I AM inclosing a picture of the first chapel owned by our mission in the province of Fukien. It was dedicated Sept. 11, 1915. This chapel is not one that we have built ourselves, but an old building that we have bought and remodeled. A few months ago the brethren in Chioh-be came to us with the information that they had the chance to buy a good house very cheap. The mission was greatly in need of a suitable chapel there, as the one we had was not in a sanitary location, neither was it large enough to meet the needs of our growing work in this important place. Rents were very high, and even then it seemed almost impossible to find the right kind of place for a chapel; so when the brethren came to us with the news that we could buy a house for the same amount of money that we would have to expend on rent inside of three years, we decided to investigate.
We found that the building in question was being used as a shop for the manufacture of paper money. This is imitation money which the Chinese use in their worship of the spirits of the dead. The house was long and narrow, consisting of three sections aggregating over a hundred feet in length, but only about fifteen feet wide. There were upstairs rooms at the back where the evangelist could live. The place was very dirty.12and we knew we would have to spend something in repairing it, but we felt that even then it would be a cheaper investment for the mission than renting. So we bought it, and set the contractors at work on the needed repairs. Windows and doors were cut, partitions torn out, and floors renewed, the dirty walls patched and whitewashed, and then the front of the building remodeled to look like a chapel. By the time the work was completed the old house was utterly transformed. The entire cost, including purchase price, was only about three hundred dollars gold, over a fourth of which was donated by the Chinese brethren.
Sabbath, September 11, was finally decided upon as the day when the chapel should be dedicated. Word was sent out to all the Chinese brethren in that immediate vicinity, that there would be a five days' meeting at Chioh-be, and all were invited to attend. Friday morning Elder B. L. Anderson and the writer left for Chioh-be. When we arrived, we found every one busy trying to get the chapel in shape for the next day's services. We had not seen the place since it was finished, and were very much pleased with the transformation. We found that the chapel proper was about seventy feet long and would seat about two hundred people. Everything was neat, clean, and inviting. The upstairs living rooms were comparatively cool and airy.
CONGREGATION AT CHIOH-BE
Sabbath morning a good congregation of our own people came together, and we held our first service in the new building. After an interesting Sabbath school, conducted by the Chinese evangelist, Elder Anderson preached the dedicatory sermon. Meetings were also held in the afternoon and evening. Mrs. B. L. Anderson and Mrs. Hankins came to the meeting to take special charge of the women's services. The Sabbath meetings were followed by a four days' meeting, with subjects prepared especially for the heathen. Such subjects as God, Christ, the Son of God, the second coming of Christ, the inspiration of the Bible, the law of God, the saints' inheritance, and other kindred subjects were dwelt upon. These regular services were attended by men and women alike, but some special services were held by the sisters for women only, in which practical lessons on home life, child training, importance of knowing and obeying the will of God, and kindred subjects were discussed.
The outside attendance during the day was fairly good, but at night the attendance from among the heathen was very good, and increased each night during the meetings. A lively interest was awakened, and the meetings soon became the talk of the city. The last two nights, when we asked all those who would like to join a Bible class to sign their names to cards which were passed around, we received fifty-six names, most of the signers being heathen.
Elder Keh Hok-siu, a young man who has just recently been ordained to the ministry, has been left there to follow up this interest. A night school has been opened and regular Bible classes organized, and we hope that a good harvest of souls will be the result of the work done there. A similar work should be done in many places throughout this province. The whole western part of the province is still unentered, except by our colporteurs who are traversing these mountainous regions in all directions. They report a few large cities and many large towns and villages scattered over the mountains and plains. These are waiting for the last warning message to be given them.
We are praying that the Lord of the harvest may send forth reapers into this needy part of his vineyard, that when the Saviour gathers his jewels, these, too, with the rest of those "from the land of Sinim," may be numbered among the redeemed. May God help our dear people in the homeland to remember this waiting field in their prayers and by their gifts.
