SEPTEMBER, 1946
385 I U N I O R K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
Marjorie’s first chance to tell about the Lord Jesus came through . . .
A STRA
T SAI HUEI!—Tsai huei! (we’ll meet a g a i n ; we’ll m e e t again),” called the schoolgirls gate. And, as the last loaded barrow bumped down the stone step onto the cobbled street, Marjorie; the young missionary, turned and bowed again to her Chinese friends. Then with a cheery wave she hurried on to follow the barrows. Marjorie was very excited, for this was her first trip into the Chinese villages to h e l p in preaching the Gospel. Ever since she was, a little girl she had w a n t e d to bé â mis sionary, and less than a year ago, the Lord had answered her prayers and brought her to Ch i n a . When she arrived, she was s e n t at once to language school'. T h e r e she had studied many h o u r s , memorizing queer-looking characters, trying to un derstand strange sounds, and learn ing to speak this peculiar language. Later she had been sent to this big city of Fengchow where she lived with several other missionaries, and studied more than before. One day Miss Dobson, one of the older missionaries, invited Marjorie to go with her and Mrs. Ch a n g , a Chinese Christian lady, on a trip to the villages to tell the people about the Lord Jesus. Marjorie was happy. "Now, at last,” she thought, “I’m going to be a really true missionary.”
A True Story by Marguerite G. Owen
as they .crowded around the stone
the wheelbarrows along the. bumpy street kept calling in their high voices: “Chie kuang—Chie kuang (borrow light, borrow light),” the Chinese way of politely asking the people to let them pass. Finally the missionary party passed through the big gates of the city, past the busy market, across the river on a ferryboat, a n d started walking down the dusty country road. When they stopped in a village, a crowd would gather about tall, blond Marjorie, and as soon as the people came up, Mrs. Chang and Miss Dob son would preach to them earnestly. Marjorie h e l p e d by handing out tracts and praying silently as her two friends told the people about the Lord Jesus. It was nearly sundown when they neared the village, Few Market, where they were to spend several days. Miss Dobson and Mrs. Chang were both riding on the barrows, and Marjorie was walking behind. At one bend in the road she lost sight of them for a few minutes, but before she could be afraid or feel lonesome, she re membered that Jesus was walking right along beside her, way off there in inland China. Presently she caught
up with her companions and they soon found a place to tstay in the village. The next afternoon Miss Dobson said to Marjorie, “Many women have come to hear the Gospel, and they have brought some c h i l d r e n w ith' them. Would you like to take the boys and girls down to the open space near the river and sing to them?” “I’d love to,” Marjorie answered, happily. "Lai-Lai (come-come)” M a r j o r i e called, and the children crowded after her as she led the way to a wide space on the bank above the river. With her back to the river and the children gathered in front of her, Mar jorie began to sing “Jesus Loves Me” in Chinese. The c h i l d r e n listened eagerly and when she finished, they asked her to sing it again. She sang it through several times and then tried to teach it to them. Next she thought of a simple Chinese chorus which she had printed on a sheet of paper with a pretty picture on it. She held up the sheet of paper and began to sing the chorus, and the children pressed forward to see it. All this time M a r j o r i e had been unconsciously moving backward as new children joined the group. Suddenly, she took
one more s t e p back and slid right down the muddy bank to the river! How astonished the children were to have their teacher disappear from them so quickly. They crowded t o the edge of the bank to see what had happened. Marjorie was not hurt, but her hands and feet were covered with mud, her dress was muddy too, and her books and papers were all scatter ed down the slope. She smiled and waved to the boys a n d girls.
Their way led through the narrow city streets, and even t h o u g h it was e a r l y morning, there were many peo ple there. Marjorie and h e r f r i e n d s s a w farmers w i t h baskets of carrots, t u r n i p s , beans or squash, car riers ba l anc i ng two full b a s k e t s on the ends of their carrying poles. Some of the men w e r e selling noodles from their small char coal stoves. There wére children pe dd l i ng hot bread sticks. Ahead of her the men pushing
Marjorie was alad to see the boot seoole.
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