The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-12-16

meant the winning of new world to
a fresh and broader type Of Christi
anity, the type which today dominates
the whole earth. If anybody cavils at
the idea of missions In the West Indies
he is to be reminded that the example
and spirit of Columbus. as well as of a
Greater, is sufficient warrant for this.
Even the young people who will
study this topic can remember when
the United States received as bequest
from the unsanitary islands of the
Caribbean sea the scourge of yellow
fever. 1t was a matter of the most
vital concern to the gulf states that
they should have to dwell as nigh
neighbors to these plague spots. Now
the islands have been cleaned up, in
a physical sense, largely at the insti-
cation and with the cooperation of
the big neighbor to the north. What
has been done for the health of the
West Indies, should be done also for
their morals. Better religious condf-
lions are even more important than
better sanitation. The best help is
help In fundamentals over and over
it needs to be reiterated that the
soundest program of reform is the
placing of a new mind in the old con-
ditions, rather than the imposing new
conditions upon the old state of mind.
Liberty, and the institutions and
spirit that go with it, can transform
any people. That is abundantly illus
trated in the case of Porto Rico and
Cuba. These two islands have been
made over within a dozen years. Life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness"
are great realities with their people
now. The result is shown in the diff
ference Of the human output. With
religious freedom and personal relig-
ious initiative encouraged, a new type
of citizens, which we fain would call
the western type, is emerging.
The absurdity of the common dis
tinction between home and foreign
missions is well illustrated in the case
of the West Indies. American denomi-
nations are working in Porto Rico
through their home mission boards;
but in Cuba, which is an island near
er the United States mainland, they
work through their boards of foreign
missions. The distinction, originally
meant to be convenience. is really a
hindrance. Mission work is one work.
There are no geographical lines in the
purpose Of God. He loves the whole
world, without respect to man-made
territorial divisions. The sooner the
Christian churches progress to the
point of being able to consider all
forms and locations of mission work
as one enterprise, the truer they will
be to the great plan of God.
The principle of UNCONVENTIONAL
comfy and apportionme nt of territory
Is being observed to 8 large degree in
the new mission field of Porto Rico.
Still there are IL denominations now
at work, with 1877 churches and about
5000 members. Ten years ago there
was only one Protestant congregation |
in all Porto Rico, and that was for
English-speaking residents and visit
ors.
Missions both 1eaven and evangelize. |
Sometimes their most effective work |
is the direct influence they have in |
creating new standards, quickening |
stagnant forces into life, and stimu- /
lating dormant churches of an older |
order into life The corrective and in |
spirational value of modern missions |
upon the form of Christianity which /
has been in the West Indies for CEN
turtles, has been beyond measure.
The black republic Of Haiti, with its
frequent political changes, is a prob |
lem in neighborhood sanitation, for /
the other nations, and especially for |
the United States. Its people have in |
many cases scarcely advanced beyond /
the stage of African voodooism and |
They are almost wholly !
unaffected by the streams of modern /
influence which are today shaping the
nations of the earth into oneness. The |
island is a religious as we'll as a po-
litfcal problem for its neighbors