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 Manual 
 
 OF THE 
 
 FOREIGN MISSION BOARD 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ; 
 
 l^APTIST CONYENTIOS OF OKTARIO AND QUEBEC. 
 
 \ 
 
 FOR THE USE OF 
 
 MISSIONARIES AND MISSIONARY CANDIDATES. 
 
 Revised, iSgy. 
 
 TORONTO: 
 
 Baptist Book Room, 9 Richmond St. West, 
 1897 
 
i 
 
ANUAL 
 
 OF 
 
 THE 
 
 FORIilQN MISSION BOAVD 
 
 OF THE 
 
 BAPTIST CONVENTION OF ONTARIO AND QUEBEC. 
 
 FOR THE USE OF 
 
 MISSIONARIES AND MISSIONARY CANDIDATES. 
 
 Revised, iSgy. 
 
 TORONTO: 
 
 Bapiist Book Room, 9 Richmond St. West, 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2018 with funding from 
 Columbia University Libraries 
 
 https://archive.org/details/manualofforeignmOObapt 
 
Introduction. 
 
 Hie one supreme business of tiie Cluircli of Glirist 
 is tlie “ discipline of tlie nations.” No believer in 
 the Lord Jesus Christ is exempt from this appointed 
 service. Whethei' he o-oes into the far field or 
 remains at home he is under eipial oblieation to his 
 Redeemer and Lord to give his life to this service. 
 Those abroad and those at home are to share with 
 each other whatever burdens are involved in the 
 earnest effort to “preach the o-ospel to every crea¬ 
 ture.” 
 
 The infinite spiritual interests involved in this 
 work, and the motives and forces essential to its 
 ethcient prosecution oug-ht ever to be paramount in 
 our thoughts. Whether at home or abroad, provid¬ 
 ing the means or proclaiming the tidings, all alike 
 need the indwelling and enduement of the Spirit of 
 God. Candidates for service in the field should 
 offer their service only as they are moved by a sense 
 of a divine call to the work. None have the 
 right to regard themselves as true, intelligent fol¬ 
 lowers of Jesus who do not realize a divine call 
 either to go into the field or to provide the means 
 to sustain efficiently in the work those who are 
 called to o'o. In all there should be the clear eon- 
 sciousness, “the love of Christ constraineth us.” For 
 His sake the missionary should be willing to endure 
 
4 MANUAL OF THE FOREIGN MISSION BOARD. 
 
 hardships and make sacvitices. Soalso sliould tliose 
 wlio remain at liome. 'Fite prevalence of this spirit 
 will insure harmonious and helpful relations be¬ 
 tween the missionaries themselves, and between 
 them and the Board and those whom the Board 
 I'epresents. 
 
 While this IManual is restricted chiefly to matters 
 of business relations between the Board and the 
 missionaries, the fact is not overlooked that cordial 
 and effective co-operation depend less on formal 
 rules than on the common experience of the divine 
 o-race that inspires mutual forbearance and confi¬ 
 dence, and instils in the soul a self-forgettino- enthu¬ 
 siasm for Christ. 
 
 The Board. 
 
 “The Foreio-n IMission Board of the Baptist Con¬ 
 vention ” was incorporated by Act of the ffominion 
 I’arlianient, passed in 1881), in succession to the 
 Baptist Foreio-n Missionary Society of Ontario 
 and Quebec. Its mend)ers are appointed by the 
 Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec, a body 
 composed strictly of deleo-ates re])resentino- the 
 associated Baptist Churches of the two Provinces. 
 It is composed of twelve members elected directly 
 by the Convention, and one member fnmi each 
 of the Associations of the body, ap])ointed by the 
 Convention on nomination of his Association, to 
 o-ether with the Cenei'al Secretarv, ex-ollicio. Its 
 ofhcers are a Chairman, a Vice-Chairman, a Secre- 
 
MANUAL OF THE FOREIGN MISSION BOARD. 
 
 5 
 
 tary, a 'rreasuver, and an Execntive Connnittee of 
 nine nicnibers. Its object is “ tlie prosecution of 
 mission work outside of Canada,” and it is re([nired 
 to make a report annually to the Convention on 
 the work under its care. 
 
 Women’s Boards. 
 
 Auxiliary to the Ceneral Board are two Women’s 
 Societies—the Women’s Foreio'ii Missionary Society 
 of Ontario and the Women’s Foreign IMissionary 
 Society of Eastern Ontario and Quebec. These 
 societies were oro-anized in view of the imperative 
 need of women’s \vork for ’women because of the 
 peculiar social conditions in India. They make it 
 their aim not to draw oT into their treasuries funds 
 that would have o'one into the o'eneral work. The 
 understanding is that all otlerino-s from churches, 
 Sunday-schools, and young people’s societies, should 
 he sent to the General Board, and that ott'eriim-.s 
 from the women’s circles, children’s mission bands, 
 and junior young people’s societies, sliould go to the 
 Women’s Societies, ddiese Societies not only pro¬ 
 vide for the support of the single lady missionaries 
 and the Bible-women on the field, hut also appro¬ 
 priate from their funds for certain departments of 
 the general work udiich they select. 
 
 Young ladies who are candidates for missionary 
 ser\ice slumld make their applications to one or 
 other- of these societies, 'riiough they refer theii- 
 appointments to the General Board for ratification. 
 
6 
 
 3IANUAL OF TflE FOREIGN MISSION BOARD. 
 
 all the initiatory steps towards the appointnient ai'e 
 taken by them. 
 
 The Women’s Home and Foreign Missionary So¬ 
 ciety of JManitoba and the North-West is also very 
 cordially co-operating in the work as an auxiliary, 
 making provision for the support of one of the mis¬ 
 sionary families on tlie field, and for this purpose, 
 receiving offerings from the churches in addition to 
 income from other sources. 
 
 Candidates. 
 
 1. Candidates for appointment to the Foreign 
 field, in making application to the Board, should use 
 the regular form, which will be provided by the 
 Secretary upon re(|uest. 
 
 2. The Board will not consider the application of 
 a candidate who is not a member in good standing of 
 a Regular Baptist Church. 
 
 d. Unless under exceptional circumstances no ap¬ 
 plication will lie considered when the age of the 
 candidate exceeds thirty years. 
 
 4. Candidates should furnish testimonials from 
 their pastors and others as to their history, char¬ 
 acter, fitness for the woi’k, and any other facts known 
 to them which may have a bi'aring on their appoint¬ 
 ment. 
 
 5. d’hough no precise standard is set, the Board 
 will re([uire the candidate to ])roduce evidence of 
 satisfactory educational fitness. 
 
 a. The candidate is recpiired to furnish from a 
 
MAXI^VL OF THE FOREION" MlSSlOK BOARD. 
 
 i 
 
 ])liysiciaii a])prove(l b}" tlie Board a medical cei-titi- 
 cate ol‘ pliysieal titiie.ss according to tlie tbrm pro¬ 
 vided by the Board. If the candidate is inaia-ied 
 he ninst furnish a similar certificate of Ins wife’s 
 good healtli, or if engaged to be married sncli a cer¬ 
 tificate of the good health of his affianced. 
 
 7. ddie Board reserves to itself the right of recall¬ 
 ing missionaries, or of revoking their appointment, 
 for reasons wliich it deems sufficient to justify tliat 
 course, and wliich are to be duly recorded in the 
 minute directing sucli recall or making sucli revo- 
 cation. ' After tlie connection of missionaries with 
 the Board has Vieen terminated, no payments will 
 will be made, on their account, unless by special 
 agreement. 
 
 FINANCl AL PR()VISIOX. 
 
 8. No outfit grant is now made to a candidate 
 under appointment of the Board, but, if desired, on 
 fii’st appointment, an a(h ance up to the amount of 
 for a married missionary and up to $150 for an 
 unmarried missionary, (male or female), will be made, 
 and tlie amount thus advanced will be deducted in 
 eipial instalments from the salary of the first three 
 years. 
 
 !). The Board will provide heavy furniture for 
 the mission houses to an amount not exceeding in 
 cost $75 in the case of a house occujiied by a married 
 missionary, and not exceeding $50 for a house to be 
 occupied b}' an unmarried missionary. The mission- 
 
MANUAL i)F THP: FOREIOxN MISSION HOARD. 
 
 
 aries in Conference slnill deterniine Avluit articles 
 are to be pnrchas(!(l, and tlu^ pnrcliases sliall be made 
 by a coniinittee of the Conference. 
 
 10. No salary is allowed while on the way to or 
 from the mission field, Init the actual passa^-e money 
 and reasonable travellino- expenses will be provided 
 by the Board. 
 
 11. The salary of a married missionary in India is 
 at the rate of $800 per year for the first two years 
 after reaching the field ; $1,000 per year for the next 
 five years; and snbsecjnently at the rate of $1,200 
 per year. The salary of an nnmarried man i?( at the 
 rate of $500 per year for the first two 3’ears ; there¬ 
 after at the rate of $000 per year, unless he is in 
 charge of a separate station, in which case his salary 
 is $ 750 . T 1 le salary of an unmarried woman is at 
 the rate of $500 per year. 
 
 1 2 . No additional orants are made to meet the ex- 
 pc'iise of medical attendance or healtli trips. 
 
 Id. The Board pays the expense of the journey of 
 the missionary from his home to his station by a 
 direct route. If that is deviated tVom so as to in¬ 
 volve increased outlay, the increase must be met by 
 the missionary. 
 
 The ^Missionary on the Field. 
 
 Id. While on the field, undei- the appointment of 
 the Board, it is expected that the time of tlu* mis¬ 
 sionary will b(‘ devoted exclusively to the work of 
 the mission. 
 
MANUAL OF THE FOREIGN MISSION BOARD. 
 
 9 
 
 15 . It is the policy of the mission, in line with the 
 o’reat commission of our Lord, before everything 
 else, to preach the Gospel to the unevangelized and 
 unsaved. Every other department of work, what¬ 
 ever its importance and seeming need may be, is to 
 be subordinated to this supreme purpose of discip- 
 ling the nations. Those who give evidence of hav¬ 
 ing truly received the Gospel, and those oidy, are 
 to be baptized, organized into churches, and trained 
 to self-support, self-government, and church exten¬ 
 sion. This will necessitate, under the conditions 
 existing in India, the providing of Christian schools 
 of various grades for the converts and their children, 
 the providing of Christian literature, and the adop¬ 
 tion of suitable means for the material improvement 
 of the -people. Medical work should have, so far as 
 medical skill on the stall' makes it possible, the same 
 place that healing had in the ministry of the Lord 
 Jesus, a place of importance but subordinate to the 
 great spiritual work of the Gospel. 
 
 1 (). With the sanction of the Board the mission¬ 
 aries in India are organized as a Conference. This 
 Conference is composed of all the missionaries on 
 the field and the wives of the missionaries. It meets 
 semi-annually. All members stand on an absolute 
 e(|uality. The Conference makes its own rules and 
 regulations, which the home Board does not assume 
 to supervise, providing they do not contravene its 
 general policy. While due liberty is accorded each 
 missionary in the prosecution of his or her individ¬ 
 ual work, yet, so far as practicable, all mission work 
 
10 MANU.\L OF THE FOKEIGN MISSION BOAKI). 
 
 is to be carried on with the knowledge and approval 
 of fellow-missionaries. The powers of the Confer¬ 
 ence are deliberative and advisory; authoritative 
 action rests with the Board. The Board does not 
 surrender its power and privilege of acting at any 
 time independently of the Conference, yet it deems 
 it unwise, (unless under very exceptional circum¬ 
 stances), to deal with the individual mission¬ 
 ary on the field apart from the advice of the Con¬ 
 ference. As a rule, assignments to stations, open¬ 
 ing of new stations, appropriations for the work, 
 granting of furloughs, etc., are made by the Board 
 upon the recommendation of the Conference. No 
 missionary may expect the Board to consider esti¬ 
 mates for the work on his or her held unless they 
 come with the endorsement of the Conference. 
 
 17. When he has reached the held the missionary 
 is to make it his or her hrst business to ac(iuire a 
 good working use of the language of the people 
 among whom he is to labor. No missionary is to 
 be put in full charge of independent vernacular 
 work until he or she has passed successfully three 
 examinations. The hrst of these examinations is to 
 be passed at the end of the hrst year in the country ; 
 the second and tliird at such time or times within 
 the second year as the Examining Committee may, 
 upon the request of the candidate, appoint. The 
 Examining Committee shall be appointed by the 
 Conference of IMissionaries, unless for any cause the 
 Board at anv time should think it wise to exercise 
 its right to make the appointment. The curriculum 
 
MANUAL OF THE FOREIGN MISSION BOARD. 11 
 
 .sliall be fixed tlie Exaininino- Committee, of wliicli 
 notice sliall lie duly o-iven for tlie information of can¬ 
 didates. 
 
 18. When in cliarge of a field the Missionaiy is 
 expected to use with wise economy the means com¬ 
 mitted to his trust in the appropriations made. As 
 far as practicable the money should be used for the 
 specific object for which it was appropriated. If, 
 however, exio-encies subseciucntly arise that make it 
 obviously expedient in the best interests of the work 
 to transfer vdiat has been appropriated for one spe¬ 
 cific object of the o-eneral work to another the mis¬ 
 sionary is at liberty to do this. In such a case he or 
 she is expected to state the reasons for the change 
 in the semi-annual financial report. The Board 
 regards it inadvisable that such transfers should be 
 made from the general work to expenditures on 
 property. Moneys appropriated and remaining 
 unexpended at the end of the fiscal year should be 
 reported to the Treasurer in India, and by him 
 placed to the credit of the Board. 
 
 19. One of the missionaries is appointed by the 
 Board Treasurer in India. The Treasurer of the 
 Board remits to him month by month a proportion¬ 
 ate sum of the total amount appropriated to India, 
 and he distributes it amono- the missionaries in ac- 
 cordance with the appropriations made. He is re- 
 (piired to present to the Board semi-annually a 
 statement of I’eceipts and disbursements, duly 
 audited by auditors appointed by the Conference. 
 Each missionary also is reciuired to send to the 
 
12 MANUAL OF THE FOREIGN MISSION BOARD. 
 
 Board, tlirongli the Treasurer in India, a statement 
 of Ins or her receipts and disbursements itemized 
 accordino- to appropriations made. 
 
 20. Eacli missionary is expected to submit to tlie 
 Board (piarterly a report of liis or lier field work, 
 presenting statistics accordino^^ to a form provided. 
 He is expected also to send a report at tlie end of 
 each year o-iving a brief review of tlie work. 
 
 21. It is of the utmost importance where there is 
 more than one worker of the mission stati' at a sta¬ 
 tion that the most cordial relationship should be 
 maintained in the conduct of tlieir several depart¬ 
 ments of tlie work. The sino-le lady missionaiy 
 should aim at doing lier work along lines in harmony 
 with the methods and general policy of the mi.s.sion- 
 ary in charge of the field, and lie, in turn, should 
 accord the most generous consideration to her 
 thoughts and plans touching the work of her de¬ 
 partment. 
 
 22. The mi.ssionaries may avail themselves of the 
 professional services of a physician on the iMi.s.sion 
 staff for themselves and their families at no further 
 cost to them than his travelling expenses and the 
 price of the medicines used. It rests with the med¬ 
 ical missionary, however, in every such call upon 
 him, to decide, in vie\v of all the circumstances, 
 whether he should respond to the call or not. The 
 Board has confidence that in deciding the matter he 
 will consider, on the one hand, the claims of his omui 
 field u])on his time and strength, and on the other 
 hand, the difliculty and heavy exjiense members of 
 
MANUAL OF THE FOREIGN MISSION HOARD. 18 
 
 the statt liave in olitainino- other medical ad- 
 
 vice in tlieir locality, and also tlie serious ettects 
 upon our enterprise should want of proper medical 
 advice result in impairment of health. 
 
 28. Tlie Board will not act on charges touching 
 the Christian character of a missionary until the}" 
 h.ave first acquainted him with the cliarges made, and 
 given him ample opportunity for explanation and de¬ 
 fence. Sliould he be ultimately judged unworthy of 
 employment, tlie Board may dismiss him from its 
 service, but in no case will the Board assume the 
 right to use disciplinary process. 
 
 24. When a missionary receives money direct 
 from churches, Sunday-schools, circles, bands, or in¬ 
 dividuals for work on his field (except when it is 
 an amount donated by an individual specifically for 
 work outside the regular appropriations), he should 
 send a receipt for the amount to the Treasurer in 
 India, who shall thereupon enter the amount 
 in the account of the appropriations made to that 
 lield, and report the same to the Treasurer of the 
 Board, that it may be deducted from tlie remit¬ 
 tances on account of appropriations. Amounts con¬ 
 tributed specifically should also be reported to the 
 Treasurer for his information, unless the donor 
 desires otherwise. 
 
 25. It is expected that the missionary will make 
 no appeal for pecuniary aid to any part of the home 
 constituency without the express permission of the 
 Board. As he looks to the Board for support in the 
 work, he should not tap the Board’s source of supply. 
 
14 MANUAL OF THE FOREIGN MrssION BOARD. 
 
 Furloughs. 
 
 26. It is expected that, unless in case of necessit}’-, 
 no fnrlongh will be asked until after seven years of 
 service. 
 
 27. Applications to the Board for fnrlono-h must 
 have the approval of the missionaries in Conference, 
 or, in case of special emero-ency between sessions of 
 Conference the written endorsement of the rest of 
 the* missionaries individually. 
 
 28. When fnrlong’h is o-ranted the salary of the 
 missionary ceases on his leavino- the field, hut pas- 
 sao-e money and other reasonable travellino- expenses 
 for the joni‘ney home are provided by the Board. 
 
 29. Fnrlono-h is for one year only unless the Board 
 deems it wise and needful that the time should be 
 extended. The circumstances under which the mis¬ 
 sionary is at home make it necessary that an allow¬ 
 ance tor his support should be provided. After ver}' 
 careful consideration the following allowances have 
 been fixed : for a married man, $750 per year, with 
 an addition of $50 for each child to the number of 
 live, $1000 being the maximum in any case; for a 
 single man, $400 per year; and for a single lady, 
 $300 per year. 
 
 30. The information the missionary on furlough 
 gives the people at home, as his strength may war¬ 
 rant, is expected to result in a more intelligent and 
 (piickened interest in the work abroad. In his work 
 at home he is to be under the direction of the Board. 
 
 31. On his return to the field at the expiration of 
 
MANUAL OF THE FOUEIGN MISSION HOARD. 15 
 
 Ills term of fiirlougli, the missionary is entitled to 
 resume Ids previous work, unless his absence from 
 tlie held has exceeded 21 moiitlvs, or unless upon 
 representations of the Conference tlie Board con¬ 
 siders his resumption of his former work inex]icdient. 
 
 Specific Designation of Funds. 
 
 82. Tlie designation of oherings by donors for the 
 support of native workers specially assigned to them, 
 and from whom they expect to hear from time to 
 time, has been found a barrier in tlie way of culti¬ 
 vating tlie spirit and exercise of self-support in the 
 native churclies. Wlien the people know that the 
 support of their worker is dehiiitely provided for 
 from the home-land tlie pressure for self-support is 
 not felt. Tlierefore upon the recommendation of the 
 Conference of Missionaries in India tlie Board does 
 not encourage such special designation of oherings 
 for native preachers or teachers. The entire sup¬ 
 port of some of the workers is being now provided 
 by the native churches, and in other cases the partial 
 support. Quite an amount is still reipiired to sup¬ 
 plement what the native Christians are able to raise 
 for the support of their pastors and teachers. To¬ 
 ward what is needed for this purpose those who 
 have a special desire to support native workers may 
 contribute specihcally. There is no objection to the 
 designation of oherim*' for the support of specihed 
 students in the SemiiUiiy in training for preachers 
 and teachers, and the designation of oherings for 
 
1() 'MANUAL OF THE FOREIGN MISSION HOARD. 
 
 tlie support or partiul support of a specified iiiis- 
 sioiiary will be acceptable. 
 
 Arpropriations. 
 
 88 . The Board lias adopted, with the approval of 
 the Convention, the policy of liinitino- the appropri¬ 
 ations for the work for the ensuino’ year to an 
 
 O »/ 
 
 amount not in excess of the actual receipts of the 
 preceding year. This does not prevent the meeting 
 of unseen emergencies that may arise during the 
 course of the year. An appropriation for some 
 pressing need may be made beyond the limitation 
 set provided special offerings that will not diminish 
 the remdar income are made for it. 
 
 Property of the Board. 
 
 84. None of the pi'operty of the Board is to be 
 mortgaged or assigned for any debt. All property 
 given or purchased for its use shall, with the least 
 possible delay, be transferred to a trusteee oi' trus¬ 
 tees for it. Where practicable the property of the 
 Board in India shall be held in trust for it in the 
 name of the Treasurer in India at the time of its 
 ]jurchase or transfer, “or his successor in ollice.” 
 Title deeds shall be duly recorded according to the 
 provisions of the Government of the country, and 
 copies of the same, with diagrams, shall be forward¬ 
 ed to the Treasurer of the Boaid. 
 
 85. The ordinary repairs of mission buildings 
 shall Ije included in the '’'al estimates, but no 
 enlargement or material iv../ei‘ation shall be made 
 without the spi'citic concuT'rence of the Conference 
 and the sanction of the Board. 
 
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