This Week in Texas Methodist History March 28

 

 

Advocate Reports on Missionaries in War Zones, April 1942

 

 

Texas Methodist congregations have treasured personal relationships with foreign missionaries.  Although the bulk of missionary support came from a general fund administered by the Board of Missions, it was common for congregations to adopt a particular missionary and provide special support for a particular mission.  Sometimes the missionary had grown up in the church or had some special relationship with the community.   When the missionary returned to the United States on furlough, he or she would be certain to spend time in the sponsoring church.  I remember furloughed missionaries speaking in the attire of their assigned countries and displaying cultural and artistic objects of the mission to which they were assigned.

 

Because so many congregations had a direct relationship with foreign missionaries, they were naturally concerned about missionaries in war zones.

 

In early April, 1942, the Advocate tried to inform its readers about what was going on with missionaries in the war zones.  One should remember that the United States had entered the war only months earlier, but in both Asia and Europe the war had been raging for years. 

 

Life had not been easy for American missionaries in war zones even before Pearl Harbor.  Although as American citizens, their rights as neutrals should have been protected, the viciousness of the Nazi and Japanese occupying forces often prevailed over neutral rights. 

 

The Twentieth Century, and especially World War II,  had brought a new word to the lexicon---totalitarianism.   Previous dictatorships had merely demanded obedience, but the Nazis demanded total control over every aspect of life, including religion.    

 

Previous posts on this blog have considered restriction of Methodist mission activities in both China and Czechoslovakia.  Some missionaries were interned, church schools and hospitals were seized, and evangelism was banned. 

 

Here is the status report as of April 1942

 

Japan and Korea (remember that Korea had been seized by Japan earlier and renamed Chosen)

All of the missionaries had been withdrawn before Pearl Harbor and reassigned.  1 to the Philippines,  7 to Latin America, 5 to India, 2 to Malaysia, 1 to Africa, and 22 to Korean and Japanese congregations in Hawaii and the mainland U.S.

 

Occupied China   There were 29 missionaries and 2 dependent children in the missions.  Communication with them was not possible. 

 

Free China   There were 48 missionaries and 12 dependent children working without restriction on their activities.

 

 

Philippines—there were still 12 missionaries and 9 dependent children still working on Luzon.

 

Malaysia (including Sumatra)  Bishop Lee and 35 missionaries were still in country.  Five dependent children had been evacuated to India.

 

 There were still 10 missionaries in Europe.  One was in a German prisoner of war camp.  2 were in Poland, 1 in Bulgaria,  2 in Vichy France, 2 in Belgium, 2 in England, and 3 in Czechoslovakia. 

 

One should note that these are the missionaries sent by the Board of Missions.  The Woman’s Division of Christian Service also sent missionaries.  Reports from them will follow.