Planting the Seed in 'Germany'
A century-old account of missionaries in Japan and their long-term project to shift the cultural landscape of the East.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The work of the Presbyterian mission by the city of Mam is making itself felt in the Orient. The flavor of the new life can be judged from the fact that the missionaries are making an impression that never can be effaced. It is evident that the mission has labored in vain no longer. It is only a matter of time that before many more years have elapsed, Mam will have to be regarded as a Christian country. The rain drop which falls upon a rock seems to destroy itself. It is only after many years that one finds that such a drop has made itself a region and that as the result of all labor, an irrepressible impression on the rock is worn away. It is thus with the work of Christian missionaries in the East. We cannot measure the effect of each individual effort, but sooner or later we will realize that the rock is worn away.
“The rain drop which falls upon a rock seems to destroy itself. It is only after many years that one finds that such a drop has made itself a region.”
This editorial reflects the era's prevalent missionary zeal, framing cultural and religious conversion as a slow, inexorable 'wearing away' of local customs. Today, the rhetoric of 'making an impression' and reshaping regions from the outside is often reflected in modern debates over corporate globalization and the soft power of international cultural influence.
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