THE LIGHTS OF ASIA—A MISSIONARY OBJECT LESSON

[This plan may he applied to the Dark Continent, or, indeed, to any other mission land.]

Get a large map of Asia, or, still better, draw yourself a large outline map. Lay it flat on the table, or incline it a little so that the children can see it. It might be best to stretch it on the floor. Get a number of small candles and one large one. Fix these in wooden supports, each being separate from the others.

Tell the children about Buddha, who is called “the light of Asia,” about the millions of people who worship him, and what wretched lives they live. Show how, before missionaries were sent to Asia, it was a dark continent indeed, filled with all sorts of sorrow and sin.

Your large candle has been burning all this time. Tell the children that it stands for Christ, about whom the poor people in Asia knew nothing. But there was a noble cobbler over in England at the end of the last century. His name was William Carey, and this small candle stands for him. He got all aflame with Christ (light the small candle), and after long preparation and much prayer, because it was all a new thing, he crossed the seas, and in November, 1793 (get a junior to write this on the board), he landed in India. He was the first English Protestant missionary. We will set up his candle here near Calcutta, where he worked through all his useful life.

Tell all you can about Carey’s heroic life, and then go on to tell the story of the other missionary pioneers,—of Judson in Burmah, of Morrison in China, of Henry Martyn, Duff, Gilmour, Neesima, and others. Be sure to speak about the work of your own denomination, using candles of a distinctive color, and setting up one in all the countries where your denomination is at work. Have the children learn at least one date, that of Carey’s arrival, and possibly others. Manipulating the candles, indicate the direction from which the missionaries came to Asia, having one candle move from an imaginary England, another from the United States, etc.

When all is done, remove the candles, and get the children to replace them in the right positions and order.

Emphasize, all through, the facts that each candle is lighted from Christ, and that these men go out in our stead, to do our work for us.