T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
/ U N I
The God Who Could Not Save Himself
-*• I A I TEH and her mother lived I With Li AI Teh’s grandmother, I A Mrs. Chin, in one of the large cities of China. Every room in Mrs. Chin’s house was filled with costly things, for she was very rich. There was one thing in her house which she prized more highly than anything else—a large, bronze idol which she kept in the center of a long, narrow table. This idol was her god, and every day she offered incense and paper money to it,‘ and bowed down to the floor to win its favor. She taught L i A i Teh to worship the idol, too. L i Ai Teh did not mind doing this, for to light the incense stick, and to make the low bow took only a minute, and then she was free to go and play in the cool, quiet street. One day Li A i Teh noticed* many children going into the big yard, call ed a compound, which was next door to her grandmother’s house. She had never been Inside the big gates with their Chinese characters: “ Fuh In T’ang” painted on them, but she liked A Busy Street in a Chinese City
By MARGUERITE OWEN
she had heard and learned to sing, about the verse from the Book with the black covers the missionary had taught the boys and girls, and about the wonderful story which they had heard from the same Book. Then something happened which made the tears come into Li Ai Teh’s black eyes. Her grandmother, Mrs. Chin, was angry. “I shall punish you if you ever go inside t h o s e gates again,” she said harshly. At first Li AI Teh’s mother agreed with Mrs. Chin, but when the little girl begged eagerly to go again to the Sunday school, her mother gave her consent for her to go, and told the grandmother that they would burn an extra amount of incense to the idol on the long, narrow table so that no harm would come to their household. After that, whenever Li Ai Teh heard the big bell ring, and saw the large gates swing open, she ran Into the compound, and joined the boys and girls there. She soon learned that Jesus was God’s Son, and that He was the only God who could save and keep those who loved Him. When L i Ai Teh heard that Jesus loved her and all the other people in the world so much that He died for them, she thought that everybody should love Him; and, most of all, she wanted her mother to love her new Friend. She tried to tell her mother all that she had learned about the Saviour, but usually her mother was too busy to listen, and her grand mother always looked very cross and scolded her. One day when Li Ai Teh thought it was almost time for the bell to ring, and the big gates to open, she said to her mother, “Mother, please come to the meeting today. I want you to hear the wonderful story of Jesus.” Her mother did not want to go to the meeting, but she loved her little girl and liked to do things to please ' J
the name, for it meant Happy Sound Hall. She was curious to see what was inside the gates, and she wanted to know why so many happy boys and\ girls were going there; so Li Ai Teh skipped along behind the crowd, and when the last child had gone in, she slipped quickly inside before the big gates were closed. Li Ai Teh was Interested in the low building with the many windows, for through these windows she could see inside the large room where the boys and girls were sitting on long benches. As she crept close to the building she tried to hear what was being said. Presently the boys and girls began to sing: “ Ie-su ai o, wan puh ts’o, in iu Sheng Shu kao su o” (Jesus loves .me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so). She liked the words and the tune, but
she did not know who Jesus was. In her eagerness to hear more, Li A i Teh pressed close to the window. Then some one saw her, and came out of the building, and said to her in her language, “Would you like to come in side? The boys and girls are learning m a n y wonderful things.” Li Ai Teh was too timid to answer the missionary, but she ran up the steps be side the lady and into the big room where the children were. This was the first Sun day school she had ever at tended. A ll was strange to her, but she liked everything she heard and saw. It was almost time for supper when Li Ai Teh went home, but she was so excited she hardly realized that she was hungry. She told her mother and her grandmother all that had happened. She told them about the song
'mmPhotograph by George King •
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