need we are to put first in our thoughts; that is the question of
definition of aim. Then, how shall we decide where that need is greatest
at the present time, for us, that is, within our possibility of active
assistance; that is the question of relation. The facts of need as we
define it must be related and compared. The survey of which we speak as
necessary for an intelligent understanding of foreign missions must
provide these facts in a form easily grasped and understood and compared
for different countries and districts, so that those who direct action
and those who support the action may be able to do so with reason, not
being guided merely by the most influential voice or the loudest shout.

6. To serve this purpose survey must have twofold aspect. It must be a
review of the present state of the work, it must also be a review of the
present position of the work. It is a review of the state of the work,
the stations, the converts, the Church; it is a review of the position,
the progress made compared with the work to be done. But the state
varies, the position changes, and action must be taken continually.

The survey, therefore, should be not simply a single act but a continual
process. Mission work is not a task which can be undertaken and finished
on a predetermined plan, like the construction of a railway. It is a
task the conditions of which vary from time to time, and consequently
plans and policies and methods must vary, and this variation can only
be rational if it is determined by recognition of the changing
circumstances, and the change of circumstances can only be understood
and appreciated if the survey of missions is a continuous process kept
constantly up to date. It is a form of mission history in which the
omission of a few years may break the connection of the whole narrative.

7. (i) It may perhaps cause surprise to some that the information for