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THE KING’S BUSINESS ' Dr. I w e i i f s in CBtfina
By REUBEN TORREY, Jr.
T HROUGH the generosity o f the Trus tees o f the Stewart Evangelistic Fund the missionaries o f China have received a new stimulus and blessing in the coming o f Dr. Samuel M. Zwemer to hold confer ences on the Moslem problem. During the summer, four such meetings have been conducted in the most popular vacation centers o f Central and North China, namely Kuling, Kikung Shan, Peitaiho, and Chefoo. Thus some hundreds o f residents in China have enjoyed the inspiration and enlarging o f their vision which the stirring addresses o f Dr. Zwemer always produce. Each conference was o f several days duration. The programs consisted of meetings for prayer on behalf o f the fol lowers o f Mohammed throughout the world, addresses dealing with the general conditions o f Islam as a whole—its strength, its hopes, and the challenge it presents to the Church o f Christ today. These were followed -by even .more illu minating addresses on Islam as it is found in China, the problem of the local situa tion, and the best way o f meeting and deal ing with it. At each place a special com mittee, composed o f men in close touch with _Mohammedanism here, met in con ference with Dr. Zwemer and carefully prepared ' findings, which were then pre sented to the large assembly and unani mously passed by it. It was hoped that in this way permanent results might be reaped from Dr. Zwemer’s visit. The fact that there are. ten million Mohammedans in China, outnumbering Protestant and Roman Catholic Christians ten to on e; that these people, so closely knit' together in their faith, form a very active and vital factor in the development o f the nation; that thriving Mohammedan schools, colleges, and printing presses are scattered widely through Western, Central and Northern China; that Arabic is still read and spoken by the educated o f this
class and that the closest touch with the thought and movements o f the great Islamic centers in Arabia is carefully main tained, all came as a revelation to many who had labored in China for years. It woke them to a realization that real efforts must be made to carry Christianity to these heretofore neglected devotees o f a faith which lacks the power to save. To this end recommendations were made which may be summarized as follows: First, That there should be more prayer for Mohammedans—especially' on Fridays, the Moslem sabbath. Second, That there be increased organi zation for work among Moslems in China. Along this line it,! was recommended to the China Continuation Committee that it consider the appointment o f a Traveling Secretary and two District Secretaries to stimulate interest and forward evangelistic work among Chinese Moslems. In addition it was recommended that an All-China com mittee for Moslem work be composed, with a member o f thè executive committee of the China Continuation Committee as chairman, its members to consist o f the three secretaries and the members o f the Translation Committee, referred to below. Third, That in view o f the urgent need o f an adequate supply o f suitable Mandarin literature for the Moslem people through out China, a committee o f translators be appointed at once to deal with this matter. Fourth, That a tri-lingual edition o f the Koran be published, giving the Arabic, Chinese and English in parallel lines. Dr. Zwemer also conducted mass meet ings for the Chinese in certain large cities. In Tsinan fu, the capital o f Shantung Province, where it is claimed that there are 20,000 Mohammedans, hundreds o f men splashed through the rain to hear the mav from Arabia. O f these a large proportion were Moslems, who paid the most respect ful attention. The remainder o f Dr.
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