Richmond, Virginia
September 10, 1964
79
.The Foreign Mission Board met in regular monthly session at 3:00 P.M. on Thursday,
September 10, 1964, with Dr. Roberson presiding.
Present: State Member: G. W. Riddle, Alabama; Local Members: T. F. Adams,
J. Roy Clifford, H. Addison Dalton, Joseph P. Edmondson, Curtis English, Horace L.
Ford, R.1 Stuart Grizzard, J. C. Hatfield, Mrs. Clyde V. Hickerson, J. Walter Martin,
J. Leonard Moore, Ryland 0. Reamy, Meredith K. Roberson, D. 0. Rose, James T. Todd.
Staff: Baker J. Cauthen, Rogers M. Smith, Frank K. Means, Winston Crawley, Cornell
Goerner, J. D. Hughey, Joseph B. Underwood, E. L. Deane, Jesse C. Fletcher, Edna
Frances Dawkins, William W. Marshall, R. Keith Parks, Louis R. Cobbs, Truman S. Smith
Eugene L. Hill, Fon H. Scofield, lone Gray, G. Norman Price, Floyd North, Inez Tuggle
Guests : Dr. W. B. Glass, China emeritus missionary; Dr. Leonard Holloway, Vice-
President, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
Dr. Riddle read a Scripture passage and led in prayer.
It was announced that Dr. Wade Bryant has recently undergone surgery, and the Board
voted to send a message to him expressing the prayer concern that he might regain
his full strength and have complete recovery.
Dr. Cauthen gave the following report of the Executive Secretary:
REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY
Mrs. Cauthen and I have returned to Richmond grateful to our Lord for the recent
weeks spent in the Orient. Our travels took us to Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Okinawa,
Korea, Japan, and a brief stop with the missionaries in Honolulu upon our return.
We were much impressed with the vast changes which have occurred in the Orient
since our last visit. The extensive damage caused by war has been largely erased.
Hong Kong is a city of new buildings where much construction is under way, financed
by capital remitted to Hong Kong by overseas Chinese who consider that place to be a
good location for investment.
Taiwan has achieved a remarkable amount of progress since the government of China
took refuge upon that island in 1949. Japan presents a picture of remarkable
economic recovery. The land which was ravaged by firebombs throughout its entire
length has now been rebuilt. Tokyo has undergone remarkable transformation and in
preparation for the Olympics in October, many new buildings and highways have been
constructed and other improvements have been made.
Even Korea which was so badly damaged by the war has now been able to recover from
much of that devastation.
Mission work has made steady progress and gives reason for much encouragement as
we face the future.
The work in Hong Kong rests upon the foundation going back for many years. Chinese
Baptists in that city have demonstrated- remarkable initiative and self-support. The
visitor is greatly impressed by the strong churches, excellent schools, hospital,
seminary and Baptist college have been developed.
Of particular significance is the emergence of a strong group of national Baptist
leaders in each of the fields. In nymy instances new leaders are now bearing
responsibility who were won to Christ and received their training after the close
of World War II. The faithful men and women who have carried heavy responsibility
in earlier years are now reinforced by this strong group of new people.
While the scenes of human misery and war devastation hAve been improved, one never
loses sight of the vast heart hunger that is everywhere apparent in these fields.
One of the clearest indications of that hunger is found in Japan where the sweep
of new religions has become phenomenal. The most impressive of these religions is
called Sokagakkai, which is a type of Buddhism claiming £o be the only true Buddhism
to be found in the world. It is asserted that ten million people are adherents of
this religion which has now assumed a very aggressive attitude in Japan and is even
emerging as a strong political force in the country.
The sweep of such new religions forces upon all of us an awareness of the deep
need of human hearts throughout the world and also a sharp examination of our own
efforts to communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ. We find ourselves conscious
of responsibility to seek out the most effective ways of making the gospel known
realizing that no approach can be of value except as it is empowered by the Spirit
of God. We live in great anticipation of the time when throughout the world there
may come a great spiritual awakening which like an incoming tide can lift the level
of all of our labors and carry forward to new heights the service to which we are
committed in every land.
