75
February 1929
T h e
K i n g ' s
B u s i n e s s
The Hunan Bible Institute A B rief S tatement B y D r . F rank K eller
f ATE in 1926 our dean, Mr. M. K. Hsiao, was obliged to flee from Changsha to save his life, and early in 1927 all my foreign colleagues left in obedience to very pressing consular represen tations. On reaching Shanghai, after consul tation with consuls and leading mission author ities, they decided to return to the States. On April 7 the American Consul and the small remain ing group of American missionaries and business men left Changsha, and conditions were such that it seemed best for me to leave with them. I only went as far as Shang hai, and in July Mr. Hsiao and I were back in Changsha. The American consul at Hankow would only permit me to remain at Changsha for two weeks, but during those two weeks much was accomplished. God preserved our buildings in a truly wonderful way; how we do praise H im ! As soon as I retired from Chang sha in April, the “Farmers’ Union,” a communistic organ ization, made plans to occupy our buildings as their head quarters; but before they could perfect their plans and take possession, a regiment of soldiers marched in and occupied the buildings; and so the communists were kept out. The soldiers did considerable damage to the buildings, carried off door-knobs, locks, electric light bulbs and fit
tings, small articles of furniture, etc.; but the damage and loss sustained through the military occupation was extremely small in comparison to what it would have been had the communists gotten in. By July the communistic uprising was practically sup pressed, so there was nothing more to fear from that source. At this time Mr. Hsiao and I made a short visit to Changsha to consult with the local Chinese staff in charge and to see what we could do to bring about the evacuation of the soldiers who were encamped in our buildings. Before we left again for Shanghai we suc ceeded in getting all the soldiers out of the buildings, and they kept out for several months. In September Mr. Hsiao and I made another short visit to Changsha, by consular permission, and had a fine conference with our Biola Evangelistic Band leaders and assistants. By God’s grace we were able to fully reorganize the evangelistic work, and the bands started out as usual on October 1 for a new year of evangelism. • The bands begin work each year during the first week of October and con tinue out on the field until the middle of the following July. They then have a vacation of six weeks, which, after taking out the time used in traveling, gives them about four weeks in their homes. They are due back in
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