The Story of the China Inland Mission

📖 The Scoop

The China Inland Mission is a missionary organisation formed in Britain in 1865 by Hudson Taylor (1832?1905), to reach the Chinese with the message of Christ. It is interdenominational. Expelled from China in the early 1950s, it expanded operations across East Asia and in 1964 changed its name to Overseas Missionary Fellowship and more recently to OMF International. It now operates in twelve countries in Asia. The China Inland Mission's early years inland were hazardous, with riots, some internal dissension, and opposition from established Christian missionaries, who especially objected to the use of Chinese dress rather than European costumes. It took a strong part in famine relief and the campaign to abolish the British opium trade to China. By 1880 it was systematically organized. In every province the first station was established in the capital city, later opening stations in designated major cities in the province. Missionaries mostly came from Britain, but before being sent to the field they first attended special training colleges in China to learn the language and customs. Each missionary is part of an elaborate system of promotion and supervision. Taylor was the director until 1902. In 1903 the organization operated 509 stations in 19 provinces, with 763 missionaries (about half and half men and women), and 541 native workers. Some 9000 Chinese had become communicants.

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