Self-Support

A BEGINNING of a systcm of self-help was made as early The offering as 1863, when the custom of first- was introduced at Kalasapad, partly for fruits. partly to counteract village goddess Peddamma, which were honour of the often held after a good harvest. recorded that in the Mutyalapad district and chapels in the This custom has been maintained up to the S.P.G. aid. present time. The question The of principle most important one. of self- that to become the financial patron or the creditor of help. Indian Christians is absolutely destructive of spiritual influence over them. there was missions when the missionary found himself surrounded by poor persons in a condition which seemed to him deplorable and hardly removed from starvation. small expenditure on in return he would

XII

SELF-SUPPORT

first-fruits to God offering of its own sake, the popularity of the festivals in As early as 1866 it was all the schools villages had been erected without for several reasons, a self-help is, experience the writer's It is In the early days of Protestant strong temptation do a to this, An exceedingly his part would relieve want, and a receive flood of religious talk. 178

SELF-SUPPORT

The the same now conditions are temptation exists still, but experience has shown that to draw the people to the Mission by expectation of relief, does not make them Christians at heart but actually hinders them. converts pecuniarily destroys the missionary's influence on their character. Again, we look forward to the time when an indepen- dent Indian Church will exist. it to maintain an adequate supply of clergy, and it will be impossible for Indian clergy personally to give alms on an extensive scale. themselves pecuniarily indispensable hinder rather than help the continuance of ministerial work. It should be added that in India begging has been con- sidered an honourable profession. indeed, so destructive of self-respect as it is in England is not by any means to be encouraged. nevertheless it On the other hand, it has been no slight advantage that the custom the country for ages of towards the support of religion. The inculcation of the duty portant part of the teaching of the Mission, and begins at an early stage. Before list of catechumens, the rule is that be received on the they must provide a chapel and a teacher's house other words, they must contribute both property and labour. The subject of the relief of the poor naturally comesup It is true that the needs of the early for consideration. They wear little clothing, and the good people are few.

179 then, and the as gifts, or by the Moreover, help to It will be hard work for therefore, who make Those, The practice is not, ; been to give has is an im- of self-help the people of a village can in ;

N 2

MISSIONS IN THE TELUGU COUNTRY

i8o country cloth of which it is generally made lasts a long time ; moreover, our Christians are themselves mostly weavers. Their houses, hands, and the land on which they are built is allotted by custom to the caste, and food of the people consists mainly of the various kinds of grain which are grown in the fields of the village. people themselves work in the fields, and receive grain at certain times as wages. the burden of their poverty, but the fact remains that for a great part of the year many get but one meal a day, and that not a large one. Nevertheless the part that the Mission has to under- Poor relief. jj^ ^jjg matter of poor relief ^g^Q might appear, and this for the following reasons. the first place, India has no Poor Law, but the custom is everywhere recognised support even his most distant relations who are in want. This custom is well observed, though it is also sometimes abused, especially among the higher castes. Again, India is mainly agricultural, and labour on the is much more common than any other form land Almost all the people in our villages are brought labour. certain times there is a great demand it, and at up to for labour, so much so that even artisans wiU leave their occupations to work on the land. Even in times of scarcity the Sudi'as, so long as their of corn stocks last, Among the merchants, too, and among other for them. persons, the merit well-to-do in, and the children strongly believed

their own built by are too, is held rent free. Again, the Our All these things go to Ughten is not so extensive as In a man's duty that to it is of will help those who usually work beggars of giving to is of the poor are

A WEAVER SETTING THE WARP.

SELF-SUPPORT

therefore often sent out to ask for handfuls Thus it is that, even in fairly hard times, the population does not need external aid. What the Mission does, therefore, is not to give alms, but to organise self-support There rule adopted throughout the Mission that is a all are to contribute in two ways. tory every Sunday every in Church on a each levy is circumstances. The all the of offertories pastor are put together, and two-thirds are assigned to relief of the poor, one-third to the upkeep the The writer's practice was to throw the task chapels. the poor absolutely on relieving of appointed to manage the affairs of the pastorate, that is, members the the of local allowed to be made personally to the missionary on it was to be made to the pastoral rounds ; The Committee Pastorate in the proportions just offertories The rule of the Church levy Christian family should contribute one penny a month. Other persons, such as the salaries, contribute a sum proportioned to their salaries. The object of the fund thus raised is the support of the The Church levy, however, it must clergy and teachers. be owned, has not met with great success. freedom which the greater Moreover, the offertory is taken in church, which is more the custom in accordance with

i8i of grain. among the Christians. First there is an offer- Secondly there chapel. family according to its congregations under one Church °^f^- of the to the committee No was Church. appeal his catechist. had the the disposal of stated. is that every ordinary teachers, receiving regular They prefer them. the offertory gives The the country. of

MISSIONS IN THE TELUGU COUNTRY

i82 is that in hard times—and hard times are consequence frequent occurrence—the of and success collect its the influence pastor of Some contribution can removing the teacher, an event which the people fear good a deal, for, if the status eyes in of their nearest defender against oppression. especially will look on them as an abandoned community and probably commence to harass them, and the con- gregation, in the absence even begin to fall to pieces. face of such abject poverty, to collect money, but thei-e is no doubt for the sake that, must be done. to show In order Mission grants. financially dependent on the S.P.G., a brief reference to the system on which S.P.G. grants are given is necessary. The S.P.G., in giving grants to a mission district for the support of pastoral and evangelistic work, insists on one- of every pastor's third schoolmaster's salary, rule is strictly enforced. aggregate amount to a large sum how does the poor mission district manage to keep up its churches, chapels, and schools, and provide its share of the salaries of all agents ? the schools draw a Government grant. though very small, averaging only forty rupees a year an ordinary while teacher's

is very levy to difficult depends on the personal catechist who or collects it. be enforced by the threat of carried lowers out, their it neighbours and removes their The police of their natural leader, may It often seems hard, in the its moral of results, it to what the extent Mission is salary, and of every one-fifth and being raised locally this ; Even these proportions in the ; and it may be asked, The answer is that most of These grants, about Rs.ioS, salary is

SELF-SUPPORT

go a collectively into district above, from our congregations as described raised, sufficient to enable us to draw the S.P.G. grant towards and these two salaries ; grants added, cover the multitudinous expenses of the district. Complete self-support, pendence of aid from abroad, only after the conversion of a richer class of persons than our present Christians. especially in the support of their own poor, they have made a good beginning. denial of those who, having still contribute to the needs of poorer necessities of life, brethren and to the support of the Church, can doubt these poor that Christians as many generosity their in bulk, are not larger in proportion to our means.

183 the money fund, and is funds, with the Government in the sense entire inde- of will perhaps be possible But it must be admitted that, No one who has seen the self- little more than the bare practical proof give as of of us whose if larger gifts,