Missionary Survey As An Aid To Intelligent Co-Operation In Foreign Missions

by Roland Allen; Thomas Cochrane

We begin with survey of the station and its district If the station exists to establish the Church in a definite area then we can survey on a territorial basis The definition of the area involves a policy I. When the area is defined we can distinguish work done and work to be done, in terms of cities, towns, and villages; in terms of population The meaning of "Christian constituency" The reasons for adopting it Example of table, and of the impression produced by it Example of value of proportions Tables of proportions The difficulty of procuring this information The value of the labour expended in procuring it II. The force at work The permanent and transitory elements (a) The foreign force The use of merely quantitative expressions Such tables essential for deciding questions of reinforcement (b) The native force Reasons for putting total Christian constituency in the first place The Communicants. The paid workers. The unpaid workers The difficulty in this classification The interest of these tables lies in the proportions Summary But we need to know something of capacity of the native force (1) Proportion of Communicants The importance of this proportion in itself In relation to the work to be done (2) Proportion of paid workers to Christian constituency and to Communicants The difficulty of appreciating the meaning of this proportion It must be checked by (a) the proportion of unpaid voluntary workers (b) The standard of wealth (3) The contribution to missionary work in labour and money (4) The literacy of the Christian constituency The importance of widespread knowledge of the Bible The importance of Christians having a wider knowledge than their heathen neighbours

CHAPTER IV.

THE EMPHASIS LAID UPON DIFFERENT TYPES OF WORK.

I. Work amongst men and women respectively
We first distinguish men, wives, and single women among the Foreign
Missionaries
The reasons for applying the distinction between men and women to the
Native Force
II. The different classes in the population chiefly reached by the
mission
III The different races and religions
Emphasis upon one class or race or religion is no proper basis for
adverse criticism of the mission
IV. The emphasis laid on evangelistic, medical, and educational work
respectively
The difficulty of distinguishing medical, educational, and
evangelistic missionaries
The reason why grades need not here be distinguished
V. Sunday Schools—
The diverse character of Sunday Schools
The table proposed

CHAPTER V.

THE MEDICAL WORK IN THE STATION DISTRICT.

The tendency to treat medical and educational work as distinct from
evangelistic
Medical and educational boards and their surveys
The difficulty of determining the aim of the medical mission
First of medical missions as designed to meet a distinct medical need
Two tables designed to present the medical force in relation to area
and population
The necessity of considering non-missionary medical work in this
connection
The extent of the work done in the year
Then of the medical mission as designed to assist evangelistic work
(i) The extent to which evangelists work with the medicals
Caution as regards the use of this table
(ii) The extent to which medicals assist the evangelists outside the
institutions
(iii) The extent to which the evangelistic influence of the hospital
can be traced

CHAPTER VI.

EDUCATIONAL WORK IN THE STATION DISTRICT.

The difficulty of determining the aim of educational missions
The difficulty presented by different grades and standards
The reason for excluding Colleges and Normal Schools at this stage
First of the educational mission as designed to meet a distinct
educational need
Two tables designed to present the educational work in relation to
area and population
The necessity of considering non-missionary educational work
The existence of non-missionary schools may either increase the need
for missionary schools or decrease it
The extent to which education is provided for the better educated and
the more illiterate
The extent to which education is provided for boys and girls, for
Christian and non-Christian scholars
The extent to which mission schools receive Government grants throws
light on their character and purpose
The extent to which education is provided for illiterate adults
The importance of this
The importance of the distinction between Christians and
non-Christians in this table
Then of the educational mission as designed to assist evangelistic
work
(i) The extent to which evangelists work with the educationalists in
schools
Caution needed in the use of this table
(ii) The extent to which educationalists work with evangelists
outside schools
The importance of the work done by educationalists outside the
schools
(iii) The immediate evangelistic results of education given
The difficulty
The table proposed
The support given by the Natives to medical and educational work