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THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NES S
April, 1942
through a peephole, reported that large numbers of troops were return ing from the south, these being Jap anese who had pushed on southward and were now retreating. “The Japanese had reached a point thirty miles south of the city, stayed a brief few hours and returned. Then I knew that the gun firing of the night of September 30 was an attempt by the Chinese to regain the city. By daylight and on until 10 a. m. of October 1, the machine gun and rifle firing in the Leek Gardens area was terrific, and bullets were flying all over the place. The Chinese had ar rived, and the Japanese were fighting a rear-guard action. “All our refugees lay flat on the floors of their rooms, and our for eign women and children went to the basement of the Milton Stewart Hall to remain there until the smoke of battle had cleared away. We were caught right in the center. Machine guns used a spot at our gateway to command the road, as the entrance is a bit V-shaped. Again, praise God, not one person of the two thousand folk on the compound was injured! And again we were happy that we had such a high brick wall around us, for it stopped many a bullet. “That morning, as I had been up most of the night rushing from one point to another, it was about 6 a. m. when I said to my cook, a former soldier who rather grinned at the sit uation, ‘Chow Shifu, you’d better make a pot of coffee for the folks and get it over to the big building.’ And then I came into my living room and turned on the radio to see wheth er I could pick up any outside news, and lo I got Tokyo and heard: ‘The ImpaHal troops having accomplished their objectives at Changsha were re tiring to original positions’ ! “That half-lie was the best news heard in four awful days. I ran over to the Milton Stewart Hg,ll and gave out the news. We were all greatly cheered. By night the Chinese had fully re-occupied the city. Then fol lowed days of waiting and sending the refugees home and cleaning up the compound.” Under present international condi tions, of course, the American flag would not form the restraint upon Japanese action that it frequently provided before December 7. Another Japanese drive toward Changsha would be far more dangerous for Mr. Roberts and his Chinese coworkers than previous attempts have been. But God who has so miraculously preserved the buildings through the fires and warfare of recent years can do further wonders if it is His pur pose to maintain a testimony in that spot—and if His people pray in line with His will.
this summer’s session' at Camp Wyc liffe. It is to be held for ten weeks, from June 10 through August 18, on the campus of the University of Okla homa, Norman, Okla. For this coming summer session, Camp Wycliffe’s Summer Institute of Linguistics is offering a limited number of scholar ships, from a fund known as the Wil liam C. Bentley Scholarship Fund.* A Great Task Unfinished “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17). We who are engaged in trans lating that Word in the state of Chiapas rejoice in the privilege of sharing in the work that was so glo riously begun through Bill Bentley’s sacrificial devotion to his Saviour. As we work, we intercede also for the thirty tribes of Mexico, some large, some smaller, for whom no effort of translation is being made. We are praying for fifty new workers to enter Mexico this fall, to help fill the great need. One thousand tribes of earth still have no portion of the Bible in their own language. What is the Lord’s will for you concerning this mattei;? “Our neighbors began to crowd our gates, and when I went out and opened up, in rushed men, women, and children, dragging behind them all that they could possibly pull or carry. Many more climbed over our walls. . . Dormitories and any avail able space were used for sleeping ac commodations. As many as eight or ten persons were in one room where normally one student lived! Fortu nately it was September and the weather was (very good, so that there was little suffering from lack of cov ers. The Japanese military police called on us on September 28 for the usual formalities of name, national ity, and the like. “Late in the night of September 30, we heard firing, both large and small guns. During the day I had gone to the gate several times to let refugees in. We kept our gates locked and boarded up, with a large United States flag painted on the board, to gether with the Chinese of ‘Bible Insti tute of Los Angeles, U. S, A.,’ written in large characters. Our' gateman, who had been keeping a watch *These scholarships are for $30.00 each, con ering registration fees and an additional $25.00 to apply on expenses. The conditions governing the award of the William C. Rent- ley scholarships are (1) scholastic qualifi cations, (2) financial need, and (3) the pur pose to translate the Bible into native dialects. Application either for these schol arships or for regular enrollment at the Summer Institute of Linguistics should be made to the Pioneer Mission Agency. 1201 Chestnut Street. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. MACHINE GUNS AT THE GATE [Continued from Page 127]
Church of the Open Door MISSIONARY RALLY April 3 to 12
Sixth and Hop* Streets Les Angeles, California
(Simultaneous rallies in three neighboring communities also).
worker in such fields «will waste months and even years of time un less he is scientifically trained. But certain fundamental principles for reducing any language to writing and analyzing its construction are applicable to all types of languages, all over the world; and these are the principles which we of the Camp Wycliffe translation group have been taught in the courses at the Summer Institute of Linguistics. Many of the students at Camp Wycliffe will need to attack languages whose words have several varying tones for a single vowel, with widely different mean ings. Special help must be given these workers. Courses in Phonetics, Pho- nemics, Morphology, Syntax, teaching natives to read, and the like—such subjects constitute the curriculum, with the addition of an anthropology course which deals particularly with customs of primitive peoples. Since the first session of Camp Wycliffe in the summer of 1934, more than ninety linguistically t r a i n e d missionaries have gone out to fifteen different countries, on four continents. Their reports reveal unmistakably that their training has saved both time and labor in learning primitive languages. Camp Wycliffe’s Summer Institute of Linguistics is endorsed by the American Bible Society and recom mended by a senior ethnologist of the Smithsonian Institution at Washing ton, D. C. The academic qualifications of Camp Wycliffe are further shown by the fact that the University of Oklahoma has graciously offered to be host to the group, inviting its members to use the facilities of the campus, and offering university credit to those in the number who have uni versity standing. Enrollment at Camp Wycliffe is open to missionary candidates and missionaries of all evangelical boards. Two w e l l - k n o w n denominational boards now require all their pioneer missionaries to attend Camp Wycliffe before going to their respective fields. Consecrated young Christians who have already had their Bible training and academic work (or who are now engaged in this study during the regular school year) and who wish to 'serve in pioneer mission fields are encouraged to apply immediately for
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