1 lei “YN SE _ Re Ar. ft. 1 a P — f . ( Fe eS ‘ F.¢ Diqns that Jndia is Becoming Christ’s Department for Young People and Education AMERICAN BOARD OF :COMMISSIONERS FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS ; ' Yr Jalna EL GZ i .} y . Ear, y) TZ Bienes ~ accoraing to Longitude | EW IDILA j F A.B.C.F. i Statigns of the CAM underf ine DSiqns that Yudia is Beeoming Christ's BY Rev. R.A. HUME, D.D., & REv. J. L. BARTON, D.D. Department for Young People and Education AMERICAN BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS CONGREGATIONAL HOUSE BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS Signs Chat India Is Becoming Christ’s By Rev. R. H. Bume, D.D., Hbmednagar, India EARLY one hundred years ago, when the British began to come into close contact with the northwest portion of India, called the Punjab, all the other Hindu kings and princes of the province, who had tens of thou- sands of horsemen and infantry, numerous artillery, and thousands of fanatical followers who were ready to die for their ruler and their religion, were inclined to despise the British because their forces were few, and they wished to com- bine to drive the English back. But the leading Sikh ruler, Ranjit Singh, secretly visited the British camp, and, noticing the marvelous organization ot the small English army, the solidity of the few British soldiers, the mobility of their artillery, and the greatly increased capacity which British drill and discipline had given to the Indian sepoys, was quickly convinced that the British were invincible; and so he concluded a treaty of perpetual friendship with them to which he was ever true, though he was habitually faithless with Indians. Shown a large map of the province on which were only a few red spots, and told that those small spots indicated all that there was of British possessions, he instantly replied, “It will all be red.” And before many years that prophecy proved true, for the organization and discipline and determination of even a handful of British were more than a match for the vastly greater numbers and the fanatical zeal of the Sikhs. Similarly, multitudes of people fancy that the comparatively small mis- sionary army in India can never win the 300,000,000 of that country from Hinduism to loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ. But they do not know the power of the missionary organization in its many branches, the efficiency of the Indian Christian co-workers of the missionary, and above all how attract- ive the Lord Jesus Christ is to Indians when they come to know him. But India is surely 2/7 to be Christian. This paper briefly indicates some signs that India is becoming Christian today. Statistical Signs First, take statistical signs. The government census of rtg901 showed that from 1891 to rgo1 the total population of India, covering all religions, had increased one and a half per cent; that the Christian population was 2,664,315, and had increased over thirty per cent, of which the Protestant Christian community had increased fifty-one per cent, and the non-Protestant % 4 Christian community about twenty-one and a half per cent; but the Hindu community was actually less than ten years before. In that decade the for- eign and Eurasian ordained missionaries had increased more than fourteen per cent; the Indian ordained workers had increased about twenty per cent; and the total Christian agency had increased about fifty-nine and one-half per cent. Now in India, Burma, and Ceylon there are probably about 2,500 foreign missionaries, of whom nearly one-half are from America, and more THE NEW FIRST CHURCH BUILDING AT AHMEDNAGAR :- than one-half are women. According to the missionary census of 1900, the number of Indian missionary workers in that year was 25,799, and now must be a good many more. Take some statistics on a smaller scale from some stations of the American Board’s Marathi Mission. According to the last government census the Christian population of Ahmednagar city, one station of the Marathi Mission, had increased 300 per cent between 1891 and 1gor, and Over 2,100 persons out of 35,000 in that one city, or six per cent of the total populstion, were connected with that mission. Ovt of 1.154 enumerated in 5 the government census of rgo1 in the town of Vadala, over 400, that is, over thirty-five per cent, were Protestant Christians; and in other towns of the Ahmednagar district from ten to twenty-five per cent of the population is already Christian. On the roll of the first church of Ahmednagar there are over 1,200 names, including communicants, baptized children, and catechu- mens. Its Sunday school has over 1,100 members in three sections; its Christian Endeavor Society in nine sections has between 500 and 600 members. Another statistical indication of Christian influence in India may be expressed thus. Of all pupils studying in colleges and high schools which follow a recognized government course, one in ten is studying in a Protestant missionary institution. Of all who graduate from a college with a B.A. de- gree, one in four appeared in 1900 from a Protestant missionary institution. In the lower schools which follow a recognized government course, one in twenty boys and one in four girls are studying in a Protestant missionary school. Half the boys and young men in boarding schools and _ hostels, and practically all the girls and young women in boarding schools, are in institu- tions maintained by Protestant missions. Spiritual Signs But statistical signs are less significant and less important than more spiritual signs. Therefore let us consider next from the Indian Christian community some indications that the kingdom of Christ is coming in that land. A Hindu once said, ‘‘ Hinduism is such a great forest that it matters little if a great many branches are lopped off from a good many trees; but the serious thing is, that many of these lopped branches are more and more used as handles in Christian axheads to cut down the trees themselves from which the branches have been cut off.” One of the most encouraging things in the situation is, that the Indian Christians are becoming more and more able to lead in the Christianization of their own land. Not only are the numbers larger, but the moral tone of the churches and of the Christian community is growing higher and higher. The churches are more and more being served by Indian pastors. Capable Indians are more and more coming into leadership in various lines of Christian work. Thus when I recently left India, responsibility for a large part of my work was left in the hands of Indian Christian leaders. In many places there are Indian Chris- tian associations which exercise intelligent leadership in various matters affecting their community. The larger part of the Christian community is from the lower castes. But they are so generally receiving the advantages of education, and are becoming so elevated in many respects, that they often equal, and sometimes excel, in their influence on the entire community the 6 upper castes, who for generations have depressed those lower castes. God is using the things that are not to bring to naught the things that ave. In the Madras presidency, the Indian Christian community lately showed a higher per cent than any other community of persons who are passing in the highest educational standards. Excepting the Parsis, the females of the Indian Christian community are more /¢erate than the females of any other class. The Indian Christian community in plague-stricken districts usually avails itself of sanitary precautions which makes it more immune to that dreadful disease than the other com- munities; ¢g., in a recent plague epidemic in Ahmednagar the Indian Christian community was nineteen times as immune from plague as the rest of the community. Christian Endeavor Societies, Young Men’s Christian Associations, and Young Women’s Christian Asso- ciations are developing a commend- able amount of voluntary unpaid Christian work for the non-Christian community. The Christian Endeavor movement seems likely to be intro- duced more and more, and to be an exceptionally valuable means of pro- moting both the devotional life of young people and of quickening and directing Christian service among THE CATECHIST them, and also of bringing Chris- tians of various denominations into such fellowship as to show themselves and the non-Christians that Christians are united in all great things. x In the first plague epidemic of Ahmednagar, the principal English official said to the missionary that of the twelve plague superintendents in the twelve wards of the city the only two against whom charges of intimidation and bribery were not brought were the two Christians, and therefore one of the two was soon made and is now sanitary officer of the city, and the other would have been given an official post if he had wished to accept it. The highest English official of the Ahmednagar district, who is in charge of all government building work, recently said to me that the Christian contractors of that city are easily the most capable and the most reliable contractors in 7 the district, and therefore he had great pleasure in giving them contracts for erecting government buildings. Non-Gbristian Community The non-Christian community affords many indications that India is becoming truly Christian. The most intelligent Hindu newspapers advise the lower castes to become Christians because they see and rightly say that the Christian religion alone is ready to offer them a helping hand, and that their hope socially as well as religiously is in accepting the help of the Lord Jesus Christ. The government of India so highly appreciates the help of missionaries, that every year it gives hundreds of thousands of rupees to different classes of missionary institutions, because they are promoting the social and moral well-being of the men. Recently the director of public instruction in the Bombay presidency, the Honorable Mr. Giles, in opening a new building for the industrial school of the Marathi Mission in Ahmed- nagar, said that government is looking to the American missionaries of Ahmednagar to show what are the most practical and advantageous lines for the development of industrial schools. Sir Muncherjee Bhownugeree, the Parsi member of Parliament in Eng- land, not long since visited Ahmednagar and said, “I believe that you mis- sionaries are doing as much for the good of this country as the government.” A great deal is now being said in the press about the decline of the Sikh religion, and the fear that unless government in some way especially encour- ages and supports that religion it will die out. This is a public confession that one of the purest forms of Hinduism is manifestly losing ground. A short time before his death, Keshab Chunder Sen, the eminent leader of the Brahmo-somaj, said to me, “‘ The object of my life is to lead my countrymen to Christ.” He did not mean to lead them all to profess Christianity. but that he sought to lead his countrymen to reverence the Lord Jesus Christ and in a considerable degree to follow his teachings. Without doubt the Brahmo- somaj and other theistic movements in that country are having a decidedly Christian influence. Not long ago, at the close of a lecture which I gave in the mission high school of Ahmednagar, a prominent lawyer rose and said: “While I am not baptized and do not expect to be baptized, and while I do not accept all that I suppose the missionaries teach, yet I do not hesitate to say that I am two-thirds Christian myself. And what is more, a great many of you are like me in this, that is, we reverence the Lord Jesus Christ and we believe in his teachings, and we know it would be good if everybody took his help and became like him.” Another indication of the power of Christian truth and life is that many organizations are now trying to follow Christian lines of service. For ex- # a2 “Be for FAMINE CHILDREN OF AHMEDNAGAR Before and after they were taken by the m 1sslonaries ) ample, the theistic reforming organizations are opening schools for the lower classes; the Mohammedans are sending out more preachers than ever before ; the Arya-somaj, which is a reforming movement seeking to improve Hinduism on strictly national and Hindu lines, is carrying on its work in imitation of Christian missionaries. It is common knowledge that those who have an English education and who have come under the influence of Christian literature and institutions have largely lost faith in Hinduism as it has been understood. The compiler of the government census of 1891 said that Indian priests and holy men complain that “those who have received an English education have ceased to be charitable.” Condition of Women Perhaps the most significant and encouraging sign that Christ’s kingdom is rapidly making headway is in the changing condition of women. Ex- cepting the very small Parsi community, the Christian women are now the most literate class in India. They are begin- ning to make homes such as Christian wives and mothers and sisters alone can make. The _ Bible- women are as a class re- markably effective. Take one recent example of the change effected in one Hindu woman, whose pic- ture is here shown. About eight years ago Mr. Nara- yan Varnan Tilak, an ex- ceptionally capable Brah- man, who is also the best poet in western India, be- came a Christian. Know- ing that his wife, Lakslu- nibai, would do her utmost to prevent his taking such a step, he was baptized without her knowledge. When she came to know it she considered him so- cially as worse than dead, and taking their only son LAKSLUNIBAI 10 ‘ she went to live with her relatives and refused to have anything to do with him. For about five years he patiently tried in vain to win her back. Finally she reluctantly consented to him on the unchangeable conditions that he was not to talk with her about Christianity and not to put the son into a Christian school. Even when she came to his house she refused to let him touch her food or water. She cooked his food and placed it where he could get it, but that was all. However, she could not close her child’s eyes and ears, and soon the boy, seeing Christian children play without using bad language, said HIGH CASTE WOMEN AT AHMEDNAGAR to his mother: “This is the best caste I have ever seen. Its children play without using abusive words.” Gradually she began to feel differently amd was baptized. Soon she became such a changed woman that she and her husband went on voluntary unpaid service as nurses in a plague camp, where they cheerfully cared for the sick and dying from the awful plague, men, women, and children of the lowest castes, and then mothered and fathered the sick orphaned babies of the most despised classes. And, though a quiet woman, she has now begun to speak acceptably and effectively to large mixed congregations of men and women. She is becoming a power for Christ also among her former Hindu relatives with whom she had stayed when she aban- doned her husband. The transformation which Christ has made in her is a moral miracle. Che American Board Missions in India and Ceylon By Rev. James LL. Barton, D.D. HE American Board has three distinct missions in India and Ceylon. While politically these two countries are quite separate from each other, as mission countries they are practically one so far as the American Board is concerned. American Board work in Ceylon is carried on among the same race for which its work in southern India is conducted. In view of these facts, the three missions are often spoken of together. I. first Mission in India The first mission work undertaken by the American. Board was begun in India. The first missionaries sent out by the Board were Messrs. Nott, Hall, Rice, Judson, and Newell. They landed in Calcutta, but were pre- vented by the English East India Company from gaining a foothold there. After many vicissitudes, Rev. Gordon Hall and Samuel Nott arrived in Bom- bay, February, 1813, and were ordered away by the Bombay government. For weeks the question of their stay was uncertain, but finally they were per- mitted to land and take up the work to which they had consecrated their lives, and to which they were sent out as the first missionaries of the American Board. IL. Opening of Ceylon Jaffna peninsula, Ceylon, was occupied as a mission field first by Messrs. Richards, Meigs, and Poor, with their wives, and Mr. Warren in 1816, and thus the two oldest missions of the American Board were opened in the midst of strenuous opposition on the part of the English officials and repre- sentatives of the East India Company. It is reported that in a heated debate one of the representatives of the East India Company said he would rather have a shipload of devils land in India than a company of missionaries. It is an interesting fact that James Richards, one of the young men who met in prayer meeting under the haystack at Williamstown, and from which prayer meeting the American Board received its first and originating impulse, was one of the first missionaries to Ceylon. His grave is now in the mis- sion compound at Tillipally, with a large, white stone church on one side, and the training school for the preparation of Christian teachers for the Jaffna Peninsula on the other. Il 12 VILLAGE SCHOOL IN CEYLON III. The Three Missions While the center of the Marathi Mission is at Bombay, it very soon began to reach out into the interior. Ahmednagar was one of the first im- portant centers opened, which is nearly 200 miles from Bombay and on the high lands of the Deccan. The plan of the mission was to push out into the interior and reach the masses of people. In this effort station after station was opened. Some of these have been abandoned, but now the work centers in these various interior stations: Ahmednagar, Satara, Sholapur, Sirur, Vadala, and Rahuri. These stations have become the places of resi- dence for the missionaries, from which they reach the surrounding districts. The same was done in Ceylon. Five or six stations were opened within a much smaller area than that covered by the Marathi Mission, and through these stations practically all the interior states of the Jaffna Peninsula are easily reached for gospel and educational purposes. The Madura Mission was an outgrowth from the activity of Ceylon. This is located in southern India, and was first approached by missionaries from the Ceylon Mission in 1834. Madura City was made the center of the operations of these missionaries, and from that center other places were occupied, ‘covering an area of from 50 to 1oo miles in every direction. LV. Evangelistic Work The various lines of work taken up by the missions are practically the same. Emphasis was first and has always since been laid upon that depart- ment of work which is called evangelistic. This included primarily the preaching of the missionaries themselves. But they were very quick to see TOOHOS ONIGUVOE (STAID ATTIAOOGOO 14 the fruitlessness of an attempt to evangelize India through missionary preach- ing alone. Promising natives were soon gathered in schools, and under the direct teaching of the missionaries themselves were prepared for aggressive evangelistic work. As soon as native churches were well organized, these leading native preachers were ordained over them as pastors. Preachers and catechists were also engaged, who visited the villages and took prominent part in pioneer work. ‘These native workers were multiplied just as rapidly as men and women could be trained, for women were also engaged as Bible- readers to go from house to house explaining Christianity to the women, and doing everything in their power to bring enlightenment into the homes. This work is continued, increasing in force and power from year to year. Under its impulse there are today in these three missions 114 regularly or- ganized churches, with a membership of 13,454. But outside of the regular members there is a large number in training, who are under the regular Christian catechetical instruction in preparation for baptism as they show fitness for it. V. Christian Education It early became known to the missionaries that intelligent, self-controlling Christian churches could not be established without schools. There is no general education in India, and none except the highest caste were expected to learn to read. As most of those who become Christians come from the lower castes (although there are not a few among the very highest who be- come converts), it was apparent that schools must be organized to train children. ‘These schools were most prosperous in their inception in Ceylon, but rapidly throughout the three missions the village school took a prom- inent place as fundamental in missionary work. The native Christian teacher of the village school was quickly recognized as a leader in the village where the school was located, and through these schools the villages are reached with Christian instruction, the teacher often being the preacher. The best pupils in the village schools were selected and taken to the mission station to a boarding school which was under the direction and management of the missionary, in the early days the missionary being the leading teacher and director in the school. Nearly every mission station in these three mis- sions has today its boarding school, in which the pupils receive careful train- ing not only in ordinary studies, but in Christianity and Christian living. Thus the Indian children are brought under continued Christian influence at a time when their character is most formative. From these boarding schools the leading Christian workers come. There are beside the boarding schools high schools, which prepare young men and young women for college. There are two high schools in FS the Madura Mission, three or four in the Ceylon Mission, and three in the Marathi Mission. ‘These schools take as day pupils students who are not Christian or connected with Christian households, although the influence of the school is decidedly Christian. The oldest educational institution of higher learning in Ceylon is Jaffna College, which grew out of the Jaffna Mission. It has great influence through its graduates, many of whom are leading Christian workers not only in Ceylon itself, but in India and the Straits Settlement. Pasumalai, in the Madura Mission, is located three miles out of the city of Madura. It has in all of its departments about 500 students. While Jaffna College gives the degree of B.A., Pasumalai College at present takes one only half way through the regular college course. Although these colleges are affiliated with the Indian universities and are a part of the Indian system, nearly all of the Christian workers receive their training in Pasumalai, including the preachers and teachers, not only of the Madura district, but also many other missions. The Marathi Mission has no college. Each one of the three missions trains its own theological students. The theological seminary for the Marathi Mission is at Ahmednagar, and has usually from fifteen to thirty students in training for the ministry. The sem- inary for the Madura Mission is at Pasumalai, and has about the same num- ber of students. The training school in Jaffna is in connection with the college. ; VI. Medical Service Medical work was early begun in the Indian missions. It started first with a dispensary to which the poor came and received treatment as they needed it. There is little help for the poor in India when in need of medi- cine and treatment. This work has grown until at the present time there are two large hospitals in Ceylon, one for women and one for men, and another, smaller, where both men and women are treated. There are three hospitals in the Madura Mission: one a large institution for men, and another for women in Madura, and one in Dindigul for men. ‘There is only one hospital in the Marathi Mission. It has just been opened at Ahmednagar and is for women. ‘This is one of the finest hospitals in India. These various hospi- tals and dispensaries treat annually about 100,000 patients. VII. Christian Literature Missionaries began early to master the Marathi and Tamil languages, which are used in its three missions in India and Ceylon. About 40,000,000 people speak these languages. The Bible was early translated into the ver- nacular of the people, and printing presses were started in each one of the TVLIGSOH NOISSIN VAUNaGvVn ee Re uy) missions to prepare not only a religious but also an educational literature, as there was nothing whatever at the beginning in this line. Periodicals were early begun and are still published in both the Tamil and the Marathi tongue, having wide circulation not only a nong the Christian people, but far outside of the Christian circle. A list of the books written and translated by the missionaries and published by the missions would fill pages. Many of these books are classic among the people, and the literature exerts a wide influence. VILL. Teaching the Lndustries Industrial work was not begun by the earlier missionaries. Only during the last few years has it seemed wise to start industries in connection with mis- sions. The need is probably as great in India as in any other country in the world, for the people have a low idea of manual labor, regarding it as beneath one who has been educated even in part. The pupils also are ready to re- ceive all aid that is given them, but are not as ready to render a return in manual labor. It has seemed, also, to the missionaries that a stronger Christian character can be developed through manual training than in any other way. For these and various reasons industrial work has sprung up almost without prearrangement in various mission stations. ‘The present industrial school at Ahmednagar is one of the largest and most flourishing in India, where some 500 boys are receiving industrial training. There is also an important school at Sirur; and in all of the places in the Marathi Mission where orphans have been received since the late famine, industries are taught, with the result that the pupils and orphans earn no small part of their support by the labor of their own hands. In the Madura Mission the mission industrial school at Manamadura is developing rapidly, and it is hoped that an industrial department will be added to Pasumalai College. Agriculture is given some prominence in industrial work in both the Indian missions, because through agriculture the students and orphans can practically earn their living while receiving Christian instruction. It should be added here that the government of India and Ceylon makes large contributions to the support of industrial work as well as to the support of schools conducted by the missions. More than two-thirds of the expense of the schools conducted by our missions in these two countries is met by contributions from the government. Many other departments of work might be mentioned, but we are speaking only of those which are prominent and which are found in all three of the missions. 18 IX. HA Brilliant Contrast THE VILLAGE SCHOOL AT RAHURI IN 1902 These three missions have had an enormous growth in recent years. At the beginning progress was slow. During the first four decades of missionary work but little external progress was made. The missionaries were mastering the language, getting acquainted with the people, and _ breaking down superstitions and prejudices. As an illustration of the progress of the work we will give the sta- tistics for the last ten years in the three missions : In 1893 there were 32 or- dained missionaries and 49 wives and women connected with these missions, making 81 in all. There are now 31 ordained missionaries, and go altogether. The native workers ten years ago were 1,203. In spite of reduc- tions in appropriations this number has risen to 1,587. Then there were 426 places within our three missions where regular missionary work was car- ried on. There are now 520. Ten years ago the average congregation upon the Sabbath was 14,431. At the present time a Sh eed mest hy r During the last ten years the. number of churches has increased from gt to 114, while the number of members has increased from 7,894 to 13,454 almost doubling. The Sunday school scholars at that time were 11,853, while they are now 21,357, an increase of over go per cent. ON Ten years ago there were 20,277 in the schools under the missionaries of the Board, while there are today 28,370. While India is a country of poverty with the lowest possible wage, a country afflicted with famine, plague, and pestilence, yet in the midst of this affliction the native contributions for the support of their own Christian and educational work and for benevolences have increased from $12,696 ten years ago to $16,845 at the present time. This is an average of more than a month’s wage of a strong-bodied laborer for every church member in the three missions. THE VILLAGE SCHOOL AT RAHURI IN 1867 on é oY oy we strict. Scale of Miles Aura) ‘ ay vag TA Sis "Ope Lae Melur EQMADURA Sivagunsa irupuvan am Jj, I, Mana Meare ff . om, a (