THE KI NG' S BUS I NES S
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w hat a field rich in possibilities th is is! So placing th e p rin ted page in every bunk, h ere and th e re a door opens to speak individually to one abou t Christ. Here was a young Chinese man born of Chinese parents, b rough t up in Sunday School and church, going to China now, b u t no one h a d ever spoken to h im of C h rist personally. He listened, seemed surprised and finally accepted Christ as his personal Saviour. The bo at w histle sounded and th e w orker had to jum p b u t not before he saw him come to Christ and sign up for a Pocket League Testam ent, to carry it “w herever he goes.” Coming to a young fellow on a B ritish Tramp vessel we found him “ almost persuaded” b u t!— Then sev eral fine interview s and an invitation by th e Third Engineer to come into his room and sit down. A t sixteen years of age under conviction, in an English town, young companions had urged him to “make his prom ise.” He made his prom ise b u t as th e w orker found him he was despondent, confessing ' failure in the Christian life. Dealing w ith him for hours he a t every tu rn would say, “No, I cannot accept Christ. I made a prom ise once and am a failu re.” W e finally h ad to leave him , leaving th e p rin ted page w ith him and feeling very sad th a t h e cjid n o t come to decide for Christ. Through a “piece in th e news paper” sta tin g th a t th e captain of th a t same vessel was th e same who nearly lo st his life, being rescued from his bu rn ing ship in th e A tlantic (th e w orker having previously dealt w ith him by m a il), we retu rn ed to see the captain, could no t see hfm and finally were directed to th e T h ird Engineer who still said, “Not now ,” Answering many questions and often pressing th e invitation he always said, “I made a prom ise once, etc.” Despairing almost of any fu rth e r word to say we made it plain th a t h is prom ise h ad been only “ to lead a b etter life.” B u t to accept Christ m ean t th e opposite, no t a prom-
were on th e w harf and th è tim e was a t hand for them to board th e vessel again. In groups of fifty, seventy-five and a hundred they approached th e gang plank and single file marched on board carry ing th e ir few belongings w ith them . An unending stream of hum an ity fo r three q u arters of an hou r filed p ast and went on board. Russian, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese,— and each one received a Gospel and two trac ts in th e ir own language. B rought all th e way from the O rient from villages far and n ear to receive the message and th en to be dispersed all over th e C entral and South American countries. W h at joy it was to be able to give them each a p o rtra it of H im who is revealed in th e Gospel of John. Hungry, needy h earts, many of them will find th e way of Life— if we pray much. The month was rich w ith experiences. Man a fte r man was m et who confessed Christ. One was a m iddle aged man very eagerly listening to th e message. He had h eard th e message before b u t not so clearly as he h eard it th a t day from th e Word. Being persuaded th a t no th ing as yet had been done on his p art “to prepare to meet God” he saw in Christ th e all sufficient Saviour and accepted Him as h is own, m aking pub lic confession of his decision. He gladly received a Pocket League Testa m ent and went on h is way. Sailing day on ah O riental liner is th e most exciting day fo r all alike, be they Government or Steam ship officials or passengers, b u t in th e steerage you find a veritable bee hive of hum anity. Making one’s way over hills of trunk s, bundles of bedding, etc., seeling scores of babies being nu rsed by th e ir mothers, w ith dozens of excited chil dren simply howling, everything topsy tu rvy ; among th e th ro n g so fu ll of ex citem ent and fu ll of emotion because of th e separation from friends and loved ones, one wonders where to begin to sow th e seed. Yet it m u st be sown and
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