HOPEFUL SPIRIT

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 792, 12 October 1929, Page 13

HOPEFUL SPIRIT

REPORTS from baptist MISSIONARIES budget for next year •Wa find a B P irit ot hopefulness jjjroughout all these reports,” said Mr. Barry, president of the Baptist Vnion, at the conference yesterday ifternoon. Reports were being discussed from the 12 missionaries in India, supported by the Church. ••There is a spirit ot inquiry abroad in the land, although there are still many rebuffs. The missionaries have not mentioned these conditions and difficulties, but have tried to ta,ke a long view and show us the real position.' 1 The 26th annual report of the Baptist Women’s Missionary Union, presented by the secretary, Miss E. M. Gainsford, showed that there are now t;8 branches in the union with an active membership of 1,277. There iire also 155 others associated with the movement. Parcels of gifts are again to be sent to India this Christmas for distribution among the children in the missionary schools. The treasurer, Miss N. Wilkinson, stated that receipts this year were slightly lower than that of 1928, but were well ahead of the amount estimated. The total was £1,653, of which £1,402 was paid to the foreign missions account and £143 to home missions. The budget for next year, which was then approved, showed that the proposed expenditure on the Indian mission field would he £4,563, a smaller sum than last year. The ;otal expenditure of the union is expected to be about £6,763. The committee expects to receive £5,800 from various sources this year which, with £845 held in India iind £IOO given by an anonymous donor, will give a total Income of £6,745. A talk by the Rev. Lui King Pau, Chinese missioner, of Wellington, who was in charge of the largest Baptist Church in Canton before coming to New Zealand, was translated for delegates by the Rev. W. Mawson. WORK IN INDIA The rise of missionary work in India was outlined by Mr. S. Barry at a public meeting in the evening. A wonderful translation of the Scriptures had been made by William Carey, he said, and Alexander Duff had established a higher educational system in English for the natives. There were indications that Indian thought and life had been affected deeply by this initial work. An acco tnt of his work in Eastern Bengal was given by the Rev. H. A. Jones, who spoke of the difficulties of obtaining converts among the Mohammedan people with which they chiefly decjr. They are a self-satis-fled people, and persecution is a real danger. There had been a general levelling of the castes through education, travel and Christian propaganda. Mr. Jones urged a continued interest In the work, even though the results seemed small. Miss M. A. Bradfield spoke of her work in Chaudpur, India.