Relationships+between+YMCA+and+other+Missionaries

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The student volunteer movement adopted itself in the summer of 1888. Many people questioned the relation of the student volunteers to the existing student Christian groups, in particular the YMCA and YWCA, which had been in existence since the fall of 1886. It was very clear to the people that the aims of the Student Volunteer movement were in agreement with those of the YMCA. There was also the organization known as the inter-Seminary Missionary Alliance. In 1889, after much conflict, a proposal was given that the Student Volunteer Movement be designated as the official missionary arm of the YMCA, YWCA, and the Inter-Seminary Missionary Alliance. Each group was aiming to do the same exact thing. Their efforts were concentrated on spreading missionary enthusiasm and bringing local and state volunteer organizations under the influence of the national Student Volunteer movement.

The Student Volunteers method of growing the movement in various fields, gave way in the educational department. In 1894, an educational department was formed and introduced its first four courses of study. “The Historical Development of the Missionary Idea,” “South America,” “Medical Missions,” and “China as a Mission Field.” People were still emphasizing the fact that they wanted more missionary libraries on their campuses.

Although the Student Volunteer Movement faced many archives, such as the account from the ‘Order of the Double Red Cross,’ the movement still grew steadily during the pre-War era. Conventions were held in Cleveland (1898), Toronto (1902), Nashville (1906), Rochester (1910), and Kansas City (1914.) By 1910, the Rochester Convention, 4,388 volunteers had sailed to foreign fields, fifty percent being student volunteers. These activities of the SVM caused the formation of te Laymen’s Missionary Movement in 1906, and the establishment of home mission projects such as the Yale Hope Mission.