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THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
. February 1925
T he H u n an Bible In s titu te (th e C hin a D ep artm en t of th e Bibl e In s titu te of L os A ngel es ) is o rg an ized alo n g sim ilar li nes In stitu te ,— tra in in g n ativ e Chi ne se you n g me n an d wo me n fo r C h ristia n w ork , an d a t th e sam e ti m e c a rry in g on a n a c tiv e w ork am ong th e u n saved. % ^ T he w ork (w hi ch is re cognized b y th e d ifferen t evangeli cal m issio n s a s one o f th e b e s t in C hin a) h a s th re e d e p a rtm e n ts: (1 ) A Bib le In s titu te a t C h an g sh a (th e c a p ita l c ity of H u n an P ro v in ce.) (2 ) Twelve C olp o rtag e B an ds w ith th irte e n m en in each b an d , d ev o tin g th e m ornings to Bible S tu d y , a n d th e a ftern o o n s t Gosp el in th e n ativ e ho m es. # (3 ) T he A utu m n Bible Sch ool an d C bnfer en ce a t N anyoh (o n e o f C h in a’s th re e sacred m o u n ta in s). H un d red s of co n v ersio n s from th e w ork don e am ong th e th o u san d s of p ilgrim s.
w ithout comm itting sin. Moreover give me opportunities to learn more of the Gospel. All th a t I ask is in the name of Jesus, Amen!” Morning and evening, every day for some four or five months, Mr. Gao prayed to God, using th e words of th is prayer, and all the time his m other upbraided him for doing so, feeling th a t he was unfilial to her. Taking Root O n'A pril 23, 1920, Mr. Gao’s mother caught a cold th a t produced a most severe and distressing cough. Mr. Gao remembers the exact date, as it m arks th e g reatest event of his life. He said to his mother, “O, Mother! if you would only sincerely join me in th is prayer to God, your . cough would be cured.” His mother decided to join him, and a ll th a t n igh t m other and son continued in prayer to the living God. In th e morning her cough was entirely gone. Soon after, her eyes began to improve and th e im provement continued until her vision was restored. Mother and son were convinced of th e g reat fact of the existence of one tru e God, bu t they did not yet know what was m eant by th e words “Believe in Jesu s” , nor did they know how to believe. On the last page of the little book, Mr. Gao found these w ords:— “The read er of this book is urged to visit a Gospel Hall, (as Christian chapels are usually called in China) purchase and study a New Testam ent and so obtain fuller teaching about th e Gospel. There will be an evangelist in attendance who will be glad to explain any difficult points.” Mr. Gao was determ ined t.o know more. He began to inquire about a Gospel H all and soon learned of one in a village th irty miles from his home. He induced his th ree brothers to accompany him and th e four men walked the th irty miles in one day, found th e chapel and were cordially received by the evangelist. , They spent a week w ith him, diligently inquiring about the Gospel. They went back to th e ir home w ith h earts aflame to tell th e ir friends and neighbors th e precious tru th s which they had learned, and also told how th e ir mother had been healed in answer to prayer. Many neighbors brought th e ir sick to them , and Mr. Gao; in telling th e story said, “I ju st prayed for them in accordance w ith the teaching of th e New Testament, and all for whom I prayed were healed.” The people were eager to have a church where they could wor ship, and where they could learn more and more of the tru th . One man gave a suitable site for the chapel; then they all began to bring in building m aterials, bricks, lime, sand, lumber, etc., ju st as each one was able to give, some of them carrying th e ir contributions long distances on th eir backs. When th e building m aterials were gathered, they all set to work and erected not only a chapel, bu t a com fortable (Continued on page 95)
ALL BECAUSE OF ONE LITTLE BOOK S ^ ^ fN E evening of each week of our Nanyoh Confer- Up ence for Bible study is given up to a testimony W i meeting. This meeting is in a special way the delegates’ meeting,— they do most of the speak ing, and even select the hymns th a t are sung. Each speaker is lim ited to th ree m inutes, a plan th a t makes it possible to h ear from quite a good number during the hour. The speakers come to the fron t so th a t all can see. them , and a t the commencement of th eir talk they give th e ir names and state th e places and missions from which they have come. They are asked to give testimonies about blessings received at Nanyoh or through th e visits of the Biola Evan gelistic Bands to th e ir respective localities. On one of these evenings a Mr. Gao spoke,—Gao Keh- Cheng .is his; full name,—-and his testimony was so full of in terest th a t I had a talk w ith him afterw ard s and secured from him fuller details of his experience so th a t I m ight pass on the stirrin g story to our friends a t home. Mr. Gao is a man fifty-one years of age and his mother is seventy-one. At the tim e of Mr. Gao’s birth his mother acquired an illness th a t became chronic, and la ter h er eyes were affected so severely th a t h er vision was seriously impaired. Mr. Gao felt th a t he was in some way responsible for his m other’s illness and th a t he ought to do something to appease th e anger of (he idols; he therefore vowed to the idols th a t he would make annual pilgrimages to Nanyoh and burn incense th ere during the rem aining years of his life. The Seed On th ree successive years Mr. Gao met our w orkers at Nanyoh and received books from them . He paid but little atten tion to the first two books received, bu t the book th a t was given him on the th ird occasion was used by the Holy Spirit to lead him to real faith in Christ. How tru e is God’s Word. “ In the morning sow thy seed, and in th e evening w ithhold not thy hand ; for thou knowest not which shall prosper, whether th is or th a t, or whether they both shall be alike good.” Eccl. 11:6. The book th a t gripped Mr. Gao was “A Synopsis of the Gospels” , a story of the life of Christ in the very words of Scripture. Mr. Gao took this little book home and began to study it. A brief model prayer n ear th e end of the book attracted his atten tion and he began to pray morning and evening, using th e words suggested. You may be interested in knowing th e words of the prayer th a t God used to s ta rt Mr. Gao on the pathway of life. They are as follows:— “Oh, Thou E tern al God, our F ath e r in heaven,. I am indeed a sinner, and, tru stin g in the work accomplished by Jesus on th e cross, I implore my F a th e r to forgive my sin. Give to me eternal life, and enable me from th is day to live
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