CHURCH MISSION WORK

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 118, 12 February 1940, Page 11

CHURCH MISSION WORK

Need For Maintaining Support Stressed BISHOP OF MELANESIA An appeal to people to continue supporting church missions, in spite of the extra demands on them because of the war, was made yesterday by the Bishop of Melanesia, Rt. Rev. W. H. Baddeley, in St. Peter’s Church, Wellington. At the beginning of the war, the Bishop said, he had to think out what might be the course of events. One thing he recognized was that the great assistance which the mission had been receiving from the people in England could not continue to the same extent, because the burden of the war would fall more heavily on them during the early stages than on the people of New Zealand and Australia. He had to think where he could retrench. The church was not a house of many rooms, where part of it could simply be shut up without, perhaps, very much inconvenience. The mission field was like a tree. and. if one were to economize by cutting off a branch, the branch would die and the rest of the tree probably suffer.

Whatever retrenchment was made now might not necessarily be felt immediately. At present the persons leaving the mission schools were just sufficient for replacements. In some cases the mission was unable to meet the demands of native chiefs for teachers, and now it was faced with further cutting down. All that was received from the natives was personal service and gifts in kind. It should be realized that the medical work was not something additional to the Bible work. The word of God had not only to be preached, but to he lived. Each year the Melanesian Mission spent £3OOO on medical work, and could spend two or three times that amount without any trouble. In the .Solomon Islands alone there were 900 lepers.

.Some years ago the medical officer was alarmed by the increasing number who were suffering from the terrible disease, and asked the Bishop what could be done. The Bishop said nothing could be done, because there was a big debt. The doctor felt impelled to do something, and. with the assistance of the Bishop and other members of the staff, built dwellings where 90 to 100 lepers were able to receive attention. Eventually the Government felt that it had to do something, and a man was sent to report on the matter. The report was made two years ago, and still nothing had been done. The Government had not spent one penny in any year to relieve the suffering, and the work was thrown back on to the Church of God. Four out of 10 babies born died during the first few years' of life, and the mission was trying to get together groups of young women so that they might be taught better, ways of living and help the other women by their teaching and own example. The mothercraft centres would have to be cut. down unless the mission could get some assistance.

If people would only give as readily ns they gave 10 years ago, the work of the mission could be maintained.