p ir- — --i r= — ^=n r=i r= i rtsa-— i r -a s W[ )t (gospel ^Uiroab ©unng: tfje TOorlb Mlar l ^ EMBRACING Report of the Foreign Secretary of The Christian and Missionary Alliance for the Year 1918 Christian Alliance Publishing Company 318 West 39th Street New York City G =i i - . i t- ■ i i i t= - i r i i — = i f= I ]BE Note : — The increased length of this Report, made necessary by the growth and expansion of our foreign work, has led to the decision not to include, as in former years, the separate reports for the different fields in the Foreign Secretary’s Report, to be printed for special circu- lation. We hope, however, to give the gist of the main field reports from w’eek to week in the Alliance Weekly. Report of Foreign Secretary 1918 HE sensation felt on November n, 1918, will not soon fade from the memory of those who, on that eventful day, heard the news, flashed by the cable the world around, that the armistice was-signed and' hostilities had ceased. The.'world war, the greatest and most awful war in history, was over, and hundreds of millions breathed a sigh of inexpressible relief and gratitude. Since then the eyes of the world have been turned toward Paris, where the Peace Conference is still grap- pling with problems of adjustment which appear to be all but as difficult as the earlier task of winning the war. It is yet too early to speak with certainty as to the ultimate terms of peace and the resultant world conditions with which to be reckoned. But this much seems certain, that 1919 marks the dawn of a new era as distinct as the beginning of the Protestant Reformat : on or the inauguration of Modern Missions. Old things have passed away, whether divisions of nations and races, stand- ards of thinking and acting, ideals and programs of individuals and governments, and all things are becoming new. In no sphere is this new era more marked than in the mis- sionary enterprise, where new conditions and forces, new plans and problems, new opportunities and responsibilities are plain- ly to be faced. The bearing of the war upon missions has been both varied and vital. These two mighty conflicts, the one military and the other missionary in character, directly oppo- site as they are in all their essential features — their impelling motive, their mode of conduct, their ultimate objective — are 3 yet vitally related one to the other, inasmuch as each bears so directly upon the divine purpose and program in the world. It is, therefore, fitting and important at the outset of this Re- port, which is to look back over the past year and forward to the coming year of our missionary work, to consider briefly some of the bearings of the world war upon worldwide mis- sions. THE WAR AND WORLDWIDE MISSIONS. The effects of the war upon missions have been both un- favorable and favorable. On the one hand, there have been many losses and handicaps ; on the other hand, some gains and advantages. I. Losses and Handicaps. Under this heading the following considerations may be mentioned : First, heavy additional burdens have been thrown upon missionary administration. One has but to recall the utter demoralization of ocean.travel during the war, the infrequency and irregularity of steamship sailings, the new difficulties at- tending the securing of passports, the ban placed on persons with German names despite their unquestionable American citizenship, the new and drastic restrictions imposed upon en- try into British and French foreign possessions, the ever shift- ing process of obtaining exemption from conscription for male missionary candidates of military age, the embargo on export of goods by freight, and the complicated regulations relating to the taking abroad, even as personal baggage, of many arti- cles of everyday use, to realize something of the heavy and trying burdens that have been laid upon Mission Boards and Secretaries. Again and again arrangements laboriously com- pleted for some outgoing party have at the last moment fallen through because of one or other of the above difficulties, and the work has all had to be done over again. Many weary days, 4 and sometimes nights, have had to be spent in unravelling miles of official red tape expressly designed, it would almost appear, to make simple and practical things complicated and confus- ing. Second, missionary work on some fields has suffered in- terruption and loss. This applies to portions of East and West Africa during the periods of fighting there, but more particularly to the Turkish Empire and Persia, millions of whose oppressed subjects have passed through untold afflic- tions. In these countries much mission property has been de- stroyed, normal work has for the time been paralyzed, Chris- tian converts have suffered shocking indignities and cruelties, missionaries have been under a terrific strain in their heroic efforts to succor the helpless victims of brutal Turkish perse- cutors, and some noble workers have succumbed to hardship and pestilence and have filled martyrs’ graves. Third, missionary forces and resources have been cut down by the calling home of many men from the fields to take their part in the war, by the impossibility of securing new recruits, and by the heavy financial drain of the war upon the lands which constitute the supporting base of missions. In this connection the painful fact has to be recorded that German missionary work has been almost wholly eliminated. The serious proportions which this loss assumes will be fully appreciated only when we consider that at the outbreak of the war there were twenty-seven German Protestant Missionary Societies, with fifty-seven subsidiary Societies, operating in foreign lands, with a staff of 2,400 missionaries and 9,000 native workers, with native churches numbering 720,000 mem- bers, mission schools with 240,000 pupils, and an annual ag- gregate income of two and a quarter millions of dollars. By far the greater part of this entire work has for the time been completely wiped out, and a native missionary community of 5 practically a million sou’s has been left shepherdless. And the saddest feature of it all is that, as regards the great major- ity of these misionaries and their work, there appears to be lit- tle prospect of reinstatement even after peace has been made. Thus this serious loss to the missionary enterprise in many of the largest fields promises to be not merely transient but per- manent. Fourth, missionaries have been subjected to not a few fresh trials. The increased cost of living has been practically universal, and has been felt in foreign lands even more keenly than at home, because of the exorbitant freight rates on neces- sary shipments of provisions, as well as the unprecedented rise of exchange in countries having a silver currency. There have been the new dangers and difficulties attending travel to and from the field. In a number of lands the missionaries have also had the added task of ministering to war troops or refu- gees. In many instances furloughs greatly needed have had to be postponed. In these and other ways the missionary body has been placed under a very heavy additional physical and mental strain. Fifth , there cannot be overlooked the grave moral effect of this war upon non-Christian races. The ghastly spec'acle of professing Christian nations engaged in such horrible slaughter of each other has rudely shocked the heathen world, and called forth in every mission field perp’exed questionings by bewildered converts and contemptuous scoffing by keen- minded heathen critics. This moral odium of the war is the greater, by reason of the fact that these different races have not merely viewed the spectacle from afar, but have been brought into intimate contact with it. The Japanese navy has been an active participant in war operations. A million natives of India have served in the British army. A quarter of a mil- lion Chinese have been and still are among the labor corps be- 6 hind the fighting lines in France. The black man of Africa has been called upon to help fight the white man’s battles in the Dark Continent. Every prominent group of islands in the Atlantic and the Pacific has been represented at the front, Thus the very ends of the earth have been brought together as never before, and the Orient has re-discovered the Occident— alas, not so much its strength as its weakness, not its virtues, but rather its vices. The bearing of all this upon foreign mis- sionary work is indeed very real. Western prestige has been irretrievably lowered in eastern lands, and the missionary’s task thereby rendered more difficult. II. Gains and Advantages. Over against these and other losses and handicaps, it is cheering to note some gains and advantages accruing to mis- sions from the war. First, there is the resultant political redistribution of ter- ritory. Christians everywhere will unite in feeling a sense of unspeakable relief, satisfaction, and gratitude that the Turk- ish power has at last been broken. The long and hideous record of that nation’s cruelty and crime, which has inflicted misery and murder upon millions of helpless subject races, is, we trust, at an end. The flag that has always stood for liberty has displaced the bloody flag of the star and crescent over old Jeru- salem. Palestine has been freed, as have also Arabia and Meso- potamia, and a new and infinitely brighter day of emancipation and of opportunity for the gospel is dawning throughout the Near East. There are reasons to believe, also, that the ex- change of certain territory in Africa and the Island world may be to the betterment of the tribes involved, and thus to the advantage of missionary work. Second, the closer relations brought about between France and the English-speaking powers through the war promise dis- 7 tinct advantage to missions. Some of the largest and neediest mission fields are under French control, and it is well known that the attitude of France towards Protestant Missions in the past has been mainly one of exclusion or opposition. Now, however, there are indications of a much more favorable atti- tude, the direct benefits of which to Alliance undertakings will be mentioned later. Third , the war has given to many an infinitely wider outlook of interest and sympathy for other nations. Parochial think- ing has given place to international thinking. Thousands of Christian young men and women who had never been away from home have crossed the seas and received their first vision of the needs and claims of other lands. May we not hope, and shall we not pray, that this war experience may prove for many of them a stepping stone toward the mission field, and also that missionary support will be strongly stimulated on the part of many who cannot go ? Fourth, the war has called forth a new dominant spirit of unselfish service and sacrifice. We have had a spectacle of splendid loyalty, heroism, and generosity. Life and treasure have been offered without stint. Surely all this has been a solemn rebuke and object lesson to the Church in her half- hearted attitude toward the cause entrusted to her by her Master. The revelation of what can be accomplished when the task, however great and hard, is faced with united will and courage throws a flood of light upon the still unsolved prob- lem of world evangelization, and if the Church will yield to conviction and awake at last to a worthier prosecution of her glorious task, even the frightful cost of the war will have its very real compensation, and mightier results than have ever yet been known will soon be realized in missions. The above are but a few of the contributions, so to speak, which the world war has made to the debit and the credit 8 sides respectively, of the missionary account. It may be ques- tioned by some whether what has been written has a legitimate place in this Report of Alliance Missions for the past year. But the -writer feels that, inasmuch as our work is but a part of a greater whole, we cannot rightfully estimate our particular task and problems or lay our further plans without first getting a view of the entire situation. And, moreover, the features of general loss and gain above cited are a necessary background for a full appreciation of the experiences of our own Alliance work during the trying period of the war, to which considera- tion we now proceed. ALLIANCE MISSIONS DURING THE WAR. While we have been called upon, along with other Societies, to bear our due share of the handicaps and disadvantages in- cident to the war, yet we have abundant reason to praise God for His special care and favor bestowed upon us through these terrible years of conflict. A few outstanding features call for mention. I. At the Home End. i. Stability. The Alliance movement has been permitted by God to undergo a new and painful test in the fact that its honored and beloved founder and president has for a year and a half been almost wholly removed from its counsels and ac- tivities, owing to a breakdown due to the severe strain of many years of unremitting labors. The fact, for which we owe de- vout thanks to God, that the work in all its branches has suf- fered no setback but has rather gone forward with steadily in- creasing momentum and widening scope is the best evidence of its divine origin, and is at the same time the highest tribute to the solidity of the foundations laid for it in the message and ministry of its human founder. Never have the conventions had a larger attendance, a stronger message, a deeper spiritual 9 tune, or richer practical results than during the past year, and the response to the missionary appeal both for men and for money has been greater far than ever before. 2. Support. Despite the seriously increased cost of living, the unsettled economic conditions, and multiplied financial appeals in connection with the war, our missionary receipts have not merely held their own, but have shown an unprece- dented increase. The gross receipts through the Treasurer for the past four years aggregate the large sum of $954,701.22,3 record far in excess of any similar period before the war, while the advance in income from year to year during the ac- tual war period has amounted to 25 per cent, in 1915, 13 per cent, in 1916, 29 per cent, in 1917, and 17 per cent, in 1918. II. At the Foreign End. 1. Non-interruption of Work. It is surely cause for grati- tude, considering the wide distribution of Alliance Missions in fourteen different countries, that, with the single exception of Palestine, the entire work has gone forward during the war period without a day’s interruption or interference. And the interval during which all of our Palestine missionaries were compelled to be off that field was a brief one of barely one year. In every other field open doors have been multiplied, and opportunities for service along every line have been better than ever before. 2. Few Casualties. Here again is an evidence of the Lord’s gracious keeping power, that during years of such peculiar danger and strain, with perils from submarines and mines at sea, civil war and brigandage in China, disturbed conditions everywhere, and added to all this during the past year a world- wide epidemic of influenza, the losses by death in our mission- ary ranks, which now number 300, have been so few. For the past four years the total deaths have numbered only nine. 10 True, these losses have been felt keenly, including as they do some of our oldest and most efficient workers. Yet such deaths do not spell defeat, but are rather a part of the price of ulti- mate victory for the Master’s cause. 3. Increase of Missionary Staff. In cheering contrast to the experience of many other societies, we have had the unique record, through the goodness of God, of a steady increase in our missionary ranks. At the end of 1914 they comprised 259 missionaries. Notwithstanding the demands of the war and the enforcement during this last year of military conscription in the United States, eight new missionaries were sent out during 1915, twenty-seven during 1916, twenty-five during 1917, and twenty during 1918, making a total of eighty for the four years. Deducting the removals by death and retiral for the same period, this reinforcement raises the staff to 300 at the end of 1918, a net increase of forty-one during the war period. It should be added that five more recruits, appointed during 1918, were prevented from going to the field only by transportation difficulties arising out of the war, and expect soon to sail. And now, at this writing, twenty other candidates have already been accepted and appointed to the various fields with the hope of all being sent out this year. The addition of these, not to speak of still more under consideration, will raise our missionary staff to the unprecedented number of 325. 4. Largest Evangelistic Results. The total number of bap- tisms on all fields during the past four years is 5,630. This is far in excess of any previous record for the same length of time, and is a true and gratifying evidence that the toil and sacrifice of the earlier years were not in vain, but that the seed so faithfully sown in tears is bearing its certain fruitage, and in ever increasing measure as the years pass. It is particularly cheering that these war years, with all their added difficulties and distractions, far from showing a falling off in direct re- 11 suits, should actually record the largest ingathering of souls in the history of the work. 5. Expansion of Field and Operations. We have become familiar during these recent years with' two kinds or stages of warfare. For considerable periods at a time there was trench warfare alone, and all that the allied troops could do was to hold grimly on to what they had already gained, suc- cessfully resisting all attempts to dislodge them. But when sufficient men and munitions reached the front, trench warfare gave place to forward drives, and all along the line it was a continuous series of “going over the top.” Just so has it been in Alliance missionary operations. The first year of the war saw our work struggling under the handicap of limited forces and resources, and it was only by dint of prayerful persever- ance that retrenchment was obviated. But God graciously brought us through this period of testing, relieved the strin- gency, and, by sending us more liberal supplies, enabled us to plan and project forward movements on many of our fields. As an indication of the substantial expansion of the work within our already occupied fields, it is to be noted that during 1915 there were fifty-eight new centers of work opened as either stations or outstations; during 1916, seventeen more; during 1917, eighty-six; during 1918, sixty-five. This means that our points of occupation have actually increased within four years from 271 to 497, a gain of eighty-three per cent. But still more encouraging is the fact that on several fields the advances have not been merely within the old areas of occupation, but into new territory lying adjacent to our fields but hitherto be- yond all missionary effort. As these advances have taken place mainly during the last year, more detailed mention of them will be made under t he next heading. 12 FEATURES OF THE WORK IN 1918. We have come now to the record of Alliance Missions for the past year in particular. As regards external conditions, it has been a year of pecul- iar trial and difficulty. Not only did all the obstructive features of the war already mentioned reach their highest pitch during the last year of the terrific struggle, but an added and heavy blow came in the form of a distressing scourge of influenza which swept ruthlessly round the entire world, leaving not one of our mission fields untouched. Many deaths occurred in nearly every foreign country as well as in the homeland. Quite a number of our missionaries were themselves attacked, and the hands of all of them were made the fuller by the work of ministering to the natives who were stricken down. West Africa and India appear to have been the worst sufferers of all. In Freetown, the coast port of our Soudan field, 2,000 deaths occurred within a month. The disease spread inland, and it was reported that the monkeys, as well as human beings, were attacked and succumbed in great numbers. Throughout India the malady raged with terrific effect, and the reports from our missionaries were heart-rending. In most of our large stations thousands were swept off like flies, while many villages were literally wiped out. We mourn the loss of not a few of our India Christians, including several devoted native workers. Poor India’s cup of sorrow has been exceptionally full, for in her case this epidemic was preceded by a visitation of the deadly bubonic plague, which also took many lives, and has in turn been followed by another dreadful famine that still holds her in its cruel grip. This time the famine area is unusually wide, involving 150,000,000 people. Both of our Alliance fields are affected, and once more our dear India workers are laid under the extra burden of admin- istering famine relief. 13 It is surely no small cause for joy and thanksgiving that, under worldwide conditions such as have just been outlined, 1918 has again proved to be a record year in our work. 1. Finances. The total receipts through the treasurer for all pur- poses were $306,855.37. This represents an advance of seventeen per cent, over the previous year and a striking gain of fifty per cent, in our income within two years. The actual remit- tances to our foreign fields, together with moneys sent direct and contributed on the field, amounted to $286,194.09. This substantially increased support provided for full personal al- lowances to our missionaries without a single month’s excep- tion, as well as more liberal allowances for general running expenses, enabled the Board to meet the extra heavy demands of transportation and adverse money exchange, and provided for an increase of $42,000.00 worth of property on the fields. In addition to a large and growing number of Alliance branches and individual friends who so nobly gave, many of them at great sacrifice, for the support of this work, we would again mention gratefully the sympathetic co-operation of the Pennsylvania Conference of Mennonite Brethren and the Mis- sionary Church Association, who continue the support of twen- ty and twelve missionaries respectively, as well as further much appreciated donations through our beloved friend of many years, Rev. Wm. E. Blackstone, from the Milton Stew- art Evangelistic Fund, for buildings and other special objects on several fields. 2. Eifangelism. As always, this phase of work has had the pre-eminent place on every field, and the reports indicate that gospel preaching has been pressed with almost unusual vigor, despite serious hindrance from epidemics of influenza practically everywhere. In crowded cities and remote hamlets alike, in the street chapels of China and Japan, the bazaars of India, the public squares of African bush towns, in tent and 14 plaza in South America, on street corners in Porto Rico and the Philippines, in every place and by every means the mes- sage of salvation has been faithfully heralded. In one station district in India the missionary reports hav- ing preached to over 20,000 during a single touring season. In Congo the native Mission workers conducted 23,370 serv- ices in villages, while 12,651 additional services were held by other Christians. One station in Central China reports twen- ty-four country trips, aggregating 224 days, during which 184 market towns and villages were visited. A married couple in South China, in charge of a big station, spent ninety days of the year in the country, and their Biblewoman, 182 days. Mr. Francis, in Japan, reports three whole months given to itiner- ating, while Mr. Lund, in the Philippines, made frequent trips to neighboring islands as well as on the mainland of Minda- nao, preaching to Moro communities. A series of special evan- gelistic services was conducted at several points in the coast field of Ecuador, by Messrs. Polk and Simmonds, while a new effort was made by Messrs. Crisman and Johnston on the Sierra, in the face of some opposition and insult, to dispose of Scriptures at railway stations and on trains. A feature calling for special mention is the organizing of evangelistic bands in both Central and Western China for the systematic visitation of all the towns and villages of the dis- trict surrounding our various stations. In West China, for instance, three of five regular evangelists who volunteered for this strenuous service were released from local work and have worked successively under the different missionaries in their districts. In one large county of Minchow they labored for fifty-six days, travelled over 500 miles, visited eight market towns and ninety-one villages, preached 264 times to 7,000 people, and did a great deal of personal work besides. As an immediate result, there were eighteen who openly professed Christ before their fellow-villagers. Then, after a few days spent in rest and special prayer, they proceeded to the Titao district. Here, with the help of other local volunteers, two bands were formed. In two weeks’ time these bands together covered more than 200 miles, visited 138 villages, and preached 301 times to 3,300 hearers. Such systematic work is planned as a permanent feature, with the object of reaching every corner of this entire field and thus fulfilling the task of initial evangelizationn. 3. Baptisms and Converts. No other feature of the year gives us quite such joy as the fact of 1,897 baptisms. This is much the largest number in any single year, and is an increase of thirty-three per cent, over the year 1917, the highest previ- ous record. It raises the total number of recorded baptisms in the history of our foreign work to 15,175. Congo alone had the remarkable number of 908 baptisms last year, the China, Chile, and India fields coming next in order. In addition, 2,835 en ' rolled enquirers are reported, most, if not all, of whom have professed to accept the Saviour. We praise God for such precious spiritual fruit which is being borne in increasing measure each succeeding year. Some wonderful cases of conversion are mentioned in the field reports. One is that of a man in Chile who was actually planning the murder of a hated enemy, when he heard the gospel on one of our stations and was convicted and saved. Another whole family in the same field was gloriously con- verted. The husband was a terrible slave of drink, the family was reduced to dire straits, and the wife’s heart had been filled with hatred against him. But Jesus found and saved them all, and now happiness reigns in the home, which is thrown open for gospel work. From Central China comes the word of the conversion of a man of learning and position. He was former- ly the intimate friend of the notorious Hunanese scholar, 16 Chao Han, who twenty-nine years ago published the vilest and most slanderous anti-Christian literature ever circulated in China. This literature was the direct cause of a series of anti-foreign riots in the Yangtse valley, in which a number of missionaries were murdered, Chao Han is still in custody for his devilish work, but his friend has come into the light and liberty of the gospel. In Japan the son of a Buddhist priest was brought to Christ. In Indo-China it has been noticeable that many educated and high class people attend the gospel services, and among those baptized were a merchant of high standing and a professor of prominence in educational circles. In the meetings which it was the writer’s privilege to address on his recent visit to Porto Rico there were quite a few influential people, includ- ing the mayor of one city and several professional men. Thus the gospel is gaining entrance among all classes, and the Lord is magnifying His name in the conversion of needy souls of every kind. 4. The Native Church. The reports show, with few excep- tions, marked development in the spiritual life of the native churches as well as in numbers. Bible study conferences have become a yearly feature in most of our fields. Special services for Christians were held by our own or visiting missionaries of prominence and power among the stations of Central and West China, India, and Chile, and were attended with rich re- sults. In South China a systematic visitation of the churches by a deputation of foreign and native workers, with the two- fold object of spiritual quickening and stimulating along the line of financial self-support, has had most gratifying results. Several fields, notably Chile and Central China, tell of remark- able healings by God through the prayer of faith. Self-support has advanced a longer step than in any pre- vious year. Native free-will offerings amounted to $15,278.40, 17 an increase of $3,196.23 over 1917, and a number more churches have become fully or largely self-supporting, and have been granted a corresponding degree of self-govern- ment. Some of the largest regular Alliance congregations are now in the foreign fields. In Congo we have four churches, erected with native funds, which seat from 800 to 1,300 people, and some of these are already becoming too small for their con- gregations. The Maduda church, for example, which received 369 new members by baptism last year, has grown so large as to necessitate its division into four congregations, and still the buildings do not hold all who attend the services. This church has sixty-six outschools and sub-outschools in its dis- trict, in charge of fourteen paid and forty-five unpaid teach- ers. Besides supporting all its own workers and building its own churches, it a' so supports two teachers in Kinkonzi dis- trict and gives one-tenth of all its afferings to work in other mission fields. The Yema church has now 750 members, and these contributed last year 5,074 francs. Of a total of 192 native teachers in Congo, 101, or more than half, received no Mission pay. All fields cannot, of course, report such large churches. In some few, where conditions are very different, the believers are yet only a tiny group, and our sixteen fields present striking contrasts in the number of Christians and the degree of self- support. Argentina offerings reached the very high average of $12.40 per member. Porto Rico, $5.70 per member, and the average for our entire fields was $1.45. In terms of the home- land, this represents an average ten or twenty times as great, when we consider the extreme poverty, the mere pittance of a wage, and the small proportion of wage earners among the members. 5. Schoohvork. Sunday Schools continue to be a prominent and fruitful factor in every field. They now number 145, a gain of three last year, but for some reason the total number of scholars decreased from 8,364 to 7,683. Primary Day Schools number 261, an increase of 44, and have an enrollment of 5,878 scholars. By far the largest num- ber of these are in Congo. In our China fields the enrollment in Primary and Middle Schools has somewhat diminished as a consequence of the decision by the missionaries to increase school fees, and thus throw the financial burden of this branch of the work more upon the Christians and other natives who are using the schools. We regard this as clearly a forward rather than a backward step, and for the ultimate good of the native church, no less than for the relief of the Mission treas- ury, and have confidence that the Chinese will measure up to what is expected of them. School fees already show, the ef- fect of this new policy, and, for all the fields, reach a new rec- ord of $8,060.86, a gratifying advance of $1,775.00. There are twelve Middle Schools with 372 pupils, and seven Bible Train- ing Schools with 1 16 students. This is a reduction, due mainly to the interruption of work in Palestine, the temporary clos- ing of the West China Training School for the erection of new buildings, and the delay in reopening the Congo Training School, owing to the lack of available missionary teachers until recently. Chile, Argentina, Porto Rico, and Japan are all in need and desirous of beginning Training Schools, and one of the greatest needs is for well qualified and consecrated men for this vital department of our missionary work, upon which its strong development so largely depends. The English schoolwork at Shanghai, China, conducted by Mr. and Mrs. Woodberry and family among the well-to-do Chinese of that great and most advanced metropolis of the Republic, continues large and fruitful. It embraces scholars of both sexes and all grades from kindergarten to High School. 19 and reports a total enrollment of 137 for the year. The Girls’ Academy at Zamboanga, P. I., under the care of Mrs. Lund, has had a year of unusual blessing. A new, com- modious, and attractive building has been completed, with ad- joining recreation grounds, and there are sixty bright and promising boarding scholars. Two special phases of schoolwork call for mention. The first of these is the India Orphanages, now three in number, with a total of sixty-three boys and 200 girls at the end of 1918. This number may be considerably increased under the pressure of the present famine. The reports of the workers in charge are full of interest and contain touches of real pathos. The work has been strenuous, and has required no little faith and patience. Epidemics of whooping cough, measles, and in- fluenza imposed a severe added strain. But God has gracious- ly blessed this work, which has insistently kept the highest spiritual end in view. Kaira reports twenty-three girls bap- tized during the year and thirty-seven others enrolled as en- quirers. At Khamgaon twelve girls were baptized, and nearly all the boys at Dholka are Christians except those recently ad- mitted. These orphanages have proved training schools in embryo, and not a few of the orphans have become Mission workers, while most of the other graduates are living con- sistent and useful Christian lives. There is also the Home and School for blind children at Kwai Ping, South China, under the care of Rev. and Mrs. W. G. Smith. The inmates have now increased to about sixty in number, the old accommodations are altogether inadequate, and plans are in hand for a new and larger building. Not only have these unfortunate waifs been rescued from vice and mis- ery, but most of them have been brightly converted and are in turn bringing others to Christ by their example and testimony. Many of the older ones accompany Mrs. Smith or the Bible- 20 woman on country trips and visits to outstations. Together they contributed last year 376 days to such service, and the striking change wrought in them by the gospel has made a profound impression upon many. 6. Christian Literature. This is another essential and most valuable adjunct of the work. Chile reports 33,000 tracts dis- tributed and 558 Bibles and Testaments sold; South China, over 100,000 gospel portions and tracts, and in one station district of Central China 27,000 gospel portions were sold. These are not exceptions, but rather samples of what is done in nearly every field. South China, Chile, Argentina, and Porto Rico publish their own Mission papers, and four Al- liance presses are in operation. The largest of these is the South China Alliance Press, located at Wuchow. Its work has reached such large proportions that its output of Bible literature runs to several million pages a year. Its main pub- lication, The Bible Magazine, is a bi-monthly of eighty or more pages, edited by Rev. R. A. Jafifray, and devoted entirely to Bible exposition along full gospel lines. It has over 3,000 subscribers in all parts of China, and last year a Korean edi- tion was begun which already has a circulation of 1,500. During 1918 Mr. Jafifray has added two expository volumes on Leviticus and Romans, as well as several timely tracts, to the large number of booklets and tracts previously issued from this Press. The Press at Hanoi, Indo-China, has done good service in publishing an Annamese Hymnal and many gospel tracts. Our Indo-China work has had a tremendous handicap in the fact of the utter lack of Scriptures in the Annamese colloquial. The missionaries have, therefore, had to give themselves to the task of translation, the heaviest share falling to Rev. and Mrs. W. C. Cadman. Through the help and blessing of God upon this effort, the revisions of the four Gospels, Acts, Romans, 21 and Genesis have been completed, and are now being put through the press by the British and Foreign Bible Society, while work is now proceeding upon the remainder of the New Testament. 7. Advances into New Territory. As a fitting climax to this series of encouraging features of the past year comes the fact that on a number of our fields the old boundaries of the work have been overrun and the “regions beyond’’ have been penetrated. The wedge of missionary impact has been driven a little farther into Tibet through a successful visit to the famous monastery center of La Brang. On all previous visits our missionaries have been promptly ejected. Last year one of our workers, in company with a doctor of the China Inland Mission, again visited La Brang, and through the favor of a high Buddhist functionary were permitted to remain for two weeks. The time was well utilized in doing personal work and distributing Gospels and tracts, as well as ministering to phys- ical needs. Who can estimate the effect upon the evangeliza- tion of this forbidden land that such a visit to this command- ing center of influence may have? In South China Mr. and Mrs. Oldfield have begun to realize their long cherished hopes by going “over the top” into the unoccupied northwestern half of Kwangsi, and have opened a station in the city of King Yuen, thus establishing the first work among the long neglected aborigines of the province. In French Indo-China the addition of five new' missionaries has made possible an extension of plans. Already the impor- tant forward step has been taken of occupying Sa ; gon, the largest port city and capital of the southernmost province of Cochin China. With this new station added to Tourane and Hanoi, we now hold three of the largest centers and most strategic bases — south, central, and north — for evangelizing this great gospel-starved land of 20,000,000 souls. 22 In India, the opening gained two years ago into the desti- tute county of Daryapur has been developed, several hundred souls have already been gathered in, and a station is being equipped and manned in the county seat. From each of our South American fields comes the cheer- ing news of advance. The Argentine Mission, even whde passing through some internal testings, has pushed out cour- ageously into the vast unoccupied territory westward and opened three new cities. Similarly our Chilean brethren have pressed onward and outward until they now occupy the most southerly points touched by missions in the so-called “Shoe- string Republic,” with the single exception of the port of Punta Arenas, which lies at the very southern tip of the conti- nent, and is cut off from the main part of Chile except by sea. The pioneer efifort among the Mapuche Indians has been pushed energetically, a score or two of souls have already been won, a station has been opened, and a chapel is being built. Our field, high up on the Andes in Ecuador, has been extended by the opening of a Quichua Indian station forty miles north of Quito, and the year has seen the long projected expedition to the savage Indians in the extreme east of Ecuador actua’ly accomplished. Messrs. Polk and Johnston spent over four months exploring that wild and dangerous region, and have recently returned in safety, bringing back useful data upon which further plans will be based. The climax of these forward movements has been in our African fields. Our Report last year told of the obtaining of permission from the French Colonial officials to enter French Guinea, adjacent to our Sierra Leone field. With joy we are now able to chronicle the fact that such permission has been fully granted and promptly acted upon, so that already that great new Soudan field has been entered, and Messrs. Rose- berry and Ryan have established headquarters in the town of 23 Baro, on a large branch of the Niger River. The case of the French Congo, lying directly north of our present field in Bel- gian and Portuguese Congo, is only a step behind in our plans and operations. During the year the General Conference of Missions in Congo assigned to our Society the greater part of this vast area of French Congo, with its 8,000,006 benighted souls, thus making our field ten times greater than before, and, with the reinforcing of our Congo stafif, the Executive Com- mittee there has seen its way to set apart two missionary breth- ren as pioneers to this new field, with the prayerful hope that permanent entrance will be granted us as in the Soudan. And so, by these two new openings, several millions of un- touched Africans have become accessible and have been added to our foreign parish of trust and responsibility. DEPARTMENT MATTERS. Before closing this Report with a final glance at the pros- pects ahead, a few matters in connection with the administra- tive end of the work call for a word of mention. 1. Missionary Home. The need for a Home for such of our missionaries on furlough as are not otherwise provided for has been recognized for several years, and has been discussed at various times. Yet no progress has been made, at least toward securing such a home in the vicinity of headquarters, where it seems to be the general opinion that it should be located. The Missionary Home at Denver, so generously donated some five years ago by Mr. and Mrs. Lewis, is ideal in many fea- tures, and has ministered most helpfully to such of our mis- sionaries as have been able to avail themselves of it. But the number of these has been extremely small on account of the location of the Home, and the question is whether this will not necessarily always be so, and whether we can hope that a Home so far from our center can ever meet the real and grow- ing need on this line. 24 2. Home for Missionary Children. This is, if possible, an even more urgent need. We have at present 104 missionary children on the allowance list, and the number is more likely to increase than to decrease. Of this number there are obvi- ously always quite a proportion at an age requiring schooling which cannot be secured in most of our foreign fields, besides which the feature of climate adds to the necessity of many of the children coming home for schooling. The closing of the Wilson Academy a year ago leaves us with no provision for this need. That it is a vital one should be readily apparent to all. For the lack of such provision a number of our mis- sionary mothers have had to remain at home for years at a time with their children, and many more will doubtless have to do the same thing as time goes on. If we are not to con- sider reopening the Academy, the difficulty may be satisfac- torily solved, at least to a large extent, by providing a Home for the missionary children where their physical, social, and spiritual needs will be carefully looked after while they attend the public Grammar and High Schools. But this involves the need both of money for buildings, equipment, and upkeep, and — what is still more important — of someone definitely called and fitted by God for the sacred work of making a Home, in every sense of that word, for the missionary children. It is a serious question if the need will be fully met without separate Homes for boys and girls, and this doubles the problem of sup- ply. 3. Special Support for Native Workers. A word seems called for on this subject, inasmuch as the Department is meet- ing with increasing difficulty in dealing with it. There has been such a disposition on the part of contributors to designate their offerings for the support of special native workers that in scarcely any field is there any longer a worker left to as- sign. More than this, the missionaries do not, as a rule, en- 25 courage the plan, because of the extra labor of correspondence involved, as well as the liability to confusion on account of the frequent changes and irregularities in connection with the na- tive workers. The help of our home workers is sought in ex- plaining this situation to contributing friends and bringing them to appreciate the advantage of having gifts unspecified as far as possible, so that they may be applied to the heavy run- ning expenses of the work, which bear no less vitally upon the direct spiritual results than does the support of the work- ers themselves. 4. Department Work. The first four months of 1918 were spent by the Foreign Secretary in visiting our South American and Jamaica fields. Conventions and deputational work have also occupied weeks of time. Recently he made a necessary visit to Porto Rico, and important interests of the work se;m:d to make desirable a somewhat extended trip this autumn to Palestine and India. The strongest appeals are now before the Board from both of our African fields for an eaily Secre- tarial visit to them. It is unmistakably clear to those most con- versant with missionary work that the highest good of both its foreign and home end requires fairly frequent official visita- tion of the fields. Since sixteen fields are involved, this, of necessity, calls for a considerable portion of a Secretary’s time. And when, in addition to this, the many other Department du- ties — field matters requiring Board action, correspondence, candidates, transportation, free literature, and a host of office details — are considered, it becomes all too apparent that our present stafif is no longer adequate for the steadily increasing demands. The need of an efficient associate or assistant secre- tary is deeply felt, and the matter is laid before the Council for definite prayer. 26 SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK. We turn finally from a review of the past to a contemplation of the future. Can we have traced the hand of God in His faith- ful leadings and blessings thus far, and especially can we have reflected upon His signal providences and favor in our beha'f during these years of war, without the conviction laying hold upon us that God has longer and larger use for the Christian and Missionary Alliance, as a vine of His own planting, and that our best and biggest service for Him and the world is still ahead? While the work of not a few other missionary Socie- ties has suffered interruption, ours has suffered almost none. While others’ ranks have been diminished and their treasuries depleted, we have been blessed with a steady increase of men and means. While others, in many instances, must now face difficult problems of reconstruction, and spend time and effort in repairing breaches, filling up gaps, and making good the losses sustained through the war, we have been graciously spared such necessity, and are free to give ourselves at once to an aggressive advance. Our missionary ranks, both of for- eign and of native workers, are stronger in numbers and qual- ity, and in better form than ever before for the task that con- fronts them. Called by God from the first to be a pioneer agency for the “regions beyond,” the Lord has guided this movement beyond the wisdom of man, so that at this strategic hour we find our- selves strategically situated, occupying advanced positions in the missionary battle line, and in close relation to many of the greatest remaining unoccupied areas of the missionary world. Surely God is counting on us as one of His eleventh heur forces, to finish the task assigned to His Church for this age by completing the witness of the gospel to earth’s remotest bounds. In the light of the past and what He has privileg'd us to accomplish, in the light of the present and what yet re- 27 mains to be done, in the light of the new lessons the war has taught us and the new standards it has set us for Christian service, in the light of the multiplying signs that the end of the age draws near apace — the night when no man can work, in the light of His soon coming and the desire for His word, “Well done,” are we not called upon, yea challenged, to meas- ure up to the Lord’s highest thought and our fullest ability through Him? The story is told of how Michael Angelo, the famous sculptor and painter, after scrutinizing the production of one of his promising pupils, took a brush and wrote across the painting the one Latin word “AMPLIUS” (larger). The master was not discouraging his pupil, but the reverse. The effort was good so far as it went,, but it was too sma'I, too cramped; it needed larger, bolder outlines. Just so, our Di- vine Master is writing across the page of Alliance testimony and effort at home and abroad the same word *‘AMPLIUS.” He is saying, as to Israel of old : “Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habita- tion. Lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes.” This was Carey’s text for that memorable sermon at Kettering, which, by God’s power, gave birth to the Modern Missionary Era. From it he drew his famous motto, “Attempt Great Things for God — Expect Great Things from God.” Today we stand on the threshold of a new day of worlawde need and opportunity. Eternal issues are at stake. Infinite possi- bilities loom before us. Shall we not go forth in the spirit of Carey’s motto, and in the proffered power of the Spirit of Christ, to meet these possibilities and turn them into ac- tualities ! 28 <2£ur &oU of Jlonor. Four noble missionary comrades were transferred during 1918 from service on earth to rest in heaven. Three of these — Rev. Wm. J. Ramsey, Mrs. Isa Moodie, and Rev. Samuel H. Auernheimer — belonged to our India Mission, and died on the field. Miss Jo- sephine Harris, of our Congo Mission, passed away while in the homeland. All were old workers, true and tried, and greatly beloved and honored by all who knew them. Together they gave to God and the mis- sion field seventy-nine years of telling service. Their removal leaves a painful gap in the ranks of these two fields, and intensifies the call for reinforcements. Irene Ekvall, the little seven-year-old daughter of Rev. and Mrs. M. E. Ekvall of Central China, also passed away at Wuchang, China, on October 21, 1918. •29 Do You Know That the Christian and Missionary Alliance is working in sixteen foreign fields and preaching the gospel in twenty- two foreign languages? That it has over 300 missionaries and between 600 and 700 native workers doing full service? That it was among the pioneers of Hunan and Kwangsi prov- inces in China? That it holds three positions within the forbidden land of Tibet ? That it has a station among the Subano pagan tribe in the Southern Philippines? That it is the only evangelical mission in French Indo-China with 20,000,000 people? That it built the first evangelical chapels in Ecuador and Yenezue'a ? That it has in the last two years secured an entrance and won two score of converts among the Mapuche Indians of Chile? That it has just conducted a four months’ expedition from Quito, Ecuador, into the untouched savage Indian region at the very heart of South America? That it has entered the great unevangelized French Soudan, where the first station has just been opened? That during the four years of the war it sent out eighty new missionaries, added 214 new native workers, and occu- pied 226 new stations and out-stations? That it has within twenty-eight years baptized 15,175 heathen converts ? That it has a parish of over 40,000,000 heathen souls for which it is exclusively responsible? That for every $58.00 donated in 1917 one precious heathen soul was won to Christ and baptized ? That it is praying and hoping to be able to send out at least fifty new missionaries during 1919? That it is looking to God for an increase of its missionary in come during 1919 from a little over $300,000.00 to $500,- 000.00, to cover its program of reinforcements and pro- jected advances? 30 A Umq ue Missionary War Record During the four years of the world war the Christian and Missionary Alliance INCREASED its Missionary Income 112 per cent. SENT OUT 80 new Missionaries. ADDED 142 Native W orkers. OPENED 226 new Stations and Outstations. BAPTIZED 5,630 Heathen Converts. ENTERED new fields in China, Indo-China, India. Sou- dan, Congo, South America. Summary of Statistics for the Foreign Field Fields 16 Scholars in Day Stations 10S Schools . . . 5.878 Outstations 389 Middle Boarding Missionaries 300 Schools . . . 12 Native Workers 601 Scholars in Boarding Baptized during 1918 . . 1,897 Schools . . . 372 Baptized from the be- Bible Training Schools ginning 15475 - Organized Churches . . . 1 18 Students in Training Present Full Communi- Schools . . . 1 16 cants 10,561 Native Church Offer- Enrolled Inquirers .... 2,835 ings, 1918. . $I5,278._-o Sunday Schools 145 School Fees collected, Scholars in Sunday 1918 ..... SS 060.6S Schools 7,683 Value of Mission Prop- Primary Day Schools.. 261 ertv $459,679 00 Contributions may be sent to David Crear, Treasurer, and en- quiries addressed to Foreign Secretary, both at 690 Eighth Avenue, New York City. 3i Some of Our Publications Al(ia nceNJfeekly A Journal of 0\ris(iaa Life ar\d M ; ssions Published Weekly at $2.00 per year The YOUTH’S COUNSELLOR Published weekly for the encouragement and inspiration of young Christians. Contains stories, missionary news, a special page for children, and Sunday School lesson helps for young and old. 65c a year; five or more to one address, 50c a year. INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY SCHOOL COURSE Senior Full Junior Full Gospel Quarterly Gospel Quarterly 25c a year; single copy, 7c; five or more to one address, 5c per quarter; 16c each a year. 20c a year; single copy, 5c; five or more to one address, 4c per quarter; 15c each a year. LITTLE OVERCOMERS Published monthly in weekly parts, for use in beginners’ classes. A ray of sunshine, carrying a weekly message easily grasped by the little heart, 25c a year; five or more to one address, 20c a year. CHRISTIAN ALLIANCE PUBLISHING CO. 318 West 39th Street New York City.