It must be a review of the present state of the work, it must also be a review of the present position of the work.

It is a review of the state of the work, the stations, the converts, the Church; it is a review of the position, the progress made compared with the work to be done.

But the state varies, the position changes, and action must be taken continually.
The survey, therefore, should be not simply a single act but a continual process.

Mission work is not a task which can be undertaken and finished on a predetermined plan, like the construction of a railway.

It is a task the conditions of which vary from time to time, and consequently plans and policies and methods must vary, and this variation can only be rational if it is determined by recognition of the changing circumstances, and the change of circumstances can only be understood and appreciated if the survey of missions is a continuous process kept constantly up to date.