MISSIONARY BALLY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1681, 22 February 1913, Page 5

MISSIONARY BALLY.

TVOEK AMONG THE MAORIS. rj 7 all &. of till « Branch ..of the Wellington .Presbyterian Association was held m the Kent Terrace Church yesterday attcrnoo'll and evening The Moderator of the .Presbytery, (the Rev. A, meeting 0> presided "at hoth „ ,*'«?. ,«i' attendance .0! between nity nnd 6ixty people at the afternoon meetingj iind a much larger attendance 111 the evening. At 5.30 p'.rn. u considerable numbef of visitors partook of tea in .the schoolroom. The Moderator, in opening the iirocecdings,. extended a cordial .welcome to .visitors, , aud expressed pleasure at '• seeing among them,the' Rev, J. Egerton Ward, who lias teen labouring in the Tauiuarunui Mission since 1903. The. Moderator also took tho opportunity of paying a tribute to tho work done'by the' Women of. tho Church in assisting, missionary work. It- was recognised that ■■ it was largely owing to the WomenV Association that knowledge of, the missions was' disseminated, and this was of great assistance.in furthering the work. If they wfire to hold their own at the present stage,' increased effort would bo neccssary. Tho llev. J. Egerton Ward, of Taumaru-' nui( fcave aii' •• ; interesting', 'address on "Work Among the Maoris/' He described many of. his travels in isolated parts, and mentioned several typical journeys to illustrate the difficulties that had to be contended with in tho Spread of the Gospel.among the Maoris in those parts, and incidentally in conducting services for Europeans. , Tho peculiarities of the Nativo mind wero explained by tho speaker, who stated that great patience was required in dealing with tho Maori. - Tho missioner had to adapt himself to tho particular circumstances, and tho work could not bd hurried. Tho crude Maori methods .of. dealing with sickness were also touched upon. A Itroublo with tho Natives was that they wero apt to think too deeply, and 'were too easily offended, hence continual misunderstandings between the individuals of both races. Tho mind of tho Maori (tfrnld not be cured by anything that could bo bought from hh apothecary, nor by anything that a physician could offer. Tho only euro was to convert, tlteni, and when this was known it oould bo realised what' an enormous responsibility was on tho Church. Referring to tlei missionary farm scheme, Mr. Ward furnished Eoirio information as to tho progress of tho work at Mamniui, on tho Wangahui River, and indicated tho. expected development of (that work in the course of the ntxt few years. Up to tho present it had,undoubtedly been successful. In tho evening. Mr. Ward delivered a second address, the subject being "Our Maori Missions." , Other speakers at the rally wero: the Rev. Dr. Gibb, "Homo Missions")'tho R-ov. J. K, Elliott, "The Livingstone Centenary"; and Mr. J. G. W. Aitken, "Livingstone, His Life and Work."