N.Z. CHURCH MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1063, 28 February 1911, Page 9

N.Z. CHURCH MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION.

'THE-'ANNUAL" MEETING;

■"■^riio^ig'Heentif •annual nieotili!j. ; of -thoNcw Zealand Church Missionary. Asso-. ciation was hold in tho Sydney Street Schoolroom last evening, .the , Anglican ilishop of 'Wellington -U>r. Wallis) yr«siding.. .-..■''\':'' ' '.' .-■ •'■■' ""■'■'' :: •■•■ Tho annual report, which was read by the Rev. J. D. Russell, of'Petone, embodied a completo report of the- years work, and included-tl.o injunction as to the careful trainins of candidates for; missionary ' work. - Ono of six lady inis-> fionaries ciißngcd in work ■..nnionj-'. the Maoris renorted that' tohungaisni inte'rfcied considerably with her wptk,- and in this connection Said that , with •' proper treatment lives might have been saved. It was also renorted that' tho Mormon competition was very keen,-and all joined in testifying that.they found their nursing experience most valuable. Reports were also received from Melanesia, Japan, and India. ' From Japan a missionary reported n difficulty iu (jetting into'-touch with the children as they 'were kept at work so -late. ■•' Ono of tho lady'mission-' aries in India reported that the Zenana work was' most-cncomoKiiiK, though no pupils: had como forward that ' year for baptism, .The report also, stated, that .there .were great results in the foreign 7 sphere for : those who had experience in' imparting cducntiori. The amount : collected was'the largest -Ific association had ever received,-and th-sve was a .balance in' hand. More was reouircd, however, -to make the work stable. ■ ' :

The financial statemeut showed that.the year had Iw'jun with a credit balance of .£135, and tho,■receipts for tho year'had totalled J?2G05," an increase of 20 per cent..on tlio previous year. "Among the items of expenditure was JJI7OO for mission expenses. The year closed with n credit of .€lll. The reserve fiind'amounted to ,£3llii and the disabled missionaries' fund to £iH.-\ The treasurer ndded that a^ clergyman riiid'his'wife wero waiting to go out to'lndia, but the association had made, it -.-a -rule- that the salary must iu 'such . n case be guaranteed for three years. An unknown friend had offered to guarantee .£IOO n. year for three years, and. tho association now wanted a guarantee for. the remaining .£l5O and JCISO - for expenses. Tho report was adopted. On the subject of Western Equatorial African missions, the chairman said tho great dangor was the advance.of Mohammedanism, which every year was becoming moro. pronounced. It should be.the subject of prayer that they might be ablo to stem the tide. Another great trouble ,ivas the supply of spirits from Germany nnd Holland. Many, things.made them wonder whether the Church' would progress, or even Whether the Empire, would hold together, but the greatest ground for hope was tho zenl which was filling the hearts of tho English people to .preach the Gospel. Tlmt was God's n-ork, and it was felt that God would protect and help those who were trying, to do it. Why, asked the Bishop, was it that they in tho diocese of Wellington were not dointc niore tolscnd missionaries into the field? He was not so much troubled by the lack-of-.»ubscription9,-ai-he-knew that people wero very generous to other missionary associations, but, what really troubled him was that so far as ho'know the diocese was not represented in tho mission field. There was ono lady from Wanganui—ho could think of no one else. Ho knew of one cleruyman who went to Eastern Equatorial Africa, , but ho did not stay long. Another Wellington resident went to work ■in Fiji—not among the Fijians who had become a nation - of Christians, thanks to the Weslcvon Methodists, but to the Indian population,who wero migrating there in largo num. bers. Ho returned because his health could not stand tho strain. Had they anyone else? Was no ono intending'to go out? ■ ' Mi«( Wilson, who had returned owing to ill-health after fourteen years' work iu -Nigeria, gnve nn interesting account of tho work that a missionary has to do in that part of Africa. Now, sho said, was the opportunity for preaching the Gospel there, as in many towns tho natives had reached the point-that they were desirous of having teachers sent to their aid.

The Rev. J. R. Hurgin. of Haussaland, who wns dres=cd in native llniissa costume, nlso addressed tho meeting, speaking of tho p-ist efforts to evangelise th.it country, and nf tho work dono by the party under Bishop Tngwell. A 'collection was taken up during tho meeting in aid of the association, and o motion was carried expressing the decision of the meeting to. liejp., forward.the work of the association during the coming year.