The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-01-28
THE MISSIONS IN INDIA.
J. Campbell white Tells of the Y. VI.
&. A. Work at Calcutta.

4. A. work at Calcutta.
One of the largest meetings Tor men
ever held in the history Of the washing
ton Y. NJ. c. A. took place yesterday
afternoon in the gymnasium on G Street.
Mr.. J. Campbell White. Secretary OF the
Student Young Mems Christian Associa-
tion. OF Calcutta. India. was the speaker
OF the afternoon. The primary motive OF
the meeting was To arouse enthusiasm
and to raise funds for the maintenance of
the missionary which the Washington
Y. NJ. c. a. has promised to keep in the
field. The Rev. A. II. Grace is the mis-
sionary abroad now. and for his mainten-
ance and the carrying on OF his work at
Allahabad. one OF the five great university
centres of India. the Washington Y. NJ
c. A is pledged to the extent of 81. .0G0 per
year. OF this amount $500 had been
pledged prior to the meeting yesterday
afternoon, and when the meeting was
over. additional pledges which raised the
total TO 81 400 had been secured.
Mr. White is college graduate. and
has been engaged in missionary work
among the students of India for seven
years. He is at present In this country
on years leave of absence, at the ex-
piration of which he will return to Cal
cutta.
BY common consent of all denomina-
tional missionary organizations in the
Indian field the work among the students
has been turned over TO the Y. NJ C. A.
This has been done because it was real
ized that the young college men who are
working as Y. NJ c. A. missionaries would
be taken more into the confidence OF the
Indian students than would elder men.
MIR. White spoke on this phase of the
work especially, and said in part:
I'VE feel that the best way in which to-
teach the great truths of Christianity is
to convert the students. Every young
man in India who desires an education
must acquire it at one OF the five great
university centres. of which Calcutta.
with a total of 10000 students is the
largest. Many of the students come from
districts where there have not been any
missionaries. They often have never
heard Of such a faith as Christianity.
They are Obliged to learn the English
language. and this somewhat facilitates
our work They are not easily convert
cd however. To become 4 convert to
Christianity means almost complete os-
tracism from Mohammedan family but
many of the students accept Christianity
And they make splendid Christians once
they have become converted. An educated
man has great prestige among the ma
tiyes and the word of one who has been
to a university is regarded highly. Con
sequently these converts 10 Christianity
make good missionaries. Oftentimes
when they return TO their homes after
having been converted they will be
spurned by tkeir families. and many have
been poisoned for bringing so-called dis
grace upon their name by becoming
Christians
IN order to carry on the work more
successfully it is necessary that the
number of Y. NJ. c. 4. secretaries working
among the students should be increased
almost double. At present there is about
one missionary station TO every million
inhabitants"
Mr. White illustrated many of the
points he wished to especially demon
strate with numerous anecdotes which
clearly portrayed the character and en-
Tironments of the three millions of ma
tiyes crowded into an area not larger
than the United States. The speaker
made frequent reference to large maps
which he had. One large map represented
the density of populat ation. The area rep
resented was only one-third of India. and
each village of 400 or more people was
designated by a small black square
There were 80 many of these squares
thai the map had the appearance of being
nearly a solid black in color At various
points On the map and spread wide apart
wore red circles the missionary stations