The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1911-09-04
w. G.. Shellabear Writes
Most Interestingly
WILL Be IN MARION SOON
They Will Exhibit Some In
teresting Curios
The Home of John Balm Will he the
Scene of Gathering on september
Secnth-When the Missionary Sit
uation In Foreign Lands VIII BE
Discussed and Explained Fully.

Discussed and Explained Fully.
The following interesting letter has
been received from Rev. w. c. Shell
labear, who has been enjoyed in Mis-
sionary work in the Malay Archipel-
ago, by local mission workers.
Rev. Shellabear and wife will be at
the home of John Balm, September
and viii exhibit many curios while
explaining the work they have been
ding.
The letter follows
On the great trade route of the
Orient, Malaysia lies midway between
India and China, and the teeming
population OF those two countries
are continually overflowing into the
Malay Peninsula and the great Ma
ally islands Bornes and Sumatra,
providing the labor necessary for the
development of the immepse areas
Of uneXplored jungle lands which are
gradually being opened up by British
and Dutch enterprise. Taya, the
third great island of the Eastern
Archilelago. has a su>,cient popula
tion for its own needs. ana supplies
tens of thousands of Immigrants for
of islands together with the Malay
Peninsula have "A population of forty
millions. speaking more than one
hundred different languages and
dialects; and they cover an area equal
to that of the United States.
This great and promising mission
field. about which but little Is known
i'm this country, as compared with the
other great oriental lands, was the
scene of the earliest attempts to
evangellze the savage tribes Of the
orient. Three hundred years ago the
of the Dutch East India
Company began their efforts to con-
vert the natives and translated the
first gospel into the Malay language. |
on the island Of Celebes there is now
a Christian community of over 2O0,-
900 who speak the Malay language; |
these are the descendants of the peo-
pie converted through the work of
the East India Company's chap |
lains in those early days. on the |
west coast OF Sumatra there has been |
n great mass movement in the last |
forty years among a savage people |
called Battas, as the result OF the
" ork OF the German Rhenish Mis-
sion in that region, whore the Chris
tlans now number over 0,000 many
Of whom have been converted from
In Tava the re-
suits of the work OF the Dutch mis-
sionaries have not been so great
owning to the adverse
Influences of Tslam, but the native |
Christians number about $4,000.
The Methodist Epicopal mission has |
confined its efforts to the British set
Elements o ht acknowledgements
Elements on the Malay Peninsula. |
where very remarkable success has
been achieved in educational work, /
booo boys and girls being under in
structlon. Native churches have been |
established at many points on the |
Peninsula and the gospels preached |
in the English. Malay and Tamil Lam
glages. and in four different dilects |
of Chinese. The diversity OF Language |
es spoken In this cosmopolitan COM
munity OF course greatly adds TO the |
difficulty of the work Within the last |
ten years the work of the Methodist |
missio nhas spread to the surround
ing islnads and there are now two |
stations in Borneo, two in
Sumatra. and group of stations In |
West Java. Encouraging progress Is
being made at all these points. At
the last annual conference. a member
shrip of over 5000 was reported, 1888
adults having been gaptised during
the year