Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-01-30
852,955 ON ROLLS
OF M. {. MISSIONS
Foreign Field Shows Increase
of 22,208 Members Dur
ing Last Year.

80 CHICAGO, H.. la nuarp 30.-The
number Of Christians on The foreign
mission field under the ministry of
Fthe Methodist Episcopal Church is
now $3.50. which is an increase of
,22.2SS over the number reported a
~Near ago. according To the report of
Irs. L. r. Diffendorfer and John f.
Edwards. general secretaries of the
BOARD of Foreign Missions. to the an
nual meeting Of the World Service
Commission of The Methodist Episco-
pal church at Ed"ewater Beach io-
Tel
The figures We're compiled from sta
tiSriCS coming from the 53 conferences
maintained by the church overseas.
OF thhe 1880 Christians. 661 400 are
enrolled members of The Methodist
Episcopal Church. while l9l.555 are
children who have been baptized and
are under religious instruction, but
not Vet admitted 10 membership. Dur
ing the year 1925 there We're hap
IiZed by Methodist missionaries and
nationals pastors 29.+4o adults and 30,
GAS children.
China Greatest Problem.
The greatest missionary problem to-
day is in China. 1t is involved be-
Ca Use of the present student uprising
against economic and social condi
tions. The nine nation agreement
'made at Washington in 1921 and 1922
has not been put into operation. The
Sha nghai incident of May 80 has
spread its influence over the entire
country. particularly in the edtica-
tional centerS. Missiona ries are stand
Ing in the main part for what the
Young Chinese students are demand
ing. but are not totally in agreement
II
the people Of China to distinguish he
tween Christian principles and their
ldealism and so-called Western civil
iZation. Consequently the Christian
church comes in for large share of
criticism on the part of these people
of he East. They cannot 1tndersta nd
the extreme nationalism, as they re
gard II, on the part of the United
states and Great Britain. particularly
IN our military life and its relation to
the World War. This has caused
great confusion in the work of the
missionaries. This is remarkably true
in China.
The largest number Of Christians
enrolled in the Methodist Episcopal
church on the foreign field is in In
dia-457 81: China enrolfs 10e.O13;
Japan. 1889: Korea. e4.3s6 Africa
30.Si3: Latin America. COMPRISING
Mexico. Central America. Bolivia
Chile. Peru, Argentina and Uruguay.
Is. 4os
l09,S01 Members in Europe.
In the l6 countriess Of Europe in
which the Methodist Episcopal Church
Is carrying on missionary work there
are enrolled 109,30 persons under its
care. Carrying on this mission work
overseas. the board of foreign missions
has l.1S7 missionaries. while the de-
nominations Women's Foreign Mis-
sionary Society has 73S women In
similar service. Two thousand and
fifty-five national pastors have been
admitted into the annual and mission
conferences on the several fields. out
numbering the missionary members
almost two to one. In addition TO these.
Lac. nationals are ordained local
preachers, and 1881 Others have been
appointed unordained preachers and
eXhorters. India has the largest num-
her If national pastors. 3.13E men from
Ill ranks. some from outcast villages
and some from Brahmin homes. hav-
Ing received license TO preach.
On all mission fields the church has
! ENS2 SUNDAY schools, In which 5e9,412
children are enrolled. There are also
2.NS9 elementary and high schools and
colleges maintained by the denomina-
ton. These enroll 162.l0S pupils
taught by 957 missionary and 1878
national teachers. Besides several
hundred rented rooms and halls in
which church services are held, there
are 1892 church buildings owned on
the field. and these have an estimated
value of S14. 441.375. OF this valua-
tion almost 100000 900 is the figure
estimated for European church prop
erty. and almost 50 ,00Q.0 900 for prop
ertv in Latin America.
The official report indicates that the
estimated valuation Of all properties
held overseas by the Methodist Epis-
copal Church. including churches. par.
soma ces. orphanaGes. schools, hospi-
tails. etc. is about $40 GOO. 600.