Foreign Mission Journal
lPiiMislicl JIuntlily I»j- II, e JliKnioii Honrd ol‘
Им;
Southern SLipli.st Convention.
"ALL POWER IS GIVEN UNTO ME IN HEAVEN AND IN EARTH. GO YE, THEREFORE, AND TEACH ALL NATIONS.'’
Vol. 9. — New Series.
RICHMOND, YA.f FEBRUARY, 1878. No. 11.— Whole No. 95.
FOREIGN MISSION JOURNAL,
RATES PER ANNUM:
Olll' copy . Ml cts.
J'ivo or
того
foploo, to hud pip'.Mii] . 40 •' a copy.
Twnty or more ciipli'K. to one pi-rfon . 30 11
Fifty or mom copli'K, to 0110 pcroon . M " “
«р-1Мсаю
remit by Draft, Postal Order, or In llnglxtorvil
I.cttur.
Address, FOREIGN 3IIS.SIOX .TOl/liNAD.
RICHMOND,
Л'л.
FOREIGN MISSION BOARD
OF THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION,
I.t>( ATBli AT UICHMOND, VIIIGINIA.
I’hkmiiknt —
Г.
I.. 31. CURRY.
ATck-I’jiusiduntx.— lllrain AA'ooiW, Mil.,
.Г.
A. iracltett.
Hiss.. P. Court ney, I.a , .1. ii. .leter, Vsi., II. It. McUnllilm,
I'la., AV. 31. Wlnpale, N. (!., J. D. illirrows. Ky„ S. lien-
dor-on, Alabama, AV. Pope Veaman, 31d„ .1. II. Dink, Texas-,
II. II. Tucker, Cia., .1. U. Furman, S. (J., Matt. HllDinnii,
Tuan., J. It. Iloont', Ark.
C()ll II KS I'd N1)1 N41 SECIUIT.UIV— II, A. TDPPKIi,
Tltl'-VM'IIKII— .1. n. AA’IDDDVMS.
llr.1 ouidNii Si:fitiiT.\itv— ' AV. II. fl AA’ATHMP.V.
At'Diroii— JUS-DPII F. COTTHKDD.
Полно си-
M.iN.uiKiis.—
К.
AA’. AA'at ren, .1. It. AA’ntklns. II.
K. Ellv-oii, AV. B. Ilatcla-r, II. AA'orlliam, Henry Alellonald,
AV. Gciddlli, 11. II. HarrN,
Л.
K. Dickinson..!. AA'. .tones, A. H.
Clarke, J. It. AVinuton, T. .1. Evans, <j. ID AVInston, J. ID
Garliek.
£27* J It communications in reference to the business
of this Hoard should be addressed to II. A. Tui-peu,
Corresponding Secretary, Richmond, Va.
FORM OF BEQUEST-
*4 hereby give and bequeath imlo the Southern
IlnptWt Convention, formed in Augu-tu, Georgia,
in tin- mouth of May, ISIS, itutl chartered by the
Legi.'lutiuv of liio State of Georgia, by ail act
jia-isod anti approved December 2‘Jtli, ISIS, ( here
insert the amount, if in money, or 'subject,' ij
other properly, either real or personal,) for Foreign
Missions.'’
THE MEANING OF FOREIGN MISSI0N3.
Tliis enterprise does not mean our preaching the
gospel in foreign lands. Moody preached in Eng¬
land, Avliich is a foreign country; but, Moody aa:as
not a foreign missionary. It does not mean giving
the gospel to the heathen. The linrinese, and Li¬
berians, and SamlAvicIi Islanders do this ; but,
their work is Home Missions. The Foreign Mission¬
ary work is the sending of Hie gospel to heathen
and unchristian people, by those who arc foreigners
to those people. This dclluilion suggests, that
Avlicn native converts and preachers can spread the
gospel themselves, the foreign missionary should
retire, or move fonvard to a hoav and uncultivated
Held. This implies that the ultimate success of
the enterprise is nearer than is commonly supposed.
The sphere of its operation is. by its very definition,
ever contracting, and passing into the hands of the
Home Missionary, Avliose grand work,
слег
expanding, must become co-extensiA’c Avith our
planet itself. Then, though millions may be
unsaved, Finis shall be written upon the records of
Foreign Missions.
MITE BOX SOCIETIES.
The reason of the great success of those Socie¬
ties, AA-licn properly managed, may be seen In con¬
sidering tlie four folloAving facts :
1- The lowest coin of all peoples is disregarded.
Tliis is true of the coAvry of Africa, the casli of
China, and tlie cent of America. Hence the' vulgar
expressions : "T do not care a cent ; Iloisnot AA'orth
a cent”— Avhicli mean, I care nothing ; lie is a worth¬
less person.
2. In the expenditure of small fractions of mon¬
ey, however often tlie expenditure may he made,
the mind is commonly impressed by tlie Individual
expenditure, and not by tlie aggregate sum. IVhat
shopper lias not asked, “Avlierc is all my money
gone?” Wlmt householder lias not been surprised
at the footing of accounts, made up by small pur¬
chases on the credit system?
In every community and country there are
more than a hundred times as many people, avIio
can and Avill give a cent for a good purpose, as
there are tvlio can and Avill gne a dollar. Tills
statement is emphasized by tlie fact that God's
people arc commonly found among tlie poor of the
earth.
•1. The giving of a cent an hundred times re¬
peated, is more than tlie gift of a dollar. The rep¬
etition of the act forms tlie habit of giving, which
is only another name for beneficent character.
This character formed i.- a fountain of over increas¬
ing henelleence. The brother tvlio said : “ Do
not pu.-li the offering basket at me every Sunday,
and I AA'ill give my full share at any time,” Avas a
good man ; but, lie had not studied tlie I’OAver of
Habit, and the Philosophy of every Sabbath giving.
Now any system Avldch contemplates the gather¬
ing of tho.-o unvalued, and unconsciously given,
and most numerous, and habit-forming pieces of
money, promises to do more for tlie treasury of tlie
Lord than other plans, which look merely to large
amounts from tlie more highly favored members of
society and the church. The principle is somewhat
tlie same as that by which the moral and mental
results of infant classes are more than those which
Hoav from ail the Seminaries and Colleges and Uni-
A'ei'sitlo.s of the Avorhl.
For illustration, avc need not refer to “rotor’s
Fence," by which tAvo millions of dollars are an¬
nually deposited In the Golfers of Rome, from a
single and general collection. The Christian avo-
men of lis'c evangelical denominations of our coun¬
try have given to Foreign Missions, in six years,
some one and a half millions of dollars.
Moral : Let Mite Box Societies for Foreign Mis¬
sions he formed in all our Southern churches, Avliich
are not organized themselves, as they should be, as
Missionary Societies.
Note : As an important element of good manage¬
ment, the Eoxcs should be regularly collected by a
committee of llic society, or the church.
WOMAN’S Y/ORK IN CHINA. 4
This is the name of tlie magazine published by
the “Woman's Missionary Association in China," of
which our missionary, Mrs. M. T. Yates, of Shang¬
hai, is President. Number one is well tilled anil
handsomely printed. Honorable mention is made
of our AVoman-AA’orkcrs In tlie Celestial empire.
Space is afforded us only to say that tlio price of
the magazine is fifty cents a year. It should be in
every Woman’s Missionary Society in tlie country.
Send tlie subscription “in postage stamps or green¬
backs to Mrs. J. W. Lambutli, Shanghai, China,”
via San Francisco. Postage to Shanghai, five cents.
AN INCIDENT AND ITS LESSONS.
A pastor told us that a poor woman of ids church
said that she could not alford to do nothing for a
certain enterprise in Avliich they avcic engaged, and
she subscribed one cent per month. This subscrip¬
tion Avas the means, under God, of his receiving
one thousand dollars from a single family. When
this indigent saint said she “could not alford”
to do nothing for her church and the Lord’s cause,
she may have meant, either that she could not af¬
ford to compromise tints her sense of right, or she
could not alford to lose, in that Avav, a divine bless¬
ing. Perhaps both ideas AA'cre involved. At any rate,
she gave her cent ; and she A\-as blessed in seeing a
hundred thousand fold added to it, for tlie church
and cause she loved and honored. The incident
suggests that every member of a Baptist church is
hound to hear a due share of the expenses of Ids
church. Tliis being an obligation of justice and
honor, should be collected like any other debt, ancl
should not be confounded with the free-will offer¬
ings of the church. These offerings, also suggested
by this poor woman, should be made habitually
as a part of the worship of God’s bouse, and under
all the inspiring influence which tlie Sabbath and
tlie preached ivord and tlie devotional exercises of
tlie sanctuary can breath upon tlio heart and con¬
duct. Debts to tlio church should be paid in tlie
Aveck to a collector, like any other debts, and the
Sabbath should be devoted to frec-Avill offerings to
God. “Upon the first day of the AA-eok let every
one of you lay by in store as God hath prospered
him." Thus tlie church aaHI be developed in
beneficence ; tlie offerings Avill be abundant ; and
the daily necessities of tlie great AA-orks of tiie
denomination will be constantly and regularly
supplied ; Avliioh cannot be done by spasmodic, or by
annual contributions. And may not a church thus
trained to pay its debts, and to make free and full
and Avorshipful offerings to the Lord, certainly ex¬
pect the rich blessings of God? “Provo me now,
herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open
you tlie AviiuloAA S of ltcaA'en, and pour you out a
blessing, that there shall not be room enough to
receive it.”
IS IT ESSENTIAL!
Bishop Pearce of Georgia, when asked : “ Will
the heathen be stiA’cd, if AA-e do not send to them
tlie gospel?” replied : “ Will we bo saved, if aa’c do
not send them tlie gospel?” Max Muller said:
“The church is missionary, progressive, Avorld-em-
bracing; aa Iioii it ceases to be missionary it ceases
to exist.” If It be said of baptism, that it is essen¬
tial to obedience, and obedience is essential to sal-
vation, why should le=s be said of the spirit of mis¬
sions? It is singular Iioavaa'c separate in our mind the
oft quoted words : “ He that belicA'cth and is baptized
shall be saved,” from their immediate context : “Go
ye into all tlie Avorldaiul preach tlie gospel to every
creature.” Much Is written about genuine minis¬
ters and gospel churches; but is there any genuine
Christianity, personal, ministerial or ecclesiastic,
at all, apart front the spirit of obedience to this last
great command of Christ? Tlie gospel test of
Christ’s kingdom is implied in its distinctive and
divinely given appellation: “The Light of the
world.”
