Progress in China by A. C. Selmon

Pacific Press Publishing Association

Progress in China.

By A. C. Selmon

To those knowing the difficulty of learning new languages and customs, it could hardly be expected that much headway could be made for the first two or three years in such a field as this, yet we are glad to report that the message is already beginning to make more rapid progress. Up to a recent date the believers in this section of Honan have been few and scattered, little lights in the darkness, so dim and far between that they seemed lost; but from December 8 to 14 a general meeting was held at Shang Tsai, which brought great encouragement to the workers. This was at Brother Westrup's station. There were about fifty native Sabbath-keepers in attendance, and the larger number of these were the result of the work of 1907. Of the foreigners present there were Brother and Sister Westrup, Brother and Sister Allum, and Brother Esta Miller.

During this meeting seven were baptized, of which four were men and three women. These three women have all unbound their feet. With these baptized and those who had received baptism previously, we were enabled to organize a church of eleven members here at Siang Cheng.

Quite recently a good interest has arisen in a large market-place to the north of Shang Tsai station. Several Sabbath-keepers from this place were in attendance, some of them walking the distance of sixty miles to be at the meeting. Something over a year ago a man accepted the truth and began keeping the Sabbath in the village of Shih Chiao, ten miles east of Siang Cheng. The work there has grown to the extent that now there are five families of Christian Sabbath-keepers in that neighborhood. Many of them have had to pass thru months of bitter persecution since they began keeping the Sabbath according to the commandment, but all are of good courage, and their earnestness is winning others.

Sometimes those of other Protestant religions feel constrained to join us. Among these is one with whom we have had occasional studies for the last six months. He has been a colporteur for many years, and his knowledge of the Bible is far beyond that of the average native Christian. Long ago he was convinced of the Sabbath truth, but was told that our ideas concerning the second coming of Christ were fanatical and were leading to discouragement; but he found as he studied with us that we presented no exact time for the Lord to come, and he saw by the fulfilment of the prophecies that Christ's coming is near at hand, and that a message of reform is necessary to prepare the world for that great event.

Our great hope for the growth of the work in China is in the literature. Up to the present, we have had none, or practically none, and our colporteurs have had to go out with nothing more than Gospel portions. What the literature is and has been in other fields, it will be here. The need for the printed messengers in this field is great and urgent, for the reason that the number of workers is so small and the mass of people to be reached is so large. To provide literature for over four hundred millions of people will require large printing facilities. While the native workers will be the means used by the Lord for the spread of the literature, yet we must have a large increase in the number of foreign workers. Considering only China proper, there are eighteen provinces, ranging in population from five to thirty-eight millions. Can we expect progress without at least one good center in each province, manned by two families of foreign workers? As you consider this field, may the Lord of the harvest help you to see your responsibility to help give the last message of mercy in this enemy's stronghold.

A. C. SELMON. Siang Cheng, Honan.