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THE K I N G ' S BUS I NE S S
January, 1938
• Long threatened, the war between Japan and China had not begun when Charles A . Roberts, who is Treas urer of the Hunan Bible Institute, the China department of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, sailed for China in the spring of 1937. Within a few months war had burst upon China. “ Dugouts” were constructed for the safety of residents in Changsha and elsewhere in China, and once the terror of war came so near to the Hunan Bible Institute that Mr. Roberts cabled:
Bombed. Safe.” In this article, in changing pano rama, Mr. Roberts unfolds the promising state of mis sionary activity when he returned to his field, and then shows the acute problems raised by the Japanese inva sion. The first portion of this article was written before the “ incident” of August 10 which resulted in the bom bardment of Shanghai and which shifted the center of war interest from North China to Shanghai. Readers will note the effect of this event upon inland China.
O ld Cathay, and W a r By CHARLES A. ROBERTS Changsha, Hunan, China
Changsha, August 5, 1937 O FF the California coast the ocean was a translucent blue as we passed under the Golden Gate bridge, that last word in beauty and en gineering skill, and nosed our way out for
My next companion was a young Persian, born in Bombay, India, and returning there from England via America, having com pleted special studies in radio engineering. He was a brilliant, racy chap, who at the most trivial annoyance would swear most profanely. A t the very first opportunity, I suggested to him that he was not aware ef the reality of the Person whose name he so frequently took in vain. He replied pleasantly regretting that he had formed the habit while in England! And catching a glimpse of my New Testament on the bureau, he inquired whether I was a mis sionary. Then as if to cover his own posi tion, he retorted that he was on his way back to India, and that India’s troubles would soon be solved if she had ninety per cent less of religion 1 As he disrobed one evening to retire, he smilingly called my attention to the fact that around his body he had worn since childhood three strands of a yellow silken cord. His mother had given him that silken cord on the day of his “ baptism” in the religion of Zoroaster. There was my point o f contact. Mother! And the need of salvation 1 Before we parted at Yokohama, we had prayed to gether, and for the first time in his life he had understood that Jesus Christ was a Mediator, and that Life, not religion, was man’s greatest need. That I should have a Turkish gentle
ment and to read it when he reached Nanking. My three “wise men of the East” have gone each on his own way. Was it pos sible that each had been in America, and yet had not found Him “that is born king . . t.” ? But too frequently it is so. Extraordinary Missionary Opportunity Back again on the shores of Cathay, and how happy I am ! It seems that during the first few weeks after my return I have been introduced to a new China indeed. Such missionary activity! Never in China in all the years that have followed the coming of Rob- _
a n i n t h t r i p across the Pacific. Soon we had left our pilot boat far b e h in d bobbing among the white- ca p s, and w e were making full steam ahead for the Orient. Never before on crossing the Pa cific have I had the rare pleasure of a three-time
ert Morrison, the first Pr ot es t ant m i s s i o n a r y to land at Canton, have there been such opportunities for the preaching o f t h e g o s p e l ! Since the deten tion of Generalis simo Chiang Kai Shek last Decem ber, and his tes- timony of God’s hand and care in
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change of cabin companions. On this journey each change introduced me to an Oriental friend who was traveling East for a very different pur pose than I. And by the time I had reached my destination, Shanghai, I was impressed as never before with the im portance of my particular mission —to preach Christ. M y first cabin mate, a Chinese gentle man, was returning to his home in Can ton, having completed his studies in Amer ica, where he had received a degree of Doctor of Science. W e had a number of good talks together, in Chinese and in Eng lish, but he was somewhat chary of Chris tian missionary work, although he admit ted later that he himself had received his early training at a mission school! That Christ should return to earth and set up a rule where kingdoms and states submitted to harmonious control was an unheard of ideal to my friend. A day or so later, arrangements were made for him to move into another cabin with a Chinese friend who had boarded the ship at the last moment. Brief though my opportunity had been, I thanked God for the message I was privileged to bear to such a man as this one. Dravotngs on this page are by Ransom D. Marvin. Three "Wise Men"
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his marvelous escape, a new impetus is felt everywhere. The rich man and the poor man, the educated and the illiterate, the officials in high government position and the lowly plowman in the country, are all alike ready to hear the message of the gospel. In Shanghai I found crowd ed churches, and up the Yangtze at vari ous cities the same situation obtained. And last Sunday—the first Sunday of August— I preached at the largest church in Chang sha to an audience that was unusually large for the hot sticky weather of the summer months. Look on the fields; they are already white unto harvest! A t Changsha, Hunan, our Biola Evan gelistic Bands have just closed their fiscal year. Five evangelistic bands with seven evangelists in each band have visited 38,000 homes with the gospel in the course of the year. And well over 100,000 Scripture portions and tracts have been distributed. There are numerous instances of whole families that have accepted Christ and have cast away century-old
man for a travel in g com p a n io n f r o m Yokohama to Shanghai was perhaps the fur thest from my t h o u g h t s , but when a very tall, large-nosed man moved in, I was to meet an official of the diplomatic service of Tur key; H e w a s t r a v e l i n g from Tokyo to Nan
king for a new ’ appointment. He smoked Turkish cigarettes incessantly and used Vicks Vapor for his cold! Noncommittal at first, this nominal follower of Mahomet shortly became very friendly. The trip from Japan to China is a very short one, but on arrival at Shanghai as we parted, he consented to accept a small New Testa- • Persia
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