Missionary Survey As An Aid To Intelligent Co-Operation In Foreign Missions Part 3

That a Church must be instructed and instruct its children all are agreed: where men differ is with respect to the manner of the teaching.

On the one side are those who would safeguard the faith by committing the teaching of it to a small body of carefully trained men, the clergy, whilst the majority of the Christians, the laity, remain unlearned and accept what is taught by the trained official teachers: on the other side are those who would boldly commit the faith to all, opening to all the door of learning. The one party would preserve the faith in the hands of a select few, the other would put the Bible into every man's hands. It is an old controversy; but we suppose nearly all those for whom we write are of the second party, men who would gladly see every Christian able to read the Bible and to base his religious life upon it.

We stand for the open Bible; we believe that the Christian Church in every country will progress and develop strongly if it is based on a widespread knowledge of Holy Writ, and we are prepared to believe that a capacity to read the Bible is a sure sign of health in any Christian Church. The test of literacy commonly adopted in our missions is the capacity to read the Holy Gospels: we accept that gladly and confidently.

Furthermore, the influence of the Christian Church in the country will largely depend upon the extent to which the Christians are better able to read and understand literary expression than their heathen neighbours.

We want then to know the literacy of the Christian community as compared with the literacy of the non-Christian population from which it springs, and, if possible, a little more than that--what proportion of the Christians have had a sufficient education to enable them not only to satisfy the very slight demands of a literary test, but to have some wider knowledge with which to improve their own position and to enlighten others.

The table which results is as follows:--

--------------------------------------------------------------------- Non-Chris-|Propor- |Total |Propor- |Proportion | Remarks and tian |tion of |Christian |tion of |of Christians | Conclusions.

Popula- |Liter- |Consti- |Liter- |of Higher | tion. |ates. |tuency. |ates. |Education. | --------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------

In this table we touch one of the points on which exact figures are often inaccessible and an estimate must be made. An estimate which is recognised as an estimate is not misleading, and, if it is carefully made and based on evidence understood, is generally most useful, only estimates carelessly made and mistaken for precise and accurate statements of fact are misleading.

These tables would, we suggest, suffice to give us a fairly clear idea of the strength of the force at work, especially if they are taken in conjunction with the tables which we suggest under the heading of the Native Church in Chapter VIII. where we deal particularly with organisation.

We ought now to be able to form some idea of the work to be done and of the force to do it. We know in quant.i.tative terms the work to be done, we know the relative force of missionaries, we know the relative strength of the native Christian const.i.tuency, its communicants, its workers, its education, its wealth, in relation to the work to be done.

We have now to consider how the force is directed, along what lines it is applied, and how its efforts are co-ordinated.

CHAPTER IV.

THE EMPHASIS LAID UPON DIFFERENT TYPES OF WORK.

When we know the area and the force at work in it, we must next consider how this force is applied. We need to know in what proportion it works amongst men and women, how far different cla.s.ses of the population are reached by it, and what emphasis is placed upon different forms of work, evangelistic, medical, and educational. We propose then four tables which will help us to understand these things.

First, we inquire into the relative strength of the force in relation to work among men and women. In the foreign missionary force we distinguish men, wives, and single women; in the native force we distinguish only men and women; because marriage generally affects the character of the foreigner's work more than it affects the character of the work done by the native Christians who live in their own homes among their own people.

-------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | Single | | | | Women and | Remarks and | Men | Wives| Widows | Conclusions --------------------------------------------------------------------- Foreign missionaries. | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------- | Women Christian const.i.tuency | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------- Communicants. | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------- Native workers (paid) | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------

Since it is generally agreed that men in the main appeal to men, and women to women, that table should tell us roughly what is the force at work in relation to men and women; and any mistake in that supposition will be checked by the statistics for the Christian const.i.tuency, which serve a double purpose. The statistics of the Christian const.i.tuency show us not only an important part of the Christian force at work in relation to the men and women of the non-Christian population; but in relation to the foreigners and the native workers they also help us to see how far the idea that men appeal to men and women to women, is in fact a good working rule.

Next it is desirable to know to what cla.s.ses the mission especially appeals. Here we shall probably have to accept estimates, sometimes rough estimates, for part at least of the information desirable; in some cases the table may be impossible; in some it may be most useful. The table which we suggest is:--

---------------------------------------------------------------------- In the Population of Station District-- _____________________________________________________________________ Per Cent.|Per Cent.|Per Cent. |Per Cent.| Per Cent.| Remarks Students.|Officials|Agricultural |Traders. |Labourers,| and | |Small Holders.| |Craftsmen.| Conclusions.

In the Christian Const.i.tuency--

_____________________________________________________________________ Per Cent.|Per Cent.|Per Cent. |Per Cent.| Per Cent.| Remarks Students.|Officials|Agricultural |Traders. |Labourers,| and | |Small Holders.| |Craftsmen.| Conclusions.

If that table could be filled up it would show at a glance what cla.s.s of the people was reached most easily and fully, and whether any were unduly neglected.

Then, in many station areas there are divergencies of race and religion, and it is important to know how far the mission is reaching each of these. In some areas, for instance, large numbers of converts are made from the pagan population whilst a Moslem population in the area is practically untouched; in some nearly all the converts are made from one caste out of many. That is no reason for adverse criticism of the mission: it may be, and often is, a reason for striking harder at the point on which the work is now most successful; but it is a fact which throws great light on the nature of the work done and upon the character of the Church which is rising in the area, and therefore cannot be ignored. We append then a table to reveal this:--

-------------------------------------------------------------------- | Area of Races, Castes, | Remarks and | Religions, etc. | Conclusions | | Proportion of Population | | -------------------------------------------------------------------- Proportion of Christian | | Const.i.tuency derived from| | --------------------------------------------------------------------

We cannot possibly supply the table complete for all areas in the world.

We suggest that such a table kept up to date would reveal not only facts useful to ill.u.s.trate the progress of the Christian faith, but also to show the progress of aggressive non-Christian religions such as Mohammedanism.

Then we want to know what is the emphasis put on different forms of missionary work, evangelistic, medical, educational. Here we come to a difficulty. Medical missionaries, thank G.o.d, do evangelistic work, and so do educational missionaries, and one day we shall learn that the evangelistic missionary, technically so called, is doing a most important educational work, and often truly medical, healing work. The division is a technical one and missionary-hearted men begin to resent it; they are all evangelic in their work, if not technically evangelistic, and the division seems unreal, unnatural, untrue. It would be a sad day for our missions if medical and educational missionaries ceased to be at heart evangelists, and were content to leave evangelistic work to others. Nevertheless, the technical distinction is a real one and must be expressed. Some men express their evangelistic fervour naturally and providentially in medical form, others in scholastic, others in teaching, preaching, and organising of the converts and the hearers. But how shall we divide them? The best plan seems to be to put each man into that category in which he spends most of his time, and in cases of doubt to use fractions, e.g. a doctor may be as keen an evangelist and may preach and strive to convert his patients as eagerly as his colleague who is called an evangelistic missionary. An evangelistic missionary is perhaps a doctor by training or experience, and heals the sick as eagerly as his colleague who is called a medical missionary. Each is unwilling to be catalogued in one column only. He feels, and feels rightly, that that single figure belies the facts. The evangelistic missionary may be the only doctor in the whole area who really understands the use of western drugs and implements, the doctor may be the only evangelist in the whole area who really knows how to preach the Gospel in language which the people can understand. Clearly, in such cases the only possible thing to do is to use a fraction, though the inner truth might be more easily expressed by figures which represented that one man as two or three.

The table then is as follows:--

------------------------------------------------------------------- Missionaries. | Paid | Amount of| Amount of | Total | Remarks | Native | Foreign | Native | Funds | and | Workers| Funds | Funds | including | Con- | | Spent | Spent | Government| clusions | | on: [1] | on: [2] | Grants. | -------------------------------------------------------------------- Evangelistic | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------- Medical. | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------- Educational | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Forms | | | | | of Work. | | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------

[Footnote 1: All funds derived from foreigners except Government grants.]

[Footnote 2: Including fees and contributions.]

It will be observed that this table is designed, like all the others, to serve primarily one single purpose. Since that purpose is to show the relative weight thrown by the mission and the Christians into different forms of evangelistic expression, all missionaries, all native workers, all funds mainly occupied in each form are lumped together. There is no need at this stage to distinguish doctors from nurses, or Bible-women from pastors or priests.

From these tables we should hope to gain a general idea of the direction of the force at work.

We thrust in here an inquiry concerning a form of work upon which many missions lay great stress. It is exceedingly difficult to cla.s.sify. It is not certainly evangelistic work, though it is commonly organised by evangelistic workers; it is not educational in the sense that educational missionaries accept it as a definitely recognised part of their work, though educational methods are employed and it often has a distinctly educational purpose. It is sometimes a form of Sunday service almost akin to a Church service. It is often a form of children's school where the religious teaching given, or neglected, during the week in the day school is supplemented: it is sometimes a form of elementary school for adults, Christian, or inquirers: it is a form of Bible school for adult Christian workers. It is a method of propaganda for the conversion of heathen children or adults. It is a form of work where untrained Christian voluntary workers find opportunity for expressing their religious zeal; it is a form of work in which experts in certain types of elementary religious teaching revel. It is educational work carried on by those who are not technically educationalists: it is evangelistic work carried on by those who are not technically evangelists.

What sort of information then are we to seek concerning it? It is so important that it cannot be omitted; it is so widespread that it almost demands special consideration; it is so protean that tables designed to reveal all its aspects and values would be with difficulty designed, and tediously minute. From the point of view of this survey it would be futile to ask, as most of the societies ask, simply for the number of Sunday schools, the number of teachers, and the number of scholars. From those bare numbers we can gain no information which really enlightens us. We want to know what the Sunday schools exist for, and whether they are accomplis.h.i.+ng the object of their existence. But we cannot define, nor even enumerate all the objects. We therefore arbitrarily select three which are directly related to the establishment of a native Church, and make one table serve. We inquire: (1) How they are related to the Christian const.i.tuency; from this we hope to learn the extent to which Sunday schools are a part of the Church life. (2) How the teachers are related to the communicants (or full members); from this we hope to learn the extent to which the voluntary effort of the communicants finds expression in this work. (3) How the scholars are related to baptisms and confirmations (or admission as full members); from this we hope to learn to what extent the Sunday-schools are a recruiting ground for the Church.

The table then is as follows:--

+-------------------------------------------------------+-----+ District | | +-------------------------------------------------------+-----+ Number of Sunday Schools. | | +-------------------------------------------------------+-----+ Proportion of Sunday Schools to Christian Const.i.tuency. | | +-------------------------------------------------------+-----+ Sunday School Teachers. | | +-------------------------------------------------------+-----+ Proportion of Communicants. | | +-------------------------------------------------------+-----+ Sunday School Scholars. (M./F.) | | +-------------------------------------------------------+-----+ Proportion of Sunday School Scholars | | Baptised in the Year. | | +-------------------------------------------------------+-----+ Proportion of Scholars Confirmed | | or Admitted Full Members in the Year. | | +-------------------------------------------------------+-----+ Remarks and Conclusions. | | +-------------------------------------------------------+-----+

CHAPTER V.

MEDICAL WORK IN THE STATION DISTRICT.

Thus far of the force in its general aspect. When we turn to closer consideration of the medical and educational work we meet with a difficulty. Medical and educational work, as we have already pointed out, often, if not generally, have a definitely evangelistic character, but each, nevertheless, appears to be designed to meet a special need of the Church and people. There is a strong tendency in thought, and often in speech, to emphasise this special need and to make it a distinct, separate need. Herein lies a danger. Medical missions are sometimes urged upon our attention as though they were founded to meet a medical need of the people, as if it were the recognised and accepted duty of missionary societies and of missionaries to supplant the native medical practice by western scientific methods as certainly and fully as it is their recognised and accepted duty to supplant native religion by the faith of Christ. But that we for our part emphatically deny. The one may be a philanthropic duty; the other certainly is a religious duty.

Consequently we deny that there is a medical need which it is the duty of missionaries to supply in the sense in which we affirm that there is a religious need which it is the duty of missionaries to supply. Medical missions are, and ought to be, evangelistic in their aim, mere handmaids[1] of evangelism. Similarly we deny a separate and distinct educational need which it is the duty of missionary societies to supply.

The missionary societies ought not to take upon themselves the supply of every need. We think the Christian Church is misled when it allows the medical need of a country to be presented as a distinct need which it is the duty of missionaries to meet, and when it allows the ignorance of a country to be presented as a distinct need which it is the duty of missionaries to meet. From such a presentation educational missions become detached, medical missions become detached, each designed to meet a distinct and separate need of the people.

[Footnote 1: If any reader experiences a revulsion at this expression, he will know at once what we mean when we say that a distinction has been drawn between evangelistic, medical, and educational missions as though they were three co-equal and separate things. They are not co-equal and they ought not to be separate. Education does not necessarily reveal Christ, medical science does not necessarily reveal Christ, only as education and medicine a.s.sist the revelation of Christ are they proper subjects for Christian missionary enterprise, that is, only when they are clearly and unmistakably subordinate to an evangelistic purpose. Of course we do not undervalue medical and educational efficiency: efficiency should increase evangelistic power.]

One result of the sharp distinction which is drawn between medical and educational and evangelistic work is that in some countries there are distinct medical and educational a.s.sociations which collect information about the state of medical and educational missions in the country, dealing with these missionary activities most prominently, if not wholly, from the point of view of medical and educational efficiency.

These a.s.sociations issue _questionnaires_ and publish reports often more full, detailed, and carefully compiled than any evangelistic reports.

Consequently it is peculiarly dangerous for a layman unacquainted with the working of these a.s.sociations to trespa.s.s upon their preserves.

These departmental surveys should be treated separately by experts.

Nevertheless, since we are dealing with the work of the station in its area, and this work includes often medical and educational work, we cannot pa.s.s over it with no more than the general treatment which we have hitherto given. We need to know what is the medical and what the educational work carried on at the station, when these are viewed, as they are viewed, separately, as distinct expressions of missionary zeal.