MISSIONARIES' WORK.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 123, 27 May 1930, Page 11

MISSIONARIES' WORK.

LIFE OF SELF-SACRIFICE. 1 CONDITIONS.. "Those who say the missionaries have an easy time are simply talking piffle,' said Major H. S. Robinson in an address to the Auckland Rotary Club to-day. "The dreadful loneliness, the nerve-rack-ing conditions in a hot,, humid climate must be experienced to be believed. Yet these men carry on year after year for no earthly reward, receiving a _ mere pittance in the way of remuneration." Major Robinson's address, illustrated by lantern slides, was upon the Melanesian Islands. After describing the conditions of life in the islands he voiced an earnest appeal for support -of the missionary work. He declared that missionaries were performing a work of noble self-sacrifice. They were not simply spiritual teachers, but men of affairs who constituted one of the most potent factors in the general development of the islands. The care of,the inhabitants was a trust which British people could not ignore, yet he was saddened at the lack of interest shown.

The slides included some which illustrated revolting diseases. These, Major Kobinson said, had been brought to the islands by the white people, and it was our bounden duty to see that'reasonable assistance was forthcoming for the missionaries who were fighting these diseases, although often lacking, of the most primitive necessities.