Tent Meetings in China by F. E. Stafford

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jul 28, 1914

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 41, No. 29.

Tent Meetings in China

By F. E. Stafford

“The people of this mission extend a hearty welcome, and cordially invite all the people to come inside and listen attentively to the preaching of the great warning message.”

Thus read the Chinese characters painted on two strips of cloth twenty feet high fastened to either side of the entrance to our tent at Nanziang, a village of about ten thousand people, twelve miles from Shanghai, where a special series of evangelistic meetings was opened on May 11 of this year.

A Tent of Mats and Bamboo Poles

The tent is made of straw mats, doubled on the roof, with oiled paper between, and the mats lapped like shingles, thus making it waterproof. The mats are mounted on a framework of bamboo poles, the whole structure being tied together with bamboo cords, and not a nail or a piece of wood is used anywhere in the construction of the tent.

It is forty feet square, with movable windows on each side to insure plenty of light and ventilation. Seats were provided for four hundred persons, by driving stakes into the ground and nailing six-inch boards on top of them. In the center, directly opposite the large door, is the speaker's platform, two feet high, with a cloth railing around it, and steps on both sides.

Directly back of the pulpit is hung a large scroll of the Ten Commandments; and on either side, across the front of the tent, are suspended the prophetic charts of Daniel and the Revelation.

Curiosity of the Villagers

During the two weeks of preparation for the meetings, great curiosity was manifested by the villagers to know what we were going to do; and on the opening day, by the time the last decorations were put up and handbills distributed over the town, a large crowd had gathered to see what was going to be done.

The people listened attentively from the start. Three meetings were held every day. One at two o'clock was for women. At three o'clock easy subjects like the love of God for man, and Christ's parables, were presented in a simple manner for the benefit of a large number of the country people who came in during the day. At night a regular series on the prophecies and the third angel's message was given; and at these meetings we had our best attendance of the educated class of people,—those who are able to read, and to understand conditions existing in the world at the present time.

Christ's Coming the Central Theme

We decided to make Christ's soon coming the central theme of every discourse; and no matter what subject was presented, we would bring it around to focus on that one grand theme.

In preaching to heathen, nothing can be taken for granted; so we commenced at the foundation of the one true God, and wound up by telling them to prepare to meet that God when He returns in the clouds of heaven.

Then in presenting creation, we finished by telling them that God is about to create a new heaven and a new earth, and we must be preparing now if we wish to enter. So at every meeting, the truth was driven home that the Judgment-day is at hand. This truth was also emphasized by the literature we sold and the hundreds of folders that were given away at every meeting. It is safe to say that there is hardly a man, woman, or child in Nanziang or the country around who does not know now that the end of the world is near, and that in order to be saved at that day, it is necessary to have faith in Jesus and keep God's Ten Commandments.

Name and address cards were distributed at every meeting, and personal work was done among the audience in seeking to lead the people to take their stand. In this way nearly two hundred names were secured, and Bible workers were sent out daily to visit these people in their homes, and explain the Bible to them, and encourage them to come out to the meetings.

Immense Crowd Makes Lecture Impossible

On Sunday night we announced a stereopticon lecture, showing pictures of earthquakes and other signs of the end; and in order to get only those who were interested in the truth to hear the lecture, we gave out tickets to those who would sign their names and addresses. Five hundred tickets were given out; but long before time to open the meeting, a great mob of people gathered before the door, pushing and trying to force their way in, so that only with great difficulty were we enabled to keep order.

The chief of police and several local policemen had been regular attendants at the meeting from the start, and they came to our rescue at this time, and restrained the crowd from violence. When the people found they could not get in, some of the rough class started a disturbance outside, yelling, and pounding on cymbals, so that it was impossible for us to talk. We then rushed the pictures through so quickly as possible and dismissed the meeting.

On the following Sunday night, we secured the use of a large parade-ground near the railroad station, at one end of which is a high wall of a building. We had this wall whitewashed, and used it for a screen to throw the pictures on. We had a bamboo fence put up to divide the men and the women, so that the women, with their small feet, and the children, would not be

crushed in the dark; and then, by using a megaphone to talk through, we presented the signs of Christ's coming before as large an audience of Chinese as has ever heard the truth at one time.

We had no way of knowing how many were present, as the night was dark, and there was no light except what was thrown on the screen; but from the reflection of this light, as far as we could see in every direction were upturned faces and eyes bright with expectation as picture after picture was shown of signs which prove that the Saviour's coming is near at hand.

The Dragon Festival

The last week of the meetings was the time of the annual dragon festival, the fifth day of the fifth moon. Hundreds of the country people came from miles around to Nanziang to see the dragon boats; and being in town, they naturally came to the big tent to see what was going on. So the attendance at the meetings was a record one right up to the last day.

This dragon boat festival is supposed to have originated some 2,500 years ago, when one of the court counselors, named Chu Yuan, incurred the displeasure of the emperor, and was therefore commanded to go to the river and fish for the moon, which was a polite way of asking him to commit suicide. When he went to obey the emperor's command, he of course fell into the water and was drowned.

After a time, Chu Yuan's wise counsels were greatly missed. The empire rapidly declined in power, and eventually passed to a new dynasty. The former counselor was then remembered, and greatly honored for his fidelity to the emperor's commands; and the people all over the empire were ordered to prepare boats and search the rivers for his spirit on the anniversary of his death.

From that time till now, the boats have gone out every year. The people have forgotten what they were hunting for, and the day has become a mere holiday. The boats in use at the present time are made with a dragon's head at the prow, and the other end projects high in the air, like the dragon's tail sticking up out of the water. The boats themselves are painted in variegated colors, and decorated with many beautiful flags and embroidered silk streamers. A band of Chinese musicians is seated inside each boat, and it is paddled up and down the canals, whirling and twisting like a dragon.

Lose Their Senses in the Races

In some of the larger cities, there are costly boats. In Wusih it is claimed that the people spend one thousand dollars to fit out one boat. In some places, they have many boats, and they race and carry on imitation warfare. They go so fast that the men who are paddling seem to lose their senses, and work themselves up into a frenzy, so that the boats often collide, and sometimes sink, and many people are drowned. For this reason the dragon boat races have been prohibited of late years in such places as Shanghai and Hongkong.

Interior of tent at Nanziang—Native evangelist T. S. Zee on the right of Elder Stafford.

Why is it that Satan can inspire men to do such senseless and disgusting things? But when he asks men to worship him, he can do nothing else than to give them what is in his own heart. His supreme passion is to degrade and thereby destroy.

Two Children a Sacrifice

This year at Nanziang a boat loaded with spectators was overturned, and two little children were drowned. The water was not very deep, and they might have been saved if any one had tried; but according to long established custom, no effort is made to save any who may fall into the water on this day. They are regarded as a sacrifice to the dragon, and to rescue them would be to incur his displeasure and bring worse misfortune upon the rescuers.

Thus while the message of Christ's coming and the end of all things is sounding in the ears of the people, they still go on with their superstitious customs and heathen practises, and no perceptible change is made in the great mass of the population.

Thus it was in the days of Noah, before the Flood. “They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the Flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”

Some Heed the Message of His Coming

But, praise the Lord, there are some who are stepping out from heathen darkness into the glorious light of the gospel, and are firmly taking their stand to keep God's commandments and prepare for the end. The number is not large; but there are a few of the Lord's jewels in every place, and may the Lord help us to gather them out quickly, before the end comes.

We are continuing the meetings now in our chapel at Nanziang, and several persons have already taken their stand for the truth. The Sabbath meetings are well attended, and we pray that a good sized company may be gathered out, as a result of this effort, to meet the Lord when He comes in the clouds of glory.

Curious old tree, at Nansiang, China. The wood has all decayed away, leaving only the bark. Yet the tree stands, and the leaves are as green as on any other. Elder R. C. Porter at the right, Elder O. A. Hall at the left.

Chapel and assembly room of China mission training-school, Shanghai, at dedication, May 3, 1914.

Waiting for the dragon boat. Many of the Chinese hire a house-boat and float around on the canals, playing, singing, and gambling, during the time of the dragon boat festival.