OUR FOREIGN FIELDS PHILIPPINES BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH NOVEMBER, 1911 £ THE ISLANDS AND THEIR PEOPLE The Philippines lie directly north of Aus- tralia, and the northwestern extremity of the northernmost island is only about 450 miles from the China coast. Thus these islands are close to China, although in its beginnings Methodist work in the Philippines was a part of the Malay- sia Conference and therefore has been associated with Southern Asia Methodism. More than 2,500 large and small islands are included in the Philippine Archipelago. The largest of these is Luzon, upon which all of the Methodist Episcopal Mission work is located. Luzon contains about 44,400 square miles, or about 1 ,000 square miles less than the State of Pennsylvania. More than half of the island is Methodist territory. In this territory it is esti- mated that Methodism is responsible for about 3,000,000 people. The greater number of these are the so-called Christianized portion of the inhabitants called Filipinos, who speak many different dialects. There are in addition smaller non-Christian tribes, living largely in the moun- tainous regions. There are 30,000 Chinese in Manila and also colonies of Chinese in most of the other cities and larger towns of Luzon. The rising generation of Filipinos offers ele- ments of great promise. Bishop Oldham says that among them “we may anticipate a more rapid economic progress than is to be found anywhere in Asia within the tropics.” Schools were opened by the United States government in October, 1901, and there is now a total en- rollment of more than 600,000 students. A staff of American teachers numbering 1 ,000 has been maintained through the decade and over 5,000 Filipino youth are now regularly em- ployed as teachers. The dignity of labor is be- ing taught by courses of manual training in all the schools. The Government University at Manila has an enrollment of over 1 ,200 stu- dents. A GREAT OPPORTUNITY Our government is making here one of the great experiments of modern times, the outcome of which the whole world is watching. To show to China and Japan a nation of Filipinos civilized but not Christianized will belittle Chris- tianity in the Orient. Bishop Oldham has said : “If we fail here we will be sorely hindered in our religious influence in all Asia. And yet how slow the church is to see how this little Mission is the crux of our whole work in Eastern Asia.” English will become the official language of the Philippines in I 9 1 3. In all the schools that have been established by the American govern- ment in every part of the islands, the instruction is entirely in English. More Filipinos speak English today than ever spoke Spanish at any one time during the 300 years of Spanish occu- pation. The missionary will find a growing need for his services in the English tongue. Many of the young Filipinos are rapidly drift- ing into infidelity. Yet in the minds of some of these who have rejected the Roman Catholic re- ligion there exists a real soul hunger which makes them receptive to the gospel message. In the splendid system of American schools established throughout the islands the teachers are forbidden by law to give any religious instruction to the more than 600,000 pupils enrolled. It is the task of the missionaries to fix the religious bent of this vast army. THE MARCH OF METHODISM During the twelve years since the Methodist Episcopal Church entered the islands its numbers there have grown by leaps and bounds to the present membership of more than 32,000. There is an Annual Conference of 48 members, includ- ing 18 missionaries and 30 Filipino preachers; there are about 400 other Filipino helpers. Be- sides the many churches conducted by these Christian workers, the Methodist institutions in the islands include a theological school, a dea- coness training school, a publishing house, and a hospital. Methodism has the largest Protestant Church for Filipinos in the islands — the Knox Memorial Church in Manila, seating 1,500 people and valued at $40,000. To the Filipino, accus- tomed to a religion represented by great cathe- drals and massive church structures, churches like this one and like our Central Church (for Americans), valued at $20,000, testify to the solidity and permanence of Methodism in the Philippines. The Methodist Publishing House, located in the heart of the business section of Manila, sends out tracts and booklets printed in six languages and amounting to millions of pages annually. It prints the International Sunday School lessons in four languages, Tagalog, Pampanga, Ilocano, and Pangasinan. It prints literature for four other denominations, for the American Bible So- ciety, and the British and Foreign Bible Society. The defection from Methodism which took place under the leadership of Nicholas Zamora early in 1 909, has resulted in a fiasco. It has meant no lasting injury to Methodism there — only to many of its followers who have now drifted away from all religion. It has proved to Filipino Methodists that the presence and i leadership of Americans in the native church is for the present necessary. There has been a marked improvement in the spiritual condition of the churches since the defection. An incident illustrating the increasing strength and importance of Methodism in the Philippines was the great Methodist street procession held in Mexico. Pampanga Province, at the time of the Annual Conference session there in March, 1911. More than a thousand persons partici- pated, representatives coming from Methodist churches for miles around. The mayor of the city was the director of the procession. Nowhere have investments in Methodist na- tive preachers brought greater returns than in the Philippines. A native preacher on a salary of 12 pesos ($6) per month, during the year 1910 to 1911 created a new circuit on which were five new congregations, making a total of fifteen preaching places under his care; he also reported eight new chapels built or building and 1 40 new members received. Another received an appoint- ment in a new place without any promise of support from the mission other than the payment of his railway fare to the circuit and something tor his clothes; in six months he reported seventy- one new members and two chapels building. THE PRESSING NEEDS More missionaries are needed. Every mission- ary faces a task many times too big for his strength. A doubling of the force at once would in all probability bring the membership up to 100.000 in the next decade. Substantial churches are needed. The Fili- pinos accustomed to the beautiful cathedrals and to all the glamor and display of Catholicism do not understand what we have to offer them in our little and insignificant chapels, ofttimes with dirt doors, mouldy walls, and leaky roofs. Scholarships for the Florence B. Nicholson Bible Seminary are needed. Here are being trained the future leaders of Filipino Methodism. Congregations that have sprung up in all parts of the held are crying for preachers. More Methodist dormitories should be estab- lished in various educational centers, where young men attending the government institutions may be surrounded by the religious influences which are absolutely lacking in the colleges themselves. Such a dormitory is now under construction in Manila, and funds are needed for this building. There is need of a hospital for the Central and Northern Districts. There is only one Methodist Hospital in the islands — that of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society in Manila. The fact that fifty or sixty per cent of children born in the Philippines do not reach the age of one year is one indication of the dire need for medical work. A Christian college should be established in Manila in connection with the Florence B. Nich- olson Bible Seminary. Thirty acres of land have already been secured as a site for such a schooL GOOD INVESTMENTS $75 will support a theological student one year. $75 will make possible the support of a Filipino preacher. $ 1 00 will make possible the publication of much needed books. $100 will make possible the erection of a rural chapel. $250 will make possible the erection of a village church. $1,000 will make possible the erection of a church in a town. Send the money to the Missionary Secretaries 1 50 Fifth Avenue, New York City.