Harrison - Biola in China

Alongside the effectiveness of the river teams was that of the Nan Yoh Hunan Autumn Bible School. A sacred pilgrim center, the mountain of Nan Yoh hosted numerous temples, shrines, hundreds of priests, and thousands of worshippers each year. In cooperation with Weslyian Missionary Rev. G.G. Warren, Keller and his Chinese '----' evangelists had since 1909 conducted evangelistic campaigns in conjunction with the autumn pilgrimage. 27 By 1917, the Christian work became a Bible School and retreat for pastors and evangelists serving a dozen different missions - and funded by Biola in China. 28 Property was purchased along with a home for the school; but, after .· 1926, the conferences were abandoned due to lack of finances, 29 probably the result of a shift to the permanent training facility .,/of a~Q of the Hunan Bible Institute at Changsha - where future conferences continued until 1938. 30 As with the floating bands, the Autumn Bible School had a specific course of study for three hours before noon including "three lecture and quiz periods, 45 minu-ces each." 31 Practical work followed each afternoon with free distribution of New Testaments, tracts, and especially the Life of Christ booklets (33,000 in one month). · A policy had developed not to disturb pilgrims on the way to the shrines, but to invite them to tea stands on their return home on the four roadways out of Nan Yoh. 32 Another effective piece of literature was a synopsis of the Bible, with great emphasis on the salvation theme. Developed by two Chinese Bible scholars over a three year period, the two hundred page Shen~-

""f ~4.M ..

-9-

Made with FlippingBook Annual report