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T h e
K i n g ' s
B u s i n e s s
October 1930
Hunan Bible Institute D r . F rank A . K eller , S uperintendent
Hankow arriving there on Wednesday afternoon, July 30, with Her party of forty-nine American, British, French, German, Italian and Norwegian missionaries and busi ness men. On Sunday, August 3, Father Biany arrived in Han kow. He had been captured by the Communists and had been detained by them for several days in their headquar ters in the buildings of the Hunan Bible Institute. After his release he went at once to Hankow and as soon as Mr. Roberts learned of his arrival he called on him. Mr. Roberts cannot speak Italian, and Father Biany cannot
LETTER from Dr. F. A. Keller, superintendent of the Hunan Bible Institute, China, posted at Kobe, Japan, August 22, gives authentic and fairly complete information concerning damage idone to mission properties in Changsha during the recent Communistic attack upon that city. It states that the Bible Institute suffered very little loss, and encourages the hope that it may be possible to carry on the activities of the Institute during the coming year with out serious interruption. Dr. Keller, who was at the time en route to China with Mrs. Keller and two new work
speak English ; but both are fluent speak ers of Chinese. By the use of the Chi nese language Mr. Roberts was. able to secure a full and re liable report of the conditions in Chang sha and especially on our own compound from one who had just come from there. On August 5, the Communists w e r e driven from Chang sha and on that very evening some of our faithful employees returned to our build ings. Early the next morning others fol lowed them. Fortu nately, the water be gan to rise in the river and on August 6, a Japanese steamer sailed from Hankow for Changsha. The
ers, Rev. and Mrs. Everett F. Harrison, received his infor mation f r o m Rev. Charles A. Roberts, of the Hunan Bible Institute staff, and Rev. C. C. Talbot, a missionary of t h e Evangelical Church. His letter follows. —Editor. On Sunday after noon, July 27, Mr. Helde of the Y . M. C. A. and our Mr. R o b e r t s walked through the city to investigate t h e ru mors that were be coming m o r e and more serious. They found the people in a state of panic. Im mediately on his re turn, Mr. Roberts packed t w o boxes with a r t i c l e s of special importance so
MISSIONARIES OF THE HUNAN BIBLE INSTITUTE WHO SAILED FOR CHINA FROM VANCOUVER ON AUGUST 7. LEFT TO RIGHT: REV. EVERETT F. HARRISON, MRS. HARRISON, MRS. KELLER, DR. FRANK A. KELLER.
next evening a British steamer, with an armed guard, also sailed from Hankow for Changsha, and our Mr. Roberts was one of the passengers eager to return to his work. They reached Changsha on Saturday evening, but on ac count of the strict martial law they could not go ashore until Sunday morning; After reaching our compound and looking over all the buildings, Mr. Roberts wrote on August 12 : “ We truly have much to be grateful for when we compare the condi tion of our compound with that of other missions. The buildings, including our houses, are all in good condition, except that the walls are decorated with all kinds of slo gans. Even the electric-fittings are untouched and in good order, and practically no furniture has been destroyed or taken away.” Mr. Roberts had not had time to make a thorough investigation of the personal losses of clothing, bedding, dishes and other effects of the various members o f our staff, but he wrote that my steel safe had been broken open
that he m i g h t be p r e p a r e d for emergencies. That same evening, in response to an urgent summons from the British Consul, Mr. Roberts went down to the river with his two boxes. American, British, and other nationals crossed the river safely though bullets were con stantly whizzing by them. They assembled at the British Consulate where soldiers from the American and British gun boats were on guard. A few missionaries, who re mained in the city until Monday morning, had to make their exit hurriedly and empty-handed, and even so were barely able to escape. About midnight a terrific explosion was heard in the city, fallowed by a burst of flames. An attack was being made on the offices of the Governor. Soon another fire broke out, then another, and by morning five huge blazes could be seen in various parts of the city. The water in the river was falling rapidly and on Mon day morning the H.M.S. Aphis was obliged to drop down the river a few miles. On Tuesday morning she sailed for
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