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o u t in such w eath er?” “Why, th e blessed news we have to te ll,” they replied. “Well, if you come ou t in such wea th e r an d in such mud th ere m ust be something in th is mes sage th a t you bring u s,” and so th e ir ears an d h earts were opened to listen and to receive. I m ust ju s t tak e tim e to tell you of a Mrs. Ho who defi n itely gave herself to th e Lord a t th is place. H er son, a teach er, had been converted "through th e m inistry of Mr. Hwang, th e evangelist in charge. When Mrs. Ho heard th is she was very angry to th in k th a t h er son, a well edu cated man, should be Willing to tu rn away from th e ir own religion and believe in Jesus Christ, th e founder of w hat sh e considered a foreign religion. I t was to her m ind te rrib le , so she left no stone unturned,, no opportunity un used, to persecute her son and those who had led him to su ch a belief. W hen th e women stud en ts arrived th e re she was greatly opposed to them and a t first would no t listen to them , b u t when she saw th a t they w ere stud en ts and young, and not afraid of most inclem ent w eather, and so earnest, an d when sh e h eard th a t they got up early in th e morning to cook th e ir own food and th a t they them selves prepared te a and served it to those who called on them (th e work of a ser v a n t in China), she though t she would like to h ear w hat they had to say, so invited them into h er home, and th e Holy Spirit worked in her h eart, and she yielded herself to Him. She th en told them w h at had influenced h er and said: “ If it had been an American or any o th er foreigner who h ad come here to preach I would not have listened, b u t you a re my own countrywomen, and you, moreover, are studen ts, young, b rig h t women w ith a good prospect in life, and I made up my m ind th a t if you believed, and you were w illing to come here and suffer, th e re m ust be some th in g in it, and I have found th ere is. I have found etern al life !” Surely th a t day th e re was joy in the presence of th e angels of God over one sinner th a t repented. Mrs. Ho is a woman of between forty and fifty years of age, a woman of H RRIVING one n igh t in a certain sm all city, I arose early the next morning and took a w alk abou t th e town, viewing th e principal buildings, th e city hall, library, schools and churches. During my w alk I m et an old negro man, of whom I asked: “ Uncle, w hat church is th a t? ” “ D at little church over on de co rner?” he replied. “ Yes,” I said again, “W hat church is it? ” “Oh, d a t’s de C rumblin’ P resbyte’ian Church, Sah.” “The w h at?” I asked, in some surprise. “De C rumblin’ P resbyte’ian Church, Sah.” Yes, I though t to myself, “We have a lo t of churches of th e same kind in my own denom ination.” There be crum blin’ P resbyterian churches, and crum blin’ Methodist churches, and crum blin’ Baptist churches, and so on. Why is it th a t we find so many crumbling churches? Are they off th e tru e foundation and therefo re disintegrating? Jesus said: “Upon th is rock I will build my church, and th e gates of hell shall no t prevail ag ain st it.” Are our churches bu ilt upon th e solid rock of Christ and His Deity, or do we build on th e un certain sand of science, philosophy and hum an reasoning? Do we build upon mor ality and good government, upon hum an character and good deeds? We will find these things, a p a rt from the
considerable influence in her village, and by God’s blessing will be a g reat power for good. While these bands are ou t working in th e country, a few of th e stu d e n t^ are rem aining here in Changsha. Two men go daily to th e Yale Hospital to have personal ta lk s w ith th e patients, and two of th e women are spending th e ir vaca tion doing house to house v isitation in th e larg e sou thern suburb of th e city. The re st of th e stud en ts w ent to th e ir homes a fte r graduation. We held our commencement exer cises la st week and twenty-two men g raduated a fte r two years of earn est study. Only one man in th e class failed to secure th e m arks necessary for g raduation, an d his failu re was no t due to lack of diligence b u t to a combina tion of circum stances which he could n o t control. Of th e twenty-two g raduates, te n were “re g u la r” stu dents, th a t is, studen ts who eith er paid all of th e ir schoool expenses themselves or had them paid by th e m issions send ing them to th e school. On graduation, such stud en ts re tu rn to ta k e up evangelistic work in th e ir respective m is sions. Twelve of th e twenty-two g raduates had received scholarships and are under contract to work for two years in our Biola Evangelistic Bands. These twelve men have been w ith us for two solid years studying in th e Bible School during term tim e and working in th e stu d e n t bands during th e ir vacations. On g raduating, they are perm itted to spend th e summer vacations in th e ir homes w ith th e ir loved ones whom they have no t seen for two years. They are expected to attend the Nanyoh Bible Conference, a fte r which they will begin work in th e reg u lar bands. W hat a joy it has been to have a sh are in train in g these twenty-two men for th e ir life work, w hat an in sp iration to watch th e ir development, and w hat a deep and prayerful in terest we will tak e in th e ir work du ring th e coming years. May we not hope th a t you will sh are th is in te re st w ith us, and join us in prayer fo r them and for th e stud en ts who wili be coming back to th e school fo r ano th er year of study full of enthusiasm because of w hat they have seen during th e ir summ er’s work of th e power of th e Gospel to save. righteousness of Christ, a veritable foundation of fluick- sand, and we may expect th e house to fall. Yet some churches app ear to be crumbling which were originally founded upon th e solid Rock. W hat is th e m atter? The fa u lt is no t w ith th e foundation. “O ther foundation can no man lay th a n th a t is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Have we bu ilt on th is foundation gold, silver, precious stones, which abide? Or have we b u ilt w ith wood, hay, stubble? F o r surely th e walls will crumble and fall. Let every man tak e heed where he build and how he build. Many churches, originally orthodox, have become so pro gressive and up-to-date th a t they have moved clear off th e foundation of Christ and His Deity. In th e liberalism of th e day many have sought a more flexible and accommodat ing foundation th a n the solid Rock of Jesus Christ. They seek a foundation th a t is more easily ad ju stab le to present day conditions and modern thought. The crumbling of such a house is sure. May we build only on th e solid Rock, Jesu s Christ; and may we build of gold, silver and goodly stones; an d of those living stones th a t God would have in His sp iritu al temple. May we be saved from flexible foundations and crumbling churches.
Crumblin’ Ckurches T. T. Holloway
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