Board to know that for the last two years not a quarter has passed but what money enough has been raised in the State during the quarter to pay our proportion of all expenses and missionaries' salaries. But how has this been done? By the noble sacrifices of our missionaries and the Baptists of the State, going without many of the necessaries of life in order that the Lord's work might not suffer. We are compelled to do the same amount of missionary work as our Pedobaptist friends, with only onehalf of the appropriation they receive for the same work. The year has been full of labor, hopes and fears. We cannot give a record of the many trials, heartaches and sacrifices, as well as the triumphs and achievements of our missionaries during the year. We have in Colorado 83 churches, with a total membership of 6,500; 18 of these churches have been pastorless during the year, because they were not able to pay a pastor and the Board had no money to aid them. We have 26 church organizations in the State that are houseless; 47 missionaries have been employed during the year, and they have occupied 65 different fields of labor; at present 26 churches are being aided by the Home Mission Society, but nearly every church in Colorado at some time in its history has received aid, and owes its existence to day to the aid rendered by this parent society. I will only give three items regarding the General Missionary's work: he has during the year delivered on an average over one sermon or public address for every other day, written over 10 letters and postal cards a day, and averaged over 86 miles travel a day, far enough to go around the world and 2,764 miles on a second trip. Six new churches have been organized with a membership of 106. One new church building has been constructed, and efforts are being made to erect others. SPIRITUAL ACTIVITY. The Lord has most marvelously blessed the work and the workers spiritually; nearly all our churches at some time during the year have been engaged in special meetings which have resulted in a large number of conversions. Some of the churches have had a revival lasting throughout the year. The baptisms last year have been more than double that of any other. WHAT ABOUT THE FUTURE? This is the great problem before us now: with eighteen pastorless churches and over two hun dred towns in the State without any kind of a church organization, and no preaching except by a Catholic priest, and many new fields of promise opening up before us, how are we to give them the truth? We are overburdened now, with our heavy debt and the pressure brought to bear upon us to raise the amount necessary to meet our proportion of missionaries' salaries. We do not need more men, but we do need money to carry forward this work. Oh that God would put it into the hearts of some of His dear people who have the means to assist us in this great time of need! The wealth in Colorado is not in the hands of the Baptists. noble, sacrificing band. cry and send the help needed. They are poor, but a May God hear their NEW MEXICO. The work in New Mexico has not been as promising as in Colorado. The natives are very hard to reach with the Gospel, they are so full of Catholicism, yet we have made some advancement. Brother Worth has taken hold. of the work at Albuquerque with earnestness, and it is telling for the Master. Brother Read, at Eddy, is not only a valuable acquisition to that church, but a help to the valley. The work at Roswell and in the mountain townsis in a very prosperous condition. We have some valuable and earnest workers in New Mexico, and the next year will tell more for Christ than any year in its history. WASHINGTON, BRITISH COLUMBIA AND NORTHERN IDAHO. REV. D. D. PROPER, SEATTLE, WASH., GENERAL MISSIONARY. In the territory occupied by the Northwest and Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho Conventions, there are 124 churches, with a membership of 6,740. Of this number, 9 churches, with 954 members, are in British Columbia, and 11 churches, with 342 members, in Northern Idaho, which leaves 104. churches, with 4,444 members, in Washington. Within the bounds of these Conventions there are about one-half million of people, scattered over nearly one hundred thousand square miles of land. are During the year ending March 31st, 1895, 47 missionaries have been under appointment, for the whole or part of the time, with 41 in service at the end of the year. Four new churches have been organized and five houses of worship built, or bought. Two more are in sation for this depressing time is the heroic The needs of this great new field are increasing all the time. Great tracts of the arid lands are being brought into cultivation through irrigation, and the outlook is for a still greater development in this line in the near future. In Northern Idaho, the "Nez Perce" Indian reservation, with over one-half million acres of good, choice land, will soon be opened to settlers. There is a large amount of good land, both in Washington and British Columbia, which will in the near future attract a large immigration. Northwest coast has been unparalleled in the history of the country. The reaction from the "boom" times has been terrific and, very naturally, the hard times have more seriously affected this region than the older settled places, where there were more accumulated resources to draw upon. Many of our brethren, supposed to be wealthy four years ago, have lost the most of their property through the foreclosure of mortgages. A great many of those formerly living in good circumstances have had a hard struggle for the necessaries of life. And largely because of these terrible times, there have been frequent removals of members, greatly weakening the churches and in some cases prostrating them altogether. Owing to the inability of the churches to sustain pastors, and other causes, there have been frequent changes in the pastorates. On one part of the field one-half of the pastors changed places during one year. Several pastors have left the State and it is utterly impossible for the churches to give adequate salaries for the men needed. Quite a number of the churches incurred large debts in good times, which they now have to pay in hard times. One compen We have one district missionary giving his entire time in each one of the Conventions to the resuscitation of dormant interests and the opening up of new fields. Our great need is for money to support more pastors. In closing, I must not forget to record our gratitude to the Society for extending the field of Rev. H. C. Woods, D.D., General Superintendent of Missions, to include our State. His presence and counsels have been of great value to our work. OREGON. MISSIONARY. GENERAL Having come into this work so recently, it is difficult for me to make as complete a report as I could wish. Oregon has an area nearly equal to that of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland combined, with a population of about 375,000. Of these, 30,000 are Scandinavians and 6,000 are Chinese. There are 130 churches, with a membership of 7.365. Of these, 78 churches and 5,565 members compose the Oregon Baptist State Convention; 40 churches and 1,288 members belong to the North Pacific Coast Convention (Landmarkers); 3 churches and 42 members belong to the Idaho Association; 4 churches and 230 members are German. There are 2 Swedish churches with 100 members. Only 12 churches are able to sustain pastors for full time; 56 churches are houseless. About 90 of our churches have been aided in past years in the support of pastors or in building houses. There are 85 Sunday-schools with 712 officers and teachers, and 6,297 pupils. During the past year we have erected eight houses of worship, at an aggregate cost of $203.000. The Home Mission Society has aided by gift and loan with about $2,400; 29 missionaries have received aid during the year; 18 are now under appointment. Over $6,267 has been expended on the field during the year, exclusive of the Chinese work. The needs of the State are union of forces, greater spirituality, four District Missionaries, and better financial conditions, the hard times having made collections well-nigh impossible. NORTHERN AND CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. REV. W. H. LATOURETTE, OAKLAND, CAL., GENERAL MISSIONARY. The number of churches is 145, with approximately 10,000 members (a net gain of 1,000 for the year) and 8,000 Sunday-school pupils. The sum of $8,986. 16 has been appropriated in support of 24 missionaries, as against $9,190.85 and 25 missionaries for the year next preceding. The missionaries labored 917 weeks; preached 2,720 sermons; prayer-meetings, 1,570; baptisms, 149; received otherwise, 181; members, 1,113; Sunday-school pupils, 1,400. By a readjustment of appointments we now have for the first time a district missionary for the Dano-Norwegians and also one for the colored people. Pastorless churches, 25; houseless, 44. Two edifices were built during the year, the Society aiding both in a total of $600; without this help they would not have been built. It is difficult to overestimate the value of the Society's edifice work. Fifteen of the houseless churches could build this year if assured of aid. Ten of these churches are located in important centres where there is now no edifice of any denomination. The greatest present need in this department is an edifice for the Swede Church of San Francisco; for a lot and a house, $12,000 will be essential. Owing to hard times, edifice work has generally been suspended, but the outlook is now more promising. The visit of the Society's Field Secretary, Rev. H. L. Morehouse, D.D., was exceedingly helpful, and good results therefrom will continue to accrue to the work. During the year there has been a most gratifying increase of interest in Home Mission work. Pastors and churches manifest a sense of individual responsibility hitherto unobserved. The effect of the general financial depression has been severe, increasing the needs while reducing collections, in many instances 75 per cent. These difficulties were further aggravated on about half our Convention field by a total failure of the cereal crops. These causes chiefly have compelled nearly half the churches to seek new pastoral relations, thus entailing much extra district missionary labor in grouping such churches into new and larger pastoral circuits. The greatest unsupplied need of workers is in our rural sections. Nearly one thousand country school districts are without the Gospel from any denomination. Consecrated and competent laymen or ministers are wanted who will settle as farmers or schoolteachers in these localities and become permanent residents, devoting their Sundays, without aid from the Society, to Christian work in the surrounding schoolhouses. Thousands of souls now utterly neglected can thus be reached. With a proper supply of this need, our aggregate church membership could be doubled during the next two years. We have many such workers already, but not one-tenth as many as are needed. Yet those who do not succeed well elsewhere in this kind of work may surely count on failure here. The difficulties are all but insurmountable. New and inviting fields are constantly opening to us, yet we are able to enter only a few of them. A new railroad of three hundred miles will be built this summer through the largest valley (San Joaquin) of our State. Forty or fifty new villages along the line will demand our attention if we are to be the first denomination on the field. San Francisco (population 340,000) is our unsolved problem. The needs and the difficulties are beyond description. It is still true, as in former years, that there is no lack of competent ministers for California churches. There are not churches enough for one-fifth of those who desire to come. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AND ARIZONA. REV. W. W. TINKER, LOS ANGELES, CAL., GENERAL MISSIONARY. During the past year twenty-two missionaries have labored in Southern California, serving twenty-six churches and out-stations. Five church edifices have been erected and are in progress. The growth in numbers has not been marked, but the solidifying of church interests and work is gratifying. Special effort is now being made to occupy the important points in the city of Los Angeles, which has at present a population of 80,000 and is rapidly increasing. The movement to build a new railroad through the San Joaquin Valley and the completion of the Coast Line of the Southern Pacific are opening up new fields that will demand men and means during the coming year. The population of these nine counties is now 300,000 and increasing. Every consideration urges us on to keep up with this growth. There are at present 58 churches, with an approximate membership of 5,000. Of these, 8 are pastorless and 8 have no houses of worship. Our greatest need in the immediate future is to occupy the new towns springing up along the new lines of railroad, and the other towns that have been neglected heretofore and are now approaching a population that will warrant our entering them. The financial depression of the past year and the serious drought in many parts of this field have greatly retarded the work, and it is with profound gratitude to God that many of the important points have not had to be abandoned. The visit of Dr. Morehouse to this section was a great blessing and encouraged our people most helpfully. The Arizona field presents features of increasing interest and importance. As a result of the conference of Drs. Morehouse and Woods, the work at Tucson has been revived. The church has been reorganized for active service and the incoming of some earnest workers has greatly encouraged the little band that has waited so long for help. The house has been overhauled and beautified and somewhat remodeled, and it is hoped that ere these lines reach the eye of the reader a pastor will be on the field. Rev. Joseph Smale, though greatly bereaved in the loss of his young wife, continues to do faithful service at Prescott. Rev. A. B. Tomlinson is at Tempe and also preaches at Mesa. This latter place should by all means have a pastor for themselves. | Rev. W. J. Melton continues to do pioneer work at the places of his appointment. Other fields not directly under the Society are prospering. Grateful acknowledgment is made of the excellent work done by Rev. E. G. Wheeler, in connection with his chapel car, "Emmanuel." His service in the reorganization of the church and the organization of the Sunday school at Tucson and at other points in Arizona, as well as Southern California, will be long felt in the results of the work. WEST VIRGINIA. REV. W. E. POWELL, PARKERSBURG, W. VA., Mission work in West Virginia has been prosecuted during the last year under many and very discouraging circumstances. 1. The stagnation of business and financial depression has seriously affected every part of the State, and also every kind of work. 2. The most intense and prolonged drought ever known in this State prevailed last year, and the crops were very light as a whole, and in many large districts a complete failure. 3. The unusually long and intensely cold winter, following the loss of crops, has brought such a state of absolute want as has never been known before; suffering for want of food, clothing, and fuel has been most distressing. But there has been unusual activity among our churches, pastors, and missionaries, and the spiritual harvest has been most refreshing and large. We have now over 600 Baptist churches in this State, with nearly 50,000 members, about 400 Sunday-schools, and about 40,000 pupils. New churches are being constantly organized, and houses are being built. About twenty churches were dedicated last year, and about the same number will be dedicated this year. The number of missionaries employed during the year by the American Baptist Home Mission Society was seven. The total amount of money expended by the State Mission Board and the Home Mission Society during the last year was about $5,300. The demands of the field were never so great and pressing as at this time; at least one hundred inviting fields in towns, villages, and country places are now ready for the missionary, chapel, and church organizations. The kindly assistance of the Home Mission Society is much appreciated. THE INDIANS. REV. J. S. MURROW, D.D., ATOKA, IND. TER., I shall endeavor in this annual report to comply with your request to give "more exact information regarding our Indian work than we have ever published-facts, comprehensive and classified." It has been difficult to secure facts and figures purely Indian. There are about 300 white and Indian Baptist churches in Indian Territory, and in many of them whites and Indians are greatly intermixed. To gather out from these purely Indian statistics, and especially money contributed by Indian members, is very difficult. Aided by the district missionaries, I have taken much pains to secure facts, and believe the following figures to be reliable except as indicated otherwise : There are 17 Associations in Indian Territory-9 white, 4 Negro, and 4 which may be regarded as distinctively Indian. There are whites, however, belonging to the churches in the Indian Associations, and Indians connected with churches in white Associations. Of these 17 Associations 10 compose the Territorial Baptist Convention, and sustain very cordial relations to it. Of these 10, 7 are white and 3 Indian. Of the other 3 white and Indian Associations, I white and 1 In ian hold themselves independent of any Convention. One white Association is a constituent member of the General Association of Western Arkansas. I The 4 Associations composed of Negroes are organized into a Convention of their own. regret to say that there is friction between the adherents of the General Association of Western Arkansas, which claims jurisdiction over the Indian Territory, and those of the Territorial Convention. This friction is on the line of sectionalism. One good Indian woman, a staunch Baptist, was astonished to learn that there are Baptists north of God and Baptists south of God. The war is over, and Baptists should not allow sectional prejudices to affect their Christian or church fellowship nor their work for Christ, especially in this mission field. CHEROKEES. The Cherokee Association is almost wholly Indian, there being only 156 whites belonging to the 19 churches composing the body. Many of the churches have not a single white member. Churches, 19; stations, 25; ordained ministers, 12; members, 1,325; Sundayschools, 15; pupils 472; houses of worship, 22; money raised for missionary work (estimated), $200. Some of the churches are very large, having over 200 members and, from 2 to 7 out-stations, several of which stations have excellent houses of worship. Five churches have no house of worship. The memories of Revs. Evan and John B. Jones and Daniel Rogers are hallowed among the Cherokees. Rev. B. F. Stamps has recently been appointed district missionary. He is a capable man, and has taken hold of his work with enthusiasm. CHOCTAWS AND CHICKASAWS. In many of the churches composing the Choctaw and Chickasaw Association the Indians and whites are largely mixed. Rev. W. A. Treadwell is a very active and efficient district missionary. He has taken great pains to secure reliable Indian statistics, which are as follows: Churches, 20; stations, 19; ordained ministers, 14; members, 873; Sunday-schools, 7; pupils, 281; houses of worship, frame 9, log 4, total 13; 7 churches have no house of worship; money contributed for missionary purposes (estimated), $125. There are vast destitute regions thickly populated with fullblood Indians in the Choctaw Nation. MUSKOGEES, OR CREEKS. It has been impossible this year to secure accurate statistics from this tribe. Their Association is not constituent to our Territorial Convention; their minutes are inaccurate; there has been no district missionary among them. From Rev. William McComb, who is one of the best-informed of their native ministers, and from others, I have obtained the following estimated facts: Churches, 20; stations, 15; ordained ministers, 20; members, 1,500; Sunday-schools, 2; pupils, 135; money raised for missionary purposes (estimated), $200. A wise, active man would do great good as district missionary in the Muskogee Nation. It is emphatically Baptist ground, and with proper assistance the churches would develop into very useful and liberal bodies. There are some very able native preachers in this nation. SEMINOLES. The following figures may be relied upon: Churches, 6; stations, 4; ordained ministers, 8; members, 250; Sunday-school, at the Emahaka Mission, 1; pupils, 100; houses of worship, 4; money raised for missions, chiefly at the mission school, $100. There are very few whites connected with the churches in the Muskogee and Seminole Nations. DELAWARES. The Delaware Association is composed of churches in which Indians and whites are largely intermixed. The following are the Indian statistics: Churches, 4; stations, 4; ordained ministers, 2; members, 103; houses of worship, 3; money raised (estimated), $400. |