The fact that this terse expression has become trite does not invalidate its significance, and it is apposite to the situation in many mission fields today. It takes on added significance when we realize, if we do, that time is running out on us and that the coming decade may well decide the issues of our world missionary program. Africa, or at least part of it, is the one continent that is still adolescent in development, and as such, offers the best opportunity for Christian missionary work.

Victory In A Pagan Land

It is computed that there are some four million Roman Catholic and two million Protestant adherents in the Belgian Congo today. Even allowing for a certain enthusiastic exaggeration, the two faiths could probably number, at least, four million sympathizers. That is over 30 per cent of the total population, surely an amazing success in a land and among a people who were entirely pagan eighty years ago, and where the Christian message was quite unknown.

It may be said, with some degree of truth, that the missions went in for quantity at the expense of quality, and that in the early days of missionary work their eagerness to break the crust of pagan life inclined missionaries to impose the minimum of conditions on those brave enough to break away from stark heathenism. Yet, as the impact of the Christian truth made a breach in the walls of pagan thought and custom, it became necessary to hold up a standard for Christian aspirants that exceeded by far that in the home church of which the missionary was a representative.

In the Belgian Congo, for instance, the Congolese did not consider lying a sin. Rather, it was regarded merely as a defensive measure adopted until one could be sure he could somehow wriggle out of the possible consequences of any given predicament. Often a convert would tell a lie when the truth would have served him better, simply because he was faced with an unknown situation, and he was conscious of the fact that he could always tell the truth as a last resort. The evil consequences of drunkenness made abstinence a necessary qualification for entry into the church, and this was not easy in a land where native brews were considered food and drink.

Animism, with its degrading and cruel practices and customs, was woven into the very warp and woof of native life, and was the most difficult of all evils to overcome. What missionary has not been bitterly disappointed and chagrined to discover among those he nurtured in the faith some relapse into pagan belief?

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It could also be said that Christianity was a novelty, that the missionaries brought in strange and interesting articles, such as the victrola, the sewing machine, even an organ or piano, and that these enticed the native into taking a chance by breaking away from that which had previously been inviolable, his pagan way of life.

As schools and hosiptals developed in the missionary program, the need for trained workmen became acute. This added incentive to break away from the old things appealed to many. Yet it was as true in these early days of missionary effort as it was in the early days of history that the “spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters,” and in the ranks of those who came forward was to be found the nucleus of a new order.

Competition For The Spirit

Although Christianity stands today on its own intrinsic worth, many competitors have appeared on the scene.

The lure of wealth is one of these. One former pastor received $40,000 for his yearly crop of coffee; as a pastor he had received $6.00 a month. There is position (fame on a lesser scale); a former school clerk of the mission is flown some 1,200 miles by plane and lodged in the best hotel in the capital at government expense, in order that he may attend the Governor-General’s Council, of which he is a member. One might also mention entertainment; athletes and theatrical artists are brought from Europe and America to instruct and develop the Congolese in these arts and pastimes. Then there is government education. Until the last few years all education was directed by missionaries. Now government schools have been created throughout the Congo, up to and including the university standard, and these appeal to the Congolese.

Finally, one might mention distraction. I call it distraction in the French sense of the word, while keeping in mind the English, for one can hardly call it entertainment or amusement; it is neither. Cheap drinking bars have sprung up, crowded at night where jazz, that primitive African harmony, comes back to its home to roost after having clothed itself with the garments of civilization. It blares forth from loudspeakers, sometimes in the native dialect, and is often obscene. It even mocks the church, by using hymn tunes and putting words of its own to the music. As one travels down the main artery in the native city, it is impossible to reconcile this with the scene of several decades ago, or even with the unsophisticated village of the “hill country.”

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Yet the large cities are the mecca of the young boys and girls who are now attending our schools in the interior. Few among the youth think of spending their lives in the drudgery of trudging out to the field or the plantation in the early morning, laboring all day, and then returning at dusk to the primitive habitation and monotonous life of the village. The cities call to them. Returning visitors paint a glowing scene of life in the metropolis, and the tale loses nothing in the telling. The young boy or girl is entranced with the prospect of a glittering life, which holds so much of novelty and diversity, and so the trend to the large centers continues. This means that where the orientation of missionary plans was formerly directed to the “hill” village (as the Congolese call the villages distinct from the nontribal centers), the emphasis is gradually turning to the large commercial and industrial centers. It is estimated that about 10 per cent of the Congo population is concentrated in the larger towns and that most of the brighter students in school, the future leaders of the Congo, are looking eagerly to these places for their future life. Protestant missions have been slow, or reluctant, to admit that the center of emphasis has changed, and that, while the Christian work in the “hill” villages must be maintained, the towns afford opportunities of concentrated work that are unique in Congo.

The Roman Catholic Church has been wiser, and Leopoldville today counts several hundred of their missionaries. The Protestant missions, who have a ratio of about one to three with Roman Catholic missions throughout the whole Colony, have but a score of their workers there. Most of these are engaged in secretarial or cooperative enterprises that have little, if any direct touch with Congolese life.

Crucial Moment In Missions

This may well be the crucial moment for Protestant missions, for it is easy for these bright young men and girls to drift away from the church amidst the temptations of the bright lights. And a new way of life adopted in these surroundings may be quite difficult to change.

The moment is crucial, also, for transferring power to the indigenous church. The fledgling should, if necessary, be pushed out of the nest into trying his wings, for it is the experience of most missionaries that the Congolese, as a group and even as individuals, are reluctant to accept responsibility. The day is ripe for placing the Congolese on the same level of ecclesiastical responsibility as he has attained in government and commercial circles. The church cannot afford to drag behind secular and mundane forces in its efforts to build an indigenous and autonomous Christian institution, the Church of Christ in Congo.

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Yet, even as the younger nations of the world today look for help, in counsel and finance, to the older ones, it is no less true that this situation exists in the missionary program. The home churches, if they would ultimately avoid the reproach of “too little and too late” must gain a new understanding of the church’s program “to make disciples of all nations.”

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, John Morrison served in World War I with British forces in France and East Africa. For more than 30 years he has been in the Belgian Congo as a missionary of the Presbyterian Church in the U. S., being presently in charge of the new strategic work of that mission in Leopoldville.

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