Your ShelfYour Projects

Entering Manchuria

7%

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 31, 1914

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 91, No. 55.

Read the full edition

Entering Manchuria

By Bernhard Petersen

BERNHARD PETERSEN
While the great nations of Europe today are engaged in a terrible war, which has even reached us in Asia, we are glad that we can be in a nobler warfare; namely, that of carrying the glad tidings of a soon-coming Saviour to a dying world. The Lord's work is ever onward, and even in these troublous times we are glad that we can open up work in a new mission field.
October 7 we left our home in Shanghai, which it had been our privilege to share with Elder and Sister Porter during the past year. While we were sorry to leave our comfortable and happy home, still, on the other hand, we were glad that the time had come when we, together with Brother and Sister Grundset, could proceed to our appointed field of labor. We are only pilgrims and strangers in this world; so meeting and parting, settling and moving, are just a part of the lot that we as missionaries must share here until the time comes when we are privileged to be citizens of the eternal kingdom.
The last Monday evening at Shanghai will often come into our minds as a pleasant occasion. As Brother Allum and family and Brother Warren and family were to leave for Szechuan only a week later, the sisters had arranged a farewell reception for us all. One could hardly realize that the large room above the press could have been transformed into such an attractive parlor as we saw that evening. Brother Stafford and Brother and Sister Roberts furnished us with some fine music, after which Elder Porter gave an appropriate missionary talk with reference to Christ's method of sending out the twelve and also the seventy. A few remarks were made by the brethren leaving, after which several took part in prayer. Before parting, the good old missionary hymn, “From Greenland's icy mountains,” was sung by all. Our hearts were filled with joy and appreciation for the efforts put forth in providing such a profitable social evening.
Our trip on the “Kobe Maru” was not so pleasant or comfortable as we had hoped, for the sea was rather high; still we felt very grateful for a safe passage, and were glad to catch the first sight of land the morning of the ninth. It was about eleven o'clock before we could disembark. This made us too late for the Mukden morning train, so it became necessary for us to spend the day in Dairen. We were favorably impressed with what we saw of the city. It reminded us more of the homeland than any city we had seen since leaving America.
A BATONGA FISHING GIRL The basket is drawn through the water. A fine specimen of feminine strength.
A BATONGA FISHING GIRL The basket is drawn through the water. A fine specimen of feminine strength.
It is situated at the southern end of the Liao-tung Peninsula. Only a few years ago it was a small fishing village. But it was occupied by the Russians in 1898, after the convention between Russia and China, and with remarkable push and energy the Russians undertook to construct a modern commercial port. The building of houses and the laying out of streets and waterworks were steadily pushed forward until the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War put a sudden stop to these undertakings. In 1905 the lease of territory was transferred to Japan, and the Japanese went forward with the improvements which the Russians had begun.
We boarded the train for Mukden at 8 P. M. It being late, we did not have the opportunity of seeing the country as we should have been able to do had we left on the morning train. But the next morning we awoke early enough to realize that we were in a country where farming was carried on on a larger scale than we hitherto had seen in China. There was quite a marked difference in the climate, it being colder, and the air considerably lighter.
Our train pulled in at Mukden at 8 A. M. the following morning, where we were met by Elder C. L. Butterfield, who had spent several days in this city in search of a house for us. It was no easy matter to find a dwelling, as there are only a few foreign houses, and they are in the Japanese part of the city, three miles distant from the Chinese part.
After some hard searching, we were able to obtain a small compound at a reasonable price, just outside the inner wall. There are two houses, furnishing sufficient room for a chapel for the present. Looking at the houses from the outside, they are rather neat and of a semiforeign style; but stepping inside, one can see at once that they are Chinese. We are occupying one of the rooms of the building while alterations are being made.
This compound seems to be the most suitable at present, and as it is the only one that could be obtained here, we feel thankful that the Lord reserved it for the beginning of the Manchurian work. The owner is a Chinese official, and from the first he has manifested great interest in us.
Our first impressions of the country and people are very favorable. The people in general are larger of stature, more open-faced, and more quiet in their habits than the Chinese we have seen from other provinces. They seem to be ready for the last message. We were surprised to find a large share of them forsaking their temples. We found the American consul living in one of these temples, which had been transformed into a dwelling. The British-American Tobacco Company also occupies one. The secretary of the consul suggested another temple for our location, but it being too far away and the expense of alteration too heavy, we did not consider it.
We have a great work before us in giving this message to the many millions of unwarned Manchuria. As we take up this work, we are of good courage, and ask our brethren and sisters kindly to remember us in their prayers.