Itinerating in the Southeast China Mission
By W. C. Hankins
ONE morning not long ago the writer arrived in Swatow, and made arrangements with Brother Hung to start at once for the interior, to visit the little companies of Sabbath-keepers who live from fifty to seventy miles inland from Swatow. We took the launch to Kit-yang, arriving there about four o’clock in the afternoon. It was raining, and the little footpaths that serve as roads in that vicinity were in such a state of slippery, sticky muddiness that we thought it wise to hire a Chinese “Pullman sleeper.” This consisted of a flat-bottomed boat about thirty feet long and six feet wide in the middle, with a good bamboo cover over about two thirds of it, and with two men to row or pole it. We finally agreed with the owner of a nice, clean boat to take us wherever we wished to go for about four cents a mile,—two cents a mile apiece. This is as cheap as traveling by train in America, with no extra charges for baggage or sleeping accommodations. There was a dining-car attachment to our “Pullman,” but we had to furnish our own food, and cook it ourselves; so the first thing we did after hiring the boat was to go into the town and buy a supply of provisions and charcoal. Kit-yang does not have any wells, so we were obliged to cook our food in the river water. As long as we have been in China, we have never really become accustomed to using river water for cooking purposes; but sometimes one must do as the Chinaman does. At such times it is best to forget all about germs, else the desire for food might be taken away. We had a small quantity of good well water with us for drinking purposes. This we carefully hoarded, to make it last throughout the trip; for—such is the inconsistency of human nature—even if we did have to eat the river water, we didn’t wish to drink it. Having arranged our beds to our satisfaction, we proceeded to cook and eat our supper,—we had had no dinner,—and as soon as dark we retired. Indeed, that was the only sensible thing to do; for if we had stayed outside our nets, the mosquitoes would have made it very unpleasant for us. It rained that night, and more or less every day we were out on that trip; but our cover was waterproof, and the rain kept the weather delightfully cool. Our first stop was at a little village called Kho-khoe. We readily found our brethren, and were shown the place where they meet on the Sabbath. Their meeting-room was about seven by nine feet, and was lighted by whatever light could come in through the open door and a little hole in the wall near the roof. There is nothing I ever saw in the United States to which I can compare this room, to give you an idea of what it is like. It is too small for a cow-stable, and, besides, no humane man would keep his cow in such a poorly ventilated place. The best comparison I can think of is a chicken-coop, and even then I am afraid some of my readers will not be able to realize what it is like; for many chicken-houses in America are more commodious and better ventilated than is this room. We immediately asked if there was not some place that could be rented, but were told that there was none. Between ten and twenty true-hearted Sabbath-keepers meet in that little room to worship God and study his Word. From Kho-khoe we went to Kau-to, a village just across the river from the former place. Here we found the meeting-place a shade better, as it was a little larger, but it, too, was dark and poorly ventilated. These two companies generally meet together, meeting one Sabbath at one place and the next at the other. I know it would have done you good to see their shining faces, and hear their plans for spreading the knowledge of the truth in that vicinity. There are no other missions working in these two places, so there is a good opportunity for us to do some pioneer work among the heathen. The Chinese there seem to respect our brethren, and to be willing to listen to the gospel. While we were there, one of the men offered to give a piece of land, and some of the brethren offered to help both in money and in work if we would put up a little chapel. They thought that if the mission would furnish about one hundred dollars gold, they could do the rest. I could not promise them anything at that time; but it seems a great pity not to have a suitable meeting-place for these two companies. Is there not some one in the home land who would consider it a privilege to give that hundred dollars for the chapel at Kau-to? Any one desiring to do this should send the money through the regular channels, and label it, “For the Kau-to chapel, Swatow, China.” From Kau-to we went to Li-o, where one of our workers is living. We found that he was out on a preaching tour, so, after visiting with his family and a few others in that village, we started back down the river. By traveling most of the night we reached a fork of the river within about three miles of Kit-yang, and the next morning started up another branch to a place called Soa-o, where we visited the family of the man who went from there to help in the work at Singapore. We found all the family well and actively working for their neighbors, friends, and relatives. As it was evening, we held a preaching service with them, and between twenty and thirty came to listen. From Soa-o we went to Chiu-iu-lo, where we spent the Sabbath. It rained hard that morning, so all the brethren in that region did not get in to the services, but there were from fifteen to twenty present, and they gave careful attention as we explained the Word of God. One of our workers lives here, and he seems to be doing efficient work. The room set apart for meeting purposes at this place was much better than in any of the other places, as it was much larger, and could be made quite light and airy by opening two windows in one end of the room. From Chiu-iu-lo we returned to Kit-yang, having visited five companies and traveled about one hundred miles in our little boat. It took us longer to travel that hundred miles than it would to go directly from Chicago to San Francisco, but we were very comfortable, and accomplished the work that we started out to do, so we did not feel inclined to grumble because it took so long. I wish that I could describe to you13all that I saw on this trip,—the beautiful scenery along the banks of the river, the bamboo groves, the fields of green rice, and the mountains; the large amount of traffic carried on by means of the flat-bottomed boats; the millions of people waiting for the gospel; the eager faces of those who have received it; the open doors reported by the workers; the countless opportunities for work. All this and more I wish you could have seen, and then that you would remember that we have not one foreign worker living in that whole region, because the Mission Board has not enough money in the treasury to warrant sending out another worker. God has greatly blessed the work in this place; but will he hold us guiltless if we fail to press into a field where the doors are thrown so widely open, and where there is such a loud call for help? Who will supply the money with which to answer this call? May God help us as a people to be awake to our opportunities; and when he opens the way, let us press forward and do the work that needs to be done.