We had decided last year to conduct a Bible institute especially for Korean women.
From Pyeng Yang, ten Korean women who had gathered there from different places left with me for Chinnampo, where we were going to hold the institute. As the river was frozen, we had to go overland. We had five horses, and took turns walking and riding. We made the journey in two days.
The first night we had to stop in a village where there was but one hotel. We managed to get some rooms, and nine of us slept on the floor, as all Koreans do, in a room eight by sixteen feet. The following night eleven of us slept in a room eight by ten feet. I managed to lie next to the door, and hoped to get a little fresh air once in a while; but as soon as I would open the door a little, some one would exclaim, “Please close the door; it is cold, and I am catching cold.”
During the institute we lived and held our meetings in the Chinnampo Girls’ School. Our attendance, including women, girls, and our native Bible workers, was about thirty. Some could not leave their homes for any length of time, so would stay only for a week; but the majority stayed through the whole month.
Special instruction was given to our Bible workers, and they in turn helped in other meetings. A portion of each afternoon was spent in active work among the people of Chinnampo.
On the last day of the meeting, when Elder C. L. Butterfield was present, nine souls were baptized. One sister, sixty years of age, mother of one of our Bible workers, had been awaiting baptism for a long time. When she heard of the opportunity, she walked a distance of over ten miles to reach the place. When this Korean mother met me, she put both arms around me. I said, “You make me think of my own dear mother at home.” Then her daughter said to me, “You know Jesus is coming soon, and it will not be very long until you can meet all your loved ones, never more to part.” To hear these words of comfort from a Korean sister did me more good than I can tell.
