Christian missions in the Telugu country - Uecf.net

132 MISSIONS IN THE TELUGU COUNTRY
some have been true leaders of men. There is evidently
something to be said for the more personal and less
formal training which the early missionaries gave.
The factor in the situation which caused the Mission
to determine to open a training institution was the need
of a yearly supply of new teachers. Steady expansion
has been a feature of the Telugu Mission for fifty years,
and for the whole of that time the supply of teachers to
new congregations has been a difficulty. Many villages
which have asked for teachers have been refused, and
many thousands of persons who wished to become
Christians have, for lack of teachers, been turned away.
It is a great loss not to have a teacher ready when he is
wanted. There is a critical moment in the history of a
village when to give them the teacher they ask for
means to add a good congregation to the Church. When
they are really ready, they must not be kept waiting too
long, or the enthusiasm will pass away and the result
may be their final loss to the Church. The need of a
constant supply of teachers had been felt for years, but
it was not till 1883 that the Mission was in a position
to open a training institution.
Mission- The material out of wliich mission agents were to be
^ools.
' made
was contained in two boarding-schools, one at
Mutyalapad, the other at Kalasapad. In these were
gathered the pick of the boys from the elementary schools
in the villages. These schools at that time were sixty-
six in number. The education given in the village
schools does not advance beyond a very low stage.
In the boarding-schools, however, the boys are carried
up to the primary examination, which is conducted by