T he American Mission to Lepers maintains 
 missionary work among the 5,600 lepers of 
 Philippines who are segregated by the gov¬ 
 ernment on the island of Culion, forming the largest 
 leper colony in the world. 
 
 The Rev. and Mrs. Paul Frederick Jansen, of 
 the Presbyterian Foreign Mission Board, are in 
 charge of the Protestant missionary work, which 
 has made encouraging progress in spite of obstacles 
 during the past few years. 
 
 MR. JANSEN'S REPORT FOR 1925 
 In spite of wars and rumors of wars, the lep¬ 
 rosarium at Culion goes ahead with unabated en¬ 
 ergy in all its efforts for the amelioration of the 
 condition of the lepers entrusted to its care. There 
 seems to be reason for the hope of arresting the 
 disease, and in many cases of entirely curing the 
 patients.' 
 
 There have been more patients sent to Culion 
 in the first nine months of 1925 than in the entire 
 year of 1924, and the total number of residents 
 (now over 5,500) is greater than in any former 
 year. The eighteen doctors and the more than 
 twenty female and male nurses, with their helpers, 
 are most earnest and faithful; the pathological 
 work under the direction of Dr. Wade and the 
 laboratory work under Dr. Perkins are so thorough¬ 
 ly and efficiently conducted as to excite the ad¬ 
 miration of all. Doctors coming from India, Siam, 
 China, Japan and America, who are especially de¬ 
 voting their time to the treatment of lepers, have 
 only words of praise for Culion, and consider it 
 the foremost leprosarium in the world today. They 
 are helped in their work by the tests and experi¬ 
 ments made in Culion. 
 
 The opposition to the Colony seems to arise 
 from a desire to save the great amount of money 
 which an institution of this size and nature natur¬ 
 ally must expend. Some say that leprosy is no 
 longer considered contagious, and that it is a crime 
 
to deprive lepers of their freedom and tear them 
 away from their friends and relatives, to whom 
 it is said they ought immediately to be restored as 
 a simple act of humanity. But in spite of much 
 criticism of this sort, and in spite of lack of funds 
 to do still more effective work, the institution is 
 going on with increasing hope of usefulness and 
 success. 
 
 NEGATIVE PATIENTS 
 Formerly the lepers looked forward with a feel- 
 ing of exultation to the day when, after their pro- 
 bationary period of negativeness was over, they 
 would be able to rejoin their friends. But in most 
 instances their joy was short-lived. When they 
 had been released their friends and relatives were 
 more or less afraid of associating with them. They 
 had to live by themselves, and eat by themselves. 
 Unless they could in a short time secure work they 
 were made to feel that they were an unwelcome 
 burden, and a number were even turned out from 
 their homes. Many requests have been received by 
 the authorities from discharged, cured lepers, for 
 permission to return to Culion to end their days. 
 All these reports have sobered the lepers, so that 
 now many of them dread the time when they must 
 leave the Colony and go out to meet a world that 
 is stony and cold toward them because they were 
 once lepers. 
 
 RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES 
 The special work entrusted to our care has been 
 deepening and growing, and has developed along 
 various lines so as now to require more and more 
 time. 
 
 Let me speak first of the distinctively spiritual 
 part. The services are so well attended that we 
 wonder already how in another year our Church 
 building will accommodate the regular congrega¬ 
 tion. Our total number of adult members is now 
 four hundred forty-one, and we have about fifty 
 children and many adherents besides. 
 
 About one hundred and seventy were added on 
 profession of faith during the past year, and thank 
 God. very few have to be dismissed from the 
 church. But we have a number of deaths yearly, 
 and also a number go out cured. 
 
 Besides the regular Sunday services in the Col¬ 
 ony chapel, the conduct of which is shared by the 
 
 missionaries with pastor Mauricio, and the evening 
 service with some of our preaching elders, there 
 are services held in the leper villages of Pilapil 
 and Baldad. The first is about one hour distant 
 from the main settlement, the other over the moun¬ 
 tains about two hours from Culion city. In the 
 latter place the brethren have built their own 
 chapel. In the former they have all the materials 
 gathered for a chapel, which will be begun as soon 
 as permission is granted from the central office. 
 These services and Sunday Schools in connection 
 with them are conducted by regularly appointed 
 members of the Session of the Culion Church. 
 Pastor Mauricio conducts also a Sunday School 
 and a Sunday afternoon service in El Jardin, (The 
 Garden) a village for non-leper employees, who 
 have helped to build him a house there and who 
 have likewise just finished a chapel for their serv¬ 
 ices. (Pastor Mauricio is himself a discharged 
 leper patient.) 
 
 Mrs. Jansen and I hold a service in English for 
 the staff in our home in Balala every Sunday 
 night, preceded by a Christian Endeavor service, 
 both of which seem to have created quite a little 
 interest. During the week there arc workers' meet¬ 
 ings and conferences, several prayer meetings, a 
 Sunday School teachers’ class, and occasional other 
 services, besides house and hospital visitations, and 
 so on. 
 
 One of our most important meetings is the work¬ 
 ers’ meeting on Monday afternoon. We, as work¬ 
 ers, are strictly prohibited rfrom general propa¬ 
 ganda, and so our members are trained to do this 
 work, which they do very efficiently. W^e have 
 about forty voluntary members on our list of 
 workers. The field is divided into eleven districts, 
 each under the supervision of a Superintendent, 
 and the rest of the workers arc assigned to assist 
 in the different districts. We meet and give our 
 reports, present any difficulties that may have aris¬ 
 en, and between us help to solve them. We pray 
 by name for specially interested ones, and report 
 on the spiritual condition of members in each dis 
 trict. We find this service inspirational. 
 
 The Sunday school has been recently reorgan¬ 
 ized, and now has twenty-one classes, with mem¬ 
 bers young and old. Four dialects are used. Each 
 
 teacher is made to feel his personal responsibility 
 for the members spiritually, and the members are 
 held responsible for regularity of attendance, and 
 for increase in the numbers of the school. A 
 healthy rivalry between classes is stimulated by 
 awarding banners monthly for the best attendance, 
 the greatest increase, and the best offerings. 
 
 THE DORMITORIES AND HOSPITAL 
 
 Our interest in the lepers is not on the spiritual 
 side alone, but also in their physical welfare. Our 
 four dormitories for women, the one for men and 
 boys, and the small house for negatives are prov¬ 
 ing to be great blessings to the inmates. These 
 were built by gifts from friends. 
 
 But the greatest benefit of all has come this past 
 year in the finishing of the new Hospital for Pro- 
 testant lepers, and a larger physical blessing has 
 evidently never come to them. The hospital was 
 opened on August 30th with a happy program. 
 Incessant rain and continuing storm had prevented 
 the ceremony the Sunday before. So in spite of 
 a still worse storm we decided not to postpone the 
 celebration longer. 
 
 All the chief officers of the Colony were present. 
 The Director, Dr. Chiyuto, spoke well; also the 
 Chief Physician, Dr. Rodriguez, and Dr. Wade, 
 Dr. Jugueta and Dr. Major Hitching of the U. S. 
 Army Corps. Others present, who would have 
 spoken if there had been time, were Dr. Perkins 
 and Dr. de Vera, and two other visiting doctors— 
 Drs. Cadbury and Siddell of Canton Christian Col¬ 
 lege. The women’s ward was filled with our 
 people. 
 
 I took the opportunity to tell the audience that 
 the Hospital had come as a concrete answer to the 
 prayer of faith, especially on the part of the leper 
 brethren. They themselves gave all they had 
 toward it, and then looked to God, who did not 
 fail them. Money for it came from sources that 
 we could not have dreamed of—friends whom 
 we have never heard of, and in all probability 
 shal never meet on earth, from New Zealand, 
 Central Africa, India, Siam, China, England, 
 America. We never knew from the beginning 
 wheAer we could go any further in building than 
 the next step. Yet we never had to stop wor- 
 
entirely, no debts were incurred, and all bills are 
 paid. 
 
 It is true that we still lack a ceiling, and must 
 paint, but all pronounce the hospital lovely and 
 airy and convenient. The hospital has two wards, 
 Emergency IV for women, Emergency V for men, 
 each with twenty beds, with nurses room, separate 
 baths and service rooms between. Both wards 
 were full from the beginning. We have a Pro¬ 
 testant house doctor and head nurse, and all the 
 leper nursing aids are Protestants. Our church 
 members as a last gift made a beautiful bed table 
 for each patient, something all the Hospitals here 
 have longed for, but which none of them has as 
 yet but ours. The hospital is such a restful, happy 
 place — we wish you could all see it. 
 
 TRADE SCHOOLS 
 
 Ever since we have been in Culion we have felt 
 the necessity of getting our young men and boys 
 especially some occupation. It is detrimental to 
 have them pass their days in idleness and brooding. 
 They were as a rule, however, opposed to any 
 effort of this kind. Hope and courage were at a 
 low ebb, their physical condition poor, and fever 
 and reactions from treatments a frequent occur¬ 
 rence. But things are changing. We have been 
 able to start a tailor shop, where a number of 
 young men are being taught by a first class tailor. 
 He is not a member, and for years we were un¬ 
 able to secure an instructor. The shop is going on 
 well now. It is located in the basement of our 
 church. 
 
 A much larger number of boys wanted to learn 
 carpentering, and we have found a very good in¬ 
 structor for them also, though we have to wait a 
 bit, until we can employ him, not being able to 
 pay the tailor and the carpenter at the same time. 
 In the mean time, the boys themselves are building 
 their carpenter shop, and while in Manila I tried to 
 raise money for tools for the shop. I wondered 
 whom I could approach—there are always so many 
 drives on. But as I was conferring with Mr. 
 Turner, Executive Secretary of the Y. M. C. A. 
 he said, "You give me the list of tools needed, Mr. 
 Jansen and I will see about that.” So that is that. 
 Some call it luck. I, who know the lepers, think 
 that it is God as always, answering their prayers. 
 
FURLOUGHS 
 
 We have been missing Mrs. Jansen since June 
 this year. No one can quite fill her place. The 
 patients are longing for her Bible classes, for her 
 presence in the prayer meeting, for her personal 
 sympathy and interest, and for her supervision of 
 the women and girls. She is having her furlough 
 this year, and will return in the spring, when I 
 propably shall be taking mine. Everybody is so 
 busy that no one could be spared in our absence 
 to take our place in Culion, which is far removed 
 from all the rest of the field. So it seemed best 
 for us to go one at a time. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 PAUL FREDERICK JANSEN. 
 
 NOTE: The Mission to Lepers has been sup¬ 
 porting religious work among the lepers in San 
 Lazaro, the receiving hospital for lepers in Manila, 
 before they are sent to Culion, and at Culion for 
 more than fifteen years, The first Chapel was built 
 about 1915 and was enlarged in 1924. Rev. and 
 Mrs. P. F. Jansen volunteered for service on Culion 
 in 1921, when the Mission to Lepers built for them 
 a house there costing $5,000, and provided a budget 
 of $2,800 a year. .The activities have greatly in¬ 
 creased, and a larger support must be provided. 
 
 Any contributions for the Leper Mission work in 
 the Philippiggs or other countries, should be made 
 payable to Fleming H. Revell, Tceas» 
 and sent to 
 
 THE AMERICAN MISSION TO LEPERS 
 156 Fifth Avenue, New York City. 
 
 -- DIRECTORS - 
 
 William Jay Sohieffelein, President 
 Joseph C. Robbins, Vice-President 
 Fleming H. Revell, Treasurer 
 William M. Danner Harry Farmer 
 
 General Secretaries 
 
 Justin E. Abbott Delavan L. Pierson 
 
 W. E. Biederwolf David McConaughy 
 
 S. G. Birnie George W. McCoy, M.D. 
 
 Wm I. Chamberlain Arthur B. Moss 
 Mrs. May Leonard Woodruff