CHAPTER XI BIOLA IN CHINA
·It has been said that a great institution is but the lengthened sha- dow of a great man. The truth of this axiom is definitely borne out in the history of the Hunan Bible Institute, the China arm of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. The Hunan Bible Institute was conceived in the mind of Frank A. Keller, M. D., a practicing physician, whose vision of the need in China interested Mr. Lyman Stewart and Biola. Dr. Keller, who had served for years as a member of the China Inland Mission, had gone to China in 1887. After a period of language study, he was assigned to the Province of Hunan, which had a population of over twenty- two million, and which had stubbornly and violently resisted foreign mis- sionaries, being the last of the Chinese Provinces to admit them. This re- sistance more than once involved Dr. Keller personally. For example, soon after he and a Christian helper had gained a precarious foothold in the City of Chaling Chow, a group of antagonsitic students attacked Dr. Keller's house. He managed to escape by leaping through a trap door to a lower floor, scaling a wall in the back yard, and hiding behind a stack of chicken coops at a neighboring house. Eventually, he was able to make it to the Magis- trate's headquarters and then to safety in Schang-Hai. However, he did not allow such experience to dampen his zeal and hope for the Province of ·- Hunan. In 1901, Dr. Keller was honored as the first missionary permitted a permanent residence in Changsha, the Capital, and the last stronghold to withstand the missionaries. Accompanied by his loyal helper, Dr. Keller was successful after two days in renting a house within the walls of the City. Four days later evangelistic services were begun. The Doctor's skill- ful treatment of two soldiers injured by a premature discharge of a cannon
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter