297
August 1943
. Junior King's Business By MARTHA S. HOOKER Member of Faculty. Bible Institute of Los Angeles
Doers or Hearers? By MARGUERITE GOODNER OWEN*
that the Bible said to do? Wouldn’t -that be inconvenient? Was it wrong to lie, if your lie didn’t hurt any one? To girls who lived in a ’ heathen land this was a new thought about this new God. Some of them were ready to accept His mercy and listen to His Word once a week, but it was too much trouble to obey the com mands in the Bible. Their teacher rejoiced to tell them more of God’s love for them,, and tried to show them that if they loved God, -it would be easy to do as He asked. In some of the girls there was evidence that they wanted to be doers, but Pap Chen sat very still, and a rebellious expression came on her face. Her mother was a Christian * and she had h e a r d the gospel since she was a little girl, but although she said she too ‘ was a Christian, her heart had not been changed. Miss Rogers saw her ex pression and was sad, but she con tinued, to pray for her attractive but unbelieving pupil. . Several- months later, special meet ings were being held in the church at Fowyang, and a Chinese evangelist had come all the way from Peking to preach each day. A ll classes were dismissed and the st"Aents were ex pected to attend the morning and aft ernoon meetings, but t h e y were allowed to please themselves about attending the evening mootings. Be fore the speaker arriyed f r o m the North, Miss Rogers overheard Pao Chen one day talking to a classmate as they walked home from school. “ I’m not g o i n g to the evening meetings. Two sermons a day are enough. I would lots rather have our regular music and drill classes than go to meetings,” Pao Chen said. “Oh, I like the meetings,” Lotus of Love answered, “ and you have never heard Mr. Wang. He may be a very good speaker, and besides he comes from Peking. Did you hear...? ” The rest of the conversation was lost as they went on through the gate, but it was clear that Pao Chen wasn’t interested in sermons! How ever, a few days later her opinions were changed somewhat, for Mr. Wang
bob. Her eyes were 'sparkling with excitement, and her c h e e k s » were flushed as the girls counted aloud;— almost chanting: “Chiu-shi-pa, chiu-shi-chiu, lh peh” (ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hun dred)! After a few extra kicks, just in case they had miscounted, Pao Chen (Pre cious Jewel) was acclaimed the Cham pion. During t h e excitement, their missionary teacher, Miss Rogers, drew near, and she, too-, congratulated Precious Jewel. She was a leader and a capable girl, and her teacher longed to see her an earnest Christian, and often prayed for her. Now she smiled at Pao Chen, saying: “Well done! Well done!” “ I am not worthy” Pao Chen an swered, »bowing politely. “ You must have practiced a long time,” said Miss Rogers. “ Very little. The other girls can really jump and kick much better than I.” The teacher smiled to herself as she heard these polite Chinese words, for she knew that Pao Chen had done better than all the other girls. But she also knew that by Chinese custom the winner must deny any merit or praise. Just then the bell rang and the girls hurried back to their classes. A few days later Miss Rogers was teaching Pao Chen’s Scripture class, and while they were talking about Abraham and how he obeyed God, she quoted James 1:22: “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only,” as a command to all of us. Several of the girls began to ask questions: Were they really supposed to do all
f T ^ H E FIRST warm day of spring was welcomed eagerly at the 1 Mission school in the inland^ Chinese city' of Fowyang. All dur ing morning classes, the children kept l o o k i n g ’ out on the smooth playground which was shaded at one end by the huge locust tree with its clusters of fragrant blossoms.1When the bell rang, there was the •merry chatter of voices as the-girls ran out and into the sunshine. The contrast of the warmth outside With the chill of the brick schoolrooms caused some- of the girls to unbutton and throw off their winter waddings and play in their short jackets and trousers of brilliant colored cottons. Some ran for the jumping ropes and a few sat down in a sunny corner for the game of jackstones, but most of the group remained in the center of t h e playground watching girls “ kick t h e shuttlecock.” The tiny feather fastened to a round weight was placed on the side of the heel the foot was bent in front of the body. Then,the girl, hopping on the other foot, kicked the shuttlecock from the heel into the air and caught it on the heel as it descended. 1 It was amazing how long they kept the feather in the air without letting it fall to the earth. However, as one after another missed a kick, the in terest focused on one girl who had kicked nearly 100 times without miss ing. She was slender and tall for her * twelve years, with thick, black hair falling to her shoulders in a. straight
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