WESLEYAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

Evening Star, Issue 3024, 29 October 1872, Page 2

WESLEYAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

The annual meeting of the Otago branch of the above Society, was held in Trinity Church last night. The Rev. Alex. Reid occupied the chair. In consequence of the unfavorable weather, the attendance was small. The following report of the Society’s operations was read: -The field of evangelical effort occupied by the Australasian Wesleyan Missionary Society consists of the Fiji Islands, Friendly Islands, part of Samoa, a portion of New Zealand, and certain localities in Victoria where the Chinamen are most thickly congregated. In Fiji and the Friendly Islands, the Wesleyan is the only Protestant church engaged in missionary toil ; in Samoa we share the work with the agents of the London Missionary toil; in Samoa we share the work with the agents of the London Missionary Society ; in New Zealand we work side by side with the missionaries of the Church of England r while in reference to the Chinese, ours is only one of several organisations laboring for the conversion to the faith as it is in Jesus, of these representatives of the largest Pagan constituency existing upon earth. In the Friendly Islands our society employs seven European missionaries and ten native pastors; in Samoa we support three missionaries, one native pastor, and twelve native catechists; in hiji there are ten European ministers, forty-eight native pastors, and 905 native catechists ; in New Zealand employed in Maori work we have still three European missionaries and five native pastors ; in the mission to the Chinese a probationer for the ministry, and one catechist. As the fruits of the Divine blessing upon missionary toil, there are reported in the several districts enumerated 32,564 church members, 57,057

Sabbath scholars, 55,699 day scholars, and 1-0,672 attendants on public worship. This is exclusive of Maories and Chinese, of whom we have not received returns sufficiently accurate for publication. The expenditure incurred on account of these for the year 1171, amounted to L 13,106 6s od, while the income from all sources reached the sum of L 12,961 Os 6d, leaving but the small balance of L 145 5s lid, to be provided by the Home mission. It deserves to be specially noted that the noble sum of L 7.581 lls 3d, has been contributed by our island missions alone, affording a most satisfactory proof of the high value at which the native converts estimated the blessings of the gospel of salvation. The amount contributed by Dunedin was Ll6 Ss 4d After the reading of the report, addresses were delivered by the Revs. Blake, Williams, Shaw, Gow, and Dr Stuart. The addresses of Messrs Blake and Shaw were specially interesting, referring, as they did, to the mission work in India and the Friendly Islands, In the course of the evening, a collection, which realised L 5 12s 6d, was made in aid of the Mission Funds. This, considering the small number present, was considered highly satisfactory, as indicating considerable interest in the work of foreign mission.