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Show 1916 China 39 for the purpose for which they were given. "Such exciting news this was for those who had not already heard it! Did this mean we could plan for the opium refuge we have so much needed, with its special nurse? Did it mean a better surgical ward for men than the one we had in mind? Did it mean more adequate salaries, better instruments, a larger supply of drugs, and possibly in time a hospital kitchen and a private room for official patients? An addition of thirty-five dollars a month to the resources of a hospital in America would not cause such rejoicing; but here, while it would not provide for all of the above mentioned needs, you must understand that it would increase our receipts by half. "By the time this letter is received the actual work of building the new hospital will have begun. Th 3 erection of the building will take much less time than has been needed for the purchasing of materials, so you may picture us not many months hence enjoying the conveniences of the new hospital. We are grateful to the friends at home who have made gifts, and for the friendship and cooperation of the Chinese, never so marked as this year. We are thankful for the hundreds of patients who have been treated in the hospital this year, receiving help for physical ills and seeing illustrated in a manner that they can understand something of the teaching of Him who came to make known God's love for the world." "Preaching Doctrine" in a Shansi Village Writing from Taikuhsien, Shansi, on September 30, Rev. Wynn C. Fairfield, who in addition to his duties as secretary of Shansi district and treasurer of Taiku station has charge of the evangelistic work of the station, says:- "Last Sunday it was my turn to go out with the preaching band of the Christian Endeavor. We went to a village about two miles away, four of us: the girls' school steward, the janitor of the church, a blacksmith, and myself. The village was the home of the school steward, whose wife was killed there in 1900. He was in the fields when the Boxers came and escaped to the mountains. "As we went along the path through the fields a man met us, who called out at a distance, 'The doctor is coming !' Then as he drew nearer he said, 'Oh, no, it is Pastor Fairfield.' I did not know him from Adam, but the school steward said that he was a man who had a shop on the South Street, past which I go almost daily, and that he had probably inquired who I was. Pray for us that the unconscious witness of our lives upon the street may be true. "There were not many people on the streets of the village. Most of the men were out in the fields, either gathering the sorghum and millet harvest or planting the winter wheat. Over on the 'back street' we finally went into the two shops of the village, a grain shop and a delicatessen shop. I'm not sure that the last description is accurate, but it is an approximation. In China we simply say, 'food shop.' In each was a group of men. The school steward and the blacksmith sang a hymn on the porch of the grain shop, gathered a half dozen men, and started in to preach. The steward does not think you are 'preaching doctrine' unless you do it in that particular way! How the Seed Is Scattered "The janitor went up the street a little ways and commenced talking to some women who were sitting outside the gateway of their courtyard. I went into the food shop and sat down, talking with the manager and the people who dropped in. They took a couple of my sheets and pasted them up on the wall. In the twenty minutes or so that I sat there I was impressed afresh with the way in which we are entering into the labor of others. One man had heard the good news in faraway Harbin, where he had been in |
