It was said of the late
Keith Falconer, by one of his instructors, that he approached the world
of ideas as great observers approach the world of nature—with wonder,
with reverence, and with humility. In some such spirit must the pastor
approach the study of missions.—A. Woodruff Halsey.
WHEN Andrew Murray commenced his ministry in South Africa in 1848 the
modern missionary era was half a century old. In the course of those
fifty years some twelve or fourteen missionary societies had established
themselves at the Cape. Missionary travellers, on their journeys back
and forward between the coast and the interior, were frequent visitors
at Graaff-Reinet, and their visits stimulated in the children of the
manse that interest in mission work which had been already kindled by
their parents. Of this deep interest we have proof in Andrew Murray’s
letters to the home circle from Scotland and Holland, and in the
establishment of the Eltheto Society, in which he and his brother John
took so prominent a part. Even during the strenuous years at
Bloemfontein, when his strength was severely taxed in the arduous task
of building up a Church among the early pioneers, his interest in
missions and his active sympathy with missionaries of all denominations
never slackened.
When the Synod of 1857 took the bold step of deciding to commence its
own “ foreign mission,” Andrew Murray became a member of the Committee
appointed to launch the new undertaking, and he remained a member of
that Committee re-constituted in 1903 as the General Mission
Committee—until his retirement in 1906. He thus continued for half a
century to guide the mission policy of the D. R. Church, while during
almost the whole of that period his two colleagues on the original
board, J. H. Neethling and N. J. Hofmeyr, shared the burden of
administration and responsibility. His journey to the Transvaal in 1862,
in search of spheres of work for Messrs. Gonin and McKidd has been
described in an earlier chapter.1 But though the first missionaries were
appointed and duly assigned to their respective fields of labour, the
foreign missionary enterprise of the Church remained for many years a
plant of slow growth. The dearth of ministers for European congregations
and the lack of a special training institution for missionaries were
retarding influences. The latter Institution came into being in 1877,
but for a long time it was barely able to cope with the urgent needs of
the congregations of the Home Mission, and no men were available for the
foreign field.
A more vigorous life began to stir in the Foreign Mission of the D. R.
Church during the ninth decade of the last century. This was largely due
to two causes—the opening of fresh fields in Nyasaland and in
Mashonaland, to which we shall presently advert, and the fact that
ministers became more actively interested in missions, and that the sons
of ministers came forward in larger numbers to offer themselves for
service in new and distant fields. During the thirty years between 1886
and 1916, out of a total of some seventy who enlisted, no less than
twenty-one young men, sons of ministers and missionaries, entered the
foreign mission field, and of this number fifteen belonged to the Murray
family. Of Andrew Murray’s own children his second daughter, Mary, and
his sons John and Charles gave themselves to mission work, and were
stationed in Bechuanaland, the Transvaal and Nyasaland respectively.
From a missionary point of view the year 1886 was a notable one in the
history of the D. R. Church, because of the remarkable increase of
interest in missions on the part of the ministers of the Church. The
Rev. Samuel P. Helm, who for four years had been the devoted and beloved
pastor of the congregation at Britstown, resigned his charge in order to
proceed to the Zoutpansberg as missionary. Andrew C. Murray, Mr.
Murray’s nephew, a student who had just completed his course of studies
at the Stellenbosch Theological Seminary, announced his intention of
engaging in mission work, preferably in a distant and unoccupied field.
To Mr. Murray’s initiative was due the erection, on the nth November,
1886, of the Ministers’ Mission Union (Predikanten Zending Vereeniging),
the members of which undertook to contribute from their own purses sums
varying from £5 to £20 per annum. Of this Union Mr. Murray was the
Ufelong chairman, and Rev. G. F. Marais the first secretary. The
original membership consisted of forty brethren, who promised £300 in
annual contributions. The establishment of the Ministers’ Mission Union
marks the inauguration of a new and vigorous era in the history of D. R.
Church missions.
The Executive Committee of this Union accepted the services of Andrew C.
Murray, who after a brief course of medicine at Edinburgh University,
was ready to start for the field in 1888. The question now arose as to
the sphere of work to which he should be allocated : should it be an old
one or a new, should it be near or distant? The Executive instituted
enquiries in various directions, asking also the advice of the Rev.
Stefanus Hofmeyr, who had already fulfilled more than twenty years of
service as missionary in the Zoutpansberg, as to the possibility of new
openings in the Transvaal. Its findings are summed up in a report which
possesses considerable historical interest—
REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE MINISTERS’ MISSION UNION.
The Committee met at Wellington on Tuesday the 19th July, and on its
behalf the undersigned desire to put you in possession of the following
facts—
The account current was produced, from which it appeared that fifty-two
ministers had promised an amount aggregating ^360, while several others
had given the promise of co-operation, without specifying the amount of
their aid.
The Committee was of opinion that it is time to suggest to the members
of the Union a possible sphere of work. We had before us a map of the
Transvaal with the openings in that territory, and also a map of the
country to the west of Lake Nyasa, where a field of labour is offered us
by the Free Church of Scotland. Note was made, too, of a letter from the
theological candidate Andrew Murray, Charles’ son, who is now further
preparing himself in Edinburgh for mission work, in which he gives
expression to his readiness to undertake the work on Lake Nyasa.
There was much that could be urged in favour of a sphere of work in the
Transvaal. Our Mission there has need of reinforcement. A missionary
sent out by our Ministers’ Union would find great support in the
brethren now working there, and would in turn be able to render them
valuable assistance. It is not desirable to divide or weaken our powers,
or to commence work at distant points without the prospect of being able
to prosecute it effectively. In spite of these considerations, however,
the Executive Committee has decided to recommend that our Union shall
undertake work on the shores of Lake Nyasa, and for the following
reasons—
1. The extent of the field.—.The sphere offered us by the Free Church is
hundreds of miles in extent. From Bandawe, a station of the Free Church
on the west coast of the Lake, it is a distance of three hundred miles
westward to Lake Bangweolo, from where it is two hundred and fifty more
to Makuru, the station of Mr. Araot—the first mission one reaches after
travelling more than five hundred miles. In the Transvaal, on the other
hand, the openings are few. The sphere of work at Molep, where Brother
Helm will perhaps be stationed, contains no more than 3,000 souls, and
every one of these can, if so minded, hear the Word of God from native
evangelists. In the country of Malitzi evangelists are also at work,
likewise a German missionary, while the station of Brother Hofmeyr is
not far ofi. The Gospel is by no means beyond their reach. But on the
shores of Lake Nyasa we should participate in the great work of
preaching Christ to those who have never heard of Him.
2. The arousal of greater interest.—Our congregations are tolerably well
acquainted with the particulars of mission work in the Transvaal, while
a mission undertaken at such a distance will bring us into contact with
a new heathenism, wholly outside the influence of Christianity. New
difficulties will arise. The whole work will have to be arranged upon a
new scale, and we shall learn how great the kingdom of Satan is, and how
small in proportion is the work which is being done for the Kingdom of
God. Our views will be enlarged as to the extent of the need and the
nature of the work that must be undertaken. This must of necessity have
a beneficial effect upon our interest, our enthusiasm, our prayers and
our faith.
3. The remarkable opening.—We should not venture to recommend that a
single missionary be sent to a new sphere of work situated at such a
distance, were it not that the Free Church of Scotland is prepared to
receive him as a brother in the midst of its missionaries, as though he
were one of them. There he would be our missionary, and at the same time
enjoy the support and the advice of the brethren around him. Further
arrangements would be made only after we have decided to enter into
relations with the Free Church. In his journey to his new field, too,
our missionary would have the advantage of the steamers and other means
of communication which the Scotch Mission at the Lake employs.
To the opportunity which thus offers in the providence of God must be
added the fact that our young brother feels a strong desire towards this
work and offers himself for it. Should we decide that it is advisable to
send two men to the Transvaal first, it may happen that we shall not be
able to find anyone later on who would be willing to proceed to the
distant field. Or the field may have been occupied by some other body,
and we should be too late, and perhaps not soon find so suitable an
opening for our weak forces. We are of opinion that we could very well
send an artisan missionary with our brother, in order to assist him on
his station and afford him the needful companionship.
The Committee requests each member of the Union to take this matter into
prayerful consideration. Let us ask the Lord to give us a wise and
understanding heart in this question, that we may know His will and have
faith and strength to follow where He leads.
On behalf of the Committee,
Andrew Murray, Chairman.
G. F. Marais, Secretary
No objection was raised by the members of the Ministers’ Mission Union
to the proposals put forth by the Committee, and A. C. Murray duly
sailed for the Central African field in the course of 1888. He was
joined in the foUowing year by T. C. B. Vlok, and these two pioneers,
who established themselves on the west coast of Lake Nyasa, at a place
called Mvera, were the founders of the Nyasa Mission of the D. R.
Church, which has since become one of the most successful of African
missionary enterprises. Over the fortunes of this young mission Mr.
Murray watched with the closest and most prayerful interest. Almost
every suggestion of extension and improvement, in the early years at any
rate, came from his prescient and practical mind. At th& end of five
years the workers of this Mission totalled seven, and in 1899 their
number had risen to fourteen.
The latter year was one of crucial importance in the history of the
Nyasa Mission. Doors were opening on every hand. In whichever direction
they journeyed, the missionaries in their itinerations found the natives
eager to listen to the Word. Even at distant villages audiences of five
hundred were no uncommon sight. The schools were crowded with children
ready for instruction. The workers were in great danger of overtaxing
their strength in their efforts to cope with the rapid expansion of the
work. A. C. Murray wrote to the Committee at home : “You have been
praying that God would open the door of the Word. That is no longer
necessary. There are so many open doors that we are thrown into a
condition of great perplexity.”
Mr. Murray instantly grasped the importance of this crisis and summoned
a meeting of the Committee, which was held according to custom in the
study of his home, Clairvaux, at Wellington. Much time was given to
prayer, and the situation in Nyasaland was then carefully reviewed. The
necessity for an immediate increase in the number of the staff was
patent to all, and the question was really one of men and means. At Mr.
Murray’s instance a circular of the following import was drawn up and
despatched to all supporters of the Mission—
To Friends and Supporters of the Nyasaland Mission.
Dear Friends,—We are in special need of your assistance in prayer. The
call for more workers is most insistent. The need for more money to
continue and extend the work makes itself continually felt. Moreover,
there is greater need for powerful workings of the Spirit of God, since
congregations are being formed in the mission field.
We therefore invite you all to set aside a portion of your time, though
it were but half an hour, on Ascension Day, the nth of May, 1899, in
order to invoke the Lord’s assistance. Pray specially :
1. That the Lord through His Holy Spirit would so graciously work in the
hearts of His children that more labourers may offer themselves, and
that His people may come forward willingly in order to render the cause
powerful support in the spirit of true self-denial.
2. That the Lord would fill with His Holy Spirit all our missionaries,
with the evangelists, teachers and converts in Nyasaland.
3. That in the course of the next five years the work may be at least
doubled.
If we pray uprightly, asking at the same time what God would have us to
do, the blessing both for ourselves and for Nyasaland will be sure.
In the name of the Committee of the Ministers’ Mission Union,
Andrew Murray.
J. R. Albertyn.
J. du Plessis.
Not many months after the issue of this circular the Boer War broke out,
and the public mind was wholly engrossed by the struggle of the two
Republics to maintain their independence. The possibility seemed
exceedingly small that sufficient enthusiasm and support could be
elicited to send the needed reinforcements to Nyasaland. But the
unexpected happened. So far from diminishing, mission interest steadily
increased. Gifts of money, frequently from unsuspected sources, and
sometimes in comparatively large amounts, streamed into the treasury.
The sympathy which had been awakened in the hearts of the Dutch-speaking
public for those who were sufferers through the war, was extended to
every form of philanthropic activity, and not the least to the
missionary cause. And, best of all, young men of ability and true
devotion offered themselves in larger numbers for foreign work. At the
lapse of only four years from the issue of the circular of 1899, the
Committee tasted the joy of being able to report that the number of
workers had already doubled itself. During the troublous period between
1899 and 1903 no less than fourteen new labourers were despatched to
Nyasaland.
The work in that field had now assumed such dimensions that it was found
advisable to hand it over to the Synod, in order that it might be
brought into line with the undertakings of the Church in other spheres,
and controlled by a central committee. The appointment of this General
Mission Committee was the work of the Synod of 1903—the last in which
Andrew Murray took part. In the discussions and arrangements for the
creation of this central board, Mr. Murray took an active interest, and
when it was finally established he was appointed chairman, which
position he held until his retirement in 1906.
In 1908 the growing mission work of the Church was faced with a grave
deficit. The General Mission Committee issued a request for universal
prayer on Pentecost Sunday, the 7th June, and this request met with a
hearty response in almost all the congregations of the D. R. Church.
Preaching at Wellington on that day, Mr. Murray delivered a notable
sermon, based on Exodus xiv. 15, in which he impressed upon the
congregation the urgency of the crisis through which the foreign
missionary enterprise was passing. Three days later the Consistory of
Wellington resolved to invite delegates from far and near to attend a
Congress for the discussion of the issues which had been laid before
them. This Congress, which exercised a far-reaching influence, assembled
at Wellington in August, 1908. The interest was great; the addresses
were thoughtful and stirring; the results were momentous. A Laymen’s
Missionary Union was established, and its first Committee elected; the
sum of £700 was immediately subscribed towards wiping out the deficit;
and the delegates bound themselves to active efforts, not merely for the
speedy extinction of the debt, but for the collection of a further sum
of £2,500 for the extension of the work in the foreign field. Nor was
this all. The most remarkable result of the Congress was the
inauguration of what was called, not inaptly, a Missionary Crusade, in
the prosecution bf which representative ministers visited large centres
in every part of the country, and conducted congresses similar to that
at Wellington, for the purpose of kindling missionary zeal. Mr. Murray
was again the man from whom proceeded the fruitful suggestion of thus
widening the basis of missionary interest, and it was upon his shoulders
also that the task chiefly devolved of carrying the scheme to fruition.
The first series of congresses, held at places so far asunder as
Klerksdorp and Johannesburg in the Transvaal, Bloemfontein in the Free
State, and Cradock, Oudtshoorn and Beaufort West in the Cape Colony,
aroused widespread interest, and resulted in the complete extinction of
the debt. Congregations which had been indifferent or even antagonistic
towards mission work underwent in many cases a complete transformation,
and became ardent supporters of the cause. Not a few undertook to salary
their own representative in the field. Contributions were suddenly
doubled, trebled or quadrupled. Early in 1909 the General Mission
Secretary reported that £4,000 of the £5,000 which was originally aimed
at had already been found. When the campaign closed no less a sum than
£10,000 had been raised for missionary extension.
Mr. Murray was the only one of the deputies who took part in each of the
conferences held at the above-mentioned towns. One admirer wrote of him
: “ Our old father and leader, Mr. Murray, fills us continually with new
astonishment and admiration. He is sometimes weary but never
discouraged. The lion’s share of the work falls to him. And though his
strength has somewhat decreased, the old fire burns with undiminished
glow.” There was sufficient cause to be concerned about his health, for
he had already passed the fourscore years which in the prayer of Moses
the man of God are assigned to mankind “ by reason of strength.”
Nevertheless, he bore all the vicissitudes of travel, and all the strain
of six successive conferences, not only without apparent fatigue but
with positive zest, and when he alighted from the train at Wellington he
was in better health than when he had set out, and was already evolving
plans for a second series of conferences at centres as yet unvisited.
No estimate of Mr. Murray’s influence as a leader of missionary thought
and enterprise would be complete that did not take account of his
intimate and lifelong connexion with the South Africa General Mission.
The commencement of this undertaking occurred on the following wise.
When in 1882 Mr. Murray was visiting England in search of health, he met
at Keswick a young man of twenty-three named Spencer Walton. Walton had
made a voyage to South
Africa as a youth, and was now seriously considering the question of
giving himself wholly to mission work in the sub-continent. Mr. Murray
gave him the assurance that if he felt called to labour in that field,
he would receive the heartiest welcome from himself and from Christians
generally. For a long time the project lay germinating in Walton’s mind.
Five years later Mrs. Osborne, a lady who was engaged in Christian work
among the soldiers and sailors in South Africa, heard Walton speak at a
convention at Leamington, and acting on a sudden inspiration penned a
letter in which she asked him to come as missioner to the Cape. After
careful consideration, and consultation with several evangelical
leaders, Walton accepted this invitation, and sailed for Cape Town in
1888.
He was welcomed on his arrival by Mr. Murray (whose son, Haldane, had
been his fellow-voyager), by Mrs. Osborne, and by a large number of
evangelical ministers and Christian friends. A series of gatherings, for
which, under the influence of Mr. Murray and other earnest workers, long
and prayerful preparation had been made, was held in Cape Town. They
were attended with most remarkable results. The Y.M.C.A. Hall, in which
the preliminary meetings were held, was found to be too small, and the
Metropolitan Wesleyan Church was secured. The Church was soon crowded
out, and an adjournment was made to the Exhibition Building, seating two
thousand, which for many successive nights was crowded to overflowing.
It was a common thing for Mr. Walton to appear upon the platform, and
cry out, with his ringing voice and smiling face, “ Fill up the centre
chairs, dear friends; we shall need every seat to-night.” The whole city
was greatly stirred, and many dated their conversion from that time of
spiritual ingathering. Christians of every denomination were
strengthened in their faith, and stimulated to a life of greater
consecration to Christ and to the service of their fellow-men. When the
Cape Town campaign came to an end, Mr. Walton was presented, by a few
enthusiastic friends, with an address couched in the following quaint
language—
Dear Sir,—We, the undersigned, representing various sections of Christ’s
Church, avail ourselves of this opportunity, and in approaching you thus
would, whilst having anticipated (prior to your arrival in our midst) by
the fame which had preceded you in connexion with work you had been
engaged in for our common Lord and Saviour in England and elsewhere,
express our gratitude that you have been instrumental (under God) in
giving an impetus to Christians to continue in the blessed course they
had already pursued.
Your indefatigableness and general winsomeness in the method of
conducting the mission, carried out with such power, lucidness, and
earnest touching appeals to the backslider, and those who had erstwhile
lived in estrangement to God, we rejoice to say has resulted with
marvellous spiritual success. Many have been the trophies. We can only
attribute the success which has attended your mission as having involved
on your part much communion and secret prayer and wrestling with God. We
feel convinced that you have laboured hard for the spiritual welfare of
the large and eager throngs who gathered nightly and afternoons to
listen to your admonitions, and that you were constrained by love for
the Master. . . .
We hailed with pleasure your intimation that you would in all
probability revisit our shores. Should you again in future years come
into our midst, be assured our heartiest welcome will be extended to
you. Should an all-wise Providence determine otherwise, we hereby give
expression to a wish that the closing days of your earthly life may be
much of that peace which passeth all understanding, and that you may
have the Master’s assurance, Well done, good and faithful servant!
From this preliminary visit Mr. Walton returned to England towards the
end of the year. He was now fully assured of a distinct call to South
Africa, and began to devise plans for establishing an organized mission.
The fact that Mr. Murray countenanced the proposed undertaking proved to
be an invaluable aid in securing the interest and co-operation of
friends in England. Writing to The Christian Mr. Murray gave the
following expression to his views—
We do bless God that He has put into the heart of His servant the
thought of giving himself entirely to South Africa, and we are looking
forward to much blessing if the purpose be realized. I believe there are
wonderful openings for evangelistic work, both in the large new centres
such as Kimberley and Johannesburg, and in all our colonial towns. There
is hardly a place where one or more ministers will not be found who will
rejoice to have a visit from time to time from one so fitted to help in
rousing believers and in gathering in those who are outside. And if the
prospect be realized that Cape Town should at the same time be made the
centre of home mission work, whence other towns might be helped and
guided, a work might be accomplished of which it is difficult to
calculate the consequence. We shall wait upon God to remove every
difficulty out of the way, and trust that our brethren in England will
help Mr. Spencer Walton forward in prayer in the work he hopes to
undertake.
The new undertaking soon took shape, and in March, 1889, was established
the Cape General Mission, with a managing Council in London, and Mr.
Walton as Director in South Africa. In the following August the first
party of six workers left for the field. From Mr. Murray’s letter it
will be gathered that the aim of the Mission was primarily to engage in
Christian work among the white population of South Africa, large numbers
of which, especially in the more populous centres, lec irreligious and
ungodly lives, and appeared to be beyond the reach of ordinary Church
effort. The Cape General Mission was first of all firmly planted in Cape
Town, where, not many months after the arrival of the first party, the
foundation-stone of a suitable hall for meetings was laid. This ceremony
was performed by Mr. Murray, who from the inception of the Mission held
the position of President of the South African Council, which office he
continued to fill to the end of his life. The language employed by him
on this occasion shows clearly that at this stage the Mission was only
feeling its way, and had not yet adopted a distinct line of policy. He
said in effect—
The present building occupies a different position from the existing
churches and chapels. Those represent the various sections of Christ’s
Church in this Colony, but this building will be a link with the old
country. This marks an advance. Before the Cape General Mission had its
own home it was like a bird on the wing; now it has settled amongst us.
While the hall will not interfere with the work of any existing
organization, it will be the centre of the labours of the Cape General
Mission—an English Mission to meet some of the needs of South Africa.
It was not long, however, before the new Mission began to find its feet.
As it endeavoured to do the duty which lay nearest at hand, its further
duties became clearer. The objects which it aimed at were gradually
defined as three: first, to set before believers a more exalted standard
of Christian life, and to encourage them to strive after its realization
; second, to engage in evangelistic work among the neglected and lapsed
classes in the larger towns ; and third, to undertake directly foreign
mission work among the natives in fields unentered or insufficiently
occupied. It need hardly be said that Mr. Murray was heartily at one
with the members of the Cape General Mission in each of the aims to
which their efforts were directed, nor can it be doubted that he
rendered material assistance in aiding them to define those aims, both
to themselves and to the constituency from which they drew their
support.
In pursuance of the first object mentioned above the Cape General
Mission organized a number of “Holiness Conventions” One of these was
held at Johannesburg in the early days of its existence. Though the
Mission had but recently established itself, a suitable hall had already
been built, and in this Mr. Murray conducted the meetings, at which, as
one of his co-workers put it, “crowded audiences not only listened to
addresses on consecration, but many transacted the Solemn Deed and
Covenant by dedicating their all to God.” Another of these conventions
for the deepening of spiritual life assembled in 1896 at Durban, Natal.
The subject was Absolute Surrender, and Mr. Murray was once again the
most prominent speaker. To this convention large numbers of Natal
residents, both Dutch and English, found their way, the Dutch coming,
according to the fashion of the land, in their ox-waggons, and camping
out in Victoria Park. The meetings of ministers and missionaries, at
which questions on the higher life were put and answered, formed a
special and very successful feature of these gatherings.
To Mr. Walton, in conjunction with Mr. Murray, was due the inauguration
of the annual convention at Wellington which has since been known as the
South African Keswick. Mr. Murray speaks of Walton’s share in founding
this Convention in these words: “At the commencement it was specially in
conventions that he was used of God to help many Christians to see what
a true life of consecration ought to be, and to understand how it could
be received through simple faith with a whole-hearted consecration. We
owe it specially to him that the S. A. Keswick at Wellington was
commenced, and that all the powers of the workers by whom he was
surrounded were concentrated on the work that was done there. Eternity
alone can reveal what we owe, in our [Wellington] schools too, to the
blessed truth of a life of full devotion to Jesus Christ.”
In striving to attain the first and second objects of its
establishment—the uplifting of Christians and the ingathering of those
outside the fold—the Cape General Mission was confining its efforts to
people of European descent. The Mission proved itself to be “in labours
abundant” on behalf of soldiers, sailors, railway employees, and the
poor, the lapsed and the outcast generally. But its secondary aim, that
of reaching out to the masses of unevangelized heathen, was never lost
sight of. Within two years of its humble beginnings in Cape Town, it was
able to despatch its first true missionary to a people wholly steeped in
ignorance, superstition and vice. The field selected for this new
departure in policy was Swaziland, and the story of how it came to be
thus selected is deeply interesting.
Swaziland, which adjoins Zululand on the east, is peopled by patives who
are closely allied to the Zulus by blood, and resemble them also in.
pride of race and in warlike prowess. From a missionary point of view it
was at that time one of the neediest of South African fields. Earlier
attempts, undertaken successively by the Wesleyan and Berlin Societies,
to plant the Gospel amid this promising tribe, had met with
disappointment and disaster. When the Cape General Mission entered
Swaziland in 1891, only three emissaries of the Cross had gained a
precarious footing in that populous area—a Church of England missionary,
a Wesleyan native minister and a Salvation Army captain.
Poring over the map of Africa during his return voyage to England in
1888, Mr. Walton’s eyes fell upon this neglected and dark spot, and
placing his finger upon it he breathed the prayer Swaziland for Christ.
His prayer was strangely answered. On sailing for South Africa in the
following year he was accompanied by his young wife, who had been Miss
Kathleen Dixon. Six months later he tasted the bitterness of having to
consign her to an early grave. But she, too, had learnt to pray for
Swaziland; and when sympathetic friends collected a small fund in order
to commemorate her brief career, Mr. Murray suggested that no more
suitable memorial could be devised than the establishment of a mission
in the country which had drawn to itself her thoughts and prayers. Thus
arose Bethany, the first of the mission stations erected by the Cape
General Mission in the country of the Swazis.
But the Swaziland Mission was only a commencement. Other districts were
soon entered. The Cape General Mission, which in absorbing the
South-East Africa Evangelistic Mission in 1894, emerged as the South
Africa General Mission, speedily found the scope of its missionary
operations immensely enlarged. New ground was broken in Zululand, in
Tembuland, in Pondoland, in Bomvanaland; among the Indian coolies of
Natal; among the Shangaans of Gazaland, the A-nyanja of Nyasaland and
the Va-kaonde of Northern Rhodesia. “How wonderfully the missionary
spirit has grown,” writes Dr. Andrew Murray in 1914, "and the work among
the heathen extended during these past years. And what a blessing the
Mission has brought in time past to many Christians in England and
Scotland, as they helped to put missionary sacrifice on the true level—a
personal devotion to a living, loving Savour.”
As for the contribution of Mr. Murray himself towards the success
achieved, we can do no better than to quote the following tribute paid
to his memory by Mr. Albert A. Head, Chairman of the British Council—
Since 1888, when Mr. Spencer Walton, the founder of the South Africa
General Mission, first went to the Cape Colony, Dr. Murray has been the
tried and faithful friend of the Councils and their staffs, of the
workers and their work, of the native Christians and their evangelizing
efforts, of the schools and their pupils, indeed of the whole community
working under the administration of the South Africa General Mission.
His interest in all details and developments and advances was ever to be
reckoned upon, and his prayerful co-operation was assured. Whenever we
were in doubt as to which of two ways it were well for us to take, we
would in the early days as naturally ask Dr. Murray for advice as a
child would ask his father, and indeed at all times when extension of
the work appeared desirable, we might be sure of his presence and his
word of power in ministry at our meetings and in advocacy of our cause.
Though the chief aim of Mr. Murray’s numerous writings is the
edification of believers, we possess a few which deal more directly with
the subject of missions. They prove to us, if proof were necessary, how
deep and intelligent and constant was his interest in the missionary
enterprise. When arrangements were afoot for the holding of an
Ecumenical Missionary Conference in New York in 1900, he was urgently
invited to be one of the speakers. The Anglo-Boer War had just broken
out, and he did not feel at liberty to leave his native shores at such a
critical juncture. But the committee of arrangements were very loth to
take a denial, and they approached him a second time through Mr. D. L.
Moody, repeating the invitation and laying greater stress upon its
urgency. Mr. Murray was again compelled to decline, but the invitation
turned the current of his thoughts strongly in the direction of the
coming Conference. He began to ask himself whether, had he been able to
attend, there was any special message which he was under compulsion to
deliver. As he mused the fire burned. When the report of the Conference
reached him, it broke out into a bright flame, and the result was The
Key to the Missionary Problem—a book of great intensity, which sounded
forth a rousing and solemn call to new activity, fresh consecration and
more abundant prayer for the cause of missions.
Note.—As a tribute to the memory of Mr. Murray the Council of the
S.A.G.M. has resolved to inaugurate a new mission, the Andrew Murray
Memorial Mission, in^Portuguese West Africa.
Mr. Murray describes the eagerness with which he perused the Report in
order to discover what solution the Conference proposed of the problem,
how the moral and spiritual energies reservoired in the Church of Christ
can best be released for a vigorous and effective missionary offensive.
“I found,” he says, “many important suggestions as to how the interest
in missions may be increased. But, if I may venture to say it, the root
evil, the real cause of so much lack of interest, and the way in which
that evil should be met, was hardly dealt with. While indirectly and
implicitly it was admitted that there was something wrong with the
greater part of professing Christians, the real seriousness and
sinfulness of the neglect of our Lord’s command, and the problem as to
what the missionary societies could do to effect a change, certainly did
not take that prominent place which I thought they deserved.”
He then proceeds to enforce the real message of his book, which he sums
up in the following four principles: “That missions are the chief end of
the Church. That the chief end of the ministry is to guide the Church in
this work and fit her for it. That the chief end of preaching ought to
be to train the congregation to take its part in helping the Church to
fulfil her destiny. And that the chief end of every minister in this
connexion ought to be to seek grace to fit himself thoroughly for this
work.” Again and again he returns, in the course of his appeal, to what
may be designated the keynote of the volume :—the missionary problem is
a personal one ; every believer is a soul-winner; every minister holds
office under the Great Commission ; the missionary enterprise is the
work not merely of all but of each. Finally, under a deep sense of the
solemn importance of the crisis which faces the Church at the opening of
the twentieth century, he concludes with these burning words—
Extraordinary circumstances require extraordinary measures. The
discovery of an imminent danger justifies exceptional changes, and men
willingly approve and submit to the inconvenience. The state of the
Church, the need of the world, the command of Christ, appear to me to
call for very special efforts. The urgency of the case is extreme. There
is no time to be lost. Our Master wishes every human being without delay
to know of His having come into the world to save him. Let not the
enthusiasm of our watchword In this Generation deceive us. It may make
us content that meantime the thirty million a year who are passing away
in darkness should not know Him. It may deceive us with the idea that it
is certainly going to be done. But it is most certainly not going to be
done if the Church remains on her present level. The one deep impression
the Report of the Conference leaves is that, unless pastors and members
labour and pray with an entirely new devotion, the work cannot possibly
be accomplished. It is so large, it is so difficult, it needs such an
interposition of Divine power, that, unless the Church return to the
pentecostal life of her first love, it cannot and will not be done. I
say again, the urgency of the case is extreme. No sacrifice can be too
great if we can only get the Church, or the more earnest part of it, to
take time and wait unitedly before the Throne of God, to review her
position, to confess her shortcoming, to claim God’s promise of power,
and to consecrate her all to His service.
The Key to the Missionary Problem produced an immediate and marked
impression.
Dr. Moule, Bishop of Durham, wrote of it: “With all my heart I commend
this volume to the perusal, the thought, and the prayers of all
ministers of Christ and His flock. It is an appeal to the inmost soul of
the Pastor, and at the same time a suggestion for the most practical
possible application of his activities. The great Christian who writes
it puts his main propositions with an urgency which, just here and
there, as it seems to me, invites the recollection of other sides of
truth. His contention that the missionary enterprise of the Church is
its supreme call seems in places to become an assertion that it is its
one real call. But no deep-sighted reader will really mistake those
places. And every reader who has indeed his eyes towards the will of
God, will rise from the perusal, or rather kneel down after it, asking,
Lord, what wouldst Thou have me to do?”
Dr. Horton of Hampstead said: “Six weeks ago I brought Andrew Murray’s
book before my Church, and they have bought and read about a hundred
copies. I fervently trust that every minister will read it, for he makes
it clear that the Key to the Missionary Problem is in the hand of the
ministers: they open and no man can shut; they keep shut and no man can
open. But I want the people to read it too, because it seems to me the
most inspiring and inspired book written in 1901—the true note of a new
century.” To the same effect wrote Dr. Alexander Maclaren: “I hope that
Mr. Murray’s heart-searching book may be widely read and prayerfully
pondered. It is the Key to the Missionary Problem indeed, but it is also
the key to most of our problems, and points to the only cure for all our
weaknesses.” And Dr. F. B. Meyer added his testimony in the following
terms : “Of all books that I have ever read on the call of our Lord to
the Evangelization of the world, this appeal by the beloved Andrew
Murray must stand in the front rank, if not first. My heart has been
deeply moved by it, and I propose to read large portions of it to my
people. If it were only read universally throughout our churches, by
ministers and people alike, I believe it would lead to one of the
greatest revivals of missionary enthusiasm that the world has ever
known.”
An anonymous letter in De Kerkbode, signed V. D. M., bore the following
testimony to the impression which the book made in South Africa—
Next to the man who writes me a good book I place the man who recommends
me a good book. A booklet came into my hands recently, entitled The Key
to the Missionary Problem. The writer is the well-known minister of
Wellington. When I had read it I thanked the Lord for it, though it
condemned me grievously. I also prayed that the Lord would direct its
distribution and make its perusal a blessing to thousands. It will yield
matter for addresses at missionary prayer-meetings very much more
glowing than those of last month and the month before. Nor is it a book
for the minister only, but for all who take even a slight interest in
the advance of God's Kingdom. I know of no better means of kindling
increased interest in the extension of that Kingdom than the circulation
of this work. Followers of Jesus who read it and do not thereafter pray
in a different manner to what they did before, must have a different
spiritual constitution from that of the writer of these lines.
It is much to be regretted that the suggestion thrown out by Mr. Murray
in the last few pages of The Key to the Missionary Problem was not acted
upon. He proposed that the subjects for the week of Prayer, issued by
the Council of the Evangelical Alliance for January, 1902, should deal
exclusively with the relation of the Church to the Great Commission. The
Alliance Council, however, did not feel at liberty to assign the whole
week to this one subject, and decided merely to invite Christians to set
aside a portion of time each day for the purpose of special intercession
in behalf of missions. Had Mr. Murray’s suggestion been followed out,
there can be no doubt that a wonderful accession of missionary fervour
throughout Christendom would have been the result. As it was, his
proposal was adopted and carried out only in South Africa. The results
were very striking. In the course of 1902 the Boer War ended. With the
proclamation of peace Boer prisoners began to return from the various
military camps in which they had been incarcerated in India and Ceylon,
on St. Helena and on the Bermudas; and it was found that more than one
hundred and fifty young men, who had accepted Christ as their Lord and
Master, now declared themselves ready to go forth, after the necessary
preparation, and labour for the conversion of the heathen of Africa. A
special institution was founded early in 1903 for their reception and
training, and the Boer Missionary Institute at Worcester may be regarded
as at any rate an indirect result of the concert of prayer to which the
Dutch Reformed Church was roused through the influence of The Key to the
Missionary Problem.
In 1906 Mr. Murray published a booklet which made no such stirring
appeal as the volume just mentioned, but which must have cost him
infinite pains to compile. It is a small quarto pamphlet of only forty
pages, entitled The Kingdom of God in South Africa : a Brief Survey of
Missions South of the Zambesi. In his preface Mr. Murray describes the
purpose and aim of this work. “The need has long been felt of a little
book in which the work of the different Societies labouring for the
extension of Christ’s Kingdom could be set forth in such a way as to
make every worker acquainted with his fellow-labourers in the Lord's
harvest-field. The compiler of this survey has felt how difficult it is
to give all the information that is needed, or, in a first attempt, to
secure the desired accuracy; but he felt sure that, if once a beginning
could be made, the way would be prepared for a more perfect and complete
treatment of the subject. As we all meet within the pages of this little
book, we shall know each other better, . . . and where we thought that
we had reason to criticise or disapprove of the spirit or the method of
our brother, closer knowledge of his work, and the remembrance that our
Lord is with him, will stir our hearts to that forbearance and love
which will make our prayer fervent and effectual.”
In this booklet Mr. Murray describes briefly, upon the one page, the
work of each of the thirty-one Societies labouring in the sub-continent,
with valuable statistical tables of results on the opposite page.
Scattered throughout the pamphlet are rich thoughts on such subjects as
: A Missionary Church, A Missionary Ministry, The Evangelistic Note,
Education in the Mission Field, Spiritual Results. The booklet ends, as
Mr. Murray’s writings at this period of his life almost invariably do,
with a Call to Prayer, in which, after referring to the influence of
prayer on the missionary enterprise from the Cambuslang revival in 1742,
down through George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards and William Carey to
the present day, he concludes—
Prayer is the life of missions. Continual, believing prayer is the
secret of vitality and fruitfulness in mission work. The God of missions
is the God of prayer : the work of missions is above everything a work
of prayer. God has taught us, in the history of the missionary revival,
that it was as the answer to half a century of prayer for the outpouring
of His Spirit that the awakening came. God calls us now again to unite
in fervent and unceasing prayer for the power of His Spirit in the home
Churches, if our missionary enterprise is to be carried on under
spiritual conditions of the highest force. . . . Brethren ! let us pray
in the spirit of faith and joy and love. “Continue in one accord.” "God,
even our own God, will bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall
fear Him.” |