Our Work Advancing in Borneo
THE following letter from Brother Chan, of Singapore, which appeared in the Asiatic “News Letter” for January, gives some recent developments in the work in Borneo: “In answer to several urgent calls, I went to Borneo the first part of October. The first Sabbath after my arrival, quite a number closed their doors and kept the Sabbath of Jehovah. The first man that accepted the truth is one Chen En Fook, who is employed by the Land Office of Jesselton, Borneo; his mother-in-law and her four daughters also believe. They are people who are acquainted with the Bible. Among the four daughters, two are still in one of the schools. When the teachers of the school knew that the family of the two girls had begun to keep the Sabbath, they used every method to keep them from seeing the truth, so these two girls were misled for some time. “The first two nights after I came to Jesselton I made use of the public reading-room of the town to give lectures to the public. The first night I presented the second chapter of Daniel, showing that Christ will set up His everlasting kingdom in the very near future; and the second night the four beasts of Daniel 7, showing that the little horn and the prophecies concerning it are fulfilled in the Papacy, and calling their attention to the prediction, ‘He shall think to change times and laws,’ also to the fact that the Papacy has sought to change the Sabbath of the commandment. The third night I was going to open meeting at the same place, but the man in charge, influenced by some one who opposed the truth, would not let me do so. He said they had received a cable from Singapore concerning some important matter for which they would have to use the place to meet with their members. “It happened just at this time that Mr. Chen En Fook’s father-in-law, Mr. Wong, came from another town on his regular visit to his family. When he was told that I was there, he came to me, and earnestly desired to learn the truth; so I sat down with him to study the precious Word. The study continued till daylight. He wrote down everything I spoke. The following night he came again for more instruction. As his business is in the other town, he was obliged to leave the next day. When he went back, he began to preach to his friends. Some accepted the truth. They asked me to go over there, and that I did. “The same night one of the ministers asked if I would object to being questioned. I said, ‘No harm.’ Then he said, ‘I was told that you people testify that the Papacy changed the Sabbath. I am afraid this is your own explanation. Have you any proof?’ In answer to this I gave him a long study. Still he was not quite satisfied; so on the morrow he went to the Catholic priest, and asked about the change of the Sabbath. Not only did the priest not deny this fact, but he quoted many proofs to show that the Roman Catholic Church is the only church upon the earth that has power to do this. This convinced the minister that the Papacy had done the very thing foretold in Daniel 7. When he came again to Jesselton, Mr. Wong related to his family what this man had heard from the priest, and his two daughters who were wavering decided to keep the commandments. Both the mother and the daughters are bearing testimony for the truth every day. Whenever any one comes to their house to exhort them to keep Sunday, the two daughters give them Bible tracts that the people are not able to explain away, or ask questions that they are unable to answer. “When I was in Jesselton, the Misses Wong were doing personal work among their relatives. These two young women wish very much to come to Singapore12to be trained as workers in the third angel’s message. “Some of the men believers have already resigned their good positions in foreign business concerns, and are doing such work as they can earn their living at, that they may be free to observe the Lord’s Sabbath. On Sabbaths they close their shops and post a notice on the door, saying, ‘This is Sabbath day. No business done in this shop.’ This is a new thing in these towns, as the Sunday-keepers never close their shops. “I very earnestly pray that the Lord will bless the seed sown there, and ere long much fruit will be borne to the glory of His name.”