Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1912-11-27
CHRISTIAN EsDEAvOR
Prayer Meeting Topic For tire Week
Beginning Dec. I, 1912.

Topic. - Missionary achievements and
what / mag do. Phil ii, L-l6 MISSIONARY
conservation n8eesingl Edited by Rev.
Sherman f. Doyle, d, D.
No more graphic description of
Christs humiliation and Hts resultant
exaltation WAS ever written than that
TO be found in this part Of Paurs letter
TO the Philippians. The supreme re
suit of Christ's exaltatiou Is TO be that
BOW and that every tongue
should confess that Jesus Is Lord to
the glory OF God the Father. The
aim Of Christian missions is to bring
this divine contamination about. 1t Is
for this reason that missionaries bold
forth the word Of life, that men every
where may know Christ. and. know
ing Him. may accept Him as their
Saviour. and. having accepted Him. may
exalt Him as the Apostle describes.
This Is the aim and end of all mission
airy achievement. and every Christian
should take an active part in its &C
complishment.
No phase Of human life has been
untouched by missionary labors. Po-
litical conditions have been made bet
ter Social life has been uplifted.
Commercial life has been extended.
and the world Of science owes a great
debt to Christian missionaries. But
the principal missionary achievements
have followed along three lines-evan'
gelical. educational and medical.
The evangelical work OF missionaries
is their supreme glory. They have
gone forth above everything else to
evangelize the world, to tell the glad
tidings Of salvation in Christ to all
men. In this work they have been
wonderfully successful. The converts
TO Christianity In foreign fields num-
Der millions, and they are increasing In
gseat numbers every year. All classes
in every land are being reached The
missionaries Of the world number over
10000, and the native workers over
10000. 1t can easily be seen that such
an army OF consecrated followers of
Christ could not but achieve great re-
suits. This is especially true when we
remember that in spite Of all obstacles
the same efforts in the foreign field
will lead thirty to Christ which in
Christian countries viii lead but one,
This at least is the estimated ratio.
and If 1t be at all near the truth we can
readily understand the great mission
airy soul winning achievements.
The educational achievements of
missionaries are most wonderful. Re
Hgion and education have always gone
hand in hand. The schoolhouse has
ever followed the church. II needs no
argument to prove that the mind must
be enlightened as well as the soul saw
ed Christ commanded His disciples
to teach" and Christian instruction
has not been limited to distinctive
Christian truth. On foreign mission
fields there are today 10000 schools at
tended by 100000 pupils. Some Of
the greatest colleges In the orient are
Christian. and Christianity has revo
lutionized the educational system of
practically every missionary land. The
last nation TO be thus affected is Chi
ma. and the schools and colleges OF
Japan and India are conspicuous for
their influence and their efficiency.
The achievements of medical mis-
sions have attracted the attention of
the world. In no science was heather
dom so little advanced before the adj
vent of Christianity as in the science
of medicine. In this respect a great
door Of opportunity was opened to mis-
sionaries. and they promptly entered
Individual missionaries practiced med
icine at first and thus gained entrance
into fields hitherto entirely closed to
them. Then followed hospitals and
dispensaries on a small scale. But to-
day the work is so far advanced that
the most complete hospitals are found
In every heather land and hundreds of
thousands of patients are treated every
year