16
THE K I N G ’ S
B U S I N E S S
January 1925
IIIillS IB ifiS Ilg
Our Bible Institute in Hunan Province, Chini
Dr. Frank A. Kelter Superintendent
B ib le I n s t i t u t e (th e C h in a D e p a rtm e n t of th e B ib le In stitu te , of L o s A n g e le s) is o rg a n iz e d a lo n e s im ila r lin e s to
a c t i v ° 1ev angSeVis” ic ’^ o r k 1^ m o n ^ t h ,e u n sa v ed . y o u n g
~
*> '
w o rS . an'd a t ° t i “ a m e Ä " o S Ä “ ? an one of th e b e s t in C h in a) h a s th re e d e p a rtm e n ts. m o rn in g s to B ib le S tu d y , a n d th e a fte rn o o n s to g iv in g
T h e w o rk (w h ic h 1 .; ^ n i z e ^ b y ( th e EaeSS uxa j w m c n is rec o g n iz e d oy t d iffe re n t e v a n g e lic a l m issio n s as } J ' ™ B ib le I n s t i t u t e a t C h a n g s h a (t e c a p ita l c ity o f H u n a n P ro v in c e.) (2 ) T w e lv e C o lp o r ta g e B a n d s w ith 13 m en in e ach B and, d e v o tin g th e m or G o sp el in th e n a tiv e hom es. . have( rlsuU he d 1 ? o r t nheBiwo%kCdho0n°e I m o n Ä T h o 'u t L d t T f 0^t r i m s ' C h Ìn a’S ^ th e
—
SaCre<1 m o u n ta i* s >- H u n d re d s o f c o n v e rsio n s
AMONGST FLOOD REFUGEES One morning a few weeks ago the w riter was aroused soon a fte r th ree th irty ' to th e realization th a t if he was to be sure of catching his launch he. m ust hurry. And h u rry he did, for in less th an half an hour he left th e Hunan Bible In stitu te compound. The boat which was due to sail at five o’clock was boarded in ample time, and then, in tru ly Chinese style, did not sail un til nearly seven. The launch was so over-crowded th a t the au tho rities finally put on an extra “ ju n k ,” and everyone found a place at least com fortable enough for th e short trip to Siangtan. "The circumstances of this visit to two of our Summer stud en t bands, were somewhat unique. Hunan has been experiencing very severe floods, and a t the tim e of which we w rite the Siang River had entirely defied her banks. At Changsha in the early morning, and again a t Siangtan, about noon, passengers had to hire rowboats in order to get to and from the launch. The “River stree ts” in each city well deserved the name, for they had be come p art of the river, and boats were dealing w ith the traffic in tru ly Venetian fashion. In some p arts of the province the flood w aters have caused severe loss of life, and long inundated rice fields will almost certainly mean sho rt h a r vests and consequent suffering. Many buildings of the mud-wall type have collapsed, and many people are home less. Making th e Best of a Bad Job We found th e Hunan Bible In stitu te students in two bands which are mak ing Siangtan th eir headquarters, cheer fully making th e best of a bad job. The band th a t had been staying at the China Inland Mission was really assigned to a busy m arket town on the o th er side of the river, and th ere they were able to go th e very day afte r the w riter’s arriv al in Siangtan,
so th a t he saw more of the work of the band th a t was tem porarily quar tered in the P resbyterian Mission Hos pital. This band was intended to work an island in the river near Siangtan. When they arrived there however they found no suitable place to live, and were forced on to the main land, where they hoped to live in a suburb of the city and work the island and part of thé mainland. Before long
people, and these proved to be very receptive. Then next door to the P resbyterian compound is a g reat poor-house, where even a t ordinary times several hundred people are sheltered. Our students found th a t owing to flood conditions this number had swelled to over one thousand. We said the poor people were “sheltered,” and th a t is about all, for the conditions were not sani tary, to say nothing of being com fort able. We should explain th a t th is is a civic or provincial institu tion . The w riter spent one whole afternoon go ing from w ard to ward w ith th e men. Some of the people seemed strangely content in spite of th e ir filth and rags. O thers seemed very much to resent th e ir position. An Appreciative Audience The m ajo rity listened in ten tly to the Gospel story, some asking ques tions th a t showed a really intelligent interest. A few, more p articu larly the younger women, were inclined to be contemptuous. There were people of all ages, from tin y infants to octo genarians. I t was indeed a place to make one’s h ea rt ache. Many of these people have signified a desire to be come Christians, b u t on account of the stric t rules of th e in stitu tion they were not allowed to attend the Bible classes conducted by our men. This makes th e resu lts o f th e work done amongst these people difficult to esti mate, bu t we th a n k God for the faith ful seed sowing and for th e prom ises concerning the certain ty of the harvest. I wish th a t you m ight have peeped w ith me into the P resbyterian church. Indeed, you need to visualize the whole compound, for refugees were scattered in little groups everywhere, drying th eir clothing in the welcome sunshine or cooking th e ir food on little charcoal burners. The once beautiful compound around th e church was sadly dilapidated. H ere a family of pigs was rooting; everywhere the (Continued on page 37)
• HUNAN FLOOD CHANGSHA CUSTOM HOUSE
however the rising w ater drove them from th eir quarters and they too'k up residence in the above-mentioned Hospital. They “ took up” more th a n residence however, for they found an opportu nity th a t inspired them to th e ir very best effort. In the first place there was th e country d istrict around the P resbyterian Mission. The work of th e mission is rig h t on th e ou tsk irts of th e town, so th a t our men were able to find a large group of farm ing
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker