WORK OF FOREIGN MISSIONS

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27048, 25 May 1953, Page 2

WORK OF FOREIGN MISSIONS

CHANGE IN METHOD NOTED TRAINING OF NATIVE LEADERS Though the Mau Mau leaders demanded that fellow-tribesmen denounce Christianity because it was a white man’s religion, many were standing firmly by their faith and a number had been martyred, said the Rev. N. Grubb, general secretary of the Worldwide Evangelistic Crusade, yesterday. In Africa, as in India, native leaders were being trained to carry on the work of missionaries in speading the Christian faith because there was a growing tendency to resent foreign missions, he said. It was necessary to hasten the establishment of national churches, for the time was coming when foreign missions would no longer be acceptable to many native peoples. Many vigorous groups of indigenous Christians in India would no longer use money from foreign missions, but they were doing great work in spreading the Gospel among their own people. The few missionaries left in China were confined to barracks or to their stations, but many Christian communities there were remaining true to their faith under great pressure, Mr Grubb said.

The Evangelistic Crusade operated 550 missionaries in 25 countries, including India, the Tibetan border, Borneo, Sumatra, Siam, Japan, South Africa, and West Africa. Seventeen of these missionaries were operated and financed by New Zealand, he added.

Mr Grubb came to New Zealand from his headquarters in London, and will spend two months in the Dominion. He will then go to Australia for three months, after which he will spend nine months investigating missionary conditions in Indonesia, Siam, and India. The World-wide Evangelistic Crusade, which is interdenominational, was founded by Mr C. T. Studd, the English test cricketer, who played some outstanding games against Australia towards the end of last century. Mr Grubb addressed the congregation at the Riccarton Baptist Church yesterday morning and the Oxford Terrace Baptist Church last evening.