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 classes 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.

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 constituency, which serve a double purpose. The statistics of the Christian constituency 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 classes 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 Christian Constituency—

If that table could be filled up it would show at a glance what class 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:—

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 illustrate 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 God, 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:—

[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 classify. 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 accomplishing 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 constituency; 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 Constituency. | | +———————————————————————————-+——-+ 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. | | +———————————————————————————-+——-+