BENGAL MISSIONS.

Mataura Ensign, 17 March 1910, Page 4

BENGAL MISSIONS.

WHAT BAPTISTS ARE DOING. AN INTERESTING LECTURE. There was a fairly large attendance, at the Temperance Hall last evening when the- J. Takle, of Brahmanbaria, iSvit Bengal, India, gave a lecture on missions in that country. The ltev T. J. Bull, of Mataura, who presided, in introducing the lecturer said that Mr Takle, who was on furlough for a short period, liac been stationed for thirteen years ii. Brahman baria as a missionary undo the auspices ox the New Zealanci Baptist Union. He felt sure that a mail with tlio experienco of Mi Takle had an interesting story to unfold. Tlio Rev J. Takle, who was cordially received, :,uid he was sorry tha. a portion of th 0 proceedings set dowi for that evening would .have to bi left out. Ho had procured a lanten, from Dunedin for the purpose of show ing views of India and Indian life The pictures were good ones, but the lens of the! lantern was not staisfactory and he could not possibly focus the pictures. Proceeding with his subject, Mr Takle said the Baptist Union, which he represented, had beer conducting a mission in Eastern Ben gal for the past twenty-five years. Hi had been working in that district fo' thirteen years, and his visit to Nev, Zealand was to create a greater ,n terest in their foreign mission worL He had often heard and as often rea. jf colonists and others visiting Coiorj 00 either on their way Home or to i'i. jolomos. They would probably apaiiu 1 few days in India and then go ho.iu to England and write a booU-. Th :se globe-trotters in a great many casct itnew very little of the subject thy ivrote about. Their descriptions o; mountain, lake, and valley were i'as jiuating, but their conjlisiois as L Indian Jife wero very muesli at lank Their story might be, cuJ junetiiin was, enchanting, but they had ue\t. oeen behind the scenes of li'timi i k The darkness that existed in tlio mii Kit jf the people, the unsatisfied wan. in the hearts of tha people, tlio s.iebe trotter and writer knew ]i+tir- <w no clung about. The people sat iu (iarl. uess, worshipping idols of ln':u», v iv ,n. jlay, and iron. They wanted the Cos pel of Jesus Christ. 'l'hsy >ean»for abetter and more satu.'vu,; Ik Since ;Dr Carey ewnt to India in 1892 a &re4t work and great good hael Lwi, accomplished. A mig.ltv work na a cited accomplished by Carey. Ij.i r.-iiislated portions of i:.e Bible in to forty . different dialects. We must also remember that India was a portion jf the British Empire, and it was otn duty as subjects of tli 0 Empire to as iist in bnnging our fellow-subjects ii> Vto tout-ii with the Gospel of Christ We ha.i given education to the Hin dus, but a'hat was most required was an active interest in bringing tli. people under the influence of the Gos pel of unnst. He, asked his au iience to remember that in the greai Indian Empire there were 300 million, of people, many of them indeed of i low intellectual typo given to all sort: of idolatry. What a multitude oi I people, and the fringe had scarceli been touched with the fight <if Christ's Gospel. Did not such knowledge ap peal to them all to be interested 11. the propagating of the Gospel to thesi people. There was another evil ii. India —the class distinctions amongs. die Hindoos themselves. The low class Hindoo was a sorely oppressei individual indeed. There was a greai social tangle in India. Every nigh, fifty million of its people lay dowi. hungry and with little shelter. Man; men worked for 3s 6d and 4s pei week —a miserable pittance,—and they had families to rear. Their crop: were mortgaged before they were sown. In fact, there were many instances where the mortgage wat brought down from one generation te another, and the very life's blood was crushed out of the poorer and lowei -lass of Hindoo to satisfy tho claims jf the so-called higher class, with the result that they were always in poverty and in debt. Men and women both tilled the soil from daylight til; dark. He asked his hearers to thinli of the Bufferings of these people, while they in New Zealand enjoyed so many comforts and luxuries and then ask themselves if it was not their dutj to help to alleviate such suffering. Th< lecturer then referred to female chile! life of India and the suffering and degradation of many, through a custom chat was opposed to all the teaching >f Christ. That alone should claim their sympathy. The Gospel of Chris, was the cure for many of the evils am. aarbarous customs of Hindoo life idolatry was anotehr custom thai could only be remedied by tho same Gospel. The offerings of sacrifices .vero genuine in themselves, but then ivas a want—a something that did no; satisfy in it all. The only remedj .vas the Saviour's love and trust reposed in Him. The missionaries were chore to tell the people of the love oi Christ, and to bring them to a knowledge of Christ. The medical missionary was also doing a great work amongst the people, and by his agency •is a medical man he got more in touch with the people. Last year, Dr North had no less than 10,000 cases under his care, which meant great opportunity of doing good. Mr Taklo said he himself had taken up some literarj work in the direction of translating portions of the Gospel, and of distributing tracts in tho Hindoo lanuage. Ho had distributed no less than 10,000 tracts last year. The field of labor was great, but the laborers wero few. In his district the population was 1,200,000, and there ivere only two missionaries—Dr North and himself. There were, of course, a number of native teachers. There was great need to open out more stations. Dr Petit, of Dunedin, was ;oing out to India shortly to relieve Dr North for a whilo, and ho hoped chat Dr North's sojourn in New Zealand would be productive of great good. In conclusion Mr Takle said lie wished to say one thing to them all. The Christianity of Christ meant missionaries or nothing at all. If Christ died for the whole world, the world ought to know it. As Christians they must be loyal to Jesus Christ and spread his knowledge over the land. If therefore they could not go as missionaries to spread tho gerod news of the Gospel of Christ to their heathen fellow-subjects, they could assist by their material means to help others to go and proclaim tho Gospel to every creature. Their duty was ilain—to do something. On the motion of Mr James Dickie a hearty vote of thanks was accorded the lecturer.

A collection was taken up in aid of the mission funds.