King's Business - 1914-04

At Home and Abroad

I t is encouraging to learn the extent to which the natives of British South Africa have accepted Christianity. The total ne­ groid population of the Bantu race amounts to 4,019,006. Of these 1,053,706 are Chris­ tian; in the Cape Providence 472,304, in Natal 140,965, in the Transvaal 282,420, and in the Orange Free State 158,017. T here are ten launches operated by the American Baptist Mission in Burma and four others are projected. One of these, the Shurtleff, was largely paid for by stu­ dents and professors in Shurtleff College, Alton, 111. The launch visits scores and scores of Talan and Burman villages in the waterways about Moulmein. From it quan­ tities of tracts and Scriptures are sold and the Gospel preached to ever new areas. A baby missionary. Nineteen years ago Mr. Joseph Clark, of Ikoko, on the Upper Congo, visited Motaka and was received by a crowd of cannibals. He was pulled and pushed to the hut of a big chief by a very excited and war-painted crowd, all armed with ugly big knives and spears. For a time the outcome seemed uncertain, but the landing of Mrs. Clark and her small baby interested the savages to such an ex­ tent that they forgot their violent plans. S t . L uke ’ s H ospital , Tokyo, an Episco­ pal mission hospital, is having remarkable successes. Last year it earned in fees 112,- 000 yen ($56,000). A high Japanese offi­ cial offering it 50,000 yen for extension, Doctor Teusler, the director, reminded him that it was a Christian institution. “It is because it is a Christian institution that we are going to give the money,” came the reply. The largest private medical college in Tokyo has asked permission to affiliate with St. Luke’s. T he (Baptist) Women’s Bible Training School in the Philippines was organized in 1908. In 1911 twenty splendid little Fili­ pino women were graduated and passed immediately into the work. They have

I n L atin -A merica the student class rules. How they will rule may be guessed by the fact that at present not two per cent of students in universities have any interest in the Bible or in Christianity. As a result of the Mott and Eddy meet­ ings (in Japan) last spring there were 2000 enquirers enrolled among students, of whom 150 have already been received into the Christian church. T he temptations to young men in Japan can hardly be overestimated. The police of Tokyo recently reported that 300,000 young men visited houses of ill-fame in a single month, in that city of 2,000,000 inhabi­ tants. “C an you do it ?” a Korean was once asked with reference to some church work. “We ask questions such as ‘Can you do it?’ about men’s work, but not about God’s work,” was the quiet reply of the man. God honors trust faithfully reposed in Him. D r . H eber J ones , a missionary in Korea, reports that a Korean preacher was cast into prison in Seoul some years ago with eighteen criminals. He was kept there five months. When he came out, the eighteen criminals were eighteen Christians. I n I ndia today there is a great awaken­ ing in one generation; such as required 400 years to take place in Europe (in the early centuries). There are now 4,000,000 Christians in India. More than 3000 new baptisms, on an average, are taking place each month. T he full members of Protestant church­ es in Japan reported in 1913 number 73,- 226; organized churches, 831, of which 186 are wholly self-supporting; 1588 Sunday schools with an attendance of 106,580; amount of money raised by Japanese churches for all purposes during the year, yen 318,897, or about $159,449.

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