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Our Bible Institute in Hunan Province, China Dr. Frank A. Keller Superintendent
w hat manner I was w ith you all .the time, serving the Lord w ith all lowliness of m ind and w ith tears and w ith trials which befell me by the plots of the Jews: how I sh rank not from declaring unto you anything th a t was profitable and teaching you publicly from house to house.” As I tell you of th e Biola evangelistic bands, please do not for a moment th ink th a t th is is the only method of evangelism. It is /ju s t one of many, b u t it is one of the methods God has been pleased to bless. This work is strictly and thoroughly, from beginning to end, Chinese. The th ree fundam entals of our work are, of course, the Word of God, prayer, and the Holy Spirit. These are the th ree foundation stones. The Word of God from beginning to end, prayer, and th e Holy Spirit. But outside of these th ree fundam entals, so far as practical work goes, th e es sen tial principle of th e work is th a t it is Chinese from beginning to end. These bands go out under train ed Chi nese leaders and these leaders are free to develop new methods, and they do. Nearly all the methods we have, have been developed by our Chinese leaders and not sug gested by us. As th e bands go into a city the people recog nize the Chinese flavor in th e ir methods. Another principle is th a t we are working in new te rri tory, going into unreached fields, trying to reach th e un reached millions. Another principle is quiet intensive work. We do not make tours. We plant ourselves in one center, and work from th a t center, say five miles in every direction, until we have visited every home. As soon as th e people begin to be interested we organize them into Bible study classes, classes for men, classes for women, for students, for boys and girls. There are classes every eve ning and th e people are train ed in th e Word of God, tau g h t methods of Bible stu d y , un til a little prayer circle has been" formed which becomes th e nucleus of a self-supporting church. I should like to stop here, for it would be b etter if others could speak of th is wortf ra th e r th an I, bu t I will quote a le tte r from a m issionary, a Wesleyan missionary, who says: J u st a few lines to give you some idea of the rich resu lts of the past y ear’s work in th e d istrict for which I am re sponsible. Five reg u lar preaching centers have been opened and in seven places where inquirers are scattered they aré regu larly visited in th e ir homes. Everyone of them is the nucleus of a little self-supporting church in a h itherto un evangelized district. These people have not heard the Gos pel before and yet these five preaching centers are now or ganized w ith from twelve to th irty converts each.- When a place has been worked, the homes visited, the converts introduced to th e missionary,: then th e band moves on to ano ther city. Reports are sent to the m issionary in charge and to my self every month, so th e m issionary knows exactly what is going on. I w ant to read to you a le tte r ju st received from one of our bands. They are working in th e Church Mis sionary area in th e south of the province. They w ent into a city th ree months ago, where the people had not heard the Gospel, and where gambling, opium smoking and pros titu tio n were conducted so openly th a t the people were in different to anything good. Our men were almost discouraged but they gave them selves to prayer. We do not h u rry in our work. The
“HE THAT IS WISE WINNETH SOULS” An Address on Evangelism given a t the China Inland Mission in Shanghai;. By Dr. F . A. Keller H ONDERFUL things have been done in China d u r ing the last ih irty years, bu t oh, how little in com parison w ith w hat m ight have been done! “The fru it of th e righteous is a tree of life; and he th a t is wise w inneth souls” (Proverbs 11:30 R. V .). You remember how we used to quote it, “He th a t winneth souls is wise.” T hat is tru e, bu t the correct tran slation is, “He th a t is wise w inneth souls.” This is tru e of every man, woman and child. I t is th e business of life. Never mind th e method. The one, business is winning souls. Are we doing it? W hether we be evangelists, doctors, or edu cationalists, it is th e one business of our life. Daniel had something to say about wise men: “They th a t be wise shall shine as the brightness of th e firmament and they th a t tu rn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever” (Daniel 1 2 :3 ). In Psalm 126 we read, “They th a t sow in tears shall reap in joy. Though he goeth on his way weeping, bearing fo rth the seed (m a rg in : bearing th e measure of seed) he shall come again w ith joy, bringing his sheaves w ith him .” It does not say anything about ability. It is talk ing about seed, and th e man go ing ou t w ith a weeping h eart and tears in his eyes. He is going out w ith seed, and th e resu lt is absolutely sure. There is a verse in Hebrews (1 :7 ) quoted from the book of Psalm s, “And of th e angels he saith, Who maketh his angels w inds (m argin: sp irits), and his m inisters a flame of Are.” T h at is wonderful! God makes his m inisters a flame of fire, and th a t is w hat we heed for evangelism. A love for souls and a burning h ea rt th a t can th ink of no thing else but souls and w inning souls. In 1 Timothy 2:3, we read, “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who w illeth th a t all men should be saved and come to th e knowledge of th e tru th .” How can they know w ithout a preacher, and how can they know w ithout men and women who have become by the Spirit of God flames of fire? The method does not m atter much if th e Holy Spirit is in the heart. How well I remember when a t Chefoo, twenty-odd years ago, Dr. McKenzie came down from Manchuria. We were talk ing about medical and hospital work, about evangelism too, and he told me of a blind man who came to have his eyes healed. The man 'found Christ, got touched w ith the fire, and went out, selling peanuts for a living and tak ing evangelism for his life’s work. He sold good peanuts for the Lord’s sake, and as he went into house after, house selling his good peanuts, he had a chance to ta lk w ith the people, and th a t poor blind man, w ithout education bu t w ith th e fire of God in his h eart, led th ree thousand to Christ. ' He had no method, bu t he had the Holy Spirit and th e Word of God. He went out weeping, bearing seed for sowing, and he came again w ith rejoicing bringing his sheaves w ith him. Ju s t one verse more. The Apostle P aul called the Ephe sian elders together after his last trip and said: “Ye your selves know, from the first day th a t I set foot in Asia, afte r
Have a Heart for Perishing People (Page 77)
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