/
tihvaxy of Che theological ^eminarjp
PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY
FROM THE LIBRARY OF
ROBERT ELLIOTT SPEER
3V 2595 .U55 1919
Niebel, Benjamin H.
Evangelical missions
\
\
Rev. S. L. Wiest
President l^)oarcl of Missions, i8gi-igo6
JAN 15 1959
Evangelical Misiiofe
PART I
The Missionary Principles and Practice
of the
United EvangeUcal Church
PART II
A Venture of Faith
A History of China Mission of the
United Evangelical Church
Published by the
HOME AND FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY
OF THE
UNITED EVANGELICAL CHURCH
1919
PART I
The Missionary Principles and Practice
of the
United Evangehcal Church
Benjamin H. Niebel
To My Family
Whose unfailing sympathy and constancy
have ever been to me a source of comifort
and strength in all my endeavors, Part I
of this volume is affectionately dedicated.
B. H. N.
PREFACE
"Of making books there is no end," thus wrote a
certain wise man. This saying is not against book
making, it simply states a fact. Books are an essential
in every department of activity. Knowledge is power,
and a very large portion of our knowledge is obtained
by reading books. A leading question is, has the book
a place in literature and will it accomplish an end that
is worth while ?
The teacher, be he a religious teacher or any other
kind of a teacher, is poorly qualified unless he be a
reader of books. They are a part of his equipment.
He will be strong or weak in his line of activity in
proportion as he gathers information regarding the
subject with which he has to do. Of course, the matter
of selection is all-important.
The volume herewith presented was born in a deep-
seated conviction that such a book is needed and will
be of service to our United Evangelical people. Such is
the conviction of the authors and this is one reason
for offering it to our people. The work was not un-
dertaken unadvisedly. It was suggested by others.
Church leaders were consulted. The matter was
brought to the attention of the Board of Missions and
General Conference, and both bodies took favorable
action so that we not only felt justified in completing
the work, but were impelled by a sense of obligation.
7
8 PREFACE
Part I is not a missionary history, neither is it a
missionary biography ; it is an attempt to set forth the
thought contained in the title — that is all. The author
believes that every Christian should have a clear con-
ception of the meaning of missions and what the prac-
tice of missions involves, and especially our own
people as relates to the practice of our denomination.
We believe that we as a Church have a mission and
that this mission is evangelistic and therefore of neces-
sity missionary. We have aimed at clearness of state-
ment and conciseness of form in the presentation of
the matter.
We have kept in mind the thought of a missionary
text book that would be especially helpful to preachers,
teachers and missionary leaders, and at the same time
make the book helpful to all who will read it.
Part II is a well prepared, but brief history of our
China Mission. The work of this mission has been so
interesting and successful that its history has a right-
ful place in the literature of the Church. Like the
larger part of foreign mission work, our China Mis-
sion has had connected with its development an
abundance of toil and self-sacrifice, combined with a
courage and heroism upon the part of the missionaries
that assure those who have been back of the undertak-
ing by their faith and works that their confidence has
not been misplaced.
It is fitting that Homer H. Dubs, the son of Rev.
and Mrs. C. Newton Dubs, our pioneer missionaries
in that country, and grandson of Bishop R. Dubs, is
the author of Part II. He spent the later years of his
PREFACE 9
childhood on the field and has recollections of the situ-
ation ; he was in close touch with his parents while in
America completing his studies, he has made the sub-
ject of missions a study while in preparation for mis-
sionary service, and his painstaking research of data
relating to the Mission have served to qualify him for
the task he has performed so admirably.
B. H. N.
Harrisburg, Pa., July lo, 1919.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Grateful acknowledgment is made for the help re-
ceived from various authorities, especially from Rob-
ert E. Speer's splendid book on "Missionary Principles
and Practice," "Evangelical Annals," by Dr. A. Staple-
ton, "Short History of Christian Missions," by George
Smith, LL.D. We are also especially grateful to Dr.
H. B. Hartzler, Dr. L. Clarence Hunt, Dr. C. A. Mock,
Mrs. Sarah Ernest Snyder and Rev. S. L. Wiest for
their reviews of the manuscript.
10
INTRODUCTION
The United Evangelical Church is a missionary
body. It is at once the fruit and the seed of mission-
ary activities. It owes its existence, by the grace of
God, to the evangelistic ministry of home mission-
aries. It has been perpetuated by the missionary
labors of its own members. Its continued existence
as a church body has been justified by its ready re-
sponse to the call of the great commission of our
Lord. And its missionary work has been certified and
approved by unmistakable evidences of Divine favor.
The Church having thus begun and continued, its
members must still and always make it an object of
desire and endeavor to more effectively organize and
direct its missionary interest. These activities must
be along the line of intelligent cooperation, inspired by
the highest motives in harmony with the unchanging
principles of the Divine administration.
To this end the home should teach the fundamental
principles of missions. The pulpit should elucidate
and proclaim them. The Sunday school and the
Young People's Societies should reiterate them. The
Church in her plans and activities should illustrate
them.
It was with such considerations as these, and with
this end in view, that this work on "Evangelicai,
Missions" has been written, to serve as a text book
II
12 INTRODUCTION
and inspirational manual for preachers, teachers, mis-
sionary leaders, study classes and Christian homes.
It was in every way most fitting that the task of
planning and preparing the book was committed to the
Rev. Dr. B. H. Niebel, the very efficient Corresponding
Secretary of the United Evangelical Board of Mis-
sions, who wrote all the chapters of Part I of the
volume, while Part II, which chronicles so satisfac-
torily the history of the mission in Hunan, China, was
written by Missionary Homer H. Dubs, the gifted, cul-
tured, consecrated son of the Rev. Dr. C. Newton
Dubs, the Organizer and Superintendent of the Mis-
sion, and the grandson of the lamented Bishop Ru-
dolph Dubs. Appreciative mention of this part of the
volume is made in the Preface of the work.
In Part I of the volume Dr. Niebel sets forth in
plain, simple, forceful terms the fundamental princi-
ples of the missionary enterprise, its obligations, mo-
tives and incentives, and the Divine provision and
warrant for its success. Following this, he proceeds in
a most interesting way to tell how the Church applied
these principles in its missionary practice and with
what results.
For this task of authorship no one was better fitted
than the man to whom the work was assigned. Born
and nurtured in an Evangelical itinerant missionary
home, the son of the Rev. Abraham Niebel, and the
grandson of Rev. Henry Niebel, both prominent, in-
fluential pioneer missionaries, and the father of an
only son who is a medical missionary of first rank in
INTRODUCTION 13
China, and himself a western itinerant home mission-
ary for a number of years and for the last thirteen
years the able, indefatigable Corresponding Secretary
of the Board of Missions, familiar with all the mis-
sionary operations of the Church and with the litera-
ture and history of missions, as well as an experienced
writer of proved ability. Dr. Niebel's record may well
stand as the sufficient guarantee for the excellence of
the work he has produced. Knowing as we do that
the book was written under the most trying conditions
of constant overwork in the exacting duties of his
office, we are the more impressed with its high quality
and complete adaptation for the service it is designed
to render. J|
In reading the manuscript of the book, we were
especially impressed and deeply moved by that flaming,
thrilling chapter on "The Principles of Self-Sacrifice
in Missions" and the passing in review some of God's
chosen men and women whose glorious lives exempli-
fied the highest, holiest heroism and devotion in serv-
ice, and whose names shine in mission history "as the
brightness of the firmament and as the stars forever
and ever."
To be brought into such sympathetic contact with
God's heroic coworkers is to feel the impact of the
most powerful missionary appeal that the printed page
can bring to its readers. Very instructive and very
helpful also are the chapters in which the author traces
the missionary activities of the Church, especially in
the early pioneer days — days of "romance and reality"
14
INTRODUCTION
'^when "the fathers" gave their lives in the sacrificial
service of missionary evangelism.
We know that the book was prepared in an atmos-
phere of prayer and that it will go forth on its mission
winged with prayer, and that so it will add to the
blessed results of the revolutionary work already ac-
complished by its author, during the strenous years
of his service in field and office as Corresponding Sec-
retary. That this may be so is the sincere wish and
prayer of the writer of these introductory words.
H. B. Hartzler.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
THE MISSIONARY IDEA
Meaning of the word mission — God the originator — Jesus in
the order of God's purpose — The Teachings of Jesus — The
Holy Spirit a factor — The expression of the missionary idea
— Other incentives Page 19
CHAPTER n
THE OLD TESTAMENT FORECAST OE CHRISTIAN MISSIONS
The call and sending of Abraham — Abraham a type of Christ
— A precursor of Paul — A missionary intercessor — The King-
dom of Israel — Old Testament prophecies — ^Jonah a mission-
ary Page 27
CHAPTER HI
THE MISSIONARY PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OE JESUS
AND THE APOSTLES
The Spirit of God a dominating force — Teaching, preaching,
and healing — The missionary message unique — The gospel of
the Kingdom — The apostles preach Jesus — Others associated
in the work — Unceasing aggressiveness — The Church founded.
Page 33
CHAPTER IV
CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE AND MISSIONS
Love the constraining motive — Authors quoted Page 41
CHAPTER V
THE PRINCIPLES OF SELF-SACRIFICE IN MISSIONS
A leading principle of Christian missions — The real mission-
ary pays this price — A list of notable witnesses — Missionary
pioneers that endured — Our own missionaries' noble examples.
Page 45
IS
(
i6 CONTENTS
CHAPTER VI
Evange;ucal missionary beginnings in the days
of jacob albright
Our Church fathers imbued with a missionary spirit — Al-
bright's testimony — Aggressive and extensive evangeHsm.
Page 62
CHAPTER Vn
THIRTY YEARS OF PIONEER WORK, 1808-1838
Meager ministerial support — Dreisbach and Niebel in leader-
ship— The work extended into other states — Bishop Seybert a
pioneer missionary — Pressing westward — The significance of
a name Page 70
CHAPTER VHI
ORGANIZATION AND FURTHER EXTENSION
The first missionary society — The dawn of a new era — Look-
ing across the seas — Work begun in Japan — Work on the Pa-
cific coast Page 80
CHAPTER IX
UNITED EVANGELICAL MISSIONARY BEGINNINGS
Intervening events — Philadelphia General Conference — Or-
ganization of the United Evangelical Church — Missions a
prominent feature — The Foreign Mission Fund — Missionary
sentiment increasing — A period of reconstruction — Foreign
Missions — ^Contributions forthcoming Page 88
CHAPTER X
THE woman's MISSIONARY SOCIETY A LEADING FACTOR
"Chief women not a few" — Under the new name — The first
annual meeting — A decisive step in advance — The value of
the Woman's Missionary Society — Departmental Work and
Progress — Financial Progress Page 100
CONTENTS 17
CHAPTER XI
METHODS OF ADMINISTRATION
The corporate name — Officers — Powers of the Board of Mis-
sions— The Executive Committee — Annual meetings — Appro-
priations— Young People's Societies — Mission Bands — Cradle
Rolls — Home Department — Foreign Mission administration —
Official Register Page 113
CHAPTER XH
OTHER MISSIONARY AGENCIES OE THE CHURCH
Our Church periodicals — The Sunday school — The Keystone
League of Christian Endeavor — Our colleges — The prayer-
meetings — Cooperation essential Page 123
CHAPTER Xni
LATER ERUlTFUIvNESS AND PRESENT STATUS
Later statistics — The last twelve years — The support of Home
Missions — The voice of missionary leaders — Foreign mission
progress — In Africa Page 127
CHAPTER XIV
WHERE FIGURES AND STATISTICS FAIL
Results not to be measured by figures — Concrete illustrations
— United Evangelical fruitfulness — Concrete illustrations.
Page 142
APPENDIX
The pioneer missionary — The home missionary — The foreign
missionary Page 150
CHAPTER I
THE MISSIONARY IDEA
The Word Mission is derived from the Latin word
mitto, which means to send. There are several Eng-
Hsh words which originate from the same Latin root.
The word missive refers to a written message sent to
some one. A missile is a weapon sent or to be sent to
do a work of destruction. The use of the word com-
mission, which has the same derivation, may include
not only the idea of sending; but of sending with au-
thority. A missionary is one sent to propagate a reli-
gion. A Christian missionary is one sent to make
known the gospel of Jesus Christ, "That whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have ever-
lasting hfe."
The High Character of the Missionary Idea, as
applies to the spread of the gospel, appears in the fact
that all three persons of the Holy Trinity are asso-
ciated in the origin and carrying forward of the work
of Christian missions.
I. God the Father is the Originator of the mis-
sionary idea for the propagation of the gospel. It is
He who sent His Son into the world, and it is He who
gave the Holy Spirit to be the administrator of mis-
sionary activity. Jesus made this fact known in the
following announcement at the beginning of His
ministry :
19
20 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath
anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor ; he hath sent
me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the
captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty
them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the
Lord." Lu. 4: 18, 19.
"And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God
unto other cities also: for therefore am I sent." Lu. 4- 43-
Peter gives this truth prominence in his sermon at
the house of Cornelius.
"God anointed Jesus of Nazareth w^ith the Holy Ghost and
with power ; who went about doing good, and healing all that
were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him." Ac.
10: 38.
2. The Relation of Jesus to the beginning of
Christian missions is shown in the fact that He Him-
self was a missionary, and that He appointed and
trained others for missionary service,
"And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their syna-
gogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing
all manner of sickness and disease among the people." Mat.
4: ^3-
"And Jesus walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren,
Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net
into the sea : for they were fishers. And he saith unto them,
Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." Mat. 4:
18, 19.
Jesus Foeeowed the Order op God's Purpose by
sending the first missionaries "To the lost sheep of the
house of Israel." The chosen race of Israel was to be
given first opportunity to return to God. God had
spoken by the Psalmist : "For the Lord will not cast
away His people, neither will He forsake His inherit-
ance." The children, though backslidden and dis-
obedient, were to have the first ofifer of the bread of
THE MISSIONARY IDEA 21
life. However, before leaving the world, Jesus gave
the commission to "Preach the gospel to every crea-
ture."
"These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, say-
ing, Go not in the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of
the Samaritans enter ye not ; but go rather to the lost sheep
of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying. The
kingdom of heaven is at hand." Mat. lo: 5-7.
"And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power
(authority, R. V.) is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost :
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have com-
manded you ; and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end
of the world." Mat. 28: 18-20.
The Teachings oe Jesus Further Indicate that
missionary work also includes the nurture of such as
are being saved and the training of other workers.
The care and training of converts and the establishing
of churches were prominent features in the mission-
ary labors of the apostles. We remember one of the
last interviews of Jesus with His disciples when He
solemnly gave Peter charge saying: "Feed My
lambs," then "Feed My sheep," and again, "Feed My
sheep." It was evidently the purpose of Jesus that
men should not only be won to Him by the preaching
of the gospel ; but that they should also be properly
instructed in spiritual things, and that they should be-
come efficient in service.
Notice how the apostles continue the same kind of
work :
"And when they had preached the gospel to that city
(Derbe), and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra,
and to Iconium, and Antioch, confirming the souls of the
22 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and
that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom
of God. And when they had ordained them elders in every
church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them
to the Lord, on whom they believed." Ac. 14: 21-23.
3. The Holy Spirit is an Indispensable Factor
in the progagation of Christian missions. Without
Him and His vi^ork the Divine idea of missions cannot
be attained. After Jesus had made known, both by
example and teaching, the purpose and method of
propagating the gospel, and before turning the matter
over to His disciples. He said to them : "And, be-
hold, I send the promise of My Father upon you : but
tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued
with power from on high."
The work of turning men from darkness to light,
from sin unto righteousness and from Satan unto God
was too great for the disciples of Jesus to attempt by
their own wisdom and might. The opposition, espe-
cially as it would come from "Powers," from "Princi-
palities," from the "Spiritual hosts of wickedness in
the heavenly places," would be too formidable to com-
bat without the unseen working of a spiritual force
greater than these. Besides, what could a few preach-
ers with a simple message hope to do in the face of
multitudes steeped in sin, in false doctrines of various
kinds, in gross unbelief or in the superstitions of
heathenism ?
Furthermore, the evident intention was that mis-
sionary work should be worldwide and continue until
the "End of the (gospel) age." It is therefore not
THE MISSIONARY IDEA 23
strange that the Holy Spirit was sent to be the indis-
pensable factor in missionary adminstration.
"The; Acts of the Holy Spirit" is a term applied
by Arthur T. Pierson to the book of Acts. This book
gives us the missionary history of apostolic times and
the Holy Spirit appears as the dominant factor
throughout. He appears :
(a) As the Qualifying Agent.
"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is
come upon you ; and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the
uttermost part of the earth." Ac. i: 8.
"This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel ; and
it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour
out my Spirit upon all flesh : and your sons and your daugh-
ters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions and
your old men shall dream dreams." Ac. 2: 16, 17.
"And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where
they were assembled together ; and they were all filled with
the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with bold-
ness." Ac. 4: 31.
(b) As a Supervising Personality.
In the following Scripture we observe that there is
twofold sending, — by the Church and by the Holy
Spirit. However, it is important to remember that
the Holy Spirit took the initiative in the selection and
sending of these missionaries.
"As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy
Ghost said : Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work
whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted
and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them
away. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed
unto Seleucia ; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus." Ac.
13: 2-4.
24 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
As We Study the Missionary Idea and Its Ex-
pression in the New Testament, we are profoundly
impressed by the clearness of statement and mass of
material showing the Divine authority of missions and
•missionary activity. In Acts 14 : 26 to 15 : 30, we find
a brief report of the early missionary labors of Paul
and Barnabas, also statements by Peter and James,
and the decision of the council at Jerusalem regard-
ing the question involving the conversion of the Gen-
tiles. The remarkable thing about this is the emphasis
placed upon the fact that God was the chief operator,
working by these men to will and to do of His good
pleasure. This fact is referred to no less than ten
times in the brief narrative of thirty-two verses :
"They rehearsed all that God had done with them and how
he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles."
"They declared all things that God had done with them."
"Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago
God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth
should hear the word of the gospel and believe."
"God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving
them the Holy Ghost, even as he did to us."
"Barnabas and Paul declaring what miracles and wonders
God had wrought among the Gentiles by them."
"Simeon hath declared how God at first did visit the Gen^
tiles, to take out of them a people for his name."
James quoting the prophecy of Amos, God speak-
ing:
"After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle
of David, which is fallen down ; and I will build again the
ruins thereof, and I will set it up."
"That the residue of men might seek the Lord, and all the
Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who
doeth all these things."
THE MISSIONARY IDEA 25
"Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of
the world."
"For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us, to lay
upon you no greater burden than these necessary things."
Were there no other reason for being active in the
study and support of Christian missions, a knowledge
of the Divine character of the missionary idea as set
forth in the Bible would in itself be a convincing in-
centive.
There are however other incentives that urge us to
active interest in missions. We make bare mention of
seven others :
1. A desire to honor Jesus Christ. He said: "If
ye love Me, keep My commandments." His last mes-
sage to His people is this one : "Ye shall be witnesses
unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in
Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
How can we love Him without giving heed to this
command ?
2. A desire for the salvation of men is another in-
centive. "The Son of man came not to be ministered
unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom
for many." His greatest concern for others was their
salvation, and it is He who said : "Follow Me and I
will make you fishers of men."
3. What missions have done for us, directly or in-
directly, as individuals, for our homes, for the com-
munities where we live, serves as an incentive to pass
on to others of the good that came to us. There is a
point in the history of every man where his own his-
tory and missionary history meet.
26 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
4. The fruitfulness of missions as shown by mis-
sionary history is in itself sufficient to impress one
profoundly with the more than human potency of
missionary efifort. Lack of information regarding
this matter is the leading cause of indifference among
many good people.
5. A study of the world's great need of the gospel
impresses us with the largeness of the field and the
immediateness of the need, and brings a call for us to
do our best for the spread of the gospel. Wicked men,
the false religions, and Satan himself are doing their
worst to propagate evil, shall not Christian people do
their best to sow the good seed of the kingdom of God
in all lands ?
6. The prospect of ultimate reward brings its stir-
ring appeal for greater activity. Here is one promise :
"He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious
seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bring-
ing his sheaves with him."
7. The prospect of the final triumph of Jesus Christ,
who has committed to us the work of this gospel age,
brings us inspiration and hope. Whatever may be
our conception of future events in the program of
God, and of the relative time of the coming of Christ,
we are assured that voices in heaven will say : "The
kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of
our Lord, and of His Christ ; and He shall reign for
ever and ever."
CHAPTER II
THE OLD TESTAMENT FORECAST OF
CHRISTIAN MISSIONS
The Old Testament has considerable material that
points to what became more clearly identified in the
New Testament as bearing upon the subject of Chris-
tian missions.
The Call and Sending op Abraham gives us the
first view of God's missionary plan. As we study
God's dealings with Abraham and New Testament
references to them, we find a forecast of what fol-
lowed for world evangelization when Christ came and
established the missionary plan for the dissemination
of the Word of God. God said : "Get thee out of thy
country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's
house, unto a land that I will show thee ; and I will
make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and
make thy name great and thou shalt be a blessing."
Gen. 12: I, 2. In the fourth chapter of Romans we
find the spiritual significance of God's promise to
Abraham.
Abraham was a Type of Christ by becoming the
progenitor of a people, which God called, "My peo-
ple," and to whom God said: "If ye will obey my
voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a
peculiar people ; for all the earth is mine : and ye shall
be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation."
27
28 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
Ex. 19: 3, 6. Likewise Jesus Christ, the one sent of
God to a world lost in sin, drew to Himself a people :
"A chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy na-
tion, a peculiar people; that (they) should show forth
the praises of him who called (them) out of darkness
into light. J Pet. 2: p.
Abraham was Ai,so the Precursor op Paul.
Faith and righteousness were the key words of the
doctrine of both. Theirs was not a self-constructed
theory of righteousness — not self-righteousness ; but
righteousness by faith in the promises of God.
"He (Abraham) staggered not at the promises of God
through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to
God ; and being fully persuaded that, what he had promised
he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed
to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his
sake alone, that it was imputed to him ; but for us also, to
whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised
up Jesus our Lord from the dead ; who was delivered for
our offences, and was raised again for our justification."
Rom. 4: 20-25. For further comparison see Gal. 3: 8-29.
Abraham was a Missionary Intercessor and em-
ployed prayer, the greatest channel of power, in be-
half of a heathen people (the Sodomites) steeped in
the most degrading form of sin. His sixfold plea for
the vilest and most hopeless sinners was a marvelous
thing, and our consideration of Abrahain as God's
missionary would be incomplete without reference to
it. "And the Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham
that which I do, seeing that Abraham shall surely be-
come a great nation, and all the nations of the earth
shall be blessed in him?" {Gen. 18: ij, 18), are the
introductory words of this outstanding incident.
THE OLD TESTAMENT FORECAST
29
We quote from "Short History of Christian Mis-
sions," by George Smith, LL.D. :
"The time had come for the destruction of the impenitent
heathen of the vale of Siddim. Not because the nephew Lot
was there, a merely passive protestor against the very griev-
ous sin of Sodom, not from purely human pity; but as di-
vinely-called missionary, as divinely-invited intercessor, as
divinely-encouraged mediator, as covenantor of all of every
race who should believe, and specially charged with the land
of which Siddim was the fairest portion. Abraham appealed
personally to the covenant God for mercy that the worst of
heathen might repent, if only fifty, or forty-five, or forty, or
thirty, or twenty or ten righteous were found in Sodom.
Failing ten, even yet Abraham did not abandon hope, for he
'gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood be-
fore the Lord, and he looked, * * * and lo, the smoke
of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace; and God re-
membered Abraham by sparing only Lot."
The Extension of' the Kingdom oe Israel under
Solomon had in it a missionary significance. It
showed that the Jewish religion was primarily a mis-
sionary religion. Solomon's prayer at the dedication
of the temple had this significance. We quote from it :
"Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people
Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake;
(For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong
hand, and of thy stretched out arm;) when he shall come and
pray toward this house; hear thou in heaven thy dwelling
place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to
thee for : that all people of the earth may know thy name,
to fear thee, as do thy people Israel ; and that they may
know that this house, which I have builded, is called by thy
name." i Ki. 8: 41-43.
The seventy-second Psalm presents to us in beauti-
ful and striking language the kingdom of Solomon as
a type of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. We quote
verses 17 to 19 of this Psalm:
30 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
"His name shall endure forever : his name shall be con-
tinued as long as the sun : and men shall be blessed in him :
all nations shall call him blessed. Blessed be the Lord God,
the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. And
blessed be his glorious name forever : and let the whole earth
be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen."
Prophecies of Tur; Old Testament that relate
directly to the ministry of Jesus, or to the spread of
the gospel, or to the enlargement of the kingdom of
Jesus Christ point to the missionary work of the gos-
pel age. There are many of these prophecies, espe-
cially in Isaiah. We quote some of these:
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me ; because the Lord
hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek; he
hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim lib-
erty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them
that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that
mourn ; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give
them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the
garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness ; that they might
be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord
that he might be glorified. Isa. 6i: 1-3.
"The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness. Prepare
ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a high-
way for our God." * * * "Q thou that tellest good tidings
to Zion (margin), get thee up into the high mountain; O
thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem (margin), lift
up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say
unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God." * * * "He
shall feed his flock like a shepherd ; he shall gather the lambs
with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently
lead those that are with young." Isa. 40: 3, p, //.
"Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken ye people, from
far; The Lord hath called me from the womb; from the
bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name."
* * * "Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I
heard thee : and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a
THE OLD TESTAMENT FORECAST 31
covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to
inherit the desolate heritages." * * * "And I will make
all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.
Behold, these shall come from far; and, lo, these from the
north and from the west ; and these from the land of Sinim."
Isa. 49: I, 8, II, 12.
"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that
bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that bringeth
good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith
unto Zion, Thy God reigneth." Isa. 52: 7.
This brief list of missionary texts would be incom-
plete without quoting the text used by William Carey,
pioneer missionary to India, when he preached at a
meeting of the Ministers' Association at Nottingham,
England, May 31, 1792.
"Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth
the curtains of thine habitations : spare not, lengthen thy
cord, and strengthen thy stakes ; for thou shalt break forth
on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit
the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited."
Isa. 54: 2, 3.
Jonah, God's Speciai, Missionary to Nineveh.
God sometimes specializes ; that is, He sometimes se-
lects a man and thrusts him out alone on a particular
mission. Jonah was one of these men. His was a
special mission to a very wicked city. God had trouble
to get Jonah rightly started, just as He often has
trouble with people He would use to accomplish a
purpose. This brought on the fish experience.
The most remarkable thing about the story of Jonah
however, is not his fish experience. That was only
incidental and brief. Yet Jesus found a mention of
even this experience worthwhile as a type foreshadow-
32
EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
ing His own burial. Jesus no doubt knew what He
was talking about.
There are several remarkable things about the story
of Jonah ; first, Jehovah sent him to a very wicked
city to deliver a special message ; second, it was a mes-
sage with a tremendous meaning — "Yet forty days
and Nineveh shall be overthrown" ; third, the mission
of Jonah was a success; fourth, God's mercy upon
Nineveh was a disappointment to Jonah, and he
needed a special revelation from God to set him right.
CHAPTER III
THE MISSIONARY PRINCIPLES AND PRAC-
TICE OF JESUS AND THE APOSTLES
The missionary principles and practice of Jesus and
the apostles will be considered together because Jesus
chose them to be associated with Him and they were
under His training and direction. He was supreme
in authority over them and they were expected to fol-
low His instructions. Whatever principles they prac-
ticed were set forth by Him. They received their
commission from Him. There was this difference:
the disciples had faults and were liable to commit er-
rors, while Jesus was faultless in both principles and
practice. Jesus' call of the first disciples indicated
what He expected to do with them — "Follow Me, and
I will make you fishers of men."
I. The Spirit oe God was the Dominating Force
of their operations. The relation of the Holy Spirit
to missions has already been mentioned in Chapter I.
This relation existed in the work of Jesus and the
apostles.
"And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Gali-
lee : and there went out a fame of him through all the region
round about." "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because
he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor." Lu.
4: 14, 18. "But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then
the kingdom of God is come unto you." Mat. 12: 28.
"For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father
which speaketh in you." Mat. 10: 20. "For the Holy Ghost
33
34
EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say." Lu.
12: 12.
The last two quoted passages had reference to times
when the disciples would be brought before "magis-
trates and powers" to answer whatever charges might
be brought against them.
After Jesus had gone away from earth and the
apostles were to continue their work without Him, the
supervision of the Holy Spirit was still more directly
and clearly manifest as already indicated in Chapter
I. This is not only proof of the Divine authority of
missionary work, but also indicates its importance.
2. Teaching, Preaching and Heaung were Com-
bined in the work of Jesus and the apostles. They
taught the people and preached the gospel wherever
and whenever opportunity afforded. They relieved
physical need and suffering in multiplied instances.
Missionaries of our time do these three classes of
work. A fourth class, industrial work, is often added.
"And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their syna-
gogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing
all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the
people." Mat. 4: 23.
"Paul also and Barnabas continued in Antioch, teaching and
preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also." Ac.
15'- 35- "There came also a multitude out of the cities round
about Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were
vexed with unclean spirits : and they were healed every one."
Ac. 5: 16.
That the apostles had power to work miracles is
evident. This not only brought relief to the suffering,
but it also helped to give them prestige in their efforts
in behalf of the spiritual needs of the people. Chris-
MISSIONARY PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES 35
tian experience has shown however, that with our
present knowledge of the prevention and cure of dis-
eases; the working of miracles, apart from the use
of means within our knowledge and reach, is not
usually a necessity. Neither is Christianity in need of
this kind of proof as in the days of the apostles.
Upon the other hand ; miracles are still a possibility,
and occur when their working is in accordance with
the will of God. There is also very frequent healing
of the sick in answer to prayer. The casting out of
demons in modern times has also occurred. See
"Demon Possession and Allied Themes/' by Rev. John
L. Nevius, D.D. Doctor Nevius was for forty years
a missionary to China.
3. The Message oe Jesus and the Apostles was
Unique and Powereul. It was new and startling.
The world had never heard its like. Of Jesus it is
written : "The people were astonished at His doc-
trine; for He taught them as one having authority
and not as the scribes." To some hearers His words
had a joyful sound, and we read that "the common peo-
ple heard Him gladly." Others were maddened be-
cause His message to them was a rebuke to selfishness,
hypocrisy, pride and unbelief. Still others were per-
plexed, as in the case of the officers who failed to ar-
rest Him, giving as their reason : "Never man spake
like this man."
The preaching and teaching of the apostles had a
similar effect. Wherever they went the people were
stirred. Their preaching produced commotion and
wonder. The effect produced depended upon how the
36 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
hearers received the word. Of one place we read :
"And there was great joy in that city"; of another
place, "Having stoned Paul, (they) drew him out of
the city, supposing he had been dead."
Let it be remembered that it was not agitation upon
the part of Jesus or the apostles that caused the un-
usual excitement among the people, for they (the
preachers) were always calm, serious and deliberate,
though intensely in earnest. There was no attempt
at the spectacular, nor did they indulge in oratorical
display. The message of these men, delivered in sim-
ple and terse style, and the power of the Spirit back
of the message deeply stirred the people. See Peter's
discourse in Acts 2 and 10, and Paul's in Acts zj.
The "GospEIv of* the Kingdom" was the keynote
of their preaching. It was the good news that the Son
of man came to "Seek and to save that which was
lost." Jesus gave the gist of this good news to Nico-
demus in John j.' 14-16.
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even
so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever be-
lieveth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life."
Jesus Invites the People to Himsele. He Him-
self is the embodiment of His own message of love,
and is its expression.
"Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I
will give you rest."
"I am the door : by me if any man enter in, he §ha.U
be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture,"
MISSIONARY PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES 37
"I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd giveth his life
for the sheep."
"If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink."
"He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that
bread of life."
"I am the way the truth and the life; no man cometh unto
the Father but by me."
"I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth on
me, though he were dead, yet shall be live."
The: Aposti.es Preached Jesus crucified and risen
from the dead, and that salvation is by Him alone.
"Neither is there salvation in any other : for there is none
other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must
be saved." Ac. 4: 12.
They went forth in the twofold capacity as minis-
ters of the gospel and witnesses to its power. They
obeyed the last command of Jesus when He said : "Ye
shall be witnesses unto Me."
"Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said. We
ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers
raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him
hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a
Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of
sins. And we are witnesses of these things ; and so is also the
Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him."
Ac. 5: 29-32.
4. Both Jesus and the Apostles Associated
Others with Them in the work of making known
the good news of the kingdom. A prominent instance
is the sending out of the seventy as described in Luke
10. We remember also that the healed demoniac was
sent to his friends to tell what great things the Lord
had done for him. We also notice that women co-
operated with Jesus and the apostles. See Luke 8: i-s,
and the names found in Romans 16.
38 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
After Pentecost and the organization of the Church,
the spirit of missions soon became universal among
beHevers.
"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, except
the apostles. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went
everywhere preaching the word." Ac. 8: i, 4.
Previous to the preaching of Peter at the house of
CorneHus, the preaching of the gospel by the apostles
was limited to Jewish auditors. (See Acts 11: ip) ;
but from that time there came a change (See Acts 11:
20, 21). A little later the Council at Jerusalem took
definite action in regard to the matter (See Acts 75),
and both Jews and Gentiles received attention.
5. Unceasing Aggressiveness characterized the
missionary activities of Jesus and the apostles. All
through the brief history given us we observe intense
earnestness and activity. They evidently felt the great
weight of responsibility resting upon them and had a
broad view of the whitened harvest.
What a busy ministry was that of Jesus, until He
could say to the Father: "I have finished the work
which Thou gavest Me to do." While about His work,
we hear Him say at one time: 'T must preach the
kingdom of God to other cities also : for therefore
am I sent." At another time He exclaimed : "I must
work the works of Him that sent Me while it is day,
for the night cometh when no man can work."
And Paul, the greatest missionary of apostolic times,
sums up his effort at Ephesus as follows :
MISSIONARY PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES 39
"I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, and have
taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both
to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God
and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. ♦ * * Where-
fore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the
blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto
you all the counsel of God * * * Therefore watch and
remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to
warn every one night and day with tears."
6. The Opposition of Satan and Wicked Per-
sons did not deter Jesus at any time, nor the apostles
after the enduement of power at Pentecost. In the
face of every opposing power, and despite all obstacles
and difficulties, these leaders continued to press their
work with vigor until God called them to Himself.
That the opposition was fierce and relentless was al-
most constantly manifest.
The foes of Jesus were busy and bitter against Him
from the time of His temptation in the wilderness un-
til the last hours of His earth life. The good He did
for others did not allay the opposition against Him
and the work He was doing, yet He pursued His min-
istry, scattering blessings wherever He went.
Such was also the experience of the apostles:
"Troubled on every side, yet not distressed ; per-
plexed, but not in despair ; persecuted, but not for-
saken ; cast down, but not destroyed ; always bearing
about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus." With
fixed purpose Paul expressed himself : "None of these
things move me, neither count I my life dear unto my-
self, so that I might finish my course with joy, and
40 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus,
to testify the gospel of the grace of God."
7. The Church Founded by Jesus Christ is the
institution intended to conserve the results of mis-
sionary endeavor and to continue to propagate the
gospel by various means until Jesus comes. Jesus
said : "I will build My church ; and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it."
"And the Lord added unto the church daily such
as should be saved (Those who were being saved
R. V.)" Acts 2: 47.
"Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of
the church which was in Jerusalem : and they sent
forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch."
Acts 11: 22.
"Now there were in the church that was at Antioch
certain prophets and teachers ; * * * ^s they ministered
unto the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, 'Sepa-
rate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I
have called them.' " Acts /?; /, 2.
CHAPTER IV
CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE AND MISSIONS
Reference is here made to that aspect of Christian
experience which is the result of a heart knowledge of
Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour. The "fruit of
the Spirit" is begotten in us, the first and chief mani-
festation of which is love. Paul explains his intensity
of interest for the Corinthians, among whom he had
labored so successfully as missionary, by writing to
them: "For whether we be beside ourselves it is to
God or whether we be sober it is for your cause ; for
the love of Christ constraineth us."
Love; is rut Constraining Motive in behalf of our
salvation. It was love that moved God to give His
Son for the redemption of the world : "God com-
mendeth His love toward us in that, while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us." Jesus gave expres-
sion to the motive that prompted Him to give His life
for us when He said: "Greater love hath no man
than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" ;
then He added : "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatso^
ever I command you."
When We are Attracted to Christ so that we
look upon Him as our Saviour, we want others to be
attracted to Him also. When Andrew received the
gospel message and followed Christ, it is written of
him that "He first findeth his own brother Simon, and
41
42 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is,
being interpreted, the Christ." An intelHgent under-
standing of the meaning of missions and the world's
need of the gospel, coupled with a genuine Christian
experience will surely prompt one to become an active
supporter of missions.
May it not be said of one who, although, professing
to be a Christian, yet failing to do something for the
salvation of others, "He that loveth not knoweth not
God, for God is love." Did not Jesus say : "If ye love
Me keep My commandments"?
We Quote Herewith from Robert E. Speer,
THAT Eminent Authority on the subject of mis-
sions, and a man whose influence is felt throughout
Christendom as a leader in Christian thought and
action :
"If in our conviction and experience we are sure that in
Christ we possess a great good, then we will give Him to
the world — not otherwise, no matter how much we may talk
about last commands and 'great commissions.' "
"If Christ means nothing to us, we shall surely not go to
the trouble of taking Him to the world. Christianity, of
course, asserts that Christ means everything to the believer,
and surely if he does, the believer will be driven by an over-
mastering desire to make known to all the glad tidings of so
great a salvation. The missionary enterprise is the surest evi-
dence of the esteem in which Christ is held. The Church that
is doing nothing to extend His knowledge to the heathen world
is furnishing such proof that Christ means little to it as no
amount of verbal worship or protestation of devotion can
annul."
"What shall be said of any Christians who do not share in
the missionary enterprise? This, that they are either culpably
ignorant and thoughtless, culpable in that either they or their
teachers are to blame, or else that their Christianity is a fic-
CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE AND MISSIONS 43
titious thing, a sham, a travesty. And in either case consider
the moral horror of it. Here are men who profess to possess
a divine salvation, pure and perfect, and to believe that all
men need this salvation and that it is adequate for all and
intended for all, and yet do nothing to give it to those who
have an equal right to it."
"Missions, accordingly, are not only the expression of the
Church's interest in the world ; they are the evidence of her
love of her Lord and the proof of the honor and integrity of
her own life." "Missionary Principles," pages li, 14, 15.
Arthur J. Brown, one of the secretaries of the
Presbyterian Board of Missions, in his book, "The
Foreign Missionary," gives this point special emphasis :
"The Souls Experience in Christ. — In proportion as this
is genuine and deep, will we desire to communicate it to
others. Propagation is a law of the spiritual life. The genius
of Christianity is expansive. Its inherent tendency is to
propagate itself. A living organism must grow or die. The
church that is not missionary will become atrophied. All
virile faith prompts its possessor to seek others. Ruskin re-
minds us of Southey's statement that no man was ever yet
convinced of any momentous truth without feeling in himself
the power as well as the desire of communicating it.
"No external authority, however commanding, can take the
place of this internal motive. It led Paul to exclaim, 'Woe
is me if I preach not the gospel!' It made him plead 'with
tears' that men would turn to God ; and become 'all things to
all men, that "he" might by all means save some.'
"People who say that they do not believe in foreign mis-
sions, are usually quite unconscious of the indictment that
they bring against their own spiritual experience. The man
who has no religion of his own that he values of course is
not interested in the effort to make it known to others. It is
true, one may be simply ignorant of the content of his faith
or the real character of the missionary movement, but as a
rule those who know the real meaning of the Christian ex-
perience are conscious of an over-mastering impulse to com-
municate it to others.
44 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
"Foreign missionary interest presupposes breadth of soul.
Any one can love his own family, but it takes a high-souled
man to love all men. He who has that which the world needs
is debtor to the world. The true disciple would feel this even
if Christ had spoken no command. The missionary impulse
would have stirred him to spontaneous action. Christ simply
voiced the highest and holiest dictates of the human heart
when He summoned His followers to missionary activity and
zeal. The question whether the heathen really need Christ
may be answered by the counter question: Do we need Him?
and the intensity of our desire to tell them of Christ will be in
exact proportion to the intensity of our own sense of need."
Dr. Murray Mitchell, in "Report of the Second
Decennial Missionary Conferece," held in Calcutta,
1882-1883, expresses in the following prayer the long-
ing of the soul for that quality which moved Christ
to pity for those who are in darkness :
"C.ive me Thy heart, O Christ! Thy love untold
That I like Thee may pity, like Thee may preach.
For round me spreads on every side a waste
Drearer than that which moved Thy soul to sadness;
No ray hath pierced this immemorial gloom;
And scarce these darkened toiling myriads taste
Even a few drops of fleeting earthly gladness,
As they move on, slow, silent, to the tomb."
Rev. B. J. Smoyer
Corresponding Secretary, 1891-1895
CHAPTER V
THE PRINCIPLE OF SELF-SACRIFICE IN
MISSIONS
"Whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the
Gospel's, the same shall save it." Mark 8: S5- This
Scripture expresses a leading principle of Christian
missions which must not be overlooked. Missions are
on a higher plane than any mere human propaganda.
There is nothing mean or cheap about the principles
upon which Christian missions are founded. They are
worth everything that any one can put into them, for
they have to do with the gospel of the kingdom of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
The principles upon which missions are founded
cost the life of the Son of God. Jesus Himself de-
clared : "The Son of man came not to be ministered
unto, but to minister and to give His life a ransom for
many." This reveals two aspects under which Jesus
gave His life for the propagation of the gospel : First,
He gave His earth life as the Son of man to minister
to others ; second. He yielded His life by dying upon
the cross to make the gospel of the kingdom available
for every creature.
The words of Jesus quoted above have their counter-
part in Rev. 12: 11, where we read : "They loved not
their life even unto death" (R. V.). The former is a
statement going before the act of giving one's life for
45
46 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
Jesus and the gospel's sake; while the latter after-
zvard indicates the motive that enabled the overcomers
in the conflict with Satan to gain the victory "By the
blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony."
The overcomers had acted upon the principle as set
forth by Jesus ; that is, they had faith in His atoning
blood and had been witnesses for Him at whatever
cost, even the sacrifice of life.
Before Jesus went to the cross He had declared that,
"This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all
the world as a witness to all nations"; and, after He
had given His own life to make the gospel available
for all, He said, "Ye shall be witnesses unto Me both
in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and
unto the uttermost part of the earth."
Missionary work is witnessing for Jesus "Unto the
uttermost part of the earth." It calls for the yielding
of life unto His service for the spread of the gospel,
and in frequent instances it means the sacrifice of life,
"even unto death." And he who would be a sustainer
of missionary work by prayer or by the contribution
of money should do it in a spirit of unselfishness and
self-sacrifice, for by so doing he becomes a partaker
of the real spirit of missions and a sharer of the mis-
sionary's reward.
"He That Loseth His Life for My Sake and
THE Gospel's." The real missionary pays this price,
even though he may never be called upon to sacrifice
life by martyrdom. Missionaries have in thousands
of instances, especially pioneers in heathen lands,
labored for many years under conditions which fre-
THE PRINCIPLES OF SELF-SACRIFICE 47
quently brought their Hves into jeopardy. But the list
of martyrs is also a very long one, and it has been
truly said that "The blood of the martyrs is the seed
of the Church."
The prophecy of Jesus to Peter : "When thou shalt
be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another
shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest
not," could since that time have been applied in thou-
sands of instances. It is said of the apostles that all
of them suffered martyrdom except John. Hebrews
eleven tells of martyrs of Old Testament times, and
the list has been indefinitely extended in this gospel
age. The blood of martyrdom has flowed freely, and
the end is not yet.
If We Could See the List of those who yielded
their lives for the gospel's sake in the ten persecu-
tions, A. D. 64 to 303, when paganism attempted the
overthrow of the power of the gospel, we would be
amazed at the price paid that the world should not be
without witness that the "Gospel is the power of God
unto salvation to every one that believeth."
But when these persecutions were ended and finally
Constantine professed Christianity about the year 325,
the great battle between the forces of light and the
forces of darkness was not over. The early Church
added to her list of missionary martyrs from time to
time as the years went by, for the gospel message will
not and cannot be silenced. A notable example was
that of Boniface, who, after having preached the gos-
pel to hundreds of thousands of pagans and baptized
many thousands, when attempting again to carry the
48 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
gospel into Holland, at the age of 75 years, "Pil-
lowed his head on a volume of the gospels and calmly-
received the sword-stroke that gave him a martyr's
crown."
So Also the Period oe Mediaeval Missions, from
the year 800 A. D. to the period of the Reformation,
produced its illustrious examples of self-sacrifice. The
name of Raymond Lull (1235-1315), who was the
first missionary to the Mohammedans, shines with a
peculiar luster in missionary history. Lull was per-
haps the greatest of missionaries to the Mohamme-
dans. He sealed his witness to Christ with his blood,
being siezed while preaching, dragged out of town and
stoned to death.
The Spirit of the Title of This Chapter was
no less manifest in the Reformation, though that was
only indirectly missionary. At that time God needed
men to set the Church right, so that she could again
bear living testimony to the power of Christ. To this
end He raised up men from Wyclif and Huss to Lu-
ther and Knox, not as missionaries to paganism, but
as home missionaries to Christendom. With what
self-sacrifice and devotion they fulfilled their calling
is a matter of history. They belong to that immortal
class who "Loved not their lives even unto death."
As we think of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth
Centuries, we call to mind such awakenings as Pietism
in Germany, and Wesleyanism in England and Amer-
ica ; we think of the Moravians and the Puritans, we
think of prayer bands formed in Europe. Great Britain
and America ; we think of such men as Eliot, Franke,
Spener, Gossner, Zinzendorf, the Wesleys, White-
THE PRINCIPLES OF SELF-SACRIFICE 49
field, Jonathan Edwards, David Brainerd and others.
God used these awakenings and men to prepare the
soil from which sprang modern missions material.
The self-forgetfulness and privations of these men
showed that "They loved not their lives."
We Now Come to the Period of Modern Mis-
sions, beginning in 1793 when William Carey went to
India. This period of missionary history has produced
thousands of missionary heroes and heroines, who
manifested the same spirit of devotion and self-sacri-
fice as did the apostles. Many, many hundreds of
them suffered martyrdom. Thousands who were
spared from a violent death at the hands of enemies
of the cross were in jeopardy day after day, month
after month, year after year, not knowing what would
befall them at any time. They endured afflictions, suf-
fered hardships of every conceivable kind, lived a life
of isolation from the common enjoyments, comforts
and advantages of Christian civilization ; often hungry
and thirsty, weary unto prostration, suffering from
cold in a frigid climate or burning under a tropical
sun, racked with bodily pains or sick with fevers,
often disappointed and friendless; weak or dying;
they endured "As seeing Him who is invisible."
Through all their trying experiences they "Loved not
their lives even unto death."
Limited space forbids everything but a brief refer-
ence to a few prominent missionaries of modern times,
and this reference only with the view to illustrate the
principle introduced by this chapter.
Beginning with Our Own Country: few of us
appreciate what we owe to the sacrificial lives of our
4
50 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
pioneer home missionaries. What good there is in
this country — morally, educationally, socially, politi-
cally, as well as religiously, is due primarily to the
work and influence of the pioneer missionary. In
labors abundant, with unstinted sacrifices and heroic
devotion to God and country he has stood for the pure
gospel of the Son of God, and for the highest ideals of
citizenship and community life.
Marcus Whitman, M.D., was a Notable Ex-
ample. It was in 1836 when he and his bride accom-
panied by Rev. H. H. Spaulding and wife made the
first wagon tracks across the Rocky Mountains, go-
ing from New York State to be missionaries in the
Territory of Oregon. The heroic ladies were the first
women to cross the Rockies. So perilous and ex-
hausting was the four months' journey of 3,500 miles
that it almost cost the life of Mrs. Spaulding.
It was the opening up of a new era for that great
stretch of empire beyond the Rockies. After six years
of successful labor among the Indians, Doctor Whit-
man accidentally discovered a plot to deprive the
United States of the rich northwestern section now
covered by the States of Oregon and Washington.
Prompted by loyalty to country Doctor Whitman sad-
dled a horse (or mule) for a journey to Washington,
D. C., to notify President Tyler and Secretary of
State Daniel Webster. No man ever undertook a
more perilious trip. From St. Louis the journey to
Washington was by stage.
That trip resulted in saving that section of our coun-
try. Whitman began a white settlement by taking back
with him 871 persons, iii wagons and 2,000 head of
THE PRINCIPLES OF SELF-SACRIFICE 51
cattle and horses. About four years later, while min-
istering to the Indians, he and his wife, and twelve
others were murdered by those for whose benefit they
had given their lives. "They loved not their lives even
unto death."
It was William Carey, Pionelr Missionary to
India, who took for his watchword : "Expect great
things from God; attempt great things for God."
For forty-three years he pressed onward ; no obstacle,
however formidable, swerved him from his purpose
"To be useful in laying the foundation of the Church
of Christ in India."
Robert Morrison, Pioneer Missionary to China,
was accosted by the ship's captain : "And so, Mr,
Morrison, you really expect that you will make an im-
pression on the idolatry of the great Chinese Empire?"
"No, sir, I expect God will" ; was Mr, Morrison's re-
ply. Aside from the tremendous opposition and the
enormous difficulties he encountered, single-handed
and alone, he was soon handicapped by failing health
because of incessant study and prodigious labors in
the construction of a Chinese grammar and a Chinese
dictionary, until utterly exhausted, after twenty-seven
years of self-sacrificing toil, he fell a victim to fever.
He had given all of himself, and had laid a solid foun-
dation for others to build upon.
Robert and Mary Moffat were a Noble Pair.
For fifty-three years they were God's host in Africa.
Undaunted courage, unflagging perseverance and al-
most superhuman endurance characterized their labors.
Theirs was a life of privations, hardships and unceas-
ing toil. That they held out so long was a miracle of
52 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
the sustaining care of Him who said : "Lo, I am with
you alway." "They loved not their Hfe" that they
might win other Hves.
David Livingstone in Africa. Who has not read
or heard about him ? He ranks among the greatest of
the world's explorers, but he was always and above
all, in his own purpose, a missionary. No more re-
markable example of one who belongs to the class who
"Loved not their life even unto death" can be found.
Traveling in an unknown continent, among uncivilized
tribes; in perils of jugles, in perils of waters, in
perils in the wilderness, in perils of fevers, in perils of
wild beasts (once bitten by a lion), in perils by hostile
natives, "in weariness and painfulness, in watchings
often, in hunger and thirst, in fasting often, in cold
and nakedness" ; care-worn and foot-sore, emaciated
by dysenteries, exhausted by multiplied toils in behalf
of those for whom he was giving his life : after thirty-
three years of marvelous endurance, his redeemed
spirit took its flight while upon his knees in prayer.
What a song the angels must have sung when that re-
deemed spirit came "Sweeping through the gates,
washed by the blood of the Lamb."
She Hath Done What She Could was the en-
comium pronounced by Jesus upon the woman that
brought the alabaster box of precious ointment with
which she anointed her Lord. Since that time a great
multitude of women have brought a fully consecrated
life to Him which has been as precious ointment for
the honor of His name, bringing its fragrance to many
lives.
THE PRINCIPLES OF SELF-SACRIFICE 53
The; Missionary Roll Has Many Names of
Honorable Women who "Loved not their lives even
unto death." Reference has already been made to
Mary, the wife of Robert Moffat. There was another
Mary Moffat, a daughter of Mrs. Moffat, who became
the wife of the immortal David Livingstone. Mrs.
Hannah Marshman, wife of Rev. Joshua Marshman,
the first missionary to the women of India is said to
have been "A Martha and Mary in one, always listen-
ing to the voice of the Master, yet always doing the
many things He entrusted to her without feeling cum-
bered or irritable or envious." Eliza Agnew went to
Ceylon at the age of thirty years and became the head
of a Boarding School. She labored on for forty-
three years, without going home once for a rest or
change. When asked : "Are you going to America
for a vacation ?" she would reply, "No ; I have no
time to do so. I am too busy." The people called her,
"The mother of a thousand daughters."
Luke, "The Beloved Physician," has had many
successors in missionary consecration and labors.
David Livingstone was not only an ordained minister,
but he also had a medical diploma. His was a min-
istry of healing as well as teaching. Among the promi-
nent medical missionaries to China were Dr. Peter
Parker and John Kenneth MacKenzie. The latter was
stricken with smallpox in the midst of his labors and
died. To forego the hope of a large medical practice
with its emoluments in the home land, and throw one's
self into the midst of heathendom with its unsanitary
conditions and its utter lack of medical knowledge, re-
quires no small degree of self-denial and faith in God.
54 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
John Scudder, M.D., Pioneer Medical Mission-
ary TO Ceylon, afterward transferred to India, was
another one who put in a strenuous life praying,
preaching, healing, writing for publication ; that he
might bring relief to the distressed and interest others
in bringing the gospel to millions. John Scudder and
wife gave to India eight sons, two grandsons and two
granddaughters who became missionaries.
The Pen Can Scarcely be Restrained from mak-
ing special mention of many others, but lack of space
forbids, since this is not a history nor a biographical
sketch book. We add yet a few more names of other
prominent men and women who "Loved not their
lives even unto death." Bishop William Taylor, the
man with a world vision ; home missionary in the hills
of Virginia and Maryland, in the city of Baltimore,
the first Methodist missionary in San Francisco, then
to South America, then to India, and finally Bishop of
Africa for the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Henry Martyn, pioneer missionary to India and
Persia, was overcome by fever and died of utter pros-
tration at the early age of thirty-two years.
James Calvert, pioneer missionary to the Fiji Is-
land, "Many times in imminent peril, when natives sur-
prised him, gathered about hini; brandished clubs, lev-
eled guns and threatened to kill him as they sang their
hideous death song." Finally through his efforts can-
nibalism, widow strangling and infanticide gave way
to the power of the gospel.
Hudson Taylor : A name that stands for overcom-
ing faith in God! The China Inland Mission, with its
1,062 foreign missionaries and 2,762 native workers,
THE PRINCIPLES OF SELF-SACRIFICE 55
distributed in sixteen of the eighteen provinces of
China, with the marvelous results accomplished, is
Hudson Taylor's monument. What an investment of
a life!
Cyrus Hamlin, missionary to Turkey and founder
of Robert College, met cruel and merciless opposition
on every hand, but he despaired not. When ready to
fix upon a site for a college, it required seven years of
painful, persevering effort to secure a place.
Bishop James Hannington, the martyr of Eastern
Africa, labored in the wilds of darkest Africa, in
jungles filled with wild beasts, amid hostile tribes, fac-
ing treachery with indomitable courage until finally
captured by a hostile band, and after seven days of
torture, was murdered at the age of thirty-eight years.
Bishop John C. Patteson, the martyr of Mala-
nesia; Griffith John and John Livingstone Nevius,
missionaries to China ; James Chalmers, the martyr
of New Guinea; Alexander DufT, pioneer missionary
to India ; Adoniram Judson and his "Ann of Ava,"
missionaries to Burma ; John G. Paton, missionary to
the New Hebrides ; John Williams, martyr mission-
ary of Polynesia, and hundreds of others belong to the
same class of those who "Loved not their life."
We Cannot Forget Clara A, Swain, M.D., "the
first medical woman in Asia," and the first fully
equipped and qualified woman ever sent into any part of
the non-Christian world with a physician's certificate,
and who gave twenty-six years of self-forgetful toil for
the alleviation of suffering and distress. Neither can
we forget the heroism of Miss Annie Taylor in Tibet, in
what she underwent by way of suffering and dangers ;
56 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
often writing in her diary : "God will take care of
me." Neither can we forget Fidelia Fiske in Persia,
nor Doctor Martha Sheldon, who labored in the Hima-
laya Mountains for twenty-four years that she might
reach the Tibetans as they passed through with their
flocks. As we think of these and many other women
"Who ministered unto Him of their substance," and
of the men who, having renounced worldly pleasures
and emoluments, gave their all for others, there comes
to mind what the author of the book of Hebrews wrote
regarding the heroes and heroines of faith : "Of whom
the world was not worthy."
This Chapter Must Not Close Without a Brief
Reference to missionaries of our own Church who
"Loved not their lives," but gave them cheerfully for
the cause of missions. If we could see the record of
self-denial, privations, suffering, hard problems and
toil of many of our pioneer home missionaries, we
would be amazed at what they endured and did that
others might have the gospel and Christian privileges,
and the advantages of a Christian community, and that
they might leave a godly heritage for their children
and grandchildren. There were long trips away from
home, often leaving wife and children battling to
"keep the wolf from the door"; trips of lOO, 200, 300
or more miles in sparsely settled communities, looking
up the pioneers of those early days, bringing them the
message of hope for time and eternity.
In many sections wagon roads were few and they
must follow a narrow path for miles through a dense
forest, or a dimly-outlined track over the broad
prairies, which had no fences but the horizon in the
THE PRINCIPLES OF SELF-SACRIFICE 57
far-away distance. Bridges across streams were not
yet, so the faithful horse is persuaded to wade through,
the missionary sometimes not knowing whether he
would land safely on the other side or not. No
churches to preach in, so cabins, sod houses or dugouts
were turned into places of worship. When at last the
country school house was built, missionary and people
were glad. The writer need only go back to the gen-
eration preceding him when such conditions as here
named were common.
Sometimes the pioneer missionary was drenched to
the skin with rain that poured upon him in torrents,
or perhaps caught in a western blizzard and almost
froze before finding shelter. Indeed, only one genera-
tion ago, the missionary sometimes slept out on the
prairie or shared the scant rations and the simple ac-
commodations of the early settler. Salary? There
wasn't much, only barely enough to keep the body
covered, and of luxuries these missionaries knew
nothing.
And in the earlier days, when there were no phones,
when railroads were few, and when the missionary
was far out of reach of communication with his fam-
ily, he sometimes returned from an extended itinerary
to find the newly-made grave of a dear child. Oh, it
cost something to scatter the gospel seed and to plant
churches in this land where Christian institutions now
abound. Could the history of it all be written it
would reveal heroism and courage, faith and perse-
verance, sacrifice and labor of the highest class.
"They Loved Not Their Lives Even Unto
Death" can also be said of our foreign missionaries.
58 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
We think of Doctor and Mrs. Frederick Krecker, and
Rev. Jacob Hartzler and wife, missionaries to Japan.
Many of us yet living knew them. We think of our
pioneers in Hunan, China. We think of our Brother
and Sister Guinter in Northern Nigeria, Africa.
These left their all that they might be witnesses unto
Him among the millions that know not Christ. Can
we enter into fellowship with their sacrifices? Can we
realize what they are doing and why they are doing it ?
Can we count the cost of what it costs them to will-
ingly undertake the tasks they are attempting ?
Superintendent C. Newton Dubs and Mrs. Dubs
opened up the way by entering the city of Changsha,
Mrs. Dubs being the first to undertake work among
women in that city. What it meant of sacrifice and
toil for this first pair, in a country dense with heathen-
ism and desperately opposed to everything foreign, it
would be impossible to relate, for we do not know ;
only they knew this and God knows. We remember
that Mrs. Dubs lay in a hospital at Shanghai, a thou-
sand miles from the mission field and thousands of
miles away from friends in the home land, the first
place that could be found where her weary, sick body
could be laid ; and that there she suffered for months,
slowly dying; and that her final request was to be
buried among those for whom she had given her life.
She had toiled for others, "Even unto death."
Neither Do We Forget Rev. A. C. Lindenmeyer,
who spared not himself, and how he finally yielded up
his life on a boat, many miles away from every medi-
cal aid.
THE PRINCIPLES OF SELF-SACRIFICE 59
Mrs. Lilla (Snyder) Voss next comes to mind.
She too "Loved not her life even unto death." With
what devotion she labored for the women whom she
had gathered about her, as long as any strength re-
mained. Superintendent Dubs offered to bring her
home, where she might have the ministry of friends at
home and where life might have been prolonged, but
she asked to remain at her chosen work until the end.
And the Other Missionaries have willingly en-
dured every hardship they have met, and have per-
formed their duties at any cost of inconvenience to
themselves. They have been opposed in almost every
conceivable way, they have been robbed and deceived
by those whose good they sought. They have suffered
in body, mind, and spirit. They have been sick, with-
out friends to minister to them, they have been worn
and weary, and disheartened by obstacles well-nigh in-
surmountable. They have been in perils seen and un-
seen. They have gone through flood and war and fire.
Some of them have had their homes destroyed, losing
everything. One of them, Rev. C. A. Fuessle, after
being overcome with a fatal illness, came home to die.
In three cases, parents laid away the bodies of dear
children in the far away land to await the morning of
the resurrection. They have stood every test that has
come to them.
In the midst of never-to-be-forgotten experiences in
the war between Northern and Southern forces in
1918, our missionaries displayed a heroism, in defense
of our people, especially women and children, and in
defense of our properties, such as has never been sur-
passed by its courage and devotion to the welfare of
6o EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
humanity. In the lower end of the city of LiHng,
where our church, chapel and schools were located,
Missionaries T. S. Knecht and A. E. Lehman, were
fearless in their efforts to stem the tide of riot and to
protect the helpless, and care for their own families.
In the upper end of the city, where the hospital, dis-
pensary and Albright Preparatory School are located.
Doctor Niebel, although the only foreign man in that
section of the city during the fateful seventh day of
May, succeeded in preventing the murder of the sick
and wounded soldiers under his care and protecting
his own household. At Siangtan, Yuhsien and Chal-
ing, our missionaries were also in peril, and manifested
similar heroism and courage. Rev. and Mrs. Guinter
in Africa, who passed through three dangerous epi-
demics last year are no less heroic and self-sacrificing.
In Addition to Those Whose Names Have Al-
BEADY Been Mentioned we think of the Shambaughs,
the Ritzmans, the Vosses, the Dunlaps, the Talbotts,
the Suhrs, the Kauffmans, the Shorts, the Sanders,
Doctor Welch ; and the Misses Hasenpflug, Gohn,
Hobein, Wolf and Magness. These are now going
forward in their well-chosen work, and will continue
to go forward until God orders otherwise.
The following are later recruits, who gladly re-
nounce all, to do service with those who entered be-
fore: Rev. Homer H. Dubs and wife, Mrs. Dr.
Welch, Miss Elvira Strunk, Miss Maude Leyda, and
Rev. H. C. Anderson. These are not dismayed be-
cause of the perils through which the others have
passed ; but gladly take up the blessed service, not
knowing the things that shall befall them.
CHAPTER VI
EVANGELICAL MISSIONARY- BEGINNINGS
IN THE DAYS OF JACOB ALBRIGHT
By Way of Elucidation : We keep in mind the fact that
prior to the year 1894 there was no organized body bearing
the name "United Evangelical Church." The ministers and
people that took organized form under this name in that
year were a part of "The Evangelical Association of North
America," of which Rev. Jacob Albright was the founder. In
the years 1891-94 an unfortunate Church division occurred
which resulted in two bodies : "The Evangelical Association
of North America" and "The United Evangelical Church,"
both of which are the spiritual descendants of Jacob Albright.
It was quite fitting, satisfactory and enjoyable when, in
September, 1916, they joined together in a Centennial Celebra-
tion, commemorating the following contemporary events :
(i) The building of the first church and the establishment of
the Evangelical Printing House; (2) The call and holding
of the first General Conference; (3) The adoption of the
name "The Evangelical Association of North America"; (4)
The sending of the first missionaries to the State of Ohio.
Jacob Albright and His Colaborers were mis-
sionaries in spirit and in method, and the Church they
founded has continued to manifest a missionary spirit.
With us, real church loyalty includes a missionary
spirit. The founders of our Church confined their
labors to the Pennsylvania Germans "Whose forefa-
thers had fled from the European Fatherland on ac-
count of war, religious persecution and civil oppres-
sion." (See Chapter I of Rev. A. Stapleton's "Old
Time Evangelical Evangelism").
61
62 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
The following testimony indicates Albright's in-
tense passion for the religious welfare of his kindred
and for all mankind.
Albright's Testimony reads: "1 was pervaded
with a burning love toward God and His children and
all mankind. It was this love which the grace of God
shed in my heart that led me to see the great decline
of experimental religion among the German people.
I felt for them. I saw in them my brethren and sin-
cerely wished them the happiness that was mine. With
such feelings I often fell upon my knees and with
burning tears besought God that He would lead them
into the way of truth, and that they might have pure
and exemplary teachers, who would preach the gospel
in its power, that the dead and sleeping professors of
religion might be aroused from their sleep of sin and
brought to a true life of godliness, so that they might
be also partakers of the blessed peace with God and
the fellowship of the Holy Ghost."
Albright's Distinctive Mission was of the Jonah
type. That is, he was one of the class of persons that
God selects and thrusts out to do a special work.
Church history shows us that at times the visible
Church has been too narrow in her view, or too slow
or unspiritual to fulfill her mission as an evangelizing
agency. In such times as these God finds a Philip, or
a Paul, or a Raymond Lull, or a John Huss, or a Mar-
tin Luther, or a Melanchthon, or a John Knox, or a
John Wesley, or a Jacob Albright, or a Dwight L.
Moody ; and thrusts him out alone, as it were, to do
some special work He wants done. The results of such
EVANGELICAL MISSIONARY BEGINNINGS 63
a man's efforts usually take a wider range than he had
anticipated, and in some cases has led to the organiza-
tion of a separate church body.*
Aggressive and Extensive Evangelism was the
chief characteristic of the labors of the men of the
time of Albright, and by this they manifested a mis-
sionary spirit. They did not call their fields of labor
missions, they called them circuits. They did not
draw any missionary money for there was no place to
draw any from. They had no missionary society, for
everything remained yet to be organized. They were
often in need of pecuniary help and entirely worthy
of it, but did the best they could without it. We can
hardly appreciate the self-sacrifice under which they
toiled and suffered. Their supreme passion was to
save souls and to "Feed the flock of God."
Albright Himself Began by Doing Extensive
Missionary Work. He began about the year 1 796 as an
*The author, while deprecating every kind of narrow sec-
tarianism and church bigotry that prevents cooperation in the
things of the kingdom of God, beheves, nevertheless, that
denominationalism in itself is not an evil, and that certain
organized bodies of believers have been brought into being
by force of circumstances that gave them a distinctive place
within the Church of Jesus Christ. And further, while it is
evident that there are far too many separate denominations
and especially denominational divisions that might have been
avoided, and that ought to unite organically ; yet, upon the
other hand, the author believes that Christian people will be
one body only when Jesus Christ Himself shall be in full and
complete control, and when He shall "Present it (the Church)
to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or
any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blem-
ish."
64 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
independent evangelist. "The first tangible evidence we
have of his ministry was at the dedication of a Re-
formed church at Schaefferstown, Lebanon County,
Pa., October 8, 1797, where he began to preach to an
overflow assembly in the open market shed near the
church, but was attacked by a mob and the meeting
broken up." In his brief career as a preacher he es-
tablished many preaching places. In Pennsylvania
his tours extended over the counties of Lebanon,
Berks, Bucks, Montgomery, Schuylkill, Lehigh, North-
ampton, Lancaster, York, Dauphin, Perry, Juniata,
Snyder, Union and Centre. His labors also extended
south and west in the Cumberland Valley of Pennsyl-
vania, going down into Maryland and Virginia, and
westward from the Cumberland Valley across the
counties of Franklin and Bedford ; and finally he and
his colaborers crossed the mountains into Cambria
County, in the vicinity of where the city of Johnstown
now stands and which has become such an Evangelical
center. It is worthy of special notice that nearly all
the sections visited by Jacob Albright have become
Evangelical strongholds.
It is well to remember that the preaching tours of
Albright and his colaborers were not a visitation of
churches, but that they did pioneer work, visiting the
people in their homes ; preaching in dwelling houses,
in barns, in market places, and wherever people would
listen to the gospel message. The first church edifice
was not built until 1816, seven years after Albright's
death. Jacob Albright kept on with his missionary
itineraries until overcome by exhaustion from strenu-
EVANGELICAL MISSIONARY BEGINNINGS 65
ous labors and disease. He died May 18, 1808, aged
forty-nine years.
"Soon after his conversion, Jacob Albright became a mem-
ber of the Methodist Church, though the services of these
people were almost exclusively English. He became an ex-
horter in the class to which he belonged and was given an
exhorter's license, which gave him authority as a lay minister.
From what occurred about ten years after Albright had or-
ganized his first class, we think it probable that had the Meth-
odist leaders of that time been willing to allow distinctive
work among the Pennsylvania Germans, a union would have
been effected with that body ; but Bishop Asbury considered
such distinctive work 'impractical.'
"From Rev. A. Stapleton's 'Old Time Evangelical Evangel-
ism' we learn that an assembly which convened at the home
of Samuel Leeser in Berks County, Pa., Jacob Albright and
his two assistants, John Walter and Abraham Leeser, and
fourteen laymen representing the various classes that had
been organized were present. At this assembly the follow-
ing business was transacted :
"(i) They declared themselves an ecclesiastical organiza-
tion and adopted the Holy Scriptures as their guide and rule
of faith.
"(2) They declared Jacob Albright a minister of the
gospel, in the full sense of the word, and recognized him as
their teacher and overseer.
"(3) He was solemnly ordained as such by his assistants,
John Walter and Abraham Leeser.
"(4) He was then given a certificate signed by all present
as follows :
"From the Elders and Brethren of His Society of Evangelical
Friends:
"We the undersigned Evangelical and Christian friends,
declare and recognize Jacob Albright as a genuine Evangelical
preacher in word and deed, and a believer in the Universal
Christian Church and the communion of saints.
"Given in the State of Pennsylvania, Nov. 5, 1803.
"This was a simple transaction, but had a far-reaching
meaning. It appears that soon after this, these missionary
evangelists called themselves 'Evangelical' preachers."
5
66 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
John Walter and Abraham Leeser were Jacob
Albright's first assistants, the former beginning in
1802 and the latter in 1803. John Walter was a mem-
ber of the first class Albright organized. This was in
Bucks County, Pa. Walter was but twenty years of
age when he began his ministry as the first assistant of
Jacob Albright. He is said to have been a man of
"untiring zeal and powerful eloquence." His incessant
labors broke his health as early as 1813 and he died in
1818. Abraham Leeser was of "mild and quiet dispo-
sition," but not strong constitutionally, so that he was
necessitated to retire from the active ministry after
only two years of labor and died soon after. These
two men are of special note from the fact that they
ordained Jacob Albright, as previously stated.
The next person to become associated with Albright
in ministerial labors was Alexander Jamison in 1804,
but he did not continue in this relation long.
George Miller entered the active ministry under
the direction of Jacob Albright in 1805. He had been
confirmed in the Lutheran doctrine in 1790, when six-
teen years of age ; but did not realize a consciousness
of salvation until led into the light in 1802 through the
visitations and sermons of Jacob Albright. He was
soon made the leader of the class to which he be-
longed, and in due time was given a charge as above
stated. His first field of labor included Lebanon, Lan-
caster and Dauphin Counties. It will be remembered
that the first point at which Albright is known to have
preached was in Lebanon County.
EVANGELICAL MISSIONARY BEGINNINGS 67
It will be of special interest to know that in 1918
the United Evangelical Church had thirty-one fields
of labor in the three counties which constituted George
Miller's first field of labor. These thirty-one fields of
labor had fifty-seven appointments, with a church
membership of 7,493 and a Sunday school enrollment
of 12,444.
Miller manifested that same intense missionary
spirit that was characteristic of Albright. Following
his first year's labors on the field just mentioned he
was given the new field, which constituted all the work
west of the Susquehanna River. His territory in-
cluded what is now embraced by ten counties. The
third year of his ministry he was again back on the old
field on the east side of the river, and the fourth year
was given to the new field on the west side. He was
then permanently disabled by illness and necessitated
to quit the active ministry. His labors had been
greatly blessed and were very fruitful. He had the
elements of leadership and served the Church well
after he was necessitated to cease traveling. It was he
who prepared the first Discipline, publishing it at his
own expense. Miller also published a book on "Prac-
tical Christianity" and a biography of Jacob Albright.
He died when only forty-two years of age.
John Dreisbach and Henry Niebee became asso-
ciated with the followers of Jacob Albright at about
the same time, in the year 1806; the former at the
home of his father in Buffalo Valley, Union County,
and the latter at the home of Abraham Eyer, in the
same county, where the town of Winfield now stands.
68 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
Both of them married daughters of Abraham Eyer,
who was one of the most influential laymen of those
early days. In the spring of 1808, John Dreisbach
was stationed by Jacob Albright on the new circuit
west of the Susquehanna with John Walter and later
with George Miller. It was an immense field covering
what now embraces twelve counties and had about
fifty preaching places. When George Miller's health
broke this year, Henry Niebel took his place on this
field with John Dreisbach. We shall refer again to
these two men and their part in the further develop-
ment of the work later on.
Jacob Fry and John Erb are two other men that
connect with the days of Jacob Albright. Fry began
his work as a minister with George Miller and in
1807 he was assigned as a colleague of John Walter.
The thing of chief interest about the beginnings of
Fry's ministry is the fact that in 1808 Jacob Albright
assigned him to a new field which included the ter-
ritory of York, Adams, Cumberland and Franklin
Counties. He afterwards became one of the pio-
neers of missionary labors in the State of Ohio. John
Erb became an assistant to John Dreisbach in 1808.
He also labored with success.
We have given this brief review of the days of Ja-
cob Albright and his colaborers chiefly from a mis-
sionary viewpoint, so that we shall be reminded who
the first laborers of the Church of our fathers were,
where the beginnings were made and how they were
made, all of which indicates that they were pioneer
missionaries in deed. We are impressed with their
EVANGELICAL MISSIONARY BEGINNINGS 69
passion for the salvation of others, with their spirit
of self-crucifixion for the work's sake ; how they
toiled and suffered, nearly all of them being unable to
endure for any considerable time, breaking in health
early. We notice that four of those mentioned in this
chapter : Albright, Walter, Miller and Leeser died of
consumption, brought on by excessive labors, hard-
ships and exposure.
The extensiveness of their work, especially when we
remember the inconveniences of travel, the bitter op-
position and frequent persecution they had to meet,
and the further fact that they had no organized body
back of them to support them in their labors, impresses
us deeply. Church history shows us that the work of
these men of God was not superficial in character, but
that they laid the foundations deep and strong. They
rest from their labors, and to us the memory of what
they did is sacred.
CHAPTER VII
THIRTY YEARS OF PIONEER WORK
1808 to 1838
The previous chapter carried us through the mis-
sionary activities of the days of Rev. Jacob Albright.
The same kind of strenuous and extensive missionary
work was continued by the successors of Albright.
But there was no organized missionary society until
the year 1838. This chapter will carry us through the
period intervening between the death of Albright and
this organization.
Meager Ministerial Support. It is apparent that
the preachers of this period were much handicapped
because of a lack of proper support, and it seems cer-
tain that if better provision had been made for minis-
terial support, our preachers could have labored with
greater satisfaction to themselves and much less dis-
comfort and fewer hardships to their families, and
that the work would have made better and more sub-
stantial progress. There was no fixed salary or allow-
ance. In the days of Albright it had become the cus-
tom for the preachers to divide the receipts of the
year among them.
We find that for the year 181 1 the highest salary re-
ceived was $45.56, and that the average was $29.33.
There was also a subsidiary collection taken each year,
which totaled $51.97 for this year, and which was di-
70
THIRTY YEARS OF PIONEER WORK 71
vided among J. Walter, J. Erb, H. Niebel, M. Becker,
and a poor man named Samuel Kupper. In 1809 $42
of the subsidiary collection was given John Walter
for the purchase of a horse. The Annual Conference
of 1816 decided that "Hereafter ministers shall re-
ceive $56 and expenses, if the state of the treasury will
allow it." In 1827 the total receipts, including the sub-
sidiary collection amounted to $922.55. This was di-
vided among twenty preachers. How these preachers
got along and what the families of some of them en-
dured is unknown to us.
A New Leadership. This does not mean a nezv
kind of leadership, but it simply means that after the
death of Albright, God had raised up other men to
continue the work which Albright had begun. God
calls the workman home, but His work continues to go
forward. Thus it is ever. Reference has already
been made to Rev. George Miller and his qualities for
leadership, but that because of broken health he could
not serve a charge after 1808. He continued however
to preach as his strength would permit, and presided
at five succeeding annual conference sessions.
John Dreisbach and Henry Niebee were promi-
nent leaders for a number of years, the former being
the first and the latter the second presiding elder of
the Church. John Dreisbach presided at four annual
conferences, and was secretary at five. He was also
president of two general conferences. Henry Niebel
presided at eight annual conferences, and was secre-
tary of four. He was also president of two general
72 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
conferences and secretary of two general conferences.
This was before we had bishops.
Both these men had literary ability which proved a
blessing to the Church. Both were imbued with the
same kind of missionary spirit that characterized Jacob
Albright. Rev. A. Stapleton writes of John Dreis-
bach : "Dreisbach was a man of progress. He lived
to see the Church grow from a handful of seventy-five
members, to almost one hundred thousand, and during
all this long period of almost three-quarters of a cen-
tury he was the advocate of progressive methods and
measures." Ohio Conference paid the following
tribute to Henry Niebel : "He was a man of strong
will, sound judgment and an unswerving defender of
that which he believed to be right. In the pulpit he
was possessed of almost irresistible power; so much
so that hardened sinners trembled and fell prostrate
under his preaching." Both these men continued ex-
tensive evangelistic work with untiring vigor, so much
so that their strength gave way many years before
their life on earth came to an end.
John Dreisbach was the first missionary of our
Church to enter the State of New York, accompanied
by Robert McCray as colleague. They did not labor
there long, but the seed they planted took root and the
work went on. Jacob Kleinfelter was sent in 1816.
After returning from New York, in the same year,
John Dreisbach and Adam Hennig were sent to open
up work west of the Allegheny Mountains, where they
labored with great success.
THIRTY YEARS OF PIONEER WORK 73
A NoTABi^E Event in the missionary history of our
Church occurred in 1816, when the Annual Conference
held in the barn of Abraham Eyer, still standing at
Winfield, Pa., established two missions in the State of
Ohio, which was then a wilderness, and sent Adam
Hennig and Fred Shower to labor there. The former
soon formed a circuit, 400 miles around, beginning at
New Philadelphia and extending westward, including
such points as Canton, New Lisbon, Wooster and
Mansfield. Hennig's labors were of the heroic pio-
neer type, and his life was frequently in danger.
The field taken by Fred Shower was farther south,
in the Sciota Valley, including Fairfield, Ross, Frank-
lin and Pickaway Counties. This constituted Lancas-
ter Circuit. Fred Shower labored with acceptance
through a part of the year, but abandoned the work
before the year closed. The next spring John and
Adam Kleinfelter were sent to develop this promising
field. Rev. A. Swartz informed the author in 1916
that in this section the Evangelical Association and
the United Evangelical Church now each have eight
fields of labor, and that from our Church in this sec-
tion have come sixty-eight preachers, fifty of them
from Fairfield County alone. Ten years later the work
extended toward the northwestern part of Ohio. John
Dreisbach also visited Canada as early as 1816.
A Remarkable Pioneer Home Missionary. Such
was Rev. John Seybert, who became the first bishop
of the Evangelical Association in 1839. The "Life
and Labors of Rev. John Seybert," by Rev. S. P.
Spreng, now one of the bishops of the Evangelical
74
EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
Association, is an interesting missionary biography.
This remarkable man was converted at Manheim, Pa.,
in 1810 under the preaching of Rev. M. Betz, served
as class leader of the Manheim and Mt. Joy classes a
number of years, and received license to preach in
1819. After serving various charges in Pennsylvania
and Ohio, he was elected presiding elder in 1819, but
refused a reelection in 1833, preferring rather to labor
as a pioneer missionary. He was then appointed to
an undeveloped section in northwestern Pennsylvania.
In this new region he endured hardships and priva-
tions, but his labors were very successful. We quote
from a biographical sketch by Rev. A. Stapleton :
"Bishop Seybert stands unique in the history of the
Evangelical Association, and it is questionable whether
the Protestant Church has ever produced a more con-
secrated, earnest, tireless worker than he. He re-
peatedly expressed a desire to 'die in the harness,' and
literally wore himself out in the service of his Lord
and Master. His zeal for God burned with an ever-
increasing fervor upon the altar of his heart. In 1837
he records in his journal the pleasing fact that an in-
creasing missionary spirit was observable in the
Church and adds : 'According to all appearance I must
now bestir myself lest I be set in the background. I
herewith serve notice that I am not to be looked for
in the rear end of the race, but must be sought for
pretty well in the front, where the ice is being broken.'
This sentiment well expresses his true character. He
was a famous spiritual ice-breaker and pathfinder.
A Pioneer Home Missionary
THIRTY YEARS OF PIONEER WORK 75
"During the period of his ministry this indomitable
servant of God traveled about one hundred and sev-
enty-five thousand miles (not on trains), made about
forty-six thousand pastoral visits, attended about eight
thousand prayer and class meetings, visited about ten
thousand sick, and preached almost ten thousand
times."
Pressing Westward. If we look at a map of the
United States, and draw a dividing line from north
to south between the States of Pennsylvania and Ohio,
we have sixteen states to the east of this line including
also the southern States of Virginia, North Carolina,
South Carolina and Florida. The immense territory
west of this line was the pioneer missionary territory
of one hundred years ago. West of this line is 86 per
cent, and east of it is 14 per cent, of the area of the
United States.
In 1830 the western portion indicated above had a
population of only 3,500,000, or about the same as the
present population of Massachusetts. This vast west-
ern area was then only in the beginning of its material
development, and people had begun to press into it.
The pioneer missionary endeavored to keep pace with
the immigration into this immense area, which now
contains a population of more than 60,000,000.
Our Church fathers determined to do their part for
the spiritual needs of the mass of people moving west-
ward. Work was begun in Indiana in 1835, the first
general meeting held at that time, at which Rev. J. G.
Zinzer was present.
76 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
In 1 834- 1 837 some families of our Pennsylvania
people moved to what was then far-away Illinois, set-
tling in three colonies ; one in the vicinity of Des
Plaines, another party at Naperville and the other
farther west, in Henry County. Henry Niebel pre-
sided at the Western Conference in 1837, ^"d was
presiding elder of Ohio District. Seeing the need of a
missionary in Illinois, he sent Jacob Boas, one of the
ministers who had been appointed to Miami charge,
to Illinois to open up work there. This is the year
in which the city of Chicago was founded, which is
now the second largest city of the western continent.
It was a long and difficult journey for the young mis-
sionary, but he was received with joy and his mission
was a success.
Joseph Long and W. W. Orwig, who afterward
attained a foremost prominence, both being elected to
the office of bishop, were spiritually born and devel-
oped in usefulness in this period of our Church his-
tory. Joseph Long was the product of missionary
labors in Ohio, beginning his ministry in 1822. He
was a remarkable man, a profound thinker, a strong
preacher, and a shrewd, far-seeing administrator. He
gave especial attention to learning, and the cause of
education found in him a friend. He did all in his
power to promote a missionary spirit throughout the
Church.
W. W. Orwig was the product of missionary labors
in Buffalo Valley, Union County, Pa. He was licensed
to preach when but eighteen years of age. His un-
usual abilities soon brought him into prominence,
THIRTY YEARS OF PIONEER WORK 'jy
especially in literary work and missionary labors, as
we shall find in the next chapter.
In addition to the names already mentioned as be-
longing to this period, the names of others prominent
in missionary labors may be given : such as James
Barber, Thomas Buck, Adam Ettinger, Francis Hoff-
man, Jacob Kleinfelter, John Kleinfelter, Adam
Kleinfelter, Joseph Harlacher and others. The last
mentioned established our work in Buffalo, N. Y.,
in 1835.
The Significance oe a Name. Before closing this
chapter we feel to invite attention to the meaning of
the word "Evangelical" which occurs in the names
"The Evangelical Association," and the "United Evan-
gelical Church." The name "Evangelical Association"
was adopted in 1816, and our part of the divided body
adopted the name "United Evangelical Church" in
1894.
We quote from The Standard Dictionary :
Evangelical: "Holding or conformed to what the majority
of Protestants regard as the fundamental doctrines of the
gospel, such as the trinity, the fallen condition of man,
Christ's atonement for sin, salvation by faith, not by works,
and regeneration by the Holy Spirit; spiritually minded; as,
an evangelical church or denomination ; evangelical religion."
"The evangelical believer holds that every individual must
be spiritually united to Christ, and through union with Christ
united to the Church." — A. A. Hodge, Theol.
"Seeking the conversion of sinners ; pertaining to the work
of an evangelist; evangelistic; as evangelical labors or
preaching."
Evangelize: "To instruct in the gospel; convert to Chris-
tianity. To pervade with the spirit and harmonize with the '
78 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
doctrines of the gospel. To announce as good tidings. To
proclaim the gospel."
The intimate relation of missionary work and evan-
gelism appears in the fact that missionary work is
evangelism extended, and this accords with the prac-
tice and teachings of Jesus as they relate to the spread
of the gospel throughout the world. This is what our
Church fathers practiced, and what the United Evan-
gelical Church endeavors to carry forward.
The Circuit Rider
"In the backwoods of Ohio, in the days of long ago,
When religion was religion, not a dressy fashion show,
When the Spirit of the Master fell as flames of living fire
And the people did the singing, not a trained, artistic choir,
There was scarcely seen a ripple in life's gently flowing tide.
No events to draw the people from their daily toil aside,
Naught to set the pious spirit of the pioneers aflame.
Save upon the rare occasions when the circuit rider came,
"Usually he was mounted on the sprightliest of nags.
All his outfit for the journey packed in leather saddlebags,
And he'd travel with the Bible or the hymn book in his
hand,
Reading sacred word or singing of the happy promised land.
How the toiling wives would glory in the dinners they would
spread.
And many a hapless chicken or turkey lost its head
By the gleaming chopper wielded by the hand of sturdy
dame,
For it wasn't very often that the circuit rider came.
"All the settlement around us would be ringing with the news,
That there'd be a meeting Sunday, and we'd 'taller' up our
shoes.
And we'd brush our homespun dress suits, pride of every
country youth.
And we'd grease our hair with marrow till it shone like
golden truth,
THIRTY YEARS OF PIONEER WORK
79
And the frocks of linsey-woolsey would be donned by all the
girls,
And with heated fire pokers they would make their cork-
screw curls;
They were scarcely queens of fashion, but were lovely just
the same,
And they always looked their sweetest when the circuit rider
came,
"We have sat in grand cathedrals, triumphs of the builder's
skill.
And in great palatial churches, 'neath the organ's mellow
thrill.
But they never roused within us such a reverential flame
As would burn in that old school house when the circuit
rider came." — James Burton Adams.
CHAPTER VIII
ORGANIZATION AND FURTHER EXTENSION
The; First Missionary Society of the Evangelical
Association (to which we belonged at that time) was
organized by what was then known as the Eastern
Conference in 1838. Rev. W. W. Orwig was its presi-
dent, J. P. Leib vice-president, J. Vogelbach secretary,
and T. Buck treasurer. Quite an interest was awak-
ened and about $500 collected during the year. It was
felt however that a general organization should be
effected.
We can do no better than to quote from Evangeli-
cal Annals which gives an account of this general
organization.
"Notwithstanding the prospective efficiency and usefulness
of the Conference organization, it was felt that a general or
parent society, to which conference organizations should be
auxiliary, was a necessity. At a general meeting held at
New Berlin, Pa., over Christmas, 1838, a number of ministers
and laymen met at the house of W. W. Orwig for the purpose
of discussing the advisability of organizing such a society.
At this meeting a committee, composed of Revs. John Sey-
bert, George Brickley and W. W. Orwig, was appointed to
prepare a constitution for adoption at a subsequent meeting.
On March i, 1839, another meeting was held at the house of
John S. Dunkel, in the Buffalo Valley, near New Berlin.
At this meeting the Missionary Society of the Evangelical
Association was organized, and the constitution prepared by
the committee submitted and adopted. The officers of the
society were the following: President, John Seybert; first
80
ORGANIZATION AND FURTHER EXTENSION 8i
vice-president, James Barber ; second vice-president, Daniel
Berger; third vice-president, George Brickley; secretary,
Solomon G. Miller; corresponding secretary, W. W. Orwig;
treasurer, John S. Dunkel ; directors (ministers), Charles
Hammer, Henry Thomas, Sebastian Mosser, Philip Wagoner,
Michael Maize and Philip Smith (local) ; laymen. Dr. I.
Brugger, Hon. Martin Dreisbach, Martin D. Reed, John
Roland, Isaac Eyer, John Maize, Leonard Gebhart and John
Kauflfman. At the General Conference held a few weeks
later, the constitution of the society was submitted for in-
spection, with the result that it was approved and the society
recognized as a general church organization, at which time its
official history properly begins. The previously organized
society of the Eastern Conference became an auxiliary to the
Parent Society soon after its organization. The first meeting
of the board of directors of the general society was held at
New Berlin, June 17, 1839, at which time by-laws were
adopted.
"The first annual meeting of the society was held at New
Berlin, April 21, 1840. At this meeting it was resolved to
have 500 copies of the constitution printed for distribution.
A committee, consisting of Charles Hammer, George Brickley
and S. G. Miller, was appointed to have the society incor-
porated. The corresponding secretary, W. W. Orwig, read
the first annual report, which indicates a prosperous condition
of the society, and all the missionaries receiving support from
the society reported success on their respective fields. The
receipts of the society for the year, inclusive of the $500
gathered by the conference society of the previous year, was
$1,434.31. The officers elected at this meeting were: Presi-
dent, Rev. Charles Hammer ; vice-presidents, J. Barber, G.
Brickley and P. Wagoner ; secretary, S. G. Miller ; corre-
sponding secretary, W. W. Orwig; treasurer, J. S. Dunkel.
This is in brief a history of the beginning of the Parent Mis-
sionary Society of the Evangelical Association. All the Ah-
nual Conferences are auxiliaries, while the Woman's Mission-
ary Society may also be regarded in that relation. It has sent
hundreds of missionaries, not only to the western frontiers
and the Pacific and Gulf Coast, but also to Europe and the
heathen world, and many thousand souls have been saved
through its instrumentality."
6
82 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
Missionary Organization Provided a Means oi^
Income for more extensive operations, served as a
stimulus for further advances and gave method to mis-
sionary administration. The election of John Seybert
to the office of bishop in 1839 gave missionary ad-
vancement splendid leadership. Illinois was then fron-
tier territory and he soon visited that extensive terri-
tory, not simply on a tour of inspection, but to still
further exercise his Pauline missionary spirit by
pressing into "regions beyond." In the forties mis-
sionary operations developed in Canada, in Wiscon-
sin, in Indiana, in Cleveland, and other parts of Ohio,
as well as in the States of Pennsylvania and New
York.
The Dawn of a New Era for Missions in our
Church began in the year 1850, which was for the
young denomination a year of jubilee. Editorials ap-
peared in the Church periodicals, recognizing: first,
the hand of the Lord in leading and blessing the ef-
forts made hitherto, and second, making favorable
mention of foreign missions. Rev. A. Stapleton
quotes from an editorial in the Evangelical Messenger,
under date of January 8, 1850:
"Have we not abundant cause to rejoice, and in the depth of
humility to praise the Lord for His great mercy and faithful-
ness toward us, and His fatherly protection and guidance to
the present day? What shall we render unto the Lord for all
His benefits toward us? Let us take the cup of salvation, and
proclaim the glory, and the name of the Lord, and pay our
vows to Him in the presence of all His people!
"The present period of the Evangelical Association appears
to us particularly suitable for commencing foreign missions,
and other important enterprises, calculated to promote the
ORGANIZATION AND FURTHER EXTENSION 83
honor and cause of God. No doubt, all faithful and, in the
welfare of the Church, interested members, would take an
active part in the celebration of such a jubilee, and appear
with liberal hearts, and with hands richly filled before the
Lord, and bring Him an acceptable and well-pleasing thank-
oflFering. What a glorious and advantageous result might we
not expect from such a jubilee!"
All the Annual Conferences Took Favorable
action this year, following the initiative of the East
Pa. Conference for the establishment of a mission in
Germany, and Rev. J. C. Link was the first missionary
sent. The work was successful though bitterly op-
posed by the State Church.
In 1859 General Conference provided for the begin-
ning of a mission in Switzerland. The work in
Europe was very successful, so that a Germany Con-
ference was organized in 1865 and a Switzerland Con-
ference in 1879. The work in Switzerland was re-
markably successful, and appointments were also
taken up in Alsace.
Action Looking Toward Missionary Operations
IN Some Heathen Country was first taken at the
General Conference of 185 1, when Rev. W. W. Orwig
off^ered a resolution to that effect, which was adopted.
No work was begun during the ensuing quadrennium,
and at the General Conference of 1855 the matter was
again taken up and the following action taken :
"The Board of Foreign Missions shall, without delay, look
out for promising young men, in order to have them properly
trained and prepared for missionary services in the heathen
world."
Funds were wanting however, so the matter was
again deferred, there being but $864 on hand. At the
84 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
General Conference held in 1859 a General Missionary
Board was created, consisting of one delegate from
each annual conference, with a corresponding secre-
tary to devote his entire time to the work and collect
funds throughout the Church. Action favoring a mis-
sion among the heathen was again taken.
In i860 the Board of Missions resolved to begin
work with $4,835 in the treasury. India was selected
as the field, and Revs. F. W. Heidner and F. C. Hoff-
man were appointed as missionaries. Their departure,
however, was deferred, and the General Conference
of 1863 again postponed the matter, thinking that
$9,234 was insufficient to begin with.
It seems strange that among people imbued with
such an evangelistic spirit as characterized our fathers,
sentiment in behalf of foreign missions should be so
slow in ripening. The General Conference of 1867
again passed resolutions, and still the board hesitated,
although there was a fund of $15,896 on hand. It ap-
pears that there were some far-visioned men, who
kept the question alive ; but that the rank and file of
the ministry were slow to rally for foreign missions.
The thought of opening work in India was finally
abandoned.
Conclusive Action for a Foreign Mission was
taken by the General Conference of 1875, just twenty-
five years after the matter was first officially men-
tioned. Things in general did not move so rapidly as
they do now. At this time the Foreign Mission Fund
amounted to $25,650.
General Conference passed the following:
ORGANIZATION AND FURTHER EXTENSION 85
"(i) Resolved, That a mission among the heathen be estab-
lished forthwith.
"(2) Resolved, That we consider Japan as the most favor-
able field for such a mission, and that it be established in that
country.
"(3) Resolved, That the Board of Missions be instructed
to take necessary steps, that this mission be supplied with at
least two suitable men as soon as possible."
The Board of Missions appointed the following per-
sons as missionaries : Dr. Frederick Krecker, of the
East Pa. Conference, and Miss Rachael Hudson, an
accomplished teacher, also from Pennsylvania, and
Rev. A. Halmhuber, of the Swiss Conference. This
party sailed from San Francisco, October 18, 1876.
In the spring of 1880 the Board of Missions selected
Rev. Jacob Hartzler, formerly editor of The Evan-
gelical Messenger, as missionary, who was also to have
the oversight of the mission as superintendent. In
the month of April, 1883, Dr. Krecker contracted
typhus fever while in discharge of his duties and died,
the first missionary of our Church to end his earth
life in a non-Christian land. The mission prospered
and the Evangelical Association organized a Japan
Conference.
Work on the Pacific Coast Begun. The General
Conference of 1863 received a petition from some of
our people who had moved to the Pacific Coast to
establish work there. The conference took favorable
action, and C. F. Deininger, of the Central Pa. Con-
ference ; James Croasman, of the Pittsburgh Confer-
ence, and M. Guhl, of the East Pa. Conference, were
appointed. They went to the field in the spring of
86 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
1864, and began their labors; Deininger in San Fran-
cisco, Guhl at San Jose, California, while Croasman
went to Salem, Oregon.
A Cursory Outline of Our Missionary Begin-
nings prior to the division of our Church and the
consequent organization of the United Evangelical
Church has been given because that part of the origi-
nal bodv of Evangelicals which finally adopted the
name "United Evangelical" in 1894 were just as really
identified with all the missionary operations that pre-
ceded the division as were those who retained the name
Evangelical Association. For ninety years all labored
together as one body. It mill he forever utterly im-
possible to divide us on the first ninety years of our
Church history. Our interest in earlier missionary
history, by which the foundations of our efforts to
spread the gospel were laid, is one interest. Thou-
sands of those identified with both denominations wish
that the Church division had never come, and thou-
sands sincerely hope that there will be a reunion of
the sons of Jacob Albright in the near future.
At the time of the Church division our missionary
operations had extended from the Atlantic Coast
across the northern half of our country, covered the
larger portion of the middle west, gone into the far
southwest reaching Texas, leaped across the Rocky
Mountains into the most fertile parts of the Pacific
States, spread northward into Canada, crossed the At-
lantic Ocean into Europe, and the Pacific Ocean into
Japan. Many tens of thousands of souls had been
ORGANIZATION AND FURTHER EXTENSION 87
converted, and thousands of new forces generated for
the further extension of the Kingdom of Christ.
The Church division brought about a division of
forces within th^ United States boundaries, while
operations in Canada, Germany, Switzerland and
Japan remained wholly identified with the Evangelical
Association.
CHAPTER IX
UNITED EVANGELICAL MISSIONARY
BEGINNINGS
Intervening Events. In the month of October,
1891, two separate General Conferences under the
name of Evangelical Association were held, one at
Philadelphia and the other at Indianapolis. During
the three years intervening this time and the organiza-
tion of the United Evangelical church at Naperville,
Illinois, in 1894, the missionary societies of the adher-
ents of both bodies operated under the same Consti-
tution, except a few minor changes. At this time it
was customary to hold meetings of both the Mission-
ary Society and the Board of Missions.
The General Conference at Philadelphia elected suc-
cessively as corresponding secretary of the Missionary
Society, W. F. Heil, H. D. Shultz, and D. B. Byers;
but each of these resigned and B. J. Smoyer was
finally elected. M. Kunkel, a layman from Illinois
was elected treasurer. The Board of Missions elected
S. L. Wiest president, and R. Dubs, C. S. Haman and
W. M. Stanford vice-presidents. D. B. Byers served
in the meetings of this year as secretary pro tem. At
an Executive Committee meeting held April 13, 1892,
M. Kunkel resigned his office as treasurer. On April
17th, James D. Woodring was elected recording sec-
retary and J. R. Miller, of Reading, Pa., was elected
88
Jeremiah G. Mohn
Missionary Treasurer, 1802-1919
UNITED EVANGELICAL BEGINNINGS 89
treasurer. On May 11, 1892, J. R. Miller resigned as
treasurer to take efifect May i6th. The same meeting
elected Jeremiah C. Mohn, of Reading, Pa., treas-
urer, which office he held with general satisfaction to
the Church until the time of his death. May 3, 1919.
By authority of the Board of Missions the Executive
Committee fixed the appropriations of the year for
the various conferences at $38,300 of which $7,200
was to be paid out of the general treasury. The Exec-
utive Committee also ordered that the Children's Day
collection should flow into the general treasury, the
amount of this collection was $1,488.92. The board
at its annual meeting of this year also instituted the
Christmas collection for missions.
At the annual meeting of the board in 1893, W. F.
Heil, J. T. Thomas, and Aaron Bussard were ap-
pointed a committee on foreign work. The treasurer
reported the total receipts for the general treasury to
have been $6,585.01, of which $1,384.61 was Christ-
mas and $1,683.58 Children's Day collection. At the
same meeting of this year it was resolved to establish
a foreign missionary fund.
Missions a Prominent Feature. When the
United Evangelical Church was organized at its first
General Conference in October, 1894, at Naperville,
Illinois, the subject of missions was given due promi-
nence. A special advance step was taken by the adop-
tion of a new Article of Faith for our Discipline, set-
ting forth our doctrine regarding the spread of the
gospel, as follows :
90 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
"Of the Evangelization of the World. The gospel is de-
signed for all nations, its field of operation is the whole
world, and the Church and the people of God are under
solemn obligation to make known its saving truth and power
among the heathen. To this great work we are impelled and
encouraged by the command of the Lord and the promises
and prophecies of the Holy Scriptures."
The following officers of the Missionary Society
were elected by this General Conference : Rev. S. L.
Wiest, president; Rev. U. F. Swengel, recording sec-
retary; Rev. B. J. Smoyer, corresponding secretary.
General Conference also took the following action re-
specting foreign missions :
"Whereas, The Constitution of the Missionary Society
prohibits the Board of Missions from establishing a work in
the heathen field, without authorization by this Conference ;
and
"Whereas, There is a strong demand on the part of our
people for an opporunity to send some of their missionary
money into the foreign field ; and
"Whereas, Our present circumstances do not justify us in
establishing a foreign mission at this time ; therefore,
"Resolved, That we regret that we cannot immediately
enter the foreign mission field as a denomination.
''Resolved, In case the Foreign Mission Fund should reach
$20,000, the Board of Missions be hereby authorized to estab-
lish a foreign mission.
"Resolved, That we authorize the Board of Missions to
appropriate money for the support of two Bible women in
some foreign field during the next quadrennium."
A Revised Constitution was adopted at the an-
nual meeting of the society held on December 5, 1894.
(The Constitution of our Missionary Society, also the
Constitution of the Woman's Missionary Society can
always be found in our Book of Discipline.) The
name adopted in 1894 was, "The Missionary Society
UNITED EVANGELICAL BEGINNINGS 91
of the United Bvangelical Church" ; a few years later
the name was changed to "The Home and Foreign
Missionary Society of the United Bvangelical
Church."
Forward Movement oe the Board of Missions.
The Board of Missions at its first annual meeting un-
der the name United Evangelical took some advance
steps. The most prominent of these was the recogni-
tion of a representative of the Woman's Missionary
Society as a member of the board. Mrs. C. F. Rass-
weiler, of Naperville, Illinois, had this honor. Mrs.
Rassweiler had served as president of the Woman's
Missionary Society in the years 1890, 1891 and 1892.
The board also provided that Passion Week should
be observed by all our people as Self-denial Week and
reiterated the observance of Christmas and Children's
Day with a collection for missions as a feature of the
occasion. It took cognizance of the action of General
Conference respecting foreign missions, and, "Corre-
sponding Secretary Smoyer was appointed a commit-
tee to act in conjunction with the president of the
Woman's Missionary Society to consider the practica-
bility of employing Bible women in some foreign mis-
sion field, to report to the Executive Committee of
this board."
At a meeting of the Executive Committee held on
February 28, 1895, B. J. Smoyer resigned as corre-
sponding secretary by advice of the committee which
gave as its reason the "Present strained financial con-
dition of the Church, in consequence of the many new
churches that have been and will be erected in the
92 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
near future, that it will not be possible for the corre-
sponding secretary to find work as a collector of funds
for the general missionary treasury during the coming
year." The Board of Missions at its next annual meet-
ing refused to ratify the above action of the committee
and expressed regret for the resignation of Brother
Smoyer. The General Conference of 1898 expressed
itself regarding this matter as follows :
"Resolved, That while this Conference is of the opinion
that the Executive Committee exceeded its authority in ad-
vising the resignation of the corresponding secretary, but
in view of the extraordinary conditions which surrounded the
Executive Committee at the time and which were not fully
recognized by the General Conference, the action of the Ex-
ecutive Committee was excused and no blame is to attach
either to it or to the corresponding secretary."
The Foreign Mission Fund. When the Board of
Missions met in 1895, the foreign fund amounted to
$3,572.08, This board took the following action in
relation to foreign missions :
"Whereas, We have received through Mrs. Krecker the
report of the committee appointed by General Conference to
secure information regarding the support of two Bible women
in a foreign field ; and
"Whereas, This report informs us that two women, one in
Ceylon at the expense of $20.90, and the other in Mardin,
Turkey, at an expense of $26.40 a year can be secured; there-
fore,
"Resolved, That we authorize the Executive Committee
of the Woman's Missionary Society to support these two
women for one year, or in case these two cannot be obtained,
they be authorized to employ two others provided that the
cost be not more than the amount specified.
"Whereas, The Woman's Society presented us a request
to establish a Hospital Fund in foreign mission work; and
UNITED EVANGELICAL BEGINNINGS 93
"Whereas, Two individuals have agreed to pay five dollars
per month for an indefinite time as a nucleus to this fund.
"Resolved, That we accede to this request and authorize the
treasurer of the Woman's Missionary Society to receive con-
tributions for this purpose. Such hospital fund shall be in-
cluded in the $20,000 Foreign Fund."
Missionary Sentiment Increasing. The time of
the next General Conference (1898 at Johnstown,
Pa.) found an increased interest in behalf of both
hoine and foreign missions. The growing desire for
missionary operations in foreign lands was very largely
due to untiring efforts of the Woman's Missionary
Society by disseminating missionary intelligence and
raising funds. By this time the Woman's Missionary
Society funds for foreign missions showed a total of
$10,244.80 in the treasury. Besides this, there was
in the foreign fund of the general treasury the sum of
$1,107.02, making a grand total of $11,351.82 for for-
eign missions.
The increasing interest for beginning foreign mis-
sions did not lessen the interest in home missions, but
appears rather to have served as a stimulus. A com-
parison of the three general home mission collections
indicates the following growth in amount :
1894 1898
Christmas collection $1,490 56 $3,074 12
Children's Day 1,832 80 2,772 66
Seld-denial, 2,050 10 4,449 79
Total $5,373 46 $10,296 57
Generai. Conference Action in 1898. At this
General Conference S. L. Wiest was reelected presi-
dent of the Board of Missions, U. F. Swengel record-
94
EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
ing secretary, and Jeremiah G. Mohn treasurer. W.
F. Heil was newly-elected corresponding secretary, un-
der the following resolution :
"Resolved, That a corresponding secretary be elected
without salary, excepting that if the collections above
referred to should not be sufficient, the Board of
Missions is authorized to employ the corresponding
secretary at such compensation as it may see proper."
The General Conference adopted the following by
a unanimous vote :
"Whereas, There is a growing conviction among many of
our people that we as a Church ought to render prompt obedi-
ence to the command of the Master, 'Go teach all nations,'
and an equally strong and increasing conviction, stimulated
by the promise which fell from the lips of our risen Lord,
'Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world,'
that a ready, trustful obedience is better than sacrifice ; and
believing that definite steps in the direction of the Master's
expressed wish will meet with His approval and elicit the
hearty cooperation of our loyal people and secure financial
responses from many undeveloped sources; therefore,
"Resolved, That the Board of Missions be and is hereby
instructed at once to inaugurate the necessary preliminary ar-
rangements for the establishment of a mission in some for-
eign field, recognizing the principle of the comity of missions,
the location to be left with the said Board ; and the actual
establishment of the mission shall take place as soon as the
Board, in its judgment, has sufficient funds in hand, and the
'income is adequate to warrant financial support and mainte-
nance of the mission.
"Resolved, That no more missionaries be sent out at the
beginning than the income insures support for, and additional
helpers shall only be supplied as the finances warrant.
"Resolved, That we hereby appeal to our loyal self-sacri-
ficing people to contribute largely, liberally, cheerfully, and
promptly to the Lord's treasury, that this design may be
speedily carried into eflfect, that our beloved Church may take
UNITED EVANGELICAL BEGINNINGS 95
her stand among the Master's laborers in that part of His
vineyard which most needs her help.
"Resolved, That we recommend to the Board of Missions
that when the mission is established the support of some defi-
nite part of the work be given to the Woman's Missionary
Society."
A Period of Reconstruction. The various de-
partments of activity in the newly-organized United
EvangeHcal Church (including our missionary opera-
tions), had a peculiar situation to face and there were
many difficult problems to solve because of the un-
fortunate Church troubles and the final division that
occurred, which brought about the organization of the
United Evangelical Church in 1894. The missionary
beginnings already referred to in part cannot be rightly
understood without some reference to the situation
and the problems involved. The first twelve years of
the history of the United Evangelical Church may
well be called a Period of Reconstruction. We shall
refer only to that phase of the situation which had a
bearing upon our missionary activities.
The Home Mission Situation. Our home mis-
sions were seriously afifected, especially in the entire
middle west, on the Pacific Coast and in the State
of Ohio.
I. Our Denominational Constituency was Compara-
tive Small to Begin With. Our membership was about
55,055, of which 39,956 belonged to the three Pennsyl-
vania conferences, leaving 15,099 for the remaining
portion of the Church, scattered over the middle west,
the Pacific Coast and the State of Ohio. It is easy to
understand that in this great country with its wonder-
96 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
ful material development, we were a small religious
working force to begin with. We were necessitated to
supply faith, devotion, courage, energy, resourceful-
ness and perseverance in a very full measure in order
to cope with the situation.
2. JVe Had Been Deprived Almost Entirely of Our
Church Properties, Churches and parsonages were
nearly all gone. We had no publishing house and no
institutions of learning. This meant the building of
hundreds of churches and parsonages. It meant new
beginnings with publishing interests and institutions
of learning. We were necessitated to do pioneer work
throughout and lay new foundations over our entire
territory.
3. Not Every One Could Endure the Strain of the
Situation. A number of our preachers, including por-
tions of our home mission force, left our Church ;
some of them taking work with the other denomina-
tions, while others became discouraged and drifted out
of the ministry. We were too often necessitated to
supply missions with untrained men, not a few of
whom proved disloyal. The western portion of the
Church was more seriously affected than the eastern
portion, because the work was so widely scattered and
ministerial support inadequate.
4. Industrial Unsettledness in the Entire Middle
West During and Follozving this Period of Recon-
struction, added to what has already been mentioned,
made it very, very difficult for our missionaries in the
middle west to develop strong congregations that
would themselves become self-sustaining. The work
UNITED EVANGELICAL BEGINNINGS
97
of our western missionaries was measurably fruitful
in the way of conversions and accessions to the
Church ; but the people kept moving, moving, moving,
over that vast expanse, into other states, into the terri-
tories of Western Canada ; the larger portion of them
— thousands — into communities where we as a Church
are not represented. Only the missionaries that had
this situation to face can fully understand what it
meant.
/ venture the assertion that for heroic devotion and
self-sacrificing loyalty to Christ and the Church the
efforts of our missionaries in the middle west, where
real pioneer work had to he done, have not been ex-
celled in this country in the last fifty years.
Foreign Missions. It has already been told that
when the United Evangelical Church was organized,
to begin with, she had no missions in foreign lands.
She had, however, the spirit of missions and was only
delayed in beginning work in foreign lands because
of the demands made upon her in the heroic effort to
build upon foundations that would insure permanence.
Our Strong, Faithful and Responsive Eastern
Home Base. When the United Evangelical Church
was founded, seventy-two per cent, of her member-
ship was included in the three Pennsylvania confer-
ences. Here were compact bodies of ministers and
laymen. They too had to meet the difficulties and
problems of the Period of Reconstruction. They too
had been deprived of churches and parsonages, which
called for many sacrifices in rebuilding. But they had
the advantage of compactness, of larger congregations
7
gS EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
and of an older constituency that means much in the
development of church life and prestige in any com-
munity.
The unceasingly loyal and liberal attitude of the
three conferences in Pennsylvania and of the Illinois
conference toward the smaller western conferences,
supplemented by the splendid spirit of self-help in the
smaller conferences made it possible to succeed as we
did in the development of our work. In other words,
the spirit of cooperation throughout the Church which
has always been manifest among us has brought us,
under the blessing of God, to what we are.
The DeveIvOpment of Publishing Interests
which are essential to the progress of every church
also depended mostly upon this larger eastern section
and Illinois Conference. How well our good people
met the situation and with what whole-hearted re-
sponsiveness they performed their part is a matter of
history. The dissemination of missionary intelligence
through our Church periodicals must mean much for
our missionary interests and the development of a
strong home base for more extensive work. Our peo-
ple knew that they were helping themselves to a better
spiritual life and greater efficiency in service, and at
the same time helping others when they so vigorously
pushed our publishing interests.
Missionary Contributions Forthcoming. The
unusual demands of this reconstruction period did not
prevent our people from responding to calls for mis-
sionary contributions. In 1894 the appropriations for
home missions amounted to $38,475. Twelve years
UNITED EVANGELICAL BEGINNINGS 99
later, in 1906, they amounted to $101,351.50. In addi-
tion to this, the treasurer was authorized to pay
$15,000 for China Mission, if so much be needed, mak-
ing a grand total of $115,351.50, or about three times
the amount available in the beginning.
The Stability and Liberality oe Our Larger
Congregations, together with the willing cooperation
of the smaller ones, made such a splendid result pos-
sible.
The Corresponding Secretaries of the Recon-
struction Period must not be forgotten. B. J. Smoyer
served through the intervening period and until 1895.
In 1898 William F. Heil was elected, serving four
years; and in 1902 A. M. Sampsel (deceased) was
elected, serving four years. Because of the exigencies
of the Reconstruction Period the brethren, Heil and
Sampsel, served without salary, serving their annual
conference at the same time. The gratitude of the
Church due them was well earned. They opened the
way for still more extensive missionary operations and
results in the future.
If all the details of the first twelve years of mission-
ary endeavors of the United Evangelical Church could
be written, there would be very many interesting inci-
dents to record, and we would be ready to exclaim,
"Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." Not only had
our home mission work been developed to a creditable
degree, but the foundations of a hopeful foreign mis-
sion had been well laid.
CHAPTER X
THE WOMAN'S MISSIONARY SOCIETY A
LEADING FACTOR
Christian womanhood has always shown with
brightest lustre and given its best service when in ac-
tive devotion to Jesus Christ and the things pertaining
to His kingdom on earth. The woman who came to
Jesus having an alabaster box of ointment very pre-
cious, and poured it on His head has had numberless
imitators in acts of devotion, not counting the cost,
desiring only to express loyalty to Him.
When Jesus did missionary work, "throughout every
city and village, preaching and showing the glad tidings
of the Kingdom of God," we are told (Luke 8: 2) that,
"Certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits
and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom
seven demons went, and Joanna the wife of Chuza,
Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, min-
istered unto Him of their substance." Associated with
Paul and Silas in the missionary labors in Macedonia,
were, among others, "Devout Greeks a great multi-
tude and chief women not a few."
So on down through the history of Christianity,
wherever the standard of the cross needed to be up-
held. Christian women were there to lift it up ; wher-
ever there were battles against evil (as the liquor traf-
fic), women were there to present a heroic front;
100
Mrs. M. M. T. Fouke
President First Woman's Missionary Society, 1880
WOMAN'S SOCIETY A LEADING FACTOR loi
wherever self-sacrificing service was needed, as in the
case of Red Cross work or foreign missionary service ;
Christian women were there with a faith, courage and
devotion that was often marvelous.
The United EvangelicaIv Church Has Chief
Women Not a Few. Very many of these women
were with us when the United Evangelical Church was
organized, having done excellent service as leaders in
the Evangelical Association, prior to the Church di-
vision. It is therefore expedient that we go back to
predivision times, showing the activities of our women
in those times.
In 1 877- 1 878 a movement took shape which finally
resulted in the formation of the Woman's Missionary
Society. After several appeals to the Board of Mis-
sions and the efiforts of the editors of the Evangelical
Messenger, the board finally made provision for the
organization of woman's missionary societies.
The First Society was organized on the afternoon
of October 27, 1880, in South Chicago, in the church
of which Rev. W. H. Fouke was pastor at that time.
Mrs. W. H. Fouke was elected president of this first
society. On the evening of the same day another so-
ciety was organized at Lindsey, Ohio, and in the fol-
lowing year a General Society was formed at Cleve-
land, Ohio.
We now quote from "Reminiscences," edited by
Estella Hartzler Steinmetz :
"As early as April, 1876, the editor of the Evangelical Mes-
senger, Rev. H. B. Hartzler, said in an editorial : 'The mis-
sionary spirit in the Church should be stimulated in every way
102 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
possible. The more this blessed work is prosecuted, the
greater will be the direct results of precious harvesting.'
Also in the Messenger of October 3, 1878, the editor calls
attention of the Board of Missions to the desire of the women
to organize a Woman's Missionary Society, and in later edi-
torials kept this subject continually before the Church. Fi-
nally, Mrs. Jacob Hartzler, Mrs. Sarah A. O. Herlacher, Miss
Ella J. Yost, and Mrs. H. B. Hartzler, after a council at the
home of the first named, requested their pastor to announce a
meeting for the discussion of the subject. All joined freely
in plans, suggestions and earnest prayer. During the discus-
sion a prominent official of the Church remarked, 'It will be
useless to appeal to the Board ; they will not grant permis-
sion for such an organization,' whereupon Mrs. Herlacher
remarked, 'Well, they cannot prevent our gathering funds
and praying for such an organization,' which the women did
until their desire was granted by the Board."
Following this history a little further, we now quote
from Evangelical Annals:
"The first general convention of the society in its new rela-
tion was held in the Calvary Evangelical church, Cleveland,
O., October 10-14, 1884. At this meeting the new constitution
was adopted and the following officers were elected for the en-
suing year : President, Mrs. E. J. Y. Preyer ; vice-presidents,
Mrs. H. C. Smith, Mrs. J. Bowman, Miss Minerva Strawman ;
recording secretary, Miss Emma Yost ; treasurer, Mrs. U. F.
Swengel ; corresponding secretary, Mrs. W. H. Hammer. In
1885 the convention was held in Lindsey, O., Sept. 25-27.
The progress of the society was gratifying; forty-six local
societies rendered reports. The treasurer reported the amount
of $1,532.84 contributed for the past year. The following
officers were elected : President, Mrs. H. B. Hartzler ; vice-
president, Mrs. E. J. Y. Preyer; corresponding secretary,
Mrs. W. H. Hammer; recording secretary, Mrs. S. S. Condo;
treasurer, Mrs. U. F. Swengel. In the autumn of 1886 a
number of the brethren at the book establishment formed
themselves into a company for the purpose of publishing a
paper for the society. Rev. H. B. Hartzler was the managing
editor and Rev. U. F. Swengel publisher of the paper. It
made its appearance in October of this year, and bore the title
WOMAN'S SOCIETY A LEADING FACTOR 103
of Missionary Messenger. The Woman's Missionary Con-
vention of this month adopted the periodical as the organ of
the society, and Mrs. E. J. Y. Preyer was elected editress on
behalf of the society."
Under the New Name. When the time came for
the organization of the United EvangeHcal Church,
our sisters were ready to do their part ; and, as per-
tains to readiness to at once begin foreign mission
work, they manifested a more far-reaching vision as
to possibilities than the men did. Two of them, Mrs.
T. L. Haines and Mrs. C. F. Rassweiler, came as rep-
resentatives to the annual meeting of the General So-
ciety, at Naperville. Illinois, to make their plea for
foreign missions. They were cordially received and
the following action was taken :
"Resolved, That we have heard with pleasure the addresses
of Sisters Mrs. T. L. Haines and Mrs. C. F. Rassweiler, the
representatives of our noble Woman's Missionary Society.
"Resolved, That we appreciate the earnest efforts made by
the Woman's Missionary Society, both in the lines of mis-
sionary education and in the gathering of funds for both
home and foreign work.
"Resolved, That we refer the matter of appointing a com-
mittee to act in conjunction with the president of the Wom-
an's Missionary Society to the Board of Missions, and that
we request the Board to inquire into the feasibility of estab-
lishing a foreign mission on the plan suggested by the
Woman's Missionary Society."
The subsequent action of the board has been men-
tioned in Chapter IX.
The First Annual Meeting Under the New
Name convened at Lewisburg, Pa., September 12,
1895, with Mrs. Elizabeth Krecker presiding. The
previous year, under the old name, the following offi-
I04 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
cers had been elected : President, Mrs. Elizabeth
Krecker; vice-president, Mrs. W. M. Stanford; re-
cording secretary, Mrs. S. P. Remer; corresponding
secretary, Mrs. B. F. Bowman; treasurer, Mrs. W. E.
Detwiler ; superintendent of Mission Bands, Mrs. T.
L. Haines; superintendent of Junior Societies, Mrs.
E. E. Adams ; editor of Missionary Tidings, Mrs.
Emma Divan ; assistant editors. Miss Blanche Stan-
ford and Mrs. Ida Haefele; superintendent of Bureau
of Literature, Mrs. H. H. Rassweiler; assistant su-
perintendent, Mrs. A. B. Collings; editor of Mission
Band paper. Miss Marguerite Krecker. It is inter-
esting to observe how completely these women organ-
ized for business. They meant business. These offices
were no sinecure, they meant hard work which was
often little appreciated. Aside from the officers pres-
ent, Miss Carrie Bordlemay, Mrs. M. I. Jamison, Mrs.
J. A. Hollenbaugh, Miss Emma Ditmar, and Miss
Virgie Thomas were also present as duly elected dele-
gates at this first annual meeting.
It was very fitting that Rev. H. B. Hartzler, D.D.,
then editor of The Evangelical, should preach the an-
nual sermon at this first gathering of United Evan-
gelical women missionary leaders, because of the fact
that by voice and pen he had done much to encourage
and help the women of the Woman's Missionary So-
ciety in their noble undertaking.
A Decisive Step in Advance. Prior to the year
1896 there had been no Woman's Board of Missions.
In the beginnings, back in the eighties, the annual gath-
erings were in the form of a Woman's Missionary
WOMAN'S SOCIETY A LEADING FACTOR 105
Convention; later it became a Woman's Missionary
Society, but without a Woman's Board as an adminis-
trative head. The second annual m.eeting, held at
Glen Rock, Pa., was called an Annual Convention
of the Woman's Missionary Society.
The annual meeting of the previous year had formu-
lated a Constitution and the Glen Rock meeting again
took the matter up for further consideration.
The ministerial brother who had been invited to
preach the annual sermon this year was also by cour-
tesy (along with others) made an advisory member,
so he ventured to put the question, "Why don't you
organize a Woman's Board of Missions? This will
give you an administrative head and will help give dig-
nity to your honorable body." The ladies said, "It
did not occur to us that we dare do such a thing."
The brother replied, "I do believe that no one in the
United Evangelical Church will object and that the
Board of Missions will approve it ; I advise you to
go ahead." The following article was then inserted
as Article VIII of the Constitution :
"The affairs of this society shall be administered by a
Woman's Board, which shall consist of the officers of the
society, one additional representative for every fifteen aux-
iliaries in the Branch Society; provided, however, that there
shall not be more than three representatives for any one
Branch Society on the Board. The expense of the repre-
sentative delegates shall be met by the Branch Society send-
ing them. This Board shall be under the supervision of the
Board of Missions of the United Evangelical Church, and
its proceedings shall be submitted to the Board of Missions
for examination and approval."
lo6 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
This is now Article IV of the present Constitution
with only a slight variation.
The Vai.ue of the Woman's Missionary Society
AS A Factor in the Life of the Church. The
Woman's Missionary Society is worthy of all the rec-
ognition that has been given it and has proven its
worth by its deeds. Its usefulness as a factor in the
life of the Church has taken a wider range than the
object stated in its Constitution. We shall attempt to
state in brief outline in what respect its value ap-
pears :
1. The W. M. S. Has Value as a Spiritual Force.
The first thing a certain pastor does when receiving a
new appointment at conference is to look up the Con-
ference Journal to find whether there is a Woman's
Missionary Society on the charge. He feels quite sure
that this will be a helpful factor. The kind of work
these women do is a stimulus to spiritual fervor and
calls forth a degree of faith that tells in the life of the
congregation. The W. M. S. supplies the morale of
many a congregation. The pastor that fails to favor
and uphold a W. M. S. on his charge is either inex-
cusably ignorant of its value or else culpable to that
extent as a spiritual leader of his flock.
2. The W. M. S. Has Value as an Agency for the
training of Christian forces, especially among the
women and children. Every society becomes a means
of self-culture in Christian activity, and when it has a
Mission Band under its care, this itself is a training
school for the kind of service that brings to the world
WOMAN'S SOCIETY A LEADING FACTOR
107
the highest good. How important that the spirit of
missions should be impressed in the adolescent age.
3. The W. M. S. Has Value as a Disseminator of
Missionary Intelligence. One hundred thousand or
more copies each of the Missionary Tidings and Mis-
sionary Gem are sent out each year to bring informa-
tion and inspiration to eager and interested readers.
Tens of thousands of pamphlets and leaflets are sent
broadcast from the Bureau of Literature headquar-
ters. Thank-offering meetings, missionary contests,
and special meetings of various kinds help to increase
interest. Our sisters are keenly alive to the fact that
an intelligent understanding of missions increases in-
terest.
4. The W. M. S. Has Great Value as a Gatherer of
Funds for both home and foreign missions. What
would our foreign mission have done had it not been
for this noble band of women? For the year ending
October i, 1918, nearly fifty-four per cent, of all con-
tributions received for foreign work was gathered by
the Woman's Missionary Society. Our China Mis-
sion could not be one-half what it is were it not for
the funds of the Woman's Missionary Society. Then
they also help home missions liberally. Every Annual
Conference Missionary Society is aided by it. They
have also helped solve difficult financial problems in
local congregational crises. Beside this, they also sup-
port Rev. and Mrs. C. W. Guinter in Northern Ni-
geria, Africa.
lo8 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
Departmental Work and Progress
The Woman's Missionary Society is well-organized
and carries forward its work in a systematic and busi-
nesslike manner. With the board as its administrative
head, the various annual conference branches develop-
ing the work within their respective conference terri-
tories, and each local organization of the respective
departments developing its field, the work continues to
make progress from year to year. The work is ac-
complished under the following departmental units :
Women's Societies. Listing these by conferences
branches and at the same time noting the last year's
progress, we observe the following :
Auxiliaries Membership
Name of Branch 1917 1918 1917 1918 Gain
East Pa., 81 84 4,050 4,102 52
Central Pa., 93 95 2,765 2,882 117
Illinois, 57 57 1,210 1,283 yz
Pittsburgh, 34 36 901 1,027 126
Ohio 30 33 717 826 109
Des Moines, 30 30 456 514 58
Northwestern, 18 20 339 402 63
Platte River, 29 29 469 495 26
Kansas, 19 17 218 230 12
Oregon, 16 16 201 213 12
Total 407 417 11,326 11,974 648
Young People's Societies. These are under the su-
pervision of a general superintendent, at present Mrs.
Josie McLain. There are (1918) 136 societies with a
membership of 3,834. The net gain for the last year
was: in number of societies 11, in membership in.
The amount of money raised during the year was
WOMAN'S SOCIETY A LEADING FACTOR
109
$7,713.20, an increase of $1,025.96 over the previous
year. Reviewing the last quadrennium we find that
there was an increase of 34 societies and 750 members.
The amount of money raised in the four years was
$24,882.76.
Mission Bands. These are also under the super-
vision of a general superintendent, the present incum-
bent being Mrs. H. D. Shultz. The importance of this
department can not be estimated, since its members
are in that period of life when lasting impressions and
training for future Christian service mean so much.
Immediate fruitfulness also speaks much.
For the year 1918 there were reported 270 bands,
with a membership of 8,471 and contributions amount-
ing to $7,924.55, an increase of $802.53 over the for-
mer year.
Cradle Roll and Home Department. This depart-
ment is now under the supervision of Mrs. J. W.
Thompson. The last annual report shows 133 Cradle
Rolls with a membership of 2,775, ^^^ $821.62 con-
tributed for missions. But why enroll the babies?
Let the following incident illustrate :
A baby was born in the home of a saloonkeeper in
the middle west. A neighbor lady, a member of the
W. M. S. called to see the new arrival and to bring her
congratulations to its mother. Incidentally the W. M.
S. lady asked the privilege of enrolling the dear baby's
name on the W. M. S. Cradle Roll. The mother gladly
consented. Some time afterward the baby died. The
father of the child was asked, "Who shall have charge
of the funeral of your child?" "Our preacher," was
no EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
the answer. "Who is your preacher?" was the in-
quiry. The father said, "That EvangeHcal preacher
where our baby's name is enrolled." The parents were
won by the simple act of a W. M. S. lady looking
up a baby.
The Home Department has a membership of 89, and
last year the contributions amounted to $41.16.
Publishing Department. The Woman's Missionary
Society has ever recognized the great value of good
missionary literature and its extensive circulation, and
has therefore given special attention to the circulation
of its periodicals, and other printed matter relating to
missions. The headquarters of this department are
at rooms 209, 210, and 211, Evangelical Building,
Third and Reily Streeets, Harrisburg, Pa. Here you
will find a busy place in charge of two accomplished,
painstaking and self-sacrificing ladies.
Miss Lillian C. Graefif, is Secretary and Publisher
of Literature. Hers is a varied and onerous task. She
has charge of the subscription lists of Missionary
Tidings and Missionary Gem, involving the keeping in
correct and up-to-date form the names and addresses
of thousands of subscribers, as well as the accounts of
subscriptions. Her store room has a multiplicity of
books, charts, pamphlets and other supplies of
various kinds awaiting orders to be filled, so as
to keep the entire W. M. S. machinery of the Church
supplied with literature. The circulating library also
requires due attention. Stacks of letters come to her
office — subscription lists, orders for supplies, in-
quiries, complaints, etc. — and every letter must have
WOMAN'S SOCIETY A LEADING FACTOR m
attention. Packages of all sizes must be wrapped and
mailed or expressed. How this lady gathers strength
to fill speaking dates can not be stated here. Ask her.
Miss Emma D. Messinger is responsible for all the
matter that appears in Missionary Tidings and Mis-
sionary Gem. With dignity, grace, ability and rare
good judgment, she fills her place of great responsi-
bility as editor of these well-prepared and useful
periodicals. No one is more devoted to her work nor
more deeply interested in the cause of missions. By
her own pen and the selection of choice matter she
reaches thousands every month. Readers there are,
that have passed their fourscore years, down to the
four or five-year-old boys and girls that must depend
upon mother or sister or some one else to read The
Gem to them.
Missionary Tidings now has a circulation of 7,900
and Missionary Gem of 8,000 copies. We hope that
the number of each will soon be doubled.
Oratorical Contest Work. Mrs. Karl Kaupp is sec-
retary of Efficiency, Oratorical Contest Work and Li-
brary. Much interest has been aroused in oratorical
contests and this interest is increasing. These contests
not only stimulate interest in the societies, but they are
also a splendid means of edification to the hearers and
advertise the work of the societies. Last year (1918)
46 contests with 206 contestants were reported.
There were 49 silver medals, 9 gold medals and two
pearl medals awarded. The Memorial Circulating Li-
brary reported 595 readings of 215 books. Other
branches reported 1,448 readers of the library.
112 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
Financial Progress
The following table is self-explanatory and is
worthy of careful study:
Woman's Missionary Society Receipts
1917 1918
For the General Treasury $2,934 3^ $3,207 66
Foreign Mission Fund, 10,83061 11,54594
Boarding School, 3,177 15 2,898 02
Hospital Fund, 5,223 27 5,048 31
African Fund, 1,75109 1,72097
Our Missionaries 2,541 24 2,782 69
Emma Dubs Memorial, 4,301 92 8,973 50
Western Missions, 1,31805 1,49045
Bureau of Literature, 940 08 1,030 32
Home conferences, 4,814 21 5,251 75
Sundries, 218 03 374 92
Total actual receipts, $38,049 96 $44,324 53
Actual receipts last year, 31,320 88 38,049 96
Increase, $6,729 08 $6,274 57
Summary.
Actual receipts, $38,049 96 $44,324 53
Branch and home contingent, 12,412 62 11,072 40
Total, $50,46258 $55,39693
Mrs. S. P. Remer
President Woman's Missionary Society, 1904-1913
CHAPTER XI
METHODS OF ADMINISTRATION
"The Home and Foreign Missionary Society o^
THE United Evangelical Church" is the corporate
name. In the making of all legal documents such as
wills and deeds the name should be precisely used in
this form, thus avoiding legal difficulties. The mem-
bers of this society are such persons who contribute
a stated sum annually as a membership fee. This sum
varies according to the rules under which an auxiliary
society operates. There are also life memberships and
honorary memberships.
The Annual Conference Auxiliaries and the Wom-
an's Missionary Society issue life memberships at ten
dollars each, granting a certificate to this eflfect. Any
person paying at one time the sum of fifty dollars into
the general treasury is constituted an honorary mem-
ber, and has the privilege of being present at board
meetings and taking part in the discussions, but has
no vote.
The Oeeicers oe the Society are a president, re-
cording secretary, corresponding secretary and treas-
urer, all of whom are elected quadrennially by the
General Conference, except the vice-president, who is
elected annually by the Board of Missions.
The Temporal Affairs of the Society in general
are administered by a board, which consists of the
officers of the society, one delegate from each annual
8 113
114 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
conference auxiliary and one delegate from the Wom-
an's Missionary Society. These are elected at the an-
nual meeting of the various auxiliaries. The bishops
are advisory members of the board, with the privilege
of serving on committees and taking part in discus-
sions.
The Constitution Prescribes the Power oe the
Board as Follows :
The General Board of Missions shall meet annually at such
time and place as it may determine, in order to consult con-
cerning the missionary affairs of the United Evangelical
Church, and make the necessary arrangements for prosecut-
ing our missionary labors in the most effectual manner, in our
own and foreign countries. For this purpose, it shall
1. Make strict inquiries concerning the conditions and pros-
pects of the various missions under its care, and shall make
appropriations for their support accordingly.
2. Have power to establish missions in our own land, be-
yond the territory of the various conference districts, and
supply them with preachers from the various annual confer-
ences, such preachers consenting, and to see that they are
supported by the funds of the society. Such missions as are
within the limits of the several conferences are to be sup-
plied by the respective conferences themselves.
3. Carefully consider the instructions, recommendations and
estimates presented by the delegates of the different confer-
ence auxiliaries, and, in view of these, it shall determine the
amount which each conference missionary auxiliary shall ex-
pend during the ensuing year.
4. Have power, if necessary, to borrow money for the
prosecution of our missionary work ; but must make proper
arrangements to discharge such obligations as soon as pos-
sible. For its official proceedings the Board is amenable to
the General Conference, to which it must submit its record
for approval.
5. Have power to make by-laws for the regulation of its
business ; to examine incidental expenses and see that they
METHODS OF ADMINISTRATION 115
are paid ; to determine the support of sick and superannuated
missionaries under its supervision, also that of the widows
and orphans of deceased missionaries. At each annual meet-
ing of the Board it shall submit a plan of all its proceedings,
and the state of the society's funds.
The Executive Committee. The Board of Mis-
sions has an Executive Committee consisting of the
president of the board, the secretaries, the treasurer,
the bishops of the Church, a representative of the
Woman's Board and three laymen elected annually by
the Board of Missions.
The duty of this committee shall be to see that the decisions
and measures of the Board are carried into effect, during the
intervals between its regular sessions. For this purpose it
shall hold meetings whenever necessary to examine the
finances of the society, receive and deliberate on the reports
obtained from the various missions. It shall be empowered
to fill vacancies, both in its own body or in missions outside
the annual conference limits, whether caused by death, resig-
nations, or otherwise, as also in cases of necessity to appoint
missionaries, recall or transfer such as are appointed, and
upon the whole take measures to meet every pressing emer-
gency that may arise during the year. For its official conduct
it shall be responsible to the General Board, to which it must
submit the records of its proceedings for ratification.
Every Annual Conference has its own mission-
ary society, operating w^ithin the conference bounds
and is an auxiliary to the General Society. The
Woman's Missionary Society is also an auxiliary of the
General Society. The Woman's Missionary Society has
a branch society within the bounds of every annual con-
ference. This branch society consists of two delegates
from each auxiliary of the Woman's Missionary So-
ciety, one delegate from each Young People's Mis-
sionary Society, and one adult representative from
ii6 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
each Mission Band. Young People's Missionary
Societies, Mission Band, Cradle Rolls and Home De-
partment Work are all departments of the Woman's
Missionary Society and belong to it.
Annuai. Meeting. The General Board of Mis-
sions and the Woman's Board of Missions each meet
annually at such times and places as they shall de-
termine upon. The annual meeting of the Woman's
Board is usually held the week preceding the annual
meeting of the General Board. The Annual Confer-
ence Missionary Societies meet annually at the place
and on the same week of the annual conference meet-
ing. The W. M. S. Branch Societies meet annually at
such time and place as each shall specify. The various
local congregational auxiliaries usually meet once a
month.
Appropriations for Home Missions within the
bounds of the respective annual conference territories
are made by the conferences themselves, the board
designating the bulk amount each annual conference
may use. Every Annual Conference Missionary Society
puts forth efforts within its bounds to secure funds
for its own use. If it is believed that in any case the
constituency of an annual conference is not sufficiently
strong to raise a sufficient amount to carry on its own
missionary operations, the fact is brought to the at-
tention of the board, which, after due consideration,
supplements the funds of the Conference Societies
that need it. As at present constituted, the East Pa.,
Central Pa., and Illinois Conferences receive no aid
from the board. All the other conferences receive aid.
METHODS OF ADMINISTRATION 117
The Self-denial, Children's Day and Christmas col-
lections are used for this purpose.
Woman's Executive Committee. The Executive
Committee of the Woman's Board consists of five
persons, elected annually by the Woman's Board. "It
shall be the duty of the committee to see that the
measures of the board are carried into effect and to
transact all necessary business during the intervals of
its regular sessions. It shall provide for any official
vacancies during the year." The Executive Committee
also arranges for the time and program of the annual
meeting of the Woman's Board. This committee also
appoints committees to audit the accounts of the
treasurer and the secretary and publisher of litera-
ture.
Young Peopee's Missionary Society. Every local
Y. P. M. S. is auxiHary to the Conference Branch of
the Woman's Missionary Society within its territorial
bounds, and is entitled to a delegate to the branch
meeting. Each auxiliary is self-governing and is or-
ganized in the same manner as other missionary so-
cieties. The object is "The cultivation of a true mis-
sionary spirit among its members, and the collection
of extra funds for missionary purposes,"
Mission Bands. Each Mission Band is auxiliary
to the local Woman's Missionary Auxiliary, and re-
mits its funds to the treasurer of the branch. The
chief officer of the Mission Band is an adult leader
who is appointed annually by the W. M. S. or by the
pastor. Each band has its other officers, as other so-
cieties, who may be appointed by the leader or elected
Il8 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
by the children. Each band is entitled to an adult
delegate to the annual meeting of the Conference
Branch.
Missionary Cradi^e R01.L. This is also a depart-
ment of the W. M. S. Any baby of the church, of
the congregation, or of the community may be a mem-
ber and remain a member until five years of age. The
local W. M. S. has the oversight of its Cradle Roll and
elects a superintendent. Where there is no W. M. S.
the pastor may appoint a superintendent, and even
where this is not done, any woman may take up the
work, reporting the same to the branch superintendent.
Home; De;partme;nt. The object of the Home De-
partment is to reach the shut-ins of our congregations
and others who do not attend the meetings.
The Home Department is just as much a part and auxiliary
of our Woman's Home and Foreign Missionary Society as
the Y. P. M. S. The W. M. S., Y. P. M. S. and Mission
Band include all who attend the missionary meetings. The
Cradle Roll and Home Department include those who do not
attend, but unite with the other auxiliaries in the regular
study of the current missionary topics in their homes.
The superintendent of the Cradle Roll also looks
after the Home Department.
Foreign Mission Administration. This is a
printed "Manual of Rules and Regulations" which sets
forth what pertains to foreign missionaries, their work
and the administration of the mission. We shall men-
tion only the leading paragraphs that relate to ad-
ministration.
METHODS OF ADMINISTRATION ng
Mission. In general a mission consists of all foreign mis-
sionaries under appointment by the Board within specified
territorial limits. For the transaction of business the men are
regarded as constituting the administrative force of the mis-
sion. The women of the mission, however, who are actively
engaged in mission work (the mission to determine when this
condition is met) are entitled to vote on what is known as
woman's work. A missionary shall be entitled to vote after
he has successfully passed the first three semiannual language
examinations prescribed in the course of study.
Powers of the Mission. The mission has the general care
and supervision of all work within its limits. All questions of
policy, method and expenditure are subject to its judgment,
and all requests requiring the action of the Board should be
accompanied by the action of the mission upon them. Tours
of exploration or any unusual work should be undertaken
only with the advice of the mission.
The mission assigns and in general supervises the work of
individual missionaries, to the end that all forms of labor may
have the benefit of united counsel and may promote the in-
terests of the work as a whole. It is proper, of course, that
the views of all missionaries regarding their location and
work should be heard and fully considered, and if any mis-
sionary shall be dissatisfied with the action of the mission, an
appeal to the Board for final decision can be made; provided,
that due notice thereof has been given the executive commit-
tee of the mission. A full statement of the case, together
with the judgment of the mission, must accompany the appeal.
When the missions are sufficiently numerous and prosper-
ous to warrant the formation of an annual conference, such
a conference shall be formed, and the missions shall be gov-
erned according to the Discipline of our Church.
Executive Committee. The superintendent appointed by
the Board, and the secretary and treasurer chosen by the
mission, shall constitute an executive committee, ad interim,
to have authority to endorse as approved any request to the
Board. All actions submitted to this committee must have the
approval of the proper station or stations.
Mission Meetings. The mission shall meet at least once a
year ; it shall keep regular minutes of its proceedings, copies
of which are to be sent to the Board soon after each meeting,
120 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
for approval. On questions involving requests for appropria-
tions the expenditures of funds and the location, transfer or
retirement of missionaries, a two-thirds vote shall be re-
quired. In all other cases a majority shall decide.
Oi'i'iciAL Register
The Home and Foreign Missionary Society
Presidents — S. L. Wiest, 1891-1906; R. Dubs,
1906-1914; H. B. Hartzler, 1914-1918; U. F. Swen-
gel, 191S— .
Vice-President — At various times: R. Dubs, C. S.
Haman, W. M. Stanford, J. H. Thomas, J. K. Knerr,
W. E. Detwiler, I. Bower, D. Z. Herr, F. B. Niesz,
S. L. Wiest.
Recording Secretary — D. B. Byers, 1891 ; J. D.
Woodring, 1892-1894; U. F. Swengel, 1894-1910; J.
Q. A. Curry, 1910 — .
Corresponding Secretary — W. F. Heil, H. D. Shultz
and D. B. Byers, successively in 1891, but resigned.
B. J. Smoyer, 1891-1895; W. F. Heil, 1898-1902; A.
M. Sampsel, 1902-1906; B, H, Niebel, 1906 — .
Treasurer — M. Kunkel, 1891 ; J. R. Miller, 1892;
Jeremiah G. Mohn elected May 11, 1892, and con-
tinued until death, May 3, 1919. William H. Hendel
elected May 21, 1919 — .
Woman's Missionary Society
President — Mrs. C. F. Rassweiler, 1890-1892; Mrs.
Elizabeth Krecker, 1892-1904; Mrs. S. P. Remer,
1904-1913; Mrs. W. J. Gruhler, 1913 — .
Vice-President — At various time : Mrs. Elizabeth
Krecker, Mrs. C. F. Rassweiler, Mrs. U. F. Swengel,
METHODS OF ADMINISTRATION 121
Mrs. W. M. Stanford, Mrs. T. L. Haines, Mrs. I. R.
Rehm, Mrs. Josie McLain, Mrs. J. W. Thompson,
Mrs. Karl Kaupp, and Miss Emma Messinger.
Recording Secretary — Mrs. A. M. Baltz, 1890-1892;
Mrs. S. P. Remer, 1892-1904; Mrs. Ida M. Haefele,
1904-1911; Mrs. Emma Divan, 191 1 — .
Corresponding Secretary — ^^rs. Ada Collins, 1890-
1892; Mrs. W. M. Stanford, 1892-1894; Mrs. B. F.
Bowman, 1894-1896; Miss Carrie Bordlemay, 1896,
(office discontinued).
Treasurer — Mrs. N. G. Schneider, 1890-1892;
Mrs. S. L. Wiest, 1 892-1 893 ; Mrs. W. E. Detwiler,
1893-1918; Mrs. J. G. Finkbeiner, 1918 — .
Superintendent of Literature — Mrs. F. G. Stauflfer,
1890-1893; Mrs. Ada Collins, 1893-1896; Mrs. C. N.
Dubs, 1896-1900; Mrs. W. J. Gruhler, 1900-1905;
Secretary and Publisher of Literature, Miss Lillian
C. Graeff, 1905 — .
Editor Missionary Tidings — Mrs. F. G. Stauffer,
1893-1894; Mrs. Emma Divan, 1894-1898; Mrs. M.
M. T. Fouke, 1898-1899; Mrs. Ida M. Haefele, 1899-
1902; Miss Estella K. Hartzler, 1902-1904; Mrs. Es-
tella K. Steinmetz, 1904-1909; Miss Anna Crowell,
1909-1914; Miss Emma D. Messinger, 1914 — .
(Missionary Gem included beginning 1910.)
Editor Missionary Gem — Mrs. M. M. T. Fouke,
1904-1910.
Superintendent of Mission Bands — Mrs. T. L.
Haines, 1890-1908; Mrs. I. R. Rehm, 1908-1917;
Mrs. H. D. Shultz, 1917— .
122 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
Superintendent Juniors or Y. P. M. S. — Mrs. E. E. 1
Adams, 1894-1895; Mrs. H. B. Hartzler, 1895-1896; i
Mrs. A. H. Irvine, 1896-1898; Mrs. Josie McLaiii, j
1898^. j
Superintendent Cradle Roll and Home Department \
— Mrs. I. R. Rehm, 1903-1908; Mrs. J. W. Thomp- j
son, 1908 — . ]
CHAPTER XII
OTHER MISSIONARY AGENCIES OF THE
CHURCH
Our Church Periodicals do not fail to give the
subject of missions due prominence. The editors
themselves, Revs. H. B. Hartzler, D.D., W. H. Fouke,
D.D., W. M. Stanford, D.D., and W. E. Peffley, B.D.,
are all imbued with the spirit of missions, and do not
hesitate, but gladly promote the cause of missions by
their own pens and by the admission of articles from
other pens, to the periodicals under their charge.
These men and the periodicals they edit have always
wielded a powerful influence throughout the Church
by dispensing missionary intelligence, bringing inspira-
tion to our people, and promoting the various offer-
ings at stated times. Without the help of this power-
ful agency we could hardly succeed.
The Sunday School is a leading and valuable
agency for the development of the spirit of missions
and the gathering of missionary funds. However it is
altogether important that there be missionary leader-
ship upon the part of officers and teachers. Such
leadership will easily develop a missionary Sunday
school. Many Sunday schools show an increasing in-
terest from year to year, as indicated by contributions
received. We have some Sunday school classes that
123
124
EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
support a Chinese worker or a pupil in the schools of
our mission in China.
The Children's Day offering and the larger portion
of the Christmas offering come from our Sunday
schools. The schools also assist in swelling all the
other offerings for both home and foreign fields. In
the year 1918 the Children's Day offering was $13,-
799.15, and the Christmas offering was $11,81948,
making a total of $25,618.63 for the two offerings.
The Keystone League oe Christian Endeavor
also places especial emphasis upon the subject of mis-
sions. Not only does The Bndeavorer give the subject
a special place, but one C. E. meeting topic each
month is a missionary topic, on which occasion the
subject is given exclusive consideration. One cannot
be a good endeavorer without being actively interested
in missions. We have Leagues that are now support-
ing some native worker on the field. In our China
Mission the K. L. C. E. is practically the gateway into
the Church.
Our Colleges are more than mental training
schools, they grip the inner life of students, they ap-
peal to their spiritual natures. Religious student or-
ganizations, as the Y. M. C. A., the Y. W. C. A. and
the Student Volunteer Bands are means for the de-
velopment of Christian activities. Uninterested ones
are reached and led to become interested in religious
matters. Moral power is generated and forces are set
at work that become of great service for Christ and
the Church. The fact is that the Church must look to
a large extent upon the students trained in her own
OTHER MISSIONARY AGENCIES 125
colleges for future leadership. How necessary it is
that the Church nurture her colleges.
The Church has special need of well-qualified Chris-
tian men and women for missionary service. Where
shall they come from? As a rule, we must look to our
colleges for the best trained missionaries for both
home and foreign fields. We will be strong or weak
in our missionary operations in proportion to our abil-
ity to rally trained young men and women for service.
Persons are needed more than money.
We also note the fact that right now the Christian
student organizations of our United Evangelical col-
leges are supporting our missionary interests morally
and financially, and it is true that the interest in mis-
sions upon the part of our student bodies has lately
increased very materially. They have asked for defi-
nite objectives, and not only asked, but are doing
things that will bring forth fruit on our mission fields.
The Prayer-Meetings. It has been said that
prayer is the greatest channel of power. Weightier
than all human agencies is this one that links itself to
omnipotence. One person can accomplish much, but
when "Two or three are gathered together" and
"Agree," results are multiplied. We are safe in stat-
ing that more is being accomplished in the spiritual
realm of the Church's activities by means of Prayer
Bands here and there than by any one force in opera-
tion. We have authority from the Word of God to
give special emphasis to prayer.
For ten years there has gone forth a special effort
to have all our people become regular and definite in
126 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
prayer for missions. General Conference and the
Board of Missions authorized the preparation and dis-
tribution of monthly prayer topics for missions. The
first regular weekly prayer-meeting in every congre-
gation is asked to be a missionary prayer-meeting.
The pastors and congregations that have fallen in line
with this matter have not only realized a reflex bene-
fit, but have increased the f ruitfulness of our mission-
ary operations thereby. The publication of missionary
prayer-meeting topics in pamphlet form will be con-
tinued, and we expect increased interest and larger re-
sults in answer to our prayers.
Coopi;ration Essentia:,
Reference has been made to the various missionary
agencies. We do not forget that cooperation of forces
is essential to the success and continued prosperity of
any undertaking. There needs to be a mutual under-
standing of every situation and opportunity and a
united effort to accomplish good results. The highest
ideals of f ruitfulness can only be attained when every
department of the Church is actively interested and
when all work together to attain good results. An in-
telligent understanding of missionary needs, oppor-
tunities and possibilities coupled with faith in God and
a purpose to do the will of God will serve to draw to-
gether the various agencies into a phalanx of power
for service.
CHAPTER XIII
LATER FRUITFULNESS AND PRESENT
STATUS
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth
on me the works that I do shall he do also and greater
works than these shall he do; because I go unto my
Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name,
that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the
Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name I will do it."
John 14: 12-14.
The declaration of Jesus quoted above is astonish-
ing in the scope of its application. There it stands
with its vast fulness of meaning, and we would not at-
tempt to detract from either its fulness or its richness.
We only note that it has to do with the "works" of
him that believeth in Jesus, and that there is an inti-
mate relationship between works and prayer.
There is no sphere of activity into which we may
enter with greater expectancy and more confidence
than direct missionary effort. William Carey had a safe
Scriptural foundation when in an address at a minis-
ters' association in 1792, he laid down his two propo-
sitions : "Expect great things from God" and "At-
tempt great things for God." Surely Jesus gave us
the above statement as an asset for our undertakings,
and not as an alarm to frighten us away.
127
128
EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
Those who had a part in the founding of our Church
had faith in God ; they beheved in fundamentals ; they
undertook the missionary enterprise, not in a spirit of
self-reHance but expecting God to do things with them
for the glory of His name. Thus the work begun has
continued and we rejoice over its fruitfulness, yet we
wish that there had been more fruit.
Our Home Missions
Some Later Statistics. The following are tabulated
statements for the year ending October i, 1918:
Conference
Num-
ber of
Missions
Church
Mem-
bership
Con-
versions
Acces-
sions
Sunday
School
Enroll-
ment
Central Pa., .
Des Moines,
East Pa., ...
Illinois
Kansas,
Northwestern,
Ohio
Oregon,
Pittsburgh, ..
Platte River,
Total,
63
8,933
775
809
13,244
25
2,219
194
181
2,847
60
7,864
548
699
15,731
29
2,735
295
307
5,280
13
799
60
55
1,620
27
1,294
197
198
2,062
17
2,230
363
354
3,632
20
1,461
85
190
2,946
25
4,205
511
342
5,799
33
2,047
194
288
3,608
312
33,789
3,233
3,423
56,769
The following table shows a summary of Home
Mission results for the quadrennium ending October
I, 1918:
LATER FRUITFULNESS AND PRESENT STATUS 129
Four Years' Results on Home Missions
Conference
Con-
versions
Acces-
sions
Net
gain
Received
for
Confer-
ence
Treasury
Received
for
General
Treasury
Central Pa 4,909 5,023 1,302 $23,375 $22,212
Des Moines 1,062 991 146 4,529 5,534
East Pa 4,479 4,290 1,430 19,900 25,487
Illinois, 1,342 1,297 249 12,649 10,193
Kansas 626 569 91 2,551 2,078
Northwestern, 689 664 146 6,051 3,251
Ohio, 1,773 1.321 431 5,421 7,131
Oregon, 844 1,080 123 4,049 3,686
Pittsburgh, 1,963 1,527 4,685 5,686
Platte River, 1,267 i,47i 329 7,38i 10,055
Total 19,224 18,233 2,247 $90,597 $95,313
The Last Ttvelve Years. There have been 49,770
conversions and 50,131 accessions to the Church on
the home mission fields during the last twelve years.
The number of conversions for the entire Church dur-
ing the same time was 114,064 and the number of
accessions was 111,304. The percentage of our mem-
bership belonging to missions has averaged about 36
per cent, of the entire Church membership. About 43
per cent, of the number of conversions were upon the
missions. It will be observed therefore that the work
of our home missions is proportionately more fruitful
as statistics appear than the results upon self-support-
ing charges.
The Support of Our Home Missions. The preced-
ing chapter indicates how our Home Missions are sup-
9
20,5o6
79
10,201
31
4,182
32
4,161
70
2,615 91
2,233
23
4,767
47
1,402
00
38985
130 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
ported. In the fiscal year ending October i, 1918, the
various annual conference missionary societies raised
the following for their own work :
East Pa $18,817 96
Central Pa.,
Illinois
Pittsburgh,
Northwestern,
Platte River,
Des Moines,
Ohio,
Oregon
Kansas,
Total $69,278 34
The above total amount is $18,969.70 in excess of
what was raised in 1906. This is an increase of thirty-
seven per cent.
The following table shows the appropriations made
for home missions for the year 1918-1919. The first
column shows the entire appropriation, and the sec-
ond column shows what portion of the appropriation
is paid out of the general treasury :
Appropriations for Home Missions
Central Pa. Conference, $19,000 00
East Pa. Conference, ,
Illinois Conference, ,
Pittsburgh Conference,
Ohio Conference,
Des Moines Conference ,
Northwestern Conference -
Platte River Conference, ,
Kansas Conference, ,
Oregon Conference
Total, $108,715 00 $37,650 00
19,000 00
12,000 00
8,380 00
$3,000 00
7,500 00
3,000 00
6,675 00
4,500 00
12,960 00
9,500 00
9,600 00
6,800 00
5,600 00
4,700 00
8,000 00
6,150 00
LATER FRUITFULNESS AND PRESENT STATUS
131
Provisional for Herrick, 350 00 350 00
Provisional for Wyoming, 600 00 600 00
Miscellaneous expenses, including
printing, corresponding secretary,
clerical v^^ork, interest, etc., 5,05r 00 5,051 00
Total $114,716 00 $43,651 GO
The Board of Missions depends chiefly upon the
proceeds of the Self-denial, Children's Day and Christ-
mas offerings for the funds to support home mission
work. The following shows what was realized in the
years of 1906 and 19 18 respectively by way of com-
parison :
1906 igi8
Self-denial, $9,400 80 $13,526 25
Children's Day, 8,034 96 13,799 IS
Christmas 8,342 00 1 1,819 48
Total $25,777 76 $39,144 88
The total amount above indicated for the fiscal year
ending October i, 1918, was about fifty-two per cent,
in excess of 1906.
The following comparison of the appropriations for
home missions at three different times with twelve-
year intervals indicates the progress of our ability and
willingness to support home missions since our or-
ganization as a Church: Amount
Year Appropriated
1894, $38,475 00
1906, 75,125 00
1918, 114,71600
The Voice oe Missionary Leaders. The question
of the present missions outlook was put to missionary
132 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
leaders in the various annual conferences for the An-
nual Report of 1918. We append herewith the an-
swers :
Central Pa. Conference, Rev. W. B. Peffley, Corre-
sponding Secretary:
In the building of mission churches much improvement has
been made during the past four years. Some of the finest
structures have been reared on mission fields, and the at-
tractiveness of these churches has generally appealed more
successfully to the communities. God has honored the faith
of our people who have built with anticipation of success.
None of the mission fields have been seriously affected by the
war conditions, except, of course, by the requirements for
military service. The present fields of the cities and towns
offer the same opportunities for aggressive service.
The Conference Missionary Society has had under con-
sideration the extension of its work by locating missions in
the following places : Chambersburg, New Cumberland, Mt.
Union, Tyrone, all in Pennsylvania, into which towns many
United Evangelicals have entered.
The present outlook is encouraging from the standpoint of
the present strength and the present challenge of war condi-
tions. Our Church has always stood the tests and we believe
the conference will meet the increasing needs for devotion
and diligence. Some of the missions will be ready to erect
new church buildings at the close of the war, and are accumu-
lating funds for this purpose.
The greatest needs of our missions now may be summed up
in this challenge : Every mission shall recognize its true
mission — to preach and practice the gospel which puts spir-
itual realities first; to meet the needs of the heart-hungry
to-day; and to be prepared to "stand fast" in the post bellum
period of reconstruction.
Des Moines Conference, Rev. A. A. Couser, President
Missionary Society:
Our Greatest Immediate Need. The cry of men and
money has the smell of ages upon it, but although sounded
long ago, this is the loudest call that we hear in all the world
LATER FRUITFULNESS AND PRESENT STATUS 133
to-day. Men are needed as never before on the far-flung lines
of the Master's work. In our conference as never before the
call to-day is for men who are specially trained for work
of the kingdom. Leaders are needed : men of vision and a
corresponding capacity to impart that vision unto others.
Our people will respond to leadership of that kind. With
the educational advantages enjoyed by all our young people,
it more than ever demands that the minister be a well-quali-
fied man for his task. Then, too, the leaders of the future
will need to be men who are somewhat above the average
when it comes to ability to organize the working forces of the
Church.
Money, too, is needed as never before. Securing the neces-
sities of life is an increasing struggle. Ministers are in crucial
need of more liberal salaries ; they are, after all, God's serv-
ants, and deserve to be given stipends that will put them
beyond the temptation to turn into other and more lucrative
employments. But for the minister's support money is not
only needed : money to make missions self-supporting, money
to send the gospel around the world.
East Pa. Conference, Rev. A. E. Hang en, Correspond-
ing Secretary:
The following towns and cities in the bounds of the East
Pa. Conference have been under consideration as offering op-
portunities for new missions : Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton
(Easton, First, field), Harrisburg (Harrisburg, Park Street,
field), Shamokin, Wilkes-Barre and Wyomissing (Reading).
Several of these points ought to be taken up in the compara-
tively near future, and others ought to be carefully watched
with reference to their occupancy in due time.
East Pa. Conference territory is, of course, not virgin soil,
so that the prospect of extensive occupation of new fields is
not very large, yet do the prospective fields named above offer
an opportunity for extension that may not be despised and
ought not to be ignored. The outlook for intensive mission-
ary growth is very promising. With a growing knowledge of
the world-need on the part of the ministry and their indis-
pensable "allies" the women and the young people and the
boys and girls of our local missionary auxiliaries, the
134 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
churches of our conference will give an increasing share of
their worldly goods as well as that of an increasing number
of her best sons and daughters for pastors and missionaries.
This conference will continue to "hold the ropes" for those
of our brethren and sisters who go down into the "mines of
heathendom" and will constantly add to the strength of the
rope.
The more immediate needs are the visualizing of the "land
yet to be possessed" as belonging to Christ, the will to say,
"Let us go up and possess the land," the confidence that "we
are well able to overcome them," and the contribution of
men and means for its possession and conquest. That all
these objects may be attained there is necessary, first of all,
a ministry that will in holy, loving boldness, make known to
its people what is the Divine program for world-evangeliza-.
tion.
Illinois Conference, Rev. J. G. Finkbeiner, President
Church Extension Society:
Orangeville Mission was, by action of the quarterly confer-
ence, changed to a self-supporting field. It will, please God,
not be long until Kimball Avenue, Aurora, Polo, Brookville,
Ottawa, Terre Haute, Weston, Stockton, and Sterling will
follow the example of Orangeville.
This fact indicates that the "present missionary conditions"
are quite encouraging. The mission fields have taken an in-
creased interest in their own development along spiritual and
financial lines. They realize that a spiritual quickening also
means a financial gain. Of course, the progress of the work
has been interfered with by this great war which has taken
some of the most faithful and consecrated workers, not to
mention the financial demands made for war activities. Some
of the mission fields are well organized with large Sunday
schools, good Keystone Leagues and Woman's Missionary
Societies ; and all these work together for the development
of the missions.
We have good reasons to thank God and take courage.
While, of course, we would be glad if some mission fields
could be transferred from "good" to "excellent," we must not
become weary in well-doing, and with patient, persistent, pur-
LATER FRUITFULNESS AND PRESENT STATUS
135
poseful and prayerful efforts, He whose we are and whom we
serve, will not withhold His blessing; and so we will con-
tinue to plant and zvater and depend upon Him for the in-
crease. But for the planting and the watering we need men
filled with the Holy Spirit, men born and reared in the
United Evangelical Church, or at least men in harmony with
our doctrine, method and spirit, and whose loyalty does not
depend on promotion or the largest salary. "Lord, give us
men, etc."
Kansas Conference, Rev. B. F. Ludy, Presiding Elder:
New Missions, Men and Means. There are abundant op-
portunities for the extension of missionary operations, espe-
cially in our rapidly growing cities. Of course, in some of
these cities there may be plenty of churches just at present,
yet as the population increases other denominations enter the
work while we wait. H we only had more men and means.
We need men who will stand foursquare for God and the
Church. Men who will not apologize for our existence. We
need men of vision. Men who will earn the salary they re-
ceive.
The Present Outlook. The outlook is promising, as much
so as in any conference of our Church. I would again em-
phasize the need of men, men, men.
Northwestern Conference, Rev. D. C. Hauk, Presid-
ing Elder:
The Present Missionary Outlook has never been any
better. Setting aside some of the contesting barriers on the
pathway of progress, as much as we can, even a splendid
outlook. The present method of the missionary operations
shall largely determine the future of the outcome and the
character of work in the Northwest. The method of work
carried on by other churches to-day, successful in its results,
would certainly call for a change in our ways. Others employ
Sunday school missionary workers ; these organize Sunday
schools, hold revival meetings in connection with the work,
resulting either in an organization of a class or else, if the
response is not desirable, move on and go elsewhere. This
method seems rather satisfactory to other churches, and is a
136 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
splendid way of becoming established. I proposed this to the
Board of Missions some time ago, and strongly advocate it
even now. To try it out would be worth the while, surely.
Ohio Conference, Rev. L. R. Herhst, Corresponding
Secretary:
The present missionary outlook is better than at any time in
the history of this conference. The pastors are more enthu-
siastic along missionary lines ; there is more being done to
inform the people of the present missionary needs and oppor-
tunities.
The people have a larger vision of our possibilities, require-
ments and opportunities. They are giving more liberally to
support the work at home and abroad. They are inquiring
more as to the work and its progress and seem to feel the
responsibility for missions more than at any time. We have
more well-equipped, modern church buildings on our missions
than ever before. Our newer missions are well located and
growing nicely, spiritually, numerically and financially.
We need more missionaries who have a genuine missionary
spirit. Men who have a passion for souls and who are willing
to be "made all things to all men, that they might by all
means save some ;" men who are capable, properly equipped,
intellectually, spiritually, and who are very careful in their
administration, men sound in doctrine, and who are loyal to
our Church.
Oregon Conference, Rev. S. S. Mumey, Presiding
Elder:
When conditions permit we would like to see two more
churches placed in Portland, one on the east side and the
other in the south end. We would also like to have our Church
go into Coos County, Oregon, and into southwestern Wash-
ington. In our opinion, however, our policy should be in-
tensive cultivation of what we have for a few years rather
than an extensive development of new fields.
We are exceedingly optimistic as we look into the future.
Once the war is over the Panama Canal will likely open
the real trunk line to the West and a stream of settlers will
pour into the great Northwest and make the population more
LATER FRUITFULNESS AND PRESENT STATUS 137
stable. When that time comes, if we hold on during these
times of stress, we will find our Church located in strategic
positions for rendering the maximum Christian service to our
country.
Pittsburgh Conference, Rev. M. B. Borger, Corre-
sponding Secretary:
The present missionary outlook is as "Bright as the prom-
ises of God." Our most immediate need is a richer, fuller
outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon ministers and people
alike. We believe that our problems would all be solved by
such an effusion. Our specific needs are a firmer loyalty to
the Church, a deeper consecration and a willingness to make
greater sacrifices for the Church. We have noble examples
of loyalty and devotion but the spirit is not general.
We need a more educated, consecrated ministry, better
equipped young men who have a clear vision of the possibili-
ties of our Church, who are not afraid of hard work; young
men of -push and energy who do not rely wholly upon the
efforts of the flesh but who will fast and pray for the spirit
that possesses the people of to-day as of old, is that kind
which does not yield to a sandwich or plate of ice cream but
which goes out only by prayer and fasting.
Platte River Conference, Rev. H. S. Tool, Presiding
Elder:
As to the missionary outlook in this conference it is, as
in every place as great, perhaps greater than our capability.
Western Nebraska, with its new methods of dry farming and
its more extensive irrigation schemes would make a prolific
field and could be easily operated from the Kearney District.
Eastern Nebraska, with its larger cities and flourishing county
seats, contains some openings (as, for instance, Beatrice)
which could be very profitably occupied could real men be
secured and money be provided for their support.
In connection with the work of this conference is the new-
est and most attractive of all our western work and a field
which is prolific in opportunity, our work in Montana. In the
very midst of the Rockies in one of the great basins, the Big
Horn Range far to the south, the Big Snowies to the north,
138 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
the Crazies to the west, located between the Yellowstone and
the Musselshell Rivers is our smallest isolated mission.
This new work of our Church so different from the great
conferences of Pennsylvania, so small in its beginnings, so
vast in its opportunities, has come to attract the interest of
the entire Church. This interest has not to any appreciable
extent materialized into action, but it will, and we believe this
will constitute a center of interest equal to any in our denomi-
nation.
Foreign Mission Progress
Our China Mission. We shall not anticipate the
contents of Part II of this volume, that will tell the
story of the development of the mission. We here
make only brief reference, by comparison, to progress
on the field and the increasing interest at the home
base. The progress of our China Mission has been
quite remarkable, notwithstanding the obstacles, the
many difficult problems to be solved and the serious
reverses caused by the riots at Changsha in 1910, and
the war in 1918 between the Northern and Southern
forces in which our mission field was one of the storm
centers.
The real progress of missionary work, especially in
non-Christian lands, can not however be fully esti-
mated, much less indicated by figures. Yet we call
figures to our aid as indications of certain phases of
results, and in attempting to indicate progress, a com-
parison will be of value. The table herewith given in-
dicates, as far as figures go, the progress of the four
years ending December 31, 1918:
LATER FRUITFULNESS AND PRESENT STATUS 139
Membership:
Foreign force,
Chinese workers,
Church members,
Christian community,
Sunday schools,
Average attendance,
K. L. C. E.'s,
Actire members,
Associate members,
Educational work:
Schools
Pupils enrolled,
Medical luork (only Liling re-
ported) :
Hospitals,
Dispensaries,
Out patients,
In patients,
Out calls
Operations,
Value of property, $54,898 $123,078
The Annual Report of 1906 indicates that at that
time the membership was, at Changsha 18, Siangtan
21, Chucheo 3, and LiHng 8; total 50. Twelve years
afterward we had more than thirteen times that many-
members. Now we have a strong, well-organized mis-
sion with every department of activity in full working
order.
All Increasing Interest by Our People. This has
been steady and substantial from year to year. As one
of the indicators we note the increased contributions
giving the annual totals at intervals of four years :
1906, $11,81048
1910, 25,16328
1914 32,81269
1918 61,96241
Percentage
I9I4
I918
of gain
25
36
44
27
75
177
248
678
1,680
172
II
28
154
523
1,633
212
12
23
97
223
683
206
189
734
288
10
20
100
238
773
I
I
8,186
247
190
500
224
124
140
EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
It will be observed that the receipts of 1910 were
more than double the receipts of 1906, and that the
receipts of 1918 are nearly double the receipts of 1914.
Not only do statistics point to an increasing interest,
but we further note the following points :
1. People pray more and pray with clearer definite-
ness for missions and missionaries than ever before.
Such prayers are heard in the pulpit, at the prayer-
meeting, at the family altar, and in private circles.
2. Greater prominence is given to the subject of
missions than ever before. The subject is given prom-
inence at annual conferences, at conventions, at mis-
sionary institutes and congregational rallies. Mission
study classes are formed and people are beginning to
understand the importance of the subject.
3. People are more willing to listen to missionary
sermons and addresses, and to read missionary litera-
ture than in all history previous to the last ten or fif-
teen years.
Our Missionary Interest in Africa. Rev. and Mrs.
C. W. Guinter, who are members of our Church
within the bounds of the Central Pa. Conference,
are missionaries under the auspices of the Sudan
United Mission, an undenominational missionary
agency. Their field is in the southern part of North-
ern Nigeria, West Africa. Our people support this
devoted pair of missionaries, whose labors have been
decidedly fruitful, not only by securing converts ; but
also by establishing an institute for the training of
native workers.
LATER FRUITFULNESS AND PRESENT STATUS 141
During the eight years ending October i, 1918, the
funds for the support of Rev. and Mrs. Guinter were
administered by the corresponding secretary of our
Missionary Society ; but now, by request of the
Woman's Missionary Society, they are administered
by that body. For the quadrennium ending October
I, 1918, the receipts for this purpose were $6,280.50.
CHAPTER XIV
WHERE FIGURES AND STATISTICS FAIL
"The kingdom of heaven is Hke to a grain of mus-
tard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:
which indeed is the least of all seeds ; but when it is
grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh
a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in
the branches thereof." Mat. /j; ji, J2.
We often attempt to measure results of things per-
taining to the Kingdom of God by the use of statistics,
but we can only indicate approximately, and in part
the relative visible strength of an individual or an or-
ganized body by the use of figures, and to this extent
they have value. The work of the Christian Church
has to do principally with spiritual things, and there-
fore reaches into a realm and accomplishes results
that are beyond mathematical demonstration. This is
especially true in the work of Christian missions.
The value of individual effort, or of congregational
results, or of the fruitfulness of a denomination can
not be rightly measured by statistics. Sometimes sta-
tistics make a good outward show of work accom-
plished, and yet the apparent results lack in stability.
Upon the other hand, it often occurs that statistics do
not indicate great results, and yet the character of the
effort has been such that what Jesus calls "greater
works" are accomplished after all.
14^
WHERE FIGURES AND STATISTICS FAIL 143
It is therefore true that when a given number of
preaching places, a certain number of schools, a vary-
ing number of conversions and accessions, or how
many patients were treated in the medical department,
or what was done in any other department of a mis-
sion, are reported as the result of a year's activities ;
we have only the visible indications of some things
done; and furthermore, as pertains to conversions
and accessions particularly, only the beginnings of the
results of forces set in operation are manifest.
Furthermore, when we studiously observe the by-
products of missions as they may be seen in the edu-
cational, social, industrial and political world, we enter
a realm that is full of interesting and sui"prising inci-
dents that prove the great value and substantial results
of missionary effort as they follow the winning of
souls for the kingdom. Here, too, statistics utterly
fail to measure beneficial results.
A Christian mother in the middle west had four sons
that she had brought up "In the nurture and admo-
nition of the Lord," and trained them for Christian
service. They went out from the home nest and es-
tablished homes of their own in new communities.
Each one of them became the beginner of a new con-
gregation, the founder of a Christian church. Where
are the statistics that will bring to view the full meas-
ure of that mother's careful training which resulted
in the establishing of four missionary appointments?
The author can name a mission of our own Church
that has been a mission for many years, the peculiar
industrial conditions of that part of the city making a
144 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
transitory population. Nevertheless, the labors of our
missionaries have been fruitful in the conversion of
hundreds of people. From this mission there went out
a man who himself won hundreds for the kingdom.
The wavelets of power that have gone out from that
humble Evangelical mission have been felt in certain
industrial centers in cities such as Chicago, Kansas
City and others. Not only has the little mission had
an extensive influence, but the home influence has
counted for much, so that a mayor of the city, though
not a Christian man, said: "That Evangelical mission
on the south side is the best police force in that part
of the city," referring, of course, to the citizenship of
the community. Who will question the wisdom of in-
vesting money and service in a work like this?
Some years ago one of our Evangelical missionaries
conducted a revival effort in a small country school
house in the State of Iowa. There was only one con-
vert as the immediate result of that effort : a boy in
his 'teens. Some people thought that the effort was
hardly worth while; but in later years it was found
out that that boy became a very able minister of the
gospel. What will be the end of the stream of influ-
ence started by that Evangelical missionary?
The name of a strong, self-supporting and fruitful
Evangelical congregation located in the western part
of Pennsylvania could be given here ; a congregation
that is not only a force in the city, but that is liberally
supporting mission work in home and foreign fields.
It has a membership of nearly five hundred and a
property valued at fifty thousand dollars. For many
WHERE FIGURES AND STATISTICS FAIL 145
years this was a struggling mission, and sometimes
people wondered whether it paid to keep it up, but
there appeared sufficient fruit from year to year to en-
courage the conference to keep it up. After a num-
ber of years of patient perseverance, there came more
fruit, and now there is much fruit. Suppose it were
possible to summarize the results of all the by-gone
years, and who can foretell what is yet to come.
A well-known preacher of one of our strong eastern
conferences was at one time pastor of a certain city
congregation. In an appeal for home missions, it at
first seemed that he failed to grip his hearers, because
many of them thought, "Why give money for the old
country charges that are now missions?" The pastor
finally named three or four nearby missions and asked
all those present to arise to their feet who had them-
selves or with their ancestry come from those fields.
A very large portion of his congregation stood. Then
he asked all except the official members and Sunday
school teachers to be seated and it was discovered that
the larger portion of his officials were the offspring of
the adjacent missions. The people saw the point in
his appeal for home missions. That congregation is
now a liberal supporter of both home and foreign
missions.
The author had charge of a mission in the West
where he found a community that was almost com-
pletely under the thraldom of infidelity, where it was
said that there was but one person that prayed. A
preaching plant was established in a country school
house and finally a protracted meeting was held, a
146 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
number of persons were converted and a class organ-
ized. These were not the only results, for the power
of infidelity was broken and prestige established for
Christianity. Twelve years afterwards, one who had
been a hearer in those by-gone efforts came to the
author as a seeker for salvation and was led to receive
Christ as a personal Saviour.
Since the time of organization of the United Evan-
gelical Church in 1894 there have been reported 214,-
940 conversions and 209,889 accessions to the Church.
During this time 20,269 of our people died and 105,362
were reported "moved away." From a close study of
statistics and conditions we are led to conclude that
the majority of those who moved away went into com-
munities where our Church is not represented. Why
is attention invited to this matter in this book on mis-
sions? Because it is one of the trying features of our
missionary operations, especially in the six western
conferences, since out there our fields are more widely
scattered and the people have been more inclined to
move to other sections of the great and rapidly develop-
ing West and even into the large and new territories
of Canada. In this way we have lost thousands of
members, not because they became dissatisfied with
our Church, but because of their desire to better them-
selves materially in newer communities. Other de-
nominations have had the same experience, but the
larger ones have perhaps not felt this as keenly as the
smaller ones. Could we have conserved all our forces
as we gathered them by our missionary efforts, we
WHERE FIGURES AND STATISTICS FAIL 147
would be numerically much larger as a Church ; still
we have been doing proportionately as well as others.
The fact is that the United Evangelical Church
has not only increased her own number and laid a
strong foundation for a still larger service, but she
has been the generator of spiritual forces through her
aggressive missionary activities, that are now being
used in many ways and through various other agencies
for the glory of God, outside her own denominational
activities. Her spiritual descendants may be found in
almost every state in the Union and in many foreign
countries, and the lambs and sheep she has gathered
might be counted by thousands outside of her immedi-
ate boundaries.
Aside from this, the moral influence of our mission-
ary operations in every conference has a bearing upon
the social life of the communities where we operate,
upon industrial activities with which we come in con'-
tact, upon the educational activities and even in the
political life of the people among whom we operate.
Usually our ministers and people have been quite
ready to "lend a hand" in all activities that speak for
right living and the principles of righteousness, as for
example the fight against the liquor traffic.
The author may be permitted to cite concrete illus-
trations out of his own experience and knowledge:
A former minister of our Church could be named
who, by circumstances over which he had no control,
became a city mission specialist in another denomina-
tion and was instrumental as such in founding four-
teen new charges. This man was not one of those
148 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
who go away without good cause. He received his
"start" in Christian activity with us.
In Montana we were introduced to the State Secre-
tary of the Y. M. C. A., who told us that he had been
reared in an EvangeHcal home and converted at an
EvangeHcal altar. A few years ago, in Los Angeles,
we found what was then the largest Y. M. C. A. in
the world with a membership of more than six thou-
sand. At the head of the educational department was
a former Evangelical boy who knew what a family
altar is, for its fires had always been kept burning at
his parental home.
By invitation the author preached to a large Method-
ist congregation in a city of about 14,000 people where
our Church was not represented. At the close of the
service the pastor invited all former United Evan-
gelicals to come forward and shake hands with the
visitor. The representatives of ten families came and
it was said that five other families were not present.
Nearly all these had come from the same county in
western Iowa. The fact is that former United Evan-
gelical people have become the spiritual nucleus of
many a congregation of another denomination in new
communities where we had not entered.
We have just been informed that while we as a
Church are not represented in the State of Wyoming
by a mission or congregation, yet a former Evan-
gelical has, under another board dotted that state with
missions. Referring to the standing of our young
people when working with others, did you know that
at The Bible Teachers Training School in New York
WHERE FIGURES AND STATISTICS FAIL 149
City the places of leadership in the various student
organizations have been occcupied in later years by
United Evangelical students?
Referring to Christian activities in foreign lands ;
circumstances, in some cases providential, in other
cases because of our lack of enlarged facilities, have
caused a number of our own to take work under other
agencies ; so that former Evangelicals may be found
in South America, in Africa, in Korea, in the Philip-
pines and in India ; for example, the wife of Bishop
Robinson, of the Methodist Episcopal Church in India,
is the daughter of a United Evangelical preacher,
lately deceased.
Many more pages might be written illustrating in
concrete form how our fruitfulness reaches way be-
yond figures and statistics, but these will suffice. Is
it not well that we bear in mind that our work is not
primarily or chiefly a matter of rolling up statistics,
encouraging though they be ; but that we seek to do
the will of our Father which is in heaven, so that "The
Father may be glorified in the Son" ?
To lay up a "Good foundation against the time to
come," appears to be the thing of prime importance in
our missionary activities; remembering that "Every
man's work shall be made manifest : for the day shall
declare it because it shall be revealed by fire, and the
fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is."
/ Cor. J." /J. Jesus will finally say: "Well done good
and faithful servant,"
APPENDIX
THE VALUE OF THE MISSIONARY'S WORK
A Tribute to Pioneer Home Missionaries
Prom "Heroes of the Cross in America"
Among the true builders of our nation a foremost place
must be given to the noble company of pioneer home mission-
aries and their no less noble successors. They toiled for the
regeneration of the individual citizen. They sought with their
whole strength, as the tide of humanity moved westward, to
lift men steadily upward in moral and spiritual aspiration and
achievement. They labored, with scant praise of men, to the
end that moral and spiritual progress might keep pace with
material advancement.
They set forth the loftiest ideals for character building and
the profoundest principles for the guidance of men in their
relation to each other and to their divine Master. Their
teaching was enforced by their personal adherence to the
highest moral standards — by their zeal, their self-sacrifice,
and their devotion to the will of God. They had that love
of God, that love of their fellows, and that love of the word
of God which enabled them to build wisely and masterfully.
Many of the resident home mission pastors, in their efforts
to meet their widening opportunities, traveled from thirty to
forty miles on the Sabbath and ministered regularly to three
congregations. Notable self-sacrifice marked their work. In
a happy, hopeful, enthusiastic spirit they toiled. They fought
fierce battles within and without. They met and conquered
the temptations that come from obscurity, from isolation, and
from trials incident to the day of small things. Many of them
scarcely saw the beginning of the harvest that sprang from
the seed they sowed. But their Master made them equal to
their hard day. In spite of all adverse conditions they stead-
ily scattered the seed of the Kingdom of Christ, and from it
has sprung the Christian civilization of America.
ISO
APPENDI}^ 151
The Home; Missionary
By Rev. Robert Forbes, Secretary of "The Board of Home
Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church," in The
Home Missionary.
The home missionary does not receive the praise and com-
mendation of pulpit and press that are accorded the foreign
missionary. Yet, it often happens that his field has greater
difficulties and requires as much heroism and sacrifice as are
required in the foreign field. Sometimes he is on a frontier
circuit where the drives are long, frequently over bad roads,
vi'here the congregations are small and his income meagre.
His family is often poorly housed, and his exposure in all
kinds of weather is an element in the problem which might
cause even a brave heart to sink. I have known a home mis-
sionary to ride seventy miles by stage to reach a new field
when the thermometer indicated twenty degrees below zero.
Sometimes he is in a city, struggling with the difficulties of
a new parish. A missionary in the city has other difficulties
than those of a missionary in the country, but they are quite
as real.
The home missionary is the best police force. Life and
property are secure, not so much because the policeman walks
the street as because of the other great fact that the preach-
er's voice is heard on Sunday. The preaching of the gospel
develops conscience and intensifies and quickens the moral
sense of the community. As the preacher tries to find a
definition of the great words in life's large dictionary — God,
life, death, duty, destiny, judgment, heaven, hell — he brings a
moral and intellectual quickening to the people that could come
from no other source. He organizes the Sunday school, gathers
a congregation and preaches the pure word of God, and the
influence of his work tends to prevent crime and to raise
the moral standard of the community.
He is a patriot. His life and work are making contribu-
tions to the nation's welfare. He is a reformer. He is on
the right side of every great moral question. He is a leader
in the temperance reform, and always the foe of the saloon.
He is worthy of a better support than he usually receives.
He is making a large missionary contribution himself, in
cheerfully serving on a difficult field on a small salary.
i3^ Evangelical missions
The wives of home missionaries are heroines. We have
seen them in their humble homes and know well how fully
they share their husbands' trials and how bravely they con-
tribute to the success of the work. And, in the day when the
light of eternity shall shine upon the doings of earth, it will
be seen that the queenly women who shared the toil and sac-
rifice with noble men in obscure places, were important fac-
tors in the problem of the world's redemption.
Support the home missionary. "Home" is a large word in
this connection. "America for Christ" is the watchword —
the battle cry. America is the land of refuge for all man-
kind. America must be saved if the gospel is to be preached
"to every creature." The country is important. The city is
important. We are trying to evangelize both. We ask the
reader's assistance in this glorious work by contribution and
prayer.
Thk Work of the Foreign Missionary
From "The Foreign Missionary," by Arthur J. Brozvn
The variety and scope of the foreign missionary's work are
in sharp contrast with the work of the minister at home. The
latter hardly realizes to what an extent the effort of the
Church is reinforced by the social results of centuries of re-
ligious teaching. These helps do not exist in most non-
Christian lands and, therefore, the missionary must create
them. He must found not only churches, but schools, hos-
pitals, printing presses, kindergartens, orphanages, and the
various other kinds of Christian and benevolent work car-
ried on in this country. He must train up a native min-
istry, erect buildings, translate and print books and tracts
and catechisms. The gospel must be so presented as to touch
the lives of men at many points and they must be helped in
making the adaptation to new conditions.
In some lands, the missionary must even teach the men
how to make clothing, to build houses and to cultivate the
soil; while his wife must show the women how to sew and to
cook, to care for children and to make a decent home. The
phrase "missionary at work" is therefore not a misnomer.
Those who imagine that "missionaries have an easy time"
little realize the heavy and persistent toil that is involved in
APPENDIX 153
missionary effort. The fact is that foreign missionaries are
among the hardest worked men in the world.
Much of this work, too, is done in unfavorable climates and
amid conditions that tell heavily upon the strength and nerves.
The typical hospital, with work enough for two or three
physicians, has but one medical missionary and he must per-
form every operation and attend every sick patient, save for
such native assistants as he may be able to snatch a little time
to train. Schools, which at home would have a half dozen
or more teachers, have but one or two. The ordained mis-
sionary often finds himself obliged to unite the adaptability
of a jack-of-all-trades to the functions of an archbishop.
One missionary in China, for example, in addition to the
care of a large native church and the teaching of a class of
inquirers, had to supervise eleven day schools and thirteen
out stations, draw the plans for and superintend the erection
of a brick residence, a school house and several small houses
for native helpers. His masons had never seen a foreign
house or built a chimney and his carpenters had never made
a stairway, so that he had to direct personally every detail
from the sawing of the logs and the burning of the brick to
the laying of the last roof tile and the painting and papering.
Another missionary has the oversight of six organized
churches, forty out stations scattered over a wide territory
and including 1,000 communicants and 200 inquirers. He
superintends forty-six day schools with 460 pupils, a single
circuit of these schools involving a journey by cart or litter
of 500 miles.
PART II
A Venture of Faith
The History of the China Mission of the
United Evangelical Church
1918
Homer H. Dubs
Rev. C. Newton Dubs, D.D.
Founder and Superintendent of China Mission
Dedicated to the Memory of
My Sainted Mother
EMMA MATILDA DUBS
And to the
Women of the United Evangelical Church
Who helped to make the China
Mission a Reality
PREFACE
To write the history of any mission without experi-
ence as a missionary is difficult ; I crave your pardon
for any mistakes that may have come in thus. I have
tried to be as accurate as possible ; if I have made any
mistakes, I shall be glad to be corrected.
This account is intended to be more than a mere
recounting of events ; I have tried, above all, to pre-
sent a picture of the conditions on the field, of the
kind of work done, and of the kind of people the mis-
sionaries deal with ; for that reason I have endeav-
ored to put the foreign missionaries into the back-
ground whenever possible, and the Chinese Christians
into the foreground.
I owe much to the assistance of my colleague, Rev.
B. H. Niebel, D.D., and to his pubHshed reports ; also
to the clippings loaned me by Rev. J. Q. A. Curry,
which lightened my labors considerably ; to the editor
of The Evangelical, Rev. H. B. Hartzler, for allowing
me to quote so freely from that paper, and to Mr.
Eoiang, of our mission, for his help. Above all I ac-
knowledge my indebtedness to my father, Rev. C.
Newton Dubs, D.D., who has gone over this manu-
script twice and has made many valuable suggestions,
and to the other missionaries of the mission, who have
written for the pages of The Evangelical, from which
I have drawn most of my information, and who have
159
l6o PREFACE
furnished me with statistics, and without whose aid
this book could not have been written.
This book is sent forth in the hope that it may in-
terest others in missions and stimulate the interest
of those who are working for that purpose, that the
time may be hastened when every knee in heaven and
on earth shall bow to the one Father God, and to Jesus
Christ, His Son.
Homer H. Dubs.
Nanking, China, Jan. ^i, 1919.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter I Beginnings 163
Chapter II Entry Into Hunan 167
Chapter III First Years in Hunan 180
Chapter IV Changsha 196
Chapter V Siangtan 217
Chapter VI LiHng 225
Chapter VII Yuhsien 239
Chapter VIII ChaHng 248
Chapter IX KuHng 255
Chapter X Women's Work 258
Chapter XI Medical Work 267
Chapter XII The Educational System 273
Illustrations
Statistical Appendix 287
Pronunciation of Geographical Terms 288
Map of the Mission Field
II i6i
CHAPTER I
BEGINNINGS
The foreign mission of the United EvangeHcal
Church was begun in faith ; it was nurtured in faith,
and it is being continued in faith. Begun at a time
when a foreign mission seemed unwise, continued
through discouragement after discouragement, en-
larged when the opportunity presented itself, even
though the finances at home did not seem to warrant
it, this mission has throughout its history been an ex-
ample of faith in God. If God is for us, who can be
against us? If we are doing God's work, how can
there be any failure?
The true Christian is never content to think only of
himself, he must go and carry his good news to others.
There had been woman's missionary societies in the
old church, prior to the organization of the United
Evangelical Church ; they now organized themselves
more closely, and continued to meet after the Church
division, to study and pray about foreign missions.
The Church had supported a mission in Japan (started
in 1876) ; when the churches separated, that was
taken away from them. People upon whose hearts
the cause of missions has once been impressed can
never forget it, and so it was with these women. They
were not many ; they had no funds in their treasury,
but they were endued with the Spirit of the Lord, and
163
l64 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
with enthusiasm for their cause, and that always pre-
vails. They wanted a mission of their own ; they
prayed and worked for it.
The women were not the only influences working to-
wards the establishment of a foreign mission. At the
first General Conference in 1894, the Church adopted
the twenty-fifth article of faith. This was the first
article of faith of the kind to be adopted by any
church. From the very beginning the United Evan-
gelical Church has been a missionary church.
But there is a difference between adopting such an
article and starting a foreign mission. When the
women of the Church asked that this article be put into
action, that a mission be started, there were objections.
The Church was barely organized ; it had no finances ;
it seemed to many that any attempt to do mission
work would result in disaster. But God does not trust
in numbers nor in organization, though He often uses
these human pieces of machinery as His tools. The
advocates of a foreign mission would not be discour-
aged, but pressed their proposal. So a plan was pro-
posed and accepted by the conference. The General
Board of Missions was authorized to establish a for-
eign mission as soon as the sum of $20,000 should be
collected. In those days, when the Church and its
people were financially pressed, such a sum seemed to
put off the mission indefinitely, especially as there was
no actual mission for which to gather funds, nor re-
turning missionaries to arouse interest.
But the women of the Church were not to be dis-
couraged. They had faith in God ; they believed that
BEGINNINGS 165
if God wanted them to have a foreign mission, He
would provide the money. So they collected money ;
in their societies, in their Mission Bands, they gath-
ered all that they could. Thus they made possible the
establishing of the foreign mission for which they
were working. At the end of four years, when the
next General Conference met in 1898, the Woman's
Missionary Society reported that it had gathered $10,-
244.80, about half of the necessary sum. Such faith
could not be withstood. If the women of the Church
could raise $10,244.80 in four years, when the Church
was in financial straits and when there was no mis-
sion to arouse interest, how much more could the
whole Church do when it had a mission ? So the Gen-
eral Conference yielded, and directed the Board of
Missions to take steps towards the location of a for-
eign mission. A committee was appointed to decide
upon the location of a mission, composed of Bishop
H. B. Hartzler (the brother of one of our first mis-
sionaries to Japan), Bishop W. F. Heil and Rev. C. N.
Dubs (who afterwards became the founder and super-
intendent of the mission). Faith had triumphed.
The committee deliberated on the location of the
mission from October, 1898, until June, 1899. Calls
from Brazil, Africa, the Islands of the Pacific and
other places were considered. At last they settled
upon virgin territory : the province of Hunan, China,
which had never yet been occupied by any Protestant
mission. The next thing was to find missionaries.
The Board of Missions searched the Church for some-
one who would make a suitable missionary. They
i66 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
could find none. Then they turned to a man who had
been a zealous advocate of missions, who at the age of
eighteen had devoted himself to the foreign mission-
ary work (though later the Church strife prevented
him from carrying out this purpose), whose wife was
very active in the Woman's Missionary Society, Rev.
C. Newton Dubs. Already he was a little above the
age limit for missionaries, which is usually thirty-five ;
he had many interests in this country, prospects of ad-
vancement, and a boy to educate; but the call came
so loud and clear that he accepted, and on January lo,
1900, Rev. and Mrs. Dubs were appointed as mission-
aries. Mr. Dubs was appointed as mission superin-
tendent, with plenary power, to locate and found the
mission. They expected to sail early in 1900, but the
Boxer outbreak caused them to delay their sailing un-
til after the troubles were over, and then they, with
their son, Homer, arrived in Shanghai, China, on De-
cember 19, 1900.
CHAPTER II
ENTRY INTO HUNAN
The situation in China at the time when the super-
intendent arrived, was quite discouraging. The
"Boxer Year," with its seeming annihilation of Chris-
tian missions, was just over, and things were not yet
settled. It looked anything but a favorable time for
starting a foreign mission. But Christ can never be
conquered, and so the missionaries went on with their
preparations.
There had always been opposition to the foreigners
in China. For centuries the Chinese had been pro-
tected by the deserts and uninhabited wastes of
Siberia on the north, the almost impassable mountains
of Tibet and Central Asia on the west and southwest,
and the sea on the south and east, which, until the ad-
vent of the steamship, was also impassable. So they
had remained in proud isolation, never coming into
contact with any civilization at all comparable with
their own. When, about a century previous, foreign-
ers from Europe began to arrive at their shores, they
considered them, as all foreigners whom they had
known before, as barbarians, who were not worth con-
sidering. They did not want these "yang ren" (ocean
men) as they called them contemptuously; they did
not want their trade, nor the opium that they brought.
Dr. Morrison, the first missionary to China, who ar-
167
l68 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
rived in 1807, was classed by the Chinese with these
obnoxious traders. It took two wars before China
realized that things had changed, and that she could no
longer keep out of the brotherhood of nations. Even
then she opened her doors grudgingly. The spirit of
conservatism, backed by twenty-five centuries of look-
ing back at Confucius, was very strong, and every-
where in the empire there was the demand that the
nation rise and kill or drive out these interloping for-
eigners. This sentiment was especially fed by a series
of pamphlets, most inflammatory in character, describ-
ing the foreigners, and the foreigners' religion in the
vilest of terms. Dr. Griffith John finally traced them
to Hunan, to a "scholar" (a man who had received the
equivalent of a B.A. degree in America) by the name
of Cheo Han. This man was living in Changsha, the
capital city, and issuing these pamphlets, the vileness
and hatred of which is almost beyond description.
Other writers, throughout the empire, followed his
lead, but none approached him in virulence. When,
at last, the Chinese government was persuaded to stop
and imprison him, it was too late. The anti-foreign
sentiment increased. The people felt that the govern-
ment was either powerless or under the domination of
the foreigners, so they must rise to rid the land from
these men who were turning things upside down, as
well as from the foreign religion. In the last years of
the century, things came to a crisis. Bands began
drilling to fight these foreigners. The authorities, to
prevent this movement from turning against the Man-
chu dynasty (which was also foreign), turned it
ENTRY INTO HUNAN 169
against the Europeans and Americans in China. The
slogan of these "Boxers" (as these patriotic societies
were called, from a mistranslation of their Chinese
name) was to kill the foreigners or drive them out,
as well as all Chinese who sympathized with them.
Naturally, the missionaries, who were widely scattered
through the empire, suffered the most. In many cases
they were cruelly murdered, the mission stations looted
and burned, and the Chinese Christians likewise mar-
tyred. Some escaped after undergoing terrible hard-
ships. Our missionaries had planned to start for
China in July, 1900, but the news of these massacres
compelled them to delay until the end of that year be-
fore sailing.
The situation, when they arrived, was most dis-
couraging. In North China, Christianity seemed to
have been swept away. The Yangtse Valley (in
which Hunan is located) had not suffered so much,
but the missionaries had been compelled to leave their
stations and flee to the coast. The Allied Powers had
relieved the beleaguered foreigners at Peking, and had
compelled the Chinese court to flee, but the govern-
ment kept delaying the establishment of peaceable re-
lations with the Allied Powers, and anti-foreign senti-
ment was still strong.
Up to this time, the province of Hunan had not been
occupied permanently by any Protestant missionaries.
Before the Seventeenth Century, the Roman Catholics
had worked in the southern part of the province, but
the persecutions of that century had practically de-
stroyed their work. Before 1880 it is doubtful if a
170
EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
dozen foreigners had crossed the border of the prov-
ince. Protestant missions began in 1875 with itiner-
ating work. Although every other province in China
had been entered and occupied by Christian missions,
the Hunanese, with a characteristic proud independ-
ence, had kept them out. Changsha, the capital, is
only two hundred miles from Hankow, the great cen-
ter of trade and missionary activity in central China ;
many missions had attempted to enter this proud
province, but all had failed. The history of missions
in Hunan prior to 1900 is that of swift journeys
through the country, or of temporary location in cities
along the border. In 1897, a successful attempt was
made to open work at Chaling on the eastern border
(now one of our stations) and in 1898 Dr. F. A. Kel-
ler located there, but he was rioted out and barely
escaped with his life. The Boxer uprising destroyed
even the vestiges of missionary work in the province.
Hunan is located almost in the center of China
proper, and Changsha, the capital, is a little to the east
of the center of the province. Hunan is drained by
three rivers, all of them tributaries of the great
Yangtse River. The most important of these, the
Siang River, flows through the east central part of the
province, and forms the principal highway for traffic
with Hankow and thence with the outside world. This
river flows past Changsha and Siangtan, two of our
important stations. At present there is steamer serv-
ice from Changsha to Hankow, except for a few
months in the winter, when the river is so low that
steamers cannot come up so far. In 1897 a railroad
ENTRY INTO HUNAN 171
was built from the large coal mines at Pingsiang, just
across the eastern border of the province, through
Liling to the Siang River at Chucheo, which is a sta-
tion on the proposed Peking-Hankow-Changsha-Can-
ton line. In 191 1 the line was continued to Changsha,
and in 1918 to Hankow, so that now it forms a very-
easy means of communication between our chief sta-
tions. This is a great improvement over the old means
of travel, which were by sailboat on the tortuous rivers
or by sedan chair or on foot along the roads.
The country is hilly. The mountains in the south
are spurs of the Central Asian Mountains. The chief
occcupations of the people are agriculture and hand
trades. Rice is the principal product ; it is said that a
full harvest can supply the whole kingdom. The most
prized rice comes from near Siangtan. Changsha has
several factories. Minerals are very abundant. The
coal fields of the province are believed to be more ex-
tensive than those of Europe, including England. Iron
is freely mined. Zinc, lead, antimony, sulphur, tin,
copper and silver are plentiful. From Pingsiang
comes the coal for the greatest iron works in China —
at Hanyang, across the river from Hankow. A large
share of the world's antimony (indispensable in type
metal) comes from Hunan. When these mines are
opened, Hunan will become one of the leading prov-
inces in the country.
The people of Hunan are full of character. They
are noted for their pride, opulence, and especially for
their strength of mind, tenacity of purpose, and ad-
ministrative ability. They are intelligent, possessing a
172 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
manly, independent bearing. Hunan has furnished far
more than its share of the leaders of China. The
energy, independence and pertinacity of its people fits
them to be leaders in the new China.
The difficulties of our missionaries were accentu-
ated by the fact that they had to learn the Chinese
language. To illustrate what these pioneers had to
face I shall quote an experience of Superintendent
Dubs. When he arrived at Shanghai, owing to a mis-
understanding, there was no one to meet him. All his
baggage, trunks, handbags, etc., were piled up on the
launch which had brought him from the steamer.
"Here we stood in a strange country whose language we
could not understand, with no one to assist us. * * * At
first we despaired, for there seemed to be none who could
help us. I accosted a policeman, but he could not understand
me. Then I decided to help myself. Having come to this de-
cision, I at once selected a number of stout coolies and took
my place on the great pile of trunks. Not a word did I need
to utter ; I simply pointed out my trunks, etc., and these
coolies turned the pile of luggage upside down so as to get
one or two of the trunks that were at the bottom. It was
marvellous how dexterously they extricated my baggage and
piled it up on the dock, where Mrs. Dubs and Homer stood
guard over it. After checking it all off so as to be sure that
none was lost, it was loaded on Chinese wheelbarrows, while
Mrs. Dubs and Homer got into jinrickshaws.
"Up to this point I had not spoken a loud word to the
coolies, except to thank the one who saved me from a cold
bath, for in jumping from the dock to the tender (launch)
my foot slipped, and I had a very narrow escape. Had it not
been for the coolie, I should have met with a very bad acci-
dent. I'm afraid he did not understand my 'Thank you,' but
he appreciated the accompanying gesture, I'm sure, for it
pleased him immensely as I patted him on the shoulder and
smiled approvingly as he looked at me. The baggage was
loaded, all was ready, and yet no one moved, for I could
ENTRY INTO HUNAN
173
not make these coolies understand where I wanted them to
take me. The leader stood patiently at my side listening in-
tently as I said slowly, 'Missionary Home,' 'Mr. Evans,' 'Mis-
sionary Home,' 'Mr. Evans,' trying in vain to catch one single
sound that would give him a clue as to the whereabouts of my
hotel. I showed him the address written in Chinese; of
course he could not read, but he soon found someone who
could. With beaming face our caravan started. Mrs. Dubs
headed the line, followed by Homer, then came the wheel-
barrows and carriers with the luggage, while I brought up the
rear. I was thus able to keep my eye on the whole caravan
and prevent any straggling or loitering. How could I know
but what one of the coolies might slip off down one of the
side streets and make off with all that he had. To prevent
this I gave all to understand that I was watching them, and
as soon as one of them would walk instead of keeping in
that peculiar pace, something like a dog trot, I'd utter a sign
of disapproval and look fierce. This always had its desired
effect, for he would at once begin to trot again.
"We must have presented quite an interesting sight, for
many a native stopped and gazed at us as we wound in and
out the many streets, crowded with Celestials. * * * At
last we stood on the threshold of 'The Missionary Home.'
Mr. Evans kindly paid the coolies for me, thus relieving me
of a great burden, for I had no idea of what was a just com-
pensation for their work."
Four days after arriving in Shanghai, the mission-
aries were studying the language. But they could not
find any one who could teach the Hunan dialect. Be-
sides, the Chinese teacher knows nothing of pedagogy ;
he contents himself with pronouncing the Chinese
words, the students repeating after him. Any direct-
ing of the lesson or assignment of study must be done
by the foreign student. A month after arriving, Mr.
Dubs went to Hankow, 600 miles up the river, to lo-
cate nearer Hunan. A month later they moved to
Hankow, where they secured a house in spite of the
174 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
crowded conditions, almost by a special providence.
There they continued to study the language. Of their
teacher Mr. Dubs writes :
"Suffice it to say that the only word in the English language
that I have heard him speak is 'y^s,' and this he only used in
a case of absolute necessity."
When we consider the efficient language schools that
are now in existence, we see that there were many
arduous steps that the pioneers took, which the mis-
sionary of to-day can avoid.
At last, Hunan, the last closed of the provinces, was
open. The Boxer uprising, which was intended to
drive away the foreigners, itself paved the way for
missionaries to go to formerly inaccessible regions.
In Hunan there had been considerable disturbance ; a
Catholic bishop and some priests were murdered in a
most atrocious manner, and many Roman Catholic
Christians plundered. Protestant missions fared
somewhat better, but even their chapels were demol-
ished and plundered. The governor of Hunan was
called to account for what he had allowed to happen
in his territory. Thereafter foreigners could enter the
province. The missionary societies who had been try-
ing to enter Hunan thereupon cautiously moved in. It
is difficult to say to whom the credit belongs of effect-
ing the first permanent entrance. Some penetrated
from Hankow in the north, some from Kuangtung
province in the south, and some from the western part
of Kiangsi province, in the neighborhood of Chaling.
Dr. Dubs pushed his work at the language hard, that
ENTRY INTO HUNAN 175
he too might enter this newly-opened land. On May
21, 1901, he started on his first trip to Hunan.
Because this trip is so typical of itinerating trips in
any newly-opened territory, I shall quote at length
from a letter of Mr. Dubs to The Evangelical. He
secured the only first class cabin on a launch running
to Changsha.
"It was only a small room, six feet long, seven feet wide
and barely six feet high, on the upper deck, immediately back
of the pilot house. I could not stand up without touching
the ceiling and I could not stretch myself comfortably on the
bunk, but it was much better than anything else, and I gladly
took it. Furnished, was it? Yes, it was furnished with a
bare bunk across one end, that served as my bed at night
and sofa by day, a 'rickety' old table about two feet square
and a few stools without backs. I had to furnish my own
bedding, toilet articles, and any other comfort I might wish,
* * *
"On the launch I ran the gauntlet. Some received me with
scorn, others with contempt, others with evident curiosity, and
a few in sullen silence. On the part of the crew I was treated
with utmost respect. This had a decidedly good influence
upon the passengers, and our little launch had not gone more
than a mile or two before the vanguard of the throng of
visitors began to arrive in my room. I had congratulated
myself that there were two windows (opposite each other) in
my cabin, for I surely would enjoy the fresh air as we
steamed up the Yangtse. But, alas, in one way they were
a disadvantage, for they afforded the curious Chinese an ex-
cellent opportunity to observe the foreigner from every side.
I never was alone. In every direction I saw eyes, piercing,
curious eyes, watching every movement. Even the expres-
sion of my face did not escape their notice. My limited vo-
cabulary was taxed to the utmost. It was all the more difficult
for me to understand them, because they spoke the Mandarin
dialect differently from what I had been taught ; and, secondly,
because they spoke so rapidly, shortening the words and pro-
nouncing them indistinctly. There were a few whom I could
understand, provided they clothed their ideas in short sen-
176 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
tences, composed of words I had already mastered. These
soon formed a kind of body-guard, and acted as interpreters
between me and the crowds. One or two young men who had
traveled somewhat and seen foreigners, took especial delight
in talking with me. How I did regret it, that my knowledge
of the language was so limited and that I knew only a few
hundred words and could use them so imperfectly. Such
curious crowds I have never before seen. Everything I had
was of unfailing interest to them. They never seemed to tire
of gazing at me. Once and again my cabin was packed with
curious Celestials, whose presence was noticeable by odors
that were not celestial. One time especially the atmosphere in
my cabin was so stifling that I crowded them back out of the
door so as to get fresh air. The leader took advantage of
the situation to inquire about my coat. Of what was it
made? Where did I get it? How much did it cost? They
evidently had never seen a foreigner at close range before,
and, taking advantage of my good nature, they quizzed me
on every side. I threw back my coat so that they might see
my vest, shirt sleeves, etc. They gazed and gazed at my
vest. They asked to see what was under my vest, and so,
unbuttoning my vest, expressions of surprise and wonder
escaped their lips as they saw my white bosom shirt, stiff
collar, suspenders, trousers, etc. My fifteen pockets were a
great curiosity, and when I showed them that I even had two
pockets in the 'fly' of my coat they just roared with laughter.
My shoes always attract attention wherever I go. They de-
sired to examine that part of my wardrobe which I had as yet
not taken off, and were evidently quite disappointed when I
peremptorily refused to divest myself of any more clothing.
The leader was not, however, to be put off so easily. He
watched his chance and came around later to satisfy his burn-
ing curiosity. I took off a shoe and permitted him to examine
it carefully.
"To see me eat was especially interesting to them. My
servant was quizzed as to what we foreigners ate, and he was
equal to the occasion ; his imagination supplied the answer
when his knowledge failed him. Some few of his answers I
could understand, and I had a good laugh at their absurdity.
At meal time there was a general stampede for the best po-
sition at the window nearest the table where I ate my food.
ENTRY INTO HUNAN
177
Many heard about foreigners eating with small iron spears
and short swords, but in this case they did not see this, for I
had learned to eat with chopsticks ; in fact, for several weeks
my cook had prepared one Chinese meal a day for me, and
so I can use the chopsticks tolerably well, although I am
very awkward. It was embarrassing at first to be watched
at meal time, but there was nothing else to do but to make
the best of it. A few good-natured words served to ward
off any unpleasant remarks at my awkwardness and I was
very thankful that the majority stood by me. Yes, I ate
Chinese food. I'm quite sure I had rice, pork, chicken, chunks
of fat pork, leeks and onions, but should anyone ask me what
was in the soup or what other kinds of food were served, I'd
be compelled to say, I do not know. I did not eat one
single hearty meal, for I had the misfortune to see the cook
at work in his kitchen as I boarded the launch. The first
meal was served at 10 a. m., the second at 4 p. m. * * *
After each meal I had a basin of hot water brought and took
a good wash. * * * That I should use soap, a wash-
cloth, and a towel was the subject of much comment. The
situation was so ludicrous that I frequently buried my face in
my towel and took a good laugh. My position and experi-
ence can best be imagined if the reader will recall his visit
to some zoological garden or menagerie to see the great white
elephant or African lion or the curly-headed natives of some
tropical country. I can well remember how parents held up
their children, and called their attention to the paws, beard,
mane, jaws, eyes and ears of the great lion; every movement
was watched with untiring interest and was the subject of
much comment. Crowd after crowd passed the lion's den, all
laughing, jeering, and joking about the lion, which was pacing
to and fro in the narrow cage. Such was my lot. Parents
brought their children, held them up, pointing at my clothing,
beard, shoes, trunk, books, etc. Over and over again I had
to answer the following questions: Your honorable surname?
Your honorable age? Your honorable country? And to what
place are you going? What is your honorable business?
* * * The first day it was indeed a novel experience, the
second day I tolerated their curiosity, and the third day it
was positively annoying. How I did long for a few moments
12
178 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
of quiet rest, but from early dawn to late at night I was
continually watched, never alone."
Every missionary who has itinerated in a part of
the country where foreigners are new has had similar
experiences to this one. The curiosity excited by a
foreigner is an advantage, in that it draws the crowds
to him, but it is also a disadvantage, in that it deprives
him of privacy.
At Changsha, Mr. Dubs found one foreign mission-
ary living outside the city proper, and daily going into
the city to preach and sell tracts. He went on to
Siangtan, and there tried an innovation — going to a
newly-opened Chinese city in foreign garb instead of
wearing Chinese clothes. Immense crowds followed
him continually to see the strangely clothed man. At
times they were very noisy and at all times it would
have taken only a very little to excite the people to mob
violence. As he was walking with another tall mission-
ary, a Chinese was overheard to say, "It would take
ten of us to whip one of them. How big and tall !
Very tall !" His friend turned to the crowd and said,
good-naturedly, "Yes, we are men, you are only chil-
dren compared to us !" "Haiya !" was the reply, "No
no, we are men, you are devils!" That was the idea
the people had of foreigners, then and everywhere
since, until they came to know them better.
But the time was not ripe for a permanent location
in Hunan. There was too much opposition on the part
of the people, and our missionaries did not yet have
sufficient command of the language for active work.
ENTRY INTO HUNAN 179
So the language study was resumed at Hankow, and
at Ruling during the summer.
At this time the superintendent laid down a prin-
ciple for the work which has been a fundamental part
of the mission's policy ever since :
"We as foreigners can never reach the masses as such.
But among those we do reach will be those whom God had
chosen to be the spiritual leaders of this people. It is our
purpose to educate and train these men and women, then send
them out. By their lives and influence they will win their
fellow natives who will at a glance recognize their superiority
in every respect. Thus will Christianity commend itself in
the lives of these chosen ones of God, and the Chinese will
see that there is something more than human in our blessed
religion, when they come into contact with its fruits. Of the
times and seasons we have no definite knowledge, but God will
watch and care for the harvest ; all we have to do is to sow
the seed. He who giveth the rain will make it prosper, for
it is His work. * * * The enthronement of Christ in the
hearts and lives of the Chinese among whom it will be our
privilege to labor, and nothing less, is the aim and purpose of
our coming to China. Towards this end we will labor and
work, and our whole missionary organization with all its
ramifications must be in harmony with this aim and purpose."
CHAPTER III
FIRST YEARS IN HUNAN
It was not until November, 1901, that Dr. Dubs
took a second trip to Hunan. By this time he had
gained greater fluency in the language, and was better
able to deal with the Chinese. Up to this time, for-
eigners, even though they were tolerated on the out-
skirts of the city, had not been able to rent property in
the city itself. The London mission property was out-
side the city wall which surrounded this as every other
large Chinese city. The only missionary who ventured
to stay at Changsha (a man who was "independent"
or unconnected with any mission board) had to stay
on a boat just outside the city; he had a very hard
time of it ; the governor ordered him to be guarded,
every movement watched. He was compelled to go
out of the city at night, even though he could walk
through it in day time. In June of that year (1901)
Dr. Frank A. Keller, of the China Inland Mission,
rented a place in the face of great difficulty. Then he
wrote to Dr. Dubs, who had previously made his
friendship, and told him to come to Changsha, and
live with him temporarily.
The landlords of the city had banded themselves to-
gether in an agreement not to rent or sell to a for-
eigner, so great was their hatred of foreigners. Man
proposes, but God disposes, and His cause is not to be
180
FIRST YEARS IN HUNAN i8i
checked by any human scheme. As soon as Dr. Dubs
got to Changsha the location of the first station of the
mission was made a matter of careful consideration.
The question was as to whether it should be located in
anti-foreign Changsha, or in Siangtan, where the
American Presbyterians had located and where there
was less opposition to foreigners. After much prayer
for God's guidance, faith triumphed, and it was de-
cided to locate at Changsha. Dr. Keller set his Chi-
nese helpers to looking for a suitable house. God's
providence works in many ways. It happened that
nearby there was a good house vacant. It had the
reputation of being haunted, for several deaths had
happened in it in succession, and so it had been vacant
for almost a year. The landlord was overjoyed at the
proposal made (through intermediaries, as is always
the custom) that it be rented to a certain Mr. "Du"
(which is Dr. Dubs' Chinese name), and hastened to
conclude the contract. But when Dr. Dubs entered
the house, and the landlord found that in his haste he
had rented to a foreigner, great was his consternation.
The officials came to Dr. Dubs and begged him to
leave, telling how unsafe it was to stay ; the landlord
begged him to leave, saying that he would be boy-
cotted. Everything possible was done to get Dr. Dubs
to leave. But he refused to budge ; the contract had
been signed, the rental paid, and he stood upon his
legal right to the house. So the United Evangelical
Mission was the third to establish itself in Changsha,
the capital city of Hunan province.
i82 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
In a month Dr. Dubs went to Hankow and brought
to this house his wife and boy. Hardships were not
lacking. They had trouble in establishing themselves
in this Chinese house. In wet weather the walls were
damp for ten feet from the floor. They found it diffi-
cult to get lump coal to burn in their American stove ;
they could not get potatoes nor yeast ; in summer it
was intensely hot in their cramped quarters ; they
were lacking many of the things that make comfort
for an American family. Harder to bear than any-
thing else was the fact that they could not go outdoors.
Dr. Dubs, indeed, would walk a block or two on a
neighboring street daily, to accustom the people to his
presence ; but Mrs. Dubs and their boy could not leave
the house for fear of the people until the next spring,
when the popular prejudice abated somewhat, and
they dared to steal, by back streets, to the broad top of
the city wall, out of which the soldiers could keep the
people, and there they could take walks in the fresh
air.
As yet no missionary work could be done. Dr.
Dubs found that the Chinese which he had learned to
speak at Hankow was somewhat different from that
spoken in Changsha ; although he could converse with
an educated, traveled man, yet it was necessary to re-
learn much before he could work with the Hunanese.
For a long time the only service in Chinese that he
held was morning prayers for the household — the
servants, and any Chinese who cared to drop in. Fur-
thermore he did not have any experienced Christian
FIRST YEARS IN HUNAN 183
Chinese helpers ; for most of the work in preaching to
the Chinese has to be done by Chinese themselves.
It was not until June 15, 1902, that a chapel was
opened. Dr. Keller loaned Dr. Dubs Mr. Liu, a bright
Chinese convert of five years' experience, who could
act as evangelist. Dr. Dubs felt that now he knew
enough of the language to understand what the evan-
gelist was saying, so as to be able to guard against any
false teaching that might inadvertently have crept into
the preacher's mind. It was impracticable to buy.
property to build a chapel, so a room was fitted up in
their house for services. It was felt that even though
it meant staying in Changsha during the intense sum-
mer heat, it would be worth while to get started at
least, in the early summer, that there might be so much
of a foundation for active work in the fall.
The opening was a success. A baby organ, the only
one in the city, helped in the music. It meant much
for the few Christians to have another chapel ; for
it is very hard to be a Christian in heathen surround-
ings, and the Chinese Christians need, even more than
those in America, the stimulus that comes from weekly
attendance at Christian services.
At the same time, the outer court of the house, a
space some fifty feet square, with a roof covering part
of it, was fitted up as a street-chapel. This was opened
the next day. Here was held daily preaching for the
Chinese. Benches were brought in, the big front doors
opened, giving a free entrance from the street, the
sound of the baby organ or the presence of the for-
eigner drew a crowd, and the evangelist or some
l84 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
church member would begin preaching. This preach-
ing, interrupted by tract-selhng, would last all morn-
ing. A typical street-chapel is described by Rev. M.
E. Ritzman in a letter :
"The presentation of the gospel in the street chapel must be
leveled to the understanding of the hearers. The men who
crowd into the chapel know nothing of our God, or our
Saviour, or our Bible. They must be taught that there is a
God ; that there is a Saviour ; that we are all sinners. So
one day the preacher will talk to them on the foolishness of
worshipping idols. The next day he may show to those who
gather to hear him preach that we are all sinners.
"The things preached in the street chapel are such as the
great majority of us learned on our mothers' knees. All
classes are seen in the chapel, the coolie with his load, the
merchant and his clerks, the rich man, the beggar, and even
the proud Confucian scholar, who hardly deigns to look at
the foreigners. But the great majority of those who come
consist of the coolie and the laboring class.
"The order is such as would not for a minute be tolerated
in a church at home. But these men do not know how to be
quiet and reverent. Some of them seem to have a kind of
fear that the seat might charm them and cause them to believe
something of the doctrines preached. The preacher may be in
the midst of the most solemn part of his discourse when the
audience will burst out in laughter. Or he may say something
that contradicts their ancient beliefs, and a man in the audi-
ence will rise up to challege his statements. Several men
may begin to talk to each other. Some man, perhaps the one
in the front seat, will look back to the door, see his friend
entering, and immediately call to him to come and share
his seat with him. Another man has his pipe with him, and
very quietly (?) begins taking a smoke. Or one of the street
peddlers will enter with his long-stemmed pipe and begin to
work up a trade, charging a cash or two for several puffs.
Another has a pocketful of peanuts, or a handful of water-
melon seeds, and begins to satisfy his hunger. The coolie
enters with his load — it may be water buckets, or grain baskets,
or a basket of chickens, or even a load of squealing pigs.
FIRST YEARS IN HUNAN 185
I have even seen them with a crying baby in one basket and
one or two little piggies in the other.
"And one must not only reckon with the disturbances in-
side of the chapel. Those on the outside are often just as
formidable. The noise of the screechy wheelbarrows, the
curses of chair coolies, the yelling of children, the barking of
dogs, the gongs of the blind and peddlers, all come from the
street. It is nothing unusual for the clerks of a store to come
to the street chapel ; then when a customer comes to buy, the
shopkeeper comes to the chapel door and calls his clerks. At
once three or four or half a dozen men jump up in different
parts of the chapel and rush out to attend to their business.
A fight in the street, the opening of a nearby theater, a
passing procession may transfer the whole audience to the
street with the exception of about half a dozen sleepy looking
men, who do not seem to care even about what the preacher
is saying. But others from the street are constantly coming
in, usually filling the chapel very quickly again.
"The joys of street chapel work are vastly greater than the
discouragements. To see only one man drop in out of curi-
osity, become interested, and come day after day, until he
finally comes to the regular prayer-meetings, and then de-
velops into a faithful Christian, is a joy, than which there is
none sweeter this side of heaven. And the very knowledge
that you are sowing seed every day that sometime, some-
where, must bring forth fruit, is such as I believe only the
worker in heathen lands can ever fully realize. Discourage-
ments and weariness? Yes, sometimes; but who would not
gladly endure these for the sake of the greater joy set before
him?"
When a man becomes interested, he is invited around
to the daily vesper service. The Sunday service is not
for those who know nothing of Christianity, but rather
for Christians, and non-Christians who already know
something and can understand a discourse which deals
of such terms as "sin," "Christ," "salvation," etc. Be-
sides these services, there is the Guest Hall work — two
rooms are fitted up to receive guests in Chinese style,
l86 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
one for men and one for women, and after the services
the people who wish to learn more, come to these guest
halls, where the foreigner or an evanglist talks with
them, and endeavors to interest them in Christianity.
These services are still the foundational services in
mission work ; they are graded so as to teach the peo-
ple who know more and those who know less of Chris-
tianity. In going to a people to whom the term "sin"
conveys a hazy idea of certain evil deeds that may be
counterbalanced by certain good deeds, such as giving
alms to a beggar, to whom "Christ" is an unknown
proper name, "God" a term for myriads of idols, it is
necessary to deal gradually in imparting Christian
truth.
Later other services were added. Sunday school
work was first begun with the children in the day
school as pupils. There were no trained teachers, and
there were many other difficulties in getting started.
This has become one of the most successful forms of
Christian work. The Chinese religions neglect the
children ; that the Christians should think it worth
while to teach their religion to the children was quite
an innovation.
There was also established a workers' training class.
This met in the morning before the work of the day
began. Of this Dr. Dubs writes :
"It soon became apparent that I must take steps to bring
my men into a deeper and richer experience, if I would have
them do much effective work. They needed training, instruc-
tion, criticism, etc. * * * Thus every day is begun with a
service of prayer, 'just among ourselves,' and I am glad to
note the progress the native brethren are making. For some
FIRST YEARS IN HUNAN 187
weeks I have been trying to teach them to live a life of
prayer, to realize that nothing of any value to Christ's king-
dom can be accomplished without prayer and an utter de-
pendence upon the help of the Holy Spirit. It is in this
meeting that all important phases of the work are reviewed
and discussed, with a view of making our work more ef-
fective."
From the beginning great emphasis was put upon
the guest hall work. The guest hall was kept open all
day, with an evangelist or another worker in attend-
ance. This man would be ready to talk to a casual
visitor, and would turn the conversation to some reli-
gious theme.
Another phase of the work was tract-selling. In a
land where learning is so much emphasized, much can
be done through the printed Word. Consequently a
great effort was made to sell tracts of various kinds
and printed Scriptures. On every station, and on
every itinerating trip, an effort is always made to sell
tracts. These are prepared by the best missionaries
in China, and can often make an impression where the
missionary's stumbling talk fails. They are rarely
given away, but are sold far under cost — that the pos-
sessor may feel their worth by paying for them.
There are authentic cases where a tract bore fruit
after ten years ; the purchaser waited ten years after
reading the tract for more light upon this subject and
then found it when the missionary came and preached.
Of the women's work and of educational work I
shall speak later. The foregoing are the forms of mis-
sionary work which are at present very important, and
which form the foundation of the work of the mission
l88 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
on all the stations. Most of the work of the mission-
ary is like church work in America ; but owing to the
people's entire ignorance of Christianity, something
which cannot be realized by anyone who has not been
in a non-Christian country, it is necessary to add other
forms of work, so as to adapt the gospel to different
kinds of people.
In the summer of 1902 anti-foreign rumors became
very rife. They kept growing worse and worse, and
the people began to get into an excitable frame of
mind. Those conversant with the situation feared an
outbreak similar to that in 1900, for missionary work
sometimes is like sitting on top of a volcano ; it may
break out or it may not ; in either event one has to be
on the watch. Rumor had it that the cholera epidemic
was caused by the poison that the foreigners had put
into the wells ; that the foreigners would catch un-
suspecting Chinese and gouge out their eyes or heart
with which to make medicine. These and other simi-
lar rumors were circulated until the situation culmi-
nated in the murder of two missionaries in Shenchow,
a town in the western part of the province. This mur-
der could have been prevented by the local officials,
but they were anxious to get rid of the "foreign
devils" and winked at the action of the mob until it
was too late. The severity with which this negligence
was punished by England, whose subjects these mis-
sionaries were, cleared the air. The officials of the
province saw that the foreigners under their charge
must be protected- — and so they were protected.
There was no more disturbance of the kind in Hunan.
FIRST YEARS IN HUNAN 189
These two men were martyrs for the rest of the mis-
sionaries. From that day to this no missionary has
lost his Hfe as a result of anti-foreign mob violence.
The officials can protect the foreigners if they see it is
necessary. Whether such will continue to be the case
under the laxer rule of the New China is a question ;
but now the people are far more friendly than they
were then.
In October, 1902, the mission was definitely located
in Changsha. An opportunity was found to purchase
a large house situated on one of the main streets, a
little to the east of the center of the city. Although
the London Missionary Society had previously pur-
chased some property just outside the city, this was
the first time property was purchased for missionary
purposes inside the city. This property is situated on
the street leading to one of the city gates, where there
is a constant stream of people passing — a circumstance
which makes it ideal for street-chapel preaching. The
house was light and airy — an unusual thing for a Chi-
nese house, making it far more healthful than the one
then occupied. In front of the house proper were
some shops, which were turned into a street-chapel
(also used for the Sunday services) and a school
room. So the mission was located at this place. Later
on adjoining pieces of property were bought, and
though the property is now becoming too small for the
work, it is still, and probably will continue to be the
chief location of the mission.
That same fall. Rev. and Mrs. C. A. Fuessle arrived
in Changsha. They were the first reinforcements that
ipo
EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
had come to assist Dr. and Mrs. Dubs. The work had
become too great for two people to conduct, and Dr.
Dubs needed help very badly. Rev. and Mrs. Fuessle
had arrived in China a year before, in October, 1901,
but as there was no place for them to live in Changsha,
and as they could do no work until they had learned
the language, they spent their first year at Hankow
and Ruling, coming to Changsha in October, 1902,
when there was room in the newly-purchased house.
For some months Rev. Fuessle proved himself a valu-
able helper in the work of the mission, as far as his
command of the language permitted. But the seeds
of a disease which was in his system before he was
sent to China (diabetes mellitis) developed quickly
under the influence of the new climate, and in Febru-
ary, 1903, he had to return to the United States. It
was a great disappointment to him and to his col-
league that his promising career should be thus cut
short. His first public speech in Chinese was his fare-
well address.
That Mr. Fuessle should have to return on account
of his health produced a very unfavorable impression
at home. On this subject Dr. Dubs writes :
"Our general health is just as good here as it was in
America, and we can see no reason why a good healthy
person, with a good constitution, cannot live here just as in
the homeland."
Dr. Hume, the director of the Yale Medical School
in Hunan, writes :
"With reasonable care it is as easy to keep well in the
tropics as at home. If one is willing to study the conditions
in which he is placed, and to fit himself wisely into them by
Rev. C. A. Fuessle, Jr.
Died Dec. 1 1, 1903
FIRST YEARS IN HUNAN 191
adopting a few simple rules of health, it should not be hard
to keep well."
Had Mr. Fuessle remained in good health, the mis-
sion would have expanded much more rapidly. The
loss of this worker threw a much greater strain upon
Dr. and Mrs. Dubs. Mr. Fuessle was an exceptionally
gifted man. He had made excellent progress in the
language, far above the average. While in charge of
the guest hall work he won the confidence of the Chi-
nese evangelist and helpers ; all loved him and thought
very highly of him. Mrs. Fuessle was preparing to
start what would have been the first kindergarten in
Hunan. Why the mission should be thus set back in
its infancy seems hard to understand ; the lesson of
carefulness in choosing missionaries was deeply im-
pressed upon the board.
Mr. Fuessle's enforced return home only served to
increase his enthusiasm for missions. It was a great
shock to him that he should have to return. At first
he seemed to improve under medical care. Since he
could not be in China, he must interest others in mis-
sions. So he undertook a trip through the Church.
It seemed as if he were trying to repay God and the
Church a debt he owed in behalf of China. But his
exacting labors exhausted his strength. His infinite
willingness to do had led him too far. He laid down
his life upon the altar of service. On his last Sunday
he preached twice; Monday he attempted a curio
talk; Friday, December nth, 1903, he passed to the
home of his Father, for whose work he had given his
very life.
192 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
Thus ended the life of one whose faithfulness to the
Church and willingness to do God's work is an ex-
ample to all others. His life was brought to an un-
timely end because he served God so faithfully and
continuously. He wore himself out in service. May
God send to us also His spirit of service in such abun-
dant measure.
But even though the staff was reduced in numbers,
the work must go on and increase. In May, 1903, an
evangelist, Mr. Liu, went to Siangtan with orders to
rent a place at all hazards. Siangtan is one of the
largest cities in Hunan, about twenty-seven miles
south of Changsha on the Siang River.
Mr. Liu succeeded in renting a house not very far
from the present property, in the southern part of the
city, near the anchorage of the boats coming from up
the river, situated on the main street, where thousands
of country people pass daily. He was put in charge of
this station, conducting daily street chapel, preaching
and Sunday services, as well as guest hall work. Dr.
Dubs made a weekly trip to Siangtan to oversee the
work. This was the first branch from the main sta-
tion at Changsha. At the time it might seem unwise —
one man and his wife could not serve two stations.
But the faith that led to the founding of the mission
was theirs too, and they trusted that there would be
speedy reinforcements to aid them in the work.
On the days of June 19 to 21, 1903, there was held
in Changsha a memorable conference of all the Prot-
estant missionary societies then working in Hunan.
Ten of the thirteen societies were represented. The
FIRST YEARS IN HUNAN 193
missionaries resolved that, as there were so few mis-
sionaries in so large a territory, there was no excuse
for duplication of work. Consequently the province
was divided into sections, that each missionary society
may be unhampered in its own section, and that, ex-
cept in the large cities, where there was room for all,
only one society should be working in each town or
county. As a result of this conference, several of the
missionary societies readjusted some of their work,
that they might not trespass upon the territory of other
societies. This policy has been persisted in ever since,
and with two exceptions (the Roman Catholics and
the Seventh Day Adventists) has been adhered to by
all the missions. New societies wishing to enter the
province were assigned unoccupied territory ; and old
societies, wishing to withdraw, made arrangements
with the other societies to take up their work. In this
way duplication of effort has been avoided, and the
efficiency of the small missionary force has been
greatly increased.
The territory which has fallen to the lot of the
United Evangelical Church comprises the cities of
Changsha, Siangtan, Liling, Yuhsien, and Chaling,
with the counties in which they are located. Some of
this territory has been taken over from the China In-
land Mission ; in most of it we were pioneers. The
population is estimated at something like a million ;
the connection of the main stations by the railroad
gives it a great importance and gives the missionaries
quite an advantage in traveling. The people (except
in the cities) live in the densely populated country dis-
13
194
EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
trict. In this territory (except in the cities of Chang-
sha and Siangtan) we are the only mission working
(except the Roman Cathohcs), and the responsibility
for the Christianization of those people rests squarely
upon this Church. It may well make us pause to think
that our gifts and prayers will determine whether these
particular people will know of Christ and of His sal-
vation. If we fail, no one else will take up the task.
One other important event at this conference was
the coming of the Yale Mission to Hunan. The so-
cieties working in Hunan entrusted higher education
in sciences, arts and medicine to the Yale University
Mission. Thus there came to Hunan an institution
which has become known throughout China, and which
gives to the province an intellectual center and a means
of training workers that would be difficult, if not im-
possible, to secure otherwise.
On October ii, 1903, the church at Changsha was
organized with five members, and the first communion
service held. One of these members came by letter
from another mission, and four were baptized on con-
fession of faith, the first fruits of the mission. Thus
was begun the organization of our church in Chang-
sha. Five members may not seem to be much as the
result of two years of arduous work. But they were
years of seed-sowing; the seed that was then sown is
still bearing fruit in an ever-increasing number of
converts. But it is never safe to judge the Christian
Church by the number of members ; in those early
days, when people often joined the Church for other
than religious motives, it was necessary to go very
FIRST YEARS IN HUNAN 195
slow in baptizing Chinese converts; and the number
of baptized Christians represents a larger number who
are Christians, but who have not yet proved their al-
legiance to Christ well enough to be granted admission
to the organized Church. In the statistics at the end
of the book, an attempt is made to estimate the size of
the Christian community by adding together the num-
ber of Church members and the number of those in
catechetical classes and otherwise in preparation for
baptism — all of whom are either Christians or on the
borderline between heathenism and Christianity. It
was well that circumspection was observed in admit-
ting converts to baptism, for more than once it has
been found that the real purpose of a convert in turn-
ing Christian was to gain the foreigner's aid in a law
suit. Such converts are promptly expelled, and thanks
to its careful policy, the United Evangelical Mission
has had as small a proportion of such cases as any
other mission.
With the organization of a church, the first period
in the history of the mission closes. It was a period
of beginnings, of struggle and hardship, of intense op-
position, and small successes. During this period Dr.
Dubs and his wife worked alone, except for the few
months that Rev. and Mrs. Fuessle were with them.
Foundation laying is always slow work, and the best
foundations are laid slowest. It was a time when
faith was needed to step forward ; but faith tri-
umphed, and in spite of troubles with the language
and with the forces of heathenism, the mission was
firmly founded and a good beginning made for future
work.
CHAPTER IV
CHANGSHA
From this time forward the history of the mission
is the story of how, brick by brick, the superstructure
was built on the foundation thus laid. At first con-
fined to Changsha, the mission spread southeast, to
Siangtan, Liling, Yuhsien, and Chaling. Since each
mission station developed separately, we shall consider
them one by one, and carry the history of each station
through to the year 1917 before taking up another.
Changsha, the first station of the mission, is the
capital city of the province. It is a handsome and
densely populated city. The population according to
the only census taken, is 270,000. It is at present on
the railroad from the coal mines at Pingsiang to
Hankow, and is a station on the projected railroad
from Hankow to Canton, one of the trunk lines for
travel and commerce. Most of the mission boards
operating in the province have missionaries in Chang-
sha. Consequently it is the center for union move-
ments ; the Yale Mission and the Union Girls' High
and Normal School are located there. It is assuming
importance as a manufacturing center; from the
water-front twenty or thirty large smoke-stacks are
visible ; there are large antimony works, a match fac-
tory, and other establishments. In addition to the
trunk line just mentioned, communication is main-
196
CHANGSHA 197
tained with Hankow by large river steamers, except
for a few months in the winter; making it a place
easy of access.
Being the capital of the province, it is a place to
which many come ; men have been found in the most
distant parts of the province, and in other provinces
too, who have listened to the preaching of the gospel
in our chapel at Changsha. At such central stations as
this it is possible to reach a greater number of people
than anywhere else.
The development of the mission work in Changsha
is the same as that of any other station. The street-
chapel preaching, tract-selling, Sunday services, wom-
en's work, schools, Sunday school, and other such
forms of work have been continued and developed,
with varying success. Christian work at Changsha,
just as in every large city, has been hard, more diffi-
cult than at any other of the stations. This is due to
various causes. Not only does a large city present
more perplexing difficulties than any other place be-
cause of its size, but the presence of a large floating
population of the literati (the educated leaders of the
people), and government officials who often discour-
age Christianity, make it difficult. The foreigners,
resident in the city since Changsha was made an open
port, make mission work harder; these business men
show to the Chinese that our civilization is not en-
tirely Christian ; too often they illustrate vividly the
vices of the West, and the Chinese think that if these
business men are illustrations of what Christian coun-
tries produce, then they will have none of Christianity.
198 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
So Changsha, while an important station, has been a
difficult one as well.
In January, 1904, the first permanent reinforce-
ments arrived in Hunan — Rev. C. C. Talbott, Rev. M.
E. Ritzman, and Miss Marie Hasenpflug. The first
two came out as regular missionaries ; Miss Hasen-
pflug was on a tour around the world and stopped off
a year to visit her sister, Mrs. Dubs, and to teach
Homer, then in the grammar grades. For a year she
acted as Homer's tutor, and helped a little in the boys'
school. When the year was up, she felt the call of
mission work so much that instead of continuing her
trip around the world, she stayed, and is to-day the
principal of the Girls' Boarding School. If some of
those in America who are dubious as to whether they
feel called to mission work could just come to China
and spend a year at a mission station, they would see
the great opportunity it presents and would feel its
irresistible lure.
While these reinforcements were a help, yet it must
be remembered that a missionary is of little use for
the first year or two, that he is on the field ; that time
must be given him to learn the language. Even in the
second year he can do only a limited amount of work.
But these missionaries realized the situation, and were
willing to dive in and do anything that they could,
even though it meant neglecting the all-important lan-
guage study, and so slower progress in mission work.
So we find them doing things that no missionary has
done since, in his first year in China.
CHANGSHA 199
On April 3, 1904, four more Chinese were baptized.
It must not be thought that it is an easy thing for a
Chinese to be accepted as a Christian in full member-
ship. Ofttimes men will come to the Church who
hope to benefit materially from their connection with
the foreigner. To exclude such and to insure a good
foundation for the future Christian community, a rigid
process of weeding out is carried through before a
Chinese is baptized. The Christian Endeavor Society
(organized a little later) is watched, and those who
desire to study further are enrolled in classes, after a
careful examination on the part of the foreign mis-
sionary and a Chinese Christian sent specially to in-
vestigate. The report of this committee is considered
at the regular monthly meeting of the members, and
the person is accepted or rejected. If the person is
rejected, it is not to cast him aside, but to correct some
grievous fault; it is an attempt to help rather than to
injure.
These classes for study meet weekly or bi-weekly,
and are taught by the foreigner in the stations, and by
Chinese colporteurs in the out-stations. The course of
study comprises the central chapters of the New Testa-
ment, a catechism, and some book on Christianity.
But stress is placed more upon the devotional phase of
life and the practical application of Christianity to
everyday living. These candidates are carefully
watched and guided by visits and conversations. A
period of at least a year is the time for probation. At
last they are invited to meet the Examining Board,
which is composed of the missionaries, the Chinese
200 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
pastors, and some members, and the candidates are
given a rigid examination in the catechism and as to
their own faith. If they are passed, they are recom-
mended to a special meeting of the Church members,
and if accepted, they are baptized and admitted to
Church membership.
So it is seen that for every Church member there
are a great number of "inquirers," persons who ear-
nestly desire to be Christians, and in many cases are
Christians, but who have not sufficiently proved them-
selves. The number of Church members rather repre-
sents a minimum number of those reached; the ad-
herents of the Church usually number about twice as
many. An attempt to estimate the number of Chris-
tian adherents has been made under the rubric "Chris-
tian Community" in the statistics.
On March 17, 1904, the new street chapel was re-
opened. While the place was being remodeled, it had
been closed. One of the new missionaries describes
the scene :
"I wish you could have seen them as they came rushing in.
Dirty and ragged some of them were, others clean and well-
dressed and evidently of the wealthier class. A hymn was
sung and then the evangelist preached to this crowd the un-
searchable riches of Jesus Christ. * * * Our new chapel
holds about 200 when full, as it very often is. The doors
open on to one of the busiest streets in the city. This street
is traversed by the great majority of the farmers and students
coming into the city. At nine o'clock every weekday the
doors are thrown open, and our colporteur sells tracts to those
who step inside. At ten the preaching is begun. One of us
missionaries always tries to be present. We do this to get
the people into the chapel, the crowds being always much
greater when one of us is present."
CHANGSHA 20I
Another feature of the work at Changsha is the
monthly union prayer-meeting. This is a gathering
of the Protestant Chinese of every denomination. It
is a great event, in that it shows that the various de-
nominations, though distinct in organization, yet are
one in spirit. Indeed, in China, where the missionaries
are fighting the forces of heathenism, they reaHze the
common fundamentals of Christianity with a vivid-
ness seldom found in America where the fight for
Christ is not so severe. Just as the Allies were forced
to unite their armies when hard pressed, so when
Church union comes, it will be found to be the fruit
of Christian missions. Such a spirit of unity is a great
encouragement to the Chinese Christians themselves,
who cannot recognize the differences in the various de-
nominations which have won them to Christ.
To show the impression Christianity had already
made upon the city, let me cite an interesting item ; as
early as this year the governor of the province, unable
to find a sufficient number of school buildings, ordered
that some of the temples be converted into schools.
The idols were moved from their pedestals, and shoved
into alcoves, where they were boarded up. And this
was done, not by a Christian, but by a Confucianist
governor to further western education. Since that
time this has happened again and again. The first
impact of our civilization upon paganism is to bring
skepticism of the native faiths, but at the same time
it does not awaken a desire for Christianity. If there
were no missions, China would rapidly become
atheistic.
202 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
In November, 1904, another group of reinforce-
ments arrived at Changsha, Rev. H. E. Voss, and Rev,
and Mrs. A. I. Ferch. Of these, Mr. and Mrs. Kerch
were compelled to return to America in a year because
of the illness of Mrs. Ferch. Again it was a tragedy,
and a great set-back to the mission that these mission-
aries should be compelled to return. It is experiences
like this one, and that of Mr. Fuessle that have made
the Mission Board very careful to secure thorough
medical examinations of all prospective missionaries.
In July, 1905, the port of Changsha was declared
open to trade. According to the treaties, foreign
missionaries were allowed to reside in every part of
the Chinese Empire, but other Europeans or Amer-
icans could only reside in certain places which had
officially been declared "open ports." This declara-
tion opened the way to the establishment of a large
foreign colony in Changsha, which now numbers some
hundreds. It also meant that Changsha would be a
larger trade center than ever, and that it would be
subject to a greater variety of foreign influences. The
coming of the foreign business man, as mentioned
above, makes mission work harder ; the teaching of
the foreign missionary and the practice of the foreign
business man does not always correspond.
In October, 1905, the first Christian Endeavor So-
ciety was organized. This society was not so much
for young people as for young Christians. It was felt
that the Chinese who are just growing into a full
Christian life must have some place where they can
learn to pray, to speak of Christ, and to realize what
CHANGSHA 203
the fulness of Christ is. So in the Keystone League
of Christian Endeavor society the young convert prays
his first public prayer, gives his first testimony, and is
guided into the richness of Christian life. Here he is
not preached at, but practices what he has learned.
In the summer of 1906 there was a disastrous flood
in Hunan. The Siang River is a tributary of the
Yangtse. It is a small and shallow stream in winter,
but the freshets and melting snows of the mountains
cause it to raise forty or more feet and spread over
the country. These floods could be controlled, but the
lack of an awakened government has prevented it.
Every summer there is more or less of a flood ; some
summers it is extraordinarily large, and thousands
of people are made homeless, and many drowned. At
such times the foreigners have done a good deal of
relief work, assisted by contributions from America
and from the Chinese — such work has always ad-
vanced the cause of Christ in the eyes of the Chinese,
when they see what fruits it brings. So this time the
missionaries seized the opportunity, and by their re-
lief work won for their Master a favorable hearing
among the people.
The organization of a "mission" in Hunan dates
back to April 21, 1908. Up to this time the superin-
tendent had been responsible for the disposition of the
entire forces of the mission. Ordinarily a missionary
does not participate in the direction of the work of the
mission until he has passed the examination in the
third year's language work. Only those who know
the Chinese and the situation are sufficiently experi-
204 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
enced to decide matters of mission policy. From this
time on, while extraordinary matters were left in the
care of the superintendent, the policy of the mission
was determined by the missionaries at their annual
mission meeting. This mission meeting and its com-
mittees, stations the missionaries and the Chinese
workers, decides such matters as the purchase of prop-
erty, erection of buildings, and all important matters,
subject, of course, to the action of the Board of Mis-
sions in America, especially in matters of finance.
A new kind of Sunday service was introduced in the
summer of 1909. On Sunday evening there was held
an evangelistic service for the Chinese in which all
the active work was done by the laymen. Neither the
foreigners nor the Chinese evangelist takes a promi-
nent part. After a short time of prayer in an adjoin-
ing room, the Christians go to the street-chapel, and
there these men testify to the power of God upon
them. Everything is informal ; the people can tell that
it is not a scholar speaking to them, but one of them-
selves, who is telling of his own experience, and such
an address is very effective. In China Christians are
on the alert to tell their fellowmen what they have
found in their new faith.
The regular development of mission work was in-
terrupted by a local riot in April, 1910. Such riots are
always a possibility among an uneducated people
which will believe senseless rumors such as the fol-
lowing:
A member of the church came one day, telling how he
had overheard a company of people in a back room discussing
CHANGSHA 205
the situation. "They mentioned the fact (?) that foreigners
had always been guilty of gouging out the eyes and ears of
little children to use as medicines. An old woman who
worked in a foreigner's house, accidentally found a door of
a third-floor room open, in which she saw a large number of
eyes and hearts that were to be shipped to America to be
used in making very expensive medicines. On her return
from this room she was discovered by the missionary, who,
fearing that she would tell what she saw, gave her a cup
of tea; one-half hour later she was dead and her lips sealed
forever. This crowd of persons, deliberating in secret, never
questioned the story, but simply came to the conclusion that
it was about time to wreck all chapels and mission com-
pounds."
Any occurrence may start a riot. In this case, the
price of rice, the staple food of that part of China,
had more than trebled, due chiefly to the fact that
some officials and dealers had gotten a corner on rice
and that the prices in China were rising to approxi-
mately the level of prices in the rest of the world. Of
course this caused a great deal of suffering among the
poor people. It was aggravated by the fact that the
great rice merchants were shipping rice to other parts
of China, where the price was higher than in Hunan,
the province in which it is grown, and because the
governor, probably in collusion with the merchants,
delayed in establishing the customary embargo on rice.
At night the hungry people turned on the officials, and
began looting the governor's buildings, adjoining the
official residence. They succeeded so well that they
attacked the Norwegian Mission building. The mis-
sionaries had five minutes in which to get out of bed
and away. As the crowd broke in at the front door,
the missionaries rushed out of the back door, creeping
2o6 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
around in Chinese houses and up in lofts until the
morning. Fortunately a foreign steamer was an-
chored in the river and they escaped to it. Next the
mob turned on the China Inland Mission and the
Wesleyan Mission. The next morning the mob burned
these missions. Early that morning our missionaries
left the city. Dr. and Mrs. Dubs stayed until one
p. m. Shortly after they left the mob burst in, and
thoroughly looted the place. The windows, doors,
brick-work on verandas, clothing, books, furniture, in
short, everything movable was ruined, stolen, or torn
to pieces. Nothing except the bare walls were left.
Twice fire was begun in different parts of the com-
pound, but the Chinese Christians succeeded in putting
it out each time before any damage was done. The
missionaries lost all their personal effects, and were
left without a change of clothing or any bedding.
Immediately five gunboats, English, French, Ger-
man and Japanese were sent to the place to protect the
foreigners. The official residence of the governor had
been burned — a thing that had not happened in a thou-
sand years. Twelve days later a new governor ar-
rived, with I, GOO soldiers, who made a great display,
and conditions gradually settled down. The Amer-
ican government demanded an indemnity for the losses
of the missionaries, and in due course of time it was
paid. The missionaries accepted indemnity for the
losses sustained by the board, and for the personal
losses of those who cared to avail themselves of the
privilege ; however reimbursement was only asked for
actual losses and damage caused by the riot. It was
CHANGSHA 207
shown by previous experience that mission work does
not suffer by taking indemnity, except in cases where
the demands were exorbitant, and show a mercenary
spirit. Nevertheless, the missionaries lost many
things that could not be replaced, and the mission work
suffered a set-back. The buildings had to be repaired
or rebuilt, and it was a long time before the work was
as far advanced as before the riot.
It was not until August 27, 191 1, that a new street-
chapel was built and opened. It is a building 22 feet
wide and 36 feet long, on the street, where daily serv-
ices for those going by are held. After the church was
built, it was no longer used for the Sunday services.
The year after the riot missionary work was again
disturbed by the Chinese Revolution. So much has
been written about this event that I shall say little
here, except what affects this mission. The fighting
at Hankow began on October 2, 191 1. Changsha
turned republican on October 22. There was no re-
sistance. All the people and the officials, with one or
two exceptions, favored the revolution. One of the
generals, who hesitated when asked to become the
head of the new party, was killed. The provincial
governor escaped. A new governor was immediately
appointed, and that very afternoon the new provincial
Secretary of Foreign Affairs called upon the for-
eigners and read them the revolutionary manifesto.
The soldiers tore off all emblems of alliance to the
Manchus, and decorated themselves with a piece of
white cloth, the color of the Han dynasty. A large
white flag was hoisted above the government build-
2o8 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
ings, with the character "Han" on it, and Changsha
was repubhcan.
During the revolution it was of course impossible
to keep the people quiet. So, at the request of the
Chinese authorities, the ladies of the mission left the
city, and ultimately went to Shanghai, where they
would be safe. For about a month mission work was
interrupted ; the street-chapel was closed, and when
it was opened again, the people were more interested
in the Revolution than in religion. But in the end the
revolution was an aid to missions, in that it secured
religious liberty for the people. The Chinese have al-
ways been more or less tolerant towards foreign reli-
gions, but the specific granting of religious liberty
meant much. True, this liberty was not granted until
a few years later, but the fact that it was coming, and
the efforts made in its behalf meant much even at the
beginning.
More important, the Revolution changed the attitude
of the Chinese to the foreigner. This change was so
marked that it was astonishing. The Chinese re-
spected the foreigner as never before ; they became
eager to have him as their teacher; they sought his
advice on many subjects; they adopted his style of
dress, imitated his mannerisms, and showed them-
selves pro-foreign along all lines. A class was formed
in the Sunday school, composed of young men from
the best families of the city, teaching the New Testa-
ment in English. The Chinese did not make a rush
to get into the Church ; but the Revolution brought
about such a state of affairs that all classes are willing
CHANGSHA 209
to give respectful attention to the claims of the gospel,
and idolatry received a crushing blow in that so many
of the temples were transformed into schools.
During the time of the Revolution, the railroad
from Liling to Changsha via Chucheo was opened, and
one of our missionaries was the first foreigner to
travel on it. Now the two largest stations of the mis-
sion, Changsha and Liling, are joined by this railroad.
When it is remembered that previous to this time a
trip of 30 miles meant a day of tramping in the hot
sun over atrocious roads, or sitting cramped up in a
sedan chair for the day, and that this trip, which for-
merly took from two and a half to three days, was
transformed into a few hours' ride on a railroad, it is
seen what a great advantage the railroad is to our mis-
sionaries.
At the mission meeting of 191 2 an important change
v^as made in nomenclature. Before this time, the
larger appointments were called a "station." Now
this name was changed to "circuit," the boundary of
the circuit to coincide with the geographical bound-
ary of the Hsien or county ; while the terms "station"
and "out-station," terms used for a larger and smaller
appointment respectively, were retained for the ap-
pointments within the circuits. Thus each "circuit"
consists of a "station" and several "out-stations."
This change in the organization of the districts keeps
before the mind of the missionary that he is respon-
sible for the evangelization of the whole district and
not only for the particular town in which he is located.
At the same time an effort was made to open chapels
14
210 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
in charge of Chinese workers in the smaller towns and
larger villages on all the circuits, while the foreigner
remained more a superintendent than a direct worker.
This step was a distinct advance towards the complete
occupation of the territory in which the mission is
located, and shows that the work had now progressed
beyond the stage in which the main effort is to locate
new stations, to the stage where the effort is to occupy
what territory had already been staked out.
The great effect that Christianity had already made
upon China is shown by the request of the government
that April 27, 1913, be set aside as a Day of Prayer
and Supplication for the newly inaugurated govern-
ment. That China, supposedly heathen, the country
which in 1900 attempted to exterminate Christianity,
should turn to the Christian for prayer — this shows
what a great change had come. Of course there was a
good deal of diplomacy in the request, but this official
recognition given to Christianity set the stamp of ap-
proval upon it and marked an epoch in the progress
of the Kingdom of God in China.
The dedication of the new church at Changsha in
1914 was made the opportunity for a great evangel-
istic effort. This new church is the largest church in
the city and in the whole province. The campaign
lasted ten days, June 14th to 23d. Rev. Timothy
Richard, D.D., Litt.D., of the Christian Literature
Society, was secured. He is one of the best known
foreigners in China, both for his fifty odd volumes and
for his influence upon the highest officials of the coun-
try. At the dedicatory services an effort was made to
CHANGSHA 21 1
reach the leaders of the city. Each day was given
over to a particular class, while the two Sundays were
given over to the public at large. Admission was by
ticket only, and special invitations were given to those
whom it was especially desired to reach. The meet-
ings were announced in the daily papers of the city.
Several papers published daily reports, and one paper
published everything that could be furnished, from a
daily program to a detailed report of the addresses.
Meetings for the officials, the educators in government
and Christian schools, women and teachers of the
girls' schools of the city, the students, and the Hunan
Educational Association were held on separate days.
Specially prepared packets of literature were handed
the governor, the highest officials, the leaders of the
gentry, who are in reality the rulers of the province,
the leaders of the dififerent religions, principals and
teachers of the government schools, etc. Dr. Richard
made a deep impression upon all who heard him, espe-
cially the men and women of the educated classes. On
women's day fully a thousand women and scholars of
the girls' schools were present. A special invitation
had been extended to the governor's wife; when she
appeared she was greeted with a Chautauqua salute.
It was a new thing for the wife of the governor to ap-
pear at any public gathering, and when she returned
home enthusiastic, it showed that a deep impression
had been made. The governor gave a dinner at which
Dr. Richard was the guest of honor. Our Workers'
Summer Bible Institute was held at the same time,
thus affording all our workers an opportunity of meet-
212 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
ing this great man. It was a memorable campaign,
one whose influence will be lasting, and did much to
bring Christianity into favor with the leaders of the
city and the province.
The following incident will illustrate the quality
of the Chinese converts. One of our members, a stone
mason, rebuilt his home, and in so doing furnished a
front room with a pulpit and pews. The room can
hold from 80 to 100 people. Some of the students of
the Union Theological School have been preaching at
this chapel, and every Sunday this man, Mr. Huang,
brings with him four, five, six, or more men. When
the church makes such converts, its future is assured.
Many of the women cannot come to church on Sun-
day unless they bring their babies with them ; to pre-
vent the disturbance caused by these little tots, one of,
the ladies of the mission started a nursery for them.
The improvement in the church service has been about
one hundred per cent.
A series of evangelistic campaigns have been held
in Changsha. The first was conducted by Mr. Goforth,
of Hunan, in the fall of 1913, and was necessarily
much of an experiment. The second was held in the
early summer of 1914, at which the principal speaker
was a young Chinese minister from Hupeh. In Oc-
tober of that year a third campaign was held, at which
Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood Eddy were the chief speak-
ers. A large shed, holding 4,000, was built, and over-
flow meetings were addressed by one of the local mis-
sionaries. Some 1,500 men and women signed cards
signifying their desire to study the life of Christ in the
CHANGSHA 213
four gospels. This happened in the city where ten
years before it was a dangerous thing to preach the
gospel. So much Christ had already conquered, that
He was now sought after by the best men of the city.
On Easter, 191 7, the Changsha church was favored
with a visit by Bishop Heinmiller, Dr. Umbreit, and
Rev. Rank, of the Evangelical Association. Bishop
Heinmiller preached at the morning service. He also
visited Liling. The Evangelical Association also has
a mission in Hunan, in the western part of the prov-
ince. Bishop Heinmiller wrote, in his report of his
visit, "United we would have a splendid force at work
in China and together we could undoubtedly accom-
plish more than we can at the present time." In these
days when efficiency is the keyword of success, it is to
be hoped that this union will come both at home and
abroad.
Out-Stations
There are two out-stations to the Changsha Cir-
cuit, Chucheo and Lukeo.
Chucheo is a country place some 20 miles up the
Siang River from Siangtan, with a population of
about 2,700, with 1,000 more living at the station and
10,000 in the neighborhood. It is not at present of
much importance, but it will be the junction between
the main railroad line from Hankow to Canton and
the line to the great coal mines at Pingsiang. It will
be an important railroad center for traffic north, south,
east and west.
214 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
This station was opened in May, 1904. The first
worker there was Colporteur Koh. He was the only-
son of his parents, and when, soon after he moved to
Chucheo, his ailment of many years' standing became
worse, all watched to see how his father, a man of ']']
years old, who had been baptized only a year before,
would take it. A few months previous his baby had
died. With the death of this man, the family line
would be extinct. No greater calamity could happen
to a Chinese. The people hinted that it was a direct
punishment from heaven for deserting their ancestral
gods and shrines. But day by day the dying son ex-
horted his aged father to remain faithful and meet
him in heaven, for his race too would soon be run.
The whole village and surrounding country were
struck with consternation when they saw this aged
father rejoice that his only son had entered into the
eternal rest of God. There was no weeping, no idol-
atrous ceremonies, but all was quiet and peaceful,
more so than in many a Christian American home.
This old man, a Christian of only a year's standing il-
lustrated the simple childlike faith that takes the Word
of God as it stands, and trusts God's promises.
A chapel is maintained at this place, with a colpor-
teur in charge. The work has gone ahead slowly but
steadily. In the flood of 1905 the chapel fell down,
and the colporteur lost his personal effects. At first
this appointment was superintended and served from
Siangtan ; when the railroad was built to Liling, it
was made a part of Liling Circuit ; and now, as the
railroad connects it with Changsha, and Liling has so
CHANGSHA 21 S
many other out-stations, it is part of Changsha Cir-
cuit, and is served from that place.
Lnk'co is also on the main line of the railroad, ten
miles south of Chucheo, a village of about 3,000 in-
habitants, with 13,000 in the district. It was first
opened by the London Missionary Society in 1912,
which had a Chinese worker there. The property was
an old heathen temple, whose owners had renovated it
and deeded it to the missionary society, to be held in
trust until the local congregation would become self-
supporting. When the London Missionary Society
withdrew from Hunan, and turned their work to the
American Presbyterian Mission, we secured this place,
as it was in our territory. It is an example of how
Church comity works in Hunan that this place should
be turned over to us, simply because our mission sta-
tion was nearest to it. Another piece of property was
purchased, more centrally located, which now serves
as a branch chapel. A Chinese evangelist is located
there.
Changsha Circuit, now (1917), has 5 foreign mis-
sionaries and 16 Chinese workers. There are 2 cate-
chetical classes with 69 catechumens, a Bible class for
men and another for women candidates for Church
membership, with an enrollment of 10 and 16 re-
spectively. Every week there are two Sunday preach-
ing services and two week-day religious meetings as
well as a regular women's meeting, averaging an at-
tendance of 60. The Church membership is 137; the
Christian community (i. e., Church members and those
2i6 Evangelical missions
in preparation for Church membership, who are yet
being tried out; see page 200), is about 206. There
is a Sunday school with 267 members, a senior K. L.
C. E. with 137 active and 69 associate members, and
a junior K. L. C. E. with 32 associate members. The
Woman's Bible School, the Girls' Boarding School,
the Hunan Union Girls' High and Normal Training
School, and the Union Theological School are located
at Changsha, as well as the Yale Mission College, to
which the mission sends students. There is a boys'
day school and a girls' day school on this circuit as well
as those mentioned above. The Chinese contributed
$135 (American money) during the year towards
church expenses, as well as $690 in school fees. The
property, which includes one parsonage, two church
buildings, and a school building, is valued at $31,135
(American money).
CHAPTER V
SIANGTAN
Siangtan is about 27 miles south of Changsha on the
Siang River. No accurate census has ever been taken,
as is the case with most Chinese cities and towns;
estimates of the population range from 200,000 to
500,000. Probably the former figure is more nearly
correct. During the summer, when the river is high,
there is excellent communication with Changsha ;
small Chinese launches and large foreign steamers
make the trip. A branch railroad line is to connect it
with the Peking-Hankow-Changsha-Canton trunk line.
It is the largest business port in Hunan, and has an
immense shipping. The river bank is lined with large
and small Chinese boats. It is an important center for
trade from the southern part of Hunan and beyond.
Thousands of country people pass our premises daily.
Large parts of the city are on low-lying ground near
the river, and are flooded in time of high water. The
most prized rice in the country comes from near
Siangtan.
We have already seen how Siangtan was first en-
tered (p. 192). But the placing of an inexperienced
Chinese evangelist in the town was not sufficient.
There were internal and external difficulties that
needed the guidance of a foreigner. So Rev. C. C.
Talbott was stationed there (April 7, 1904). It was a
217
2i8 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
sacrifice for him to go alone to take charge of this sta-
tion before he had a working knowledge of the lan-
guage, and try to shift for himself. Those who have
never gone through the experience of living alone in
a foreign land where no one understands what you
say, and where you have no companions, do not know
what that means. But he did it willingly, for he real-
ized the importance of keeping a strict supervision
over the work.
Mr. Talbott began building a street-chapel in Au-
gust, 1904, and after the usual delays incident to build-
ing in China, it was finally completed on March 19,
1905. Missionaries from the American Presbyterian
Mission, the London Missionary Society and the Chris-
tian and Missionary Alliance were present and spoke
at the opening service. It is an illustration of the
spirit of union on the mission field that all the missions
working in Siangtan should be represented at the
opening of a chapel. Of the building Mr. Talbott
writes :
"Building in China is work that all dread because of the
worry and vexation connected with it ; and the ever-present
feeling that the workmen are getting the best of you, al-
though you don't know just how or where."
Yet if proper buildings are to be erected, it must
be by the missionary, for the Chinese do not know
how, and there is no one else to show them. Later a
missionary's house, an evangelist's house and other
buildings were erected.
In July, 1904, the first converts at Siangtan were
baptized and the first communion held. Since that
SIANGTAN 219
time the Evangelical community has grown steadily.
But Siangtan has been unfortunate, in that the dearth
of foreign missionaries and of trained Chinese work-
ers has made it impossible always to keep both a mis-
sionary and a Chinese evangelist at the place ; and
without both of these men, a station cannot be suffi-
ciently conducted. Consequently the work has not
gone forward as rapidly as possible. But Siangtan is
becoming more and more important and recently has
been developing better.
February 7 to 14, 1908, there was held at Siangtan,
as an experiment in mission work, a conference of the
people of the Church. Siangtan was then the most
central station. Some 50 odd people came from
Changsha, Siangtan, Liling and Chucheo. Three
meetings were held each day, with addresses by the
missionaries and Chinese. The time was just follow-
ing the Chinese New Year's, when there is very little
work done. The chapel was filled at every meeting
and the people felt it was quite profitable. But the
difficulties of travel in China prevented holding an-
other such meeting, and its place has been taken by
the Workers' Conference.
Siangtan has been especially blessed in that it was
the scene of the last labors of Mrs. Lilla Snyder Voss.
She was a teacher in the public schools of Reading,
Pa., when she decided to become a missionary, and
reached China in the fall of 1906. But she had been
in China barely two years when she left the work of
the Girls' School at Changsha to marry Rev. H. E.
Voss. With him she went first to Liling, later to
220 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
Siangtan, where she continued to do valuable work
among the women. In the summer of 1913 she de-
veloped an mcurable disease. The superintendent of-
fered to take her to America, where her life might
have been lengthened ; but she declined to leave. She
told him that she would rather stay in China, if it were
only for a year, to do what she could for those about
her, and die at her post of duty, than to come to
America and live two years under more comfortable
circumstances. Hers was the kind of spirit that
makes heroines and martyrs. She worked as long as
her strength lasted, leading meetings, teaching in the
Girls' Day School, visiting the Chinese women, re-
ceiving visits, and caring for her two children. She
was untiring in her activities ; indeed, she was an
efficient worker. She worked as long as she could.
When she could not go to the women because of her
infirmity, she had the women gather around her bed,
so that she could teach them and pray with them,
leading them on in the Christian life. She bravely
met her death at her post, doing her duty to the last.
On May 6, 191 5, she passed away, a noble example of
courage and devotion to the end. "Blessed are the
dead who die in the Lord, for their works do follow
them." The example of a Christian woman meeting
death with such courageous faith in our Lord has had
a great influence upon the Chinese of Siangtan. Hers
it was to sacrifice up to the hilt.
A union evangelistic campaign, similar to those held
in Changsha, was held at Siangtan, February 28 to
March 6, 191 5. The temple of the God of War was
Mrs. Lilla Snyder Voss
Died May 6, 1915
SIANGTAN 221
secured free of charge for these meetings. A Chinese
temple has the shrines at one end, in the middle a
large court-yard, and at the other end an elevated
platform which is used for theatrical performances.
On the sides are galleries for the women. The court
was covered with a mat shed, and lights, a pulpit, or-
gans, seats, etc., were put in. It was the first time that
a temple had been used for such a purpose in Siang-
tan ; the idols looked down upon a Christian campaign
with their usual dreary, dark, dismal faces. The chief
speaker was Rev. Ding Li-mei, a remarkable Chris-
tian preacher from Shantung, himself a marked illus-
tration of what Christ can do for a man. Mr. Nieh
and Mr. Tsuen, influential Chinese from Changsha,
also spoke. When the meetings closed, the signatures
of 1,227 people had been secured to a pledge that they
would come to the Christian chapels and study the
Christian Scriptures.
Two pieces of property have been purchased in
Siangtan, one on the main street of the city, where the
street-chapel is passed by thousands of people daily,
and the other five minutes' walk away. The K. L.
C. E.'s of the home Church gathered some $10,000
for the erection of a church to be called the "Siangtan
Memorial Church." to the memory of the missionaries
of the Church who have passed to their reward. This
church will be completed as soon as the troubled state
of the country, and the low rate of exchange permit.
222 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
Out-Stations.
Pantsishang is located across the river from Siang-
tan, and our chapel, which was opened in 191 5, is al-
most opposite the church in Siangtan. This suburb
has a population estimated at 9,000. A colporteur is
in charge. The foreign missionary makes about two
visits a week to this place. A Sunday school and
street-chapel are the features of the work at this place.
Shitan is another town with a population of 4,000,
about 19 miles from Siangtan, located in a coal dis-
trict. The best lime in this part of the province is pre-
pared there. It was opened in 1914 and a colporteur
is stationed at the place.
Kutangkiao is a town of about 1,000, half way be-
tween Siangtan and Huashih. In 1916 a chapel was
rented there, but as there is no available worker, none
has been posted there.
Shahp'u is half way between Kutangkiao and Hua-
shih, a village of about 1,500 people. It is in a farm-
ing community, as are all these places. Only two
miles away is another prosperous village, Chukialong,
the home of one of the colporteurs. When, after
much urging, the missionary visited this place, he
found that seven families had discarded their idols
and wished regular service, and that the leading man
of the town offered his hall for meetings. However
it was found better to locate at Shahp'u, which was
done in 1917, and visit Chukialong from this place.
So the work grows.
SIANGTAN
223
Huashih is a thriving business place in a farming
community, about 30 miles from Siangtan. It has a
population of about 4,000. A number of the Siangtan
Christians or their parents lived here, and so our at-
tention was directed to this place. It was opened
in 1907 and a colporteur was first stationed there in
1908-1909, and a well-situated building was purchased
in 1913. At the time of the riot in Changsha in 1910,
a member of the Boxer Society from Shangtung
stirred up trouble at Huashih, and the chapel was par-
tially destroyed. But the Chinese official acted ener-
getically ; after a skirmish the leaders of the mob were
punished, and the property restored. A place such as
Huashih is visited by the missionary twice a quarter,
and a Chinese evangelist is stationed there. There are
21 members in the congregation, with a boys' day
school, Sunday school, etc.
Siangtan Circuit, now (1917), has 4 foreign mis-
sionaries and 14 Chinese workers, with a Church
membership of 147, and a Christian community (see
page 200) of 347. There are 8 catechetical classes
with 50 members and a Bible class for women candi-
dates for Church membership with 12 members.
Every week there are 7 Sunday preaching services and
5 week-day religious services as well as 2 women's
meetings, with an average attendance of 70. There
are 5 Sunday schools with 247 members in all, 4
senior K. L. C. E.'s with 114 active and 155 associate
members, and a junior K. L. C. E. with 76 active mem-
bers. There are 2 boys' day schools, a girls' day school
224 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
and one other school. During the year the Chinese
community has contributed $60 for Christian work,
as well as $80 in school fees. The property, which in-
cludes 2 parsonages and a church building, as well as
other buildings, is valued at $21,717 (American
money).
CHAPTER VI
LILING
Liling is a city of from 30,000 to 60,000 people, 45
miles southeast of Changsha. It is situated on the
Luh-kiang, or Green River, a tributary of the Siang.
It is the county seat of a county whose population is
about 500,000. The country is mountainous, inter-
spersed with many fertile and beautiful valleys. The
hills are largely covered with trees, a great many of
which have been planted in recent years. Farming is
the principal occupation but the region is rich in un-
touched minerals. A great deal of tea is prepared in
the district. Some 30 miles east are the great Ping-
siang coal mines, which are reported to be able to turn
out 2,000 tons a day. The railroad from these mines
runs through Liling, to Chucheo, Changsha and Han-
kow. However, when the mission first came to Liling
the railroad only ran as far as that city. The city is
comparatively clean, one of the cleanest in the prov-
ince. The people are generally well-to-do, and beg-
gars are scarce. In the first years that the mission was
there, the people were very conservative, staunch idol-
aters, with a good deal of devotion to their gods. This
district is in the east central part of the province, bor-
dering on the province of Kiangsi.
Until this mission came to Liling, there was no rep-
resentative of Christ in the whole Hsien (county).
IS 22s
226 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
Others had itinerated there, but none had located
there permanently. In April, 1904, Evangelist Liu
went there, and rented a small place to sell books. It
was our intention to open cautiously, and gradually
overcome the opposition of the people. He returned,
leaving a colporteur in charge. A few days later, Dr.
Dubs started for Liling, but no sooner did he reach
Siangtan than that colporteur arrived, telling that he
had been thrown out of the house and driven from the
place when the people discovered that it was a Chris-
tian book-shop that had been opened. Dr. Dubs re-
ported the fact to the Chinese authorities in Changsha
and started for Liling. He found the evangelist and
colporteur had preceded him, and they were busy sell-
ing tracts from a book-stand on the street in front of
the rented place. The landlord begged them to retire,
and was backed by the guild of landlords. It had been
the boast of the people that no mission had obtained
a footing in the county. Dr. Dubs demanded of the
magistrate that the mission be granted its treaty rights,
and be given possession of the place. After ten days
of dilly-dallying he at last gave in, and on April 25,
1904, they regained possession. On May 5th, a street-
chapel was opened.
A few weeks later Rev. Ritzman made an itinerating
trip to Liling. His account is so typical of such a trip
that I quote parts of it here :
It was our custom when traveling between Changsha
and Siangtan always to take tracts with us and sell on the
boat, reaching some in this way, perhaps, who would not be
reached otherwise. That afternoon the boat was crowded
with Chinese. We had taken a good supply of tracts along
LILING
227
and we made use of this opportunity to sell 160 cash worth
of tracts. We reached Siangtan about 5 p. m., had supper
with Brother Talbott, and then went to the evening meeting.
After the meeting Brother Dubs, Brother Talbott and I
went down to the river and took a night boat for Chucheo.
It was only a small boat, none of us could stand upright and
it is hard to tell how many Chinese were already on board.
Here we lay down to sleep. It was as full as seven in a bed,
and for some reason or other I actually thought several times
of sardines packed in a can. Yet I think we all got a pretty
fair night's rest. When there is no alternative you can sleep
almost anywhere. It was quite amusing to see some of the
peculiar twists and shapes which some of the Chinese as-
sumed, and they seemed perfectly contented and happy. It
was only twenty miles from Siangtan to Chucheo, and we
expected to be at our destination at daybreak. But the wind
that had been strong in the afternoon died down, and when
we awoke we found ourselves still ten miles away. We de-
cided walking was better than staying in the boat, and as
soon as the boat could pull to the shore we started out.
After a walk of about five miles we stopped for breakfast at
a small country inn, not taking more than some tea and a cer-
tain kind of bean, which we ate raw.
About eleven we reached our destination, had dinner, and
then Brother Dubs and Brother Talbott returned to Siangtan,
and I was all alone in the midst of a crowd of Chinese. I
felt verily that I had now to sink or swim, live or die, sur-
vive or perish. A few minutes later I had my goods loaded
in a wheelbarrow and we started for Liling in a pouring rain
that made me wonder whether we would not need to swim
almost in some places. Such misfortune, however, was not
mine.
We made ten miles more that afternoon, then stopped at
the inn of a little village for the night. I made my supper
on rice and eggs, preferring for my own reasons not to par-
take of the dish that my teacher thought so fine. We were
shown into a little room that looked as if it might, perchance,
have been cleaned once or twice since Methuselah's time. It
had only a dirt floor, had no ceiling except the black, dirty
roof some fifteen or twenty feet up. On the roof there was
a little window perhaps five inches by ten for light. I was
228 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
quite tired, but patented board springs, a bed too short, and
a chorus of innumerable mosquitoes are not conducive to
sound, refreshing sleep, and the night seemed somewhat long
and wearisome.
"Before six the next morning we were off for another
tramp of twenty miles. Shortly after wc started, the barrow
man and the soldiers stopped about an hour for breakfast.
Thereafter we kept up a continuous tramp until twelve, with
only occasional brief stops for drinking tea. People at home
often laugh over the tea drinking of the Chinese. But what a
blessing to the missionary that they do drink tea. Their water
is utterly unfit to drink, and in making tea the water is at
least thoroughly boiled and another flavor added.
A dinner after a thirteen-mile tramp without a breakfast
tastes fine, if it is cooked at a Chinese inn, and I thoroughly
enjoyed it. A little before four we reached our chapel.
* * *
The country through which we passed is for the most part
very beautiful. The road between Chucheo and Liling winds
in and out among hills that make one think of the mountains
of the old Keystone State. In between the hills there are
beautiful stretches of green rice fields, often rising terrace
above terrace. But all this scenery is marred by the altars
and temples in high and low places. * * *
One of the most trying things on such a trip, more so than
lack of proper food and accommodations, even, is the curi-
osity of the Chinese. One may think this a small matter, but
let such an one try it for a few weeks. Many of the natives
in the region through which we passed have, perhaps, never
seen a foreigner, and no sooner do you stop for a few
minutes at an inn than you see them come running from every
direction and crowd around you as close as they can get.
At Liling it was no better. The room I occupied was only
a small one and had only a small window in it, yet hot as
it was I had to have a newspaper over half of that if I
wanted any privacy at all. And then from early morning
until night there were curious eyes peeping in through cracks.
If I wanted to be sure of being alone for some time I always
had to lock the door, or I never knew how soon some curious
man with a swishing cue might give the door a push ?Lad[
stand staring at me qx ^ven come into the room.
LILING 229
In the street chapel it was no diflferent. Some would stand
and stare with open eyes and mouth by the quarter hour,
and the closer they could get the better they liked it. It was
really very amusing to see some with eyes bulging out al-
most and looking you over from every angle. It required all
the will power I had to keep from laughing aloud, and some-
times I did have to smile in spite of myself. At such times,
when you cannot even have your devotions alone with your
Saviour, one longs sometimes for the blessing of being able
to get alone entirely by yourself for some time.
A source of no little amusement to me was the reception
of visitors. The upper class of Chinese will not stand and
stare and peep through cracks. But they do want to get a
good view of the foreigner, and so they resort to visiting.
The day after my arrival in Liling, I was in my room only a
short time, when in less than an hour I had four visitors.
The first was an old man of over fifty years. Hardly had he
gone when a man of fifty-five and his son entered. After
they went a bright, intelligent-looking young man paid his
respects. He was a very rapid talker and in the whole con-
versation I could not catch more than a half dozen words.
After that the visitors came so often that I could not keep
count of them. But one gets tired of over and over asking
and being asked your honorable name, age, and country, yet
I hardly knew what to do, for I could not keep them out
unless I locked the door and positively refused admittance.
So I finally hit upon the plan of putting out my tracts. This
proved an excellent thing, and I sold many a tract to such
as would not have come to the street chapel.
In September of that year there was another attempt
to put the mission out. Dr. Dubs happened to take an
itinerating trip to LiHng to visit Mr. Ritzman. On the
way he noticed that the people acted pecuHarly, and
when he arrived in LiHng, he found that the Saturday
previous vile, abusive placards had been posted up in
the city and surrounding country, comparable only to
the vile Cheo Han placards of 1890 and 1891. Such a
poster could easily have stirred up a riot. Instead of
230
EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
taking it down at once, the magistrate left it up three
days, and only posted a counter proclamation at the
request of Dr. Dubs. It was opportune that he
chanced along at that time, or else trouble would have
ensued.
The first foreign missionary to be stationed at Li-
ling was Rev. M. E. Ritzman, who arrived on Decem-
ber 24, 1904. The city at the time knew so little about
Christianity that in all probability only three people in
the place knew that the next day was Christmas.
A year later, on December 12, 1905, the railroad
from Liling to Chucheo was opened, and the trip of
thirty miles that used to take a whole day was made
in less than two hours.
The work gradually developed in Liling. A fine
centrally located piece of property was secured, and a
street-chapel and houses erected.
In August, 1908, there was trouble again in Liling.
It is the custom, when there are to be made large sacri-
fices to the various idols, for the priests to go around
and solicit contributions. This has become so much
the usual thing that each shop-keeper was compelled
by custom, to pay according to the size of his business.
That year, when they came to collect for the sacrifices
to Confucius, the God of War, the God of Fire, etc.,
the local magistrate, supported by the provincial gov-
ernment, ordered the Christians to pay. Of course
they refused to support any idolatrous sacrifices. The
situation became so tense that a riot seemed impend-
ing. At last Dr. Dubs visited the American Consul at
Hankow, for such a levy was contrary to treaty stipu-
LILING 231
lations. A few weeks later Peking wired the governor
of Hunan to protect Christians according to the treaty
and the affair passed off without serious trouble. Each
time that such collections are made, there is a chance
for trouble, for the inroads that Christianity makes
into the pocketbook of the priest are among its most
moving results.
A sad event at Liling was the death of three-year-
old Lee, the son of Rev. and Mrs. Shambaugh.
Though Dr. Munford did all that could be done, the
child could not be saved, and on April 6, 1910, the sac-
rifice made by his parents in coming to China was
accentuated. In China a child counts for very little,
and often nothing more is done than to put one in a
rough box, take it out into the country and throw a
few shovelfuls of dirt onto it — sometimes not even
that. The contrast of a Christian funeral is great.
The impression made upon the Church members and
school children was deep. In China even a child may
preach Christ.
A great opportunity came to the mission in 1914.
In the middle of May a terrible flood visited the city,
the worst in forty years. Many people were drowned,
and many of the houses, which were built of sun-dried
brick, which, when water acts upon them, turn to
mud, were destroyed and their belongings washed
away. The only foreigner on the station at the time
was Rev. Irving R. Dunlap. He promptly went to
work to rescue whom he could with his small boat,
and saved the lives of many people. Two months
later, in the middle of July, there came a greater flood.
232 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
The water ran through the principal streets of the city
like a river. Again the row-boat was called into serv-
ice. Hour after hour he worked, with the aid of a
few Chinese. He rescued people from lofts which
the water was then filling; some were saved just as
the houses in which they had been staying collapsed.
He was thus enabled to save hundreds from drowning.
The mission compound was higher than most of the
city, and the buildings were built of burnt brick, which
the water could not wash away. So the victims were
brought there. Yet even there the water rose to a
depth of two or more feet. That night some 900 peo-
ple slept in the mission compound. With the same
promptness with which he started rescue work, he
gathered cooking pans, improvised fire-places, and be-
gan to cook great quantities of rice. That morning he
fed 3,000 people.
Rev. W. I. Shambaugh had just returned from his
vacation at Kuling when the news was brought, and
immediately went to Liling to help, walking 30 miles
in the hot July sun without a drop of water to drink.
The filth, left when the water went down, was inde-
scribable, and an epidemic was feared. Through the
kindness of friends in America, the mission con-
tributed some $600 toward cleaning up the city and
distributing relief.
Such action indeed showed what Christianity stood
for, and not only did the missionary immediately be-
come the friend of the people, but the teaching that
would lead a man to act so unselfishly secured a
greater hearing. The magistrate and gentry and peo-
UUNG 233
pie wanted to erect a monument in honor of the mis-
sionary, but he refused. So on the next Chinese New
Year's they presented a large tablet, eleven by five
feet, to the Church, with the words "Glory to the True
God" inscribed in large characters and along the sides
a brief statement of why it was erected. The magis-
trate of the city and other leading officials and the
gentry as well as the people came and packed the
church. Several of the gentry gave addresses, and
then the magistrate spoke, all praising the heroic self-
sacrifice of Mr. Dunlap and speaking in the highest
terms of the religion that inspires a man to such deeds.
This tablet was hung above the pulpit in the new
church.
This new church had been dedicated on January 3,
191 5, and that day 31 men and women were baptized.
The main room of the church seats 300, and with class
rooms that open into the church it holds about 800
people.
Liling is now the most prosperous station of the
mission. We are the only mission in the county be-
sides the Roman Catholics. It is the center for the
Boys' Boarding School, and for medical work, both of
which will be spoken of in later chapters.
Out-Stations
Liutang is a place about ten miles from Liling,
opened in 191 5. It is one of the most populous centers
in the Hsien. In the village reside about 3,000 people ;
in the district about 25,000. Several of the Liling
church members resided there, and they desired to
234
EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
have a place of worship near their homes. The land
was given by one of the members, and practically all
the money was provided by contributions, and in 1916
a church was dedicated there. In 191 7 there were 39
baptized Christians at this place.
Changlishi is another out-station on this circuit. It
is thirty miles to the northeast, just across the border
into Kiangsi province, a town of about 20,000 inhabit-
ants, with 50,000 in the immediately surrounding
region. Work was started there in 1914, and in 1917
it had 14 baptized Christians.
Weishan is 10 miles to the north of Liling, where
there are large pottery works which employ some 2,000
workers. Here there are 9 members at the time of
last report (1917).
Sifen is 10 miles south of Liling, on the road to
Yuhsien. Work was started in 191 2, when a place
was rented and a colporteur put in charge. It is the
third town in size in the county, with about 3,000
people, with 30,000 in the neighborhood.
One day shortly after the colporteur had arrived,
a Taoist priest, who lived only three miles away, came
to the city and happened to see the colporteur. Mr.
Ritzman tells the story :
When he entered the strange-looking place he accosted the
man behind the books :
"And what is your honorable name?"
"My unworthy name is Feng."
"Oh. and which Feng might it be?"
"The Ma radical with the two points. And what is your
honorable name?"
"My unworthy name is Lu."
LIUNG 235
"You are a priest belonging to the Taoist sect, are you
not?"
"Right you are. And might I ask what your honorable
business is? You have a kind of a funny shop here. What
are you selling?"
"I am a preacher of the Gospel, come here to tell you about
the true God, about the true 'Old Man in Heaven,' and about
His Son who died for us sinners. Have you ever heard about
the Jesus whom we worship? He died for you too. He can
save you from your sins."
"He ! Save me from my sins ! But I am no sinner. I live
an upright, righteous life. I have committed no sins."
"Did you not say that you are a priest? You have been
misguiding people and your sins are therefore greater."
Thus the conversation went on, with the result that the
priest bought a catechism, a small New Testament, and a
few small tracts. He was just curious to know I
That was Friday. Before he left, the colporteur had ur-
gently invited him to the services two days later. Sunday
morning the priest had his breakfast earlier than usual and
started for the strange shop to see what this service might
be like. No other soul came to the service that day. There
were only the colporteur, his wife, and the priest.
Mr. Feng handed the priest a hymn book, remarking, "Now
we will sing a hymn. I lead, will you please follow?" But
the priest was afraid of the book and would not open his
mouth.
Again the colporteur announced, "We are going to pray.
Will you please stand up, and will you please close your
eyes? We always pray to our God with our eyes shut."
But the priest was not going to close his eyes. He was not
going to be caught unaware with some new kind of magic
while his eyes were shut. Not he. Innocently the colporteur
closed his eyes. "O Lord, Jesus, we thank Thee for Thy
great grace in sending us this priest, Mr. Lu " That
scared the priest. What new God was this ! What new
kind of incantation was this ! Better make for the door as
quickly as possible. He turned to escape, only to be con-
fronted by the colporteur's wife, who had been watching him
closely. "Do not be afraid. Do not go. We will not hurt
you. Stay." She took him by the arm, and he could not
236 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
very well get away, but his heart trembled, and he wished
he had never come to such a place. And when he left the
chapel at last he deliberately lied to the colporteur as to the
direction of his home and the distance it was in the country.
He did not want this man to follow him.
But the next Sunday found him back again. An unseen
power made him restless with a restlessness that he could not
explain. He hated, he feared this new thing. The books
he bought he could not understand and yet he could not keep
away from them. When the neighbors learned what was
going on, they fed him with all kinds of stories about the
foreigners who dig out eyes and hearts for medicines and
other vile stories. His wife became terrible in her bitterness
against the new religion and his eldest son became so bitter
that he would have shut his father out of his own home if
possible. What with the inward struggle that was driving
him he knew not whither and the persecutions of friends and
neighbors far and wide that were beginning to rain down on
him as hail, life became one long misery for him. For Mr.
Lu was a very popular priest, successful in his exorcism of
demons, a man that was liked, and in former days called to
distant places to exercise his power.
His eldest son fell sick. There was no foreign doctor
within miles and the heathen doctors refused to come.
"What I This man tore down the household gods. Now
they are punishing him. We are but men and powerless
against their wrath. No, we will not come."
The son became worse until he lay as one dead. The
neighbors gathered about with incense and paper money and
candles to perform the last rites for the dead. At first they
tried to persuade the father to go out into the fields some-
where and they would attend to it all if he did not feel that
he could. Then they became more insistent and furious io
their demands. His wife became a veritable tigress in her
rage. She jumped at his neck and shook him as a terrier
shakes a rat, hissing between her teeth, "If my son dies, you
die and I die. We will all die together."
Marvelous the power of God that could help him to en-
dure during those days ! He prayed as he had never prayed
before, and finally got his eldest daughter on his side. She
joined him in his prayers. At last the tide turned, the son
LILING
237
gradually regained his health, the wife was appeased, and
at last agreed to accompany her husband to one of the serv-
ices at the chapel.
To-day this ex-priest Lu is one of the most successful col-
porteurs of the mission.
Thus work in a village may produce remarkable
results.
Pcht'utang is 20 miles northeast of Liling; it is as
large as Sifen, situated at one end of an extremely
thickly settled valley. At first (1913) the colporteurs
were received gladly, but when the people saw that
Christianity would hurt their business of making fire-
crackers (which are used largely in idol-worship) they
threw the colporteurs out of the town. The next year
they returned, and work has been done there ever
since.
Chiiamvan is a village 20 miles south of Liling of
700 people with 30,000 living within a radius of 4
miles. Property has been rented there and a colpor-
teur stationed at the place. Because of its situation
on the road to Yuhsien, it can be visited by the for-
eigners traveling to and fro.
Liling Circuit, now (1917), has 11 foreign mission-
aries and 20 Chinese workers. There are 178 Church
members, and a Christian community (see page 200)
of 417 souls. There are 10 catechetical classes with
115 members, 4 men's Bible classes with 87 members,
3 women's Bible classes with 45 members, and i wom-
en's Bible school with 31 enrolled. Every week there
are 6 Sunday preaching services, and 6 week-day re-
ligious meetings, as well as one religious meeting for
238 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
women, with an average attendance of 70. The 5
Sunday schools have a total average attendance of
350, and the 4 senior K. L. C. E.'s have 179 active
and 238 associate members. The Albright Prepara-
tory School, a boys' boarding school and a girls'
boarding school, the hospital and dispensary are lo-
cated there. The Chinese community gave $70
(American money) for Church work, as well as $1,845
(American money) in school and hospital fees. The
value of the buildings, which include a parsonage, a
church building, a hospital, a dispensary, and 4 other
buildings is $35,542 (American money).
CHAPTER VII
YUHSIEN
Yuhsien or luhsien, is a town of some 20,000 people,
situated about 60 miles south of Liling. It is located
on the Chaling River, a tributary of the Siang, at the
confluence of the Hsinshi River, The county of which
it is the center has a population of 350,000. Here
again we are the only mission, with the exception of
the Roman Catholics. In some directions there is no
missionary for 200 miles.
For some years the missionaries had itinerated to
this city. I quote the following paragraphs from an
account by Mr. Ritzman of a trip in 1905 :
One of the duties of a missionary is to take frequent itin-
erating trips into the surrounding country. Our foreign, and
also our native workers, are so few that we can occupy only
the most important centers of population — cities which num-
ber thousands of people. But just as at home, the great mass
of the people live in the country, or in little villages, ranging
in population from one hundred to several thousands. We
cannot expect these people to come to us. Many of them,
perhaps, in all their lifetime never get into a city occupied
by a missionary, and should they even do so the probability
is that they would never come to a chapel except by the
merest accident. Yet something must be done for these
people, and one of the agencies for reaching them is the
itinerating trips of the missionary and his coworkers.
It was for the purpose of reaching such people that the
colporteur and I recently took a trip to Yuhsien. While
all along the way, at the farm-houses and in the villages,
there is presented the opportunity of reaching some of the
239
240 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
very people who would otherwise not be touched by a mission-
ary's influence. * * *
We left here on Tuesday forenoon. I had a big handful
of tracts and some five cash gospels stuffed into my pockets,
while the colporteur also carried a big armful of books.
We were not yet beyond the bounds of Liling when we began
to sell. And all along the road, wherever a traveler passed
us, we asked him to buy one of our books. At every house
where there was a man in sight we would stop for a minute
and try to sell. That plan we continued on the whole trip,
and while it was sometimes tiresome to carry a pile of books
in your arms for ten or fifteen miles a day, nevertheless we
had the great joy of selling a gospel or tract to many a way-
faring man, and dropping a booklet into many a home that
otherwise we could not have reached. * * *
In one village we caused no little annoyance to the school
teacher of the place. The news of the arrival of a foreigner
reached the school room very quickly, and in a few minutes
I was surrounded by about a score of boys in the uniform
of the public school pupils. Several of them bought books.
But it was only a few minutes until the teacher came, for-
bade them to buy any more books and chased them back
to their desks. They had not been gone more than a few
minutes when I looked up and saw one of them come running
back, occasionally looking over his shoulder to see if the
teacher might be on his heels. Then another came, and soon
the whole crowd was surrounding me again, and they bought
more books than the first time. Again the teacher came and
chased them back. This was repeated at least three if not
four times. The last time I had some large illustrated gospels
which fairly made the boys wild to buy. I do not know how
long this would have continued, for after the teacher chased
them back the last time, we left. In China, where school
regulations are so lax, it is nothing new for a whole school
to desert its teacher for very much less attraction, even, than
a foreigner.
We reached Yuhsien Saturday noon. We had aroused not
a little curiosity all along the way, and especially in the vil-
lages, but Yuhsien far outstripped them all. We had no
sooner entered the city than we had a howling mob behind
YUHSIEN
241
us, tumbling over one another to get a glimpse of the for-
eigner who had so unexpectedly dropped into their midst.
We had just about time to get my baggage into a room
of one of the inns, when a small official called. Before he
was gone a second one came. After dinner we loaded up
with books and started out. Such a crowd I had never
before been in. The hotel and the street were packed. I had
half a dozen soldiers around me, and it was with the greatest
difficulty that we could get through sometimes. The people
bought as I have never before seen them buy.
I had taken out into the street in my first armful twenty
or so large gospels, and about as many small ones, also a
pile of other books. I do not believe I was out in the street
ten minutes before every one of them was sold. Certain I
am that I had not left the inn more than two hundred yards
behind. We returned to replenish our stock and empty our
pockets of cash, for the cash in China are just as unhandy
as our copper cents at home. One does not care to carry
several hundred of them in his pockets for any length of time.
This time we took along a much bigger pile, and by about
five o'clock we were almost sold out again. Great was our
joy that evening. The sales of that day amounted to 2,320
cash. * * *
Monday was a good day — the best day of all. We started
selling about eight o'clock, and kept it up until dark, with
about an hour's intermission for dinner. The crowds were
just as big as Saturday, and just as anxious to buy. Most
of the time the excitement was so great that half of the peo-
ple, I believe, did not know what they were buying. Usually
the people want to see the subject of the tract they want to
buy and turn over the pages, but that Monday the men
would ask us what price we sold them at, and we would sing
out the answer, two cash, six cash, twelve cash, etc., and the
money would be forthcoming for one or more books.
I wish that the people who pity us poor fools of mission-
aries, as some call us, could have been with us that day.
* * *
Counting the cash that evening was quite a long and tire-
some job. But we felt very much like shouting when the
result was announced. We had sold tracts to the value of
4,380 cash. I hardly think the average price of our booklets
16
242 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
that day was more than three cash ; so that we sold in that
day more than 1,400 copies. Think of the privilege of putting
1,400 copies of Scripture portions and religious booklets into
the hands of heathen men and women ! How could we help
but be happy that evening?
In May, 1908, Dr. Dubs, Mr. Ritzman, and Evan-
gelist Liu made a trip to Yuhsien, and rented a place
for book-selling, etc. Before they left they called on
the chief magistrate and told him what they had done.
He was very nice to them, and they left. But only a
few days after, this magistrate called the gentry of
the city together, and in their presence gave a most
severe scolding to the owner of the house, and to the
inn-keeper who acted as middleman for us, and
through whose help we were able to rent. The official
called the inn-keeper all kinds of names, and wanted
to compel him to take back the guarantee money.
Fortunately for us, the inn-keeper was not so easily
scared and showed that he had a good bit of backbone,
and refused to receive the money. We must thank
God for thus influencing this inn-keeper to help us,
else we would have lost the house and it would have
taken years more to get a foothold.
When Dr. Dubs reported to the Bureau of Foreign
Affairs at Changsha what he had done, they too acted
queerly, and requested the mission to withdraw, al-
leging that there was trouble in Yuhsien. So Mr. Ritz-
man went to Yuhsien again. He found things all quiet
at the place. The colporteurs who were there had
called on the owner of the house ; at the time a friend
of the owner's, who had been at Changsha and knew
about the gospel, happened to be there, and he spoke
YUHSIEN 243
very strongly in behalf of the mission. Mr. Ritzman
found the people quite friendly ; the officials had been
trying to bluff the mission to keep away from the
place.
The colporteur who was left at Yuhsien was a man
by the name of Cheo. Colporteur is the name applied
to one of the lower grades of Chinese w^orkers. The
colporteur travels about, selling books and preaching,
or is given charge of a small out-station, where he
preaches, sells books, and does similar work. Mr.
Cheo is not an impressive man; he never had much
of an education ; he is not a good preacher, but he has
been very faithful, and leads a life of much prayer and
utter dependence upon God in his work. In 1902 he
became one of the personal servants of Dr. Dubs,
acting as door-keeper. In that capacity he had the
opportunity of attending most of the services of the
mission, with the result that he became a Christian.
He was successively house-coolie, table-boy, chapel-
keeper, helper, and colporteur. He was a pioneer
worker in Siangtan, Chucheo, Liling, and Yuhsien. He
has been rioted out several times. When the mission
undertook to start a new station, he was called on to go,
and faithful to the cause of Christ, he left the place
where he had established himself in comfortable cir-
cumstances by the work of several years, and moved
on to a new post, there again to endure hardships, lone-
liness, and possible danger in the work of opening up
a new city. For three years he stood all alone at Yuh-
sien, except when the missionary spent six months
with him, and in that time twenty-six persons were
244 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
baptized into the church. Such is the character of the
Christian Hunanese.
At the time of the Changsha riot in 1910, there was
also trouble in Yuhsien. This time it was due to the
excessive zeal of the Chinese Christians. Idolaters
were parading an old and revered idol through the
streets, soliciting funds for its worship. This idol was
brought into the home of one of the Christians. Of
course compliance was refused. The member and
adherents stood shoulder to shoulder in their refusal.
Enraged at the taunts and jeers of the heathen, and
angered that they were to be compelled to contribute,
they demolished the idol, and abetted by many fellow-
citizens who had lost faith in idolatry, they destroyed
it with all its paraphernalia. Such tactless courage nec-
essarily provoked fierce opposition. That they were
not one and all exterminated and their property as
well as that of the mission not wholly destroyed is
due to the providence of God. The magistrate acted
vigorously in quelling the trouble and voluntarily paid
for all repairs and reimbursed the workers for their
loss.
The work at Yuhsien has developed as on the other
stations. In September, 1912, Rev. and Mrs. Suhr
came to Yuhsien, and shortly afterwards Rev. and
Mrs. Talbott. Property was purchased, and the usual
buildings erected. In 191 1 a boys' day school had been
started, and a girls' school was started in 191 3. Sun-
day school, preaching services, women's meetings, and
the other activities of the mission are carried on. The
first Junior Christian Endeavor Society was started on
YUHSIEN 245
this station in 1914. In May, 1915, the new church
was dedicated, and it was made the opportunity for
a week of evangehstic services, something hke those
at the dedication of the Changsha church, but on a
smaller scale. Some 600 to 1,000 persons were pres-
ent every day of that week at the services. A junior
girls' choir was organized, and a woman's school
opened in 191 5.
Out-Stations.
Hsinshi is a town whose population is estimated at
3,000 to 4,000, located some 17 miles north of Yuhsien.
In 191 2 a place was rented for a chapel and a Sunday
school and Christian Endeavor Society started. Mr.
Cheo is the colporteur in charge. The hostile attitude
of the people has now changed to one of friendliness.
One woman has changed so completely since she came
under the influence of Christianity that she is a won-
der to all around her. Though she has barely enough
to live on, she refuses to make of her place a gambling
den, whereby she could easily, according to the cus-
tom of the place, support herself and her three chil-
dren. Six persons have been baptized at this place.
Hsiao Tsih is 13 miles northwest of Yuhsien, a place
a little smaller than Hsinshi, with a population esti-
mated at 1,500 to 2,000. It was opened in 1914. At
this place one woman 62 years old misses church only
a few Sundays in the year, though she has to walk
4 miles to service. Just after the Chinese New Year
of 1917 there was trouble over theater dues (the
theaters are connected with the temples, and are in-
variably immoral) ; the people tried to compel the
246 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
Christians to pay. They threatened to buy the place
the church had rented and then prevent any one else
from renting to the church. This stirred up the Chris-
tians of the place, and they subscribed about $100 to
buy a place for a chapel. The matter was presented
to the Yuhsien congregation and they give $100 more
and the Hsinshi people $10. The missionaries added
to this sum until it amounted to $250. Then a much
better piece of property was discovered, and bought
for $500, the mission providing the balance of the
amount.
P ehshuhsia is 53 miles to the northeast of Yuhsien,
with an estimated population of 1,000. The work was
begun in August, 191 5, and is still difficult. The four
leading clans of the place have announced that any-
one who joins the Church will be cut off the family
register and deprived of all rights of the clan. Never-
theless the attendance at preaching service is good.
Huangtuling is 35 miles from Yuhsien on the road
to Liling, and has about 800 inhabitants. It was
opened in October, 191 5, and has had a steady growth.
The war stopped the buying of property, and as a re-
sult all the regular adherents cannot get into the pres-
ent chapel.
Lutien is 13 miles south of Yuhsien, with about 800
people. Permanent work was begun there in Febru-
ary, 1916, and the colporteur is on friendly relations
with the people. A young man 25 years old, who was
studying for the Buddhist priesthood became ac-
qainted with the colporteur, and became so interested
VUHSIEN 24f
that he took gospels and tracts home with him to sell
to the people of his clan.
Tsaoshi is 12 miles down the river from Yuhsien,
and is estimated to have 5,000 inhabitants. The Lon-
don Missionary Society opened a chapel there in
1905, and in 1917 this chapel and the evangelist in
charge were transferred to our mission.
Yuhsien Circuit, now (1917), has 5 foreign mis-
sionaries and 18 Chinese workers. There are 8 cate-
chetical classes with 58 catechumens, and a woman's
Bible school with 18 enrolled. Every week there are
7 preaching services and 21 week-day religious serv-
ices, as well as a women's meeting, with an average
attendance of 31. The circuit numbers 109 Church
members, with a Christian community (see page
200), of 380. There are 9 Sunday schools with a total
average attendance of 364, 5 senior K. L. C. E.'s
with 93 active and 120 associate members, and a junior
society with 19 active and 41 associate members.
There are 2 boys' day schools and 2 girls' day schools.
During the year the Chinese community contributed
$114 for Church work as well as $67 in school fees.
The value of the property, which includes 3 parson-
ages, I church building and 4 other buildings, is $13,-
299 (American money).
CHAPTER VIII
CHALING
Chaling is a city of about 10,000 people, with about
30,000 people in its immediate environs, situated 30
miles east of Yuhsien. The county (which constitutes
the circuit) has about 300,000 inhabitants. It is the
youngest station of the mission, and yet the oldest to
have a resident foreigner. Rev. A. H. Sanders, who
is at present stationed at Chaling, has gathered some
notes of the early history of the place :
Our mission took up the work at Chaling practically in suc-
cession to the China Inland Mission. In 1897 the China In-
land Mission from Kiangsi sent a Chinese helper, named Ren,
to rent a house at T'ang-hsia, a small village two miles from
the Kiangsi province border (on the Hunan side). Shortly
after the rental agreement was signed, Miss Jacobsen, a
Swedish lady, came over and made her home there. Although
many itinerating journeys had been made by various mission-
aries previous to this time in the south and west of the
province, and although missionaries had lived for considerable
periods on boats, and although premises had in some places
been rented and occupied by native workers, yet Miss Jacob-
sen was the first foreign missionary to live in her own hired
house, and T'ang-hsia was the first mission station with a
resident missionary in Hunan.
A tangible connecting link with that work and our present
occupation is that to the Sunday services at T'ang-hsia there
came regularly, traveling eighteen miles from his home in
Kiangsi, a man named Liu Tseh-lin, who afterwards became
our earliest and is now our oldest native evangelist. (At
present he is stationed at Chaling.)
The China Inland brethren in Kiangsi now (1898) thought
that it would be possible to advance further in and occupy
248
CHALING 249
Chaling city. By this time Mr. Liu was a trusted Christian,
and in the seventh month he and another were sent to ChaHng
city with instructions to rent. In this they were successful.
A month later Dr. Frank A. Keller came and took up his
residence here. The premises secured were outside the city
(Chaling, as other large places, is surrounded by a wall), a
few doors west of our present site.
Dr. Keller was anxious to get premises inside the city and
very nearly succeeded in doing so. The deed was already
written and signed, but as the money was being paid over, the
landlord seized the money with one hand and with the other
grabbed the deed and conveying it to his mouth, attempted to
swallow it. Only with difficulty was it rescued, but it was
almost illegible and writing a fresh one was refused. So
the deed was called off and the money returned.
In 1899 a mob wrecked the mission house and destroyed
all its contents. By this time Mr. A. P. Quimback had joined
Dr. Keller; both escaped the violence of the mob by hiding
in a bean-curd shop opposite. The medicine shop of the land-
lord, K'ang, was wrecked at the same time. Other premises
inside the city were provided for the missionaries by the
gentry, who personally escorted them with fire crackers and
much ceremony. But the Boxer uprising broke out (1900)
and it was not thought best to wait for trouble here. The
missionaries returned to Shanghai, as did most of those who
survived that terrible year. And when things had quieted
down sufficiently to allow return to the interior, Dr. Keller
took up his residence at Changsha (1901).
Chaling was henceforth worked from that city, chiefly by
itinerations undertaken by Mr. Hampson, who was then Dr.
Keller's companion. It was at this time that the friendship
began between Dr. Keller and Superintendent Dubs, which
doubtless was a factor in directing our mission towards this
field. In 1902 the China Inland Mission withdrew from
Chaling, doubtless feeling that the place was too remote from
Changsha, and having no stations in between.
As early as the autumn of 1908 Rev. M. E. Ritzman
made an itinerating trip to Chaling. In the early part
of 1910 property was purchased there by two Chris-
250 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
tian Chinese who went with money in their purses and
bought a most desirable site in the heart of the city.
But it took much time and patience to secure posses-
sion. On July i6th a mob rioted the place. The
damage was not so great, for the mob was only feeling
its way along, seeing how far the officials would let
it go. Unexpectedly Dr. Dubs arrived in town just
at the time. Upon his appearance the magistrate
adopted a vigorous policy, ordered repairs to be made,
and averted all further danger.
That July the chapel was opened. It was a source
of regret that Rev. Liu was not able to be present to
see a chapel opened where he had been rioted out
twelve years before, for he could not leave his congre-
gation at Changsha. His place was taken by his old-
est son, Nan-seng, who was studying at the Yale Mis-
sion College.
The first missionary to be located there was Rev.
A. C. Lindenmeyer. But his administration was cut
short by his tragic death. When he and his wife went
to Chaling, they knew that if any serious illness over-
took them it would be difficult to secure medical aid.
Nevertheless they took the risk, for the work needed
them. Soon afterwards Mr. Lindenmeyer was taken
sick with acute appendicitis, followed by peritonitis.
Under favorable conditions it would have taken four
or five days by boat to reach the nearest doctor, at
Siangtan, but with wind and tide as they were it would
have taken ten or twelve days. Mr. and Mrs. Talbott
rushed to Chaling by night, as soon as word was
brought them, and the four missionaries started for
Rev. A. C. Lindenmeyer
Died Oct. 31, 1913
CHALING 251
Siangtan on a boat immediately. But the disease
worked its way very swiftly, and the next day, October
31, 19 1 3, after severe pain, he entered into his eternal
reward. The boat had yet nine miles to make to get
to Yuhsien.
Rev. A. C. Lindenmeyer was one of the brightest
of the missionaries on the field. His death was a very
great loss to the mission. He was just at the begin-
ning of a promising career, for he had been in the
country two and a half years. He had been married
only four months at the time of his death. His body
was buried in the mission compound at Yuhsien. He
was literally a martyr to the cause of missions at
Chaling.
The people of Chaling are simpler than at the other
stations, and when their friendship had been won, the
work developed faster than at the other stations. In
1917 there was held the first anniversary feast to com-
memorate the beginning of the church in Chaling.
Twenty-nine of the influential men of the city, includ-
ing the magistrate, were present, and stayed to a lan-
tern lecture by Rev. A. H. Sanders. That we should
be able to reach men of this type shows a great prog-
ress in the city.
As present we have a well-located property on the
main street outside the walled city. Our recently re-
modeled chapel, with a seating capacity of 300, fronts
directly on this busy street. In the rear we have a
double Chinese workers' house, at present occupied by
the two missionary families. Within a stone's throw,
on a raised terrace, we have a splendid property of sev-
252 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
eral acres, where missionary residences and other
buildings, as needed, will be erected.
Out-Stations
Because Chaling has been so recently occupied by
foreign missionaries, the work has not developed much
beyond the town itself. There are two out-stations,
with a colporteur in charge of each. Besides this there
are a number of preaching places, where services are
held. Around the city these appointments are filled by
the Christians in turn, who go gladly and without re-
muneration. The running expenses are met from the
Church collections. Rents average $2 per year, which
is simply for the privilege of using a room for service,
whenever required.
Hukeo is about 20 miles south of Chaling, and has a
population estimated at 1,500. In the immediate
environs are 10,000 people, all of whom have a rea-
sonable chance of hearing the gospel at our chapel.
This place was opened October 26, 1916, and a col-
porteur stationed there.
Kaolong is 20 miles northeast of Chaling, with
about 500 people, 7,000 being in the immediate en-
virons. It was opened February i, 191 7. As yet there
are no baptized Christians on these two out-stations.
The preaching places deserve a brief mention.
Hiiangt'ang is 3^^ miles south of Chaling, with an
estimated population of 400, with 5,000 in the immedi-
ate environs. Here one of the prominent men of the
town became interested, and allowed the mission to
use his guest-hall for preaching. He with two others,
CHALING 253
all of them among the most prominent men in the
town, have been recently baptized. They practically
"run" the preaching at Lingfang, T^yz miles beyond,
which has about 150 people (with 2,000 in the immedi-
ate environs), and T'lchco, between the two aforemen-
tioned places (a village of about 50 people, with 1,000
in the immediate environs). It was the faithful testi-
mony of these same three men that planted the gos-
pel seed at Yaoshui, a place of about 400 people (with
5,000 in the immediate environs), and in Kongt-ang,
a village of about 1,000 people, a suburb of Chaling.
Sioach'ae is another suburb of Chaling, with about
200 people. Shihpahkiu is still another suburb, 2
miles west of Chaling, with possibly 200 people.
Mafukiang is 7 miles southwest of Chaling, a place
whose population is estimated at 350, with 2,000 in
the immediate neighborhood. The weekly services
there are supported by the junior K. L. C. E. at
Chaling. P'ingsliiii is a village of about 250 people
on the road to Yuhsien. There are 4,000 people in the
immediately surrounding farming community. Yaopi
is a busy market town, half way between Chaling and
Kaolong. It has about 700 people, with 5,000 in the
immediate environs. Kuanlao is a village of about
150 people, with 1,000 in the immediate neighborhood,
south of Kukeo. Cheopi and Hot'ien are two villages
of about 200 and 250 inhabitants respectively, with
immediately surrounding communities of 4,000 and
8,000 people, in the neighborhood of Kaolong.
In the work of taking the gospel to these villages
the Christians of Chaling have a share, in that they
254 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
give and go to preach. Without their help this coun-
try work would be crippled ; thus the gospel is pro-
claimed at these many places.
Chaling Circuit, now (1917), has 4 foreign mission-
aries and 8 Chinese workers. There are 6 catechetical
classes with 52 members, 2 Bible classes for men can-
didates with 29 members and 2 women's Bible classes
for candidates with 13 members. Every week there
are 9 Sunday preaching services and il week-day
religious meetings, as well as a regular women's meet-
ing, with an average attendance of 57. The Church
membership numbers 38, and the Christian community
(see page 200) 177. On the circuit there is a boys'
day school and a girls' day school as well as one other
school. During the year the Chinese community gave
$52 (American money) for Church work as well as
$30 (American money) in school fees. The property,
which includes a parsonage, a church building, a
school building and one other building, is valued at
$4,342 (American money).
Missionaries at Annual Meeting, Ruling, 1917
CHAPTER IX
RULING
Kuling is not a station of the mission, and yet it is
as important, for it is the place where the missionaries
secure the rest and recuperation that enables them to
work so hard during the rest of the year. It is situ-
ated in a beautiful valley near the summit of the Ku
Mountains, some 5,000 feet above sea-level, some 400
miles down the river from Changsha.
In Hunan, where the latitude is the same as New
Orleans or southern Florida, the summers are ex-
tremely hot, but without the sea breezes these places
have to temper the heat. To a person who has been
accustomed to the cooler climate of the United States,
the continuously hot summers of Hunan are unbear-
able. While some strong constitutions can stand the
strain of the summer, most people need a change.
Kuling provides a relief in temperature that is very
necessary for most people.
To the average missionary, working in a Chinese
city with two or possibly a few more English speaking
persons, a change is necessary. While on the station,
he works continuously, usually doing the work of two
men, because the great need presses upon him so hard.
Therefore he needs to get away from the Chinese,
into a different atmosphere, for a while at least, to pre-
vent his becoming stagnant.
2SS
256 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
These two essential needs Ruling meets — a cool,
pure, refreshing atmosphere, and associations with
others than Chinese; for most of the missionaries of
the Yangste Valley are there. The summer confer-
ences held each summer also mean much in the de-
velopment of the spiritual life. Ruling means for the
missionary both a longer life and increased efficiency ;
consequently the missionary board has wisely pro-
vided opportunity for the missionaries to recuperate
there. A summer at Ruling is not a luxury, but a
necessity.
But there is another side to the picture. Summer
is a trying time on the mission field. More trouble
seems to break out at that time than during any other
equal part of the year. Dr. Dubs writes in one of his
reports: "Observation has taught me that it is not
wise to leave our congregations and members without
foreign oversight." The Chinese Christians are babes
in Christ ; the mere presence of a foreigner is a great
help towards keeping them firm in the midst of tempta-
tion. As one Chinese brother put it: "The mission
church is like a barrel made of staves. We Chinese
members are the staves, and the foreign pastor is the
hoop. When the pastor is with us, we stand together,
united; but as soon as the pastor leaves we begin to
fall apart, and scatter just like the staves of a barrel
when the hoops are removed."
So the mission has provided that the women and
children go to Ruling for the summer season, while
the men are allowed only a month apiece, and must
take turns in supervising the stations.
RULING 257
Houses at Kuling command extremely high rentals ;
consequently the board has provided houses for its
missionaries. The first house, built with money col-
lected by the Women's Missionary Societies in honor
of the first missionary to Japan, and called the "Eliza-
beth Krecker Memorial Home" was finished for the
summer of 1906. It is a large double house situated
half way up the hill-side, and furnished by the "Wom-
an's Missionary Society. As the missionary force
grew larger it became necessary to provide additional
accommodations, so in 1910 an adjoining bungalow
was purchased out of the Silver Anniversary Fund of
the Woman's Missionary Society. This soon became
inadequate, and so in 1916 a third bungalow was
built. It is imposing in appearance and will house
four families. One apartment has a movable parti-
tion ; when this is removed it gives a fairly large-sized
room that will serve as a hall for meetings of the
mission.
The annual mission meeting has been held, for a
number of years, at Kuling, in July, that being the
time of the year when the rnissionaries can best come
together. At this meeting all important questions of
policy, stationing, appointment of Chinese helpers,
buildings, etc., are settled, subject, of course, to the
approval of the Mission Board in America. It is the
central event of the year.
The value of the mission property in Kuling is now
$10,131 (American money).
17
CHAPTER X
WOMEN'S WORK
One great difference between China and America is
that the work among the women must be done entirely
by women. A man cannot visit or teach the lady
members of his parish except under exceptional cir-
cumstances ; such action would ordinarily be very in-
correct according to Chinese ideas. So the work
among the w^omen has been done mostly by the wives
of the missionaries or by single ladies.
Work among the women of China is very important.
It is a great advantage to have both members of a
family in the church. Unless we can gain the women
for Christ we are fighting a losing battle. It is a sure
sign that the grace of God is working in a man's heart
when one sees his changed attitude to his wife. For-
merly she was his chattel, a burden endured because
she was necessary for having sons. He treated her
with contempt, as one unable to acquire an educa-
tion. Only after she had borne a son or two, was her
condition ameliorated somewhat. After the leaven of
the gospel begins its work in a man's heart, his rela-
tion to his wife and family changes, and it gives us
great joy to see this change in the lives of the Chris-
tians. We lay much stress upon it and seek by every
means possible to bring the families of the men who
attend the services into the Church.
258
WOMEN'S WORK
259
One day, as a missionary was walking through the
street he saw a mother with a Httle child, hardly a
year old, scarcely able to stand up alone. She was
holding a burning stick in the child's hand, teaching it
to bow down to the household god. If it is true, as
the psychologists tell us, that the impressions a child
receives before it is six years old, determine its future
life, then China will never become Christian until the
mothers of the nation are Christian.
But women's work has its especial difficulties.
While one out of ten men can read, only one of 100
women can read. How are you to teach the Bible to
people who cannot read, and are supposed to be in-
capable of acquiring an education? How are you to
reach people who rarely leave their homes ; whose
feet are bound so tightly that it is painful to walk any
distance?
From the beginning of the mission Mrs. Dubs vis-
ited among the women of the neighborhood, and in-
vited them to the church. One of the most effective
means of work was to visit the women in their homes,
alone or in company with a Chinese Bible woman, and
preach to the crowds that would gather to see the
strange foreigner. For these women she began wom-
en's meetings held on a week-day afternoon, which
she or the Bible woman conducted. To these meetings
the women would come, frequently bringing their
babies, to see the foreigner and to hear this new doc-
trine.
When they became interested in Christianity, and
desired to be baptized, it was necessary to organize a
26o EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
woman's catechetical class, to teach them to read or to
commit the catechism by heart, as well as Scripture
passages, and to make sure that they understood what
it was to become a Christian. All this work devolved
upon Mrs. Dubs in addition to her housework. It was
not until March 20, 1904, that the first woman's Sun-
day school Bible class was organized.
So many of the women were poor, that in order to
enable them to earn a little pocket money, and also to
attract more women, Mr. Dubs started industrial work,
getting them to embroider, cross-stitch, etc., at which
the Chinese women are adepts. Many friends of the
mission in America have rejoiced in the possession of
a piece of embroidery and many have sold embroidery
that was made by these Chinese women. In this way
many women were brought under the influence of Mrs.
Dubs who would not otherwise have been drawn to
the mission.
In this work a Chinese Bible woman is a great help.
A Bible woman is usually of mature age, having some
knowledge of the Bible, whose work is to proclaim
the Christian message. Her duties are as varied as
the needs of human hearts. She goes out daily to
visit in the homes to which she can gain access, to
enter into the conversation of the women and try to
lead them to a knowledge of a higher life. On meet-
ing days she goes about the neighborhood and invites
women to the meeting. Sometimes she herself leads
the meeting. Furthermore there is a great deal to be
done in the line of teaching; teaching the women to
read, and assisting the lady missionary in her work.
WOMEN'S WORK 261
On Sunday she may teach in the Sunday school ; she
welcomes strangers to the service, shows new women
their seats, and helps to keep order, as the women's
side of the church is often very disorderly. After
Sunday she rounds up delinquents and urges them to
attend the meetings. She visits the sick and tries to be
helpful. When possible, she may go to the out-sta-
tions and hold short sessions of school for the women.
The great difficulty is to find capable Bible women.
Educated women are scarce ; Bible women are scarcer.
Consequently, at many of the stations and out-stations,
especially the latter, where there is no lady missionary
or Bible woman, there is no work done among the
women at all.
This work prompted the starting of a Woman's
Bible School at Changsha by Mrs. Dubs. Its purpose
was to train Bible women and also to give other
women an opportunity to live for a while in a Chris-
tian atmosphere, and to learn some of the fundamen-
tals of Christianity. It opened in March, iQii, with an
enrollment of 10 women and one baby. The curricu-
lum comprised the catechism, the New Testament, Old
Testament history, singing, arithmetic, the home, read-
ing and writing Chinese, and needlework. Mrs. Dubs
had made arrangements for opening it in October,
1913 ; the prospectus was printed ; the course of
study adopted ; the teachers engaged ; when came her
sickness and death.
The school was continued under various principals.
In 1917 the first commencement was held, when three
women were given their diplomas. One of them went
262 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
to assist in the woman's work at dialing, and one to
Siangtan. This woman, a Mrs. Wu, was first sent to
the school by Mrs. Lilla Snyder Voss, after whose
death Mr. Voss continued her support. Though she
was fifty years of age, she proved a good student and a
winning woman ; when she graduated there were
eighteen women in Siangtan waiting to enter her
classes for Bible instruction.
Mrs. Dubs was taken ill in the summer of 1913, and
removed to the Red Cross Hospital of the Harvard
Medical School at Shanghai. At first the surgeons
were uncertain as to her disease ; later it was diagnosed
as glandular carcinoma of the peritoneum. It was
useless to attempt to remove the cancer; after much
suffering she "went home" on February 9, 1914.
Mrs. Emma M. Dubs was the first woman mis-
sionary of the Church. Her interest in foreign mis-
sions dates from her girlhood days. After her mar-
riage she was elected superintendent of the Bureau of
Literature of the Woman's Missionary Society of the
Church ; in this capacity she also published the monthly
magazine. The Missionary Tidings. When her hus-
band was chosen as the first foreign missionary, she
came to China with him, undaunted by the atrocities
and barbarous cruelties of the Boxer year. She was
the first foreign lady to enter the city of Changsha,
and she sufifered the hardships and privations that
such a course of action entailed. She had the un-
daunted courage and spirit of the missionary hero and
pioneer.
Mrs. Emma M. Dubs
Our Pioneer Missionary Among Women and Children
WOMEN'S WORK 263
She started the woman's work of the mission. Be-
cause she was profoundly impressed with the fact that
only the power of the gospel could raise women up
out of the depths of degradation into which they had
fallen, she made it her first duty to preach Christ and
His gospel. Everything that she undertook, whether
industrial, educational or evangelistic work, was made
subservient to the one aim and purpose of her life,
namely, to bring Christ to the women of China.
In addition she made it a point to keep her house
and table a healthful place. How important a good
home is, only missionaries can tell. Dr. Dubs writes :
I am sure that we would not be in such good health now
were it not that Mrs. Dubs is a good and careful housekeeper.
I have seen missionaries ruined in health because their wives
paid no attention to the kitchen.
Mrs. Dubs also started the educational work of the
mission. She was ready to do anything that wouici
further the gospel, and her activities were manifold.
For some years she did the arduous work of mission
treasurer. Only eternity will tell the magnitude of
the influence of her devoted and consecrated life spent
in the Master's service.
Shortly before she died she dictated a last message
to the missionaries of her Church :
Please tell them that at the brink of the grave, life's values
assume a different relation. I would urge all our missionaries
to forget everything else (than the preaching of Christ cruci-
fied) ; lay it aside and think more of the great work we are
trying to do and plan for its success. I would do very differ-
ently in my endeavor to spread the gospel, were I to have an-
other opportunity. Tell them to work harder than ever for the
264 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
success of our cause, for one does not regret such work when
the end of our earthly pilgrimage comes.
Especially would I urge all the ladies of the mission to
do more for the women of China in their lost condition, and
may God bless them in their work. My prayer is that God
may give our mission work far greater success than it has
yet achieved. I send my best wishes to all and wish to be
remembered to all the Chinese, and especially to the women
of Changsha, with whom I have been associated the past
years, and for whom I labored. I hope to meet all in heaven.
In September, 1912, Mrs. Dunlap, the lady mission-
ary at Liling, tried a new line of approach to the
women. In order to enable her to reach them more
effectively, she started a day school for women, meet-
ing from two to five afternoons a week. Nineteen
scholars were enrolled, only two of whom could read.
Consequently the chief part of the work was teaching
these women to read and commit Scripture verses and
the catechism. This school was kept open two and
a half months in the fall and two months in the
spring. It has been very successful ; during one year
(1915) of the 30 women enrolled, there were 17 con-
versions, all of them entering the Church on profes-
sion of faith at baptism. Other missionaries have since
adopted this type of work, with the result that there
are now three schools of this sort, including the
Woman's School at Changsha, viz., at Liling and
Yuhsien, with an enrollment of 31 and 18 respectively.
A type of work entirely new in this part of China
was inaugurated in 1916 with the appointing of Mrs.
Chii (pronounced jii, j as in judge, ii as in fiihl) as
general woman's evangelist for the mission. Mrs.
WOMEN'S WORK 265
Dubs first met her as the wife of an official in Chang-
sha. She was a woman of education and talent as
well as of good social position, and was a great aid to
Mrs. Dubs in the study of the language. After she
became a Christian, she helped Mrs. Dubs in visiting
the women of Changsha. One of the last requests
Mrs. Dubs made was that Mrs. Chii be sent to the
Bible School at Nanking for further preparation for
work among the women of Hunan. During the two
years that she spent there she visited the city jails for
women regularly. As a result a change of conditions
took place; from places of unadulterated wickedness
they have been transformed — the matron and quite a
number of inmates being enrolled as Christians, and a
larger number anxious to know more of the truth.
She graduated with honor in 1916 and was appointed
evangelist that summer.
Mrs Chii's plan of work is to go to a place and con-
duct a series of evangelistic meetings there, lasting for
a week or ten days. By the use of charts she aims to
fiave the regular attendants remember her subjects
and their divisions. While holding this campaign she
visits in as many homes as possible in the forenoons,
holding meetings in the afternoon as well as receiving
callers.
She has been remarkably successful in her work.
During the year she visited a dozen stations and out-
stations ; at each one she stirred up interest among the
women as never before, with the result that a number
of women became earnest enquirers. In Chaling the
266 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
first four women to be baptized came as a result of
her campaign.
For the women of Hunan more work must be done
than for the men. The wives of the missionaries are
often too busy to do all that is necessary. It is to be
hoped that lady missionaries may be sent to take up
this important work more effectively.
Hospital at Liling
Middle Section 70x42 feet. Each Wing 71x30 feet
CHAPTER XI
MEDICAL WORK
In China medical work is an integral part of mis-
sion work. Chinese medicine is an affair of herbs and
roots, prescriptions of tiger's tooth, finger-nail parings,
acupuncture to let out devils, magic, and mummery.
To such a people who are without effective medical
aid, the need of a physician is very great. The Chi-
nese are above all practical, and are drawn to Chris-
tianity when they see it working itself out in practical
philanthropies. Dr. Peter Parker, it is well said,
opened up China at the point of a lancet. Not only
does a dispensary or hospital attract many who would
not otherwise come, but it gives an unequalled oppor-
tunity for preaching the gospel and at the same time
illustrating Christian kindnesses. The death of Rev.
A. C. Lindenmeyer, directly due to the lack of medical
aid, shows that a physician is necessary for the health
of the missionaries themselves. All these reasons com-
bine to make medical work an essential part of any
mission.
The mission early realized the importance of such
work. On December 15. 1902, the first dispensary was
opened in Changsha. The superintendent had invited
Dr. John MacWillie to take charge of the medical
work for a year. From the first the dispensary found
favor with the Chinese. The treatment given to beg-
267
268 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
gars especialy astonished the Chinese. For a foreign
doctor to wash the sores of a beggar and clean him up
generally, is something that a non-Christian Chinese
finds it impossible to understand.
But this arrangement was only temporary, and Dr.
MacWillie left in July. Medical work had to wait
some years until our first medical missionary, Dr.
David C. Munford, arrived in October, 1909. He was
stationed at Liling, and for the first few years spent
most of his time in studying the language. But the
protracted sickness of his child hindered him very
much. At last it seemed necessary for Mrs. Mun-
ford to return to America to care for her child, and
in October, 191 1, Dr. Munford also returned, having
severed his connection with the mission. The hospital
which had been planned, had to wait for some years
until the arrival of another doctor.
Dr. Benjamin E. Niebel, the son of the present
corresponding secretary of the Missionary Society, a
graduate of Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia,
having also completed a course as resident physician
and surgeon, at Grace Hospital, Detroit, Mich., ar-
rived in China June, 1914. With Dr. Niebel and his
wife came Miss Cora F. Hobein, R.N., to be head
nurse. Dr. Niebel is a physician and surgeon of the
highest ability. After a summer at Ruling, and eight
months at the Nanking Language School, he went to
Liling. Upon his arrival, which was the following
September (1915) sick calls came in before he had his
goods unpacked or his home settled. In a few days
he was giving up the whole afternoon to seeing patients
MEDICAL WORK 269
on his back veranda. The first of the year he moved
into the new dispensary ; he spent four to six hours in
the dispensary every afternoon. At the same time he
was planning and helping build the hospital, as well as
continuing his study of the language. In this work
Miss Hobein and Mrs. Niebel were a great help. Mrs.
Niebel took care of mixing prescriptions. To illus-
trate the type of work at a dispensary, I quote from an
article by Dr. Niebel :
I open the door to the waiting room, and see quite an
audience of patients sitting there, waiting for the doctor, and
listening to the gospel preached to them in their tongue, by
one of their own people. We have a colporteur, a converted
priest, who gives every afternoon to the preaching of the
gospel and the selling of tracts in the dispensary.
The first two patients are already at my side, and I at
once begin to question them regarding their diseases.
"What is your sickness?" I ask one.
"My name is Gia," he replied quickly.
"What is your sickness?" I repeat, slowly.
This time he understands and answers, "Pain."
Often it requires the nurse, myself, and the bystanders,
using every form and change of phrase to make the country
patient understand a simple question. There is no danger
of a doctor becoming conceited over his ability to speak
Chinese.
"Where does it pain?" I continue.
"My heart pains." Pain from the head to the feet is
designated as heart pain by the Chinese.
"Show me with your hand where the pain is located?" I ask.
He places his hand over his abdomen. After a few more
questions and an examination, he is given medicine.
The other patient, a hollow-cheeked man of forty years,
steps up.
"What is your trouble?" I begin.
"My heart is not good," he answers, as he waves his hand
over his body from the waist upwards.
"How is your appetite?" I ask.
270 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
"Do not have any," he replies, coughing painfully.
"How long have you been coughing?" I continue, already
certain of the cause of the "pain in the heart."
I examine his chest and find that that fatal disease, tuber-
culosis, has already gotten a death grip upon the man's body.
* * * It seems as though a third of the patients that come
to the clinic are sufifering from this disease. It is the most
prevalent disease in China, and takes the Chinese by the thou-
sands each month in the year. * * *
Now a young man enters the room and complains of a dull
pain in his head as well as a pain in his heart. I examine
him carefully, but can ascertain nothing especially wrong.
To my questions regarding the nature of the pain he gives but
vague answers. Although he shows no indication of fever,
I decide to take his temperature. After many words and
motions, he finally understands where the thermometer is to
be placed. After leaving it under his tongue for a minute,
I withdraw it. His face brightens as though he had received
some potent medicine, and with a smile he says, "I feel much
better now, doctor." I step into the drug room to get some
medicine, and on returning he again says, "Thank you, doctor,
I am all right now." The thermometer was evidently good
medicine.
The last patient is a man with a child in his arms. At least
it must be a child, for it wears child's clothes and has the
hand of a child. But is it a child ? I do not see any eyes ;
they are gone. And I do not see any nose, but in its place
is a slight hole for an air passage. And I do not see any
lips or ears. I do see a flat, diseased surface, with one set
of teeth in the lower part, and I do hear the moaning of a
child. It cannot live, but something can be done to relieve its
suffering."
At the dispensary, the patients enter into a large
waiting room, in which is a colporteur, who preaches
to them, pleads with an interested listener, or sells
books or parts of the Bible. All are invited to at-
tend our Church services ; all are urged to purchase a
Bible or helpful tract; nearly all are personally plead
MEDICAL WORK 271
with. One can understand what influence for good
may be wielded there when one reaHzes that during the
past year we have had nearly eight thousand patients,
coming not only from Liling, but from villages at a
distance of 100 and more miles away. And all have
heard the story of the all-powerful physician.
In 191 7 the hospital at Liling was completed. The
larger share of credit for arousing sentiment at home
and gathering funds to make the building of this hos-
pital possible belongs to the Woman's Missionary So-
ciety. The site is ideal, located near the river, on an
elevation 120 feet above the river. The long middle
section is seventy by forty-two feet, the wings are
each seventy-one by thirty feet. Each side of the
middle section has a porch running full length. The
hospital has two full stories, a basement, and an attic.
There are four large wards, one small one, and ten
private rooms. The present force of the hospital con-
sists of Dr. Niebel, with Mrs. Niebel assisting him
daily, a Chinese doctor (Dr. Chen) who is a gradu-
ate of the University of Nanking, Miss Cora F. Ho-
bein, R.N., who is head nurse, with two Chinese
nurses. The dispensary is in a separate building, near
the street.
The last report shows that during the year 1918
there were 8,186 out-patients, 247 in-patients, 190 out-
calls and 500 operations.
The same year the hospital opened. Miss Hobein
started a school for nurses, which promises to be a
great help to the hospital. The development of such
272 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
a school shows to what lengths a mission must go in
supplying the needs of the people it serves.
Inasmuch as Liling county alone has 500,000 people,
that region was fully enough for one doctor. For a
number of years calls were sent out for another physi-
cian, and at last he was found in the person of Dr.
R. A. Welch, a graduate of the University of Illinois.
He reached China, May, 191 7, and was stationed at
Yuhsien, where he is studying the language. Mrs.
Welch remained in America for a year to pursue her
studies, and will sail for China in the fall of 1918.
Yuhsien county has a population of 100,000 and
there is only one physician there. The people of
Chaling, which county has 340,000 more, have plead
with the mission that the next doctor be stationed
there, and have promised to subscribe towards the cost
of the hospital. The Woman's Missionary Society has
been gathering money for a woman's hospital, which
shall be called the "Emma Dubs Memorial Hospital,"
and which has been located at Yuhsien. More physi-
cians, especially a lady physician, are needed badly.
Pray that the right persons may be found.
CHAPTER XII
THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM.
The future of our mission work in China depends
upon our schools. An adult Chinese may be brought
to a knowledge of Christ, and become whole-heartedly
Christian ; but the habits of his previous heathen life
stay with him in the main. We cannot expect very
much from the first generation of Christians. But if
the children are properly cared for and educated, if
from earliest childhood they are trained to be Chris-
tians, so that, for example, they do not even know the
names of the idols, then great things may be expected
of them, and we may expect that they will compare
favorably with the Christians of other countries. But
if we allow the children of our Christians to grow up
in non-Christian schools, which will counteract the
influence of the Christian services and Sunday school,
we cannot expect the second generation of Christians
to be strong in their faith or capable leaders of a Chi-
nese church.
Not only is a Christian education needed for these
children, but China has so few schools, that most of
the children would receive no education at all unless
the mission provided it for them — and then where
would we get the future Chinese leaders of the Church,
ministers, evangelists, and colporteurs, as well as edu-
cated laymen, who would carry on the work that has
273
18
274
EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
been started? If we are to secure the necessary help-
ers in our mission work — and without Chinese helpers
the missionary can do but little — we must train them
in our own schools.
But it is not enough to educate the men ; they must
be provided with Christian wives, themselves capable
of preaching to the women of China the good news
they have learned. The education of the girls of China
is as important as that of the boys.
China has abolished her ancient system of examina-
tions, whereby all degrees were given upon the basis
of a highly artificial system of purely literary learn-
ing, and has endeavored to establish modern schools.
But she has not been able to find the necessary teach-
ers ; the government schools too often oppose Chris-
tianity or teach paganism or agnosticism. China needs
a Christian educational system to give her people an
education that is something more than literary knowl-
edge— to give a hold upon the deeper realities of life
that will alone make them steadfast and unselfish.
The beginnings of the educational system of the
mission are very humble. Dr. and Mrs. Dubs arrived
in Hunan in 1901. Early in 1902 Mrs. Dubs felt as
though she wanted to do something, but she hardly
knew what. So one day she invited Chao-uen, the
daughter of one of our personal teachers, to come to
her house daily for instruction in English, arithmetic,
and sewing. The first sign that the leaven of the
gospel was working in the families of those who came
to our services, was the decision that brought this little
girl to us for an education. Shortly after this time her
THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 275
feet were unbound, though then it was very unpopu-
lar, and exposed the Httle girl to much ridicule.
Within a few months another child was added to this
little school in Nan-seng, the son of one of our evan-
gelists. Such was the beginning of our school work
in Hunan.
The second step was the decision of Mrs. Dubs to
teach the children of these families who attended our
services regularly. Accordingly on February 9, 1903,
this school was opened. But this move came so sud-
denly that it found the mission without school supplies
and without a proper building or even a suitable room.
The school sessions were held in Mrs. Dubs' home
until March, 1903, when a room was fitted up for this
purpose. This opening was a cause for much rejoicing
on the part of our Chinese members. They were ex-
ceedingly glad that they could now send their children
to a Christian school under the influence of teachers
who would not counteract the influence of the Chris-
tian training they received.
A year later, on March 15, 1904, the school was
opened in new quarters on our new property. The
number of pupils increased so rapidly that the room
became full. The work increased to such an extent
that it became necessary to invite Miss Marie Hasen-
pflug, who had come to Hunan on a visit to her sister,
Mrs. Dubs, to take some of the classes. As the school
grew, the advisability of separating the boys and girls
became apparent. On May 31, 1904, Mrs. Dubs and
Miss Hasenpflug opened a girls' day school. Miss
Hasenpflug was deeply impressed with the lack of
276 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
workers in this branch of missionary endeavor. She
realized the immense field of usefulness open before
her, and decided to join the mission and to give herself
to the education of the girls of Changsha. This de-
cision on her part opened the way for the furtherance
of this branch of work.
In a similar manner day schools have been started on
all the stations, and (where capable Chinese teachers
could be secured) on a few of the out-stations. There
are now (1917) 7 boys' day schools and 6 girls' day
schools, as well as 3 day schools for boys and girls,
with a total of 30 teachers and 454 pupils. The chil-
dren's ages range mostly from six to fourteen, and so-
cially from the servant's boy to the official's son.
These schools teach the elementary branches only.
They are feeders to our boarding schools, and the best
pupils from these day schools are sent to the boarding
schools.
The Girls' Boarding School, which is now the
higher girls' school of the mission, grew directly out of
the day schools at Changsha. In a day school the
pupils are in the heathen atmosphere of their homes
part or most of the time, and only under Christian
influence for a very limited part of the day. In a
boarding school, the pupils can be kept in a Christian
atmosphere all the time, with the result that better
work can be done, both scholastic and evangelistic.
For our schools are directly subservient to the main
purpose of the mission — to proclaim Christ. The
boarding school takes the boy or girl out of his en-
THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 277
vironment, and transfers him into a Christian environ-
ment— hence its greater effectiveness.
In 1906 we succeeded in purchasing additional
property adjoining the mission compound. This
property was cleared of all the old buildings, while
the two best houses were reserved to be repaired and
renovated for a temporary home for the Girls' Board-
ing School. In the fall of the same year this school
was opened amidst much enthusiasm, with Miss M. T.
Hasenpfiug as principal and Miss Lilla Snyder (later
Mrs. H. E. Voss) as assistant. The venture proved
its wisdom. More pupils applied than could be ac-
commodated, and preparations for a new building
were begun.
In the spring of 1908 the long-continued and heavy
rains weakened the north wall of the temporary school
building, and it crumbled away under its own weight.
Fortunately no one was hurt, but this event showed
the need of building a home for the school. Immedi-
ate steps were taken to rent another building, but the
hostility of the Hunanese, and especially of the gentry
and officials made it impossible for the mission to rent
anywhere. Landlords were intimidated and refused
to rent at any price. For a while the fate of the
school trembled in the balance, but after a severe and
prolonged contest extending throughout the summer,
a house was rented in the southern part of the city in
which the school and teachers were housed tempo-
rarily.
Meanwhile the new building was planned and on No-
vember 19, 1908, sod was turned, and the corner stone
278 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
laid January 5, 1909. With this new building the
school prospered as never before. A better class of
girls began to come to it. But in the winter of 1910-
191 1 its existence was again threatened. The prop-
erty next door was purchased by a theater company
and a Chinese theater erected. Now in China a thea-
ter is always immoral ; this fact the Chinese them-
selves recognize. Furthermore a tower was erected on
this property from which the people could look right
into the school, a thing which of itself would prevent
the better class of Chinese girls from coming to the
school. The noise of the performance is great, and
disturbed the school work. The mission offered either
to sell out to the theater company or buy them out ;
but they set the price at a prohibitive figure. Foreigners,
not missionaries, who come to China accept invitations
to feasts at which a Chinese theatrical company per-
forms; this fact is becoming known all over China.
So when Dr. Dubs spoke to the Chinese about the
theater, they replied with such stories. The better
class of Chinese realized the incongruity of having a
theater next to a Girls' Boarding School, yet the local
authorities would not do anything, for the theater be-
longed to one of the most influential men in the prov-
ince. In extremity Dr. Dubs went to Hankow, where
he sent a petition to the Viceroy of the two provinces
of Hunan and Hupeh, telling him that the school had
been started for the benefit of the Chinese, and appeal-
ing to him, on the ground that the school was a help
to the girls of Changsha, to prevent the destruction of
THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 2/9
the school. Immediately orders were sent forth, arid
the theater was closed, never to open again.
Since that time the school has prospered. It was
closed temporarily during the time of the Revolution ;
but last year (1916-1917) it was full of eager pupils.
The capacity of the building was taxed to the ut-
most. The class of girls attending was better than ever
before. In fact this school now has the reputation of
being one of the best in the province. The 8 teachers
care for "jy pupils.
The spiritual tone of the institution has also been
very high. In 191 7 the girls started a weekly prayer-
meeting at which the girls took turns in leading. Each
girl had her own prayer list, and a number of the girls
were converted.
Higher education for girls is provided for at the
Hunan Union Girls' High and Normal Training
School, also located at Changsha. This is a union
project with the American Presbyterian Mission, This
school gives instruction of high school grade. For a
time Mrs. Lindenmeyer was our representative at
this school ; after her marriage the mission engaged
Miss Leona Thomasson for a year. Then Miss Min-
nie Gohn taught there until Miss Strunk was ap-
pointed.
Higher education for boys is secured in the school
at Iviling. This school was opened in the fall of 1912
as the Boys' Boarding School, with Rev. I. R. Dun-
lap in charge. There was no specially trained men to
take charge of such a school, but it was necessary to
open it to keep the influence of the mission over its
28o EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
boys. For some years none but primary work was
done. In the fall of 1916 Rev. S. M. Short took charge,
and a year later a high school course was added. At
this time the name of the school was changed to the
"Albright Preparatory School." Last year 85 stu-
dents were enrolled, 27 of whom were in the high
school department. It is aimed to make the standard
of scholarship as high as that of any school in the
province, and to prepare the graduates from the high
school department to enter Yale College at Changsha.
Yet it is the "aim never to lose sight of the fact that
the chief purpose of educational missions, as well as all
other forms of missionary work, is to lead to Christ
those who know Him not and to strengthen for His
service those who are already His," as Principal
Short writes in one of his reports.
The boys have their own K. L. C. E. organization.
They elect their own officers and manage their own
society, with regular meetings Sunday afternoons.
The appointing of leaders, arranging of programs, etc.,
have been in the hands of the students, and there
never yet has been a time when the leader was not on
hand to lead the meeting. Early last fall the officers
of the society arranged for a voluntary Bible study
class to be taught by two of the older students. More
than 30 boys joined and have continued studying dur-
ing the year. Twenty-four of the students are mem-
bers of the Church and 22 are studying the catechism,
a number of whom are likely to be baptized at the next
communion service.
THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 281
Thus it is seen that all of our schools are doing ex-
cellent work and are graduating pupils who will be a
credit to the mission. While educational work is
costly, yet it pays high dividends in effective, educated
lives. At present the great need is for an endowment
fund for these schools, for, as in all schools, the fees
cover only a small proportion of the cost of the edu-
cation. Here is an opportunity for great service to
China in training up a new Christian generation.
Hunan is fortunate in possessing a first class col-
legiate institution. In 1904 Yale University of New
Haven, Conn., decided to start a mission institution,
and decided upon Changsha as the location for their
school. This school is backed by Yale students and
graduates, and is rapidly becoming one of the fore-
most institutions of its kind in China. The intention
is to make it a school of the same grade as the one in
America. At present there is a preparatory school,
collegiate school, medical school, and hospital. Of the
eight graduates in the first graduating class of the col-
lege, in 191 7, four were members of our mission. One
is now the assistant pastor in Yuhsien, a second has
been an assistant to Rev. Knecht and is attending the
Theological School at Nanking, and a third is assisting
Dr. Niebel, and attending Yale Medical College. The
fourth is studying in an American university. Thus
there is a complete Christian educational system from
the earliest primary school through college, with all,
except the last stage, under the supervision of the
mission. Such a system will provide for the mission
282 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
the educated, trained Chinese leadership that it will
need in the years to come.
But the growing generation are not the only ones
who need schools. In the United States, the work of a
minister is chiefly to remind people of what they have
already learned ; the fundamentals of Christianity are
known to all ; in China, the missionary must teach the
people something entirely new. Consequently the work
of the Church is largely a work of education. So
schools have been developed for all classes of people.
The Woman's Bible Schools and of the catechetical
classes have been already noted (on page 200, and pp.
161, 264).
In 1912 Dr. Dubs and Rev. Dunlap started a night
school for young men who came to study English. It
was a success, and some 80 were enrolled. This school
was a means of reaching a great many people who had
been stirred by the Revolution to inquire into for-
eign knowledge. But it proved too much of a drain
upon the missionary's time and strength, and so was
discontinued. This plan has been tried at other sta-
tions, with similar results.
The greatest need of the mission is trained Chinese
workers. Most of the actual work of reaching the
non-Christians must be done by the Chinese. But a
man who has had no education and only four or five
years of Christian experience, without any Christian
training at his mother's knee — such a man makes but
an indifferent worker. Other missions have the same
difficulty ; if the mission is to have any effective work-
ers, it must train them itself. So there have developed
THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 283
various workers' training classes, Bible schools, con-
ferences, etc.
The superintendent felt the need of a training
school for the workers of the mission so much that he
drew up a curriculum as early at 1908. In 191 1 he
conducted such a school for six weeks, with indifferent
success, he says. He had too little time to spare ; he
could not devote the necessary amount of time to make
the school effective. After the Union Theological
School had been started, it was felt that the workers
who were not able to attend this instiution needed
training as well as those who could.
At last the man was found who could take charge
of such classes. Rev. M. E. Ritzman returned to
China after graduating from the Bible Teachers Train-
ing School in New York and Drew Theological Semi-
nary. He was stationed nominally at Chaling, but the
work to which he devoted most of his strength was in
training classes with the colporteurs.
These classes met four times during the year (1915-
1916) two weeks at a time. They met both at Liling
and at Yuhsien, in order that all the workers could at-
tend. The day opened with a half hour of devotion,
followed by an hour of study in doctrine, using a
simple book on the teaching of the Bible; then an
hour of Bible study, covering Matthew, Mark, Luke,
John, Acts and Romans. In the afternoon the men
were taught to write and read sermons. The men
were expected to review what they had learned in the
intervening months, and pass an examination upon it
at the opening of the next session. Brief essays were
284 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
also required. Eighteen men took the work the first
year.
While the work is very elementary, yet it meets a
great need, and has resulted in increased success on
the part of the Chinese workers of the mission. These
classes have developed into a seven-year course, and a
diploma is to be given upon the successful completion
of the course. The school is to be moved to Siang-
tan, where quarters are prepared for it. This school
will be a great benefit to the mission, (Unfortunately,
owing to the great lack of teachers, Mr. Ritzman had
to give up these classes to teach in the Changsha Theo-
logical School.)
Another means of educating the Chinese workers of
the mission is through summer conferences. The first
annual conference of the workers was held in 1913.
These conferences have been held at various times of
the year, but mostly in the summer. At the time of
the dedication of the church in Changsha, the confer-
ence was held there, in order that the men might hear
Dr. Timothy Richard. These conferences are com-
posed of the Chinese workers of the mission, and an
equal number of lay delegates from the various sta-
tions. In 1916 the average attendance was about 250.
Discussions of various sorts were held, as for instance :
"Excluding the Bible, what kind of books and period-
icals should preachers read?" "What should preach-
ers be as to conduct, education, and manner of life?"
"Should chapels be opened in market towns, and how
far apart should out-stations be established ?" "What
relation does the Kingdom of God have to woman?"
THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 285
"What is the duty of the Church to children ?" Thus it
is seen that the primary purpose of these conferences
is educational — to help the workers in their problems,
and to make them realize the scope of their duty. It
is hoped, that when these workers become better
trained and able to do without the missionary's super-
vision, that their conference may develop into an an-
nual conference similar to those in America.
The highest institution for the training of Chris-
tian workers, is, of course, a theological school. Such
a school has been established in Changsha, by the co-
operation of four missions, the American Presby-
terian, the Wesleyan Methodist (English), the Dutch
Reformed, and the United Evangelical. Each mission
was to furnish a teacher of its equivalent. A union
creed was agreed upon. Because of the lack of suffi-
cient teachers and of students who had had a college
education, the course of study was made more ele-
mentary than that of an American theological semi-
nary, while students who were ready for theological
work equal in grade to that given in an American
theological seminary were sent to other institutions
which had the necessary professors. The war has
seriously affected this institution ; one of the missions
has withdrawn, and the school is struggling along.
Four of the young men of the mission have been study-
ing in this school, and have been helping at Changsha
meanwhile.
Thus it is seen that the mission has a complete edu-
cational system. While these schools are very costly,
and while education is a more costly form of mission
286 EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
work than any other, with the possible exception of
medical work, yet it yields better results than any other
form of work, and it is absolutely necessary to train
the future Chinese leaders of the Chinese church, and
so to perpetuate the Christian seed planted by the mis-
sion. The great need of the mission is that of more
workers in this line of activity. If our schools are to
develop as they should, we must have more mission-
aries.
These statistics do not claim to be accurate. The
office of the superintendent has been twice rioted, and
many records have thus been lost. These figures are
as accurate as the material available permits. Blanks
represent cases where data are not available. On the
meaning of the term "Christian Community," see page
200.
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288
EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
PRONUNCIATION OF GEOGRAPHICAL TERMS
Chaling — cha-ling
Changsha — chang-sha or
tsang-sa
Cheopi — jo-bee
Chuanwan — ju-ain-wan
Chucheo — chii-cho or jii-tzo
Chukialong — j ii-j i-a-long
Hot'ien — ho-ti-en or ho-dain
Hsiaotsih — si-ow-tsse
Hsinshi — sin-sse
Huangt'ang — hwang-dang
Huangtuling — hwang-do-ling
Huashih — hwa-sse
Hukeo — hoo-ko or foo-ko
Hunan — hoo-nan or foo-nan
Kalong — gow-long
Kongt'ang — gong-tang
Kuanlao — gwan-low
Kuling — koo-ling or goo-ling
Kutangkiao — goo-dang-j i-ow
Liling — lee-ling
Lingfang — ling-hwang
Liutang — li-o-dang
Lutien — lo-dain
Luk'eo — lo-ko
Mafukiang — ma-foo-ji-ang
Pantsishang — ban-tsse-sang
Pehshushia — pu-shii-shi-a
Peht'utang — bu-to-dang
P'ingshui — ping-swee
Shahp'u — sha-poo
Shanglishi — sang-lee-sse
Shihpahkiu — sse-ba-j i-o
Shitang — sse-dan
Sifen — sse-fun
Siangtan — si-ang-dan
Siaoch'ae — si-ow-chai
T'icheo — tee-cho
Tsaoshi — tsow-sse
Weishan — wai-san
Yaopi — i-ow-bee
Yaoshui — i-ow-swee
Yuhsien — i-o-shain
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j as in judge
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