Foreign Mission Journal, November 1882

FOREIGN MISSION JOURNAL. I'libIMuid Monthly by tlio Foreign Mission Hoard of the Southern Baptist Convention. ‘ALL .POWER is GIVEN UNTO MB IN HEAVEN AND IN EARTH. GO YE, THEREFORE, AND ТЕАОЫ ALL NATIONS.’ Vol. 14 — New Series. RICHMOND, VA„ NOVEMBER, 1882. No. 4.— Whole No. ISO. [Knits', "I nl tin* I'mt-tlillm nl lllclntunnl, стп1-г1:1кч тмит.] Vtl., or tiller a plan that is working well, mighl, in the end, do more harm than good. Our Foreign M ission Journal 1,,,|,cal is lIi 10 ,1,HSC wil" whom ‘Ыч is t,,u RATES PER ANNUM: Oiic ropy, i Sf|uralcly foLlctl ami atldiessctl . $ 50 Tlncc copies, :iddic44cd to one pet soil . 1 00 'Геи copies, addtcHsed to one person . 3 00 I’orty toines addi e.ssed to one person . 10 00 One bundled copies, addressed to one person . ao 00 Please 1 emit by Draft, Postal Order, or in Kejjie- terc-d Letter, and iiolilv us i-komi-i i.v of any elinnec In address. Addiess. FOKKICK MISSION JOURNAL. RICHMOND, Va FOREIGN MISSION BOARD OF THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION, I.OCAT1D AT ItlOlIMONll. VIUUINIA. 1*п«яш«пт-.1. I,. M. CIIIIUY. Vicn-i’iinetmiNT» _ Hlrtun Wooile, Mil.,. I. Л. Ilnck- Ht. I.n„ ,1. I,. Burrows. Vn., 1’ I*. IIIsliop, KIR.. O. K. <1 rrttory. N. ().. КпЫ Uylnntl, Ky.. .1. .Г. 11. Km- f r„t*, Alnbnmtt, II. S. lluncnn, Mo., O. \V. Kick, 41, TfXne, \\'. b. Ktlinilrlck. Oil., dins. Manly, S. U., Mntt. Hills in tin, TVnn.. W. II. Miiynod, Ark.. Ооогко Wbltflelil, Ml»»., M Ellison, W. Vn. (ImilinnrONlil.vo Sm intTAliy— II. A. TlIKKKU TiikASltiiEii— л О. WII.I.IAMS, lUconm.vn So u стану — W. II. OWATHMEY. AuDiTon— .rOSKKIl K. OOTTHEI.I. IlOAIllI Of M A KAtl nun. — .1. II. Hawthorns, .T. H.Wnl* kins. II. K. Ellyson. W. K. Hntclu-r. K. Wortham, W. II. Tlminne, W. OiKliIln, II. 11, Harris, .1. I’oll.iril. .Ir„ .1 W. .Tours. A. II. Clarke, .Г. II. Winston, .1. II. Hut* son, О II. Winston, S. 0. Clopton. t@T ЛИ rommuncialions in reference to the business nl" this Hoard should be addressed to II. А. Тшткк, Corresponding Secretary, Richmond, Va. set lime, lo count the present necessity a reason for increased liberality ; (2) lo those who have no system, to inaugurate one by a generous contribution forthwith lo the cause of evangelising the win Id; 'and (f!) to all wlm handle the funds collected, to remit promptly. Some very excellent brethren write asking its to mail the Journal at less than the rates published above. One brother, for example, will send three names and #!, wheteas we oiler llnec copies to one person at $1, hut to three persons, whether at the same ollice or not, at fifty cents apiece Another will undertake to get up a list of ten ; he collects thirty cents apiece from six of them, and asks .is to send the six copies for #1 .80 instead of #2. We use the word “ brother " here in its limited meaning— the sisters have clearer perceptions of what is proper in such cases, and send the full tale of money for what they order. Now it strikes us as hardly honest to accept either more or less than the published rat Anil yet, we dislike to refuse a subscription and return the money. We have, therefore, hit upon the plan of enleiing the names for so many months, as the money sent will allow. I11 the Citses above, #1 will pay for three separate copies eight months; #1.80 for six copies to one address eleven months ; and so in all similar cases. In like manner, if a brother should send more than the regular price, we will give him credit in proportion for more than twelve months. Is not this fair and right ? STATE OF THE TREASURY. We print lielmv a “ timely notice," given by our Corresponding Secretary, through the baptist weeklies of the South. At loast nine thousand dollars must lie put into the treasury, from some source or other, within a month. Why is this imperative need? The support of our missions, as has been hereto¬ fore explained, requires about J 1,000 a month, but during the three months of July, August and September, instead of #12,000, the con¬ tributions amounted to less than #7,000. There is, therefore, a deficit of #5,000, which, with the current expenses of #1,000, makes the sum named above, which must he paid in November. The receipts acknowledged in this issue, (#5,058.07.) show a gratifying increase over those of the three preceding months, and encourage a confident hope that the full amount now asked may be received in due time. Many churches, we know, take an annual collection for Foreign Missions in January. We do not wish to interfere with that. To break in upon a regular system. WHAT IT COSTS. We occasionally see comparisons of the cost of work in proportion to results in dif¬ ferent fields. Some patient statistician will compute the number of dollars expended in supporting the preaching of the Word in the United States, divide the sum by the number of conversions reported, and call his quotient the cost of converting an Ameii- can. He will then go through a similar cal¬ culation for the missions among our anti¬ podes, and call his result the cost of con¬ verting a Chinaman. He thus demonstrates, mathematically, that it is cheaper to win the soul of a heathen than of one reared in a Christian land. With this sort of argumen tation we have little patience. Statistics are valuable, and arithmetic is an exact science, hut in the operation above we object to the dividend, we object to the divisor, we object still more to the interpretation of the quo¬ tient. The computations of money 'expended at home and abroad are vitiated by the entire omission of two important, and only par¬ tially counterbalancing, considerations. The whole foreign work— its men, the means expended in their support, and the results Af their labors — is itself a part of the fruitage of preaching the gospel at home. The esti¬ mate, to he worth anything for the purpose in view, ought to take separate accounts of how much is used in making converts, how much in fostering the spirit of missions. So, on the other hand, it should take into ac¬ count the reflex inlhtcnce of missions. Will Carey's “crown of glorying, before our Lord Jesus at his coining," lie set only with gems gathered in India, or will it also sparkle be¬ cause of the scores and hundreds who have been saved through his iiilluence in Eng¬ land ? We think it almost certain that every one of our foreign missionaries is doing more for the furtherance of the gospel at home, than lie would have done by remain¬ ing in America. The comparison, therefore, of the means expended is misleading, be¬ cause tlie truth is, that money wisely be¬ stowed at home, helps the heathen, and money given to missions, helps our home work. Equally faulty is it to take the number of conversions a» the sole criterion of success. Regeneration is God's work, and though he condescends to perform it through human agencies, the end is not proportioned to the means as we should measure them. And even if we could compass it, the conversion of sinners is not the sole nor indeed the chief end of Christian labor. To renew fallen man to repentance and faith, is an object which fills tlie soul of every one who lias been himself " plucked as a brand out of the burning,” hut it is subordinate to another grander and worthier, by as much ns the glory of God is more than the elevation of man. I11 the day of righteous reckoning, there will not be simply a count of souls saved through this or that instrumentality, but rather an accurate estimate of the reve¬ nues of honor which have accrued to our Redeemer, whether from our doing or from our suffering in his cause. Judson, in his long years of weary waiting, was glorifying God just as truly and just as fully as in his after years of what men call brilliant suc¬ cess; is, therefore, by no means a safe index of the real value of a given work. But we object, chielly, to any attempt at estimating the cost of conversion in terms of corruptible things as silver and gold. The price of our redemption, paid once for all, is "precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, even the blood of Chtisl." Would you know what it costs to convert a soul, either at home or abroad, count tip the sorrows of the Son of man, estimate his agony in Getliscmane, weigh his sufferings on the cross— all that it cost to save the most moral child of Christian parents, no less, no more, to s graded heathen. tve the most de- TIMELY NOTICE. Nine thousand dollars are needed for our mission work this month. As repicsenta- lives of the interests of the Southern bap¬ tist Convention, and of the cause of giving the gospel to the heathen, the Hoard of For¬ eign Missions serve this t'.nely notice on the baptists of the South, Let no one who lias, or who can secure a dime or a dollar, or a hundred dollars for this work, delay in for¬ warding it. Of God’s bounty and grace, “ freely have ye received ; freely give.” H. A. Tuki’kk, Cor. Scc’y. Richmond, I'a. Mrs. Crawford’s visit to Richmond has been a great help to woman's work among us. She left last month to attend the Mis¬ souri b qitist General Association. From there she expects to go southward, and spend some time with .relatives in Alabama, and in Texas. Her health is slowly hut steadily improving. From China, from Italy, and from Africa, come urgent appeals for more men to enter opening doors. “Stand still," said Moses, by the parting waters of the Red Sea, “stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord," but from the pillar of cloud came the voice of Jehovah, “ Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward." EARS OF CORN. There are tides in human affairs, and happy they who are appointed to lloat their work upon the Hood of a wide-spread in terest. Others must have preceded them, toil¬ ing in secret and in quiet, toiling in the midst and in spite of opposition, preparing for the auspicious moment, laying broad and deep the foundations of a people's concerted ac¬ tion; hut it is only when the people’s out¬ burst of convictions shall have come, that the sweets of assured success arc tasted and enjoyed. — Ilishop Nicholson . Some missionary work can be done only by women. I.et us send women to do it. Tlieie is also some missionary woik which only men can do. Let more, many times more, go to that work, and let elect ladies go with them to make homes in which they can renew their energy, and preserve their refinement, but doubtless the larger part of Christian work abroad, as at home, will he that in which men and women work to¬ gether. Those parts In which either sex must work alone, are peculiarly self-denying, and will have the special sympathy, and care, and prayer of intelligent Christian peo¬ ple — Rev. Dr. Nelson in Foreign Missionary. There are five baptist churches in Soutli America— a Chinese church in british Guiana, two American in Brazil, and two Dutch, one in Patagonia, the other in the Argentine Republic. Rev. H. Corbett, Presbyterian, laboring in Shantung Province, China, baptized fifty-one The number of apparent conversions converts during his summer tour. The Roman Catholic Society of Foreign Missions, of Paris, claims to have under its care nearly 800,000 Catholics in China, India and Japan. I11 these fields it reports twenty- six bishops, 574 missionaries, 894 native priests, l,t>80 catechists, 2,500 churches and chapels, thirty seminaries, and 1.CS3 schools and orphanages. In 1880 there went out from the seminary in Paris, thirty-seven new missionaries. For the same year the society reports 240 conversions of heretics, the bap¬ tism of 18,000 pagan adults, of 250,387 chil¬ dren of pagans, and of 27,910 children of Christians. It is stated that the pagan chil¬ dren “ are baptized at the point of death, and generally die at once,” so that the so¬ ciety can “claim to have added a quarter of a million to the inhabitants of heaven during the past year.”— Exchange. The true design of missions is the recovery of an alienated province to the empire of its divine ruler. No object is so near and dear to the heart of God. It occupied his coun¬ sels and his care before the world was. To accomplish it he devised and covenanted a scheme which is the admiration of all intel¬ ligent beings in all places of his dominion. It is the actual prosecution of this purpose which is solemnly intrusted to his church. — The Christian at Work. The Agricultural and mineral resources of brazil, having an area larger than the United States, and a coast-line of about four thou¬ sand miles, are apparently exhaustless ; but the people have neither energy nor ambition to develop them. The Presbyterian church is tlie most active Protestant force, and since 18G2 has organized thirty-one churches in tlie empire, with a membership of 1,720, and thirteen Sabbath-schools. The Southern Methodists have a church in Rio lie Janeiro, and there are also two Baptist churches ; but fourteen of tlie twenty large provinces of Brazil are entirely destitute of evangelical teaching. French is spoken quite as gen¬ erally as Portuguese, and the worst class of French literature is read by the people. — Congregalionalist. Rev. Dr. Mateer, Presbyterian, writes from Tung Chow, China, to the Monthly Record : "Shortly after my return from the country', I baptized two men who came as inquirers from the neighborhood in which our assist¬ ant lias been laboring. At our communion, two weeks ago, I baptized eight, of whom seven were pupils from die school. At the communion in early spring, I baptized five, three being pupils of the school. There are also at present several inquirers and appli¬ cants for baptism.” & A journey around the world hut confirms vj the conviction that Christ is the need of all X nations; that every world-religion represents merely the unsatisfied aspirations of human hearts', and that Christianity alone reveals the yearning of God, and the satisfaction of man. — Ret. IF. F. Bainbridge. Tlie more 1 see of mission work and mis¬ sionaries, the more thoroughly do I believe in it and them. No statistics can measure tlie good which has been done in the past by these means ; and yet greater things may he done in the future if the Church at home can be made to feel and respond to tlie necessities of the cas c.— Chaplain O. A. Crawford, П. S. N. It is not the world, (even within the pale of the church,) hut the true believers, who must carry on missions— Christlieb. The population of Belgium is the densest in the world. Saxony also is more thickly settled than China. Six families in Japan renounced idolatry through the influence of one copy of John's Gospel. — Exchange. Doing good is the only certainly happy action of a man's life. — Sidney.