# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1947_S862
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

362 MISSIONS

sure, the term “peace” is only a relative term when it is applied
to some of the countries of the Orient. Still it is true that the
conditions under which we can now prosecute our Foreign Mission
enterprise are much different and more favorable than they were
during the time of the World War. Thus with the suspension of
armed resistance on the part of the Japanese it was possible for
us to return to areas in China from which we had been forced by
the Japanese occupation. We could also begin work in other fields
that were closed during the war. We could devote ourselves to
rehabilitation in many areas. And it was possible to initiate a vig-
orous forward march in other fields, not to speak of our being
able now to open work in other countries, such as the Philippine
Islands, where it had not been possible to inaugurate church work
during the time of the war.

Let us thank God that we came out of the war as well as we
did with reference to Foreign Mission work, and let us now pray
the Lord to send laborers into His harvest and to embue us with
consecration and courage to go forward with an intensified and
expanded foreign mission program. Surely, nothing else is com-
patible with Synod’s Centennial!

As to India, we were privileged to celebrate the fiftieth anni-
versary of the start of our work in that great country, on Janu-
ary 23, 1945. Anniversary celebrations were arranged throughout
our India mission field, and these were used to set in motion
a determined effort to enlist the members of the Church in India
in personal mission work. The gathering of a sizable thankoffering
was also part of this anniversary celebration. The work in India
has gone forward with steady progress, although with an absence
of any spectacular developments. Emphasis was placed upon the
building up of an indigenous Church and successive steps to train
the members of the Church in India to recognize their responsibility
for the support and spreading of the Gospel and to have them meet
these responsibilities. A very significant factor in that connection
is the increase in the number of Indian pastors. There are at least
twice as many Indian pastors at work today as were on our lists
three years ago, and our seminaries are systematically training and
graduating new numbers of men well qualified to serve as teachers
or pastors in India.

As another step in the development of the India Church the
work in many respects is being carried on through committees
made up of equal numbers of Indian pastors or laymen and mis-
sionaries. More and more congregations are placed upon a budget
system by which they each year conduct a campaign for pledges
in their own midst, the congregation then petitioning for subsidy
if that is needed, and the congregation receiving and managing