V ^ PAW. t. AMER. Survey of Mexico, Panama, South America, Europe (exce pt I taly), and China By HOMER C. STUNTZ First Assistant Corresponding Secretary Presented to the General Committee of Foreign Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Albany, N. Y., November lo, 1909 BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH 150 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from Columbia University Libraries https://archive.org/details/surveyofmexicopaOOstun of Mexico, Panama, Sooth America, Europe Italy), and China By First Assistant Corresponding Secretary Homer C. Stuntz This survey may well begin with a note of gratitude. While the year under review has been characterized by severe financial limitations, causing the greatest embarrassment and serious overwork to many missionaries, yet great blessing from God has rested upon all the fields. The total reports of conversions and accessions are not yet in hand, but the general impression which has been derived from cor- respondence coming to the office is that more souls have been gathered into the kingdom than in any other year of our work. The splendid devotion of the men and women who represent us over all these wide areas should call forth the deepest gratitude from all our hearts. These workers, underpaid, crying out desperately for reenforcements which we are unable to send them, standing face to face with opportunities affecting the future of republics and empires, often at the risk of their own lives, have held our banner aloft throughout another year, endur- ing hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. MEXICO Steady progress has been made in Mexico. The missionaries have been maintaining a concerted plan of intercessory prayer for the out- pouring of the Spirit upon the work. At the Conference session these meetings were full of real power and blessing. There has been no unusual revival manifestation but a steady and healthful growth. Sev- eral priests have inquired the way of salvation, at least one of whom has given good evidence of having been truly converted. Perhaps the most outstanding feature of the year’s work has been the completion of our school buildings in Puebla. These are to be dedicated at the time of the next Conference session. These are said to be the finest school buildings erected by any mission in Mexico. Mexico received last year for the work, $57,675 ; for property, $1,225 > a total of $58,900. They ask this year, $97,701, of which $10,840 is asked for new property and $1,000 for one new missionary. Our unembership in Mexico is 5,860. SOUTH AMERICA North Ancles Panama : This has been the most satisfactory year of our work in Panama and the Canal Zone. Brother W. W. Gray has completed his first year, and Brother Charles W. Ports two years in the work, and every inter- est under their care shows the efficiency of their labors. The member- ship of our church for Americans has more than doubled. The con- gregations are from three to four times as large as they were last year. Funds have been raised on the field to nearly complete the 3 (except Survey 4 Survey of the Fields new mission building, to insure it, to repair the sea wall which has been breached, and to put in the furnishings for both the school and the church. The Sunday school is in a healthful condition, and much preaching has been done up and down the line of the Canal. Brother Ports having been appointed visiting chaplain of the Canal Commission, has been able to give much of his time during the closing months of the year to Spanish work, for which his long experience in South America and Panama has peculiarly fitted him. Our missionaries there have had a most interesting experience during the year with the Indians, of whom there are tens of thousands in Panama. One of the Indian chiefs has put his son in our school, and others contemplate doing so. The school has continued to do satisfactory work, and there is a tone of hopefulness in the reports which is exceedingly gratifying. They received for the work in 1909, $2,500; they ask for 1910, $4,400. Peru: The North Andes Mission has passed through a year of trial. The little force of missionaries in Peru has been seriously crippled by illness, and by the failure of the appropriation of 1909 to provide fully for the minimum expense of maintaining the missionaries already on the field. A special advance of $2,000 had to be made to them during the year, and the disposition of the matter referred to the General Committee. We have in this mission as fine a force of workers as in any mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and they confront opportunities so rich that there must be no thought of retreat at any point of the line. Peru received last year for the work, $9,275; they ask this year for the work, $12,950; they ask for new property, $10,500. Ecuador : The first active persecution which Rev. Harry Compton, our mis- sionary in Ecuador, has had to undergo, came from a mob which assaulted himself, Mrs. Compton, and their daughter, in a town about eight miles from Quito, early in the year. Led by the local priests, they assaulted this missionary family with cries of, “Kill the Protes- tants, drive out the infidels, down with the Free Masons !” The wife and daughter were placed upon ponies with saddle girths unfastened, and the horses driven down over the steep mountain paths leading out of the town where the mob was doing its work. Fortunately, their lives were all saved. The State Department at Washington ordered our consul at Quito to make a careful investigation, and from that time forward there has been perfect freedom from violence. Brother Compton has preached regularly during the remainder of the year in the town where he was mobbed, and has had the first revival which has gladdened his heart in Ecuador. Nearly one hundred adults have been converted and received into our church since last Conference, but one Sunday having passed without some one seeking and finding Survey of the Fields 5 the Saviour. There is every indication that if we hold steadily on in Ecuador, we shall build up a self-reliant Methodism there. They received last year $4,025. Chile Conference Chile ! Out of the forty missionaries of this Board in Chile twenty-nine are employed in school work. A very unsatisfactory condition exists regarding the salaries of these teachers. As a part of the inheritance left us by the self-supporting work on the West Coast, the salaries of the teachers are paid by the schools and thus far the old rate of $300 and $350 per year, with board and lodging furnished, has prevailed. The salaries of those engaged in evangelistic or press work has been paid on the regular scale in South America. In the case of married couples the wife is not paid unless she teaches. The husband can only receive the salary of one teacher — $350 with board and room for both. Many of the women are unable to teach and properly discharge their responsibilities as wives and mothers. A petition has been pre- pared by the Finance Committee of this mission and forwarded to the Board of Managers asking that this matter be remedied, and that provision be made in the appropriations that all missionaries appointed under this Board may receive the same salary. Whether our financial condition will warrant our undertaking this program this year or not, there can be no doubt that it must be done at the earliest possible moment. The secretary is frequently unable. to find suitable teachers for our schools in this Conference because the remuneration is as stated above. We are constantly losing those who have already entered the work because they live upon the scanty allowance named. The outstanding propierty event of the year in the mission has been the carrying toward completion of the new school buildings of the Colejio Americano, in Concepcion. A heavy debt has been contracted, but Bishop Bristol assures us that the proceeds from the sale of the old property will almost entirely liquidate it. The Finance Committee and the bishop have not thought it advisable thus far to accept any offer which has been made for the very valuable site and buildings of the old Colejio Americano. It is increasing in value year by year. Meantime the rents received from it are meeting the interest charges on the debt for the new building. From Valparaiso come reports of the most contradictory character regarding a revival which has been going forward in our church at that place since early in the Conference year. Dr. W. C. Hoover writes that several of his members arranged for whole nights of prayer during the early part of the year, and that as a result a glorious revival is in progress. Conflicting reports in the form of cablegrams and letters have continued to reach the office regarding the work which has gone forward in Valparaiso. Dr. Hoover claims that scores have been clearly and powerfully converted to God, many of whom were abandoned sinners. Penitents have fallen to the floor and remained 6 Survey of the Fields rigid for longer or shorter periods of time, and on regaining conscious- ness have leaped and shouted, rolling upon the floor and causing great excitement in the services. He declares that in spite of these mani- festations, and in spite of the claims of certain converts that they have been endowed with “the gift of tongues” both in speaking and singing, and others declaring that they have passed beyond the need of human direction, and have been taken to heaven and given visions of the future, and of God’s plans for South America, there is in the move- ment real spiritual power of a kind quite new in our South American work. Other members of the mission and our American consul at Valparaiso unite in cabling and writing that the conduct of the meet- ings is discreditable to us as a mission and harmful to the work of God. The secular papers condemn the proceedings in unsparing terms, as such papers usually do. One cablegram informed us that Brother Hoover had been given some kind of sentence by the court, which sentence was held in abeyance pending an appeal to the bishop and the Board. While it is very certain that there Isnnore or less of wildfire in these gatherings, the reports read very much like accounts of early Methodist revivals. There is scarcely a feature of the services as reported which could not be duplicated in our revivals in India, Korea, and China. John L. Reeder, our representative in Punta Arenas beyond the 53d parallel of south latitude, on the shores of the Strait of Magellan, has been doing heroic work for the Board during the year. Some way should be found for giving him encouragement in the struggle which he is putting forth to secure adequate property for our church, and for a missionary and wife to preach in it. Largely with funds which he has raised on the field, and often with labor performed by his own hands, he has bought sites and built two Methodist churches for us in that southermost city occupied by Methodism. A grant of $1,000 to help him furnish his parsonage and to finish his church, would be timely. Bolivia : The work in Bolivia though within the Chile Conference has a sepa- rate financial budget. Brother Schilling has been in charge as district superintendent since the early part of the summer, and reports favor- ably as to the possibilities of our work in that great republic. After much delay the government has paid one half of its subvention to the schools, and there is every hope that the remainder will be forthcom- ing before the end of the year if we have the proper quota of teachers employed. Brother Schilling has taken a new hall for use as a church, is preaching in it in German, English, and Spanish almost every night to steadily increasing audiences, and is deriving from these congrega- tions a steadily increasing measure of financial support. Bolivia received last year, $5,000; they ask this year, $6,746. Chile received last year for the work, $23,175; asked this year for the work. Survey of the Fields 7 $33,497; for new property, $4,918; total $38,415, which is an increase for the work of $10,322; total increase, $15,240. Eastern South America The year 1909 has been one of harmony and of steady advance throughout the work in Eastern South America. A great loss was inflicted on the mission by the death of Brother George P. Howard, our acting treasurer. He died while on a trip for his health in England. He was a faithful man. By the appointment of last Con- ference, Dr. Drees takes the district superintendency in Uruguay, and the pastorate of our very important McCabe Memorial Church in Montevideo. Great things are expected of his administration of our promising work in that republic. A first-class man has been found during the year and put in charge of our work in Paraguay, the Rev. E. A. Brinton, from Iowa. Ex- cellent reports have already reached the office of the way he is taking hold of his new duties. Another new recruit during the year is the Rev. George P. Howard, son of the brother whose death we mourn. He has been appointed to the charge of our work in Mercedes, and began preaching in Spanish the first month after his arrival. During the year the new Spanish church in Rosario has been com- pleted and occupied, the old church property sold, and the proceeds applied to liquidating the loan from the Board. Our work in that great city was never on as good a basis as it is to-day. Dr. Tallon writes very enthusiastically of the outlook. This Conference received last year for the work, $52,592; asked this year for the work, $91,486; for new property, $46,642; a total asking of $138,128. ,, CHINA Foochow In the Foochow Conference we are on historic ground. It was here that Judson D. Collins and Moses C. White planted the flag of Methodism among the Chinese in 1847. It was here that Bishop Wiley began his missionary career, and where his body sleeps until the great awakening. There are 20,000 Methodist Christians within the bounds of the Foochow Conference, nearly one half of the membership of our church in China. Our oldest, if not our largest, institution of higher education is located in Foochow — the Anglo-Chinese College. Some increase must soon be made in property and in our Mission staff in order to meet the conditions which confront us there to-day. In all the Foochow District, with a population of 5,000,000 people (including the city of Foochow and suburbs, with 1,000,000 people), but one missionary (and he burdened with the cares incident to the treasurership of the mission) is engaged in evangelistic work ! One entire prefecture of the province, Yengping, with a population of 2,000,000, has been assigned to our church, and in that territory we 8 Survey of the Fields have one American missionary evangelist. In some parts of the province our church membership is increasing so fast that it is a physical impossibility for our missionaries to keep control of the situa- tion, and we are in great danger of a spurious Christianity and a reac- tion to heathenism if we do not reenforce our work there. Four boarding schools for boys in the province demand the strength and time of a number of our workers. They are turning out into life a steady stream of young men with a solid foundation in scholar- ship, and from these schools a steady procession of select students pass into the college in Foochow. With an increase of missionaries more houses will be needed. The Board is in duty bound to furnish a decent home for every family sent to the field. The Conference shared in the results of the great revival which broke out in Hinghwa early in the year. An organized attempt will be made to carry for- ward this evangelistic work. The Conference received last year for the work, $28,325 ; asked this year for the work, $50,300 ; for new property, $32,692 ; total asking, $82,992. This would give an increase for the work of $21,975, and a total increase of $54,667. Hinghwa This is our youngest Conference in China. But a few years ago it was a circuit, then a district, then a Mission Conference, and in 1908 an Annual Conference. The Board maintains here but seven mission- aries. There were reported last year 3,627 members and 2,048 pro- bationers, making a total of 5,675. Of all the reports of widespread revival that have reached the office from any part of China the most remarkable come this year from this Conference. Dr. William N. Brewster has prepared a booklet entitled A Modern Pentecost in South China, describing the great revival which lasted through nearly three months in Hinghwa City. The most encouraging fact about this great work of grace was that it began in the heart of the Chinese pastor of our church in Hinghwa. He became so burdened for a revival that he spent two successive days in prayer and fasting. The prayer was with closed doors, and the fasting seen only of the Father, but the recompense was open and abundant. One of the students in the Biblical School, who had been present at a six o’clock meeting on Good Friday morning and had been greatly burdened in prayer, rose and said he had a confession to make. As treasurer of the committee on entertainment of the District Conference, he had twenty cents left over after all bills were paid, and he had not turned it back to the pastor. He said he would get this money as soon as possible and give it to the church. His confession and restitution stirred many con- sciences. Services were announced for six o’clock the next morning. The interest grew until it was necessary to prolong the services throughout the day. Before Saturday, without any announcement except the opening of the church and the lighting of the lamps for evening service, the crowds increased until they filled the building. Survey of the Fields 9 During the second week one of the most earnest members of the church in Hinghwa City, a successful business man, who had been in great- distress for several days, expressed the fear that he had committed the unpardonable sin. It soon came out that he and his companions had in stock over a dozen bottles of morphine, brought in before the pro- hibition of its importation. The original cost was about $6o. The present commercial value was not less than three times that sum. They were planning to use it in so-called “opium-cure pills.” The deadly character of the drug in this capacity was not fully understood by them. When the nature of this sin was pointed out, this penitent man went at once to see his partners, nearly all of whom were pro- fessing Christians, and in less than two hours their entire stock of this drug, along with a lot of American and English cigarettes, were brought to the church and turned over to the pastor to be destroyed. Many others confessed sins and profound conviction rested upon the people. The revival that followed spread like fire in dry stubble. Students, teachers, men, and women met together and prayed for hours and received great blessing. By far the greater majority of those participating in the revival were members of the church who had fallen into more or less condemnation. Bishop Lewis and Bishop Bashford both participated in these services. Morning after morning the temporary structure in which they met would be filled with from two to four thousand eager worshipers before the six o’clock service began. The conversions were clear; the testimony ringing with power, and the whole city was stirred to its depths. Converts carried the good news to outlying cities and towns. Chinese preachers from Foochow came to see the bush burn and carry the flame back to their own congregations. This outpouring of the Spirit proves once more the truth that we read in the Word of God, “It is not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord.” Hinghwa must have financial relief this year, if it is possible to compass such a thing. They received last year, $12,200; asked this year for the work, $24,877; for new property, $10,800; total, $35,677; an increase for the work of $12,677 ; total increase, $23,477. Central China The Central China Mission stretches along the Yangtse River a distance of nearly three hundred miles, and from our stations in this stretch of “the Mississippi Valley” of China, 30,000,000 of people can be reached. It is the great commercial area of China. Railroads and other modern conveniences are coming. Food, labor, land, and supplies are increasingly expensive. All this reacts upon the expense of carry- ing forward our missionary work. Our great hospital at Nanking , our university at that point, now being united with the colleges of the Presbyterian and Disciple Churches, our medical work and hospital at Nanchang, William Nast lO ~jLji^ f'- f ~' S^ f Survey of the College at Kiukiang, and the hospital in Wuhu, fo rm a part of the great S’/U^TT: chain of effort which the Board is trying to carry forward in that '>t.vj " part of the empire. /"X/* Central China received last year for the work, $40,635 ; they ask this year for the work, $47,000; for new property, $24,100; a total ^gf asking of $71,100; increase for the work, $6,365; total increase, $30,465. ; North China In North China we are at the center of the political influences which control the destinies of the empire. With great wisdom and courage our missionaries occupied Peking in the day of small things, and we have cause to thank God for the faith which led them there. There we have our great Peking University, which during a long career has re- flected nothing but credit upon the Board which has founded and maintained it. The importance of sustaining our work in the line of Christian education at this crisis in the development of China can- not be overestimated. Changes so complete and on so vast a scale have never been approximated in the history of the world. A homo- geneous race of 400,000,000 as by one impulse turns completely about and with determination faces a new future. It is to be doubted if a parallel has been afforded to the situation which confronts us in China, since the beginning of Christian history. Our church must not lose this great opportunitj'. In common with our other missions in China they are in desperate need of missionary houses. In Peking there are three families with only one house for their use. There is no residence for Bishop Bash- ford. He has had to use one room in one of the missionary residences, and one room in the university for his library. It is almost an im- possibility to rent a house in Peking. It would be absolutely so near our own mission headquarters. The Southern City of Peking is a large city in itself — five miles long by two in width — and contains all the business section of the city. With the exception of one small place, ours is the only mission with work in that part of Peking. We were ten years in getting our first foothold there, and now own three of the most desirable centers of the city. The site on Front Street has, perhaps, no equal in the empire for street chapel work. Our needs in Tientsin are great. Our services at Ching Hsien are being held in an old building which was used for a Boxer temple in 1900. Last winter there was a wonderful work of grace in the city of Tientsin. A new church on North Main Street would add fifty per cent to the working power of our force there. We are attempting to do hospital work in Tai An. The need for a hospital is desperate. Last Chinese New Year Dr. Ensign moved the hospital into an old two-story Chinese house. Four little rooms, averaging 10x14 in size, constitute the entire ward space. It is im- possible to expand without a larger plant. Patients have to be turned Survey of the Fields II 'PieiyiAJL ’ away almost every day. Thousands of pilgrims pass the door of this hospital every spring, on their way to the Sacred Mountain. Dr.- Fyke writes that it is manifest to every observing person of long resi- dence in China that this is a peculiar opportunity for evangelization on a large scale throughout the empire. “People are everywhere turn- ing from the past and facing the future. They are asking for some- thing new and better — new schools, new methods, new text-books on new branches of learning. Newspapers are multiplied and people are ^.reading as never before. Public lecture halls are numerous where science, politics, and religion are discussed openly and freely. During the past year our chapels have had more hearers, especially in Peking and Tientsin, than in any previous year. The hearers have been far yC>#<.£»-vCy more intelligent and attentive and have remained longer. In two of our Peking chapels nearly one thousand have enrolled their names as inquirers, while several hundreds were enrolled in Tientsin. Bishop Bashford remarked, after preaching in the great Front Street chapel to an audience that crowded the place, ‘We might easily have ten 'L'l^ ^ .A more such places in Peking if we had the money and the men.’ ” North China received for the work last year, $53,300; they ask for this year, $76,571; for new property, $44,150; total asking, $120,721; increase for the work, $23,271 ; total increase, $67,421. i ’ 1 West China In West China we are dealing .with a people who bear the same relation to the empire, as a whole, that the peoples of our Rocky Y Mountain and Pacific Coast states bear to the populations of the older sections of our country. The people who live in West China are 1 UijuJini either immigrants from eastern sections of the empire or their descend- ants, and, in contact with the large opportunities of that great and fertile province, they have developed an independence of spirit and breadth of vision which are not always found in the older types from the East. Therefore a more ready hearing is given by them to our message than is accorded it in some other parts of China. / Our medical work at Chungking is on a self-supporting basis, thanks f , ^ 1 Ito the indomitable efforts of Dr. McCartney and Dr. Freeman, while ^Dr. Canright has built up a great medical plant in Chengtu. Un- f fortunately, the new plant is not yet entirely paid for. A debt of $6,000 rests upon the building and should be discharged at the earliest l^moment. From every part of the Conference come reports of revival. Ji'^ Converts are added steadily. Our institution of higher education ' at Chengtu has been united with other institutions located at that point, and thus far the united effort has run well. \ The attention of the General Committee should be called distinctly and clearly to the very embarrassing financial situation in this mission. , While comparisons may not always be pleasant, it seems to be my duty to bring to your attention a few comparative statements that you may see what great hardship is being endured by our workers in West 12 Survey of the Fields ■ 0 ^ / China. The figures given are taken from the official redistribution sheets of 1909. With 23 missionaries and 6,307 members and probationers, North China received $53,300 last year; while West China, with 17 mis- sionaries and 3,159 members and probationers, received $18,340 — or practically one third as much. Central China, with 19 missionaries and 1,618 members and probationers, received $40,635, and West China, with 17 missionaries and 3,159 members, received $18,340. After fully providing for the salaries, children’s allowance and rent of the missionary force in North China last year a balance of $14,763 was left for the other work of the Mission, and Central China had $14,270 over and above the sum needed to pay the workers sent by the Board. But West China had only $18,340, and 17 missionaries and their children had to be supported by this sum, and this left but $1,500 for all the evangelistic, educational, and medical work of the Mission, as well as for repairs, taxes, incidental expenses, and passage. None of the men could have personal teachers, while missionaries in at least two other Conferences in China are furnished with these helps for the mastery of the Chinese tongue. West China must have relief, and that relief cannot tarry. The same inequality appears w hether one looks at the educational. evangelistic work, or medical work, salaries of other item in the entire list of appropriations, to those of us under whose eye the correspondence missionaries, or any It is perfectly clear is constantly passing that West China must have relief, and must have it this year. The question of where that relief is to come from is the one detail yet to be worked out. The amount received last year for the work was $18,340; they ask this year for the work, $32,158; for new property, $20,000; total, $52,158. This shows an increase for the work of $13,818; total increase, $33,818 EUROPE North Germany In North Germany the year has witnessed a -steady and healthful growth. Nearly all the current expenses, house rent, halls, interest on property, are paid by the local churches. They only ask the salaries of missionaries, rent for four district superintendents, and certain other items for the work in Vienna, Hungary, Berlin, Chemnitz, and Flemsburg. The Finance Committee say: “We long for the day when we shall be able to declare that we can support ourselves, but this day is not yet come, but it will come certainly. At present we must lay the foundation for it.” During the year 1,379 members have been added. A very large number of those who find Christ at our altars continue as members of the state church ; therefore a large share of the success of our work in Germany, and in Europe generally, cannot appear in any statistical Survey of the Fields 13 form. The plea of the Finance Committee for some help on their church debts is a very urgent one. The work in Hungary is to be organized as a separate mission pur- suant to the action of the General Conference. A very urgent plea is incorporated in the letter accompanying the estimates, for a grant of at least $500 for tract literature. North Germany received last year for the work, $17,000; extension of work in Hungary, $1,580; total $18,580. Asked for 1910, $20,000; for work in Austria Hungary, $3,425 ; total, $23,425 ; increase for the work, $3,000; for Hungary, $1,845; total increase, $4,845. South Germany The Finance Committee say: “We look back upon a very successful year. Our net gain in membership amounts to almost 500 — the largest annual addition in the history of the Conference. This increase would be larger if we had proper church buildings in our towns and cities. The fact that we have to content ourselves with small and very often utterly inadequate rented halls, annually keeps hundreds of persons, who have been converted in our revivals, from joining our church. But, nevertheless, we have the best prospects, and look into the future cheerfully. Everywhere doors are open for us, and we are bearing the banners of Methodism to victory.” The total membership in South Germany has grown to 12,289. There are 76 circuits with 515 preaching places; 95 pastors and 4 assistants who receive salaries are laboring with assistance of 129 local preachers and 368 exhorters. The debts on their church property amount to about one third of the total value. During the year 35,973 marks were paid on church debts. The average salary of our preachers in the Conference is between $400 and $500. They ask that they shall receive for the work not less than last year, and that an appropriation be made them for paying off debts, as large as it possibly can be made. South Germany received last year, $19,721. Martin Mission Institute : Bishop Burt very urgently recommends that an increase of at least $100 be made in the grant for Martin Mission Institute. Brother Bucher is passing through the period when his children are being edu- cated, and very urgently needs this slight addition to his support. He received last year, $1,000. Switzerland The last year has been one of healthful growth. Seven hundred and forty-nine have joined the church on probation and 558 have been received into full connection. The net gain was very much smaller: in full members — only 228. A gain is reported in Sunday school scholars of $1,240. There are now 22,245 scholars in our Sunday schools and we have 9,576 members and probationers. New church buildings are being erected in Zurich and several other cities. The Survey of the Fields t4 new church in Zurich is located in a densely populated district where anarchists and Socialists predominate. Switzerland received last year for the work, $7,500; interest on Lausanne debt, $35 ; total $7,535- They ask this year for the work, $7,000; Church debts, $500; Lucerne Chapel Building, $2,000; Zurich III Chapel Building, $2,000; Interest Lausanne debt, $100; total, $11,600; increase, $7,535. Sweden Our work in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark has had a year of great blessing. In Sweden nearly $7,000 has been raised for foreign mission work, largely for the support of Swedish missionaries in various parts of the world. Collections for foreign missions in all the churches and Sunday schools show a most gratifying increase. There are 17,651 members and probationers. Their offerings for self- support are large in proportion to their ability to give. Sweden has suffered this year from a widespread strike and lockout. Every part of the work has felt the pinch of hard times in consequence, as a large number of our membership belong to the working classes. Salaries have been diminished and thousands have been without work. The theological school is increasing steadily, and although the expenses are greater this year than last, they do not venture to ask more help. Sweden received last year for the work, $14,470; for theological school, $1,500; interest, $125; total, $16,095. Asked for 1910 for the work, $14,610; theological school, $1,500; interest, $125; total, $16,235; increase, $140. Norway The work in Norway and Denmark goes steadily forward in the face of great odds, and calls for our continued sympathy and support. Norway received last year for the work, $12,055 > theological school, $500; total, $12,555. Asked for 1910 for the work, $12,174; theological school, $500; total, $12,674; increase, $119. Denmark Denmark received for the work last year, $7,960; asked for 1910, $10,394; increase, $2,434. Finland and Saint Petersburg Our work in Russia this year has been marked by an important advance. By the joint effort of Bishop Burt and Dr. Simons, our superintendent, Methodism has been allowed to incorporate under the laws of Russia. This gives us a legal status in that great empire. The importance of this victory is very great. New churches have been built. Interviews have been had with the highest officials, and from every city which our work has touched comes the word of men and women feeling after God if haply they may find him. When one con- siders the potentialities of this nation, and the part which it is to Survey of the Fields IS play in the world-struggle of the future, it is impossible to rest satis- fied with the very meager provision which this Board is making for the prosecution of its work there. Instead of having but one missionary in Russia we should send this year at least two of the choicest spirits selected from our ministry, and as many each year until we have a force of twenty-five picked men at work. Finland and Saint Petersburg received last year for the work $9,348; asked for 1910 for the work, $13,560; for supplementary items, $14,725, of which $12,000 are for new property and new work; total asking, $28,285. Bulgaria The removal of the headquarters of the mission to Sofia has been attended by considerable expense, but seems to be justified by the results of the year. We are compelled to rent a hall for our worship, paying about $6 for each Sunday, for preaching and Sunday school. Current events in Bulgaria are shaping themselves toward larger op- portunities for Protestantism. The only tolerant nations in that part of the world to-day are Turkey and Bulgaria. Roumania, Servia, and Montenegro are all arrayed against evangelistic influences. Greece will not permit even a Young Men’s Christian Association to come within her borders. The only candlestick in all the Balkan States in which to put the light of the Lord is Bulgaria. This state has now become independent. A new epoch has begun. This is the time for a forward movement. Our people have entered with enthusiasm into the scheme of erecting a building at Pleven. We have a lot finely located, but our building is utterly inadequate. The room we have is overflowing with listeners and people have to be turned away. Already they have pledged to raise 2,000 francs. They expect another five thousand from friends. Some eager members have already hauled the stones for the building and piled them in quantities along the street. Two notifications to remove the stones or go ahead with the building have reached our superintendent. Considerable effort at self- support has been put forth during the year. A parsonage has been completed at Varna, at a total expenditure of 15,000 francs. Bulgaria received last year for the work, $9,500; they ask this year, $18,449, of which $7,378 is for new property; increase, $8,949. France Our work in France has been confronted by great difficulties. The support we are giving it is utterly inadequate, and it is hoped that a solid increase may be made in the support granted the work in that great republic until we have a force there that can make an impression on a country which seems to be losing its hold on religion altogether. The evangelistic possibilities in France and Russia loom ever more large as we work among their people. France received last year for the work, $5,957; asked for 1910, $9,000; increase, $3,043.