January, 1941
THE K I N O ’S B U S I N E S S
5
Hunan Refusing to Retreat By CHARLES A . ROBERTS Changsha, Hunan, China
H UNAN is a large and mountain ous province. It is rich in grain, antimony, and tungsten. The type of people. Many of the great statesmen of China have come from within the borders of Hunan Province. And among present-day Communist leaders, Hunan is also well represented. The people as a Whole are energetic and enterprising, as has been witnessed 'ln the present emergency. In the autumn of 1938, seventy per cent of Changsha, the provincial capital city with a nor mal population of half a million, was destroyed by fire, following an order of the "scorched earth” policy. Today the shops on the main streets have been rebuilt or temporarily repaired, and a thriving business is being carried on. In two years three complete evacuations of the city have taken place, and on one occasion the writer actually walked through the heart of the city and saw no living person. And, almost unbe lievable fact, today Changsha has a re turned population of over a quarter of a million! Changsha is well marked in Chinese history as the home of its famous de fender, Marquis Tseng Kuo Fan, a great military strategist who drove the Tai- ping rebels from the city’s gates. A grandson of the Marquis is a well-known educator today, and a fine Christian. Changsha is also the city where that noble missionary, Hudson Taylor, died. Having determined to visit the prov ince that was the last to surrender to the preaching of the gospel, the aged missionary reached the capital during a hot summer. One day, having climbed the highest vantage point on the city wall, known as the Tower of the Heav enly Heart, where the famous Marquis had also stood while directing his at tack against the rebels, the missionary viewed the mountains, plains, and river surrounding the city. His heart was satisfied, and he returned to the Mis sion compound. The next day he "was not,” for God took him Home. In Changsha today, where forty years ago practically no missionary work of importance was being carried on, there are seven missionary societies, two Mis sion hospitals, and two union Mission high schools. In the numerous cities and small towns throughout the prov ince, many Missions and Gospel Halls are located.
The P ressu re of a Great Need But let it not be thought that Hunan has been wholly evangelized. On the contrary, there are many regions which have not been touched, and millions still live in Hunan without the slightest knowledge of the Saviour. One of the greatest contributions to the missionary endeavor in Hunan has been the combined work of evangelism conducted by the Biola Evangelistic Bands, and the training of men and women for Christian service a t the Hu nan Bible Institute in Changsha. For financial reasons, and because of war area evacuation necessities, the Hunan Bible Institute has been closed since the summer of 1937. A dearth of new work ers for the local Chinese churches has now become acute, and this writer is continually asked whether it will be possible to reopen the Institute in the near future. Meanwhile, the correspon dence course department, with its Sco field Course excellently translated into Chinese, continues with a large enroll ment. And the Biola Evangelistic Band work continues uninterrupted. This au tumn after a very strong Bible con ference a t Changsha, thirty-eight evan gelists and leaders set out in six bands for another year’s work. P ioneer Evangelism The outstanding characteristic of the Biola Evangelistic Bands is thé empha sis on and determination to reach the unevangelized. These Bands are not of the “revival” or “refresher” type that work in and around churches already established. On the contrary, they en ter unevangelized districts, plowing up the fallow ground and creating new centers of worship and service. The following is taken from the monthly diary of Band No. 4, working in the past year in south-central Hunan: “Last May we moved into the district of White Mountain in the prefecture of Shaoyang. It seemed to us as we started work that never had we worked in a district where people were so lpst in the mist of superstition. Large and small tem ples erected to all sorts of gods abounded like trees in the forest. “When we saw the spiritual con ditions that existed, our faith was tried not a little. But we went to prayer and grouped ourselves by [Continued on Page 27]
Hunanese are a proud and revolutionary
• As the sole foreigner representing the Bible Institute of Los Angeles.In the large Hunan Bible Institute compound a t Changsha, Hunan, China, Charles A. Roberts carries a tremendous responsi bility. Of necessity, Mrs. Roberts and the children are a t present in America. Unbelievably complex details of admin istration, as well as choice opportunities for Christian witness are crowding Mr. Roberts’ days in the superintendency of this China Department of the Bible In stitute of Los Angeles. With one Chinese assistant, a retired leader of one of the Biola Evangelistic Bands, to care for certain minor details in the compound at Changsha, Mr. Rob erts has entire supervision of the eight Biola Evangelistic Bands and their rec ords. Added to this task are many speaking engagements in the city and the general care of the Institute prop erty in Changsha. This extensive group of buildings has become the refuge of a number of other organizations as the city of Changsha, long a target for bombing, still remains a part of “free China,” ninety miles from Japanese- occupied territory. Though war conditions have stopped the use of the Institute buildings for their original purpose as a train ing center for leaders of the Chinese church, these buildings are still serv ing the cause of Christ. Workers and patients from the China Inland Mission’s Hudson Taylor Hospital and the sixty students of a school for blind girls con ducted by the same mission are housed a t the Institute. In addition, a large number of refugee children and many aged Christians are being sheltered. With all this opportunity, there needs to be a great volume of prayer for the one whom God has intrusted with a task for which human wisdom and strength would be utterly inadequate.
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