The work of the missionary is most trying, and the demands on his health and strength are very exhausting. The petty worries and trials that constantly meet him, the rivalries and quarrels which his converts bring to him for settlement, the care of the churches, anxiety about his family, etc., are a constant strain on his vital force, in order to withstand which it is necessary that he should have regular periods of rest and recreation. Nature demands relaxation, and she must have it, or the health of the worker fails.
It is customary in Japan for the missionaries to leave their fields of work during the summer season and spend six weeks or two months insanatoria among the mountains or by the seashore. Here their work, with its cares and anxieties, is all laid aside. The best-known sanatoria in Japan are Karuizawa, Arima, Hakone, Sapporo, and Mount Hiezan. In most of these places good accommodations are provided, and the hot weeks can be spent very pleasantly. Large numbers of missionaries gather there, and for a short time the tired, isolated worker can enjoy the society of his own kind; his wife can meet and chat with other housewives; and his children can enjoy the rare pleasure of playing with other children white like themselves. These resorts are cool, the air is pure and invigorating, and the missionary returns from them in September feeling fresh and strong, ready to take up with renewed vigor his arduous labors.
It is objected to these vacations that they take the missionary away from his field of work, and that so long an absence on his part is very injurious to the cause. This is partially true; but a wise economy considers the health of the worker and his future efficiency more than the temporary needs of the work. The absence of the foreign worker for a short period is not as hurtful as one would at first glance suppose. A relatively larger part of the work is left in the hands of the native helpers in Japan than in most mission fields, and these evangelists stay at their postsall through the summer, and care for its interests while the foreigner is away. The same need of a vacation does not exist in their case, because they are accustomed to the climate, and they work through their native tongue and among their own people.
The need of this missionary vacation is so evident that we need only give it in outline. In the first place, the unfavorable climate makes a change and rest desirable. As I have already stated, the climate of Japan is not only very warm, but also contains an excessive amount of moisture and a very small per cent. of ozone, and is lacking in atmospheric magnetism and electricity; hence its effect upon people from the West is depressing. Besides the climate, the missionary's work is so exhaustive and trying, and its demands upon him are so great, that a few weeks' rest are absolutely necessary. The same reasons which at home justify the city pastor in taking a vacation are intensified in the missionary's case.
Not least of these reasons is that the missionary may for a while enjoy congenial society. Many of us spend ten months of the year isolated almost entirely from all people of our own kind. The Japanese are so different that we can have but little social life with them; and it is but natural and right that, for a short period, we should have the opportunity to meet andassociate with our fellow-missionaries. The work which we do the remainder of the year is done much better because of this rest and fellowship.
Dr. J. C. Berry, in a paper read before the missionary conference at Osaka in 1883, discusses very fully this question of missionary vacations and furloughs. After elaborating the reasons for them, which reasons I have given in brief above, he says: "It therefore follows that, because of the numerous and complex influences operating to-day to produce nerve-tire in the missionary in Japan, regard for the permanent interests of his work requires that a vacation be taken in summer by those residing in central and southern Japan, the same to be accompanied by as much of recreation and change as circumstances will permit."
With all the care and precaution that can be taken, with systematic rests and vacations, there soon comes a time when it is necessary for the missionary to return to his home land, to breathe again the air of his youth, and to replenish his physical, mental, and moral being. All the mission boards recognize this and permit their men in this and in other fields to return home on furlough after a certain number of years. The definite time required by the different missions before a furlough is granted varies from three to ten years, the latter period being the most general.But this has been found to be too long, and failing health usually compels an earlier return. Some boards have no set time, but a tacit understanding exists that the missionary may go home at the end of six or eight years.
At the end of the prescribed period the missionary family is taken home at the expense of the board, and is given a rest of a year or eighteen months. During this time, if the missionary is engaged in preaching or lecturing for the board, as is generally the case, he is paid his full salary. If he does no work he is sometimes paid only half his salary. This is very hard, as the salary is just large enough to support him and his family, and their expenses while at home are almost as great as while in the field. If the salary is cut down the pleasure and benefit of the furlough are curtailed. If the missionary in the service of the board exhausts his health and strength in an unfavorable climate it seems but fair that he should be properly supported while endeavoring to recuperate. When a church at home votes its pastor a vacation, instead of cutting down his salary during his absence, it is customary to give him an extra sum to enable him to enjoy it. Why should not the same be done for the missionary? He should at least be permitted to draw the full amount of his small salary.
Against these vacations is urged their greatexpense to the boards, the greater loss to the mission because of the absence of the worker, and the moral effect of frequent returns upon the church at home. All of these objections have weight, but they are far outweighed by the reasons that necessitate the furlough. The accumulated experience of the different boards makes the judgment unanimous that these are necessary. The judgment of competent medical men also confirms the statement. Dr. Taylor said in the Osaka conference: "I am convinced that a missionary's highest interest requires, and the greatest efficiency in his work will be secured by, a return home at stated intervals." Dr. Berry said in the same conference: "The new and strange social conditions under which the missionary is obliged to work; the effects of climate, intensified in many cases by comparative youth; the absence of many of those home comforts and social, intellectual, and religious privileges with which the Christian civilization of to-day so plentifully surrounds life; the home ties, strengthened by youthful affections,—all these combine with present facilities of travel to render it advisable that the young missionary be at liberty to take a comparatively early vacation in his native land."
From an economic standpoint it is wise to grant these furloughs. It is poor economy to keep the workers in the field until they are completelybroken down, and then have to replace them by inexperienced men, who will not be able to do the work of the old ones for years. Far wiser is it to let them stop and recuperate in the home lands before this breakdown comes. It costs less money to keep a missionary well than to care for him during a long, unprofitable period of sickness. I quote again on this point Wallace Taylor, M.D., who, in the paper referred to above, said: "The present haphazard, unsystematic methods of most missions and boards is attended with the greatest expense and the poorest returns. Some of the boards working in Japan have lost more time and expended more money in caring for their broken-down missionaries than it would cost to carry out the recommendations herein made. Again, I observe that many who do not break down begin to fail in health after the fourth or fifth year from entering on their work. They remain on the field, and are reluctantly obliged to spend more or less time in partial work, while experiencing physical discomfort and dissatisfaction of mind. Very many of these cases would have accomplished more for the means expended by a furlough home at the close of the fifth or sixth year.... Over $90,000 have been expended in Japan by one mission alone in distracted efforts to regain the health of its missionaries."
These furloughs are also needed to keep themissionary in touch with the life of the home churches. The West is rapidly progressing in civilization, in arts and sciences, and in theology as well. The missionary who spends ten or more years on the field before returning home finds himself in an entirely new atmosphere, with which he is unfamiliar. He looks at things from the standpoint of ten or more years ago; his methods of work, his language, all are belated. In order that he may give to the nascent churches of Japan the very best theology, the very best methods, and the very best life of the Western churches, it is necessary for him to return frequently to breathe in their spirit and life and keep up with their forward march.
For the missionary's personal benefit he should be permitted to come into frequent contact with the home churches. A too long uninterrupted breathing of the poisonous atmosphere of heathenism has a wonderfully cooling effect upon his ardor and zeal, and is trying to his faith. He needs to come into contact with the broader faith and deeper life of the home churches, and receive from them new consecration and devotion to his work.
The church at home needs also to come frequently into contact with its missionaries. Nothing will so stir up interest and zeal in the mission cause as to see and hear its needs from living,active workers, fresh from the field. If missionaries were more frequently employed to represent the cause to the churches at home perhaps our mission treasuries would not be so depleted. Mission addresses from home pastors are abstract and theoretical; those from missionaries are concrete and practical. The former speak from reading, the latter from personal experience. The address of the missionary comes with power because he speaks of what he has seen and felt, and his personality is thrown into it.
For the sake, then, of the work abroad, of the missionary himself, and of the home churches, missionaries should be required to take regular furloughs at stated intervals, and should spend them in the home lands.
How long can the missionary safely work in Japan before taking his first furlough? That will depend upon the nature of the man himself, and the kind of mission work in which he is engaged. The average length of time spent here by the missionaries before the first furlough is about seven years. There are no men more competent to pass judgment upon this matter than Drs. Berry and Taylor, who have spent the better part of their lives here, in the service of the American Board, and who are thoroughly acquainted with the conditions that surround us. Dr. Berry says: "I do not hesitate to affirm that the'ten-year-or-longer rule,' still adhered to by some missionary societies, and by many missionaries as well, is too long for the first term.... I indorse what in substance has been suggested by my friend Dr. McDonald, viz., that the time of service on the field prior to the first furlough be seven years, and that prior to subsequent furloughs be ten years; this plan to be modified by health, existing conditions of work, home finances, and by individual preferences." Dr. Taylor says: "My observations have led me to the conclusion that the first furlough ought to be taken at the close of the fifth or sixth year, and after that once every eight or ten years."
We have yet to look at the trials and sorrows, the encouragements and joys, of the missionary. We have already looked into the missionary's home; let us now endeavor to look into his heart. If the former is hissanctum, this is hissanctum sanctorum; and I trust my missionary brethren will pardon me for exposing it to the public view.
We will pass by all physical hardships, such as climate, improper food, poor houses, etc. Although these are often greater hardships than the people at home know, they are but "light afflictions" to the missionary. His real trials lie in an entirely different sphere.
The greatest hardship the missionary has tobear is his loneliness and isolation. Separated almost entirely from his own race, he is deprived of all those social joys that are so dear to him. The thought of his kinsmen and friends is ever in his mind, but alas! they are so far away. He must go on year after year living among a people from whom an impassable gulf separates him, leading the same lonely life. For the first year or two he rather enjoys the quiet and privacy, but by and by it becomes almost unendurable. Dr. Edward Lawrence has correctly styled the missionary "an exile." We cannot do better than quote his words: "Very many of the missionary's heaviest burdens are summed up in the one word whose height and breadth and length and depth none knows so well as he—that word 'exile.' It is not merely a physical exile from home and country and all their interests; it is not only an intellectual exile from all that would feed and stimulate the mind; it is yet more—a spiritual exile from the guidance, the instruction, the correction, from the support, the fellowship, the communion of the saints and the church at home. It is an exile as when a man is lowered with a candle into foul places, where the noxious gases threaten to put out his light, yet he must explore it all and find some way to drain off the refuse and let in the sweet air and sun to do their own cleansing work.... Themissionary is not only torn away from those social bonds that sustain, or even almost compose, our mental, moral, and spiritual life, but he is forced into closest relations with heathenism, whose evils he abhors, whose power and fascinations, too, he dreads. And when at last he can save his own children only by being bereft of them, he feels himself an exile indeed."
The missionary's life is full of disappointments. Men for whom he has labored and prayed it may be for years, and in whom he has placed implicit confidence, will often bitterly disappoint him in their Christian life. Boys who have been educated on his charity, who are what they are solely by his help, will frequently be guilty of base ingratitude, and, worse yet, will repudiate his teachings. The native church not having generations of Christian ancestry behind it, and not being in a Christian environment, is often, it may be unwittingly, guilty of heathen practices that sorely try the heart of the missionary. The struggle between the new life and the old heathenism is still seen in the church-members and even in the native ministry. Each missionary, if he would be well and cheerful in his work, must learn to cast all burdens of such a character on the Lord, and not be oppressed by them.
One of the greatest trials some of us have to bear is that we must live in an environment sounconducive to personal growth and development There is a great deal of ambition lurking about us still, and we do not like to see our own development cut short because of an unfavorable environment, while our friends and classmates at home, who were no more than our equals in former days, far surpass us in intellectual development and in influence and power. Perhaps a missionary should be above such thoughts and should be perfectly content with a life of obscurity and partial development; but missionaries are still men, and to many an ambitious one the limits placed upon his personal development are very irksome.
But why are the conditions unfavorable to high personal development? Because those stimulants to prolonged, vigorous effort that exist in the West are lacking. The stimulus of competition, the contact of thinking minds, so necessary to enlist the full exercise of a man's powers, are largely wanting. One is shut up to his own thoughts and to those he gets from books, and his development, in so far as it does proceed, is very apt to be one-sided. This is the reason why so many missionaries are narrow, unable to see a subject in all its relations and to give due importance to each.
The work of the missionary from beginning to end is one of self-sacrifice and self-effacement.There is no future for him in the councils of the native church. As the work grows and extends he must gradually take a back seat. As the native ministry develops, the foreign minister is less and less needed, and must gradually withdraw.
Again, the home land, father and mother, brothers and sisters, friends and companions, are just as dear to the missionary as to any one else. Yet it seems inevitable that he will gradually grow away from them and be forgotten by them. Prolonged absence brings forgetfulness; diverse labors and interests put people out of sympathy with one another. When the new missionary first comes out to his field, communication between him and friends is frequent. Letters pass regularly, little remembrances are sent from time to time, and he is still in touch with his friends at home. But by and by a change comes. After one or two years exchange of presents and remembrances ceases; gradually the letters cease also, and none come except those from his immediate family. Even these become less and less frequent. The arrival of the mails, which at first was looked forward to with so much joy, is now scarcely noted. An old American gentleman who has spent some forty years in the East tells me that he now receives from the home land not more than two or three letters per year.After a few years of residence here one feels that he is largely out of touch with the life of the West, and that he is forgotten, by home and friends.
It seems to me that churches and friends can do much toward preventing this, and toward brightening the lives of their missionaries, if they will. Let pastors and friends throughout the church take special pains to write interesting personal letters to the missionary. It will do him good just to be remembered in this way. It is natural that the same kindness, attention, and love that are shown to the home pastor should not be shown to the missionary, because he is so far away and the strong personal element is wanting. But if the churches would make an effort to share their kindness and beneficence between the home pastor and the foreign one it would be highly appreciated by the latter.
Especially does this seem but fair in a case where a church supports its own missionary and where most of its members are personally acquainted with him. Such churches speak of having two pastors; one at home ministering to them, and one abroad, in their stead, preaching the gospel to the heathen. Why should not these pastors have equal place in their hearts and receive equally their kindness and their gifts? If any preference is shown, it would seem that it shouldbe to the foreign pastor, for he has much the harder work. But the foreign pastor is generally forgotten, while the home pastor, with whom living is much cheaper, is paid a larger salary; he is given a vacation, and a purse to enable him to spend it pleasantly; at Christmas he is substantially remembered, and all through the year he is presented with numerous gifts and shown many favors. The poor lonely missionary is paid a moderate salary and is given no further thought. Imagine the feelings of a man in a mission field, supported by one church which always speaks of him as its foreign pastor, as he takes up a church paper and reads of the favors shown the home pastor; among them such items as "a nice purse of fifty dollars," "a three months' leave of absence, and expenses to ——." He cannot help thinking with a sigh of that unpaid doctor's bill of fifty dollars incurred by his wife's ill health last summer, or of the money needed to send his boy home to be educated.
A church should try to remember its pastor abroad as well as the one at home. The home pastor himself could see to it that this is done. If he should simply say, when handed a present for some purpose, "Our foreign pastor has not been remembered by us, and he needs it more than I, therefore we will send this to him," the result would probably be that he and the foreignpastor would both be remembered. If little expressions of appreciation and kindness, such as this, were occasionally shown the missionaries, it would do much to brighten and cheer their hard lives. These are little things, but the little things have much to do with our happiness.
If the missionary life has its sorrows and disappointments, it has its pleasures and joys as well. It is with great pleasure that I turn from the dark to the bright side of our lives.
First I would mention that sweet peace and joy that come from the consciousness of doing one's duty. The true missionary feels that God has called him into the work, and that he is fulfilling the divine will. This knowledge brings with it much pleasure. The joy is all the sweeter because of the sacrifices that must be undergone in answer to the divine call. He feels not only that he is in the field by the call of God, but also that God is with him in his work, leading, guiding, blessing, helping him. He hears the words of his Master, "Lo, I am with you alway," and he gladly responds, "In Thy presence is fullness of joy." The brooding Spirit of God is especially near the Christian worker in foreign lands, and imparts to him much joy and peace.
Another of the missionary's joys is to see the gospel gradually taking hold of the hearts of the people and renewing and transforming them. Itis passing pleasant to tell the gospel story, so full of hope and joy, to these people whose religious ideas and aspirations are only dark and gloomy. Who could desire sweeter joy than to watch the transforming power of the gospel in the heart of some poor heathen, changing him from an idol-worshiping, immoral creature into a pure, consistent Christian? It is the good fortune of the missionary to see such changes taking place in the people to whom he ministers. And what a change it is! For gloom and dejection it gives joy and hope; for blind, irresistible fate it gives a loving providence. The change is so great that every feature of the face expresses it.
Lastly, the crown of the missionary's life is to see a strong, vigorous native church springing up around him, the direct result of his labors; to see it gradually and silently spreading itself throughout the whole nation as the leaven through the meal, permeating every form of its life and impressing itself upon every phase of its character. To this native church he confidently looks for the evangelization of the masses and the accomplishment of all that for which he has labored so long and so earnestly. When the missionary can look upon such a native church with the feeling that it will be faithful to its Lord and do His work; when he can sit in its pews and hear soul-nourishing gospel sermons from hisown pupils, now grown strong in the Lord—then indeed his cup of joy is full. The trials and sorrows that were endured in connection with the work are all forgotten, and his only emotion is one of glad thanksgiving.
In some lands many missionaries have already received this crown to their labors; it has been partially received in Japan, and if we are but faithful to our trust shall yet be received in all lands.
Missionaries attempt in various ways to evangelize the nations to which they are sent. The extent and variety of the work which the missionary is called upon to perform are much greater than the people at home are apt to think. He must be at the same time a preacher, a teacher, a translator, a financier, a judge, an author, an editor, an architect, a musician. The great variety of the work necessitates a well-rounded man.
All of these offices are, in an indirect sense, ways of doing mission work; but we will here confine ourselves to the consideration of the more direct and positive methods in vogue in Japan. These are direct evangelization, educational work, literary work, and medical work.
Direct Evangelization
By this I mean the actual propagation of the gospel, by word of mouth, to the people to whomwe are sent. I mention this first because I regard it as the most important of all methods. The supreme vocation of the missionary is, not to educate, not to heal, but to preach the gospel. It is well for mission boards and missionaries to remember this, for there is danger in many places of making this primary method secondary to education. While it is probably true that the evangelization of the masses will depend ultimately upon the efforts of the native ministry, this should not therefore be construed to mean that the foreign missionary has nothing to do with this department of the work. He should personally engage in this evangelistic work, should himself come into actual contact with the unevangelized masses, and should proclaim the gospel directly to them. In this way only can he understand thoroughly the nature of the work in which he is engaged, and be enabled to sympathize with and advise his evangelists. He should not only train native evangelists, but should be an evangelist himself, teaching his helpers, by earnest, zealous example as well as by precept, right methods of the proclamation of the gospel. Such work must also bear direct fruit in the conversion of souls; for even in this land, in spite of the great nationalism and strong prejudice against foreigners, a foreigner will draw larger congregations and be listened to with more attention thana native. And this is not simply because of curiosity; the people have more confidence in his ability properly to represent the foreign religion. For these reasons, then, viz., for the sake of the souls he may win, for the sake of the example he may set to his helpers, and for his own sake, that he may rightly understand and appreciate the work, every missionary should, as far as possible, be an evangelist. This is emphasized here because in many places the evangelistic work is in danger of being subordinated to the educational, and missionaries are not lacking who take the strange ground that it is neither necessary nor profitable for the missionary personally to come into contact with the unevangelized masses. This seems to me to be a very mistaken view of the sphere of the foreign worker. He should not only train helpers, support and advise them, but he should also go with them among the people and preach to them himself.
The direct propagation of the gospel may be either local or itinerating. The missionary may reside in one place, have a fixed chapel, and there teach all who come to him; or he may go on long tours through the country, preaching from town to town and from village to village. In general these methods are combined in Japan. The missionary is located in one town and to the work there gives most of his attention; but healso at stated intervals visits the surrounding towns and country, doing evangelistic work wherever he can.
LOCAL EVANGELISM.—For obvious reasons, local evangelistic work yields the greatest returns. To it the missionary gives his constant care and attention, while his visits to the country are only periodical. Local evangelistic work in Japan is carried on somewhat in the following manner:
A house, as centrally located in the town as possible, is rented and fitted up as a chapel. The only furnishings needed are a small table and some lamps. Japanese houses are so constructed that the whole wall on the street side can be removed, and people standing in the street can see and hear all that is going on within. In this new chapel, one or two evenings a week, the gospel will be preached. In China there is preaching in such chapels every day, but in Japan the people will not come oftener than once or twice a week. In all probability both the missionary and the native evangelist will preach the same evening, one after the other. At first very few people will come into the house, but numbers will congregate in the street and will listen to what is said. After the service is over an opportunity is given for personal conversation on religious topics. By and by a little interest is manifested, and some begin to come into the house. A greatdeal has been gained when people will go so far as to come up into the Christian chapel, in plain view of the multitudes, and hear the sermon.
In many cases the native evangelist lives in the chapel (in the same building, but occupying different rooms) and daily meets and talks with people about religion. In this way he hears of those who are interested, and he and the missionary visit such in their homes and converse privately with them. In my own mission, as soon as any are interested, they are organized into a catechetical class, which meets weekly, and are thoroughly instructed in Luther's Small Catechism. But I find that unless this is preceded by more elementary instruction this excellent little manual will not be well understood. Real inquirers are glad to come and study the catechism and the Bible, and they study them well. Some of the most satisfactory work I have done in Japan has been along the line of catechetical instruction. Some of the larger missions working here have not been sufficiently careful about giving their converts sound elementary instruction in Christian doctrine, but have left them to gather all the necessary knowledge from the sermons they hear and the instruction given in the Sunday-schools. One of the desiderata of most missions in Japan is more systematic catechetical instruction.
Among the first things a missionary does inbeginning work in a town is to open a Sunday-school. The children are generally more accessible than the older people, and many of them will come to the school. They cannot at first be organized into classes, as their interest is not sufficiently great to induce them to attend regularly and to study. The first instruction is usually by means of large Bible pictures that catch the eye and teach a religious truth. By and by, when the work becomes more substantial and the interest more developed, the pupils can be organized into classes and more systematic instruction given. If there are any Christians in connection with the chapel their children form the backbone of the Sunday-school.
A considerable part of the time of the missionary doing local evangelistic work, if he is wise, will be occupied in house-to-house visitation. The Japanese are a very social people, and it is wonderful how a little personal kindness and interest in them will break down the prejudice against us and our work. As a rule, the missionary who goes into a native home with humility, simplicity, and love will gain the good will of the whole household. Men feel freer to talk about religious subjects in the privacy of their own homes. In a discourse to a promiscuous audience the truth is scattered broadcast, and each one catches what he can; but in a privateconversation in the home the truth especially adapted to the hearer can be given. It is like a man trying to fill a bottle with water; he will get it full much quicker by taking it up in his hand and pouring the water into it than by throwing a whole bowlful at it from a distance.
It is a very pleasant experience to enter a friendly home in the evening, to sit around the social hibachi (fire-box), sip tea, and talk about the great questions of time and eternity. One is generally received with cordiality and made to feel at home. He is listened to attentively and respectfully, and the questions asked are intelligent, appreciative ones. If the missionary expects his host immediately to be convinced by his eloquence, to agree to all he says, to discard at once his old religion and embrace the new, he will be disappointed. But if he is content to seek an opportunity to present the truth under most favorable circumstances, leaving it to do its own work silently and gradually, he will be sure to find it.
House-to-house visitation and personal talks with the people are of great importance in local evangelistic work. But in doing such work great care should be taken to comply strictly with Japanese etiquette and rules of propriety, and especially to avoid a haughty bearing. The ordinary native home is much smaller, simpler,and frequently dirtier, than the missionary's, and the people are constantly watching for any recognition of this fact on his part. He should carefully guard himself against any look or expression which might imply his superiority, or his dissatisfaction with things around him.
I have been both amused and pained by overhearing Japanese imitate the sayings and actions of two visiting missionaries. According to the imitation, the one bears himself haughtily and proudly; as soon as he comes near the door he instinctively draws back as though fearing bad odors; when he comes in he bows stiffly, seats himself on the best mat, carefully draws up his clothes as though fearing contamination, casts a scornful look at the bare walls, utters a few commonplace sentiments, and hastily departs. The other one comes with a cheery greeting, a smiling countenance, and a humble demeanor. He never notices the lowly house and bare walls, but quietly and unconcernedly takes the place assigned him, freely and appreciatively partakes of the tea and cakes set before him, and kindly and sympathetically talks with the people as one of them. It is very evident which one of these two will do the most good.
As soon as the work grows and a small company of believers has been gathered the duties of the missionary increase. There now rests uponhim that burden which so oppressed Paul—the care of the churches. He must look after the regular worship of the church, must develop in his people a church-going sentiment, and must instruct them in the observance of all Christian duties. In this work he will need much patience, wisdom, and zeal. The native converts, not having generations of Christian ancestors as we have, will need oft to be exhorted, oft rebuked, and loved much. Christian duties that are with us almost habitual must be urged upon these people time and again. The church must be organized and developed into an harmonious working body. In all of this the missionary is fortunate if he has the assistance of a wise, godly native helper.
Perhaps the most attractive and interesting feature of all mission work is this forming and molding, under one's own hand, of the theology, the life, and the activities of a young church. The one who is privileged to do this occupies a position of responsibility than which none could be greater. May God give us grace to do it aright.
ITINERATING EVANGELISM.—No true missionary living in a non-Christian land will confine his labors to the town in which he resides. His heart will be constantly yearning over the people in the surrounding towns and country, and he will gladly take advantage of every opportunityto make them occasional visits, telling to them also the old, old story.
But there are other workers whose sole business it is to visit these outlying points and carry a knowledge of the gospel to those who cannot have regular gospel ministrations. Perhaps this feature of missionary work is the one most prominent in the minds of the people at home, who are fond of picturing their missionary as a man who goes about from town to town and from village to village, proclaiming the gospel to all who will hear.
Christianity is by nature diffusive. It spreads itself as naturally as the leaven spreads in the meal. Confucius taught: "The philosopher need not go about to proclaim his doctrines; if he has the truth the people will come to him." In striking contrast to this Christ taught: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." We are not only to teach those who come to us, but we are also to go out in search of hearers, to carry our message to the people.
When our Saviour was upon earth the work He did was largely itinerating; going about from place to place, teaching in the synagogue, by the wayside, or on the sea-shore. The disciples were all itinerating evangelists, carrying their message from city to city and from land to land.St. Paul was an itinerating missionary on a large scale. Not content to abide long in any one place, but looking out continually to the regions beyond, his life was one ceaseless activity in itinerating evangelism. The missionaries through whom northern Europe and England were converted were itinerants. And those who to-day in mission fields take their valises well stocked with tracts and sermons and go out into the country on long evangelistic tours can feel that they are following in the footsteps of worthy exemplars.
We can hardly overestimate the importance of this work. The word of mouth is still the most effective means of conveying a message to the masses, and a knowledge of Christian principles that could else hardly be given is in this way spread abroad throughout the land.
Jinrikishas.Jinrikishas.
The facilities for itinerating in Japan are excellent. Most of the important points are easily reached by rail or water. But in general, on an itinerating tour, the missionary has little use for the steamers and railways. The points he wants to visit are not on the great thoroughfares, but are in out-of-the-way places. There is, however, a good system of roads, and the jinrikisha, which is everywhere found, is easily capable of carrying one 40 or 50 miles a day. This little cart resembles a buggy, except that it has only two wheels and is much smaller. The seat isjust large enough to accommodate one person. A small Japanese coolie between the shafts furnishes all the necessary motive power. These are very convenient and comfortable little conveyances, and are the ones in ordinary use by missionaries in their itinerating work.
In recent years the bicycle has become popular for this purpose. As the "wheel" has been made to serve almost every other interest, it is but fair that it should also serve the gospel. Perhaps to-day one half of all the male missionaries in Japan ride wheels. They have decided advantages over the jinrikisha, chiefly in the way of speed, personal comfort, and pleasure. I wish my readers could see their representatives in Japan just starting on their wheels for a tour in the interior. Dressed in negligée shirts, caps, and knickerbockers, with a large bundle tied upon the wheel in front of each one, they present a comical appearance. Many sermons have been preached in Japan in negligée shirts and knickerbockers.
There are nice, clean little inns in all the villages and towns, and the missionary is not put to such straits for a place in which to rest and sleep as he is sometimes in other mission fields. But as the food offered him is unpalatable to most foreigners, he carries with him a few things, such as bread, canned meats, and condensed milk.
The splendid telegraph system extending over all Japan keeps him in communication with his family and friends, no matter where he may go, and he need not hesitate to go into the interior on that score. A good daily mail system is also at hand to carry his letters.
Formerly the greatest hindrance to itinerating in Japan was the difficulty of obtaining passports to travel in the interior. No one was permitted to go outside of certain limits without a special passport, and such passports were only given for two purposes: for health, and for scientific observation. The government did not intend by this restriction to prohibit mission work in the interior, but aimed simply to prohibit foreigners from engaging in interior trade. As the missionaries were not going for purposes of trade, many of them availed themselves of these passports; but there were some whose consciences would not permit them so to do. Several high officials were directly spoken to about the matter by missionaries; and they replied that, in the eyes of the law, a man could want to travel for only three purposes: for health, for trade, or for scientific observation. As this restriction was simply to prevent foreigners from engaging in interior trade, and as the missionaries were not going for that purpose, they were told that they should go on with their work. The government knew wellthe purpose for which they were going, and permitted it; hence their consciences might be at rest. These explanations on the part of the officials removed the difficulty in the minds of some, but not of all. Fortunately, since the revision of the treaties, passports are granted without any question as to the purpose for which they are wanted, and all who ask it are freely given permission to travel where they will. Since this restriction has been removed more itinerating is being done, and it is probable that it will still increase.
The missionary does two kinds of itinerating in Japan: (1) he visits periodically a large number of outstations, where are native evangelists; (2) he goes into regions where there are no evangelists and heralds the gospel.
Itinerating among stations where native workers are located and regular work kept up is by far the most frequent. These tours are generally made about every two or three months, one missionary visiting perhaps a dozen stations. The local evangelist makes all preparations for the meetings, which are generally of a special character. There will probably be a special preaching service for non-believers, and a communion service with the Christians. If there are any baptisms the sacrament is then administered. The visit of the missionary is intended to be as much a stimulus and encouragement to the evangelistas anything else. These men, living in out-of-the-way places where there are few, if any, Christians, are apt to get despondent and discouraged, and they need occasionally the sympathy and advice of a fellow-worker. The missionary who has charge of this kind of work is a sort of bishop, with an extended parish.
When fields where no regular work is carried on are visited the work is necessarily different. In this case the missionary must take his helper with him. He seldom goes alone, for various reasons. When on one of these tours he will spend one or two days in a village, talking personally with all who will come to him. Very likely he will rent a room in the inn in which he is stopping, and he and his helper will there preach one or two evenings. Sometimes, if the weather is good, he obtains permission of the authorities to hold the meeting in the open air, and preaches on the street or in the public squares. Wherever an audience can be gathered the message is told. After one or two days spent in this manner they move on to the next town, and there do as they did before, thus going their whole round. The most that is accomplished by this method of preaching is to spread abroad a general knowledge of Christianity among the people and break down their prejudice against it. Not many conversions result from it.
Some may ask what kind of sermons one preaches on these itinerating tours. They should be of the plainest, simplest character. It is profitable to consume a good deal of time in disproving the false ideas which prevail concerning Christianity, and in giving the people correct views of its nature. The nature of God must be carefully explained, both because the word we use for God is in Japanese applicable to an earthly hero as well as to a divine being, and because the divinities of Japan differ very much in nature from the Christian conception of God. One can preach a long time on sin before getting the people properly to understand it. The Japanese are really without any sense of sin, and have no word in their language to express the idea exactly. We use the word which means crime or offense against the laws of the land. Then the old story of Christ simply told always commands a hearing everywhere.
The kind of itinerating last described is open to serious objection. It is uncertain and fitful. One visit may be made to a town each year, or some years not even one. No provision is made for carrying on the work, or for keeping alive any interest that may have been aroused. To be made very profitable such itinerating should be regular and systematic; the visits should not be too far apart; and as soon as some inquirers arefound, a native evangelist should be stationed there to care for them. When conducted in this way it is conducive of great good.
Educational Work
The educational department of mission work has in recent years been coming more and more into prominence. This feature of the work attracts the attention of the visitor from the home lands more than any other, because it makes more show. The imposing buildings that are erected, and the large number of students that can be gathered into them, make a favorable impression.
Educational work is generally more attractive than evangelistic. The former is regular, while the latter is desultory. The former is continuous, occupying one's time and attention every day; the latter is intermittent. The former can be pursued at home, and the missionary can enjoy the constant society of his family; the latter takes him away from his family and occupies him abroad. Educational work is usually carried on in the open ports and large cities, where one enjoys all the conveniences of life, with sympathetic society; evangelistic work takes the missionary into the interior, where there are few conveniences and no society. Lastly, educational work is moreor less welcomed by the natives, while evangelistic work is unwelcome.
Japan possesses a large number of mission schools. Their imposing buildings are seen in almost every city of the empire. Every mission of large size has its schools for both boys and girls. The annual support of these schools costs the various boards more money than all the evangelistic work that is done in Japan. More missionaries are engaged in educational than in evangelistic work.
A certain amount of educational work seems necessary to the success of every mission. First in importance is theological training. A body of well-trained native pastors is absolutely essential. Especially in this land, where there are many educated people and where all forms of rationalism and skepticism are rife, is it necessary that the evangelist have a liberal education, that he be well rooted and grounded in Christian doctrine, and able to answer the philosophical objections to Christianity that meet him on every side. An educated ministry is just as necessary in Japan as it is in the West, and the schools that are providing such a ministry are doing a good work.
But some of the methods used by them are open to criticism. Heretofore most theological training has been in the English language, andthe language alone has taken up a great deal of the student's time and strength. And again, very few Japanese young men gain a sufficient knowledge of English to appreciate or derive full benefit from a theological course in that language. Against this is urged the paucity of Christian literature in Japanese, and the wide field of religious thought which a knowledge of the English language opens to the student. This is very true; but if the same amount of time and energy that has been expended in instruction in English had been given to the creation of a native Christian literature the evil would not exist. I am glad to note that recently nearly all the theological schools have introduced courses in the vernacular for those who cannot take the English course. It would be well if the English course were dispensed with entirely and all instruction were given in the vernacular.
Many of the missions operating in Japan have sent worthy young men to America and England for theological training. In nearly every instance this has proved an unwise investment. The good people at home take up these young men and nurse and pet them until they are completely spoiled. They come back to Japan unfitted by taste and education for the position they must occupy and the work they must do. Most of them become dissatisfied in the work after a fewyears. Foreign education largely denationalizes them and removes them from the sympathies of their own people. Of course there have been some exceptions to this rule; but, in general, experience has proved that locally trained evangelists are best suited for the work and give most satisfaction in it.
By this it is not intended to imply that Japanese pastors and teachers should not have the advantages offered by the Western seminaries when they desire them and are able to obtain them for themselves. They are as capable of receiving advanced instruction as we are, and have the same right to it. But the money which foreign boards spend for training evangelists should be spent in the field.
Besides the theological schools there are large numbers of academical schools for young men, in which a great deal of mission money is spent. In justification of these it is argued that they are necessary for the preparatory training of evangelists. It is said that the education of these future pastors of the church should be Christian from the beginning, and this is true. But more than half the evangelists now laboring in Japan have not received such training. The education they received from government and private schools answers very well in their case. Actual experience has proved that, whatever may be theaim of these academies, as a matter of fact they do not train evangelists. Most of the men who take their full course enter other professions. One of the oldest missions in Japan, employing about twenty evangelists, has among them only one man who has taken the full academical course in its mission college; but many men have been educated at the church's expense for other professions.
Again, it is said in justification of these academies and their large expenditure of mission money that a Christian education must be provided for the children of the constituency of the mission. The church provides a Christian education for her sons and daughters at home; why should she not do it for her wards abroad? Far be it from me to attempt to minimize the importance of Christian education; but will it not be time enough for such education when the constituency of the native church feels its need to such an extent that it will demand this education itself, support the schools with its money, and send its sons and daughters to them? At present even the Christian people frequently prefer a government school to a mission school; and they often send their children to the latter, when they do send them, because they will there be given financial aid.
There was a time when Christian schools did a good work in Japan. Before the governmentschools were brought up to their present standard the mission schools were well patronized, and they considerably benefited the cause of missions. But to-day the government has schools of every grade, and frequently they are better than the mission schools. The students who formerly flocked to the mission schools now flock to those of the government, and the former have but few pupils. The times have changed, and these large, expensive schools are now hardly needed. In so far as they are needed for the preparatory training of a native ministry, and can be made to serve that end, they may be all right, but certainly as an evangelizing agency they are not justified. The native church should be encouraged and stimulated to educate its own children; it might even be assisted in the attempt, when it has shown an honest effort to do this; but its children should not be educated for it by the mission free of charge. To spend so large an amount of the people's money in purely secular education seems to me a misappropriation of funds.
More than half the mission schools in Japan are boarding-schools for girls. Nearly all the unmarried women engaged in mission work are in these schools, and there are many of them. Some of these schools have very fine locations and buildings, about as good as those of the averagegirls' college at home. That they are more popular and better patronized than those for boys is because the government does not provide for the higher education of girls as it does for boys.
The purpose of these girls' boarding-schools is to train up earnest Christian women, who will be the wives and mothers of the new Japan. It is said that if the mothers of the nation are made Christian the evangelization of the whole people will speedily follow. This purpose is a worthy one. Most of the girls who enter these mission schools become Christians, and the training given them seems to be good. I recently attended the closing exercises of one of the largest of these, and was surprised at the progress made by the girls. They could paint and draw, and recite classical music as well as the young ladies of the seminaries at home; and I have no doubt that the graduates leave the schools pure-minded, earnest Christians, with worthy aims and aspirations, and with a full intention to exert their influence for God and His church.
But alas! when they go back to their homes the position Japanese etiquette assigns them so effectually ties their hands that the results are bitterly disappointing. I will mention one case which came under my own observation. A young lady was educated by a mission school in a certain city, who was noted for her piety andearnest Christian spirit. Her teachers had most extravagant hopes as to the strong positive influence she would exert for Christianity. After her graduation she spent several years in the same school as a teacher, and her Christian life was broadened and deepened by longer and more intimate contact with the foreign teachers. She finally married and removed to her new home, in a distant city. There she attended church once or twice and then stopped entirely. Neither the urgent personal request of the native pastor nor the oft-repeated invitation of the Christian congregation could induce her to come any more. Instead of exerting an influence for good upon others she herself became a fit subject for mission work. I have known several cases of this kind, and all missionaries have had the same experience. Social conditions in Japan are such that a girl marrying into a non-Christian home can exert little Christian influence.
But admitting for the moment the utility of this Christian training for the girls, these large schools are open to serious objections on other grounds. The course is too long, and the instruction given too advanced. In many of these schools the girls are kept for twelve or fourteen years. During all this time they are more or less supported by mission funds, even down to pin-money. They are taught all kinds of abstractsciences and advanced ideas that can be of no possible use to them. Latin and Greek, biology, geology, psychology, and many other things are taught them that they neither need nor can appreciate. Painting, drawing, vocal and instrumental music form a prominent part of the curriculum. Girls are made to practise on the piano for ten years or more who will in all probability never see a piano after they leave school. Of course these are not the only subjects taught; more useful ones are taught as well.
If mission schools for the education of girls should exist at all the instruction should be much more elementary and practical. A course of two or three years, teaching them how wisely to fill their position as wives and mothers, would amply suffice.
It is claimed by the Japanese with great reason that these schools unfit the girls for the sphere they must occupy in after life. A life of ten, twelve, or fourteen years in constant association with foreign teachers, in a foreign building, with all necessaries and conveniences supplied, pursuing a pleasant course of study, does not fit the pupil for life in her humble home. No wonder she loves the school and dreads to see the day approaching when she must leave it. Having lived so long under much better circumstances, her home, with its thatched roof, narrow walls,and homely duties, becomes distasteful to her. Of what use now are her music and painting, her Latin and Greek, when her time must be spent in boiling rice and mending old, worn-out clothes? There is such a thing as educating people above their sphere in life, and such education is more hurtful than otherwise.
But it is said, "We are training future Bible-women who will go out and teach the gospel to their country-women." In reply to this it can be answered that not a great many graduates of girls' schools become Bible-women; and it is the experience of nearly every missionary that the best Bible-women are middle-aged women, who may never have been in a mission school.
Again, it is said that it is worth while to have these schools if only to train educated Christian wives for the native evangelists. But many of the evangelists, even among those who themselves have received a more or less foreign training, prefer wives who have never been in a mission school, saying that these girls who have lived so long under better surroundings will not be contented and happy in the homes they can provide. It is also true that many of the young ladies who graduate from these schools object to marrying at all, feeling that they have been unfitted for the life they would have to lead.
A very serious objection to the presenteducational method in use by many missions in Japan is that it hinders self-support in the native churches. These large foreign plants, with their costly appliances, can never be supported by the native churches, and the evident futility of the effort so discourages them that they will not even do what they can. The day when the churches of Japan can become self-supporting is very much postponed by the existence of these costly schools. At present the native churches could hardly keep the school buildings in repair.
The whole work of missions in Japan was in the beginning projected on too high a plane. To many it seems a great mistake that such large and costly buildings were erected and the schools started on a foreign basis. Should not the buildings have been entirely of native architecture from the beginning, and the educational work projected on a plane corresponding to Japanese life? If small wooden houses, with straw roofs and no furniture, are good enough for these people to live in and to transact all kinds of business in, then they are good enough for them to study in and to worship God in. If from the very beginning the schools and churches had been built on a plane corresponding with ordinary Japanese houses and life the day would much sooner have come when the Japanese themselves could undertake their support. When, in the providence ofGod, the native church shall have been sufficiently developed, materially and spiritually, to undertake the education of her children and the training of her own pastors, the manner in which she will do it will be very different from that in which it is now done by the mission boards.
I am aware that many missionaries in Japan, for whose opinions I have all respect, will not agree with these views. But, after most careful thought and investigation, the above are the conclusions to which I have arrived; and I am glad to know that my views are shared by many of my fellow-missionaries. It is my sincere conviction that most of the money now being used for educational purposes in Japan is misapplied, and would yield far greater results if used in other ways.
Literary Work
One of the most important and fruitful branches of missionary work is the literary. The creation of a sound Christian literature is one of the first and most imperative duties pressing upon the missionary to the heathen.
This is an exceedingly difficult task. When we think of how much labor and how many precious lives our own Christian literature has cost us, we begin to have some conception of the immensity of the task of creating a Christianliterature in a heathen land. In the first place, the missionary must have a complete mastery of the language,—in Japan an appalling task,—and then he must create the terms to express so many ideas. Many of our Christian ideas have no counterpart in non-Christian lands, and the very words to express them must be coined. A common device is to take words of kindred meaning and to make them serve the purpose, endeavoring to attach our own meaning to them by gradual processes of instruction and use. Thus with the words for God and sin in use by most missions in Japan. These words arekamiandtsumi. Nowkamiis the word used for numerous mythological divinities, with natures very different from our God, and is also applied to the ancient heroes of Japan. As it expresses the idea better than any other word we have, we use it for God; but we must be careful always to explain the sense in which we use it. The wordtsumimeans crime, or offense against the laws of the land. Our idea of sin is lacking in the Japanese mind, and hence there is no word that exactly expresses it. We take the wordtsumias being nearest it, and endeavor to impart to it our own meaning. In this way we have not only to translate the ideas, but also to coin or modify the words to express them.
This work of the missionary is very differentfrom that of translating English books into a European language which has a circle of ideas similar to our own, for there the words are found ready-made to express the ideas.
Generally the first literary work to be done by missionaries is the translation and publication of portions of Scripture and of tracts. As soon as their knowledge of the language is sufficiently advanced, they translate the whole Bible and some good hymns. Then follow apologetical and evidential works, and treatises on theology and morality. Afterward biographical and devotional books, magazines, and Christian newspapers are published. We cannot overestimate the value of a good Christian newspaper. It will carry gospel truth to people whom the missionary and the native evangelist cannot reach, and it will help much to nourish and strengthen the life of the native converts. In such a paper the latter will probably see their religion set forth in all its relations to the questions of practical life in a way they seldom hear it done in sermons. I think parish papers, which are becoming so common at home, would also exert a splendid influence in Japan.
In this field a considerable Christian literature has already been created. Among the most important books translated so far might be mentioned the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer,Luther's Small Catechism, the Heidelberg Catechism, Bynyan's "Pilgrim's Progress." A considerable number of books on apologetical, evidential, dogmatic, and historical theology have been published, besides biographical, ethical, and devotional books. There are also several Christian newspapers, and recently the missionaries of the American Board have begun the publication of a Christian magazine.
A Christian literature which will be a powerful auxiliary to our work is at present forming rapidly in Japan.
Medical Work
Medical work is one of the youngest departments of missionary labor. Christ healed the body as well as the soul, and it is peculiarly fitting that the missionary be able to heal the body likewise. Medical missions have done more in some countries toward breaking down the prejudice against Christianity than any other one thing. Doors effectually closed to the evangelist have been opened wide to the doctor. The power for good of a consecrated physician in many mission fields is boundless. The mission boards have fully recognized this fact, and have wisely used large numbers of medical missionaries.
In former times medical missionaries accomplished much good in Japan. They helped greatlyto break down the prejudice and opposition to Christianity. Many who came to the hospitals to have their bodies healed went away having their ears filled with words from the great Physician, and their hearts moved by the kindness and love of these Christian doctors. Not only was much direct mission work accomplished in this way, but the principles of physiology and medicine were also taught to large numbers of native physicians and students. Among the men who did most in this work were Drs. Hepburn, Berry, and Taylor.
Although they have accomplished much good, medical missions are no longer needed in Japan. The Japanese themselves have become adepts in medical science, and especially in surgery. Every town and city has one or more hospitals where competent medical consultation and treatment can be had, and these now occupy the position formerly filled only partially by the mission hospitals. A few hospitals and dispensaries are still kept in operation by some missions, but most of them were years ago dispensed with as no longer profitable. We rejoice that Japan has so far progressed as to be well able to care for the health of her own people, and we adapt ourselves to the changed circumstances, diverting into more fruitful channels the energies formerly expended in this way.
Many of the hindrances that oppose the progress of Christianity in Japan have already been indirectly suggested in other portions of this book. But that they may be more clearly apprehended by the friends of missions at home, and that the effect of their militating influence may be fully felt, we will endeavor in this chapter to arrange them in order and show just how they oppose our work. For the sake of clearness and logical order we will consider the subject under two divisions: 1. Hindrances in Japan common to all mission fields; 2. Hindrances peculiar to Japan.
1. There are certain things inherent in the very nature of Christianity that impede her progress. They are necessities of her being, and cannot be gotten rid of. These things may be either a part of Christianity herself, belonging to her nature,or they may be necessary results of her acceptance by non-Christian peoples. For this reason they are encountered wherever the gospel is propagated; they are common hindrances to the advance of our faith alike in China, India, Africa, and Japan.
Although not peculiar to Japan, it seems to me wise briefly to refer to these universal hindrances, because often they are not realized in their full force and power either by the people of our home churches or even by our pastors. To appreciate fully their militating influence one must go to the mission field, and there observe them actually hindering the rapid progress of evangelization. There they are seen in a new light, and are impressed upon the mind as they can hardly be otherwise. If I can succeed in causing the constituency of the churches at home to realize the number, magnitude, and power of these hindrances I will have done good service for the cause of missions.
As the first one of these universal militating influences, inherent in the very nature of missions, opposing the progress of Christianity wherever its teachings are newly propagated, I would mention itsrevolutionizing tendency. Christian missions are in their nature revolutionizing. The result is inevitable and unavoidable. The advance of Christianity in a heathen landnecessitates the revolutionizing of many institutions that have obtained for centuries. Not only must the religious ideas undergo a revolution, but all moral ideas, and manners and customs as well. The reasons for this are very evident.
Religion is intimately connected with the life of man. It furnishes the motive power of his life, controls his actions, creates his morality, determines his manners and customs, and shapes his laws. The ethnic religions are just as intimately interwoven with the lives of their adherents as Christianity is with the lives of Christians; and Buddhism, Confucianism, and Brahmanism have shaped and determined the lives and actions of their adherents.
The connection between religion and morality is a necessary and indissoluble one. The two are united in their growth and development, and the form of morality is necessarily colored by the dominant religion. Wherever the Buddhist faith has been accepted there has sprung up a system of morality peculiar to it; so that we speak of a Buddhistic in opposition to a Christian morality. This morality is dependent upon the religion, and a change of religion must bring about a change of morality.
Christianity, having necessarily developed a morality in accord with its principles, must, as it advances, destroy the existing systems and createwidely different ones. While the better element in heathen nations has more or less outgrown its religious ideas and superstitions, and can calmly contemplate a change of religion, yet its moral system has a stronger hold, and anything which antagonizes it is severely condemned. This necessary revolutionizing of moral ideas very much opposes the progress of Christianity.
The acceptance of Christianity necessitates also a revolution in manners and customs. These are partially an expression of the faith that is in us, their nature being determined by it. A change of religion, therefore, means a change in all of these.
People have great respect for time-honored customs, and that which antagonizes these brings upon itself condemnation. Christianity changes the manners and customs, and therefore the people do all they can to oppose it.
In these ways the work of missions is revolutionizing, and must expect to encounter the opposition of the spirit of conservatism, which is much stronger in the East than in the West.
A second principle inherent in the very nature of Christianity which hinders its progress in heathen lands is itsexclusiveness. Our religion is among the most intolerant in its attitude toward other faiths. We believe and teach that "there is none other name under heaven given amongmen, whereby we must be saved," than the name of Christ. While acknowledging that other religions contain grains of truth, we must affirm that, as religious systems, they are false. Christ sent forth His apostles to make disciples of all, winning them to the Christian faith. And the aim of the church to-day is, not to cultivate brotherly love and communion with otherreligions, but rather to exterminate them and make Christians of all. She can brook no rival. Her adherents must give their allegiance to her alone.