INTERCHURCH WORLD MOVEMENT OF NORTH AMERICA WORLD SURVEY CONFERENCE ATLANTIC CITY JANUARY 7 to 10, 1920 PRELIMINARY Statement and Budget for Southeastern Asia (French Indo-China, Siam, Malaysia, Oceania) The Philippines PREPARED BY SURVEY DEPARTMENT-FOREIGN DIVISION T HIS Survey statement should be read in the light of the fact that it is preliminary only, and will be revised and enlarged as a result of the dis¬ cussions and recommendations of the World Survey Conference. The entire Survey as revised will early be brought together in two volumes, American and Foreign, to form the basis of the financial campaign to follow. The “Statistical Mirror’’will make a third volume dealing with general church, missionary and stewardship data. INTERCHURCH WORLD MOVEMENT OF NORTH AMERICA WORLD SURVEY CONFERENCE ATLANTIC CITY JANUARY 7 to 10, 1920 PRELIMINARY Statement and Budget for Southeastern Asia (French Indo-China, Siam, Malaysia, Oceania) The Philippines PREPARED BY SURVEY DEPARTMENT-FOREIGN DIVISION SOUTHEASTERN ASIA Indo'China Peninsula INCLUDING FRENCH INDO-CHINA AND SIAM Where Buddhism is found wanting and is now fast waning. Where an intelligent people expectantly await the message of the Prince of Peace. Where the church faces an opportunity to atone for years of neglect. V IEWED from a missionary standpoint this strip of country constitutes one of the most neglected corners of the world. With a total area of 451,000 square miles and 28,000,000 inhabitants, only sixty-nine missionaries are on the field—an average of one to every 400,000 souls. The greater part of the peninsula is mountainous and there are few navigable rivers. Consequently the people, long isolated, have kept their ancient civilization. The present independence of Siam is a lucid comment upon the wisdom and tenacity of the Tai statesman, whose very designation means “free.” No wonder democracy thrives in this rugged land. Buddhism is the almost universal religion, but it is a Buddhism liberally modified by elements borrowed from animism and early Brahmanism. Here is a region of vast resources, forests, mineral wealth and fertile rice plains, a heritage which has attracted the interested attention of several Occidental govern¬ ments. The Tai, Annamese and Cambodian peoples who dominate the peninsula are passing through a transformation inaugurated by the invasion of Western armies and traders and accelerated during the World War. Moreover, these frontier peoples took an active part in the labors and fighting in France. They are therefore more or less familiar with the Christian religion and its correlative civilization, and this knowledge has reached even the most remote hamlets. The peoples of the Peninsula are familiar with the prophecy which teaches that the Buddhistic era is to end when men fight their battles under the ground, in the depths of the sea and while flying in the air. Buddha also taught that his successor, the com¬ ing Lord, was to be known by the scars in the palms of his hands. It is certainly time to press home to them the gospel of the Lord-of-the-pierced-hands. 4 French Indo-China and Siam : SOUTHEASTERN ASIA T HE governments of Siam and that of the French in Indo-China are stressing the necessity for the introduction of a thorough public school system. The field is still open to the missionary for the establishment of Bible schools, theological colleges and industrial and vocational schools. Medical evangelism has always been a strong factor in the missionary work in Siam; but in Indo-China the missionary will do well to con¬ fine his efforts to the direct work of publishing and preaching the gospel. The French have established hospitals and dispensaries through¬ out most of the land and do not desire the missionary to compete with the government in the medical field. This simplifies the problem of occupying Indo-China for the Christian church. EVANGELISM THE CHIEF TASK ITH public schools and hospitals fur¬ nished, the mission forces will be free to preach and teach the gospel direct to the people. This is the most joyous part of mis¬ sionary service. The fact of sin needs no proof. But the power of salvation is evidenced con¬ tinually in the freeing of victims from super¬ stitious belief in witchcraft and demon-pos¬ session. Throughout the peninsula literacy is high in comparison with most other Oriental mission fields; 22.8 per cent, of the people are literate. THE BIBLE POPULAR HE printed page is a powerful agent in this field, and literature must be pre¬ pared more abundantly than in the past. The most popular form of missionary activity among Siamese Christians is to purchase and distribute copies of the Scriptures among their neighbors, or among their friends in distant regions to which they go as missionaries. THE FORWARD LOOK Ethnologically, linquistically and politically considered, the problem of the Indo-China Peninsula suggests the following forward policy: First, strengthen the existing missions in north¬ ern and southern Siam and occupy eastern Siam through these missions. Second, establish three new missions: one among the Annamese; another among the Tai in French territory, and the third among the Cambodians. In the tables following, an indication of new and needed missionary enterprise is furnished. AREA -SQUARE MILES SIAM AND ^ 00 FRENCH INDO-CHINA 1 — 1 O RQO UNITED STATES I I TOTAL POPULATION AND PROTESTANT CHURCH MEMBERSHIP 27 . 910,00 0 SIAM AND FRENCH INDO-CHINA,) 105 . 255.000 UNITED STATES si vm amd POPULATION PER PROTESTANT MINISTER(OR ORDAINED MISSIONARY) FRENCH mo-am^^-rn UNITED STATES a /nterchurch Wor/dMovement of North Amer/ca GO 84 .. .. 1 SOUTHEASTERN ASIA: French Indo-China and Siam 5 BIBLE SCHOOLS THE CHIEF EDUCATIONAL NEED RENCH INDO-CHINA comprises the provinces of Tonking, Annam, French Laos, Cambodia and Cochin-China. The total area is 256,000 square miles. The population numbers over 18,000,000, made up chiefly of the Annamese race, among which great host less than a dozen Protestant mis¬ sionaries are at work. Most of these are maintained by the Christian and Missionary Alliance and one by the British and Foreign Bible Society. The prevailing religions, Confucianism and Bud¬ dhism, are rapidly developing into free-thinking philosophies; while Animism still holds the ruder peoples. Generally speaking the people are gentle and peace-loving, possessed of alert minds and eager for education. Travel facilities throughout Indo-China are uniformly good. Approach to the country should be made by way of France on French steamers. Anyone crossing the borders from adjacent countries is liable to fall under the suspicion of the French Government. The chief missionary need is for the publica¬ tion of the gospel message through press and pulpit. Special qualifications for missionaries in this field should include a thorough know¬ ledge of the French language and a deep sympathy with and broad understanding of French Protestant culture. Bible schools only are needed. The French Government furnishes excellent secular educa¬ tion from primary school to university. Nor is any additional medical equipment required. Splendidly-equipped government hospitals are already established and doing beneficent work. Chief among the barriers preventing Protestant missionary advance is a treaty between the French Government and the Vatican which guarantees freedom to Roman Catholic activi¬ ties but says nothing about the status of Protestantism. “TAI” MEANS “FREE” RENCH LAOS and Tonking constitute a region of Indo-China which is inhabited by the Tai race. These people speak the Laos language which is spoken also in North Siam. The size of this area is 144,400 square miles (Tonking 46,400; Laos, 98,000); the popula¬ tion is 6,000,000; the prevailing religions are Buddhism and Animism. Early missionary activities were carried on here by the Presbyterian North Siam Mission which conducted annual tours through the country between the years 1873 and 1903. These activities resulted in the establishment of four Christian centers. The work has been discontinued by order of the French Government which, fearing the effect of any unifying agency or influence between Siam and French Laos, turned back the missionaries from their tour of Luang- Prabang in 1903. Since then missionaries have been frequently warned not to cross the Siam- French frontier. Protestant forces in this area are represented by the Swiss Brethren who maintain four missionaries—two men and two women. Prob¬ lems of missionary enterprise differ from those offered by the Annamese in that the people differ in racial characteristics and speak another language; French hospitals and schools are less in evidence; the country is mountainous and methods of travel are generally primitive. But politically, conditions are similar to those found in Annam. There is a very definite need for the literature circulated in North Siam to be republished in French Laos where its distribu¬ tion would greatly further evangelization. The physical and political conditions in Cam¬ bodia are similar to those in Annam. The area is 45,000 square miles and the population 2,000,000. Here is a most needy field awaiting new missionary activities. SIAM American Christian agencies at present work¬ ing in Siam ard those of Northern Presbyterian Board and the American Bible Society. The Presbyterian work is divided between the North Siam and South Siam Missions. In the latter there are at present five stations and twelve out-stations, with forty-five mission¬ aries and a force of ninety-one native workers. There are eleven organized churches, 1,326 6 French Indo-China and Siam : SOUTHEASTERN ASIA communicants, 3,391 adherents. 22 schools are maintained, with an attendance of 924. In five hospitals and seven dispensaries nearly 24,000 patients were treated. There is a pub¬ lishing house from which books, printed both in Siamese and in English, are issued. In North Siam there are six stations and 104 out-stations, ’ with fifty-seven missionaries. These are assisted by seventy-four men and thirty women native teachers, also by a native force of five ordained and 177 unordained ministers, with eighty-seven Bible women—a total force of 373. The missionaries are ministering to thirty-eight churches (twenty-eight self-supporting) having 6,571 communicants and 10,628 adherents. There are fifty-two schools with 1,464 pupils; five hospitals and eight dispensaries, the pa¬ tients treated numbering nearly 47,000. The mission press prints in both the Northern and Southern Tai dialects. When comparison is made between the growth of church membership in South Siam with that in North Siam, one may see the nature of the problem which confronts the missionary in the apathy and kindly indifference of the people of the valley of the Menam, as compared with the greater readiness on the part of the Laos people to receive Christianity. CHRISTIAN LITERATURE HE entire Bible is now published in Siamese and almost all of it is published in the North Tai or Laos dialect, two-thirds of the total dis¬ tribution being in the latter district. It is very widely circulated by Agents of the Ameri¬ can Bible Society. In 1918, the press at Chieng Mai printed 2,082,173 pages, and the Bangkok press 16,- 109,400 pages. A number of tracts and books have been issued, but many more are needed. Two religious news magazines are published by the Presbyterian Mission, one in the Southern Tai and one in the Northern Tai language. THE FUTURE TASK T HE small missionary force in Siam, facing difficulties in distances, masses of people, and a deadly climate, constitutes a tremendous handicap. A larger number of workers should be sent to the field, the work pushed further south in the Malay Peninsula, and the populous districts between the stations throughout South¬ ern Siam reached. One-half the population of the country lives east of the Menam River and are practically untouched by missionary effort. Since the World War more interest than ever is taken in American ideals, and there is a present desire for America’s friendship and influence. The door is open! Homely virtues appear to be Siam’s desperate need—a realization of the value of industry, perseverance, honor, loyalty, spiritual growth without material gain. Ignorance, especially among the women, imposes its thraldom. Idle¬ ness, gambling, intemperance are the natural consequences, and undermine the habits of the people. The moral standards of family life need raising, and the people should be aroused to look after their own industries and not leave their work to Chinese and other more energetic peoples. Unless these really are secured, Siam must disappear as an independent power. The entire land must be awakened to deeper spirit¬ ual life, truth, sincerity, fervor. The country needs not a rationalistic philosophy but a spiritual awakening; not Buddhism, with its corollary of religious indifference, too apparent on all sides, but the gospel of Jesus Christ. UNOCCUPIED SIAM HE eastern half of the country has an area of 92,000 square miles, almost equal¬ ing that of New York and Pennsylvania; the population is 4,303,000 (not quite one-fourth that of these same states and one-half the whole population of Siam). Yet in this entire area there is not one Christian missionary at work! At least four new stations require to be opened, with leaders chosen from the ten established Siamese stations. Yet while this number is totally inadequate to meet the needs of 4,303,000 people, the present depleted mission force in North and South Siam warrants only a moder¬ ate advance during the next five years. SOUTHEASTERN ASIA: French Indo-China and Siam 7 A greatly increased supply of Christian litera¬ ture is needed for eastern Siam. The two existing mission presses, in Bangkok and Chieng Mai, need to be thoroughly organized and equipped. More than 22 per cent, of the Siamese are literate. The Buddhist temple has ever been the center of letters and learning, but eventually the tem¬ ple schools will give place to the newer govern¬ ment schools. During the next five years it might be wise not to establish mission schools but to await the results of the government educational program. Schools devoted to Bible teaching, however, should be founded. The Siamese Government is emphasizing and carrying on public school education. Missionary doctors, dispensaries and hospitals are urgently needed. The new workman best be carried on in North and South Siam by the Northern Presbyterian Missions. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019 with funding from Columbia University Libraries https://archive.org/details/worldsurveyconfe00inte_7 SOUTHEASTERN ASIA: Malaysia 9 Malaysia T HE island world of Malaysia equals in total expanse the area of the United States. It is the largest and the most fertile undeveloped Asiatic territory, containing 873,000 square miles, with a population of 50,497,042. The sur¬ plus population of both China and British India is coming to Malaysia at the rate of 250,000 Chinese and 60,000 Indians every year. More than a million Chinese are now permanently domiciled there. They are the most industrious and progressive element in the population. Malaysia’s Needs A comprehensive system of Christian education to counteract the influence of the religious and superstitious cults of Asia. A native Christian ministry trained for evangelistic service. An adequate staff of medical missionaries and nurses. A system of extensive Christian colportage work. A Strategic Base The Chinese are doubtless destined to become the dominant race in Malaysia. Their conversion is necessary to the triumph of Christianity in the archipelago. What the Phoenicians were to the Mediterranean world, in ancient times, the Chinese are to Malaysia today. They are the commercial masters of the archipelago. Many of them are rich and influential. They are all from South China, speak eight different languages and are widely scattered over this vast field. In their eagerness for educa¬ tion and enlightenment they are heartily supporting the Christian educational enterprises of the missionaries. Thus the Chinese in Malaysia form our strategic base; their evangelization is our greatest concern. Nearly all the indigenous races of Malaysia, the Malays, Javanese, Sundanese and other brown races, speaking more than 150 different languages, have been converted to Mohammedanism within the last 500 years. There are about 45,000,000 followers of the prophet; and of all Moslems these are among the easiest to reach with the gospel. To win these multitudes and to lead them to Christ is the stupendous task which confronts the Christian church in Malaysia. 10 Malaysia : SOUTHEASTERN ASIA The vast majority of the Mohammedans live on the island of Java which, with a population density of about 700 to the square mile, supports 35,000,000 people. The Java Mohammedans, however, are not so aggressive as those of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, who speak the Malay language. Consequently, Malay has be¬ come the language of Mohammedan propaganda, and the city of Singapore is the center of Mohammedan influence. The Arabic alphabet is used generally through¬ out the archipelago in all written and printed communications. There are about 2,000,000 members of various tribes in the interior of Borneo, Sumatra and other islands, who are still pagan. On the island of Bali there are some Hindus. To save these pagans and Hindus from Islam they must be reached at once. This is the opportune time to reach the Mohammedans. They have been profoundly influenced by the downfall of the Ottoman Empire and are realizing the fact that they are utterly unable to compete with the more enterprising Chinese. Leading Mohammedans appreciate the absolute necessity for a Western education if their children are to meet the Chinese on equal terms. Meanwhile, the Chinese are keenly alive to the benefits of Western civilization. Since the revolution in China a great change has come over the entire Chinese popula¬ tion of Malaysia. The door is wide open here to the Christian missionary. MALAYSIA AREA -SQUARE MILES 875,574 UNITED STATES [ 2.975,890 5(48^305 MALAYSIA 10^2554)00 UNITED STATES? TOTAL POPULATION AND PROTESTANT CHURCH MEMBERSHIP . 199,180 MALAYSIA wzm POPULATION PER PROTESTANT MINISTERfOR ORDAINED MISSIONARY) ion V 7 G42 UNITED STATES i /ntercAureh Wor/dAfo Yemeni of North Amer/ca GO. 3/ SOUTHEASTERN ASIA: Malaysia 11 (Comparison Map) This map is one of a series all drawn to the same scale for purposes of comparison as to area and population. The map of Pennsylvania serves as a unit of comparison and appears same size on each map of the series. 12 Malaysia: SOUTHEASTERN ASIA BEGINNINGS ISSIONARIES have just begun to reach the pagan, animistic Dayaks of the interior of British and Dutch Borneo; but the subtle influence of the Mohammedan Malays from the coast is always active. In both areas the Christian governments have done much to stamp out the practise of “head-hunting.’’ The Dayaks are beginning to take advantage of the opportunities which these governments are giving them for the education of their children. The question whether these schools shall be taught by Christian teachers or by Mohamme¬ dans will be decided in favor of Christianity, provided the necessary teachers are trained and the funds supplied for the purpose. The Christian church must provide the leader¬ ship which can bring to these peoples of Malay¬ sia—Moslems, Chinese and the wild tribes of the interior—those moral and spiritual forces which will enable them to realize that social and economic progress for which they are so eagerly seeking. AGENCIES AT WORK ODAY, the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Seventh Day Adventists are the only American agencies at work in Malaysia. The American Methodists are dealing with the Chinese problem through the agency of a great system of schools, nearly all of which are in the British area. Instruction is given entirely through the medium of the English language. There are approximately 10,000 children in these schools, and about 10,000 more are re¬ ceiving an English education in the schools operated by the British Government and by the Roman Catholic Church. The graduates of these English schools are already becoming the leaders of their people, not only in the British area but even to some extent in the Dutch area. The Dutch Government has found it necessary to establish “Dutch-Chinese Schools,” in which the Chinese children in the Dutch East Indies are now beginning to receive a Western educa¬ tion through the medium of the Dutch lan¬ guage. The Methodist boys’ schools in the British area are entirely self-supporting. Grants from government, together with school fees, pay the salaries and traveling expenses of missionary teachers, so that these schools are not a burden upon the mission boards. They are a great force for the uplift and en¬ lightenment of the entire community, princi¬ pally of the Chinese, the great majority of the pupils being of that race. Even the girls’ schools are now in many cases almost entirely self-supporting. All of these schools are the most effective means of gaining access to the families of the children. The government demands a high grade of effi¬ ciency in schools which receive a government grant, so that it becomes absolutely essential that the teaching staff of the schools be relieved from the responsibility of the other work, which has hitherto rested upon them. There is im¬ mediate need for both American and Chinese workers to devote their full time and strength to evangelistic work among the constituencies of these schools. The teachers can assist in their spare time. The Chinese are also demanding better facilities for the higher education of graduates of the mission and government high schools, who now have to go to China or to America for a college education. A university at Singapore is planned, and large sums have been contributed by the Chinese themselves. A Christian col¬ lege is an essential part of the present system of mission schools. Industrial education also needs to be stressed, and engineering and agri¬ cultural departments are parts of the Singapore college scheme. MEDICAL MISSIONS EDICAL work is the forerunner of the evangelization of the Moslem millions in Malaysia. This department of missionary effort will be reinforced by the Dutch Govern¬ ment. The Dutch are prepared to pay three- fourths of the cost of building and equipping mission hospitals, if the mission will provide the remaining fourth of the cost, and can supply the trained doctors and nurses. In response to the appeal for medical work the Methodist board is planning to erect sixteen new hospitals in the next five years in the SOUTHEASTERN ASIA: Malaysia Dutch area. These hospitals will be on the islands of Java, Sumatra and Borneo, the terri¬ tory already partially occupied by the Metho¬ dist Board. The necessary doctors and nurses to staff these hospitals are urgently needed. In the British area three hospitals are planned. The Chinese now settled in such large numbers near Sitiawan on the Malay Peninsula are entirely without medical aid and will them¬ selves provide the funds. The other two hospi¬ tals are planned to reach the Mohammedans of the Malay Peninsula, who number about 1,500,000. 13 CHRISTIAN LITERATURE T HE city of Singapore is admirably located as a center for the wide dissemination of Christian literature throughout Malaysia. Here there is already established one of the most successful mission presses in the Orient. The Methodist Publishing House is splendidly equipped for the production of all kinds of literature. It is urgently in need of more adequate resources for translation and editorial work, and for organizing a series of distributing centers for disseminating literature by means of colporteurs. MALAYS IA ANNUAL IMMIGRATION FROM CHINA 250.000 FROM INDIA 60.000 0_ 100 200 300 &0Q 30 0 STATUTE MILES lr,* erc hu'ch W.'or/d Movement of North America _ 14 Malaysia : SOUTHEASTERN ASIA Literature for the immigrant Chinese and Indians can, to a great extent, be purchased in China and India; but periodical literature, books and tracts with local coloring, will also be needed. Literature for Malays, Javanese and other indigenous races must all be produced on the field. A considerable editorial staff is needed in Singapore and also in Java. A central distributing agency in Singapore will be able to supply local agencies all over the archipelago. It will control the work of the colporters in the various countries. For lack of an adequate distributing organization there has been no effective literature propaganda in Malaysia; and to provide one is imperative. A NATIVE MINISTRY HE most outstanding need in Malaysia today is a trained native ministry. The Methodist Board has training schools at Singa¬ pore and in Java, but the supply of pastors is utterly inadequate to the needs of the churches. It will be impossible to open any considerable number of new stations until a sufficient number of native evangelists and other workers are trained for this purpose. A training school cannot be adequately supervised and taught by a missionary who is also busy with other work. The full time of a missionary, better equipment and qualified native teachers, must be given to the training schools. The church buildings in Malaysia compare very unfavorably with the fine school properties which have been erected in a great number of places from local resources. It is difficult to induce boys who study during the week in fine large classrooms to attend the Sunday services in the hot and uncomfortable buildings which are now in use as churches. To remedy this unfortunate situation it is planned to erect eighteen churches in the British area and ten in the Netherlands Indies, besides paying off the debts on four others. NEW WORK M ALAYSIA contains many areas which are entirely unoccupied. Among these are the following: The East Coast of the Malay Peninsula. South Sumatra and adjacent islands. The Province of Bantam in Java. The valley of the Koetei River in East Borneo. In South Celebes among the Mohammedans. In Bali and Lombok among the Hindus. There are other unoccupied areas which should be opened but provision ought first to be made for those listed above. SOUTHEASTERN ASIA: Oceania 15 Oceania (Not Including Hawaii) A Far-flung Archipelago Awaiting the Gospel O CEANIA, the great archipelago of the Pacific, consists of three main divisions: Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia. These may be divided into thirty smaller groups, containing in all about 1,500 islands. The total area is approximately 240,000 square miles; the population is estimated at 1,684,700. Oceania lies on both sides of the equator, but the majority of its islands are in the south torrid zone and until recently constituted the most isolated part of the inhabited globe. Yet, remote as this region is, it did not escape the far-reaching influences of the recent great conflict. The native islanders are all of the Malayan race. With the exception of a few islands which are under American, French and Japanese rule, this far-flung archipelago is under the sovereignty of Great Britain. Prior to the World War some of the islands were under German jurisdiction. These are now being administered by the British and Japanese governments and may ultimately pass under the control of Australia or New Zealand. Mission work was begun in 1521 by Magellan, who converted by compulsion, and for four centuries the field was occupied by various Roman Catholic societies but with indifferent success. Protestant work was commenced by the London Missionary Society at Tahiti in the Society Islands in 1797, and during the nineteenth century these islands were nominally and to a large extent genuinely Christianized by various British missionary organ¬ izations. Since 1797 about twenty other Protestant societies have entered the field—three American, ten British, the rest European. Today the native Protestant communi¬ cants number about 90,000, and non-communicants under Christian influences about 105,000. Five Roman Catholic societies are now at work, having approximately 130,000 communicants; 31,000 are under instruction in elementary schools and about five hundred in religious institutions. These societies also maintain three hospitals and ninety-nine dispensaries. 16 Oceania : SOUTHEASTERN ASIA AMERICAN WORK T HE only American society in Oceania which has undertaken work on a large scale is the American Board (Congregational). But for twenty years it has been gradually with¬ drawing from the field, until now it maintains but three women missionaries in Micronesia, noe doing general work in the Marshall group and two in a girls’ school at Kusaie, Caroline Islands, which work will be dropped when they retire. At Guam, the United States’ possession in the Ladrone Islands, one man and his wife are stationed. EVANGELISM THE PRIMARY NEED F OR many years educational work was al¬ most entirely under missionary control. In recent times the British, French and American governments have taken up this matter in the islands they respectively control. Hitherto, higher education has been practically negli¬ gible. But the aforementioned governments may be reasonably expected to develop the educational systems they have already or¬ ganized. Thus the missionary problem will henceforward be largely an evangelistic one. But until the governmental systems are more fully developed missionary education should go on. At present there are about 60,000 pupils under instruction in 2,350 missionary schools, of which only a few go above the grammar grades. Throughout Oceania there is a native teaching staff of about 4,500 but the foreign staff is entirely inadequate. DOCTORS AND HOSPITALS NEEDED M EDICAL work has not been attempted in any large degree by missionary agencies. At present the Protestant organiza¬ tions are conducting sixteen hospitals and twenty-eight dispensaries, with an average medical treatment of about ten thousand cases per year. Although government medical de¬ partments have been established in many places the witch-doctor is everywhere in evidence and the lack of scientific medical aid is felt through¬ out the entire archipelago. RACIAL PROBLEMS HE immigration problem may be solved by a wise shepherding of the present native church. These islanders are of such an unstable ethnic character that, if left to the impact of Oriental immigration, they will lose their racial integrity. If this influx continues the Pacific Islands will soon be overrun by peoples from the Far East, and Christian missions will face problems even more complex than heretofore. The forces of evil have not been inactive in Oceania. Ever since its discovery by the white man, traders and adventurers have introduced some of the worst vices of the Occidental world. CIVILIZATION’S PERILS NE of the chief duties of Christianity is to combat the evils of its own civilization. Work among the white men and half-breeds found in the islands should be speedily under¬ taken. There are very few churches for this class, although in Fiji alone the Europeans number 3,500. Another element of difficulty presenting itself in Oceania is the presence of large numbers of East Indian coolies who, on account of the in¬ dolence of the island natives, have been im¬ ported for labor purposes. At the end of 1917 there were 61,000 Indians in Fiji, as against 91,000 natives. The majority of the Indians are Hindus, though there is also a considerable Mohammedan element among them. Thus far missionary work among them has not been very effective. There is also a sprinkling of Chinese, mostly traders, who are increasingly superseding their white competitors. As to the natives themselves, while they are less cruel, they are also less truthful, less industrious, less cleanly than formerly. Latterly where Chris¬ tianity has been accepted it has become cor¬ rupted with the old practices of magic and an¬ cestor-worship. Saint-worship is also being established in some of the islands. FIJI—A TYPICAL SUCCESS ET good, effective work can be done in Oceania. The Tonga Island Mission illustrates a typical success. Sixty years ago, the whole population accepted Christianity. A foundation of a very permanent nature has SOUTHEASTERN ASIA: Oceania 17 been laid in Fiji, with a native membership of 3,300. IT HAS—AND WILL- COST MUCH HE spiritual victories gained in the Pacific have cost a heavy price. They are sealed with the blood of missionary martyrs: John Williams, Bishop Patteson and James Chalmers laid down their lives in Oceania. Indeed the whole story of the South Sea Islands is a great romance of missionary history. The carrying forward of the work begun by these heroes calls for devotion and sacrifice. There are per¬ haps a million savages in New Caledonia, Papua, New Hebrides, Santa Cruz, the Solo¬ mon and Bismarck Islands yet untouched by the gospel. An entirely new and trained mis¬ sionary force is necessary for these fields and the urgency is immediate. READJUSTMENTS A USTRALIA and New Zealand, the great ^ progressive neighbors of the Oceanic Islands, would appear to be the logical heirs to the fulfilment of this great task. The larger mission boards of the United States and England should assume responsibility for the evangelization of the Philippines, China, India and Malaysia, whose influence for good or ill interacts closely upon this far-flung archipelago. ■ • . ■ PHILIPPINE ISLANDS America offers the Philippines to the world as the first practical appli¬ cation of democratic self-government to the peoples of the Orient. U NDER American tutelage 3,141 Philippine islands, embracing 115,000 square miles and a population of 10,000,000, have become the great strategic base for Christian democracy in the Pacific. Manila is becoming the focal point between America and the East. Since that historic day in May, 1898, when Admiral Dewey raised the American flag, the Philippines have grown to political stature. Here is the missionary problem in the Islands: Nine million Filipinos, mostly of Malay stock, preparing for self-government. A decadent Mohammedanism professed by 350,000 Moros. Wild tribes numbering 750,000 people: in the highlands of Luzon and Mindanao, independent, animistic peoples; and in West Luzon and Palawan, nomadic, poly¬ gamous Negritos or true aborigines, who resist all efforts toward modern civilization. Sixty-eight different languages and dialects which make for both tribal divisions and social disunion. The 9,000,000 civilized Filipinos, or Filipino Intellectuales, must be won to our support. In this complex field Islam gave way to a decadent Rome when Spain brought Chris¬ tianity to the Philippines. But the idolatrous form of Christianity professed by the Filipinos is now giving way to a virile and democratic Christianity. Modern civilization is on trial in the Orient. Western institutions are being rapidly adopted. Shall we allow the Orient to adopt the letter and not the spirit of our institutions ? Historians of the future must not record that America nurtured ten million of her wards into full citizenship and gave them responsible government in the most strategic position of the great Pacific, and yet left them in normal and spiritual darkness. Even though they have proved apt pupils of our institutions, let us not forget that “the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth 1^6.^ Let the Philippines be our Pacific contribution to posterity! 20 Democratic Self-government in the Orient : PHILIPPINE ISLANDS (Comparison Map) This map is one of a series all drawn to the same scale for purposes of comparison as to area and population. The map of Pennsylvania serves as a unit of comparison and appears same size on each map of the series. PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: Occident vs. Orient 21 WORK DOES NOT OVERLAP 00N after the American forces occupied the Islands, the call was great for mission¬ aries who would preach to and teach natives who were then keen for the things the Ameri¬ cans brought. About that time the Protestant churches divided the Islands, each denomina¬ tion assuming responsibility for a certain district. This cooperative plan has worked well. EDUCATION HE United States has introduced a splendid educational system, but there is a total lack of religious instruction in the public schools. In the university and profes¬ sional schools a strong atheistic tendency is evident. Missionaries are now counteracting this movement by the close supervision of the dormitory system prevailing in the high school centers and in Manila. The Baptists have a strong industrial school at Jaro, Iloilo, in which three hundred boys are enrolled and trained, and where a farm of sixty acres for agricultural training purposes supple¬ ments the theoretical instruction. On the Island of Panay, the Baptists have organized a remarkable school for orphans at Capiz. This school is also a home for the children, as well as for others who are depen¬ dent though not entirely orphaned. No school in the Islands has a finer standing. This same denomination also maintains dormi¬ tories for high school students at Iloilo, Capiz and Bacolod; and has organized an excellent training school which prepares women for Bible teachers. Northern Presbyterians, at Silliman Institute, offer an all-round education not only to the peo¬ ple of Negros but also to the rest of the archi¬ pelago. Silliman Institute boasts an en¬ rolment of eight hundred, and about 5,000 former students are spreading its influence. Many Filipino leaders have gone from Silliman into various walks of public life. Ellinwood School for girls at Manila is doing for girls what Silliman does for boys. In addition to the School, Ellinwood Dormitory for girls and Ellinwood Dormitory for boys provide homes, with good Christian atmosphere for the students attending the public high schools. The Pres¬ byterian Church also maintains dormitories for boys and for girls at Cebu Station. At Manila the Methodist Episcopal Church has a boys’ dormitory, the Harris Memorial Dea¬ coness Training School and the Hugh Wilson Hall for Women. In Lingayen the Women’s Bible Training School is turning out enthusias¬ tic women every session who are doing a great deal toward increasing the popularity of the Protestant faith. The Union Theological Seminary is located at Manila also. The Presbyterians, Baptists, Christians and United Brethren cooperate with the Methodists in maintaining this institution which trains sixty men each year for the min¬ istry. The outstanding educational need is a great union Christian college in Manila, with up-to- date buildings, a competent staff* and an ade¬ quate dormitory system. Such an educational center, combined with the splendid medical and hospital work of the missions, would form the citadel of Christianity in the Islands. EVANGELISM A FTER less than two decades of mission- l ary effort there are about 125,000 members of evangelical churches and 500,000 others who may be termed Christian adherents. But millions more have not heard the gospel proclaimed. Hundreds of towns and villages have never been visited by either a missionary or a Filipino preacher. Meanwhile the Roman Catholic Church is increasingly active among the young people. The Protestant missionaries have had many of the experiences that came to St. Paul. “Jour- neyings often, in perils of rivers, in perils of robbers, in perils from my own countrymen, in perils by the gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in labor and travail, in watchings often, in cold and naked¬ ness. Besides those things that are without, that which presseth upon me daily, anxiety for all the churches.” 22 Eighteen Years of Protestant Evangelism : PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 50,000 TO ONE MISSIONARY! HERE are about 200 missionaries, in¬ cluding wives, and 1,860 native work¬ ers, conscientiously but inadequately covering the field. The general average has been one evangelistic missionary for every 50,000 people. In 1911 the Philippine Islands Sunday School Union was formed and now has more than 40,000 pupils enrolled. A convention was held in Manila in 1917 with more than five thou¬ sand in attendance. Now is the crucial time to enlist the rising generation. STEMMING THE TIDE O THE Baptists were given islands with a population of over one million—Negros, Occidental, Samar and part of Panay. This territory embraces some 10,000 square miles, with an average population per square mile ranging from 50 on Samar to 161 on Panay. The islands are hilly and difficult for travel, thus making the work of the missionary es¬ pecially arduous. The dialects vary greatly on each island, again adding to the task set before this body of consecrated men and women. But the two dozen Baptist missionaries have built up seventy-one congregations with about 4,500 members. In addition some 175 Filipinos have been added to the staff. The work of the Methodist Episcopal Church is confined to the Island of Luzon, from Manila north. This is divided into seven districts which have in active work over 126 preachers and missionaries, with over 200 churches and chapels and more than 1,200 preaching places. In eighteen years the churches have acquired a baptised membership of nearly 50,000. The District of Manila is the largest field and best organized of the Methodist work. There are important centers for evangelistic work in Vigan and Tuguegarao in the north, Dagupan and Lingayen in the district of Pangadinan, the wealthy rice region of Luzon; and in the Central District, there are flourishing churches at Malolos, San Isidro and Cabanatan. The Disciples of Christ maintain considerable evangelistic work about Manila and also around Vigan in the north of the Island of Luzon. Northern Presbyterians minister to that part of the archipelago lying south of Manila and North of Mindanao. They maintain eleven stations with one hundred and seventy-three outstations. The half-hundred missionaries care for nearly 20,000 members, scattered over AREA - SQUARE MILES 115.026 PHILIPPINE ISLANDS D 2.973,890 UNITED STATESL TOTAL POPULATION AND PROTESTANT CHURCH MEMBERSHIP PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 125,000 105.253,000 UNITED STATES 2103&000 PHILIPPINE ISLANDS UNITED STATES a " /nterchurch Wor/dMovement of North Amer/ca POPULATION PER PROTESTANT MINISTER^ ORDAINED MISSIONARY) G.m/ PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: Our Polyglot Field 23 mountains and in jungles. Taken all in all, no parish in the world is equal to the Philippines. The center of the work of this church is Iloilo, where there are nineteen congregations. LITERATURE FOR SIXTY- EIGHT DIALECTS VANGELICAL Christianity must reach this growing field if it is to become the American exemplar of democracy in the Orient. Here a people of rapidly increasing literacy has become politically self-conscious and is probably on the verge of self-determination. Literature is an important medium. The United States schools are making English a lingua franca, and thus provide a valuable channel for reaching the 9,000,000 intellectuales . In addition,Christian literature and propaganda material in the sixty-eight different languages and dialects are essential. Already the Ameri¬ can Bible Society has distributed over 1,500,000 Bibles throughout the Islands. At Manila the Methodists have an active press, but its work is but a drop in the ocean of needs. WANTED: THE MEDICAL MISSIONARY AT MANILA the Methodists have fully XjL equipped the splendid Mary J. Johnson Hospital. Like many of the Protestant denom¬ inations, the Methodists have not forged ahead with hospital work, depending upon the govern¬ ment for provision in that line. But there is so great need for medical work in connection with the purely evangelistic, that one of the greatest wants of the Islands is the medical missionary and hospital accommodations. Outside of Manila and Iloilo there are no hospitals at all save a small one at Sagada for the Igorots and another small one at Zam¬ boanga for the Moros with a third at Capiz. There are a few doctors scattered throughout the Islands, but otherwise the people are at the mercy of quacks and venders of nostrums. There is no place but Manila where an opera¬ tion can be performed. At Capiz, the Baptists have a small but very well equipped hospital; at Iloilo they unite with the Presbyterians in supporting a large hospital and a training school for nurses. Date Due APR 7 ’5 o Q _ i