T THE YOUNG PEOPLE'S DEPARTMENT HE missionary department of of the Chicago C. E. Union does not wish to appear behind the Philadelphia young people in their missionary plans, and the brief account of the Philadelphia Union in a recent number of the ASSEMBLY HERALD has brought the following, which will be suggestive for other cities: The Chicago C. E. Union has twelve divisions, each of which is to conduct a missionary reading contest, offering to the society reading the largest number of books and to the one reading the largest number in proportion to membership, a certificate of registration at the Lake Geneva or any other Y. P. M. M. Conference. A test is made to see how thorough the reading has been. The same reward is offered to the society submitting the best plans for a series of missionary meetings which they have actually carried out. The following conditions must be observed: "(1) Programs must be planned in regular session of missionary committee. (2) Four consecutive missionary meetings shall be upon the same, or related subjects. (3) Meetings must be out-workings of plans and led by C. E. members, preferably the missionary committee. The following points will be considered by the judges: (1) Name and aim of the course. (2) Subject and aim of each meeting. (3) Membership of society. (4) Attendance at each meeting. (5) Number of persons participating. (6) Outline of program. (7) Sources from which material was obtained. (8) Number of members of committee present, not including president and pastor, at each committee meeting." The Synod of South Dakota has cordially accepted the suggestions sent out by the Sunday-school departments of the Boards of Home and Foreign Missions and Sunday School work, and, in all the presbyteries, the chairmen of the committees representing these three Boards have been appointed the committee to advance a systematic presentation of missions in the Sunday-schools, either through courses of supplemental lessons under the leadership of the teachers, or by the short exercises from the desk in charge of the missionary committee or the superintendent. These presbyterial committees are directed by the chairman of Synod especially chosen for these duties. Washington's birthday is to be celebrated in our Sunday-schools with a Home Mission program and an offering for the Board of Home Missions. "The Sabbath nearest Washington's Birthday" occurs February 19th. This is the authorized Home Mission Day in the Sunday-schools, the recommendation of our General Assembly, and therefore in regular order. There is a growing criticism of the many appeals and many programs for Sundayschools, and there are many objections to giving up any of the lesson period for these special services. The Board has carefully considered this, and will this year offer a plan which we are sure will meet with a hearty response from superintendents and pastors. A beautiful souvenir program will be issued on a large card. On the front there will be an original and patriotic design in three colors. On the back there will be an appropriate service which can be used either for an opening or closing exercise, about twenty minutes long. A supplemental sheet will be issued with additional material for any who desire a longer program, with recitations, etc. The card is intended to be taken home by the scholars, and will form a beautiful and permanent souvenir; there will be a space also where schools may print their own greeting and name, which will add to its personal and local value. A new and original offering envelope or card will also be provided, to be given out in advance. This day in February has long been observed as a special patriotic occasion in the Sundayschools, and we are sure you realize the importance of it and will do your utmost for the great cause of Home Missions. Appoint a committee for patriotic decoration, another for music, and let the missionary committee promote the offering. Begin preparations at once, and keep them going until February 19th (or the 26th if more convenient). Announcements will be sent early in January, and all questions will be gladly answered by the secretary of this Young People's Department, Board of Home Missions, 156 Fifth Ave., New York City. M. J. P. BIBLIOGRAPHY: THE AMERICAN INDIAN FOR THE FEBRUARY HOME MISSION TOPIC DeCost Smith Emerson Hough Elliott Flower Indian workers for temperance. Collier's 45:23, S3, '10. Indians in the civil war.... Jean Francois Millet's drawings of American Indians, Cent 80:78, My, '10. Last stand of the Indian Hampton 22:515, Ap, '09. Law and the Indian Basket woman (legends). '09 '09 គឺ៖៖៖ ៖ ៖ U. S. Govt '08 .F. R. Burton .E. N. Wilson .M. H. Austin Blazing the way; or, True stories, songs and sketches of Puget Sound and other pioneers, E. I. Denny '09 '09 '09 .J. M. Hanson .F. G. Speck '09 consolidation Conquest of the Missouri.. Indian diplomacy and the opening tion in the west... Indian land laws. Indian question.. ..A. H. Abel '08 .F. E. Leupp '10 of the revolu .J. A. James '10 .S. T. Bledsoe '09 H. B. Carrington Lancaster (Pa.) county Indians. . H. F. Eshleman Little Indian maidens at work and play, '09 '09 B. B. Ruyl '09 '09 '10 10 '10 Memoirs of an American lady.. .A. M. Grant Incoming Peoples; what they seek; what they get. Outgoing Peoples; what they take away; the emigrant a missionary. THE BOARD OF HOME MISSIONS OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE U. S. A. Comparative Statement of Receipts for CURRENT WORK for the Months of November, 1909-10 Comparative Statement of Receipts for CURRENT WORK for the 8 Months ending November 30, 1909-10 FOREIGN MISSIONS The Board of Foreign Missions in the Pres T byterian Church, U. S. A. HE Board of Foreign Missions is a great business corporation. At its head- From 50 to 400 letters are received every morning. In a single month at the The Board handles property: Improved and unimproved real estate, city property, farm lands, bonds, stocks and other forms of property. At the present time there are more than 200 legacy files in the Board's offices representing active estates. These are estates which are in process of settlement and in which the Board will share. In remitting to 28 Missions annual appropriations of more than a million and a half dollars, the Treasurer's office conducts a large banking business. It deals with 13 different kinds of money: its foreign exchange is a business by itself. The Board maintains a Travel Department, a Purchasing and Shipping Department, and it cares for personal property of the missionaries including such items as Life Insurance policies, Savings Bank books, and the like. In conducting a work involving a thousand missionaries scattered abroad in 149 principal stations, and 1,718 out-stations, there is a mass of detail which cannot be listed under any separate head. During the last calendar year the Treasurer drew more than 6,000 checks, involving $2,798,000. There is a large correspondence connected with the home side of the work. More than a million leaflets are sent from the office each year, and the correspondence with churches, societies and individuals constitutes a vast business in itself. The Board has property valued at several million dollars. It is scattered over the world. It is its own insurer. The applications from the Missions for repairs on property and property needed for the present work of the Board, amounted in 1910 to more than $5,000,000. The business is a world business. It is the King's Business. Every member of the Presbyterian Church is a partner in this business and should by prayer and study endeavor to aid the Board in its great work of evangelization. T HE Year Book of Prayer for Foreig Missions, 1911, published by the Women's Boards and Societies, with the approval of the Assembly's Board, should be in the hands of every member of the Presbyterian Church, on or before January 1st, 1911. "Prayer is the best Foreign Mission weapon we have," said an enthusiastic, aggressive and most efficient Foreign Mission pastor in the Board rooms a few weeks ago. The Year Book of Prayer gives the name of every missionary of the Board, his station, some conception of his work, and withal is full of the kind of information which will help to make prayers intelligent, direct, personal. The Year Book is appreciated on the field as witness the following letter: PHILIPPINE MISSION. PAGSANHAN, LAGUNA PROVINCE, MRS. HALSEY L. WOOD, New York City. My Dear Mrs. Wood:-Will you kindly send me five (5) copies of the Year Book of Prayer for 1911, for which I enclose P. O. Money Order for fifty cents ($.50). A few of our native Christians desire to use them. Sincerely yours, (Signed) CHARLES R. HAMILTON. The Foreign Missions topics for monthly consideration, either at prayer-meeting or on the Lord's Day, as outlined for the year 1971, are most suggestive. They center around the one thought so tersely stated in the recent volume of Mr. John R. Mott: "The Decisive Hour of Christian Missions." The nine volumes giving in detail the proceedings of the great World Missionary Conference held in Edinburgh, June, 1910, have been published. No one who desires to keep in touch with the great world missionary movements can afford to neglect these store-houses of missionary lore. These volumes point to the present time as the decisive hour of Christian Missions. Mission study class leaders will note that Mr. Mott's book is to be used as a text-book in 1911. We would especially commend the admirable notes prepared by the Educational Secretary, Dr. T. H. P. Sailer, entitled, "Sug gestions to Leaders"-to all who are planning large things in the line of mission study. The Laymen's Missionary Movement has planned a series of conferences and conventions for the early months of 1911. The first of these conferences will be held January 3d to 5th, at Columbus, Ohio, and then in various cities throughout the West, ending in April with a series of conferences in Chicago and vicinity. Special attention will be given to Men's Mass Meetings, to addresses in pulpits, to denominational conferences with reference to the best methods for the training of committee men. It is hoped that the interest awakened among so many laymen in various centres throughout the country in the year 1910, will be deepened and intensified by these and other gatherings in 1911. Foreign Missions is in the air. The secular newspapers are demanding as never before news from the foreign field. Public opinion has changed wondrously within a decade, so that where there was opposition, now there is some slight appreciation at least of the work and the worth of the missionary. It is the golden opportunity to give the Church at home a vision of its part in world-wide evangelization. One of the most notable results of the World Missionary Conference was the appointment of a Continuation Committee to carry forward in the next ten years the work which the Conference had itself begun. This committee has already appointed several committees on particular subjects; one of great importance is on "Educational Conditions in Non-Christian Lands." Such men as Dr. John F. Goucher, of the Woman's College, Baltimore; Dr. George Washburn, ex-President of Robert College; Prof. E. O. Brown, of Vanderbilt University; and Prof. Edward C. Moore, of Hartford University, are members of this committee. Dr. Goucher has already sailed from San Francisco, and will devote nearly a year to the study of the educational work in the Far East. Sir Andrew Fraser is to give special attention to the study of India and Africa. These and other questions relating to world |