The
Missions: Beginnings
The earliest
newspaper records of the presence of a Chinese mission in Victoria date are found in a Colonist
article dated 20 March
1874. The piece
heralds the inauguration of “a school to be known as the Chinese Mission School” under the auspices of the Methodist Church. A missionary from San Francisco
named Vrooman initiated the
project. The son of a missionary who worked in China for 33 years, Vrooman
was well-versed in Chinese language and customs. The article
reports on the support of the endeavour from Chinese merchants,
the interest in many Chinese wanting to “’heap savee’ the English language,” and
concludes with the slightly enigmatic ("right direction?") statement:
The effort thus begun by a few is a most
praiseworthy one, and there can be little doubt about its success, for
the Chinese themselves seem anxious for it, and have promised to give it
substantial assistance, while Christians generally should countenance it
as a step in the right direction.
Traces of this
school’s embryonic stage are found in a book published in 1929
by the United Church of Canada on church-sponsored endeavours
for Oriental Canadians. In 1868, a mission school was opened “in a
disused barroom on the corner of Government and Harald
[sic] streets” by Rev. A.E. Russ. In 1873, soon to be Senator W.E.
Sanford, a merchant from Hamilton, Ontario, visited Victoria and having observed “thousands of
neglected Chinese,” suggested that the church’s work could
also be directed toward them.
The Sanford
Mission was thus set up, with Sanford himself contributing $500 a year for its
work.
A Presbyterian
Chinese mission also developed in Victoria in the late 1800s. The
Presbyterian Church as early as 1888 recognised the need for a
mission in British Columbia for work with the Chinese, but it was
not until 1890 after an overture was presented by the Synod of
Manitoba on behalf of the Presbytery of Columbia that efforts
got underway.
Sources:
Daily British Colonist, 20 March 1874.
Osterhout, S.S., Orientals in Canada,
United Church Committee on Literature, General Publicity
and Missionary Education, Toronto, 1929
To God Be the Glory: The Chinese Presbyterian
Church, Victoria, B.C. 1892-1983, Chinese
Presbyterian Church 90th Anniversary Celebration Committee, Victoria,
1983.
