A Pilgrimage Of Faith, J.B. Toews, 1993

orts.50 The conference at home and the mission board were the supporting agencies of the work abroad. Questions of loca- tion as well as policies and program rested with the mission- 92 A MISSIONARY MOVEMENT ary council. In practice it developed into distinct missionary and mission station centered entities, each program develop- ing as appeared best to the respective missionary, They em- braced the colonial system of organization and relationships and adapted it to their spiritual objectives. NURTURE OF THE MISSIONARY SPIRIT The missionary festivals that developed in Gnadenfeld, Russia, in the mid-nineteenth century provided the seedbed for the nurture of missions and became a regular pan of Men- nonite Brethren life.51 Among other things, the Gnadenfeld festival spawned the creation of women's missionary societies beginning in 1870. These societies met one afternoon a week to knit and sew for missions. Prayer and the singing of mis- sionary hymns preceded work time. Missionary news reports were read while the women worked." Missionary societies appeared in North America as early as 1885- Their purpose was as follows: (1) For group Bible study and prayer to help cultivate the faith of its members; (2) To keep informed about missionary life and the needs of those who had gone out from their area; (3) To use their skUls in sewing, which they enjoyed doing, to outfit mission- aries with clothing and bedding; (4) To raise money to sup- port their missionaries by way of offerings and the sale of arti- cles made by the women; (5) Finally, to encourage others, especially their own group members, to become involved in foreign missions. This tended to be a natural outgrowth of their meeting together Several early missionaries attributed their interest in foreign missions to these efforts.53 The societies' impact was phenomenal. The priority given tli em (many mothers devoted up to a day a week for this pur- pose), firmly established the importance of missions in family and church. Candidates volunteering for mission assignments often credited this work of their mothers with providing the earliest impressions of the church's obligation to those who 93 A PILGRIMAGE OF FAITH didn't know the gospel of Christ.54 The cause of missions was a family concern, with all par- ticipating. Children were encouraged to glean grain during harvest time to help finance the missionary cause, Aaron A, Jan2en, pioneer worker in Zaire, related that Wednesdays, the day of the mission society meeting, he and his siblings were not served a regular noon meal but re