A Voice from Honan, China
By E. PILQUIST
DURING the last four months we have been able to sell nearly thirty thousand Bibles, New Testaments, and portions of Scripture in Honan. I have not made any long trips into the interior for some time, but have been working at home. I go out early in the morning, in order to meet farmers from the country who are coming into town on business, and hand them portions of the Holy Book. These humble farmers are very thankful for the Word, and often sit down in the road and begin to read, and invite me to sit by them and teach them, which I gladly do. We have rented a good house in this place, and could easily accommodate two families, and they are needed. We have started a Bible class—a real Bible class; for we read only the Bible. We have a good teacher in our employ, who has opened his heart to the truth as far as I have been able to explain it to him. He not only sees the Sabbath of the Lord plainly, but also keeps it with gladness. He takes great delight in the Bible truth. He is a child of God, and I hope that he may remain firm as the first fruits of our work here. He could engage in evangelistic work, as he is a highly educated man. The time will soon come when I shall be free to give my entire time to teaching present truth, which is my delight. A few days ago I had a letter from my superior officer in Shanghai, warning me not to tell the missionaries or the Chinese that the seventh day is the Sabbath, and not to tell the people that pork is unsuitable for food. I replied: “When you intrusted me to be a distributor of your society’s Scripture, I promised on my part to do my best to let the people of all classes know what is in the Book you intrusted to me.” The truth must be known, even if we suffer for bringing it to the front. John lost his head for preaching the truth to a certain king, and the time may come when we must seal our faith by our blood. But let us be loyal to our God, firm in the wildest tempest. I know that the Lord will stand by me while I proclaim his Word.