Part 13

The greatest hardship the missionary has to {225} bear is his loneliness and isolation. Separated almost entirely from his own race, he is deprived of all those social joys that are so dear to him. The thought of his kinsmen and friends is ever in his mind, but alas! they are so far away. He must go on year after year living among a people from whom an impassable gulf separates him, leading the same lonely life. For the first year or two he rather enjoys the quiet and privacy, but by and by it becomes almost unendurable. Dr. Edward Lawrence has correctly styled the missionary "an exile." We cannot do better than quote his words: "Very many of the missionary's heaviest burdens are summed up in the one word whose height and breadth and length and depth none knows so well as he--that word 'exile.' It is not merely a physical exile from home and country and all their interests; it is not only an intellectual exile from all that would feed and stimulate the mind; it is yet more--a spiritual exile from the guidance, the instruction, the correction, from the support, the fellowship, the communion of the saints and the church at home. It is an exile as when a man is lowered with a candle into foul places, where the noxious gases threaten to put out his light, yet he must explore it all and find some way to drain off the refuse and let in the sweet air and sun to do their own cleansing work.... The {226} missionary is not only torn away from those social bonds that sustain, or even almost compose, our mental, moral, and spiritual life, but he is forced into closest relations with heathenism, whose evils he abhors, whose power and fascinations, too, he dreads. And when at last he can save his own children only by being bereft of them, he feels himself an exile indeed."

The missionary's life is full of disappointments. Men for whom he has labored and prayed it may be for years, and in whom he has placed implicit confidence, will often bitterly disappoint him in their Christian life. Boys who have been educated on his charity, who are what they are solely by his help, will frequently be guilty of base ingratitude, and, worse yet, will repudiate his teachings. The native church not having generations of Christian ancestry behind it, and not being in a Christian environment, is often, it may be unwittingly, guilty of heathen practices that sorely try the heart of the missionary. The struggle between the new life and the old heathenism is still seen in the church-members and even in the native ministry. Each missionary, if he would be well and cheerful in his work, must learn to cast all burdens of such a character on the Lord, and not be oppressed by them.

One of the greatest trials some of us have to bear is that we must live in an environment so {227} unconducive to personal growth and development There is a great deal of ambition lurking about us still, and we do not like to see our own development cut short because of an unfavorable environment, while our friends and classmates at home, who were no more than our equals in former days, far surpass us in intellectual development and in influence and power. Perhaps a missionary should be above such thoughts and should be perfectly content with a life of obscurity and partial development; but missionaries are still men, and to many an ambitious one the limits placed upon his personal development are very irksome.

But why are the conditions unfavorable to high personal development? Because those stimulants to prolonged, vigorous effort that exist in the West are lacking. The stimulus of competition, the contact of thinking minds, so necessary to enlist the full exercise of a man's powers, are largely wanting. One is shut up to his own thoughts and to those he gets from books, and his development, in so far as it does proceed, is very apt to be one-sided. This is the reason why so many missionaries are narrow, unable to see a subject in all its relations and to give due importance to each.

The work of the missionary from beginning to end is one of self-sacrifice and self-effacement. {228} There is no future for him in the councils of the native church. As the work grows and extends he must gradually take a back seat. As the native ministry develops, the foreign minister is less and less needed, and must gradually withdraw.

Again, the home land, father and mother, brothers and sisters, friends and companions, are just as dear to the missionary as to any one else. Yet it seems inevitable that he will gradually grow away from them and be forgotten by them. Prolonged absence brings forgetfulness; diverse labors and interests put people out of sympathy with one another. When the new missionary first comes out to his field, communication between him and friends is frequent. Letters pass regularly, little remembrances are sent from time to time, and he is still in touch with his friends at home. But by and by a change comes. After one or two years exchange of presents and remembrances ceases; gradually the letters cease also, and none come except those from his immediate family. Even these become less and less frequent. The arrival of the mails, which at first was looked forward to with so much joy, is now scarcely noted. An old American gentleman who has spent some forty years in the East tells me that he now receives from the home land not more than two or three letters per year. {229} After a few years of residence here one feels that he is largely out of touch with the life of the West, and that he is forgotten, by home and friends.

It seems to me that churches and friends can do much toward preventing this, and toward brightening the lives of their missionaries, if they will. Let pastors and friends throughout the church take special pains to write interesting personal letters to the missionary. It will do him good just to be remembered in this way. It is natural that the same kindness, attention, and love that are shown to the home pastor should not be shown to the missionary, because he is so far away and the strong personal element is wanting. But if the churches would make an effort to share their kindness and beneficence between the home pastor and the foreign one it would be highly appreciated by the latter.

Especially does this seem but fair in a case where a church supports its own missionary and where most of its members are personally acquainted with him. Such churches speak of having two pastors; one at home ministering to them, and one abroad, in their stead, preaching the gospel to the heathen. Why should not these pastors have equal place in their hearts and receive equally their kindness and their gifts? If any preference is shown, it would seem that it should {230} be to the foreign pastor, for he has much the harder work. But the foreign pastor is generally forgotten, while the home pastor, with whom living is much cheaper, is paid a larger salary; he is given a vacation, and a purse to enable him to spend it pleasantly; at Christmas he is substantially remembered, and all through the year he is presented with numerous gifts and shown many favors. The poor lonely missionary is paid a moderate salary and is given no further thought. Imagine the feelings of a man in a mission field, supported by one church which always speaks of him as its foreign pastor, as he takes up a church paper and reads of the favors shown the home pastor; among them such items as "a nice purse of fifty dollars," "a three months' leave of absence, and expenses to ----." He cannot help thinking with a sigh of that unpaid doctor's bill of fifty dollars incurred by his wife's ill health last summer, or of the money needed to send his boy home to be educated.

A church should try to remember its pastor abroad as well as the one at home. The home pastor himself could see to it that this is done. If he should simply say, when handed a present for some purpose, "Our foreign pastor has not been remembered by us, and he needs it more than I, therefore we will send this to him," the result would probably be that he and the foreign {231} pastor would both be remembered. If little expressions of appreciation and kindness, such as this, were occasionally shown the missionaries, it would do much to brighten and cheer their hard lives. These are little things, but the little things have much to do with our happiness.

If the missionary life has its sorrows and disappointments, it has its pleasures and joys as well. It is with great pleasure that I turn from the dark to the bright side of our lives.

First I would mention that sweet peace and joy that come from the consciousness of doing one's duty. The true missionary feels that God has called him into the work, and that he is fulfilling the divine will. This knowledge brings with it much pleasure. The joy is all the sweeter because of the sacrifices that must be undergone in answer to the divine call. He feels not only that he is in the field by the call of God, but also that God is with him in his work, leading, guiding, blessing, helping him. He hears the words of his Master, "Lo, I am with you alway," and he gladly responds, "In Thy presence is fullness of joy." The brooding Spirit of God is especially near the Christian worker in foreign lands, and imparts to him much joy and peace.

Another of the missionary's joys is to see the gospel gradually taking hold of the hearts of the people and renewing and transforming them. It {232} is passing pleasant to tell the gospel story, so full of hope and joy, to these people whose religious ideas and aspirations are only dark and gloomy. Who could desire sweeter joy than to watch the transforming power of the gospel in the heart of some poor heathen, changing him from an idol-worshiping, immoral creature into a pure, consistent Christian? It is the good fortune of the missionary to see such changes taking place in the people to whom he ministers. And what a change it is! For gloom and dejection it gives joy and hope; for blind, irresistible fate it gives a loving providence. The change is so great that every feature of the face expresses it.

Lastly, the crown of the missionary's life is to see a strong, vigorous native church springing up around him, the direct result of his labors; to see it gradually and silently spreading itself throughout the whole nation as the leaven through the meal, permeating every form of its life and impressing itself upon every phase of its character. To this native church he confidently looks for the evangelization of the masses and the accomplishment of all that for which he has labored so long and so earnestly. When the missionary can look upon such a native church with the feeling that it will be faithful to its Lord and do His work; when he can sit in its pews and hear soul-nourishing gospel sermons from his {233} own pupils, now grown strong in the Lord--then indeed his cup of joy is full. The trials and sorrows that were endured in connection with the work are all forgotten, and his only emotion is one of glad thanksgiving.

In some lands many missionaries have already received this crown to their labors; it has been partially received in Japan, and if we are but faithful to our trust shall yet be received in all lands.

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XIII

METHODS OF WORK

Missionaries attempt in various ways to evangelize the nations to which they are sent. The extent and variety of the work which the missionary is called upon to perform are much greater than the people at home are apt to think. He must be at the same time a preacher, a teacher, a translator, a financier, a judge, an author, an editor, an architect, a musician. The great variety of the work necessitates a well-rounded man.

All of these offices are, in an indirect sense, ways of doing mission work; but we will here confine ourselves to the consideration of the more direct and positive methods in vogue in Japan. These are direct evangelization, educational work, literary work, and medical work.

_Direct Evangelization_

By this I mean the actual propagation of the gospel, by word of mouth, to the people to whom {235} we are sent. I mention this first because I regard it as the most important of all methods. The supreme vocation of the missionary is, not to educate, not to heal, but to preach the gospel. It is well for mission boards and missionaries to remember this, for there is danger in many places of making this primary method secondary to education. While it is probably true that the evangelization of the masses will depend ultimately upon the efforts of the native ministry, this should not therefore be construed to mean that the foreign missionary has nothing to do with this department of the work. He should personally engage in this evangelistic work, should himself come into actual contact with the unevangelized masses, and should proclaim the gospel directly to them. In this way only can he understand thoroughly the nature of the work in which he is engaged, and be enabled to sympathize with and advise his evangelists. He should not only train native evangelists, but should be an evangelist himself, teaching his helpers, by earnest, zealous example as well as by precept, right methods of the proclamation of the gospel. Such work must also bear direct fruit in the conversion of souls; for even in this land, in spite of the great nationalism and strong prejudice against foreigners, a foreigner will draw larger congregations and be listened to with more attention than {236} a native. And this is not simply because of curiosity; the people have more confidence in his ability properly to represent the foreign religion. For these reasons, then, viz., for the sake of the souls he may win, for the sake of the example he may set to his helpers, and for his own sake, that he may rightly understand and appreciate the work, every missionary should, as far as possible, be an evangelist. This is emphasized here because in many places the evangelistic work is in danger of being subordinated to the educational, and missionaries are not lacking who take the strange ground that it is neither necessary nor profitable for the missionary personally to come into contact with the unevangelized masses. This seems to me to be a very mistaken view of the sphere of the foreign worker. He should not only train helpers, support and advise them, but he should also go with them among the people and preach to them himself.

The direct propagation of the gospel may be either local or itinerating. The missionary may reside in one place, have a fixed chapel, and there teach all who come to him; or he may go on long tours through the country, preaching from town to town and from village to village. In general these methods are combined in Japan. The missionary is located in one town and to the work there gives most of his attention; but he {237} also at stated intervals visits the surrounding towns and country, doing evangelistic work wherever he can.

LOCAL EVANGELISM.--For obvious reasons, local evangelistic work yields the greatest returns. To it the missionary gives his constant care and attention, while his visits to the country are only periodical. Local evangelistic work in Japan is carried on somewhat in the following manner:

A house, as centrally located in the town as possible, is rented and fitted up as a chapel. The only furnishings needed are a small table and some lamps. Japanese houses are so constructed that the whole wall on the street side can be removed, and people standing in the street can see and hear all that is going on within. In this new chapel, one or two evenings a week, the gospel will be preached. In China there is preaching in such chapels every day, but in Japan the people will not come oftener than once or twice a week. In all probability both the missionary and the native evangelist will preach the same evening, one after the other. At first very few people will come into the house, but numbers will congregate in the street and will listen to what is said. After the service is over an opportunity is given for personal conversation on religious topics. By and by a little interest is manifested, and some begin to come into the house. A great {238} deal has been gained when people will go so far as to come up into the Christian chapel, in plain view of the multitudes, and hear the sermon.

In many cases the native evangelist lives in the chapel (in the same building, but occupying different rooms) and daily meets and talks with people about religion. In this way he hears of those who are interested, and he and the missionary visit such in their homes and converse privately with them. In my own mission, as soon as any are interested, they are organized into a catechetical class, which meets weekly, and are thoroughly instructed in Luther's Small Catechism. But I find that unless this is preceded by more elementary instruction this excellent little manual will not be well understood. Real inquirers are glad to come and study the catechism and the Bible, and they study them well. Some of the most satisfactory work I have done in Japan has been along the line of catechetical instruction. Some of the larger missions working here have not been sufficiently careful about giving their converts sound elementary instruction in Christian doctrine, but have left them to gather all the necessary knowledge from the sermons they hear and the instruction given in the Sunday-schools. One of the desiderata of most missions in Japan is more systematic catechetical instruction.

Among the first things a missionary does in {239} beginning work in a town is to open a Sunday-school. The children are generally more accessible than the older people, and many of them will come to the school. They cannot at first be organized into classes, as their interest is not sufficiently great to induce them to attend regularly and to study. The first instruction is usually by means of large Bible pictures that catch the eye and teach a religious truth. By and by, when the work becomes more substantial and the interest more developed, the pupils can be organized into classes and more systematic instruction given. If there are any Christians in connection with the chapel their children form the backbone of the Sunday-school.

A considerable part of the time of the missionary doing local evangelistic work, if he is wise, will be occupied in house-to-house visitation. The Japanese are a very social people, and it is wonderful how a little personal kindness and interest in them will break down the prejudice against us and our work. As a rule, the missionary who goes into a native home with humility, simplicity, and love will gain the good will of the whole household. Men feel freer to talk about religious subjects in the privacy of their own homes. In a discourse to a promiscuous audience the truth is scattered broadcast, and each one catches what he can; but in a private {240} conversation in the home the truth especially adapted to the hearer can be given. It is like a man trying to fill a bottle with water; he will get it full much quicker by taking it up in his hand and pouring the water into it than by throwing a whole bowlful at it from a distance.

It is a very pleasant experience to enter a friendly home in the evening, to sit around the social hibachi (fire-box), sip tea, and talk about the great questions of time and eternity. One is generally received with cordiality and made to feel at home. He is listened to attentively and respectfully, and the questions asked are intelligent, appreciative ones. If the missionary expects his host immediately to be convinced by his eloquence, to agree to all he says, to discard at once his old religion and embrace the new, he will be disappointed. But if he is content to seek an opportunity to present the truth under most favorable circumstances, leaving it to do its own work silently and gradually, he will be sure to find it.

House-to-house visitation and personal talks with the people are of great importance in local evangelistic work. But in doing such work great care should be taken to comply strictly with Japanese etiquette and rules of propriety, and especially to avoid a haughty bearing. The ordinary native home is much smaller, simpler, {241} and frequently dirtier, than the missionary's, and the people are constantly watching for any recognition of this fact on his part. He should carefully guard himself against any look or expression which might imply his superiority, or his dissatisfaction with things around him.

I have been both amused and pained by overhearing Japanese imitate the sayings and actions of two visiting missionaries. According to the imitation, the one bears himself haughtily and proudly; as soon as he comes near the door he instinctively draws back as though fearing bad odors; when he comes in he bows stiffly, seats himself on the best mat, carefully draws up his clothes as though fearing contamination, casts a scornful look at the bare walls, utters a few commonplace sentiments, and hastily departs. The other one comes with a cheery greeting, a smiling countenance, and a humble demeanor. He never notices the lowly house and bare walls, but quietly and unconcernedly takes the place assigned him, freely and appreciatively partakes of the tea and cakes set before him, and kindly and sympathetically talks with the people as one of them. It is very evident which one of these two will do the most good.

As soon as the work grows and a small company of believers has been gathered the duties of the missionary increase. There now rests upon {242} him that burden which so oppressed Paul--the care of the churches. He must look after the regular worship of the church, must develop in his people a church-going sentiment, and must instruct them in the observance of all Christian duties. In this work he will need much patience, wisdom, and zeal. The native converts, not having generations of Christian ancestors as we have, will need oft to be exhorted, oft rebuked, and loved much. Christian duties that are with us almost habitual must be urged upon these people time and again. The church must be organized and developed into an harmonious working body. In all of this the missionary is fortunate if he has the assistance of a wise, godly native helper.

Perhaps the most attractive and interesting feature of all mission work is this forming and molding, under one's own hand, of the theology, the life, and the activities of a young church. The one who is privileged to do this occupies a position of responsibility than which none could be greater. May God give us grace to do it aright.

ITINERATING EVANGELISM.--No true missionary living in a non-Christian land will confine his labors to the town in which he resides. His heart will be constantly yearning over the people in the surrounding towns and country, and he will gladly take advantage of every opportunity {243} to make them occasional visits, telling to them also the old, old story.

But there are other workers whose sole business it is to visit these outlying points and carry a knowledge of the gospel to those who cannot have regular gospel ministrations. Perhaps this feature of missionary work is the one most prominent in the minds of the people at home, who are fond of picturing their missionary as a man who goes about from town to town and from village to village, proclaiming the gospel to all who will hear.