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Arid now the earthly service of this great man of God is ended, but b ' works do follow him, for hundreds of Chinese, in China and in Heave: are rejoicing in the salvation of Gc' because of his self-sacrifice, devotion and love for the Saviour. @W)/JW(IH||l|||lllllllllllllllllllllljlllll|[|||[|||||||||li[|||lilllllllllllllllll[|||IIIIHII[|||iiiiliiiiiiiiiiii[|lid" The “ Expendables” (j Upon our world we lift our eyes, ¡j And lo! the harvest fields are H red: p Filled with the dying and the J ■ dead, H With mothers’ tears, with chil- j| I dren’s cries. jf J "Expendables" of earth are these 1 S Who fought in blood; who fell | | in flame; S p But we, who bear the Saviour’s 1 J j Name, 1 H Shall we be softly wrapped in I j j ease? 1 1 Our God has never changed His 1 1 plan, I His still the call to go, to fj | pfay— > | H To heal earth's heartbreak in 1 | our day, 1 j He ever meets man’s need with 1 H man. jj jj We dare not then refuse to be ■ U The life poured out; the corn 1 of wheat: m Burnt sacrifice, of savour B sweet: J For His "expendables” are we. 1 —Betty Bruechert.
its correspondence course. The Insti tute was occupied by Chinese soldiers of the' Nationalist Army in 1927, and again by the Communists in 1930, but classes were resumed as soon as conditions b e c a m e more normal. Changsha is now in Japanese hands, and thus the work of teaching is again temporarily suspended. This is organically a part of the Bible In stitute of Los Angeles and is operated as the Bible Institute of Los Angeles in China. Bible Conferences Mention should be made of another of Dr. Keller’s enterprises, the Nanyoh Bible Conferences and evangelistic work. Nanyoh is one of the; five great sacred mountains of China, situated about 130 miles from Changsha; and thousands of pilgrims visit its temples every autumn. Dr. Keller and his co- workers secured a large compound near the foot of the mountain, which became a conferenc grounds, with dormitories, dining room, and an au ditorium seating 500. Each year, dur ing the pilgrim season, a three weeks’ conference was held, with notable teachers and preachers as the speak ers. The mornings were occupied with Bible study and prayer, while in the afternoons preaching and personal evangelism were carried on among the pilgrims. A Gospel resthouse was erected over one of the main roads leading up the mountain, where pil grims were invited to rest and drink tea. This gave remarkable opportu nities of making known the Gospel and distributing Christian literature. Dr. and Mrs. Keller retired from service in China in 1940, and settled in Los Angeles. But his great mis sionary heart burned with zeal, not only for China, but for the whole world. The doctor’s breadth of vision was seen in the numerous missionary magazines which he read, and in his interest in any enterprise concerned with the winning of men to Christ. His prayer life was deep, and exten sive in its scope. The mere mention of a need would almost guarantee its inclusion in his petitions. He prayed fervently for the work which he had founded, remembering by name ea$h evangelist in the various bands every morning.
Vision and Sacrifice To Dr. Keller, the paramount need of China was spiritual, and, though carrying on a ministry of healing, he laid great emphasis upon aggressive evangelism. Feeling that such evan gelism would be carried on most ef fectively by well-trained, well-organ ized teams of Chinese workers, he took a decisive' step in 1910 by bringing into being the first of what were to be later known as the Biola Bands. These b a n d s consisted of twelve men and a leader, who gave ten months of each year to evangel ism. They l i v e d and traveled on houseboats, devoting their mornings' to systematic Bible study, and the remainder of the day to active wit nessing. Upon reaching a town or village, the men would go out by twos in every direction for about five miles, seeking to Visit every home, and to make a clear presentation o f the Gospel in each. Statistics show that in one year, for example, 70,000 homes were thus visited, while in one period of three months the inmates of 44,000 homes were told the way of salvation. At one time the number of bands reached fourteen, with a total of 182 evangelists. This work is now greatly curtailed, due to the occupation of HUnan by the Japanese, but several bands were reported to be operating before communications were interrupted. Biola In China In 1918 the indefatigable doctor- evangelist took another forward step in the training of Chinese evangelists when work on a permanent Bible in stitute was begun. The extensive cam pus and beautiful buildings were made possible through the generous gifts of Mr. Lyman Stewart, a devoted Christian layman of Los Angeles. The architecture of the buildings makes them a distinct asset to the city of Changsha. They have been visited by Generalissimo a n d Madame Chiang Kai-shek and o t h e r notables. Hun dreds of well-trained evangelists, pas tors and Bible Women have cause to praise God for the teaching received in the thorough three-year course of the Hunan Bible Institute, or through
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The Bible Institute of Los Angeles in China
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