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THE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
Superstition B roken Down The coffin rem ained open during both of these services, and a t five o’clock before- closing th e coffin, th e evangelists invited the people to come up and ex am ine th e corpse and see th a t th e eyes were undisturbed and th a t th ere had been no m utilation of any kind. The son arose and repeated th e invitation, and afte r all present were fully sa tis fied, th e coffin was closed and sealed. A t eight o’clock th a t evening another service was held which continued un til half past ten, th e subject being, “W hat is Salvation?” A t th e close of th is ser vice, which, like th e other services, was attended by a large crowd, th e son, Mr. Shen Gih Pu, arose and told th e stir ring story of his m other’s conversion. Mr. Shen was among th e number who were brought to Christ while th e Biola Evangelistic Band was working in th e Tan-tou district, and as soon as he tasted th e joy of salvation he began to pray and work for th e salvation of his mother. He said: “Mother a n d I loved each other deeply .from my in fancy, b u t la st year a fte r th e Biola Evangelistic Band had been here, a sp irit of b itterness sprang up, and my mother was constantly upbraiding me. She was seventy years of age, and had been an enthusiastic idolater for many years, and now she said th a t her labors were all in vain for I would no t perform th e ceremonies for h er th a t were en cumbent on a tru ly du tifu l son. Then my m other became ill, and she charged me w ith being th e cause of her illness because I had offended th e idols. My sister upbraided me for bringing trouble upon my mother, b u t I determ ined not to give up un til my m other was. saved. I spent every Sunday in prayer and fasting, and afte r th ree weeks a voice seemed to say to me, “Your mother has believed in Jesus.” And again th e voice said: “You should go rig h t into her room and th e re pray for h er.” I told my wife about it and she said to me, “You silly fool, your mother is still cursing you; can you no t h ear h e r? ” I w ent to th e door and listened, and tru e enough, my m other was cursing me, still I obeyed th e voice and went into her room and prayed for her. Mother asked me w hat I was doing and when I told, her she cursed me th e more bitterly. However, th e next day I went ou t and purchased a new kneel ing mat, to o k .it to my m o th er’s room and w ent th e re daily and prayed for her. A week later, afte r I had finished
Tan Yu Cheng and Yuan Ding An praying, my m other also prayed, and from th a t tim e she prayed daily. Her face became rad ia n t and she did n o t seem to feel the pain as before. A fter a tim e th e Rev. "Mr. Schoppe came to Tan-tou and my m other was baptized. My m other has not died, she has ju st gone home to heaven and I shall join her th e re .’ Peace and Hope Pound When Mr. Shen had finished speak ing, a man in th e company arose and said: “ On my way h ere I passed an o th er funeral. All concerned were in deep sorrow and were crying bitterly, b u t h ere I find a sp irit of peace and hope; surely it is a g rea t proof of the vast difference between heathenism and Christianity.” The next morning th e bu rial took place, a sho rt service was held a t the house, the leader speaking from 1 Cor. 15:50 to th e end. The streets were
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