G'ravt’ Conquest Missionary Course Vol. VI. DECEMBER, 1904. No. 3. Studies in Missions Present-Day Outlook in China (Southern Baptist Convention) By ROSWELL H. GRAVES. Baptist Young People’s Union of America 534 Dearborn Street, CHICAGO. ILL. Price 5 Cents Studies in Missions. The Conquest Missionary Course is a series of studies in mis- sions which presents in four years a summary view of the work, at home and abroad, of our Baptist Missionary Societies of the United States and Canada. It will include the varied work carried on by our Women’s Societies as well as by the general organizations. The studies are prepared primarily for use by our Young People’s Societies in their Conquest Mis- sionary Meeting. They will prove equally helpful for mission- ary meetings of any kind. The price of these leaflets is 5 cents each, 35 cents per year; to subscribers to SERVICE 25 cents per year; in orders of ten or more to one address, 3% cents each per month, 30 cents per year; in orders of 25 or more to one address, 28 cents per year. Entered as second-class matter at Chicago, 111. Published monthly by the Baptist Young People’s Union of America, 324 Dearborn St., Chicago. ♦ Literature for Reference in the Month’s Study. Only the leaflets mentioned in the first paragraph are for sale at B. Y. P. U. A. Headquarters. For the others send direct to addresses given. Always accompany orders with money for same: the prices are given in every case. When sending for free literature or a single leaflet, kindly enclose stamps for postage. Present Day Outlook in China (Southern Baptist Convention), 5 cents; Missions in East China, 3 cents; Maps of China (South- ern Baptist Convention), 10 cents a dozen, 75 cents a hundred; Studies in Missions, Volumes 2, 3 and 4, 50 cents each. (B. Y. P. U. A. Supply Department. 324 Dearborn St., Chicago, 111.) The Missionary Work of the Southern Baptist Convention, J1.25; Rex Chrlstus, paper 30 cents, cloth 50 cents; Princely Men in the Heavenly Kingdom, paper 35 cents, cloth 50 cents; China’s Only Hope, 75 cents; Gracey’s China, 15 cents. (Amer- ican Baptist Publication Society, Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas and Atlanta.) Minutes of the Southern Baptist Convention, 5 cents; Annual Report of the Foreign Mission Board, 2 cents; The Foreign Mission Journal, September. October and December, 1904, 3 cents each; tracts on China, free. (The Foreign Mission Board, S. B. C., Richmond, Va.) China for Juniors, 15 cents; Bright Hours, 25 cents; New Hope in Old China. The Chinese Kitchen God. China’s Call, China for Christ. The Decay of Idolatry in China. 2 cents each; Christmas Offering and Young People’s Program, free. (Mission Literature Department, S. B. C., 233 N. Howard St., Baltimore, Md.) The Story of Yates, cloth $1.00, paper 50 cents; Kind Words, December, 1904, 6 cents. (The Sunday School Board, S. B. C., Nashville. Tenn.) Missions in China of the Southern Baptist Convention, 3 cents; Orient Pictures, Nos. 1-13, 129-138, 1 cent each in orders of twenty-five or more. (American Baptist Missionary Union, Tremont Temple, Boston, Mass.) 2 Conquest Missionary Course Present Day Outlook in China. (Southern Baptist Convention-) I. The North China Mission. Like the United States, China’s physical conformation consists of a great central valley flanked by two other im- portant sections. As we have our Mississippi Valley, sep- arated by the Appalachian range from the Atlantic coast, with its river systems, and by the Rocky Mountains from the Pacific slope with its rivers, so China has her valley of the Yangtse, separated by the Peling or “North Range” from North China, drained by the Yellow River, and by the Meiling or “Plum range” from South China, watered by the West River and other streams. In Asia, however, these divisions run east and west, and not north and south, as they do in America. Roughly corresponding to New York, New Orleans and San Francisco, there are the cities of Tientsin, Shanghai and Canton. The former is the port of Peking, the political capital; the second the commercial capital; while Cantou, the first port opened to foreign commerce, has been the center whence Western influences have been diffused throughout the empire. The missions of the Southern Baptist Convention occupy strate- gic positions in these three sections, and are known as the North, Central and South China missions. In the North China Mission we have twenty-four mis- sionaries, located in four cities in different parts of the Shan Tung province, not very far from the mouth of the Yellow River. Two who were useful members of this mis- sion were taken to their Heavenly home during the year. In their last annual report our missionaries have given the following summary of their work; “Into the ten churches of the mission there have been i baptized 144 persons during the year, and the membership now numbers 776. We have reason to believe that the spiritual condition of our churches is better than ever before, and our Christians now give more promise of effi cient service than heretofore. The number of inquirers is probably greater than in any previous year, and the outlook for next year is encouraging. All are pleased by the coming of Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Glass to Laichow Fu. They have diligently entered upon the study of the Chi- nese language." Educational Work. “In this mission we have two boarding-schools for girls with an attendance of eighty -one; two boarding-schools for boys with an attendance of seventy-one; sixteen day schools with an attendance of two hundred and forty-two. We have long felt the need of a training school to better prepare native preachers and teachers, and are gratified that such a school was opened in February. It will be in charge of Rev. C. W. Pruitt and J. B. Hartwell, D. D., and for the year 1904 will be at Teng Chow. Its permanent location is to be determined later. “Medical work is now being carried on in three of our stations: Pingtu, Laichow Fu and Hwang-Hien. At two of the stations, however, Laichow Fu and Pingtu, there is no medical missionary and we are all earnestly praying that a physician may be sent to each of these stations at an early date.” Extension of Work. “At the last meeting of the missionaries it was unani- mously decided to extend our work, and a family was asked for Chaoynan, Chihia, Tsing Tau and Chefoo. Work is already being done in all these places by members of our different stations, but this requires so much travel and so much loss of time that we feel it would be better to have a family located at each place. “Mr. and Mrs. .1. C. Owen have decided to move from Teng Chow to Pingtu, and Mr. and Mrs. Pruitt will move from Hwang-Hien to Teng Chow. Only one of our num- ber, Miss Moon, is in the homeland and she is expected to return at an early date.” Since the report was written Miss Moon has returned to the field and Dr. and Mrs. Oxner have located at Pingtu. Encouratfintt Advance. The reports from the various stations show an encour- aging advance all along the line. At Pingtu, they say: “This has been another good year. A large number of villages have been visited, and Christians from a wide area have been added to the churches. The native pastor, helpers and Christians have been very helpful, and much of the success of the work can be easily traced to their untiring energy. The schools are very prosperous. The attendance has been good and they have made steady prog- ress.” One hundred and twenty-five were enrolled in a Bible class which was held for one month. This station has three missionaries, one native pastor and four churches, with a membership of four hundred. There were sixty baptisms during 1903. At Laichow Fu there are five missionaries and six help- ers. They say; “The first six months of the year w'ere given up largely to the building of our new house, for which we wish to express our profound gratitude to God and to our brethren who have provided the necessary funds. Work has been done in more than thirty villages. In some of these God has given us a few open doors which, we believe, no one shall be able to shut. The people have, without an exception, received us most cordially.” This important city is a comparatively new station, and a church with ten native members was organized here dur- ing the year. Two day schools for boys were opened and owing to frequent calls for medicine a small dispensary was opened under the charge of a native Christian doctor, trained in medicine by Dr. Watson, of the English Baptist Mission. He is not only a doctor but also a useful evan- gelist. The Hwang-Hlen station has six missionaries. They re- joice over the opening of the “E. W. Warren Memorial o Hospital,” erected by the First Church of Macon, Ga., and under the charge of Dr. T. W. Ayers. There were 4,000 patients at the dispensary (1,800 of them new) during the year, and many besides these heard the Gospel there. The work among the women in the hospital and dispensary will be largely under the care of Miss Pettigrew, who is a trained nurse. They have one boarding school and three day schools connected with this station, and “the signs of the times all point to the hope that Christian education will predominate in Chinese life.” There are two churches belonging to this station, both of them prospering spirit- ually. They had twenty-one baptisms and a large num- ber of inquirers. Scores of new villages had been visited with the Gospel, while old ones were cultivated. The province has a thousand villages with a population of half a million in an area of some thirty miles by twenty — one of the densest in the empire outside of the cities. Four classes for Bible study had been held, one lasting for a month. At Teng Chow Dr. Hartwell writes: “I had the pleas- ure of baptizing fifty-five persons during the year, the larg- est number I have ever baptized in one year.” It is a mat- ter of profound gratitude to God that he has crowned the old age of his servant with blessing, and comforted his heart in the work, notwithstanding the fact that he lost his ioved companion and fellow-helper by the hand of death. He is blessed, too, in having an efficient co-worker in his daughter. Miss Anna B. Hartwell, one of the most consecrated and useful women in China. Rev. J. C. Owen, of the same station, was laid aside by illness for much of the year, but was still able to do efficient work in preach- ing and teaching. Rev. W. C. Newton and wife have re- cently joined this mission and are engaged in the study of the language. He has taught a promising class in Eng- lish during the year. When it is remembered that this section was the hot- bed of the Boxer uprising, and that the work was broken up, and the native Christians lost their property and many of them their lives during that fearful time, we should 6 especially rejoice in the great change that has taken place in this province and in the marked advance and promising outlook in our mission here. o. The Quiz. What are the physical divisions of China? Where does the Southern Baptist Convention have stations? Where is the North China Mission located? How many American Baptist missionaries are in this mis- sion? Where are their hospitals and dispensaries? How many schools are there? How many members in the native churches? What great anti-Christian movement originated here? o. II. The Central China Mission. There are twenty-three missionaries in this field, dis- tributed in four important and populous cities, all in the region near the mouth of the Yangtse River. At Shanghai, the New York of China, there are eight missionaries; at Soochow, the capital of the province of Kiang Su, we have four; at Chin Kiang, an important port on the Yangtse, there are seven; while at Yang Chow, on the Grand Canal, we have four. Rev. T. N. McCrea and wife have also just been appointed to this mission. Last year thirty-nine were added to the churches by baptism, and the total member- ship is two hundred and fifty. Though the smallest of our missions numerically, and in many respects a hard field, still the strategic importance of the position and the recent advance made in many particulars make this a field that we cannot afford to neglect. Shanghai is the great throbbing heart whence the life- blood of the new influences permeate all parts of China. Prom its teeming presses flow the streams of literature that find their way throughout the empire; from its educa- tional institutions spring much of the new life that is making the dry bones tingle with excitement; and from this city radiates the light that is dispelling the darkness of superstition and heathenism. Much of the hope for the future of China springs from the influences set in motion here, and that send their electric thrill throughout the whole land. So no one should judge of the importance of the field by the meagerness of the statistics. Rev. W. W. Lawton of this mission remarks: “The out- look is promising, decidedly more so than we have seen it before. The home churches, by men and means, are beginning to respond to the cry, ‘Come over and help us.’ We are looking for them to heed this cry in earnest. Our missionary force, which for so long was Dr. and Mrs. Yates, now numbers twenty-three. How we should praise God and go forward! That we must go forward is evi- dent from the fact that these twenty-three laborers are working in four cities which total a population of a mil- lion and a half (not to mention the rest of the Kiang Su province, with its nineteen million more), where we have no foreign missionary; and not to mention the fact that we can travel westward on China’s soil for two months with- out finding any work done by Southern Baptists!” In view of this destitution Mr. Lawton and Mr. Sallee, who joined the mission last year, have been making a tour of exploration in Hunan province and other places west of Shanghai, but at last account they had not settled on any point for permanently founding a new station. We trust they may be Divinely guided in securing a new location. Besides the usual evangelistic and pastoral work, a marked advance has been made on several lines. Rev. E. F. Tatum tells with joy of the new buildings recently completed. A dwelling, “Yates’ Home,” erected by Dr. Yates’ daughter for single lady members of the station; the “Smith Bible School,” contributed through Miss Kelly by her friend Mr. Smith, of Alabama; and the “Eliza Yates Memorial School,” built by a member of the mis- sion, have been finished. These houses are near the Old North Gate chapel and furnish little short of an ideal plant and work for five ladies. Only two are there. Putting up these buildings has taken time and patience, but with an architect and a better builder than the average, the way has been made comparatively plain. Dr. Evans, of Yang Chow, reports that his dwelling house S is nearly finished and that he expects to erect a dispen- eary. Appropriations have also been made for houses for Rev. C. G. McDaniel, at Soochow, and Rev. L. W. Pierce, at Yang Chow. Brother Tatum reports that he and his colleagues have been teaching in the Association Boys’ School and remarks that he believes in helping those who help themselves, but that the cramped quarters admitted the attendance of only thirty odd pupils, and this failed to supply all the needed funds for incidental expenses. He says: “We face Uie alternative of helping to supply the means for a Chris- tian college or of seeing our boys enter other denomina- tional institutions to come out with little denominational conviction, or, as is frequently the case, having left our churches.” It is a matter of rejoicing that our Board has sanctioned Dr. Bryan’s attempt while in America to secure $15,000 for this “Yates College,” and have guaranteed what may be lacking to make up the sum. It is to be regretted that a number of the workers in this mission have suffered from ill-health. Typhoid and malarial fevers prostrated several of the ladies, and others were prevented from attending to their usual missionary work through being obliged to care for the sick. Miss Alice Parker of Chinkiang writes: “Much sickness in the Station took me from my regular work among the women. For nearly six months it was my privilege to minister to those who were called to suffering. . The English department was closed after the first month of Miss Mac- Kenzie’s illness, as there was no one to take up the work.” Miss MacKenzie was obliged to seek relief in a hospital In America, but she is now restored to health and has resumed her work in China. Brethren Britton of Soochow and Price of Yang Chow report evangelistic tours in the country near their sta- tions. The latter says: “While a good portion of my time has been spent in building in Yang Chow, I have not allowed this work to detract from my evangelistic work more than is necessary.” He reports frequent visits to several outstations where they have members forty and 9 fifty miles from the central station, and adds: "Besides the above country work, I have visited a number of towns and villages the past year, preaching and selling Gospels and tracts. The harvest is slow in being gathered in Central China, but it is nevertheless surely coming. The workers at home and on the field must have patience.” Thus it will be seen that the workers in Central China are contending against great odds. The climatic condi- tions, the indifference of the people and prejudices against the foreigner, resulting from the moral corruption of a great seaport where men of all nationalities add their vices to those of a wealthy and luxurious heathen city, all tend to make mission work difficult. Our brethren here need great faith and patience and persistence and wisdom, and should have the constant prayers of Christians in our favored homeland.