LIFE IN INDIA

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20956, 8 November 1939, Page 9

LIFE IN INDIA

MISSIONARY WORK RECENT WORLD CONFERENCE DOMINION DELEGATE’S LECTURE Missionary work of the Christian Churches in India, particularly of the Anglican denomination, was described by the Bishop of Aotearoa, the Rt. Rev. F. A. Bennett, during an interesting lantern lecture in Hamilton last night. The lecture was in connection with the St. Aidan’s annual missionary festival. Bishop Bennett was the New Zealand delegate to the World Missions ary Conference which was held at Madras, and since his return from India he has given lantern lectures throughout New Zealand, last night being the last lecture of the itinerary. About 100 people saw the photographs, the majority of which were taken by the Bishop himself. The tour of New Zealand had been undertaken for the purpose of stimulating interest in missionary work among the people of this country. It was not for the purpose of appealing for finance. Opening his lecture, Bishop Bennett gave an indication-of the means of transport in India, commenting that the bullock was a sacred animal to the Hindus who believed that the bull was an incarnation of their own gods. One Meal a Day A description was given of Indian gods, pagan tortures, and the primitive homes of the outcast peoples of the land. There were 70,000,000 such people in India living the most primitive conditions, having one meal a day only, which was of a very scanty nature. The population of India was 3. K O,000,000, of which number 230,000,000 were Hindus. There were 222 languages spoken. Of the vast population, only 6,000,000 were Christians despite the fact that the country had been under British control for nearly 400 years. Only 4000 missionaries from all Christian churches were at work in the country. An interesting series of pictures of the world conference was shown during the lecture, including photographs of important personalities from 70 nations.