these schools provided a two year course of Biblical studies, Doctrine, Church History, Homiletics with a practicum of personal evangelism and preaching. 19 A study in the life of Christ, Fu-Yin-Tso-Yao, became a most effective tool by the river tea~s 20 in the Christianization process. This closely paralleled other mission organizations successful use of the life of Jesus, as an -- -- examp1e ins tea d o f the o1ogica1 a r gu r.i en ts to reach the Chi :1 es e . dire:~n of river ministry, as well as door-to-door witness re~dered Biola's impact in China far greater than an institution of its size dared to imagine. 21 From 1916-18, over two hundred thousand homes received ~ 22 visits and literature from the teams. Not waiting for the reluctant Chinese to visit churches or chapels, the Biola bands went throughout the rural villages and hamlets of Hunan's .great river system. Rather than intruding, the Biola bands were invited and welcomed into territories of denominational jurisdiction, .----- sending all converts to those missions a~ the end of each season. 23 An evangelist of another mission wrote to team leader, a Mr. Hsiao, "Of fourteen men recently baptised here, nine were the direct result 24 of the col.portage work . . . " · Al together, this was a wise policy and largely attributable to Keller's know-how and spirit of cooperation on the mission field; and, the policy was still --- viable by 1933 according to Dr. Everett F. Harrison, H.B.I. missionary from 1931-33. 25 By the time of Harrison's arrival, there were at least a dozen Biola bands in operation, though the ·center of academic training had shifted to the Hunan Bible Institute. 26 Effective use of Chinese nationals in leadership and
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