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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
July-August, 1934
How God founded a Church at / f l l S S / O A S S B y FRANK A. KELLER* 0 Ay f A j rj Changsha, Hunan, China A ll who read in the March number o f the K ing ' s B usiness the editorial on “ Evangelism in China” will be deeply inter ested in the record o f a truly wonderful work which God Himself recently wrought
sionary, it became possible for the Institute to send Biola Evangelistic Band No. 4 into his large and needy field. And God had been preparing a harvest for the laborers whom He thrust forth. T he V oice About a year ago, a Mr. Chiang Ta Sung, o f the village o f Sha-Tzu-P’ing, was awak ened one night by a voice speaking to him. Mr. Chiang’s wife had been dead for several years, and he was living in a little house with his son as his only companion. His father and mother and brothers and sisters were living in another part o f the village. Mr. Chiang was a confirmed opium-smoker,
for and through Biola Evangelistic Band No. A — the Band to which reference was made in the March editorial. In the province o f Kwangsi near the southern border o f Hunan, nestling among the trees on the mountain side, is the village o f Sha-Tzu-P’ing. Running through the village is a swiftly flowing stream that, be cause o f its many rapids, is not navigable until a point is reached that is more than ten miles downstream from the village. W ithout the G ospel
M r . Y i T so L in Leader o f Biola Band No. 4
one o f the millions o f victims o f China’s curse. That night when he heard the voice speaking to him, he jumped up from his bed and looked around, but could see no person. He continued to hear the voice, however. It was a very dark night, the moon was not shining, and Mr. Chiang had no lamp. He quickly gathered some small branches and kindled a fire, that he might be able to look around the room by the light o f the fire. In spite o f his efforts, he could not find any one, but continued to hear the strange voice. The voice said, “ Why do you not go to the gospel hall and hear the doctrine?” A t that time there was no church at Sha-Tzu-P’ing; the nearest church was Ta-Fou- Tou, the town at the head o f navigation ten miles away; and those ten miles were over the rough and difficult moun tain roads just described. Mr. Chiang replied, “ The church is too far distant from here, and I have no money for traveling.” He heard the voice say, “ When you want to smoke opium, you have money to buy the opium.” In self-justification, Mr. Chiang answered, “ I have a serious illness, and I am therefore compelled to smoke opium.” Quickly came the reply, “ If you will obey me, and from this time will stop your smoking of opium, I will promise you that you will recover from your sickness. Pay special attention to this. That boy who has been sleeping with you has also heard my voice and will bear witness to the promise I have made.” In telling o f the incident later, Mr. Chiang described the circumstances: “ A t that time the boy was sound asleep and had not awakened. Strange to say, although I heard the voice in the room, I was not the least bit frightened because I knew that it was a spirit speaking to m e ; still I did not dare to ask his name.” Mr. Chiang felt confident that a spirit had brought him a message, but up to that time he knew absolutely nothing o f God or of His saving, grace. O bedience , D isobedience , F ailure
Before Band No. 4 went into southwestern Hunan, no missionaries or Chinese evangelists had ever visited Sha- Tzu -P ’ing. This lack o f gospel witnessing was partly be cause the village is far from any main road, hidden away on the mountain side, and extremely difficult to reach on account o f the narrow, steep, and very rocky road that leads to it, and also because o f the impossibility o f reaching the place by boat. Then, too, the scarcity o f workers was another reason why this village had not been visited. This place was like many thousands o f Chinese villages which are still un evangelized. There is no post office at Sha-Tzu-P’ing, and the people have little intercourse with the .outside world. The morals o f the villagers are very bad, and gambling and opium-smoking are sadly common. For several years, a missionary in southwestern Hunan had written each year, begging the Hunan Bible Institute to send an evangelistic band to his large district where there still are vast numbers o f people who have never yet heard the gospel. Last September, to the great joy o f this mis* Superintendent, Hunan Bible Institute, the China department of
the Bible Institute of Los Angeles.
When morning came and the father and son arose, the boy said, “ Father, are you going to smoke opium again today? I exhort you ten thousand times not to do so, for last night I heard everything that man spoke to you.” Mr. Cbiang was amazed beyond measure,
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