On the other hand, there is a large and an attractive field of usefulness which can best be worked by the unmarried man and woman. There are forms of activity and lines of self-denial which can best be met by those who are not tied down by home life and who are more free to meet the rapidly changing necessities of certain departments of work. It is also true that the unmarried life represents to the Orient that type of self-denial which has always been associated, in their mind, with the highest degree of religious attainment; and it may, for this very reason, be in the line of highest influence upon the people of the land.
So, married and unmarried life have in the mission field today their recognized place, advantage, and sphere of influence. And, working together they will exemplify to the people those forms of religious life and activity which bring highest glory to our cause.
Another question pertains to the missionary’s daily life. Shall he conform to the ordinary habits of life practiced by the people among whom he lives? In other words, shall the missionary from the West conform to native customs in food and dress? It is not possible to give a categorical reply to this question. A country should be studied and the ideals of the people thoroughly investigated by the missionary before he decides upon any course of action in this matter. There are countries where such conformity would be desirable and would add considerably to the missionary’s influence and success. China is such a country; and many of the missionaries in that land find it to their interest, and to the interest of the work, to adopt the Chinese costume, cue and all. They thus cease to appear foreign and peculiar in a land where to be a foreigner is to be hated, or at least to be unloved and distrusted by the people.
The same thing has been tried in India, not only in clothing, but also to a large extent in food. Many a missionary, feeling how great a barrier his foreign habits created between him and the people, and inspired by a passionate desire to come near to them in order that he might bless them, has divested himself of European clothing, adopted the native costume (at least so far as it was possible for him to do so) and has confined himself to native food. But I have never known of any Western missionary who has continued this method for a long time and declared it a success. One of the most pathetic instances on record is that of the famous Jesuit missionary Abbe Du Bois, who, after a careful study of the situation, donned the yellow garb of the Hindu monk and became practically a Hindu to the Hindus, spending most of his time in travelling from town to town and living strictly, both as regards food, clothing, and general habits, as an ordinary Hindu in order that he might gain close access to the people and thus win many converts to the Roman Catholic Church. For many years, in a distinguished missionary career, he followed this method of life. But was it a success? In his “Life and Letters,” written at the close of his missionary life, he frankly confesses that that method of approach to the people had proved an entire failure; that he had not thereby gained any added influence over them or had become better able to lead them into the Christian fold. He maintains that, so far as this style of living was concerned, he had accomplished absolutely nothing for India. I have known of ardent and able Protestant missionaries also who have tried the same method, with the same result, and have returned to their Western costume and food.