EVANGELIZING THE TOWNS AND VILLAGES OF CHINA
By Charles A. Roberts, D.D. Superintendent of the Hunan Bible Institute, Changsha, China
He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. And some one said to him, Lord will those who are saved be few? (Luke 13:22, 23 R.S.V.). S UPU in Western Hunan is an Oriental town, typical of the many market towns in this province. Prettily situated, it is not a large place; there are only two main streets a half mile long and so narrow that a small motor car would have difficulty in passing through without women and chil dren crowding tightly against the walls of a house or step ping into the open doorway of a small shop. Outside the town are rolling hills with terraced rice paddies, and alongside is a small river. However, so well located is Supu that the Gov ernment National Railways has in its scheme for Western China this town as a rail junction. The inhabitants are said to be the most superstitious of all the thirty-eight millions of people in Hunan. And certainly, as one observes the many temples and small shrines devoted to the variety of gods, .the reputation is well deserved. The principal industries are spin ning, cloth-weaving and the production of brown sugar, for along the river banks you may see a luxuriant growth of the sugar cane. Pushing out into the countryside, a clump of mud walls with thatched roofs are noticeable, little villages sur rounded by lovely green patches of rice paddies, and the ever- intriguing bamboo and flower-vegetable gardens. But in spite of all this pleasant prospect, poverty and illiteracy abound. Biola Evangelistic Band No. I from the Hunan Bible Insti tute arrived at Supu in October. The Evangelical Brethren Mission had sent an invitation for an evangelistic band to work in what they considered One of its most difficult fields. It was a challenge. Full of enthusiasm, Band Leader Liu Pin K’uei and his colleagues in business-like manner alighted from the public bus that had carried them from Changsha to this western town. Picking up their baggage, they smartly pro ceeded to the small gospel chapel in the center of the town and announced to the lone lady missionary living there that they had arrived. Delighted and overwhelmed at seeing seven evangelists standing at her door, she heartily welcomed them. There had been many hard years of toil and prayer in Supu and still no church of any strength. “ Great is Diana of the Ephesians,” seemed to be the proud attitude of this small citadel of superstition. Next morning, two by two, with satchel full of tracts slung over the shoulder, and gospel posters in hand to paste up on any available wall space on the main streets, Biola evangelists were canvassing the town door by door. The curious came out to see and to listen; the superstitious were filled with fear and uttered warnings to the people not to have anything to do with the “foreign” doctrine. But Supu, like all the cities and towns and villages in China, is no longer content to continue its sleep of the centuries. There is an awakening. People are restless. The giant Napoleon spoke of has shaken himself. In a few days, men and women and especially youth, were meet ing at the gospel chapel. Interviews were carried on late into the evening. Some of the discussions wandered to what will happen in the next war. Yes, they had heard of an atomic bomb. Truly things are not what they used to be. What was the answer to all this disturbance that had come to the world? The Gospel of Jesus Christ! Not for a moment did the evan gelists lose an Opportunity to press home the message: “ Be lieve on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” It is now many weeks since Biola evangelists arrived at Supu. And here is a letter from the Missionary who waited so long for help: JUÑE, 1948
Group of Chinese Christians■at Supu. Miss Rose Fecker, missionary, is at extreme' right. Evangelist Liu is 4th from right in second row. Dear Friend: A few weeks ago I sent you one picture of the first group to be baptized. That group was a picked group; they were dealt with privately, and no announcement was made of the coming baptismal service. At the close of the service some asked why they could not be included, and after explanation, they were told there would be another opportunity when our Superin tendent came. This makes a total of twenty-five now baptized. Here is another picture. To me this picture speaks louder than anything I might write, of God’s blessing on the work of the Band in Supu. I f the one man who holds his Bible and hymn book were the only one won, the whole effort would have been worth-while. To me he is the pick of the group. A merchant on the street, and a Bao Chang (head of ten families and responsible to the local government), he is well grounded in the Word and very, very happy. The group is quite repre sentative: 16 men, one each: an assistant post-master, teach er, student, carpenter, and an apprentice; three office men, four merchants and four shoemakers; 9 women: one teacher and the others home-makers. One very interesting thing is that the husbands were in the first group, and they wanted their wives to be baptized. There are four couples. As 1 sit in my little room looking over the picture, I praise God, for there is only one that I wonder a bit about, and he may surprise met Now the future responsibility rests with the pastor and my blundering self. And also we have quite a long list of others to work on. I want to say thank you to you and to the Hunan Bible Institute for sending to us such a fine team of evangelists. We really had nothing when they came, and now we have a splendid new group of Christians with the promise of more. Praise be to the Father above for “ What He hath wrought.” Yours in much appreciation and prayers, R o se L . F e c k e r . Not far from Changsha, Band No. 2 has just started work. It is the ploughing up of the soil and sowing of the seed. We hope that not only will Biola have two Bands working this autumn, but the number will be doubled. Now is the day of response. The night will come and then no man may work. Towns and villages are fully open to the gospel in Hunan where as in many other parts of China the door has closed. Lord, will those who shall be saved in Hunan be few? Page Nine
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