God has greatly blessed the work in China during the past year. Tho we have had many perplexities to meet, and tho the revolution was a great hindrance for a number of months in the early part of the year, still good results, in general, have been seen for the efforts put forth. In some provinces, from sixty to eighty have been baptized. When we remember that only two foreign families are located in a province, it surely seems as tho the Lord is going before us, and we gratefully acknowledge that He is helping us most wondrously.
A GROUP OF MISSIONARIES IN CHINA
Many of our foreign laborers have not yet acquired the language, therefore they can not do the best quality of work, but when men present the Word of God in humility and fear, they seem to get results from their labors. We have foreigners in only six provinces of the eighteen, and should we put but two families in each province, we would need at least twenty-four new families to cover the field in this way. However, some of the provinces have a much larger population than others. One province has seventy million souls, and it does not require much thought to see that two families would be entirely inadequate to handle such a work. There will also have to be new families gaining a preparation, to step into the ranks for those who fall out by the way. China is certainly not a paradise for health, and as long as men are mortal they will sicken and die here.
The new homes we are building will doubtless do much to conserve the health of our workers. Not only so, but when people have a pleasant and comfortable place to come to after their contact with the Chinese, and the conditions that prevail in such a country as this, they are not so apt to lose courage, and to feel the calls of the home land beyond their strength to resist.
Already we have nine mission homes built, and have laid plans to build nine more during the coming season. As Brother Anderson and Brother Hankins, of Amoy, have built their own homes, this will make good houses for twenty families in China. We surely feel greatly encouraged at this progress, both for what has been already accomplished, and for what we see our way clear to do in the coming months. It is our plan, if the General Conference gives its approval, to use the rent moneys, above what is necessary to keep the properties in good repair, in adding new homes from year to year for other workers, as they shall come to us. Any one who has not seen China as it is, and spent a whole year here, can never realize the difference between having such a home as these mission houses are, and being obliged to put up with such conditions as China can furnish, especially in the interior.
The Schools at Amoy
We have two schools at Amoy,— a boarding-school for boys, and a day-school, for girls. The boy’s school has very poor accommodations, many of the boys living in the compound in which the school is situated, which also serves as a chapel for the church. It is a desolate, dreary room, and the sunlight never enters the place.
It was my privilege while at Amoy, to help select land for a more suitable home for this school. Even under the present unfavorable conditions, good progress has been made, and we hope that when we have the new buildings, where better conditions healthwise will prevail, and where more attention can be given to the students, still better results will be seen. The school has some bright students, and we are looking forward to the time in the near future when we shall have some young men, who have had four, five, and even more years of training in the message, to go into the field and take up active service for God. At the time of my visit, some of the students had gone out into the city, to sell papers, so I did not get to see them all, but I counted twenty who came in to shake hands with me.
One night last spring, when I was visiting Amoy, four of these boys arose at the close of my preaching service, and sang, in English, the old familiar song which has touched so many hearts when far distant from home. I was very weary, and had been out for several weeks, and had not expected, when the boys arose to sing, to hear anything but Chinese, not a word of which I can understand. When I heard the words, “Home, Sweet Home,” sung in the sweet, musical voices of the quartet, I could not but weep. This was their surprise to me, and truly it touched my heart.
The Girls’ School
The girls’ school is situated some distance from the home of our brethren, and in order to reach it, Mrs. Anderson, who has the general charge and oversight of the school, has to go some distance on foot and in a sampan. The walk, which she takes three times a week, is anything but a pleasant trip. Amoy is one of the plague-spots of China, and the cholera, the bubonic plague, and other virulent diseases, carry off their victims the year round.
Rarely can one find more dreadful streets in a big city than these in Amoy. As one looks into the haggard faces of the women and children, whose homes open onto the narrow, filthy alleys, many of which are not six feet in width, one can only wonder why the people prefer to huddle, like beasts, in the towns, rather than to scatter out into the country. But one must remember that this is the custom in China, and it is a custom that has its foundation in fear. The people gather together and wall themselves in for protection from the thieves and bandits, who swarm over the land, and who would make short work of the unprotected farmer.
At the time of my visit to the girls’ school, there were sixty present, the seventy-two is the usual number in attendance. When I looked into the faces of these girls, some of them married women or widows, and some of them so young that it would seem a pity for them to be away from their mothers, in more enlightened lands, I wondered what effect the school will have on their future lives. Certainly it can not fail to be a great blessing and help to them. Here they listen to the Word of God. They hear what Christianity has done for others, and they can see the uplift the gospel is to women, even in China. As they learn to read, their eyes sparkle with intelligence. They learn rapidly, and even if they never become Christians, they will still have a different outlook on life than would have been possible had they never received this instruction. Some of them will be really converted, and will go on with their education till they are ready to enter the work of God.
Like the boys’ school, the girls’ school is wholly inadequate to do the work that it might easily accomplish were it more favorably situated. However, we hope sometime to have a good girls’ school, where we can take the brightest and best of the students in the smaller schools in Fukien, and train them for God and His service.
Brother Hills and the Thieves
Leaving Brother Anderson sick in bed with a high fever, I went on to Swatow alone, and stayed one day with Brother and Sister Hills. As there was no one here to interpret for me, I could hold no meetings with the Chinese, and did not think it profitable to spend more time at this place on this visit. In many respects, Brother and Sister Hills have had a trying year. They have had considerable trouble with soldiers. Brother Hills has had quite an affliction with boils. And recently, while he was inland on a trip, thieves broke into the house and helped themselves to whatever they could get. When Brother Hills reported the matter to the police, he was asked to bring the guilty parties to the station, and told that if he would do so the officers would see that they were punished. When Brother Hills suggested that it was their business to find the thieves, they said: “How do we know who took the things? We did not see them. We can do nothing unless you bring them to us.”
Notwithstanding all the perplexities that have come to this young couple, their courage is good, and they have seen excellent results from their labor. The Sister Hills has had less than a year’s study of the language, she is conducting a girls’ school, said to be the best in Swatow. Of course, the instruction is given to the girls by two young Chinese women, both earnest Christians, but Sister Hills has the oversight of the work, and it is by her energy and influence that the school has been such a success.15
From Swatow I went to Hongkong, leaving the next day for the interior, in company with Brethren Harlow and Nagel. It was a two days’ trip, and the river was so infested with robbers during the summer that it was considered unsafe to travel thereon. When we got on the boat that night for the trip, it was pitch dark. I wish I could describe what an island Chinese boat is like, but there is no way to describe it. The only way to know it is to see it, and to ride on it. We had a guard of soldiers, and it took us two nights and one day to make about eighty miles. One night about forty additional soldiers came aboard, and we were well “protected.” Of course, there is always the possibility that the soldiers themselves may turn pirates, and then, as you know, all earthly protection would be at an end. However, we arrived safely at our journey’s end on Thursday night, and remained till the following Tuesday, holding meetings four times each day.
