USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Westerville > Three quarters of a century of triumph : seventy-fifth anniversary report and board meeting, Westerville, Ohio, November 11-13, 1930 > Part 8
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11
In addition we publish the Puerto Rico News Letter in English for circulation among our friends in the United States. The information that it contains is the basis of an abiding interest in the work in this field.
Other Items. The amount included for painting and repairs is absolutely essential and should be larger than the amount placed in the budget. With but few exceptions our buildings must be painted and repaired for conservation pur- poses. This cannot be neglected in the tropics without heavy losses.
A modest sum is included for special evangelistic campaigns. Many parts of our field are entirely untouched, and we are desirous of offering the message of the Gospel to their inhabitants. We have a tent and other equipment for such campaigns, and with our present staff we can attend to a limited amount of such activity. We feel that this item should appear in the regular budget and not be carried as a special, for in the latter case there is always uncertainty as to the amount available, and in view of this definite plans cannot be made satisfactorily.
The amount included for chapel equipment is likewise very essential. It is a shortsighted policy which would require our workers to "make bricks without straw." The amount is insignificant when the utilization of our workers and the attendant results are taken into consideration.
Specials. There are various items included under this head, not because they should not be included in the budget for the coming year, but due to the fact that items of this nature are provided for from other funds. These include:
The Evangelical Seminary. A request is made for $2,000 for our interdenom- inational training school. The demand for enlargement and new equipment is very imperative. We are cooperating in this enterprise and understand that the Board has assumed its share in the plan for financing this institution. Our Board has contributed less than the other Boards, and in this case as well as in all others where cooperation is involved, it is essential that each cooperating denomination
67
ACHIEVEMENTS IN PORTO RICO
meet its responsibility as otherwise cooperation breaks down and the existence of the enterprise is jeopardized.
The purchase of lots. These two lots are near Ponce. The one in Cuatro Calles was purchased several years ago, a loan being made for this purpose. This loan is now due and should be paid. The other lot is in Machuelo, and a special fund was used for its purchase. The Ponce Church furnished the funds for the erection of the chapel with the understanding that the Board would make provision for the purchase of the lot.
The Penuelas Parsonage. The present parsonage is on the rear of the church lot, and seriously affects the activities of the work of the church. More room is needed for religious and social activities. Then, the house is in a dilapidated condition and will require extensive repairs of replacement. We suggest that the house be sold, a lot nearby purchased, and a new house be erected. This is a matter of immediate concern.
THE INTENSIFICATION OF OUR WORK
For real growth there must be a deeper intensification of the work continually, and with this in view it is our purpose to give attention to the following matters with the assurance that such a course will result in larger fruitage:
I. Evangelism. We conceive of this as the prime work of the Church, and we believe that increased emphasis should be placed on it.
2. Reaching the Rural Districts. The greater part of our field is rural, while a large percent of our work is in the towns. Some of the districts for which we are responsible have never been visited by our workers. If we fail to attend to them they will have no Christian privileges, for our denomination alone is responsi- ble for work among them. This work is highly important, for some of the very best people emerge from the rural districts. Their privileges have not been many, but as a rule, they are white and they possess a more sturdy character than their fellow citizens of the towns and lowlands.
3. Reorganization of some of the fields of labor. We are planning on a study of the field with a view to reorganizing some of the fields of labor. In this way we shall endeavor to secure the maximum results.
4. Recruits for the Ministry. It will be our purpose for the coming year to enlist the pastors and the churches in awakening in promising young people a desire. to consecrate themselves to the work of the Church. We are in dire need of leaders, and with the passing of the years the demands are more exacting.
5. Cultivation of the spiritual life of the churches that will issue in the de- velopment of a spontaneous spirit of service-a spirit that will inflame them with a passion for the extension of the Kingdom. This will make our churches vital evangelizing factors, will destroy the tendency toward a monotonous formality, and make more productive the work that the Board is directing in this field.
The work of claiming this Island for our Lord and his Christ has scarcely begun. The unfinished task with its tremendous responsibilities nevertheless presents a real challenge to the Christian forces here in the Island and in the mainland, and it is only as we devote ourselves unreservedly to this task that we can honor Him who has honored us in committing such sacred interests to us.
May we have His fellowship and His leading and His inspiration and His power as we enter on the task of the new year.
Respectfully submitted, for the Mission, P. W. DRURY.
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON PORTO RICO
Your Committee on Porto Rico has the honor of presenting the following report:
After a careful and prayerful consideration of the report submitted by Dr. P. W. Drury, superintendent, we have taken note of the general conditions pre- vailing in the Island, and deeply deplore the unfavorable economic situation of the people. We rejoice that Governor Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., is taking very practical steps to ameliorate this situation.
The retirement from service with the Board of Dr. and Mrs. I. E. Caldwell and Dr. and Mrs. N. H. Huffman is brought to our attention at this time. Your committee recommends that the Secretary of the Board be asked to write letters to these workers, conveying to them our high appreciation of their services and our prayerful interest in their future activities.
Note is also taken of the offer made by the Porto Rican churches for relief work in Santo Domingo and we record our appreciation of this love gift which is highly significant in view of the economic depression in Porto Rico.
In harmony with the suggestions of Superintendent Drury, we recommend:
I. That the Board reaffirm its hearty approval of the efforts looking toward church union in Porto Rico.
ยท
2. That the deficit mentioned on page 65 of Doctor Drury's report be taken care of in the appropriation of this year.
3. That the request for $400 on salary of a religious education secretary be laid on the table, pending further investigation.
4. That the staff on the field be authorized to distribute among the various special needs, such as building repairs, chapel equipment, and evangelistic work, the amount allowed for such items by the Committee on Appropriations.
5. That the Board approve in principle the recommendations for property changes in Penuelas, final action to be held pending the securing of the funds required to finance the project.
6. That the specials on hand, amounting to $283, be applied on the payment due on the lots of Machuelo and Quatro Calles, and that efforts be made to secure the balance at the earliest possible date.
Respectfully submitted,
S. F. DAUGHERTY J. H. RUEBUSH MRS. J. HAL SMITH DR. N. H. HUFFMAN Committee
68
UNITED BRETHREN RESPONSIBILITY IN SANTO DOMINGO
Unless we see clearly our responsibility there is little probability of measuring up to it. These lines are written in the hope that they may quicken our sense of responsibility and move us to appropriate action.
We are facing first of all a responsibility to a great ideal. The work in Santo Domingo was undertaken in cooperation with two sister denominations, the Presbyterian and Methodist Episcopal. The policy of cooperation was not an afterthought, but a new coin right out of the mint. Now it remains to be seen whether an enterprise conceived and brought forth as a cooperative mission, absolutely free from competitive denominationalism and with Christian service as its motto can justify itself by its results.
It will not suffice to show that this plan of work is just as good as the old sys- tem. There is nothing gained in substituting one thing for another, unless it is decidedly better. If we are convinced that the Santo Domingo plan marks a new strategy in mission work, then a mighty purpose and energizing faith should move us to supply the conditions necessary to a phenomenal success.
Have we United Brethren people felt the thrill of this undertaking? To the writer it is a source of humiliation that the Board at its recent meeting found it possible to appropriate to Santo Domingo only the small sum of two thousand five hundred dollars. Does not this look like a very timid approach to a doubtful enterprise, rather than an expression of profound conviction? If we had gone in alone, how much could we have done with such an appropriation? How many workers could we have sent to the field? How would the Dominican people have been impressed by such a gesture? It would seem that for the next five years our annual appropriation to this work should be no less than ten thousand dollars.
One serious minded friend of the mission has expressed the fear that the sup- porting boards may not put into the mission as much as they would if it were an individual, denominational enterprise. How can we prove to him that his fears are groundless, unless we substantially and immediately increase our giving to this needy field? This done, we may say to him: As far as the United Brethren Church is concerned, you may cast your fears to the wind, for we are more interested in the work than if it were all our own and we take this attitude because we recog- nize, after all, that it is not our work, but belongs to him who said: "All mine are thine and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them."
As United Brethren people we are responsible for the giving of the Gospel to the Dominican people.
A few days ago the writer made a missionary address, confining his remarks largely to hospital and school work. At the conclusion of the meeting a good woman said: "We would have been glad to have heard more about the people who have been saved and the churches established." No doubt this good woman represents the temper of the generality of the United Brethren people. We are not indifferent to philanthropic enterprises, but in mission work, what grips us most is the report of the victory of Jesus Christ in human lives. We yearn to hear of men and nations emerging from darkness to light, delivered from the bondage of sin and made partakers of divine life. We expect our representatives wherever
69
70
THREE-QUARTERS OF A CENTURY OF TRIUMPH
they go to proclaim to men the charmed name of Him, of whom, with Charles Wesley, we sing:
He speaks and, listening to his voice, New life the dead receive; The mournful, broken hearts rejoice; The humble poor believe.
Now we may feel that we need not bestir ourselves so much for Santo Domingo, inasmuch as people of means who do not give to strictly denominational enter- prises are disposed to contribute to this interdenominational work. It is true
City Hall in Santo Domingo
that some generous gifts have been received and more are expected, and for this help we are devoutly grateful. But these gifts are for hospital work and perhaps for education. These donors are not interested in evangelistic work. They are not going to relieve us from the reponsibility of giving the Gospel to the Dominican people. This remains our responsibility, our privilege and peculiar glory.
It is encouraging to know that the Dominican people are responsive to the proclamation of the simple Gospel story. At the capital within the first year the hall became too small and it was apparent that a large auditorium must be built to accommodate the congregation. At other centers on every Sunday, large and enthusiastic Sunday schools and church services may be seen. Eight stations are provided with pastors. But what are eight stations in so large a field? In the writer's last home town, before going out to Santo Domingo, there are fourteen Protestant churches, a town with less than fifteen thousand inhabitants. There are whole provinces in Santo Domingo without a single Protestant church or missionary. This does not look like a fair deal.
71
OUR RESPONSIBILITY IN SANTO DOMINGO
As United Brethren people finally we have a large measure of responsibility with regard to the church that is to be in Santo Domingo.
We have agreed that it is not to be a Presbyterian, Methodist Episcopal or United Brethren Church. What kind of a church will it be? Will it be an under- nourished, stunted child? Will it be a "Topsy" that "just growed"? Are we going to look upon it as a sort of a foundling, whose keep we assume on the basis of the least possible outlay? Or is it to be a child of our love, nourished in affec- tion, and recognized as a legitimate offspring?
We have agreed not to curse that child that is to be with wasteful, competitive denominationalism, but this does not mean that we are to deprive it of the fruit of the experience of the past or the warmth of the fellowship of the present.
A few weeks ago the writer had the privilege of visiting the conferences on the Coast. Now it is customary to think of our work in that area as rather weak and one would not expect the conference sessions to be very inspirational. But to one just returned from the mission field, they were exceptionally interesting, made so by the peerless leadership of Bishop Ira D. Warner, and the participation of Dr. Russell Showers, all around churchman and building expert, and Miss Lula Fox, specialist in modern religious education methods, and all this supple- mented finally by the contribution of the fine-spirited, talented men and women who compose the conferences. Every interesting address, practical suggestion, and thrilling pageant that figured in the conference programs awakened a profound desire that all these features might be reproduced and adapted to Santo Domingo.
The thought kept recurring: How meager are their helps, how isolated those workers are, how happy they would be for expert advice in laying the foundations of the Church that is to be in Santo Domingo. What a fine team, for example, Dean Ashcraft, and Doctors Deever and Brewbaker would make for a summer conference in Santo Domingo. The advantages would not be all one-sided, for to grapple with the problems of a church in its birth throes is in itself a vitalizing experience.
There should be made provision for Dominican representation in our General Conference and in the general assemblies of the other cooperating denominations, giving triple connection with the Protestant movement in this country. Again, the benefits would not be one-sided. Those who were fortunate enough to attend the last meeting of the Foreign Board will recall the notable contribution made to the program by the Nationals present from several foreign fields.
Now you who support the cause of missions with your material gifts, what do you say about our responsibility for Santo Domingo? Until you speak, the hands of our missionary secretary are tied. Are you with us for a great advance in that country? Will you not write to Dr. S. G. Ziegler, Dayton, Ohio, and say: "We are with you for advance in Santo Domingo and here is my check."
Come on, let's go!
NATHAN H. HUFFMAN
LaCygne, Kansas.
REPORT OF THE WOMEN'S MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION TO THE BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS
To the President and Members of the Foreign Mission Board:
Such happy anniversaries as the one we are now celebrating give to us an added interest in the history of beginnings and past years. We are glad that our church was founded by one who had gone forth as a missionary and that in 1854 our denomination answered the challenge to world-wide Kingdom service and entered into its part in the wonderful modern missionary movement by effecting a missionary organization. It was a momentous day when the first missionaries sailed for Africa seventy-five years ago, and we join in thanksgiving for them and for all those who have followed.
Since the Women's Missionary Association was organized in 1872 there has been close cooperation with the Foreign Missions Society. I read in our history that when our first missionary, Miss Emily Beekin, was sent to Africa in 1877, it has been planned to establish a school near Shenge but that by the advice of the officers of the General Board and missionaries then on the field, it was decided to establish schools up the Bompeh River in a thickly populated territory that was calling for light and was without missionary work. The General Board, thinking it not best to distribute their force over so much territory, urged the association to occupy this new ground. Acting on this advice, the Mission was located at Rotifunk. As the work grew, difficulties naturally arose by having missionaries under different authority working in overlapping territory and to meet these problems a plan of closer cooperation was adopted. This plan provided that all the work in Africa be carried on jointly by the two Boards. With this successful joint work as a background, it was not such a long step that needed to be taken, when in 1909 the present plan of cooperative work was adopted. As far as the Women's Missionary Association is concerned, this plan is highly satisfactory.
Not only is our interest in the past heightened by such an anniversary; our survey of the present becomes more searching. We, as an Association, make no survey of conditions in the foreign fields in such a report as this, but it is our privilege to report the present state of our organization. Conditions are not wholly satisfactory for economic conditions are causing decreases in our statistics. The present membership is 60,554 in 1,828 societies. The first half of this year showed a small loss in both members and organizations. There is a loss in Evangel subscriptions and a decrease in funds. For the half year just passed, the decrease is but $2,000.
For the year ending March, 1930, the receipts of the Association were $161,440.91. Of this amount, $103,080.65 were given to the Foreign Missionary Society: $78,900.00 for current work; $19,500.00 for building and equipment, and $4,600.00 in specials. The building and equipment included $17,849, the W. M. A. Day offering, $10,000 for the interdenominational hospital in Santo Domingo, and $7,849 for general building and equipment. The specials included the Love Offering of the girls of the Otterbein Guild Department of $4,430 for the support of Carrie Miles. This gift made possible her going to the field to assist in the work of the Ifugao Academy in the Philippine Islands. This fell short of the required amount but we are planning to complete it with a future Love Offering.
The Glad Chest offering of April, 1930, amounted to $1,608, and was given for kindergarten work in Japan. The offering next April has been designated to
72
73
REPORT OF WOMEN'S MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION
Porto Rico, since the Caribbean area is the subject of our study this year. The W. M. A. Day Offering this year we hope will be large enough to provide necessary buildings at the Lillian R. Harford School for Girls at Moyamba, the boys' schools at Rotifunk and Taiama, West Africa, and the Academy at Ifugao, Philippine Islands. In the first and second quarters of this year, $11,300 and $9,000 were turned over to the Foreign Missionary Society.
The volume of work of our Literature Department is indicated by the amount of receipts from sales, almost $9,000. Study books, Reading Course books, pro- gram budgets, stewardship packets, prayer cycles, and much free literature are handled. This year the year of programs contains a program on stewardship, another on peace, and six on what to us is a foreign mission study book-"Between the Americas," an interesting study of the West Indies by Stowell.
Our new Stewardship Department under the supervision of Mrs. M. W. Mumma is making fine progress. Stewardship literature is being circulated, observance of the Quiet Hour is being urged; many new tithers are being enrolled and many prayer groups organized. We believe emphasis on the fundamentals of Christian character, a recognition of stewardship of Time, Talents, and Things, will have a large share in the progress of our association and of the church. In the promotion of this department (as in all our work) it is our purpose to cooperate with other like agencies of the church.
One of the most interesting phases of our interdenominational work is the promotion and observance of the World Day of Prayer. Beginning as a day when American women gathered to pray for world peace, it has so grown that it is now truly a World Day of Prayer. Programs are translated into many languages and as the sun encircles the earth on the first Friday of Lent each year the women of country after country gather together for world prayer. Last year the day was observed in thirty-eight different countries. Mrs. S. S. Hough, our president, has served as chairman of the committee in charge for a number of years, and it is under her leadership that this great growth has come.
Our staff remain the same with the exception of field worker. Miss Mary McLanachan succeeded Mrs. Anna Helen Maneval and is giving good service.
And what of the future? It is the hope of the Women's Missionary Association that we may do more effective work in the promotion of our organization. To this end we are calling a conference of Trustees, Department Secretaries, and Branch Presidents next February. Any suggestions that you can give whereby we might cooperate more closely or give better service in any way, would be truly appreciated. More than this, we hope that working together with the Foreign and Home Missionary Societies and the Board of Christian Education, a mis- sionary program may be planned and put across to the whole church so that every man and woman, boy and girl, shall be enlisted in the great cause of missions and our denomination meet in a more adequate way our responsibilities and opportunities at home and abroad.
We thank Doctor Ziegler, Mrs. J. Hal Smith, and the missionaries who have so generously contributed to our magazine and given service in Branch Meetings, institutes, and W. M. A. Day Services. We extend hearty congratulations for the achievement of the past seventy-five years and our best wishes for glorious years to come, pledging our best efforts in continued cooperation.
Respectfully submitted,
ALICE E. BELL, General Secretary and Treasurer
REPORT OF SPECIAL SUPPORT SECRETARY For Year 1929-1930
Another year of time has been turned into eternity. The value of our work in God's sight we shall not know till the last records are made up, but I know that the value of the work in my own eyes is too small to be at all satisfactory. I seem to crawl when I wish to fly.
So far as we can sum up the work in human estimates, I shall present the following:
Received from Budget_
$56,924.78
Received through W. M. A.
6,316.91
Received in Special Gifts
15,392.30
Total
$78,633.99
1
1
There has been the usual amount of correspondence with people at home and abroad, the preparation of many articles for our various publications, and the preparation and sending out of hundreds of quarterly newsletters to the people who support our work.
Many books and papers have been selected with care, purchased, and sent to our Nationals in foreign fields.
I do not count the miles of travel, but do keep a record of addresses-where and when given and general character of the same. This year numbers two hundred and fourteen missionary and devotional talks, classes, etc.
I esteem it a rich privilege to contribute my bit for the greatest work in all the world. We are facing a new quarter-century in the history of our work and "there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed."
MRS. J. HAL SMITH
74
WHAT SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS OF MISSION WORK HAVE ACCOMPLISHED
BISHOP A. R. CLIPPINGER
It is very fitting that the Board of Foreign Missions should meet once more in the beautiful town of Westerville around which are so many hallowed memories. But none more sacred nor hallowed than the founding of the Home, Foreign, and Frontier Missionary Society in the year 1854, and the sending out of three stalwart, consecrated young men to Africa, to seek out a mission field and blaze a trail for their noble successors. It is great to be a missionary today, but to be a missionary in that early period required more than ordinary courage and consecration. There was no precedent to follow. There were no well beaten highways of procedure. The black jungles of Africa were as trackless as the ocean which carried these early missionaries to their destination. Disease and danger lurked in every corner while these ambassadors of the cross pressed their claim and went steadily forward. God only knows the heartaches and the weary, lonesome hours of this trip spent so far away from home. In love and unselfish consecration W. J. Shuey, D. K. Flickinger, and Daniel C. Kumler, laid a golden cable which has bound together two continents for a span of seventy-five years. In their trail and across the decades have gone scores of other like-minded noble sons and daughters of God to catch up the banner of Jesus where they were compelled to lay it down and plant it on higher ground.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.