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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
October 1926
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Our Bible Institute in Hunan Province, China Dr. Frank A. Keller Superintendent
THE BRIGHT SIDE EXPERIENCES IN THE WORK OF BIOLA EVANGELISTIC BAND NUMBER SEVEN
the county in which they are now working. At the urgent request of the missionary in charge of that county they remained in the city for a few days to assist him in con ducting a series of special meetings to usher in the New Year. Their report reads as follows: “ On our arrival in the city the chief military ofllcer sent a representative to invite us to come to his barracks and preach to the soldiers. We promptly accepted the invita tion. The soldiers sat in perfect order, gave splendid atten tion, and many expressed a deep interest in the Gospel. Not a few accepted Christ as their personal Saviour. Arrange ments were made for us to go to the barracks every Wed nesday to hold a Gospel service there for so long a time as we remained in the city. / "Then we planned a campaign among the storekeepers of the city. We walked through the streets, making a brief call at each shop, had a little talk with the proprietors and salesmen and presented to them copies of our books. In every shop we received a most courteous and hearty wel come. They listened gladly to our message, and many pro fessed a deep Interest in what we had told them. Some definitely gave their hearts to Christ. One marked case was that of a Mr. Yeh, a young man of twenty-five years. He now attends the services with faithful regularity, is an earnest student of the Word, and manifests a real enthus iasm in his Christian life.” The hearts and minds of men and women are just the same all over the world; the same difficulties are encount ered and the same excuses are offered in China as in Amer ica, England or any other place. The two incidents that follow are striking illustrations of this fact. A Mr. Liu had heard the Gospel many times. He was convinced of its truth and of its eternal worth, but kept putting off the matter of a personal decision. Our evan gelists laid before him the important fact that his belief that the Gospel is good would not save him, but that he must personally put his trust in Jesus Christ. He saw the truth of their argument and came out in a clear cut decision for Christ. A Mr. Chu had also heard the Gospel many times and understood it quite well. He realized that there is no other way of salvation. He even said that he would like to be a Christian, but he hesitated for the old old reason that we all have heard so often, “ I am afraid that I cannot hold out.” Our evangelists assured him that if he trusted to his own strength he certainly would not be able to hold out, but that true followers of Christ have an unfailing source of strength, and all he had to do was just simply to trust in Jesus and he would find out that “ All things are pos sible to him that believeth.” Mr. Chu realized the folly of his doubts and fears and right then and there .took the great step of faith. In the case of each of these men it needed (Continued on page 610)
HE papers have been so full of accounts of “ Anti- Christian” and “ Anti-foreign” demonstrations and uprisings that many wonder whether or not missionary work Is really possible in any aggres sive and extensive way. Now it is perfectly true that in many of the large cities of China there is an anti-Christian and anti-foreign senti ment that is making itself felt, but at the same time the atti tude of the very large majority of the better class of people is most decidedly cordial and friendly. This is emphatically true hpre in Changsha, and in this well governed city mis sionary work along all lines is going on most prosperously. A big student demonstration was staged for yesterday (Sunday), as a protest against the recent unfortunate affair in Peking when several students lost their lives. The pro cession took place as advertised, many hundreds of students were in line and many gay banners bore aloft the words of protest. Vigorous speeches were made by students whose hearts were aflame with feelings of patriotism, but who utterly misunderstand the Lord Jesus Christ, the Qospel and the Gospel messengers, the missionaries.' But in spite of all the talk and display, all church ser vices, Sunday schools, etc., throughout the city went on as usual. The vigilant Governor had taken the precaution to station a well armed guard conveniently near each church that was in the line of march, and a fine body of soldiers with fixed bayonets headed the procession and a similar body brought up the rear. Perfect order prevailed everywhere and grateful songs of praise went up to God from the large and happy groups of worshippers in various parts of this great city. But out in the country districts, away out in the vast unevangelized areas which are the special objective of our Blola Evangelistic Bands, there are no anti-Christian dem onstrations, no processions, and as of old "The common peo ple hear them gladly.” How refreshing and encouraging is the report of Biola Evangelistic Band No. 7 to hand a few days ago. What Joy and satisfaction these reports must bring to the dear friends at home by whose sacrificial giving the thirteen men of Band No. 7, and the men and women of all the other Bands, are kept on the field toiling early and late at their blessed and fruitful work. At the beginning of the Chinese New Year two of the members of Band No. 7 were holding some special services in a new Gospel Hall Just recently erected. Crowds attended the meetings, many gave their hearts to the Lord, and four teen families celebrated the New Year by cleaning all idols and all instruments of idol worship out of their homes. Just think of the Joy there was among the angels in Heaven on that day! After the Chinese New Year vacation waB over the men of Band No. 7 gathered in Yung Feng, the county seat of
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