Pakhoi, China by J. N. ANDERSON

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 11, 1910

Pakhoi, China

By J. N. ANDERSON

J. N. ANDERSON

PAKHOI (literally, the “north sea”) is a small city in the extreme southern part of the province of Kwangtung, which is itself the most southern province of the Chinese empire. According to the Chinese way of classifying cities and villages, Pakhoi is strictly a village, for the reason that it has no wall about it. The fact that its inhabitants number thousands, and that it is situated on the sea, giving it some commercial standing, does not avail to give it rank as a city in the estimation of the Chinese. In a direct line Pakhoi is about three hundred miles southwest of Canton; but in making the distance between these two places via Hong-kong, the distance covered is not less than five hundred miles, mainly in the open sea.

Special interest centers in Pakhoi just now from the fact that within the last few months a new mission station has been opened up there. All stations where foreigners are located are designated as “main stations,” as opposed to “out-stations” which are carried on by Chinese assistants without a foreigner in residence. Pakhoi is a main station, the work having been opened there the first part of the present year by Brother and Sister A. H. Bach, who have recently taken their stand with us as a people. As they have been in China for about ten years, they are well prepared to enter on this work, owing to their long experience with the Chinese people and their knowledge of this language. As a suitable house could not be found, Sister Bach and the two boys were compelled to go to Macau (a Portuguese colony about forty miles southwest of Hong-kong) where suitable quarters were easily found. She has remained in Macau ever since, largely because she is not strong and also because the hot season in Pakhoi is very trying. All this time Brother Bach has been in Pakhoi alone, carrying forward the work there with the aid of Chinese workers.

It was my privilege to visit Pakhoi the latter part of March. I found Brother Bach hard at work carrying on meetings in a chapel on one of the main streets. These meetings were held every night, and careful instruction in a very simple, direct way was imparted to the forty or fifty men and women who gathered to hear. Very few of the people there have sufficient knowledge of the Chinese characters to enable them to read the Bible and other gospel literature. For this reason nearly all the teaching must be done orally, and the instruction must be given in the most simple language. Most of the people who come to hear are from the raw heathen classes. Sentence by sentence they are taught the great truths of the Bible; and in the same way they are trained to sing gospel songs. This class of inquirers is steadily increasing, so that the last I heard from Brother Bach there were some sixty, men and women. We are confident that a goodly number of these will be ready to receive baptism and be organized into a church toward the latter part of the present year. This will give us a good foothold in that part of the province. From that point it will be possible to carry our work into the surrounding cities and villages, where some openings have already been made through the distribution of literature. With those large cities and the vast stretches of country on all sides, there is not only ample room for several additional foreign workers, but there is real need of them. How can one man compass such a vast field by his own efforts?

In common with many other cities in these parts of China, Pakhoi has been fatally visited by the bubonic plague. At times the number of deaths have been as high as sixty a day. In some cases whole families have been decimated. In the midst of this scourge, hundreds and thousands fled to the surrounding country in despair, knowing no better way to escape this devouring death. By such a process it is very easy to carry the plague to the cities and villages all about.

In a situation like this the faith and courage of the missionary are most severely tried. The converts and inquirers naturally look to him for succor in such an hour of distress. What can he do? To what lengths can he go in mingling with the stricken people to comfort and help them? No specific rule can be laid down for the worker to follow in every case; but the great principle enunciated by our Saviour, that the true shepherd lays down his life for the sheep, is a safe one. We must ever remember that we are true ministers of the eternal life in proportion as we lay down our own lives.

Shanghai.