British and foreign Bible Society

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume VIII, Issue 3, 1 September 1917, Page 18

British and foreign Bible Society

The Eev. F. H. Spencer, Whanganui, has asked us to publish the following appeal : — 146, Queen Victoria Street, s London, February, 1917. DEAR FRIEND,— The Committee of the Bible Society are driven by the war to appeal to you for special help m this present emergency. For years past the output of editions of the Scriptures— especially for the mission field —has increased so rapidly that it has de. pleted the Society's financial reserves. We were faced by the certainty of still greater expansion when the outbreak of war made our difficulties even more acute. To-day the situation has become critical. During the later months of 1914 a positive famine of the.Scriptures m fields abroad was only averted through the stocks held by our foreign depots. These stocks have since been continuously replenished. So far, no. Missionary has had to slacken his work because he lacked, copies -of the Holy Scriptures. Though problems of handling and of freight sometimes appeared insoluble the most remote Mission Station has gone on receiving its books. The Society's translation work has proceeded unchecked. The perfecting of older versions has never ceased. Every six weeks, now as before the war, we still publish one of the Gospels m a new language, m which no book of the Scriptures has been printed hitherto. Up to the present, m spite of every obstacle, the Society, has been able to keep faith with the Church at Home and its missions overseas." To the needs of the combatants — especially the wounded, the prisoners of. war, and the refugees — the Society has responded generously and impartially. Already we have provided for soldiers and sailors six million Testaments, Gospels or Psalters, m fifty different tongues. The annual issues by- the Society, have grown to a total of eleven million books. (Since the war began the cost of producing these books has risen steadily, till it has now

reached a point beyond all precedent. During- the year 1917 the Society's editions sent out' from liondon alone will certainly cost £20,000 more than they cost before the war. An additional £10,000 will be needed for the corresponding advance m the cost" of books produced abroad. There will also be far heavier charges for freight, for; insurance, for loss m exchange, and indeed for every department of the Society's enterprise. To meet this increase m expenditure, we must increase the Society's income for 1917 by a sum of from £30,000 to £40,000. After most careful consideration the Cottfmittee have reluctantly decided to place part of this burden upon the purchasers of their books; though they have not sacrificed the Society's principle — to maintain Missionary editions everywhere within the reach of the poor. The addition to selling prices, however, can cover but a fraction of our extra expenditure. To meet the demands of the present, and to provide for the claims of the immediate future, the Committee now appeal for an Emergency Fund. Very earnestly we ask for ■ your personal help. Our Society stands pledged, at any cost, to fulfil its sacred mission ; and we are confident that Christian men and women will never allow it to be crippled for lack of money. In these days of bitter conflict, the World needs more than ever the Gospel of God ? s righteousness and love; while for the reconstruction which must follow the war our one hope lies m the World's recognition of Him Whom the Scriptures "reveal. We are, on behalf of the Committee, Faithfully yours, Williamson Lamplough, Chairman. Robert Barclay, Treasurer. Arthur Taylob, John H. Ritson, ■ Secretaries.,