THE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
252
Phonetic System in China Much of th e copy of the “ Sunday School Jo u rn a l” published in Chinese, by the China Sunday School Union is set in the new photftetic system which uses ju st 39 characters. This method of p rinting is working as g reat a revo lution in Chinese literatu re as did the original introduction of printing. An illiterate can learn to read by means of these phonetics in about th ree weeks and a scholar can accomplish th e same result in as many hours. An officer of the China Continuation Society is quoted in “The Evangelical Christian” as follows: “No device seriously taken in hand by residents in China for th e welfare of the Chinese people is comparable in its pos sibilities to th is national phonetic script.” Raising A frican Babies Medical m issionaries in Africa are .fighting ¿gainst the customs of centu ries in trying to reduce th e high rate of in fan t m ortality due in large p art to ignorance in feeding. Says “The Chroni cle” : “They have no idea how to feed babies either in health or sickness. Soon a fte r th e child is born, in addition to its m other’s m ilk it is given gruel or other food. The mother has an idea th a t unless th e child gets something solid or semi-solid it will die of hunger. So we see wee babies a month or two old get ting porridge or beans or maize or fish. We have persuaded some of our Chris tian women to adopt our method of bringing up th e ir children. The results are striking. Their babies are finer, h ealth ier and bigger than the ordinary village baby.” Leprosy in India Both Hindoo and Mohammedan in India regard leprosy as an affliction for com m itting some unpardonable sin against a God whose w rath will not be appeased. The leper therefore is an enemy of God, and it is dangerous to aid those under th e divine ban. “ I know of a leper who lay for th ree days in th e railroad sta-
F ear Control o i F rance New Hebrides chiefs protest against the suggestion th a t th eir islands should be turned over to France. The follow ing le tte r has come to the son of John G. P aton; “ I, Iavis, desire to w rite th is le tte r to you, F ra n k Paton. I have heard again th a t F rance wishes to take Tanna. Form erly this land of Tanna was d ark w ith all sorts of evil ways, bu t th e Lord Jesus sent you to Tanna w ith th e help of the Holy Spirit to res cue me and Lomai and the whole people of Tanna. God has called away Lomai bu t I desire to say to you th a t if F rance comes to Tanna she will destroy the work of Jesus on Tanna. i £ r th is rea son I do no t desire F rance on Tanna. This is my word and th e word of all the chief men of Tanna which I am saying to you, F ra n k Paton. Finished is my word to you. Farewell. The Lord Jesus keep you in your work.” The w riter of th is le tte r was, twenty-three years ago, a naked, painted cannibal, and as naked of education as of clothes. Power of P ress in Japan Christians in Japan are coming to a realization of th e wide opportunity afforded fo r th e ir teaching by the daily newspaper, fo r in a country where illit erates are few, as in ja p a n , th e press has almost unlim ited power. Eighty per cent of the people still live in vil lages, and of these, ninety-seven per cent are quite untouched by Christian influence. In some of these out-of-the- way places, newspaper evangelism has been tried w ith success, Rev. A lbertus P ieters being the pioneer in th is method. Inform ation about Christianity has been spread and prejudice removed, and the Christian religion has become quite a n atu ra l topic of conversation on ra il roads and in w aiting rooms in th e coun try. In Tokyo, during th e recen t evan gelistic campaign, th e Christians used four of the “ dailies” to give th e Chris tian message to the public.
Made with FlippingBook Online document