"WILL you come? We are waiting. If you can only send us a man to teach us the true doctrine, we will support him, and will build a church here."
This is the call that has come to us within the last month, from one of the northern provinces of Manchuria, just beyond the place where, only a year ago, we established our headquarters. How sad it makes our hearts that we are forced to tell these poor souls they must wait a little longer! But how can we continue keeping back the bread of life from hungering souls who are longing for a preparation to meet the Saviour?
About three months ago, we answered another call from that region by sending a Chinese worker; but one worker is like a drop of water in the ocean. I visited the place at that time, and had a good opportunity to get a glimpse of that extensive territory. There is village upon village, with a number of larger cities, with their millions of people who have never heard of the Saviour. These two provinces have an area of 300,000 square miles.
As I neared the city of Harbin, I could, as it were, look over the very border of Manchuria into another vast country that lies at our very door, which has not as yet been entered—Mongolia. The Mongolians are continually passing over the border into Manchuria to trade, and one often finds them several hundred miles inland. Mongolians graze their herds on the grass-covered steppes in one Manchurian province. We long for the time when we shall see the gospel of the kingdom carried to these many millions who still sit in darkness.