Another object in missionary education is, to do enough to stimulate
to exertion, and yet not foster inefficiency or undue dependence.
The Nestorians are poor, but doing too much for them may make them
still poorer. They must be brought to sustain their own institutions
at the earliest possible moment, and their training should keep that
end in view. Hence Miss Fiske writes, "At first I was inclined to do
more for them than afterwards, and at length settled down on this
principle,--to give my pupils nothing for common use which they
could not secure in their own homes by industry and economy. So I
furnished only such articles as they could buy in the city. I
preferred that they should make all their own clothing, and may have
grieved friends sometimes by declining clothing which they offered
to send for them. We chose rather to spend our own strength in
training them to provide for themselves. I do not mean that I am not
glad to see foreign articles in Oroomiah; but we were in danger of
fostering a more expensive taste than they would have the means of
gratifying. Our great object is to raise up the most efficient
coadjutors from among the people, and they must labor among their
neighbors as of them, and not as foreigners, and be prepared to
carry forward the work when we leave it.
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