THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NESS have gone to France, a number of. these have laid down their lives while others are suffering in |German prison camps or have been reported missing, like the only son of the writer who has_been missing since September 25, 1915, and of whose whereabouts nothing can be learned. Missionaries are not slackers, and it is a matter of much thanksgiving to God that America has officially inti mated that missionary work, like all commercial enterprises, should go on as usual. In seeking for the solution of the problem of how to evangelize the hith erto unreached masses of China’s pop ulation, there is nothing so essential to success as a clear perception of THE TRUE OBJECTIVE of all missionary activity. When Christ commissioned the Church to preach the gospel to every creature, His objective was, not now to convert the world, but to visit the Gen tiles, to take out a people for His Name; and as this elect body is to be gathered out of every nation, kindred, and tribe, it behooves us to see to it that the knowledge of His Name be spread abroad as rapidly as possible, for it may be there are many of His elect people are among the two hundred millions who have not yet heard. Some mission aries are seeking to give the Chinese an American mode of life and thought, and vainly imagine they are Christian-- izing them, while others are introduc ing social service, and other forms of so-called gospels. These things are so because they have failed to catch a clear .vision of what our Lord meant when He said, “ Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every crea ture” , and the conviction grows that any FORWARD MOVEMENT to reach the masses of China must be entrusted to those who believe in the pre-millen- ial coming of Christ, for they only see Christ’s objective. Two questions will naturally come to the mind. Can a forward movement
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with this objective be initiated while the war is in progression? How Can It Be Done?, As the first question can be answered in the words, “With God all things are possible,” and in the light of the plain' fact that when Christ commissioned His disciples and His people, He made full provision for the accomplishment of His purpose, and as failure is due to the unfathfulness of the Church, we limit ourselves to the considération of how it may be done. An income of One Million Dollars a year would put into the regions beyond 5000 additional Chinese Evangelists, and support them in the special work of telling the way of salvation where Christ has not been named. These under the efficient supervision of sympathetic missionaries would be able to give the gospel message to an average of fifty persons a day, which would aggregate approximately nearly 20,000 persons a year. In this way, about one hundred millions of people would hear the gos pel in the course of the year and from the five thousand special evangelists of the Forward Movement, and in three years, the whole of the new unreached population of China will have had at least one hearing of the Good News. There would be thus two years to spare in which to make up for any deficiencies or failures. Additional funds would need to be provided to supply the work ers with tracts for distribution, and to defray necessary administrative expenses. Any such forward movement would need to be both interdenominational and international in character, for in all denominations and among all nation- • alities are to be found men and women who are true to the faith once for all delivered to the saints. The adminis trator of the Forward Movement must also not only secure the sympathy but the hearty co-operation of the large body of missionaries already in China
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