A missionary was returning from an evangelistic tour over one of the lonely roads of Palestine. Suddenly he was accosted by several armed men in disguise, who demanded that he should promise to grant their request before it was stated to him. He naturally demurred, but, becoming convinced that they were not robbers, he finally consented, realizing that his journey could not otherwise be continued. Whereupon they demanded that certain mission schools which had been closed for lack of funds should be re-opened, promising to give as much as possible towards the necessary sum. “It is like depriving our children of bread and water and air,” they exclaimed, “to deprive them of the opportunity for religious teaching and useful education.”[52] A peaceful missionary held up by a set of masked bandits in a Mohammedan land, who demanded, not his money nor his life, but a Christian education for their children!
Loud and clear and insistent are the voices from country after country. In many tongues they call to us Christian women,—“Give us a chance to learn, let us children have what our parents never had, put books into our hands, train our hands and eyes and ears and hearts as well as our minds, show us how people who love that Jesus whom you tell about may read of Him and may make their lives good and happy and useful!”
Is missionary educational work still needed in the awakening East?
It may be the honest conviction of many that with advancing civilization and the great political, social, and educational awakening in many lands, there is no further need for mission schools or for pushing missionary educational work. Japan has her public school system with six years of compulsory school attendance, and higher courses combining cultural with practical education in a way that Western nations might well follow. China has done away with the old educational regime and is patterning her new system after those of Christian lands. In India we hear that “Mr. Gokhale’s bill for universal primary education has stirred the whole country and will be a constant issue until it is an accomplished fact. Already the government has voted to increase immediately the number of primary schools from 120,000 to 210,000.”[53] The demand for education of girls as well as of boys in Persia, Turkey, and Egypt has caused a marvelous overturning and re-arranging of custom, prejudice, public opinion, and government action. In view of all this and much more in the same line, has the time come when the matter of education can be left in the hands of the awakening East, and does our obligation to the little ones of non-Christian lands cease at the door of the school room?
Divergent views on education.
In order to arrive at a fair answer to these questions it might be well to study and discuss some divergent views on education and then to learn how these questions are answered by those who were born in non-Christian lands or who have lived and worked there for many years.
Some Views on Education
“To educate a girl is like putting a knife into the hands of a monkey.” Hindu Proverb.
“The hope of our country is in the education of our girls, and we shall never have statesmen till the mothers are educated.” A Persian Nobleman.
“Men are superior to women on account of the qualities with which God has gifted the one above the other.” The Koran, Sura 4.38.