OCR Text |
Show One of the older women in the class, Mrs. Wu, spoke to me one day about how grateful the people of China should be to the Christian friends in America for caring enough about the people of China to send missionaries to tell about the saving grace of God; for how otherwise would anybody in China have a chance to know of the strength and power and joy that God is just waiting to give to those who will believe His promises? For the closing session of our station class, we had a social at Mrs, Wickes' home. One of the games we played was a peanut race, a contest in carrying peanuts on a knife across the room, you know. You would have been interested if you might have seen Mrs. Wu and Mrs. Liu as they competed,-both of them past sixty, and two of the most earnest members of the class. Mrs. Wu dropped her peanut just after starting; and as she tried to get it balanced on her knife again, she prayed in an audible undertone: "Please, Lord, help me; please, Lord, help me." After the peanut was safely balanced again, she walked slowly and steadiljr forward, repeating, "Praise the Lord rjraise the Lord, praise the Lord," until she had the peanut landed safely at the goal on the other side of the room. Then she turned to say triumphantly. "Who says it doesn't pay to pray about everything?" While we were preparing for our Christmas program. I had three other daily rehearsals of music besides the one with the station class,-with the teachers of the girls' school, a dozen or more of the school girls, and the nurses and assistants at the hospital. So I felt that I had my full share of "Glory," "Hallelujah," and "Peace on earth" during December. The Christmas season was a very happy time for every one. We are grateful to all the friends at home who helped by sending boxes of things which made it possible to give a Christmas remembrance of some sort to the many for whom we prepared gifts. I wish all who shared in sending these boxes might have had a chance to see how much joy the gifts brought to the children here. Six weeks ago I went to Peking with Dr. Cooke, and had a nice visit there for two weeks, seeing old friends and doing a good many errands. From January S8th to the fourth of February I had the privilege of attending an interdenominational conference for the evangelistic workers of Shantung Province, which was held in Wei Hsien, about two hundred miles from here. There were about one hundred and fifty delegates present, of whom nearly four-fifths were Chinese. The two principal speakers at the conference were Pastor Ch'eng Ching Yi, General Secretary of the National Christian Council of China; and Dr. Kagawa of Japan, Probably most of you know already something of the remarkable work of Dr. Kagawa. It was evidence of the power of Christian experience to triumph over national differences that the Chinese delegates could give such a cordial, hearty welcome to a Japanese leader. Dr. Kagawa was most tactful at the beginning of the conference in his understanding of the situation; for when he made his first address, he began by apologizing in behalf of Japan for the political wrongs of his nation against China. His sweet, humble spirit won the hearts of every one. He gave his addresses in English, and two of the Chinese delegates took turns in interpreting for him. |