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j^ECEMBER 18, 1922, was a day th a t will ever be a bright spot in our memories for it m arks th e actual beginning of the consummation o f' the' prayers and hopes of many years. We have been train in g Christian workers under great difficulties, many of which m ight be removed, or a t least m ight be m ateri ally modified by an adequate plant, and So our h earts have longed for a su it able equipment for th e Bible school departm ent of th e work. At last God graciously provided th ree dorm itories, fine buildings they are, and well suited to th e needs of the work, but even these are only half of what we should have a t th e present time if we are to receive all th e students who apply and if we are to make the most of th is opportunity to train work ers for . Christ. Then one of God’s servants gener ously offered to provide a thoroughly good building for lecture and recita tion rooms, library, reading room, audi torium and offices for the adm inistra tion of the school and th e Biola Evan gelistic Bands. Before the first draw ings could be pu t into effect the work had already outgrown them and they had to be revised and enlarged. This happened a second tim e and th e re vision of th e plans involved much prayer, study and across th e seas cor respondence, ail of which meant delays, th a t were painful indeed w ith th e u r gency of th e work pressing upon us. But as we look at those old plans our h earts praise God for every delay, ber cause th e resu lt of them all is, a set of plans for a building splendidly ar ranged for th e greatest efficiency of this growing work. The G reat Day Came , At last the working plans cam e:;to hand from th e Mission A rchitects B u r ea u , and we all, teachers, students and our Christian contractor, assembled on our Bible school compound for a tim e of thanksgiving and praise, and in the name of our God to “ break ground” for th is building to be erected and used for the teaching of His Word in its
en tirety to the young men and women who shall cùme here ‘from all over China to study th a t Word, and then go fo rth to proclaim and teach it th rough out th e length and breadth of this g reat land. The day itself was one of those beautiful w inter days for which Chang sha is famous. The sun was shining in all his splendor, and the. friendly warm th of his rays made it perfectly delightful- to sit outside during the ceremony. A fter singing and prayer, Mr. Hsiao gave a brief account of the beginnings of th e work, and of th e tru ly wonderful way in which God has led and blessed. 1Seven years ago the en tire work was carried on by two bands of, evangelists, a to tal of twenty-six men; today we have twelve bands of •evangelists, 166 men, working in th ree g reat provinces,— God has provided us with a beautiful and w e ll.situated building site, th ree dorm itories are completed and occupied and one hun dred and tw enty students are eagerly preparing for th e ir life work. A fter Mr. Hsiao’s address the proposed build ing was once more committed to God in prayer and His continued guidance and blessing sought in every detail of its construction and fu tu re use, and then th e w riter’s mother,, now nearly 87 years of agè, completed the ceremony of “ Breaking ground” by enthusiastic ally tu rn ing up th e first clod of earth w ith the new spade provided for the purpose. And .now, dear friends, we long for your fellowship and help in this work of building, as well as in th e work of teaching and preaching. Please, make a note of it on your prayer lists, and so help us to make it a building th a t will tru ly glorify God. Continually B reaking Ground “BREAKING GROUND” ! ! Did you ever th ink of it before? T hat is really what our Biola Evangelistic Bands are doing all th e time! Ju st th is a fte r noon an encouraging letter came to hand from a m issionary thanking us h eartily for the work one of our bands has been doing in his district during the last few months, and telling us of th e purpose of his mission to locate
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