December 1927
T h e
K i n g ' s
B u s i n e s s
797
They may not' be familiar with Carey’s dictum, “Attempt great things for God; expect great things from God,” but this is exactly what they are doing. In a place where a band was recently working, twenty-seven persons became Christians. One of these, a leading business man, gave a large room for use as a chapel, and the rest raised the money to furnish it. Writing about another band, a missionary said, “I wish you could have seen one of the men starting off with a donkey-load of boards on his shoulder, in the broiling sun, with forty-five li to traverse,” (This is equal to. fifteen miles.) “He is spending his summer vacation helping to erect a building for a little self-supporting church at his home. Into this building he is putting not only his last dollar, but no end of good, hard toil to get it ready for the dedication service before he leaves for Nanyoh.” That name Nanyoh stands for great things. It is situ ated at the foot of a sacred mountain—one of five such in China—which attracts each year thousands upon thou sands of pilgrims. Every September, Dr. Keller’s men gather here. The student body of the Bible Institute, to gether with delegates from a large area, come for a sum mer course in the midst of the glorious mountain scenery. They study half the day under the best teachers available, both Chinese and foreign, and the other half they do personal work among the pilgrims. Like Philip of old, they join themselves to individuals who are return ing home, and preach Christ unto them. At one of their conferences a stranger asked leave to speak. He said that eight years previously he had come as a pilgrim to worship at a heathen shrine, and had re ceived a little book from a man on the road. After read ing it, he was convinced of its truth, and became a Chris tian. He had now come to look for that man to whom he owed so much, and to bring to the Conference the greet ings of the church of which he was a deacon. Since that day the one-time pilgrim has become an evangelist, and is working under a missionary society. He is. one of many who have been remarkably converted as a result of this primitive and practical plan of evangelism. EBI H ? Blessings Granted Biola Evangelistic Band No. 6 FEW days ago my heart was so stirred by the report of one of the Biola Evangelistic Bands that ^ I had been, reading during the morning, that after luncheon I said to Mr..and Mrs. Rutledge and Mrs. Keller; “Do you mind sitting here for five minutes longer and listening to two incidents recorded in the last report of one of the Bands ?” They consented and the incidents moved them just as they had moved me, and when I had finished reading, Mr. Rutledge said with deep emotion: “Now let us tarry a few moments longer and pray for that man.” I have just been reading the last report of our Band No. 6 and I want to share part of it with you. My hope is that many a reader will want to tarry awhile and pray for these men. Mr. Yu, a prominent business man sixty-three years of age, after listening attentively to the preaching, and after an earnest talk with the evangelists, said: “I am con vinced that Jesus is the Savior of the world, and that He is my personal Savior. I realize that I have many gins, that I have sinned against the one true God; but up to this day I have not known that apart from Jesus Christ there is no way of salvation. This is manifestly true, and now with all my heart I put my trust in the Lord Jesus to put away all my sins.”
Dr. K e ller’s Plan
for Evange liz ing China B y C hr istine L. T in l ing
In our “Literature Table” section we will soon review a new book on Missions (“Memories of the Mission Field”), written by Christine L. Tinling. The author has been a traveler in the Orient and deftly draws word pictures of missionaries she has observed among varying scenes. In this book we find two chap- H which the author comments upon the work of Dr. Frank A. Keller, superintendent of the Hunan work of the Bible Insti tute of Los Angeles. The following is taken from the book. S P H E R E is nothing in Changsha more intensely inter- esting than Dr. - Frank Keller’s program for the evangelization of Hunan by Chinese Christians. The Doc tor represents the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. He has three big “concerns,” as our Quaker friends would say. They are the evangelistic bands, the training-school, and the production of gospel posters. These three closely linked interests all serve the cause of missions as a whole rather than any one society, though Dr. and Mrs. Keller personally are C. I. M. missionaries. The bands visit any station to which they may be invited; several missions send men for training to the Institute, and widely scattered workers avail themselves of the oppor tunity to secure posters. It is its helpfulness to all branches of the Christian Church in Central China that gives to Dr. Keller’s work its peculiar value. The evangelistic teams are called Biola Bands, from the initials of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. There are now thirteen of them, ten of which are itinerating in Hunan and the other three in the neighboring province of Kiangsi. Each band consists of twelve men, living on a boat, with a leader, who instructs them in the Bible and in methods of evangelism. Their daily program is on this wise. The early morning hours are devoted to prayer and "study of the Scriptures. From ten to four they go, two by two, from house to house, explaining the Good News privately and personally to all who will listen, and leaving behind in every home some little leaf of the Tree of Life. Returning to their boat as the afternoon draws on, they have an early supper. Following this, they report the day’s experiences, and the logical sequence is a prayer meeting. Refreshed in body and spirit, they sally forth again, this time probably armed with a bell, and carrying paper lanterns, which announce an evening service. Those with whom they have come into personal contact during the day have already been invited. The meetings are fre quently attended by several hundred people. Two stu dents preach every night,-and those who show an interest are formed into Bible classes. These are held daily dur ing the sojourn of the Biola Band in the district, and in quirers are subsequently cared for by the missions under whose auspices the Band has been working. Sometimes there is a daily meeting for children, when the youngsters hear Bible stories and learn texts. The singing is a special feature, and through the hymns the truth is carried into many a heathen home. Strangely con trasting with the firing of crackers and the beating of gongs for the appeasing of some malevolent spirit, comes the musical message of the boys and girls. It tells of an old, old story, which, however, is new' to many of the . hearers. These Chinese workers get their results on the spot.
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