January 9, 1969
The Foreign Mission Board met in regular monthly session, January 9, 1969, in Richmond,
Virginia, with Mr. J. Leonard Moore presiding.
PRESENT: State Members : Mrs. H. Cowen Ellis, Bruce H. Price
Local Members: Wade H. Bryant, Mrs. R. B. Carter, Sr., Curtis English, Austin W. Farley,
V. Allen Gaines, Qavid S. Hammock, John W. Kincheloe, Jr., J. Leonard Moore, Lucius M.
Polhill, James E. Rayhorn, D. 0. Rose, Edwin L. Shattuck, Dalton Ward.
Staff : Baker J. Cauthen, Harold Basden, James D. Belote, Charles Bryan, Louis R. Cobbs,
Winston Crawley, Edna Frances Dawkins, William K. Dawson, Everett L. Deane, Jesse C.
Fletcher, Franklin T. Fowler, Cornell Goerner, lone Gray, Eugene L. Hill, J. D. Hughey,
William W. Marshall, Frank K. Means, Floyd H. North, Norman Price, Claude H. Rhea, Fon
H. Scofield, Rogers Smith, Truman S. Smith, E. L. Wright, Elizabeth Minshew.
Visitors : Alan Compton (Radio and TV Representative, Middle America), Dr. H. Cowen
Ellis (Charlottesville, Virginia), Field Representatives: James D. Crane (North Field,
Middle America), Victor Davis (Brazil), Hoke Smith (South Field, Argentina), Clark
Scanlon (the Caribbean, elected
1/9/69).
The meeting was called to order.
The meeting was opened with the Hymn: "I Know Whom I Have Believed," led by Dr. Claude
H. Rhea.
Dr. Lucius M. Polhill read a passage of Scripture from the 8th Chapter of Romans, and
led in prayer .
Minutes of the Board for December 1968 were approved.
Reports were given as follows:
REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY
Baker J. Cauthen
We entered 1969 grateful for the blessings which have been received in the year which
has closed. Members of the Board are aware that during 1968 we experienced the largest
number of missionary appointments in any previous year in the Board's history. Statis¬
tical reports of work in sixty-nine countries are now being compiled, and will reflect
blessings throughout the world in ministries of evangelism and church development, edu¬
cational work, medical services, publications and benevolence.
While these statistical reports will be encouraging and will reflect steady progress on
mission fields, they will tell only a partial story because the stability of mission¬
aries and national Christians under uncertain and sometimes chaotic conditions can never
be adequately reflected in numerical reports of work achieved.
In Vietnam, Nigeria and the Middle East missionaries have continued to demonstrate the
remarkable qualities of dedication and perseverance which characterize the work of God's
servants. While these three countries are mentioned, the missionaries in other lands
where critical situations have been less pressing have continued their work with com¬
mitment and effectiveness. Experience through the years makes us quite aware that the
qualities of missionary perseverance are demonstrated most clearly when conditions are
most difficult.
Steady entrance into new fields has been one of the characteristics of our work during
the entire period of advance. Particularly in Africa have we seen the entry of mis¬
sionaries into new fields of service. Some of these entries have been quite remark¬
able. We have been particularly grateful that the door opened for the projection of
mission work in Angola, and we have been gratified by the steady progress made in the
new mission in Ethiopia, together with the fresh approach to the French-speaking areas
of West Africa with a missionary couple under assignment for work in the Mali Republic
at Dakar. Surveys have been made of other French-speaking West African countries and
plans for further developments are being made.
Throughout the world there has been an upward surge in concern for direct Christian
witness and emphasis upon bringing people to Christ. The large Crusades which have
been conducted in 1968 with notable success, in the Philippines where more than 8,000
people made decisions, have been a prelude to the larger effort in 1969 in the Crusade
of the Americas. This, furthermore, points toward the major efforts already scheduled
for 1970 both in Africa and in the Orient.
