Ziegler 
 
 Christian Movements 
 in 
 
 The Orient 
 
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 PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY 
 •a ^Re- 
 presented BY 
 
 Rufus H. LeFevre 
 
 BX^STS 
 . 7 (*> * Z. 6> b 
 

 Pto 11 1 
 
 Christian Movements 
 
 in 
 
 The Orient 
 
 BY ,/ 
 
 SAMUEL G. ZIEGLER 
 
 Secretary Foreign Missionary Society 
 
 Introduction by 
 
 BISHOP A. R. CLIPPINGER, D.D. 
 
 FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY 
 UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST 
 1410 U. B. Bldg., Dayton, Ohio 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2016 
 
 https://archive.org/details/christianmovemen00zieg_1 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Introduction 5 
 
 I The Present Unrest 9 
 
 II Prophecy Fulfilled 27 
 
 III Our Specific Task 47 
 
 IV Imperative Needs 69 
 
 Y Keeping Faith with Him 84 
 

 
 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 The work of Foreign Missions in the Orient presents a 
 very different and far more difficult problem than that of any 
 preceding era. Changing conditions, adoption of western 
 ideas and the desire for autonomy combine to make a situation 
 that puzzles the most astute Christian missionary. It has 
 become very evident, particularly in China, that there must 
 be a new approach to the people of the Orient if the gospel 
 is to leaven the whole lump. Western exploitation and domi- 
 nation seems to be more in evidence than the work of the 
 Christian Missionary and the heart of the gospel. There has 
 grown up an antipathy between the East and the West that 
 must surely be overcome if we are to avoid racial w r arfare and 
 the nations of the world live together in peace. This complex 
 situation presents a challenge to the church at home as well 
 as the missionary on the field because its ramifications are 
 numerous and very far reaching. 
 
 There had been no official visit from the home base since 
 1917 when President Howard, then Bishop of the Foreign 
 Conferences, visited all our fields. Numerous requests were 
 coming from the workers on the field for one or more admin- 
 istrative officers from the home side to study first hand with 
 them these difficult problems. At the meeting of the Foreign 
 Board in Johnstown, November 10, 1925, a deputation was 
 authorized. Dr. Samuel G. Ziegler was selected to represent 
 the Foreign Board. The Board of Bishops was requested to 
 select one of their number to accompany him. Bishop A. R. 
 Clippinger was chosen from among their number to be a mem- 
 ber of the deputation. This deputation consisting of Doctor 
 Ziegler, Secretary of Foreign Missions, and Bishop Clippinger, 
 set sail from Vancouver on the “Empress of Asia” February 7, 
 arriving in Manila March 1. Time was divided about equally 
 among the three countries, China, Japan and the Philippine 
 Islands, returning to the States June 1. 
 
A survey and study sheet was prepared by Doctor Ziegler 
 which served as a valuable guide for investigation and study. 
 It covered all phases of missionary work and in our Council 
 meetings with the missionaries enabled us to come right to 
 the crux of the situation immediately. Many facts and sta- 
 tistics were tabulated. From these and general information this 
 report is formulated and this booklet prepared. 
 
 While United Brethren Missions abroad are not so large 
 as some other communions yet we were impressed with the 
 fact that they were none the less efficient and equally well 
 organized. Our missionaries had the best standing every- 
 where we went. We were also impressed with the fact that 
 the tasks and the problems differ with each field. From the 
 home side we are prone to think of them as one whole. The 
 needs are as different as the countries are separate. 
 
 The reader of these pages will understand that we make 
 no attempt to treat these countries in a comprehensive manner 
 or any part of them in detail. Credit is due Doctor Ziegler 
 for collecting those salient facts and features which all United 
 Brethren people should know. It has been our aim and 
 purpose to bring back an unbias report of that which we dis- 
 covered for ourselves. We approached these countries with 
 much interest and studied their problems with open mind. 
 Our hope is that through our eyes we may be able to help our 
 constituency to see not only problems but matchless oppor- 
 tunities which will challenge our communion to a larger and 
 still more efficient Missionary program. 
 
 Faithfully, 
 
 A. R. CLIPPINGER, Bishop. 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 THE PRESENT UNREST 
 
 “And the government shall be upon His shoul- 
 der ... of the increase of His government and 
 of peace there shall be no end.” 
 
 The great liner which bravely pushed its way across the 
 Pacific was approaching Japan. Deck activities indicated 
 that we would dock the next day at Yokohama and the day 
 following at Kobe. After passengers and cargo were dis- 
 charged at these ports, the vessel made its way through the 
 beautiful Inland Sea with its interesting missionary history. 
 Then it coaled at Nagasaki and was off over the Yellow Sea 
 for Shanghai with its famous international settlement. The 
 next day the ship skirted the coast of China, passing numer- 
 ous Chinese fishing smacks with their peculiarly square sail, 
 on its way to Hongkong. A day and a night more were spent 
 on the China Sea before we reached the beautiful Bay of 
 Manila. 
 
 Slowly the vessel approached the harbor in the gray of 
 the early dawn. A short delay in quarantine cleared the sky 
 and lighted the harbor with the glories of an Oriental morn. 
 Volumes of smoke belched from the funnels of harbor tugs 
 as they hurried to their work. Volumes more rolled from 
 ocean greyhounds as they made their way with steady stride 
 to the open sea. The capital city, painted with the splendors 
 of a rising sun, lay in full view. Beautiful palm trees waved 
 their leafy hands in the breezes. It was a glorious morning 
 and the Orient was bidding us welcome. In by the side of the 
 pier the big vessel gently nosed its bow. Mooring ropes were 
 cast overboard by the sailors and rugged shoremen fastened 
 
10 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 them securely to the dock. The voyage was ended and we 
 were in the Philippines to begin our study of missions in the 
 Far East. 
 
 It is frequently the custom in a series of studies like this 
 to take a mission field and deal with all the problems involved. 
 I have attempted, however, to take a problem or phase of 
 mission work and deal with it in the light of all the countries 
 involved. The reader must not think it strange, therefore, if 
 he finds himself returning repeatedly to our mission fields 
 bordering on the China Sea. 
 
 Political Independence 
 
 Before we had passed the customs officials with our 
 baggage, reporters were on hand to interview Bishop Clip- 
 pinger on the question of Philippine independence. By the 
 way, a bishop is an important personage in the Orient. If I 
 visit the mission fields again I should like to be accompanied 
 by, or rather accompany, one of my distinguished brethren 
 with this title. Xo political question in the Islands is quite so 
 important for the Filipinos as independence. They discuss it 
 everywhere. It makes the best kind of material for their 
 political campaigns. But we need not be surprised at that. 
 We remember the time in our own national life when it fur- 
 nished material for the fiery eloquence of our forefathers. 
 Since the Versailles Treaty and the “Fourteen Points” pro- 
 posed by President Wilson there has been a new movement 
 toward political autonomy among all the smaller nations of 
 the world. 
 
 The cause of independence has been paramount with the 
 Filipinos for centuries. They submitted to the rule of Spain 
 because they were compelled by force of arms. Many times 
 during Spanish occupancy the spirit of revolt broke out in an 
 effort to throw off the yoke of foreign dominion. The strug- 
 gle which resulted ultimately in American interference with 
 
The Present Unrest 
 
 11 
 
 Spain began in 1892. It was characterized by a systematic 
 campaign for freedom, until 1896, when the populace rose en 
 masse and demanded separation. During this fierce conflict 
 their hero and leader, Jose Rizal, was shamefully executed. 
 Perhaps his enemies thought that his death would put an end 
 to the uprising, 
 but instead it 
 kindled the 
 flames of insur- 
 rection afresh 
 and spread rap- 
 idly throughout 
 the adjacent 
 provinces. 
 
 At the con- 
 c 1 u s i o n of the 
 struggle with 
 Spain in 1898, America purchased the Islands for the sum of 
 $20,000,000. President McKinley said when he dispatched the 
 first Philippine Commission to the Islands, “The Philippines 
 are ours, not to exploit but to develop, to civilize, to educate, 
 to train in the service of self-government.” 
 
 “The Philippines are for the Filipinos” was a favorite 
 saying among the early civil governors. It became the pop- 
 ular motto during Mr. Taft’s administration in the Islands. 
 He expressed it thus, “As the policy of extending control (to 
 the Philippines) continues, it must logically reduce and finally 
 end the sovereignty of the United States in the Islands.” 
 
 “As regards the Philippines,” said President Roosevelt 
 in his autobiography, “My belief was that we should train 
 them for self-government as rapidly as possible and leave them 
 free to decide their own fate.” 
 
 A part of the preamble of the Jones Law, passed in 1916, 
 giving greater privileges in self-government, says: “Whereas, 
 it is, as it has always been, the purpose of the people of the 
 
 New Capitol Building on Taft Avenue, Manila 
 
12 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 United States to withdraw their sovereignty over the Philip- 
 pine Islands and to recognize their independence as soon as a 
 stable government can be established therein.” These facts 
 
 clearly set forth 
 the position 
 maintained b y 
 the United 
 States govern- 
 ment in refer- 
 ence to Filipino 
 independence. 
 T h e Filipinos, 
 therefore, have 
 been 1 e d to be- 
 lieve that the ul- 
 timate purpose of the United States was to give them their 
 political freedom. 
 
 If you ask a Filipino what America has done for the 
 Philippines he will answer, “America has given us the public 
 schools and good roads.” The little schoolhouse is almost as 
 common there as here. Uarger and more commodious build- 
 
 i n g s serve the 
 
 needs in t o w n 
 and city. Out of 
 a population o f 
 eleven million 
 more than one 
 million three 
 hundred tho u- 
 sand are in 
 school. A net 
 work of good 
 roads and numerous truck lines which convey passengers and 
 freight between the towns and villages have developed the 
 spirit of unity and national consciousness. 
 
 Public School, Philippines 
 
The Present Unrest 
 
 13 
 
 A few years ago the American Chamber of Commerce in 
 the Philippines, professing to represent the entire American 
 community, is reported to have declared that it would work to 
 make the Philippines a permanent territory of the United 
 States. This propaganda and agitation has continued, encour- 
 aged partly by big commercial interests. I was told by sev- 
 eral distinguished Filipinos that in order to counteract that 
 kind of propaganda they felt that it was necessary to stress 
 independence. 
 
 A very unique and interesting method was used last year 
 on Washington’s birthday. Professor Bocobo, dean of the 
 University of the Philippines, prepared a beautiful prayer 
 which the people, assembled in public schools, halls and 
 churches, used unitedly as a petition to our Heavenly Father 
 for national independence. If it did no more than foster love 
 of country, communion with God and a united intercession it 
 was worth while. Seeds were sown which are sure to germi- 
 nate in due time and bring forth good fruit. A people which 
 takes its national issues seriously enough to pray about them 
 will develop a 
 strong and rea- 
 sonable leader- 
 ship. 
 
 The mission- 
 ary forces are 
 making their 
 contribution also 
 to the solution of 
 this problem. If 
 any people are to 
 hold secure their political liberties they must know something 
 about the larger religious liberties. The best safeguard for 
 any and every kind of human liberty is the spiritual liberty 
 and righteousness obtained in Christ Jesus. Men who come 
 
 Street Scene, Philippines 
 
14 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 into personal possession of these are safe custodians of the 
 rights and freedom of others. 
 
 Sovereign Rights 
 
 China’s sovereignty Is tremendously circumscribed by rights 
 and concessions granted to foreign powers in less favorable 
 days. The question of sovereign rights, therefore, is disturb- 
 ing China a great deal, and incidentally the rest of the world. 
 The recent trouble grew out of some labor difficulties in 
 Shanghai in the spring of 1925. A Chinese workman was shot 
 during a labor dispute by a Japanese overseer. Certain stu- 
 dents joined in a memorial service for their fallen brother. 
 Six of them were arrested, charged with intent to disturb the 
 peace. The last of May a small group appeared on Nanking 
 Road and protested against the retention of their fellow stu- 
 dents. Another group gathered at the jail. They were fired 
 upon because they failed to disperse when the police ordered 
 them away. Nine students were killed and as a result a revo- 
 lutionary fire spread throughout China. 
 
 Bridge Connecting Shakee and Shameen 
 
The Present Unrest 
 
 15 
 
 In Canton, the home of rebellions, a big demonstration 
 against foreign dominance and the shooting affair in Shanghai 
 was staged. Hundreds of students and laborers participated 
 in the parade. Canton was excited and the situation was tense. 
 On Shameen, the foreign concession, actual military defense 
 was provided by placing a barricade of sand bags and barb- 
 wire. The remains of this barricade were still in evidence 
 when we visited Canton last winter. On Shakee, the Canton 
 side of the 100-foot canal, hundreds of students and work- 
 men were marching. The Whampoa cadets with their bay- 
 onets glistening in the sun were in the line of march also. In 
 the midst of such strain and excitement it is difficult to say 
 what did happen. But one, two, three shots were fired, and 
 immediately there was pandemonium among the marchers 
 and warfare between the Chinese cadets and the foreign Mi- 
 litia on the Shameen side of the canal. When the shooting 
 ceased fifty-two Chinese lay dead on the road and more than 
 a hundred were seriously wounded. 
 
 From that day an 
 economic war was de- 
 clared against foreign 
 goods, especially British 
 and Japanese. According 
 to “Asia” British ton- 
 nage shipped into Can- 
 ton dropped from 2,252,- 
 279 in five months of 
 1924 to 266,930 in the 
 corresponding five 
 months of 1925. Trade 
 with Hongkong was so 
 seriously affected that 
 British merchants were 
 losing millions of dollars 
 every month. So bitter 
 
16 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 was the feeling that they called Shakee the “Twenty-third 
 Day of June Street” to commemorate the death of their fallen 
 comrades. 
 
 This affair forced the world powers to do some serious 
 thinking concerning China. A new nationalism was showing 
 itself. The fact that these unarmed students and workmen 
 could carry on an effective strike and boycott which cost the 
 trading powers millions of dollars a month was a new thing 
 for China. She had tried boycotts before but never more effec- 
 tively than this time. 
 
 These conditions prevailed while we were visiting our 
 mission in South China. We were advised a number of times 
 while en route to China not to go up to Canton. But I want 
 to say in behalf of China that we suffered no offenses of any 
 kind. The Chinese Christians received us gladly and with 
 
 much welcome. 
 
 China had 
 been shorn of her 
 sovereign rights 
 through treaty 
 agreements in 
 the previous cen- 
 tury. She en- 
 tered into “a uni- 
 lateral agree- 
 ment t o charge 
 no more than five percent ad valorem customs taxes on goods 
 brought into or taken from the country. Goods from China 
 entering other countries may be charged any amount the 
 importing country desires.” Extraterritoriality was secured 
 also by treaty right and is “a system under which a sovereign 
 Power retains full control of its nationals in territory outside 
 of its own.” These treaties were not always made with a view 
 of limiting her independence, but they ultimately resulted in 
 that. 
 
The Present Unrest 
 
 17 
 
 The first agreement prohibits China from regulating her 
 own tariff,— a privilege which America would never surrender. 
 Before China can make any change she must secure the con- 
 sent of the interested powers. The privilege of extraterritor- 
 iality denies her the right to try or to punish offenders within 
 her own borders who may be subjects of the treaty powers. 
 China’s backwardness was responsible for most of these regu- 
 lations. A modern world could not do business with this an- 
 cient land unless there were a few modern methods .forced 
 upon her. 
 
 Early mis- 
 sionaries in 
 China worked 
 under great 
 handicaps. 
 
 Robert M o r r i- 
 son had to live in 
 the most seclud- 
 ed places, dis- 
 g u i s e d as a 
 Chinaman. For- 
 eigners were not tolerated until the treaties of 1842-44 when 
 five ports were opened to foreign residence. In 1858-60 these 
 treaties were revised and included “a guarantee of toleration 
 for Christianity, and a promise of protection in the exercise 
 of their faith not only to missionaries but also either ex- 
 plicitly or by implication to Chinese Christians.” These “tol- 
 eration clauses” as they were called, gave missionaries and the 
 promoters of Christianity a distinct advantage. They could 
 enter the interior of China with the same sense of security 
 and protection that foreigners could enter port cities. 
 
 Wooden Gun Boat 
 
 Since China is contending for the recognition of her sov- 
 ereign power and the withdrawal of what she calls unequal 
 treaties, it becomes necessary for the missionaries and mission 
 boards to consider these toleration clauses. Undoubtedly they 
 
18 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 rendered a splendid 
 service during the 
 previous decades by 
 giving the mission- 
 ary forces a sense of 
 security. But are 
 they necessary now? 
 Should this special 
 recognition and priv- 
 ilege be continued? 
 There are those who 
 think not. Dr. A. L. 
 Warnshuis, Secre- 
 tary of the International Missionary Council, says : “These 
 
 clauses were a serious blow to the prestige and sovereignty of 
 the Chinese State, as they practically removed Chinese Chris- 
 tians from its jurisdiction. Under them the missionary came 
 as a part of the aggressive West, depending on agreements 
 wrested from the Chinese government by war. His message, 
 accordingly, could not but be compromised and often was 
 misunderstood. By no means every missionary or every 
 Chinese Christian invoked their defense, and so far as the 
 Christians are concerned these clauses in practice have become 
 almost a dead letter. Moreover, through faithful and con- 
 sistent living, both 
 missionaries and 
 Chinese Chris- 
 tians have over- 
 come many of the 
 disadvantages o f 
 these treaties and 
 have witnessed to 
 the coming of 
 what a multitude 
 of Chinese have 
 
 Fish Ponds in China 
 
 Village Scene with Clan Tower 
 
The Present Unrest 
 
 19 
 
 acknowledged to be a new spiritual and religious power in the 
 ancient Middle Kingdom.” 
 
 The nations assembled at Washington promised to respect 
 the sovereignty of China. It is imperative, therefore, that they 
 give some evidence of the truthfulness of their purpose. 
 
 A serious diffi- 
 culty with China 
 at the present 
 hour is the lack of 
 a strong central 
 government. She 
 does not have it. 
 
 The provinces do 
 not have it. It is 
 not to be found in 
 China. Chaos 
 rather than order is the rule at the present time. Reverend 
 Hoh, one of our promising young ministers, said: “You have 
 come to us at a time when everything is in disorder. We have 
 just completed demolishing our old political structure. The 
 rubbish and old material are lying about in a very disorderly 
 fashion. This is the reason for the confusion you see every- 
 where. The destruction of the building is completed, but 
 China’s problem is not solved. She cannot decide upon a 
 plan for the new government. Some say we must have a com- 
 munistic form of government. Others say that if China is to 
 succeed she must organize along military lines. Then others, 
 those with whom the revolution began, are contending for a 
 republic. But we of the Christian Church are endeavoring to 
 give China Christian personality so that she might intelli- 
 gently decide upon what is best for all China.” Now it is not 
 strange that this great nation with 400,000,000 people should 
 have trouble deciding upon the kind of government she wants. 
 I have seen some smaller groups disagree before they decided 
 on a plan for a new church. 
 
20 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 Communistic 
 influences have 
 been introduced 
 into South China 
 by advisors whom 
 the late Dr. Sun 
 Yat Sen invited 
 from Russia. 
 These advisors 
 are still connected 
 w i t h the Can- 
 tonese government and are propagating communism with some 
 success. On the other hand we must not be surprised if China 
 turned to militarism. She has been a peace promoting coun- 
 try. Soldiers were never popular in China, but circumstances 
 are making them very numerous. Internal conditions make 
 them a necessity, and many Chinese are beginning to feel that 
 soldiers would be a marked advantage in their international 
 relations. An editorial in one of the English papers of Shang- 
 hai poked fun at the weak protest of the students and said, 
 “If European powers had merely fought with words, as the 
 students were doing, they would not be ruling the world to- 
 day.” Such raillery can not help but drive young Chinese 
 to work for the time when China can talk with big guns too. 
 It would be a calamity for the world if China were forced to 
 adopt a militaristic program. Many of them look with hopeful 
 eyes to the Republic of the West. If they can have a country 
 like the land of Washington and Lincoln they will be satisfied. 
 If the ambitions of the Chinese Church are realized China 
 will be an asset rather than a menace to the peace and pros- 
 perity of the world. 
 
 In the meantime every just and righteous method must be 
 used to secure the political autonomy or sovereign rights 
 which China desires. Legitimate means must be used also to 
 help make China efficient and strong enough within to secure 
 
The Present Unrest 
 
 21 
 
 the rights of citizens of other countries who may sojourn, live, 
 or do business there. Other nations must see to it that all 
 their dealings with China are just and righteous. They must 
 refuse to protect “concessions” and “privileges” obtained by 
 their citizens by means of fraud and deception either on the 
 part of foreigners or Chinese. “It was stated in 1919 that 
 irresponsible officials had mortgaged more than three-fourths 
 of China’s known natural resources to foreign firms at ridicu- 
 lously low rates.”* This may be an exaggeration but even 
 then the situation re- 
 mains serious enough 
 to be alarming. What 
 a reflection on the so- 
 called civilized peo- 
 ples of the west! No 
 wonder the Orient is 
 suspicious of our mo- 
 tives. We n e e d to 
 Christianize interna- 
 tional rel a t i o n s as 
 well as individual re- 
 lations. So long as we do not we hinder the progress of the 
 Kingdom and retard the march of Christ in His reign of love 
 across the nations of the world. 
 
 Racial Discrimination 
 
 The Far East is disturbed by another very critical ques- 
 tion. Not only is the Far East concerned but every section of 
 the w'orld. It is the question of race and race relations. The 
 ever-increasing population of the world tends to intensify the 
 question. Japan’s population is growing at the rate of 700,- 
 000 a year or three and a half millions in five years. Her lim- 
 ited natural resources and available land will not begin to 
 
 *Missionary Review, December, 1926. 
 
22 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 provide sustenance for such an enlarging family. Japan’s 
 problem is like the problem of a father with an ever increasing 
 family. If you have had that happy experience you can sym- 
 pathize with the leaders of the Japanese Empire. How can 
 they feed and clothe these interesting boys and girls who come 
 into their land not of their own volition? 
 
 Japan can not. It is a physical 
 impossibility at least so far as 
 scientific knowledge goes at the 
 present time. I have observed their 
 wonderful little farms, cultivated 
 as carefully as my grandmother 
 cultivated her garden. Not a weed 
 is allowed to grow and draw upon 
 the fertility of the soil. Not a cor- 
 ner is allowed to lie vacant and 
 furnish a place to collect rubbish. 
 It is all under cultivation — intense 
 cultivation. No wonder these men 
 knit their brows and look serious 
 whenever the question comes up. 
 No country has hung out a sign 
 marked “Welcome” for them. 
 What are they to do? 
 
 The whole world is occupied 
 and if not occupied it is at least owned. The owners have fol- 
 lowed the example of the farmer and erected “no trespassing” 
 signs until many of the inhabitants of the world are not at 
 liberty to go where they please. Now our limited knowledge 
 compels us to believe that a certain amount of exclusion is 
 necessary for the future progress and happiness of the whole 
 world. No one is to be blamed then for the present situation 
 except in so far as we are responsible for our lack of definite 
 knowledge and faith. 
 
The Present Unrest 
 
 23 
 
 America joined the Exclusion Club when it passed the 
 Immigration Bill of 1924. This severely wounded the Jap- 
 anese because they had such confidence in America and such 
 admiration of her achievements and high ideals. It is most 
 regrettable that the legislation should have been passed as it 
 was. Their proud spirit has been crushed because they feel it 
 reflects on their 
 racial integrity. In 
 spite of this we did 
 not experience or ob- 
 serve any evidence of 
 resentment any- 
 where during our 
 brief visit. Bishop 
 Clippinger and I 
 were received with 
 Christian love and 
 true Oriental courtesy. The force of Jesus’ statement that “a 
 prophet is not without honor but in his own country,” was 
 never more evident than in Japan. 
 
 The Japanese church is truly practicing the spirit of the 
 Master in this instance. Dr. Y. Chiba, president of the Na- 
 tional Christian Council, urged the Japanese Church to take 
 the Christian attitude. He said: “Let us once more believe 
 
 in the final victory of right, patience, and of love. Let us 
 remember that in America as elsewhere, there are those who 
 feel just as much hurt about this matter and suffer just as 
 much because of it, as we ourselves. May we join hands with 
 them and patiently endeavor to bring forth the realization of 
 His will. Let us not take an attitude of ‘an eye for an eye, and 
 a tooth for a tooth,’ but rather hold firmly to the Christian 
 ideal of life and progress, to make the relations of these two 
 countries better, and to wipe out racial enmity and unfriendly 
 feeling between them. Let us transcend national boundaries.” 
 This represents the attitude of the Christian Church in Japan. 
 
24 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 The right kind of cooperation and fellowship between the 
 Church there and the Church in America can heal any wound 
 and eliminate every misunderstanding. 
 
 I spoke with the Church 
 leaders in our mission and with 
 other Japanese about the recent 
 legislation. They admit that it 
 is necessary for us to regulate 
 and limit the number of immi- 
 grants from other lands. They 
 marvel that we have been as 
 successful as we have in amal- 
 gamating the various races and 
 nationalities which have come 
 to our shores. They are not 
 asking us to open our doors 
 and admit all their sons and 
 daughters who may wish to 
 
 School Children and Huge Bell come. That would be an impo- 
 sition on a good neighbor. 
 What hurts them is the fact that our Exclusion Act looks like 
 racial discrimination. The bill permits the subjects of all great 
 powers of the world to enter on a percentage basis except 
 Japan. They feel, therefore, that it places them “before the 
 world as a race of undesirables and stigmatizes them as un- 
 worthy to stand side by side with the peoples of the West.” 
 We were seated one day in the office of the Tokyo Misaki 
 Tabernacle (Baptist) with Dr. William Axling, the soul of 
 that remarkable institution. His long service in Japan, his 
 intense love for the people and his keen understanding of 
 things Japanese afforded a very profitable interview. Bishop 
 Clippinger was very much interested. I shall let him tell the 
 story in his own words. 
 
 “In conference with one of the older and more successful 
 missionaries in Tokyo, whose name is well known in mis- 
 
The Present Unrest 
 
 25 
 
 A Rickisha Ride 
 
 sionary circles, I asked this ques- 
 tion among many others : ‘What is 
 the hardest thing the missionary in 
 Japan must overcome today? Is it 
 the Buddhistic philosophy? Is it 
 gross materialism? Or what is it?’ 
 
 I received an answer I was not an- 
 ticipating. Like a flash out of the 
 clear sky, he replied, ‘The Ameri- 
 can Exclusion Act.’ As an Amer- 
 ican citizen and a Christian inter- 
 ested in the spread of the gospel, I 
 blushed and said, ‘O God, can it 
 be?’ I then said, ‘Can not these 
 people differentiate between an act 
 of the government and the Christian religion?’ I received this 
 answer, ‘If they did not, the Christian missionary could not 
 
 do anything by way of winning the 
 Japanese to Christ.’ ” 
 
 If we can make Japan see that 
 the basis for the apparent discrimi- 
 nation was not racial at all but 
 social and economic it will go a 
 long way toward bringing about a 
 correct understanding between 
 these two great nations on the Pa- 
 cific. In order to help foster a bet- 
 ter spirit of good will the Foreign 
 Mission Board at its annual meet- 
 ing in Lima, Ohio, 1926, took the 
 following action in reference to 
 this question : 
 
 “We express our deep convic- 
 
 . tion that all aliens within our bor- 
 
 Mrs. Kmpp and Japanese , . , , , 
 
 Children ders should be treated on the same 
 
26 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 basis without discrimination because of race or color, and that 
 in determining eligibility of aliens to naturalization we would 
 urge our Congress to set up high standards in intelligence and 
 character which would be applicable to all aliens, including the 
 Japanese, Chinese and Hindus now resident in the United 
 States. 
 
 “We would recognize the critical importance of proper 
 restriction of immigration. At the same time we would affirm 
 our whole-hearted belief in the Christian doctrine of the broth- 
 erhood of all men of whatever race or color and we would urge 
 our Congress, when it adopts a new immigration bill to go 
 into effect July 1, 1927, that it put all immigration on the 
 quota basis.” 
 
 If the American people will follow some such policy it will 
 help the different races and nationalities to see more clearly 
 the gospel teaching of the brotherhood of man. Can the 
 Church do any less? 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 PROPHECY FULFILLED 
 
 “And they shall come from the east and west, and 
 from the north and south, and shall sit down in the 
 Kingdom of God.” 
 
 Christianity has become indigenous to the soil and the 
 people of the Far East. The Kingdom of God has actually 
 become a reality among them. It might be possible to restrict 
 its growth and hinder its progress, but not to eradicate it. The 
 
 foundation is laid in the national 
 churches for the most marvelous 
 growth Christendom has ever seen. 
 But this growth will depend for the 
 present upon the continued support 
 of the various mission boards and 
 societies in Europe and America. 
 
 The people of these lands have 
 paid a price for their faith which 
 many in America would pay re- 
 luctantly. In most instances they 
 set themselves as Jesus did against 
 the whole social order. Men do not 
 sever family relations, forfeit social 
 prestige, renounce close friends, for- 
 sake old faiths, and accept a new 
 religion without paying the conse- 
 quences in an isolated and perse- 
 cuted life. 
 
 The Church on the foreign field is an institution born out 
 of turmoil and persecution. It is a virile church. It is a 
 glorious company of devoted followers. While their numbers 
 are few compared with the multitudes about them, yet their 
 
23 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 loyalty and devotion are among the highest. They represent 
 a spirit which is akin to the spirit of the early Christian 
 Church. 
 
 Church Growth 
 
 The Christian Church in Japan is influencing the country 
 far more widely than its numerical strength would indicate. 
 The new standards and ideals which are being adopted indi- 
 cate this. The government, business, industry, education and 
 social life are all more or less affected by it. Christianity made 
 its first converts among the Samurai class which furnished 
 many leaders for the new Japan. Christians are found among 
 army and navy officers, state officials, university professors, 
 and leading business men. A professor in the Imperial Uni- 
 versity at Tokyo said: “At least a million Japanese outside 
 
 the Christian Church have so come to understand Christianity 
 that, although as yet unbaptized, they are framing their lives 
 according to the teachings of Christ.” 
 
 The Christian Church planted in Japan by the Evangelical 
 missionary force of Europe and America has a membership of 
 
 First U. B. Church, Kyoto, Japan 
 
Prophecy Fulfilled 
 
 29 
 
 134,547. It has 1,349 organized congregations and 950 or- 
 dained pastors. Besides this there are 2,585 other workers 
 employed and 744 young Japanese taking special training for 
 Christian service. Accessions have averaged 12,472 a year, and 
 the contributions toward self-support have been more than 
 $915,000. 
 
 The organ- 
 ized Protestant 
 Church in the 
 Philippines con- 
 si s t s of 64,184 
 m e m bers, 573 
 organized 
 churches, and 
 1997 Filipino 
 workers, includ- 
 ing 171 ordained 
 ministers. The number of accessions received is 7,000 or more 
 annually. There are 289 young people in school preparing for 
 definite Christian service. Contributions made by the national 
 church have reached $82,051 a year. 
 
 Rev. Enrique Sobrepena who returned to the Philippines 
 after completing his studies in America writes: “The Islands 
 are certainly ripe for harvest, for the best harvest, too. The 
 young people are surely earnestly seeking for the food which 
 perisheth not but which abideth unto eternal life.” 
 
 The church in China is growing in spite of persecution. 
 It has 402,539 baptized members, 1,966 ordained ministers 
 and 25,012 other Chinese workers. The 5,424 organized 
 churches have more than 35,000 accessions each year. The 
 latest available figures give 3,940 young Chinese in preparation 
 for Christian service, and contributions made by the national 
 church as over $700,000 annually. It is estimated that there 
 are 300,000 students in the Christian colleges of China. While 
 
30 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 it is a little more than a century since Christianity entered, 
 yet it has grown far beyond the vision of its pioneers. 
 
 If these facts look like so many 
 figures of course they lose their 
 real meaning. They are more than 
 figures. They are a mathematical 
 measurement of the spiritual chan- 
 nels and agencies which are trans- 
 forming the Orient. 
 
 We have had a part in forming 
 this church in the Far East. Our 
 missions and missionaries built up 
 a section of the wall. If our men 
 and women had not been there it 
 would not have been built. La 
 Union Province. Philippine Is- 
 lands, is evangelized and sections 
 of Mountain Province are being 
 reached because our missionaries 
 have been in the Philippines. Many towns and villages in 
 
 South China have 
 the gospel because 
 we sent our repre- 
 sentatives t o that 
 far country. We 
 have contributed 
 practically all the 
 Christian work now 
 resident in Siu 
 Lam. There are 
 other rural villages 
 of which that could 
 be said. Our mis- 
 sionary endeavors in Japan stretch from Tokyo to Kobe with 
 creditable congregations in every one of the big centers. They 
 
 Chinese Farmer 
 
Prophecy Fulfilled 
 
 31 
 
 are building themselves into the great Christian movement. 
 It is this new leaven in the Orient which is responsible for 
 more changes than any other force. 
 
 Annual Conference 
 
 One gets a good idea of the national church in any mis- 
 sion field by sitting in conference with their leaders. Bishop 
 Clippinger and I had this privilege in the Philippines. The 
 Annual Conference met at Baguio the last week of our visit. 
 Bishop Clippinger presided with all the grace and dignity 
 worthy of the office. The brethren appreciated his presence. 
 It was the first time they had a bishop to sit with them since 
 the last visit of Bishop Howard in 1917. But what I wanted 
 to say was that the sessions of the annual conference actually 
 revealed the strength of the church in the Philippines. We 
 caught the force of the movement and the depth of their 
 religious convictions in that gathering. There was no doubt 
 about the genuineness of their faith and conversion. The very 
 fervor and earnestness with which they entered into the ses- 
 sions were an evidence of that. There was no sham. The 
 
 Filipino Conference — 1926 
 
32 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 Philippines had to be won for Christ and they were the people 
 to help do it. They planned just as prayerfully and deliber- 
 ately for the evangelization of sections of Mountain Province 
 as we would plan to enter a new mission center in America. 
 
 Their reports signified faithful .work. The number of 
 accessions for the year was gratifying. Progress had been 
 made in self-support. Many of the men are serving for very 
 small salaries, salaries in keeping with the people and com- 
 munity which they serve. The remarkable thing about the 
 whole meeting was the manifest presence and spirit of Christ. 
 They were different, and different simply because they had 
 surrendered themselves to a higher and greater Person, who 
 had made new men and women out of them. 
 
 The efficient supervision of our Superintendent, Dr. H. W. 
 Widdoes, is responsible for this fine piece of mission work. 
 Doctor Widdoes is regarded as one of the outstanding mis- 
 sionaries in the Islands. No work is better organized nor 
 
 promoted more 
 successfully. 
 
 At the clos- 
 ing session Sun- 
 day morning the 
 little chapel was 
 crowded t o the 
 doors. Many oc- 
 cupied the yard 
 with the hope of 
 getting a part of 
 the bishop’s mes- 
 sage through the open windows. Two young men were or- 
 dained to the ministry and twelve graduates of our Bible 
 Training School at San Fernando were consecrated to the dea- 
 coness service. It was a great hour. The weather was beau- 
 tiful and the spirit of Palm Sunday pervaded the air. There 
 was just one thing which marred the service. The bishop had 
 
 Chapel at Baguio 
 
Prophecy Fulfilled 
 
 33 
 
 to be very brief and leave very abruptly in order to make the 
 “Empress of Russia” which was scheduled to sail at 5 :00 P. M. 
 Now Manila was 175 miles away and the mountain trail over 
 which he had to go was narrow and dangerous. But in spite 
 of three punctures the driver with a six cylinder Buick got him 
 there three and one-half hours before the boat sailed. Fortu- 
 nate for the bishop, the vessel was delayed and did not get 
 away until 9:00 P. M. Otherwise he would have been left in 
 Manila. 
 
 Group Meetings 
 
 The disturbed condition in China made it impossible to 
 have a conference with all the Chinese pastors and workers 
 present. We had to be content with several small group 
 meetings cover- 
 ing a variety of 
 mission w o r k. 
 
 The most inter- 
 esting and im- 
 portant of these 
 gatherings was 
 the meeting with 
 the Executive 
 Committee of the 
 Kwangtung Di- 
 visional Council 
 of the Church of Christ in China. Mr. Leung Siu Choh, 
 General Secretary Canton Y. M. C. A. and Chairman of 
 the Council, was present. Prof. Y. S. Taam, member of 
 the staff at the Union Theological College and Mr. K. H. 
 Chin were present also. Other representative men and women 
 of the Chinese Church and various missions participated. 
 The important question had to do with the relation of this 
 new Council with the Boards at home. Here was an organi- 
 zation consisting largely of Chinese Christians which was 
 actually ready to assume certain responsibilities formerly 
 
 Teachers, Siu Lam Boys’ School 
 
34 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 borne by the mission councils. Another helpful conference 
 was held with our Chinese officials at Canton and still an- 
 other with the faculty of the Siu 
 Lam Boys’ School. These meet- 
 ings had to do with local church 
 administration a n d the manage- 
 ment of the day schools which had 
 recently been put under the super- 
 vision of the Chinese congrega- 
 tions. V e r y satisfactory results 
 were being obtained under this new 
 system. The genius of Rev. C. W. 
 Shoop as a mission administrator 
 was evident in all these meetings. 
 
 Rev. C. W. Shoop 
 
 District Rallies 
 
 In Japan two district meetings 
 were arranged, one centering in 
 and around Tokyo and the other 
 around Kyoto. The sessions began in the morning and con- 
 tinued through the evening. The morning was spent in con- 
 sultation with the pastors, the afternoon in discussion groups 
 and the evening was given over to an inspirational service. 
 The important question was the development of self-support. 
 A false idea as to how money is secured in America for Chris- 
 tian work is very prevalent on the foreign field. The brethren 
 did not realize that it was practically as difficult to raise the 
 money necessary for the home church and all its activities as 
 it was for them to raise the money they needed. In referring 
 to these conferences Doctor Shively says in his annual report, 
 “Already there are decided evidences of the benefit of these 
 conferences. But the real and abiding results are only now 
 beginning to shape themselves. Our pastors gratefully ac- 
 knowledge the help they have received through the visita- 
 tion. One of the leaders in summing up the influence left on 
 
Prophecy Fulfilled 
 
 35 
 
 Members of Zeze Church 
 
 the church says, ‘The Spirit of our people has been lifted to 
 higher levels. They have now a new sense of responsibility 
 for the various works of the church. We have many new tith- 
 ers npw.’ ” 
 
 We had an interesting meeting with the Rijikai. It is the 
 conference advisory council and consists of ten members, three 
 missionaries and seven Japanese. They conduct all business 
 during the interim of the annual conference. This group 
 brought two questions to our attention; the first was the need 
 of permanent church houses ; the second was the unreached 
 rural communities. These men feel that something must be 
 done to hasten the solution of these two problems. We 
 shall have more to say about this later. 
 
 It was my privilege to meet one evening with the pastor 
 and officials of the Honjo congregation in Tokyo. It was in 
 this section of the city that such terrible destruction occurred 
 during the earthquake in 1923. The church building was de- 
 stroyed and practically every family suffered heavy losses. 
 Some had lost loved ones and many their entire possessions, so 
 that the congregation was reduced to one-fourth its former 
 
36 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 Rijikai in Japan 
 
 strength. But they were not discouraged. They presented 
 me with a small image of Damura, whom an old legend says 
 always surmounted difficulties, obstacles and discourage- 
 ments. They said, “We are like him, we mean to make a 
 bigger and better church, better homes and a better city.” This 
 truly represents the faith and purpose of the Japanese church 
 in its reconstruction program for the whole Empire. This 
 informal conference was followed by the evening service 
 which was well attended. The men of the community prac- 
 tically filled the little barracks building which is used as a 
 church. After the message, which I had the privilege of de- 
 livering, a call was made for a further study of Christianity 
 and twenty-two responded. 
 
 Transferring Responsibility 
 
 Our Filipino brethren have shown themselves capable of 
 bearing more responsibility in church work. The Mission 
 Council, recognizing this ability, gradually transferred certain 
 phases of work to their shoulders. This helped to call out and 
 
Prophecy Fulfilled 
 
 37 
 
 bring to maturity efficient young leaders so that today we re- 
 joice in having some of the best and most efficient Filipino 
 pastors and laymen to be found anywhere in the Islands. 
 
 A business committee, consisting of eight Filipinos and 
 two missionaries, acts as the superintendent’s advisory cabinet. 
 This arrangement gives them due recognition and liberty in 
 the management of affairs. The committee has been func- 
 tioning for some years and is growing in efficiency and use- 
 fulness. Another advanced step was taken at the session of 
 their conference in 1926 when Bishop Clippinger appointed 
 Rev. C. P. Lorenzana Conference Superintendent. This is the 
 first foreign con- 
 ference to be su- 
 pervised by a na- 
 t i o n a 1 leader. 
 
 Latest reports 
 from the field in- 
 dicate that he is 
 doing exception- 
 ally fine work. 
 
 These ad- 
 v a n c e d steps 
 were taken in 
 recognition of 
 their ability to 
 manage affairs 
 themselves. Of 
 course the full 
 responsibility of 
 the mission does 
 not rest upon 
 these brethren, but they are largely responsible for their own 
 conference work. This leaves the mission free to give itself 
 to our institutions and the work recently begun in a new way 
 at Ifugao and Kalinga. 
 
 Rev. C. P. Lorenzana, Bishop A. R. Clippinger 
 Dr. S. G. Ziegler, Rev. J. A. Abellera 
 
38 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 The best missionary administrators in China are wrest- 
 ling with this problem also. They recommend the transfer of 
 responsibility as rapidly as possible. Dr. E. G. Lobenstine, 
 foreign secretary for the National Christian Council in China, 
 assured us in a conference we had with him that it was safe 
 to entrust the Chinese Christians with as much responsibility 
 in the church management as they desired. He said, “I would 
 rather err on the side of giving them too much than on the 
 side of holding full authority too long in the hands of the mis- 
 sion." The danger seems to be in the fact that the Boards do 
 not have enough confidence in the results of their labors 
 abroad to make the transfer. In the conference which Dr. 
 John R. Mott had with missionaries and Chinese Christians at 
 Shanghai, January, 1926, the following recommendation was 
 adopted : 
 
 "This conference is of the opinion that the consummation 
 of the missionary task is the establishment of a self-govern- 
 ing, self-propagating and self-supporting Church. That 
 Church should have full freedom in the development of 
 its spiritual life ! it should have ecclesiastical autonomy. . . . 
 The administration of the whole Christian enterprise, includ- 
 ing all these forms which are supported front within and with- 
 out China, should pass as rapidly as possible to the Church in 
 China.” 
 
 In Japan the situation is more ad- 
 vanced. Responsibilities formerly borne 
 by the Mission Council are now resting 
 upon the Rijikai and Japan Conference. 
 Questions which the missionaries decided 
 in the past are now brought before the 
 Japanese for their decision. This develops 
 self-reliance and prepares them for the big 
 task which they must ultimately shoulder. 
 During the absence of Reverend Knipp, 
 who had the supervision of the work, it 
 
 Japanese Child 
 
Prophecy Fulfilled 
 
 39 
 
 was decided by the Council that Doctor Shively act as secre- 
 tary and that all correspondence between the Mission in Japan 
 and the Board at home be carried on by him. The supervision 
 and administration was left in the hands of ihe executive com- 
 mittee of the Rijikai which consists of Doctor Shively, mis- 
 sion secretary, Rev. C. Yasuda, Executive Secretary of the 
 Rijikai, and Reverend Ono, conference treasurer. It was ap- 
 proved by the Executive Committee of the Board on the 
 recommendation of 
 the Mission Coun- 
 cil. We feel that it 
 is a step in the 
 right direction. The 
 Japanese ought to 
 be entrusted with 
 the responsibility 
 of administering 
 
 Japanese Children at Play 
 
 their own w o r k. 
 
 However, they 
 themselves expressed a desire that final supervision should 
 reside in the Mission until such time as they are able to raise 
 more money for the work. This is an important question. If 
 the Japanese are really able to administer the work should we 
 insist on final say simply because we furnish the bulk of the 
 support? Good Christian statesmanship demands that we re- 
 linquish our final prerogatives just as soon as the Japanese can 
 handle it themselves. We must be willing to grant them 
 equal voting privileges with us in administering the work, pro- 
 viding they are ready for it, no matter what portion of the 
 funds they contribute. These men have as much concern for 
 the salvation of their country as we have and they can be as 
 safely trusted to the leadership of the Holy Spirit as we can. 
 
 These are simply so many evidences of the growing 
 church of the Orient. If this responsibility is transferred 
 wisely it will stimulate growth rather than hinder it. We 
 
40 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 must continue, however, to assist them in the same Christian 
 spirit with which we formerly led them. 
 
 Union Movements 
 
 One of the weaknesses of mission work has been the mul- 
 tiplicity of denominational missions. These differences are 
 never clear to the people among whom the missionaries work. 
 Denominational divisions have a tendency to keep the church 
 small and dependent. Just a few denominations have been 
 able to do work on a big scale and develop it sufficiently to 
 make it a real factor in the social and moral life of the country. 
 No strong church can be built up out of struggling dependent 
 congregations or missions which have to be subsidized with 
 appropriations from abroad. Such conditions make Christian- 
 ity appear like foreign propaganda. For that reason it is op- 
 posed by certain nationals. The anti-Christian movement in 
 China is really an anti-foreign movement. Christianity is 
 hated not because of its teachings and ideals, but because it 
 appears to represent foreign countries whose international 
 relations and conducts have not always been just. 
 
 The union of the various mission forces will eliminate 
 some of the reasons for the present criticism. It will make the 
 
 church and the 
 church system 
 bigger and more 
 important than 
 the mission in- 
 stitutions. It will 
 promote self- 
 consciousness 
 and a sense of 
 responsibility 
 among the na- 
 tionals. It will clarify the position of our Chinese workers so 
 that they will not be slandered by those who say the pastor 
 
 Sacred Lanterns 
 
Prophecy Fulfilled 
 
 41 
 
 and church worker are in the employ of the Mission rather 
 than the national church. It will give force and prestige to the 
 Church as an institution manned by the nationals themselves. 
 
 In order to overcome these hindrances the nationals in the 
 various missions urged organic union. It was considered for 
 some time in South China. At last plans were made and the 
 Kwangtung Divisional Council of the Church of Christ in 
 China was organized. It consists of the churches planted by 
 the following organizations : London Missionary Society, 
 
 American Board Mission, American Presbyterian Mission 
 (North), New Zealand Presbyterian Mission, Canadian Pres- 
 byterian Mission, United Brethren in Christ Mission, Swedish 
 American Mission, the Chinese Independent Presbyterian 
 Church, and the Chinese Congregational Church. It consists 
 of nine district associations (presbyteries), over two hundred 
 preaching places, of which one hundred and twenty are or- 
 ganized churches. Thirty of these are independent of outside 
 aid. The membership is nearly 20,000. 
 
 The Mission Council in China recommended the approval 
 of the union and the authorization of our foreign mission con- 
 ference to unite with the movement. The deputation also con- 
 curred in this opinion and so expressed itself in its report to 
 the Board. The matter w r as taken under consideration at the 
 last Board meeting and finally approved by the adoption of 
 the following recommendation of the Committee on China : 
 
 “We wish further to express our sympathy with the felt 
 need on the part of our Chinese leaders for the privilege of 
 cooperating in the fullest possible way with other Christian 
 believers in China in the development of a church in China 
 united and strong enough to meet the moral and spiritual 
 needs of great China in this critical hour. 
 
 “We wish, therefore, to express our sanction of the pian 
 desired by our Chinese United Brethren to merge our Church 
 organization in China into the nation-wide Chinese Church of 
 Christ. 
 
42 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 “We wish to assure our Chinese co-workers that this 
 change in ecclesiastical relationship will mean no change in 
 our love, sympathy, confidence and hope, or change in our 
 eagerness to cooperate in the promotion of Chinese welfare 
 to the full measure of our ability.” 
 
 When this plan is finally adopted by all the cooperating 
 boards it will alter the plan of administration by making the 
 Divisional Council of the Church of Christ in China its admin- 
 istrative agent on the field. Heretofore the Boards dealt di- 
 rectly with their respective Mission Councils. Hereafter they 
 will deal with the Divisional Council. This Council is elected 
 by the Chinese Church and consists of both Chinese and mis- 
 sionaries. It will fix the budget for the work and submit it to 
 the various boards. It will survey the field and determine the 
 program for their evangelistic work. All business form- 
 erly transacted between the Mission Councils and the Home 
 Board will be transacted between the Council and the Home 
 Board, except matters referring to the housing and personal 
 affairs of the missionaries and mission institutions which the 
 Chinese Church is not able to finance or administer. 
 
 This action puts us in line with one of the greatest church 
 movements on the mission field at the present time. The task 
 of Christianity is not simply to establish and maintain a large 
 number of churches, schools and hospitals. It is to reach ev- 
 erybody with the Gospel message and to put into effect in the 
 life of the individual and society the spirit and life of Jesus. 
 This can best be done by the Chinese Church if it is ably 
 assisted by great and unselfish missionary efforts from abroad. 
 We must learn to play such a magnanimous part. 
 
 In the Philippines 
 
 An effort was made from the beginning of Protestant Mis- 
 sions in the Philippine Islands to have all the churches adopt 
 the name “Evangelical.” Other efforts looking toward union 
 were made, but nothing definite was accomplished until two 
 
Prophecy Fulfilled 
 
 43 
 
 years ago. At that time the Presbyterian and Congregational 
 churches in the Philippines, which have always been inde- 
 pendent of the home church, voted to enter a proposed union 
 to form the Church of Christ in the Philippines. Our own 
 Filipino Conference took similar action, subject to the ap- 
 proval of the home board. 
 
 This action was submitted to the Executive Committee of 
 the home board and the Mission Council was authorized “to 
 proceed with the necessary steps for uniting with the Presby- 
 terian and Congregational Churches” in their efforts to form 
 the Church of Christ in the Philippines. During our recent 
 visit the plan of organization was submitted to the Filipino 
 Annual Conference for consideration. It was adopted by the 
 Conference after five amendments were approved, and then 
 submitted to the Board for its approval. The Board consid- 
 ered the matter at its last session and gave its approval to 
 the plan as amended. This union will make a strong nucleus 
 for The Church of Christ in the Philippines. It is destined 
 to become one of the strongest Christian forces in the Orient 
 and will mean much in the evangelization of the Far East. 
 
 Manila Church 
 
 Our Mission work in Manila was staited primarily to 
 meet the needs of the Ilocano speaking Filipinos who came to 
 the city. Later the Mission began to reach out among the 
 English speaking 
 Filipino students. 
 
 This latter work 
 presented a m u c h 
 larger field than the 
 former because we 
 w ere located in a 
 center w here 53 
 schools and col- 
 leges c o u 1 d be 
 
 Manila Church 
 
44 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 reached within a radius of five-eighths of a mile. The com- 
 bined student body totaled 10,000. It was an unusual oppor- 
 tunity because of the possibility of influencing the future lead- 
 ership in the Islands. New adjustments were made and the 
 major part of the work was carried on in English in order to 
 reach these young people. An Ilocano service was held at 
 8:00 A. M. This was followed by the Bible School at 8:45 in 
 English. There was one class in Ilocano for such as desired to 
 enter it, and at 9:45 they had public worship in English. Thus 
 the work and services were divided between the English and 
 Ilocano in order to render the largest service and meet the 
 numerous needs on every hand. 
 
 In December, 1923, a proposition was made by certain 
 leaders that a union effort be launched in behalf of the stu- 
 dents. Later a group of Filipino leaders and some mission- 
 aries got together to discuss the possibilities of a United 
 Church for the Philippines. A desire was expressed for an 
 English speaking Filipino Church on the north side of the 
 river. A committee was appointed, consisting of representa- 
 tives from the Congregational, Presbyterian and United 
 Brethren Missions. Plans of cooperation were agreed upon. 
 Our church in Manila was invited to join its forces with others 
 in a united effort among English speaking Filipinos, especially 
 students. The invitation was accepted and the United Church 
 was formally launched. 
 
 These consecrated and devoted men and women desired 
 a new church building, so incorporated under the name of the 
 United Church of Manila in order that they might raise funds 
 and hold legal title to property. They' submitted a proposi- 
 tion to the Board in which they expressed a willingness to 
 erect a $35,000 church building if the Board granted them the 
 privilege to use the lot on which the old building stands and 
 to which we hold title. The Board proposed Articles of Agree- 
 ment, which if they accept, will protect the property rights of 
 froth parties, and yet make possible a commodious, attractive 
 
Prophecy Fulfilled 
 
 45 
 
 church erected out of funds provided on the field by the Na- 
 tional Church. This United Church is the first practical step 
 in the larger union mentioned above. 
 
 In Japan 
 
 About twenty years ago several missions, like the vari- 
 ous divisions of Methodism, came together and formed the 
 Methodist Church in Japan which is separate and apart from 
 Methodism in America or Europe. 
 
 The Presbyterian and Reformed 
 Missions united before the close of 
 the last century to form the Church 
 of Christ in Japan. Some efforts have 
 been made to launch a general move- 
 ment to unite all the branches of 
 Protestantism. If this could be ac- 
 complished it would be a distinct 
 gain to the Christian cause in Japan. 
 
 The losses in membership 
 among some of the smaller missions 
 and denominations is so great that 
 they are beginning to see the need 
 of closer cooperation. There has been a large migration of 
 people from one section to another during these years of in- 
 dustrialization and following the destructive earthquake. De- 
 nominations which cover a small territory lose many members 
 each year, ours among the rest. Many of these members do 
 not affiliate with another church and so are lost finally to the 
 cause. If the churches were united this form of leakage could 
 be reduced greatly. As it is now nothing special is being 
 done to stop it. 
 
 Our Japanese brethren and missionaries see this. They 
 took action at their Rijikai meeting during our visit, authoriz- 
 ing their secretary to inform the Executive Secretary of the 
 National Christian Council that they look with favor upon 
 
46 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 church union and are willing to consider any plans which the 
 National Council or any mission might propose. This action 
 opens the way for union. It is sure to eliminate the losses 
 which we are suffering and ultimately strengthen the Christian 
 movement in Japan. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 OUR SPECIFIC TASK 
 
 “He left nothing undone of all that the Lord 
 commanded.” 
 
 Our mission work in the Philippines was started among 
 the llocanos in La Union Province. The missionaries located 
 at San Fernando, the capital of the province and made it their 
 headquarters. From there the mis- 
 sion branched out. reaching various 
 towns and villages until practically 
 the whole province was covered. 
 
 The natives of the province were 
 among the most aggressive of 
 the lowland people. This accounts 
 for the remarkable leadership 
 which has been developed in the 
 Church. One of the boys reached 
 in those early days is now a mem- 
 ber of the Filipino Senate and 
 president of the National Univer- 
 sity located at Manila. He is Senator Catnilo Osias, an edu- 
 cator and statesman of far-reaching influence. Church lead- 
 ers of equal promi- 
 nence a n d influence 
 have been produced 
 from these interesting 
 and aggressive peo- 
 ple. 
 
 Certain institu- 
 tions were established 
 here — the Bible 
 Training School, the 
 Evangel Press and a 
 
 Street Scene, San Fernando 
 
 San Fernando Market 
 
48 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 hospital. They are rendering excellent service to the church 
 and community. 
 
 The provincial high school is located in this city. Last 
 spring when we visited the Islands the enrollment was 2,300. 
 Bishop Clippinger and I had the privilege of addressing this 
 body of young people. There was no auditorium in the city N 
 able to accommodate such a crowd so the principal improvised 
 one by placing a table on the campus and having us stand on 
 it to address the student body. Mr. Walter Roberts calls this, 
 “The greatest challenge of the Philippines at the present time.” 
 He says, “To prove this point I only need to point to the com- 
 parative ease with which young men have been enlisted in 
 Bible study campaigns. This past year we have had about 250 
 young men and women in Bible study groups. I doubt if we 
 would have gotten 25 young men and women in America in 
 Bible Study groups as easily as we enlisted and kept these 250 
 in our groups. I verily believe, if a missionary could give all 
 
 his time to this work in San 
 Fernando alone, he could en- 
 roll no less than 700 to 800 stu- 
 dents in Bible study classes.” 
 Youth in the Philippines is 
 eager to get anything which 
 will help them to grow into 
 better and more capable men 
 and women. 
 
 Mountain Province 
 
 The work in Mountain 
 Province differs from that in 
 the lowlands. Customs and 
 habits of living among most 
 of the mountain people are very 
 primitive. The fact that these 
 On the Trail to Kiangan people were not reached by 
 
Our Specific Task 
 
 49 
 
 Spanish culture and Roman Catholicism during the days of 
 Spanish occupancy is partly responsible tor their backward 
 condition. They did not receive the new educational advan- 
 tages as early as other sections after the Islands came under 
 the control of the United States. A Bureau of non-Christian 
 Tribes whose duty it is to look after the interests and welfare 
 of these people has been organized by the government. These 
 tribes include more than a million population. 
 
 Returning from Ifugao 
 
 Our responsibil- 
 ity in this section of 
 unevangelized terri- 
 tory embraces the 
 sub-provinces of Ifu- 
 gao and Kalinga and 
 the city of Baguio. 
 
 The sub-province of 
 Ifugao has a popula- 
 tion of 66,000 accord- 
 ing to constabulary 
 reports. Kiangan is 
 the capital. The gov- 
 ernment has a grade school and small hospital located there. 
 It is in this town that Miss Metzger is stationed. A motor 
 road across the mountains into the capital was completed re- 
 cently. This will 
 make the prov- 
 ince more ac- 
 cessible and open 
 it to much larger 
 business possi- 
 bilities. The cli- 
 mateismore 
 healthful and de- 
 sirable than i n 
 
 Mission Residence — Kiangan the lowlands. 
 
50 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 For ten years 
 the Mission has 
 pled w i t h the 
 Church to provide 
 a way to begin 
 work. At last we 
 are there with one 
 missionary and 
 two Filipino dea- 
 conesses. We 
 have a lot on which a small native chapel has been erected. 
 There is a wonderful opportunity to begin high school 
 work and through it reach the youth of the province. 
 Colonel Dosser offered a well-built house with two and one- 
 half acres of ground to the mission at a very reasonable figure. 
 The house is finished in hard wood throughout, making it a 
 security against white ants. It has every convenience possible 
 in such a remote section of the Islands and is so arranged that 
 it can be used for a missionary res- 
 idence. a dormitory for girls and 
 still have two rooms for classes. 
 
 The Board authorized the purchase 
 of this residence at its last meet- 
 ing. 
 
 The purchase of this residence 
 does not complete the task. It sim- 
 ply begins it. What is the pur- 
 chase of a residence compared with 
 the evangelization of 66,000 peo- 
 ple? It is a mere incident in the 
 course of events leading to the suc- 
 cessful culmination of our sacred 
 trust. 
 
 Baguio is the summer capital 
 of the Philippines. It is one of the Mountain Women 
 
Our Specific Task 
 
 51 
 
 most delightful locations in the tropics. The temperature reg- 
 istered 76.3 maximum and 58.8 minimum (Fahrenheit) last 
 March when I had the privilege of spending a week there. It 
 is situated 4,380 feet above sea level and 175 miles north of 
 Manila. Good automobile roads come from the lowlands and 
 
 wind their way 
 through beauti- 
 f u 1 mountai n 
 scenery into the 
 land of the pines, 
 which are abun- 
 dant in this cool- 
 er climate. I 
 should not be 
 surprised to find 
 it become one of 
 the most beauti- 
 ful places in the Far East and a popular retreat for conferences 
 of one kind or another. It is growing rapidly. Government 
 officials have their summer headquarters there and it was re- 
 ported that the Supreme Court of the Islands would locate 
 there permanently. 
 
 There are three churches in the town — Catholic, Episco- 
 pal and United Brethren. The churches of the Evangelical 
 Union are depending upon us since we are its only representa- 
 tive in the city. The Union consists of all the Evangelical 
 churches carrying on mission work in the Islands. 
 
 The Evangel Press 
 
 One of the serious questions confronting mission boards 
 and churches in every mission field is how to provide Christian 
 literature for the new church. The religious press is a real 
 necessity. One of the main dialects of the Islands is Ilocano. 
 There are three mission boards working among the Ilocano 
 speaking people. At present our press is the only one supply- 
 
52 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 ing Christian lit- 
 erature for this 
 large constitu- 
 ency. The “Nam- 
 b a g a Damag,” 
 which w e pub- 
 lish, is the only 
 Christian week- 
 ly. The paper 
 contains sixteen 
 pages, two of 
 which carry news of the Methodist work among the Ilocanos. 
 Methodist editors supply the material subject to the approval 
 of the publisher. The paper has 2,500 subscribers, 1,500 of 
 these are from Methodist families, 500 from Disciple or Chris- 
 tian families and 500 from United Brethren. The Methodists 
 are cooperating officially. Since our visit a temporary ar- 
 rangement has been made whereby the ‘Dalan ti Coppia,” 
 (Disciple publication) will be issued in union with our “Nam- 
 bag a Damag.” This arrangement gives each of the three 
 denominations two pages for denominational news and the 
 remainder of the paper for general religious news. The tem- 
 porary combination is to last for three months after which a 
 trial vote will be taken and a future policy determined by the 
 Disciple Mission and Church. It is possible that they will take 
 official action authorizing cooperation. In that event the 
 whole Ilocano field will be open to the Evangel Press without 
 any competition and we will have as our direct responsibility 
 the supplying of Christian literature for the Ilocanos. 
 
 The Hospital 
 
 The mission hospital is doing a fine piece of medical 
 work at San Fernando. Miss Lottie Spessard is in charge. 
 The government is encouraging the work and helping in every 
 way to make it succeed. Since it is the only hospital in La 
 
 Evangel Press — San Fernando 
 
Our Specific Task 
 
 53 
 
 Union Province 
 it has a big field 
 and a growing 
 clientele. The 
 only doctors 
 practicing at the 
 hospital are the 
 government 
 health doctors. 
 
 A fine coopera- 
 tion is carried on 
 in this way. The mission provides a building, equipment and 
 a nurse, and the government, through its doctors and health 
 department, turns all its patients over to our care. This opens 
 many doors and makes possible points of contact with the 
 people which could not be secured otherwise. It is a fertile 
 field for personal work and Christian service. 
 
 Present Hospital Building 
 
 Bible Training School 
 
 This institution is well located on an eminence overlook- 
 ing San Fernando City and bay. It is housed in a commodious 
 and well-constructed building, giving ample accommodations 
 for class work and dormitory. There is no better building in 
 the city. But the material equipment and location are not the 
 
 best things about 
 the institution. 
 The fine spirit- 
 u a 1 atmosphere 
 of the school is 
 more exceptional 
 than the build- 
 ing itself. This 
 is proven by the 
 fact that it has 
 been sending 
 
 Bible Training School 
 
54 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 back into the life of the church a constant stream of the most 
 acceptable Bible women and deaconesses. When the history 
 of the United Brethren Mission in the Philippines is written, 
 much credit will have to be given to these consecrated young 
 women. They go out into the most difficult places and do 
 work in many instances equal to a regular pastorate. 
 
 The School is planning to enlarge its usefulness by 
 branching out and offering more inducements for a general 
 education. Heretofore the chief purpose has been to train 
 deaconesses and Bible women. It will remain that, but in 
 the meantime a larger student body can be served and young 
 women given a Christian education under favorable conditions. 
 It is the part of wisdom to have this larger purpose in view. 
 A trained Christian womanhood is a valuable asset for any 
 country. Since such work can be carried on without infringing 
 on the primary purpose of the school the staff is planning to go 
 ahead and make it serve this larger field of need. 
 
 Graduating Class — 1926 
 
Our Specific Task 
 
 55 
 
 Union Seminary 
 
 We were very much impressed with the Union Seminary 
 and high school located at Manila. Plans are now on to intro- 
 duce college subjects with a view of finally having a full col- 
 lege course avail- 
 able for such as 
 wish to take the 
 regular Sem- 
 inary Course 
 leading up to the 
 degree o f B.D. 
 
 The responsibil- 
 ity for this insti- 
 tution i s divid- 
 ed into sevc n 
 shares which are carried by five denominations as follows : 
 Presbyterian North 2, Methodist Episcopal 2, Congregational 
 1, Disciples 1, United Brethren 1. 
 
 A $50,000 re-enforced concrete administration building on 
 Taft Avenue has just been completed. It is a beautiful struc- 
 ture and will add much to the cause of Protestantism in the 
 Islands. We heartily endorse this institution and recommend 
 our continued support and cooperation. It is making possible 
 a better and more thorough training for the ministers of the 
 various denominations at far less cost than would be possible 
 in separate institutions. 
 
 Union Seminary 
 
 China 
 
 Our task is none the less specific in the vast and restless 
 territory of China. For years we have been carrying on an ex- 
 tensive program of medical missions. 
 
 Honan Medical Work 
 
 The Coover Dispensary and the Maternity Hospital at 
 Beth Eden are rendering a high type of Christian service. 
 
56 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 Doctor Bigler's thirty-five years 
 of continuous practice have 
 established a wide reputation for 
 these worthy institutions. The 
 hospital has twenty beds and 
 employs two physicians and two 
 nurses full time. A brief re- 
 view of the report for the first 
 six months for 1926 will give you 
 some idea of the tremendous 
 amount of work which is carried 
 on. Minor operations 85, teeth 
 extracted 303, obstetrical cases 
 117, medical cases in wards 33, 
 dispensary cases, including office and out-calls, 12,114. So 
 far-reaching is the influence of this medical work that the 
 sick come for miles to be healed and cured of their many 
 ills. 
 
 I visited the Coover Dispensary one morning and found a 
 waiting list of nearly two hundred. While the patients waited 
 their turn to see the doctor a Chinese Bible woman told them 
 Bible stories and 
 brought them a sim- 
 ple gospel message. 
 
 The results of this 
 work are wonderful. 
 
 Many come to know 
 Him who heals the 
 soul through His 
 servants who know 
 how to heal the 
 body. This is a part 
 of our responsibility 
 in China. 
 
 Three Nurses 
 
Our Specific Task 
 
 57 
 
 Siu Lam Medical Work 
 
 Ramsburg Hospital is located at Siu Lam. The influ- 
 ence and prestige of this institution is growing steadily. We 
 visited the only other hospital in the city. It was very poorly 
 
 equipped and not at 
 all up to the stand- 
 ards of similar in- 
 stitutions in Amer- 
 ica. Ours is the only 
 commendable h o s- 
 pital ministering to 
 the physical needs of 
 the 200,000 people 
 living i n that con- 
 gested center. Sev- 
 eral very serious 
 
 , • Ramsburg Hospital 
 
 cases were being 
 
 treated at the time we visited the institution. A most difficult 
 case of skin grafting was responding perfectly to Doctor Cook’s 
 treatment. The hospital contains twenty-four beds and has a 
 growing dispensary practice. The constantly increasing pat- 
 ronage makes a heavy responsibility for the small staff. A 
 well trained Chinese physician will be added just as soon as 
 one can be secured. I feel that this is a definite part of our 
 
 w r ork in China and 
 that we must con- 
 tinue it until Chinese 
 have been raised up 
 who can carry it on. 
 
 Public Health Work 
 
 Dr. Frank Oldt 
 is our representative 
 on the staff of the 
 Canton Hospital 
 
 River Boat to Siu Lam 
 
58 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 which was closed recently because of labor troubles. Under 
 the auspices of the hospital lie has been promoting public 
 health and sanitation campaigns. The first campaign of out- 
 standing success was conducted against gambling and social 
 vice. It showed how these two evils affect the nervous sys- 
 tem and general health. The past year he assisted the munic- 
 ipal authorities in a great vaccination campaign. A total of 
 30,000 Chinese were vaccinated in one week. This is remark- 
 able considering how little China-of-the-past depended upon 
 modern medicine. A recent letter says that he has been asked 
 
 to assist in a rat ex- 
 termination cam- 
 paign to guard 
 against plague. 
 
 He is making a 
 careful study also of 
 night soil and its 
 uses. The seat of the 
 hook-worm with its 
 evil results is in the 
 night soil. It is ab- 
 solutely necessary 
 to use it for fertilizer 
 in order to grow the food stuffs which are needed. The peo- 
 ple. applying it to the fields get the germ into their system 
 through sores on their bare feet. Doctor Oldt is endeavoring 
 by thorough research to discover whether there is not some 
 way in which the larva in the soil can be killed without de- 
 stroying its value as fertilizer. So far no method is known 
 to science by which this can be done. 
 
 Miller Seminary 
 
 If the women who put so much into this institution could 
 see it, they would not regret for one minute what they did. It 
 is truly a wonderful institution. The two buildings are com- 
 
 Operating Room 
 
Our Specific Task 
 
 59 
 
 Miller Seminary 
 
 m a n d i n g and at- 
 tractive. They are 
 comfortable and 
 serviceable. No in- 
 stitution which we 
 have in the Far 
 East is better 
 equipped. The at- 
 mosphere of the 
 compound is so dif- 
 ferent from the at- 
 mosphere of the congested city lying all around it, that it is noticed 
 immediately on entering the gate. The girls are free and happy. 
 They are clean and healthy. The discipline and order of the school 
 are good and the educational standing among the best. It was our 
 privilege to attend the twenty-fifth anniversary on April 9, the 
 date being changed from March 11, in order to have us partici- 
 pate in the celebration. There were fully 500 present, including 
 the students, at the afternoon exercises. 
 
 The womanhood of China needs this school. In every 
 non-Christian land women are oppressed and considered in- 
 ferior to men. So long as this continues and girls are forced 
 to suffer such disadvantages as they are at present, the eleva- 
 tion of womanhood must be stressed. No country can be 
 helped permanently until the womanhood of that country is 
 
 helped. I doubt 
 whether we are 
 making any 
 greater contribu- 
 tion to the salva- 
 tion of China 
 than we are mak- 
 ing through 
 Miller Seminary. 
 Each v e a r we 
 
 Miss Potts and School Girls 
 
60 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 are training from one hundred and twenty-five to one hun- 
 dred and fifty girls in Christian character and the elements 
 which go to make a good home and a great country. The 
 Church can not do less for the girls of China. It ought to 
 do more. 
 
 Union Institutions 
 
 \Ye are cooperating in three such institutions. It was our 
 privilege to visit and observe the work of each one. 
 
 Union Middle School — The School was formerly oper- 
 ated by the American Presbyterian Board. In July, 1919, 
 representatives of the Church of Christ in China, the Amer- 
 ican Presbyterian Mission, the United Brethren Mission and 
 the American Board Mission, reorganized the school and made 
 it a union institution. The boards made these arrangements 
 in order to provide a thoroughly equipped Christian high 
 school for boys. It is located a few squares from our mission 
 compound on Fung Tsuen. There are three large permanent 
 buildings — administration, dormitory with chapel and resi- 
 dence. Several temporary mat sheds are located on the cam- 
 pus, also, in order to accommodate all the students. The en- 
 rollment last year was more than 300. Our mission provides 
 one faculty unit and a part of the administrative expense. 
 
 Union Middle School 
 
Our Specific Task 
 
 61 
 
 Union Normal School — The following missions are coop- 
 erating in this school : American Board of Commissioners for 
 Foreign Missions (Congregational), Presbyterian Foreign 
 Mission Board, New Zealand Foreign Mission (Presbyterian), 
 Foreign Missionary Society United Brethren in Christ, and 
 the Canadian Presbyterian Mission. The school is successor 
 to the Fulton Kindergarten Training School and has graduated 
 fifty-five teachers. Of these, forty-eight are teaching at the 
 present time, two are continuing studies elsewhere. Forty- 
 seven of the fifty-five graduates are church members and the 
 others are sympathetic to Christianity. Forty-seven of the 
 fifty-five are teach- 
 i n g in Christian 
 schools. The insti- 
 tution has supplied 
 several teachers for 
 Miller Seminary. 
 
 Graduates of the 
 Seminary frequent- 
 ly go to the Union 
 Normal School for 
 special training in normal work. The school is thoroughly 
 Christian and is filling a great need in South China. The 
 Mission Schools in Kwangtung are dependent upon this insti- 
 tution for their supply of teachers. Our mission furnishes one 
 American teacher and one current expense unit of $600. 
 
 Union Theological College — On March 17, 1914, repre- 
 sentatives of seven missions met to form a provisional board 
 of directors for a Union Theological College as follows: 
 American Board (Congregational), Wesleyan Methodists, 
 American Presbyterian, New Zealand Presbyterian, United 
 Brethren Church Missionary Society and London Missionary 
 Society. Later the Canadian Presbyterian Mission joined 
 the group. Since that time the school has grown steadily 
 until it has a very desirable location with three large sub- 
 
 Miller Seminary Girls 
 
62 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 stantial buildings and several residences for faculty mem- 
 bers. The total number of graduates in ten years was 96. Of 
 this number 86 are serving in Kwangtung Province. The 
 leadership of the Chinese Church in South China is dependent 
 upon this institution. It was our privilege to attend the an- 
 nual meeting of the Board of Directors in the spring of 1926. 
 
 We wish to em- 
 phasize this fact in 
 connection with 
 these institutions. 
 They are as much a 
 part of our responsi- 
 bility and work as 
 any other thing we 
 are doing on the 
 field. Since we have 
 entered the unio n, 
 we must be prepared 
 to carry our share of 
 the work. The suc- 
 cess of the whole en- 
 terprise depends upon how well each unit bears its part. Again, 
 these institutions are doing what we should have to do alone 
 in some manner if we were not in the union. We would find 
 it exceedingly costly and less satisfactory if we were to under- 
 take these various phases of work alone. Any tendency to 
 violate or ignore our relation to these schools will in the end 
 do damage to what we look upon as purely our own responsi- 
 bility. We must think as seriously and plan as carefully for 
 this phase of our work as for any other. It is a part of our 
 missionary program on the field. These union enterprises 
 make possible a higher grade of work than could be accom- 
 plished otherwise. 
 
 In addition to these institutions we must continue our 
 evangelistic work. At the present an aggressive campaign 
 
Our Specific Task 
 
 63 
 
 is impossible be- 
 cause of the d i s- 
 turbed political con- 
 ditions. While the 
 Church of Christ in 
 China will lead in 
 this phase of work, 
 yet unless we give 
 them close and faith- 
 ful cooperation they 
 will be tremendous- 
 ly handicappe d. 
 
 They will continue 
 
 , ' i • , Chinese Bible Women 
 
 to need our assist- 
 ance, for neither the Chinese Church nor all the Missions are 
 able to meet the spiritual needs of the millions who are yet 
 unevangelized. 
 
 In Japan 
 
 The church has made a good beginning in the large cities 
 of Japan. But the work of missions is not done. There is a 
 continuous list of appeals representing most urgent opportuni- 
 ties and needs. Souls in their hunger and despair are calling 
 out for God. They may not know what it is that they want — - 
 nevertheless the need is there and so is the desire for truth. 
 
 Our specific task outside of the cities centers in two dis- 
 tricts — Chiba Ken and Shiga Ken. There are probably a half 
 million people in these two districts for whose evangelization 
 the United Brethren Mission is directly responsible. 
 
 Chiba Ken is an important rural community just north of 
 Tokyo and is very easily reached from there by train. The 
 central place in which to carry on our rural work in this dis- 
 trict is Matsudo, a county seat of twelve thousand popula- 
 tion. At present we have a small congregation in the town. 
 Since the mission has neither a lot nor a chapel, the congre- 
 
64 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 At the Horticultural College, Matsudo 
 
 gation meets i n a 
 Japanese house. Rev. 
 A. H. Sholty is in 
 charge of the work 
 in this district 
 
 Shiga Ken lies 
 east of Kyoto around 
 the sou chern shores 
 of Lake Biwa. Otsu 
 and Kusatsu are two 
 of its leading towns. 
 Rev. J. Edgar Knipp 
 and Rev. K. Yabe 
 are doing a very 
 striking piece of rural evangelism in this region. It is the best 
 rural work in our mission. So far it has been exceptionally 
 successful. These men have a program which aims to reach 
 the whole country side by making various points of contact. 
 It includes many phases of church work such as kindergartens, 
 night classes in Bible and English, visitation among the public 
 schools with addresses on various questions, labor meetings 
 for the working men, and for the farmers, Sunday schools in 
 all the farming villages, dormitory for boys in the Normal 
 School and special meetings for mothers. In this way they 
 are broadening the 
 influence of the 
 Christian Church. 
 
 This program must 
 be carried forward 
 as a kind of demon- 
 stration of w hat 
 can be done in 
 these great neglect- 
 
 ed areas. 
 
 Otsu Kindergarten 
 
Our Specific Task 
 
 65 
 
 Country Evangelism 
 
 In trying to discover the best place as well as the most 
 needy place for missionaries in these days of progress and 
 transition we observed that in the opinion of the Japanese 
 Church that 
 
 Rev. and Mrs. J. Edgar Knipp and Japanese 
 Children 
 
 place was the 
 rural town and 
 community. I 
 I asked Dr. K. 
 
 Miyazaki, Sec- 
 retary of the Na- 
 tional Christian 
 Council of Japan 
 “What is the 
 greatest opportunity for service in Japan?” He replied, “The 
 missionary’s greatest opportunity lies in the unevangelized 
 rural communities.” Dr. S. H. Wainright said that mission- 
 aries usually had more influence in rural communities than 
 
 Japanese pastors. He gave as 
 his reasons for that statement : 
 
 (a) The church does not have 
 pastors to send into such com- 
 munities who are strong enough 
 to command the respect and win 
 the confidence of the people. 
 
 (b) The missionary has special 
 training and is better fitted. He 
 will therefore get a more ready 
 hearing, (c) He will get more 
 recognition because he is a for- 
 eigner. These more remote com- 
 munities are not reached so fre- 
 quently by outside men. 
 
 The Japanese Mission Con- 
 Reverend and Mrs. Yabe ference was also of the opinion 
 
66 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 that the most needy place now for the missionary was in the 
 rural districts which have been so badly neglected. More than 
 seventy per cent of the people in Japan live in the country. 
 Mr. C. M. Warren, who has given himself exclusively to rural 
 evangelism, said in 1922 that six and four-tenths per cent of 
 the Protestant Missionaries live among forty-six million or 
 82% of the people, and that 93.6% live among ten millions, or 
 18% of the people. The missionaries were distributed in this 
 way between the rural and city populations. The proportion 
 has changed very little since these figures were compiled. It 
 is apparent, therefore, how neglected the rural sections really 
 are. Our work in Japan must be directed more and more to- 
 ward reaching the country people. It is necessary that we 
 help our Japanese brethren to bring the work in the cities to 
 the highest efficiency. We must not neglect this. It will fur- # 
 nish the base from which the Japanese church must carry on in 
 the future. In the meantime if an extensive work is done it 
 should be in the direction of rural evangelism. 
 
 Doshisha University 
 
 Another responsibility which we must continue to bear is 
 the training of a Japanese ministry. It is no less important 
 there than here. So far the Japanese church has not been able 
 financially to provide for the education of its leaders. While 
 our church and mission never undertook to build an educa- 
 tional institution in Japan they did not neglect the training of 
 future pastors. More than 20 years ago the mission began to 
 cooperate with Doshisha University by furnishing teachers. 
 In 1912 the mission accepted definite responsibility and agreed 
 to finance a Japanese professorship and provide a foreign 
 teacher for the Department of Religious Education in the Sem- 
 inary. Doctor Shively has been filling that place ever since 
 its founding. This method of cooperation has several distinct 
 advantages : (a) It provides the best educational advantages 
 
 at a minimum cost to the mission, (b) It makes possible a 
 
Our Specific Task 
 
 67 
 
 Doctor Shively and Class of Converts at Kyoto 
 
 better school than one mission could furnish independently, 
 (c) It is administered largely by Japanese, hence it is more 
 likely to meet their needs. So long as we are in mission work 
 we shall find it necessary to assist in the training of national 
 leaders. There is no school where we could get more recogni- 
 tion or better service. A Christian spirit predominates and the 
 schoarship is high. 
 
 This chapter is meant to give the reader a general idea of 
 the specific work we have to carry on abroad. Sometimes 
 folk ask, “What is our work? What do we have to do?” If 
 the United Brethren Church should discontinue its missionary 
 activities every one of the causes and institutions mentioned 
 would suffer, some would naturally die. They could not go on 
 without our assistance. If we do not carry them on nobody 
 will and the territory will be without the gospel except for the 
 efforts which the national church will be able to make. She 
 will remain strong and aggressive if we continue as her faith- 
 
68 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 ful ally in the cause. Does the church want to see the people 
 of these sections go back to their former habits and life? If 
 not she must continue to furnish the salt which will save the 
 community. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 IMPERATIVE NEEDS 
 
 “Behold, I have set before thee an open door.” 
 
 We come now to consider needs which are imperative and 
 urgent. They are imperative because we cannot evade them. 
 They are a part of the compulsory demands which success 
 makes upon the successful. If a man’s business grows he is 
 put to the expense of enlarging his store and equipment or 
 surrendering his opportunity to expand. So with missions — 
 we must either meet the situation or make up our minds to 
 lose opportunities for growth and service. The needs are 
 urgent because they should be met now. The work on the 
 field has reached the stage where advance is impossible until 
 reenforcements are provided. When the real work of the 
 Kingdom is stopped because supplies are not forthcoming 
 from a church which has abundance the situation becomes ur- 
 gent and should be changed immediately. 
 
 Baguio 
 
 The city of Baguio is growing in numbers and importance 
 every year. “It is becoming one of the important student cen- 
 ters of the Island s,” 
 writes Reverend Wit- 
 mer. “Trinidad Farm 
 School, which is located 
 here, has an enrollment 
 this year of four hun- 
 dred and fifty students. 
 
 Eighty of these are from 
 Kalinga. Work in con- 
 nection with this school 
 is of great importance. Reverend Witmer and School Children 
 
70 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 These boys go back to their homes after finishing their course 
 and become leaders in their communities.” 
 
 Our work here touches the whole Philippines. During the 
 summer months people from all over these Islands come here 
 for their vacation. Some of the missionaries and more of the 
 American school teachers do not have the opportunity to at- 
 tend religious services in English except when they come to 
 Baguio. Last season one teacher was heard to remark after 
 the service, “That was the first time I attended church for 
 two years.” Another said, “That was the first sermon I heard 
 in two years.” Thus it seems of the utmost importance that 
 we give these visitors the best church service possible. 
 
 The cosmopolitan character of the congregation and the 
 community calls for a diversified program : First, many 
 
 American school teachers spend the vacation months there. 
 Other Americans are in business or government service and 
 live there permanently. Second, many Ilocanos and English 
 speaking Filipinos are located there. Bishop Clippinger spoke 
 to Judge Lopez’s large class of Filipino men one Sunday morn- 
 ing. Most of them belong to the constabulary force of the Is- 
 land. Third, the Bontocs and mountain people who are native 
 to this region must be reached also. They belong to the group 
 classified as non-Christian tribes and are very primitive in 
 many of their customs and habits of life. 
 
 One morning I noticed two Bontocs in the meeting of the. 
 Annual Conference, which we were holding at Baguio. After 
 the service I went to the rear of the room where they were 
 seated and welcomed them to our meeting. The man spoke 
 English very well. The woman, whom I learned was his 
 mother, could not speak English but the son acted as in- 
 terpreter for any conversation we wished to carry on. He said 
 to me, “I perceive that this is a Protestant church,” and I 
 replied, “Yes.” Then he said, “I perceive that they have more 
 light than the other church (Roman). We want you (the 
 church) to stay until all the mountain people have the light.” 
 
Imperative Needs 
 
 71 
 
 I feel that I ought to spell the last word with a capital yet I do 
 not think that he had Christ in mind. How could he for he 
 never knew Him? What he wanted I think was knowledge, 
 education, enlightenment. But where can we get the light in 
 an adequate way except as we receive the Light. Think of 
 that plea, “We want you to stay until all the mountain people 
 have the Light.” Let us interpret it that way and give him 
 and them the best Light we know. What a challenge comes 
 ringing and re-echoing from those Filipino mountains. I think 
 I can hear it now. 
 
 In order to meet such a variety of needs and build up a 
 strong religious center the Mission must have a larger staff 
 and better equipment. A missionary family should be stationed 
 there regularly. But our staff is so small that it is impossible 
 to assign one family definitely to that task. He must give his 
 time to other interests of the mission occasionally. During 
 furlough the station is likely to be without a family except 
 for short periods of time when those of other stations are free 
 to give some direction to the work. Our chapel is well located 
 but it is very small. It is a little one-room building with a 
 small side room for a pastor’s study. Think of taking care of 
 such a variety of work with no better facilities than that. It is 
 impossible. If we can put twelve or fifteen thousand dollars 
 into a new building the Filipinos will do their share. Bishop 
 Clippinger and I can think of no more strategic need in the 
 Philippines than this appeal just presented in behalf of Baguio. 
 
 Ifugao and Kalinga 
 
 These are sub-provinces in Mountain Province. The Mis- 
 sion has been able the past year and a half to station one mis- 
 sionary, Miss Myrtle Metzger, at Kiangan, the capital of 
 Ifugao. With the assistance of the Otterbein Guild the Board 
 saw its way clear to authorize the purchase of a residence to 
 house the missionary and provide facilities for our mission 
 activities. The Love Offering of the Guild will be devoted to 
 
72 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 this project. This 
 will give us a 
 good start in this 
 region, but Ka- 
 linga remains 
 unaided even 
 though it is just 
 as important. 
 
 Last May 
 Rev. C. C. Wh- 
 in er. 
 
 Acting Su- 
 
 On the Trail to Ifugao 
 Stopping to Repair the Road 
 
 , per intendent, 
 
 called attention to the unusual situation in a letter he sent to 
 the office. “Governor Early said that one of the most pressing 
 educational needs in Mountain Province is the opening of a 
 high school in Lubuagan, Kalinga. He further said that he 
 would be glad if we would do it as the government has more 
 to do than their funds will permit. We think this is a great 
 opportunity and should be utilized. We thought we might 
 organize it and 
 employ Filipino 
 teachers under 
 American super- 
 vision. The high 
 school course 
 which he recom- 
 m ends is the 
 normal course 
 which m eans 
 that we would Church at Kiangan 
 
 have the opportunity to train practically all the future teach- 
 ers and government officials.” 
 
 In his annual report to the Board in 1926 he wrote, “Our 
 mountain work presents one great open door of opportunity. 
 The Roman church has realized this for some time. In a 
 
Imperative Needs 
 
 73 
 
 district in which we have only five ordained men, they have 
 seventy-two Belgian priests. Yet Governor Early has said 
 that the mountain people prefer the Americans to lead them. 
 This is especially true of the Kalingas. He feels sure that if 
 we placed an American couple at Lubuagan, Kalinga, that we 
 could win practically the whole province.” Will the Church 
 meet these claims and make possible a ringing victory in the 
 immediate future? 
 
 Evangel Press 
 
 In another chapter the place of Christian literature in the 
 life of the Church was stressed. In this one the need for 
 equipment is presented. The press is located in a good build- 
 ing in San Fernando, the capital of La Union Province and the 
 center of the Ilocano population. The building is large enough 
 to allow additional equipment. A medium sized cylinder press 
 and new type constitute our immediate needs. The “Naim- 
 bag” is issued now on two small job presses which entail a 
 great deal of time and extra expense. If the Church saw the 
 advantage of Christian literature on the mission field she 
 would meet the need at once. 
 
 Staff 
 
 The work in the Philippines demands four families besides 
 the three single women now on the staff. One family is needed 
 to manage the Evan- 
 gel Press and assist 
 in the student work 
 at San Fernando. 
 
 Another is necessary 
 to meet our agree- 
 ment with the Direc- 
 tors of Union Theo- 
 logical Seminary to 
 furnish one member 
 of the faculty. The 
 
 Staff in the Philippines 
 
74 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 work at Baguio calls for a full time missionary family. Ifugao 
 and Kalinga call loudly. Government authorities invite our 
 assistance in educational work among the youth of these 
 neglected regions. A family is needed for this work. If we 
 can man these places well for the next fifteen years, Doctor 
 Widdoes is of the opinion that the crisis in our work will be 
 passed and that a strong aggressive Filipino church will be 
 ready to assume the major responsibility for all Christian 
 
 work. 
 
 Harajuku Kindergarten 
 
 Our mission 
 work is well or- 
 ganized and 
 efficiently ad- 
 ministered. It 
 stretches from 
 Tokyo to Kobe 
 and is centered 
 
 largely in the big cities. Nine of our nineteen churches are in 
 cities of half a million or more. Four others are in cities of 
 25,000 or over. The remaining six are in towns ranging from 
 five to twenty thousand. I had the privilege of visiting every 
 one of the congregations and speaking to practically all of 
 them. Each place 
 is served by a 
 Japanese pastor. 
 
 Most of these 
 men have had 
 fair training and 
 are doing accept- 
 able work. Some 
 take rank with 
 the best minis- 
 terial leaders in Kindergarten 
 
 In Japan 
 
Imperative Needs 
 
 75 
 
 Japan. It was gratifying to know that out of the twenty-five 
 best sermons selected from the pulpit discourses for 1925, two 
 of them came from our men, Reverend Yasuda and Reverend 
 Yabe. 
 
 The most pressing question in our mission is how to se- 
 cure more adequate equipment. The pastors and people need 
 tools with which to work. Buildings will give them more in- 
 fluence and add permanency to the work in the community. 
 The present situation is as follows : 
 
 Tokyo 
 
 Harajuku 
 
 Shibuya 
 
 Okubo 
 
 Honjo 
 
 Chiba District 
 
 Funabashi 
 
 Noda 
 
 Matsudo 
 
 Ichikawa 
 
 Equipment Supplied 
 
 Church and lot 
 Parsonage and lot 
 
 Church and lot 
 Parsonage and lot 
 
 Church and lot 
 Lot for parsonage 
 Barracks Chapel and 
 lot 
 
 Equipment Needed 
 
 Parsonage 
 
 Church and lot (funds 
 for same at hand) 
 Parsonage and lot 
 
 Chapel and lot 
 Parsonage and lot 
 
 Chapel and lot Parsonage and lot 
 
 Church and lot 
 Parsonage and lot 
 
 Chapel and lot 
 Parsonage and lot 
 
 Church at Ichikawa 
 
76 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 Tokaido 
 
 Odawara 
 
 Numazu 
 
 Shizuoka 
 
 Nagoya 
 
 Shiga District 
 
 Kusatsu 
 
 Zeze 
 
 Otsu 
 
 Central Japan 
 
 Kyoto First 
 
 Kyoto-Rakusai 
 
 Equipment Supplied 
 
 Chapel and lot 
 Lot for church 
 
 Church and lot 
 Lot for parsonage 
 
 Lot for church 
 
 Church and lot 
 Parsonage and lot 
 
 Chapel 
 
 Equipment Needed 
 
 Church and lot 
 Parsonage and lot 
 
 Church and lot 
 Parsonage and lot 
 
 Parsonage and lot 
 Church 
 
 Parsonage and lot 
 
 Church and lot 
 Parsonage and lot 
 
 Parsonage 
 
 Church 
 
 Church and lot 
 Parsonage and lot 
 
 Church at Matsudo 
 
 Osaka 
 
 Kobe 
 
 Church and lot 
 Parsonage and lot 
 
 Church and lot 
 Parsonage and lot 
 
 The foregoing facts give you some idea of the present 
 needs. The congregations which have no buildings are wor- 
 shipping in rented Japanese houses and store rooms. I wish 
 
Imperative Needs 
 
 77 
 
 you could see some of these rented quarters. They served 
 well in the early part of the work, but if the church is to wield 
 an effective influence permanent buildings are as essential 
 there as in America. The total need represented in the fore- 
 going outline is seven lots for churches and nine churches, 
 eleven lots for parsonages and thirteen parsonage buildings. 
 
 The Japanese take an interest in their churches as well as 
 their homes and keep them clean and in good repair. Any 
 equipment we help them to secure will receive their personal 
 attention and care. This list provides ample opportunity for 
 Kingdom investments which are well worth while. If any one 
 of them is provided it will put new hope and courage into the 
 Japanese Church. 
 
 Osaka— It is difficult to pick out the places which need 
 help first. In going from one to the other and surveying each 
 field personally in company with the pastor, it was easy to 
 believe that each one had an urgency all its own. I shall 
 
 Rev. Nakamura and Teachers, Osaka Church 
 
78 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 attempt, however, to suggest what seems to me and to others 
 to be the most urgent. Bishop Clippinger and I agreed that 
 if we are going to remain in Osaka it is necessary to secure 
 a permanent location. Osaka is rapidly becoming the Pitts- 
 burgh of the Far East. Smoke stacks, factories and commer- 
 cial buildings are outlined against the horizon as you view the 
 city from the bay. More than two million people live within 
 its limits and environs. It is destined to become the biggest 
 industrial center in Japan and probably in all the Far East. 
 
 We have a growing congregation which has accumulated 
 about 7,000 yen toward a lot and building. At present they 
 are worshipping in a rented Japanese house. It is small and 
 unpretentious, so attracts no attention whatever in that large 
 city. It lacks the element of permanency because tenants are 
 requested to move occasionally. In spite of that the congrega- 
 tion remains together and is growing slowly. Every time it 
 has to establish itself in another community progress is hin- 
 dered. It will probably take thirty or forty thousand yen to 
 secure the kind of a location the church needs, but we must 
 face it with them and do our best. There are many reasons 
 why we should remain in this great eastern metropolis. There 
 are just as many reasons why we should help secure a perma- 
 nent location and a new church building. 
 
 Matsudo — The need at Matsudo is equally urgent. While 
 it is not as large as Osaka, yet it is the logical place to begin 
 our work for the Chiba Ken District with its 200,000 inhabi- 
 tants. The government has a horticultural college and farm 
 adjacent to the town. Bible classes among the students are 
 popular. The missionary, therefore, makes many contacts 
 which help to broaden his influence and carry the Christian 
 story to many sections of Japan. Our force is very badly handi- 
 capped because it has no permanent place of worship. The 
 small congregation meets in a Japanese house which it rents. 
 The building is not well adapted to religious work and leaves 
 the impression on the people of the town that the movement 
 
Imperative Needs 
 
 79 
 
 Rev. and Mrs. Sholty and Group of Workers at Matsudo 
 
 is only temporary and will soon vanish. Another reason why 
 a church building and missionary residence should be located 
 there is the fact that they would almost double the time of the 
 missionary. As it is he must spend too much time going back 
 and forth to his residence in Tokyo. A residence and adequate 
 equipment would put him close to his work and facilitate 
 matters greatly. 
 
 China 
 
 China is undergoing great changes. She is in the midst of 
 a renaissance. The travail and pain of a new life are suffered 
 in every member of her vast body. The remnants of the old 
 order lie about in disorder and ruin, while the tender forces of 
 the new order tediously and precariously work their way 
 through this chaos to light and power. 
 
 The changes are accompanied by many other movements. 
 Some are good, others are a menace to progress and good gov- 
 ernment. Anti-foreign and anti-Christian forces are hinder- 
 ing the missionary cause and making it difficult for the na- 
 
80 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 tional church to 
 press forward as it 
 otherwise would. 
 Lawlessness and 
 banditry make 
 school work uncer- 
 tain and general 
 evangelism unsafe. 
 Parents are afraid to 
 send their children 
 out of the village, 
 for fear of having 
 them kidnapped and 
 held for ransom. 
 Chinese pastors are not free to travel because of these maraud- 
 ing bands of robbers. 
 
 In enumerating the needs in China it is necessary to take 
 into account the present political situation. If conditions were 
 normal our mission needs would be very numerous. While I 
 was writing the foregoing sentence it occurred to me that 
 perhaps things were normal. Progress is more natural to life 
 and nations than a static position such as China occupied for 
 centuries. What I should have said was this, “If things were 
 static and settled as they once were in China it would not be 
 difficult to plan a big program.” But now things are different. 
 They are changing so rapidly that it is difficult to keep pace 
 with the times. The nation is coming to such a new discovery 
 of itself that great changes occur as it were, over night. It is 
 a problem to decide upon a program and to determine needs 
 at a time like that. Men must be wise in order to do it. But 
 even that is no excuse for not attempting big things in King- 
 dom building. China needs Christ and needs Him now more 
 than any other time. Since she is changing it is tremendously 
 important that she make the right kind of a change. It may be 
 centuries before another opportunity like this will come again. 
 
 Rice Time in China 
 
Imperative Needs 
 
 81 
 
 The first thing, therefore, for us to do is not to attempt 
 the launching of new projects but to push up to maximum effi- 
 ciency the mission institutions which are now on the field. 
 They must be so organized and manned as to carry peak loads 
 and to carry them well. That means that the staff must be 
 sufficiently large to allow the institutions to function properly. 
 Our staff is small at present. It should be larger so as to 
 relieve some who are carrying extra burdens. 
 
 Again our 
 institutions need 
 additional equip- 
 ment and in 
 some instances 
 better quarters. 
 
 For a number of 
 years they have 
 been working on 
 a very small ap- 
 propriation. 
 
 Their work was 
 
 hindered and their efficiency impaired. Time and weather are 
 cruel in their treatment of property. T hey rob it every season 
 of some of its former glory. Various repairs must be made in 
 order to keep it serviceable and looking well. 
 
 Chinese School Children 
 
 An Unevangelized Village 
 
 If the present 
 is uncertain in 
 China the future is 
 not. Some day the 
 Mission Boards are 
 going to be able to 
 plan for the biggest 
 thing they ever un- 
 dertook in that 
 great empire. The 
 doors are open now 
 
82 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 but the weather (politically) is rough. It is not always going 
 to be so. China will enter the family of nations eventually 
 on equal terms and will assure religious liberty and guarantee 
 tolerance to every faith. That will be Christianity’s oppor- 
 tunity. In order to meet it successfully every advantage must 
 be improved now. 
 
 Union institutions will have to be enlarged. We must be 
 ready to meet our proportionate share. Already some are wait- 
 ing for all the participants to provide their units so that they 
 
 can go ahead. The Union Normal 
 School will want us to provide our 
 share of the enlargement program. 
 The Union Middle School and the 
 Union Theological College must not 
 be delayed in their plans because we 
 are not ready. If our boys’ schools 
 and girls’ schools are to be perma- 
 nently successful they must have 
 buildings. Miller Seminary and our 
 hospital need additional aid. 
 
 Some day the Chinese Church 
 which is now passing through a ter- 
 rible storm of persecution is going 
 to emerge a mighty force of righte- 
 ousness. Then it will sweep across 
 China with such glory as the early 
 Church swept over Asia and Europe. 
 In order to be ready for the future it is necessary that we plan 
 well for the present. We must make our best contributions in 
 every way now so that we shall have the larger staff, better 
 equipment and stronger national Church ready for that day. 
 
 Current Funds 
 
 The sources from which the Church secures funds for 
 this work are the General Benevolence Budget and the W. M. 
 
Imperative Needs 
 
 83 
 
 A. General Fund. The quota allowed in the general benevo- 
 lence budget represents the very minimum that is needed each 
 year for the promotion of this great cause. In order to secure 
 this minimum the Church must raise the total amount $850,- 
 
 000 for general benevolences. Whenever a local church fails 
 
 to reach its full benevolence quota the Foreign Mission cause 
 sufferers by so much. Every time this happens it brings the 
 Board face to face with a reduction in the work because funds 
 are not sufficient to carry it on. Every effort should be put 
 forth, therefore, by every local church to meet its benevolence 
 quota regularly each month. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 KEEPING FAITH WITH HIM 
 
 “I am the way, the truth and the life.” 
 
 “And I, if I be lifted up . . . will draw all 
 
 men unto me.” 
 
 The Church has given of her wealth to the cause of Chris- 
 tian missions in the Far East. This wealth has made possible 
 many successful enterprises — schools, hospitals, printing 
 plants and church buildings of one kind or another. Many of 
 these buildings are spacious and beautiful as well as benefi- 
 cent and useful. The Church gave generously of her sons and 
 daughters for missionary work. They poured into the fields 
 of the Far East until the forces of China, Japan and the 
 Philippines number more than nine thousand. Of that num- 
 ber thirty-five represent the United Brethren Church. These 
 tangible gifts represent the means by which the Church carries 
 God’s “unspeakable gift” to non-Christian lands. 
 
 The only reason 
 the missionary has 
 for being in the 
 Orient is to take 
 Christ there. Any 
 other reason must 
 take secondary 
 place. It is not easy 
 to take Him. It is 
 the most difficult 
 thing about the 
 whole missionary 
 m o v e m e n t. It is 
 much easier to take 
 
 Canton Mission Residence 
 
Keeping Faith With Him 
 
 85 
 
 creeds, and forms, and institutions, than to take a Person like 
 Jesus. He is so big. He makes such drastic demands. His 
 conditions are so exacting that one hesitates to attempt the 
 task. But let me say it again, if we have any reason for being 
 on the mission field at all, it is to take Christ there. 
 
 What does this mean? What is included in such a pur- 
 pose? Are we willing to abide by the consequences? When 
 we raise such questions we come to the core of the whole prob- 
 lem. Take for instance Jesus’ teaching of love, brotherhood, 
 justice, righteousness, life, the relation of material and spiritual 
 things. Just as soon as we begin to apply them literally — 
 and surely that is the only way He meant them to be taken — 
 we find they begin to revolutionize society. Now revolutions 
 are not pleasant by any means. They disturb the old balance 
 of things in order to institute a new order and a more just 
 balance. They subject us to the charge of being “disturbers 
 of the peace,” “of turning the world up-side down.” But we 
 should rejoice in being privileged to share with the early apos- 
 tles in suffering such reproach. 
 
 I was seated one day with a small group of Chinese Chris- 
 tians discussing the present situation in China. In the course 
 of our conversation, I asked them “What can the church in 
 America do to help you in this crisis?” They replied, “There 
 are two things you can do: First, Assure us of your love and 
 sympathy. We certainly need it at this time. It inspires and 
 encourages us in the work we are trying to do. Second, Con- 
 tinue sending your missionaries to China. They represent the 
 best that America has sent. We need their fellowship and 
 help badly.” 
 
 The Filipino Christians expressed the same desires. They 
 covet our love and sympathy and the fellowship of our mis- 
 sionaries. The Japanese Christians gave three reasons why 
 they desired the services of the missionaries: First, To help 
 
 them in the task of evangelizing Japan. It is so big that they 
 are overwhelmed. Second, To interpret the best in Japan to 
 
86 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 Chinese Christians and Missionaries 
 
 other countries. Third, To keep Japan from becoming too 
 nationalistic. 
 
 Let us pause a moment and notice the reasons given by 
 our Chinese and Japanese friends. “They (the missionaries) 
 represent the best America sent to the Far East.” This is 
 truly a great commendation on the noble men and women who 
 have gone to the East to represent Christ and the Church. Sup- 
 pose everything America sent to China and the Orient repre- 
 sented the best, what a different opinion the Orient would have 
 of us. Unfortunately, some things (including men) got into 
 the Orient which represented the worse side of American life. 
 
 Some of the Japanese felt that there was danger of the 
 church becoming too nationalistic. They believe that a staff 
 of foreign missionaries on the field will help to avoid such an 
 attitude. They believe also that the world will suffer seriously 
 if the Church in any country is allowed to become nation- 
 alistic. It certainly will. Europe and America gave striking 
 evidence of that during the world war. The irony of it all, 
 different parts of the same church praying God’s blessing and 
 His cursing upon each other in their effort to win the war. 
 
Keeping Faith With Him 
 
 87 
 
 Christianity must make that impossible in the future. It will 
 only as it succeeds in building the Kingdom of righteousness 
 and planting the spirit of brotherhood in the hearts of men. 
 
 Xow consider the reasons given by my Chinese friends who 
 ask for the love and sympathy of the church in America during 
 these trying days in China. It would be easier to give them 
 most anything else. One is inclined to become impatient with 
 things as they now exist. If force could be used it looks as 
 though order could be brought out of chaos in a little whiie. 
 May be it could, but in the end it would be an artificial order. 
 Any attempt to assist the sprouting bulb with a pair of pliers 
 would be fatal. So would force to the new life which is de- 
 veloping in the Far East. It is not force or coercion which is 
 needed, but a warm Christian atmosphere of love and goodwill. 
 
 Nothing makes human character blossom into a beautiful 
 strong personality as quickly and successfully as love. Love 
 provides the atmosphere which produces great souls. The 
 most marvelous characters of the world have been disciples 
 of Jesus. He, himself, was a disciple of love. If God is any- 
 thing He is love. If Christ is anything He is love. If the 
 Church would be any- 
 thing it must be love. 
 
 When these men asked 
 for the love and sym- 
 pathy of the Church in 
 America they were ask- 
 ing for more than a 
 mere sentiment. They 
 wanted to see over 
 again in the Church 
 what the Church said 
 she has seen in Christ. 
 
 Have we the gen- 
 ius to furnish an atmos- 
 phere which will help 
 
 Buddhist Priests — China 
 
88 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 to bring these new movements in the Far East into spiritual 
 perfection ? What an unusual opportunity ! What a chance 
 for the Church in America to help the lands of China and the 
 Far East into the sunlight of love that forever, hereafter, 
 there will be no misunderstanding of the purpose and place of 
 America to help save the world. My experience and observa- 
 tion leads me to believe that nothing will help the general plan 
 of human progress just now quite so much as that. 
 
 Some say they will take advantage of you. I met travel- 
 ing men who were of that opinion and therefore encouraged 
 force. But what if they do take advantage. Judas took ad- 
 vantage of Jesus, but he found and so will others that it was 
 ultimately to his disadvantage. We must protest, therefore, 
 against injustice and evil wherever they are found. To sit 
 sublimely by and let them triumph is not the mark of a Chris- 
 tian. On the other hand to make force the persuasive power 
 in reconstructing the world is running counter to His method 
 of love. Do we have sufficient faith in the final triumph of 
 righteousness to test it out according to Jesus’ plan? 
 
 Life becomes more complex as the human race moves for- 
 ward. The implications of the Gospel become more compli- 
 cated as Christianity spreads. The rise of national autonomy, 
 the development of race consciousness and the progress of 
 Christianity have contributed to our present perplexities. 
 
 Let us take the question of brotherhood for instance. It is 
 easier to maintain perfect relations with one neighbor than 
 with ten neighbors. It is easier to apply the brotherhood of 
 man where the men are all of the same family. But when a 
 hundred thousand families are involved and five races are 
 represented, it is quite another question. If we multiply that 
 number by a million and take into consideration all the na- 
 tional and tribal divisions, we complicate the question still 
 more. When you stand amid the jostling crowds of the Orient 
 you see it in a new light. It is so much bigger and fuller and 
 richer than is apparent at first. But it is also much more com- 
 
Keeping Faith With Him 
 
 89 
 
 plicated. It is much more difficult to apply, and exceedingly 
 difficult to practice. That is the rub. The consequences of 
 following Jesus are so much more exacting than we had 
 thought. When we discover the implications we are inclined 
 to modify the terms but we cannot do this. Christianity has 
 been modified too much already. 
 
 Dr. G. Stanley Jones and others are telling us that the 
 people of India, Japan and China want Christ but they do not 
 want our brand of Christianity. They see that there is a 
 marked difference between the two. Let us not say that 
 they are placing too high a standard when they demand that 
 the disciple be more like his Master — yea, like his Master. It 
 is not higher than Jesus set for us. Hear Him. “Be ye there- 
 fore, perfect, even as your father which is in heaven is per- 
 fect.” “Be ye, therefore, merciful as your father is also 
 merciful.” We, who are His followers must be ready to accept 
 the full implications of His gospel. The world needs a living 
 example of its application. If we do not do it, who is there 
 who will? 
 
 Christianity is opposed to racial superiority. There is no 
 such thing according to Christ’s teaching. If there is it is in 
 favor of the Jew r s. “It is impossible to believe,” said Robert E. 
 Speer, “that men and races were created or were born with an 
 instinctive prejudice against one another.” 
 
 You do not find the word humanity among the early 
 philosophers. “The idea of mankind as one family, as the chil- 
 dren of one God, is an idea of Christian growth.” There must 
 be a sense of brotherhood among nations and races as well as 
 among individuals. It must be inculcated upon our minds and 
 hearts until we become living witnesses of its practicality. 
 
 One of the charges which the enemies made against the 
 early church was that Jesus took a bunch of nobodies and told 
 them they were sons of God and tried to make somebodies out 
 of them. Doctor Poole of London said, “Since Jesus came 
 into the world everybody is somebody.” This idea has taken 
 
90 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 hold of the Orient. It is partly responsible for the present un- 
 rest. Since it is part of the great Christian truth, we as follow- 
 ers of the Christ must stand by it. Are we willing to abide the 
 
 consequences and 
 follow Him to the 
 end ? 
 
 The economic 
 condition of millions 
 in the Far East is 
 deplorable. It is in- 
 describable to the 
 average American 
 audience. P o v er t y 
 stalks about like a 
 giant ghost seeking 
 whom he may devour. Many of these poor creatures mort- 
 gage their bodies for a bowl of rice. President Butterfield, in 
 speaking of the country church in China says, “I do not see 
 how it is possible to expect a vigorous, aggressive, working 
 country church in a region where the average income of the 
 working farmer and his family is not over $35 or $40 a year.” 
 For the vast multitudes there are no luxuries because there 
 are no comforts. 
 
 Perhaps this clipping from a trade journal announcing 
 the advantages of a certain industry in China will give a 
 better idea. It will at least show how the poor are being 
 exploited. 
 
 “The working hours are from 5 :30 A.M. to 5 :30 P.M., and 
 from 5 :30 P.M. to 5 :30 A.M. Xo meals are supplied by the 
 factory. It will be seen that the company is in an exception- 
 ally favorable position, with an abundant and absurdly cheap 
 labor supply to draw on, and no vexatious factory laws to 
 observe ; it is not surprising that their annual profits have 
 exceeded their total capital on at least three occasions.” 
 
 Rice Field 
 
Keeping Faith With Him 
 
 91 
 
 Think of the men ! Think of the women and children in 
 such industries! What must their physical condition be? 
 Christ is surely in the mills and factories where such human 
 suffering exists. He is on their farms and by their highways. 
 If He had compassion on the women who followed Him to the 
 cross, He surely would have compassion upon the women and 
 children of the Orient. They tell us that the introduction of 
 western trade, commerce and industry have helped matters. 
 They have, but they have been a source of injustice also. 
 
 A friend of 
 mine said one day. 
 
 “C h r i s t is ever 
 evading me. I can 
 never get up to 
 H i m.” I said, 
 
 “W hat do you 
 mean? I cannot un- 
 derstand you.” 
 
 “Well,” he said, “It 
 is like this. Just as 
 soon as I make some new discovery of Christ which I think 
 ought to bring Him nearer to me, and it does, I find in my 
 discovery that He is much greater than I thought Him to be. 
 Hence, He is ever beyond me.” 
 
 I found this surprisingly true in the Orient. Jesus put a 
 new and bigger content into every Christian conception which 
 I had. I watched Him as He actually lived the implications 
 of His own gospel out 
 
 “In haunts of wretchedness and need, 
 
 On shadowed thresholds dark with fear,” 
 and I got such an idea of the magnificence and greatness of 
 Jesus, the world’s Savior, as I never had before. He chal- 
 lenges us to new heights, to the sublimely beautiful and sacri- 
 ficial service of love. I can see no other remedy for the world’s 
 ills, save that offered in Him. 
 
92 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 Christ is in the Orient. He was in the Orient before any 
 missionary arrived just as He was on the road to Gaza before 
 Philip was, and in Macedonia before Paul got there. So He 
 was in China before Robert Morrison. He is there in the great 
 crowds of the Far East. He is going up the trails of Ifugao 
 in the Philippines. He is meeting with the young men in the 
 student centers of Japan. He is standing amid the stricken 
 centers of China with their poverty and suffering. He tramps 
 back and forth on the narrow streets of their congested cities. 
 He is waiting for human forces with which He can clothe 
 Himself and reach out a helping hand to these millions as they 
 pass down the road of life. 
 
 Christ is not only in the Orient in the form of need. He 
 is there in the form of life. Consecrated missionaries and 
 Christians are living examples of His love and unselfishness. 
 A story is told of a little girl in a mission field who heard a 
 new missionary tell about Jesus and His kindness to every- 
 body. After he was through, she said, “I saw that man. He 
 is up at the mission station.” One of the men who has been 
 
 Mission Staff in China 
 
Keeping Faith With Him 
 
 93 
 
 on the field a long time said to me, in reference to the people 
 to whom he has given his life, “I never think of them as 
 Japanese. They seem to me like my own people.” He ex- 
 pressed what every missionary feels. 
 
 When I first saw the distress, poverty and suffering, the 
 ignorance and backwardness, the glamor and confusion, I 
 could not understand the missionary. When I heard him 
 speak of the wonderful people among whom he lived and 
 worked I wondered still more and asked myself, “How is it?” 
 One day I said, “Bishop, these missionaries must see some- 
 thing we have not seen yet. Otherwise I cannot understand 
 them.” They did see some things we had not seen. As we 
 tarried among them we too began to discover the golden char- 
 acters hidden all about us. Every successful soul winner must 
 see in every man a soul with tremendous possibilities when 
 redeemed by the 
 Higher power. 
 
 One evening 
 away up in the 
 mountains in the 
 Philippines I 
 met with a group 
 of boys for Bi- 
 b 1 e study. We 
 were gathered in 
 
 School Boys in China 
 
 the simple little native house of one of our missionaries. She 
 had done her best to spread the Christian message and spirit. 
 Some of the results of her labors were manifest in the four- 
 teen or fifteen boys who had assembled that evening. They 
 were fine specimens of young manhood. They entertained me 
 with a brief song service in English. Their favorite hymn was 
 “We’ve a Story to Tell to the Nations.” I had them sing it 
 twice. They sang until the very sides of that nepa house 
 vibrated with their mountain melodies. I thought I never 
 heard anything more impressive. Can you imagine what it 
 
94 
 
 Christian Movements in the Orient 
 
 will mean to those mountain tribes to have such reservoirs of 
 truth and life released in their towns and villages as were 
 represented in those boys. 
 
 Christ is in China. He is in Japan. He is in the Philip- 
 pines. How different 'every land will be when He has His 
 way. We will only begin to see the glory and matchless splen- 
 dor of Him when we see Him bringing the Far East and the 
 Far West and all the world into the kingdom of righteousness. 
 This then is not a time to beat retreat. It is not a time to 
 retrench. It is a time to put forth unrelenting efforts in the 
 evangelization of the world. Jesus’ last command to the early 
 Church is good missionary propaganda. But it is more than 
 that. It is the formula by which the world is to be saved. 
 Will we keep faith with Him and see it through to victory? 
 
 If what I have written in the foregoing message has 
 helped you to see our work on the foreign field and the un- 
 limited opportunities which abound on every hand, I am 
 happy. But if on the other hand, I have failed to make you 
 see Him in the midst of it all, if my message has failed to 
 make you turn to Him for renewed strength and courage ; if it 
 has failed to make you see that the proper way to spell mis- 
 sions is “C-H-R-I-S-T,” then I wish I had not written it, for 
 as Canon Cody has said, “What we most of all need in our 
 churches at the present is not only interest in missions as a 
 movement, but also interest in Christ and His evangel. . . . 
 Not so much new interest in the non-Christian world as new 
 interest in the gospel of Jesus Christ.” If we lose sight of 
 Him we will ultimately forget the multitude in non-Christian 
 lands. But we will never forget them if we never lose sight of 
 Him. Think of China! Think of Japan! Think of the whole 
 Orient and then imagine what Christ can make out of it. 
 Every step reveals His marvelous glory as He moves tri- 
 umphantly forward in His great redemptive plan across Asia. 
 All He needs is a faithful church and consecrated followers. 
 
Keeping Faith With Him 
 
 95 
 
 “If Jesus Christ is a man — 
 
 And only a man — I say 
 That of all mankind I cleave to Him, 
 
 And to Him will I cleave alway. 
 
 “If Jesus Christ is a God 
 
 And the only God — I swear 
 I will follow Him through heaven and hell 
 The earth, the sea, the air.” 
 
#ln. 
 
Mom factored by 
 GAYLC RD BROS. Inc. 
 Syr jcuse, N.Y. 
 St.ckton, Calif.