North Central China by F. A. Allum

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park, Washington, D. C. · Sep 26, 1912

North Central China

By F. A. Allum

F. A. ALLUM

WE have just closed our general meeting for the North Central China Mission. It was held at Chowkiakow, Honan, from May 3 to 11. The foreign workers in attendance were Dr. A. C. Selmon, Elder O. A. Hall and his wife, Elder J. J. Westrup, and the writer and his wife. All of these took an active part in the meetings, and the blessing of the Lord was experienced from the beginning. We much appreciated the help given by the visiting brethren.

For the first time in the history of this mission, the Chinese brethren selected their own delegates from the churches in Hupeh and Honan to transact the business of the meeting, and to nominate committees for the ensuing year's work. We are sure that in thus giving our Chinese brethren an active part in the management of the mission, we are securing their hearty cooperation, and are thus strengthening the work. All the committee work passed off harmoniously.

The meetings for believers were held in our own chapel, which was taxed to the utmost to accommodate those present. On the second Sabbath, the attendance at Sabbath-school was nearly two hundred fifty. At the consecration meeting held the first Sabbath, a talk on the judgment was given, after which more than fifty of the church-members and inquirers came forward, weeping bitterly because of their sins, and imploring God for forgiveness.

Meetings were held for the heathen every evening, in a forty-by-sixty-foot tent, which was erected in a large compound a short distance from our chapel. This is the first time that a tent has been used in our mission work in China. All present felt that the meeting was a great

success, and we think that from this time on the tent will be an important factor in carrying the message to the people. Every night there was an attendance of four or five hundred, who listened attentively to the subjects presented. When a call was made for those who wished to learn more of the gospel to come forward, many responded. Meetings are being held for these, and we hope some will give their hearts to the Lord. We believe he has still greater things in store for us.

The superintendent's report of the previous year's work was very encouraging, inasmuch as it showed that marked progress had been made. We now have 104 church-members in the North Central China Mission, with 196 inquirers. Literature sales amounted to $525; the tithe (Chinese only) to $273.10.

We have set apart the noonday hour for prayer, when we specially seek God's blessing to rest upon his work and workers. Our Chinese brethren join us enthusiastically in this plan. Will not our brethren in the home land also enlarge this prayer circle, and pray that "God will sweep back the clouds of evil, and give a few more years of grace in which to work for the Master? Let us cry to God that the angels may hold the four winds till missionaries shall be sent into all parts of the world, and shall proclaim the warning against disobeying the law of Jehovah."

After a special meeting on tithe paying, at which the financial needs of the Lord's work and the responsibility of each child of God doing his part, were clearly shown, over forty families signified their decision to pay a faithful tithe, and announced their willingness to place a tithe box in their homes. We are using tithe boxes in this field, as the cash, which is the common currency here, is altogether too bulky to be placed in tithe envelopes.

A collection was taken up on the last Friday of the meeting, and over one hundred dollars (Mexican) was pledged for the opening up of the work in the city of Yencheng. This is an excellent collection, when one considers the poverty of the people. A motion was passed requesting each Chinese church-member to pay weekly five cents (Mexican) toward the support of the work of God, this being in addition to the tithe.

The importance of warning the people in this division by means of our literature was emphasized, and plans were laid for selling 20,000 copies of our Mandarin Signs of the Times monthly; 10,000 of these will be sold in the province of Hupeh, and 10,000 in Honan. Thus it will be seen that if each paper reaches ten persons, which is not a large family in China, we shall be reaching no less than 200,000 persons monthly with our truth-laden literature.

During the meeting, Sister Hall and my wife held special services for the women. These meetings proved a great blessing to the seventy or eighty women in attendance.

The accompanying cut is a picture of the girls' school which was conducted at the Chowkiakow station during the past year. During the year, ten of the girls in this photo were baptized and admitted into the church.

Near the close of the meeting we were glad to have a visit from Brethren I. H. Evans, R. F. Cottrell, and C. N. Woodward, who came to look over a school site in Honan, and also to help in selecting a site for our central station, which we plan to locate in the near future at Yencheng, on the railway line. These brethren conducted the services on the Sabbath day, which were seasons of blessing to all who were in attendance.

A class was held daily for candidates for baptism, and on the last day of the meeting the writer baptized thirty-two in the baptistery of the chapel,—fifteen men and seventeen women. Of these, only seven had previously been members of other missions. We thank God for this fruitage which we have seen in our work, and ask our friends in the home land to continue to pray for the work in this mission, that the blessing of the Lord may continue to be with us, and that many souls may be added to the church in China this year.