different approach. The missionaries were instructed to write for the home front and these letters were published in the periodicals, if possible accompanied by illustrations. The stories of course contained descriptions of countries and peoples that were very different from Europe. We have to remember that at that time most people lived in a very small world, often only consisting of the village or town where they had been born. Reading about strange, mysterious and sometimes dangerous peoples gave their life a new fascinating direction. Later on popular novels written especially for children were published, photographs were added and after 1920 movies were produced.20 Another favourite method of keeping the home front active was organising missionary days and expositions. The periodicals had several goals: to inform the members and contributors of societies about how their money was spent, to show that positive results were obtained and to attract young people who were in search of adventure combined with the wish to realise an ideal.21 Working far away from home, in a foreign country, had another advantage. The mission offered opportunities to ambitious young people. Being alone on a station far away from the civilized world brought much more freedom to craftsmen, nurses and other professionals than there existed at home. Some societies published lists of contributors with the amounts of money they had given which put pressure on to give more. Statistics of people baptised 'from the heathen', of communicants, of children attending the missionary's school etc. were very popular. It may be that these statistics were not as exact as they seemed, but they were very suggestive.22 The Nederlandsch Zendelinggenootschap started a journal in 1857. The directors, who formed the editorial committee, wrote in the introduction to the first volume that more publicity was needed and that 'we', that is to say all members, needed a periodical that would inform the readers about everything that was going on in the field. 'Messages written by missionaries became a standard part of the journal with the possible risk of criticism. The directors found this useful nonetheless. After 1900 thoughts on missionary methods and goals changed. Health care, education and social work became more important. Missionaries set up hospitals with outpatient departments. Experts like Hendrik Kraemer insisted that Christianity could only survive if it adapted to indigenous cultures without forgetting, of course, the essentials of Christianity.23 The Catholic Jesuit Frans van Lith warned that the Europeans might not stay the masters now Asia was awakening. In his eyes Catholicism could only survive in Indonesia if it would take roots in Indonesian cultures.24 Another development after 1900 was in the organisation, it was more rational and the results and costs were more balanced than in the nineteenth century. As the number of new Christians grew, the training of indigenous assistants became a real source of concern and special schools were set up for them. In the Dutch East Indies the first Protestant TON KAPPELHOF ARCHIVES OF DUTCH DHRISTIAN MISSIONARY ORGANISATIONS AND MISSIONARIES INFORMATION POWER - FROM HAGIOGRAPHY TO HISTORIOGRAPHY 20 A good example is father Bernard Eerden, a. member of the Society for African Missions who wrote several novels for boys and some cartoons. 21 Mededeelingen van wege het Nederlandsch Zendelinggenootschap, 1 (1857) 1-6; the quote on p. 2. 22 An early attempt to describe the Christian mission all over the world, the Roman Catholic inclusive, is to be found in: Warneck, Abrisz protestantischen Missionen; The English translation: Idem, Outline Protestant Missions. Another survey of both missions, but seen from a Roman Catholic point of view: Hergenröther and Kaulen, Kirchenlexikon, volume 8, 1582-1636. 23 Kraemer, 'West-Java', esp. 30 and 107. A step further went: Hueting, 'Over goeroe-djemaat (Gemeentehelpers)', 39-59. 24 Boelaars, Indonesianisasi, 80 and Steenbrink, Catholics in Indonesia, 377-383. 157

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Jaarboeken Stichting Archiefpublicaties | 2012 | | pagina 159