WESLEYAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 249, 7 November 1872, Page 5

WESLEYAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

The annual meeting of the Otago branch of the above Society, waa held in Trinity Church October 28. 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, rv : portion of New Zealand, and certain localitirs 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 l. Lurch of England ; while in reference to the Chinese, ours is only one qf several orgauiaation's laboring for the conversion to tho faith as it is in Jesus, of these repi esentatives of the largest Pagan constituency existing upon earth. In the Friendly Inlands our society employs seven European missionaries and ten native pastors; in Samoa we support three missionaries, one native pastor, aud twelve native catepbiats ; in Siji there are ten Eurppean ministers, forty-eight native pastors, and 905 nativ catechists ; in New Zealapd employed in Maori work we have still three European missionaries and tivp nafciye pastors ; in the mission to the Chinese a probationer for the ministry, and one catechists As the fruits of the Divine blessing upon missionary toil, there are reported in the several districts enumerated 32,564 church members, 57,057 •labbatii scholars, 55,699 day scholars, and 129,672 attendants qn public worship. This is exclusive of jVfaori.es and Chinese, of whom we have not receiv. d returns sufficiently accurate for publication. The expenditure incurved on account of these for the yparll7l, amounted to L 13,106 6s sd, while the income jronj all sources reached the sum 0f.L12,961 Os 6d, leaving but the small balance of {44p 5s lid, to be provided by the Home mission. It deserves to be specially noted that; the noble sum of L 7.581 11s 3d, has been contributed by our island missions alone, affording a most satisfactory proof of the high value at whigh the native converts estimated the .blessings of the gospel of salvation. The amount contributed by Dunedin was Ll6 Ss 4d