METHODIST MISSIONS

Taranaki Daily News, 25 October 1935, Page 3

METHODIST MISSIONS

CONFERENCE OF WOMEN

DISTRICT WORKING DISCUSSED.

REPORTS MADE FROM OVERSEAS.

Delegates at the 21st annual Dominion conference of the Methodist Women’s Missionary Union continued their deliberations yesterday in Whiteley Memorial Church, New Plymouth, under the presidency of Mrs. W. H. Duke, Dunedin. Prayers in the morning were led by Mrs. F. Stockwell, Masterton, and group discussion, followed by open conference, took place on a proposed plan for conducting union business on a districts basis. A decision was not reached, but the resolutions committee was asked to associate with the leaders of the groups in formulating a motion for consideration at a later stage of the conference. The group leaders appointed were:— No. 1 group, Miss E. M. Pearce, Auckland; No. 2 group, Mrs. C. Bisson, Napier; No. 3 group, Mrs. F. Thompson, Christchurch; No. 4 group, Mrs. H. Prout, Dunedin; No. 5 group, Mrs. H. Nicholson, Wellington; No. 6 group, Mrs. P. Whitelock, Wanganui North. The proposed system is planned partly to lift the load of secretarial duties from the shoulders of the Dominion executive. District councils would be set up to deal with business in various areas, and the district councils would in turn be responsible to the Dominion executive. At present all work is handled by the central executive, which is appointed at towns altered every three years. The advantages of the system, said the group leaders, were that it would mean closer organisation and closer personal contact, with smaller auxiliaries, and would provide incentive for them. Most groups realised the secretarial and detailed work devolving on the Dominion executive should be lessened. Though the present leaders might find the additional work a tax upon them, it was suggested the new scheme might be the means of discovering more leaders with qualifications for organisation. Objections to tire scheme were raised on the score of over-organisation and finance. It was argued that the union could not at present support more machinery, and the present leaders ought not to be burdened with additional work. The extra handling of moneys forwarded from branches to district councils and from councils to the executive would increase costs of exchange payments. SYNOPSIS REPORTS. Synopsis reports of auxiliaries, which were included in the annual report, were posted for delegates to read. Greetings from church women of other denominations were conveyed by their representatives, Mesdames J. D. McL. Wilson (Presbyterian Mothers’ Union), S. Jenkin (Baptist Mothers' Union) and G. Martin (Anglican Women’s Guild). Although the delegates were not known to her, said Mrs. Wilson, the very fact that they were messengers in the missionary cause caused her to feel a warmth of sentiment towards them. Mrs. Wilson gave a brief resume of Presbyterian mission work in the New Hebrides, China and India. Mrs. Jenkin spoke of Baptist work in East Bengal and India. She thought the missions brought workers together as perhaps nothing else did. Acknowledging the greetings, Mrs. Duke said it was a great joy to the Methodist Union to hear of what sister unions in other churches were accomplishing. Greetings and good wishes were received from auxiliary branches at Auckland, Woodville, Thames, Napier, Lower Hutt, Wanganui North, Wanganui Central, Petone, Willoughby, Willoughby children, Christchurch east, Ashburton, Mount Albert, Hamilton, Roxborough, Stratford, Rangiora, Dunedin, Victoria (Australia) and Kawhia. Mrs. S. A. Cannell, widow of a former minister at New Plymouth, sent a personal letter of goodwill acknowledging a bouquet sent her by the delegates. Reports of sisters in the foreign mission field, relating cases treated, were read by the secretary, Miss E. Purdie, Dunedin. The writers included Sister E. MacMillan, Sister E. Common, Mrs. A. L. Cropp and Mrs. E. C. Leadley, Nurse Vera M. Cannon and Mrs. E. Sylvester. The report of the Bible class sister, Sister A. Lee, was read by Miss L. Hodder, Wellington. Before the adjournment for afternoon tea a song was sung by Mrs. H. Bulmer, Mrs. R. L. Cooper accompanying dn the organ. Members of the women’s guild of the Fitzroy and St. Aubyn churches were in charge of refreshment arrangements. SOLOMON ISLANDS WORK. Interesting sidelights on the work in the Solomon Islands were given after tea by Sister Lina Jones, who is on furlough in New Zealand. Sister Jones thanked all who had shown her kindness in every place which she visited In the course of the deputation tour she is conducting in the Dominion. Each term she had spent in the islands, said the sister, was a little different from the others. The first term was one of beginnings and saw the commencement of kindergarten, sewing and Bible classes.. Consolidation was necessary in the second- term because by that time the work was growing and-expanding and there was considerable alteration and change at the sisters’ home, of which Sister Lina was appointed head in her second term. The kindergarten and Sunday school at Kokegoto was well established in the third term, and there were now 119 attending kindergarten and 130 attending Sunday school. Past and present pupils numbered 300; some former pupils had recently returned as teachers in kindergarten and Sunday school. Sister Jones said the workers were eager to use girls as teachers, but circumstances often made it impossible. Some had taught at times, but they were unreliable in the matter of departures, which were sudden and unheralded. At present no girls taught in Sunday school; all were boys, the majority in training to go out as native teachers to establish schools of their own in the villages. Because of this factor the methods must be such that the boys could make use of them when they went out on their own account. Sister Jones explained the buildings of the Kokegolo station. They included a boys’ college, hospital, church, sisters home and ministers’ homes, all scattered over a fairly small area of ground and all used for some classes. It was the dream of those at the station that a new educational block where work could be consolidated would ultimately be erected. FOND OF DRAMATISING. The Solomon Islanders were fond of dramatising, said Sister Lina, and the missionaries had recently experimented with the scheme of arranging a dramatisation at Christmas of the Christmas story. Two native teachers acted as Mary and Joseph, and a little native baby was used to represent the Infant Jesus. At intervals choruses of native voices sang what suitable hymns had been translated. There was nothing irreverent in the minds of the Islanders about using one of their own black-skinned children to represent Christ, said Sister Lina. The experiment was successful, and it was hoped something more ambitious would be attempted next year. Sister Jones referred to the sewing class. Some of the older women asked and were allowed to join it, with the result that they were able to occupy hours otherwise idle with needlework. Tn her third term at the station, con-

tinued the sister, she made the experiment of separating boys and girls in all but the most junior departments. The classes were previously mixed, but the disadvantage was that the Dative teachers took no notice of the girls. Girls therefore were now in a class of their ? own and an endeavour was made to give them extra training in general knowledge, health principles and physiology. The object was thus to help girls to overcome the superstition they had held for years that sickness was caused by evil spirits. That superstition was still /< not stamped out. Sister Jones referred to the sisters that had been at the station with her, and to natives living at the home. The main trouble among the older girls was checking clandestine letter-writing; but the small children were a joy. Halfcastes were greatly to be pitied because they were wanted neither by black nor white people. t •, J S'?

“The work we are doing among the children in the home is being watched from one end of the beaches to another,” concluded Sister Lina. “All know what they are doing and how they behave.” She hoped the influence of the home would be only for good, and that it would help the teachers in the villages. The people were eager for knowledge, of the Bible and of everything. They had a future in store for them, and what little the sisters could do to help was valuable. After discussion it was decided to close the year’s accounts at the end of August; therefore the current financial period will be one of only 11 months. Branch accounts are to close on July 31 each year and audited statements to be sent-

within 14 days to the treasurer of the union, thus facilitating the preparation of the statement of accounts for the annual conference. On the motion of 1 Miss H. Adams delegates passed a resolution to make the objective of the union this year the raising of £l2OO for foreign missions and £785 for home and Maori missions. Salaries of mission sisters and grants to stations were allocated.

It would be hard work to raise the money for the mission funds, particularly as the year would consist of only 11 months, said Mrs. Duke. However, members felt ready to do their utmost; • they could not let down the sisters, knowing how imperative was the need in the Solomon Islands.

The evening session was conducted by the Rev. F. Copeland, who was assisted by the Rev. J. D. Grocott in leading devotions. Mr. G. H. White was at the organ. Sister Lina Jones gave an account of some of her experiences at the mission station on the Solomon Islands. The white missionaries at the head station, she said, were constantly asked advice by native teachers who went out into outlying stations and were there confronted with all sorts of problems they were unable to solve. Sister Lina related unusual requests and extraordinary questions made to the white people and gave a fascinating insight into the psychology and mentality of the Islanders. She- told interesting and amusing anecdotes of island life and read letters In quaint phraseology from some of the native boys among whom she had worked WORK AMONG MAORIS. Sister Ivy Jones spoke on general work done among the Maori people, particularly in Auckland. Mission agents were stationed in all parts of New Zealand, she said, and they were doing their best to cover the work. The Maori population numbered 75,000 and was increasing faster than the white section. To minister to it were eight Maori missionaries, white people and natives, 43 Maori workers and 10 deaconesses. Lack of funds was seriously hampering the work. '“We often hear New Zealanders speak of their love for the Maori people,” said Sister Ivy. “Forgive me if I sometimes wonder. They think of the Maoris as attractions for tourists and love them for their sweet voices and naive manners.” Christians must love them more than that and must not be impatient if they, were slow to toe the mark drawn by a : civilised nation. “We blame the Maoris sometimes for becoming what we have made them,” she added. Conditions in Maori homes were not what people thought, continued the sister. They did not all live in the model pas seen at Rotorua. She gave a vivid description of the home of one family she had visited. It was a bad tent with rusty iron for a roof, a mud floor, a tumble-down open fireplace and one common family bed. In the centre was

a large hole full of water. Dug by .the woman of the place, it served to catch the water from the hillside so that it would not flood the floor. On the bed was the father, dying of consumption. That was a picture of the remnants of a race which centuries ago had owned thousands of miles of fishing rights; nearby were the bungalows of the conquering race. What chance had girls in places like that to learn house-work, demanded the sister. She mentioned the case of a Maori whom she placed at work in a good home but who was dismissed because of her ignorance. Not until there were more schools like Kura- ' hura would native girls be given a fair chance. She described Kurahura school as a wonderful piece of practical human work. PROBLEM OF HALF-CASTE. Sister Jones said in the Auckland district where she worked one person in ten was Maori or half-caste. Very, few Maoris were pure native but the problem of the half-caste was a sad one. She concluded by pleading for support for the mission. If people could see the children dying of hunger, covered with sores, barely clothed, they would not begrudge any sacrifice to help them. “We have inherited homes in a beautiful land, she said, “but have we earned them?”. The chairman thanked the sisters for their addresses. He thought they would show people mission-giving was not a duty to be undertaken but a privilege to be shared. After the benediction a social hour was held in Whiteley hall. MissJ. Musker, president of the New Plymouth auxiliary, asked Mrs. Duke and Sisters Ivy and Lina Jones to accept bouquets. These had been made by Mrs. L. Bellringer with red anemones, embothrium, P m k carnations and roses, and lilies of the valley. They were presented by Nola Bellringer, Marjorie Berry and Pixie Griffiths. Mrs. Duke thanked MissMusker and her branch on behalf of herself and the sisters. Before supper a short musical programme was contributed by Mrs. P. C. Davie (songs), Miss M. Arnold (pianoforte solo), Mr. L, Kerr (song), Mrs. Nelson Hill (elocution) arid Mrs. H. Nicolson (song). Mrs. R. L. Cooper and Mrs. A. Gandell p’ayed accompaniments.