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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
August 1926
being caught. He will do anything for me."- He at once went to work on the case in consultation with Pastor Lam. The result was that, after a few weeks, all was ready for the final pay ment of a sum of money which was not considered a ransom price, but merely the pairing of “ the board bill,” at it were, of the four men for the past five months/ Was. this ndt a wonder ful answer to prayer? Free at Last Suddenly the word was given to our brethren that they were to be released that day! They were taken to the house of the robber-chief— "Crooked Mouthed Ue”—who simply said to them, “ I have received a letter from my friend, Mr. Tsui-tsol, and you are released.” The robber-guard who had the men in charge all this time, and who, it was learned, was more kind (if that word may be used) than any of the other robber guards, said to our men as they left his house, " I com mend you, Jesus-men! Tou have been well-behaved. Tou have been obed ient to our commands. But, never have we released any prisoner at so low a rate. If all were like your case, this would not be a paying business!" A poor farmer, who was released at the same time as our four brethren, had to pay $1,000 ransom money; The price paid for our brethren was $300 each. The total expense connected with the ransom of our brethren was about U. S. A. $1,600. This amount is being raised by contributions from any friends who would like to have a share. Prayer Answered We prayed as we had never prayed before and the writer felt that he could from similar personal expe rience, sympathise with them. We asked God, particularly for two things: That they might be kept in body, mind and spirit; and that they might come forth with a shout o f victory. These prayers were surely abundantly an swered, and constitute a greater mir acle than if they had been speedily re leased. if they had come out men tally unbalanced or p h y s i c a l l y wrecked, with hanging heads, it would have been only what might naturally have been expected. They have come forth from their “ House of Bondage," thank God, sound in body, mind and spirit, with a great Bhout of victory, not only on their lips, but in their hearts. They have come forth from their "Furnace of Affliction” without the smell of fire on their garments. All praise to His Glorious Name!
ago, and made this Sunday morning service of worship oh^tur God and His Christ possible to these people.” Pas tor Chao’s aged mother passed away to be with the Lord during his absence from Wuchow. One of the number said, "The chief lessons of the expe rience to me, were lessons in the min istry of prayer, and, to be content with such things as ye have." During all that time we did not spend a cent! I feel that I can never complain again whatever my lot may be. What we experienced was worse, by far, than that of a beggar or a prisoner in his cell.” ® It now remains to tell how the Lord brought them out. Not long after our brethren were taken captive, one of our Chinese Pas tors, Rev. Lam Tat-wing, felt con strained to offer to go to Canton with the purpose of giving his entire atten tion to negotiating for their release. We missionaries were all at the Coast, and it was impossible for us to do any thing under the circumstances. Pas tor Lam tried several plans, all of which came to nought. He worked so hard, that on one occasion he com pletely collapsed from exhaustion in the streets of Canton. A Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting Meanwhile, God was working in His own way. At a Wednesday night prayer meeting in a little Church in a town near where our brethren were held, the Chinese evangelist requested prayer for these four Alliance men who had been taken by bandits. At the close of the meeting, a man who had been an enquirer into the Gospel, came to the evangelist and asked what robber-chief had taken the men. On being told his name— "Crooked Mouthed Ue"— he said, "I know him, and I can get the men out for you. I was once a robber myself, but am not a robber now. I once saved the life of this robber-chief. I hid him in my house when he was in great peril of
no use me trying to be a robber! Why speak to me about, pity? If I pity, I cannot be a robber!" Mr. Lei added, "It Is true. Ton might as well request a tiger not to devour you, as to ask these men to have mercy. Their nature is like that of a wild beast." Thank God He can and does close, as In a vise, even the mouths of lions! He sends His lambs into the midst of wolves. He sends them and He keeps them. Fever Thirst While in captivity all of t h e s e brethren suffered a spell of sickness. They laid hands upon one another and prayed for one another. In a wonder ful way they were healed. It seemed necessary indeed that they should have the healing touch from the Lord, for if the robber chief considered them seriously ill, he would insist on a Chinese doctor attending them. This might mean serious sickness indeed! Some of their fellow-prisoners consid ered hopelessly sick, were taken out, chained to a tree nearby, and left to die. These .men have no heart. On one occasion when one of our men was very ill with high fever and was parched with thirst, Mr. Chao felt led to definitely pray that some water would be offered them, so that they could relieve his terrible thirst. At about eleven at night, after the rob bers had partaken of their sumptuous meal, one of them called out, “ Jesus- fellow! Do you want some of this sweet potato water?” A bowl was brought and quenched the sufferer’s thirst. Blessed be the Lord! Sunday Morning Service One word of testimony from these brethren that was of special comfort to the writer was this: They said that through all the long days of their cap tivity, when their thoughts turned homeward, or when in their dreams they dreamed that they were happy at home again, it was always associated in their minds with the Sunday morn ing service in the chapel at Wuchow. This was the natural supreme climax of their desires for home. There were other things of course, their mothers and fathers, their wives, their chil dren, etc., all of which had their right place in their affectionate longings for home— but the first place with which they associated their home-com ing was the Sunday morning service. This testimony was given in a Sunday morning service and made a profound impression. The writer felt, "Thank God, that we missionaries, in obed ience to His command, came to Wu chow, and to Kwang-si thirty years
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