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Show m Perhaps you think tne Lintsing cnurcn has now a hope of oeing self supporting, out in fact it is not so.(i) Tne majority of our memoers are ignorant, their foundation in tne way is too snaiiow, so that tney can not withstand tne pressure of wind and waves, ana tnose wno tr^iy bear responsibility for tne cnurcn are indeed very few. {*>) the annual contrioutions of tne cnurcn memoers for the evangelistic work are only a little over |r00. Mex., and tnose of tne employed workers and missionaries not more than i&OO., out unresa txie Lintsing contrioutions reacn %,700. tnis year there will oe a aeficit in tne funds foe evangelistic work, ror last year tne total was less tnan $£90., and we nave little hope of their reacniig tne :;700. figure, for tnis reason we do not know how we snail solve the difficulty at tne end of the year. Dear friena, 1 am fully confident that you are interested in the Lintsing cnurcn. I ask you no4" to forget our difficulties. Our friend Mr, ^ooert ~hitaker is returning to America for ids health. ~e feel that.we cannot let him go, and yet we cannot neip it and it gives us tne greatest regret, because of his great sacrifices ae£Q for these years, nis enduring of toil, oneness of feeing with us, showing fortu the true spirit of Curist, leading us into tne trutn. All that we have gotten from him truly can not be written down. Because of tue return of tnis family to America our church has suffered a ve^y great ross. It is truly nuru for us to under-stend «vhy G-oa permitted our friexid to oe stricken with tnis disease 3o as to cause him to return to America, leaving us and making a great ob3t-vCa.e in tue ,vay of the cnurcn'3 progress. Fortunately we still have our friend Mr I Wioke3, and though his work is mostly in the Training School, he cooperates as much as he can in our evangelistic work. He fears neither cold nor hot weather nor reckons the length of the road, and good or poor food will do. In ail this he trave 13 aoout along with us, in fact a3 in name a loyal friend.of Christ. Under separate cover I am sending a photograph of tne "oig Meeting" held here from May i6th-18th. Tnose attending were only about a fifth of a±j. our cnurcn members and probationers, and not ail of tnese got into the picture. Tne re would nave been more in attendance out that two day3 before rains fen which kept many at nome/to attend to planting their fields. - - Can you still read Chinese? I fear you have forgotten a good deal, and can nardly read a letter in Chinese characters. Therefore I have asked my friend Mr. ^ickes to translate this for me. Thus you will be sure to understand my ideas and request. Tith Christian greetings, Yours sincerely, Shin Fu Ttang, m Superintendent of Evangelistic ^ork. |