| Activity | Work of the Overseas Division1935-1959:
In 1935 the work of the Overseas Division was administered by three committees (first appointed in 1880), the Secretaries to the Committee each being head of a department at headquarters. The East Asia (Group 1) Secretary was responsible for work in China and Japan, the West Asia (Group 2) Secretary was in charge of India, Ceylon and the Middle East (Persia, Palestine and also Egypt); the Africa (Group 3) Secretary was head of all work in Africa.
When work in mainland China was closed in 1951 some of the missionaries who had been forced to leave were transferred to work amongst the Chinese "new villages" in Malaya. Despite this fresh initiative the loss of so many workers made an imbalance at headquarters in the numbers of people for whom the East and West Asia Secretaries were responsible.
In 1957 CMS amalgamated with the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society (which woked mainly in India and Ceylon). As a result the work-load of the two Secretaries was so unequal that it was decided to merge the two committees. From September 1957 there was one Asia Committee served by a Secretary for Asia and Egypt |