Sir Henry Mortimer Durand, at one time ambassador of Great Britain to
the United States, gave the following advice to missionaries before the
Fifth International Convention of the Student Volunteer Movement, held
at Nashville, in 1906:
I beg you to consider earnestly before you go whether you are
really fitted for the task before you. Do not be misled by love
of excitement or adventure, or by the glamour of the East. It
has a wonderful glamour, and any man of thought and feeling
who has been out there will “hear the East a-calling” for many
a year. But a great part of a missionary’s work, as indeed a
great part of the work of every profession, is hard drudgery.
To master an Oriental language, as you must master it if you
are to be of any use, is itself a labor of years. Judson used
often to sit and study his Burmese for twelve hours out of the
twenty-four, and, as I have said, it took him twenty-seven years
to complete his translation of the Bible. That is the kind of
toil you must be ready to face. I once saw a missionary attempt
to convert an Afghan. His manner of doing so was to walk up to
the Afghan on the road and say in very bad Persian, which was
not really the Afghan’s language, “Christ is the Son of God.” He
repeated the remark twice, receiving each time a monosyllabic
answer, and then he sheered off, having apparently no more
Persian at his command. This is the sort of thing which causes
the enemy to blaspheme. And remember Judson’s warning. Do not
be tempted to spiritual pride. Do not stand aloof and condemn
the diplomatist, or the administrator, or the soldier, because
their lives and their views are not what yours are. They, too,
know some things--some things which you can not know--and they,
too, are trying to do their duty. Above all, never look down on
the soldier. He may be rough and reckless at times, but he is
always ready to lay down his life for his country, and all good
missionaries should honor the soldier’s uniform.
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