MISSIONS AT HOME AND ABROAD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15100, 24 March 1911, Page 3

MISSIONS AT HOME AND ABROAD.

'.ADDRESS BY THE HON. JAMES

BALFOUR.

A largo and representative gathering of [Presbyterian laymen was 'held in tho Stuart :Hall last night The Rev. B. E. Davies presided, and the Hon. James Balfour, 'M.L.C., the Rev. G. H. Balfour. and Mr Oliver Burgess, of the China Inland Mission, were with, him on the platform. Apologies wo.ro announced by tho chairman Ifroa Professor Howitson, tho Revs. A. Don, D. Borric and- J. Ait.ken, and Messrs Jaaa Roberts and John Rcee. The "Chairman said ho .was very p'oasrl that tho responso to the invitation.to hear tho Hon. Air Balfour was suoh a hearty one. Tho object of tho meeting would bo revealed as it wont on. He hoped that it •would bo as informal as possible, so that everyone might bo able to meet Mr Balfcrar personally. While ho was present in Dunedin they; had , thought that opportunity should be given to laymen to moot one Who was k> prominent in the church life of Australia. Mr Balfour was without any doubt one of the meet outstanding laymen of tho Presbyterian Church in the ■whole of Australia, and had served' for considerably over half a century in its ecclesiastical -courts. One of the dangers of our churab. Hfo in New Zealand' was thai too much of tho work was delegated* to the ministers.

Tho Hon. Mr Balfour, who was very ' warmly greeted, referred to some of tho chairman's remarks, and said he was quite sore that there were men prc«mt who had beon, giving their labour and thought ■ to Christian work qiiito as much as he had over done. That was a great privilege, and ought .not to bo thought of as a labour or trouble. He had been asked to speak to them about the Laymen's Missionary Movement, and also about the ChapmanAlexander mission. He related how tho ■Laymcn'e Movement had taken its riec at a small gathering celebrating the hundredth anniversary of tho "haystack prayer meeting , ." The movement _6id not start another missionary organisation, but sought to stir, up renewed onthusiasm for home and foreign missions, expressing itsolf through existing organisations. They sought to attain their ends by prayer and effort, by circulating missionary information, and by giving. The proposal was mado at tho psychological moment, and the movement had become a mighty forcein Canada, in. the United States, in England, and , m Australia. It had resulted m a great increase of prayer, in the wide circulation of missionary information, in additions to contributions, and in a laigo number of men coming forward as missionary volunteers. In Melbourne the Presbyterian Church had formed a council and had appointed a paid secretary, who gavo his week-ends to visiting outlying districts with other leaders of the movet ment, pushing forward the work aud forming new brauabes as opportunity offered. Some of the laymen held regular weekly meetings of prayer for the missionaries. The kymon had joined with the Foreign Missions Committee of the Presbyterian Church, in taßuß- steps to get a. direct report of the work in tho mission fields in which it was particularly interested, by sending out a. representative deputation. Tiie movement did not limit itself to foreign mission work. Home and foreign 'mksion work went liand in hand, and they had some very needy fields in the backblocks of Australia. It was a wonderful thing that wo had reached: a great crisis in the history of missions. The great EaSnbnrgh conference had l shown that thero had never beon such a time in th!e history of the world when all the nations of tho earth were opening their doors. Ho wart on to refer to tho radically changed conditions in, China, in Japan, in Korea, in Manchuria, and in Thibet. The nations, too, were all at peao», as they were when Christ came into the work!. Everything pointed to a time of great opportnnity. Tho tide was rising. Would ■wo take a part in this great movement? It was quite possible' to wait till tho ebb came and wo were left, having failed in our duty. "All tiho ends of the earth shall know tho- sabation of our God" ; bnt then wore wo to bo partners in spreading that news, or were wo to be left, out of it? Hβ euppoecd they wished; him to speak about tho Chapman-Alexander Mission, because they had arranged for the return of these honoured men in 1912, and Now Zealand was included in their proposals. Dγ Chapman was not a man who settled ihis own movemente, as he was the agent of tho Evangelistic Committee of the American Presbyterian Church; but no doubt hie recommendations counted for much. The speaker explained] the arrangements made in connection with Dr Chapman's Australian mission. Tho Presbyterian Assembly of New Zealand had

passed a. unanimous resolution requesting Dr Chapman to visit the Dominion, and he had replied that he would bo very glad to meet tho Presbyterian Church here They would rather .have hhn come in. a bigger way, though, and tako up tho work far the whole of New Zealand. However,

if ho cam©-hero he would get everybody to hoar him, as people simply could not stay away. Mr BaMoiir proceeded to rofer to Dr Chapman's splendid equipment as a missioner, his -education and experience, his prayorfulness, his impressive and: attractive style, and his enormous capacity for work. He concluded with relatingeome most remarkable instances of the success of Dr Ghapman'a work in> Australia amongst those outside the churches. Mr Oliver Bnigess told , the story of his conversion at an evangelistic meeting in Melbourne, and also of how ;he Rave himBolf to mission work in China. Ho apoke

of how the aspect of things in China hay] changed, and hour the m-issioJiariee from Txjing called "degs" were now promoted to bo called "gentlemen." Every one of the Chinese students now had , to study tho New. Testament, and their professors all taught comparative religions. China was hungering ami thirsting after power. In all the royal proclamations cf China the only names that ■were honoured , with 6pecial prominence were those of Confucius and of the sacred oinpprors. After the terrible Boxer riots the Chinese Government was "eating humble pie," and urgently deaired to press compensation upon the English onissionaTJes. The missionaries, hensver, had agreed that it was not in acoordanco with their principles to accept a singlo .penny of blood money. Thereupon tho Chinese dignitaries sent out a royal proclamation to overy city and town in China lauding the action of the missionaries as- in aorord with the " beautiful teachings of Jesus." In it for the first thne the came of Jesus was placed on an equality with that of Confucius and the emperors. Ho told- a moving , story of tho Ihoroism and constancy of a Cbincso convert ho had: known.

The Rev. G. H. Balfour addressed the jneeting briefly. Ho pointed wit that tho reason for dullness of jnisskmaary enthusiasm was often kok of imagination and Jack of information. He cited the cases of a large girls , high school in Japan, of the leper hospital iiear Fusan, of tho hospital at Seed, of Dr Seklon's refijge for tile insane in Canton—all institutions he has recently visited—as instances of missionary enterprises, in which it was well ■worth -while investing. "Missions aro not on their trial," he reminded his hearers, " and tho Kingdom of God is not on its trial, but," he added- "we are on ours."

At the conclusion of tho addresses, which •were all heard with very keen interest, refreshments were handed .round. A very ■hearty vote of thanks to the speakers, proposed by Mr G. M. Thomson, was carried by acclamation.