The task of Gospel Missions is not human but divine, not natural but supernatural, and, if that supernatural element be missing, increased staff and better equipment will not change the essential situation. Would that there were more emphasis on the spiritual condition of the heathen, rather than so much talk about their physical, social, and moral condition! Would that there were more consciousness among missionaries and missionary leaders as to the essential need of the heathen, rather than so much stress on their apparent need! It is often assumed, and sometimes stated, that with enough missionaries and mission stations we could evangelize the world in one generation. But the task cannot be done by an accumulation of human effort and human resources. Instead, “The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.”



 Rudolph M. Piepgrass, “The Voice of the Son of God,” Bibliotheca Sacra 104 (1947): 85.