ABSTRACT
Juvenile/Junior Missionary Association (JMA) supported the parent Society by the end of the nineteenth century some 20 per cent of Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society (WMMS) income derived from JMA. By then hundreds of Methodist families and congregations had 'outposts' abroad: men and women they knew personally, prayed for daily and supported generously. But the support mechanisms put in place at the outset paved the way to more elaborate ways of stimulating interest, prayer and finance and forging enduring links between 'outposts' and 'headquarters' not only the Mission House but Methodist homes throughout Britain and Ireland. From the earliest days the overseas Churches provided for many of their needs themselves, and supported new ventures as well. Methodist Missionary Society (MMS) support for churches abroad in 1961 came to 370,000 and local income to 1,477,000 but monetary calculations are insignificant when set against the gifts in kind and in dedicated service.
