Northwestern Bible School - Scroll Yearbook (Minneapolis, MN)

Page 87 text:

“I intend, God willing, the little influence I have shall be felt in every state in the Union, ' —Samuel J, Mills. North America Area 7,225,000 sq- mi. Population 139 341,000 Missionaries hi78 HOME MISSIONS ALASKANS The early missionaries to Alaska were confronted by the ugly face of sin, ignorance, superstition, and disease. The people worshipped the spirits of the glaciers, mountains, seas, and especially those of their dead ancestors and medicine men. Today the tribal customs and superstitions have almost faded away. Witch-craft and medicine men are a thing of the past. However, a large portion of the native population has never heard the Gospel, INDIANS Today the Indians worship the sun and the mountains. They have medi¬ cine men and religious dances. There is a dance called the Grand Medicine Dance in which a dog especially fattened and prepared for that purpose is slain at sunrise as an offering to the Sun God; then it is placed in the doorway of the building where the dance is to take place, so that all have to step over the dead dog as they enter. Less than one-third of the Indian population is related to the various Christian communions; approximately 46,000 are neglected by Christian agencies and unreached by Roman Cath¬ olic or Protestant missionaries, MOUNTAINEERS The main problem in the mountain sections is isolation, illiteracy and arrested development. Most of the preaching services are held once a month by voluntary pastors of little education and training, with a great but almost superstitious belief and faith in God. Visions and omens play a large part in the life of the people. Large groups are yet unreached, MIGRANTS Communism finds fertile ground in the camps of the migrants. Natures prodigality is necessarily seasonal. To harvest her diversified and scattered bounty requires an army of 1,500,000 migrants This army is unorganized, unskilled, uncared for, and is at the mercy of the radical and the exploiter ' NEGROES Every tenth man in the United States is a Negro. Five out of every eleven Negroes are church members. In the country the average Negro church is an unpainted frame structure with rough benches, a platform, and a pulpit. Services are held once or twice a month. The minister is usually non-resident, working at some other occupation. He is, as a rule, unequipped, preaching with natural eloquence and fervor. The financial resources cannot now sup¬ port a trained resident minister.

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Had I a thousand pounds, China should have it. Had ! a thousand lives, China should claim every one. No, not China, but Christ! —Hudson Taylor. China Area 2,903,457 sq. mi Papulation 422,707,863 Communicants 536,089 Foreign Missionaries 5,749 Confucianism Origin: Around 531 B. C. by Confucius, Adherents; Followers of Confucianism and Taoism combined—310,925,000. Beliefs: Its teachings are confined to things relating only to the earthly life. Objects of Worship: Sun, gods, heavens, spirits, natural objects r moon, clouds, and departed ancestors. Salvation: Heaven and hell are uncertain, Man is the maker of his own destiny. If there is a hereafter, man will be treated as he lived. Priest: The emperor is the sole priest of Confucianism, He offers sacrifices once a year for himself and for his people. Temples: There are 1,500 temples in China, Penance: The motive is not so much penance for sins committed, as the weeding out of wrong habits and the cultivating of good ones, with the hope that in the end all evil will be eliminated. General Teachings: Confucianism ignores God; exalts self; teaches salvation by merit; degrades women; grants the father tyrannical authority aver the family, I will gladly spend and be spent for you (II Corinthians 12:15). (82)

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HOME MISSIONS ORIENTALS The people who have come to our country from the Orient have brought their heathen religions with them. There are 5,000 Buddhists and 50,000 Hindus in North America. The Chinese have built Buddhist temples in New York and Los Angeles where they carry on the worship of their idol, Buddha. RURAL FIELDS Very few country churches receive the full time of a pastor A majority of country churches are closed throughout most of the year. One denomination reports nine-tenths of its thousands of churches served by absentee pastors; three-fourths of its churches have but one service a month; while one-fourth have no Sunday school. Thousands of miles of open country have no Protestant churches. WEST INDIES There are still virgin fields in the Islands! Haiti has been influenced least of all and has ranked lowest in civilization of all the republics in the world, Voadooism, a relic of African fetichism, is said to be widely practiced. Social, moral, and religious conditions of all these Islands, with the exception of Porto Rico, are largely those of the less advanced states of the Caribbean seaboard. The masses are cut off from opportunities of culture and advance¬ ment, and live in poverty and ignorance, Lo, we have left all and have followed Theel (Mark 10:28). Mr. and Mrs, Talbert and Son, Laredo, Texas Louise Giffin (84 )