THE BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY (Founded 1792) 136th ANNUAL REPORT For the year ending March 31st, 1928 LONDON PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY AT THE CAREY PRESS 19, FURNIVAL STREET, E.C. 4. Telegraphic Add/rest; “ Asiatic, Fleet, LondonTelephone: Holborn S88S (S lines.) CONTENTS. PAGE “ GOD’S SHEEP AR E MEN ” ............................................................ 5_7 SURVEY OF THE FIELDS ................................................................ 8-27 THE MISSIONARY ROLL CALL ................................... ... 27-28 MAPS ............................................................................................................ 29-32 PA R T II. THE SOCIETY : COMMITTEE AND OFFICERS, 1927-28, &c. 33 LIST OF MISSIONARIES ............................................................ 48 STATIONS AND STAFF ....................................................................... 68 STATISTICS AND TABLES ............................................................ 75 PA R T III. CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SOCIETY ......................... 109 ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS AND DONATIONS 109-112 GIFT AND SELF-DENIAL WEEK ..................................... 113 WOMEN’S FU N D ..................................... .......................... 116 MEDICAL FUND ....................................................................... 117 BIBLE TRANSLATION AND LITERATURE FUND ... 119 LONDON BAPTIST MISSIONARY UNION .............. 120 ENGLISH COUNTY SUMMARIES ......................... 128 WALES : COUNTY SUMMARIES ..................................... 160 SCOTLAND : COUNTY SUMMARIES ......................... 177 IRELAND, CHANNEL ISLANDS AND ISLE OF MAN 180 SPECIAL FUNDS ..................................................................... « 182 SUMMARY OF CONTRIBUTIONS FOR THREE YEARS 184 GENERAL SUMMARY OF CASH ACCOUNT .............. 185 TREASURERS’ CASH ACCOUNT .......................... 188 SPECIAL FUNDS ACCOUNTS .................................... 192 AUDITORS’ CERTIFICATE ................................................. 194 THE “ WANTS” DEPARTMENT AND GIRLS’ AUXILIARY 196 TOTAL EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEAR AT HOME AND ABROAD ................................................................................... ... 197 The Baptist Missionary Society 1927-8 THE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SIXTH YEAR “ GOD’S SHEEP ARE MEN” HIS is the 136th Annual Report of the Society, and we hope it will prove illuminating and searching and stimulating : and as we are now celebrating 'the Jubilee of our Congo Mission, T we have the opportunity of comparing our position to-day with that of fifty years ago. For the purpose of the following statistics we are excluding the work of the West Indies and Jamaica, and having regard only to India, Ceylon, China, Cameroons and Europe. The number of our Stations at that time was 181. Now our Stations total 514. Apart from missionaries’ wives, we had a staff of 58 European missionaries ; to-day we have over 300. We had only two European missionaries in China, and were But prospecting on the Congo. In the year 1878 the total income, including that of the Zenana Mission, came to £44,706. There was, of course, no Medical Mission Auxiliary, although medical work was Being done. This year we have received from the churches £139,421, and altogether with the Arthington Grant our total income is £172,947. At that time the membership of churches connected with our Mission on the Field was 4,627. Our present memBership is 41,141, “ The sheep of my shepherding are men.” So we find in the prophecies of Ezekiel. It is a needful reminder if we are apt to think of missions in general terms, in aBstract phrases, or simply in figures. These, of course, have their value, But they are dangerous if they tide from us the fact that we are all the time dealing with real men and women, who have trials and temptations, successes and failures, passions and joys and sorrows, as we have ourselves. In. the first days of the Society’s formation, Carey’s knowledge of the world and of its inhabitants was a potent factor. It made the interest real and abiding. Josephine Butler, the centenary of whose Birth falls this year, tells in. her AutoBiography a story which is a revelation of the spirit impelling her. It is of a street araB who went to Hyde Park on a sultry summer’s day. The sheep were overcome by the heat and were gasping for breath. The Boy ran to the Serpen­ 5 6 ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT. [1928. tine, filled his cap with water, and Brought it to the sheep. This he did more than once. Then he Bathed a sheep’s face. A man near By remarked : “ You seem very anxious aBout that Beast.” The Boy’s eyes filled with tears as he said : “ It’s God’s sheep.” So we ask our readers to study this Annual Report, and with sancti­ fied imagination to consider these very real men and women and girls and Boys to whom, through our missionaries, the Society Brings the good news of the love of God. ****** The trouBles in China are By no means over, and none can say when things will Be quiet again. As is known, our missionaries, under Consular advice, left their Stations in many places, and that, of course, most reluctantly. Many of them came home, because their furloughs were aBout due, and during the year the churches have had the great advantage of hearing the story of China and of our work there as perhaps never Before. All the while our missionaries were chafing to return, and many have By this time done so. To reach their Stations again, dangers must Be encountered and perils By the way. Now it is hoped that By the autumn of this year most of our Stations will Be occupied again. Damage, of course, has Been done to our property, and even lives lost. In Shensi two evangelists have been murdered and two wounded, while some of our middle-school teachers have Been arrested. But we may be sure that despair is not in the hearts of our missionaries nor of the Chinese Christians, and that the work which has been carried on for so many years will not now Be surrendered. * * * * * * Now concerning the gifts that have Been sent to the Society. Un­ douBtedly the industrial depression which has Been covering the country has affected us seriously, and yet from some of those places where the outlook is darkest have come gifts which this year are greater than in any previous year. We have received many gifts in kind, and often-times these carry a story with them. Possessions and gifts of loved ones who have passed within the veil have reached us again and again. Treasures have Been sent to be sold for the advantage of the Mission. A young man sends his postage stamp album, a widow woman sends a ring, an old age pensioner sends his first week’s pension, one who has reached three-score-years-and-ten sends some mathematical instruments. Articles that have Been worked By loving fingers have Been sold and used for the benefit of the Society. So much so is this, that now each gift that comes, whatever Be its form, suggests a giver, and once again we try to interpret these material things in terms of men and women. They Become holy, and bear the mark of sacrifice. 192 8 .] ‘ g o d ’ s s h e e p a r e m e n .” 7 Then we remember that the Society goes forward greatly on the feet of little children, for our Sunday Schools do wonderfully ; and not only are these gifts welcome and valuable for to-day, But they are an assurance that the interest of the days to come is being created now. Nothing is more hopeful than the passionate love so many of our young people have for our Society. ProBaBly, also, the appeal to the Denomination on behalf of the Superannuation Fund has affected us. The cause is so oBviously a just one, although belated. If it had not come this year it would have had to come soon, and all members of the Society rejoice in its wonderful success. We are hoping that during the coming year much of the generosity manifested By the gifts to that fund may find its way to the further support of the Society. ****** The present situation, however, is as follows :— We have received from the churches £139,421, which is £1,347 less than last year. Considering the present industrial depression, and the magnificent way in which the Denomination responded to the appeal for Superannuation, we think this a most wonderful result. From what has been written Before it is very clear that only as the result of sacrificial giving has this been possible. We thank God for the continued loyalty and devotion of the churches. But, of course, we are still short of our needs. A strange feature has been the very large diminution of monies received through legacies. Last year we received altogether nearly £17,000 ; this year the total only comes to £8,396. Finally we are left with a deficit of £15,213 on the year, to which must Be added £1,910 left over from the deficit of last year. Our total comBined deficits, therefore, amount to £17,123. This we feel will be met, and that immediately. At one time we had grave fears that the deficit would Be very much larger, and although it is still a great burden, we are thankful to God for the generosity of His people, and are confident that they will answer the present call to set the Society free once again from debt. 8 ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT. [1928. OUR WORK IN INDIA. NY report from the Fields for last year must necessarily deal with the first effects of the retrenchment in expenditure and the transfer of control to the native Church. In India A this took place on a considerable scale, But it is yet too soon to look for definite results. There is great regret in many quarters over the closing of stations and schools, and some of the Reports make difficult reading. “ This year,” writes a lady worker, “ I have Been called on to do one of the hardest things required of me in my thirty years of missionary experience, and that was to close down a promising girls’ school for lack of funds.