. .; ^,« ■•• rt ?.)' .'** r'*' ;1- V :i-

ifcl^*ic«M!

^f^mt.t.iv

r«i€if.%f

i#i^*H'^

^.*^MWi

umr-*"

?%.._^^Mn^^
p 1
t	KANG KAI^KOREy^.

BX

9151

.K8

B47

1912

eriesi

K

O

R

/. / 7. '

t^c Elftalagicni ^

PRINCETON. N.J.

*^.

'ft

*/•.

*

51 .K8 B47 1912 eisel, Charles F. postolic Church as oduced in Korea

^,1

The Apostolic Church as Reproduced

in Korea

:■:■ ■■'i t/.

•? xj By Rev. Charles F. Bernheisel.

:v: ■■•■^

>►•■ ;; My object in this lecture is to institute a com- parison between the Apostolic Church and the Ko- rean Church, the one the earliest and the other .i probably the latest manifestation of the church of

.''.: :'■''' Jesus Christ upon earth. Both churches are Asiatic, ",■ the Apostolic church having originated in the ex- ' treme western portion of the continent and the Ko- rean church in the extreme eastern portion. But from

:J- •, the Bosphorus to the Yellow Sea the conditions of

'. ■ " • • life are very similar in their main features and dif- fer only in detail according to geographical location. The genus is the same, the species vary.

Korea as a country might very well be compared to Judea of old. I do not know that the comparison has ever been made before but it seems to me that there are several respects in which the comparison is a very apt one.

First, Geographically. Judea was surroimded on three sides by three very powerful nations, Syria on the north, Assyria or Babylonia on the east and Egypt on the south. And these three nations in their warfare one with the other often fought their battles on Judean soil. So Judea was very much of a . buffer state in its relation to these mighty surround- ing nations. Now look at Korea. On the east is that mighty, modern nation of Japan which has . so recently succeeded in swallowing up Korea; on the west is China and on the north is Russia. And it is not necessary for me to stop here to remind you how these nations have been spilling each other's blood upon Korean soil. During the Japan- China war of 1895 the principal field of action was

J in Korea, in and around the city of Pyeng Yang

j , where we live. Again in the recent war between

■ Japan and Russia the opening naval battle was fought in Chemulpo harbor and the first lard gun of the war was fired within hearing distance of our home when the Japanese patrolling the city wall fired on the Russian scouts who came down from the north to spy out the country. Several battles were later fought on Korean soil as the first Japanese army under Gen. Kurold passed through our city on his way north until he drove the Russians across

the Yalu, from which time the principal theatre of action was transferred to the plains of Manchuria.

Second, Physically. The physical similarity o| Korea and Judea has often been remarked by those who have seen both countries. Korea has an area of about 80,000 square miles, of mountain and plain, mostly mountain. In some places as in Judea there are extensive plains, well watered and quite pro- ductive. But the great outstanding feature of both countries is mountainous, with valleys of greater or less extent in between the hills where the people live in villages.

Third, Religiously. The great characteristic of Judea is her religion. God chose that otherwise small, insignificant and despised country of Judea to serve as the medium of communicating His most holy religion to the world. We cannot think of Judea apart from our religion. Apart from that we would know no more today of the Hebrews than we know of the Philistines, or the Canaanites, or Jebusites or any other of the many nations that successively or contemporaneously occupied that land.

x4nd so the one thing above all others that has brought Korea into the notice of the Christian peo- ple of the world at least is the wonderful avidity with which her people have been seizing hold of that religion which was revealed so long ago in Palestine and which has in these latter days pene- trated to that distant portion of the world.

With this much by way of preliminary let us now proceed to consider the Apostolic Church and try to see in what manner it is being reproduced in Korea.

One of the first things that impresses the reader of the history of the Apostolic church as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles is the part that prayer played in the lives of the Christians. Waiting for the promised Spirit "they all continued in prayer and supplication." "And when they had prayed the place was shaken where they were gathered to- gether." "Peter was therefore kept in prison; but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him." The Lord honored their prayers and Peter was delivered. "At midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and suddenly there was a great earthquake and the prison doors were opened." When Dorcas died Peter kneeled down and prayed and she opened her eyes and sat up.

The early Christians knew the secret of prayer; \ its power to soothe their troubled spirits; its

power to secure God's special interposition in their behalf m opening prison doors, in healing the sick and recovering loved ones from the dead

The Korean Christians are praying Christians, i^rom the very first they seem to understand how to pra5^ I thmk it is accounted for by reason of the tact that they have always been used to the forms ot prayer m addressing petitions to their heathen divinities. Prayer is an accompaniment of their sacrificial rites. Being thus already acquainted with the forms of prayer they very soon learn how to ad- dress the Supreme Being. Any Korean convert will therefore m a surprisingly short time participate in public prayer in the church. In my ten years' ex- perience I have never kno^vn anyone to refuse to otter prayer when called upon and remember only one man who, rising voluntarilv to offer praver stumbled, hesitated and was in evident confusion! But not only do they know the forms of prayer which after all is of minor consequence, but they know Its power and give it a very important place m their ives. The family altar is set up in a multi- tude of homes. Where the members of the family are all Christian this is easy but when some of the tamily are still heathen, as is often the case, then private devotions in the home become a difficult matter because of the lack of privacy in the oriental home. The whole family often lives in one or two httle rooms eight by eight. Here they eat, sleep and live. There is no closet to which to retire to offer up m secret one's prayers to a God who seeth in secret and rewardeth openly. It seems to me that God must reward more openly and fully those who m such circumstances kneel before their God in the presence of jeering and unbelieving relatives. One woman presented herself before a missionary for baptism and was asked how often she prayed. "Alas I have no good place in which to pray." was the re- ply. "There is only one living and sleeping room for the whole family." But the Korean deacon was not a bit at a loss. "What! don't you know about Jonah?" asked he. "He prayed in the whale's belly \ ou surely have a better place than that in which to pray."

In one of the Bible conferences the last hour was to be a study on prayer. Thp preceding hour was devoted to a study on Philippians and at its close the missionary asked one of the members to lead in prayen One of them responded as onlv a Spirit- hlled Korean can. The whole class was so moved that

over an hour was spent in earnest, heart-searching prayer, every member of the class taking part. At its close someone remarked, "One hour for the^study of prayer has gone but it is better to learn how to pray by praying than by studying about it."

A few years ago the Christians at Syen Chun, under the leadership of the missionaries living there decided to build a large new church. The critical time in such a building, as far as the weather is concerned, is while putting on the tile roof. The tile are laid in a thick layer of dirt on top of a cornstalk network immediately over the rafters. Should rain come after the dirt is spread and before the tile are on serious consequences are likely to follow. In this case the roof had to be put on in the summer during the rainy season. On the morn- ing of the last day one heathen villager met his neighbor and remarked "Looks like rain today." "Not a possibility of it," was the reply." "How so?" was the query. "See that church? These Christians are all prajdng that it may not rain till the tile are all on that roof. No rain today." The Christians all turned out and helped and by two o'clock in the afternoon the last tile was in place. Fifteen minutes later the rain fell in torrents and continued for twenty-four hours. "Chance, luck, an accident," say some. But the Korean Christians Avho met under that roof to return thanks to a prayer-hearing and prayer-answering God did not ascribe it to a "fortui- tous concourse of circumstances" or any such thing, but to a direct, overruling Providence in answer to prayer.

Last year Mr. Kil, the Korean pastor of the great Central Church in Pyeng Yang, having felt for some time that a kind of coldness had come over the Christians in the city, resolved with one of his elders to go to the church every morning at dawn to pray. They thus continued for about two months. At length it became known to a few and a score or more joined them. Then, seeing that there was a desire on the part of others to join them, Mr. Kil announced from the pulpit Sabbath morning that if any one desired to join them they might do so and that the bell would be rung at four-thirty in the morning. The next morning at one o'clock the people began to assemble. By two o'clock several hundred were present. When the bell rang at four- thirty there were five hundred present and this number increased to seven hundred in a few days. On the fourth morning while praying suddenly the

whole congregation broke into weeping for their sins of neglect, coldness and lack of love and energy. Then came the joy of forgiveness and a strong de- sire to be shown ways and means to work for the Lord.

I had been away on an itinerating trip to the country for a month and so did not know of these meetings. The morning after my arrival home I was suddenly wakened out of a sound sleep by the ringing of the church bell. I bolted from bed and rushed to the windoAv to see where the fire was. There was a fire all right, not the kind caused by the combustion of carbon and not therefore visible to my eye but the kind that bums in the human breast and is caused by the contact of the human spirit with God's.

Our prayers are often unavailing because we do not do our part to make them effectual. The Koreans have learned that the answers to their prayers often depend on their o^vn efforts. After the participants in the prayer meeting just mentioned had spent some time in prayer they realized that the thing to do now to effectuate their prayers for the conver- sion of the unbelievers was to go out and with the divine help reach forth their owti arms to save. So Pastor Kil asked how many would go out and give a whole day to preaching to the unbelievers and try to lead them to Christ. All hands went up. Then he asked how many would go two days. Again nearly all hands went up. And so for three, four, five, six, ai^d seven days and there were a number who promised a full week of such service. In all over 3,000 days of such voluntary preaching were promised in that one meeting, equivalent to nine years' work by one man.

Of course the greatest event in the Apostolic church was PENTECOST. The disciples who were weak in faith and works consequent on the blasting of their hopes by the death of the Master were now vitalized and purified and filled with zeal and power.

The Korean church has had her Pentecost. It came in January, 1907, and lasted in great power j for full six months until it had swept from one end of the country to the other, purging the church of its impurity, creating in the Christians such a sense of the exceeding sinfulness of sin and the greatness of God's forgiveness and sanctifying power as they had never known before. It began in the city of Pyeng Yang when seven hundred country men were assembled there for a Bible Conference. The 5

Holy Spirit fell upon the congregation in power, and for two nights the meetings continued till two o'clock in the morning. The Judgment books seemed to be open and men by the score and hundreds poured out in public confession not only the sins committed since conversion but those committed be- fore conversion as well. These confessions were often accompanied by the most terrible physical convulsions and agonized cryings to God for forgiveness. Men who had cherished hatred one for the other publicly confessed and asking each other's forgiveness would be seen locked in each other's arms in complete re- conciliation. The whole audience would burst out into prayer, hundreds praying at once. The Spirit's work thus commenced to spread to other classes for Bible study, to the students in the primary schools, academy and college; to the Methodist churches and then to other parts of the country, until as above stated the whole country was involved in the movement. Regular class room work in the schools had to be suspended for a while and the whole time given up to the revival. Servants in missionary homes confessed to pilfering and re- stored what had been wrongfully taken.

When a young student, who himself had gone through the revival at Pyeng Yang, ^asited the native church at the American Gold Mining Con- cession in northern Korea, his message greatly stirred the members. Among these was a young Korean employed in the assay office and regarded as the most trusty native in the employment of the company. Previous to his conversion he had at various times stolen small quantities of gold till he had accumulated quite a sum. The Spirit of God now took hold of him and convicted him of his sin and he determined to make a full confession and return the gold. Accordingly one day he sought the mining officials and placing the gold before them told of his crime and said that while it meant his dismissal, punishment and disgrace he must at least get right with God and them. This act produced a profound effect on his employers. The assistant man- ager took him by the hand and commending the moral courage of the act told him they would for- give the crime and would not discharge him. The young man has since proved himself worthy the increased confidence which his employers were glad to bestow upon him.

The effect of the Pentecost was felt not only in the church itself in a great spiritual uplift but with-

out the church as well. The Christians at Jerusalem who were filled with the Spirit were maligned ns being drunk with new -wine. So many of the heathen Koreans reviled the Christians with many choice epithets and considered them crazy and drunk. Many others crowded the churches to see what all this madness was about. Many who came to jeer re- mained to pray and even to confess their own sins. ^ The year following the revival the number of baptisms for Pyeng Yang increased more than 100 per cent over the previous year while the increase for the whole Mission was 63 per cent.

Closely connected with and indeed vitally linked up with the prayer life of the Apostolic church was that other great gift of MIRACLE. Peter and Paul and perhaps other of the disciples exercised this superhuman power. The gift of miracle is generally considered to have been a special power bestowed upon the early church for evidential purposes and to have ceased with the death of the Apostles. In common with the generality of Christians I, too, used to hold this view but certain experiences on the Mission field caused me to reexamine the Bib- lical teachings on this subject with the view of har- monizing what I saw and heard with what I hsid been taught to believe. Was the gift of miracle as promised by Christ confined to a few individuals and to a certain limited time, or was it a general power to be exercised at any time and by anyone who obeyed the conditions thereof?- What saith the Scriptures? "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed ye shall say to this mountain be ye removed and cast into the sea and it shall be done." When Peter attempted to walk on the water he succeeded at first but grew frightened, lost his faith and began to sink. Jesus rebuked him saying, "O thou of little faith, wherefore did'st thou doubt?" "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name that ^.viYi I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." "If ye shall ask anything in mj^ name I will do it." "Greater things than these shall thou do." What! greater miracles than Christ's miracles? Greater simply because it was a greater thing for a weak sinful human being to heal the sick and raise the dead than for Jesus the divine Son of God to do them. It was a natural thing for him; it was a supernatural thing for man. Once the disciples could not cast out a demon and they asked Christ the reason for their failure. "This kind," said he, "cometh out only by prayer and fasting." And 7

finally in the last chapter of Mark we have these significant words, "These signs shall follow them that believe. In my name shall they cast out devils; — they shall lay their hands on the sick and they shall recover."

In these and similar passages is the Scriptural authority for miracles. The only limitation attached to these promises that I can see is the limitation of faith. "According to your faith be it unto you." And therefore I believe that wherever in this wide world there is an asking in faith, i. e., believing prayer such as existed in the Apostolic church, there will be a repetition of Apostolic miracle. God's arm is not shortened that it cannot save. He is the same omnipotent God today that He was nineteen centuries ago, and the absence of miracle in the church today is only the shame of the church.

Now it is with a good deal of hesitation that I say what I am going to say because of the skepti- cism with which I fear it will be received, a skepti- cism that I myself shared ten years ago. Are these miracles being enacted in the Korean church today? I answer unhesitatingly. Yes.

In the Fourth Church of Pyeng Yang, of which I have been pastor, is a devout, godly, praying old woman. She has a granddaughter who had a para- lyzed foot so that the child could scarcely walk. The grandmother was much concerned about it and in the simplicity of her faith began praying the Lord to heal the child. She continued her prayers in the most persistent and believing way, often remaining in prayer till the early hours of the morning. As her prayer was not answered she began to search her heart to see if there was anything in her life that might hinder her prayer. She discovered an un- confessed sin and made confession of it. Again she continued most of the night in prayer and in the morning when the child awoke she called out in the most exultant way, "See, grandmother, I can walk," and she proved it by walking. The crippled condition of the child previously is well attested. The present sound condition of the child is certain.

Many, many cases of demon-possessed persons be- ing cured by the prayers of the Christians are on record. No sincere Christian, so far as I know, dis- putes the fact of demon-possession in the time of Christ as recorded in the New Testament. We accept the fact as unquestioned. Why then should we deny present-day demon-possession? To call it 8

insanity, or even to acknowledge as I am willing to do, that it is a form of insanity, is no disproof of the fact. The insanity or mental derangement in this case is simply the result of demon-possession. The Koreans, themselves, distinguish between the two. They speak of the "mitchin saram" or insane person and the "makwi teullin saram," or demon- possessed person.

That demon-possessed persons can be cured by the prayers of the Christians is acknowledged even by the heathen Koreans who often bring their possessed ones to the Christians to be cured, and their re- covery by this means has many times led people to decide to become Christians.

All the characteristics of demon-possession as re- corded in the New Testament, such as the demon talking through the mouth of the possessed one, the physical accompaniments of foaming at the mouth, the fierce, staring, fixed look of the eyes, rigidity of the body and being thrown down are all present in Korea.

The method of cure is unique. The Christians call for volunteers and then they divide themselves into bands which may consist of one or two or more persons and then these bands take turns staying with the patient so that at no time day or night till re- covery is complete is the patient left alone. Each band spends its watch in prayer for the afflicted one, in singing Christian songs, in reading the Scriptures and having the patient repeat Scripture verses and in exhorting the demon to leave. Some- times this is kept up for as long as several days. Conversation is had with the demon who speaks through the lips of the patient just as in the in- stances recorded in the New Testament. This con- tinuous cannonade of praj^er, Scripture reading, song, testimony and exhortation finally prevails and the demon promises to leave, sometimes giving the very hour on which he will take his departure.

The last case to come under my own observation was last winter in the Fourth Presbyterian Church of Pyeng Yang, of which I have pastoral charge. While a Bible Study class was being held in the chapel connected with our church a demoniac woman made her way into the building and greatly disturbed the service. After the meeting some fourteen of the most earnest of our women took the afflicted one to the home of one of them and commenced the usual routine as above outlined. The demon raved and railed at the woman but after several hours

told them that if he were given something to eat he would depart. The woman was fed. He then set an hour for his departure and when the time came announced that he was going. The woman was left in a very weak condition but from that moment began to recover and though for several days she was in a rather dazed condition her re- covery was complete. She attended church and prayer meeting regularly and in a short time was utterly transformed. She took on flesh, her face and intellect brightened up and she has been a happy, consistent Christian woman ever since. The members of her family were so deeply impressed by the transformation wrought in her that they all decided to become Christians and have kept their promise to this day.

Now some may call that a case of pure insanity. Well, even so, the insanity was cured by prayer and the miracle remains, and that is my chief point of contention.

Some years ago in a little village across the river from Pyeng Yang a bright, attractive young fellow decided to become a Christian, but was much opposed in his determination and persecuted by his mother. Soon the young man began to act queerly and give evidence of demon-possession. He would throw him- self on the ground, foam at the mouth and cry out in true demoniac fashion. Greatly alarmed for her son's welfare and hearing that Christians could cure demoniacs the mother sent into the city and invited some of the leading Christian women to come and heal her son, promising to become a Christian and cease persecuting him if only they would re- cover him. She confessed that no doubt this trouble had come upon her in punishment of her sin in op- posing the boy's desire to lead a Christian life. The woman commenced operations and while the boy was in a raving fit old Mrs. Sin, herself a converted sorceress, since gone to her heavenly reward but then a mighty woman of God, drew near to exhort him to put his trust in the Lord when she was as- tounded to have the young man whisper back to her, "Don't worry about me, I'm all right. I am just trying to bring mother around." It is needless to say that the exorcism ceased at that point. The young man's recovery also was permanent. It would be interesting if it could be recorded that the old lady mother kept her promise to believe, but, alas! the fact that she did not only shows that the Prince of Darkness is still abroad in the world. 10

That is one instance in Tvhich there is room for legitimate doubt that the patient was actually a demoniac. But even here there is testimony to belief by the Koreans in the fact of demon-posses- sion. Had the young man not believed in demon- possession as an actuality he would not have imitated it. Shams are never imitated, realities are.

Another characteristic of the Apostolic church was TESTIMONY. Just before His ascension Jesus said to his disciples, "Ye are witnesses of these things." And again, "Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth." "And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria." "Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everjnvhere preaching the word." The reason for the rapid extension of the Gospel through Judea, Samaria, Asia Minor, Europe and elsewhere was that every individual who had come under the Pentecostal power of the Gospel felt it to be a personal privilege and responsibility to make known the Gospel to others. The opportunity to do so came with their flight from Jerusalem to all points of the compass consequent on a great persecution.

The beginning of the widespread dissemination of the Gospel seed through northern Korea was the result of the flight of the Christians from the city of Pyeng Yang at the outbreak of the Japan-China war in 1895 when the armies of the two contending parties met in hostile combat in that city. For sev- eral years previously the Gospel had been making headway and there was quite a body of Christians gathered together when the outbreak of the war and the siege of the city caused the population to fly. Wlierever the Christians went they ceased not to preach the Gospel. All over those northern prov- inces are churches today that date their beginning from that time, the seed having been sown by the war refugees.

From the very beginning of the work in Korea every effort was made to impress upon the converts their responsibility for imparting to others the knowledge and blessings of the Gospel that they themselves had received. Acts 8 :1 tells us that "they were all scattered abroad except the Apos- tles." This shows conclusively that the large part of the early evangelization of Palestine was done not so much by the Apostles, or the clergy, if you 11

please, as by the ordinary Christians or laymen. Paul abode in the city of Ephesus for two years and it is recorded that "all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord." It is estimated that the popula- tion of the province of Asia at that time was twenty millions. It is impossible to believe that they all heard the Gospel from the one man, Paul. He directed the work and the Christian converts made known the Gospel wherever they went through- out the country. The idea that seems to have gone abroad that the clergy and so-called Christian workers should have a private monopoly on preach- ing the Gospel with no interference from outsiders has been, I believe, the most vicious cause of the delay in bringing this world to Christ.

In this respect the Korean church is following the example of the Apostolic church. Each ordained missionary has from twenty-five to seventy-five groups of Christians to look after besides teaching and other work, so that the pioneer work of evange- lization cannot be and has not been done by them. Until three years ago there were no ordained native pastors so the work has not been done by ordained natives. The work of bringing in the several hundred thousand adherents of the church in Korea has been done almost in toto by the Korean converts them- selves in hand-to-hand work, one at a time, as they have told the Gospel story in their homes, in the homes of their friends, in the public inns, in the markets, by the roadside and elsewhere. The per- sistence with Avhich the Christians keep at this work has even led some of the heathen to move from their village which had become largely Chris- tian because they were not able to withstand the "persecution" as they called it of being constantly urged to believe. Verily, their sins are being visited on their heads.

Aside from the everyday witnessing that every convert is expected to do there has originated within a few years a unique system that has spread through all the churches and that has been a tremendous factor in the advance movement of the last few years. It is the system of pledging of days of preaching or personal work for the unconverted in which the Christians pledge themselves to give up their ordinary vocation for a definite time and go at their own expense to preach the Gospel to the heathen. The time thus pledged by various ones ranges from one day to several months. An oppor- tunity for such pledges is given publicly in every 12

church and in every class held for Bible study. Sometimes the niunber of days pledged in any one place will run into the thousands, and there is no estimate of what it would amount to for the whole country. Frequently our pastors and paid workers who have not been able to get away from their fields for a share in this work have contributed a large share of their monthly salary to send out a substitute. An old lady of my congregation who herself is unable to go to the country recently paid the salary and traveling expenses of a substitute to go to the country for a month to preach. A band of eighteen school boys in Songdo set out daily to do personal work in the city after four o'clock till supper time. A plan for the systematic visitation of every house in the city once every ten days or so was carried out. Hundreds of converts were made. The same plan had already been worked for several years in Pyeng Yang and has always resulted in large additions to the churches. But this plan seems to have originated with Peter and John, for in Acts 5 :42 we read "And daily in the temple, and in every house thev ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ."

The Apostolic church was a generous church along the lines of BENEVOLENCE. That first over-zeal- ous and somewhat impracticable venture of selling all that they possessed and laying it at the Apostles' feet, having all things in common, was of short dura- tion and nothing is heard of it beyond the fourth chapter. The church soon settled doA\Ti into quiet, steady and systematic benevolence. They some- times seem to have been in need of some exhortation by the great Apostle but there is no record that they ever failed to come up to what was asked of or expected from them. When writing the Book of Acts Dr. Luke neglected to insert the financial statistics so that it is impossible to institute a com- pa,rison along benevolent lines between the Apostolic and Korean or any other church.

That the Korean church is a generous church is conceded by all. The churches under the care of our own Missions last year contributed for all pur- poses $81,309.17. That may not seem so large till it is remembered that the scale of living in the Orient is very far below our standard. The ordinarj'^ day laborer receives twenty cents a day, while skilled laborers such as carpenters and masons get no more than fifty cents.

From the very first great insistence was laid on 13

the duty of the Korean church by the missionaries to pay its own bills. Great liberality and solidity of Christian character have grown out of their efforts to meet the financial responsibilities placed on them. Out of 840 church buildings in the work of our Mission alone not more than twenty are known to have received any foreign funds for their erection. a few of the large buildings in the Mission stations having received aid to the extent of not more than one-third of their cost. Of 589 primary school buildings practically all have been provided by Ko- rean funds. Of 1,052 native workers on salary 94 per cent are supported by the Koreans. The whole ex- pense of supporting the missionary operations of the native church in Quelpart and Siberia comes from the Koreans. The church has laid it down as a rule that no church shall call a pastor till it is able to pay the pastor's salary, other provision being made for the weaker groups. The stories of self- sacrifice which might be told in connection with this phase of the work would fill a volume. Tithing is common, many give as much as a third of their income.

Two years ago the Christians in the city of Pyeng Yang undertook to erect a primary school building to gather together in one place the schools which were meeting in various places. The churches had been canvassed and most of the money subscribed, but an enlargement of the proposed building being found necessary, more funds had to be raised. Many efforts were put forth but the money was not in sight and deep gloom settled down upon all. In the meeting of the school board called to devise ways and means one of the elders rose and produced five yen ($2,50) w^hich he said had been handed to him the day before by a poor water carrier who by putting aside out of his meager earnings a few "cash" a day had after the lapse of several months saved up this amount which he now gave as his contribu- tion to the new school building. "Now," said the elder, "I thought I had given all I could but the great sacrifice represented by this gift puts me to shame and I will double my former subscription." Other men arose and did likewise and in a few minutes most of the money needed was pledged by those present. One of the missionaries just returned from a countrj- trip told of a place where he was exceedingly anxious to have the Christians raise money for the salary of a helper for that district. But they were very poor and there seemed no way 14

till at length they were asked how many would give the receipts of one day's work to the Lord. So one and another promised; the shoemaker would make shoes one day for the Lord: the carpenter would cut and saw; the laborer would carry his load and so on, when lo! the money was all raised for a helper for the year. When we remember how so many of them live from hand to mouth such giving means taking it out of their food and fuel.

The same missionary tells another incident. During the conflict of the Japanese soldiers with insur- gents a county seat was burned and some time after the people came back and commenced to rebuild. Everywhere sites were preempted for i=;tores and dwellings. A godly old deacon from a country' church came into the market one day and as he was looking over the site suddenly the thought flashed into his mind, where is God's house? Here was every sort of building represented but no house of God. The Christians formerly residents there had been scattered and the remnant was too poor to build a church. Old deacon Pai went home and spent the night in prayer. In the morning his orders came. Said he, "I will never rest till there is a house of God in the Magistracy." He talked the matter over with his own group and then with the members of two or three near-by groups but received no en- couragement because of the losses they themselves had received from the recent disorders. The old man prayed it over again, came back and told the people. "God has told me to build that church and I am going to do it if I have to do it alone. I'll sell my ox, I'll sell my house and fields, but I'll build that church before I die." His enthusiasm spread. Money and days of labor were promised and in two months time the church was completed and the missionary sent for to dedicate it.

In conclusion I would say that the Korean church is like the Apostolic church in that it is reaching all classes of men. Among the converts of the Apostle Paul was not only the slave Onesimus but members of Caesar's household as well, and persons of all intermediate ranks. The majority of the Korean converts are from the great middle class, but there are also representatives from both extremes, the poor slave on the one hand and members of the royal family on the other.

Many of the far-reaching social changes that have recently been transforming the country are directly traceable to the influence of Christianity and the 15

example of Christian institutions. A new literature has been created; the native script which was for- merly despised by all Korean scholars, has been lifted by the missionaries into the place of dignity and usefulness that it ought to occupy, and several native newspapers are now published in that script, a thing unheard of a few years ago. The raising of the age of marriage and the gradual abolition of concubinage are taking place; torture has been eliminated from the criminal code and modern, sanitary prisons erected. Factional animosities have disappeared and the grip of the degraded and degrading super- stitions and religious cults that held the people in chains of darkness has been loosened.

The task is as yet only begun. As yi'it only one in fifty of the population is even nominally Chris- tian but the influence of the church is out of all proportion to its membership and the success of the Christian propaganda constitutes one of the marvels of modern missions.

Korean Christians— baptize'd adults 36,074

Catechumens 25,948

Gifts, last year, from Koreans (gold) . .$81,309.17 Number of unpaid workers, men and wo- men—deacons, elders, S. S. teachers, evan- gelists 6,308

Communicants received:la!S-t'^cyeaT 6,823

Catechumens received last yeaT 14,757

Number studying the Bible in classes from

4 to 30 days 40,000

Schools of higher grades — academy to college 18

Primary schools 514

Pupils 9,835

Hospitals and dispensaries 9

Patients treated, 1910-11 68,858

16

Date Due
	1
--2-.
i%SI^' *^"i' ;'*' ■■ *-> - ,
	S^*
	r
.««««««^«««^^
j
i i; „^7
	b
/-■
f)

mmmm

iSssma

} t i: : » * .* ;f v-f *

, ' I ' j -i > «. ^ i» ■* :

?.t'>,t,t.i?<liiHii.a%'*.M.

^ 'd^ ¥S

4 .1 ^^^^\:i^

^•M> al'

»i^^^' ^^-

##4S-

*f,M.

#fitfif-ft

^¥J

i *•:•!

uumMm

u u m ^ m ¥. ft Ti 1* Ti y

t *■'. !, . - ..■,,-.. T, 1* g B M ,tf;

»t	11	rr
i^	•r
»:		^, ^<
;.1	^1	*■*■,	•*^
	'1	IM	:^
		1 !.« i'	' d

K-i€

*:'^f..*1-

MiMlei^

^4 'i'^vi^'A 4' 4

■V ■ i -4 * :■* .'4

Il