THE MELANESIAN MISSION.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20184, 12 March 1931, Page 4

THE MELANESIAN MISSION.

ADDRESS BY BISHOP. A gathering of supporters of the Melanesian Mission was held in St. Mary's Schoolroom, Merivale, yesterday afternoon to meet the Bight. Eev. F. M. Molyneux, Bishop of Melanesia. Nearly 200 people were present. Archdeacon P. B. Haggitt presided and introduced Bishop • Molyneux. In opening his speech the Bishop explained that he would noy be on his way back to Melanesia! were' it not for the fact that it was almost impossible to land in the Southern Hebrides during the hurricane 'season of March; A predecessor of his, Bishop Wood, had disregarded the advice of the Southern Cross's captain, and had insisted on sailing in March with the result that they had wasted an immense amount of coal trying to find a port which they could enter. Bishop Molyneux emphasised the utter dependence of the missionaries, both black and white, on the prayers of the people of New Zealand. The workers in the mission field were completely isolated and to them Divine guidance was of the greatest importance. Problems arose, sometimes merely trifling but requiring definite decisions, and these decisions could be made only if the missionary was being helped by the prayers of the world. Need for Teachers. One of the great problems of the service was to find properly-trained teachers. About half the white staff was engaged in the central schools and although he, when he had been a newcomer, had wondered at this he now saw" that it was necessary if they were to build up a Melanesian Church. "We must work from the centre," he said, "and send out our native teachers from these central schools. They are tremendously important and the natives get in them a.much higher standard of education from the village teachers. They are the storehouses, as it were, from which we draw our native teachers." ,Of course these schools were a heavy financial burden, the Bishop continued, and recently they had had to be reduced in size. Consequently they were getting rather short of native teaehers and although he had been begged to accept more pupils he had not been able to do so because of the mission's decreased income. So long as they were dependent upon the gifts of their supporters they would have to sacrifice everything that they could possibly afford to lose. • Shortage of Doctors. A great need in the mission at present, he continued, was for doctor*, although he supposed that it would be many years before they would get more than the one man they had at present. ' When the Southern Cross had arrived at Auckland recently with the news that' 200 children had died in an epidemic of whooping-cough on one of the islands he had known very well that they had died only because of the absence of medical help. * Bishop Molyneux explained the details regarding the two new smaller steamer? it was proposed to build to replace the Southern Cross, which was at present in such a state that a large outlay would very, soon, be necessary if she was ta.be kept in commission.. Archdeacon Haggitt thanked the Bishop for his jaddress- and he was then entertained at afternoon tea.', Bishop Molyneux, who, during his visit ■ to Christchnrch, w4s staying at Bishopscourt, left for the North Island last evening. '