"Laborers Ibgcthcr " MARGARET M. LACKEY ■■ .1 ^flWcr A. , 1 1 1922 * GiCAL StUV %^fiirTr'^?WfN*^ BV 3415 .L25 1921 Lackey, Margaret McRae Laborers together 'Partners" "Laborers Together A Study of Southern Baptist Missions in China >» By MARGARET McRAE LACKEY ILLUSTRATED New York Chicago Fleming H. Revell Company London and Edinburgh Copyright, 192 1, by FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY Printed in the United States of America New York : 1 58 Fifth Avenue Chicago : 1 7 North Wabash Ave. London: 21 Paternoster Square Edinburgh : 75 Princes Street To MY PARTNER OFER THERE WHO BADE ME WRITE Preface (Please Read It) "^^"^UR mission study books are all so fine and ■ 1 so helpful; but may we not have one on ^'-^ Southern Baptist Foreign Missions next ? " A call to this effect has come to us many times dur- ing the past two years. When the answer is given that definite information is found in the splendid Re- ports presented to the Southern Baptist Convention, and printed in the Minutes; that it is also found in Royal Service and Home and Foreign fields, the re- ply comes, " But we need it compiled for us, with more information given regarding each field than we can take time to gather for ourselves." This little book is an attempted answer to these calls regarding our Work in China. The information has been gleaned from every source we could possibly lay hands on. We should not miss the truth very far if we placed quotation marks from beginning to end. However special thanks are due our Foreign Board secretaries, Drs. Love and Ray ; Royal Service; Home and Foreign Fields; The Wuchow Baptist Missioner; Sherwood Eddy; and last, but by no means least, the missionaries on the fields who have sent such splendid 7 8 PEEFACE material in the shape of incidents, history, maps and pictures. The work of compihng has been indeed a labour of love. God grant the result may prove a clarion call to Service. M. M. L. Jackson, Miss, Contents I. Partners 13 II. Problems 18 III. Some Definitions 27 IV. The South China Mission , . .33 V. The South China Mission (G7«//««^^) . 53 VI. The Central China Mission ... 66 VII. The Interior China Mission . . .81 VIII. The North China Mission ... 93 IX. Her Privileges 117 Illustrations Partners " Frontispiece FACING PAGE 42 Dr. R. £. Beddoe and Family .... Two Chinese Saints Little Girls of China Loving Dolls From America Group op Bible Women ..... Blind Woman Weaving ..... Mesdames Hearn, Leggett and Larson, ** The Anti Foot Binding Society " .... A Missionary Enjoying Her Library on a Cold Snowy Day 100 100 no no 114 124 XI PARTNERS " foreign Missions long ago passed the experimental stage and became established as a regular Business — the Business of spread- ing the Gospel to the ends of the earth" WE are equal Partners in a great Business Concern, She and I. She looks after the Foreign Branch and I the one at Home. Since we are equally responsible for the Business, it behooves us to be equally intelligent concerning It. We both must have knowledge and education pertain- ing to all Its phases. She is well acquainted with the Home Branch. She obtained this information before She ever undertook the Work Over Yonder. I, however, need to know many things about our Foreign Branch. I have never been over there. And unless I give special heed to the information She sup- plies me with, I have but a vague conception of the Business. There are conditions which She must meet, and problems which She must solve, that I know noth- ing whatever about except as She tells me. And who is She, this Partner of mine, who with courage bom of deep conviction, is so bravely carry- ing on the Work that we are both equally responsible for? 13 14 " LABOREES TOGETHER ' ' She represents every woman who has gone out un- der the auspices of the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. By whatever name She may be called, or whatever position She is re- quired to fill She is still my Partner. And She is faithful to her every trust. Dr. J. F. Love while over there was impressed to send back this word concern- ing Her and Her Work: " Everywhere I have gone, I have found the women among the most enthusiastic workers. I often think that their whole hearts are given to the little tots in the kindergartens, to the girls in the boarding- schools, to the women in Bible training and to evangel- istic work in country districts. The woman mission- ary in China is like her sister in America, possessed of missionary intelligence and enthusiasm, and going about her work whole-heartedly. . . . It is per- fectly evident to me now that the Gospel of Christ could never have been brought with full effectiveness into the homes of the East, and that Christianity could never have exhibited here to the eyes of all the people its peculiar feminine graces without these women and the transformed lives of Chinese womanhood, which have thus been brought under the power of the Gos- pel." And who am /, Her Partner, who is privileged to look after the Home Branch, the Base of supplies? / represent every woman of whatever age within the bounds of the Southern Baptist Convention terri- tory, who names the Name of Him as Lord and Mas- ter. As He has laid it upon Her to " go," so He has PAETNEES 15 made me equally responsible not only for Her going, but for Her upkeep. Hence, I need to know in a very definite way some- thing of conditions under which She labours to-day. And these conditions, by the way, are vastly different from what they were when Foreign Missions began one hundred years ago. She has kept abreast of the times; while I, alas, am still thinking about the Work in terms of that far- away day. " Foreign Missions long ago passed the experimental stage and became established as a regu- lar Business, the Business of spreading the Gospel to the ends of the earth." The object of this little book is to give us a more definite idea of Her end of this Great Business Con- cern. Herein we learn somewhat of the work She is doing Over There in the home, the church, the school- room, kindergarten, hospital, on street corner and far afield. We are to learn something of Her equipment — or lack of it ! — and of Her preparation for the posi- tion. We hope to enter more intimately into Her de- sires, and learn how to satisfy some of Her longings. " The best way to stimulate interest in missions is to give folks detailed information about mission work." As we study these matters concerning Her Work let us remember that in many instances the tale is but half told herein, because She is labouring side by side with husband, brother or friend, without whose ef- forts Her own would be futile. This little volume deals with our Work in China alone. It was the idea of the writer to introduce our 16 ** LABOEEES TOGETHER '' women missionaries on each one of our fields to those who know them not, or know them only in a vague in- definite way. But as the work has grown it seemed wise to deal with China alone at present. My Partner will doubtless find many errors in these pages. She has tried most faithfully to give definite information. From each Field She has sent items of special interest in regard to the Business, but the very Bigness of the Concern Over There overwhelms me. I cannot grasp the situation as it really is. Even my imperfect interpretation, however, makes me realize something of my indebtedness to Her. And if, from the perusal of these lessons, there shall be those who hear the call to " Go over and help Her," and will respond— oh, how well worth while will have been Her efforts to send the Message, and mine to spread it abroad! This book is not intended as a history of Yester- day's achievements. If it were that, how the pages would be illumined with Her marvellous undertak- ings under seemingly insurmountable difficulties! How darkened with the miserable failures of the Home Base to furnish supplies ! It is rather a record of To-Day — a Day-book as it were — giving in as con- cise form as possible Her labours of love right now. And then because it is impossible to separate them from this present, there is given something of Her dreams of to-morrow. And therein You and I oh, Sister Mine, in this Home Land, play a most im- portant part. For to us She is looking in a large measure for the fulfillment of these Dreams. PAETNERS 17 We are equal Partners, She and I, in a Great Busi- ness Concern. But we have another Partner. Shall we, with all reverence, speak of Him as our Silent Partner? His interest in the Business is far greater than ours, in that He selects each field, furnishes all the capital, guards carefully every interest both here and there, and demands that She and I be equally faithful, equally intelligent and equally concerned. Shall I fail? QUESTIONS 1. What is your opinion of Foreign Missions? 2. What degree of personal responsibility do you feel for the Partner over there? 3. Wherein do Foreign Missions differ from State and Home Missions? 4. What is the Great Commission? II PROBLEMS "Opportunities are coming every day, and we are unable to grasp them because of no trained women workers." WHAT impression is conveyed to your mind when you hear that some one is going as a missionary to China? Is there visioned before you a dim outline of that great country, shaped somewhat Hke an old-fashioned teapot, which has always been such a puzzle to you because of the many contradictory statements you have heard concerning it? And do you dismiss this outgoing missionary from your mind, under the im- pression that she will shortly be swallowed up in this dark immensity, to be heard from but rarely, until she is all but forgotten ? When we deal with China we are dealing with a land that is vast in extent and diverse in conditions. Could we pick her up and place her over the United States she would far more than cover it. If wc could bring her dense population into this same territory, we would have one- fourth of all the people of the earth within our borders; for out of every four per- sons in the world one of them is a Chinese. i8 PE0BLEM8 19 But neither her population nor her size constitutes China's problem. Some one has said that China is not a nation, but a vanishing civilization. China can- not be a nation in the true sense of the word because her vast aggregation of people, united only by a nat- ural boundary line, are a conglomeration of homo- geneous elements. What is wholly true in one section of China may not be at all true in another. " Not only do provinces of China differ markedly in natural features, but the people also differ physically, men- tally, and spiritually. . . . Every part of China has its own characteristics, and you might as well try to describe the typical European as the typical Chinese." These conditions necessarily present a number of problems to the missionary. Some few of these, if understood by us, will enable us to render a more in- telligent and helpful sympathy to our Partner over there. Problem I: Lack of Intercommunication. China is sadly lacking in highways, railroads, canals and navigable rivers. There are in the entire country per- haps not more than a thousand miles of good roads. " The rest are rough trails or slippery footpaths, wind- ing among the rice fields and climbing by century worn steps over the mountains, fit only for the pony or the wheelbarrow or the calloused feet of the coolie." When Miss Pearl Caldwell was home on her last furlough some friends proposed to give her funds to purchase a car. She asked instead for a mule and 20 ' * L ABOEEES TOGETHEE " cart since the car would be of no service to her in the field. Two railroads are partly completed, running from north to south. Several others beginning near the coast and running inward are only partly realized as yet. Less than eight thousand miles of railroad are built in the entire country. " During a dark day in the American Civil War, President Lincoln stood before a large map of the United States seeking to find a railroad system which would back up a drive into the heart of the South. Baffled, he turned to a master railway builder who was helping the government organize transportation: ' Yes, Mr, President,' said the engineer, ' if most of our railroads did not run from east to west, we would have no war between the North and the South.' " Transportation would have given a unity of interests which would not have been broken. So it is with China to-day. Railroads made pos- sible the United States reaching from the Atlantic to the Pacific. A lack of similar railroad development in China has been threatening the future of approxi- mately four hundred million people for a decade. Two-thirds of China's troubles may be laid to the fact that the Chinese Republic has over three times the population of the United States, but has the rail- way mileage of the State of Wisconsin. China has but one mile of railway to each four hundred and sixty square miles of territory; in the United States we have a mile of railway to each twelve square miles of land. PE0BLEM9 21 For about six hundred miles in the interior the Yangtsze River is navigable. There are a few other short navigable rivers and some canals. Along the coast " vessels creep from port to port, in much fear of pirates and typhoons." " The economic effects of this cannot be estimated. Imagine the United States without a line of railroad west of the Missouri and the lower Mississippi. Sup- pose the greatest wealth of this country, so far as natural resources go, was only partly tapped by river communications; that the bulk of the economic life of these States rested on transportation by packhorse, by men pushing wheelbarrows up hill and down dale, by slow moving junks winding hundreds of miles to their destination. " These are the conditions under which China is labouring. Millions have been starving along the lower Yangtsze when wheat could not find a market in Szechuan, a thousand miles west. Mineral wealth, which has tempted the powers for a decade, remains locked behind the Yangtsze gorges because China's west has not been tapped. Revolution and turmoil and maladministration have been rampant in these Chinese provinces because the country has such vast- ness without the means needed to control it in this day and age." One can readily see from these facts what a prob- lem the missionary meets in regard to transportation. One does not wonder that " most Chinese never get twenty miles from their birthplace, and are as sus- picious of a strange Chinese as of a foreigner." Nor 22 " LABOEEES TOGETHEE >> does one marvel so much that our sainted Lottie Moon had to see her beloved people die by thousands from the famine, when less than three hundred miles away food was superabundant. Problem II: The Lack of a Common Spoken Language. While all China speaks Chinese, yet there are as many different dialects as there are languages in Europe. Missionaries learning one dialect often feel their limitations because of their inability to serve other than their immediate field. Within the bounds of our South China Mission three distinct dialects are spoken. " Even the same dialect varies so much with the locality that people living a hundred miles apart can hardly understand each other." There are more than eighteen dialects represented by the student body of Shanghai Baptist College. Shanghai and Soochow are two hours apart by train, yet the people speak almost a different dialect; Hang- chow another dialect, and Ningpo still another; and all the little villages in between have their own special jargon — all of this in one little section of Central China Field. " Therefore was the name of it called Babel be- cause Jehovah did there confound the language of all the earth" (Gen. 11:9). "How strikingly are we reminded of that confounding of tongues in this land of many dialects. Recently at the Seminary Chapel exercises in Canton an address was given in Canton- ese, announcements were made by the President in Mandarin, and a prayer in Hakka. The hymns were sung by the students in these three dialects from the PEOBLEMS 23 same book, all blending their voices in praise and wor- ship to God who understands them all. ** At the welcome reception given Mrs. Graves, on her return from America, an original form of enter- tainment was the greeting of their beloved principal by the schoolgirls, in five tongues. A girl from the Mandarin, Hakka and Sun Ning sections spoke in their dialects, while one from Swatow and one from Hongkong spoke in Hok Lo and English, each in turn being interpreted in Cantonese by other stu- dents " (Dr. George W. Leavell). Have you and I, my Sister, any such problem as this to contend with in our Home Land, in telling the story of Jesus and His love? Problem III: Lack of Bquipment, " The fact of so much work to be done and no actual equipment with which to do it," is the reply of one missionary as to what is her greatest problem. " I would have you remember that many of your sisters in China are working without equipment to make their work ef- fective," writes Dr. Love from the far East; and he adds : " I am going home to entreat my brothers and sisters to increase their gifts to foreign missions speedily in order that our missionaries may not ex- pend their lives in vain because we do not furnish them with material equipment through which they can make their efforts tell for Christ." . . . " Chapels in Kwangsi are as scarce as stars in day- time," says Rev. Wai Tung Ping, Chaplain of the Stout Memorial Hospital. When we remember tliat Kwangsi is larger than Alabama and Mississippi and 24 '' LABORERS TOGETHER '» contains ten times the people of these two States, we get some idea of the lack of equipment. This lack causes other disastrous results. Says one: " How one Baptist missionary can work to any ad- vantage in a field with four million souls scattered over an area of about three thousand square miles, to have time to do the things that have to be done, while many other things have to be put off never to be done, is a problem." " Our Mission schools in South China are doing a great work, and some of them are carrying on un- der trying circumstances. In Ying Tak, Miss Sandlin has one hundred girls and women crowded into a building that was formerly a residence for one fam- ily. And the recitation buildings are almost as nice as some of the garages the farmers in the U. S. A. use for their cars. But there is this difference. The garages are dry while these recitation rooms some- times stand several feet in water from the river floods. Last fall Brother Gallimore started with thirteen boys in his school in Ying Tak and now he has more than forty-five. These are crowded into space that would accommodate about half a dozen American students " (Rex Ray). Problem IV: Lack of Bducation. The problem of illiteracy is by no means peculiar to China. The less we Southern Baptists say on that subject perhaps the better until we mend our own ways. But the prob- lem needs our consideration in order that we may the better understand the situation of our Partner over there. It is said that there are many churches among PROBLEMS 25 all denominations in China in which no one is able to read except the pastor, and he with much difficulty. It is not strange that as soon as She gets her bearings, She sends forth an earnest plea for teachers and teaching equipment. Problem V: American and British Commercial- ism. " A cigarette in the mouth of every Chinese " is the slogan of a British- American Tobacco Firm doing large business in China. It seems almost to have been realized. " It is pitiful to see the men, women and children smoking so much. It is disgust- ing to see strong young Americans and Englishmen out here preying upon these poor Chinese people to make money out of them through the tobacco busi- ness." To this tobacco curse imported from " Christian " America and England, may be added the whiskey traffic, the gambling den and other forms of vice that our Partner finds it most difficult to deal with. There are other, many other problems facing our Partner over there. She rarely speaks of them. She never utters one note of complaint against them. She solves some of them through sheer will power; others in her closet on her knees, and others — she submits to day by day and year by year, hoping, trusting, pray- ing that sometime our eyes will be opened, our purse strings loosened and our feet swift to help. QUESTIONS 1. How docs China compare in size to the United States? 2. How do the two countries compare in population? 26 '' LABOEEES TOGETHEE ' ' 3. How does the lack of railways and highways interfere with China's advancement? 4. Do all our missionaries in China learn the same language? 5. What equipment is needful for the carrying on of the mission work? 6. Is education as popular in China as we have been led to believe? 7. How has American commercialism interfered with Chinese Christianity? Ill SOME DEFINITIONS " The whole history of China points to her imperative need of a truly Christian civilisation. The doors of opportunity are wide open to the forces of moral righteousness, social service, and Christian civilisation/* THERE are conditions that are common to all mission fields. It would require too much space to specify in each case just what the work is and how it is done. Hence this lesson, re- garding important matters in all fields, is introduced just here in order to save much repetition in future lessons. As has been stated China is larger than the United States and her population three and one-half times greater. This enormous multitude of people is not spread evenly throughout the whole country, however. There are some sections where comparatively few peo- ple live ; this because the climate is too cold or too arid, or because the country is too mountainous. China is divided into eighteen Provinces or Dis- tricts, corresponding to our States. (See map of China.) Three of these Districts, Tibet, Turkestan, and Mongolia, occupy about half the territory. The population in these three is sparse, when compared to other Districts. This means that vast hordes are 27 28 " LABOEERS TOGETHER '' crowded together on the river flood plains in the south and east. This providential arrangement becomes our great opportunity. The people are where they may be reached even though communication by railroads, highways and waterways is wanting. Out of the eighteen Districts Southern Baptists have planted work in six. Four of these are adjacent to the seacoast. The two remaining are geographically not far from the coast, but because of the lack of trav- elling facilities, are many hours away. In the six Districts where we have missionaries lo- cated there are five times as many people as are in all of our Southern Baptist territory. In one of these Districts — Shantung — there are six million more peo- ple than there are in the Southern States. This Dis- trict is larger than Virginia and Maryland, yet it has twelve times the population of the two combined. An- other of the Districts, Honan, is nearly as large as Tennessee and Kentucky combined, and has seven times the combined population of the two States. Kiangsu, about the size of Georgia, has in its border nine times as many people as are in Georgia. Kwang Tung and Kwang Si are together larger than Louisi- ana, Mississippi and Alabama combined; and their combined population is more than nine times that of these three States. This appalling array of figures, placed here in the comparative degree, is presented for the purpose of making us pause and think. Into such vast multitudes of humanity, which is overshadowed by the blackness of heathen darkness, we have thrust our Partner, and SOME DEFINITIONS 29 bade Her look after the Business that belongs equally to us both. Not only is it necessary that we have some knowl- edge of the geography and population of the country; but there are certain terms used in connection with the Business over there, that are perfectly familiar to those who know the Work, yet are confusing to some. Let us make a study of some of these terms. Compound. A " Compound " is a walled-in en- closure where the buildings belonging to the denomi- nation stand. Such as a church, schools, homes, and sometimes hospitals or dispensaries. One can readily see how in a heathen country there is wisdom in group- ing these together. There have been occasions when the compound proved a means of defense, not only to missionaries, but to native Christians as well. Some of these compounds occupy quite a big space of ground. The one in Canton covers twenty acres. Shanghai has two Southern Baptist Compounds. One must not get the impression, however, that all our mission work is confined to the compound. This is the center, as it were, round which the rest of the work is builded, or rather from which it radiates. Station. A " Station " is a strategic center from which the Gospel spreads by precept and by example through the city, surrounding villages, and country places. The missionaries live in these cities, and by teaching, preaching and medical work, minister to the people in the section for which the " Station " is re- sponsible. Out Stations, " Out Stations " are cities and vil- 30 " LABOBEES TOGETHER '» lages where churches, chapels and schools are estab- lished and are in charge of the native workers, under the supervision of the " station," visited as often as possible by the missionary in charge. Out stations sometimes cover territory as large as some of our Southern States. Missionary's Assistant, This term is used in this book to designate the wife of the Missionary who works on the field. Of course She is as truly a missionary as is her husband. She is appointed by our Foreign Mission Board just as he is. This deference is given him here because upon his sympathetic care and consideration largely depends Her efficiency. Because the labours of all Missionary's Assistants are so nearly the same, it is impossible to repeat after each name the varied and multitudinous matters that fall to the lot of each. This one example, given by Dr. Love in regard to the Lakes, answers, not for one missionary and his wife, but for all of them: " Let not any one suppose that this work (referring to work among the lepers), as great a service as It is, comprises that which they are doing. As a matter of fact, It Is only a small part of the great service which they are rendering In the Name of Christ. They have under their supervision in Canton and more than twenty other cities and towns, twenty-seven churches and chapels, and nearly that many schools for boys and girls, with more than sixty Chinese preachers, teachers, Bible Women and colporteurs. It requires incessant labour and the hardships of travel by river SOME DEFINITIONS 81 boat, sanpan and across country in the rudest and most primitive way to keep in touch with this work and many workers." Added to all this labour remember She is home- keeper, housekeeper, wife and mother as well as mis- sionary. Educational Evangelist The term explains itself largely. It is used with reference to our unmarried women, whose work is as varied and as nameless as is that of their married sisters. This will be readily dis- cerned further on when we study the several fields. Physician's Assistant. She is the wife of the Mis- sionary Doctor. She is not his assistant in the capac- ity of trained nurse, always ; but in the same sense that the *' Missionary's Assistant " is a helpmeet, so is the " Physician's Assistant " a helpmeet and home-maker. In some instances she is an expert in other lines of work, such as Kindergartner, as is Mrs. George W. Leavell; sometimes She is a teacher of music, or teacher in the day school or an evangelist. Bible Women. Chinese Christian women, who have learned enough of the story of Jesus and His love to tell it to others. " Because of custom the women in the country dis- tricts rarely ever go to the chapels to hear the preach- ing of the Word, and as a result they have not had the opportunity to hear that the men have. Of course those who are Christians go to the chapels occasionally and a few others with them. Because of this fact it is necessary to take the Gospel to them in their homes. For this purpose " Bible Women " are employed to go 32 ** LAB0EEE9 TOGETHEE ' ' into the homes with Bibles and tracts and tell the story of Christ and His Love. Only the final reckoning can tell the great work these women are doing in China. One missionary brother says; "The Bible Women are perhaps the most ideal evangelists, for they go to the people with the message, whereas the men wait in the chapels for the missionary to come to them. These faithful women have often to suffer indignities, insults and persecutions that the men never meet. We thank God for them and should pray constantly for them." QUESTIONS How many provinces in China ? How is population dispersed? In how many provinces do Southern Baptists have work? What is a compound? What is the difference between a station and an out station? Give some of the duties of the "Missionary's Assistant." Tell what you know of the work of a Bible woman. IV THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION " / had rather walk in old Wuchow with its problems, dirt and misery, and be of service there, than to have the luxuries that surround you here in this country. , There is joy in working where you realize there is such a great need** (Miss Ida Tayi^gr). THE South China Mission lies in the south- eastern corner of China. The two provinces of Kwang Si (" Broad West ") and Kwang Tung ("Broad East") are partly occupied by the field. As has been before stated, the two together are larger than Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, and have nine times the population of these three States. While there are violent discrepancies, both as to climate and location, as well as population, yet for convenience's sake, let us imagine that Canton lies somewhat south of where the City of Montgomery, Alabama, is. Far up in the northwest corner of Mis- sissippi, near Clarksdale, let us place Kweilin, remem- bering, however, that this city is in the northeastern part of Kwang Si. Near Jackson, Mississippi, we place Wuchow. West of Birmingham, Alabama, Yinktak. Eighty miles or more southwest of Canton, somewhere near New Orleans, we place Macao. Shiu Hing may be represented by Meridian and Kong Moon by Mobile. These seven fields with their out- stations represent the South China Mission. 33 34 "LABOEEES TOGETHEE " As has been stated elsewhere, three distinct dialects are spoken on this field: Cantonese, Mandarin and Hakka. 3^,.^^^ ALA. \ Map of South China Mission The following stations use the Cantonese: Canton, Wuchow, Shiu Hing, Macao and Kong Moon. One must not get the impression, however, that linguistic lines are closely drawn. In the Graves Theological Seminary in Canton it is necessary to have a teacher for all three dialects. This is also true of several of the other schools. Canton Canton is our oldest Southern Baptist Mission. It is one of the largest cities in the world, having a popu- lation of over two and one-half millions. THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 36 When first entered by missionaries there was an immense wall round the city of Canton, entered by one hundred and twenty gates. But " with progress in the atmosphere, Canton city has accomplished what we might call the eighth wonder of the world. She has destroyed the City Wall over a thousand years old, and in its place built splendid paved streets on which we are soon to have street cars. Not only did the wall have to go, but they are cutting wide streets through different parts of the city. This form of progress hit the building of the old First Baptist Church of South China and took off about thirty-three feet of the front. This church was organized in 1844 by Rev. J. L. Shuck, the first missionary ever appointed by the For- eign Mission Board. (However, at the time of the organization of this church he was under the Tri- ennial Convention.) In 1862 the whole Baptist work in South China fell upon the shoulders of Dr. R. H. Graves. In 1869, by personal supervision, he put up the present building of the Wai Oi, or First Church, and on April 5, 1869, the first meeting-house owned by Baptists in South China was formally opened. This landmark of Baptist work has to give way for prog- ress. But we are thankful for the money which has come to put up a new church, to be known as the Graves Memorial, to commemorate the many years of faithful service Dr. Graves rendered to his Lord in South China." One must not get the impression from this account of the modern growth of Canton that it is an enlight- ened city. It is a city longing for culture, for literall)^ 36 < ' L ABOEERS TOGETHER " tens of thousands of students flock there every year; but the blackness of heathen darkness broods over their lives. The question is, What can be done to evangelize them? We are represented in Canton by the following- named Heroines of the Cross: Mrs. R. H. Graves, " The Mother Heart of us all." Charge of Canton Girls' Boarding School, Pooi To, oversight of a number of girls' day schools, oversight of Bible Women, and charge of the Home for Blind Girls. Mrs. G. W. Green, charge of the Pooi In Woman's School. For twelve years she has laboured inces- santly to " foster virtue " (for such is the meaning of Pooi In) in the highest sense in the lives of benighted but hungry-hearted women. To this school belongs an addition for young children, because the mothers cannot come without them. Mrs. R. E. Chambers, Missionary's Assistant, in the China Baptist Publication Society, which is in charge of her husband, Dr. Chambers. Mrs. John Lake, Missionary's Assistant in the Is- land of Honan, which is part of the city of Canton. Also Assistant in three counties in the great Sz Yap District. Also Assistant in three counties northeast of Canton. In addition is giving with her husband what time she can to the founding of a leper colony on an island on the coast. Mrs. P. H. Anderson, Missionary's Assistant, Teacher, Evangelist. Miss Mary Anderson, Assistant to Mrs. Graves in THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 37 Pool To Girls* Boarding School. (Pooi To means "to foster the doctrines.") Has charge of the pri- mary and teacher training departments in said school. Mrs. J. T. Williams, Missionary's Assistant, Kin- dergartner in the Pooi To School, charge of music, and training in practice in Primary Sunday School Methods. Mrs. J. R. Saunders, Missionary's Assistant among the Hakkas. Miss May Hine, Teacher in Pooi To Girls' Acad- emy. Miss Flora Dodson, Teacher in same school. Mrs. W. D. King, Missionary's Assistant, Teacher of English in Pooi To. By count we find eleven women, several of whom are wives and mothers, labouring in a field where there are over three million of our benighted sisters. As a result of the Seventy-five Million Campaign, five more hope to join forces with them before the close of the year. This little handful is at work in this vast city and its surrounding outstations where we now have twelve churches, twenty-one street chapels, thirty-two schools. From out the various phases of the work that is carried on in Canton we select a report from Miss Mary Anderson in regard to school work. What she says of the work here is equally true of each field: " Some of you have heard the parable told of the little Chinese boy, Yip Tsoon Tung, but I am going to tell it again, because it is so true. 38 " LABOEEES TOGETHEE " " He said, * Once a man had a great many sheep. He loved his sheep very much, and on one cold and rainy night he went out himself to see if his sheep had been brought into the fold. He asked the under shepherd, " Are you sure that all of my sheep have been brought into the fold ? " The under shepherd replied, " Yes, master, I am very sure that all of your sheep are safe in the fold." But the anxious shepherd said, "Well, w^hat is that I see out in the field? It looks like sheep." The under shepherd tossed his head and said, " Oh, they are just the little lambs ! They don't count!"'" It is certainly true that the " Little lambs don't count " in China. Even we, who represent Christ, have strangely neglected the children. We have had primary schools in China for a great many years but these schools have been filled with half grown chil- dren — there have been very few little children even in the first grade. This is not strange, for we should not expect little children to attend schools where they have to sit on high stools and sing off mechanical memory drills from seven o'clock to four-thirty. But the various missions in China have at last be- gun to realize the importance of providing schools for Jesus' little lambs, and several modern primary schools have been established In various parts of China. Wherever schools suitable for children have been established, the children have come In great num- bers. Eight years ago Pool To Academy, In Canton, enlarged its work by the addition of a modern primary THE SOUTH CHIKA MISSION 39 school. A normal class for training primary teachers was also added and this work has been wonderfully blessed, although it has been handicapped by lack of equipment. Pooi To Academy is our Central Baptist Girls' School in South China. This session the school has an average attendance of more than three hun- dred and fifty students, while numbers have been turned away for lack of room. Thirty-five splendid young women have just graduated from the grammar school, and many of these girls will return in Septem- ber for high school and normal work. We believe that these consecrated Christian girls will do a great work for the children of China. It is estimated that " the young people in China be- tween the ages of six and twenty-one require some- thing like a million teachers." China is looking to America for the training of these teachers. The Chinese Government has recently sent numbers of her educational leaders to the Philippines to study Ameri- can methods and twenty-five American teachers from the Philippines have been employed to supervise gov- ernment schools in China. The Chinese value mission schools highly because they are based on modern educational principles and are supervised by American teachers. American supervision gives mission schools a decided advantage, and teachers so trained are in demand all over China. Oh, that we had been wise enough to foresee this situation and to stress our educational work years ago! Oh, that we were wise enough now to see the importance of training teachers and to do this work on 40 " LABOREBS TOGETHER '' an adequate scale. If we had the teaching staff and the equipment to multiply our Christian schools the evangelization of China would be assured. Wuchow Wuchow lies to the northwest of Canton and is the second in size of the mission districts that speak the Cantonese dialect. The evangelistic work of the field is distributed over a distance of more than three hundred miles, including fifteen churches and out stations, with a total mem- bership of nearly two thousand. The present force in the field consists of eight people, five of whom are women. Miss Julia Meadows, charge of Girls' School; Evangelist. Mrs. W. H. Tipton, Missionary's Assistant, Teacher, Evangelist. Miss E. E. Ray, Girl's and Woman's School. Mrs. G. W. Leavell, Physicians' Assistant and Ex- pert Kindergartner. Miss Reba Cloud, Wang To Girls' School Miss Lorena Scarlet, Evangelist in country dis- tricts. While all phases of the splendid work that is being done should claim our special attention, we can give space to only one or two. One is the Wang To Girls' School. It IS the only girl's school in the Cantonese half of the Kwang Si Province, the entire province having a population of some eight millions. Hence, on this school depends the training of the girls who THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 41 arc to be our future Bible women, teachers and home makers. Mrs. W. H. Tipton sends us the message: This school was opened in 1906 by Miss Julia Meadows. Previous to this Miss Kennon had con- ducted a small day school for a few years. Miss Meadows opened school with one boarding pupil and a number of day pupils. Each year there has been a gradual increase in the number of boarding pupils. Bible teaching has always been made a special fea- ture of the school, and many girls going out from this school to their homes in the interior of the Province have carried the Gospel with them. In 1911 Miss E. E. Rea took the school while Miss Meadows was home on a furlough. Miss Meadows had been back only a year when her health gave way and she was compelled to go home again. Miss Rea carried on the school until 1918 when she was forced to give up school on account of her health. Miss Rea's strong personality and earnest Christian teach- ing have done wonders for the girls who came under her influence. This school has changed hands with almost every term since 1918. Mrs. Tipton took the school during the spring of 1918, and Miss Shumate was borrowed from the Shiu Hing field for the fall term of that year. Mrs. Tipton has again been in charge since the first of the present year. This year the enrollment has reached eighty, about one-fourth of these boarding in the school. At pres- 42 '' LABOREES TOGETHER '^ ent, all the boarding pupils, with the exception of one, are Christians. During these fifteen years the school has been car- ried on in rented buildings. Its present home is an old ancestral temple, which leaves much to be desired as to location and sanitation. The Board has been good enough to send out money for a new building, but so far it has been impossible to buy land on which to build. However we are trusting in the Lord to open up a way for a suitable location very soon. The Stout Memorial Hospital is located in Wu- chow. Mrs. R. E. Beddoe has written the following splendid messages regarding the institution, giving a glimpse of the wonderful work that is done in the name of Him who said, " I was sick and ye visited Me": " We have every cause to believe that this work has the Father's smile of approval, as evinced by its gradual growth, its past history and its many friends in China and in the Home Land. We well know that even though the equipment may be ever so good, it is only a means to an end. Much precious time is being used for * putting our precious house in order,' but at the same time we look forward to a rich harvest of souls for the praise and glory of His name. Not in- frequently do we take a backward glimpse of those whose faithful service made possible the present work, and especially Is this true when we mix and mingle with the people and they remind us of Dr. Meadows, Dr. Hayes, Mrs. Hayes and Dr. Leavell. Along with these many mention the name of Miss Meadows and • f ill ^^i^^P^P««« iiisf;vvw^«-*iw?^^^-«^^■"^ Dr. R. E. Beddoe and Family (The Baby Boy, Robert Stanley, has been called to his Heavenly Home) THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 43 her work of love. ' And herein is that saying true, One soweth and another reapeth. Other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.' ''On the first floor of this building, and directly con- nected with the large waiting-room, there is a room which is set apart as headquarters for our hospital preacher. Here will be kept names and addresses of patients who become interested in the Gospel, so they may be visited by the Bible women in their homes, or if they come from a distant station, an effort is made by correspondence to put the local preacher — if such there be — in touch with such parties. We trust that ere long there may be room on the second floor that may serve a similar purpose for the Bible woman and that in these rooms many souls may be won to the Saviour and many tracts and Bibles may go forth shedding light and life on their way. Mr. Wai Ting Ping, of Canton, arrives here to-day to take over the work of hospital preacher following Mr. Wong Koon Hoi, who leaves us to take up work in another field. As yet we have no Bible woman as successor to Mrs. Wong, though we hope to secure one soon. In the meantime the Christian women and some schoolgirls will assist as other duties will allow. " During our recent revival meetings there was a gentleman at the hospital from the same village as our pastor Yu. After hearing the Gospel he became greatly Interested, and being unable to walk on ac- count of an Injured foot, secured a chair and attended services. Later he was heard Inquiring of the hospital employees, * Have you any more books I can read ? 44 " LABOEEES TOGETHEE " I want to learn all I can of the Gospel' Thus is seen the need of a literature fund, and the hospital will well be able to carry this additional expense when it is on its feet again, so to speak, after the expense of moving and of the new equipment. " The plan for giving the people the Gospel is no doubt the same used in most other Mission hospitals. When there is a sufficient number of people in the Clinic building, but always before time for examina- tions to begin, the preacher speaks to them. While he is speaking we watch carefully to see who seems most interested in the message. After the sermon we deal personally with the people, beginning with the eager listeners. An even better opportunity is with those who go up to the main building for special treatments or who remain as patients. Last week we met a six- teen-year-old girl in the women's ward, whose heart seemed all prepared for the sweet story. We believe she understood and accepted salvation. " I have marvelled at the great number of children who enter the hospital with portions of the body, and sometimes the body, swollen from various forms of dropsy. Not long ago we had two such patients — one a little girl with face and head swollen and limbs and body emaciated; and a boy the same age whose whole body was swollen. His little fingers could scarcely grasp the coin that was given him and his eyes were almost closed. The two sat side by side on the bed as Sam K'oo, our Primary teacher who had come for the purpose, talked to them of things eternal. The picture was beautiful and pathetic; for THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 45 she gave them an object lesson in prayer just by pray- ing with them and for them, and thus tried to point them to Him Who is the friend of children. " While speaking of children I am reminded of the many times we meet women who say, ' We are just taking the baby to Dr. Go, for we knew she could give relief.' If the hospital had nothing else to offer but the services of this consecrated lady doctor, with her touch of healing for countless numbers of women and children, the great outlay of money and lives would be worth while. These two lady doctors dur- ing their leisure hours are glad to go visiting with us in the homes, and witness effectually the saving power of Christ." Shiu Hing The city of Shiu Hing, which we have placed somewhere near Meridian, Mississippi, on our im- aginary map, lies near the center of a field which com- prises parts of three counties and contains about seven hundred square miles. The population is ap- proximately a half a million; Hoh Tau, the farthest of our stations, is only about seventy-five miles from Shiu Hing, imagine it down about Laurel, Miss., a few hours by modern methods of travel, but four or five days by native boats. Our roster for this field is as follows: Miss H. F. North, Charge of the Kwang To Woman's and Girl's Boarding School. Remains most of the time in the city of Shiu Hing. Evangelist. Miss Margie Shumate, Evangelistic work. 46 " LABOEEES TOGETHER " '* Cramped in small boats, climbing steep mountains, and risking pirates she spends much time in native villages sleeping on hard bed boards and faring on the best these kind villagers can offer." She sent the following sketch of her station which is given here. She has clearly defined for us the field she and her co- labourer. Miss North, can truly claim as theirs alone. But she does not tell how, with her Bible woman, she herself visits during the year more than one hundred and fifty villages and towns and tells the Gospel story to between two and three thousand people. And she might add how gloriously the Dear Lord is blessing her labours. " The Shiu Hing station is one of the oldest in South China. It was opened by Dr. Graves many years ago, and the church was organized by him in 1877. Dr. Graves resided at Shiu Hing only tempo- rarily, but frequently visited the work from Canton for many years. No missionary permanently located at Shiu Hing until 1895 when Miss H. F. North moved from Canton to Shiu Hing and has remained there ever since. Two or three times she was joined by other workers, but they stayed only a short time, and she was alone in the station most of the time from the time she came until early in the year 1915 when she was joined by Miss Margie Shumate. " The little church which was organized by Dr. Graves has grown until at present there is a member- ship of over SIX hundred in the Shiu Hing field. There are now three churches and nine out stations in the field which comprises parts of three counties, THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 47 the farthest part of the field being four or five days' journey from Shiu Hing city. With the exception of the Shiu Hing church which is independent, the ten preachers who labour in the field are under the native Home Board. There are nine Bible women who are under Miss Shumate's charge, she having the direction of the evangelistic work in the field. Miss Shumate visits the churches and out stations, keeps in touch with the Christian women and develops the work in every possible way. " There is a boys' school of about thirty pupils in Shiu Hing city, managed entirely by the Chinese. The Girls' Boarding School is in charge of Miss North. Including the Kindergarten department, there is an enrollment from eighty to a hundred, over half of whom are boarders. There is also a department for the training of Bible women. The school has made marked progress within the last three or four years and the prospects for its future growth and de- velopment are bright." Kong Moon Kong Moon and its companion city, San Ooi, are the centers for one of the most thickly populated regions of China. The Kong Moon field has an area of about three thousand square miles and a population of more than four millions. For these multitudes Southern Baptists have four foreign missionaries to witness for our God. Three of them are women: Mrs. John Sundstrom, Missionary's Assistant, Teacher, Evangelist. 48 " LABOEERS TOGETHER »' Miss Lora Clement, Teacher, Evangelist. Miss Sarah Funderburke, Teacher, Evangelist. Miss Clement and Miss Funderburke are at present alone on the great field, since overwork and strenuous years have broken the health of dear Mrs. Sundstrom. She v^ith her husband may perhaps remain on a fur- lough for more than a year. But Miss Funderburke sends for us a message of cheer in these v^^ords: " Never have there been greater opportunities. How we long for more ambassadors for Christ that to all the people His love may be made known. This year (1920) we have nine day schools, all in flourishing condition. And one by one these students are being brought to a knowledge of Christ." While this has been a peculiar year in many ways, in the effect that changing conditions have brought in our work in Kong Moon we feel that much has been accomplished. Disturbance caused by the revolution, and the aftermath of large bands of robbers in country districts, have greatly interfered with the work among the women. The conferences for prayer and Bible study that have been held have been a source of benefit and bless- ing in drawing the women together in cooperation, s)mipathy and helpfulness, for the planning of the fu- ture work in winning souls for the Master. This work is in the care of Mrs. Sundstrom who also has four girls' schools with a total enrollment of one hundred and sixty-six students besides the direction of the work of the Bible women. Miss Clement is studying the language preparatory to her work in this field. THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 49 The following incident in the life of one of the school- girls proves the power of the Gospel unto salvation in the young life of a Chinese girl. A young girl of eleven has been a student in the Kong Moon school for the past three years. Last year she became much interested in the teachings of the Bible which she was taught each day. Finally she accepted Christ as her Saviour and followed Him in Baptism. This was in January of this year. Dur- ing the vacation in the summer months her parents took a violent dislike to the school, its teachings and all Christians of their acquaintance. They com- manded their daughter to renounce her belief and to worship the idols and ancestral tablets in the home. This she refused to do. S'he begged to return to school, but this only rekindled the wrath of her par- ents. In order to break her stubborn will and force her to give up her love for the Master, she was whipped, and when found praying, she was kicked and in one instance her mother was so enraged that she bit her. Seeing that this girl was firm in her belief the parents refused to allow any one from the school or the Bible woman to visit her. They made her wear the clothes of a slave and forced her to eat with the slave girl and do heavy work. This did not accomplish their purpose so they moved as far away from the school and its influence as they thought necessary to prevent the girl remain- ing true to its teachings. She knew the teachers, the missionaries and the Christian girls In the school were praying for her, and she was faithful to her trust in 50 ' ' L ABOEEES TOGETHEE ' ' God. Nothing moved this faith from her. On prayer- meeting day in the chapel she slipped away from home and quietly took her place with the schoolgirls. She looked tired and much thinner than when last seen at the chapel, but no one realized at the time what she had been suffering. Her face was serene and un- moved. Her parents had burned her school books, but she had her Testament ; how it escaped is not known. She assured her friends that she read it every day and continued in prayer. She went away without know- ing whether she was being watched or followed by her parents. The testing is over now and the wrath of the par- ents seems spent; she says her life is easier. Little Uet Ngo can now pray in peace and read her Testa- ment without fear. We praise God for His keeping of this child during such a severe testing. Could we have stood the test so quietly ? Macao Macao is a Portuguese port about eighty miles southwest of Canton. But one name appears on the roster, that is Mrs. J. L. Galloway, who with her hus- band finds more than enough to keep her full time occupied. Fine reports of her Woman's Missionary Society come across to us, as well as of organized work among the young women, and the Sunbeams and the B. Y. P. U. Dr. Love tells us of the field and the work : " We reached Macao on Thursday morning, and THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 51 were welcomed by Brother Galloway and Mrs. Gallo- way. Macao is where Dr. Robert Morrison, the first evangelical missionary to China, lived and died, and where we found his tomb with appropriate inscription upon it. Here too, are the ruins of Sao Paulo built in 1603. The cross, which is still standing on a part of the ruins, is said to have been the inspiration of the Christian song, ' In the Cross of Christ I Glory,' by Sir John Bowring. Just under the shadow of this cross Brother Galloway has secured a splendid lot for our Baptist church and the school. Near by is Camoen's garden, where is a bust of Camoen, the Portuguese poet. It is said that in the beautiful spot he wrote his great poems while in exile. Macao was discovered in 1511 by Vasco da Gama, the noted navi- gator, whose statue commands a central place in the beautiful city park. " One of the most delightful services we have had anywhere was in the Baptist church at Macao. The singing by Mrs. Galloway's boys and girls was sur- passingly good. Among the members of this church are Mrs. Sun Yat Sen, the wife of Dr. Sun Yat Sen, the first President of the Chinese Republic, and Mrs. Lew Yuk Lin, the wife of Dr. Lew Yuk Lin, who was formerly the Chinese Ambassador to the Court of St. James, and at one time was in the diplomatic service in Washington. We have found no finer types of Christian women than these two ladies of the upper class who give themselves unsparingly and with beau- tiful Christian humility to work among the lowest and poorest classes in their city; Dr. Lew showed us 62 " LABOEERS TOGETHER '' many courtesies and left us with a most grateful memory of our visit to Macao. Through the thought- fulness of Mrs. Galloway we had the pleasure of a luncheon with these friends and with Mr. Sun Foh, the son of Dr. Sun Yat Sen, and his young wife, who are charming and intelligent people. The junior Mrs. Sun was reared in Honolulu and educated in America. Ten members of the family of Dr. Lew are members of the Baptist church in Macao. His cultivated daughter was recently baptized, and at her own re- quest was baptized with a slave girl in the home. An example of Christian Stewardship is found in Ah Chan, Brother Galloway's cook, who besides giving her tenth, has recently given twenty dollars toward the new church and ten dollars to Christian charities. Her deep and real experience of Christ shines in her face as she serves the guests in the home." Let us keep in mind the fact that in this chapter we are dealing with the stations in the South China Mis- sion that use the Cantonese dialect. QUESTIONS 1. Where is the South China Mission? How many states or provinces does it occupy? 2. Name these provinces and tell how many jBelds there are. 3. Tell something of the city of Canton. 4. How many languages are spoken in the South China Mis- sion? 5. Name our sisters who labour in the Canton field. 6. How many of these went out from your State? 7. Give a short sketch of the work In Wuchow. 8. Tell something of the Stout Memorial Hospital. 9* Give a sketch of the Shiu Hing field. ID. What dialect is spoken in these fields ?i THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION (Continued) Ying Tak " China has no sorrow that Chrisfs message cannot heal" FAR to the northwest of Canton we have placed in our imaginary map the City of Ying Tak, somewhere about Birmingham, Alabama. Here we find: Mrs. Ben Rowland, Pastor's Assistant. Charge of work for women in Ying Tak City. Evangelistic Work. Miss A. M. Sandlin, Charge of Schools, Evangel- istic Work. Miss Grace T. Elliot, Teaching. Evangelistic Work. Ying Tak and the surrounding country is occupied largely by the Hakkas. In the Chinese language Hakka means " the stranger." They are called strangers because they are different from all other Chinese. The women have never bound their feet and they dress differently from any other Chinese women. The houses are very large and many of them two or three stories high. The people live largely in country houses, not in congested cities, as 53 54 ♦^ LABOEEES TOGETHBE ^» do most Chinese. The men are brave and hardy, great leaders in war and all aggressive movements. They are intellectual, making fine Christian leaders when once won to the Master. They are by nature, and can be easily made by training, fitted for intellectual and spiritual leadership. Throughout South China many of the great Christian leaders of all denominations are Hakkas. Owing to the fact that most Hakkas live in the inte- rior where little has been done by any denomination to give the Gospel to them, we find among these people great sections densely populated without any mes- senger to tell them of the world's Redeemer. The Baptists of America have an unusual opportunity and responsibility in the Hakkas and it behooves us to press forward in this work as speedily as possible. In our enlarged plan of missionary propaganda we ought to have a large plan for the Hakkas. They are among the most intellectual and progressive people we have in China, and a people we have done but little to win to our Saviour, hence the time is exceedingly op- portune for us to do large things for this people. They need us and we need them — won to our Saviour and trained for His Service — and in the coming days we shall find them among the great spiritual and in- tellectual leaders in China. The local Bible women report regular and earnest work in Ying Tak and vicinity. Great interest in per- sonal work has been aroused and often bands of women and girls go into the city and out Into the sur- rounding villages to preach to the women in their THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 65 homes and invite them to the gospel services at the church. The Ramseur Memorial Hospital is at Ying Tak. There is no American doctor here at all. *' A great field is open in Ying Tak and the Hakka field for a consecrated doctor to work with this hospital and do itinerating work throughout the cities and villages of that vast field." Kweilin The last field we name in this South China Mission is our newest field, Kweilin. It is the center of our work for the Mandarin speaking people. Our Baptist work in the Mandarin speaking section of Kwang Si Province was really started by col- porteurs going through the country selling Gospels, Christian tracts, New Testaments, and telling the simple Gospel story. Those reached by the colporteurs went down to Wuchow (our main station in the Can- tonese speaking section of Kwang Si) for baptism. Some Mandarin men were led to give their lives to God's service and went to our Graves Theological Seminary in Canton to prepare to become preachers. Out stations in the Mandarin section were opened and these men were sent there to uphold the banner of Christ. The work was in charge of the missionary at Wuchow. For years our South China Missionaries prayed that workers would be sent from home for the Man- darin Work. It was very far from Wuchow and the missionaries at Wuchow talked Cantonese. In 1913 56 '' LABOEEES TOGETHEE " Rev. and Mrs. C. J. Lowe offered to go to Wuchow to the Mandarin field. In May of that year Mr. Lowe with some colporteurs made a trip to Kwei Lin, the largest city of Kwang Si Province and the place our mission had voted to open as a main station. There were three Baptists then living in Kwei Lin. A small building was rented in which a Book Room was opened as a " Forerunner of our Evangelistic Work/' In November, 1912, Mr. and Mrs. Lowe and their two children, Reba and Jackson, moved to Kwei Lin, having rented a Chinese house for their home. By that time Mr. Lin, who had been left in charge of the Book Room, had forty-five inquirers in training for baptism. At first all meetings were held in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Lowe. In the meantime prayer was being made that God would give a building for a chapel. Soon a suitable place was found, in the very heart of the great city, and our first chapel was opened. Our First Baptist Church was organized in March, 1913, with twelve members. When our main station was opened at Kwei Lin in 1912, there were six country or out stations. Since then nine more have been opened, as well as a branch chapel in Kwei Lin, and soon two more will be opened. The Kwei Lin church has now a membership of 686 and there are altogether 1,196 Christians in the whole Mandarin section of Kwang Si Province. Our sisters who labour there to-day are : Mrs. J. C. Lowe, Missionary's Assistant, Evangel- ist, Teacher. THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 57 Mrs. E. L. Mewshaw, Physician's Assistant, Teacher. Miss Hattie Stallings, Teacher, EvangeHst. Mrs. Lowe, who, hke all other missionaries, is charmed with her especial field, makes it very clear for us what Kwei Lin is and has been: " In the northeast corner of Kwang Si Province on one of the largest tributaries on the West River, lies our beautiful city of Kwei Lin, * Forest of Cassia.' In prehistoric times, indeed, this whole section is said to have been covered by a Cinnamon forest. " Though our city may be said to be hoary with age we are not living in the past, but in a remarkable way are keeping abreast of the times. Here too, in remote Kwang Si can be seen New China. Here may be found splendid government educational institutions, including primary, middle and normal schools with an entire enrollment of some two thousand students. There is a model prison in Kwei Lin said to be a copy of the American Willoughby Prison in the Philippines. Here the prisoners are taught all manner of occupations, such as carpentry, weaving, dyeing, sock-making, printing, working in rattan, etc., etc. Moreover the inmates of the prison are taught cleanli- ness. During a recent visit to the institution we really marvelled at the clean airy cells. As we passed along a corridor, the one or two prisoners in each cell arose and stood at respectful attention as we went by. The people of Kwei Lin on the whole are polite, progress- ive and patriotic. "Until comparatively recently the Province of 58 '' LABOEEES TOGETHEE " Kwang Si was closed to European influence. About fifty years ago Dr. Graves, one of our pioneer Bap- tist Missionaries to South China, attempted a trip to Kwei Lin. The people of the city in one sense re- ceived him warmly! They burned his boat and sent him back down the river on another. Dr. Graves and our other early missionaries always seemed to have this section specially on their hearts and prayed often that God's Messengers might be sent to this corner of the great field of China. This city was really closed to Christian influence until 1898, when the first foreign missionary came to live here. Now the ' clarion call ' of the Gospel of Jesus Christ can be heard in nearly all corners of the city. "Kwei Lin occupies a wonderfully strategic position for missionary work. Why, ' all roads lead to Kwei Lin ! ' To the northeast lies Hunan Province, to the west, the great untouched Province of Kwei Cheo. The city itself has a population estimated at three hun- dred thousand, and along the roads leading out from Kwei Lin to the north, east, south and west, lie large- sized towns, markets and villages, practically all as yet untouched by the Gospel. A prospective railway will extend from Cha'ng to Pao K'in and from Pao K'in to Kwei Lin, thence to Liu Cheo, and on down to the coast. It is predicted that Kwei Lin will be the great- est commercial center between Hankov/ and Canton. What marvellous opportunities for the spread of the Gospel abound here! What a challenge to us Bap- tists! Oh, Baptist sisters and brothers, we serve a mighty God. Let us * expect great things from Him THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 59 and attempt great things for Him ! ' He is calling us to * go in and possess the land/ Will you not pray that in this section of China a great Baptist constit- uency may be established that shall be strong in the power of His might, and true to the principles and doctrines we hold dear, bring glory to His name. " The Kwei Lin Hospital is under Dr. and Mrs. Mewshaw, she having work among the women pa- tients. She has no Bible woman to assist her, but has the earnest enthusiastic help of the girls from the Girls' School. ' No one comes in contact with the Hospital or the doctors without hearing of the Great Physician. A tract is wrapped up in each package of medicine that goes out, and in this way many people who would not carry a tract away in their hands find it when they reach home and get interested in its contents.' " In this lesson we have learned something of the fields in South China where the Hakka dialect and the Mandarin dialect are spoken. All of the work in our South China Mission that is under our Foreign Mission Board has now been brought before us. But our Partner Over There standing face to face with conditions that we know little or nothing about feels impelled at times to add additional tasks to those which already fill her life to the full. Some of these deserve our prayerful attention. One of them is the Blhid Girls' Home in Canton and we herewith give a sketch of the same: " In the year 1904, when Mrs. Janie Lowrey San- ford Graves was home on furlough, she told us some- 60 " LABOEEES TOGETHEE " thing of the awful condition of the many blind girls in China, how, in their helplessness, they are sold into lives of shame and forced into the most abject slavery and sin. She also told of the rescue of a number of these helpless little ones, by Miss Lula F. Whilden, whose heart had been stirred with compassion over their wrongs and their seemingly hopeless helpless- ness; but she stated that Miss Whilden had no place to care for them, and that she had a hard time finding safe and comfortable homes that would take them in and give them proper care. Our hearts too were very much touched by the recital of these dreadful condi- tions and under the leadership of Miss Robbie Sumrall of the Blue Mountain College Girls of Blue Mountain, Mississippi, undertook to build a home for them, where they might be saved from this kind of life and taught to love and trust Jesus. " After this work was undertaken, we learned that our faithful and much burdened Secretary of the For- eign Mission Board, Dr. Willingham (now of Sainted memory) did not exactly approve of our undertaking, because our Board was already heavily in debt, and the bringing into existence of another object to be supported seemed unwise at that time. But Dr. E. Z. Simmons (of Canton, China, at that time, but now in Heaven) who was at home on furlough was over- joyed that God had put into the hearts of some of His children to do this thing, that he reasoned with Dr. Willingham about it and urged that the good work be- gin, be encouraged to go on to completion, and trust the Lord for the funds for its support. Dr. Willing- THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 61 ham's heart was as anxious for this kind of work to be done as was that of Dr. Simmons or any of us ; but from a business point of view, he felt that it was un- wise. However, he consented, and to make a long story short, the home was built within five years, but there was no source of income for its support (just as Dr. Willingham foresaw) ; those who were responsible for the starting of the work felt the responsibility for its support. So the Janie Sanford Y. W. A. with the help of faculty, former students and friends, of Blue Mountain College, has had as its special work these years the support of this Home. " Very soon after the Home was built, there were twelve or thirteen little ones, including those rescued by Miss Whilden, enjoying the blessings of protection and Christian training in the Home. " When Miss Whilden came back to America the last time, knowing from the condition of her health that she could not live long and would never return to China, she turned over to Mrs. Graves the funds that had been given her by personal friends for ' her girls ' with instructions to use as Mrs. Graves saw fit, just as * her girls ' were cared for. So in the year 1917, out of these funds left by Miss Whilden, an ad- dition of six small rooms was built besides an addi- tion to the dining-room. Five of these rooms are for the use of the five of Miss Whilden's girls still living in the Home. " It was difficult to manage the younger girls with these older girls, now mature women, mixed in among them, so this additional room filled a felt need and is 62 " LABOEERS TOGETHER »' quite an advantage, in that it enables them to take in a half dozen more girls. We understand the Home now accommodates about thirty. '' At one time Mrs. Graves reported that of the seventeen then in the Home all were Christians except four little ones who had been in the Home only a short time. And of the twenty- four who, up to that time, had been inmates of the Home, four had gone out as teachers, three of them teaching other blind children and one teaching seeing children in Miss North's school in Shiu Hing. Two had died and one was married and had a little boy who leads her to church and elsewhere." In Miss Florence Anderson's letter written from Canton under date of January 5th, 1919, she says, " The Christmas Tree at the Blind Girls' Home was a nice treat for them. Their program was nice and was prepared by themselves. The Scripture portions that the children recited in concert were thoroughly memorized — there was not a hesitation. Their songs were beautiful as their singing always is. '' You remember the baby who was picked up in the streets of Kong Moon and brought to us by native Christians? Well, she sang a song — a long one. Auntie (Mrs. Graves) stood her on a chair, she was so small. " Two of the girls went to Macao at Mrs. Gallo- way's request. She wanted them to take part in their Christmas entertainment in order to arouse an interest in the support of the Home among their church mem- bers. It simply amazes the Chinese to find that the THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 63 blind can learn to read, write, knit, sew, etc.; they have always considered the blind as absolutely help- less and useless." It takes about forty dollars a year to support a child at present prices and there is need of a larger number of helpers in the work. This work is a private under- taking and is not included in the Seventy-five Million Campaign objects. Funds for this work are being sent to Mrs. Graves regularly through Mrs. T. C. Lowrey, Blue Mountain, Mississippi. " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least one of these my little ones ye have done it unto Me." Pakhoi Mission As has been stated, this little book is not a history, but a record of To-day. However, there is one field where to-day we have no missionary from the Home Land, but it is a field to which two faithful hearts turn yearningly, tearfully and prayerfully. This is our " baby mission " in China — the Pakhoi field. Pakhoi is a treaty port in the Kwang Tung Province. It is two hundred and eighty-nine miles southwest of Canton, and four hundred and twenty miles west of Hong Kong. The mission was opened in August, 1914, by Rev. and Mrs. E. T. Snuggs, who were at that time busily engaged in evangelistic and educational work in the Canton Mission. But at the suggestion of the Board they left this field and went to one where the black- ness of darkness is indescribable. For the past six years, with the exception of several 64 " LABORERS TOGETHER ^' months spent in the Home Land, they have laboured under circumstances that would have discouraged the most stalwart of heart. Brother Snuggs says the field is dark, difficult and discouraging. Idolatry is still prevalent, even the devil is openly worshipped and feared. " The people that live next door to the Pakhoi chapel testify that they saw the foreign missionary take out the eyes from the dead body of the preacher's wife, in spite of the fact that he was not in Pakhoi at the time." " The degrading influence of woman is very strong. The sensuality of the masses is appal- ling." " A mission with only one missionary family is un- satisfactory and precarious at all times." These quotations from the reports, during these years, to the Board tell a sad story of hard work, lonely lives and aching hearts. Added to other dis- couraging features, Mrs. Snuggs was compelled to come home for medical treatment three years ago, and her husband was forced to undergo an operation in the Home Land this year. On both occasions the field was left without a missionary. We must not get the impression that amid all these dark hours the Sun of Righteousness is not shining for them and through them in such a way that the " morning light is breaking " even in Pakhoi. A church has been established, made up of a small but staunch membership. A boys' school and a girls' school have also been organized. Brother Snuggs closes his last report in words that should burn into our hearts and lives the truth concerning their needs THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 66 until we will arouse ourselves and go to the relief of this faithful couple: " When a just portion of the Seventy-five Million Campaign fund has been expended on what is neces- sary in a modern Christian mission, such as a com- pound, church, schools, residences, hospital, all of which are still lacking, also eight additional mission- aries, then this Mission will be on its feet. It will walk, it will run to and fro, carrying the Glad Tidings ; it will do something worth while, something that will count toward winning the multitude of this too long neglected and large portion of South China. This Mission should be touching the lives of from four to five millions of people, whereas at present it is touch- ing not more than forty or fifty thousand. ' The har- vest is truly plenteous, but the labourers are few.' " QUESTIONS Name our missionaries in the Ying Tak field. Where is Ying Tak? Describe the Hakkas. Where is Kweilin? What dialect is spoken there? When was the first Baptist Church organized in Kweilin? Who are our labourers there? What is the population of Kweilin? Tell something of the Kweilin Hospital. Give a sketch of the Blind Girls' Home. Have you ever helped with this Home? Tell something of our "baby" mission in China. VI THE CENTRAL CHINA MISSION "One hundred million people in China — as many people as there are in the United States — are beyond the range of all missionary effort." A THOUSAND miles or less in a northeast- erly direction from Canton lies the City of Shanghai. It is in the Province of Kiangsu. This Province is a bit smaller than the State of Georgia, but contains nine times the population. In our imagination we will place Kiangsu over Georgia. (See map.) Somewhere in the neighbour- hood of the following cities in Georgia we will find the correspondingly named cities in Kiangsu: Near Bruns- wick see Shanghai. Albany, Soochow; Macon, Chinkiang; Atlanta, Yangchow. Allow the comparison to be carried a step further: The State of Georgia has 2,563 churches; the province of Kiangsu has twenty-eight. Georgia has 332,749 white Baptists; Kiangsu has 2,159. This Central China Mission was founded just two years after the South China Mission, that is in 1847. The pioneer missionaries were Rev. Matthew T. Yates and wife, from North Carolina. They gave forty-one years to the work, sixteen of them being spent alone on the great field. It Is worth while to 66 THE CENTEAL CHINA MISSION 67 recall the fact that during the Civil War he not only n 1., KIANG-SU v^^ '-jGBOE.QlA > i Y>\Nac«ou/ ^^^^ ■^"' l.,^^ CHmGKIAN& ^ \ ^ aoocHdw Ni '\ r:>:=r\^ SHiVH6H^S\ Map of Central China Mission supported his family and his Work, but with the aid of friends in Shanghai, built a new church. Shanghai " Shanghai, the New York of China " is a great and growing city located near the seacoast. It is the oldest and largest mission. Here, as in Canton, the work is done on three dialects, Cantonese, Man- darin and Shanghai speaking people. We have four churches in this city: North Gate, Cantonese, Man- darin and Grace. Our roster for Shanghai embraces stars of the first magnitude : Mrs. R. T. Bryan, Missionary's Assistant in Can- 68 ' ' L ABOBEES TOGETHEE " tonese Church; W. M. U. President of City Union; General Evangelist and Sunday School Worker, with Mandarin and Cantonese; charge of Cantonese School. Miss Willie Kelly (" Our Lady Comfort "), Evan- gelist in North Gate Church, where for over twenty- five years she has laboured. Has charge of five out- posts where there are three churches and four day schools. Miss Sallie Priest ("Sunshine Sallie"), Principal Smith Bible School, General Evangelist. Mrs. Frank Rawlinson, Missionary's Assistant, Grace Church. Dispensary Assistant for benefit of poor children. Miss Louise Tucker, Teacher Smith Bible School, Old North Gate. Miss H. F. Sallee, Principal Eliza Yates Memorial School, Evangelist. Miss Pearl Johnson, Teacher Smith Bible School, Evangelist. Mrs. J. M. Rogers, Principars Assistant in the Ming Yang Boys' School. Miss Mary N. Lynn, Mrs. Bryan's Assistant in school and church work. Mrs. W. E. Crocker, Evangelist, Teacher. The mere calling over their names and attempting to set a definite work for them appears so little, seems so futile to bring us in intimate touch with them. Would we could have looked into that Home of Happiness near old North Gate where Miss Kelly, Miss Priest, Miss Tucker and Miss Johnson have THE CENTEAL CHINA MISSION 69 done such marvellous work in the Smith Bible School and other schools under their management ; where they have accomplished such well-nigh impossible tasks in homes, churches, chapels, streets — anywhere, every- where people live and move. But we joy too over the fact that the old house is gone — torn away to make room for the commodious church plant being erected — and that a beautiful residence has been built from funds given Miss Kelly by Mrs. Seaman. Would we could go some miles further in the same big city and near Grace Church find the love light of genuine homes shining out of the abiding place of Dr. and Mrs. Bryan, Dr. and Mrs. Rawlinson, Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, Misses Sallee, Bryan and Lynn. And ah! what the love light of home means in a heathen land. Shanghai ought to be the capital of China. Its situation in China is similar to that of Washington in the United States. While politically it ought to be the capital, commercially it is China's New York, as we have before stated. It is here that China comes most in contact with the outside world. Most of the influences that are to-day shaping the new China origi- nate In Shanghai. As Shanghai goes, so goes China. Shanghai Baptist College. Eleven miles north of the city lies what Miss Lanneau terms, " The crown- ing glory of our Central China Work — The Shanghai Baptist College." This institution Is supposed to be supported equally by Northern and Southern Baptists, each furnishing faculty as well as funds. Southern Baptists may have met their quota in funds but they 70 " LABOEEES TOGETHEE " are far behind in doing their work so far as the faculty is concerned. We have only four members in the faculty, whereas our Northern brethren have eleven; but we are thankful to say that others are on the way to take part in the work. (See Chapter IX.) This is the leading Baptist College and Seminary in China. Young men from all over the country com- plete their course here ; and many of them then come to America fully prepared to take University training. Our interest in the college centers round two mem- bers of the faculty, Miss Elizabeth Kethley, Assistant Teacher in English. However, she gives time to music, athletics, personal work and is intensely inter- ested in the Settlement Work that the faculty has opened in the factory district which lies three miles from the college. And Miss Kathryn Bryan who this session has charge of the young women who are enter- ing the college for the first time. While these two are the only members of the faculty doing direct school work this record would be far from complete if it left out the wives of Pro- fessor J. B. Webster and Professor C. H. Westbrook. Both were Missionary's Assistants in a wide and sym- pathetic sense. An attack of cholera during Septem- ber, 1920, carried Mrs. Westbrook to her eternal Home where we know she is singing joyously ; for she was very musical. Soochow About two hours' run by train from Shanghai in a THE CENTEAL CHINA MISSION 71 westerly direction lies Soochow. Here we have five missionary societies, all of them running schools, four of them extending the grades through the High School and one doing College work. We have also two churches, a splendid kindergarten and numerous out stations. Here we find registered Mrs. T. C. Britton, Mrs. C. G. McDaniel, Mrs. W. P. Hamlet and Mrs. H. H. McMillan, all Missionary's Assistants and Evangel- ists. We have also Miss Sophie Lanneau and Miss Olive Bagby, both teachers in charge of Girls' Schools and doing evangelistic work. Soochow had its beginning in the time of Nehemiah and although near Shanghai it is still a typical Chinese city. It has a population of about seven hundred and fifty thousand. The City Wall is thirteen miles in cir- cumference and is in splendid condition. The city has always enjoyed an enviable reputation for its culture and learning and it is therefore no wonder that the missionaries working there have laid large emphasis on school work as a means of reaching the people. There are about four hundred students in all in the mission schools, and they all come under direct Chris- tian influence and training. These students, together with the church members, put the missionary in direct and constant touch with something like five hundred homes. Nearly all of these families are living in the same houses with other families, and all these homes are in close touch with neighbouring homes, and our special territory covers something like one-fourth of the entire city, say two hundred thousand people, a 72 ' ' LABOEEES TOGETHEE '» population larger than that of the city of Richmond, Virginia. With the necessary help and equipment what may we not accomplish in Soochow within the next decade ? Chingkiang Four hours by rail to the northwest of Soochow we find the city of Chingkiang with its two churches, one school and a number of day schools. Our Partners there are Mrs. C. C. Harriot and Mrs. A. Y. Napier, each doing all that is possible for them to do in their immense field. The average Southern State contains about two million people. Rev. A. Y. Napier of this Ching- kiang Station has recently completed a survey of his field and finds that it contains about two million souls. " To make the matter concrete," Brother Napier sug- gests, " imagine the people of my field gathered into congregations of one hundred each. There would be twenty thousand groups. Among these all Evangel- ical denominations have seven Chinese pastors, twenty-eight evangelists and seven Bible women with a total of only one thousand three hundred church members. There remain over one million nine hun- dred and ninety thousand who are still without Christ." Yangchow Almost north of Chingkiang lies Yangchow, which must be reached by canal. The trip requires nearly three hours because the boats move slowly. Here we find: THE CENTEAL CHINA MISSION 73 Mrs. L. W. Pierce, Missionary's Assistant, Teacher in day schools. Mrs. R. V. Taylor, Physicians' Assistant, Teacher. Misses Alice Parker, M. E. Moorman, Hazel An- drews, Mary C. Demarest, Teachers in the Girls' Academy and other schools. Evangelists. Miss Elizabeth E. Teal, Nurse in Hospital. This field extends north and south about thirty-five miles, east and west about one hundred and forty miles. There are all told in the field ten churches, the Yangchow Girls' Academy, a number of day schools and the Yangchow Hospital. The temptation is almost irresistible to pause at length just here and pay some feeble and humble tribute to that sainted character who gave so many long years of her life to the Yangchow Girls' Academy. It is said that throughout the entire district there are women who are old and who are growing old who owe Miss Julia Mackenzie the sweet and sacred privilege of knowing the Saviour. It is a matter of gracious joy to know that the Yangchow Girls' Academy from henceforth will be known as the Julia Mackenzie Memorial Academy. A worthy monument to a noble soul. Let us thank Him afresh for her life and its wonderful influence and pass on. The Yangchow Hospital is perhaps the best equipped and most complete plant of all the hospitals Southern Baptists have on foreign fields. Lack of space forbids the giving of more informa- 74 '' LABOEEES TOGETHEE '^ tion on this great and growing field of Central China. The chapter is brought to a close with a special mes- sage regarding all the work from Miss Willie Kelly. It is to her that are due special thanks for the ex- cellent map of the field. May we not urge that this map be studied carefully with the chapter so that we may become as familiar with this part of our Great Business Concern over there as we are with the work in our own State ? " Kiangsu, the District in which our Central China Mission is operating, was established by Dr. and Mrs. Yates in 1847. Of course this fact is known to every one in our Southland! (Oh! the irony of that last sentence! — Bditor.) They arrived in Shanghai Sep- tember 12. On November 6, 1847, a Baptist Church was organized with six members. Two of these mem- bers were Chinese preachers brought here from Can- ton. These had to learn the language, as Cantonese at that time was not at all understood by the natives of Shanghai. The other members were Dr. and Mrs. Yates and Dr. and Mrs. Shuck. In 1859 the member- ship was only twenty-two. " In 1879 the second church was established in this Province at Quin San, fifty miles northwest of Shang- hai. In 1883 Ching Kiang was the next station opened. This is a port of the Yangtsze River. This same year Soochow was entered, a chapel built and a church organized. 1891 marks the opening of a large city on the grand canal, — Yangchow. " Missionaries are living at each of these places with the exception of Quin San. No foreign mission- THE CENTEAL CHINA MISSION 76 ary has ever lived there. Hence the home papers do not mention that station." ' " Recently we have a separate station out from Shanghai, which is a joint work under our two Boards. This goes by the name of Shanghai Baptist College, and has the appearance of a small town itself. It is the first thing one sees on entering the city of Shanghai from Woo Sung. " Each of these main stations represents much coun- try work, as you will see by the map. Our largest work and perhaps most progressive is in Shanghai. Most of the work here, with over a thousand pupils in our schools, is self-supporting as to our running expenses. We have much valuable property here, which was mostly given by Mrs. Seaman, only daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Yates. Of course this does not include the buildings at the College. " Mrs. Seaman is a wealthy widow and has given to the Shanghai Mission more than her father's entire salary during the forty-one years of his service. " We are now building two large churches, one at the North Gate, and one for the Cantonese Church, both of which were made possible by Mrs. Seaman's gifts. Her property is all in Shanghai. We need more buildings and more missionaries. If we were ^Noie by Editor— This sketch would be far from complete if there was not made special mention of the work of Miss Kelly at this out station of Quin San. In a way it is the child of her most earnest efforts. Here for twenty-five years she has builded of human souls a monument to her Master, much of the time working single handed and alone. Surely the word "Quin San" is written on the heart of Willie Kelly. 76 *'LABOEEES TOGETHEE" better equipped we could do great things here. Every door is standing open, invitingly open, waiting for us to enter and possess for Jesus our Master. " We are trying closely to follow the work of the W. M. U. at home, and our women are making prog- ress along these Hnes. We have a Year Book and printed programs. We send annual greetings to the W. M. U. of the South. Pray for us that we may grow in grace and wisdom." Where We Have No Work. Sometimes the ques- tion arises, "What of China's great untouched cities?" Lying next to Kiangsu is the immense Province of Chekiang, where Southern Baptists have no labourers. Our Northern brethren and sisters do some work there. Because of the wonder of the great city of Hangchow, we give from one of our own Partners a sketch of a field untouched by us: " Hangchow is the Capital of the Province — Che- kiang — an old city famous for its fine temples and beautiful scenery. West Lake is known far and wide for its beauty. Some of us recently visited this city. We left Shanghai on the 2: 55 train expecting to reach Hangchow about seven, but trains in China are just as uncertain as trains in some other places I know. The engine broke down just outside of Hangchow and we stayed there until nearly ten o'clock. We were the only foreigners in second class and we were the only ones curious enough about the delay to get up and try to find out what the trouble was. The Chinese merely made themselves comfortable or smoked another dozen cigarettes — the British- American Tobacco Company THE CENTEAL CHINA MISSION 77 has done a thorough job in China ! Men, women and children smoke. — ^Another engine came to our rescue finally and we passed through the city wall and came into the station, where a nice old Chinese man met us, took charge of our baggage and bargained for rickshas for us for the ten-minute ride to the school compound. The streets of Hangchow are wide and clean. We passed first some foreign buildings then turned into narrower streets, the cheerful ricksha men yelling at every corner to warn any approaching from the other way. Our friends were up and waiting for us. "The next day was a holiday, so our hostess was free to go with us. We climbed the city hill and looked into the temples there and enjoyed the wonderful view of the city, the bay on one side. West Lake on the other, with mountains on the background, and an oc- casional pagoda to give a touch of the real Orient. This is the beginning of summer, so a special time of worship ; there were many pilgrims coming and going and we were besieged with beggars, who were sta- tioned at regular intervals along the road to the tem- ple. The pilgrims get special merit for giving to the poor, so they were provided with * cash,' a piece of copper with a hole in it worth a tenth of a cent, car- ried in a yellow pilgrims' bag hung from the shoulder. The appearance of foreigners on the scene was the signal for a general uproar, each one crying aloud to the 'honourable foreigner, O young foreigner, O handsome foreigner, in the name of Buddha give us alms.' It was changed to * foreign devil ' after we passed. We do not give to professional beggars — and 78 <*LABOEEBS TOGETHEE'^ that includes about all of them — for it would be en- couraging a trade we disapprove of. Some of them were all in rags and tatters and sores, some were old and blind and a good many were strong and healthy looking. " The temples were all about alike inside, two horrid- looking creatures standing guard on either side of the entrance, in the main room a large Buddha, or several, according to the wealth of the temple. In this one was the Buddhist hell, small images being put through all kinds of torture, having eyes burned out, tongues cut out, being sawed into, being burned or put in hot pitch, etc. It doesn't look nearly as bad as it sounds. After dinner we went down to the lake and bargained for a boat to take us across. When we got in we found that it was rowed by a woman and a little girl not more than eleven years old. Of course we objected to that child rowing us, but they wanted the fare, so we went on, and the girl worked as well as any one and didn't seem to mind at all. There were three extra oars and we helped all the way. The lake isn't deep and the water is clear. There are small built-up is- lands with quaint temples and tea-houses on them. A handsome Chinese home is spread out along one side and two picturesque old pagodas can be seen in the distance. " The temple we visited is about two miles up in the hills. Here again we saw pilgrims and beggars. This temple is one of the finest I have seen, grand old trees, beautiful bridges and mountain scenery. And every- where in the rocks were carved Buddhas.^ THE CENTEAL CHINA MISSION 79 " In the main temple the pillars are Oregon pines, brought over after the 1911 revolution, — I have for- gotten whether they were sixty or ninety feet high, but the ceiling is high enough to make one dizzy to look up. Two old ladies with tiny feet, after bowing to the idols and burning their incense, tried to reach around one of the pillars. They will have wonderful tales to tell in their village when they return, of the posts that were too large for two of them to reach around. " We went home by starlight and had music the rest of the evening. The next morning was spent in little shops in the city. On Pearl Street can be found thou- sands of dollars' worth of pearls ; the ladies wear them as the chief ornament. There are many fine silver shops also, but the most interesting places were the curio shops, where one is likely to find most anything, and perhaps nothing one wants. " The fan shop was interesting ; there were prize awards from almost every exposition that has been held of late years in America and Europe. The fans are made right there and they range in price from thirteen cents for ordinary ones to several dollars for the sandal wood, ivory and carved handles. "The medicine shop was another place of interest, — it IS a large plant in fine Chinese buildings. We passed through rooms filled with spices and roots that were being ground or chopped, across open courts, down corridors where the deer are kept deep in filth — this shop IS famous for its deer medicine. The horns are used, the skin, the flesh, the hoofs, and I suppose 80 * ' L ABOEERS TOGETHEB ' ' the organs, for nothing is wasted in China. We cUmbed the steep stairs to the roof where the pills were drying and we went into the kitchen where the pots were steaming, but we didn't buy any medicine. On Sunday we listened to a good speaker give a lec- ture that was as modern as any doctor would give, so we went from the old to the new just as you can always do in China." QUESTIONS 1. What province comprises the Central China Mission? 2. Give something of its comparative size. 3. Tell something of the founding of this Mission. 4. Name our present workers in Shanghai. 5. What do you know of Shanghai Baptist College? 6. Give a sketch of the work at Soochow. 7. Tell something of the work In Chingkiang. 8. Tell something of the work in Yangchow. 9. What do you know of Miss Julia Mackenzie? 10. Give a short sketch of Miss Kelly's message. 11. Tell something of a territory where we have no work. VII THE INTERIOR CHINA MISSION " The people are absolutely devoid of any feeling in their reli- gions worship, which is nothing more than a form. There is no reverence or veneration in connection of their worship of hid- eous idols of mud and stone. Fear and superstition are the factors that drive them to worship these gods." THERE can be no more interesting way to begin our study on the Mission in Interior China than by fixing in our hearts this letter from Mrs. Ida C. Lawton, who is giving her life to the field; " Our baby mission in China is called the Interior China Mission. It is called Interior China because it is away from the coast. We are working in Honan and part of Anhui Provinces. " Only fifteen short years ago a young man, a native of Kentucky, W. Eugene Sallee, was joined by Mr. and Mrs. Lawton, who had been in the Central China Mission eight or nine years, to go into the interior to a new mission. " We in America like to read about when our fore- fathers from the eastern and southeastern states took up their all, and slowly made their way to the * wild and woolly west.' The comparison cannot be carried 8i 82 *^LABOREES TOGETHER too far, for China was inhabited for generations be- fore we came. But so far as the foreigner was con- cerned, and so far as the Gospel went, these workers were on very new territory. Crowds would come around only to gaze. Some of the braver ones would come up and ask questions, and even feel our clothes to see what the cloth was made of. *' But fifteen years makes a big difference with a place when once a railroad comes. " Of our four central stations, three are on the rail- road. Cotton-mills, egg factories, post-offices, tele- graph stations, electric plants, and many other up-to- date improvements have come. "We Southern Baptists are hard at work in Kaifing, Chengchau, Kweiteh and Pochow. Map of Interior China Mission THE INTERIOR CHINA MISSION 83 " We know you will be glad to help in this work, first, by your prayers ; second, by your contributions ; third, by helping to send others — your children or other dear relatives — to help in the work. " The little map is of Honan Province. The white represents the Christians of all denominations in the whole province. " Let us pray that the black part, representing the unconverted, may decrease; and the white, represent- ing Christianity, increase. " ( Signed ) Ida C. Lawton/' Surely with a more definite knowledge of her great territory we will pray and give and go. Kaifing Leaving our Central China Mission, where our Partner seemingly needs all that we have and are, and going partly by rail, partly by canal and perhaps partly by wheelbarrow, we shall, after some four or five days' 84 " LABOEEES TOGETHEE " travel, reach this Interior Mission at the wonderful city of Kaifing, capital of the Province of Honan. We have already learned that Honan is one of the most populous of all the Provinces. It is nearly as large as Kentucky and Tennessee with a population seven times as great as these two states. Just im- agine if you can a few Baptists working in and around Louisville, Lexington and Bowling Green, with all the rest of the Commonwealth filled with millions of souls in benighted darkness. This very feebly gives some idea of the work in Interior China. For ten years we have been working in this great city — " a city that would have appealed to the Apostle Paul because of the strategic importance as the political, educational and business center of one of China's greatest prov- inces, with thousands of officials, students and soldiers who gather here from all parts of the Province, and later scatter to all parts of this great land, and with its tens of thousands of merchants, artisans and coolies. What an opportunity to preach the Gospel of Salvation!" Here we have a beautiful twelve-acre tract of land for our Kaifing Baptist College campus. It Is hoped that eight more acres will soon be added. A large dormitory, a residence, a chapel and several smaller buildings have been erected. " The school is strategic- ally located in one of the greatest provinces of China, with a population estimated at 35,000,000. In the whole Province there are only three other (not Baptist) Christian schools of the same standard as ours, and they have all been started within the last few THE INTERIOR CHINA MISSION 85 years. In no other center in China have the Baptists a Hke opportunity to get in on the ground floor, and by the building of a great Christian school, help to win a province for Christ." Besides this College there is a Boys* School, a Girls' High School and several day schools. We readily see how large a part education is playing in this field under our workers. There are two preaching stations in the city and a number of out stations. In this city there will answer to our roll call: Mrs. W. E. Sallee, Missionary's Assistant. Mrs. H. M. Harris, Missionary's Assistant. Miss Loy J. Savage, Teacher, Evangelist. Mrs. Gordon Poteat, Missionary's Assistant. Mrs. E. M. Poteat, Jr., Missionary's Assistant. Miss Blanche Rose Walker, Evangelist. Mrs. M. F. Braun, Kindergartner, Evangelist. Miss Addie Estelle Cox, Teacher, Evangelist. Among all the important matters we need to study together concerning this station, we will note : First: The practical application of Christianity as evolved by Dr. and Mrs. Sallee in connection with their school work. Enlightening the hearts and homes of the women and girls is about the biggest work of the missionary enterprise. Here in the Interior, espe- cially, the minds and hearts of the women are bound up tightly like their feet. The poor women toil and moil and raise their children, or watch them die, one after the other in the dirty and overcrowded room or two that they have; and the more well-to-do women smoke their cigarettes and idly gamble. Of course in 86 * ' L ABOEEES TOGETHEE " spots there are brighter things, but for the most part the picture of Chinese womanhood in Honan is pretty dull and sad. This condition of things weighed so heavily on Mrs. Bailee's heart that she felt that there must be some solution for the problem. She opened an industrial school for the women where they study one hour each day and are examined on what they study. She teaches them to embroider and some of the poor women sell the product of their needles and thus earn a little for their families. They are paid by the piece for their work, and these pieces are sold in order to run the school. Mrs. Sallee has sent some of this beautiful work to America where women clamour to purchase it. Special services are held in the school and many of the women are beginning to listen to the Gospel Story in a sympathetic way that is in striking contrast to their idle stare when they first came. Whether it was the outcome of his observation of his wife's practical work for the women that caused Dr. Sallee to attempt a similar work for the boys' school, we do not know, nor does it signify. But we do know that his great heart ached for the many boys and young men who had no means for securing an education; and who needed The Christ in their lives. In order to provide some means of livelihood for such students. Dr. Sallee opened a dairy on a small scale. He purchased one cow, and found that the work and the sale of dairy products enabled him to keep one student for the session. With this small beginning he persevered until he has secured pure bred THE INTERIOR CHINA MISSION 87 Jerseys and Holsteins, to the value of $10,000.00. Before he sailed from the Home Land with this herd, during August, 1920, he was given by interested friends sufficient funds to pay for transportation. We will watch with keen pleasure the growth of this missionary endeavour. Second: A message from Miss Addie Estelle Cox, teacher, who so recently went to the field finds a fitting place here: " When we see miserable beggars on the streets, downcast souls bowing before idols, the superstitious cringing for fear of evil spirits, the unenlightened casting out dead babies for the dogs to devour, an- cestor worshippers burning paper houses for their dead to use in the next world, we realize how sadly they need the Saviour. But to make Him known we must first acquire the language, which is no easy task for some of us. In Chinese each word must have its proper tone, else we find ourselves saying * pig ' when we mean * Lord.' After studying for ten months it became my duty to substitute in the Girls' School during Miss Savage's furlough. She left a well trained teacher and the work has been much less diffi- cult. Mrs. Hargrove has aided with valuable sug- gestions, Mrs. Braun with her kindergarten help and Mrs. Herring and Miss Walker with the spiritual life of the school. My special work has been with classes in English, piano, singing and drawing. It is our ardent prayer that these seventy girls may become shining lights for Jesus, and to this end we have many Bible classes, morning and evening prayers. 88 '' LABOEEES TOGETHEE '^ Sunday School, preaching service and Sunbeam Bands. Mrs. Herring recently conducted a meeting in which several of the girls were saved." Third: Turning to Evangelists let Miss Blanche Rose Walker speak: " This year I have felt akin to some happy Method- ist preacher, itinerating from one center to another in the city and country work. From the classes of in- quirers, eight women have been baptized. The em- ployed Bible woman has been returned to Peking and the Christian women have taken the responsibility of leading the meetings and bringing in the heathen. This has been a real source of strength to them. " Through their W. M. U. they have paid all ex- penses of two of their numbers to go with me on each trip to the out stations, and have now in the bank twenty dollars toward paying for a bell for our new chapel. They are giving five hundred dollars on the Seventy-five Million gift. The little Bible school that we started in the pantry has tugged away at learning to read, and has gone three afternoons each to witness in the villages and chapels. We have opened a woman's chapel in the big street in the South Suburb and can see that the Lord is moving there. One of His dear, quiet followers proposed that we spend Christmas in fasting and prayer. I be- lieve the Lord put this into her heart. All the Chris- tian women gathered early at the Chapel that cold day. We made our offering to the poor, confessed our sins, and prayed for power until power came. Then we went out witnessing, two by two, and there was such THE INTERIOE CHINA MISSION 89 refreshing from the Lord that the women asked that we always spend Christmas day like that. The Vic- tory Cable came to us ten days late, yet we knew that the cable would have read Victory. We pray much that we shall spend aright all the Lord's money that you send to China. Come to see us too! God is moving down here." Chengchow The ancient city of Chengchow lies in a westerly direction from Kaifing and is to-day a great railway junction. For this reason, as well as for the reason that it is the center of millions of people, it is an im- portant center. And whom have we here to represent us among the multitude ? Mrs. Ida C. Lawton, Missionary's Assistant. Mrs. W. D. Herring, Missionary's Assistant. Mrs. Wilson Fielder, Missionary's Assistant. The woman's work in the various stations is grouped around the church and school activities. Very often it is the school that opens the way into the homes of the mothers whose children are reached in the schoolroom. Mrs. Herring, Mrs. Lawton and Mrs. Fielder are " labourers together " as evangelists in the home as well as teachers in the schools. Mrs. Lawton speaks of her contact with Mohammedan mothers through school interest. She writes of " One old Mohammedan lady of eighty-two who has been attending services for two years, and keeps saying she wants to follow Jesus, but has not yet gained courage 90 '' LABOEERS TOGETHER " enough to tear down her idols." Mrs. Lawton adds: " I have been surprised to find idols in Mohammedan homes." Chengchow is the seat of one of our hospitals. Last year 557 cases of cholera were treated there. The total number of cases for the year were 10,818. Dr. Louthan writes: " We are more encouraged than we have ever been, and hope that some doctor will read this report and decide to come now and help us. The work is hard, but success is as sure as the Word of God." We know his heart overflows with gratitude with the knowledge that help is on the way. Kwiteh In the great city of Kwiteh, which lies to the south of Kaifing, Mrs. Townsend and her consecrated hus- band have laboured alone, so far as reinforcements from the Home Land is concerned. For the past year he has had to bear the burden by himself, as Mrs. Townsend was compelled to be in England. Since he did the work for both, he is at liberty to speak for the field: " Three new churches have been organized during the year. These are not yet supporting their own pastors but their contributions more than cover all other expenses. Last year the Board paid $1,500.00 to English friends for the Compound in Kwiteh. Early this year these same friends, who still maintain an interest in the work, returned to us $1,250.00 of this amount. With it has been purchased some ad- THE IKTERIOE CHINA MISSION 91 joining property for which the Townsends have long prayed and that was greatly needed. " We have sent seven to the Bible School at Cheng- chow. To and from this city we travelled through sleet and biting wind that froze our clothing stiff ; and it speaks volumes for the students that not one * groused ' or gave up. Our people are going to do their part and more in the Seventy-five Million Cam- paign. We are only two in this station and we have prayed long for more workers. It will be a glad day for Kwiteh when we can sing * Reinforcements now appearing.' Anyway, victory is ours through our Lord Jesus Christ." Pochow Far to the southeast of Kwiteh in the Province of Anwhei is situated Pochow, the only city in that vast Province where we have work. Imagine Nashville, and surroundings, as the only station we hold in Tennessee. This will give some small idea of the situation. Pochow and its sur- rounding counties has a population of about 4,000,000. Our Board took over the work that has been started here some ten years ago by the Gospel Mission Breth- ren. But up to this time we have done very little with it, having added but one new worker. Mrs. W. D. Bostock and Mrs. C. P. Bostick have stood side by side of their faithful husbands for this half decade in this dark field ; and fewer of our sisters over there deserve greater credit for faithfulness. Last year Miss Olive Riddell was allowed the privi- 92 "LABOEEES TOGETHER" lege of joining them ; and now others are on the way to help lift the load. But as these together labour for God in the schoolroom, on the field and in the home, it is their great joy to see results of their work. One great need of this big City of Pochow, and its surrounding country, is a hospital and physicians to look after the physical condition of, not only the vast hordes of dying natives, but of our Partners them- selves. QUESTIONS 1. Tell something of the opening of our Interior China Mis- sion. 2. Who represents us in Kaifing? 3. Give an account of the efforts of Dr. and Mrs. Sallee in making a practical appHcation of Christianity in their school work. 4. What does Miss Blanche Rose Walker say of Evangelism? 5. Who are our workers in Chengchow ? 6. Tell something of the Hospital in Chengchow. 7. Give a brief sketch of our work in Kwiteh. 8. Give a sketch of the work and workers in Pochow. 9. What is one great need in Pochow? 10. What are you doing to supply that need? VIII THE NORTH CHINA MISSION " Before corning to China we had had the conception that foot- binding among the women was a thing of the past. A trip in- land soon disillusioned us, however. This cruel custom is prac- ticed extensively in this section. It is pitiable to see the poor women and girls hobbling along on their small crippled feet" (J. V. Larson, 1920). TREAD softly, friend. We are approaching that land made sacred by the footsteps which for forty years marked out the King's High- way for those who should follow. Let us pause and breathe a prayer of thanksgiving for the life and labours of Lottie Moon. Our North China Mission is located in the great Province of Shantung, that vital province in North and East China over which there has been so much conflict of late. It has a population of 6,000,000 more people than in all the Southern Baptist Territory lying in the United States. It is very little larger than Maryland and Virginia, and has twelve times more people than these two states combined. Our work in this field has prospered, but there are still vast regions untouched by the Gospel. Nine sta- tions have been opened — more than in any other mis- sion in the country, 93 94 LABOEEES TOGETHER Again we will make some geographical comparisons that are wide of the mark; but they will aid us in a way to grasp the situation. TMNAIf TAIAM r/-X. (Li UlICHOW --^i^— v!>. p'\mqto A shangVtunq -"^-^ .- / Map of North China Mission Should we place Shantung over Virginia and Mary- land, Chefoo would fall somewhere in the region of Washington; Tengchow toward Baltimore; Whang- hein in the vicinity of Richmond; Laichow about Lynchburg; Layang near Norfolk; Pingtu toward Portsmouth; Taian over Roanoke; Tsingtau and Tsinan in regions adjoining Staunton and Charlottes- ville. On this field our working force consists of: Tengchow: Mesdames W. W. Adams, T. F. Mc- Rea, Misses Ida Taylor, Florence Lide and Ada Bell. THE NORTH CHINA MISSION 95 Hwanghein: Mesdames T. W. Ayres, W. C. New- ton, W. B. Glass, W. W. Stout, Misses Anna B. Hart- well, Clifford Hunter, Blanche Bradley, J. W. Lyde, Lila F. Watson. Pingtu: Mesdames W. H. Sears, A. W. Yeakin, David Bryan, Misses Florence Jones, Pearl Caldwell, Bonnie Ray. Laichow: Mesdames J. M. Gaston, E. L. Morgan, C. A. Leonard, Misses Mary D. Willeford, A. S. Mil- ler, Alice Huey, Bertha Smith, Dr. Jeanette E. Beall. Chef 00 : Mesdames Peyton Stephens, C. W. Pruitt, Miss Ethel Ramsbottom. Laiyang: Mesdames T. O. Hearne, Jewell L.Daniel, I. V. Larson. Taian: Mesdames J. V. Dawes, Frank Connerly, Miss Attie Bostick. Tsingtau: Mrs. S. E. Stephens. Tsinan: Mesdames P. S. Evans, J. W. Lowe. Just exactly forty names we find by count. This list may seem quite a lengthy one for us to become ac- quainted with at one time, and by referring to Chap- ter IX you will note the Seventy-five Million Cam- paign has enabled us to add a few more names to the field. But suppose we had only a few more than forty sisters doing the work in the States of Maryland, Vir- ginia and the District of Columbia? Each station in this North China Mission is most important because each is a strategic center. Would that we would allow ourselves to devote time and space to each until we were thoroughly acquainted with its needs, its problems and its possibilities! 96 ' ' LABOEEES TOGETHEE »' Tengchow Tengchow native Christians throughout all their past and even now are suffering from lawless kidnap- per bands, coming in from Manchuria. More than one home has been visited by them recently. These Christian homes are raided, and inmates carried away and held for enormous ransoms; as large a sum as $25,000.00 sometimes. This field has also in the recent past been visited by a severe cholera epidemic, which cost the country be- tween 15,000 and 20,000 lives. " For some weeks the entire missionary force aided by natives devoted their whole time to relief work. During the time the Lord graciously spared all the missionaries from this awful disease, and deaths among the native Christians were comparatively few." We have compared Tengchow to our beloved city of Baltimore. Can we imagine foes like these same harassing this city ? Miss Ada Bell, who gives her time to the Boys' School and to the Kindergarten at Tengchow, reports glowingly of her " Royal Ambassador " Band, with an enrollment of twenty, and which has contributed $10.00 for the fiscal year. Hwanghien At Hwanghien all of our institutions are located outside of the city for the reason that for thirty years the missionaries worked there before permission to even rent a building in the city was granted. For the past several years, however, the door has been opened THE NOETH CHINA MISSION 97 and we have now gained a foothold inside. There is every reason to believe that we can have a great work in this wonderful commercial city if we can provide the proper church building. And the few missionaries there are looking with longing eyes to see how faithful Southern Baptists will be in redeeming their pledges to the Campaign. For their hope lies in the collection of Campaign Funds. The Bush Theological Seminary is located in Hwanghein. Here we also have the Carter Girls* School. The graduating class of 1919 in this school consisted of twelve girls, all Christians; and six of them are volunteers for evangelistic work among women when their training is completed. One other member of the class plans to study medicine. Do we pause to consider if among our Christian schools so large a percentage of any class are volun- teers ? Dr. Ray says of this school: " The present building should be torn down and built on another site. The present building is unsafe. Both the location and the building are very poor. There are sixty girls in this school and a long waiting list. Accommodations should be provided for one hundred.'* Would that some one of our Baptist Colleges would take this school specially under its wing, and hover over it till strength and growth made help no longer necessary ! As has already been stated, the Warren Memorial Hospital Is located in Hwanghien, being one of three hospitals In North China. Perhaps in no phase of the 98 '' LABOEEES TOQETHEE " work is help so much needed as in these hospitals. " It is doubtful if Southern Baptists have ever spent an equal amount of money on medical work that has brought such far-reaching results. The pity for the poor tortured bodies has made it easier for the people to believe that we have come to China because we pitied their souls even more." The Woman's Evangelistic work in this field de- serves more than a passing word, because of wonder- ful results springing from their Fifty Thousand Cam- paign, put on when Southern Baptists put on the Sev- enty-five Million Campaign. With this difference, however: The women of the South proposed to pledge one-fifth of the amount named. The women of China one-third of their sum. True the W. M. U. here gave more than one-fifth; but the women of Hwanghien and other stations gave far more than one-third, and Miss Hartwell says, " The giving of money was a small part of the Campaign." Pingtu Our Pingtu Station is represented here by Miss Pearl Caldwell. She speaks of: The Woman's Evangelistic Work This work was opened years ago by Miss Lottie Moon, who made long four-day overland trips from Tengchow. She sometimes spent several months at a time in this district. Many people tell us now, " I heard the Message first from Miss Moon." Our great THE NOETH CHINA MISSION 99 pastor Li heard the Message first from this consecrated woman. Many even among the heathen remember her lovingly. The work has suffered at times for lack of missionaries to direct the work, sometimes two and three years at a time with no special supervision. However, we have a great and growing work ; God is blessing us in this field, many are seeking the '' way " to know. We were expecting to have this year nine- teen Bible women, or one for each church, but the need is so pressing in our Home Mission work further West that we have given up four of these to be mis- sionaries under our Home Mission Board. This leaves us fifteen for this and adjoining counties. The remaining twelve are located one to each church as far as they go. Each Bible woman is leader for the Christian women in her district holding meetings with them and visiting with them in the homes, teaching them to memorize Scripture verses, to pray, to sing and to read a little. She is even on the alert for open- ings into heathen homes and is the means of bringing many to Christ. Through the earnest work of the evangelists often two or three men become Christians in near-by villages. It is then the Bible woman's privi- lege to enter the home and teach the women folk to know Christ. These Bible women come in bi-monthly for conferences, to report on work and to make plans for future work and for Bible study. Besides this we have ten days or two weeks' Bible study with them twice each year, this with the thought of strengthening them for their work. lOO "LABOREES TOGETHER" Much of the missionaries' time is spent right out in the villages working with the Bible women by turn in their respective fields. Classes are held for both Christians and inquirers, strengthening these babes in Christ and helping others to understand the way of life. Then often day trips are made from these vari- ous centers to villages where there are a few isolated Christians to encourage them and strengthen them in the faith and to present Christ to their friends and neighbours. Sometimes it happens that no foreigner has visited the village before, then of course there are many curious onlookers. But we seldom, if ever, visit a place until there is at least one Christian or more. It seems wiser for the Chinese brethren and sisters to first " break the ground " among their own people and the inquirers will be ready for the teaching that the missionary can give. One of the greatest hindrances to our work is the illiteracy of the women. Very, very few can read their Bibles intelligently. Last spring we organized some forty or fifty " Search the Scripture " bands to try to help these illiterates. Not that they can search the Scripture for themselves, but in a community where we found ten more or less Christian women and girls these bands were organized if there could be one found to lead, which usually we could. In most cases it was the young lady who teaches the day school, or the Bible woman. Sometimes an old man was invited to lead and sometimes a little schoolboy. We used simple Bible stories, one to be told at each meeting, also one Scripture verse to be memorized and one Above, Two Chinese Saints Below, Little Girls of China Loving Dolls from America THE NORTH CHINA MISSION 101 stanza of a hymn to be memorized. This, wkh prayer and review of the previous Sunday's work, constituted the service. This has been a help to many. We now have adopted the National Phonetic Script and are beginning to teach some of them to read. There are nine W. M. S. and five Sunbeam Bands in the Compound all doing good work. They do not measure up to the W. M. S. at home, but it is good to see their willingness to do what they can. One of the encouraging features of mission work is the definite answers to prayer that some of the Chris- tians have. Little Grandmother Chang, aged seventy- seven, who has been a Christian only a year, told me her story. Her body is stooped and drawn with age, but the light of Heaven is in her eyes. Hers has been a sad story. Their only son went away to Manchuria to seek work that he might send money to support his aged parents and wife and three little boys. This was twelve years ago. The months slipped by with no word from this son, then the years till eleven had passed. Some thought he must be dead, but the fond mother still looked and longed for her son. After she became a Christian she began to pray for the return of her son. She prayed earnestly for six months, when one bright day a letter containing a few dollars came from the son. There was joy beyond measure in the little home that day. The son was still living and had not forgotten them. Hastily a letter was written beg- ging that he come home and see his old father and mother before it was too late. But he did not come. He had fallen into bad ways, had spent his money as 102 ' ' LABOEERS TOGETHER " fast as he made it. He could not go home empty- handed. The Httle mother's faith, strengthened by the letter, continued to plead for his return. The Spirit continually stirred him to go home, but having no money he had no face to see his old parents. Before many weeks, however, fortune turned his way. He had bought a small lot and the Japanese, wishing to put a railroad through the place, bought his lot, paying him many times what he had invested. Thus with his pockets full of money (about $600.00), he happily turned his face homeward. Just nine months after his mother became a Christian and began praying for him, he was safely in the home. As she told me this story she said, " God does answer our prayers." She is now praying for his conversion. We now have on our Fifty Thousand Dollar Cam- paign, which may seem very small to the people at home, who think and give in millions. And to our other missions in China it will likely sound small, but for these Shantung Christians it is not small. It can truly be said in some cases, " Their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their lib- erality.'* We are happy indeed to see how they are responding. One woman so poor that she cooks only one meal a day, and then at night she and the two little ones eat a piece of cold bread, gave what seemed to be more than their share, but she did it gladly in order to help her people know Christ. We believe that we will go over the top. (And they went over!) This giving for others and reaching out to help others is going to help wonderfully in developing THE NOETH CHINA MISSION 103 Christians. Many have, besides giving, promised to pray daily and to try to lead at least one to our Sa- viour this year. On the whole our country work is most hopeful and encouraging, but our hearts ache for the city. Some- how we have not been able to reach them as we have the country folk. Perhaps we have not put forth the effort in the city that we have in other places. Then, too, they are more conservative. They are, however, most friendly, gladly welcoming us into their homes and visiting freely in our homes. But they find it hard to leave the paths their fathers have trod. Laichow Miss Cynthia Miller, from the Laichow field, lays upon our hearts a work that is pressing heavily upon her own. Will we not help her bear this burden? " I am sorry but I haven't the time to do justice to this important task. I have just come in from the country to get ready to go again and there are so many things to look after before I get off. Every night I go into the city chapel, which is a twenty minutes' walk, and spend one and a half hours there in our night school for Government schoolboys, where we teach them the Bible and the new phonetic spelling and read- ing. The Evangelist can teach the Bible lesson, but there is no one else who can teach the phonetics but me, and I feel that this is so important that I just must put in every minute I can on it when I am at home. I spend most of my time in the country when the weather is so I can go to the country because there is 104 "LABOEEES TOGETHEE^' no one else to look after the woman's evangelistic work now while Miss Williford is on furlough. " This station was opened by Mr. and Mrs. Lowe and Miss Williford in 1900. Mr. and Mrs. Glass, from Texas, came next, but have been transferred to another station several years and Mrs. Glass has been called home to Heaven since. Next came Dr. and Mrs. Huckaby, in 1904, but both soon contracted tu- berculosis and had to return home before they had been here two years, and a year after they returned home both died of the dread disease, just one month's difference in their deaths. " Then I came out in 1905, and Miss Huey in 1907, and Dr. and Mrs. Gaston, then Mr. and Mrs. Leonard, then Miss Smith, and last Dr. Beall, who has been out only a little over a year. She is still at work on the language. Dr. and Mrs. Gaston have charge of the medical work and Dr. Beall will also be associated with them in this department when she finishes her language course. Mr. and Mrs. Leonard have charge of the Boys' School and Men's Evangelistic Work. Miss Huey is now relieving Miss Williford in the Woman's Bible School and formerly had charge of the girls' schools. I am hoping she will be released for Evangelistic work when Miss Williford returns, for it IS more than one person can possibly do ; in fact, ten could keep busy in it, and still be room for more. The Women's Evangelistic Work is my work at pres- ent, with the addition of this new branch of work — teaching the phonetic system to both men and women. The Chinese Government is getting enthusiastic on the THE NOETH CHINA MISSION 105 subject of having their people educated, and have adopted this system of phonetic spelUng to teach the ilHterates. They have at last awakened to a partial realization of the dense ignorance of their country which is bringing her to certain ruin unless something is done very soon. China's non-Christian illiterates amount to the astounding sum of 324,000,000 ! Chris- tian illiterates, 188,000. Non-Christian literates are 36,000,000 and Christian literates 125,000. Isn't this a terrible record for any country ! You can see how it behooves us to press the education of the Christians now, for it will be too late when the Government schools have already educated in infidelity, which they are rapidly beginning to do. I wish you could see the girls and women who are sent out by the Government to teach the young women and girls of China. They are unbinding their feet but adopting many modern and, sad to say, foreign styles, cigarette smoking being one of their most up-to-date styles ! Recently we had a request from a heathen community where they have decided to try to have a school for women and girls, and they said, * We want one of your Christian young women, because their conduct is good. We could get a Government school teacher, but their conduct is so bad, smoking cigarettes and binding their feet.' We had no teacher to send them but we sent a Bible woman to begin the school and tide over till a class graduates in June. " Prejudice is breaking down against Christianity among the more intelligent people now in a wonderful way, but this * more intelligent class ' are so very few 106 < ' L ABOEERS TOGETHER " comparatively, and Satan is not going to give up his strongholds without many a hard battle yet, so we have work ahead of us ! This has been the most prof- itable year of my life in service. We have had a won- derful blessing poured upon us, but this blessing has brought with it overwhelming responsibility! " This field right here is one of the most densely populated parts of China, and therefore the most pov- erty-stricken. But for the plagues of cholera, flu, pneumonic, bubonic and all the other plagues that come to claim their thousands of victims almost yearly I do not know what the people would do. As it is, about one-third of the male population go off to Man- churia, Russia and other countries to keep from starv- ing and thousands upon thousands go never to return and their wives and mothers and little children are left here to suffer from hunger and abuse, for there are no laws, or if there are any, they are not enforced, to pro- tect such women and children, and neither are there any institutions to help them. Every year, no doubt, there are thousands of young women who commit sui- cide to escape a life of shame, while thousands of others are either sold by some cruel relative or sell their vir- tue themselves to keep from starving. To commit suicide is considered the most heroic thing to do. It is really looked upon as a virtue. You often hear people remark when they hear of a woman committing sui- cide, * Well, she has obtained virtue and will not have to suffer any more.' As I heard one woman say recently when she heard of a young woman committing suicide, * Well, there is one thing sure ; when she transmigrates THE NOETH CHINA MISSION 107 it will not be to exist again as a suffering woman, and maybe when she comes into existence again she will be made over and punish those who imposed on her in this life.' Oh, their superstitious beliefs are appalling. I heard an old woman say the other day, ' My life has been one of nothing but sorrow and distress; I don't know what generation of my ancestors it was that sinned so terribly as to bring on me so much suffering.' When I told her that I could tell her what generation or generations it was, for more than one was at fault, she was ready with wide-open mouth and eyes to hear the new fortune teller ' swan her ming,' that is, tell her fortune. Then I began at Adam and Eve and showed her how the human race had fallen, and that she herself had really had a part in bringing about this state of suffering. When I got through she said, ' Ke Boo sih nendy ' (' Now doesn't it look like it is just that way '). Then she went on to enumerate some of her own sins and said, ' Do you mean to tell me that I myself will have to suffer for the sins I have com- mitted in this life? Why, I thought the punishment for my sins would come on some future generation that I didn't know anything about.' "Another little branch of work In which I am very much interested is an industrial home for these same women and girls of whom I spoke above; young women who have been left without protection or sup- port, and old women left without support. Our Board does not support work like that, but it seems to me that there isn't anything more important to teach these people practical Christianity, and I have been doing 108 ' ' LABOEEES TOGETHEE " such work along through the years ever since I have been in China, and supporting it myself. Of course it is on a very small scale. I couldn't support anything that cost very much, but the results I have had have been very gratifying, with the few cases I have been able to rescue. The first was a young widow with three little girls. When her third girl was born her husband walked out and told her that she should never see his face again; angry at her because all her chil- dren were girls and she would not consent to his kill- ing them. The one living now who is the third is in- deed not the third, but the fourth. The husband strangled the third one soon after it was born and started to slay this one but she plead for her and told him she would be responsible for her living if he would spare her. Then he said, ' Well, I will go and you shall see me no more, and see how you will make a living for all this house full of girls.' "After he was gone his brothers began negotiating with some one to sell her and her little girlies. She was a pretty young woman and would have sold for a good price, but some one took pity on her and told her of their plans and she ran away in the middle of the night carrying the little one in her bosom and leading the other two. She went through the fields until she got to a sister who was married into a Christian (Pres- byterian) family, and then her sister brought her here and begged me to take her. I had no place for her at first, so gave her a little something to keep from suf- fering, and some of the other missionaries and I gave her a little sewing to do and let her two eldest girls go THE NOBTH CHINA MISSION 109 to the little school. Soon after I took her and trained her as a nurse and kept her children in school until she got to where she could support them very well herself. She has finished the Nurses' Training Course and had a couple of years in the Bible Training School. Her eldest daughter is now teaching, the next eldest ex- pects to graduate in June this year, and the youngest is just a sweet, bright pupil and was baptized this last year. All three of the girls are Christians now and their mother is the president of our Woman's Mission- ary Society. She is a tither; has been giving a tenth for many years, though it was pretty hard for her to make ends meet sometimes and keep the girls in school, but she always managed some way, and now she is head nurse and makes a very good salary and is a very valuable woman in the medical work. Time and space forbid my telling you the story of any of the other cases, but I have in this way been able to rescue eighteen people, all of whom are living and doing well now, and unless something had been done they would no doubt be dead or worse than dead. I am sure if you Christian friends could be here on the field and see these things for yourselves you would so plan that we could teach these people applied Christianity by rescu- ing the perishing and lifting up the fallen. "Of all these eighteen people named I am support- ing only three now. All of the rest are useful people and not dependent any more. The three that are here now are an old blind Christian woman, who spins wool and plaits straw braid, and a widow and her little seven-year-old boy. She was rescued from suicide. 110 ' * LABOEEES TOGETHER ^ ' The blind woman is now learning to read. The younger woman makes raised characters on paste- board by punching it with an awl and in that way is teaching her to read in the phonetic script. " I have told you this much about our little indus- trial class and rescue home hoping that you will be praying for me as I present it to the Mission and to the Board. I feel sure that God has led me thus far in this work. What I want is that the Board will take charge of this work and send out some one to run it on a larger scale and thus save more people to be useful in the Master's service. I do not want to have charge of a work of this kind myself but just want it done, and of course will still do all I can toward its support." Chefoo Chefoo is the most strategical point in the evangeli- zation of China, because of its position geographically, politically and commercially. (You will remember that we have placed it over Washington!) Here Mrs. Peyton Stephens, Mrs. Pruitt and Miss Ethel Rams- bottom are doing the work of a dozen women and are looking longingly toward the Home Land for recruits, that seem so slow going to their assistance. Laiyang In this county, seventy by eighty miles square, and containing a million people, for over two years Dr. and Mrs. Hearn with their little girl were the only white people. In addition to the care of five churches and the supervision of the evangelistic work on this Above, Group of Bible Women. Below, Blind Woman Weaving For years she was Demon-possessed. She is now one of our Finest Christian Characters THE NOETH CHINA MISSION 111 large field, these missionaries have had to oversee the building of a church, a residence and the present quar- ters for the girls' school. Besides this Mrs. Hearn had the supervision of and has taught in the girls' scliool, while Dr. Hearn, in addition to the supervision of the boys' school, has conducted a dispensary where nearly a thousand treatments were given. It is hard, therefore, to realize with what great joy they wel- comed Rev. and Mrs. Ivan V. Larson with their little boy, and Mrs. Jewell Daniel, who with her little boy has returned to her beloved " Laiyang." Dr. Hearn says, " Words cannot express the joy that flooded the hearts of the two lone missionaries in this field over the coming of these strong workers." The following from Mrs. Daniel gives still further insight into the work that is waiting in Laiyang: " I want to tell you of a little incident that happened yesterday that shows how cruelly the devil gets his work in sometimes. But first let me set the back- ground for my picture: Chinese believe that when a nursing baby dies it comes back home for three suc- cessive nights to nurse, sometimes in the form of one small animal and sometimes in the form of another; usually, I believe, in the form of a mink. Yesterday the little baby of a newly converted woman died. And last night, as the devil would have it, late in the night quiet, there came the dreadfuUest noise, just like the crying of a little baby for its mother. About and around the house it went, chilling the blood, until I was so sorry for the frightened, grieved little mother, that I could but pray God to still her heart and make 112 " LABOREES TOGETHEF " her know it was not her child. Of course it was only an old cat on a midnight prowl. This mother, while she was a heathen, lost a child. Now be it known that the Chinese believe if you hury a little baby, either no other children will come into the home, or else they will all be girls. Hence the custom of throwing dead children to the dogs. When she lost her first child her husband, albeit an ignorant one, said that the child must be buried, and it was. And the next child came and was a girl, who was soon crippled for life. Then this child came, and died yesterday. We dug a little grave in the corner of the church lot, put a white slip on the little body, and buried it in a book box. Just imagine what the little mother was thinking as we laid this one away. * Oh, but she's a Christian,' you say. Yes, but how very ignorant, and how born, bred and nourished on superstitions only those who have been here a great many years can understand, and I know her heart bled when that cat began crying last night. Her own mother would say, ' Joseph has come back to nurse.' " That little funeral was a strange sight to the Chi- nese, who had never before seen a funeral for a child under six. I dare say it was the only one ever held in this city. There are no coffins made for little forms like that — an eleven-month-old baby. How eagerly they are going to wait to see if any more children, or girls, are born to that home ! " Taian In the Taian field there are, at least, twenty cities, THE NORTH CHINA MISSION 113 ranging from five to ten thousand inhabitants, where the Gospel has scarcely ever been preached. The spir- itual condition of the people is most distressing. A missionary seeing the people returning from their tem- ples, where they had gone to worship in hopes of stay- ing the cholera plague in Tengchow, remarked: " It is pitiful to see the people going to their temples, dressed in white clothes, the mourning colour, wailing aloud and bumping their heads on the ground before the dumb idols, thus announcing the deaths of their loved ones, and opening the way for them to enter the abode of departed spirits. This is all a part of their system of ancestor worship, and is the strongest obstacle to the advance of Christianity in China." Stingsau Just one name is on our list in the Stingsau Field — that of Mrs. S. E. Stephens. Besides the multitudi- nous duties that fall to her lot where she and her noble husband are located, they together are accomplishing for the Master a vast deal in the way of garnered har- vest with their " Shantung Evangelistic Band." This is a group of young men who have been especially trained by Mr. and Mrs. S. E. Stephens and go with them from place to place holding meetings. Each of these men plays some musical instrument, and the music is a great feature of their work. Mr. Stephens' report is given below: " During the year we held ten evangelistic cam- paigns in the Laichow, Taian, Hsintai and Tsingtau fields, the meetings lasting from five to sixty days in 114 '' LABOEEES TOGETHEE " each community. The Holy Spirit rightly blessed our labours everywhere. Not only did we preach day and night to ten hours each day in all these ten different centers, but far out from these centers the Word was constantly preached in at least two hundred villages. The total number of tracts distributed was about 30,000. Mrs. Stephens and the young men she has specially trained to teach children had wonderful suc- cess in every place, teaching hundreds of children to sing Christian songs and repeat many Scripture verses. Many of these children were very definitely converted. In several places large numbers of the Government school students attended the meetings for children, and were open to the Gospel message. All told, there were 363 who made open profession of faith in Christ in the meetings and gave their names and addresses. Fully as many more manifested deep interest in the Gospel, but on account of bitter persecution by their families and friends, did not have the courage to openly confess Christ." Mr. and Mrs. S. E. Stephens are enthusiastic about this work and feel that all hardships, discouragements and persecutions are outweighed by the blessings which have attended the work. Tsinan Tsinan is the capital of Shantung Province. It is a city of over 100,000 inhabitants. While Mr. and Mrs. Evans and Mr. and Mrs. Lowe are located there, we have not yet opened up the work In full. Certainly it must be our responsibility to give the Gospel to this O ^^ ^ O CO Sfl o -a o c C/2 rt P3 O THE NORTH CHINA MISSION 115 strategic city. We have more Baptists in Shantung Province than we have in any other Province in China, yet v^e have no church in the capital. However, one of the plans of the Campaign is to build a church here. As has been stated, our work in North China em- braces nine fields. But seeds sown by saints in other days, who are now gone Home, are still springing up. In the western part of Shantung there has been a won- derful growth in our work. This lies over against the great Province of Manchuria, in which we have no organized work at all. The Board and the North China Mission have long planned to press a vigorous mission work amongst the millions of Chinese in Man- churia. And even now Chinese Christian men and women are doing mission work in Mukden, Harbin and Dalny, all large cities that are still growing rap- idly. The iniquities of these cities is unspeakable. " Let us go up and possess the land." QUESTIONS 1. What great missionary of sainted memory gave her life to this field? Give a brief sketch of her life and work. 2. Tell something of the province of Shantung. 3. Name our forty workers in the North China Mission. 4. What special trials face our workers in Tengchow? 5. Why is all our work outside the city of Hwanghien? Tell of the woman's evangelistic work in this field. 6. What do you know of the Warren Memorial Hospital? 7. Tell of the work in Pingtu. 8. Who are our workers in L,aichow? 9. Give a sketch of the work there. 10. Give a sketch of the wprk in Chefoo. 116 " LABOREES TOGETHER '» 11. Give Mrs, Daniel's story from the Laiyang field. 12. What call comes to your heart from Taian? 13. Tell of the Shantung Evangelistic Band organized by Mrs. Stephens of Stingsau. 14. What is the capital of Shantung? Who are our workers there? Why have we never opened the work in full in this important city? 15. What have Southern Baptists done for the millions in Manchuria? IX HER PRIVILEGES " They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, be of good courage" (Isaiah 41:6). IN the preceding chapters we have given a cursory glance at each of our China missions. We have discovered that there are all told one hundred and thirty-nine women workers under the Foreign Mis- sion Board. " What are these among so many ? " inquired one of faint heart in the long ago. And the response was a miracle. Sister Mine, the same query has arisen to your lips and mine again and again as we have studied these fields. Again the privilege of performing a miracle is given to you and to me, through Her and with Her. What shall we do about it ? In a previous lesson we studied something of Her problems Over There. In this lesson let us make note of some of Her privileges. 1. It is Her privilege to welcome the dawning of a new educational day. Mandarin is the language best known and most used in China. It is the language of official China. Very recently the Government and the missionaries 117 118 ' ' LABOEERS TOGETHER ' * have united in introducing a Chinese phonetic system by which the Chinese language has been reduced from "up in the thousands*' to thirty-nine fundamental symbols or sounds. This is said to be easily learned, thereby removing one of the greatest hindrances to general education. " The hope is that Mandarin pho- netics will presently become the speech of all educated persons, and the spread of education will result in its becoming the national language of China." Our missionaries, overburdened as they are with multitudinous duties, are giving themselves whole- heartedly to the study and the teaching of this phonetic system. There is quite a bit of pathos in that lesson (Chapter VIII) where Miss Cynthia Miller tells how she must needs work all day, then teach each night, " because no one else knows the phonetic system as yet." This system is easily learned, however, and our missionaries hail with joy the privilege of doing away with the black cloud of illiteracy. " In four days a group of seven native Christian leaders learned the system, and are now teaching it. In from three to four weeks the unlearned and unlettered Chinese can master the simplified system sufficiently to read." Chinese value education most highly and are eager to learn. With reading and writing thus simplified, we have good reason to believe that a better day is dawning. The special committee promoting this Sys- tem says : " The re-discovery of the Bible, in every age from the time of Ezra to the present day, has al- ways resulted in a revival of religion. This phonetic HER PRIVILEGES 119 writing now makes it possible to place an open Bible, intelligible to the humblest of them all, in the hands of every church member in China. A new and stronger evangelism will surely follow." 2. It is Her privilege to welcome the new workers to the field. This She considers a very gracious privilege. Her heart has swelled with joy unspeakable since the days of the Seventy-five Million Campaign gave promise that recruits were coming. She has learned to call them every one by name. Let us do the same and share Her joy in the acquaintanceship. Here is the list of those who from this good year of 1920 on hope to claim China as home: To the South China Mission: Mrs. A. L. Thomp- kins, Misses Laura Coupland, Mary Alexander, Louise Bomar, Valeria Green, Ruth Pettigrew, Al- vada Gunn and May Morton. To the Central China Mission: Mrs. L. B. Olive, Misses Blanche Groves, Bettie Stephens and Eva Sullivan. To the Interior China Mission: Mesdames I. D. Eavenson, S. O. Pruitt, Gordon Middleton, Joseph T. Fielder, Dr. Mary L. King, Miss Zemma Hare. To the North China Mission: Mesdames N. A. Bryan, J. W. Moore, Miss Dorrls Knight. Let us follow these twenty-one sisters with our prayers, our gifts, our letters, our love. As our Part- ner Over There gave them the gracious welcome, let us give to old and new alike our deep and abiding in- terest in all the coming years. 120 **LABOEEES TOGETHER" 3. It is Her privilege to demand that her tenure of service shall count for much. When one has given years — the best years — of life to a Cause, the natural sequence is that She knows the Cause intimately and intelligently. When the years begin to lengthen, her steps may grow feeble, but her interest never lags. It is at this time that we over here should guard our Partner most carefully; there should not be so much as a hint of suggestion that age is disqualifying Her. The ripe and mellow fruit is the sweetest fruit of all. Our special w^ork at this time is to provide every comfort, every convenience for the furtherance of the Cause She loves. One who has grown old on the field remarked with sorrow not long since: " The dis- tance from the station to a certain out station is more than five miles. It was an easy walk when I was younger, and before my joints were stiffened with rheumatism. But I find it a difficult task now. I know I can do the teaching after I get there as well or better than the younger missionaries; for the people have known me so long they like my ways. I still go, though it takes a whole day to do the work of what was once a few hours." And then with pathos that was touching she added: " How fine it would be if we only had an auto- mobile with which to do the Lord's work." Yes, Her tenure of service should count for much. Let us see that Her needs are supplied. We can do it if we will. 4. It is Her privilege to change Her mind. HER PRIVILEGES 121 It is preeminently true of the missionary world that *' The old order changeth, giving place to the new." The plans of yesterday may not be the best plans for to-morrow, no matter how carefully they may have been considered. A set and unalterable opinion is not unlikely to become an obstacle blocking the way of progress in any growing enterprise. Our Partner is placed where she must look at every situation from many angles. She will try to base Her opinions on knowledge gathered from every available source. If at times she seems to be shifting in a way we deem un- necessary, let us be patient, be prayerful and remember that it is her privilege to change her mind,. 5. It is Her privilege to bring heathen women to the Saviour. Not only this: hut to bring women of the strongest character and greatest native ability, per- haps of any women the world over. The Mother in China is the controlling influence in the life of that people. As fast as the women be- come Christians, they become leaders in Christian work. " Those most competent to judge predict that when the record of the present century shall be writ- ten, the women of China will hold in it a high place among the promoters of both Christian and national progress." They are lovable, too, as one will readily recognize from this message fresh from the heart of Margie Shumate: " One thing I want you to impress on the folks is that heathen women are not horrid. At least Chinese are not. Most people seem to think heathen are horrid 122 " LABOEEES TOGETHEE " and always have a lot of sympathy for missionaries. They think it takes a special amount of grace from God to love them. But I find my heathen are quite lovable, at least the majority are. " If I did not want to love them, some of them are so dear that I could not help it. Many times when I go to a village of poor peasants, while the Bible woman and I are preaching the Gospel, some poor old woman, dressed in rags and tatters, will slip away and boil some sweet potatoes for us, and bring them with a pot of tea where we are talking. " Most of thejn are friendly, and kind-hearted and hospitable and lovable. " It is true that heathen do many things that are horrid and degrading in many ways ; they are ignorant and superstitious. But my heathen, at least, are at- tractive in spite of it." 6. It is Her privilege to have a furlough, zvhich comes, under ordinary circumstances, once every seven years. Will it not be worth our while to pause a moment and consider whether we in the Home Land make this furlough a privilege or a problem to our Partner? She comes back to the place that once knew her but which in the Intervening years has changed much. She has not grown indifferent to the " folks at home " but she doubtless is often dazed at existing conditions. She comes back with the burden of multiplied mil- lions of dying people heavy upon her heart. We in- vite her to conventions and associations, where pa- tiently she sits and listens to long drawn out discus- HEE PEIYILEGES 123 sions on local matters that might easily be set aside or dismissed with few words. And then she is asked to speak of " China " for — ^half an hour or even less time ! The vastness of the theme to her who un- derstands what you and I, who have never been there, cannot possibly understand, is confusing to say the least. From the multitude of matters she would like to present, it is most difficult to select what is best to give in so short a time. She often weeps aftervv^ard because she feels that she has failed to represent her Cause to the best advantage. Her furlough should be a time of physical, mental and spiritual rest. What the sabbatical year was to the ancient Hebrew this year should be to our mission- ary of to-day. There are many ways in which we can and do make of Her furlough a problem. There are fully as many ways in which we can make of it a blessed privilege. Let us choose wisely for Her sweet sake. 7. It is Her privilege to make known to us Her needs. When our boys were in the training camps and later in the trenches of war-torn France there was not one of us who did not count it a privilege and a joy to spend hours and dollars lavishly in supplying their needs. Similar motives should lead us in the Home Land to supply every possible material to make the work of our Partner over there effective. " Nothing in the way of good equipment is too good for the missionary." Here is a partial list of articles that she should be 124 " LABOEEES TOQETHEE " supplied with. If each missionary society within the bounds of the Southern Baptist Convention would undertake the work of furnishing just one article for just one missionary, how easily would these needs be met! How happy would we be in the meeting of them ! How thankful even to overflowing would her heart be in receiving them ! Hospital supplies, in the way of bandages, com- presses, sheets, blankets, towels, pajamas, etc. Traveller's Medicine Case. Folding Rubber or Canvas Bath Tub. Canvas Tent. Folding Army Cot. Baby Organ. Victrola and Records. Bicycle. Fold- ing Camera. Small Typewriter. Fountain Pen. Compact Toilet Case. Compact Writing Pad. Mimeograph. Wrist Watch. Small Alcohol Lamp. Flash Light. Kindergarten Materials. Cloth for New Dress. Ford Car. " Soap and more Soap," says one. " Books and more Books," says another. And this last plea reminds us of the dear little woman in the far-away field who was looking forward to the promised Christmas book with such longing ; yet when it came and proved to be a discussion on Paul's The- ology — well, she did as you or I would have done — she cried. She said, " Doesn't she know that I have not seen a book of good fiction in four years?" A good many missionaries feel the same way. " When we find that we must forget the misery about us, and must forget our own problems for a little while, we are often driven to reading — for perhaps the fourth or fifth time — some book of Dickens or Van Dyke; yet the desire is often strong for something more con- A Missionary Enjoying her Library on a Cold Snowy Day (Few Missionaries have the Privilege of a Library) HER PRIVILEGES 126 nected with affairs of to-day. And there is never a library and there is nowhere one may borrow." Let us henceforth see to it that our special Partner receives the yearly subscription of two or three stand- ard magazines ; that copies of the latest books that are worth while are sent to her as soon as they come from the press. Our Partner rarely ever makes request for the above mentioned articles. She hungers for them in silence. But there is one need that she feels such an unutterable longing for that she never fails to cry out for it: That is the prayers of the Home Land. Are we failing Her there? 8. We bring to a close the chapter and the book with a brief allusion to this final privilege: The Com" panionship of the Saviour becomes very near and very precious to Her. One just recovering from the awful ravages of cholera writes: "The experience has been worth while; for never before has the Lord seemed so real to me as during these past ten days." Let us bow our heads reverently as we read this paragraph from the diary of Miss Julia Meadows, written at the close of a day's work. "Another day has gone! Not half has been done that was planned for this day. And so the months and the years go by. Why, it seems but a few days since New Year, and we are really facing the end of another year. Never before has my Father given me such a full year of soul-service, nor so filled my life with Himself. What does it matter if others turn 126 " LABOEEES TOGETHEE '» away so long as He is with me? and He whispers, so gently, ' I am with you alway.' " As I consider the way Thou hast lead Thy child, my heart can but sing songs of praise to Thy Holy Name. I thank Thee, Father, that Thou art more pleased with the obedience of Thy children than with any service they can render, or with any sacrifice they can make. Thou wouldst have every child of Thine conformed into Thine own Image come by the fol- lowing of Thy Son even to death. " Let me never falter whatever may come. I ask Thee to-night, to give my heart that steadfastness of purpose, that shall dare to please God rather than man, until the end. Let me not be discouraged when there are no visible results. All members of Thy Body have not the same office and what would be progress to one may not be progress to another. Let me ever remember there are some whose duty it is to wait for God. Let me spend more time with Thee alone, re- membering that ' all things that have stirred the world have come from within.' The glory came from within and transfigured our Master, as He prayed. " Thou canst only use what we give. Take my little all! " For Jesus' sake. Amen." DATE DUE DEMCO 38-297 BW8228.L14 Laborers together", a study of Southern Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 1 1012 00018 8377