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Foreign Mission Board Rooms,
September 18th, 1937,
A called meeting of the Foreign Mission Board was held at 10:00 A, M,
■ in the Board rooms on September 18th with President Jenkins presiding.
The meeting was opened with prayer by Brother Wade Bryant.
The following were present: Brethren Jenkins, Coleman, Loving,
Adams, Bryant, Gwathmey, Mrs. Moore, Miss Foster and Mrs. Wicker; also
Executive Secretary, Dr. Maddry, Assistant Executive Secretary, Miss
Ford, Home Secretary, Dr. Jones, and Treasurer, Mr. Buxton. Mrs. Maddry
was also present as a visitor.
Secretary Maddry presented the special matter under consideration,
the China situation. He read the following paper adopted by the Administrative
Committee of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention
which met in special session at Nashville, Tennessee, on September 16th:
PROVISION MADE FOR EVACUATION OF MISSIONARIES IN WAR-TORN CHINA
Walter M. Gilmore, Nashville, Tennessee.
At the call of President John R. Sempey, the Administrative Com¬
mittee of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, met
in Nashville Wednesday, September 16, to consider the present situation of
our missionaries in China. The following members were present: Drs. J. W.
Storer, Chairman, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Walter P. Bims, Roanoke, Virginia; C.
W. Daniel, El Dorado, Arkansas;
С.
H. Bolton, West Palm Beach, Florida;
N. M. Simmonds, Washington, D. C.; John R. Sampey, Louisville, Kentucky;
J. H. Buchanan, Birmingham, Alabama; Frank Tripp, St. Joseph, Missouri;
Hight C. Moore, Austin Crouch, J. E. Dillard and Walter M. Gilmore, Nash¬
ville, Tennessee.
After hearing a statement by Dr. Charles E. Maddry, Executive
Secretary of the Foreign Mission Board, and a thorough discussion of every
phase of the problem, the following resolutions, offered by C. W. Daniel,
were unanimously adopted:
In view of the emergency calling for the evacuation of most of
our 178 missionaries and their 84 children from war-torn China, and being
assured that the current financial receipts of the Foreign Mission Board
are wholly inadequate to meet these demands, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Administrative Committee , acting for the Executive
Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention,
1. That the President of the Convention, the President of the
Executive Committee and the Chairman of the Administrative Committee be
requested to join with the Foreign Mission Board in preparing and sending
out to the denomination a statement of the situation that confronts us. .
This statement will also embody an appeal to all of our people to supply
the Foreign Board the additional funds required by this unexpected crisis,
appealing to the pastors and churches of the South to respond to this re¬
quest, using such time and methods as will be in harmony with their local
situations .
2. That the Foreign Mission Board be assured of this Committee's
hearty approval in borrowing $100,000.00 or as much thereof as may be neces¬
sary to meet these extra demands .
The following statement was prepared by the Committee named above:
THE CRISIS IN CHINA
Having been requested by the Administrative Committee of the Southern Baptist
Convention to bring to the attention of Southern Baptists the serious plight
of our missionaries in China, we comply at once.
A terrible war' is now raging in Central and North China and rapidly
spreading throughout that great country. Already there has been frightful
destruction of our mission property not only in the Shanghai district but
in other sections of China. The lives of our missionaries are in danger
from aerial bombs, shrapnel, shells and rifle fire. Cholera has also broken
out in Shanghai and Hongkong. There is every prospect of a long and bloody war.
