference was made decidedly missionary.

In order to make still more emphatic and realistic the needs of those heathen lands, the missionaries (true to the missionary instinct) brought with them a considerable collection of "native" articles from nearly every country of the

great heathen world. These articles were made to constitute the missionary exhibit, a no inconsiderable feature of the Conference.

Conspicuous and of highest interest in this collection were the "gods many," like those of the Old Testament, whose senseless impotence is set forth with such scathing irony in the Psalms and in the prophecy of Isaiah. (See Psalm 115; Isaiah 44.) Not to mention others, there were the god of war, grim-visaged, with his six arms; the queen of heaven in all her serene majesty and supreme indifference; and the goddess of maternity, the special object of worship by prospective mothers. The ground of rejoicing that these and many others were present at the Conference was that they were all disgraced or dethroned gods; that is, they no longer held sway over the people who had formerly feared them and bowed down to them. They had been cast aside for the God who "hearest prayer," and to whom "shall all flesh come."

To illustrate in a concrete way the conditions in which our workers must labor to win hearts for the message, a considerable collection of war implements, especially from Central Africa and the islands, was brought by the missionaries to the Conference. In this collection was the bow with its poison-pointed arrows, the spear, the club, the shield, the helmet, and other war apparatus, striking evidences of that savage element in the human, whether civilized or uncivilized. Next may be mentioned a class of articles illustrative of the arts of peace, such as the crude aprons made from the bark of trees, or from the fiber of the lace-tree, pounded into a pulp, the beautiful and skilfully wrought garments made from the cotton, the grass, or the silkworm fiber, much of which equaled if not excelled the best we have. To this was added the many pieces of needlework which excited the wonder and admiration of all present. Some of these latter were banners on which were worked with great skill many strange characters of these alien peoples, indicative of the gratitude that now fills their hearts for the newfound light,—the experience of deliverance from sin and the knowledge of the soon-coming kingdom.

Of special interest to the Conference delegates were the many specimen copies of the various books, pamphlets, tracts, papers, etc., issued in the scores of vernaculars in different parts of the world, which serve as channels through which the message is finding its way to the minds and hearts of the people. These are indeed silent evidences of the progress of our cause; but when seen in their true significance, they must be regarded as the best proofs that the work is both deepening and made permanent.

Still another unique feature of this exhibit was the large map (9 x 12 feet) on which were indicated the principal mission stations of all Protestant societies in the entire non-Christian world. The chief object of this map was to give a bird's-eye view of the missionary invasion of the heathen world. On a white background small red dots indicated the mission stations of all other Protestant denominations, while those of our denomination were shown by small blue stars.

On the basis of the general fact represented on this map and as a further elucidation of the missionary situation of the world of today, a set of very interesting statistics had been worked out and placed on a chart that hung just opposite the map. These statistics follow: The total number of Protestant principal missionary societies appointing and sending missionaries is 377. If all the aid societies and committees cooperating with the above societies are included, the total rises to 995. The total number of Seventh-day Adventist missionaries, according to last report, aggregated 599; all other Protestant missionaries numbered 24,092. The principal mission stations of our denomination counted 170; all other Protestants totalled 12,123. Receipts for foreign mission work contributed by our entire body amounted to $606,708; all other Protestant denominations gave the sum of $37,914,834. The mission offering per capita of membership in our denomination was $5.56, while the corresponding figure by all other Protestant Christians stood at 26 cents. For every 182 members in our church we have one missionary set as a light in the heathen, non-Christian world; all the other Protestant churches have one missionary in the field for every 5,945 members.

In respect to the last two items the chart exhibited very graphically the immense lead we as a people hold over the aggregated Protestant bodies, and it is certainly a cause for much thankfulness that the Lord has so blessed us; yet we do well to remember that measured separately there are some other Protestant bodies that are close seconds to us, and that in view of the coming King we are called to "higher ground." Let us, then, mend our pace and go forward.

J. N. ANDERSON.