Amoy, China by B. L. ANDERSON

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 6, 1910

Amoy, China

By B. L. ANDERSON

B. L. ANDERSON

WE praise the Lord for his mercy and love manifested toward us in delivering us out of a great affliction. Our lives, we believe, have been spared in answer to prayer and by the Lord’s special protection. It is needless to go into the details of an experience that is past, especially when that experience makes one’s blood run cold. Mrs. Anderson’s was the first case of smallpox I had ever seen, and I hope it may be the last.

It is very easy to become infected with smallpox in these parts, as the Chinese take no precaution against the spread of the disease; and as a result thousands die of this malady every year. An especially large number have died of the black pox the past winter and spring.

Mrs. Anderson evidently became infected over in the Amoy girls’ school, where the disease had claimed a victim. Of course she may have taken it going to and from the school. This could very easily be done, as the Chinese often go into the streets before the scabs are all off the face and body. She is now quite strong again, and we hope she will get through the summer without further trouble.

It seems a pity that we can not have a doctor for this part of China, where there are such opportunities for service. In such critical times as this a doctor could lend a hand, and we would be saved the embarrassment of calling in a physician from another mission, prejudiced against our work.

The doctor who cared for Mrs. Anderson is now dead of the plague. He was a classmate of Drs. W. H. Riley and D. H. Kress. While not believing as we do, he has aided our work in defending us against misrepresentations. He has always been very friendly toward us personally, and also kindly disposed toward our mission. In his death we feel that we have lost a good Christian physician, and a friend and helper in time of need.

The plague is now raging in these parts, and is taking away a host of people. Just the other day a teacher in one of the Amoy schools told me that within ten days seven persons had died of the plague in one firm. Some of the schools have been suspended. Many foreigners are being inoculated for the plague, but we are still in doubt about the matter, as some inoculations prove fatal. We have just discovered that in going to the Amoy girls’ school we have been passing through a plague-infected part of the city.

The girls’ school in Amoy has been doing splendidly this year. The teaching is having its effect upon the girls, and the gospel influence is also entering their homes. Many of the parents seem willing to hear, and often come to the chapel meetings. The attendance is good, thirty-six being enrolled, and the prospects for the future are bright.

The boys’ school on the Kulangsu side has also been doing good work. Although the number in attendance has not been larger, yet we have all the boys we are able to accommodate with the present facilities. We have been obliged to turn away some who have applied for admission. This ought not to be. While the school is primarily for our own people, yet at the same time provision should be made for others desiring to attend.

We are still waiting for means to develop the proposition out in the To-Kong district. I am still of the opinion that we must have a chapel and school out there that we can call our own. In China schools and chapels are counterparts, and of the two I firmly believe that the schools are of the greater importance in mission work.

Kulangsu.