REGIONS BEYOND MISSIONARY UNION ARCHIVE
Papers of the RBMU concerning the Congo, India, Nepal and Peru from the Centre for the Study of Christianity in the Non-Western World, New College, University of Edinburgh

Part 4: Regions Beyond, 1878-1981, and Horizons, 1981-1990

The Regions Beyond Missionary Union (RBMU) dates back to 1873 and Henry Grattan Guiness's pioneering missionary work in the East End of London.  As it evolved, the RBMU specialised in:

• The training of missionaries - By 1903, their interdenominational Harley House Institute in Bow had trained 887 men and 281 women for missionary service all over trhe world with a wide variety of missionary organisations.
• Sponsoring missions at the boundaries of Empire - literally reaching the parts that other missionary organisations found it difficult to reach.  RBMU's biggest successes were in the Congo, Northern India, Nepal and Peru.
• Reporting on and assisting with the activities of numerous small, independent missionary groups in Africa, Asia and the Americas.

Part 4 is devoted to Regions Beyond, the main periodical of the RBMU, which discusses both their own missionary work and the work of countless other smaller groups (such as the Livingstone Inland Mission, and the Zulu Mission in South Africa).  The journal runs from 1884 to 1990 and we have pieced together a set from copies held in Edinburgh and at the British Library.

The RBMU archive is a rich resouce for anthropologists, cultural historians, missiologists and those involved with area studies.