BIBLE SOCIETY.

Shannon News, 26 August 1927, Page 1

BIBLE SOCIETY.

DOMINION ACTIVITIES. REPORT OF NEW ZEALAND BRANCH. The annual report of the New Zealand branch of the British and Foreign Bibb Society for the year ending December 31, 1926, states inter alia as follow: —"From ten thousand societies —all auxiliary to the British and Foreign Bible Society—there flow to the great central Bible House in Queen Victoria Street, London, constant- streams of money. Collecting, each in its own area, the gifts of the branches and individual friends the auxiliaries unite according to dominions or countries to secure ihe total gifts of the Christian public of the Empire and these, being reported 1 to the" central Bible House, are there transformed into millions of copies oi the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to go out again to the whole world, to become a spiritual dynamic that is for the changing of the hearts a'ud lives of men and women. The widow's mite, the collector's energies, the princely gifts of the well-to-do. and thj prayers of each and all, and from every corner of the British Empire, whether at home or overseas —what a power they unitedly become! By careful and consecrated business agencies the moneys are gathered year by year into one great annual income which is then transformed into an annual world expendi-, ture whereby is created, a spiritual dynamic of Divine proportions . It brings light to the path of man, the warmth of a great enthusiasm for Divine things to his soul, and power whereby he may both live and give his life with joy to the service of God and man. SOME WORLD FIGURES.

"We cannot better indicate the greatness of the world-wide activities of the British and Foreign Bible .Society than by giving some statistics from the reports that have come to hand. Number of languages in.which the ScruDtures have been issued b\ the society 586; number of Scripture? issued by the society since its inception, March 4, 1804, over 265,000,000. Scriptures issued for year 1925-6 10, 452,733; expenditure for year 1925-6 £438,527; income for year 1925-6 £403, 702. "It will be at once seen that the demands made upon the society have involved it in a deficit of £34,825. When the outflow of electric current threatens to be larger than the inflow of water power, steps are immediately taken either to improve the machinery or to have more water brought in. Our society has the machinery and it is in efficient. working; and so the London committee is calling for more inflowing power. It is the desire that no demand for Scriptures shall go unsatisfied, and it is therefore necessary .that the world income should advance 25 per cent., on past totals. Indeed it is desirable that an annual incomeor at least £450,000 should be assured for the days ahead. "It is our great privilege as the Chiistian public of New Zealand to V - in providing a proportionate share of the money required" by the society, and to assist the work by our prayers and our general interest.- It is ours also to enjoy the benefits of the society in a very large distribution of Scriptures within the Dominion, and at such cheap rates as to guarantee "that they are procurable by the poorest of oui people, and in the most remote settlements. "Our income has steadily advanced with the years. Turning over the society's report for the year ending March 31, 1903, we noticed the item: 'Our free contributions from New Zea land last vear amounted to £750.' The report, of a year later states that New Zealand had sent £I4OO besides raising over £2OOO for the centenary fund. For the year 1918 we sent £3760. Year by year the contributions have grown until to-day we report having sent £6259 12s from Wellington Bible House for the year 1926, while the Otago .Bible Society has remitted £507 9s 10d. But our obligations grow with The years, and so while we have done well we must do better. The British and Foreign Bible Society is the one responsible agent for the distribution of Scriptures in New Zealand, while it is also supplying New Zealand missionary societies with the Scriptures they require overseas. The National Missionary Council estimated our Do- • minion's yearly expenditure on foreign missions at over £90,000. But for the presence of the Bible Society the missionary committees would have to budget large sums for necessary expend'itme on Scriptures. It is this that gives value to the statement of the j Bishop of Salisbury:—'lt is not too' I much to say that without the British and Foreign Bible Society missionary 1 woik would be almost impossible.' Can I we raise New Zealand's contribution for 1927 to well over £8000?

"We gratefully acknowledge the receipt of legacies from the estates of the late James Scott, £293 6s 8d; the late Eev. C. Mae Donald, M.A., £100; the late Mrj E. L. Maunsell, £IOO. "Our output of Scriptures continues to "row. In 1924 we distributed 8976 copies from the New Zealand Bible House, in 1925 the number *ose to 19.&67 copies, and during the year 1926 our output was 25,762 of which number 4361 were Bibles, 12,124 were Testaments and 9007 were portions. We generally hold stocks in about thirty different languages and during the twelve months under review we actually sold Scriptures in 24 languages. Thse wer English, Cantonse, Wenh, Espranto, French; German, . Greek,

Gujarati, Hebrew, Italian Japanese, Latin, Marathi, Maori, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Syriac, Serbian, Dobu,. Hawaiian, Nieue, Samoan and Telegu. The spiritual result of all this cannot be estimated, nor can it well be overestimated. Surely it means the lighting up of very many hearts and the transformation of many lives. We receive repeated evidence of the power of the written word of God; but it is especially pleasing to have testimony as to the work done by the Maori Bible, since that so peculiarly belongs to "our land. HEev. John Kilpatrick, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church, visited the Maori Mission stations of his Ch rch and carried with him a number of gift copies of the Maori Bible as presented by our society. MANAWATU AUXILIAEY. A summary of the amount collected j by the Manawatu Auxiliary on behalf i of the society is given as under:—Palmerston North, £139 14s lid. Apiti, £4 7s 9d; Bonny Glen, £7 is 6d; Bulls, £l4 is 9d; Cheltenham, £lO 14s; Colyton, £l9 17s; Feilding, £53 15s lOd; Foxton, £l2 3s 9d; Halcombe, £6 13s 6d; Hunterville, £34 Is 6d; Kiwitea, £4 4s 3d; Kimbolton, £2l 3s 8d; Levin, £37 8s 7d; Longb'urn, £3 10s; Marton, £S9 17s 7d; Manakau, * £5 14s; Mataroa, £2 6s 6d; Otaki, £27 14s 2d; Ohingaiti-Mangaweka, £7 lis; £22 8s 7d; Eangiout, £ll 17s 6d; Sanson, £3 2s; Shannon, £lB 6s lOd; Taihape, £33 63 6d; Taikorea, £1 I8s; Te Horo, £1 ss; Waituna West, 17a 6d. Total, £555 4s 2d. * -■■- --."-- ' ' "".'.-J