Calls for More Recruits
By J. E. Shultz
Fields Urgently Demanding Help—Earnest Appeals from Chinese for the Gospel THE meeting for Hunan province, China, was appointed for February 3-13; and as the committee had requested Brother Blunden and me to attend it, I left Shanghai January 25, joining Brethren Cottrell and Blunden in Hankau five days later, from which place we proceeded to Changsha, the headquarters of our work in Hunan. There we were heartily welcomed by Brethren Lillie and White, who offered us the hospitality of their comfortable homes. Our trip from Hankau to Changsha was made on a Chinese launch, which was much overcrowded; but we were very grateful for the comforts it afforded, since it was much better than the house boats, the only other means of travel at this season of the year, when the water is so low. I was more than pleased to meet with our Chinese brethren on committee work, and to study with them the problems they are meeting from day to day. The Christian integrity they evinced was an inspiration to me, and convinced me that these men receive wisdom proportionate to their needs. There was no disposition to temporize with questions, no inclination to lower our denominational standard, but an earnest endeavor so to plan as to accomplish the greatest results with the least delay. Thirty Calls for Preachers
During the last two days of the meeting, calls were considered from various parts of the province to open up new outstations. While the work in the stations already established shows a substantial growth, there were calls from thirty other places for the living preacher. All this is the result of the efforts of our colporteurs. From one place came an earnest call for a worker, which call was signed by one hundred earnest inquirers who are already keeping the Sabbath. Another place sent an appeal signed by several of the leading merchants of the place, who sent a promissory note for $150 to help defray the expense of sending a worker to them, and promised an additional $850 as soon as the worker began his work. Other places sent equally urgent calls,— places where men had been keeping the Sabbath for two and three years as the result of reading the Chinese Signs. Neglected for Lack of Workers
Nor was this all. Calls were received from outside the province. For several years, colporteurs have been going into the province of Kiangsi, and for four years urgent calls have been received for a regular worker to be stationed there. At this meeting, the believers in that province were represented by an earnest young man, who pleaded that their call should not go longer unheeded. But what could be done! Certainly there was no foreigner available for such work. The Chinese, seeing this, finally voted that Brother Hwang, one of their most experienced and successful workers, should be sent to answer this call. At first they said they felt that they could not spare him; but as he stood ready to answer the call, the Lord put it into the hearts of our Chinese committeemen to release him for the work. They said that thirty calls for immediate help in their own province caused them to consider their own needs, but they could not deny the right of another province to having at least one messenger of truth in their midst. So, like the church of Antioch of old, they sent forth one of their own number, and we united with them in praying that his mission might be blessed of God. Owing to ill health, upon the doctor's urgent suggestion, Elder Lillie, the director of the field, was advised to seek a more healthful climate. This leaves Brother White as the only foreign worker in the province. We should earnestly pray that God may give him wisdom in dealing with the many questions that shall arise.