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Sudan about 2,000,000 are without a mis sionary. Other small groups are without any gos pel teachers, 200,000 pigmies are without missionaries. At least 70,000,000, more than one-half o f the entire continent, are with out missionaries, and 100,000,000 without a written language or an alphabet o f their own.,—Missionary Intelligencer. JAPAN. One can understand something o f the wonderful change in Japan, when it is remembered that in 1873 an edict went out stating that “so long as the sun shall shine, the evil doctrine o f Christianity shall not be taught.” Missionary work in Japan began fifty- eight years ago. Some o f the first Chris tians are still living. The first years were fraught with dreadful persecutions, but today there is religious liberty everywhere. There is a Christian constituency o f nearly 150,000 with as many enrolled in the Sunday Schools. The Protestant missionaries have over 30,000 young people under a large independent Christian movement in Japan, and many churches organized and con ducted by the Japanese themselves. Self- support is coming into prominence and the Japanese have recently closed a great three years’ evangelistic campaign. Japan is yet largely heathen or pagan in its ideas o f religion. Recently in Tokyo a little idol was moved to a new part o f the city. Eighty acres were set aside for the location o f this little heathen god and 200 shrines for worship were erected within this enclosure. Over 200,000 people visited the dedicatory services o f this little insig nificant idol. A Japanese paper has lately discussed in its' editorial columns the subject o f religion after the war. Dealing with the question whether Buddhism can undergo a change sufficient to enable it to lead the new Japan which will emerge from the conflict, the writer expresses his opinion that a revi val o f Buddhism is hardly within the range o f possibility. He writes: “Whatever efforts the Buddhists may put forth to meet
o f God is peqple will be led to Christ and churches will spring up and grow. AFRICA. A Missionary from Africa writes : “At present, flour and sugar are unobtainable in the Congo. W e have made our own starch for a year now. Forty7cents worth o f manioca makes a year’s supply of starch. We have always intended to teach the boys to make soap, but other things more impor tant have taken our time. Not long ago I made my first hominy.” The interesting news comes that fou'r o f the oldest whisky distilleries located in Bos ton have recently gone out o f business. The secret o f their breaking up is due to the fact that their business was largely con ducted in Africa. A line o f ocean vessels has beeii kept busy transporting rum to the west coast o f the dark continent. After it reached Africa it was carried inland on the back o f the native carriers, and was used to debauch the lives of the poor Benighted people o f the interior. The prob lems o f transportation have become such that they have carried on their work with difficulty, However, they have been able to reach Africa with the terrible product until the United States Government shut down the distilleries. Now the shipping of rum has stopped. This is certainly good news for the dark continent and thé poor people there. Beginning at Egypt and going west along the coast, taking all territory north o f the Sahara, then down the west coast to French Guinea, we find 9,200,000 people who are not in any plans o f any missionary organi zation. Eastern Liberia has 1,500,000 pagans. Parts o f Nigeria, with a popula tion o f 4,000,000, have no missionary. In French Congo there are 8,000,000 without a missionary. Eastern Kamerun has 3,000,- 000 without a missionary. In Belgian Congo 20,000,000 o f the 30,000,000 are without a missionary. Portugese and German East Africa, with a population o f 5,500,000 have no mission ary. - In British East Africa and Egyptian
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