Mission Work in China

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Nov 16, 1882

Mission Work in China.

REV. JOHN BUTLER of the Presbyterian mission to China, just before returning to China, from a visit to this country said:—

"Two things we cannot get people in America to realize fully: 1. What has been done in China, and 2. What needs to be done there. The more I see, the more I am astonished at our success. People will hardly believe me when I tell them about our Chinese Christians. 'I suppose they are rather slippery,' one says. I answer, No. They are fully equal in Christian character to church members in this country. . . . .

"When we get the Gospel into a Chinaman he is sure to be a noble Christian. Our Chinese preachers take their Bibles as literally true and as authoritative. They have no commentaries to explain away the obvious meaning. Hence they don't cavil or rationalize, but literally 'tremble' at God's word. They believe what they read and obey it. Hence, they give a tenth of all they earn to the Lord. We are building up in China self-supporting churches under native pastors. The pastor's salary is $100 a year, and he gives a tenth of it. China is a third larger than the United States, and has but one missionary to a million of its population. We need, especially, female missionaries. The women of China are all Buddhists, and are very religious in their way. There is no heaven for them as women. They must go to hell. But their hope is that if they are pious here, they may return to the earth as men, and so have a chance to get to heaven. These women receive the missionaries kindly, and we cannot send them too many."