General Meetings in South China by B. L. Anderson

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 17, 1916

General Meetings in South China

By B. L. Anderson

B. L. ANDERSON

I LEFT Amoy on the twenty-seventh of September for a trip into Kwang-tung and Kwang-si Provinces. The second day out, the steamer called at Swatow, where a busy day was spent in making the final arrangements in the purchase of land for the new mission compound. The boundaries were fixed, the deed arranged for, and the money paid. We are much pleased with the location secured.

INTERIOR OF CHAPEL AT CHIOH-BE, SOUTH CHINA

Leaving Swatow in company with Brother J. P. Anderson, we arrived at Hongkong the following morning, where we were joined by Brother Arthur Mountain, who attended the Kwang-si meeting with us. We left Hongkong Wednesday evening, and after a very pleasant passage up the West River we arrived at Wu-chau Friday morning. Here we found Dr. Law Keem and native evangelists busy carrying forward the meeting that had been in session since the preceding Sabbath. The different classes of workers and some of the believers

came before the regular time set for the general meeting, that they might receive special instruction on the message. The latter part of the meeting was devoted more especially to the spiritual interests. There was a full attendance, the chapel was filled to overflowing, and many an interested listener found room in the court just outside the door.

Brother Anderson rendered valuable assistance at this first general meeting in the Kwang-si field. Brother Mountain gave some interesting studies on the importance of the literature work. We were pleased to hear him offer his first public prayer in the Cantonese language, after having been in China only thirteen months.

Over a score of persons presented themselves for baptism, and of the numerous companies that I have assisted in examining for membership in the church in China, I do not recall ever meeting with a brighter and more intelligent class. Among them was a man who had seen sixty winters. He was the first man to turn from heathenism to Christ in Kwang-si Province. Nineteen were received into the church. The Wu-chau church now has thirty-eight members.

The general meeting for Kwang-tung, held at Fatshan, opened according to appointment, October 13, with a good attendance. The large chapel was filled, and the number present at times ran as high as 175. A good interest was manifested by the people of the city. The evening services were especially well attended. All the workers, both foreign and native, in performing their work manifested a zeal that was indicative of a new life and inspiration to carry forward the work to a successful finish. Brother J. P. Anderson was present at this meeting to assist in the preaching, and also to act as interpreter for those whose tongues still refused to speak the Cantonese language. Brethren Ham and Mountain, though they had studied the language only a short time, spoke to the people in the vernacular.

During this meeting twenty-two new members were received into the church by baptism, a large number direct from heathenism. The Sabbath day was filled with meetings. At the opening of the Sabbath school the superintendent (a Chinese) suggested that it might be well to have an aim to work to in the matter of making the Sabbath school offering. After some discussion it was decided to set the goal for the day at fifteen dollars Mexican. When the offering was counted, it was found that twenty-one dollars had been received. All were pleased that the goal had been more than reached.

In the afternoon the ordinances were celebrated, a large number taking part. The remaining portion of the day and the evening were devoted to the preaching of the word. After a prayer and praise service the next morning, the meeting closed, and the people returned to their homes, feeling that they had received a spiritual uplift that would better prepare them to fight life's battles.

The old Bethel school building has been remodeled and changed so that it really presents a much more inviting aspect, and there is now a good attendance. In the large and well-arranged chapel in the front part of the main building an ever-increasing congregation meets.

A few days after my return to Amoy, Brother and Sister W. C. Hankins returned from the Fu-chau district, and announced that twenty-eight were added to the Fu-chau church during their visit. Brother Hankins will soon be sending a full report of his trip.

The message is advancing here in South China by leaps and bounds. During the first three quarters of the present year one hundred and ninety-one members have been added to the church in the South China Mission. And today at Wu-chau, Kwang-si, another score of believers are being baptized into the church. We expect that before the year closes about forty will be baptized at Fatshan and Fu-chau and other places. With all these accessions, you can imagine how we are pressed to find ways and means to take care of the younger members of these believing households.

BOYS’ SCHOOL AT AMOY, SOUTH CHINA, IN PROCESS OF ERECTION

The calls that have been made for new workers for Fu-chau, Amoy, Swatow, Hakka, Hongkong, and Canton, and the Kwang-si field, are all urgent, and the growing work demands that they be sent. I am inclosing a picture of the interior of a newly dedicated chapel thirty miles from Amoy. It is owned by the mission, and will seat two hundred persons. At the close of five days’ meetings in this chapel at the time of the dedication, fifty-six persons signed cards to join the regular nightly Bible class. They are nearly all heathen. The other picture gives a view of the erection of the boys’ school near the beach, on the island of Kulangsu, Amoy.