The South China Division
By A. G. Daniells
FROM accounts we had heard of typhoons and rough seas in the China Sea, we had dreaded the voyage between Singapore and Hongkong more than any other part of our long journey, but we were favored with beautiful weather and a smooth sea. This enabled us to attend to correspondence and bring our reports up to date for the REVIEW. Professor Salisbury joined us at Singapore and accompanied Mrs. Daniells and me on this journey. We were met at the Hongkong wharf by Brethren R. C. Porter, B. L. Anderson, and A. L. Ham. Here we were told of the death of our dear fellow worker, Elder O. A. Olsen. This was a great shock to me. When we parted just before I left America I congratulated Brother Olsen on his steady improvement healthwise and his power of endurance after so many years of unceasing toil in the gospel ministry. In our conversations he often expressed the hope that he might live to see the work of God finished in the earth, and welcome the return of his Lord. In the death of Brother Olsen I have lost a dear, true friend and a valued counselor, and our cause has lost a faithful leader. The burden of the work given him by his Lord rested heavily upon his heart. He shrank from no toil, weariness, exposure, or sacrifice required to do that work well and acceptably to God. It grieves me to think of the broken circle and the empty chair I shall face in our future councils. May our great Leader raise up many more men as earnest and faithful as our brother who has fallen. As soon as we could get ashore at Hongkong the brethren hurried us to the river boat that was to take us to Canton, where the workers of the South China division were gathered for a general meeting. This was our first sight of China, and everything was new and interesting to us. Our ride up that great river, alive with humanity doing commercial business on all sorts of crafts, was indeed interesting. Long before we reached the pier in Canton the river was so crowded with small passenger steamers, freight boats, and sampans that it looked as if we could never reach our pier without some one going to the bottom of the river. But the Chinese sampan pilots are as expert as10are the London bus drivers. There was no confusion or collision, for every one seemed to know just what to do and when to do it. We gathered in the chapel of our Bethel Girls' School in which our meetings are held in Canton. Here we had the pleasure of meeting nearly all our foreign and native workers in South China. Elder B. L. Anderson is the superintendent of this great division, with its teeming millions. He is assisted in the leadership of the work by Brethren W. C. Hankins of Amoy, J. P. Anderson of Swatow, S. A. Nagel in the Hakka district, B. A. Meeker of Canton, Dr. Law Keem of Kwang-si Province, and A. L. Ham of Hongkong. We were also pleased to meet Sister E. H. Wilbur, who has recently laid her husband to rest in the land where they were so glad to toil for souls. Her courage is good, and she is toiling on with her two little boys the best she can. Here we made the acquaintance of Brother and Sister Thomas, who have recently come to take charge of the training school at the mission station. We had the pleasure also of meeting Brother and Sister Mountain, who have come from Australia to take charge of the circulation of literature in this part of China. They were but children when I left Australia fifteen years ago. It makes one's heart rejoice to see our boys and girls remain loyal to this message as they grow up to manhood and womanhood, and also to see them consecrate their lives to the advancement of the cause. As delightful as it was to renew acquaintance with these dear fellow workers and their wives, it was as great a pleasure to become acquainted with the many Chinese workers who are helping our foreign brethren to hasten forward the work in China. These native brethren and sisters gave us a truly warm and brotherly welcome, and seemed to greatly appreciate the instruction given in the workers' meetings. Owing to the disarrangement of shipping caused by the war, we were late in reaching this meeting, and this made our stay with these workers too short. The reports of the leaders in the different districts of the South China division were very encouraging. One very interesting item in the report Brother Hankins gave of the work in the Fukien Province is the success that has attended the labors of two of our Chinese evangelists in Fu-chow, the capital city of this province. This city has a population of five hundred thousand, and controls ten million who speak the Fu-chow dialect. The work was begun there about two years ago by Elder Keh. After acquainting himself with the language, he began active work, which has resulted in the organization of a church with fifty-nine baptized members. This is said to be one of the best churches in South China. Now something is very much needed to give the people confidence in the permanency of our work, and it is planned to buy a piece of land on which to build a school and foreign residences when they are needed. Land can be bought at a very moderate price just now, so it is thought best to secure the land at once. It is planned to try to increase the donations in the field enough to buy the land. The work so far has been carried on entirely by two Chinese workers. Brother Nagel told of the ten millions of Hakka people in his district. He is the only foreign worker among them. He has eight stations, with chapels and schools and an attendance of two hundred pupils. There are at present sixty-eight baptized members. Forty-one of these have been baptized since the opening of 1914. Many more are keeping the Sabbath and are being instructed for baptism. Brother Nagel is being assisted in his district by nine native evangelists, three canvassers, and eight teachers. He pleads for at least one more foreign worker to help in pressing the work forward more rapidly and efficiently among those millions groping in heathen darkness. Brother and Sister J. P. Anderson have an interesting and encouraging work at Swatow and in the surrounding country. Three hundred students are attending the schools under their supervision. In these schools the Bible is taught every day. Under the life-giving, transforming influence of the gospel these young people are receiving a divine mold that will prove the salvation of many of them, and prepare some of them for efficient service in the finishing of our work in China. Dr. Law Keem and wife gave a most encouraging report of their work in the Kwang-si Province a little to the northwest of Canton. They are at present living in the chief commercial city of the province. The Lord has blessed them in their labors in this part of China. They have raised up two churches and find openings for further service in all directions. Difficulties have attended their labors the past two years which would surely have disheartened them had they not been greatly blessed and strengthened by the Lord. Brother and Sister Ham are located in Hongkong. This is a large, clean, beautiful city under British control. It ranks among the greatest shipping ports of the world, and it is a most important center for our work in the Far East. We held two meetings with our church in their neat little chapel. But as I stood by the door of this small building on the hillside and looked down upon that throng of tens of thousands of human beings who know nothing about Him who died to save them, I felt the force of Brother Ham's plea for at least one more European worker for that great center. If a strong European church could be raised up it would be a source of great help and strength in all South China. While in this city we went to the cemetery to see the graves of Father A. La Rue and Sister Gertrude Thompson, who fell while toiling in this part of the great harvest field. The graves are in a good location in the cemetery, and their neat, clean appearance testifies to the attention they receive from those who remain to carry on the work to which Brother La Rue and Sister Thompson gladly gave their lives. After an inspection of the conditions surrounding the buildings in which our first missionaries to Canton lived, I appreciated as I could not have done before the blessings of our new mission station near this city. This station is outside of the city, where it is clean and quiet, and the air is fresh and pure. Here they have several acres of land, on which they have erected three substantial brick buildings. One is the school for girls, another is the home for the teachers, and the third is the home for the superintendent of that part of the field. With such favorable surroundings and good homes our workers can live and toil in China without breaking down prematurely. The buildings are plain, but substantial and convenient. It is necessary to provide such homes in these lands in order to give our missionaries a fair chance to live and work for any great length of time. It was most encouraging to find our work so well established and so prosperous in the southern part of China. All our missionaries now on the ground are most well and of excellent courage. Of their difficulties and sacrifices we shall say nothing. The greatest trial to all is the lack of workers and facilities to meet ever-increasing demands upon them. It is a fearful thing to be compelled to look into avenues open for soul-winning work and see thousands of souls dying without hope and yet be unable to help them. It leads them to ask the question again and again, Why does not the Lord send laborers into these openings he has created? Is his church doing all it can and all he expects it to do to enter these avenues? And then the prayer goes up to the Lord of the harvest to send forth more laborers. The answer to that prayer is the greatest need of these teeming Christless millions here in China.