ENTERING THE CELESTIAL KINGDOM
THE story of our work in the Far East goes back to 1887 when Brother Abram La Rue went to the island of Hongkong, just off the coast of China. He was a self-supporting missionary, and sold books, dried fruits, and health foods in the city of Hongkong and on ships that frequented that great commercial center. In this way he met his expenses while doing soul-winning work. From Hongkong he made extended trips to Shanghai, Japan, Borneo, Singapore, and even to Palestine, selling our literature on shipboard or in harbors wherever his ship stopped. Such pioneer work seemed rather strenuous for a man as old as Brother La Rue. He could well remember the thrills and fears his young heart felt at the time of the falling of the stars in 1833; he was past sixty-five when he became a foreign missionary.
But a greater zeal than that which in early manhood drew him away from his childhood home in New Jersey to search for gold in California and elsewhere, was urging him on in search of souls whom Christ gave His life to redeem. So he toiled on through the years, heeding not the infirmities of old age. Although his work was chiefly among people who could understand English, he printed two of our tracts which some Chinese who were deeply interested in the truth had translated for him. So he also made a beginning in giving the message to China in her own tongue. He longed to he spared for service till the Master's return; but this request the Father did not grant. However, it was not till after his eightieth birthday that this tireless worker fell at his post.
For years, Brother La Rue had worked and waited, calling upon our people to lift up their eyes and behold China's great needs. Finally, in 1902, just a year before he died, Elder .J. N. Anderson and his company reached Hongkong, where they found seven men of the British navy awaiting baptism. About the same time, Brother and Sister E. H. Wilbur began work in Canton. Later the missionaries in Hongkong also went to Canton; and soon a school for boys and one for girls were started.
The next year a party of six medical missionaries, Drs. H. W. and Maude Miller, Drs. A. C. and Bertha Selmon and Misses Carrie Erickson and Charlotte Simpson, both nurses, went to Central China. But Dr. Maude Miller was not long permitted to serve; and when she lay on her deathbed, she sent this message home: "I hope others will take up the burden.” That appeal was effective. Others did take up the burden. And now we will follow briefly the growth of our work in the Celestial Kingdom under Its present divisions of South, Central, North, East, and West China, and Manchurian Union Missions.
SEED SOWING IN SOUTH CHINA
The seeds sown in Canton when Brother and Sister E. H. Wilbur began work there, soon bore fruit and in time a strong church was established. Here Miss Ida Thompson opened the Bethel school for girls, and a little later came an intermediate school for boys. From Hongkong, the headquarters of our work in South China, the truth has extended out into the dark heathenism around. In the Cantonese Mission alone, there were twelve stations in 1920. In 1924 we had in South China thirty-two churches, with a total of 2,154 members. Many Chinese have stepped out of the darkness into the glorious gospel light; and some of these have joined the army of soul winners. For instance, our first ordained Cantonese minister opened self-supporting dispensary, caring also for the church near by; while other native believers have been serving as colporteurs, Bible women, or evangelists.
Millions are hungering for something better than heathenism can offer them. One of these waiting millions had above the door of her home these words: “May the great truth come to this door.” God heard the prayer that prompted that sign, and did not forget to answer it. After a while a worker found this home, and great indeed was the joy that the truth brought to that lonely heathen heart.
Another woman, whose hair was white with age, came to our school in Canton. She was a confirmed tobacco user. But somehow a desire for a better life had gripped her heart. She learned to read. Then one day she saw the heavenly light more clearly and exclaimed, "0 Miss, I will give up my evil habits.” That was the beginning .of a transformed life that burned out in cheerful, loving service for Him who had broken her bonds of sin and set her free.
A severe test came to one of our native believers in South China. He was a fisherman. Once when things went hard and his debts grew discouragingly large, he was tempted to work seven days a week to recover himself. But some of his fellow believers made his case a special subject of prayer, and God gave them their petition. That very night this fisherman had an unheard-of catch of fish - enough to cancel his entire debt.
Back in Kwangsi, where our Chinese colporteurs had awakened an interest, Dr. Law Keem located in 1914. He found people anxious to hear the message, and a number of them became Sabbath keepers. This is a province without railroads; a land where there has been long-continued resistance to missionary endeavor, and where very few Protestant missionaries have been. Still, in 1920 Brother P. V. Thomas, our representative here, reported 100 believers and two schools for training young people.
"After this" said one of our Chinese farmer believers, "every ten leads of rice I have, I will give one to the Lord.” And said a young girl who was perhaps equally determined to be honest with God, “From now on, every ten cash I get, I will take one out for God.” This helps us to understand that the fruits of the Spirit are the same in China as in America.
It was Timothy Tay, a young Chinese who had accepted the truth in Singapore, that helped to pioneer the way into the Amoy section of South China. When he returned to China to study his mother tongue, that he might become a more efficient worker in God's cause, he said, “I have made up my mind that the Lord must gave me one good faithful worker while I study in Amoy.” That was the spirit in which he entered school; and God did not fail to enable him to reach his goal. He won Pastor N. K. Keh, a teacher in one of the theological schools, who tried to show Timothy what he considered the right way. But when Pastor Keh saw the truth, he accepted it and began to give it to others. He preached, wrote some literature, and created quite a stir in the community.
Soon Elders W. C. Hankins and B. L. Anderson, both from America joined Brother Keh. A mission was started and a training school for workers opened. By 1920 this school had sent out about forty native workers,-evangelists, teachers, colporteurs, and Bible workers. Among the first to go forth from this school was Tan Hu. Although a pestilence cut short his life, he left In one village twenty persons who met every Sabbath to worship God. The light in Amoy has shone over into Formosa, and there a few have found the blessed hope.
Our work in Hakkaland was begun in 1909 by Brother J. P. Anderson, a young man from America. A year later Elder S. A. Nagel, also from America, crossed the deep to help in this work. Amid frequent revolutions, with many remarkable deliverances, our missionaries have pressed forward in soul-winning service. Mrs. J. P. Anderson had acquired the use of Cantonese and Wenli, and upon going to Hakkaland she mastered the Hakka dialect and also Hoklo, the Swatow dialect, that she might be a channel for blessing many needy ones. She led out in school work, and was a strong factor in the mission work until she fell asleep in Jesus, Sept. 20, 1920.
God's blessing attended His servants in Hakkaland, and by 1920 the following report came to us:
"We have some books in Hakka, and only recently the whole Bible has been issued in our language. During these years since J. P. Anderson settled in Waichow, we have seen the work of present truth grow until ten of the fifteen districts have been entered. We plan to enter two more the corning year. There are among us a force of nearly forty who labor as preachers, teachers, and colporteurs. We have shared workers with other fields, thirteen having been given to Singapore, Canton, Swatow, und Shanghai. In 1916 our membership was 125. In the last four years we have added over 400; the present year is the best year of all, 205 having been baptized.” -...Asiatic Division Outlook, December, 1920 (abridged) .
Just a visit from Brother Keh while his boat stopped at the wharves! but the seed of truth was sown, and soon the Macedonian call came from Swatow to help cultivate the growing interest. Brother Keh returned, and responded to a call to teach Bible for a time in a theological school there. The interest continued to grow. Mr. T. K. Ang, pastor of an independent church near Swatow, accepted the truth, and soon became a devoted, efficient leader in the third angel's message. Brethren VV. C. Hankins, B. L. Anderson, and others from America have helped to build up the work in these regions. A school was opened in Swatow for training the youth, and a missionary boat was secured for visiting villages along the waterways. By 1920 there were about 300 believers, in thirty different places.
In 1913 Elder Keh, who had studied the Foochow dialect, entered Foochow, and God prospered his labors. By 1914 a church, a school for girls, and one for boys stood as monuments for the cause of God; and by 1920 Brother C. C. Morris, then in charge of the work, reported ·255 baptized believers in the Foochow Mission.
So the sowing and the reaping go on while the missionaries press onward into new fields. Sometimes they go forth in tears, and not a few have given their lives for South China. Since the days when the graves of Brother La Rue and Dr. Maude Miller marked the beginning of the struggle, a number of other graves have bordered the path of advance. Brother E. R. Wilbur, who chose to die in the mission field; Mrs. Falconer, the wife of Dr. R. A. Falconer; Dr. Law Keem, a consecrated Chinese physician who found the truth in Honolulu; and still others rest from their labor. But none of those who have served, whether they, have fallen in the battle or still toil on, have sacrificed in vain, for encouraging progress has been made.
GATHERING TREASURE IN CENTRAL CHINA
Many laborers have entered Central China since our six medical missionaries in 1903 pioneered the way into Honan. These first missionaries had the pleasure of winning some of their Chinese helpers, and this was a tonic to their courage as they pressed on the rough many difficulties. Early in the work in Honan, Elders F. A. Allum from Australia and J. J. Westrup from America joined the forces. In 1905 a small printing office began to print a monthly paper. Tracts and books, including a hymn book, were also published. At cur general meeting held in 1907 the fifty Chinese Sabbath keepers present were an encouraging token of progress.
O. A. Hall, C. P. Lillie, Frederick Lee, R. F. Cottrell, O. J. Gibson, Esta Miller, M. G. Conger, D. S. Williams, Dr. D. E. Davenport, H. M. Blunden, Drs. Herbert and Mrs. James, and Miss Pauline Schilberg are among the workers who have come from different parts of the world to help save the lost in Honan.
The zeal of some of the believers won here, as in other fields, is very inspiring. Elder R. C. Porter, when vice-president for the Asiatic Division, met one of these devoted workers at a railway station one day. Elder Porter thus describes the incident:
Returning from Peking to Shanghai, we saw an earnest Chinese worker selling papers at the station, going from window to window. We requested a . . . missionary to ask him where his papers were published.
“’ At Shanghai,' he replied.
“’ By ·what denomination' I asked through the interpreter.
“’ By the Seventh-day Adventists,' was the answer.
“Then we enjoyed an old-time love feast there on the platform of that railway station.... He had formerly been a ... minister, but had accepted the truth a few months since, starting out at once to bear the message to his people. Wishing to reach out into unworked territory, he had loaded his wheelbarrow with literature at Yencheng, Honan, and wheeled it 300 miles to Chunte, where we met him.” -Review and Herald, Nov. 12, 1914.
Brother Frederick Lee pictured another earnest believer, when he wrote as follows:
“One poor woman arrived at our general meeting Sabbath morning, the last day of the meeting. She had come nearly seventy miles. She started out with a wheelbarrow man, but he gave up and went back. She was not to be turned back, and walked, or rather hobbled, as these women must do with their bound and crippled feet. She arrived, having had little food the last three days. We had a baptism that Sabbath, and with tears this old lady came forward as a candidate. We took her aside, and it did not take long to decide favorably. Although nearly blind, she knew the truth thoroughly.” - Missionary Readings, May, 1919.
Hunan is a sort of buffer state, being on the border where in time of rebellion the armies of the north and the South sway back and forth. Our missionaries there have often been in great danger, but God has protected them. Elder P. J. Laird and his wife. Dr. Emma Perrine Laird, opened a school and a medical dispensary here in 1906. About three years later Elder R. F. Cottrell arrived in this field to labor. Literature has been scattered far and near. Some received it gladly, and by reading it have become hungry for more of the same blessed truth. In one place where Elder O. B. Kuhn, who carne to the field later, was holding meeting's, the interest was so great that sixty-five Chinese hired a room in which the native evangelist who remained could continue to study with them, Some of those who acceptec1 the truth have endangered their own lives to give It to others.
"What a pity! What a pity!" exclaimed a party of Chinese when told they could not have a teacher. For three weeks, they had traveled on foot or in rowboats to attend one of our institutes. They had become interested through our reading matter, and now that their appeal could not be answered favorably, they were deeply grieved. Finally, after studying the problem awhile, they said, “Here is this young man. We will leave him with you. Teach him all he can learn in a few months, and then let him return and bring us what he has learned," Such evidences· of thirst and appreciation abound, We can give only an instance here and there.
The 1920 report from Hunan placed the membership at 340, with a thousand people under instruction in the message. At that time, aside from the young people in the six church schools, twenty of our Hunan youth were in school at Hankow, and twelve in Shanghai.
From Hunan the work spread to Hupeh, the province in which is Hankow. In this city of more than 2,000,000 inhabitants, we now have the Hupeh Mission and Central China Union headquarters. Here· Brethren F, A, Allum and Esta Miller began evangelistic work in 1911. Previous to this, some Chinese believers from Hunan had scattered our literature. Soon Elder Frederick Lee and Dr. A. G. Larson, and later Elder W. E. Strickland, also came to Hankow. The evangelistic work continued, and a medical dispensary was .opened. Then came the death of Brother Esta Miller, who had given his young life to China. This was a great loss to the mission. During the revolution, when much of Hankow was burned, our mission went down in the fire. Still God's work survived. In 1920 Hupeh sent forty-four students to Hankow to school. That was exactly one fifth of the reported membership. Until recently, about all the ·work in Kiangsi was done by Chinese colporteurs and evangelists. However, this province in 1920 reported three churches, with sixty members. And that year Brethren E. H. James, O. J. Gibson, and H. R. Dixon were sent to foster the work.
Over in Shensi, known as “the most ancient province in all China," the colporteur pioneered the way. This ancient province is called it the cradle of the Chinese race.” In it was a kingdom named "Chin," whose history in Chinese chronology dates back beyond Isaiah. About 200 years before Isaiah said of the saved, "And these from the land of Sinim," Chin had a king all its throne. This is particularly interesting when we recall that, as generally agreed, Sinim in the Bible refers to China, the people of Sinim being the Sinese, or Chinese.
And we rejoice especially to learn that the last message of mercy is beginning to gather believers in this ancient land. The seed sown by the colporteurs took root, and in 1915 some who had read themselves into the truth wrote:
"0 pastor, we want more help; and unless we have it, perhaps the little flock will scatter! Come, oh, come and visit us!."
Dr. Selmon and Brother Lee responded to this call, journeying many days over a road where travel for a thousand years or more had worn deep ruts in the plains. Finally they reached a community where Christians years before had settled to escape the famines that so frequently visit the eastern provinces. Here our missionaries found Sabbath keepers. Later Brother S. G. White located here. His family was often under fire when there was fighting in the capital.
But although there have been many hardships for our workers to endure, and many perils to face, especially in times of rebellion, the report of 1919 showed fifty-four members in this province, and throughout the entire Central China Union there were in 1924 twenty-four churches, with 1,346 members.
GATHERING SHEAVES IN EAST CHINA
Coming to the East China Union, we find the most thriving center of all our missionary activities in the Far East. Here in Shanghai are the headquarters of the Far Eastern Division, with its population of over 620,000,000. Here we find a publishing house, with about sixty employees; a college, with 200 students, who represent fourteen of the eighteen provinces of China, and Manchuria and Chosen as well. Here also an influential sanitarium, which for a time occupied the Chinese Red Cross hospital, is doing a great work in healing the sick and training nurses. These are some of the evidences of the progress made in giving the gospel to China's millions.
Shanghai, the chief commercial city of China, is also headquarters for the East China Union, which in 1924 reported twenty-five churches, with 1,053 baptized members. Sister Bothilde Miller, a nurse and Bible worker, was first to visit among the Chinese in Shanghai. Brother F. E. Stafford gave tip a good position to enter the work there. Others followed, large evangelistic efforts were conducted, and a church was raised up. Sister Miller trained native Bible women to assist her as she extended her labors out into the surrounding villages. God greatly blessed her work, and several companies of believers sprang up. Chinese evangelists also cooperated. Brethren J. G. Gjording, George Harlow, H. O. Swartout, K. H. Wood, B. N. Roberts, H. H. Winslow, and others have also labored in East China. Says a report of 1921:
"We find precious metal wherever we go. As we receive more of the Holy Spirit, we shall see yet more wonderful things performed in the lives of these precious converts. At Nansiang, one of our aged sisters walks seven Ii (two and one-half miles) twice every week to the prayer and Sabbath meetings. She tells me she sometimes sees angels before her as she walks along the road. As this aged sister cannot read, I doubt not God in His goodness lets her get a glimpse of these heavenly beings. She surely walks and talks with God.” -Asiatic Division Outlook, January, 1921.
Not until 1918 did any of our foreign workers reach southern Chekiang. At that time Brother G. L. Wilkinson settled in the chief city, and the next year he was joined by Brother F. P. Greiner.
However, Chinese workers had been sowing the seed; and soon there were five churches, with over 300 members, in this field.
One of our Shanghai papers was the entering wedge into Anhwei. Friends in Honan sent it to a Pastor Han, who was leader of an independent church there. After reading it, he at once called for more information. Soon after this call reached our headquarters in China -in 1909, Elder F. A. Allum and a native evangelist went to Anhwei, traveling for eight days through snow and wind and rain. After the evening service, which they held immediately upon their arrival, they studied with Pastor Han till three o'clock in the morning. Soon he became firmly established in the truth, and developed into a worker in the advent movement. Most of his flock accepted the truth with him, and almost immediately eight of their young men entered one of our schools. Some of these have become pioneer missionaries in different places.
Elder Frederick Lee was the first missionary to locate in this province. Brethren O. A. Hall and H. J. Doolittle and others followed him. At Nanking is the interdenominational language school for missionaries; so when our new recruits enter this school to study the language, they came in contact with the work in Anhwei before taking up their special field of service, and this doubtless has contributed something toward the success of the work there.
OVERCOMING DIFFICULTIES IN NORTH CHINA
In North China we find Shantung, the birthplace of Confucius; and we rejoice to learn that at least one of the lineal descendants of that ancient sage has found in the gospel of Jesus Christ the power to transform a life unchanged through devotion to Confucianism. Others joined this convert in looking for the soon return of Jesus. Our work, however, is new in this part of China; in 1920 it had only about fifty believers. In a number of places the colporteurs have been scattering the pages of truth that create a hunger for the blessed gospel of which they speak. R. F. Cottrell, H. M. Blunden, Frederick Lee, F, E. Stafford, and some native evangelists are among the workers who have proclaimed the gospel of Christ in the land of Confucius. The civil war and the great famine that came in 1921 made our work more difficult than before.
But hindrances cannot stay the Almighty hand that is pledged to the finishing of the work, not only in this part of Sinim, but throughout the world. Believers continue to be added to the ranks, and they learn to know their God and the possibilities of prayer. It was up in this union, one year when crops were being burned for lack of rain, that some Chinese who had caught a glimpse of Jesus, desired to know if it would not be proper to ask God to send rain. The missionary then told them the story of Elijah, and led them in an earnest season of prayer. In a very short time the sky that had long been cloudless grew black, and the water came down in sheets. That miracle was witnessed by many in a village that had been hardened against Christianity, and soon some were asking to be taught.
LIFE-SAVING STATIONS IN WEST CHINA
Some years ago our farthest outpost in the Orient was in West China, in Chungking, where Elders F. A. Allum and M. C. Warren opened a mission in 1914. It took them thirty-nine days, traveling in a house-boat up the river, to reach their destination. While locating the mission, they wrote:
“We are glad to be here. Since our work is now opened in Szechwan, it will not be a difficult thing to plant a station in Tibet, as the main road into Tibet lies through this province. Then, too, many of the people of Tibet speak the Mandarin language. Thus we can almost say that this last gospel message is at the door of Tibet.” --Review and Herald, Oct. 8, 1914.
In time companies of believers were gathered in different places. The membership has grown through the years. So has the force of workers. E. L, Lutz, C. L. Blandford, Dr. J. N. Andrews, and other foreign laborers have joined the ranks; and some of the native believers have developed into workers.
After gaining a footing in Chungking, the line of missionary endeavor advanced westward to Chengtu, electen days’ journey by sedan chair. Here also a mission was located. A church was raised up, and some of the young native believers give promise of developing into good workers.
Soon our workers at Chengtu pressed on to the very gates of Tibet, the great" closed land," Brethren Warren and Blandford and Dr. Andrews first went to explore the country and to make arrangements for locating another outpost. Later, when Dr. Andrews and his family were on their way to this station, their boat was wrecked and sunk; but escaping with their lives, they finally reached Tatsienlu. Soon a dispensary was opened, and by 1921 buildings for the mission were erected. The dispensary was popular from the first, with Tibetans as well as Chinese.
As soon as sufficient knowledge was gained of the Tibetan language to warrant translating, a chart of the law of God, with Bible texts in the border design, was prepared. One of these was placed on the wall of the dispensary; and many who come to receive medical help carry away with them at least a faint memory of the law for true living. So while the medical phase of our work is making friends for the missionaries, seeds are being sown in Tibetan hearts, with the earnest prayer that they may bear fruit unto eternal life.
Two more provinces in China must be mentioned -Kweichow and Yunnan, to the southwest. The colporteurs sowed the seeds of truth here, and later Dr. Andrews, Brother Warren, and a native evangelist visited these provinces. They found some Sabbath keepers. In one place a cobbler was preaching the truth. In another place a man from among the hill tribes was calling others to repentance. This man was baptized in 1919. He represents the Miaotsze, a mountain tribe that, like many other heathen peoples, holds interesting traditions about creation and the flood.
SOUL-WINNING IN MANCHURIA
And now we must make a brief visit to Manchuria. Korean believers who moved across the border, were our first Seventh-day Adventists in Manchuria. In 1914, after spending some time in the language school at Shanghai, Brethren Bernhard Petersen and O. J. Grundset pioneered the way into this field. While they were still in language school, God sent a Manchurian down to our training school. He had learned about our doctrines through Russian brethren from Harbin, a city in Siberia near the Manchurian border, and having accepted the faith, he went to Shanghai to prepare himself for evangelistic work.
Here this man from Manchuria met the missionaries from America who were getting ready for service in his homeland. Again God had been working at both ends of the line that runs between the need and the supply. While He had been drawing workers across the deep to minister to Manchuria's need, He had also been preparing a helper and a teacher for these volunteers for service in this distant land.
That experience was a tonic to the faith of these new workers in the Orient, as they settled in this untried field. Colporteur and evangelistic efforts were the methods employed. In time a church was raised up in Mukden, and interest was awakened elsewhere. In 1920 the members of our Russian church at Harbin, who had been scattered during the World War, were gathered and the organization revived. That same year brought us our first Japanese converts in Manchuria; and by 1924 this 'field reported 205 members.
IN “THE SUNRISE KINGDOM"
Over in Japan, often called “The Sunrise Kingdom," we find the same transforming power working upon hearts. In 1896 Prof. W. C. Grainger went to Japan. With him was Brother T. H. Okohira, a young Japanese who had accepted the truth in America. They opened a school and did Bible work. Their first converts were two promising young men in the army, Dr. Kawasaki and H. Kuniya. Brother Kunjya left the army to serve God according to the gospel light that had shone on his pathway. This embittered his father, who took the Bible Brother Kuniya had given him and tore it into shreds before his eyes. But before long God won the heart of this heathen father, and he came to rejoice in the blessed hope that cheers hearts in all lands.
The year after our missionaries reached Japan, a church of thirteen was organized in Tokio, Japan's great educational center; and soon a monthly paper was started. Brother W. D. Burden, Professor Grainger's son-in-law, came to strengthen the slender staff of workers, but soon the force suffered a great loss in the death of Professor Grainger in 1899 the school work was interrupted. Still the Master' did not forsake His work. Colporteurs and evangelists went forth to sow the seeds of truth. Among them Was Brother Kuniya, who after a few years of study, decided to preach. “He had no money for traveling expenses," wrote Mrs. Grainger "so he sold his boots and his watch. He went from place to place preaching to hundreds of people. At one place he had a thousand present. The people gladly gave him his board, and also helped to defray his traveling expenses. He came home greatly encouraged."