p. 14 | Bearing the Test

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Mar 7, 1911

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 38, No. 10.

Bearing the Test

Do the converts of the Lord Jesus who are brought into the third angel's message direct from heathenism bear the test of discipleship? Yes; they do. So say our missionaries everywhere in heathen lands. Disappointing experiences there are, as in every land; but souls being won out of the darkness of heathenism are enduring hardness and bearing witness in a way to inspire us all to more earnest, self-denying service. In a recent letter, Elder I. H. Evans, of the Asiatic Division, writes from China:

Here is our little church in the bamboo forest at Mokanshan, China. Note the size and height of these trees.

"It is wonderful the depths of love some of these poor souls have for God when they once get a glimpse of the love of Jesus for them. There is nothing they will not cheerfully suffer for Christ. Life, physical suffering, money, all, they give and endure for the sake of Him who loved them. Brother Oberg writes of a young man and his wife in Korea who accepted Christ. They were maltreated by the young man's father. Food was taken from them, and they nearly starved. Then the parents beat the young people and drove them from home. The young man came to Brother Oberg, and he has taken them both in, and is now putting them through school out of his own meager salary.

"From Japan one of the workers tells of the heroic struggles of a young man who had accepted the truth in Hiroshima. So angry were his people that they tried in every way to compel the young man to work on the Sabbath. When he steadfastly held to the truth, they shut him up and took all food from him, leaving him in this condition for several days, until he became unconscious and they thought him dead. Then they gave him food and nursed him until he recovered, expecting him to surrender his faith. His father made it so hard for him that he was finally compelled to leave home and seek work elsewhere. Of him Brother Foster says, 'He, like many others in Japan, is ready to die by cold, fire, hunger, or the sword for this message.'

A fountain in Asakusa Park, Tokyo, Japan. The figures in front are Brother and Sister Sparks.

"The other day I received a letter from a young man in Japan who desires to go to America to secure a medical education. He has the funds, and comes from a high family. His uncle is a great naval officer, and one who helped in leading the Japanese fleet against the Russians when they so completely demolished the Russian fleet. He had planned on taking a medical course at the Imperial University, in Tokyo. When he found he had to work on the Sabbath if he made his grades, he declined to go. Then he tried to get to America, and they would not give him a passport. The young man is working and planning, and says, 'Undeterred by derision, and undismayed by opposition, I will concentrate all my thought and energies to hasten to become a medical missionary, and to propagate the Gospel even among the poorest.'

This is the viceroy's Yamen gate, Nanking. Notice its elaborate decorations.

"Elder R. F. Cottrell, of China, in speaking of the experiences he had in visiting the Sabbath-keepers in Hunan, says: 'To a great majority of these people it takes much more faith to step out on the promises of God and keep His commandments than is needed in many more favored countries. Take the teacher class, for example. He is practically fitted but for one kind of work. As soon as he becomes a Christian, he can neither study nor teach in a government school. Nor can he open and conduct a school of his own, for he would not be wanted. He is usually quite ostracized from home and friends. Seemingly he has but little chance for earning enough to support himself and family if the mission does not, in some way, lend him assistance. With other classes it seems almost equally perplexing.'

"Thus you will see," Elder Evans continues, "it means something for these dear people to accept Christ. It means for them all they possess in earthly goods, position, and friendship. It takes all here to buy the field. Yet we hear only the most cheering news from every land. Word just reached the brethren in Honan of a company of twenty-one who are keeping the Sabbath without help. In the South is another company of seventy waiting to be taught more fully. Six precious souls were baptized at the Canton meeting, and others will wait a little before receiving the ordinance. In Korea a splendid work has been done this fall. Japan has taken on a new impetus and the work is moving in the land of the rising sun. Elder Finster reports converts in the Philippines; and tho he is practically alone, yet he is doing well. I believe we shall have a bountiful harvest of souls here in these Oriental fields."