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