S5
February, 1940
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
Junior King' s Bus iness By M A R TH A S. HOOKER Member of Faculty, Bible Institute of Lot Angeles
THE SANDPIPER’ S BABY B y M rs . F rank A . K eller sion, the British Ambassador, and Mad ame Chiang Kai-shek, the wife of the commander-in-chief of the Chinese army. Madame Qhiang Kai-shek could not attend the ceremony, but she sent the name for the little baby. Can you guess the name she chose? I am sure you can’t, so I will tell you—“Water Lily.” Wasn’t that a beautiful and appropriate name for a little girj who was rescued from the water? The ceremony which bestowed this name upon the baby girl was both sol emn and impressive. It was. held on board the gunboat, Sandpiper. The ship’s bell Was used as the font; British and Chinese flags were draped over a hateh to form an altar. At the time of the ceremony, the crew of the Sand piper stepped up on deck and stood at attention as the little baby girl was called for the first time by her new name, Water Lily. The British Ambassador, the captain of the Sandpiper, and the ship’s doctor all held the baby in turns, and with bowed heads they prayed for this little one, asking God, the heavenly Father, to make her a faithful servant of Jesus Christ. The next question which faced the crew of the Sandpiper was, “Who shall take care of her?” But God, the heav enly Father who had so wonderfully spared her life, met this need also. A
Mrs. Li, a Chinese woman who is the wife of a Chinese Methodist pastor and is the mother of several small children, very kindly offered to take Water Lily into her home and look after her. Mrs. Li ,is a fine, earnest Christian mother. We are sure' that under Mrs. Li’s care “the Sandpiper’s baby” will develop and grow in a way that is well pleasing to the Lord. Surely God has some special plan for this little life so wonderfully saved from death and so lovingly pro vided for. Pray for Water Lily, the Sandpiper’s baby! [Mrs. Keller., with her husband, Dr. Frank A . Keller, has been a missionary for many years at the Hunan Bible In stitute, the China Department of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles .] Another o f Aunt Phoebe’ s Salvation Stories* Betty and Bobby were waiting for Aunt' Phoebe in the lving room. "We’re here,” they both shouted. “'And we want to hear about one of your girls tonight,” Betty added. “Yes, I’m planning to tell you about Helen,” Aunt Phoebe replied as she took the chair which the twins had pulled up for her. "I met Helen on the train two years ago,” Aunt Phoebe began, “as I was traveling toward Chicago to see your
A WAY across the sea in the land / \ of China, where boys and girls A JL are 1 going to bed when children in America are waking up, there is a city in which,the Hunan Bible Institute is located; ,and where many young men and women have been trained to teach and preach the good news of the gospel. The name of the city is Changsha. Changsha, like many other cities in China, has experienced the terrors of war: the roar of bombs, the sound, of war alarms, and the hurrying to shelter for safety when air raids come. During one of the bombings in Chang sha, a Chinese steamer and many of the smaller boats which were sailing on the Siang River, on which Changsha is located, were bombed. At that very time, a British gunboat named the “Sandpiper” was in port. When the bombing took place, the Sandpiper hur ried to the rescue, and the crew did noble work in rescuing the pedple from the bombed boats and from the Siang River. Among those rescued by the Sand piper’s crew was a dear little Chinese baby girl, about four months old. She was pulled up out of the stream, so of course was full of water, but by means of artificial respiration she was soon relieved and breathing normally. How glad the crew was to know that she was going to live! She was soon placed in a hospital where she could be cared for.
Aunt Lucille. Helen and her mother occupied the seats across the aisle from mine. “Now before I had started on this trip, I had asked my heavenly Father to give me an opportunity to tell some one about His dear Son, the Lord Jesus; and as I became acquainted with Helen and her mother, I began praying for them, and looking for an opportunity to tell them th e' ‘good news.’ , “ ‘I can see that you enjoy books,’ I said to Helen on the second day of our trip as she finished the last story in one of her books. “ ‘Yes, I do',’ she replied. ‘I just love to read.’ *The third in a series about boys and girls who have ac cepted Christ.
Then the crew of the Sandpiper tried to find the parents or guardians of the little girl, but none could be found. No one would claim her, so do you know what the crew of the Sandpiper decided to do ? They decided to take her for their own and rear her as their own child! Wasn’t that a fine thing for them to do? Having decided to keep her and care for her, the men next made plans to have her named at a christ ening service. With what special care this service was planned! Many important people were invited to at tend and have a part in the ceremony. Among those who were invited were Mr. Stan field of the Methodist Mis-
This picture of the rescued “Water Lily” and one of her friends on the “ Sandpiper” appeared recently in YOUNG CHINA. The story on these pages has been adapted from a story told by Mrs. Keller in that magazine.
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