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Show £ 2. y absorbed A in t h i s at temp' to express ^eme desire of her h e a r t . Tears aim iirs S h e n ' s ®yeg .She &nows how empty and u n s a t i s f i e d such a mother can re mala. And six® exclaims, "How many tlmea I to© have worshiped in j u s t that way,b«for* tn© time that the study class for woa^n wa» helg in our v i l l a g e , and on® of the Christian wcan.*n oaiu%. and sat be aide ray loom as I works d spinning, and told me of the True God,Our Father in Heaven.w When tftO cart approaches the v i l l a g e ©f Wang Ts'un which i s i t s dest i n a t i o n , aaseaae drawing water from the well on the o u t s k i r t s spies-us and &©WS f l i e s t© the chapel. Our w#leprae Am not.m©re 1 y by the w©men m$ the class* hut,14*«4^'Sg-^^^^ raenAtai a!^-^_J.-g-i-aur» • t e join, and a fine group of bays whs have read in a local school. All are s© friendly and Kind, h©t water i s brought that we may r e f r e s h © a r r i v e s $with tea,and fearing w© are c h i l l e d tin y make a l i t t l e fire of straw on the: brick f l©or-de l i g h t f u l ly warming,but very smoky! The examination of the women in t h e i r reading begins s©on,and I l i k e to ask tnem what the words mean,3ind about t h e i r own %, homes and the way they can witness for G&d there,and usually they forge;t pfip /" t h e i r timidity in the i n t e r e s t of the tilings they read. The seeds i f t r u th f /s©wn in t h e i r hearts,do make a differ©*©*. Always wo wis_ that sach broup Might have a t a t l a a a d with them a t r a i n e d Bible-w©m«n-and they art s© few! XW ftfdfi fifiM/fi* A meeting of prayer and praisst close's the afternoon,and fifafp these busy ififififij ho i %*'?% s c a t t e r t© pack mt© the evening th* work £§r t h e i r households. S©me spin u n t i l l a t e into the night that they may have the usual cloth ready t© s e l l at the next market time,but at New Years most of such w4rk i s put aside. The boys gather a f t e r the women have gone- „©. and «,re eager t© sing tao new hymn they are learning-a-the tune being pfippfi/LfcX hard to remember! fa*/ s.re da l i g h t e d to learn a carpenter song and to show j u s t how Chinese carpenters ust t h e i r t o o l s . By the end of the "second day the l i t t l e children feel well enough acquainted to Join in a time |,f games, and t h t i r delight is no g r e a t e r than that ©f the grown-uFs wh@ c l u s t e r near. Trie sounds of merriment c a r r i e d #vfer t© the next c o u r t s , ^ ! %f, jft^i as was proved by the appearance above the mud wall,of w»m#ia'a e«spnr l a t e rested, , .. faces.How they managed the climb I never knew,but they saw the children and athe w@men with boo„s,and I hope they came a l l - t h e way to the chapel l a t e r. Our s@cial f e s t i v i t i e s include tog-drinking togs, t h e r and some peanuts and . sweets far a i l , b u t the real farewell cames next morning before we sWrt ©n ' ; t© thr next place. The men come too, and f i l l one side ©f the room, the women and g i r l s the other. They have question* to ask, and problems to d i s c u s s . The very p r a c t i c a l ©ne ©f which hymns t© sing ©n a Sunday,when part ©f these who meet for strviee belong t© the Lintsing church and ©thers are united with a neighboring mission,and using other hymns. I suggest that they have some of @aeh. Then they say,"Our neighbors have said tasvt^ odyaa no wonders and the speaking with tongues we have n© pr©©f ©f the presence sf the Holy S p i r i t in our midst,and t h e i r thoughts are turned i© the. verso giving the f r u i t s of fid the S p i r i t as proefs of His power in mens l i v e s . And Iwaa glad t® leave with them the message ©f the great Shanghai 6©nfer«nc© which voiced the desire fp a Native Church -not deneminational-and a, unity of e f f o r t. At Ch'i Chi a f t e r many requests from the Christian men ©f the village the f i r s t class far women i s to be ©pened. I t i s held in a private horn® and one married s@n and his family have moved to a smaller r@@m t h a t the class may use the @ne near the g a t e . I t has @ne large window l i g h t i n g the brick platfor_rbed,where one g_aHp may s i t to read when the beduing i s folded away daytimes,and the table ©pp©site the open door will acoomidat© a sec©nd group Hymns written in large eharae|er#Bible verses and p i c t u r e s on the walls brighten the room wonderfully. Whiii the corn-stalk fuel i s being weighed in the yard the f i r s t memhtr of the class a r r i v e s . She has walked from hfer Xt$*% home in Black's Hollow three miles away. Famine r e l i e f w@rk i s what drew her attenti®n to the church. " My daughter-in-law wanted to come too, "she said, but I told her I would oome f i r s t and see if there was room for us a l l . He re I am, as old as t h i s , a n d have never read u n t i l t h i s winter. All of Fifty-nine |
