The earth O Lord is one great field Of all thy chosen seed :The crop prepared its fruit to yield The labourers, few indeed.
Such are the opening words of our Hymn 217 ; and how true they are ! The missionary Spirit, and by that we mean the venturing forth into foreign lands, has not been a particular feature of the Christadelphian Brotherhood until recent years. True it is that amongst our own friends and neighbours we can find a great field and there is still an innumerable number of people in our own community who have not as yet heard the gospel message of the Bible.
But during the past few years the Bible Mission attached to our own Body in Great Britain has gone out to other lands in the hope of strengthening that which remains of what was once a flourishing ecclesia.
The mission to the West Indies, particularly, has met with a large measure of success with the result that an ecclesia (and/ or ecclesias) once dormant have now been given a new lease of life. To that portion of the globe young men and women have ventured from the Old Country and made their temporary residence there and these, together with occasional visitors from the United States of America, have greatly assisted in spreading The Word in Jamaica and surrounding British dependencies.
These places have been particularly fortunate in as much as there were ecclesias already in existence and the groundwork already established.
But what of other portions of the globe : those nearer our own land, where there are evidences of an interest in the message of salvation ?
In response to advertisements inserted in the newspapers of eastern countries, such as the Philippines, Malaya and Ceylon, just to mention a few, many replies were received applying for literature and as a result we have experienced the joy of having one obedient stranger in Malaya accepting The Truth, and in the Philippines there are now ten new brothers and sisters rejoicing with us in the One Hope.
The field in the south-east Asian area is ripe to harvest, provided the labourers are forthcoming—and in this connection the chief concern is that of finance. For a couple of years the British Bible Mission has been looking after the enquiries in eastern Asia, aided by agents in Australia, but, as this part of the universe is nearer Australia, it has been considered by many brethren that the duty of supplying the needs of our new found brethren in the East as well as the instruction of those looking for the Great Salvation, should be administered by an Australian Bible Mission.
The 1960 Conference Business Session passed a resolution recommending the formation of this missionary body and this has since been implemented by the Central Standing Committee. In order to put this committee on a firm basis, funds will be required and to this end the brethren in Australia both ecclesially and individually are asked to assist.
Since the return of two of our brethren from the Philippines, and as a result of their reports to various ecclesias visited in Australia, there has been received a fair amount of money towards this Mission. This will be passed on to the C.S.C. as a nucleus of a common fund for mission purposes.
As has already been published, our Bro. Jimeno has made a translation of one of Bro. French’s pamphlets and has widely distributed it amongst the people of his district. Any future printing of translations of our works will be undertaken by the Australian brethren and for this funds also will be required.
The personal wants of our brethren in the Philippines and elsewhere, might also have to be taken into consideration and in this great care will have to be exercised. Recently a brother in England (after reading a report of the Philippines Mission in this periodical) wrote illustrating a case which had occurred in South Africa, where a Zulu had been converted to our Faith. This Zulu brother had been supplied with money and articles of clothing from individual sources in England and soon became an ardent correspondent in seeking further assistance. When he found his wants could not be sufficiently supplied, he transferred his affections elsewhere, where his repeated requests were acceded to. Herein lies the peril of indiscriminate individual giving, and rather than this should happen with our new found brethren in the east it is strongly recommended that all funds subscribed for missionary work be forwarded to the sub-committee of the C.S.C. to be controlled by that body and disbursed by their authority.
The Oriental mind differs extremely from that of the Occidental and allowances must be made for that. Our brethren who visited the east recently found the native was prone to asking for something, imagining we suppose, in his own mind, it was just a matter of asking to receive. This giving could be overdone and become a danger if not properly handled, but if a committee is set up then the pros and cons of every request could be fully investigated.
Gifts of clothing and other materials could of course be sent by individual ecclesias, if so desired, but this too should be regulated to prevent a surplus. And in connection with the sending of clothing, the climate of those eastern countries should be considered and only material of a cotton nature forwarded. As the Postal Department has now permitted parcels weighing up to 22 lbs. to be despatched to foreign countries, it is suggested that the Parcels Post be used, but to obviate payment of Customs Duty, each parcel should be clearly marked “Goods for Missionary Use”. There will also be a form to be filled in stating contents and estimated value. As far as this latter is concerned, it could be filled in either as “N.C.V.” (No Commercial Value), or for a nominal amount.
Now, brethren and sisters, we have been issued a challenge in connection with this missionary effort and it behoves all of us to accept that challenge and do all in our power to make it a success.
Lord, What wilt thou have me to do?