Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/698

 672 This section comprises articles showing how women may help in all branches of religious work. All the principal charities will be described, as well as home and foreign missions. The chief headings are : Charities How to Work for Great Charities Great Charity Ors^anisations Local Charities, etc. The Women o! the Bible Woman's Work in Religion Missiotia7'ies Zenana Missions Hojue Missions, etc. Great Leaders of Religious Thought Bazaars How to Manage a Church Bazaar What to Make for Bazaars Garden Bazaars, etc. How to Manage a Sunday-School
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ECOME A MISSIOHAR.Y Qualifications Necessary to Become a Missionary — The S.P,G. — How and Wliere to Train — Period of Training— Pecuniary Aid Towards Training It is no longer possible to say with any degree of truth that a Woman is too talented to devote herself to missionar}^ work. Goodness of heart may once have been thought all-sufhcient for mission work abroad as it was for mission work at home. To-day the highly trained worker and the specialist are required in religious as Well as in secular callings both at home and abroad. If a woman feels called to devote herself to the foreign mission field she will naturally wish to go out in connection with the church of which she is a member. All branches of the Christian Church send some of their followers abroad to teach the Ck)spel to " every creature," in accordance with Christ's last command (St. Matt, xxviii. 19). The S.P.G. The oldest purely missionary society in connection with the Church of England is the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts — usually known as the S.P.G. Its headquarters are at 15, Tufton Street, Westminster, S.W. The first step to be taken by any woman who feels that she has a vocation for missionary Work (and who wishes to go abroad under the S.P.G.) is to apply by letter, if unable to do so personally, to the secretary of the Women Candidates' Department at the above address. If under twenty-lhree she may be recommended to join the Missionary Preparation Union, as no woman is sent abroad under twenty-five, nor could she begin special missionary training until twenty-three. If the prospective candidate is over twenty-three, a list of questions will be sent to her to answer as to her parentage, place of birth, etc., as to the schools and colleges at which she was educated, the examinations she has passed, her occupations and interests ; whether she has any professional qualifica- tions as doctor, nurse, or teacher ; whether she finds it easy to acquire foreign languages ; what experience she has had in Church Work ; whether she is prepared to be wholly or in part an honorary worker, and if she has any provision for sickness or old age. She is also asked to reply to questions with regard to Bible knowledge and Church doctrine. Two medical forms are also sent, one to be answered by the candidate and one by her medical adviser. These three forms must be filled in and returned to the S.P.G. House, and if they are considered satisfactory the candidate will be examined by the doctor of the society; and interviewed. If she comes from a dis- tance she is invited to spend the few days occupied by these interviews at the S.P.G.' Hostel and Training Home for Women Missionaries at Wandsworth Common. The Successful Candidate The final interview with the committee is often looked forward to with dread, but generally looked back upon with pleasure — the usual verdict being that the comrnittee were " so kind and sympathetic." It is not usual for the candidate to be either accepted or rejected at this juncture, because, as a