MANUAL OF THE HUNAN BIBLE INSTITUTE
CHINA DEPARTMENT OF THE LOS ANGELES BIBLE INSTITUTE.
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INTRODUCTION
This Manual is for the guidance of the Board of Directors of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, hereinafter designated the Board, and of the members of the China staff, including candidates preparing for service in China.
This Manual is not in a strict sense a formal contract. It rather presents the principals of action and rules which long experience shows will make for efficient and harmonious service.
THE AIM OF FOREIGN MISSIONS
The supreme and controlling aim of foreign Missions is to make the Lord Jesus Christ known to all men as their Divine Saviour and to persuade them to become His disciples; to gather these disciples into Christian churches which shall be self-propagating, self-supporting, self-governing; to cooperate, so long as necessary, with these churches in the evangelizing of their countrymen, and in bringing to bear on all human life the spirit and principles of Christ.
HISTORICAL STATEMENT
OBJECTIVES AND METHODS
The Hunan Bible Institute, China department of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, was founded by the late Mr. Lyman Stewart because of his firm belief in the Bible as the very Word of God, and as “the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth”, and also because of his loyalty to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ to “Preach the Gospel to every Creature.” Mr. Stewart believed that the quickest and most effective way to reach the thirty –five millions of people in Hunan, and the hundreds of millions in adjoining provinces, was through consecrated and well-trained Chinese evangelists, and so one, and later two, and still later additional bands of Chinese evangelists were organized and sent out into unevangelized districts to proclaim the glorious message of salvation in places where Christ had not yet been named. Soon the need was felt for more thorough training for the evangelists and a Bible school was started at Changsha for this purpose. Missionaries of various societies learning of this school asked if some of their promising young men and women might share in its opportunities and privileges, and so the work grew until in 1925-25, 156 men were at work in 12 evangelistic bands and 140 students in the Bible School
having come from twenty missions working in twelve different provinces.
THE MISSIONARY FORCE
Moral and Spiritual. 1. (a) Candidates for appointment to the missionary force should be of a marked Christian character and culture, with deep conviction as to the fundamentals of the Faith and a strong desire to serve Christ, already made evident by Christian work at home. (b) All candidates will be asked to consider prayerfully and sign the Statement of Faith adopted by the Bible Institute of Lost Angeles, and each member of the staff will be expected to sign this statement once annually. Application 2. (a) Candidates are expected to answer a series of personal questions as to health, preparation and Christian experience; and to undergo a medical examination by a physician designated by the Board. Language School and study 3. A mastery of the language in which a missionary is to labor is an indispensable qualification for missionary service. Exception to this rule is made by definite action of the Mission (and Board) in rare cases and only where the special service to which a missionary is assigned may be rendered in English. Even such missionaries can increase the efficiency of their general service by a knowledge of the language. After reaching the field, the new missionaries should spend their first year in language study. (c) All missionaries are subject to the obligations and entitled to the privileges set forth in this Manual. Wives of missionaries are included.
LENGTH OF TERM OF SERVICE
4. The dur ation [ sic ] of the first term of service on the field shall be five years, thereafter six years except by special arrangement as shall be approved by the Board.
WITHDRAWLS FROM SERVICE 5. (a) Should a missionary retire from the mission, before having completed a term of four years, for any other cause than that of failure of health, it is expected that an equitable return of the travel and outfit allowance will be made to the Board, due regard being had to the expenses incurred and services rendered. (b) The general rule is that 25% of the amount will be deducted for each year of service. (c) In the event of withdrawals from the Board’s service, for reason considered sufficient by the Board, it will defray the expense of the journey to this country, provided said journey be made within a year from the date of withdrawal, and may make a grant to funds to meet present exigencies in cases of special need. RECALL 6. The Board reserves the right of recalling missionaries or revoking their appointment for sufficient reasons, which are to be of record. IV ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION 1. The Mission of the Hunan Bible Institute, China department of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, consists of all foreign missionaries under appointment by the Board. The Board recommends that a missionary shall have a right to vote in mission matters only after two years of service in connection with the mission and after he shall have passed the language examinations appointed for the first two years. A mission may, however, give a vote under special circumstances after one year. Constitution of the Mission
Powers. of the Mission.
2. The Mission has the general care and supervision of all work within its limits. In all matters on the field it has the right of initiative. The Board may also exercise the right of initiative in con-
4. -ference and agreement with the Mission. All questions of Mission policy and method, and of expenditures within the budget of the Board for the Mission, are subject to the decision of the Mission, but the right is reserved to the Board of supervisory action and authority where any problems involve relations with other Boards and denominations, or relations and interests wider than those of any particular field and where fundamental questions of Mission policy affecting other Missions or the relation of Missions and Governments concerned. Organization of the Mission 3. The importance of a Mission’s functions demands that its field organization be defined and coordinated and that its field administration be wise and efficient. The best form of Mission organization embraces the following features:
(1) Participation by all who are qualified. (2) Departmentalization of all the larger phases of Mission activity (3) An active and competent executive committee.
Executive Secretary or Superintendent.
4.The Board shall appoint an Executive Secretary or Superintendent who shall in conjunction with the executive committee give attention to the general supervision and administration of the Institute’s activity in China. This Executive officer shall be member ex-officio of the Board and be responsible for official correspondence between the mission and the Board. Business Manager or Treasurer. 5.The Board shall appoint a Business manager or Treasurer who shall in conjunction with the executive committee and the approval of the Superintendent be responsible for the careful preservation of all deeds to the Mission property; keep in official books, provided by the Board and permanently the property of the Board, clear and accurate accounts of all receipts and payments, secure vouchers for the latter,
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and preserve files of all official correspondence belonging to his department. His books must be open to the inspection of any member of the Mission at any reasonable time.
Estimates and appropriations.
6.(a) At a meeting of the Mission to be held the second Tuesday of October of each year, the Mission Treasure shall prepare, with the approval of the Mission Superintendent and executive committee, a careful estimate of the probable necessary expense of its work for the year beginning January 1 st , following the date of meeting. It is especially desired that in recommending appropriations for new work, such as sending out of new missionaries, the purchase of property, erection of buildings, etc., the Mission shall indicate the order of their importance. (b) The Mission should accompany all requests for new property or new missionaries, with a brief and careful statement of the reasons for these requests, even though said reasons have been set forth in previous correspondence. (c) The estimates should indicate first what is needed for the work of the ensuing year, the amount not to exceed the grant of the year preceeding [ sic ] that for which the estimate is made, and, secondly, if more is required, how the Mission would spend the desired increase. (d) Any anticipated income from rents of properties on the field shall be included within the annual Mission estimates of receipts on the field. Any necessary expenditures for rent shall be a first charge against such income. (e) The estimate should be forwarded to the Business Manager of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles and be presented by him to its Board of Directors at its meeting the first Friday in December. Pending such action the Mission is authorized to proceed with all expenditures included under “Operating Expenses” and the Business Manager of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles will remit accordingly; but the Mission
-6- shall not proceed to make any expenditures for new expenses, purchase of property, etc., without authority from the Board. (f) In case any work is partially supported by receipts upon the field, these receipts shall be carefully estimated and stated. The total estimated cost shall as also be stated. Only that amount necessary to make up the difference between cost and field receipts shall be asked for from the Board. It will not be feasible for the Board to make additional appropriations for such work, toward the close of the fiscal year, on representations that estimated field receipts have fallen below expectations. However, the usual privilege will apply, that transfers of unused appropriations for other items in the appropriations may be made up to the end of the fiscal year. (g) If the accounts for any such work at the close of the fiscal year show a deficit, this must be reported and must either be made a first charge against the funds available in the new fiscal year, or must be covered by savings reported by the Mission Business Manager in a statement of explanation which he shall forward to the Board with the Annual Report. Should the actual receipts exceed the estimated receipts the gain shall accrue to the Treasury of the Board, save that when the excess is due to an unforeseen enlargement of the work, due, for example, to more paying students in the school, it shall be allowable to apply so much of the excess as is necessary to meet the increased cost of the work due to this enlargement. But this shall not be understood to entail upon the Board any obligation to increase grants from its Treasury for the work.
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Exchange
7. Normally, the budget as compiled by the Mission will be made in the currency of the country and the Institute will remit according to the rate of exchange prevailing.
Salaries, allowances, furlough, etc.
The salary of a married missionary on the field shall be U.S. currency $1800 a year and is reckoned at the current rate of exchange.
(1) The understanding is that the missionary is to have whatever the gold salary produces in native currency and that in addition, when unusual conditions prevail and the gold dollar is producing less than the normal rate, the Board will guarantee a fixed rate, approximately the normal rate, on such salary as is used on the field and there fore affected by exchange. On the portion of the salary expended outside of the country, the deduction is to be made in gold amounts, inasmuch as no question of exchange is involved. Charges going out to the field against salary accounts should be decucted [ sic ] either in gold amounts or at the arbitrary rate fixed by the Board. To this amount is added an allowance for each child under twenty-one years of age, as stated below. A house is provided, or house rent paid, for each married missionary. Sixty percent of a married man’s salary is provided as a rule for unmarried men and women. To a missionary remaining at his post while his wife returns to this country, the salary of an unmarried missionary is allowed and to his wife the usual home allowance of a single missionary , with the usual children’s allowances. (2) In case of the death of any missionary, married or single, or any child of a missionary, the full salary or allowance shall be continued for one month from date of death. (3) In the case of a missionary left a widower or widow with children and keeping house, the salary shall be especially arranged, in
8. in [ sic ] view of all the circumstances.
(4) In general the salary begins on the day following the final meeting of the missionary with the Board before sailing for China, and continues without break until the term of service is ended. In the case of a missionary who resigns a position to accept a call to our work, the salary shall begin when the payments in the former position cease.
Children’s Allowances
(a) An allowance of $200 per annum is made for each child under 10 years of age and $300 perannum [ sic ] for the next eleven years, the payments for the last five years not to be made for children who are self-supporting or are married or leave school permanently for other than health reasons. (b) This provision does not apply to the adopted children of missionaries. (c) The Board defrays the expense of the journey of the children of missionaries to this country up to the time that their children’s allowance cease, the total number of single trips not to exceed five, but it does not engage to meet the expense of their return to China after the age of sixteen, unless they go out as missionaries under the appointment of the Board. (a) Bills on the field for medical, surgical, and one-half dental expenses, including the prescribed medicines, will be paid by the Mission as an addition to the budget. (b) All bills of missionaries on furlough in excess of $25.00 per annum for single missionaries and $50.00 per annum for a family, for medical, surgical, oculist and on half dental charges, if incurred by consent of the Board, will, upon request, be met by the Board. Remuneration for Outside Work. Medical Allowance
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Remuneration for Outside Work. [ sic ]
4. The missionary while in connection with the Bible Institute of Los Angeles will give his time and strength to its work in China, under the general direction of the Mission and in accordance with the provisions of the Manual. If, with the express sanction of the Mission and the Board, he shall temporarily undertake work not under the care of the Board, any sum or money paid for such work shall be turned into the Treasury of the Mission and reported to the Board, except with the approval of the Mission and the explicit consent of the Board to the contrary. Where the regular work is a source of revenue, such as medical fees, tuition etc., the amount shall be similarly reported. This provision is not intended to cover gifts or occasional remuneration received by missionaries for personal services. 5. The Board pays the expense of the journey from the home of the missionary to his station or vice versa, by a direct route. If any missionary wishes to deviate for this route and there be no valid reason to the contrary, he shall receive a sum equal to the expense of the direct journey as estimated by the Board at the time. The expense is based upon the shortest and least expensive route and is not intended to include items of emergency beyond those incident to delays from disarranged service. In case of deviation from the direct route or delays, the additional expense is assumed by the missionary. The Business Department of the Bible Institute, except in a very few cases, arranges for all steamship tickets, but due to a ruling regarding clergy fares, it is necessary for the missionary to secure his own railway transportation after arranging for clerical certificates through the Business office. Travel to Field.
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Baggage and Freight Allowances of Missionaries 6. The Board pays the expense of packing and the freight and custom duties to the field within reasonable limits, (duties no to exceed $50.00 per person) for necessary articles for personal and household use and not out for more that is included in the regular freight and baggage allowance. The freight allowance is two thousand tons for a single missionary and four tons for a married missionary, except as may be determined by special action of the Board. (one ton equals 40 cubic feet) The Board allows a maximum of 350 pounds of baggage which the missionary is entitled to carry free from his home to his destination on the field or vice versa. Half of the above allowance will be made for each child. Passports 7. The United States regulations in regard to passports change so constantly that careful inquiries should be made regarding them several weeks before the date of sailing. Missionaries should be very careful to fulfill all conditions and obtain passports necessary for travel. The cost of the passports will be defrayed by the Board. Furloughs 8. The appointment of missionaries contemplates service for life if the Lord will. Stated furloughs, however, are in complete accord with such services. The change of environment afforded tends to preserve or restore the health and energies of the missionaries, and their presence in the churches at home increases interest in Mission Work. In cases where a missionary shall have been on the field longer than the usual term and his wife for a period shorter than the usual term or vice versa, it shall be allowable to fix the minimum term of service at the medium or average point for the two. In every case a furlough shall require the approval of the Mission,
11. and, except for an emergency health furlough, inclusion of the expense in the estimates. The Board meets travel expense both ways unless specifically stated to the contrary. The period of furlough is in addition for the time required for direct travel. The Mission shall ensure that the time of leaving the field be a suitable period after the full term of service; that the return to the field at the expiration of the allowed furlough shall also be at a suitable season of the year. The furlough period shall be twelve months. Missionaries when they arrive at home on furlough are to have a thorough medical examination, and a sufficient portion of their furloughs is to be spent in rest and recuperation to insure their return to the field in the best physical condition. Missionaries before their return to the field after furlough should have another physical examination in order to insure good health of the field. It is desirable that furloughs be spent in the United States. Any missionary wishing to spend part of the furlough in foreign countries, is expected to correspond with the Board with reference to the time to be so spent and the date at which home allowance shall begin. As the Board pays the travel expense to the home of the missionary, it is necessary that the domicile be stated when rendering the travel account and that the journey thereto be in accordance with paragraph. 9. (a) The allowance while at home shall be $2100 per annum to a husband and wife and $1,200 to an unmarried man, to an unmarried woman and to a wife whose husband remains on the field. Missionaries may, at their discretion, draw in advance one month’s home allowance from the Mission Treasurer prior to leaving the field, or from the Business Manager in Los Angeles upon arriving in the United States. Home Allowance
12. (b) The home allowance of widow and widowers with children shall be presumptively that of unmarried missionaries plus children’s allowance with the understanding that these amounts may be supplemented if this is found necessary. (c) The home allowance begins on the date of arrival in the United States and ceases on the date of departure. (d) The home allowance shall in no case exceed the amount for the term of furlough, except as serious physical disability, certified by a competent physician, may call for a longer period, or upon express consent of the Board. (e) Children’s allowance is not interrupted by travel or furlough. (f) An amount not to exceed $25 a month for a family, toward rent will be granted to furloughed missionaries who may need such help. (g) For satisfactory reasons the furlough may be extended, but at the end of the second year except in special cases, the connection of the missionary with the Board will be terminated. VII RETIREMENT AND PENSION. Date of Retirement 1. Retirement at 65 years of age or upon the completion of forty years of service (whichever date shall arrive first) is automatic. The date of retirement of a married couple is determined by the age or length of service of the husband. By special Board action, a missionary who has become totally disabled after not less than thirty years of service, may also be granted honorable retirement. The period of service contemplated in the retiring regulation is the time during which the missionary has been related to the Board Mission on the field and may include a former first term of service in China before appointment to the Mission.
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2. Last furlough and Last term of service.
In the case of a missionary who will become eligible to honorable retirement within three years after the expiration of furlough, the judgement of the Mission shall be expressed, either before the missionary leaves the field, as to whether in its judgment such missionary is physically and otherwise able to render acceptance service for a period of three years from the expiration of furlough, and if the judgement is favorable, the missionary may be authorized by the Board to return to the field with the understanding that at the expiration of the three year period, he or she will be eligible to be placed upon the honorably retired in the usual way. In case of a missionary on furlough who is within a few years of honorable retirement, but whose return to the field is not deemed advisable by the Mission or the Board, or both, the Board shall determine the appropriate action which should be taken in view of all circumstances.
3. Status.. Place of residence.
A missionary with the approval of the Board may reside in the homeland or abroad as honorably retired but shall not be permitted to take residence in or on Mission property on the field.
4. Financial allowances.
The full retiring allowance to all missionaries who have rendered forty years of service or who have reached sixty 5 years of age, shall be that of an active missionary. By special decision of the Board missionaries granted retirement before the allotted time shall be decided pro rata by the Board.
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