practical lessons. They build large
and impressive churches for the immigrants. They abandon no fields, and
immediately occupy those left by Protestants. They expend money where it
will go furthest. The Protestants of New York should have been
far-sighted enough to plant strong evangelistic and philanthropic
institutions in the fields from which they withdrew their churches.
Valuable ground has been lost for want of this missionary insight and
impulse.

[Sidenote: Need of an Awakening]

The conditions in New York are symptomatic of those obtaining generally,
in country as well as city. The Protestant churches, not recognizing the
supreme home mission opportunity to Christianize the immigrants, have in
many cases become weak where a zealous evangelism would have kept them
strong. Too many of the American Churches have been satisfied with their
own prosperity and unmindful of the growing need of the gospel all
around them. As a missionary worker says:[93] "There are plenty of
Christians who believe that the gospel is the power of God unto
salvation in a vague and general way; but there are not enough people
who clearly believe that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation
to the Italian working on the railroad, or the Hungarian in the shops,
or the German on the farm. Too many of us have no faith at all in
foreign missions at home."

[Sidenote: Reasons for Present Conditions]

It is impossible to enter into details of what has been undertaken by
the different evangelical denominations. Reference to the tables
furnished by various Home Mission Boards[94] will indicate, as far as
bald figures can do so, the extent of the work among the various
peoples. The statistics show that in the country, especially in the
West, missions among the earlier type of immigrants--the German and
Scandinavian--have long been maintained with success. There are hundreds
of strong and prosperous churches among these peoples. For the later
immigrants less has been done, although the need is far greater. Some of
the reasons for the small proportions of this work are manifest. In
order to reach the Slavs and Italians there must be native missionaries,
and these cannot be found offhand. After converts are made, those who
are fitted to preach and teach must be trained, and schools must be
provided for the training.[95] The difficulties of language must first
be overcome. The process requires time and patience and large resources.
Missions ca