The
of the
Faith
r . " lissionary
Society of the
sbyterian Church
in Canada W. D.
MS"
90803
CAVEN LIBRARY
KNQX COLLEGE
The Planting of the Faith
A Further Story of our Missions
Women s Missionary Society
Presbyterian Church in Canada W. D.
CAVENUBRARY
KNOX COLLEGE
TfUMOTn
CONTENTS
PAGE
FOREWORD
Mrs. John MacGillivray, M.A. . . vii
CHAPTER I
CENTRAL INDIA
Dr. Margaret MacKellar . .1
CHAPTER II
CHINA, NORTH HONAN
Mrs. J. R. Menzies . . 44
CHAPTER III
SOUTH CHINA
Miss Agnes I. Dickson, B.A. .
CHAPTER IV
SHANGHAI
Mrs. Donald MacGillivray . . 102
CHAPTER V
JAPAN
Miss Caroline Macdonald . . .116
CHAPTER VI
FORMOSA
Miss J. M. Kinney - 128
CHAPTER VII
KOREA CHOSEN
Miss E. McCullv .152
iv THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
PAGE
CHAPTER VIII
TRINIDAD
Miss A. J. Archibald . 1
CHAPTER IX
BRITISH GUIANA
Mrs. 1). G. McLeod . . 208
CHAPTER X
HOME MISSIONS IN THE MARITIME PROVINCES
Mrs. William Macnab . 216
CHAPTER XI
HOME MISSION HOSPITALS
Mrs. II. M. Kipp . 221
CHAPTER XII
OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK IN CANADA
Indians, French and Newcomers.
Mrs. I). Strachan . 258
IMMIGRATION
Deaconess, Jews, Chinese, \e\v Canadian.
Mrs. J. M. West . 308
CHAPTER XIV
THE FIELD
Mrs. D. T. L. McKerrolI . 336
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
INDIA
Girls High School, Indore . HJ
Dr. Chone Oliver on Tour .
Nurses and Babies, Neemuch Hospital .
HONAN
Miss Maclennan and graduates, Wei Hwei . . 47
Dr. Jean I. Dow in her dispensary .
Famine Babies, Changte Maternity Relief
Hospital
SOUTH CHINA
Graduates and teachers, Kong Moon, B. S.
Graduates and nurses, Womens Hospital, Kong
Moon .
SHANGHAI
Dr. and Mrs. D. MacGillivray and staff .
JAPAN
Buddhist Image . J"[
Children playing in Temple Ground .
FORMOSA
Pupils and Teachers, Women s School, Tamsui 16V
Irrigating and planting rice plot
KOREA
Graduates, "Martha Wilson Memorial Bible
Institute" .
Korean Mother and Child .
vi THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
, P PAGE
J RIiXIDAD
Naparima High School Girls, La Pique . . 195
Fyzabad School .... . 199
BRITISH GUIANA
Old and New Boys High School, New Amster
dam ..... 211
HOME MISSION HOSPITALS
Canora Hospital and Nurses Home . . 235
Francois Lake Hospital Unit . . 243
Our First Ukrainian Nurse . . 253
OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK IN CANADA
Inspector Graham and three generations of
Indians, File Hills, Sask. . .261
Round Lake Boarding School, B. C. . . 269
Namur Home School . . 279
St. Pierre French Protestant School, Hull . . 283
Battleford School Home, Sask. . . .297
Boys Home, Vegreville, Alta. . . 301
John Yatchu .... 305
IMMIGRATION
Newcomers arriving at Quebec . . .311
Jewish Sunday School, Montreal . . 323
Miss Cronkhites Mission Band, Victoria, B. C. 327
A Chinese Christian and his bride . .331
FOREWORD
The introduction, by the Federated Women s Mis
sionary Boards of North America, of study books
dealing with the history and development of women s
missionary endeavor the world over, proved so stimu
lating and inspiring that our own Women s Mis
sionary Society planned a few years ago to further
supplement these studies, by a series on its own par
ticular work. And now within the brief period of
seven years since the publication of "The Story of
our Missions," the first of the series was prepared,
momentous events have occurred in world .history
which have hastened the need of a second volume
of our story.
The effect of the Great War has brought the whole
world out into the open. Statesman and missionary
alike point to the planting of the Christian faith as
the one and only healing source for humanity s suf
ferings.
The world at large had not fully recognized the
leavening power that Christianity was exercising in the
great non-Christian lands, nor the process of awaken
ing that was going on in these lands through other
sources, such as educational and commercial inter
course with the so-called Christian nations, until the
World War of 1914-1918 precipitated a knowledge of
conditions. Missionaries reaching ithese lands to-day
viii THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
find themselves in the heart of a great renaissance,
and in the fore-front of the new movements is the pro
blem of the place of its womanhood. The object of
this book, therefore, is to bring a knowledge of the
conditions of this new day, as we see them in our
several fields of labor overseas, and to show the results
of our missionaries intensive work and its relation to
these new movements and changes. It endeavors to
set forth the problems facing our own nation in these
newer days and the results of our missionary efforts
as they relate themselves directly to the problem of
Christian citizenship, and, indirectly, to the many
philanthropic and social service efforts carried on by
other Christian organizations.
The Committee felt that to attain this object the
book should be of a composite nature, and so invited
missionaries and secretaries of our Board to contrib
ute the chapters. Veteran missionaries and secre
taries were selected who could truly enter into the
spirit of the changes they had been spared to see.
In the Canadian work the missionary departments
have been grouped under three main chapters, med
ical, educational and immigration.
To make complete the work carried on by the
women of our Church, a section has been given to
that carried on by the women of the Maritime Prov
inces, known as the W. M. S. of the Eastern Section,
and prepared by their own missionaries or Board
members.
The chapter on India has been prepared by Dr.
Margaret MacKellar ; Honan, by Mrs. J. R. Menzies ;
FOREWORD ix
South China, by Miss A. Dickson ; Shanghai, by Mrs.
D. MacGillivray ; Japan, by Miss Caroline Macdonald ;
Formosa, by Miss Kinney; Korea, by Miss E. Mc-
Cully; Trinidad, by Miss Archibald; British Guiana,
by Mrs. D. G. McLeod; Home Missions in the Mari
time Provinces, by Mrs. Macnab, Editor of "The
Message ;" Home Mission Hospitals, by Mrs. H. M.
Kipp; Our Educational Work in Canada, Indians,
French and Newcomers, by Mrs. D. Strachan;
Immigration a four-fold chapter, including Deacon
ess, Jews, Chinese, New Canadian by Mrs. J. M.
West; and a closing chapter Our field or recruiting
ground for membership and workers, by Mrs. D. T. L.
McKerroll.
We gratefully acknowledge the service these
writers have rendered to the great cause for which
we stand, the upbuilding of the kingdoms of the world
in righteousness. We acknowledge also the contri
bution of time and thought made by our editors, Misses
Fraser and Macdonnell, towards the continuity of
the book.
As we see the service of our missionaries crowned
so richly with our Father s blessing, used so mightily
by Him in healing the world s sorrows, may we, His
followers, at the home base, be given a fresh vision
of the power of Christianity and of Christian woman
hood, and with sincerity and consecration more worth
ily fulfil our part in this new day.
Nov., 1921. JANET T. MACGILLIVRAY.
CHAPTER I.
INDIA
A land of lights and shadows intervolved,
A land of blazing sun and blackest night,
A fortress armed, and guarded jealously,
With every portal barred against the Light.
A land in thrall to ancient mystic faiths,
A land of iron creeds and gruesome deeds,
A land of superstitions vast and grim,
And all the noisome growths that Darkness breeds.
Like sunny waves upon an iron-bound coast.
The Light beats up against the close-barred doors,
And seeks vain entrance, yet beats on and on,
In hopeful faith which all defeat ignores.
But time shall come, when, like a swelling tide,
The Word shall leap the barriers, and The Light
Shall sweep the land; and Faith and Love and Hope
Shall win for Christ this stronghold of the night.
John O.venham.
CENTRAL INDIA
India in Transition.
At the time of writing, momentous changes are
taking place in India, which are giving rise to per
plexing problems, which may alter the whole aspect
of mission work in India. The Native States of India,
with an approximate population of 70,000,000, have
always had, for all practical purposes, Home Rule.
1
THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
British India, with a population of over 200,000,000,
to facilitate administration, is divided into various
provinces, eight of which have populations, from
three to six times the population of Canada. To
these eight provinces parliamentary institutions have
recently been given, and for the whole of India, an
Imperial Parliament has been inaugurated. In each
of the Parliaments the majority of the members are
Indians. In this way, the first steps have been taken
in local self-government, as planned in the Montague-
Chelmsford Reforms, which are carrying out what
Britian desires to be "the progressive realization of
Responsible Government in India, as an integral part
of the British Empire."
To the new Parliaments, with Indian ministers,
have been transferred certain departments of local ad
ministration, such as Education. Public Health, Agri
culture, Excise, Development of Industries in all of
which splendid progress had been made under British
rule. For the most part, the transferred departments
are those in which missionaries are greatly interested,
and which they have done much to foster. If educa
tion, in which missionaries have been pioneers, is
completely secularized, it may be that missionaries
will no longer be permitted to conduct schools for
non-Christians ; nor would they wish to, if Christian
teaching must be left out. We must be prepared, un
der the new conditions, to meet with difficulties, which
will tax our faith and courage. .At the end of ten
years, a Commission will be appointed to consider
how the power granted has been used in each province.
CENTRAL INDIA 3
If wisely, more departments of government, reserved
for the present, will be transferred to their control,
until all have been made over, and complete Home
Rule has been established. Then India will be able to
say with Canada and the other Dominions, "I am
daughter in my mother s house, but mistress in my
own."
The new Government ship has been launched on
troubled waters, and fierce, contrary winds may re
tard her progress, or it might be more accurate to
say that, as no favoring breezes blow, she may be
becalmed and "non-co-operation" may triumph. If,
at this critical time when co-operation is essential,
other counsels prevail, and liberty spells unbridled
lawlessness, there will be a lapsing from British con
structive, utilitarian efforts for the improvement of
India. For in spite of defects and failures, through
all the British administration in India "one unceasing
purpose ran", to make good the announcement of
the Crown that Britain s policy was to benefit all her
subjects, and to secure justice and religious toleration
for high and low, rich and poor. "A system of rights
will be established which will guarantee the various
rights of worship". In this spirit, when necessary,
the poor man would be protected and the rich man
punished. Impartial judges, when considering the
incalculable benefits conferred on India by British
rule, will voice the late President Roosevelt s verdict
that "If Britain had never done more than what she
has done for India, she would well merit her splendid
reputation as a colonizing nation."
4 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
Britain has adhered to strict neutrality in religious
matters. What else could she do with her own herit
age of soul-liberty? But as a result of the many
great benefits conferred on India by her rule, mission
work has been furthered. Thousands of miles of
railroads, macadamized roads, a telegraph and unique
postal system, are helpful allies in the work of ex
tending the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. And on the
other hand, the Government has been helped by mis
sions, as many officials will admit. The latest testi
mony comes . from an Indian Judge, who says, "It
is my deliberate verdict, that, if there had been no
such thing as Christian Missions in India, the British
Government would have had to invent them. We
could not possibly have brought our Indian Empire
to its present status without the assistance of Christ
ian Missions."
Present Position of Indian Women.
Much has been written about the new status of
women in non-Christian lands, and for every indica
tion of improvement we give God thanks. In India
there are small communities, who encourage their
women to go in for higher education, and as a result
we have a few hundred highly educated women, uni
versity graduates in arts, doctors, writers, music
teachers, school teachers, and even a few lawyers.
All honor to the few, who have seen visions and have
gone forward with indomitable spirit, as pioneers to
blaze the trail ! It is from among such women that
a few, from time to time, have appeared in mixed
public audiences, such as the National Congress Meet-
CENTRAL INDIA 5
ings in India, and have attended Women s Conferences
in Europe. In a remarkably efficient manner they
have voiced sentiments similar to those of the best
aggressive, modern women of Western Nations, in
favor of equal rights, opportunities, and privileges
with men, in home and state affairs.
Many other conferences in such widely separated
areas as Lahore, Bombay and Hyderabad, have been
attended by Hindu, and Mahommedan women, show
ing that many of them are awake to the need of edu
cation. To be awake is one thing, but to get up and
dress, and go to school is quite a different matter!
Theirs is not a "whirlwind campaign !" The success
of the few, who have had the courage to seize oppor
tunities presented to them, is an earnest of
what Indian women -are capable of doing.
In the midst of transitional circumstances, it is diffi
cult to convey a true impression, and avoid exagger
ation, on one side or the other. But let the following
up-to-date side-light reveal the relative importance of
Indian women, and cattle !
Many low caste men went over seas, and did their
"bit" during the late war. Incidentally they learned
other things besides warfare ! Now, they know they
are men possessing rights. Hitherto they were more
like serfs with Brahmins as their masters, but now
they speak and strike too, for their rights, and de
mand proper remuneration and shorter hours. The
Brahmins, according to their rules, cannot drive the
cattle when ploughing, and the ex-service low caste
men refuse to do the work except on their own con-
6 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
flit ions. I Jut, there arc the village women, who do
so much of the hard work in the fields, why should
they not drive the oxen? They cannot be allowed
to do this special bit of work "for fear the cattle
would be insulted by being driven by women!" In
India it is cattle first, women second! another proof,
if more were needed, that the Hindus believe in
"the sanctity of the cow and the depravity of women."
An appeal issued, in 1920, by the Bombay Human
itarian League proposes "a cow in every home in
India." The appeal extends to every city, town, and
village, and urges all classes to promote the scheme
for the common good. Of course, the motive of this
appeal is chiefly based upon reverence for the cow
as a sacred animal, according to the Hindu religion.
We suggest to the Bombay Humanitarian League
that they consider the social status of India s woman
hood, which Hindus regard even below that of the
cow, and also remind them that while Hindus and
Jains build and support hospitals for sick and aged
animals, they permit thousands of little children to
perish from lack of proper care.
Nor do we consider Mahommedan women any better
off, in spite of the following boast : A couple of years
ago a learned Mahommedan stated before a London
audience that "Islam had done more to raise the
status of women in the world than any other creed,
religion, or system," and that "a woman can take
up any profession and may become a Judge !" Some
one, who knows the deplorable condition of Mahom
medan women made the following rejoinder "If
CENTRA!, INDIA . 7
you confer on any individual certain legal privileges,
and at the same time withhold from him (her in this
case) the means of availing himself of these privil
eges, have you any right to boast that you have raised
that individual s status?" Enough to say, that, under
Islam, millions of women are still shut up in harems,
and if some of them do go out it must be in shroud-
like burquas, with small slits in the cloth before the
eyes, and even these slits are filled up with a net, whose
meshes must distort their vision. "New status of
women" is but an irony when there is no passing of
the purdah.
One of India s own enlightened sons said a few
months ago, "The purdah system is one of the great
est curses of the country. What dignified slavery
we are carrying on, under the pretext that Indian
custom and society demand it! Is that not slavery?
What else can it be called? The slavery of the purdah
system is no longer endurable. Our \vomen are
groaning under this injustice What right have
we to political freedom, without willingness on our
part to grant social freedom to our women? Have
we any right even to talk of it, when we are unwilling
to concede social liberty to India s womanhood?"
Any Mahommedan may have four legal wives, and
as many concubines as he may desire. Where there
is polygamy there can be no sanctity in the home.
A Mahommedan s religion and Turk-like sense of
possession allows him to divorce his wives, and to
take others, so that in many ways Mahommedan
women are more to be pitied than Hindu women.
S THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
There are over 70,000,000 Mahotnmedans in India.
In no other land .ire contrasts so violent as in
India, and in the condition of women we have a good
illustration of this. But, a marvellous transformation
takes place as a result of education. The bright
ness and beauty of the full-sized picture, presented
by the educated Indian women, is thrown up in bold
relief, and in lovelier beauty, when contrasted with the
appalling blackness of the background formed by the
innumerable host who are still "daughters of darkness
in sunny India."
Only one woman in a hundred (some say seven in
a thousand) can read, and the majority of the number
so reckoned have but the most elementary education.
If we work out with mathematical precision the num
ber who have received higher education, we find it is
.99%, so that the educated women are practically a
negligible quantity amongst the illiterate millions
whose intellects are dwarfed. The women have the
brains and capacity for study, all they need is an
opportunity to use them. It is the men, not the wo
men, who are to blame for their ignorance, as you may
learn from so reliable and sane an authority as Rud-
yard Kipling. "The matter with this country is not
in the least political, but an all-round entanglement of
physical, social, and moral evils and corruptions, all
more or less due to the unnatural treatment of women.
You cannot gather figs from thistles, and so long as
the system of infant marriage, the prohibition of the
remarriage of widows, the life-long imprisonment of
wives in a worse than penal confinement, and the with-
CENTRA!, INDIA 9
holding- from them of any kind of education as.
rational beings continue, the country cannot advance
a step. The foundations of life are rotten, utterly
rotten, and beastly rotten. The men talk of their
rights and privileges. I have seen the women that
bore these men. May God forgive the men."
With such conditions prevailing, what can Home
Rule and reforms do to bring peace and prosperity?
His Majesty, King George V, is reported to have said
"The foundations of National glory are set in the
homes of the people. They will only remain unshaken
while the family life of our Nation is strong, and
simple, and pure." How can "National glory" be
built on "rotten foundations?" Indian politicians
would have the uninitiated believe that India s
national building is ready for the roof, when those
who are familiar with conditions there know that not
yet has even a proper foundation for "national glory"
been laid. With half the population neglected and ig
nored, "the country cannot advance a step." How can
India go forward limping on one foot? She cannot
advance until women are emancipated, and given a
chance to march forward with the men. Therefore,
the key to India s advance hangs at the zenana door.
Power of Women in the Home.
The woman, educated or illiterate, is still the pre
siding genius of the Indian home. The innocent, help-;
less children are laid in the mother s arms, and have
no protection but mother-love. It is the mothers
who fold the little brown hands, and teach the children
to bend the knees in a daily act of worship before the
10 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
hideous idols Hindu idolatry entrenched behind its
bulwarks! The mother s teaching- is stamped on the
plastic little memory, and in this way she passes on
her religion to the next generation. The women, per
haps more than the men, are held in the bondage of
superstition, and it therefore follows that they are the
true and faithful propagators of idol worship, and it
is upon them, -more than on the men, that its continu
ance depends. It is the boys and girls of yesterday,
thus taught by their mothers, who are the men and
women of today. Their religion is a greater power in
their lives than secular la ws. No other land is so
much under the rule of home ! "The making of a
country is in the making of its children, and often the
greatest curse of a country comes from children who
have been neglected." To have the children what they
should be we want new mothers to train them. En
lightened Indian gentlemen are beginning to realize
this, as is evident in the following words in an address,
recently delivered, on the "Importance of Women s
Education." "Education is essentially a question of
social reform and in education I would give first
place to education of girls. The education of a single
girl means the uplifting of a whole family in a larger
sense than the education of a single man."
In India, life is not only full of contrasts, but also
full of ironies. The men have kept the women back
from their rightful place and privileges, and now the
women are holding back the men! Not yet is there
woman s suffrage, but there is woman s suffering.
The social conditions, human bondage and wrongs of
CENTRAL INDIA . 11
Indian women arc not fanciful imaginings of fertile
brains, hut are real, as attested hy eye witnesses, who
have been behind the purdahs with no veil between
them and facts. It is given to us "to preach deliver
ance to the captives, and the opening of the prison to
them that are bound."
Children. So much depends on whether the child
is a boy or a girl ! "The threshold weeps forty days
whenever a girl baby is born." After the manner
of caring- for children in the East, the baby boy has
every attention. The parents see great possibilities
of future usefulness wrapped up in the boy. He will
remain in the home and, like the root branches of the
banyan tree, will take root in the home soil and in good
time be the stay and support of his parents. "A man
shall leave father and mother and shall cleave to his
wife" is not found in the Hindu code ! But the baby
girl is unwelcome, as she will not be a permanent
member of the home, but is looked on as a branch that
must be nourished, and cared for, for twelve years or
so, and will then be cut off and planted in her mother-
in-law s home. There are some heartless Hindu
mothers who say "Why should we take pains to
teach our daughters, when they are to go to live in
other homes to work for their mothers-in-law and will
be of no use to us?" The conserving of child life is
one of the burning questions in India today. The
latest statistics from Calcutta, "the city best supplied
with medical aid," give 357.8 of every thousand child
ren as having died in infancy.
In spite of Britian s commands "Thou shalt not
12 T.TIK PF, ANTING OF THE FATTIT
burn thy widows alive" and "Thou shall not throw
thy daughters into the Ganges, " there are seven and
a half million fewer women and girls, than men and
boys in India. India does not yet value the lives of her
daughters. How differently Jesus looked on child life !
"It is not the will of your Father, which is in heaven
that one of these little ones should perish." Hence the
mission has always gladly received and cared for all
the brown babies, who have been "not wanted" or left
orphans. What besomes of the brown babies? For
the "grandmothers" among the missionaries who
"mothered" the little ones there is joy and satisfaction
in following up the subsequent history of individual
children.
There was the dirty, round bundle found under the
seat of a third-class compartment in a railway train
which, when opened, was found to contain a baby girl.
She was not promising in her semi-starved and opium-
fed condition, but in time, love and care worked a
change and she soon became a bonny lass. To-day,
well trained, and a graduate nurse, she is the helpful
wife of one of the Christian leaders and is in turn
training her own children, as well as wielding an in
fluence over her classes in school and over the non-
Christian women about her. She is a living witness to
the power of love and the gospel.
Another innocent, helpless baby girl, destined to be
"married to a god" and become a "temple child," where
she would learn unspeakably vile things in such a den
of vice, was rescued from what? From a life of sin
and shame in which she would die a slow and awful
CENTRAL INDIA 13
death from grief and despair, when her youth had
passed away, and disease had destroyed her body, and
she would be of no more use in the temple service.
Oh, the shame of it all! The mother who bare her
would sing- no mournful dirge over her daughter s
destiny, but would boast that her daughter could
never be a widowbecause she was "married to a god!"
Under Christian care she gained knowledge and gave
her heart to the Saviour. For years she has been an
active worker in the mission.-
Another barefooted, brown-skinned boy of humble
birth, who grew up in the mission and was given a
medical training by his foster father, is now chief
Indian adviser to a ruler of an important native State.
He so commended the Christian religion to the
ruler by his uprightness and integrity that subsequent
ly scores of other Indian Christians have found places
in the workshops of the industries carried on by that
State.
Educational Work.
From the "Babies Home" to the Arts College at
Indore, which teaches students up to the M.A. degree,
and is affiliated with the University at Allahabad, pro
vision is made for all boys and girls in the mission to
receive a thorough education. Since the need of
orphanages passed, more has been done to establish
station Boarding Schools for Christian children and to
carry them up to a higher standard than formerly,
as only the brighter pupils will be sent up to the boys
and girls High Schools, while the others will receive a
good general education.
14 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
The late Dr. Henry Drummond used to say that he
wanted boys to be Christians "as boys," not to be
Christians "as their grandmothers," or words to that
effect. Our missionaries are of like mind, and believe
in the boys four-fold development religious, physi
cal, intellectual and social and by precept and ex
ample teach them that "having put off the old man
there is no call to put on the old woman." They are
taught to be manly and to "play the game." To this
end a programme along the line of "the Canadian
Standard Efficiency Training" is being followed.
The four- fold programme for the development of
the growing girls is also worked out in every school
for girls, although not always under a specially named
organization. It is in our mission schools that the
teen age girl has come to her own. One missionary
in writing about her "Girl Guides" says, "The girls are
very keen about it, and I hope it will do a good deal to
inculcate ideas of fair play, endurance and general
knowledge." Another writes, "We are trying not only
to teach up to Book IV, Hindi, along with correspond
ing standards in arithmetic, geography, history and
grammar, but to lay deep the foundations of pure,
healthy womanhood and manhood."
Girls High School. On August the 17th, 1918, the
new building at Indore was opened by Her Excellency
Lady Chelmsford. wife of the Viceroy, in the presence
of a large and representative company of Europeans,
missionaries, Indian Christians and pupils of the
school. The building stands on a fine six-acre site
within residency limits, in a good healthy locality,
CENTRA!, INDIA 15
with beautiful hills for a background, and is one of
which the W.M.S. may be justly proud as an outward
and visible symbol of the growth of the work. In it
at present, are accommodated Primary, Middle, High
School and Normal Departments. It is the only High
School for girls in Central India, with an area of 77,367
square miles, and a population of nearly 10,000,000.
Imagine Canada having only one High school for all
her girls !
On the ground floor there are 18 class rooms, light
and airy, science, library and reception rooms, besides
three others used for a very necessary domestic de
partment, for upwards of 100 boarders, as dining room,
wash room and bathing places. The whole of the
upper story is used for sleeping accommodation for the
matron, teachers and pupils, while one suite of rooms
is used for the missionary in charge. Flat roof and
wide verandahs give ample space for sleeping in the
open.
The Assembly Hall, for which a generous gift of
Rs 25,000 was given by Sir Sarupchand Hukamchand
of Indore has yet to be erected.. It will supply
an auditorium for public meetings and will serve as
a rallying place for the pupils and a convenient centre
for activities.
One hundred and thirty pupils, of whom 88 were
boarders, were in attendance this term. Four Hindu
girls were amongst the boarders, while Parsees,
Hindus and Mohammedans were among the pupils.
What an opportunity to win these girls for Christ!
Those in charge realize what a tremendous respons-
16 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
ibility rests upon them in having the religous oversight
of so many precious souls. All the pupils study the
Bible daily, and write on the Bible examinations as well
as on secular subjects. The non-Christian girls are very
interested in the hymn singing and often call for spec
ial favorites. In their secular studies the girls are
kept busy, the tenth class girls preparing for the
Matriculation of the Allahabad University and the
sixth class girls for the Middle or Entrance examin
ation of the United Provinces, while all others take
annual promotion examinations set by the school.
Since moving into the new building higher fees
have been charged in the High and Middle depart
ments, and the boarders pay a tuition fee in addition
to the charge made for their board. As a result, the
receipts last year were the highest yet obtained be
ing Rs 4,203. Changes in the United Provinces, cur
riculum of the middle and lower classes make drawing
and sewing compulsory. The girls are learning to
knit and cut out their own garments, and physical
drill also finds a place in the day s work.
It is a pleasing sight to see the pupils give an ex
hibition of fire-bell-drill and ball-drill and one cannot
help comparing their happy, free life in the open air
and sunshine with the millions of girls, of like age,
who are immured in noisome harems and zenanas,
never having had an opportunity for wholesome
exercise in God s out of doors. Several of the girls
are taking music lessons and making good progress.
One of the Indian Christian women teachers furnished
the music for the senior drill.
CENTRAL INDIA 17
The Y. W. C. A. in the school which has the honor
of being the first organized for Indian girls, holds
regular meetings and contributed last year over Rs 46.
The money is usually divided among charitable in
stitutions, such as the Sabathu Leper Asylum, and a
fund for the children of blind soldiers. Sunday School
services are much enjoyed and the children walk to
the Mission College for the Church services. The
school has a library which contains 800 volumes and
is being more and more patronized and appreciated.
As the majority of the pupils have been baptized
before entering, and when they are ready to join the
Church on profession of their faith in Christ, the
parents, as a rule, prefer them to join their own home
Church, the school reports do not record many bap
tisms or accessions to Church membership. And yet
here and there we do read "Three of the boarders were
baptised during the year on profession of their faith,
two of whom had been Mohammedans and one a
Hindu." "Following the Mela in Rutlam, a religious
revival took place in the school, as a result of which 13
girls united with the Church." Whenever an opportun
ity presents itself, the girls are ready to witness for
Christ before non-Christians and love to be taken out
in bands to do so.
The school is of real educational value in the mission
and it is to it as an institution that the mission looks
for the trained Indian womanhood so necessary to
carry on the evangelizing of Central India. What the
graduates, who have already passed out, have accomp
lished, as home-makers, teachers and Bible women is
18 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
but an earnest of the important part that they are go
ing to have in the educating and building up of char
acter in the Christian community. A considerable
number have gone to specialize in other institutions,
some going in for nursing as a profession, some for a
medical course and both will hold, in their own lines
of work, important positions. One graduate in med
icine, who received all her preliminary education in the
school, is now assistant in one of the mission hospitals.
"One of our interesting pupils is an Anglo-Indian
girl of 23, who, having been brought up in a mission
orphanage in the hills, has worked in our own mission
orphanage at Neemuch for some years. She decided
to take up the study of medicine, and so came to our
school to prepare herself for that work, having
passed the entrance examination to the High School,
and later the matriculation." She subsequently fin
ished her preliminary studies in another school, and
entered the Ludhiana Medical College in 1920, where
she is now busy studying to fit herself to become a
medical missionary."
Schools such as our High School are the feeders for
the Arts and Medical Colleges, which are being es
tablished as union institutions to supply the demand
for highly trained women teachers and doctors. Dur
ing the past few years no other mission development
has been so stressed as the need for interdenomin
ational colleges. Individual denominations or sepa
rate missions have not the missionaries or the money
to spare to establish, staff, equip fully and maintain
adequately colleges to meet modern demands and re-
CENTRA!, INDIA 21
quirements. Obviously then the expedient thing is to
have missionary co-operation. Significant of progress
in a united effort to train Christian women is the
union of 12 societies to establish the Women s Christ
ian College in Madras, our Mission as one of the co
operating societies, giving $1,000.00 as a yearly grant.
Some knowledge of this College and the success it
has already attained will be of interest to friends of
the Mission. It was established in 1915 in affiliation
with the University of Madras, and has already
justified the venture. Last year ( there were 110
students on the roll, 90 in residence and 20 non
resident. The great majority of the students are
Christians, only 12 Hindus and 1 Buddhist being in
attendance. Besides English, five Indian languages
are spoken. Last year 20 students were in each of the
B. A. classes, while there were 35 students in each of
the intermediate classes. The first year the science
candidates entered for the B. A. examinations, all were
successful and passed in the first class in their optional
group. One was awarded the University Pulney Andy
Medal for Natural Science. The young men who try
the Madras University examinations will have to look
to their laurels, for the first year that the women tried
the examination only the women candidates passed in
the first class. The College is not only interdenomin
ational but also international. Of the 12 societies,
which lend it their support, six are on each side of the
Atlantic. Of the resident foreign staff, the principal
and three of the professors are from Britain and the
. other three professors are American. Indian women
THE PLANTING OF TUB FAITH
graduates have also a place on the staff, while some of
the subjects are taught by Indian gentlemen and the
various vernaculars are taught by Indian pundits.
Already 20 graduates of the College are teaching in
Mission High Schools, so that for the schools supply
ing students, which receive them back fully trained as
teachers, there is a reflex benefit, if the teachers live
up to the College motto, "Lightened to Lighten."
Medical.
\ Hindu gentleman once said, "What we dread is
your Women s Missions and your Medical Missions.
For in your Women s Missions you are winning our
homes and in your Medical Missions you are winning
our hearts."
The Patients Like the poor, the sick are always
with us. They fill our dispensaries and hospitals,
they call us to their homes, they crowd around us in
the villages and find us out when we go to the Hills,
thinking to have a rest from patients, pills, powders
and potions ! Among them are men, women and child
ren, many of them so underfed, skinny and anaemic,
that we feel if they could have proper nourishment
they would not need the doctors nostrums ! Rich
and poor of every caste, creed and color, curables and
incurables who have to be carried, all come "in full
assurance of faith" that we can cure them. The med
ical missionaries see how desperate are the needs of
those who know not the tender mercies of the Great
Physician. "The half has not been told," much less
can it be printed, of \vhat the doctors see of suffering,
which in many cases is due to ignorance, maltreatment
CENTRAL INDIA 23
. ... /*>,
and insanitation. These conditions inenance the lives
of mothers and infants, and cause untold suffering and
woe "during the great pain and peril of child-birth,"
to those doomed to live in seclusion, without skilled
medical aid.
There is joy and satisfaction in being able to help
even a few of those who say regarding themselves,
"We are left to rot and waste in the darkness of ig
norance and narrow prejudice. Lead us out from this
Black Hole and restore us to free air and the light
of knowledge." Add to that the testimony of another
Indian, Dr. S. K. Datta, a Christian whose soul is
stirred at the sight of "things as they are" in his
mother land. "Villages are blotted out by famine and
pestilence and yet the people do not pause to inquire
whether such a tragedy is preventable. In the plague
areas, when disease is at its height, some may escape,
but the bulk of the population quietly awaits its doom.
The villagers look into the faces of their companions
and wonder which of them will be next struck down.
There are thousands of children to whom the oppor
tunity of life is never given, hundreds of women who
perish prematurely, worn out with their toil, whom
early marriage, neglect and unhygienic surroundings
have killed. Not one of us who believes in the eternal
value of the individual soul can view with unconcern
this wastage of human life."
When we found that one sick woman \vhom we
visited had been shut up for fifteen days in a tiny dark
room with no means of fresh air entering except by
cracks around the closed door, we were not surprised
24 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
that she was still sick. With another patient were
three oxen in the sick room, and it was very hot and
close. When we were ready to go and the door was
opened, the cold air made me sneeze. I saw a very
dismayed look come into the faces of the women, and
I realized that they very much feared that ill-luck
would come to the patient on account of that sneeze.
Their dismay was wholly due to superstition, for they
knew nothing of the germs that might be sprayed into
their home when there were no "sneeze curtains" be
tween the patient and the doctor !
/ One class to whom our work appeals is the ladies
who live in zenanas, and whom custom forbids to see
a man. Just at the very hottest time of the hot season.
I was called to see the wife of a thakur (he has the
revenue of about 300 villages) over thirty miles away.
We went in our conveyance for about twenty-two
miles, then got horses from the chief of a small state,
tributary to Banswara, and pushed on, for the need
was urgent. On our arrival the patient was soon made
comfortable. She was a religious woman, able to read
her own sacred books, thus often whiling away hours
when she could not sleep. We had to remain over
night, and were accommodated in a sort of gallery
between courtyards, with horses to the front of us
and cattle to the back. In the morning before we left
the thakur gave us 105 Rupees tied up in a handker
chief. When I was called during the rainy season,
when the roads were impassable for carts, to another
patient, I was given the choice of a palanquin with
bearers, or an elephant. Such honors fall to a woman
doctor in the jungle.
CENTRAL INDIA
25
lifituin lias done much to provide hospitals and dis
pensaries for India s 315,000,000, but the fact remains
that 100,000,000 are still beyond the reach of the
simplest medical aid. Picture a number equal to the
whole population of the U. S. A. without a doctor !
Recently out of 49,761 deaths investigated it was found
that 31,221 people had died without having received
medical attention. Forty thousand Indian soldiers
made the supreme sacrifice in the recent war, but
during the length of the war 14,000,000 died of diseases,
another proof of the appalling need of more doctors.
Before the war in 1914 there were 353 medical mis
sionaries in India. Today (January 1921) there are
only 330 names on the list, and that number includes
those at home on furlough, 207 of the 330 being wo-
men. Are we doing our share to provide doctors for
the 3,000,000 allotted to us in Central India? Toronto
has 800 doctors for 500,000, but the Canadian Presby
terian Church can provide (in 1921) only 8 doctors for
3,000,000! Let these figures burn into your souls and
link them up with the command "Heal the Sick." The
need cannot be ignored; it constitutes a call to the
Church to do as the Master did "He sent them to
preach the Kingdom of God, and to heal the sick."
The splendid hospitals and dispensaries that have
been provided jbylhe W. M. S. are a great comfort to
the doctors and nurses who work in them, and a baon
to the poor patients who flock to them. Some of the
patients are not slow to contrast the clean, orderly
wards with their own humble homes, which filthy
26 THE PLANTING OF THK FAITH
habits make so unsanitary.. One village woman, who
shares her house with the cattle, pathetically said, as
she looked from her dirty clothes to the dainty cover
on the bed, "I will not use that bed as I would dirty
it." Another patient being allowed to see the operat
ing room with its white marble floor and spotlessly
clean appearance, said, "I suppose that is the room for
the Ranis" (Queens !) We would gladly give hospital
clothes to the patients, who need them, but it is not
always wise to insist. It takes time and tact to find
out why a certain color may not be worn. White is
the color of widojadiQod, so it would be a bad omen to
wear that; beside evil spirits arc especially attracted
to white clothes. For a patient with such prejudices,
colored garments, the brighter the better, must be
provided.
The Nurses. "After morning prayers the nurses
come to the wards and the usual duties begin ; cleaning
and dusting, bathing patients, taking temperatures and
doing dressings, giving medicine and treatments.
Sometimes, I fear, it becomes very monotonous for the
poor probationer, who finds it hard to believe that dust
and dirt are dangerous. Has she not been in contact
with them all her life? And why may she not stir the
medicine with her finger, or give the typhoid patient s
glass to another, or do all her charting in the evening?
It is all very trying to the beginner, and the same les
son must be gone over again and again, and it is easy
for the teacher to become impatient and discouraged.
But if we can in any little way help these girls to
become useful, intelligent nurses, with a desire to
CENTRAL INDIA 27
better conditions among their sisters, surely it is
worth while. Krom two till three we have class, and
three to four is the sewing hour; for the nurses make
all our hospital supplies, bandages, and dressings,
sheets and pillow-slips, skirts and jackets, as well as
children s clothes. In the evening they take turns in
reading and singing to the patients. At 7 P.M. we
have Bible lesson and prayer. This hour has meant
much to us all. The perplexities and trials of the day-
are brought to the One who has promised to carry our
burdens. We come away with assurance of strength
and help for all our needs, with more sympathy for
each other s difficulties and with a deeper desire to be
more faithful witness-bearers.
In addition to the work in the hospital and dispen
sary, some district nursing is done, and treatment
given to patients, in their own homes. This latter is
often rather discouraging work, as the friends of the
patients, in defiance of the doctors injunctions, carry-
on independant treatment of their own, and often do
great harm.
Evangelism in Medical Work. We aim to have
every one in connection with the medical work an
evangelist. Doctors, nurses and other assistants have
a glorious opportunity in all their activities to make
Christ known. It is the poor diseased body, that conies
for physical relief, that brings the soul in need of
salvation, and when our patients leave us well and
happy, having experienced the "double cure," our joy-
is full.
28 TIIK PLANTING OF TI1K FAITH
Women s Christian Medical College
in 1894 a Medical School was established at Lud-
hiana for the training of Indian Christian women, and
from small beginnings has grown to be a very import
ant institution. Almost every year since 1897 there
have been students from our mission in attendance.
In 1904 the W. M. S. began giving a scholarship to the
school and some eight years ago an additional sum
towards the salary of a member of the teaching staff,
while in 1920 the W. M. S. entered the College on the
proposed basis of Union, and is pledged to contribute
a yearly grant of $1,000.00.
While nurses, compounders and midwives continue
to be trained in our mission hospitals, the mission will
send to the Women s Christian Medical College eligible
young women to study for 4 or 5 years, working for
the diploma of a Licensed Practitioner in Medicine
and Surgery, as given by the Lahore Government
Medical College, where the students from Ludhiana
go to write on their examinations. Eleven graduates
have taken the higher degree of the College of Physic
ians and Surgeons, Bombay, one of our own former
students being one of the successful graduates to
obtain the L. C. P. & S., Bombay.
The mission has already benefitted by the services
of five licensed medical practitioners, two nurses and
one midwife, trained in this College.
From the beginning, the College has been an inter
denominational institution, and has eleven Missionary
Societies represented on the Governing Committee.
For twelve years two of our missionaries have been on
CENTRAL INDIA
29
DR. CHONE OLIVER OUT ON TOUR.
CENTRAL INDIA 31
the Governing Committee and one or other has acted
as its. Honorary Secretary.
How worth while this work is the following statis
tics will show. Up to 1921, 374 women have received
training as doctors, compounders, nurses or midwives.
Of this number, 83 were doctors, many of whom are
now working as medical missionaries, scattered all
over India and touching the lives of hundreds of thou
sands of their less fortunate sisters. In them we have
some of India s "new women" ministering to suf
fering bodies and pointing sin-sick souls to the Saviour.
In 1919, of the graduates, 28 were in full charge of
hospitals or dispensaries and had attended 411,936 out
patients and 5,883 in-patients. They had performed
3,987 minor operations and 607 major operations,
attended 161 normal and 386 abnormal confinements.
Much is being done by those interested in advancing
medical aid for women, in the way of giving prizes in
competitive examinations on up-to-date subjects bear
ing on medical work. In February, one 1920 graduate
won the prize of rupees 100 for the best essay on
Maternity and Infant Welfare at the Delhi Exhibition
and another at the same Exhibition won the prize for
the best model of a dwelling house. One won the
Viceroy s Medal, 1919, for passing highest at the
Lahore examination and won also a prize worth rup
ees 40 for best marks in eye work, while still another
won the Government prize for best class and examin
ation work in midwifery and women s diseases.
One educationist, a principal of an Arts College, after
visiting the W. C. M. C. summed up her opinion in the
32 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
following words : "The excellence of the staff, the
efficiency of the hospital and dispensary, the beauti
ful life open to every student, the high ideal of work
and mutual service, seemed hardly open to improve
ments."
Evangelism
The Church. Field Marshal Haig says, "The
soldier, the chemist, the politician cannot save the
world ; the Church of Jesus Christ must do it, or it will
perish." All Christians will admit that truism. The
Church must save the 3,000,000 souls in Central India,
allocated to the Presbyterians in Canada, or they will
perish.
In Central India there is a Christian community
of some 4,000 souls, which number includes adherents.
It may be that when the Lord counts them He may
add other "seven thousand," silent, secret believers,
who do not bow the knee to idols. It is as true
to-day, as when St. John wrote his Gospel, that there
are those, who have not the courage to confess Christ
openly, for fear of consequences. If we change two
words in John 12:42 we have a description of many in
India to-day. "Nevertheless among the chief rulers
also many believed on him ; but because of the Brah
mins they did not confess him, lest they should be put
out of caste."
Our Christians are found in all stages of Christian
progress. In knowing their P>ibles, observing the
Sabbath, and in the giving of "tithes and offering,"
the Indian Christians are far ahead of thousands of
members in the home churches. Much stress is laid
CENTRAL INDIA
on keeping the Sabbath holy, and even children are
impressed with the quiet and stillness that prevails.
The following story will illustrate the fact that on
the Sabbath in Christian communities in India there
is a "silence that can be felt." A little girl, who had
spent her childhood with her parents in India, was
taken to see Niagara Falls. As she looked and listen
ed she was trying to decide matters in her own mind.
Evidently it was the roar of Niagara that impressed
the child most, for when she got over the awe of the
sight, and found words to express what she felt she
said to her mother. "But mother they don t allow all
of this noise to go on on Sundays, do they?"
"A Scottish padre had impressed upon his flock and
servants that the Sabbath must be kept holy. He had
given a European neighbor permission to have his
cow graze on his compound. On a certain Sabbath
as he left for church he saw the cow grazing on his
compound, but on his return the cow was nowhere to
be seen. On asking his servant for an explanation,
he received the following reply "I sent the cow home
and said that master did not allow cows to eat grass
on the Sabbath."
In the Church and radiating from it are all the
organizations of Western Churches, prayer meetings,
Sunday Schools, Christian Endeavor Societies, Y. M.
C. A., Y. W. C. A., and Home Mission Societies. In
proportion as all the activities are permeated with the
spirit of Christ they become a living force in making
Him known.
To establish a self-governing, self-supporting and
34 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
self-propagating Church is the objective of all miss
ions. Foreign Mission organizations may pass away,
having served their purpose, but the Church will be
permanent, and with all her interests will pass event
ually under the full control of the Indian Christians.
In October, 1920, the Mission Council recommended
to the Foreign MissionfBoard the following policy of
granting aid to the Presbytery for its Home Mission
work : "We will hand over five ordained Home Miss
ionaries with their salaries, so that no minister will
work under the direction of a foreign minister, but
under his own Presbytery. And if the Presbytery
wishes to call any men to that rank hereafter, we will
grant two-thirds of his salary till 1926 and then a
smaller part. We hope that the Board will agree to
this and we understand that the Presbytery will accept
the scheme with pleasure. This is, perhaps, the
biggest thing we have tried in recent years and much
depends on the proper working of the scheme."
This is in keeping with the rapidly moving tide of
events in Church life. Indian Christians share the
national aspirations of their countrymen, and crave for
self expression. The day may yet be distant in Central
India when the mission will decide that it may with
draw, but it is working hard to bring about its own
demise! With this end in view the missionaries
are placing more and more responsibility on trained
Indian Christians. It is not always easy, and means
sacrifice, but it is for the advancement of the Church
in order that she may become a strong, living, throb
bing force to evangilize India s millions. Thank God
CENTRAL INDIA 35
a tree has been planted in the sun-scorched plains of
Central India, which cannot be uprooted by any storm.
Home Life. Most of our Christian converts especial
ly those removed just one step from heathenism are so
poor that their homes, in many ways, are like those of
their non-Christian neighbors mud huts with thatch
ed roof or roof of rude sun-dried tiles. If you were
to pay a visit to such a home, you would be surprised
at the primitive way they live. Here is an approx
imate inventory of what you would find in 90% of the
houses in India : A stone mill for grinding grain, mud
receptacles for holding grain, a rice-pounder, a curry
stone with stone rubber, earthen pots for water and
cooking, fire place made of mud, iron and wooden
spoons, baskets, sickle, saucer for oil instead of a lamp,
axe, blanket, and, if the family were a little better than
their neighbors they would have a few brass pots and
a rough bed. You would find no tables, chairs, knives,
forks or spoons. The family would sit on the floor
and eat their food with their fingers.
In the Christian home there would be an attempt at
decoration. Old Sunday School picture rolls and
Christmas cards would cover a good area of the mud
wall. Besides there would be a shelf with a Bible,
hymn book and other Christian books. In a corner a
deal box, (most likely a packing case from the mission
dispensary), with lid and hinges, would be found to
contain the Sunday clothes. If the family were music
al ; there would be some musical instrument, such as a
drum, a little violin, (whose sounding board is perhaps
a cocoanut shell), or other home-made instrument.
36 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
They love to sing, and to play these instruments.
Where the homes are surrounded by non-Christian
homes, only the small children would be found with
their parents, as all those of school age would be in the
Mission Boarding Schools.
There is real home life as we know it, in many a
well-to-do home of the second or third generation of
Christians. The mother and daughters have their
rightful place and show the fruit of their Christian
training, the daughters as well as the sons having had
the advantages of college training. They are the "new
women" (using the name advisedly and in its best
sense) capable and influential, who are fit to be leaders
of the coming generation. Their services are so valued
that ruling chiefs and others in high places covet them
as principals and superintendents of the schools and
colleges being established for women and children of
non-Christians. In such positions there may be the
disadvantage of not being allowed to press the claims
of Jesus Christ, but if the teachers from the Christian
homes reflect His character the pupils will be in
fluenced so that there will be an ever-widening circle
of influence radiating from the Christian home. In
Central India there are Christian women holding just
such posts, with wonderful opportunities for moulding
the lives and characters of hundreds of non-Christian
girls.
Among the Bhils. "According to Bhil ideas,
goats are of more importance than children, therefore
the latter must remain at home and tend the former,
rather than go to school." A Bhil village is not a
CENTRAL INDIA 37
collection of huts, but rather ;i large tract with houses
scattered here and there. The Bhils are very poor.
One man, whom 1 told to wrap himself in a blanket,
touched his brown skin, laughed, and said, "This is all
the blanket I have." At night in the cold season they
build a fire near their huts, and the men sleep beside
it, while the women keep themselves warm as best
they can in their huts. Practically all the Bhils drink-
native liquor, and that is one reason why they are so
poor.
Our missionary says, "I shall always remember my
first Sacrament Sabbath amongst these people. Padri
Labhu Mai, who was teaching the seminary class, was
the preacher, tall, lean, ascetic and full of fire. The
bread was the chuppaties that the people themselves
make, and the wine was poured into tiny cups made
of leaves. Guman, an elder, came to me with the plate
of leaves, and judging that I would not be a ble to
make a cup properly, he knelt on one knee and made a
cup for me."
Experiences in the Evangelistic Work. For the
past five years at an appointed time, almost all the
Christians in the Mission have focused their God given
talent on giving the Evangel to their own country
people. For weeks, in some stations for months, be
forehand classes for Bible study and prayer were held
to teach the Christians the real nature of the task to
be undertaken and the best way to do it. The Bible
and a book on evangelism, by the Rev. A. A. Scott,
were the text books. Many were roused from their
indifference in regard to the souls of the non-Chris-
THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
tians, and caught a new vision of the work to be done.
When thus moved to their depths spiritually, they were
ready to move forward to win souls for Christ. With
the power of the vision upon them, the need seemed
urgent and immediate and it was a most cheering
sight to see happy bands of men, women and school
children starting off with enthusiasm to the surround
ing villages. They all had a great opportunity and
the movement swept on, pulsating with vitality, like
a great tidal wave, and as a result thousands heard
the "Good News" from the lips of men and women,
inspired with the spirit of Christ.
As in all such movements there was bound to be an
ebb, and this effort that promised so well has not been
sustained as one would like. Experience has taught
us, that one declaration of the gospel message does
not come home with such force to the mind of the
hearer in India as to lead him to yield obedience to
Christ. There has to be reiteration, as taught in Isaiah
28: 9-10 "Whom shall he teach knowledge? And
whom shall he make to understand doctrine? For
precept must be upon precept, precept upon pre
cept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little and
there a little." When the heart is changed there will
be an active surrendering of self to Christ. While
evangelism is the central idea in every phase of our
mission work, we count those missionaries happy, who
because they are not tied down to institutional work,
can give their undivided attention to it.
In looking back over a year s work, many memories
crowd the mind of the evangelistic worker, of journey-
CENTRAL INDIA
39
NATIVE NURSES AND BABIES.
NEEMUCH ZENANA HOSPITAL.
CENTRAL INDIA 41
ings oft, -of long, hot days on dusty roads, of packing
and unpacking, setting up and pulling down tents, of
pleasant roadside picnic meals, crossing rivers, friendly
receptions in most villages, and greeting new Christ
ians in many places ; of trying, with varying success, to
teach ignorant ones to read ; of crowds of villagers at
the camp until late at night; memories of sick and
sorrowful ones all needing to ; be helped ; on the whole,
days full of opportunity for passing on the message
of the gospel.
One missionary writes. "On account of bad roads
after. heavy rains we did not get out to work in the
distant villages until December. It is the work I like
best and I shall always be glad I had an opportunity of
doing a little of it in my first term. We were at three
places before Christmas and with our Bible women,
visited thirty-five villages, and in most of them had
a good reception. Up to the time of writing I know
ten women in different villages very much interested
in Christianity. One would be baptized if her husband
were willing, and another will, I hope, be baptized with
her husband as soon as touring in this part of the field
is finished."
One worker speaks thus of an evangelistic cam
paign, "Almost every Christian woman lent a hand.
Every day for two weeks, four bands of women and
girls, each with its leader walked up and down the
streets, or tramped out to neighboring villages, giving
the gospel message by song and story. The prepar
ations for this campaign had been of various kinds.
42 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
Not only had the bands been chosen earl}- and with
thought and prayer, but each woman, as far as possible,
had so arranged her household matters as to be able
to have two free weeks. I had given leave to all my
teachers, after one hour of class work daily, that they
and the older children might have their share. The
younger girls left behind, welcomed into the school
all the little tots whose mothers were out on the cam
paign work, so that almost everyone was doing a bit
each day. The school boys were best at selling books
and ran about the streets rousing interest every
where."
From another district comes a note of disappoint
ment. "Three camps were made, and the people were
perhaps more friendly than usual. Still we have
nothing to report in the way of conversions. At our
last centre, when we had finished giving the gospel
message to a group of Chamar men and women, an
old man inquired how long it was since Jesus had
come into the world, as it was only a few years since
we had come to tell them about Him. When told it
was nearly two thousand years, he remarked, Since
all those years have passed without our being told of
Him, I think we had better continue as we have been,
and his tone distinctly implied that we evidently did
not consider it a matter of supreme importance."
While the city work is a bit discouraging, that in
the villages is full of hope, and one looks forward to a
day not very far distant, when there shall be Christians
in nearly every village of Central India.
CENTRAL INDIA 43
Our Unfinished Task
It is natural that those at the "home base" should
desire to know, what their unit at the "front" is doing,
and we who are face to face with the work left undone
feel that you, with us, should survey our unfinished
task, for it is vast and appalling. As a Church we are
responsible for the evangelization of the 3,000,000
souls in Central India. The Christian community
consists of only 4,000 souls, hence there are 2,996,000
yet to be won for Christ. This number represents not
only our unfinished task, but also spells Christ s Com
mission unfulfilled! Our hearts tell us this, we do
not need to consult other authorities, and we know,
too, that the task is not one imposed by Church or
Committee, but has been revealed to the heart of every
one of us, who truly waits upon God.
Our authority for undertaking the task has come
from Christ and as we obey Him in doing it, He
promises us His presence and power. What we do
depends upon our attitude towards our task. "Unwill
ing feet make poor messengers." How different the
attitude of a partner in a great enterprise. "The thing
is impossible," said Napolean to one of his generals.
"Sire," was the reply, "when a thing is difficult it is
attempted. When it is impossible, it is done." This
great campaign demands the loyalty of every member
of the Church, as a partner in this noblest of enter
prises on which, under the sure guidance of God, we
have embarked. The impossible shall be done in
India, "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,
saith the Lord of Hosts."
CHAPTER II.
CHINA NORTH HONAN.
Political Unrest
In "The Story of Our Missions" is found this state
ment : "Present conditions in China lead one to believe
that monarchical government will yet be restored."
Two years later, in 1917, General Chang Hsun, the old
Manchu leader, a rough soldier, forced the President
to dissolve Parliament. In July, he suddenly placed
the Manchu ex-Emperor Hsuan Tung on the Dragon
Throne. The Prime Minister, Tuan Chi Jui, after unit
ing the Northern generals under his leadership, march
ed on Peking, defeated Chang Hsun and restored the
Republic. Once more the Republican flag floated over
the old capital where the Dragon flags had been flying
for a brief period of ten days.
"The China Year Book" shows that the Chang Hsun
episode, which was spoken of as "The Midsummer
Madness of 1917," had some permanent results. "Par
liament was dissolved, its members scattered, the
President resigned and the Vice-President assumed
office as acting President." According to a recent
cable there are rumors of a third attempt to restore
the Manchu Dynasty.
"China as yet has no central government, Chinese
officials have failed in civic duties because they have
44
CHINA NORTH HONAN 45
never learned the meaning of service and sacrifice."
As service and sacrifice are fundamentals of the Christ
ian religion, China needs Christian schools, to train
her young people for future leadership.
In November, 1918, the President of China proclaim
ed a National holiday in honor of the Victory of the
Allies. Schools and colleges were closed for three days,
and in the evenings great lantern parades were held at
the expense of the Government. The President and
Premier entertained allied representatives at recep
tions and dinners. Tens of thousands of people in all
large centres took part in the public rejoicings, and the
highest pitch of enthusiasm was reached when the
flags of the Allies were saluted and thousands of voices
shouted in unison : "The Allies forever !"
Survivors of the Boxer uprising in 1900, who then
heard the shouts of "Foreign Devil," could hardly have
hoped that in less than two decades this bitterly an
tagonistic phrase would give place to enthusiastic
shouts of "The Allies forever!"
Social Changes. In the early days of missions in
China the work was amongst the poorer or middle
class, but now the homes of the wealthy and official
or educated class, are open to the missionary. Girls
expect an education as well as their brothers, and
where once it was difficult to reach the women, now
they gladly receive the teacher, and are anxious for
knowledge. The great danger is that they may receive
western civilization without Christianity. Young wo
men demand more independence and the right to
decide what their future shall be. Will they be safe
46 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
without Christianity? A change, too, has come in their
conception of the importance of the care of the body.
Once mission school teachers had to force the girls to
play and exercise, now gymnastics are on the curricu
lum of Government schools. The old education taught
that the true scholar wore long gowns and long finger
nails, showing that he need not work. The new idea
is that manual labor is honorable even for the scholar
and is a better preparation for any station or work
in life.
Superstition and fear are giving place to faith and
trust in the doctor s skill, and sick ones are brought
more readily for treatment. Chinese women are
pressing into the study of medicine and each year
several graduate from women s medical schools. In
stead of the old order under which relatives took care
of their sick, in our up-to-date hospitals the uniformed
nurse finds her place, and the patient comes more
directly under the doctor s orders.
The aim has been to build up a native Church, and
now the time has come to remove the scaffolding,
show the strength and beauty of the building itself,
and see whether it will stand or fall without outside
support. One must look not merely at the structure
of the church itself, as an organization, but behind it
to the homes whence come its members and its very
life.
Children and Students
The Child. Just as three thousand years ago, so to
day a Chinese family consists of grand-parents, par
ents, children, mothers-in-law, daughters-in-law and
CHINA, NORTH IIONAN
47
MISS McLENNAN AND THIRTEEN GRADUATES
AT THE W. M. S. HOUSE, WEI HWEI.
Each Girl has Taught for Periods varying from
One to Seven Years in our Mission Schools.
CHINA, NORTH HONAN 49
sisters-in-law, and, in the better class homes, numer
ous women attendants, some of .whom are slaves.
Here the boy and girl grow up together, but, from an
early age, know there is a difference. One day he
will become father and master, while she must go to
the home of her husband, a daughter-in-law among
strangers. A baby girl coming to the home is a great
disaster, and if there are daughters already, and the
family very poor, the new baby is disposed of, or so
badly neglected that she soon dies. The daughter does
not receive the attention and care given to her brother.
Why waste it on her, who so soon must leave them?
Chinese child life is not without deep and true
mother love, but the customs of ages have so governed
and controlled it that often it is hard to find. Lack of
proper feeding often stunts the physical growth of a
child ; he is nursed at the breast even at the age of two
and three years, and at the same time fed raw carrot
and cucumber, skin and all. The small child is not
trained in obedience and unselfishness, but allowed to
do as he pleases, carried around and waited on by an
older brother or sister. One seldom finds toys in the
Chinese home, that is toys as a Canadian understands
them, but the Chinese child will, in a few minutes,
fashion playthings from the bamboo or pith of the
cornstalks, or make wonderful kites with bamboo
and paper.
The custom of foot binding is cruel and causes much
pain and suffering. Both mother and daughter desire-
it, the child having learned that for generations it has
been the proper thing. And so, even when the mother
4
50 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
wishes to unbind the little feet, the girl refuses to have
relief, lest, on account of her big feet, she will not
make a good marriage. This custom is now abandoned
wherever Christianity has influenced the home, or
where Western learning has reached it, but at present
that includes a very small per cent of the homes in
Honan.
Kindergartens have been opened in two or three
centres, and are proving a great help to the mothers in
child training. There the children learn to obey, to
play happily with each other, and to think of others
before themselves. While the children are thus occu
pied, the mothers have time to work and earn wages
which reduce the poverty and help the general welfare
of the family.
Schools. In Honan there are Government schools
for boys and girls in all large towns and cities, and our
mission schools take up the same curriculum, with the
addition of Biblical studies. The schools are divided
into Lower Primary, 4 years, Higher Primary, 3 years,
and High School, 4 years, thus making eleven years
work to matriculation or entrance to College. This is
a very adequate course and the standard is high.
Country Day Schools. Our mission has small day
schools scattered throughout the country at centres
where Christian congregations exist, in which the
Lower Primary work is carried on by a native teacher,
a graduate of one of our own schools. This work is
supervised by the missionary of that- district, and in
spected once or twice yearly.
In addition to these country day schools there are
CHINA NORTH HONAN 51
city day schools at Wei Hwei, Hwai King, Changte
and Tao K ou for girls of -the better class who could
not attend the Boarding School in the mission
compound.
A very encouraging feature of these schools is the
influence of the girls in their own homes. One little
girl of ten persuaded her family not to follow their
usual custom of burning incense to their gods. In
many instances the children are not now required to
worship these gods. The impression made by one
school on the people of the city is such that "mothers
even pay their children to attend, and willingly buy
books for them." At the time of the Peace celebra
tions, held throughout China, the pupils of another of
these schools were invited to attend a large reception
given by the officials and gentry. This was the first
time that girl students had ever been invited to appear
with other students at a public gathering. Surely a
new day for China !
Boarding Schools. At the main mission stations are
Boarding Schools for both boys and girls. The pupils
come from our small district schools, and the Higher
Primary work of the three senior years prepares the
pupils for entrance to the High and Normal schools.
In these schools the lessons are not all taught from
the text books, which are printed at a Chinese printing
house in Shanghai. The girl gets a more important
education in every day living. Mingling with many
others of varied dispositions and tastes, she learns to
think and decide for herself, assume responsibilities,
help those around her, and unconsciously finds what
52 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
life with love means. Here too she learns the impor
tant lesson of taking care of her body, and what clean
liness and regular exercise can do.
The ultimate aim of all education for the girls of
China must be to prepare them for their position in
the homes as wives and mothers, for single Chinese
women are unknown. This training is two-fold, first
to teach the girls to be good housekeepers, for in no
land is a wife truly respected who does not know how-
to prepare her husband s food and have his clothes
ready for him when he needs them. The Chinese make
no exception to this. They wrote articles relating to
this golden rule two thousand years ago. Therefore
every Boarding School girl, though unable to be
taught all the fine arts of cooking, is taught to appre
ciate a tidy room, clean and neat clothing and well
prepared food. The other side of training a girl for
home life is far more difficult, that is, helping the girls
to understand that the marriage relation is noble and
pure, and instituted by God Himself. In the school
we are never in want of opportunities to teach this,
especially in the Bible and catechism classes, and the
happy Christian homes in the mission compound,
visited often by the pupils, are living examples for
them to see and understand.
The friendly relation between the mission and Gov
ernment schools is shown in a request from the local
Education Board at Wei Hwei in 1919 for permission
to visit the Boarding Schools there. Shortly after this
visit announcements were received of a three days
school exhibition, and invitations were extended to our
CHINA NORTH HONAN
mission schools to take part in it. Although time was
short, the girls prepared drawings in pen and pencil,
water colors, maps, letters, specimens of penmanship
in both English and Chinese, essays, arithmetic prob
lems and samples of sewing and handwork. In
addition to similar articles the Government schools
sent in clay-moulded fruits and vegetables, carved
bamboo vases, pen racks, boxes and frames, figures of
men, animals and birds carved in stone, bugs and
worms bottled in alcohol, wonderful specimens of
crocheted flowers and plants in crocheted pots. A box
of cocoons, larvae and spun silk, together with cotton
balls and thread was one of the most interesting
exhibits.
The Wei Hwei Mission Girls Boarding School was
awarded a gold medal and No. 1 Certificate of Standing
for its exhibits and general appearance as well as
several complimentary scrolls and pictures.
Surely a new day has dawned for China, when school
girls of all classes can walk along the city streets and
are received in public by the leading men and women
of the city, including the officials and their wives!
Uniform examinations are held yearly at all these
schools and a high standard is maintained. Many of
our graduates continue their higher education at our
High 3 and Normal school for boys at Wei Hwei or at
the High school for girls at Changte. Formerly the
High school girls had to go to Peking or Hankow for
their training, and only a few could afford the extra
expense. Many of our graduates from the Higher
Primary schools have been used as teachers in our
54 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
mission schools, giving from one to seven years ser
vice before getting married and settling down in their
own homes. Some of them are the wives of evangel
ists, or teachers, or medical assistants, and as mothers
in Christian homes are training their children to be
sincere Christians.
Union College. Although the Honan Mission has
no college, its schools are affiliated with the Shantung
Christian University at Tsinanfu, and our graduates
receive college education there. Our mission is re
presented on the staff in Arts, Medicine and Theology,
and also on the Board of Management. Graduates
from our High and Normal Schools are students there
in Arts, Medicine and Theology.
The Honan Educational Association organized at
Chikungshan in August, 1920, comprises represent
atives of the Canadian, Swedish, the China, Inland and
American Missions. Uniform examinations for the
third year Higher Primary have been arranged for
June, 1921, and it is recommended that our Mission
Schools join in them.
Sick and Needy
The Patient. "Medical work is Christian love in
action, and love is the true motive for every form of
missionary work." To know what the Christian Mis
sion Hospital means in Honan one must take a peep at
the patient at home. Rich and poor alike have their
sick, who are sadly neglected from sheer ignorance,
improperly fed where food is abundant, or starved
where food is scarce. Why give food to the useless
one, when there is not sufficient for all? In order to
CHINA NORTH HONAN 55
live one must work and there is no time to give atten
tion to the sick one. She may be left in an outhouse
with papers off the windows and flies buzzing around.
Her friends know of no cure and she only waits relief
in death ; or if a free time comes, she is carried to the
hospital, often only to find it is too late.
A child has smallpox but the parents do not know
the care required, and the disease follows its course
and disappears. But sight has gone too, and that child
must go through life blind.
A poor woman lying for weeks at home, sadly
neglected, is at last brought to the hospital. A bath
is the first necessity and the doctor, anxious to teach
her nurses a lesson gives it to the patient herself.
That poor patient never ceased to speak of the gentle
ness and kindness of the doctor. "I have many friends
and relatives," said she, "but no one who would do for
me what you have done to-day."
The Doctor. Honan has three general hospitals, at
Wei Hwei, Hwai King and Wu An, with one men s
and one women s hospital at Changte, making in all
five hospitals operating at the present time. The med
ical staff consists of eight men and two women doctors,
besides nurses. As one man is newly appointed, and
two others are teachers in the Medical School of the
Shantung Christian University at Tsinan, only five are
left for the three general and one male hospital. Two
young Chinese doctors, recent graduates, assist in the
work at the two general hospitals at Wei Hwei and
Hwai King.
A new hospital is being put up this year at Wei Hwei
56 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
;uid promises to be an tip-to-date building well equippc-d
for such work as is carried on in our Canadian hos
pitals, and a Nurses Training- School, the first in
Honan, will be affiliated with it. Up to the present
time our hospitals have been Chinese buildings with
brick floors, and native beds, and patients have usually
brought their relatives or friends to wait upon them.
In the new building there are to be private wards to
accommodate the patients from wealthier homes,
semi-private, for two patients, and larger wards with
room for eight or ten patients and their attendants.
At Hwai King Hospital there is the Langstaff Mem
orial ward for tuberculosis cases in memory of Major
Langstaff who was killed overseas.
Fees are charged at all our hospitals, but those who
cannot afford to pay are not turned away.
The doctor s office hours cannot be posted on his
door as one commonly sees at home. But he does have
regularity as far as possible operations in the fore
noons, out-door clinics in the afternoons, visiting
patients, and attending to dressings between times.
Emergency calls to the city or neighboring town or
even to more distant parts by rail come at all times,
for the more advanced Chinese with money are will
ing to pay expenses if the doctor will only answer
their call for help. As far as possible, however,
patients are treated in the hospital rather than in their
homes.
Evangelistic work goes hand in hand with the med
ical and splendid opportunity for it is found in the
hospital wards. Besides this regular daily hospital
CHINA NORTH HONAN
57
DR. JEAN I. DOW IN HER DISPENSARY
AT THE OUTDOOR CLINIC.
CHINA NORTH HONAN 59
work the doctor has sometimes to attend members
of the mission staff. At the opening of each session
the pupils of the Boarding Schools receive medical
examination and, wherever necessary, treatments are
given, and vaccination done to prevent epidemics
breaking out in the schools.
Still another branch of his work is the public health
department, including the sanitation and care, not
merely of the mission compound, but also of the
neighboring Christian village in which are the homes
of mission employees. This work must be given con
stant supervision and demands many hours of the doc
tor s time. Pamphlets on hygiene are prepared and
distributed among the public, posters are posted up in
public places warning the people against insanitary
and filthy conditions, against the danger of infection
from flies, mosquitoes, lice and rats. This knowledge
is made more realistic to them by lectures given with
lantern slides to exhibit the terrible results of neglect
of such warnings. Then, too, the doctor devotes some
time to the training of his medical assistants, giving
them a course in hygiene, chemistry and practical
work, including tablet or pill making (for, owing to
the lack of a drug store, the hospital must make and
dispense its own medicine) to fit them for their work
in the hospital.
Similar work is done in our W. M. S. Hospital at
Changte where the women assistants under the doc
tor s training become well qualified to attend the
patients, give anaesthetics and even perform minor
operations.
60 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
But there are so many sick who never reach the
hospitals that the need for college trained native
doctors and nurses is most urgent, and the time has
come when the mission must not merely relieve the
sick who come seeking help, but at the same time
train and send out properly equipped men and women
who shall be able to reach the sick in the distant parts.
The Nurse. In the earlier years, the doctor with
medical assistants formed the hospital staff, with a
Christian woman with no medical knowledge, as
matron of the women s wards. But latterly the male
doctor in the General Hospital, found he could carry
on his work more successfully among the women if
he had a nurse to assist him, and so he trained two or
three married women to work only in the women s
wards of the hospital. Our first graduate nurse, one
of our own school girls, has now returned to give her
services in our mission hospital, while others are still
in training. We hope soon to have our own Nurses
Training Schools, connected with our new hospitals.
As our mission is associated with others in the
Shantung Christian University at Tsinan, we have had
one of our nurses on the staff of the University Hos
pital in connection with the Nurses Training School
there. Let this work speak for itself through her.
University Hospital Tsinan Nurses Training School
Class About forty nurses, men and women both
trained, as Chinese custom will not allow women
to nurse the men patients. The men, practically all
High School graduates from the mission schools, take
CHINA. NORTH HONAN 61
much the same course of lectures as women and make
excellent nurses.
Curriculum The course of studies followed by
Canadian Training Schools, with an extra year given
for experience in ward management, in all, four years.
Text books have been translated and instruction is
given in Chinese.
Difficulties (a) Insufficient staff. One or two
graduate nurses must supervise night duty, operating
theatre, out-patient department, cleaning of wards be
sides the ordinary administrative work of a Training
School, and, in addition, find time to prepare lectures
in Chinese. To increase the difficulty, many nurses
go out to the mission field fresh from graduation, when
a year or two spent in special training along lines of
social service, public health, obstetrical training, and
administration would be invaluable.
(b) The difficulty of reconciling, to the Chinese
mind, the indignity of manual service and menial labor,
with the dignity of the student and the nurse as we
know her, is very real. Much of the waiting on the
sick is considered the work of the lowest coolie.
(c) The utter ignorance of what the nursing profes
sion stands for. To give to a people, accustomed for
centuries to look up at the sun and guess the time, the
necessary idea of prompt and accurate efficiency is a
serious difficulty. The Chinese phrase which means
"not much difference" is constantly given in excuse
when questioned about a four o clock medicine given
at a quarter to five, or a tablespoonful given when a
teaspoonful was ordered.
62 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
(d) The fear of being left alone on night duty, and
especially the dread when death visits the ward in
the lonely night. Many a young nurse has deliberately
lain down and gone to sleep rather than face his night
work on a busy ward.
(e) To keep the women nurses, who are only girls,
steady and womanly in the daily contact with men
doctors and medical assistants. They have been taught
to think such contact improper and tending to evil.
Close supervision is necessary and the quiet dignified
example which will reassure them and teach them
how to meet these new conditions.
(f) The great poverty of people, patients and nurses
alike, which finds in the lavish use of supplies
a temptation not only to carelessness, but to theft,
making watchfulness and checking necessary.
(g) Perhaps as real and as great a difficulty is the
lack of a sense of duty or responsibility; the easiness
with which a lie is regarded, the tendency to eye
service all results of the loose home training and
lack of Christian teaching.
Encouragements, (a) The development of character
in the nurses themselves is the greatest encourage
ment. Steadiness, self-control, carefulness, faithful
ness, responsibility these qualities are the result of
training and teaching. The girl of seventeen who
flung herself on the floor in tears when corrected, is
now the efficient, quiet supervisor of the women s
wards, as fine a type of Christian nurse as could be
found anywhere.
(b) The growing confidence of the people, who come
CHINA, NORTH HONAN 63
to the hospital and out-patient department in increas
ing numbers.
Aims (a) Broadly, to give a training which will
first, open the eyes of the nurses to the physical and
spiritual ignorance and misery about them ; second,
make them feel their responsibility toward these con
ditions ; third, teach them how most effectively to
relieve and banish them.
(b) To impress upon them the rules of health. The
preventable disease, misery and death is almost un
believable. Infant mortality is from 30% to 75%, and
is caused largely by syphilis, diarrhoea and tetanus.
Blind children are in every little village ; unwashed
eyes at birth, smallpox and measles are among the
causes. An average of one feebleminded child in every
household, untaught, ridiculed, neglected; deaf mutes
in almost as great a proportion and untaught ; lepers,
and those suffering from tuberculosis and smallpox
going about unrestrained and spreading contagion ;
no isolation during, or disinfection following small
pox; scarlet fever, measles, typhoid, cholera, plague;
flies breeding by the millions in street corners of
every city, where refuse is thrown. These conditions
are found almost all through China.
(c) Public Health Teaching to rouse public opinion
to demand Government Health Officers, doctors and
nurses to heal this open sore of China ; to overcome
ignorance of bacteria and of surgical treatment of
sores and injuries.
64 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
The Native Church.
Home Life. Perhaps nowhere does the gospel make
itself felt more than in the home. The position of
women in a Christian home is so much improved that
heathen families often try to obtain Christian husbands
for their daughters. Christian Chinese homes, presid
ed over by women educated and equal to the men, are
such object lessons that the neighbors say, "We want
such homes."
Girls names are now changed. Instead of "want a
boy," "too many girls," "little trouble," they are now
called "little love," "little joy," "little precious."
Family worship is conducted in the home when teach
ing of the Word often results in other members of the
family accepting Christ as their Saviour. In one
home the son of a widow became a Christian and as
master of that home he began to hold family worship,
though his mother and wife had said they would rather
have him in his coffin than follow the foreigner s
religion. The result was the conversion of wife and
daughters, and a more friendly attitude towards
Christianity in the proud and haughty mother.
Educated Christian boys want educated Christian
girls for their wives; and in some cases where be
trothal had been arranged previous to their know
ledge of the gospel and the girl s family still remains
heathen, the boy has paid to send the girl to the
Mission Boarding School to make her a better wife
and mother for his home. The Christian young man
takes his wife and makes their home wherever his
work calls him. What a contrast ,to the former
CHINA NORTH HONAN 65
custom, where he left home, leaving the young wife
with his mother, too often to be treated more like a
servant or slave than a daughter !
One writer says : "Despite the cruel custom of foot
binding, despite the untidiness and unskilfulness of
very many Chinese mothers and mothers-in-law who
oversee the industrial training of their children.
Chinese womanhood is essentially sound and is the
hope of the Chinese Nation." Past restraint kept it
sound, but what of the future womanhood of China
with this restraint removed, if nothing takes its place?
The masses are still untouched by the influence of
Christianity.
The burial customs of the Chinese are both extra
vagant and burdensome. Large sums of money are
spent on offerings at funerals, especially at the
graves of senior members of the family. One Christ
ian widow felt she must be the first in her village to
protest against the folly of this time-honored custom
and to set an example for others to follow. Amid
much opposition and ridicule, she announced to her
wide circle of friends that there would be a Christian
service at the funeral of her husband and son who were
to be buried the same day. (It is common among the
wealthier Chinese to keep the coffin of one member
of the family until there is another death and the two
are buried at one time.) Practically the whole vil
lage and others from a distance attended, and many
at that service heard the gospel for the first time.
Her brave testimony bore fruit and not long after
another woman had a Christian service at her hus-
66 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
band s funeral. Scores of friends and relatives
attended, some of whom would not ordinarily come to
a gospel meeting, and these listened to the Message
of Life from the wonderful words "He that believeth
on me, though he were dead yet shall he live." This
shows the truth in the statement made regarding the
influence of women in China, "The results of women s
work and influence in China are out of all pro
portion to their conspicuousness." "In weighing the
gold which has been poured out for the redemption of
China, it is impossible to measure the extent of her
influence or the value of her place."
The Story of Mrs. Lang and her household
"Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and
die, it abideth alone : but if it die, it bringeth forth much
fruit." Thus Soliliquized Mrs. Lang as she con
templated the ice-clad blades of wheat in an itinerary
through the country. "Truly there is no grain suffers
as the wheat suffers." Suffering of all kinds struck
a deep chord of response in the heart of Mrs. Lang,
and always recalled the poignant suffering of the days
of the Great Famine, when in the family councils, as
a last resource for keeping the wolf from the door,
she had consented to be parted from mother, sis
ter and brother to be sold as wife to a strange man
in the distant Province of Honan. Recalled, too, the
days which followed, full of suffering from her sep
aration and removal to a strange place ; the days
of misery in her new home, when for the offence of
being homely, and unskilled in the domestic science
of Honan housewives, she was beaten and knocked
CHINA NORTH HONAN 67
about by mother-in-law, husband, brothers-in-law and
sisters-in-law. In the cold winter weather when other
members of the family were huddled over the brick
stove warming their feet at its tiny flame, she sat in
the darkest corner of the room, unreached by any
nicker of candle light, and with numbed hands busy
at her spinning, the object of the jests of the others
as she cried with the pain of frozen fingers and toes.
Her sole hope and comfort that of some day seeing
her loved ones again was ruthlessly taken from her
when she heard of the little starving brother being
drowned to shorten his days of anguish, of the
mother s starvation, and of the little sister being beat
en to death by the family to whom she had been sold
who can depict the desolation of her lot? No voice
called from out the deep to tell of the Saviour triumph
ant over death, no hand stretched out to clasp her as
she sank in the waters of despair.
Years have passed, by dint of perseverance and earn
est endeavour, she who was once the despised little
daughter-in-law has become the capable housewife,
famed in the villages round about for her skill in all
kinds of domestic science, her greatest laurel being
the admiration of her once persecuting mother-in-law
and husband. The six daughters of her household have
all been well trained in spinning, weaving, cooking,
grinding grain, making shoes ,and other garments.
The mother love determined that her children should
not eat bitterness in the homes of their mothers -in-
law as she had done in hers from lack of being initiated.
One day the serious illness of her husband revealed
68 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
to Mrs. Lang her deep affection for him, and when only
one hope of recovery was held out by the Chinese
doctor, she unhesitatingly endured the knife that a
piece of flesh from her arm might be taken and boiled
to make medicine for the sick man. He was restored
to health and strength again. She had not heard the
truth, "Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground
and die" but a voice within urged her to make this
sacrifice that the family circle might remain unbroken.
Hark ! A new song is heard in the Lang home, a
joyous sound, "Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me." The
search for truth has been rewarded. Mr. Lang has
heard of the love of Jesus, and now his one purpose
is to know Him and tell the story of His Salvation.
While wife and daughters spin or weave, he reads to
them the precious Words of Life. His two youngest
daughters are sent to the Mission Boarding School at
Wei Hwei. The fourth daughter, still at home, is daily
instructed and he uses every opportunity to tell the
Way of Life to his married daughters and their hus
bands. His wife is sent to learn from the missionary s
wife or to attend the women s Bible classes at Wei
Hwei. He suffers persecution at the hand of his
brother when household gods, and all signs of idolatry
are removed from the home, but he suffers meekly and
without protest. Time was when the slightest oppo
sition to his wish brought on fits of temper, ending in
acts of violence, as when in former years in a fit of
anger he killed his first wife.
The new life of the Lang family, the joy, the for
giving spirit, the practice of the golden rule, all had an
CHINA NORTH HONAN 69
effect on their neighbors, and even spread to near-by
villages. Many gathered to hear the father read the
Word of God morning and evening at family worship,
and to hear him speak to the unseen Saviour in prayer.
What a change in this home, as one after another, its
members found the knowledge of a Saviour and the joy
of Salvation. All things were brought to Him in
prayer. The fear of watching alone in the harvest
field through the long night was changed to peace as
Mrs. Lang now looked up to the star-lit sky and knew
that the Great Creator, the All-powerful One, was also
the loving Father who watched over His children to
keep them from harm. A daughter of the home be
came seriously ill, and preparations for burial were
made, when, by God s appointment, the missionary
arrived, earnest intercession was made and the
daughter recovered almost instantly. Such confirm
ation of the love of Jesus in stretching forth His hand
to heal her child made the presence of the Lord very
real to Mrs. Lang. Henceforth her life must be given
completely to Him.
Now her daughter-in-law is quite capable of keeping
the home and her husband willing that she should go
and teach others the way of Salvation. So for almost
four years she has proclaimed the Truth in many
villages to hundreds who had never heard it before.
Day by day, in the early morning, studying with other
helpers, and interceding for those to whom they went,
she has been faithful and earnest in witnessing to the
power of a Saviour mighty to save.
Five centres were made the basis of preaching, and
70 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
each year she travelled many weary miles in springless
carts over bumpy roads among mountains or sandy
wastes. At inns en route, she secured a night s rest
on a mat spread on the mud floor or brick bed. Be
fore daybreak the carter s voice called her to be on
the road again, and without breakfast, or even a drink
of boiled water, she travelled many miles. On arrival
at her destination further delay of breakfast was often
caused by the smoking, pipeless, brick stove which had
to be coaxed, by means of bellows, to give enough heat
for cooking. But these inconveniences were all com
pensated for in the joy of telling of Jesus who died to
save sinners, and of seeing souls born again. Mrs.
Lang never failed in intercession at the Throne of
Grace, and one by one as He called them, His sheep
heard His voice .and followed Him. Some were
strengthened to endure persecution, and some made
courageous to tell their joy to neighbors and friends.
As a result of her work, five little communities of
Christians have become lights in the surrounding
darkness. Can you hear the hum of the Christians
studying the Word of God? Can you hear the songs
of praise from those who have lately learned to praise
their Creator? Can you hear the murmur of prayer
from a company of women kneeling, and as the Holy
Spirit gives them utterance, bursting into prayer each
unconscious of the other s presence? Can you see the
neighboring villagers waiting the return of those who
have the Good News of a Saviour to proclaim ? Can you
see small boys and men who can read, eagerly poring
over copies of the gospel? Then think. of the millions
CHINA NORTH HONAN 71
yet unreached, the invitations unaccepted from lack of
strength and time. Then remember the harvest is
great the opportunity short. What are you doing with
your life?
Little Mrs. Lang is now suffering from cancer and
soon will be called into the presence of Him whom she
served so faithfully. She looks forward with joy but
says, "Who will preach to my countrymen? I yearn
for their salvation."
Evangelism. All the work of the mission is evangel
ical, even though it conies under the branches known
as medical or educational. But apart from these there
are methods purely evangelical, as the preaching of the
Word in city or country chapel, at fairs or any large
assemblies of people. Here the male missionary and
his Chinese evangelist or the lady worker and her Bible
woman, keep open door and preach daily to all who
care to come and listen. Visits are made to various
centres where they remain for a few weeks, and not
only in that centre is the Word preached, but all the
neighboring villages are visited. Christian literature
is always carried and often large sales are made.
Evangelists and itinerating Christians spend most
of their time in this work, supervised by the mission
ary of the district. Evangelical teaching is carried on
daily in our hospital wards, and many a patient who
comes in a heathen goes out a Christian, and their
influence is felt in their home villages.
Classes are held by the missionary and her workers
when the women of the neighborhood gather together
for Bible study for a week or ten days. These classes
THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
are much appreciated by the young Christian
mothers whose home duties prevent them going away
for a longer period to study. The Bible women s class
held for a month each year gives instruction to those
who are preparing to give themselves for the
Church s work. The month has proved so inadequate
that the Presbytery passed a motion to establish
a regular Bible Women s School, giving five months
teaching each year. The new phonetic script recently
introduced throughout China is being taught to all
classes, and even school children are teaching it to the
older members of the home.
Woman s Day. Tent campaign, Changte. 1920.
"Precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and
there a little." Tis thus that the successive winter
campaigns in the city are making an impression upon
the daily audiences of women. It was noted during
this series that a much larger percentage of the women
came to stay and listen, and further, that the former
frequent retreats from fright upon seeing a foreigner,
were this year a rare occurrence.
On woman s day, the seating capacity for six hun
dred was taxed to accommodate the numbers who
came. The message effectively given by the Chinese
workers was well received, many of the audience sit
ting for almost five consecutive hours of preaching,
interspersed with the singing of hymns by the school
girls and a very much appreciated address on hygiene
by Dr. Jean I. Dow.
A young Buddhist woman who had carefully ob
served her vegetarian vows for over five years listened
CHINA, NORTH HONAN
73
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CHINA NORTH HONAN 75
with rapt attention, while one of the workers told of
her release from this bondage into the liberty of Christ,
and then came to one of the ushers and said, "I too
want to learn this doctrine." Sitting alone in one of
the back seats, listening intently, a little woman beck
oned a worker to her side and said, "I want to follow
your doctrine." During one of the addresses on the
closing evening an opportunity was given to confess
belief in Jesus by raising the hand. At the far end of
one of the seats, a hand was resolutely raised and it
proved to be the wife of a Christian, who has long
prayed and worked to lead his wife into belief. For
such as these we thank the Lord of the harvest and
pray that during the coming months He will guide
many to where "line upon line" of His Truth may
be pressed home again to the hearts of those who
have heard.
The Present Conditions.
The winter of 1920-1921, will long be remembered
in Honan for the terrible suffering and death by
famine. A great part of the regular work of the mis
sion was interrupted to enable the missionaries to
devote their time and strength to famine relief work.
Schools were opened for women and children at all the
stations, where many were fed and taught who other
wise would have starved. Spinning and weaving were
introduced at Wei Hwei to give women work, while
a pillow-making industry at Hwai King kept many
supplied with sufficient for their daily needs. A new
road built between the railway and Wu An gave hun
dreds a means of earning their living, and similar road-
76 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
building was carried on in other sections of the field.
Perhaps the work most appreciated by the Chinese
themselves was that done in the maternity wards
opened up at Changte and Wei Hwei Hospitals. At
the former, under the care of Dr. Dow and Dr. Mac-
Ta vish, over five hundred babies were born and they
and their mothers cared for for seven months. These
were all cases where starvation was the only alter
native, had they not been received into the Mission
Hospital. Dr. Dow writing says, "It is good to see the
gratitude of some who realize that no other chance of
subsistance would have been available. One patient
said her sister-in-law died of starvation when her baby
was eleven days old, and that when the father, who
was a soldier/came home, he buried the infant alive in
the grave with her, because there was no means of
nourishing it. Then just about ten days ago the eight
year old boy died also of starvation."
This famine has called forth the sympathy and help
of many who are distressed when they know that
people are dying from starvation, but what of the
usual condition of the starvation of their souls?
Hark the wail of Heathen Nations,
List ! the cry comes back again,
With its solemn sad reproaching,
With its piteous refrain ;
"We are dying, fast, of hunger,
Starving for the bread of life !
Haste, oh hasten ! ere we perish
Send the Messengers of Life."
CHAPTER III.
SOUTH CHINA.
Present Day Conditions.
China is still in a state of political chaos. North and
South still have their separate Governments. Inter-
provincial strife still abounds. The latter part of 1920
witnessed serious trouble in Kwong Tung Province,
due to the fact that the military governor was a native
of the adjoining province, and with his soldiers, tried
to establish his own regime in Canton. After repeated
efforts had been made to dislodge him, he finally re
tired, leaving a legacy of debts and a depleted Trea
sury. He also blew up one of the big arsenals before
taking his departure. For months business was dis
organized, and river traffic in the Canton Delta prac
tically at a standstill. School work suffered greatly,
and as students were continually leaving with every
fresh rumor of trouble, several schools in Canton had
to be closed altogether. Such conditions are always
accompanied by a greater degree of lawlessness, and
more frequent attacks than usual by pirate hordes.
Outlying villages suffer most, but attacks upon towns
and cities are not infrequent. There are villages where
the women often keep guard by day and the men by
night, and many dare not sleep in their own homes.
Unpaid soldiers often constitute a like menace.
77
78 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
This has been the repeated history of the Republic
in South China, during the nine years of its existence.
However, the new governor is a Kwong Tung man and
promises to do away with the old military system, so
that this province is likely to be the first to take a
very important step towards real republicanism. A
stable Government would prove a splendid asset in the
carrying on of regular mission work.
Another step of far-reaching importance has recent
ly been taken. Legalized gambling, as a means of
raising the Government revenue, has been wrecking
the happiness of many a home and causing untold
misery. Efforts made by Christians and men in
fluenced by them, to induce the Government to do
away with this evil, have been successful and the close
of 1920 witnessed its banishment from the province.
One great danger of the present transition period in
China lies in the false idea of liberty prevailing among
the younger and less conservative generation. More
over, the whole status of women is rapidly changing.
Young women with higher education are taking their
place in public life as teachers, doctors and nurses.
The need for wise, strong leadership and careful train
ing will be readily understood. On the other hand, one
hopeful sign for the future is the growing spirit of
patriotism manifest in the rising generation of stud
ents and the development of national consciousness.
As regards mission work, and its prospects in the
South China field, it has been said, "Prejudice and
planned opposition are rapidly disappearing, and the
way becoming constantly clearer for the evangelist
SOUTH CHINA 79
with the gospel message." An ever-increasing oppor
tunity is afforded for speaking in schools through the
country and distributing scripture portions, which thus
find their way into many homes. The establishing of
the Chinese Home Missionary Society, at the "China
for Christ" Conference, held in 1919 by Chinese leaders,
marks a great advance for the native Church. A de
finite beginning has already been made in the Province
of Yun Nan.
The Sick and Needy.
The Hospital and Doctor. The "Marian Barclay"
Hospital at Kong Moon Port was opened in 1912. It
consists of a main building with chapel and dispen
saries, with a wing for men patients and one for
women, on either side*. There is accommodation for
about forty patients. The hospital work is constantly
increasing notwithstanding the great number of native
doctors and foreign-trained midwives coming into the
district. Beds have frequently to be set up on the
verandahs to accommodate patients, and the need for
the proposed extension is greatly felt. The plan is to
add another story to the main building and a mat
ernity annex.
The present staff of the hospital consists of Dr.
Jessie MacBean and Dr. John Macdonald, in charge of
the women s and men s work respectively, each assist
ed by a foreign-trained native physician and a staff of
nurses. In addition, there is a dispenser for the men s
department, and a blind Bible woman in the women s,
the latter also teaching massage to the nurses and
giving treatments. Besides the routine work of the
80 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
hospital, the care of patients, operations, classes for
nurses and so on, the doctors respond to many out
side calls, and carry on dispensary work in different
centres.
One needs to know the faith and prayer life of these
Christian workers in order to understand the wonder
ful recoveries accomplished under most adverse con
ditions. The importance of the trust and confidence
inspired by the wise, kindly treatment of the hitherto
mistrusted foreigner, cannot easily be estimated.
The Heung Shaan Chinese are raising $50,000
(Mexican currency) for the purchase of land and the
erection of a modern hospital in Shek-ki. They agree
to put up the building provided the Canadian Church
will equip and staff it. The doctor and nurse who
have been assigned to this hospital are already on the
field, busy with language study. There are a number
of more or less capable foreign-trained native doctors
in private practice in Shek-ki. Two women physicians,
graduates of the American Presbyterian Medical Col
lege in Canton, have for several years been employed
by a benevolent society in the city and have done
splendid work among the women and children. There
is, however, a great need for the hospital in this large
city, which ranks in importance second to Canton, in
the whole Delta, and has a densely populated country
round about.
The Nurses. In the women s department of the
"Marian Barclay" Hospital there are three classes of
nurses. Of the six who graduated in 1920, after a
three years course, two have taken positions in Canton
SOUTH CHINA
81
DR. JESSIE MACBEAN, GRADUATES AND NURSES
in training at Women s Hospital, Kong Moon.
SOUTH CHINA 83
and the others are doing private nursing. They have
had a great many special cases, both in and out of the
hospital, which shows that the Chinese are learning
to appreciate the value of skilful treatment for their
sick. 1921 finds eight girls training in the women s
department, and four male nurses in the men s. Two
of these girls will graduate in 1921. The graduation
is marked by a public gathering, with a special speaker,
and a programme to which the Boarding School pupils
and the nurses contribute. Tea is served at the close
and a dinner given for the graduates at night, where
suitable gifts are presented. They, in their turn, enter
tain the staff the following- evening.
The head nurse, Miss Shearer, in addition to her
work as supervisor, gives lectures to the nurses in
both departments, following the course recommended
by the Nurses Association of China. She also has a
weekly Bible class for those directly under her care,
three of whom were baptized in 1920, and three more
are preparing for baptism. Dr. Macdonald carries on
similar work among the men.
Extension work is being planned in the medical
department for both men and women. The changes
are not in sufficiently definite form to make a state
ment, but the purpose is to use some of the Forward
Movement money in this way.
The Patient. There are two classes of patients,
those who come into the hospital and those who simply
come to the dispensaries. The doctors have every
week what are known as "dispensary days," twice in
Kong Moon Port, twice in Kong Moon City and once
84 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
in San Ui. Patients begin to arrive long before the
appointed hour. Looking over the motley crowd as it
gathers, one is struck by the number of sore eyes
among both young and old. Some are red and inflamed,
some have ulcers forming on the eye itself; some have
eyelids inturned until the lashes are rubbing on the eye
ball. Dirt and carelessness about infection and
disease are responsible for most of it. Many chil
dren are blind from smallpox and from red pepper and
ground glass treatment. The doctor has many a
heartache over the hopeless verdict that must be given,
where eyes might have been saved by prompt, sane
treatment. The same is true of many of the other
cases.
Malaria and dysentery bring many a patient, as well
as infected and loathsome sores. One wonders at the
amount of poison the Chinese system is capable of
withstanding. The spring and early summer brings
large numbers of babies and children covered with
huge boils to. be lanced and dressed. Pandemonium
reigns then.
The patients as they enter the dispensary, purchase
little wooden tickets of admission, which cost two
cents. Then they sit and listen to the gospel message,
which is always given before the doctors begin treat
ments ; or talk quietly to the Bible woman and preach
er, who move about among them after the service.
Many a conversion may be traced back to this hour.
A woman came one day to the dispensary, with her
little son who was ill. She sat drinking in the mes
sage of the Father, God, from the lips of the Bible
SOUTH CHINA 85
woman, and believed at once. She became one of the
most faithful members of the church, and a real wit
ness-bearer until the day of her death.
Through the dispensary, entrance is gained for the
evangelistic worker to many a home, which might
otherwise remain closed because of the lack of a point
of contact. Dispensary work is decreasing somewhat,
possibly because of the fact that a growing number
of Chinese doctors are also carrying on free dis
pensaries.
Then there are the hospital patients, who come in
for operations or confinements, or to be under the
immediate and constant care of the doctors in some
dangerous or stubborn illness. Many of these patients
are too poor .to pay even for their food. Sometimes
chickens, eggs or fruit are brought in to help meet the
expense ; at times the friends bear part of it, or Christ
ian Chinese assume the responsibility.
A heathen village woman, who had been ill for
months, was found almost starving, by Chinese Christ
ian women. They enlisted the services of two men
to carry her in a large basket to the hospital. She
improved at first, then grew worse. Finally she asked
tq go home to die, and was taken back just two days
before the end. Her hospital expenses were borne by
these Christian women, and the doctors felt it wise to
accept the money so lovingly given.
One of the difficulties in the hospital work is that
often people wait until the case is almost hopeless,
before coming to the hospital. Another difficulty is
illustrated by the following incident: A school girl
86 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
had been ill with typhoid, and, under careful treatment
in the hospital, was just reaching the place where
skilled nursing would bring her back to health, when
her mother suddenly appeared one day and insisted
upon taking her home. One reason she gave was that
she was hungry. All warnings and entreaties were in
vain and the workers with heavy, apprehensive hearts
saw her taken away.
The treatment of hundreds of patients in the hos
pital each year affords a great opportunity for personal
work. The days pass slowly for those who are not
too seriously ill to care, and with no outside interests
to distract them, many listen willingly and attentively
to the gospel message. Many too become deeply in
terested in learning to read the sirnple Christian
classic. A morning service is held each day in the
chapel, attended by the hospital servants and all
patients who are able to leave their beds. The preach
er at the Port Church also conducts a hospital Sabbath
School. Thousands of Chinese, through hospital or
dispensary work are*coming into touch with the heal
ing and cleansing power of Christ. The effect of this
branch of the work upon heathenism cannot be
estimated.
Children and Students.
The Child. The small child in China has usually a
happy, care-free life. One sees little ones playing their
games on the street like children the world over, save
that, in many cases, they are carrying babies half the
size of themselves, fastened on their backs. As the
girls grow oldej, play rapidly becomes a thing of the
SOUTH CHINA
87
past, unless they are fortunate enough to be in a school
compound, where they are encouraged to take part in
the games. One thing we feel specially thankful for
is that, in our part of the country, the custom of foot-
binding has quite died out.
Chinese mothers know very little about child train
ing. Their main idea is that a small child cannot be
expected to understand what discipline means, and
consequently the average child has little upbringing.
Lack of self control is a thing one is often struck with..
in old and young alike. All sorts of impossible threats
and promises are used to induce obedience. Address
ing a women s meeting one day, the writer spoke of
the sin of lying. One woman burst out laughing,
exclaiming, "Listen, she says it is a sin to lie. It is
lie. How could one ever manage
ird to
THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
One inmate of many a home to whom one s heart
specially goes out is the little slave girl. She is the
household drudge, and cruel blows and angry words
often fall to her lot. She has been sold by her parents,
sometimes for as little as thirty dollars, and a deed
given to the purchaser, just as though .it were a
property transaction. Looking out of my window one
day I saw, in a vacant lot nearby a little girl, weeping
bitterly and calling, "Mother, mother." I learned that
she was a little slave, who had been punished for some
offence. The greatest advance we have made in anti-
slave legislation in South China, is that if parents wish
to redeem their children, the owners must release
them. Kidnapping children and holding them for ran
som or selling them as slaves is one of the most com
mon methods used by pirates to make money.
The only real class distinction in South China is
between land and boat people. The latter spend their
lives on boats, or in little shacks built along the river
bank. In Canton the boat population is estimated at
500,000. A large part of Kong Moon Port community
is made up of these people and there are also many in
Kong Moon City. The children usually play along
the banks when the boats are in, the small ones being
distinguished by having large cork floats tied to their
backs, to locate them should they fall into the water.
They are often tethered inside the boat when it goes
out. A few have found their way to our schools, but
the constant shifting of the boats from place to place,
prevents regular work among them. In 1920 a branch
of the Canton Boat Mission was established in Kong
SOUTH CHINA
89
THREE GIRL GRADUATES,
holding the flowers presented by Mrs. Meyer.
Three Lady Teachers and Miss Langriil in the back
row. The Kong Moon Boarding School in the
background.
SOUTH CHINA 91
Moon City, one feature of whose work is day and
Sabbath schools and other meetings for children.
There is no religious education in the heathen home.
As the children grow older, they often perform the
duty of lighting and setting out the incense sticks ;
but it is not until they grow up that definite worship
is expected of them.
The School Girl. One of the outstanding develop
ments in the recent history of China and one most full
of promise, is the importance now attached to the
education of girls. There has also been a wonderful
improvement in the educational system, though much
is still to be desired. The old time Chinese are rapidly
disappearing before modern educational institutions.
What are known as Government Normal Schools for
girls are found in all the principal cities of the South.
They give practically no Normal training, but the
grades correspond largely to those of a public school,
with a little High School work. The attitude towards
Christianity in these schools is mainly hostile, and the
worship of Confucius is taught. Still one finds these
keen young minds open and alert and among many of
them little or no faith in idol worship. One of the most
interesting Bible classes the writer has ever had, was
composed of about sixteen Government School girls,
only five of whom were Christians.
The policy of most missions is to establish day
schools for girls and boys wherever a preaching station
is opened. At the present time there are nine day
schools for girls in the South China mission and five
for boys, while six stations are still unsupplied. In
92
two of these stations, the schools are conducted by
the native Church, and one school has been opened in
a village where there is as yet no chapel. There are 328
children in day schools supervised by women mission
aries, aside from the Boarding School. Two most
faithful Bible women owe their conversion to village
schools. Two of the schools are in the capital cities of
San Ui and Shek-ki ; the former with an enrolment of
85, ranks as one of the best in the city. It has three
teachers, one a graduate of our Boarding School. The
attendance at the Shek-ki school has decreased to 50,
owing to the lack of accommodation. It has three
teachers and is supported entirely by the Chinese
Church, though still largely under missionary super
vision, and has a kindergarten in connection with it.
A fine new school for older girls, supported and con
trolled by Chinese merchants, natives of Shek-ki, has
been opened there recently. Mr. and Mrs. MacRae
and Miss Reid assist in the teaching and the two latter
are on the supervising committee. This school will
probably be merged later into one much along the lines
of our Boarding School.
In all the stations, it is the mothers whom one finds
clinging to their idols, and opposing stenuously any
desire on the part of their daughters openly to accept
and follow Christ.
In one of our day schools, a young girl, who had
been faithfully taught by a Christian teacher, came to
be examined for baptism. In her own words she
"prepared to die" before coming, as her mother was so
bitterly opposed. She was severely beaten when she
SOUTH CHINA
went home. Later she was allowed to teach a little
school in another village and things went better for a
time. Then her fiance, who had returned from Canada,
influenced by his relatives, refused to marry her, be
cause she was a Christian. She was beaten at least
twenty times by her relatives to try to force her to
recant. It was of no avail. Christians and mission
aries intervened. Finally she married, her husband
promising that she should be allowed to worship her
own God and attend service. At the time of writing
this privilege had never been granted her, and she was
still being persecuted. The Christians of the commun
ity are much exercised, for they feel it to be a test case.
In addition to the day schools, we have, at Kong
Moon Port, a Boys Boarding School and a Girls
Boarding School. The latter was opened in October,
1916, and has now an enrolment of 66. Miss Dulmage
the Principal, is ably assisted by two fine young
Chinese women teachers, with a junior teacher from
among our own graduates. The school comprises
lower and higher primary grades, a seven years course
in all, the studies being similar to those in Canadian
schools. English is taught in the higher primary
classes and each class has an hour s instruction daily
in the Bible, in addition to chapel exercises in the
morning, and evening prayers.
Many a Chinese father who has been abroad, would
put his daughter in Boarding School, were it not for
the women relatives, who see no advantage in a good
education for their girls. Another of our difficulties
in the work is that the girls are often taken from
94 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
school in order to be married. Coming in one day
I found the girls in one of the senior classes much per
turbed. One of their number had just received a let
ter, calling her home to be married. She was be
coming deeply interested in the gospel. In talking
to me she said, "Ku Neung, what has been the use
of it all? I have learned to know the truth and want
to become a Christian. Now I am going back to
marry a heathen husband whom I have never seen
and to live in a heathen home. I am sure to drop
back where I was before." The outstanding girl in
the graduating class of 1921 is eager to be baptized,
but is hindered by the opposition and threats of her
father. Her three younger sisters, also in the school,
are in much the same position.
There is a student Y. W. C. A. in the Boarding
School, to which the hospital nurses also belong. It
meets weekly and has proved a very real blessing to
the girls. Under its auspices voluntary Bible classes are
conducted, in which the enrolment in 1920 was 39.
They have also a "Time Investment Club", which plans
for definite Christian service during their vacation.
The Association is responsible for a Women s Meeting
and two Sabbath Schools, one in the chapel with an en
rolment of about 70, mostly boat children, the other in
a nearby village. All teaching is done by the Chinese
teachers and girls, who also do a little evangelistic
work in the homes of the day pupils, and regularly
visit a day school in a neighboring village.
The Boarding School staff have repeatedly ex
perienced the power of prayer to clear up difficulties.
SOUTH CHINA 95
Writing of a recent confession and restitution, the
Principal says, "It was a wonderful prayer victory."
In 1919 there were three graduates, and six in 1920.
Two of the latter are now teaching mission day schools
and two are training for special wtork.
The College Student. In the matter of higher
educational institutions for women, the North easily
takes precedence over the South. In the Canton
Delta, aside from Hong Kong, the only High School
for girls was opened by the American Presbyterian
Mission in Canton City in 1916. It has a steadily
increasing enrolment. One feature of present day
missionary effort is the movement towards union in
institutional work, wherever possible. As a result,
our mission has recently appointed Miss Langrill to
the teaching staff of the Union Normal Training
School and Miss Dickson to the Union Bible Women s
Training School in Canton City. Up to the time of
the establishment of our Boarding School, we were
entirely dependent upon other schools for teachers.
Now two of our 1920 graduates are taking extra
training in this. Normal School, one for kindergarten
and primary work and the other for work in the
higher grades. The latter was the outstanding girl
in the Boarding School.
The Native Church.
The Field. 1921 marks the nineteenth birthday of
the South China Mission, and finds twenty-one mis
sionaries on the field, including missionaries wives,
who have proved a splendid asset in the women s
work, giving their time willingly in all lines of service.
96 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
In addition to the foreign staff, there are fifteen
native preachers, twelve Bible women and four col
porteurs. The latter have sold over 45,000 scripture
portions this year in addition to tracts and posters.
In 1920, 154 members were added to the Church by
baptism, eleven of whom were from Tsiu Lin Island,
where, after years of fruitless effort to establish
work, a reading room was finally opened. This has
since become a chapel in which regular services are
held. There are three stations in the large cities of
Kong Moon, San Ui and Shek-ki, which is now the
resident station of some of our missionaries. Thir
teen others are in towns or large villages. In all
stations near Kong Moon Port, regular weekly
meetings for women are held by the lady mission
aries, who also visit the outlying stations as regular
ly as possible, hold special meetings and visit the
Christian homes and the surrounding villages. In
Ping Laam two of our lady missionaries were asked
by the teacher of a clan school, to address a public
meeting in the ancestral hall. The audience of three
hundred or more, chiefly men and boys, was quiet,
orderly and respectful. The work in this station is
showing marked signs of new life.
Visiting in homes, where curious groups often drop
in to see or listen ; holding classes for training Christ
ian women and helping enquirers ; supervising the
work and holding meetings in day schools; or
itinerating in the more distant parts of the field; these
are the things which help to fill the busy days of the
evangelistic worker.
SOUTH CHINA 97
The Bible Woman. The Bible woman is the mis
sionary s right hand. She keeps her informed about
the "sisters" and their needs, and visits with her in
their homes or in the homes of non-Christians to which
entrance has been gained. Are some women prepar
ing for Church membership? The Bible woman in
structs them. Is there sickness in a Christian home?
It is the Bible woman who is called in to pray with
and comfort the family. Has some family resolved
to give up idols and ancestral tablets? The Bible
woman is asked to help in the destruction of the sym
bols of heathen worship. Does some mother seek
a suitable daughter-in-law or son-in-law? The
Bible woman s aid is frequently solicited. In short,
she is the one to whom the "sisters" turn in need of
any kind.
A man lay dying in his home. The women relatives
were Christian. He would not allow his wife to care
for him, saying that he wanted no Christians about
him. At last he fell into a stupor, and the Bible woman
who was sitting in the room, prayed, "Lord, if I can
do anything for this man s salvation, show me what
it is." Rousing a few minutes later, he turned to
her and said, "I Ku, is there any hope for a man like
me?" She used her opportunity to point him to the
Saviour, and he died a Christian.
The fondness of Chinese women for backbiting and
slander makes her work difficult. Unfortunately
this is not confined solely to the heathen and the Bible
woman must walk carefully, if she would avoid being-
drawn into quarrels and yet do her duty. Jealousy or
7
98 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
dislike may make endless trouble for her, and getting
at the root of a quarrel has baffled many a missionary.
It is often difficult to secure Bible women who wish
to enter the work not as a means of livelihood, but be
cause they feel called of God. The majority are wid
ows with very little money. An industrious Bible
woman, whose work seemed fruitless, gave this testi
mony at a personal workers meeting, with tears roll
ing down her face : "For ten years I have worked for
my salary. No one could call me lazy. I tried to do
an honest day s work for an honest day s pay, but my
motive was wrong, and my work fruitless. Now I
am going to work for God s glory and the salvation
of souls." The divinely called, spirit-filled Bible
woman is the greatest asset in evangelistic work.
The Christians. One feels that while reaching the
heathen is important, our best work as leaders is
among the Christians. One of the greatest difficulties
in training the women arises from the fact that so few
of them can read. The simplified script, which gives
promise of being such a help in the North, has not
yet proved practicable in the South, because of the
greater number of tones in the Southern dialects.
Wherever possible, mid-week meetings for prayer
and Bible study are held for the Christian women.
Real progress has been observed in the lives of most
of them. They are continually making use of
opportunities for service. In one country station a
number have promised to do personal work next year,
undertaking to speak of Christ to at least one person
each week.
SOUTH CHINA 99
In Shek-ki several neighborhood Bible classes are
held in Christian homes in different parts of the city,
and in connection with some of them there are classes
in reading. Miss Reid writes, "At the close of these
classes, visits are made to homes near at hand, where
there is an opportunity to give the gospel message. I
try to get as many women as possible to do the work,
not only of rinding opportunities for us, but of giving
their own personal testimony as well." A weekly
prayer meeting for women is also held in one of the
Christian homes.
Evangelism. One of the most hopeful signs in the
Chinese Church to-day is the growing realization on
the part of the Christians of their personal responsi
bility for the salvation of others. In almost every
station there are voluntary workers. Christian
women are giving their time to visiting with the Bible
woman or missionary; or are sometimes carrying on
the work themselves, where there is no regular Bible
woman. This work has been greatly stimulated
throughout China by the Personal Work Movement
of recent years. One pastor says, "It has revolution
ized my church." Visiting prisoners in the jails, is
a feature of evangelism in Canton City. The Bible
women have shared in this work in Shek-ki and the
men are doing similar work in Kong Moon City.
Each Chinese New Year season is now marked
by a week of evangelism in the churches. That is
the season when the Chinese take their one real holi
day, and it affords splendid opportunities for special
Christian effort. Preparatory classes are held in the
100 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
different stations and volunteers give their time to
visiting in heathen homes during the New Year and
to bringing out interested ones to special services.
In the larger cities, such as Shek-ki and San Ui
many of the women did splendid work in interesting
others in the gospel and in gaining entrance into
many homes for the missionary and Bible woman.
Miss Dulmage writes : "In Kong Moon Port all
the women met in the chapel. We explained the
purpose of the campaign. After prayer for guidance
and blessing we separated. Mrs. MacKay and one
group went in one direction, the Bible woman and
another group to a nearby village. An elder s wife
invited all the women in the neighborhood to her
home at Kong Moon Po r t, a home which is a real
witness for Christ to all her heathen neighbors and
invited me to speak to them. The room was crowd
ed, and as I spoke I felt that much preparatory pray
er had been offered by this little woman. Her hus
band came in from similar work before the meeting
closed and gave his testimony. A weekly study
class resulted from this meeting. A few months later
one woman was baptized and others wished to fol
low her example, but were hindered though fear of
relatives. The next week Mrs. MacKay, Mrs. Mac-
donald, three Bible women and I concentrated on
the village of Ma Uen. We held meetings in differ
ent homes and always had large audiences. The
women were so enthusiastic over this plan of work,
that they followed it for many weeks, after their
regular Wednesday meeting. It has led them to
SOUTH CHINA 101
realize more fully their need for prayer ami Bible
study, that they may have food to give to hungry
souls. The efforts made by some of the older wo
men to learn to read, are very touching."
One of the finest results of special evangelistic
efforts is that many women, who considered them
selves too old or stupid to help, are discovering that
God has a place for them too, and their lives are
being greatly enriched.
This, in brief, is the story of women s work in
South China. The longer one lives, the more one
realizes that the evangelization of the country rests,
in large measure, with the Chinese themselves; and
one thanks God for the capable, talented, consecrat
ed Christian leaders He is raising up in that land.
A Chinese preacher once made the statement, "Men
are not saved by methods. They are saved by people
leading consistent Christian lives." The same
thought was emphasized by a Chinese Y. M. C. A.
Secretary who said: "The greatest contribution any
missionary can make to China is just Christian char
acter." Shall not that be the burden of our prayer
for China and the Chinese Church, that, in a spirit-
filled, consecrated Christian Church, Christ may be so
lifted up that He will draw all men unto Himself.
CHAPTER IV.
SHANGHAI.
Christian Literature.
"A small drop of ink,
Falling like dew, upon a thought produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps
millions, think."
Byron.
Long before Western nations were civilized enough
to have either paper, ink or pen, millions of drops of
Chinese ink had fallen from the Chinese pen. Doubt
less, too, they were inspired by "thought." But here
we pause and consider if Byron s poetical illustration
will hold. Did these drops of ink, falling from the pens
of the ancient Chinese sages, produce "that which made
thousands, millions think."
China has always put a high premium on literature.
As a people she is traditionally divided into four class
es, the first rank being given to the literati or scholar.
China is rich in her old classics, of poetry, history, art
and philosophy. She also possesses voluminous dic
tionaries, the most ancient of which is usually said,
by Chinese scholars to belong to the 12th Century, B.C.
It may truly be said that the literature of China is
ancient, varied, full of lofty sayings and deeply revered.
After stating this, do we dare say that one of the great
est needs in China to-day is literature? Yes, we even
dare to say so.
102
SHANGHAI 103
[n order to make people "think", literature must be
alive, and must deal with the problems and the lives ol
the people. In Canada it is the fashion now to wear
large rimmed tortoise-shell spectacles. These were
worn centuries ago by the Chinese scholars. Picture
hi m ,_- big round spectacles, long gown with long
sleeves, long finger nails, walking with slow, dignified
tread, and meditative air. He had little or no know
ledge of life beyond his own doorstep. He could
doubtless produce essays written in choice language
after the style of the books he had himself studied, the
more obscure the meaning, the cleverer the production.
A chosen few only could even pretend to understand
the mysteries embodied, to the common man it was,
alas ! worse than Greek.
How many of the older missionaries can recall the
scholarly gentlemen who used to act as their honored
instructors in the Chinese language! When droning
over the classics the pupil would sometimes feel a
little inquisitive as to what it all meant, and would
mildly ask for some explanation in simpler language.
Can they ever forget the look of reproof in the eyes
of the sage, as, with a wave of the hand, he let it be
understood that it was the part of the scholar to
"learn," not "understand." The missionaries are fort
unate now in having language schools making the path
of learning the language much less laborious.
About the 13th Century novels began to appear in
the literature of China. But in the realm, of fiction the
authors did not maintain the same moral standard as
that found in other works. There is nothing strange
104 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
in this. In a country where women are not educated,
where womanhood is not exalted, where the social
customs divide the home life of husband and wife,
where concubinage exists, in such a country there is
little likelihood that pure and wholesome fiction could
be produced. In all Christian countries "womanhood"
and "motherhood" have inspired the poet. Not so in
China judging by the following ode,
"A clever man builds a city ;
A clever woman lays it low.
With all her qualifications a clever woman
Is but an ill-omened bird.
A woman with a long tongue
Is a flight of steps leading to calamity.
Disorder does not come from heaven "
But is brought about by women.
Among those who cannot be trained or taught
Are women and eunuchs."
Let our readers understand these contradictory yet
true statements, (1) "China is rich in literature."
(2) There is no country in the world so much in need
of literature as China is to-day.
Contrasting the Chinese classics with our great
classics, W. E. Soothill writes in / A Mission on
China," "Herein is no walking on the sea, no raising of
the widow s son, no Judas, no Peter, no Pilate, no
Cross and no Crown." We will go further and add
"no hope for eternity, no precious promises, no com
fort, no salvation, no Jesus Christ." Oh the poverty
of a literature which cannot embody any of these
things! The Chinese classics abound in such quo
tations as the following, "Thou shalt love thy friend
SHANGHAI 105
aiid ignore thine enemy." " The Master (Confucius)
required his sleeping dress to he half as long again
as. his body." "If the scholar be not grave he will
not call forth any veneration and his learning will not
be solid." A disciple of the Master once asked him
about death. He said, "I do not understand life, how
can I understand death." It is true there are also
quotations containing good ethics as. "Hold faithful
ness and sincerity as first principals." But ethical
teachings are of no use if the people cannot read them,
and if there is nothing more than pen and ink to
enable them to be put into practice.
Chinese Literature. When we come to Chinese
literature for women and children we are truly in a
barren land. None of the sages of China ever thought
of writing for children. There was the Three Charac
ter Classic prepared for the favored few who could go
to school, but no picture books, magazines, story
books, or interesting school books. For women also
no magazines, no books on children, or home life were
ever prepared. It is true that not many were needed
as so very few women and girls, and even boys and
men, could read.
We can safely say that when the missionaries arriv
ed in China there was no children s literature, and
none for women beyond the few novels, of which we
have spoken. Try to imagine a nation of four hundred
millions of people with thousands of years of ancient
civilization behind her. making no provision for the
education of her women and children.
Protestant Christianity. Then came the leaven.
106 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
What was it? In Canada we write 1921 A. D. Nearly
nineteen centuries ago our Master told the story of
the Kingdom of God and the leaven, and it has been
working and spreading ever since. But in conser
vative China, counting from the introduction of Pro
testant Christianity by Robert Morrison, we could
write 114 A. D., or even 32 A. D. in North Honan.
The Christian Church had not recognized her privi
leges, Jesus Christ had not been made known, and the
leaven could not work.
Can we picture that great hero, Robert Morrison,
who in January, 1807, left England for China? After
nine months journey he arrived in China, alone, yet
not alone, a stranger indeed in a strange land. Think
of him working away sometimes in hiding, often in
danger, separated from his friends and with very few-
letters. What was he doing? To learn the language
was his first duty, and his next, to translate the Bible.
And so the leaven was put into the lump, and it began
to work. Morrison was once asked, "Do you really
expect that you will make an impression on the idol
atry of the Chinese people?" He answered, "No, sir,
but I expect God will."
Other missionaries came, and the leaven went on
working. It was soon found necessary to prepare
tracts on gospel truths. Then the first convert, the
first church, other churches, mission schools and hos
pitals the Kingdom of God had come to China. Much
persecution and opposition had to be met, but the
Church went on growing.
Tract Societies. With the progress of Christianity
SHANGHAI 107
came other desires and needs, and one of the greatest
was the need for Christian literature. In the early
days of the Church in China, simple tracts met this
need, and the Tract Societies were started. In 1878
the Chinese Tract Society was formed in Shanghai ;
in 1876 the Central China Tract Society was formed
at Hankow ; later on another was started in Chung
king, known as the West China Tract Society ; still
further West is the Canadian Methodist Publishing
House, which also publishes tracts and Christian books.
Other smaller Societies publish tracts in districts
where dialects are spoken, as Fukien, Amoy, and Can
ton. These Societies all work in close co-operation.
We must bear in mind the distances in China, and also
the slow modes of travel Hankow about eight hun
dred miles from Shanghai, Chungking many hundreds
of miles from Hankow, Chengtu still further west.
This explains these different Societies, not different
in aim or object or doctrine, but separated by necessity.
The Christian Literature Society. But the time
came when other literature was needed to meet the
questionings of scholars about Christian literature
and many other things. The minds that had been asleep
began to wake up. In 1887, Dr. Williamson, a
man of great faith started the Society for the Diffusion
of Christian and General Knowledge, now known as
The Christian Literature Society. Christian books
were needed to help bring in the Kingdom of God in
China. In Christian lands the Christian literature has
been the result of accumulative labors, and so we have
an adundance of riches suitable for all ages and in-
108 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
tellects. lu China, how different! . livery tract, every
book, has had to be prepared.
Dr. Williamson began his work in small Chinese
quarters in Shanghai. He died in 1890, and his mantle
fell on Dr. Timothy Richard, another man of large
vision and faith. He saw that China could never be
reached by voice alone, the pen was needed to make
thousands millions, think. In 1899, the Canadian
Presbyterian Church set free Dr. Donald MacGillivray
from his work in Honan to enable him to join Dr.
Richard in the work of preparing" Christian literature
for China. Sir Thomas Hanbury, the head of a large
business firm in Shanghai left a legacy to the Society
to enable them to put up a building to carry on their
work. Other missionaries were .set free by other
Missions to join the staff.
Dr. Timothy Richard died in 1919. Dr. MacGillivray
is now General Secretary of the Society, a post which
carries very heavy responsibilities, though now, as
always, he is supported by the Canadian Presbyterian
Church.
This Society has doubtless had, and still has, a large
part in moulding the thoughts and opinions of the
educated classes of the country. The books that are
sent out to all parts of China have that in them which
will make people think. Books are also prepared
to help the Chinese preacher and teacher, as well as
the Church member. As the Chinese Church grows
this need is increasing. The Chinese pastor, Sunday
School teacher, evangelist, must be well equipped to
answer the questions that are constantly cropping up
SHANGHAI
109
DR. AND MRS. MACGILLIVRAY AND STAFF.
Miss Gay and Miss Cowan are in the Back Row.
SHANGHAI 111
in the minds of young China.
As the leaven worked, books for women were need
ed. With the growth of the Christian Church, the
rights of womanhood became recognized. Women
wanted to read, wanted to know, wanted to think.
Our Mission Schools were turning out girls who could
read; more than that, some Government Schools for
girls were started.
In 1912 the Christian Literature Society began to
publish a monthly magazine for women under the
editorship of Miss Laura White of the Northern Pres
byterian Church of the United States. Miss White
and her Chinese young women helpers have also pre
pared several books for the women and girls of China,
which have been published by the Christian Literature
Society. Many more such books are needed.
The claims of childhood came last. Somehow the
Christian .Church has been long in believing what
someone has so aptly said, "Win a man, get a unit;
win a boy, and get a multiplication table." In China-
with her millions of children and millions of women,
there are not more than four lady missionaries giving
their whole time to preparation of Christian literature,
and three of these are the wives of missionaries.
There are some others living in interior stations who
occasionally find time between their many duties -to
do a little literary work, but we can truly say in this
branch of missionary work, "Oh where are the
reapers?"
The China Sunday School Union prepares and pub
lishes Lesson Helps for teachers and scholars. The
112 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
Sunday School magazine, "Happy Childhood," is meet
ing a great need. The present writer has been the
editor of this paper since it began, and it has been a
service of increasing joy. It owes its inception and
its support to the Federation of Women s Boards of
North America. The magazine has a subscription list
of nearly five thousand, and goes all over China as well
as to Chinese in Canada, the United States and the
Malay States. The paper contains good stories, teach
ing Christian truths, talks on the Sunday School
lesson, and simple articles on temperance, hygiene
and service. The pictures in the paper are a great
delight to the Chinese children. A preacher in the
interior cut out a number of pictures from "Happy
Childhood," pasted them on a cloth, and was using
them in his evangelistic work. When he went to a
village he first took out his sheet of pictures, hung
them up in a prominent place, drew the crowd, and
then told "the old, old, story."
A series of children s books is being prepared to be
known as "Happy Childhood Story Books." Numbers
one, two and three are already printed. Last year a
picture book for children, "Jesus, My Saviour," was
also prepared and has been warmly received. It con
tains pictures on the Life of Christ with a short and
simple explanation opposite each picture.
The Headquarters of most of the Societies produc
ing Christian literature are in Shanghai. People
from all nations are to be found in this city. It has
a foreign population of twenty-four thousand, and a
Chinese population, including the native city and ex-
SHANGHAI 113
tensions, of not less than one and one-half millions.
The first glimpse the new arrival gets is that of large
foreign banks and shipping offices, and motor cars,
trams, rickshas, and wheelbarrows, on wide roads.
But a closer acquaintance will reveal dirty, squalid
streets, beggars huts, and poverty in many parts.
From Shanghai, trains and boats go out every day
carrying passengers, cargo and mails to all parts of
China. The Presbyterian Mission Press, the Com
mercial and other printing presses are in Shanghai.
These presses print the Bible for the Bible Societies,
the Sunday School literature, Christian books, and
children s magazine. The boats and trains take the
precious cargo, containing that which will make thou
sands think, to North, South, East and West. Much
has to be carried by coolies or carts after leaving the
boat or train before reaching its destination.
The secular press also comes to our aid. In the
days of our pioneers there were no newspapers in
China. Now there are not only newspapers, but
these are willing to print Christian articles in their
columns. From the Christian Literature Society
articles are sent every week to these papers bearing
their message of truth to the reading public. In the
pioneer days there was no qualified Chinese help to
be obtained. Now, in the preparation of all Christian
literature we have Christian Chinese helpers, both
men and young women.
Phonetic Script. This chapter would not be com
plete without mentioning the phonetic script which
is a sincere attempt on the part of the Chinese author-
8 -
114 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
ities to provide a simpler form of reading for the
masses of China who will perhaps never have a chance
to go to school. The Christian Church had already
been trying to solve this problem and have now prac
tically adopted the national system. The Headquarters
of the Phonetic Promotion Committee are in Shanghai
with Miss Garland (China Inland Mission) in charge.
The work of this Committee is to prepare help for
teaching the script and in many ways to assist those
who are preparing books or planning to teach it. The
Christian Literature Society has published some sim
ple books in this form. The Life of Christ for chil
dren has also a phonetic edition. Other books are
in preparation. Many of the gospels have also been
printed in the phonetic.
China is awake is thinking the leaven is working.
Whether China will ultimately embrace Christianity
as a nation will be decided within the next few years.
The masses of China are still illiterate : Foot-bind
ing, concubinage, infanticide still exist. In some
parts of China it is a rare sight to see a woman with
a natural foot, whilst in Shanghai the women have
almost abandoned foot-binding. But, thank God, the
Christian Church is in China. We are turning out
young people from our schools, young people with
vision. They need books ; the reading fathers and
mothers need books ; pastors, Church members, boys,
girls, little children, scholars, officials, all need books.
Someone has said, "Sow China with Christian liter
ature." We would like to do so, but two things are
needed to prepare the seed the worker and the money.
SHANGHAI 115
One of the principal business streets in Shanghai looks
like a fairy land at night, so brilliant is the electric
lighting. In a conspicuous position is a very effective
illumination advertising cigarettes. We do not ad
vertise our goods in that way we cannot. Children
in Christian Canada get their Sunday School paper
given to them ; but children in heathen China have to
pay for it unless someone pays for them. Our books
are far too expensive, but we cannot help it.
The people in the interior are so poor that the price
of a book is sometimes prohibitive. The Christian Lit
erature Society would like to publish a Christian
paper, but the preparation of the seed costs money
and men and women. Will not many more of the
young men and women in our schools and colleges
hear the voice calling, the voice of a great nation,
calling, calling. Do you want a big task? Here is
one to help in the building of the Kingdom of God
in China.
"A small drop of ink,
Falling like dew upon a thought produces
That which makes thousands perhaps
millions think."
CHAPTER V.
JAPAN.
History in -a Nutshell. In 1868, just one year after
Canada became a Dominion, feudal Japan, after two
centuries of seclusion from the outside world, began
her modern life. "To seek knowledge throughout the
world," as the first imperial rescript read, embassies
were sent abroad to study modern institutions : and
in 1889 a constitution was promulgated which gave
the people certain rights and the government certain
functions, while still retaining all ultimate power in
the hands of the Emperor. Feudalism was abolished ;
law courts established; a school system set up; an
army and navy founded ; and an industrial system be
gun. In 1905, after the war with Russia, she was
made a first rate power by the other first class nations.
17th. Century Christianity. Towards the end of the
16th century, Francis Xavier, with his Spanish and
Portuguese priests, introduced Roman Catholicism in
to Japan, where it flourished exceedingly. In 1638,
however, the then dominant feudal lord, fearing that
the Christian propaganda was being made a cloak for
foreign aggression, expelled all foreigners from the
country, and instituted a fierce persecution against
the Japanese Christians. Thousands were put to
death, all that was visible of Christianity was stamped
out. and for more than two centuries Japan shut her-
116
JAPAN 117
self off from all communication with the rest of the
world.
Japan s Reopening. In 185,?, American guns rattled
at Japan s gates and demanded entrance for trading-
purposes. This was the signal for the malcontents
within Japan to rise against the rigid military rule
under which they had suffered for more than two
centuries, and demand a resumption of the imperial
power. This was accomplished .in 1868, when the
young Emperor, then a lad of only eighteen, took
possession of the military garrison in Tokyo and made
it the imperial capital.
Modern Education for Women. Compulsory edu
cation in primary schools makes an ordinary education
practically, if not entirely, universal. The govern
ment also provides middle school education for boys,
which in turn leads to the universities; and high
schools for gifls, which are, however, of a very in
ferior grade, and are not designed to lead anywhere.
However, there are a few higher schools for women,
mainly private, that prepare women to be secondary
school teachers. The imperial universities have re
cently admitted women to certain lectures, and two
large private universities have decided to admit wo
men as full students. A number of women have been
educated abroad, for the most part in American col
leges, and have returned, most of them to be leaders
in women s education. The first girls schools were
established by the missionaries, and led the way for
the Government system. To-day the girls Mission
schools are practically confined to secondary edu-
118 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
cation, where, although the number of their students
is negligible in comparison with that in Government
schools, a great deal is being done to build up Chris
tian character among young women who go out to
play an important part in society.
Women s Activities. Women work in factories,
shops, post, telegraph and railway offices ; they are
conductors on electric busses; they are typists and
stenographers, teachers and newspaper reporters. In
the small but virile society of Christian people, women
pray in church, assist in taking up the collection, and,
in the Presbyterian denomination at least, some are
set aside to assist at the communion. It was to an
other primitive Church that these words were written,
"There is neither male nor female in Christ Jesus."
The Dark Side. Were this all that needed to be said
about the status of women it would be an easy tale to
tell. Down in the warp and woof of society, eating at
the very foundation of home life and purity, are the
geisha system and both licensed and unlicensed pros
titution. These women far outnumber the girls in
high schools and have a wider influence upon society
than the educated women have. The systems are
entrenched behind huge business interests and Govern
ment license. Such recognized systems make for a
loose moral tone in society, and until they are abolish
ed, the position of Japanese women as a whole will
remain low and the health of the nation will be seri
ously impaired.
Confusion of Thought. It is an aphorism to say
that fifty years of modern civilization arbitrarily im-
JAPAN
119
A BUDDHIST IMAGE OUT IN THE OPEN.
The Younger Generation treat their Religion more
lightly thanof Old. This would have been an
ImpossibleSight in the Old Days.
JAPAN 121
posed after two centuries of absolute seclusion have
produced anomalies and anachronisms and confusions,
which in no sense have been simplified by the world
war. In a confused world Japan stands doubly con
fused. Modern science and philosophy are piercing
though inherited superstitions and customs. Parents
and children, living under the same .roof entertain
opposing ideas and ideals of life ; the sanctity
of parental authority on the one hand, and on the other,
impatience of any restraint whatever. As a gentle
little Japanese lady said recently, "I have borne a child
that I do not understand." The recrudescences and
the reactions ; the relics of feudalism and the spasms
of extreme socialism ; the new rich and his twin the
pauper ; religions old and new ; a new life superimposed
upon ancient thought and custom ; the inconsistencies
of Christendom; these all constitute the background
and the atmosphere in which the Christian message
must be interpreted if Japan is to be won for the
service of the world.
Religions. The most casual visitor to Japan cannot
fail to be impressed by the large number of her
temples and shrines, her Emperor-worship and hero-
worship, by her patriotism and filial piety. Buddhism,
a foreign religion originally, is deeply imbedded in her
customs and thought-life, Shintoism, the original
native cult, has developed recently into a glorified
patriotism and Emperor-worship. Both religions
have had a tremendous revival of late, and Buddhism,
faithful to its eclectic nature, has organized Sunday
schools, young peoples societies and various social
122 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
service activities. Not only so, hut, new religions,
sponsored hy none of the old, and spurned hy all the
others, have sprung up in a night and are teaching
astonishing things and catching the unwary in their
toils. "Man is hopelessly religious."
The Christian Task. Neither the Japanese Church
nor the missionaries blink the task which confronts
them, of interpreting the Christian message to a
people proud of their history, conscious of achieve
ment, with militarism flaunting itself in high places,
a press censorship, which suppresses free thought,
and the suffrage belonging to only one in twenty of
the population. A huge capitalistic scheme of industry
superimposed on old feudal notions of ownership has
created an industrial situation which has developed
the slum and the pauper, a heavy rate of crime, disease
and mortality. Effective evangelism must relate the
educated people to the spirit of service and put the
Christian Church in vital touch with the social and
moral conditions which are threatening the very life
of the nation. Christians are the only people who
can be expected to make a sustained effort for social
betterment, for they alone have the vision of a new
heaven and a new earth in which dwelleth right
eousness.
Modern Christianity. The earliest missionaries,
who followed hard on the American guns, and were of
the same nationality, baptized their first converts
while Christianity was still a proscribed religion, and
belief was punishable by death. After religious faith
became free, mission schools for boys and girls were
JAPAN
123
CHILDREN PLAYING IN A TEMPLE GROUND.
Situated in the very crowded part of the City.
JAPAN I 25
established and churches founded. As early as 1872, a
few Japanese churches had already become sufficiently
virile to take the first steps towards founding a native
Church. In 1890 the native Churches of Presbyterian
and kindred persuasions formed an independent de
nomination called the Church of Christ in Japan, with
which the missionaries of the corresponding Mission
ary Societies co-operate, but over which they have no
control. That missionaries who baptized their first
converts, while it was yet a capital crime for a Japan
ese to become a Christian, should live to see an in
dependent, native Church take root, is to have lived
not in vain.
The Presbyterian Church in Japan. As the native
Church of Presbyterian persuasion led the early in
dependence movement, so it has maintained its leader
ship, both in the number of its membership, and in
the quality of its leading men, both lay and clerical.
Its confession of faith is the Apostles Creed with a
short preamble. At its General Assembly in 1920,
it was decided unanimously and without discussion,
that women should henceforth be eligible both for
the eldership and the ministry, without distinction
or restriction of any kind. Thus the Presbyterian
body in Japan has become a truly democratic body
according to Paul s famous definition : "There is
neither male nor female in Christ Jesus."
The Share of the W. M. S. The special work with
which the.W. M. S. has identified itself has its roots in
sixteen years residence in Japan, ten of which were
spent as National Secretary of the Y. W. C. A. While
126 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
still in this work I touched a fearful tragedy which
brought me in contact with men in prison, later with
their families and friends and with the physical and
spiritual conditions under which so many unfortunate
people live.
I visit prisons, keep in touch with the families of
many prisoners, put children into school whose fathers
are in prison, and sometimes house them in my own
home, help to get work for ex-prisoners, and for the
women folk of the unfortunate. I get sick relatives
into hospitals when I can, and make an impromptu
hospital of my own house when I cannot. I restrain
the rash, while I encourage the faint, and heavy-
hearted and they are many that come to me. Per
fect strangers, both men and women, who somehow
or other have heard that I "comfort," come to my
house and tell me the most astonishing secrets of
their own lives. At our frequent meetings at my
house we have literally all sorts and conditions of
men and women, and it is not uncommon to see an
ex-prisoner and a prison official sitting cheek by jowl,
united in one thing at least, that they are both seek
ing God.
I am sometimes asked to care for girl delinquents,
and to visit them when they have been committed to
reformatories or prisons. Not long ago I visited
four or five girls in prison, whose names had been
given to me by the judge who had committed them.
I discovered that the wife of the prison Governor
was an old student of mine when I was in the Y. W.
C. A. years ago, and while I was talking to the women
JAPAN 127
prisoners, both the Governor and his wife were in the
audience.
My work in prisons began through the tragic shat
tering of a home beyond all hope of saving it in this
world, and the lesson that it taught me was that
homes must be saved in toto if they are to be saved
at all.
I keep closely in touch with what one is accustomed
to call the normal side of life through teaching a few
hours a week in a Women s College, and through the
Japanese church of which I am a member. Through
these channels must come the leaders to carry out
Christ s programme for His Church, which must in
clude the needs of all the little ones for whom He died.
Plans are already being made greatly to increase the
borders of this work which was so strangely begun, and
it is expected that when these plans reach fulfilment
we shall have in the midst of the crowded districts of
Tokyo a well equipped settlement work which will
help to conserve the young life of those districts to
be an asset and not a drain on the resources of the
nation, which, please God, will one day take its place
among those who shall work together to fulfil the
dream of Christ, "That we all may be one."
CHAPTER VI.
FORMOSA.
The Changing Times.
In Formosa conditions are undergoing rapid changes.
For some years after taking over the island, the Jap
anese worked to improve the country, but owing to
conservative ideas on the part of the Chinese, lack
of efficient leaders in the various lines and lack of
funds to carry out any large schemes of improvement,
there were few marked changes. Some schools were
opened and have gradually grown and improved. A
railway was soon completed from the north to the
south of the island. The old city walls were torn
down, the gates being left as landmarks, and the
cities extended; old, worn-out buildings were removed
and replaced by up-to-date brick and concrete struc
tures ; and many streets were widened. Through
the country the roads were improved and made pass
able for jinrickshas, so that the use of the sedan chair,
much slower and more expensive, has become quite
confined to the mountains. Later the push-car made
even mountain travel more rapid and comfortable,
though perhaps more dangerous. Now, with the
coming of the motor car, the roads throughout the
country are being further widened and improved. A
project is on foot to utilize the water of a mountain
128
FORMOSA 129
lake to generate electric power for the greater part
of the island. When that is accomplished the electric
car will supersede the push-car and jinricksha. Public
buildings are being built where required, the most im
posing, being the Formosa Government buildings
erected at a cost of $1,500,000. The Japanese are will
ing to expend thought and money for artistic purposes,
and accordingly, every city and town has its park, with
fountains, lakes and ponds, shrubbery and shade trees.
But it is within very recent years that most progress
has been made ; that the life, ambitions and ideas of
the people have undergone the greatest changes. Far
Formosa, as well as other countries, has been affected
by the Great War. Changes and improvements were
bound to come, but the war tended to hasten them.
Formosa shared in the general prosperity that came
to Japan from her increased commerce, due to the
war. Men began to think in larger sums, became
more adventurous, attempted more ambitious under
takings. Expenses and wages both increased in
many lines trebled. The poor became accustomed
to handling more money, and the general standard
of living became much better than "before.
Gradually for many years, but rapidly in these
later years, the desire for education has grown. As
the children have graduated from the Primary School,
a desire for higher education has developed and every
year sees an increasing number of applicants for the
High Schools, Normal School, Experimental Farming
and Medical School. The scarcity of High Schools
prevents many from satisfying their desire for high-
130 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
er education. Year by year the number of students
going to Japan to study increases. In 1920 in the
various schools in Tokyo, there were about 600
Formosan students, the number having trebled in five
years. Kyoto and other educational centres also have
a large and increasing number.
Women and Girls. Even more marked changes are
taking place among women and girls. According to
old Chinese custom, women were kept strictly at home.
Those of low rank, being fully .occupied with the
ordinary routine of housework and the care of the
family, had neither the time nor the desire to go out
side. Those of the more leisure class spent their
energies and time in sewing and embroidery, or smok
ing and gossiping. But whatever the occupation,
they were seldom found out of their own homes and
some of them even out of their own bed-rooms. But
since the coming of the missionary, and particularly
since the Japanese occupation, the old order has been
changing. They have been coming out, at first
timidly and half ashamed, but latterly, fearlessly and
unashamed.
The first to venture were the little girls, who came
to the Primary Schools. Then a few among them
developed a desire for more education, and entered
the Government Girls High School. With the ex
tension of the Primary School there came the call
for women to teach sewing and embroidery,
and many began to train as teachers. Now, every
year about fifty graduate from the Government Girls
School and go out to teach in the Primary Schools.
FORMOSA 131
Before long the General Hospital opened a course
for training in midwifery, and a few more took up that
work, many of them being young married women.
The Singer Sewing Machine Company has opened
up another line of w r ork for women and girls. Pre
viously all sewing was done in the homes and by
hand. The last decade has seen a remarkable change,
until now the greater part is done by machine. In
order to increase sales for the machine, the Company
has established schools where women and girls can
learn how to use it in making bibs, aprons and semi-
foreign clothes for children, and in embroidering.
After a course of three months they may go back to
their homes, where they can do the family sewing,
or if they wish to earn a livelihood, can be sent out
to some smaller centre, to teach the use of the machine
to prospective buyers in their homes, or can open a
shop and do sewing for the public.
The factory is also coming. Though as yet on no
extensive scale, a beginning has been made. The
tobacco factory in Taihoku employs a large number
of women and young girls. The panama hat industry
has given employment to many, and more recently,
banana cloth weaving. Girls are also finding employ
ment in telephone exchanges, post offices and busi
ness offices.
The bound foot has quite gone. The missionary
was making an impression by his efforts to abolish
this great abuse, and the Christians were unbinding
or refusing to bind the children s feet. But they
were always targets for criticism and sneers. The
132 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
Japanese authorities, after striving for several years
to gain their object by teaching and persuasion, a few
years ago gave orders that thenceforth children s feet
should not be bound, and of those already bound, as
many as possible should be unbound. Prejudice
against the unbinding had already been much weak
ened, so that the order was really welcomed by the
majority, though some still tried to evade the law and
continue the cruel custom. But for those who wished
to unbind, it was made easier, for they were no longer
sneered at. The unbinding of the feet has done much
to render the women more independent, for they can
now go about by themselves, and enter with more
confidence into various lines of work, to earn their
own living. Formosan women are fast breaking the
shackles of ancient customs, and daring to cherish
hopes of satisfying their thirst for knowledge and
to aspire to complete emancipation.
But this new freedom involves serious danger, for
it takes them into tea-houses and inns, where they are
subject to all the temptations peculiar to such places
in the Orient ; to entertainments at feasts as dancing
and singing girls ; or even to the streets, highly paint
ed and powdered. (Though prostitution is not so
shameful a practice as it was ten years ago.)
But they are also free now to listen to the gospel.
Formerly they had no desire to hear anything out
side of their own narrow lives ; now the great majority
are ready and eager as far as time and opportunity
afford, to hear and learn all they can. Formerly the
women as a whole were illiterate, and even yet only
FORMOSA 1.
the minority can read, but mure and more they are be
coming anxious to learn either in the Government
schools or in our Sunday schools, Women s classes or
Mission schools. They are leaving the old beaten
tracks, challenging us to give them the hope and cheer
of the gospel, the Christian anchorage of the soul in
the hour of temptation, and the joy of the knowledge
of the love of God in Christ. The condition of the
women of Formosa today constitutes a call more
imperative than at any time in the history of our
mission.
Children and Students.
The Child in the Home. The Chinese are fond
of their children and particularly proud of their boys.
A woman who is. the mother of four or five boys is
considered to have a "good name" amongst her
friends and neighbors. Girls are not considered such
a blessing. They are only a bill of expense requiring
to be clothed and fed, and when they are grown up,
go out to another family as wife and daughter-in-law,
bringing no apparent return to their parents for all
the expense. When one hears of a new baby in a
family, the usual question is asked, "a boy or a girl?"
"A boy !" "Ah, you are fortunate !" But if the answer
be "A girl", "Ah !" As a result of this lack of love
and appreciation for girls it has been the custom to
give away the baby girls, or engage them while mere
infants or small children as the wife of a son in some
family. The little girl is taken from her own home
and mother and reared in the home of her mother-in-
law, where she is often treated little better than a
134 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
slave, usually as a servant, very rarely as a real
daughter. But the gospel teaching is beginning
to bear fruit, and now one sees many Christian
families of boys and girls growing up together, equally
beloved, equally cared for, and given equal educational
advantages.
Primary Schools. The establishment of a Primary
School in every town and larger centre, is furnishing
an opportunity to many boys and girls of going to
school. Clean and tidy, with their roll of books
tied up in a large colored handkerchief, the boys all
wearing peaked caps with a brass star on the front,
they form a pleasing contrast to the unfortunate ones
who cannot afford to go, or for whom there is no
accommodation. The Japanese language is the main
study, and arithmetic, geography, elementary science
and ethics are included in the curriculum. On finish
ing the public school course of six years most boys
and girls are quite proficient in the Japanese language.
Our High School Girl. Our mission Girl s School
receives those who have studied two or more years
in the public school. Those who have finished the
public school course, after examination, enter the
High School Department, while those who have not
yet completed the course go into some grade of the
four years Preparatory Course. The school for
primary work was established in 1907, when as yet
girls education was not considered of much import
ance and there were few little girls attending the
public schools. In 1916 a new building with ac
commodation for upwards of one hundred was com-
FORMOSA 135
pletcd. The course of study was revised and extend
ed and the school then registered as a High School
with Preparatory Department. Following the re
quirements of the Government Schools, the greater
part of the time of the pupils in the Primary Depart
ment is spent in acquiring the Japanese language, while
all subjects in the High School with the exception of
the Bible and music are taught in that language.
To appreciate the difficulty involved in such a system,
imagine all our Canadian children, while still living
in their own environment and attending public school,
being required to learn the French language, and
study their lessons in it, taught by French teachers
who know not a word of English, or by English teach
ers in the French language. This is one problem
that has to be dealt with in our present educational
work in Formosa.
Another pressing difficulty is the securing of
competent teachers. The Chinese teachers must be
of our own training, as there are no higher schools
in Formosa from which graduates can be secured.
The Japanese teachers must come, for the most part,
from Japan, from the Women s University, or the
higher Normal Schools. The average Japanese who
has not yet visited Formosa, thinks of it as a land
peopled for the most part by savages, over-run with
snakes, afflicted with a deadly climate, where every
one is subject to malaria and other tropical diseases.
With the teaching profession not yet over-run in the
home land, it is naturally only the adventurous young
teacher who can be induced to go to Formosa, either
136 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
to Government or Mission school, and then only on
consideration of a much higher salary than is paid
for similar work in Japan.
The girls in our mission schools come mainly from
Christian homes, but more and more they are coming
from non-Christian homes, sent by parents who have
no interest in Christianity, but are attracted by the
discipline and training that they know prevails in the
schools. They come from all classes of society, from
the homes of the wealthy and from the homes of the
poor. For the latter class a system of self-help has
been arranged, whereby a child, by doing some work
for the school, may reduce her fees and board. About
one in every five of the pupils is glad to avail herself
of this privilege and thus be able to enter or continue
the course in the school. Many a girl has put forth
heroic effort to persuade her parents to allow her to
complete her course.
"One well grown girl came to us, whose parents
were quite well-to-do, but not Christian, and there
fore not very interested in her education. However,
they gave her permission to come for one year. She
worked faithfully and did well in her studies, usually
leading her class. She became an earnest Christian
and then her real difficulties began. Her parents objected
to her continuing more than the year because of ex
pense, and also because they wished to arrange a
marriage for her. Several names of possible suitors
were proposed one after the other, not one of them
Christian, and she refused as persistently as one of
her age and position could. She coaxed and entreated
FORMOSA U7
them to allow her to continue in school, and at last they
consented. Assisted by special gifts from a friend
of such girls, she was able to finish her course. When
Graduation Day came her mother was induced to come
and see her graduate, again she led her class and
had the honor of receiving the diplomas for the
members of her class. The school building, the pupils,
the graduating exercises, the work done by the pupils,
the interest and kindness of the native teachers and
missionaries, were such a revelation to the mother
that she sighed as she said, I had no idea my
daughter was in such a place as this. Had I known, I
never should have opposed her coming. I am so glad
she has continued to complete the course.
And the girl? Her parents are now more ready to
listen to her and consult her wishes. She is engaged
to a Christian young man and we have no doubt will
continue to be a power for Christ in her home, her
Church and her town.
With a well-equipped school, good attendance and
qualified teachers the work should be very pleasant
and encouraging. Truly it is, but it still has its dis
appointments. The missionary more than any other
person has reason to rejoice over the record of Peter s
fall, his tears of repentance and subsequent devoted
life. Think of working with a girl for years, watching
her develop from a little child to a young woman,
and grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ and appar
ently in grace ; seeing her unite with the Christian
Church and take upon herself the vows of a Christian,
lead meetings, teach Sunday School classes and engage
138 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
in other Christian activities, and then, in her third
year in the High school to find her copying in examin
ations ! At such a time when a girl in whom the work
ers have placed confidence, proves unworthy, they can
appreciate a little what it meant to Jesus when his
most devoted disciple failed Him. But there is always
the "second chance," and the same pupil, in her fourth
year, later on as helper for a year in the school, and
now as the wife of a student preparing for Christian
work, has proved herself truly repentant and capable
of great service to the gospel cause in Formosa.
As a result of the teaching in this Christian Girls
school, already hundreds can read the Bible in their
own language. Many have learned in the school and
some of these have passed on their knowledge to
others. The great majority of ex-pupils have married
and are bringing up families, instilling into the young
minds the lessons they learned in the mission schools.
Many are taking an active part in teaching in Sunday
School or in women s meetings thus passing on the in
fluence of the lessons learned. Some have become
nurses in the McKay Memorial Hospital, some teach
ers in our schools, while others have gone to higher
schools in Japan. One recently graduated from the
Women s Medical School in Tokyo, the first Formosan
woman to study medicine.
Middle School and College Student. Corresponding
with this work for girls is that for boys in the Middle
School at Tamsui, conducted by Rev. G. W. McKay,
son of the pioneer missionary. The programme and
problems of this work are very like those in the girls
FORMOSA
1-39
THE WOMEN S SCHOOL, PUPILS AND TEACHERS. TAMSUI.
FORMOSA 141
school. The course covers five years. More attention
is given to English than in the Girls School, as many of
the men desire a knowledge of English for business
purposes. The school still continues in the old Oxford
College erected by Dr. McKay, though it has long since
outgrown the building and its accommodation. Plans
and preparations for a new school are being made and
it is hoped that before long sufficient funds may be
secured to erect a building commensurate with the
need. The North Formosan moneyed men have been
approached and promises of liberal contributions have
been made. At the present time, the general world
depression, felt also in Formosa, may make it difficult
for some to redeem their pledges.
The School had its first graduates in March 1919.
In that and the following year several graduates enter
ed the Theological School in Taihoku to train as evan
gelists, and each year one has been sent to Japan to
prepare as a teacher for the Middle School or for other
work of the mission. Most of the other graduates go
back to their homes to aid in their father s business, or
to open new business for themselves. All go out with
clearer vision, broader purpose, brighter hope and
nobler ambitions. Whether they enter the business
world, or some work connected with the Mission, the
foundations of Christian principles have been laid for
them during their student life in the Middle School.
The Sick and Needy.
Work for the sick has been carried on since 1912 in
the McKay Memorial Hospital, opened in that year in
the city of Taihoku, with Dr. Ferguson in charge.
142 THE PLANTING OK THE FAITH
While he was at home on furlough, Dr. Gray assumed
responsibility, but failure of health caused his return
to Canada and subsequent resignation. Dr. Ferguson
also, as the result of ill health was forced to go home
on early furlough and the hospital was closed in 1918
for a time. In February 1920, Dr. Denholm arrived and
is engaged in language study. It is hoped that before
long the hospital may be reopened and the sick and
needy of Formosa once more receive medical attention
from the Christian mission.
While it was in operation, the hospital brought
physical relief to thousands of suffering people, hope
to the disheartened, joy to the anxious and happiness
to many a home. Not only did the patients find healing
for their bodies, but with it balm for their troubled
souls in the gospel of Jesus Christ. They came from
far and near, often bringing friends with them, and all
had an opportunity of hearing the gospel. In the con
valescent period, relieved of bodily pain, many were
ready and eager to hear of the Saviour from sin, the
Great Physician; some definitely accepted the Divine
Healer and went back to their homes to tell abroad
the good news.
One of the most consecrated Christians in North
Formosa first heard the gospel from the visiting mis
sionary in the hospital, and for years afterwards, con
fined to bed in her home, she was a devoted witness to
the power of Christ to forgive sin, to bring joy and
peace and to help her to bear her bodily sufferings.
She died in the faith and her witness still bears fruit in
the lives of those she brought to Christ, and of those
FORMOSA 143
already started on the Christian way, whom she led up
to a clearer vision of the Truth.
It is our hope that more doctors having seen the
vision of this great opportunity for service may hear
the call, and come quickly to our aid, that the hospital
may once more do its share in extending the Kingdom
in North Formosa. The request has been made for
four doctors and one nurse that the various depart
ments may be properly manned.
The Native Church.
The Home Life. Picture the ordinary Chinese home.
It is built around three sides of a court-yard, the two
wings extending toward the street with the main en
trance across the court-yard, in the middle of the main
building. The family consists of the parents their sons
with their wives, and the grandsons with the little
granddaughters-in-law. The little granddaughters for
the most part have gone out to other homes. Such a
household may easily number thirty or forty and some
times as many as seventy and eighty persons. Each
son with his wife and family has his own room or
rooms in the wings of the house, with a share in the
common kitchen, each in a way, responsible for his
own family, but always subject more or less to the
control of his parents. At the back of the room facing
the main entrance is a high narrow table on which
stand the idols and ancestral tablets, while on the
wall behind are some pictures of gods or goddesses.
Before the tablets are incense sticks, standing in
bowls of ashes, which are lighted at certain times.
On special days, small bowls of food and tea or wine
144 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
are placed before them, as an offering to the spirits
inhabiting the tablets. On either side of the room are
small tables, with chairs on either side. This is the
common reception room for all branches of the family.
It can easily be understood that, living in this way,
there is little possibility of privacy, and that it must
require great strength of character to break away
from the old customs or the old religion, and to
attempt to introduce anything new in either.
In one home, a grown son, the father of children,
heard the gospel from a friend or at an evangelistic
service and became convinced that there was more in
it than in the religion of his people. He had already
lost faith in his idols and no longer believed that the
spirits of his ancestors could receive his offerings of
food and drink and paper money. He knew little of
the power of prayer but was thoroughly convinced
that God is the Creator and Preserver and Jesus Christ
the Redeemer of the world and of the individual. But
was it easy to announce his belief in such a home ?
His mother and father were old and depending on him
to care for and worship their spirits when they were
gone, that they might not be left cold and hungry or
lacking any good thing. They knew the Christians
did not do these things. Could any greater calamity
befall aged people than that their son, on whom they
depended should thus forsake them and become a
Christian? A man in such a position, facing so hard
a battle in his family life, must be thoroughly con
vinced and fully confident of the power of God to save
and to keep, before he could tell his aged parents that
FORMOSA 145
he wished to renounce the religion in which they had
trained him, and adopt the "barbarians " religion.
Look in contrast at a Christian home ! Here are
no idols, no ancestral tablets, no incense, no offering
of food and wine. To fill the vacancy on the table,
there are often pretty vases of artificial or natural
flowers, and on the wall behind scrolls of beautiful
writing or drawing or sometimes large colored Bible
pictures. Now the family lives more naturally. There
is no fear of ; evil spirits, no need to consult the
sorcerer, to "see the day" before beginning a piece of
work or starting on a journey ; no need to burn incense
or make offerings. Now when trouble conies there is
a hope that sustains and comforts and in the hour of
death in the home, there is not utter dejection and
hopelessness.
Evangelism. Evangelistic work in North Formosa
centres in the Theological School in Taihoku. There
the evangelists are trained and sent out to man the
churches throughout the field. The students of the
School, for the most part, have received their previous
training in the Middle School and continue in theo
logical training for five years, becoming more pro
ficient in both the Japanese and English languages,
and above all in their knowledge of the Bible and in
their methods of presenting the Christian religion to
their own people. After graduation they carry on the
work of evangelism throughout the field, centred in
sixty churches and preaching halls, or go with their
message to new pastures and distant outposts. Eight
ordained native pastors, stationed in self-supporting
146 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
churches, aid the foreign missionaries in the super
vision of the churches. Of recent years the native
workers have been catching a new spirit of evangel
ism and are eager not only to build up the central
congregations, but to preach the tidings to the in
different and to those who have not yet heard.
A special evangelistic campaign, extending over
three years, to culminate in the Jubilee of the Mission
in 1922, is now being carried on. The whole field is
mapped out and the evangelists and other volunteer
Christian workers are going out in bands to hold
series of meetings in every village in North Formosa,
the ambition being to give every person, during these
three years, an opportunity of hearing the gospel.
Evangelistic Work for Women. Evangelistic work
for men is supplemented by a similar work for women.
One of the strongest agencies in this work for women
is the Women s School. As women are beginning to
throw off the restraints of old customs, they are de
siring some education, and as our Mission School is
the only institution for them, each year sees an in
creasing number of young married women, many of
them non-Christian, applying for admission to the
school. Many of these young women become avowed
Christians, and all become interested in Christianity.
Evangelists wives come for some instruction, that
they may be able to help better in the church work.
Older and more independent women come also, and
after some training, some of them are employed as
Bible women to help in the evangelistic work in the
hospitals or to go out, alone, or with the missionary,
147
IRRIGATING AND PLOUGHING A RICE SEED PLOT.
The Straw Wall is for Protection from Wind.
FORMOSA 149
to the chapels and villages to spread the glad news
amongst their sisters.
Interesting and varied is the work amongst the wo
men of the towns and villages, sometimes fascinating
and encouraging, sometimes dull and discouraging.
"A visit is being made in a home by the missionary
and Bible woman. Tea has been served and the proper
courtesies exchanged, and the time seems opportune
to turn the conversation to the purpose of the call.
The missionary proceeds to present some Christian
truth. The women stand and sit, apparently attend
ing to what is being said, when suddenly "Your
dress is very pretty. It must have cost a lot." "Oh,
no, it is only cotton, it is quite cheap" and the mis
sionary continues with the talk. Presently "Did a
tailor make it?" "No, I made it myself." "Oh, how
clever !" Again the missionary continues with her
talk. Again apparent, attention for a time and the
missionary feels that after all the truth may be sinking
into some heart, when suddenly, in an aside to the
Bible woman, "How many children has she?" "She
has no children. She is not married." "Oh-h-h !"
Then the Bible woman takes up the theme of the mis
sionary and another phase of the gospel is presented.
But the time is up and they must leave. "Come out
to the chapel to the women s meeting this afternoon
and hear more." "Yes, yes !" (not at all intending to)
Good-byes are said, greetings exchanged and the
visitors depart. None of the women come to the meet
ing. Was the visit a failure? Only time will tell.
If the visit is repeated from time to time, either interest
150 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
or opposition will be aroused, and even opposition is
preferable to indifference and inertia. Were there
more missionaries there might also be more Bible
women and repeated visits could be made. At present
the work must often stop with but one call.
"A class is being held in a chapel for a week or ten
days. The women gather regularly every afternoon
for study, prayer and praise. The life of Christ is
studied. To a few the story is somewhat familiar, but
review is profitable; to many others it is quite new.
Among them is a gentle, thoughtful, earnest seeker,
who has already heard enough of the Christian truth
to desire to hear more, and attends regularly. The
wonderful Life is explained with its miracles of heal
ing and forgiveness. Some of the parables with their
wonderful lessons are reviewed and in the last sessions
the arrest, trial and death of the Great Teacher are
studied. Her interest has been increasing and tears
glisten in her eyes, as she grasps the truth that this
is for her salvation. Having no home ties she soon
after enters the Women s School for training, and
after completing the course, goes out as Bible woman.
This worker has done earnest, consecrated work for
several years in the hospital and later amongst the
women in the villages. She never tires of talking of
the gospel and many women and many homes in
Formosa are now enjoying Christian faith through
her teaching."
Thus, through schools, hospital and women s classes,
many have heard the gospel message and are now free
from superstition and fear. But there still remains a
FORMOSA 151
great task for which the women of Canada are re
sponsible. Shall we not quickly seize the opportunity
of these changing times, while these people are eager
for something, they know not what, to give them what
we know will surely bring them joy and happiness in
this present life and hope for the future. High School
teachers, kindergarten teachers, evangelists and
nurses are still required for the work. Who will
answer "Here am I, send me!"
CHAPTER VII.
KOREA CHOSEN.
The Hermit s Awakening.
The Hermit of the far East had for centuries, yes
milleniums, lived in her beautiful peninsula jutting
off from the great world of China, and facing the
group of lovely Japan Islands that curved towards
her shores. Two rushing rivers, like great moats,
shut off the surging millions of the land of the queue ;
the broad Sea of Japan effectively barred approach
from the lesser world of the Rising Sun. The Hermit
delighted in the barriers that kept them away. She
did deign to receive Chinese letters to enrich her
stores of wisdom, and disputed at times over the
Manchurian borderlands whither some of her people
drifted. She was not averse to loaning a few families
to Japan to teach her ceramic art and a proper mode
of dress, but closer relations she avoided. Proud,
aristocratic, refined, scholarly, she chose to pursue a
solitary way. She firmly closed all doors in her
aloofness, that she might in peace ponder deeply the
wisdom of the sages. She refused to descend to the
level of a struggle for material things and in her
absorption forgot her beautiful arts, neglected her
industries, save those that barely kept her alive, de
spised her merchants and artisans, and gave honor to
152
KOREA CHOSEN 153
none but her scholars. She would live her life in her
own way. So for centuries she sat in peace and pond
ered, sufficient unto herself, haughty and contented.
But in time there came a stir from another sphere,
a new and strange spirit was breathing over the old
East, a tide of new life flowing in. Her neighbors
yielded, but not she. What need had she of an out
side world? Keep it out, with its dirty manual labor,
its undignified, rude hurry, its detestable new things,
its disregard of class and of learning. But in spite of
bolted doors, it would come near and begged an en
trance. Its spirit somehow made a way into the
minds of her bold young men stirring them to rebel
lion against age-long misrule, to clamour for rights
and a place for the lower classes. Rebels as they
were, they caused her great trouble. She rose to re
buke and control them but found herself too feeble
for the fray. Poverty had weakened her and with
distress pressing hard upon her, the old recluse knew
she must open her barred doors to call for help. Whom
could she trust, to whom would she cry ? There was no
time to decide, the choice was not hers, for no sooner
was her door ajar than in rushed her neighbors quar
relling as to who should take her in charge. Her
voice was not heard in the clamor but ere long the
banner of the Rising Sun was floating over her palaces
her rights along with her responsibilities were gone,
her king had descended from his throne, her queen was
martyred, her people no longer free. Humiliation
and sorrow were her future portion. With her new
rulers there came also strangers of the Western world
154 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
exploring a forbidden land. Unlike any she had ever
seen, their eyes were not black, but of many colors ;
their faces not yellow but ruddy, and their speech of
all else most queer new bands of robbers perhaps,
come to search out her stores of copper and gold, her
white granite, her red and yellow, ochre, or her forests
of oak and pine, and her mountains filled with the
tiger, leopard, bear and deer. Let them despoil as
they would she had no strength to forbid. Yet no,
they seemed neither to rob nor to trade, but rather to
seek out her people. Teachers of religion they were
said to be, but religion was not the Hermit s strong
point. She kept priests at a distance, ignorant and
vile as she knew them to be, and bade them only keep
her scattered temples clean and in order for those who
occasionally carried there, an offering to the Buddha.
She was not used to teacher-priests as these strangers
professed to be, nor could she surmise that the women
they had brought would dream of claiming such a
place. Her nuns with their shorn heads lived in the
recesses of the hills, coming out only to beg, her
modest ladies were secluded, travelling, if at all, in
closed chairs and with veiled faces. Who were these
women going about so freely without fear or shame?
The Hermit s horror increased as she saw them pre
pare to open schools and invite as pupils none other
than her own young girls. Who ever heard of girls
at school? They had no brains, but were born to
toil, to learn the household tasks, the use of washing
and ironing sticks, that men might walk abroad in
garments white and crisp. Their heads were not for
KOREA CHOSEN 155
books, but for the weight of the water-jar, carried to
and fro till the kitchen crocks were filled. Their
feet should keep to the one path that led to the well
or the brush-stack. Why should they be decoyed into
a strange way? What would be the end should they
walk openly upon the street carried away with the
vain thought that they might be students? The old
heart was filled with dismay as she foresaw the ruin
of her girls, the sad fate of her men left with none to
serve them. She protested, but the new spirit was
abroad and she could not check its progress.
Now she saw a change come over her women.
Upon the streets and roads of the old land there
appeared not only the low-class burden-bearing wife
of the coolie, in dress dirty and slovenly, but from the
home of the respectable farmer and honored teacher,
women who went abroad in clean white skirt, long
jacket reaching to the waist, concealing the pride of
motherhood, and hair braided or neatly coiled under
a clean white turban. No brazen street-walker was
this, nor dancing girl, for she wore no gay colors and
carried no pipe ; neither could she be a lady going on
her own two feet rather than in a closely curtained
chair. She seemed to have no aim but to visit, enter
ing home after home in many a village and town. She
went also without fail to the large new place of
assembly where the foreigners gathered their disciples,
and where they seemed to worship some strange spirit,
though there were no idols, no food-offerings, no
prayer-gongs, no incense, no officiating priests. In
stead there was earnest teaching, reading, a new kind
156 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
of chanting- and long prayers to the spirit. Yet -the
worshippers secerned to be quite sane and to live at
peace with their neighbors, even though defying all
old customs of sacrifice to ancestors, to the fire-demon,
the spirits of the water and the trees, the mountains
and hillsides, any of which might at a moment send
disaster or sickness into their homes. Indeed they
had been seen to burn all the treasured symbols of
such worship, gathering them from all the dusty
corners of their storehouses, from the depths of great
jars, off high cobwebby shelves, flimsy rags and
miniature garments meant to keep unhappy spirits
in tune. They even sang together on such occasions
as though celebrating a victory. How far would
such recklessness go, she moaned.
Away in the thickly populated West the craze seem
ed to reach its highest as hundreds, thousands in many
towns, followed after the "Jesus-doctrine" and, dis
regarding the spirits, ceased to worship at ancestral
graves, cut off their boys long hair and their own top
knots, deserted old teachers and sat at the feet of
strangers, sending their children recklessly to learn
of foreigners their bad manners and their new
sciences. Among many strange sights was one al
most beyond belief actually a school for the blind.
Not only little sightless children who should be hid
den away until old enough to learn sorcery, but grown
women as well, leaving the clever arts by which the
blind read the secrets of the unseen world and gain
an easy living for their relatives, were learning with
KOREA CHOSEN 157
patience, young and old together, to read with the
finger-ends and other foreign nonsense.
No peace for the weary old heart these days with
all sorts of people losing their wits, for other news
was whispered about of old women going to school.
There was no doubt about it for there they sat, old
grandmothers, widows, mothers-in-law, too many to
count, studying hard at the new Book for weeks to
gether. They dispersed only to scatter everywhere,
working fresh mischief by teaching hundreds of other
women the new worship. For they listened by the
way-side, at the markets, in their kitchens ; while they
washed at the brooks or trod the heavy rice-mill ;
when they tarried for a little gossip at the well-sides ;
perhaps even as they made an offering to the spirits
under the sacred trees or at the hillside shrines ; when
ever the strange word was spoken there were some to
believe and turn from the age-old ways.
Fewer pilgrims toiled now to find the picturesque
temples hidden away in lovely groves that tempted to
meditation. Priests must tramp weary miles into the
towns to remind men of their existence, tapping their
wooden bell-gongs and chanting at the doors to beg a
few cash or a handful of rice. For her country was
turning to a new sort of worship, to a temple without a
Buddha, or a picture, spacious enough for scores and
hundreds to sit on its wide floors, as they did for
hours at a time hearing of a new religion. Where
could the grieved old Hermit flee for rest? Would
she climb to her highest mountain-tops, out of reach
and sound of it all? As she turned weary steps to
158 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
her old retreat she passed groups of busy women wash
ing at the stream talking happily together. But of
what? Of wonders wrought in their little girls at the
foreign school, their great wisdom, the great future
before them. And all the talk was without quarrel
ling. Strange indeed ! As she passed on her way,
again and again it was the same tale of what the Book
had done for men who read it, of lives made clean, of
quarrels and wrongs forgotten, of sins put away and
forgiven. She passed low, mud-walled huts, thatched
with heavy straw, whence came pleasant sounds of
evensong and quiet reading, no scolding, no angry
voices there.
A great city building caught her curious gaze, hold
ing her in wonder for the gossip that would tell its
story. Soon she heard that this was the place where
the foreigners practised their magic arts upon the
sick. People with terrible complaints had been car
ried to the place in covered chairs even on stretcher-
beds and soon had walked out strong and well. The
blind had groped their way in and come out see
ing. Even the dead, so they said, had been made to
live again after their bones had been sawn in pieces
or their bodies cut open. Who could believe such
nonsense? Yet her people did believe and she knew
no way to change them. She must get away from it
all to think in peace. On her highest mountain sum
mit she sat at last to rest and look over her land.
But ah ! The sad changes ! Noisy screaming trains
raced back and forth among her cities on their iron
roads. Her shores were crowded with great steaming
KOREA CHOSEN 159
boats that made bustle and hurry at every port, com
ing from everywhere, and tempting her sons to ven
ture into that outside world she had long forbidden.
Quiet habits were gone, old ways broken up, only
rude rush and strange life in the land where she could
no longer rule. Her old peace was gone and the
Hermit knew of no other.
Home Life in the Hermit s Land.
The word "home" is unknown in the Hermit s Land.
The two classes are man and his slave. There is rarely
love, equality, or mutual trust and respect between
man and wife. Their union is but the result of a
good or bad bargain on the part of their parents
through a marriage-agent. Physical health, enduring
muscles, and ordinary good nature, but most of all
maternity, give a woman a bearable existence in her
house of bondage, should her mother-in-law be not
too violent. She expects nothing, claims nothing,
knowing herself to be a mere machine, to be nothing
to the man she serves, save his cook, his laundress and
the mother of his children. Never a word of sweet
courtship before marriage, never a word of love
after. His life is lived far apart from hers. She
cooks for his guests but never meets them. He sits
comfortably with his books on the warm floor of his
private room while she toils in the kitchen, knowing
not a letter. He may be aristocratic and titled, but
she has no name unless she become "mother of" some
body. He is clad in snowy linen and silk of delicate
tints, while she, to keep her good name, must be dirty,
unkempt, uncombed, unattractive. Her joys are all
160 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
in motherhood and the baby on her back is a precious
burden. Let her boy grow up, and he will be as far
removed from her in the world of letters as is his father.
Her hungry heart must have its love while her child
is too young to despise her. She may rejoice in his
high place in life, but never will she have his con
fidence, or be his adviser. Yet even such a lowly
mother is to be envied beside the childless wife who
is endured for a while and then sent adrift as a worth
less cheat, while another woman takes her place ; or
the blind or maimed or sick one who cannot fulfil
her duties and is taunted and beaten for her deficien
cies until she also is cast out ; or the clumsy and stupid
one who becomes a cause of anger and strife driving
all peace from the household.
In pity for the unloved, neglected woman one may
forget the sad loss of the man, the barrenness of his
life without the sweet love of home. Never has he
seen a truly lovely woman. His mother, sisters,
daughters, all ignorant, dirty, despised. Love, respect,
tenderness, sweet companionship, he knows none of
them toward womankind. Only a low dancing girl
may be clean or well-dressed. Only among w r omen
of shame will he find any able to read or converse.
With affections dormant or dwarfed, he is but half
a man. As lord of an ignorant household his is but
a travesty on home-life. Without the influence of
woman s pure sweet thoughts he must become more
arrogant in his proud superiority. His mother cannot
be his counsellor, she knows nothing beyond the
gossip of her village. His wife dares not pronounce
KOREA CHOSEN
161
KOREAN MOTHER AND CHILD
11
KOREA CHOSEN 163
his name, may not even know it, he can trust her with
no concerns of his. His daughter is but a disappoint
ment for she might have been a boy. So the girls
grow up in their disgrace, nameless, loveless, worth
less, only to be passed on to other homes.
The Native Church.
The Evangelist. Amid the Judean-like hills and
valleys of Eastern Chosen live thousands of such
women. Eastern Canadian women a quarter of a
century ago, were touched with their need and cried
to their Churchmen like Deborah of old to "come
up to the help of the Lord against the mighty" on
behalf of these. God used their cry to stir the Mari
time Church, and the Mission in Korea was begun.
Three men and two women led the way and found a
home in the lovely city of Wonsan to prepare for all
that lay before them. As the new tongue became
real speech they reconnoitred north, south and west,
finding everywhere souls in greatest need. To one
man the great stretches of the north ever beckoned, to
another the lure of a fine old city was irresistible,
and so as their hearts were drawn, they made their
choice and placed their homes.
The quaint and curious city of Ham Heung saw its
first white woman when our missionaries, Mr. and
Mrs. MacRae, entered in their covered chairs. The
northern part of Song Chin opened its heart without
reserve to give its new teachers, Dr. and Mrs. Grier-
son, a home. Wonsan gave room for all that zeal
could suggest to Mr. and Mrs. Foote and Miss Mc-
Cully. Here some already knew the Christian faith
164 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
and were not averse to their women and children
learning of a Saviour s love. A school was soon begun
for little girls, and among their mothers were some
who would go on long journeys with the missionaries
to carry the Good News into towns where only dark
ness reigned. And so the kindling of the light went
on until a dozen places saw its steady gleam, Ham
Heung was soon a centre and Song Chin was sending
its beams afar when a great change came, as the
Spirit of God moved upon the new believers over all
Korea in a mighty tide of power that brought in the
wondrous Revival, famed as were those of India and
Wales. The Church in Eastern Canada had now a
work to do beyond all she had planned. No tiny New
Hebrides was this she had touched, no Trinidad, child
of her love, but a great appealing nation that now
looked to her to complete the task she had begun ; the
task to which as yet only a dozen laborers had set
their hands. It was as though the Lord had again
given command to waiting thousands to sit down and
be fed, as though again the nets had been let down and
the ship was rilling, sinking with the multitude of
fishes, and so again "they beckoned unto their partners
in the other ship that they should help them." Thank
God there was the other ship, the partners not
far away, only in the Western Provinces, who heard
the call of need, and seeing the Lord was there, were
ready to aid. Then began a blessed partnership be
tween Canada East and West ; first the initial step,
that the West should send a few men and women
to help the Maritime Church shepherd the thousands
in
KOREA-CHOSEN 165
Korea; then the wider plan of a wholly united
Church with two Mission Boards merged in one to
become fishers of men in far Eastern waters, in Indian
waters, in the South Atlantic or wherever God should
lead. All this because Korea had stretched out her
hands to God. Now the burden of Song Chin for the
great North might perhaps be lifted though there
seemed no limit to the thousands there ; now the ever-
multiplying lights of the South might be kept trimmed
and burning as the new strong Board would send
forth the "angels of the churches."
The first in the ranks of helpers sent from the
West, Dr. and Mrs. Mansfield, Mr. and Mrs. Barker,
Mr. and Mrs. Macdonald, hurried toward the north,
to the home awaiting them in the busy frontier city
of Hoi Ryung, close by the rushing Tumen River, that
cuts off the barren hills of China. They had reached
the border of Korea now but not the boundary of
achievement. Hoi Ryung was but a half-way house
on the long road into Manchuria whither many thous
ands of white-robed Koreans were pressing, for An
nexation had just then been proclaimed throughout
their land and they fled from the fear of what might
follow. Soon there must be a watchman on the tower
in far Manchuria, a lighthouse there to guide on an
unknown way. The Chinese town of Yong Jung in a
great valley, in which nestled countless Korean vil
lages, was made the last outpost of the advancing
missionaries, a place to spread their nets over a vast
flood of restless human life, longing for liberty, for
more abundant life that only Christ can give.
166 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
A contagion of evangelism had seized upon the
Korean Christians that had spread far beyond the
men in charge of churches ; they paid colporteurs for
their faithful travel, and the women who everywhere
accompanied their foreign teachers. The desire to
win another soul seemed to fire every heart, sending
every believer to teach his neighbor. Even children
caught the contagion, and led their little heathen
friends to Sunday School. The multiplying came so
fast that the missionary could never overtake his
whole task. Always there were a few places he had
not seen, a few groups of people waiting for his word.
Also in Wonsan, Ham Heung, Song Chin, Hoi
Ryung, and Yong Jung a strong native force awaited
training, as pastors, evangelists, teachers, doctors,
nurses, for the masses who had come to know the
name of Jesus, and for the millions who were yet to
hear. Besides the classes that could sit for days to
learn some truths more clearly, there was the Theo
logical School, where some could be received, in the
famed city of Peng Yang. For ministry to the suf
fering there was the great hospital in Seoul ready to
train skilful willing hands.
Boys .and girls were progressing in their happy
day schools, almost ready for the college yet to be.
Wonsan had its stream of children passing on from
grade to grade, Ham Heung promised to supply hun
dreds more, and Song Chin was drawing from the
towns about, an eager relay for the ranks that would
win honor in the days to come. The task was growing
very great.
KCKEA CHOSEN 167
Women were the heaviest care, ignorant mothers
of bright happy scholars, unlettered wives of clever
men, toiling, unlovely, neglected brides all of them
to be lifted into the Light that transforms, or Korea
could never be truly Christian. One by one the mis
sionary women had stepped out into the work of itiner
ating, longing to reach these needy ones, but the task
was endless. Always there were so many "just be
yond." It was like weeding a great field once in a
season, like feeding hungry mouths once in many
weeks. Yet for this God had provided help and a way,
to train the women who already loved His Word,
that for one solitary teacher there should be an "army
of women" to publish it. In honor of a mother who
had loved Korea there was founded the "Martha
Wilson Memorial" Bible Institute, where for ten years
a sweet pictured face has looked down on the sisters
whom having not seen she loved, as they toil to learn
for the sake of others.
From every part of our coast they have come
that long stretch from the wonderful harbor of Won-
san to the bleak cold shores of Russia rejoicing to
labor in study night and day for a winter season, if
only they may return able to teach the less favored
through the months to follow, in all the towns to
which they will scatter. From among them have now
come a score of Oriental deaconesses in a uniform of
clean white cotton, heads crowned with a white turban
of neatly folded cloth, feet shod with the white straw
sandals of their land and "with the preparation of the
Gospel of Peace," bearing comfort to hearts heavy
168 THE- PLANTING OF THE FAITH
with sin, broken with sorrow, sitting truly these days
in the shadow of death. Their feet are used to the
mountain paths and the narrow windings that border
their rice fields. Their eyes are accustomed to the dim
light of papered windows and their ears to the con
cert of household sounds. They can sit in comfort
on the warm floors and eat with relish the wonderful
viands that issue from the kitchen pots. They know
too, the dullness of the minds they fain would waken,
for they have themselves been freed from the burden
of the heavy water-pot, and market-loads that crush
the intellect. They, too, have known what it is to "sit
in darkness" and by what way the first ray of light
may enter in. Is it not well that they should be inter
preters of the Truth that has made them free, teachers
of a righteousness that has clothed their own lives
with beauty?
Best known of them all is Hannah, who made her
first prayer to the stars, found her way unaided
through the mysteries of the alphabet, that she might
read God s Word, made her own decision to leave an
unlawful husband to obey that Word, travelled on
foot hundreds of miles year after year by the side of
her missionary friend to give the Bread of Life to
the perishing. Her steady growth in grace made her
ready to be mother to the sisters who later gathered
in a real Bible school and her strong faith has steadied
and saved many a weaker soul.
Phoebe s heart was hard, her spirit reckless, when
she first met the foreigners. Who were they to steal
away her son s obedience, and persuade him to cut
KOREA CHOSEN 169
off his top-knot, that precious sign of manhood? She
filled her skirt with stones to pelt them as they passed.
But her son s quiet testimony won her from her anger,
and love entered the hard heart. The worship sym
bols and ancestral tablets were given to the flames
and she was free. Quickly she became a witness
for Christ, tactful and eager, then a preacher daring
to cast out evil spirits in that Name "a succorer of
many." Now she waits with strong faith but sad
heart the day of her patriotic son s execution, when
she will return to her task of comforting others.
One would love to tell the whole story of winsome
Naomi with sparkling eyes lit up with love, clever
and keen in her study; tiny and frail in body, yet
tireless in her service; wise to guide the groups of
women in many churches entrusted to her care, a
precious help-meet to her preacher-husband. One
should speak of Mary losing confidence in self as she
came to know Christ, growing into the strong, reliant
guide to her foreign sisters in their first steps in the
untrod ways of service ; of Sinsong entangled with her
many loves, inflated with the glory of her travels to far
Hawaii, coming into beautiful gospel light to illumine
many; of Miriam, ignorant, violent, unlovely, learning
in old age of the transforming Christ and travelling
far and wide to make Him known; of Dorcas, the
Buddhist nun with shorn head, full of heathen
thoughts, now a pastor s wife and woman preacher;
of Abigail, the proud teacher s wife, left to make her
own way from obscurity to a wide and forceful minis
try; of Mary in sweet humility leading a hundred
170 THE" PLANTING OF THE FATT1I
women of her fishing- village to sit at the feet of her
Master; of Esther in her youthful beauty entering not
a Persian harem, but a rich Korean profligate s home,
learning of Him who cleansed the sinner, and giving
her life to gain stars for His crown ; of Lydia, the
aristocrat, forgetting her pride that she might guide
the lives of little children; of Julia, the drunkard s
wife, carrying the printed Word to hundreds of homes ;
of Deborah steadily winning souls in the- far stretches
of Manchuria ; of Sin Ai provoking the zeal of her
church to provide her funds for study; of Anna,
weak in body, but strong in faith, keeping alive a
village church ; of Rachel, at sixty-one, entering upon
deaconess training ; of Ruth and Elizabeth, of Myengil
and Myengsik, of "other Marys" and Priscillas, trans
formed, renewed in the spirit of their mind, witness
ing to their people in a new Christian womanhood
of the power of God to use "things that are despised"
for His glory.
Children and Students.
The Child. In the great city of Ham Heung the
first to listen to the new message were old Mr. and
Mrs. Sin, well-named if one knew their history, yet
the name in Korean saves their record for it means
only "bitter." With Mrs. Sin s new birth came a new
way of life, new thoughts about her neighbors. She
had a longing to take them all with her on this road
to heaven. Little children weighed upon her heart
though she had none of her own to love, and the
thought came that she must teach them, for strangely
enough she knew how to read. For . school-room
KOREA CHOSEN 171
there was her tiny room, with its paper doors and her
huge kitchen with floor-space round the pots, for
text-book her Gospel of Matthew, and without pre
liminary or ringing of bells the little scholars gathered
after all their daily tasks, of carrying wood and water
and babies, were done. Their supper was eaten and
they might sit with Mrs. Sin as long as they could
keep awake. The wrinkled old face beamed upon
them, as with her long, lean finger she picked out the
easier syllables, up and down the page, the bright
eyes following and the shrill little voices screaming
out the words after her. When the ardor lagged and
the eyes dimmed she told them to rest awhile. The
weary little bodies rolled over to curl up snugly on
the warm floor, Mrs. Sin threw a quilt over them and
put her book away, till the morning should dawn,
and went to her own rest. With the first beams of
light she stirred her little school to life for a few
short hours of study, ere the call came from their
mothers for breakfast and the errands of the day.
No thoughts of wasting time on such useless tasks
as washing faces or combing hair, or of dressing, for
clothes were already on, and a shake-down or re-tying
of strings was all that was needed. Once in a long
time matted little heads might be unsnarled and elab
orately washed and polished with rice water, but such
work was not to be thought of every day. Mrs. Sin s
own breakfast may have waited or perhaps other
hands than hens prepared it, for she sat on with her
pupils for an hour or so of early morning study, and
in time incredible, had the joy of hearing them read
172 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
as well as their teacher. Her effort appealed to the
missionaries, as here was a ready-made school for
girls awaiting- them, and very soon it was assembled
in a place more fitted for its needs, with other studies
assigned. It was doubtful whether the dignified old
men who now sat as instructors were an improvement
upon Mrs. Sin, except that they were all well versed
in Chinese. They paid no heed to order or discipline,
content if some of their pupils cared to master the
wonderful characters. The Bible woman who now
took some charge was satisfied to begin lessons for the
day at noon, but gradually order came out of chaos,
as younger teachers were prepared for the task. The
idea of a graded school became a fact when Mrs.
Young set her methodical mind upon it. Matted hair
was now no longer seen, but shining black braids in
stead, filthy jackets and skirts might not appear in
the schoolroom without reproof, and mothers con
sented to relieve the little backs of the burden of
babies, and wait until school hours were over before
demanding the rounds of daily errands. They grew
proud of their gay little daughters arrayed in green
and pink or red and yellow of brightest tints,
with their long and glossy braids of hair, their clean
faces and their great wisdom. But they were careful
to provide the huge sunbonnet coverings for their
heads that utterly obscured their faces from rude
gaze on the streets. And so every morning a white
shrouded procession entered the schoolyard with slow
and careful step like wee grandmothers, but once in
side high walls, the masquerade was thrown aside to
KOREA CHOSEN 173
reveal little black-eyed girls ready for books and fun.
The Student. In the schoolroom their power of
concentration was the great surprise. Rules for sil
ence seemed superfluous, for no one was distracted
by noise. Western pedagogics with varied devices to
persuade children to study might be thrown to the
winds, among pupils who could hardly be persuaded
to stop, who preferred to pore over their lessons
rather than play at recess, and who must be driven
to the playground. Yet such were our Korean pupils.
Dormitory life, though happy and care-free, gives
fine scope for study of Domestic Science. A purely
Korean kitchen with fireplace under the great pots,
to be kept supplied with pine-brush, enormous water
jars in the corner, side-shelves supplied with brass or
crockery dishes, and a small mud range for charcoal,
this is where the daily food is prepared. Wide wooden
bowls carry washing to the stream in the old pictur
esque way, as the clay crocks and jars, aU carried on
the head, supply water for the kitchen, developing fine
physique in the process. A flat stone block stands
in the kitchen or sleeping room, beside it four wooden
sticks, much like Indian clubs, which are the Korean
girl s irons, and the block, her table. On this the
laundress pounds her linen, cotton or silk until a
wonderful gloss is produced. For rapid work a girl
sits on either side of the stone, each with her pair of
clubs, and the feat of keeping rythmic, syncopated
time with lightning strokes is at once a science and
a joy.
Every tiny school-girl learns to sew, making skirts
174 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
just like her grandmother s with broad band, thickly
pleated folds and string ties. Jackets .to be quite right
must be just so many ringer laps long, flare just so
wide at the bottom, cross over to an exact spot on the
chest and tie most precisely with strings. There is
no other way. Once learned it is always known,
and any girl can do it, so the dormitory, prior to
any festive occasion, becomes a real dressmaking
establishment. Many girls have used the simple
weaving looms in their own homes and have woven
the linen for their own skirts, perhaps have fed the
silkworms and spun thread and silk as well. Since
hats are unknown among feminine folk of Korea and
only folds of cloth used for turbans, girls are able
to make all articles of dress save their shoes. Winter
attire differs only in being thickly inter-lined with
cotton-wool and is worn alike indoors and out. Long
cloaks in some localities are worn over the short
jackets and in the capital a winter cap appears a hel
met-like hood without a crown, but with fur-lined ear
flaps and with a tassel or string of beads fastened over
the forehead. Such styles, however, rarely dazzle
our eyes on the Eastern coasts, as each locality ad
heres to its own distinctive fashions.
The schoolgirl s farthest modern venture is to
change her coiffure, chiefly because the long braid,
worn until marriage, attracts too much attention, and
causes comment on the street as to why so old a girl
is not married. Resort to a foreign mode serves to
mystify observers, and she may pass as a married
woman, not worth notice.
KOREA CHOvSEN
175
FIFTH CLASS OF GRADUATES OF " MARTHA WILSON
MEMORIAL BIBLE INSTITUTE," WONSAN.
The Two Ladies in the Background are the
Misses McCully.
KOREA CHOSEN 177
Our Canadian schools have gradually risen from
primitive and small beginnings to overflowing, fully-
graded institutions in every centre of missionary
residence from south to north. Those coming last
into existence were happy in finding as teachers,
trained young women who had enjoyed school life
from their childhood, and so Hoi Ryung and Yong
Jung missed the romantic experiences of the south.
Ham Heung has the distinction of a principal with
no other duties to distract her, all others must find
odd minutes and free hours for their classes. Wonsan
now rejoices in a fine brick "Hall of Learning" where
the coming student will, under modern conditions,
pursue her scholarly way. Other will surely follow,
for the need is great, but at Ham Heung will be the
central Academy and Dormitory for the whole south.
The present army of some six hundred girl students
is but the vanguard of what future years must bring
us to care for, as the Church wins yearly its thousands
of members, ambitious for their Christian daughters.
Wider than the influence of any other teacher has
been that of Grace Lee whose name is now .well
known in Canada. Her devotion to our pioneer, W. J.
McKenzie, of Sorai, first brought her to us from her
work in Seoul, after her study in Japan. There was
great rejoicing in the Ham Heung school, when a
teacher of such gifts and fame came to reside, and
parents hastened to send their children to sit at her
feet. They would scarcely leave her night or day.
She was their model, their ideal, their joy. She taught
them needlecraft, better dress, finer manners, besides
12
178 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
music and book lore. In Song Chin and in Wonsan
she was equally beloved, and her circle of influence
grew wider as she spent some busy winters in the
Women s Bible Institute teaching, studying, tak- ,
ing her diploma with the rest. She was again at her
first task as teacher of the girls, when the bloodless
Revolution broke out in March, 1919, and we knew her
heart was with her people. Leaders were sought for
and imprisoned by scores and hundreds, but Grace
was untouched until a Women s Patriotic League was
discovered and, as one of its officers, she was quickly
arrested.
The first crime of the League was its existence,
the second that it gathered funds for rebellious lead
ers. Grace was kept for seven months awaiting trial,
in a fireless prison and among low criminals, but to
these she ministered in loving mercy and won some
from their sin. After sentence of a year s imprison
ment, appeal only brought six months delay, and when
one long year had already passed the final verdict
was given still for a year. Those who love her, long
and wait and pray that the days may be shortened,
for her place of service no other can fill.
The Sick and Needy.
The Patient. Like Wisdom pictured so long ago
by Judah s poet-king as bearing in her right hand
"length of days" and in her left hand "riches and
honor," so has Christianity come to the land of Chosen,
laden with the double blessing of learning and health.
Evangelism took hold of many medical men on their
first arrival in this wonderland, where every ear seems
KOREA CHOSEN 179
open to the gospel, and they were drawn to the ranks
of preachers. But the sick were here, and became
more and more evident to travellers and visitors in
native homes. Hundreds, thousands, tens of thou
sands, they could not be ignored. Not only did they
suffer from maladies but from remedies. Bad enough
indeed for a wee baby to writhe in convulsions, but
worse to see the tender scalp seared with a compress
of drugs set on fire to punish the tormenting spirit.
Sad when a young girl, possessed with a demon, is
lashed to frenzy by its evil power, but much more piti
ful when the fearsome doctor s needle is applied to
punch head and neck a dozen times to give exit to the
tormentor. Fear is aroused at the news that a child s
foot has been badly bitten by a snake, but what of the
wound when it will be punctured by an infected needle ?
What of the sight destroyed by the use of some poison
ed lotion, of the awful spread of epidemics through
ignorant carelessness, the free visitation of small-pox
and cholera patients, the broken limbs unset, the fest
ering sores without treatment? What more pitiful
than the sick and dying surrounded by the din of the
sorcerer s drum and the crashing cymbals of the
sorceress through the long hours of the day and night?
The Doctor. Where the magic of the sorcerer and
the skill of the native doctor alike have failed, the
foreign doctor has found his field. As in other mis
sions our medical help was first given in small dispen
saries, tiny native huts, dark, damp, insanitary, yet
better than nothing, in the cities of Wonsan and Ham
Heung and the port of Song Chin, with no native as-
180 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
sistance beyond what the doctors themselves could
train. Then the large hospital in Seoul widened its
sphere to Medical College and Nurses Training School
and extended its help to every quarter.
Ham Heung dispensary moved into a place more
worthy the name and Song Chin dispensary grew into
an embryo hospital, with room for a few beds. Just
before the war both moved into real hospital homes
with space for their waiting patients. Yong Jung,
with its heart burdened for Chinese sufferers within its
gates, was glad to see its doctor too, arrive, and so
quickly prosper that at once the needed hospital was
built. Thus, since the story of our mission was told
seven years ago, the Church has provided three good
homes for our sick.
Skilled and tender hands assist the doctor in his
Christ-like task; hands that have been trained, in the
college at the Capital, which every year sends forth
its native men and women able to practice true science
with confidence and success. Medical students have
well ^repaid the help that has been given them, in
patient, skilful service, both in homes and hospitals.
They are able to take a high place in the community,
through their distinct contribution to its welfare.
The fame of the native doctor wanes before the
news of wonders wrought in the foreign hospital, of
the knife that has removed unsightly growths and
unseen tumors ; of the skill that has amputated limbs
and yet saved the life; that has caused the blind to see,
the deaf to hear, and the lame to walk ; that has stayed
the waste and rage of awful cholera, typhus, small-
KOREA CHOSEN 181
pox, and lesser epidemics, and cured the minor ills
of common life. Blindness, tuberculosis, paralysis,
and leprosy still baffle the most skilled, but loving
treatment has done much to relieve. Diet, bathing,
sanitation and fresh air, all unknown to Eastern lore
are gaining favor as the trained native doctor urges
their value. Flies and vermin are coming to be
recognized as the secret emissaries of disease and
plague, where the doctor s word of wisdom gradually
finds its hearers. His lectures are coveted where
Christian men meet for Bible study and at least some
knowledge of hygiene is thus spread abroad. Young
men to enter this sphere of honor were not far to seek,
and already many stand at the missionary s side in
each of our hospitals, or practise in their own dis
pensaries.
The Nurse. The profession of the nurse attracted
young women more slowly, since they must brave
public opinion in stepping into a wider life, and con
quer selfish prejudice in choosing a path of lowly
service. Mary Tak, our first native nurse, found it
hard to make the choice. She preferred to win honors
as a student and teacher, but success evaded her.
Nursing was suggested but quickly refused. Then
a more Christ-like spirit came and she resolved to
learn the new ministry in His name. Her fine
practical nature found scope and her brains responded
to the awakening as she found herself capable. Sym
pathy and tenderness were aroused, caution and regard
for rule came to displace careless ways. Bravely and
purely she passed through the temptations of her new
182 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
environment. All came to trust and love her. Her
record was a joy. After graduation she came to Won-
san with a record of success and the dignity of a
uniform. Where a stranger s word is doubted, a
uniformed nurse may speak with authority. Mary
knew all the lazy excuses against bathing the babies
and washing the sick; she knew the insanitary, dirty
habits that foster disease; she could devise ways to
obey laws of health in spite of small, unventilated
houses, and poverty that could not afford to be clean
"like the foreigner." Her demonstrations and dis
courses on hygiene were appreciated and believed
by the crowds of women assembled for Bible study.
A sad sequel followed, when, on the day of demon
stration, she was arrested as an agitator, and, in
police-sta.tion and prison, suffered unspeakable in
dignity and physical torture for long months, coming
through "chastened, but not killed, cast down but not
destroyed." Such nurses are multiplying in all our
stations. Not yet can they be spared from hospital
wards for the varied branches of community service,
where child-welfare, preventive measures, duties of
motherhood, laws of hygiene should be taught to
women to whom such themes still appear as useless
as they are mysterious.
Union Work.
Native doctors and nurses, preachers and teachers,
colporteurs, and supplies of Christian literature for
the use of the Church, have come not from our mission
alone. The older -work on the West coast, and the
cities of Pyeng Yang and Seoul have gladly given us
KOREA CHOSEN 183
of their abundance, while we repay by help in union
institutions. Dr. Foote, Dr. Grierson, or Mr. Robb
have yearly taught for a term in the Theological
College at Pyeng Yang at times the largest in all
the world. The teaching staff is drawn from the four
Presbyterian Missions in Korea, Australian, Canadian,
and two American, in proportion to the size of the
Mission. At this Presbyterian College all our native
pastors have received their training, and have been
ordained by the Korean General Assembly.
Interdenominational Work. Seoul has been the
great medical centre, giving missions all over Korea
their supply of trained doctors from the Medical Col
lege of Severance Hospital, and nurses from its Train
ing Home. Dr. Frank Schofield was our first contri
bution to the staff as specialist and instructor in
Bacteriology. Severance is now a union medical plant
in which practically all missions in Korea co-operate,
receiving rights on the Board of Managers cor
responding to their investment in money or men.
Chosen Christian College is a newer feature in Seoul,
in which almost from its inception our mission has
had an interest. Mr. Milton Jack, of Formosa, came
to us just in time to supply a Canadian member to the
staff of this long-desired institution, without depleting
our evangelistic ranks. The magnificent College com
pound is being laid out and recitation halls and
residences are being rapidly built on a scale to provide
for the future ten thousands of students to whom
Seoul will be the centre of all things worth while.
184 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
Since Mr. Jack s withdrawal from Korea no sub
stitute has been appointed.
Union interests in Seoul have made it imperative
that our representatives live in the city, and we have,
therefore made Seoul our sixth Canadian station.
Pyeng Yang may ere long make a seventh.
The British and Foreign Bible Society, which has
given salaries and provided books for colporteurs,
and the Tract Society, whence come our tracts, hymn-
books and literature, are also claiming helpers from
our mission.
General Survey.
Wonsan, as our first centre seemed a fitting place
to locate the permanent home of the only branch of
our work in which all other centres have an equal
interest.
This is the Women s Bible Institute, already
described, for the training of all who are to be em
ployed by the mission as Bible women. The charge
has so far fallen to the Misses McCully, but as ex
tension goes on, to the new branches of Young
Women s School, now to be opened, night-school and
W. M. S. supervision, others must be found to share
in the happy task.
Local schools for boys and girls, hospital work, with
the care of forty outside churches have kept a small
group of missionaries very busy. Mr. Fraser has
followed the pioneers in this work.
Ham Heung, now on the main railway from Seoul,
is the largest centre, as it is the largest city, on our
coast and has a conspicuous compound in a compact
KOREA CHOSEN 185
town, where a fine church, academy, two hospital
buildings and several missionary homes can be seen
from a distance over the wide plain. Besides their
scores of out-stations, calling for constant care and
rapidly multiplying, Mr. Robb and Mr. D. W. Mc
Donald each control a city church, and Mr. Young
the boy s academy, Dr. McMillan supervises her native
staff in the hospital, Miss Robb cares for the country
Christian women and Miss McEachren for the girls
school, where Miss Fingland is now being initiated.
This must soon be raised to the standard of an academy
and save the expense of sending pupils to finish in
Seoul or Pyeng Yang.
Christian Endeavor and Y. M. C. A. with W. M. S.
and night-schools all flourish in Ham Heung.
Song Chin, though itself but a small port has an im
mense stretch of country on three sides, including seven
large counties with their towns taxing more than our
present powers to evangelize. All branches of the
local work prosper but none can claim individual at
tention. Dr. Grierson has been both doctor and
preacher, Mr. Ross and Mr. Proctor must remain chief
ly in the country to foster the healthy growth of seven
ty or eighty good churches at far distances, and either
Miss Rogers or Miss Thomas must travel in the same
areas for the welfare of the Christian women. Mrs.
Ross takes much local responsibility in her husband s
absence. The vacancy left by Mrs. Grierson s death
while on furlough will not easily be filled and to the
Koreans associated with her for twenty years there
can be no substitute.
186 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
Hoi Ryung has been, during late years, a lonely out
post held by Mr. and Mrs. Macdonald with only Miss
McLellan or Miss Cass as aide-de-camp, but has now
a party of six, since the arrival of Mr. and Mrs.
McMullin a few months ago. The town itself affords
scope for much church expansion and has rewarded
the efforts made in day and night schools and that
for women in W.M. S. Its out-stations lie toward
the coast and along the railway that now saves the
hard journey from Hoi Ryung to the port.
Mr. and Mrs. Barker were the pioneer residents in
Yong Jung, which has now four missionary homes, St.
Andrews Hospital, so dear to Dr. Martin s heart, a
men s institute building, and the prospect of new
homes at once for the boys and girls schools besides
a large church in the town. Dr. Foo>te and Mr. Scott
in 1918 were a strong addition for the supervision of
the vast work of evangelism in Manchuria and our
portion in Kando. Miss Palethorpe has stepped into
work for women and Miss Whitelaw now assists Dr.
Martin in the care of patients. This Chinese section
of the land was the refuge of many thousands of
Koreans, whose hopes one could surmise as they fled
from irksome control. They have taken Christian
Faith in their migration and their Church numbers
three times that of any other Canadian centre. But
suspicion has ever been upon them, culminating in 1920
in terrible retribution from their former rulers and
loss to the church of scores of lives by violent
death as the Punitive Force of the Japanese Army
swept through the plains.
KOREA CHOSEN 187
During 1920 new arrivals have increased to over
fifty. The appointment of Mr. McCaul to the post
of treasurer has added dignity to the standing of our
mission in the eyes of our neighbors.
A word of Comparison. Lest all our readers may
not carefully study statistical sheets, there may be
added a word of comparison between Korea and other
fields of our Church.
Our Canadian Mission in this peninsula is excelling
in many points and rivalling in others the combined
strength of Trinidad, British Guiana, India, North and
South China and Formosa.
In 1919 her Sunday School pupils exceeded the total
of these fields by two thousand, her catechumens by
three thousand, and her lists of communicants and
catechumens added in 1919 were each more than twice
the total of these six fields. Korea s outt-stations and
Sunday schools were five-sixths of their combined
numbers, and her congregations lacked but three of
their total.
Korea had 4,000 more in her Christian community
than Trinidad, thirty-one years older. She has five
times as many congregations as Formosa, begun
twenty-six years earlier. She has fifty out-stations,
on an average, to each centre, where India, twice as
old has but two. The figures for 1920 and 1921 will
be still more surprising as a great revival is now in
progress adding amazing numbers to the Church.
"Pray ye therefore the Lord of the Harvest that he
will send forth laborers into His Harvest."
CHAPTER VIII.
TRINIDAD.
Beginning of Work.
When John Morton, a young Nova Scotian minister,
while in search of health, visited Trinidad in 1865, he
found there some 25,000 East Indians who had come
from time to time as indentured immigrants. Many
of this number had already worked off their indenture
and had taken land granted by the Government in
lieu of a return passage to India, thus making Trinidad
their home. To supply labor, more were coming
each year. Little) however, was being done in the
island for their moral and spiritual welfare. Some
of the planters were sympathetic and one or two had
already established schools for the children of their
laborers, but without teachers or preachers who under
stood the language, little could be accomplished. The
people s need touched the heart of John Morton. "To
think," said he, "of these people living in a Christian
community for years, making money, and returning
to India without hearing the gospel of Christ. What
a stain on our Christianity !" He set himself to have
that stain removed. It proved no easy matter to
persuade the small and then weak church of the
Maritime Provinces to take up the task. Their interest
was already centered on the New Hebrides Mission
188
TRINIDAD 189
and many a day would elapse before any other mission
of the Church would take the place of this, their first
love. One serious difficulty was removed when Mr.
Morton offered himself as the first missionary. The
Church finally supported the movement and the second
mission of our Church was founded in 1868.
In that year the missionary, his wife and their little
daughter, now Mrs. A. W. Thomson, sailed from Nova
Scotia in the "Aurora," a small brigantine of 227 tons,
loaded with lumber and fish.
In the little village of lere a small house and church
had been donated to our Mission by a Board which
was abandoning a mission to the negroes and there
was planted the missionary banner. After three lonely
years of pioneer work came a helper in the person of
Rev. K. J. Grant, who with his wife and son (now
T. G. Grant, Esq., of Port of Spain) arrived in 1871.
Educational Work.
The missionaries began work by learning the Hindi
language. Schools were opened at once in lere vil
lage and later in San Fernando, the missionaries them
selves being the teachers. This elementary school
work has gone on until to-day the Trinidad Mission
is perhaps unique among missions in its system of
schools. There is in the island a system of mixed
schools, namely, purely Government schools, and De
nominational schools. The latter must provide a
building up to requirements, secure the required num
ber of children (at least 50), employ a teacher who is
able to bring the school up to a certain standard of
efficiency, after which the school may receive re-
190 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
cognition and financial support from the Government.
This support had already been received by Roman
Catholics, Anglicans and others who had established
schools for the benefit of the West Indians and colored
portions of the population. On application of the
Canadian Mission for schools for East Indian children,
the same financial assistance was given. There is
no compulsory clause in the ordinance, and for many
a day it was weary work trying to secure the at
tendance of the children. The older members of the
staff, missionaries and native helpers, all have vivid
recollections of the never-ceasing effort that was
necessary to win the confidence of the children and
secure their attendance. Many a bribe in the shape
of a picture card, a piece of clothing, or a bit of bread
or mitai (candy) was accepted by a bright-eyed Indian
lad. As time went on and small Christian communities
were established, the people began to appreciate the
benefit that would be derived from some education,
and this difficulty gradually lessened. To this day,
however, continued effort is necessary to secure the
attendance of the children of the non-Christian people.
From the first the services of the East Indians as
teachers were sought. Dr. Grant says of those early
days : "When I taught a young man to read through
one book, I expected him to teach that book to many
more."
Canadian Women Teachers. To help solve the
problem of securing teachers, young women from
Canada were sent out to the schools in the four
central stations Tunapuna, Couva, San Fernando and
TRINIDAD 191
Princestown. Twelve women in succession filled the
positions in the larger schools, the first and last to
continue in this particular line of work, being Miss
Blackadder, who gave 37 years of service to the teach
ing of the young in Trinidad.
The Training School. In the year 1894 .a small
Normal School was opened in San Fernando, under
the management of the Mission Council, but supported
financially by the Government. The regular English
curriculum for teachers of the colony is followed, but
in addition to this the teachers also qualify in Hindi.
The regular course covers two years. For some
years the number in attendance has varied from 14
to 18 each year. During the years which have passed
the number of day schools has increased to 71, with
a teaching staff of over 300, and an enrolment of over
14,000 pupils. The head teachers and assistants
are all certificated teachers and the pupil teachers
are looking forward to Training School work. No
more important work has been done during the past
26 years than the training of these Christian teachers
and leaders in Christian work, as most of them are,
in the districts in which they live.
The School Girl. In the districts where non-Chris
tians predominate, a visitor to the schools would notice
at once the disparity in the numbers and in the ages
of the boys and girls. Not more than one in four or
five is a girl. In the central schools, where there are
more Christians, the proportion of girls has grown
much larger. Early marriages and disinclination to
give girls an education account for this disparity in
192 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
numbers. Among Hindus child marriage is practised
as it is in India, and this practice forbids the little
child wife being found in school; for "the girl is
not worth the trouble and expense of education, and
if you tried it you would only spoil her. Anyway,
she has no brains and you could not teach her if you
tried." Thus, not so many years ago, spoke the Hindu,
knowing perhaps as he said it, that the time was near
when his words would be disproved. At an early date
it was abundantly evident that very special effort must
be made to teach the girls by other means, than
the day school. By special classes, individual
teaching, or visiting in the homes, according
to what seemed best suited to the need of each district,
missionaries wives and women teachers set them
selves to instruct the girls as well as the boys. A
large number of comfortable and orderly Christian
homes in the different districts testify to the success
of this work of early years. The first group of
women of the Susamachar church of San Fernando
owe much to the late Mrs. Grant, who gave them
many lessons in English, sewing and home-making.
Small boarding homes were also established in Tuna-
puna and later in Couva. Mrs. Morton, Sr., carried
on this work in Tunapuna for 18 years. Funds were
scarce and accommodation for the girls limited, but
during those years 83 girls had the advantage of train
ing. A second home was opened in Couva under Mrs.
Thomson, which was successfully carried on for a
number of years.
TRINIDAD 193
The lere Home. In 1905, the Homes in Tunapuna
and Couva were merged into the lere Home, which
was opened in Princestown, under the superintend
ence of Miss Archibald. The work began in very
small quarters, but gifts from the W. M. S. (E. D.)
twice provided for enlargements, so that with much
over-crowding, 40 were accommodated. In English
the girls followed the regular elementary school course,
though a few went beyond this and did the preliminary
work of the teacher s course. The girls did the
house-keeping and sewing for the large family. They
were also taught to read Hindi, so that if they had
the inclination they would be able to read in that
language and teach those in or about their homes
who did not understand English.
Having come to the time when advantages of the
Teacher Training School and High School were de
sirable for a number of the girls, and having outgrown
the small quarters at lere, the missionaries decided
in 1917 to amalgamate this school with the small Girls
High School which had been in existence for several
years in San Fernando. During these twelve years
lere had been the school home of over 150 girls, who
had averaged between three and four years in resi
dence. Fifty-four marriages had taken place, eight
een of this number being to teachers or preachers of
the native mission staff. At first it was the intention
to close lere altogether, but later it was considered
that the best interests of the work would be served
by continuing it as a home for junior girls. During
1920, twenty-five girls were in residence.
13
194 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
Naparima Girls High School. In 1917 the fine
property at La Pique, San Fernando, secured for the
Mission through the foresight of Dr. Coffin, became
the home of the amalgamated school, under the new
name of "The Naparima Girls High School," formed
by transferring the older lere girls and the girls of
the High School in San Fernando. The teachers in
charge of the new institution were Misses Archibald
and Beattie, assisted by three young East Indian girls,
who had not yet received their certificates. An old res
idence on the property provided a home for the
women in charge. The W. M. S. (E. D.) granted the
money for a residence and asked that it be named "The
Sarah Morton Dormitory," as a tribute to Mrs.
Morton s life long service in the field. The dormitory
accommodates the resident pupils and is an immense
improvement on any previous building. It is beauti
fully situated on the hillside, overlooking the Gulf of
Paria, with the Spanish Main away to the west on
the distant horizon. Gradually more day pupils from
the town enrolled until a building for day school work
was necessary. The W. M. S. (E. D.) again supplied
the need, granting a portion of the Peace Offering of
1920 for the construction of a comfortable and com
modious five-roomed building, well adapted to the
purpose. The formal opening took place, March 17th,
1921, with the moderator of the Presbytery of Trini
dad, Rev. J. C. MacDonald, B. A., presiding, in the
presence of a large audience of parents, members of
Presbytery, native staff and representatives of the
Town Council and of other churches.
TRINIDAD
195
FIRST GROUP OF GIRLS OF THE NAPARIMA GIRLS HIGH
SCHOOL, LA PIQUE, SAN FERNANDO.
First girl in front row (right) is now attending
Jarvis St. Collegiate, Toronto. Girl in second
row (seated) expects to come to Toronto
University both are planning to take up the
medical course.
TRINIDAD 197
The school has three departments: .Preparatory,
High School, and Teacher Training Classes. During
the last two years, Miss Lena Field has been the head
mistress and has given herself unsparingly to the
work with excellent results. Besides those who have
taken the High School classes, three or four have
taken the Teachers Course each year, among them the
three East Indian assistants of the school, who have
now their second class certificates, the highest granted
by the Education Board of the Colony by examination.
The total number in attendance for 1920 was 72, of
whom 33 resided in the dormitory and 39 were day
pupils.
Naparima College. A Boys High School, known
as Naparima College, has been in existence for some
time. In fact, higher classes for boys have been
carried on from the days when Dr. Grant conducted
them for his own sons and a few others. In the year
1899 the College received support from the Govern
ment as a secondary school, and became affiliated with
the Queen s Royal College, Port of Spain, under its
present name. The Government grant and tuition fees
have been the main source of support, and the cost to
the Church has been very little. The present attend
ance is about 100. Two Canadian masters (one of late
years, an ordained man) and several native assistants
have made up the teaching staff.
Up to the present the usefulness of the College has
more than justified its existence. But under the new
Education Ordinance, soon to be put in force, a fuller
High School course will be required for teachers. The
198 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
two institutions, which have worked independently
in the past, will be united, thus giving an added im
portance to the College.
The Home Life.
In countries outside of the influence of Christianity,
there is little or no home life, as we understand it in
a Christian country. Among the poorer classes it
is not even a place where people eat together, for
they do not eat together, since eating may be done
more comfortably in the open air. It is a shelter at
night, for the dews of the tropics fall too heavily to
permit of much sleeping out of doors. In each
home, however, the wife and mother and sister wield
an influence, often a very strong influence, on the
household. The East Indians are attached to their
homes, very fond of their children, and usually good
to them, and sometimes even fond of their wives. It
did not take the pioneer missionaries long to realize
that the home was the key to the solution of the
problem of evangelizing the people. The result of
this conviction was the establishment of day schools,
special classes and boarding homes already mention
ed. It is by no means true that every home at the
present time, where the wife and mother has had some
Christian education, is ideal. Trinidad would be very
different from other lands if this were true; but it is
true that there are many, and an ever-increasing
number of real Christian homes, between which and
the ordinary Hindu home there is as great a contrast
as between darkness and light.
TRINIDAD
199
FYZABAD ONE OF THE LARGEST COUNTRY SCHOOLS IN THE
CENTRE OF ONE OF THE RICHEST OIL FIELDS IN TRINIDAD,
WITH CHURCH IN THE BACKGROUND.
Rev. S. A. Eraser is standing among the
children, Mr. Sampath, head teacher at left
hand corner.
TRINIDAD 201
Evangelism.
Trinidad has sometimes been called an Educational
mission. In fact, the missionaries on the field have
read, with surprise, statements to the effect that the
activities of the Mission are largely educational.
While it is true that education has been a prominent
feature of the work, it has ever been auxiliary to the
great work for which the Mission stands, "To lead
the East Indian people to a knowledge of the gospel."
In fact, there is no dividing line between the work of
the school and that of the Church, for the teaching of
the Bible goes on from the day the child first enters the
school. In all the educational institutions already
mentioned, and in the boarding . homes for boys
and girls, regular and systematic religious instruction
is given, and forms a part of the regular course of
study. On the curriculum of the Cambridge course,
followed by both Boys and Girls High School, scrip
ture is one of the regular subjects. This is a great/
perhaps the great, opportunity of our Church. There
is a "conscience clause" posted on the walls of every
day school, to the effect that there must be no coercion
in the matter of religious instruction : but the children
love the Bible stories and the singing of the Christian
hymns, so they seldom or never retire. From
half an hour to an hour each day, to teach Christian
truth ! What better opportunity could the preacher
of the gospel himself desire? As a result of this
teaching many Hindu boys have a knowledge of
the Bible that would put to shame the children of
some Christian homes. That this work has borne
202 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
much fruit is evident from the fact that a large
proportion of the Christian workers, both catechists
and teachers, came from the ranks of the Hindu or
Mohammedan children of the day schools. While
many have been brought to the Truth primarily
through the schools, we regret that there has been
more loss than there should have been, chiefly because
the staff, both missionary and native, is not large
enough to follow up efficiently the work of the schools.
Sunday Schools. Closely following the day school
into the different districts, is the Sunday School. It
is a step in advance for Hindu children to attend the
Sunday School. For while attendance at the day
school might be considered harmless, it is considered
a different matter when the children attend the Sun
day School, for a distinctly religious service. Those
who attend usually have less objection to the Chris
tian religion. The present number of Sunday Schools
is 87, with an attendance in 1920 of 4,115. These
schools vary from the small school of the new district
where there may not be more than a Christian family
or two, to the well organized schools at the centres,
where the work compares favorably with that of the
Sunday School anywhere. The Sunday School is one
of the strong arms in the work of evangelism.
The Native Church. For many years the mis
sionaries, accompanied by native catechists, preached
the gospel on the week day as well as on Sunday,
from village to village, and from one sugar plantation
to another, wherever an audience could be gathered
together. The gospel was first heard in this way by
TRINIDAD 203
a number who afterwards became valued Christian
ministers. The Mission had the very great advantage
of obtaining books from India, thus saving the work
of translation and providing the people with the print
ed page. Most of those who afterwards became the
strongest native preachers testified that it was the
reading and study of the New Testament that
led them to belief in the Christian religion. The
missionaries were ever on the lookout for men who
could be trained as Christian -teachers and preachers.
Their success in bringing into the work useful men
was remarkable. Among the very first converts were
Balaram, who afterward gave many years of splendid
service in India, Lai Bihari, Soodeen and Gayadin, all
of whom were outstanding men. With many other
duties claiming attention, the amount of instruction
given to these men was necessarily limited; but the
close personal touch in study, and especially in the
work of preaching, meant much. The missionaries
are managers of the day schools and general super
intendents of the Sunday Schools in their districts.
Altogether there were 103 preaching places in 1920,
and 68 native men assisted in carrying on the work.
There are 18 churches, several of which were built
by the natives themselves, and, in the other districts
services are held in the school houses. Very interest
ing is the story of the development of some of the new
er and more populous districts, in which to-day stand
churches, well filled with devout worshippers, where
twenty-five years ago, stood the primeval forests,
through which went one of our missionaries, acting as
204 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
interpreter for the Government surveyors, while the
trail of boundaries and roads was blazed out. In
many places the nucleus of a congregation has been
formed, which should become self-supporting in the
future.
The Presbyterian College.
The college was established in 1892, with Dr. Morton
as its first Principal. Dr. Grant, and others also, gave a
portion of time to teaching the united classes of the
four districts. When the work could no longer be
carried on by those already overburdened with heavy
field work, Dr. Coffin, who had been o bliged to retire
on account of ill-health after his first appointment,
was re-appointed in 1903. Happily, he has been able
to continue and the success of the college since that
date has been largely the result of his work. The
students do not give all their time to study, but give
one week out of three to attend lectures. They return
home on Friday for their Sabbath services and spend
the next two weeks in work in their districts, making
some preparation for the next week of study. It is
a slow way to get their training, but they cannot be
spared from their districts or by their families, and
the practical side of the work also, is of great value to
them. Altogether eleven men have been ordained.
Four have been called away by death, one proved un
satisfactory, and six carry on work at the present
time. There are at present two classes in the college
the probationers class, numbering 12, most of whom
were formerly teachers, and educated in English as
well as in Hindi ; the other class of 16 receives in-
TRINIDAD 205
struction almost entirely in the Hindi language. For
the great work of evangelizing the East Indians in
Trinidad, Canada provides scarcely men enough for
superintendents and leaders. The great bulk of the
work must be accomplished by these native preachers
and evangelists. More and more they require ed
ucation as well as devotion to the Christian work
which they have taken up. The value of the Presby
terian College in giving them the preparation they
require cannot be over-estimated.
Women s Work.
Miss Archibald, on return from furlough in 1920,
was appointed to carry on special work among women
and girls. Previous to this no -woman missionary
had been set apart for this work. The single women,
two for many years, now five, were occupied with
educational and dormitory work. The wives of the
missionaries have done much, but the small and often
changing staff have found their energies taxed to the
utmost with work already organized at the centres
where they lived. Little special effort could be made
to supplement the work of missionary and catechist
among women who lived in the more distant parts of
the field. In this respect the Tunapuna field has had
a special advantage, for Mrs. Morton, Sr., has wrought
faithfully and successfully for a record period of over
50 years, providing the leadership which the Chris
tian women require if they are to be useful Christian
workers. Where they have had advantages at the
older stations, women take an intelligent and efficient
part in the work of the Church, but in many districts
206 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
where the work has been growing apace the women
have taken no other part than attending the church
services. What would happen to the churches at
home if all the organizations and activities of the
women of the Church were to cease? Where would
the work of the Church now stand if these activities
had never been? What are a few of the objectives
which should be kept in view in the carrying out of
this work? (1) Following up school and boarding
home girls who settle in their own homes at an early
age and live in the midst of conditions not conducive
to Christian living. (2) Forming classes for young
women in reading and devotional Bible study, also
Mission Bands in districts ready for them. (3)
Every Christian woman a teacher of the truth in her
own home and to the Hindus round about her, whether
she can read or repeat the gospel story as she has
learned it in the Bible class or the Church service.
(4X The training of Bible women who can take up the
work of evangelizing their fellow countrywomen. We
hope that very soon other missionaries will be forth
coming for this important phase of the work.
The Progress of the Work
In many respects the progress of the Mission has
been slow, far slower than it should have been, slower
than it would have been if a few more reinforcements
had been added to the small staff of workers. The
foundations, however, have been strongly laid, and
substantial progress made. The land has been pos
sessed, but much requires to be done before the giants
of ignorance, superstition, paganism and intemper-
TRINIDAD 207
ance will be cast out. The Christian community (of
the East Indian section of the population) comprises
only some 12,000 out of ten times that number. Whole
villages are yet entirely non-Christian. There are
many evil influences at work, everywhere the open
bar, the desecrated Sa bbath, in these days of material
progress, when people of many nationalities are striv
ing after wealth. When one considers the power
which such influences have on the lives of -these
people transplanted from the East, this thought pos
sesses the mind, "Who is sufficient for these things?"
"Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith
the Lord of Hosts." The Almighty Spirit of God
working in the hearts of men is the only power which
can turn darkness into light, but disciples of the Christ
hold the key that unlocks the door of blessing and
hope to those who are without.
CHAPTER IX.
BRITISH GUIANA.
The Country. If as much time and money had been
spent in Christianizing the natives of British Guiana
as has been spent in trying to keep the sea from en
croaching upon this land that is below the high-water
mark, there would be no need of writing this chapter
with the hope of interesting the reader in the work
of the Canadian Presbyterian Church in this land of
wonderful possibilities.
It is a much berated colony. Those who know
nothing about it call it a dreary mud-flat, haunted by
alligators where one is tormented by the bites of in
numerable mosquitoes. Others confuse it with Guinea
in Africa, or New Guinea in the Malays. But to those
that have lived in it, it is a land of a great variety of
nature s products, of heavy rains, of beautiful birds
and of unmeasured sunshine. Heat, there is, to be
sure, at midday so much of it that it is unpleasant
to be out under the vertical rays of the sun ; but in
the early mornings and after four in the afternoon
there is a very pleasant temperature because of a
delightfully cool breeze. Malarial fever abounds, but,
in most cases is no worse than a bad cold. If one
takes reasonable precautions there is no great danger.
In the olden days when rum was more common than
water, the country was not properly drained and
208
BRITISH GUIANA 209
people did not know how to guard against the ubi
quitous mosquito. It was bilious fever that carried
off the first missionary to the East Indians, the Rev.
John Gibson, M.A., B.D., who was sent out by the
Presbytery of Toronto in 1884, to work under the
Canadian and Scotch Churches.
The People. This British colony is settled by a
great variety of people East Indians, negroes, Portu
guese, Chinese, mixed races, aborigines and whites.
It is altogether among the first named that the Cana
dian Presbyterian Church carries on its work. These
East Indians, as the name implies, originally came
from India and are very different in morals, physical
stature and habits from the African blacks, with
whom they share the colony. They are by nature a
law-abiding, home-loving people, deeply religious and
simple in their needs.
On these people depends the future development of
British Guiana. Demarara planters have searched the
world over for good tropical laborers. They have, in
turn, abandoned the African negro, the Chinese, the
Madeiran, Portuguese, the white man and the native
Indian. But even if our East Indian is the best
laborer, he is not perfect. His great fault is his
jealousy. For should his wife be tempted by offers of
rich jewelry from another man and leave her husband,
he does not hesitate to chop the faithless woman to
pieces. Then possibly he wonders that the law takes
cog-nizance of the fact and wants to hang him, for in
his simple mind he thinks that it is the only thing to do
with a woman under such circumstances. Perhaps
14
210 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
when we see how happy the East Indian is with his
wife and family around him, we begin to see that it is
in part, this jealousy that keeps his home together.
Their love and loyalty to their homes is certainly
remarkable to us, who find little to attract in the
mud floors and troolie palm roofs of their chairless
huts. But although his home is only a shelter from
the sun and rain the East Indian is devoted to it in a
way that we can scarcely understand. The missionary
can call on many families and find each family group
gathered around their own mud-built fireplace where
the rice is boiling, apparently doing nothing but enjoy
ing their home. The mother will come out proudly
carrying the newest of the children, which is gener
ally attractive because of its littleness (for the parents
are daintily made with hands and feet no larger than
a child s) and the father will look on approvingly
while his child is being admired.
Mission Stations.. Among these people we have
three main mission fields that correspond in geograph
ical position and in name with the three counties of
British Guiana. They are Essequebo, Demarara and
Berbice, and on these mission fields the three mis
sionaries, Rev. R. G. Fisher, Rev. Dr. Cropper and
Rev. G. D. MacLeod, labor. Their fields are rather
large compared with the snugness of the average
Canadian mission field. Each of the three mission
aries has over twenty-five places where he visits,
preaches, marries, baptizes, settles disputes and buries.
Of course he is helped by native catechists, of whom
BRITISH GUIANA
211
A CONTRAST THE NEW BOY S HIGH SCHOOL AT NEW
AMSTERDAM AND THE OLD SCHOOL.
BRITISH GUIANA 213
there are twenty-nine stationed in the settled dis
tricts.
Educational Work. There are also two high
schools, thirty primary and eleven night schools under
the control of the Church. At the head of the Boys
High School is Rev. J. A. Scrimgeour, M. A., who is
at present ably carrying on the work while waiting for
a school master to come out from Canada. When
sufficient men come he will be Catechist Training
Missionary, so that he can give the native helpers
the instruction which they must have before they
can be a real help to their people. A High School
was started for girls in September, 1920, which has
been growing steadily and only needs a teacher from
Canada to give her whole time to it.
Work among Women. There is a tremendous
opportunity for work among the girls and women,
for as yet this soil has been untouched. What is the
use of training and Christianizing the young men if
we have no Christian girls for them to marry? They
can only marry the non-Christian Hindu maidens
and either be drawn back into the old life or, if they
are sufficiently strong-willed, try to show their wives
the better way.
We had one very sad case of a young man who was
anxious to be a catechist. The boy was suitable and
willing, but his wife demurred. Her beautiful face
was always sulky. When he urged she hesitated.
Finally she unwillingly gave her consent, and a
place of labor was easily found for them. But she
has since gone back on her word and the boy has had
214 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
to send in his resignation. Will not such facts as
these rouse the women of Canada to a realization
of our need and come and help in this work which is
essentially women s.
Difficulties. The chief difficulty is that British
Guiana is nominally a Christianized country. This
may seem like an anomaly. But it is very true. As
the Hudson Bay fur-trader gave fire-water to the red
man of Canada, so the white man, in many cases, has
not been a help to his black brother. Again, the
African black is not a help to his East Indian brother.
On the other hand, the influence upon the Christian
black of the strong body of heathenism has had a
deteriorating effect. The drink habit and evil living
of the white man have been prominent among the in
fluences for evil over these races. The East Indian
cannot stand strong drink, either physically or morally.
Horse-racing, dancing in its most unattractive forms
and under most undesirable conditions, Sabbath des
ecration prevalent among all classes from the basket-
weavers to the high-class whites, and a native super
stition that is very hard to root out, are some of the
most flagrant difficulties. Added to these there is
the prevalent religious indifference about which the
Northern religious leaders complain. Contact with
Western civilization has broken down their old re
ligion and their caste and in many cases it has left
them nothing.
Results. But let us not dwell too long on the
difficulties. Rather let us hasten on to the results.
Rev. R. Gibson Fisher writes from the Essequebo
BRITISH GUIANA 215
field: "One of our chief victories of the year was at
Aurora, hitherto one of our barren fields. Here one
of our leading opponents, a successful Hindu rice-
farmer and a leading man in the community has been
converted by the study of the Bible ; and on his mak
ing known his intention to become a Christian a great
Tancharat of Hindu priests and leaders gathered
together at his house to endeavor to dissuade him
Before them all he witnessed a good confession hold
ing up the Bible and boldly declaring it to be the only
true Word of God. When they threatened him with
boycott he only smiled and said, Christ would stay
with him ; and when they asked what he had received
for becoming a Christian, with deep emotion he de
clared, Mera dil me shanti hai (In my heart is
peace). He was publicly baptised at his own request
under the name of Masih Das (Servant of Christ) ;
and like Matthew of old, he gave a feast to all his
neighbors and friends, in honor of the great event.
His wife and sister were baptised with him, the
first-fruits of many years work in a peculiarly dif
ficult corner of the vineyard."
CHAPTER X.
HOME MISSIONS IN THE MARITIME
PROVINCES.
The Presbyterian Church in Canada is essentially
a missionary Church, and among her many organiz
ations, the Women s Missionary Society can take a
foremost place. While the reports of the Western
Society from Eastern Quebec to the Pacific are rich
in results of work well done, and far exceed those
given by the Eastern Society in size and numbers,
yet both show the same splendid spirit of devotion
and self-sacrifice, of faith and love, and are one in
heart and aim. To win Canada for Christ, and keep
it for Him, is the ultimate goal of each.
Changing Conditions.
Until within the last twenty years or so, Home
Missions in the Maritime Provinces meant supplying
the mission fields (all English speaking) with students
through the summer months, and the placing of or
dained missionaries wherever possible.
Nova Scotia is rich in minerals, her coal fields being
among the most extensive in the world. The mining
population .consisted principally of British subjects
from the mines of the old land, until the establishment
of the great Steel and Iron Works at Sydney, N. S.,
when there was a great influx of immigrant laborers,
216
HOME MISSIONS, MARITIME PROVINCES 217
mostly foreigners. At Sydney, Inverness. Stellarton,
Trenton, Courtney Bay, Minto and The Joggins, the
principal coal areas, are now found people from nearly
every country in Europe, working in the mines and
steel works. The Maritime Synod rose to the occasion
and has worked steadily and successfully towards
providing them with religious and secular instruction.
In Sydney, St. Mark s Presbyterian Church carried
on the work in connection with the congregation,
but after a few years it was felt that the situation de
manded the settlement of a missionary speaking the
languages and Rev. M. C. A. Kinsale, a remarkable
linguist, and a man of great and varied abilities, was
appointed by the Home Mission Board (East). It
is said that he spoke fifteen languages and a number
of dialects fluently. He did a great deal of good work
in drawing the people together and bringing them
into touch with the Canadian Church and people, but
his nationality (Austrian) made his resignation neces
sary when the war came, though there was no evidence
that he was pro-German.
The Women s Missionary Society (E. D.) and its Home
Work.
This Society organized in 1876, has borne three
names. It was first a Foreign Missionary Society.
In 1915. on the incorporation of Home Missions, it
became the Foreign and Home Missionary Society,
and in 1914 it became the familiar and much loved
"W. M. S."
A certain amount of Home Mission work had always
been done in an unofficial way by the women in many
218 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
congregations, whose sons and daughters had respond
ed to the call of the West, and whose great desire was
to keep their loved ones in touch with home and
Church.
Since its introduction into the W. M. S., the Home
work has grown steadily. At first, interest was cent
red in the North West and the offerings were widely
scattered, but gradually the work was systematized
and Pres byterials were empowered to allocate their
funds "concentrating on as few objects as possible."
The North West still holds its place in the affections
of the East, and contributions to its mission fields are
made each year, but the rapidly increasing needs of
work in the East demand the larger share of our giv
ing. The contributions to Home Mission work have
increased from $1,276.58 in 1906 to $16,998.31 in 1920.
The W. M. S. of the East is auxiliary to the Mission
Boards of the Church and does not initiate any new
work, choosing objects from lists which are recom
mended to it by the Church Boards, or offering help
where it is needed. When therefore, the Church,
through the Maritime Synod, took up work among the
foreigners in the different industrial centres, the W.
M. S. gave what help it could. It subscribed largely
to the work in Sydney, built a small church, St.
Stephen s, for worship, and for a school, and provided
a kindergarten and teacher, Miss Mclvor being the
pioneer teacher in 1915.
Scotchtown. A number of foreigners have settled
at Scotchtown, about a mile and a half from New
Waterford, C. B., and made rude cabins from the
HOME MISSIONS, MARITIME PROVINCES 219
trees of the forest, some of these cabins consisting
of only one room. Through the efforts of Rev. J. H.
Hamilton, pastor of New Waterford, a church and
school were opened here in 1915, the W. M. S. paying
for the ground, equipment of the school and the salary
of the teacher. Miss Grant, the first teacher, made
a splendid success of the work. She belongs to a
well-known missionary family, being the niece of
our venerable and beloved Trinidad missionary, Dr.
K. J. Grant.
The foreigners were at first suspicious and fearful,
but, both at Sydney and Scotchtown the teachers soon
won their respect and confidence and the schools grew
so rapidly that soon a second room and teacher had to
be added at Scotchtown, and changes made at Sydney.
The United Mission. In Sydney, at the "Coke
Ovens," the vast settlement of the industrial workers
of the great Iron and Steel Works, the Presbyterians
and the Methodists joined forces in 1917, and the work
is now centred in the Methodist building under the
name of the United Mission, with workers of both de
nominations, and Mr. Hamilton as Superintendent.
The history of one mission must serve for that of
all, as space forbids more. The aim is to make each
mission serve as a social centre as well as a definitely
religious place of meeting, and great interest is shown
in community work. The educational and evangel
istic activities are many; Sunday and day schools,
Mission Bands, boys clubs, girls sewing classes,
vacation Bible classes, supervised playgrounds for
the children; and for the adults, Sunday services,
220 THE PLANTING OP A THE FAITH
special services with lantern slides and pictures, hos
pital visitation, weekly prayer meetings, Bible classes,
English classes, mothers meetings and a medical clinic
once a week this last in Sydney onh^.
The W. M. S. helps in maintaining these missions
to the foreigner at Sydney, Scotchtown, the Chalmers
Jack Mission, North Sydney, Inverness, Trenton, Stel-
larton, N. S., Minto and Courtney Bay, N. B. It also
aids the mission at Harrington Harbor, Labrador, and
several schools in Cape Breton, contributes to the sup
port of the Redemptive Home in Sydney, The Mari
time Home for Girls, Truro, and furnishes each year
many bursaries for students in Pine Hill College.
The W. M. S. feels that its greatest task is to meet
and win the foreigners. One great drawback is the
nomadic qualities of these people. They drift about
and are seldom long in one place. The war took many
away to fight for their country and the present stag
nation of industry and w r ant of employment has taken
more. A new type of immigrant, harder to reach, has
appeared since the war, and much of the work has to
be begun over again. There is much social unrest,
but we have faith and hope that the seed sown will
germinate in the hearts of the many, who have gone
to other places, and of those who remain, and grow
and bring forth fruit in their lives to the good of
Canada and the Glory of God.
CHAPTER XI.
HOME MISSION HOSPITALS.
Christ s Compassion.
"Thou to whom the sick and dying
Ever came, nor came in vain,
Still with healing words replying
To the wearied cry of pain.
"Still the weary, sick and dying
Need a brother s, sister s care
On Thy higher help relying,
May we now their burden share !"
Probably no outward expression of Christ s love
was better understood or more appreciated by the
people of His day than His ministry of healing. To
day we call it Applied Christianity, Social Service,
Public Health Nursing, Child Welfare and Medical
Missions. Experience has taught us the value of prac
tical Christianity as expressed through Medical Mis
sions in foreign lands. It is the common ground on
which the Christian and the non-Christian meet, pre
judice giving place to confidence and suspicion yielding
to the healing touch.
Medical Missions in Canada.
When the great appeal, came to the women of the
Presbyterian Church in Canada from Rev. John
Pringle, D.D., in 1898 for trained Christian nurses to
help the sick and dying among the prospecting miners
221
222 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
at Atlin in Northern British Columbia, there was a
sympathetic, enthusiastic and prompt response, and,
glad of the privilege of serving, the women of the
Church have been sending out Christian nurses ever
since. Little did Dr. Pringle think that his appeal
would be the beginning of a chain of Home Mission
Hospitals dotting the frontiers of our great Western
prairies or nestling in the mountain fastnesses of our
magnificent Western sea coast province.
And because Canada is classed among the great
Christian nations of the world and has Christian
forces within herself, a considerable number of people
wonder why any Church should consider it necessary
to build, equip and operate hospitals. They ask why
the Government does not provide sufficient hospital
accommodation for the people.
The Government s Attitude. Provincial Govern
ments do not erect hospital buildings or undertake
hospital work in a general way. Assistance in the
form of a small grant towards a building is sometimes
given, in exceptional cases, where pioneering condi
tions warrant it. A maintenance grant is also given
annually, based on the number of patients treated per
diem, and varying from thirty-five to fifty cents for
each patient, according to the rate prevailing within
the province.
When we decide to open new work, the first step
necessary is to approach the Government by getting
into touch with the Provincial Inspector for Hospitals,
and placing before him our proposition. When charit
able, religious or patriotic organizations wish to open
HOME MISSION HOSPITALS 223
a hospital in an unorganized rural section of the newer
or remote districts of a province, a grant of land is
given for a nominal sum or sometimes entirely free.
Site and plans for proposed buildings have to be sub
mitted to, and approved by the Government before
anything is done.
After the hospital is open for patients, our Super
intendents have to send in, regularly, records and
reports required by the Government, in order to secure
the grant, and the buildings and work are always
under Government inspection.
How Locations for Hospitals Are Selected. AH
requests come to the Board of Home Missions from
Presbyteries. As the Women s Missionary Society is
auxiliary to the Home and Foreign Mission Boards,
these requests are forwarded to our W. M. S. Execu
tive Board for consideration. No action is ever taken
without consultation with the Assembly s Mission
Boards. The main reason for selecting any field is
the need. It may be that within the bounds of a
certain Presbytery there are scattered settlements far
removed from medical attention where lives are being
sacrificed for lack of such aid as a hospital or hospital
unit might give. Again, there may be a large colony
of non-Anglo-Saxon settlers where the opportunities
for service would be almost illimitable. In many cases
the hospital has paved the way for other branches of
work such as educational and evangelistic. Sometimes
the field has been selected in a most remote settle-mien t,
where the non-Protestant element predominates and
where the only avenue of approach would be through
224 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
the hospital. In every case the people are struggling
to eke out an existence and our hospital is one of their
greatest blessings and our greatest opportunity.
Pioneering in Public Health Nursing and Child, Welfare.
The Nurse. Long before the subject of Public
Health Nursing was before the people, as it is to-day,
the women of the Presbyterian Church in Canada
were working on the problem through their noble,
self-sacrificing nurses on the staffs of our pioneer
hospitals some eighteen years ago. These nurses
went out into the sparsely settled districts with their
consecrated skill and human sympathy, saving and
cheering as they went about from one lonely home
stead to another, sometimes travelling on horse-back,
covering distances of from ten to hfty miles.
The Child. The sight of children in those isolated
homes growing up without any educational advan
tages touched the hearts of our doctors and nurses,
and when sick little children were brought into the
hospital they were kept, generally with their parents
consent, and sent to the public school. Many a child
owes his health of body, soul and mind to our doctors
and nurses.
Where Our Medical Work is Located.
" Hunter " Hospital, Teuton, Manitoba. M a n y
changes have taken place since Rev. A. J. Hunter,
M.D., D.D., became our medical missionary at Teulon,
Man., nearly twenty years ago. Thousands of patients
have been treated in the wards in that time. Besides
the work in the hospital there are long drives into
the colony to visit those too ill to be removed to the
HOME MISSION HOSPITALS 225
hospital. He is usually accompanied by one of the
nurses who takes along a few supplies to make the
patients more comfortable. The home life in the
hospital is a benediction, and has an enduring influence
on the patients. One little woman, the wife of an
English immigrant, was a patient in the hospital for
eight weeks. She so thoroughly enjoyed and appre
ciated the daily hour of prayer and Sabbath services
that she resolved on her return home to establish an
altar of prayer in her little shack with her husband
and family
As a result of Dr. Hunter s activities outside of his
medical practice the entire community around Teulon
has been benefitted. He has helped the educational
and social life of the people ; has studied them and
their language (Ukrainian) ; has directed their nation
al ambitions along the lines of Canadian ideals and
Christian conduct; has translated parts of our liter
ature into their language; has published articles deal
ing with the fundamental principles of health and
wholesome living (also in Ukrainian) ; has given the
boys and young men of the community religious in
struction and, in every way possible, has endeavored
to interpret the life of his Master, Jesus Christ.
In the older established hospitals our medical mis
sionaries are feeling the need of improvements and
additions, primitive equipment no longer meeting the
demands of the community. Notwithstanding all that
has been done for this colony there are needy sections
still unreached. Dr. Hunter writes : "The colony
around Teulon is not the largest Ukrainian settle-
15
226 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
ment, but even here one can drive thirty-five miles
north and south, and thirty miles or more east and
west, through a country settled almost entirely by
Ukrainian people. In the interior of this settlement,
the English language is rarely heard, and many forces
are at work, partly ecclesiastical, partly national, to
produce and perpetuate a divided element for the
future." Rev. J. A. Gormie, Home Mission Superin
tendent for Manitoba, says of this territory "I never
saw such poverty in my life as exists there." It was
from this district that a woman walked twenty-five
miles to the nearest telegraph office to wire for Dr.
Hunter.
Ethelbert Presbyterian Hospital, Manitoba. Al
though the Ethelbert Presbyterian Hospital was not
opened as a medical mission until 1907, mission work
had been begun in 1900 by the Home Mission Com
mittee. This mission is located in what is known as
the Dauphin Colony, 210 miles from Winnipeg, com
prising approximately fifteen thousand non-Anglo-
Saxon settlers. Like many others, they were very
poor when they first settled here, but being industrious
they soon built for themselves homes patterned after
the peasant homes of Central Europe, made of clay
and having the picturesque thatch roof. Some were
rudely put together with sod and mud and did not
present such an attractive appearance, resembling
more a shack for their animals. The nearest hospital
being 40 miles away, the services of our first nurse,
who went in in 1907 and lived with the, missionary s
family, were in great demand and much appreciated.
HOME MISSION HOSPITALS 227
The New Building. By degrees the work outgrew
its small beginning and in 1914 Dr. F. O. Gilbart was
appointed medical missionary. The following year
a ten thousand dollar hospital, having accommodation
for 23 patients, was built and formally opened under
the auspices of the Dauphin Presbytery on December
29th, 1915. Enlarging the accommodation entailed
increasing the staff, four nurses and a housekeeper
being now required.
Where Misfortune Meets with Mercy. Dr. Gilbart,
in commenting on the financial situation in connection
with hospital collections, says: "Owing to frozen
crops the year before, money in this district is scarce,
and the amount collected was therefore not as much
as we could have wished. The majority of our
patients manifest a desire to pay. It is our policy to
request all who can to pay. Of course we give due
consideration to the poor, but only the destitute get
treatment free. We make exceptions in the cases
of children requiring prolonged treatment. Parents
are often indifferent, and, rather than see these child
ren handicapped through life, we are willing to look
after them free of charge when we think we can help
them."
The Average Experience of a Medical Missionary.
Dr. Gilbart writes : " In a few days I shall have
completed seven years medical missionary work in
the Ethelbert district. As we look back we can see
that a good deal has been accomplished. There is one
particular department of which we can speak with
certainty; I refer to the medical work carried on.
228 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
We have been able to bring a measure of skill, to
alleviate suffering, and I think we can say truth
fully that we have given freely to all, irrespective
of religion, social conditions, weather or distance,
with some measure of success. If we have accom
plished nothing else, we are getting them into the
habit of calling for medical assistance in time of ill
ness. Even yet far too many are dying while no real
attempt is being made to assist them to recovery.
Last year, as coroner, I investigated 27 deaths in
this district before I could issue certificates and took
the opportunity to tell the friends and neighbors that
it is wrong, and really illegal to allow a human being
to die without at least sending for some medicine.
They usually repudiate any imputation of careless
ness or neglect, and merely tell you that the time had
come for the deceased to die, and no doctor on earth
could keep him alive. However there is a notable
improvement. In order that they may have no ex
cuse for not calling in assistance, I have always tried
to make my charges such that the poorest need not
hesitate.
"The people are gradually getting into the habit
of calling in a doctor. I remember the day when I
rarely received a night call or a Sunday call into the
country. To-day that has changed. I remember the
day when I have seen patients brought 25 miles, and
even 40 miles behind a yoke of oxen, to the doctor.
To-day the doctor usually goes to see them. I have
often seen patients brought to the dispensary in an
exhausted condition, rather than have the doctor go
HOME MISSION HOSPITALS 229
to the home. Various reasons were given. A short
time ago I took a man to task for allowing his child
to die when a doctor was within reach, and ready to
respond to his call. His answer was that it was Sun
day, and he did not think the doctor would like to be
disturbed.
"A few days ago I was called to see a sick baby some
seven miles from the next station north. I got on a
freight train, and the mother met me at the station
with a team. I asked her why she did not stay at home
and look after the baby, and send her husband for me.
Her reply was that she wished to come herself in order
that she might pick out some white cotton to make
it a dress in which to bury it. It is quite true that she
had the parcel in the sleigh with her. The baby re
covered, but I suppose they can make use of the cotton
for other purposes. It reminds me of another case
I attended a couple of years ago. It was a case of
pneumonia in a young woman. She was quite ill,
and they all decided she was going to die, and purchas
ed the white cotton for her shroud. She was con
scious, and watched them making it in the same room.
I do not know how it came about, but the father, or
rather the step-father, began to think it would be
better to call me to the house in order that no one
could say that he had neglected a step-child. As most
young people recover from uncomplicated pneumonia,
I was able, in spite of what, to them, were alarming
symptoms, to give them hope. I made quite a number
of visits, and the girl completely recovered. The step
father was delighted, and cheerfully paid me in cord-
230 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
wood. He had taken it for granted that she must
die. Whenever I meet that young woman she smiles,
and our thoughts go back to that shroud lying on a
chair beside her bed, as I saw it when I first called at
the house.
"Religious services are held in the hospital regular
ly. Our evangelistic worker holds services in the
Church and mission and is doing a splendid work
among the people wherever she goes."
Sifton and Pine River Hospital Units, Manitoba.
These two Hospital Units are also in the Dauphin
Colony, the former being a dispensary with an em
ergency ward, the latter a small .cottage hospital,
which had formerly been a school house, with accom
modation for four or five patients. The Sifton Mis
sion is the oldest in the colony, and laid a splendid
foundation for the present work, by (breaking down
prejudice and gaining an entrance into the homes of
the non-Anglo-Saxon strangers settled on the marsh
land of this colony. Much hard, pioneer mission work
has been accomplished, with gratifying results. The
Pine River Hospital Unit was opened on November
23rd, 1920, under the direction of the Dauphin Pres
bytery, with a staff of two workers, an evangelist and
a nurse, assisted by a little Ukrainian girl thirteen
years old, w r ho goes to school. The medical work is
very heavy. The Superintendent of the Ethelbert
Presbyterian Hospital, under whose management
these two Units are placed, writes telling of four ob
stetrical cases in forty-eight hours and only one nurse
in "attendance. Like the majority of the localities
HOME MISSION HOSPITALS 231
in which our hospitals are placed, the water supply is
very poor, at Pine River melted snow being the prim
itive means used for laundry purposes in the winter
time ; in the summer, the rain barrel.
We naturally question the efficiency of work carried
on under such conditions, but when we realize that
these people cannot be reached or helped in any other
way, we feel justified in going forward putting in the
little leaven. In the February "Record" we find the
following comment on the opening of the Pine River
Unit : "Who can measure the good of that little cen
tre, with these two capable, devoted women, one
going out to nurse the sick, the other with her gospel
message of help and hope, both of them bringing
healing for body and soul where no other help
of any kind is near. The W. M. S., in establishing
such Hospital Units, is doing a great work for Can
ada and for Christ."
"Anna Turnbull" Hospital, Wakaw, Saskatchewan.
In a community including French, German, Hungarian,
Ukrainian, Poles, Jews, Americans, English, Irish and
Scotch settlers, is located the "Anna Turnbull" Hos
pital, on beautiful "Crooked Lake" where our medical
missionary, Rev. R. G. Scott, B.A., M.D., has been the
Good Samaritan for fourteen years. As the majority
of the settlers were Roman Catholics, the opportunity
was exceptional and the task and responsibility
equally great. Dr. Scott, with true missionary zeal,
gathered the people around him and held religious
services, organized a Sabbath School and choir, acting
as Superintendent and leader. Many soon yielded to
232 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
the influence and became strong supporters of the
Protestant faith.
Prior to Dr Scott s advent, there were none but
Catholic burying grounds. Soon after his arrival
requests came to him to find and consecrate a sec
tion of ground for a Protestant cemetery. Not a piece
of ground could be found outside our mission pro
perty, and Dr. Scott was compelled to set aside a
little plot for this purpose. After all these years it
is filled up but a public cemetery is now available.
An Hungarian Protestant Presbyterian Church has
been founded through Dr. Scott s influence and efforts.
Besides transforming the people of that alien com
munity into good Canadian citizens, he healed their
diseases, baptised their young, married their youths
and maidens and buried their dead. Twenty patients
can be accommodated in the hospital, which has a
staff of three nurses. The municipalities have become
organized and contribute liberally to our hospital.
The greatest difficulty has been the scarcity of drink
ing water, melting ,ice being their only means of
getting it. A lighting plant is very much needed,
coal oil lamps being their only light.
"Inasmuch." Dr. Scott says : "We. serve all kinds
of people, and at heavy expense. A year ago last
summer a young man was in the hospital. He had
appendicitis. He came late. He died. His grave
is on the hillside, overlooking the lake. He said, It
is hard to be sick, and hard to be broke, but to think
I have a good bed and care, and everything possible
done for me, and not to be asked for money first thing.
God bless you ! Yesterday a little girl was brought
riOME MISSION HOSPITALS 233
in twenty miles. The father and mother have home-
steaded in the bush. They have no oxen. They
have no crop. They are a fine class of people. We
honor people willing to raise a family in fresh air
and open spaces and face poverty. We admire and
envy them. This little girl was choking with en
larged tonsils and adenoids. The father wants
to pay, and if his health holds out he will, gladly,
some time, but he cannot do so for five or ten years.
We try to make it as easy as possible for those who
need our services to get them and without fear."
Showing their Gratitude. Were there no poor and
needy to minister to surely our mission would be in
vain. The people usually make an effort to pay, as
the following little incident proves "A little woman
who received an infant s outfit was very much de
lighted. Tears filled her eyes when she thought of
the kindness of the giver. She had come to see us,
bringing with her two dollars for our Sunday School
work. We knew she could not afford it, so refused
to take it. She had been saving it a few cents at a
time for months." If they have no money they near
ly always bring something to offer in payment for
medicine or clothing "One woman offered us six
eggs in return for ointment for her little girl, another
brought eleven eggs, still another thirty eggs and two
pails of oats ; a man gave a load of hay and two men
each a load of wood." Many, many such instances
could be cited to show the spirit of independence and
gratitude embedded in the hearts of these New Cana
dians. They will make good.
234 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
The "Hugh Waddell" Memorial Hospital, Canora,
Sask. This splendid hospital at Canora was made
possible through the generosity of the late Mrs. Hugh
Waddell of Peterborough, Ont., who gave the muni
ficent sum of twenty-five thousand dollars to erect
a memorial hospital to her late husband. Canora was
selected because of its proximity to one of the largest
foreign settlements in the West, the site of ten acres
of land, on which the hospital is situated, being given
by Mr. G. M. Graham of Canora. On June 18th, 1914,
the hospital was formally opened under the direction
of the Yorkton Presbytery. Although built to ac
commodate only sixty patients it soon became neces
sary, owing to the rapidly increasing number of
patients, to re-arrange the nurses quarters in order
to make room for one hundred. This meant sacrific
ing the nurses comfortable quarters, a general doubl
ing up of staff, and made the erection of a Nurses
Home imperative. Miss Kate McTavish, who has
been connected with our Home Mission Hospitals
for nearly twenty years, having served also in St.
Andrew s Hospital, Atlin, B. C, is Lady Superintend
ent, and has associated with her seven graduate nurses
and an evangelistic secretary. According to statistics
and the expressions of appreciation from Government
and Church officials, University Professors and other
visitors, the hospital is doing a really great work.
In 1920 one thousand and twenty-one in-patients were
treated.
Training School for Nurses. The "Hugh Waddell"
Memorial Hospital is the largest and best equipped
HOME MISSION HOSPITALS
235
THE "HUGH WADDEL MEMORIAL HOSPITAL"
AND NEW NURSES HOME. CANORA. SASK.
HOME MISSION HOSPITALS 237
W. M. S. Hospital in Canada, and in every way the
most suitable for the purpose of training nurses. The
Commissioner of Public Health for Saskatchewan
has promised to co-operate with us whenever we are
ready to open a school. Nurses cannot be graduated
or diplomas presented without Government sanction
and recognition. Linking up with the Government
is important, desirable and necessary in working out
every phase of our hospital undertakings.
"Katherine H. Prittie" Hospital, Grande Prairie,
Alta. The opportunity for service in the Peace River
country has been revealed to us through the life and
sacrifice of our pioneer missionaries, Rev. Alexander
Forbes, D. D., and his heroic wife, the late Agnes Sor-
rell Forbes. In 1910 they treked hundreds of miles
into an almost unknown section of Northern Alberta
to establish it in righteousness. The first request
Mrs. P orbes sent back was for a nurse. One was
sent in just before navigation closed in 1910. Dis
tances between the homes of the settlers were great,
making it necessary for our nurse, Miss Baird, to
reach her patients on horseback, often travelling fifty
miles each way to visit one patient. Mr. W. R. Prittie
of Toronto, hearing of the need of a hospital at Grande
Prairie, generously donated five thousand dollars to
wards the erection of a memorial hospital which was
opened in June, 1914, with accommodation for ten
patients. Standing as it did for years the only
hospital in that vast, lone prairie, covering an area
of hundreds of miles, the value of its service to those
pioneer settlers can never be told. Young mothers
238 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
and children constituted the majority of the cases
treated in this hospital.
Result. And now, in the year 1921, after a record
of splendid service, the municipalities which this hos
pital has served, have come forward and become
responsible for it. With the proceeds we will be able
to establish other units in pioneer centres, one of the
first of these is Fort Vermilion.
On to Fort Vermilion. From the farthest north
farming district, Fort Vermilion, 600 miles north of
Fdmonton, comes a call for medical service. As most
of the settlements are fifteen, forty and even a hun
dred miles north of the Peace river, they can only be
reached by boat, entailing a water trip of 280 miles
from the Peace River Crossing. "Scattered through
that territory are some 2000 Roman Catholic half-
breed settlers, who have themselves erected a hospital
building, with accommodation for a staff of two nurses
and four or five patients." The Government has sent
Dr. Philip M. Macdonnell there, the Board of Home
Missions of the Presbyterian Church in Canada has
appointed Rev. P. F. McGregor as missionary and the
Women s Missionary Society is sending two nurses,
with furnishings and equipment ; so the work will get a
good start, notwithstanding its isolated location. Much
interest and prayer will, no doubt, centre around this
new frontier field.
"Holland M. Boswell" Hospital, Vegreville, Alberta.
When the late Rev. J. C. Herdman, D.D., appealed
in 1905, for a hospital that would minister to the needs
of a foreign colony of forty-five thousand immigrants
HOME MISSION HOSPITALS 239
adjacent to Vegreville, and there seemed no possible
hope of responding to the appeal, Mrs. Boswell of
Elora came forward with a timely and generous
gift enabling us to undertake the erection of a
twenty bed hospital, which was formally opened
October 29th, 1906. From the very first a complete
staff was required to attend to the many patients
brought in from the colony. Rev. G. R. Lang, Sec
retary-Treasurer of the "Rolland M. Boswell" Hos
pital, in his latest account of the work, says, in part,
"Last summer (1920) was a very busy one in our
hospital. An epidemic of typhoid fever broke out
in the local Roman Catholic Hospital and some of
their patients had to be brought over to ours, one of
these being a nurse in training, whom they called
"Sister Barbara," a Ukrainian. She was so low that
her doctor gave her up entirely, declaring that she
could not possibly live. However, with God s bless
ing and good nursing, she got well after a long illness.
Some typhoid patients were also brought in from the
country about that time, and one man, who was
thought by his doctor to be a typhoid case, developed
smallpox, which caused quite a commotion, as there
was no provision in our town for the care of such
cases. Fortunately, .it was summer and the town
soon got a frame made and a tent up at the back of
the hospital, some distance away, and the sick man
was placed there. He was able to take care of him
self except, of course, that his food had to be taken
to him. Miss Korzak, our Lady Superintendent,
attended to that for a while, but it was too much for
her with her other arduous duties, so the town secur-
240 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
ed a man for the task. No other cases developed.
Unfortunately our well gave out leaving us without
water. We had to have a new one drilled, which
meant a very heavy expenditure, but we have been
getting a plentiful supply of water from this source so
far. The water supply is quite a problem here. It is
easy enough to get wells that will supply individual
families or even the School Homes, but difficult to
get a large supply from a single well for hospital
purposes.
One of our patients was George H., 33 years old,
a married man with small children, who lost his right
arm above the elbow, and who had apparently a
miraculous escape from losing his life. He was driv
ing a steam engine which was hauling a threshing
machine, and while it was moving he tried to fix
some part. As he was doing this, his coat caught in
some of the gearing wheels. He tried to tear the
piece off, but in making the attempt his arm was
caught in the wheels and crushed. It looked as if
Providence interfered at that point, as the engine
stopped of its own accord. He believes that had it
not stopped, he would have been crushed to death,
as there was no one near enough to stop it. This
accident happened 60 miles north, and nothing could
be done for the unfortunate man, except tying up the
arm so as to stop the bleeding, till he got in to our
hospital. That was November 14th, and he is still
here and likely to-be for some time yet. He is a
Greek Catholic and religiously inclined. He likes
reading the New Testament, and we are hoping that
when he leaves the hospital it will not only be with
HOME MISSION HOSPITALS 241
a healed arm, but a soul brought nearer to God.
One of the most discouraging features is the un
willingness of parents and relatives to allow their
sick to remain long enough in the hospital to com
pletely recover. Truly "line upon line" will be the
method required to instruct many of these people in
the value of hygienic treatment for their bodies and
sanitation for their homes, before they will heed and
benefit thereby.
In June, Miss A. B. Korzak formerly of Teulon, a
Ukrainian nurse, who is known to many members
of the Society, was appointed temporarily to the pos
ition of Lady Superintendent. Miss Korzak got
along so well that when it looked as if we might lose
her, a petition signed by a number of prominent
citizens, was sent to the Board asking that her
appointment be made permanent. This was done and
Miss Korzak has measured up well and has continued
at her post with satisfaction until her marriage, Aug..
1921, to Mr. J. W. McCulloch, a young Scotch Presby
terian whose home is in Alberta.
Bonnyville Hospital, Bonnyville, Alberta. One
hundred miles from a railroad ! When Rev. Wm.
Simons asked the W.M.S. to open hospital work at
Bonnyville in 1917, where there was no doctor or
nurse nearer than one hundred miles, no time was
lost in questioning the need of such medical service.
A small house was rented, nurses sent in and the
work organized and ably supervised by Rev. J. E.
Duclos, under whose spiritual leadership the entire
work in that French Canadian non-Protestant com
munity is being carried on. Great success has blessed
16
242 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
the work in this difficult field. The isolation of the
field and the prejudice of the people added greatly
to the difficulties of the existing pioneer conditions,
but Mr. Duclos and his noble band of workers have
overcome racial dislike, religious superstition and
suspicion with faithful, loving and efficient service,
and have won many to Jesus Christ through their
medical ministry. The work has grown so rapidly
that a new hospital building is imperative. Plans have
been accepted, and a new building will be opened in
the near future with accommodation for twenty
patients.
One case of special interest at Bonnyville was a
man from J , Que., w ho had been troubled with
an infection and deafness of the left ear for thirty
years, had been to doctors in J - also to some
specialists in M ; each helped a little for the time
being but not permanently. He then went to the
doctor in Bonnyville and as the latter was unable
to give him any relief, he came to the hospital and
after ten days treatment the whole trouble was re
moved and he could hear as well with that ear as
the other. All infection was gone, after thirty years.
What it needed was constant treatment. He is an
influential man in the Roman Catholic community
as he is much better educated than most of them.
Alberta Hospital Unit at Cold Lake. Rev. J. E.
Duclos, our missionary at Bonnyville, says "We hope
to have a nurse at Cold Lake in the spring, who will
occupy the cottage we have rented until a suitable
building is erected. Cold Lake is in great need of a
HOME MISSION HOSPITALS
OUR LATEST HOSPITAL UNIT
FRANCOIS LAKE, B. C.
.HOME MISSION HOSPITALS 245
Hospital Unit and I am pleased that your Board has
included it in the list of your prospective Hospital
Units. It is better to have a small one there than to
send patients to Bonnyville, a distance of forty to
fifty miles, a thing impossible in cold weather and
over bad roads. A nurse has been at Cold Lake for
some time. There is a great deal of sickness and the
people are glad to have a nurse there, and are clamor
ing for a hospital. Cold Lake is a very difficult field
to tackle. It is composed of French, Scandinavians,
Russians, Germans, and Syrians. The Roman Catholic
Church has failed to handle the situation. Organized
atheism and Bolshevism have perverted the people/
Hospital Unit at Francois Lake, B. C. . Work
in this far northern outpost was first started in 1919,
in a farm house, with one nurse and a housekeeper.
Six months afterwards it \vas deemed advisable to
change the location of the hospital and the work was
transferred to Prosser s Point, a very beautiful spot
on the lake shore, where a small frame building was
secured by the people themselves. . Now two nurses
and a housekeeper comprise the staff. In May, of
1920, Dr. A. A. Gray, formerly of Formosa, was
appointed medical missionary to that district. En
during and heroic service has been rendered by Dr.
Gray and his staff, under pioneering conditions, that
almost baffle description; terrible roads, no con
veniences, little sympathetic co-operation and the
many other difficulties and hindrances that test both
faith and courage. Rev. J. R. MacCrimmon, who has
been recently appointed as missionary on the field,
246 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
writes : "The doctor and his staff are doing fine Chris
tian and patriotic work. The hospital is a godsend to
the mothers of the whole countryside, many of whom
could not otherwise have medical aid at the birth of
their children, as the trip in for the doctor and back
to their homes could not be made in less than two
days." In order to keep an appointment for a Sab
bath service, the doctor has thought nothing of leav
ing his home at midnight on a Saturday night and
driving continually over bad roads until nearly noon
on Sunday. There is no other medical man nearer
than ninety miles to the west and one hundred and
thirty-five miles to the east. What a Herculean task !
St. Andrew s Hospital, Atlin, B.C. Instead of the
one-time mining camp of twelve hundred men there
now remain only some two or three hundred miners
and settlers, with their families, scattered over a very
extensive territory. Hydraulic companies give em
ployment to most of the men, but as their methods
cannot be applied in the winter time, many of the
men engage in trapping. Owing to the extensive
use of powder or dynamite for blasting, both above
and below ground, their limbs and lives are endanger
ed, resulting often in serious and fatal accidents.
Placer mining continues to be the most important
industry in that district. Quartz mining is, how
ever, bound to become in time the more important.
A miner who had been a patient in the hospital
writes "We are all very thankful for and proud
of our little hospital. There is somehow such a home
like and peaceful air around it and its nurses, so
HOME MISSION HOSPITALS 247
different in most part from the lives of the miners
as to be in itself a very considerable factor in the
spiritual uplift of men who very often have memories
of happier surroundings of other days. It is a great
comfort to know that in case of sickness or injury
we shall be sure of every attention from the hands
of Christian women."
There is accommodation for eight patients, three of
the beds being in the "Charlotte MacDonald" Mater
nity Wing. Many difficulties are experienced in get
ting in workers, mail and supplies, as Atlin is situated
one thousand miles north of Vancouver on beautiful
Atlin Lake which is closed to navigation eight months
in the year. For at least six months, dog teams carry
in passengers and mail. In the summer time it is
visited by many tourists, en route to Dawson City
and other northern points, three thousand having stop
ped over last summer. The W. M. S. supports one
nurse. Without this assistance the hospital work
could not be carried on. In touching the lives of
these isolated miners and settlers a Christian nurse
has a rare opportunity for service of the highest
character.
Some Incidents. "We had several minor cases in
the fall, nothing serious, including threatened ap
pendicitis, tonsilitis and several cases where they
were generally run down. Possibly the most serious
one was the man with a broken leg who came in
here in August and was discharged to-day. We
thought for a while that he would lose his leg but
the doctor worked very hard with him and he is get-
248 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
ting along nicely. He was a very troublesome patient
at first, having twice removed his splints. Dr. Rogers
operated three times, doing a skin-graft each time.
"A number of outside patients come to the hospital
for treatment, and having no dentist Dr. Rogers is
sometimes kept busy extracting teeth.
"I generally have two patients in at a time and it
keeps Miss Spencer and me fairly busy as we do all
our own cleaning and washing, it being expensive
to hire help." (A char-woman gets $5.00 per day).
Baby Welfare Work.
St. Columba House, Montreal, Que. In 1919 an
appeal to open a Baby Welfare clinic in connection
with our Church s Settlement work was presented
to our Board by Rev. G. E. Ross of St. Matthew s
Church, Montreal. During the year a nurse was
added to the staff of St. Columba House and has been
the means of saving the lives of many infants and
children. A recent nurse, Miss Retta E. Clark,
writes : "One case that is proving quite interesting
is that of a baby referred to me by one of the city
hospitals about a month ago. On going to the ad
dress given, I found a Polish family, father, mother
and two children. The father had been out of work
for months, the mother and little boy had been ill, and
now the babe, three months old, was not making
satisfactory progress. Their home, consisting of two
rooms, was very tidy and clean and the babe too,
spotlessly clean although under weight, due to im
proper feeding. The father spoke English fairly
well and, with him as interpreter, I explained to the
HOME MISSION HOSPITALS 249
mother the feedings prescribed by the hospital doctor,
for she could only say a few words in English. Both
parents are extremely interested in their children s
welfare and have certainly carried out orders, for
the babe is gaining each week and looks like a differ
ent child. They are so pleased with my visits and so
grateful for any advice and assistance. I am watch
ing this case with a great deal of interest and hope
through helping this family, and getting them to
attend the clinic regularly, to reach many others."
Our Hospital Unit Policy
Someone asks, what constitutes a Hospital Unit?
A small cottage hospital with accommodation for
five or six patients and staff, in charge of one or two
nurses and an evangelistic worker, covers the de
scription in a general way.
As the Hospital Unit is usually placed in an out
lying section of country, far beyond the bounds of
organized municipalities, the W. M. S. has to become
responsible in the beginning for the entire financial
outlay in connection with its erection, equipment and
furnishing. Experience has taught us that the amount
suggested in our Forward Movement literature, will,
in these times of high costs, erect only the building
much more being required to put in heating, lighting
and water systems. Then there is the furnishing,
an expensive item. Assistance is sometimes given
locally. The people want to help themselves when
ever possible, but their best effort, even when making
sacrifices to give, is only a fraction of the amount
250 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
required to equip, furnish and maintain the institu
tion.
Another fact that we must not lose sight of is in
connection with the Government requirements. No
matter how small the building, the fact remains that
it is a public institution for the benefit of the people
and subject to Government supervision. Government
co-operation is most desirable, as a grant is forth
coming if we keep within its rules and regulations.
Such assistance, especially in our larger institutions,
amounts to thousands of dollars annually, all of which
we deeply appreciate. No two fields present exactly
the same needs, hence the difficulty of having one
model hospital plan that might answer for all. When
ever possible, we buy or rent a little building. It
saves expense and time, but unfortunately, such op
portunities are rare. Our future policy in connection
with the Hospital Units must lie in that future. So
much depends on the development of the settlement
or colony that we could not, at this time, form any
definite policy. Our hope, however, is that when an
institution becomes self-supporting it will take over
the management of its own affairs through its munici
pality, town council or some other responsible local
body. Although this has been our hope and policy
in connection with our hospital work in Canada for
the past twenty years, and we have been relieved
entirely from all but staff salaries in some of our
older established hospitals, we have not been able
to relinquish our hold on any one of our institutions
until Grande Prairie Hospital was taken over by the
municipality in 1921. All of which goes to show that
HOME MISSION HOSPITALS 251
the localities selected for this particular form of
Christian activity were wisely chosen.
Besides the Hospital Units here referred to, Presby
teries throughout the West have asked for ten more,
among British settlers, among our own Canadian
people doing yeoman service in settling newly opened
territory, and among foreigners, living so far back
from civilization that they have not learned to speak
English nor adapt themselves to Canadian standards
of living.
Ontario Hospital Units in the Making.
As the hospital undertakings of our W. M. S. have
heretofore been confined to our Western Provinces
entirely, the suggestion that we extend our ministra
tions to the needy districts of our great Northland in
New Ontario presented a new and wonderful op
portunity for service. When requests came to us
from the Board of Home Missions that we sympath
etically consider opening up work at Hearst and
Matheson, both extremely isolated and needy fields,
many miles from existing -hospitals, we took the mat
ter up and began in the summer of 1920 making plans
for the development of the work in this new field.
This being our very first entrance into Ontario with
institutional work, negotiations had to be opened
with the Ontario Government. Sites and buildings
had to meet Government requirements, and the policy
of our hospital work to come under its scrutiny, all
of which entailed a somewhat lengthy procedure.
Happily for all concerned, the negotiations ended most
satisfactorily, the Government Inspector expressing
252 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
a desire to co-operate with us in a work which con
cerns so deeply the welfare of the people.
Summary.
Three new hospital centres, Hearst, Matheson and
Cold Lake the last opened in 1921, will bring the total
number of hospitals and Hospital Units up to fifteen,
with a staff of four medical missionaries and forty
nurses. The volume of work varies during the year
but usually increases its average number of patients
over the previous year. The estimated cost of carry
ing on the entire work, including buildings and re
pairs, in 1921, was $51,644.55.
The Language Problem. In a country where over
sixty tongues are spoken we naturally expect that our
workers serving in foreign communities will have to
face the language difficulty. In fact it is a nurse s
first real difficulty as she is brought into close con
tact with the sick and suffering and must of necessity
understand what her patient is endeavoring to tell her
about herself. Our nurses do not take up language
study in order to fit themselves for medical mission
ary work in Canada, for we hold to the belief that all
non-Anglo Saxon newcomers to Canada should learn
to speak English rather than expect Canadians to
learn to speak their language. Difficult situations do
arise but it is the only solution of the problem. For
tunately, there are nearly always children in the hos
pitals and the homes of the people, who understand
enough English to act as interpreters.
Reaching the Ideal. When a community is able
to finance its own hospital and that hospital happens
HOME MISSION HOSPITALS 253
ANNIE KORZAK McCULLOCH.
Our first Ukrainian Nurse.
HOME MISSION HOSPITALS 255
to be a Home Mission Hospital we expect it to assume
the work and responsibility, relieving us and giving
us so much more capital with which to push forward
into more needy, frontier mission fields.
Such a situation arose in connection with our
"Katherine H. Prittie" Hospital at Grande Prairie,
Alberta, and the municipality has taken it over.
Our Nurses. During the twenty years of hospital
work in Canada, hundreds of nurses have enlisted in
the Church s service, and among them stand out those
who have given long years of devoted service, who
have stood fast through trying and perplexing diffi
culties and faced problems of great national import
ance. To name them all would be an impossible task,
but to name those whose service has extended across
the years would be only just.
We do not hesitate to give first place to that daugh
ter of the manse, Miss Elizabeth J. Bell of Teulon,
Manitoba, whose life and character have been such a
blessing and inspiration to thousands of others. For
sixteen years she has given herself unsparingly in
continuous service holding the longest record in our
Home Mission Hospitals. Then follows closely be
side hers, the name of Miss Kate E. McTavish, who
served in 1900 at St. Andrew s Hospital, Atlin, B. C,
and who, when compelled to retire for a brief period,
returned twice to that lonely outpost, serving in all
between fourteen and fifteen years. For the past three
years she has been Lady Superintendent of the "Hugh
Waddell" Memorial Hospital at Canora, Sask. To her
belongs too the honor of a life of loving and faithful
256 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
service. We shall ever remember with loving grati
tude the name of Agnes Sorrell Forbes who initiated
the hospital work in Grande Prairie, Alberta, in the
days when there were no conveniences, when distances
were great and when travelling to visit the sick home
steader meant a journey of weariness and hardship.
Associated with her was Miss Agnes Baird, the first
graduate nurse to enter our medical work in Grande
Prairie. Miss Jean Kellock is another daughter of.
the manse, who has given distinguished service in
Atlin, B. C., and Ethelbert, Manitoba. Her evangel
istic influence has been as powerful as her profession
al efficiency. Miss Anna B. Korzak, now Mrs. Mc-
Culloch, has been our only Ukrainian nurse and prov
ed herself efficient and trustworthy.
When the history of this country comes to be
written, historians will find woven into the lives of
Canada s early pioneers the impress of other lives,
and foremost among them will be that of the Chris
tian nurse whose courage and faithfulness, tender,
efficient skill and great sacrifice, were blended into
one magnificent, heroic and patriotic service for God
and country and humanity. All honor to such women,
co-workers with the Great Physician.
Results. Regarding the results accruing from the
ministry to the bodies of our patients, we can come
out fearlessly and state that thousands of men, wo
men and children have been helped, relieved, rescued
from death and restored to their loved ones. But it
is with hushed breath, bowed heads and humble
hearts that we speak of spiritual results. Encourag-
HOME MISSION HOSPITALS 257
ing reports reach us of many reclaimed souls, many
brought to a knowledge of the saving power of His
redeeming love, for the first time, many strength
ened in their faith and many comforted when about
to face the Judge of all the Earth as they slip into His
eternal Presence.
Paul says, "I have planted, Apollos watered, but
God gave the increase."
17
CHAPTER XII.
OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK IN CANADA.
Indians. . .French. . .Newcomers.
The educational mission work of the W.M.S. is
carried on amongst three classes of young people,
the Indians, the French and the Newcomers surely
a field of service vast enough and varied enough to
challenge the Christian women of our Church. And
what should appeal more to women than this service
for the children of our land, to teach them the mean
ing of citizenship, to win them for Christ and keep
them ever in His service. These three classes of
young people present not only vastly different prob
lems, but also some of the greatest privileges within
the reach of our Church.
The Indian population is now practically stationary,
and since the Government has gained their goodwill,
they are no longer a menace to our country or our
Church. Our present aim is rather to gain the con
fidence of the children of the Christian Indians, to
educate them and teach them how to till the soil
and earn their own living. There is another field of
service which we are slow in cultivating, ithe Chris
tianising of those pagan tribes which have as yet not
heard the gospel story.
We approach the French work from two angles,
258
OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK IN CANADA 259
first, trying to solve what is a serious problem in
Quebec, providing a Christian education for the chil
dren of our French Protestants ; and second, upholding
the great truth that there is but one Mediator be
tween God and man, the man Christ Jesus, that the
blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin, and that
the gift of God cannot be purchased with money.
These are mighty problems which concern not Quebec
alone, but every province in the Dominion. Our best
point of contact is with the children, and to this we
should bend all our energies, or the very foundations
of the Protestant Church may be shaken.
The problem of the relation of the Church to tne
children of our newcomers is one to which we have
given serious consideration, and rightly so. They
will help either to make or mar our country, for they
are capable of being either a great blessing or a very
real menace. They are so industrious and thrifty
and possess so remarkable a capacity for work that
their economic future is assured. In this age of
materialism, when the practical side is being so em
phasized, it is ours to keep the spiritual uppermost.
INDIAN WORK IN CANADA.
Statement of Policy. The Government, when mak
ing the treaty with the Indians in 1867, agreed to look
after their physical welfare and decided that the
Christian churches, being best fitted for the task,
should be asked to provide for their moral and edu
cational welfare. At the request of the Government,
the churches readily undertook the task assigned to
them, and a considerable share was assumed by the
260 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
Presbyterian Women s Missionary Society. This
work, supplementary, as it is, to that of the Govern
ment, should never be regarded as a work of charity,
but rather as the fulfilling of that agreement between
the Government and the Indians. When we consider
that up to that time the Indians had led a nomadic life
and had never had to toil for a living, and that hun
dreds are now settled on their own farms, living under
civilized conditions, we realise that the efforts put
forth among them for half a century have been
justified.
The Government pays for the maintenance of the
pupils in our boarding schools, and the W.M.S. is
responsible for the salaries of the staff, except that
of the nurse, who is paid by the Government, and the
farm instructor, who is usually paid out of the school
funds. The teachers in our day schools are paid by
the Government and the missionaries on the reserves
by the Home Mission Board of our Church. We have
seven boarding, and five day schools. Three board
ing schools are owned and maintained by the Govern
ment, Portage la Prairie, File Hills and Alberni,
while the W.M.S. owns- four, "Cecilia Jeffrey,"
Birtle, Round Lake and Ahousaht. Three of these
schools have reached Standard A, and therefore re
ceive an extra grant for their upkeep. All are in
spected at regular intervals by the Government and
must be kept up to the required standard. In the
early years of work among the Indians, the W.M.S.
felt that the small boarding school was the ideal,
but since the Government insists on improved methods
OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK IN CANADA 261
INSPECTOR GRAHAM AND THREE GENERATIONS OF INDIANS.
FILE HILLS, SASK.
OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK IN CANADA 263
and increased accommodation, with some misgivings,
we have seen the policy of larger schools adopted.
Fortunately our fears have proved groundless and the
testimony of those who know best is that the work,
far from having suffered, has improved.
Boarding Schools. Manitoba : "Cecilia Jeffrey," on
the Lake of the Woods; Portage la Prairie; Birtle,
Saskatchewan: Round Lake; File Hills.
British Columbia: Alberni; Ahousaht.
Day Schools. Manitoba : Swan Lake.
Saskatchewan : Cote ; Hurricane Hills ; Moose Moun
tain.
British Columbia: Ucluelet.
Indian Missions are also carried on at twenty points
in the Western Provinces.
There is no overlapping in work among the Indians,
as each Church has its own territory allotted by the
Government, and no one denomination ever infringes
on the rights and privileges of another. Our aims
and objects are one, to educate and Christianize the
red -man so that he may become a citizen of our land,
worthy to enjoy the privileges of the franchise with
his white brother. But some church must be neg
lecting her territory when there are still twenty-five
pagan tribes in Canada and ten other tribes .who
have given up their old religion and adopted no other
in its place. Our own W. M. S. has opened up no new
work for twenty years, nor has our established work
expanded. The need of extending this work is evid-
dent from the following extract from a 1920 report
from one of the reserves.
264 THE PLANTING OF THE FA IT FT
"Religiously things are at a very low ebb. We have-
pagans galore and some who do not know just what
it means to be anything. They have no music but the
drum and tom-tom, and no dance but the pow-pow,
and no songs but the "Hi-yi-hi-yi," which at times
breaks out in school and has to be suppressed."
Mode of Work.
The progress of our work on the reserves is slow,
as the pagan mind unfolds slowly. Those who work
among the Indians realise that the key to the sit
uation is in the hands of the boys and girls trained in
our schools. It has been truly said: "A little child
shall lead them." A child of seven or eight years is
often transplanted from a home of pagan superstition,
without knowing a word of English, to one of our
schools, and it is on the influence of just such chil
dren s lives that we build our hopes for the future of
the Indian. The children are "signed in" for a period
of about ten years, -but spend their Christmas and
summer holidays with their parents on the reserves ;
and the parents are permitted to visit the children
occasionally at the schools. In this way the members
of the family are kept in touch with one another. At
Christmas an entertainment is always held when all
the Indians are invited to partake of the feast with
their children. Very cordial relations exist between
the staff of our schools and the Indians, who are
proud of the attainments of their children.
The work of the children in the boarding schools
may be classed under three heads, industrial, intel
lectual and spiritual. In the class room they follow
OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK IN CANADA 265
a course similar to the pu blic school curriculum, with
the study of the scriptures in addition. Many of the
boys and girls gain an intimate knowledge of the
scriptures and have frequently carried off the Assem
bly s prize for memory verses. The spiritual side is
still further emphasized in Sunday Schools and Mis
sion Bands and daily worship conducted by members
of the staff. The daily contact of the children with
the staff constantly brings home to them in a prac
tical way the meaning of the gospel, and shows them
that Christianity is a life to be lived.
The industrial training of the pupils holds an im
portant place in the daily routine. The girls are
taught all kinds of household work, sweeping, dust
ing, cooking and laundry work. The boys are taught
all that is necessary to make a competent farmer.
the care of stock, dairying, gardening and the rais
ing of crops. Our File Hills pupils sent samples of
their work to "The Boys and Girls Fair" in Regina
and carried off about thirty prizes, thus winning the
shield for that district. Most of these prizes were
won in competition with white children in the public
schools. The senior boys and girls are expected to
spend half of each day in this industrial work.
Health of the Children. The health of the children
is always remarkably good, and very few deaths have
occurred except during the epidemic of "flu." In one
of our largest boarding schools there have been only
two deaths in twenty years. In three of the schools
the Government has provided a trained nurse to look
after the health of the pupils and to minister to the
266 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
sick and needy on the reserves. If any epidemic or
serious illness occurs in the school, the Government
at once provides a doctor. Improved sanitary con
ditions and nourishing food are giving the Indian
child a new lease of life.
Loyalty to the Empire. The Indian is very patriotic
and possesses a great affection for the King and the
British Empire. This loyalty found practical demon
stration during the war, when many of the Indian boys
enlisted, and a number gave their lives for the cause
of liberty and justice. Their voluntary service to the
Empire will ever stand to their credit. One regiment
of Indian lads found themselves in the city of Edin
burgh, and as they marched down the streets they
were cheered and shown great honor by the citizens
of that historic city. Some of them wandered through
old London and into the House of Parliament. Com
ing on a niche where the cap of the late Lord Kitchen
er was hanging, they were seen to take off their hats
in reverence. These lads knew who were the great
soldiers of Britain. That they had endurance and
courage another story demonstrates. They were ex
cellent snipers and one of the lads, in the performance
of his duties as a sniper, was badly wounded. He
wrote back to the school in Canada that Fritzie had
got him in both legs, but as soon as he was able he
was going back again.
Changes in the Work.
Crowstand, Saskatchewan. The school at Crow-
stand was closed about six years ago. The portion
of the reserve near the school was sold, and when it
OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK IN CANADA 267
became necessary to build a new school, it was found
that it would have to be put up on the reserve about
twelve miles away. The W.M.S. asked the Govern
ment to build and they decided to put up only an im
proved day school, on what is known as Cote Reserve.
While it is our aim that the Indian child of the future
shall attend public school, this is one of the few
reserves where we feel the Indian is ready for it.
On this Reserve, the Indians have their own church
with their own elders and board of management,
while one of our graduates is the organist. At the
Christmas entertainment last year they took entire
charge of both supper and programme. They give
we ll for the maintenance of ordinances. To the Rev.
Mr. McWhinney, who has been at this station since
1903, great praise is due for the work accomplished.
Round Lake, Saskatchewan. In 1920 a new build
ing, which had for several years been a necessity, was
erected by the W.M.S. It is an up-to-date school with
electric light and a furnace.
Alberni, B. C. When the school here, which was
owned by the W.M.S., was destroyed by fire in 1917,
the Government agreed to erect a new building, and
the W.M.S. sold them sixteen acres of the farm on
which to build. At the opening of the school on Dec
ember 3rd, 1920, the Inspector of Indian schools for
B. C. said that, of the fifty-five Indian schools scat
tered all over British Columbia, which he visits each
year, Alberni school was the second to pass Indian
children into the high school. Three passed the
Entrance examination in 1920. Mr. Currie, Principal
268 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
for eleven years, who had to labor under trying
circumstances for over two years during the erection
of the school, has now a splendid, commodious
building.
Ahousaht, B. C. This is our most northerly and one
of our most isolated fields. A new school was opened
in 1918, which has been a great boon to the work. A
new departure was the sending in of Miss Chambers
to act as field matron and nurse, whose duties are
to look after the health of the children in the school
and visit the sick on the Reserve. Her work has
been invaluable, as there is no hospital near the
Mission.
An interesting innovation was the appointment of
a deaconess in 1920 to the File Hills Colony. She
lives in the colony and is winning the confidence of
the people.
Native Churches. On several of the large reserves
there are native churches, with their own elders and
managers. In addition to Crowstand or Cote, there
are churches at Birdtail and Hurricane Hills. The
spirit of liberality is on the increase in these churches
and many use the duplex envelopes. The W.M.S. of
the Birdtail Reserve contributed $154 to the funds
of the Society in 1920, and one of the members gave
the price of her pony towards the Forward Move
ment. The true spirit of sacrifice was shown by these
women as they labored with their own hands to make
articles for sale, that they might contribute their share
to the general givings of the Society. They also
gave $7.50 to the Chinese Famine Fund. The total
OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK IN CANADA 269
NEW INDIAN BOARDING SCHOOL, ROUND LAKE. B. C.
OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK IN CANADA 271
givings of this Indian church for 1920 amounted to
$354. They had their difficulties, but their native
pastor put it very well when he said, "They thought
they were as giants, but in reality they were as grass
hoppers." A Sunday School donated a magic lantern
and slides to this church and the missionary was able
to take up an illustrated study of "The Pilgrim s
Progress." At Hurricane Hills the native church is
struggling to contribute to a new building. The W.
M.S. Auxiliary is quite active and in 1920 their givings
were $111.95, an increase over the previous year.
Indian Girls. Several of the Indian girls are asking
for training as nurses, and we hope that an oppor
tunity may be given them when our new Nurses
Home at Canora is ready for occupation. A few of
our pupils are now teachers. The girls make good
domestics, but care must be taken to place them in
Christian homes where they will have kindly super
vision. They are naturally shy and, as a result of
their contact with the teachers in our schools, trustful
of those they meet. The best place for them is on
the land, where not only their moral, but also their
physical welfare may be safeguarded.
Needs of Our Indian Work.
One of the greatest needs in our Indian work to
day is some policy of following up the graduates as
they leave our boarding schools and go back to their
reserves. During their residence in the schools they
attend regular religious services in places set apart
for the purpose, and have instilled into their minds a
high standard of religious life. Unfortunately, when
272 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
they return to the reserves, they frequently find no
church building there in which to worship. The
missionary is trying to hold services in their own
Indian shacks. From one reserve, where there are
twenty graduates and no church, the appeal comes,
"Give us a church, give us an organ, and a lantern,
if possible, for Bible instruction, and give them to us
quickly." The urgency of this appeal is obvious.
Here are twenty graduates, on whom both Church
and State have spent much money. The Government
makes ample provision for the education, the Church
should do the same for the religious training, not only
of the child at school, but also of the graduate on the
reserve. If proper provision is not made, it will be
small wonder if our graduates lapse into the ways of
their fathers. The money spent on them by Church
and State will then have been largely wasted, and the
last state of those graduates may be worse than
the first.
Another need of the Indian work is that a practical
farmer should be provided by the Government for
each reserve, so that the young men on leaving the
boarding schools may have some one to guide them
in their farm work. The need of agricultural missions
in foreign lands is being much emphasized at the
present time, and there is a very evident need of the
same kind of missions among the Indians in Canada.
Rev. W. A. Hendry, Principal of Portage la Prairie
School, who understands the needs of the Indian work
and the problems involved in it, writes thus :
"When you hear criticism of our Indian work, it
OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK IN CANADA 273
always centres at the one specific question. What are
your graduates doing economically, now that they
have left school? What is the Indian doing to make
himself a self-supporting man?
"The Indian is not lazy and he does not dislike work,
but he does not see the need of steady application,
and is not interested in saving to-day that he may
have to-morrow. Something might be done to im
prove our methods. There is lack of correlation be
tween the work of the s chool and the reserve on
behalf of the graduate who is to start life on the
reserve. The only man who can do this work is a
good, practical farmer. I mean by this a man who
has every other qualification and is also an enthus
iastic agriculturist. Implements and equipment are
not enough, he needs personal, moral and technical
support. All workers in the schools need to keep this
problem before them and try to fit the child for the
effort he will have to make on the reserve, for it is
there he will have to fail or succeed."
Our work among the Indians is not completed.
There are fields yet uncultivated and many fields only
partially tilled. The ultimate welfare of the Indians
depends largely on the influence of the young people
trained in our schools. Our vision for the future is that
the File Hills Colony may be many times reproduced
throughout our Western country, and that the Gospel
of Christ may penetrate into those pagan reserves
and drive out all superstition, so that our Indian
brethren may unite with us in giving Christ "dominion
from sea to sea."
274 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
FRENCH WORK IN CANADA.
The educational problem in the Province of Quebec
is a very live one, and is receiving a great deal of
attention from both Protestants and Roman Catholics.
At present there is no compulsory education, though
many are advocating it, and this is at the root of the
backward conditions which exist in Quebec, par
ticularly in the rural districts. There are, of course,
both Protestant and Roman Catholic schools, the
latter, with all the resources of the Roman Catholic
Church behind them, the former supported by the
Protestants of Quebec. The policy of the Roman
Catholic Church has never been one of enlightenment
or education, but has rather tended to keep the chil
dren ignorant, spending most of the school time on
the study of the catechism and emphasizing the duty
of implicit obedience to Mother Church. Education
among the Protestants has been seriously hampered,
owing to their being so scattered, and the consequent
difficulty of bringing a Protestant school within the
reach of the children. Then, too, the burden of the
payment of the teacher s salary, falling on a very few
families, has been heavy, often too heavy to be borne,
and in order to get an education for their children,
parents have been obliged to send them to Roman
Catholic schools, whose doors are always open. There
can be but one result. If we give over the training
of our children the hope of our Protestant Church
for the future to the Roman Catholic Church, during
their most impressionable years, we need not be sur-
OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK IN CANADA 275
prised if those children cling to the Church that has
educated them.
The Superintendent of Education for Quebec, in his
Annual Report for 1919, says : "There are now 1,341
Roman Catholic school municipalities and 335 Protest
ant municipalities," We further learn that 42 Pro
testant schools are closed for lack of teachers, and
that 227 unqualified teachers are being employed in
the others. The report goes on to refer to the special
difficulty of maintaining Protestant schools in some
sections, owing to decrease in the Protestant pop
ulation (to a large extent due to the fact that the
Roman Catholic Church is always ready to ad
vance money to buy out a Protestant farmer), and
to the fact that it is scattered over so wide an area.
The small salaries offered are responsible for the
lack of teachers. The report suggests that centraliza
tion of these rural schools is the best means of over
coming these difficulties.
Though mission work in Quebec was begun about
1815, and carried on under various auspices, it was
not until 1875 that the Presbyterian Church in Canada
organized its work under the Board of French
Evangelization. Since then much good work has
been done, but, in spite of this, at the present time
the province is more Roman Catholic than ever.
Some may ask, what has become of the families
whose children have been influenced by the work?
and why are not more results evident? The answer
is that after a family has become Protestant, they
very soon leave their former surroundings and emi-
276 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
grate to a Protestant community, either in Canada
or the United States. The children of these families
are, as a rule, sent to English-speaking schools. Later
they intermarry with English-speaking Protestants
and their descendants are essentially English-Cana
dian or American citizens. On the other hand, when
Protestant children have to be sent to Roman Catho
lic schools, where they come under the influence of
the priests, they are apt to drift back into the Roman
Catholic Church ; and, should their children m arry
Catholics, the next generation become once more
French Roman Catholics. What happened to the
Highland regiment which was disbanded at Murray
Bay is a matter of history. They married French
Catholic wives and their descendants, although bear
ing such Scotch names as MacLean or MacNichol,
speak only French and are all Roman Catholics.
Home Schools.
The W.M.S. in its French work was faced with the
problem of how best to stop this leakage and provide
a Protestant education for the Protestant children in
Quebec. The School Homes in the West were solving
a like problem ; why not try a similar solution in
Quebec? The experiment has been tried and has
made a slight contribution towards this most neces
sary work. In Quebec they are called Home Schools,
because, owing to conditions, the children must not
only live in the Home, but foe taught there as well,
while in the West, they live in the Home and attend
the local public school.
At Tourville, 104 miles East of Quebec city, one
OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK IN CANADA 277
of these Home Schools is located, in the centre of a
district which, even before Father Chiniquy preached
there, had come under the influence of the Protestant
teaching of some Huguenot brothers who had passed
that way. In that district the families, though very
scattered and for the most part very poor, are most
anxious that their children should be brought up in
the Protestant faith. They meet with a great deal
of opposition, amounting almost to persecution, so
much so that when the Superintendent of Home Mis
sions visited the field he was refused food at the
hotel. They would not serve meals to a Protestant
minister. It is hard to keep the work going at this
point, owing to its isolation. Mr. and Mrs. Chodat,
who labored here for some time, had to leave in 1920.
A woman teacher went out, but could not remain
alone, and at present the school is closed. There had
been twenty-one pupils in attendance. This is a seven
months school. The W.M.S. pays the salary of the
matron, supplements that of the teacher and also
gives a small sum for general repairs.
At Namur the W. M. S. has also established a Home
School, where the children come for the week and
go back to their homes from Friday to Monday.
While at the Home, they are under the care of the mis
sionary and his wife, who give them special instruc
tion in the scriptures. The boys do their share of
the gardening and help keep the place tidy, while
the girls assist in the housekeeping. In order that
more children might be taken in, an addition was
made to the manse in the spring of 1920. Mr. and
278
Mrs. LeBel are in charge and have about sixteen
children in residence. About forty children are in
attendance at the day^ school, where a graduate of
Pointe-aux-Trembles is the teacher. The W.M.S.
pays the salary of the matron, supplements the
teacher s salary, pays for the rent, the fuel and a
certain sum for maintenance.
In some places in the Province there are enough
children in one place to form a school, but the parents
cannot afford to pay the salary of a teacher. In such
cases it has been arranged that .the missionary, sent
by the Board of Home Missions, in addition to con
ducting Sabbath services, should teach the children
during the week. The W.M.S. pays the whole or
part of the salaries of these teachers. This is done
at Valencay, where school is held in the home of the
catechist, Mr. Foucher, who is assisted by his daugh
ter, and at Beaudoin Centre, North Ham. At these
schools, which are elementary, both French and
English are taught.
Co-Ordination of Work
^ Up to 1919 the W. M. S. was carrying on Home
Schools at Hull and Quebec City, while the schools
at Pointe-aux-Trembles were under a separate Board
of the General Assembly. In the spring of 1919
representatives from the Pointe-aux-Trembles Board -
came to the W.M.S. and the Home Missions Board
with the request that the work at these three points
should be co-ordinated. The W. M. S. agreed, and in
June, 1919, the General Assembly gave permission to
have this work placed under the management of the
OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK IN CANADA 279
NAMUR HOME SCHOOL.
OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK IN CANADA 281
Pointe-aux-Trembles Board, the W.M.S. to appoint
a representative on the Board for each school. In
October, 1921, the Home School at Quebec City was
again taken over by the Home Mission Board, the
W.M.S. still continuing to share in its support.
St. Pierre School, Hull, opened in 1904, supplies the
need of the families living in the isolated Gatineau
region. A missionary colporteur, M. Bonneufaut,
found Protestant children whose parents had been
Roman Catholics, not attending school. He opened
a Protestant school, with eight children in attendance,
in a room on Charles St., teaching in the morning
and in the afternoon distributing copies of the scrip
tures. In 1906 a small house was bought for $500,
partly from the French Evangelization Fund, and
partly from individual subscriptions. M. Bonneu-
faut and his family moved into the house and used
the summer kitchen as a class-room. For two years
a few pupil boarders were kept, two of the attic rooms
being used as dormitories. Unfortunately, the death
of M. Bonneufaut brought this arrangement to an
end.
In 1914 a school was started in a rented house, with
Miss Cruchet as teacher. Owing to unavoidable cir
cumstances, it had to be closed several times. In 1916
ground was broken for the erection of a new four-
roomed brick school, so constructed that another
story and a half could be easily added, and on the
8th of January, 1917, it was ready for the children.
In 1919, when the work was co-ordinated, it was de
cided to use one class room as a temporary dormitory,
282 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
to accommodate fifteen girls from the Gatineau dis
trict, but before the boarding school had been there
a month, there were twenty-two girls in residence.
The basement room, off the furnace room, was used
for the extra beds. The Committee found it difficult
to refuse admission to children, knowing that it meant
their one chance of an education. There is still a
waiting list of sixty. The additional story and a half
is badly needed, and it is the intention of the Board
to add it as soon as possible, to provide dormitory
capacity for fifty pupils. They aim to provide prim
ary and junior teaching, while the more advanced
education can be obtained by those who wish it at
Pointe-aux-Trembles. The W. M. S. supports both
teacher and matron and helps with the furnishing.
The children are surrounded by a Christian atmos
phere and are expected to attend St. Marc s French
Presbyterian Church in Ottawa, and a Sunday School
conducted by the matron in the school.
St. John s Hall, Quebec, is a Home School, also
under the direction of the Home Mission Board.
It stands on a historic site, as Montcalm s army, in
its retreat from the attack under Wolfe halted
on this very . spot before passing over the
St. Charles River. Rev. and Mrs. Louis Abram are
in charge of the Home, which has accommodation
for ten girls and ten boys. The girls have their dor
mitories in the Home, which is also the manse, and
the boys have their dormitories and study room in
the basement of the church, which is to the rear of
the Home. The children attend the public schools in
OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK IN CANADA 283
ST. PIERRE, FRENCH PROTESTANT SCHOOL. HULL
OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK IN CANADA 285
the city, and pay only for the actual cost of their
food. This Home provides an opportunity for an
education for the children of English-speaking Pro
testants in the out-lying districts of Quebec Presby
tery. The W.M.S. pays the salary of the matron and
her assistant, and also makes a small grant for main
tenance.
"There are no less than 549 parishes within the
bounds of the Presbytery, the last census showing
Presbyterians in 206 of them, while there are only 32
organized congregations. Ninety of the parishes
show only five Presbyterians or less in each, all of
whom are shut off from school privileges, other than
the French-Canadian Roman Catholic Schools. Whole
communities within the bounds of the Presbytery
have, in fact, been lost to the Church."
Pointe-aux-Trembles. The pupils here are from
eleven years of age up to the matriculation age, and
come from all over the Province and even from On
tario. They are of many nationalities, Italians, Poles,
Indians, French and a few English. They come from
Jewish, Catholic and Protestant homes. All are
taught both French and English in the first six grades,
but as the higher classes prepare pupils for the Uni
versity and Macdonald College, where the examina
tions are in English, the instruction in them is in
English.
All pupils must attend daily Bible instruction and
religious services in the chapel on Sunday, and no
pupil is allowed to go to mass. There is no attempt
at proselytizing, but all are shown the Saviour as the
286 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
only Mediator between God and man, and taught the
use of an open Bible. Many make profession of their
faith in Christ and go from the school to spread the
gospel among their fellow-countrymen. Many of the
French ministers in the Province are former pupils of
Pointe-aux-Trembles. Some members of the Board
are graduates of the school, as are also the present
teachers in both Namur and Hull, as well as the
matron of the Girls Home in Edmonton.
The W.M.S. supports twenty-four pupils at Pointe-
aux-Trembles and also gives two bursaries of $150
each to any girl from the school who may wish to
go to Macdonald College and take a Teachers Course.
Two girls are availing themselves of these bursaries
at present, one of whom intends to teach among the
Indians.
One of the greatest needs in this work is good Pro
testant French literature. There are two papers
published in Montreal, "L Aurore," which is sup
ported by funds provided by -Presbyterians, Meth
odists and Baptists, and edited by Rev. Samuel Rond
eau, and "Le Rayon de Soleil." a Sunday School
paper, compiled by Mr. Rondeau and published by
the Presbyterian Publications Department.
This work presents a broad field of service, which,
by developing the Home School idea, the W.M.S. can
do much to cultivate.
EDUCATIONAL WORK AMONG THE NEWCOMERS.
The problem of establishing a right relationship
between the newcomer, the country and the
Church, has been the subject of much thought to the
OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK IN CANADA 287
leaders of the Church. The W. M. S. has sought to
aid the Church by beginning with the children and
trying to lay a good foundation for future citizenship.
A well-known social worker said recently, "Cana
dians have not begun to realise what a power the non-
British settlers are as a menace or as an asset to
Canada. Unless something is done in an effective
way in the immediate future, the children of the
foreign-born in Canada are inevitably going to cause
the country much trouble." When we talk about
"Canadianizing the non-British-born," and "assimilat
ing the foreigner," we would do well to remember
that we can do this only as we make him understand
what this country may mean to him and what he may
mean to this country.
To understand these people, it is necessary to study
conditions in the lands from which they came, their
language, their literature, their religion, their ideas
of citizenship. While many of their standards are
not ours, and we dread to think that these precon
ceptions may have a decided influence on the ideals
of Canada s future citizens, they have undoubtedly
many national gifts & love for music and poetry, a
great capacity for endurance and sacrifice, and high
educational traditions, which, if wisely cultivated,
may make a distinct contribution to our national life.
A great danger lies in the fact that these new
comers, naturally wishing to keep together, have set
tled in large colonies and there kept up their old
world customs, setting up little Austrias, Russias.
Polands and Hungaries all over the West. The older
288 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
people resented any interference, and especially any
teaching except in their own language, yet they were
most anxious that, if possible, their children should re
ceive an education. On the other hand, the English-
speaking population in the western provinces held
the firm conviction that no language but English
should be used in the public schools. It is encouraging
to learn that the New Canadians are now increasing
ly anxious to have their children taught English, and
that there are some instances of School Boards, in
Ukrainian districts, asking for English teachers. The
one great trouble has been that so few are available.
The boys and girls hold the key to this situation.
Through them their people are to fbe emancipated
from their old world superstitions, and by them Can
adian standards of education, of citizenslhip and of
religious life are to be interpreted.
Dr. Colin Young, in fiis report before the Board
of Home Missions in 1920, said of the Ukrainians :
"As we have already seen, the traditions of this people
along educational lines are of the very best. They
can look back to a time when, through the wisdom
and energy of an Archbishop, education was within
the reach of almost all the people. But for over a
century before the migration to Canada, every school
in the Ukraine was closed by order of the Muskovite
Government, and the standing of a whole nation re
duced to that of serfdom, ruled over and oppressed
by an aristocracy imported from another country.
On coming to this country, the Ukrainian people have
been quick to see that their educational traditions
OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK IN CANADA 289
might be revived. Every attempt either by Church
or State has met with a ready response from almost
every community. Go almost any .day to visit a
school in a Ukrainian section, and, if the older children
are not required to work on the farm, every child
whose name is on the roll will be present at school,
a condition of affairs very difficult to repeat in any
English-speaking district. Hundreds of years ago,
their Hetman taught his people that an educated
nation inherited the largest things, and since coming
to Canada, they have done their best to recover for
their children what had been lost through a century
of denial and suppression. For the State there is
the opportunity of making, in a single generation,
a people of moderate education ; for the Church, the
greatest possible opportunity of putting beside the
school the influence of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
and seeing that the education given through the
school, is not separated from sound religious in
struction. No people ever opened their hearts so
readily to the full influence of national institutions."
Because the Church felt that education was the
factor that would most quickly bring enlightenment,
and that it must of necessity be education of the chil
dren and young people, the W. M. S. was approached
with a view to beginning educational *work. To the
vision of Dr. Arthur and Dr. Hunter is largely due
the inception of the school home idea. It quickly
caught the imagination of the women of the church,
and this department of our work has, in consequence,
grown and expanded with remarkable rapidity.
19
290 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
The original idea was to have homes accommodat
ing about ten children, where the personal touch might
be felt, but this has been changed in some cases, in
the interests of economy. And though some may
have feared that a large Home might lose something
of the home touch, those who know best, say that
this is not so.
As the department has grown, it has become evident
that these Homes should be open to children of all
nationalities, and that, as the Government provides
the education, they should be opened only where
there is good public, and, if possible, high school
accommodation. As the W. M. S. aims to train these
children to be good Canadians, its policy is that, as
all nationalities mingle in the public schools, so should
they in the Homes. Thus, under the same roof are
found Swedes, Norwegians, Ukrainians, Canadians
and Hungarians, truly typical of the cosmopolitan
population of the West. The school home and the
public school should be the melting pot from which
they will come out true Canadians, not loving their
native land the less, but the land of their adoption
more.
While providing educational facilities and Christian
training for the strangers within our gates, the chil
dren of our own Canadians should not be overlooked.
This has been borne in upon the Board of the W. M.
S., as requests have come from many Presbyteries
in Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia for
Homes for English-speaking children. In the sparse
ly settled districts, there is often no school for the
OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK IN CANADA 291
children to attend. One such request from a western
Pres bytery contained this remark, "One man, in
order to get his child to school, had to drive her 20
miles there and 20 miles back; this he was only able
to do twice a week at most." He is a fair sample of
the people in that district. In many of these isolated
districts, there is no church, and in one home there
were children of ten years of age, Canadian children,
who had never attended a church service.
Location of Homes.
In 1915, when "The Story of Our Missions" was
written, the W. M. S. had one Home for boys at
Teulon, and four Homes at Vegreville, while at Ethel-
bert and Sifton children were being cared for in the
hospitals and mission houses. That is six years ago,
and it is a joy to think of the progress that has been
made. In 1920 there were fourteen Homes carrying
on work with 250 boys and girls in residence. In six
years the W. M. S. opened Girls Homes at Teulon,
Ethelbert, Sifton, Canora, Prince Albert, Battleford,
and Edmonton, and Boys Homes at Battleford and
Edmonton.
Teulon, Man. Here Dr. Hunter still supervises the
educational as well as the medical work, and Miss
Isobel Beveridge remains as the first and only matron
of the Boys Home. Miss Beveridge is a trained
nurse and went first to Teulon hospital in September,
1910, but, at Dr. Hunter s request, she transferred to
the Home in March, 1912, where she has remained for
nine years. It is not an easy position to fill, but she
hm* been able to make her influence felt. In all, 140
292 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
boys have come under her influence, who are now
scattered far and wide. Two of the first boys to
come to the Home were killed in action. Ten are at
the university, two in a medical college, one at normal
school, one at the agricultural college. Eighteen
are teaching school, four are in business, four on the
railroad, one is a blacksmith, and quite a number are
farming.
The Girls Home was opened in the fall of 1918,
with Mrs. Freeland as matron, and as she possesses
a real love for children, the Home is happy under her
care. There are about twenty girls in residence.
This Home was a new building put up by the W. M.
S., similar in plan to the Girls Homes in Vegreville
and Canora.
The work at Teulon cannot be mentioned without
speaking of the public school, which is a well-equipped,
consolidated rural model school. In a recent report
from the Minister of Education for Manitoba, Teulon
school is mentioned as "a splendidly equipped school."
The staff has always been most sympathetic with the
Home and the boys and girls have had the very best
instruction. In competition with the pupils of the
whole Province those from the Home have, in many
cases, taken first place.
Ethelbert, Man. Up till the fall of 1916 there was
no Home here especially for educational work, though
the hospital always took in children to give them a
chance. As Dr. Gilbart felt that this arrangement was
far from satisfactory, especially as it involved ex
posing the children to infection in the hospital, in
OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK IN CANADA 293
November, 1916, a house was rented and opened as a
Home with a matron in charge. In 1919 a house was
purchased and the Home transferred to it. Since
1918 Miss Overholt has been matron of the Home,
which has always from ten to twelve girls and boys
in residence.
Sifton, Man. The Mission House is used as a Home,
the Hospital Unit being in a separate building. Miss
McLeod, who for some years was engaged in Indian
work on the Rolling River Reserve, was appointed
matron in June, 1917, and remained till November, 1920.
There are always about twelve children in the Home,
sometimes more, and the work has been most suc
cessful.
These two Homes, at Ethelbert and Sifton, are in
an almost exclusively foreign and Roman Catholic
settlement, and it is very important that .they be
maintained efficiently. The children trained there
have done much to lead their parents from ignorance
and superstition into light and freedom.
Canora, Sask. A short time before her death, Mrs.
Waddell of Peterborough (whose generous gift made
possible the W. M. S. hospital at Canora), offered the
Board $6,000 for a Girls Home to be named "The H.
and A. Waddell Home," after her grandsons. Mrs.
Waddell died before she had made her gift, but her
son, Mr. R. M. Waddell, carried out his mother s wish.
The Home, which was opened in the fall of 1919, ac
commodates 20 girls.
It was hard to get a footing for a Girls Home at
Canora, as it is the centre of one of the largest foreign
294 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
districts in the West, and the foreigner there is not
kindly disposed to education for his girls. The Home
had to win its way.
In the fall of 1920, Miss Oliver, deaconess in the
hospital, undertook to supervise the Home in addition
to her other duties. Dr. Colin Young- writes, "The
whole attitude of the district toward the institution
has changed. There are several more applications for
girls, but all cannot be taken in, a new order of
things for Canora." Miss Bessie Bell took charge
of the Home in December, 1920. Rev. Mr. McDon
nell is of great assistance and gives regular Bible
study lessons once a week.
Prince Albert, Sask. "The Lucy M. Baker Girls
Home," named after our first lady missionary to the
North West Indians, was opened in the fall of 1920,
with Miss Wagner as matron. No one thought that
more than fifteen could be accommodated, but so
urgent were the applications that eighteen have been
admitted, and even then, many had to be refused
admission. Rev. J. W. Mclntosh has supervision of
the "Lucy Baker Home" in addition to feeing Principal
of the "Nisbet Home" for boys, which is under the
Board of Home Missions. The Home was bought
out of the W.M.S. share of the Peace Thank-Offering.
Battleford, Sask. The largest School Home under
the W.M.S. was opened at Battleford in September,
1920. Battleford is one of the largest Home Mission
Presbyteries in our Church. The population is scat
tered and the district sparsely settled. Educational
facilities are out of reach of the vast majority of the
OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK IN CANADA 295
people, as are also church privileges. As the Roman
Catholic Church and the Seventh Day Adventists were
opening institutions and attracting our Presbyterian
young people, the Presbytery appealed, through the
Board of Home Missions, for a School Home, and
the W.M.S. agreed to undertake work there. A
former hotel was bought, suitable alterations made
and equipment purchased with money from the Peace
Thank-Offering. Though, under one roof, there are
really two Homes, one for boys and one for girls ;
the dormitories and study rooms are quite separate,
the boys and girls meeting at meal time and for de
votional exercises and Bible study. Rev. G. A. Suther
land of Wilkie, Saskatchewan, is principal. The Home
practically maintains itself, as the parents pay a
monthly fee for the board of the children. The W.M.S.
pays the salary of the principal and the matrons.
Though this Home was primarily intended for our
own Canadians, several non-Anglo-Saxon children ap
plied and were gladly taken in. Ability to pay the fee
is not essential for admission to the Home, as the W.
M. S. gladly assists any child, who wishes the chance
of an education, but is unable to pay for it.
Vegreville, Albertau It was in Vegreville that
the first School Home was opened, with Dr. Arthur in
charge. He saw the work grow from one Home for
boys to three Homes for boys ^and one for girls.
After Dr. Arthur s retirement, Rev. G. R. Lang was
appointed supervisor in April, 1914, and to him is
largely due the success attending the work. With
him we must mention our efficient staff of matrons.
296 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
Miss Stewart has had charge of the Morrison Boys
Home since August, 1911, Miss McKee of the second
Boys Home since January, 1915, and Miss Windel,
formerly of the Crowstand Indian School, of the third
Boys Home since August, 1915. Miss Harriet John
son was the first matron of the Girls Home, opened
in 1912. The only house available at that time was
down in the village, a long way from the other Homes.
It became necessary to build a new Home, and a block
of land on the same street as all the other mission
property, was purchased and a Girls Home, to ac
commodate twenty girls, was opened in 1917.
In 1919 the School Board intimated that, owing to
overcrowding in the schools, the children from our
Homes, coming from outside the district, could not be
admitted. After negotiations, however, they agreed
to admit the senior grades. Rather than give up such
important work, the Superintendent and Mr. Lang
recommended that the W. M. S. engage a teacher and
open a public school in the old mission hall, which
would be eligible for a Government grant. In the
rearrangement, one of the Boys Homes had to be clos
ed. Miss Johnson, matron of the Girls Home and
a qualified teacher, was engaged to take charge of
the school, and on her retirement, Miss McQueen
of Edmonton undertook the work. In January, 1921,
the School Board agreed to take in more children
and it was possible to reopen the fourth Home, with
Mrs. A. MacLennan as matron. The four Homes have
now their full complement of fifty children.
On part of the land on which the Girls Home stands,
OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK IN CANADA 297
OUR SCHOOL HOME AT BATTLEFORD. SASK.
Opened Sept., 1920.
OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK IN CANADA 299
the boys, under Mr. Lang s supervision, have a very
fine garden.
Edmonton, Alberta. There are two Homes here,
one for boys and one for girls, in rented buildings,
each of which accommodates ten children. The Home
for girls was opened in August, 1919, and that for boys
in September, 1920. So far they have been exclusively
for the children of French-speaking parents. They
were opened in response to a request from the Board
of Home Missions, that the children in Mr. Duclos
remote field of Bonnyville should be given a chance
of an education. This work closely resembles the
French work in the Province of Quebec. The people
and conditions are the same. In Bonnyville the
children have little opportunity of learning English,
and less of securing an education except under Roman
Catholic auspices. Mr. Duclos has supervision of both
Homes, and accompanies the boys and girls on the
long trip from Bonnyville to Edmonton. Most of
them when they come do not know a word of English,
but as English is the language spoken in the Home,
and their lessons at the public school are all in English,
they make wonderful progress. The matron of the
Girls Home, Miss Dupart, is a graduate of Pointe-
aux-Trembles Sdhool. This work in Bonnyville and
Edmonton is one of the most important undertakings
of the W. M. S., and it is well to remember that the
aid of our Church was first sought by the people them
selves.
Maintenance.
The W. M. S. is entirely responsible for the main-
300 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
tenance of these Homes. At Battleford, Prince Al
bert and Canora a set fee is charged, but in the two
latter, a good many cannot pay anything. In 1920 at
Vegreville, Edmonton and Teulon, the parents paid
$3,270 toward the support of their children. It has
always been a rule that where the parents are able
to pay either in money or produce, they should be
encouraged to do so. It is gratifying to find that
they are becoming more willing to do this, so that
each year the Homes are becoming better able to
maintain themselves.
The following story of one child who was given a
chance, will serve to illustrate the work that is being
done in the School Homes :
Five years ago a bright-faced little girl came to
Teulon from one of the foreign colonies to the North.
Polly Chernak was her name. Her parents were
extremely poor and unable or unwilling to give her
the education for which she longed. She had had
infantile paralysis as a small child and, having had
no medical attention, was very lame. But this did
not prevent her from striving to reach her desired
goal, a teacher s certificate. She began to attend
school and was most diligent in her studies and always
willing to help in the cooking and scrubbing at the
Home. Whatever she did, she believed in doing it
well. Besides this she belonged to the King s
Daughters, was a member of the Ukrainian Red Cross,
and was always ready to sew or entertain the Ukrai
nian women, who loved her and were never so happy
as when she was present. Though never strong, her
OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK IN CANADA 301
BOYS SCHOOL HOME, VEGREVILLE, ALBERTA.
One of the first to be established by The
Women s Missionary Society.
OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK IN CANADA 303
determination brought her success, and in 1920 she
obtained the coveted certificate and is now a suc
cessful teacher in the colony. The Inspector has al
ways a special word of praise for the neatness, gen
eral efficiency and good discipline of her school. She
has begun a Sunday School among her much-loved
pupils and says in her letters that she is trying to pass
on what she herself has been taught.
Need of Christian Public School Teachers.
Dr. Colin Young, in his report of 1919-20, says,
"In Saskatchewan alone there are about 150,000 chil
dren between the ages of 5 and 14. Of these nearly
10,000 are British born, 40,000 are foreign born, and
100,000 are Canadian born. The population of the
province to-day is about equally divided, one-half of
British, the other half of non-British extraction. The
natural increase among the non-British is almost four
times as rapid as among the British born, so that it
would be quite within the mark to say that at least 60%
of those returned as Canadian born are the children of
non-British parents. The division then would be,
British born between the ages of 5 and 14, about
50,000 and 100,000 of non-British parents. In other
words, there are actually two-thirds of the children
of school age whose extraction is from other lands."
With such an overwhelming preponderance of non-
British-born children of school age, what an op
portunity for service opens up to the Christian teach
er ! If any teacher is wondering where she may make
the best investment of her life, no better place can be
found than in the schools in the West. Here she
304 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
may make a real contribution to the nation by making
these .foreign children into good upright Canadian
citizens.
The following illustration shows the opportunity
and privilege given to the public school teacher to
touch aright the lives of the children of our new
citizens; and though it is a story from the United
States, it is none the less applicable to Canada.
"It is the story of a young Sicilian boy. He had
left his beloved Sicily and come to America. He was
full of enthusiasm and eager to enter on his new life
in this new and wonderful country of which he had
heard so much. As his ship sailed into the harbor
of New York, the flags were flying all over the city.
He felt that they were flying for him. He entered
on his new life and soon found himself in one of the
large public schools of New York. He began the
study of his lessons in the English language and made
good progress. Soon, however, his teacher noticed
that he seemed absorbed, and that his mind did not
seem to be on his lessons, and because she was a real
teacher, she began to look about for a cause. She
gained the lad s confidence and he told her the trouble
and brought her next day a jar beautifully modelled
with the motto of his country around it his own
work. The teacher saw the possibilities in the lad
and soon had him admitted to an art school. He grad
uated from it this year, winning a scholarship en
titling him to tuition in Italy and he has sailed to
take advantage of it. He says he knows now that
the flags were not flying for him, that it was Lincoln s
OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK IN CANADA 305
JOHN YATCHU.
A Canadian Ukrainian, and pupil of Teulon, of
whom we are proud. He attended the Teulon
Boys School Home for four years, and while there
secured his teacher s certificate; became a teacher
and, later a principal; then took a teacher s training
course in Manitoba College, a summer session in
Queen s University, and graduated in arts from
Saskatchewan University in 1 92 1 .
20
OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK IN CANADA 307"
birthday, but he says he does not believe Mr. Lincoln
would mind him thinking so, for did not Mr. Lincoln
give his life that all might be free and equal and that
all might have a chance."
To give every child a chance is the aim of our
country as it is of our Church. So in these foreign
districts, the public school and the school home go
hand in hand. It is the duty of the State to provide
the education and the duty of the Church to see that
while the children are receiving this education, they
are also receiving Christian training. The two must
not be separated. If we keep them apart, we do so at
the expense of the greatest needs of civilization, for
together they are the two most important factors
in the development of a Christian nation. While we
cannot measure the scope of the work of our schools
and school homes, we believe that in the years to
come they will prove to have contributed in large
measure to all that is noblest and highest and best.
Our hope is that the future will see the undertaking
of still greater tasks for the uplifting of those who are
born in Canada, or who may come to make it their
home.
CHAPTER XIII.
IMMIGRATION
Why loiter here my soul? Put out once more!
Wide stretch the seas and many a fairer shore,
Awaits thy coming! Dost thou fear the main
That brought thee hither? Put you forth again
Oh purpose laden soul! For many an isle
Shall rise beyond the purple rim and smile
A welcome to thee, where thy loves of old
Shall live again, and like a tale new told
All that was fair in the forgotten years,
For ever shall be thine, without the tears.
Oh wide blue ocean of eternity,
In thy large care I leave my destiny!"
J. Lewis Milligan, in "The Beckoning Sky Line."
What a theme for the imagination there is in the
ceaseless tide of immigration as it pours from every
strand ! The past with its centuries of traditions,
the present with its lights and shades, and the future,
dim and unknown.
The hand of God must be in this moving of the
peoples "By faith Abraham, When he was called to
go out into a place which he should after receive for
an inheritance, obeyed and he went out not knowing
whither he went . . . He looked for a city which
hath foundations whose builder and maker is God."
Note : The object of this article is not to discuss
the wisdom of encouraging certain types of im
migration, but to state the attitude of the Church to
the immigrant who is here.
308
IMMIGRATION 7 W
To free Canada, with her vast, undeveloped re
sources, eyes of multitudes are turned. By hundreds
and thousands from across the seas and over the bound
ary from the great nation to the South, they pour into
the forests and mines, over the great prairies or the
wonderful Northland, into the rich farm lands of the
East or the crowded areas of the cities.
"Where cross the crowded ways of life,
Where sound the cries of race and clan,
Above the noise of selfish strife,
We hear Thy voice O Son of Man."
Our forefathers said, "He shall have dominion."
To their children has fallen the task. "Lord of the
Lands Make Canada Thine own."
Immigration falls naturally into five divisions.
First, immigration from the British Empire and the
United States ; second, movements within our own
land; third, foreigners from Europe; fourth, Jews;
fifth, Asiatics.
British and American. Britain has always given
lavishly of her sons and daughters to her overseas
dominions ; but the war, subsequent unrest, and ease
of travel are adding to the number seeking homes in
Canada. The farm lands of the West and opportuni
ties for investment everywhere, lure the citizens of
the United States. These, generally, know British
traditions in state and religion, expect public ed
ucation, have a regard for public health, and are quick
ly absorbed in the industrial or commercial life of the
country.
310 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
But a sense of freedom in breaking away from re
straint and familiar environment, is apt to lead these
immigrants to overlook the fact that any well-govern
ed country, which would attract him, must have laws,
affecting, for instance, its flag, its natural resources,
employers and employees, contracts, education, the
practice of the professions, housing, liquor, Sabbath
observance. Customs which to him are strange and
perhaps irritating at first, in business and social life,
are the result of experience in the new land and it
requires a little patience, if goodwill is to predominate.
In the case of household workers, where the relation
ship is likely to be more intimate and affect the har
mony and efficiency of the homes, the situation has
been so serious, both for employer and employee,
that short courses of training, either before sailing
or immediately on landing, are much to be desired.
The State and the Immigrant. Immigration is un
der the care of the Federal Government which has its
agents everywhere about 1,500 in Britain alone. For
the sake of the immigrants themselves and also for
the sake of Canada, all are required to pass a careful
physical and mental examination at the ports of entry ;
and to prevent hardship, this is desirable before em
barking. They must also have a sufficient sum of
money to prevent distress till they secure employ
ment. At present this is $250.00 for adults. Those
engaging in farm labor or household work are ex
empted. The Immigration Department keeps in close
touch with the Department of Labor to regulate the
supply and demand of industrial workers. Each im-
IMMIGRATION
311
NEWCOMERS ARRIVING AT QUEBEC.
IMMIGRATION 313
migrant is required to state his destination and his
religion.
Each province has employment bureaus and a
hostel to accommodate household workers, free of
charge for twenty-four hours. Education is compul
sory in every province but Quebec. Provincial Health
Departments are gradually overtaking the need for
medical care in the homes of the people and the ob
servance of sanitary laws, generally. The Red Cross
Society with its post war work is also lending assist
ance in this.
The Church and the Immigrant The different
Churches secure from the ports the names and desti
nation of those of their respective communions and
forward the information at once. The Presbyterian
Church, in her "Department of the Stranger," has
chaplains who see the passengers aboard in the Old
Land and give them literature provided by the Cana
dian Churches. Chaplains and women assistants await
the arrival of every ship and help and cheer the new
comers as they start the long train journey inland. In
the towns and villages, where they settle, the ministers
and women s societies also welcome them to their new
home.
Immigration from the United States is now about
half of that from the whole of Europe. Government
officials are stationed at all points along the border, to
see that the regulations of the Immigration Depart
ment are enforced. So far, the Churches receive no de
finite information about these immigrants, as they
do in the case of those coming through the ocean
314 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
ports. The American immigrant is welcomed to the
Canadian Church when he is discovered by local effort.
In 1920-21 there were from Great Britain and Ire
land 74,262 immigrants ; from the United States, 48,059;
from Europe and Asia, 26,156, a total of 148,477.
The same quest which has called out the youth of
the motherlands and the United States, has called
those of Canada, and in a constant stream they pour
out, in search of education, employment or adventure.
These are unnumbered. This moving, restless mass
of our own folk, speaking our language, presents a
thrilling appeal to the hearts and minds of Christian
people.
Women s Societies and the Immigrant. In the case
of the Presbyterian Church, the Women s Missionary
Society (W. D.) has provided so far (1921) three as
sistants at Montreal, three at Toronto, three at Win
nipeg, one each at Saskatoon, Edmonton, Calgary and
Vancouver, devoting their entire time to the work of
the Department of the Stranger at the ports and
stations, visiting in hospitals, and seeking the stran
ger in schools, colleges, lodgings and places of em
ployment. Linked with these workers, are Strangers
Secretaries in every branch of the Society, whose
duty it is to assist the minister in caring for the in
coming and out-going stranger. These are banded
together by presbyteries, provinces, and in the gen
eral Society, and are represented on the Dominion
Council for the Immigration of Women at Ottawa.
They are auxiliary to the Board of Home Missions
and Social Service of the General Assembly of the
IMMIGRATION 315
Church, and stand for the whole Society. Similar
work is done by the Methodist Women s Missionary
Society in its Department of the Stranger, and by the
Anglican Society through its Social Service Secre
taries. These societies are also represented on the
Council at Ottawa. It is now increasingly possible
for the women of the Churches to work unitedly in the
interests of the local immigrant. The Council at
Ottawa consists, to date, of representatives from the
provinces, the women s societies of the Anglican,
Methodist, Presbyterian and Roman Catholic Churches,
the National Council of Women, the I. O. D. E., the
Y. W. C. A., the W. C.T.U., the Women s Institute,
the Inter-Provincial Farm Women, the Canadian Na
tional Committee on Mental Hygiene, the Trades and
Labor Council, the Social Service Council, and the
Great War Veterans Association.
Following closely on immigration we have Cana-
dianization, a process which varies according to
circumstances. In some cases the immigrant slips
quickly and naturally into the life of the new land.
In other cases the process may require many years,
before he feels himself a part of the country. This
period is apt to extend when people of similar tastes
or race congregate in separate colonies and in the
more congested parts of the cities. The need for a
national ideal of citizenship is becoming increasingly
manifest. Towards this our educational systems and
immigration policies should be directed. The religious
care of these districts, presents peculiar difficulties
to the average congregation, due to the attitude of
316 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
either the Canadian or immigrant, or both. The
Women s Missionary Society has been able to assist
Presbyteries by providing workers (12 during 1921)
usually graduates of our Deaconess Training Home,
who work either in mission charges or as deaconesses
at large. Most of these workers locate in districts
where housing conditions cause serious problems.
By this contact with need through their represent
atives the members of the Society are under obligation
to use their personal influence in State and Church to
remove abuses which contribute to unfortunate con
ditions under which people, and particularly little
children, live. They are the citizens of tomorrow.
In the severing of the home ties, in the sense of free
dom as they put out to sea, compass and chart may be
thrown overboard. The love of Jesus Christ in the
hearts of the British and American peoples and the
teachings of the great leaders of the Reformed
Churches, have made these nations great. These
truths have been entrusted to the care of the Christian
Church, and for that reason a heavy responsibility
rests upon the Canadian Church to see that the incom
ing people retain those traditions, which will make
for the safety and effectiveness of the new nation.
Far off in lonely shacks, in railroads and ships, in
schools and colleges, in the quiet hospitals, in the
crowded lodgings of industrial centres, Jesus, whom
they learned to love in the distant home, may be for
gotten. Here may be found hundreds of those who
once were rocked to sleep by Christian mothers,
sweetly singing,
IMMIGRATION 317
"Jesus Tender Shepherd hear me,
Bless Thy little lamb to-night.
Through the darkness be Thou near me,
Keep me safe till morning light."
The W. M. S. with its mother love goes out into the
darkness to seek the wandering lambs and lead them
safely back to the fold. Thus the mother praying in
the old home joins with the mother heart in the new,
and in the morning light,
"Mid gloomy tents of care,
When Thy sweet face has come
Lo ! round me unaware
Arise the Courts of Home."
Somewhere, sometime, these were "received by
Christ s appointment into His Church," and to them
the Church has a deep obligation.
Central Europeans. Turning from the British and
American immigrant we are at once bewildered as
we face the oncoming thousands of every land. Bibles
are sold in 110 languages in Canada. The non-Anglo-
Saxon people in Canada are but heralds of the multi
tudes, the tramp of whose feet we can hear in the
distant mountains and plains of Europe, where nations
are being reborn and rising out of the sleep of cen
turies of oppression. The history and the awakening
of each is a thrilling story. We shall refer only to
the one, which has contributed the largest number of
our foreign-born population the Ukraine.
Where is the Ukraine? It is still a dream, a long
318 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
deferred hope. Ukraine once stretched from the
Black Sea to the Baltic, from the Caucasus to the
Carpathians. It was the home of democracy, of music,
art, and literature. Through it passed the caravans
of trade between Europe and Asia. Beautiful by
mountain, stream and plain, it is the home of the
peasant and the agriculturist. It possesses great un
developed mineral wealth. With its deep black soil,
it is the granary of Europe. Its people number 45,000,-
000. Once it was the home of the freedom-loving
Cossacks, who long protected Europe from Asiatic
hordes, but finally fell under the heel of the oppressor.
Her written history is lost, but is still preserved in
her historical songs. At the outbreak of the Great
War she was under the sway of Russia in the east and
Austria in the west.
During long periods of oppression, numbers of
Ukrainians were exiled by the Russian Government,
and can be found in settlements scattered across
Siberia to the largest colony of four millions on the
shores of the Pacific, between Vladivostok and Korea.
In the past 25 years, impelled by oppression and agri
cultural unrest, numbers of western Ukrainians (Gali-
cians and Ruthenians as we then called them) have
emigrated 15,000 to Brazil, 700,000 to the U. S. and
400,000 to Canada. In the United States they are
found chiefly in industrial centres, from Pennsylvania
to Illinois. In Canada they settled first on the farms
of the prairies, and in the mines of Northern Ontario;
but during the war many moved to the larger cities,
on account of the demand for labor.
IMMIGRATION 319
Separated from their Churches in Europe, with
their State control, the Ukrainians in Canada faced
a difficulty. There was no established Orthodox
Greek Church here for those from Russia. Those
from Austria belonged to the Uniat Church, to which
the Roman Church, the State Church of Austria, had
granted a married priesthood, a liturgy in their own
language, and the two elements in the Communion, in
return for their recognition of the headship of the
Pope.
In Canada, with religious freedom, no State Church,
and no privileges granted by the Roman Church, the
situation was changed. Their leaders leaned toward
the teachings of the Evangelical Churches. At first,
with help from the Presbyterian Church, an Independ
ent Greek Church was formed, combining the ritual
of the Uniat Church and evangelical doctrines. The
priests of this Church in 1913 became ministers of
the Presbyterian Church and a separate Independent
Greek Church disappeared.
The war followed, and being former citizens of
Austria, an enemy, many were disfranchised, and
some were sent to internment camps. Unrest in their
homeland had its effect here, Bolshevist leaders at
tempting to win them over to atheism and revolution.
When the dynasties of Europe fell, a new hope
arose among these people throughout the world.
Crossed and re-crossed by repeated invasions of con
tending armies during the four years of the war, and
plundered later by one army after another during the
Russian Revolution, the Ukraine still retained its
320 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
identity. The Peace Treaty placed the western
portion for twenty-five years under Poland, her
ancient enemy. A veil still hangs over the eastern
portion.
But the soul of the Ukraine is awake. A cry has
gone out to her sons and daughters to return to re
construct their native land, with their education, their
knowledge of modern agriculture and industrial ma
chinery, and their wealth. And the hearts of many
Ukrainians are responding.
"He looked for a city which hath foundations, whose
builder and maker is God." The Ukrainian realizes
the degradation of his country. He knows that
"where there is no vision, the people perish." Will a
vision of God come to the Ukraine? Has there been
a leading of God in the training of the Ukrainian in
America? Has he found God here?
It was once considered desirable to concentrate the
efforts of the Church upon the children of the new
comer, feeling that habits and customs of adults were
not likely to change. The war has demonstrated the
wisdom of trying to make the adults also loyal
Canadians. In serving the children to the exclusion
of the parents, a certain element of disrespect has
arisen in the homes of the foreigners, which in it
self presents a serious problem in our national life.
The foreign press, the foreign school and foreign amuse
ments have been powerful factors in counteracting
the influence of Canadian education and welfare work.
Missionaries and social workers feel that to do good
work it will be necessary to study the backgrounds
IMMIGRATION 321
of these people in their home lands, particularly if
large numbers are to continue to come. At the same
time great changes have occurred in Europe which
are affecting them there and here, news of which
crosses the ocean in newspapers and letters in every
mail. There is a stirring among the people. At no
time since the days of John Huss have the people so
responded to preaching. Scriptures cannot be pro
duced quickly enough. They are asking for Christian
hymns and Christian literature. The Church in Cana
da sees the open door. Central Europe will demand ed
ucation. They will ask for the English language in
their higher schools. They need qualified teachers and
they are ready. Hungry millions need the best the soil
of Ukraine can produce, and agricultural leaders are
ready. Dormant industries await development and
industrial workers are ready. Ukraine needs Jesus
Christ and Christian leaders are ready.
In the early days of hardship in Ukrainian settle
ments in Western Canada, the W. M. S. responded
to the call for help, providing clothing, medical care
and education. Later, special workers were provided
in the larger cities of Winnipeg, Montreal and To
ronto, gathering children together in Sunday Schools ;
helping mothers in their homes; protecting them in
the courts: teaching the men to read and write Eng
lish; uniting with civic officials to secure cleanliness
in the homes, and to give relief in distress; educating
the Canadian public in Ukrainian arts, crafts and liter
ature ; providing Christian literature and amusements ;
keeping in touch with the ebb and flow of immigration
21
322 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
through their leaders; striving to stem the tides of
Bolshevism and atheism, ever sympathizing with them
in their aspirations for what is good. God showed
Presbyterian women in Canada an open door and they
entered.
Semitic Races
So far, we have dealt with those elements in im
migration which will readily blend in the building of
the new nation, each bringing its contribution drawn
from out of the past. But there are some elements
which desire to remain distinct and thus present
peculiar and serious difficulties. During the last fifty
years many Jewish people, chiefly from continental
Europe have made their homes in Canada. The suf
ferings of these people throughout the centuries appeal
to the hearts of the Canadian people, a Christian people
who recognize the debt they owe to the ancestors of
this remnant of Israel, who have found a refuge on
our hospitable shores. They are rapidly reaching a
quarter of a million in number, a little less than three
per cent of our population, and there is every indi
cation that this number will greatly increase. At first,
they went to the large cities, but are gradually ap
pearing in every village and town of any importance.
Race and religion are, as a rule inseparable with them,
and therefore they prefer to remain apart. They do
not seek to add to their numbers from the Gentiles and
generally bitterly persecute any of their number who
become apostates.
Generally speaking they are traders, and, speaking
the language of Europe, are frequently the link be-
IMMIGRATION 323
^JEWISH SUNDAY SCHOOL, MONTREAL. QUE.
IMMIGRATION 325
tween the Anglo-Saxon and foreign Gentiles. Their
influence is felt largely in labor federations, as they
practically control certain industries, noticeably those
of furs, clothing and jewelry. They are thrifty and
industrious and invest much of their money in pro
perty, to a large extent where housing conditions are
most acute and foreigners in the ascendancy. The
Jew has always seized the opportunity of education,
and his presence is already felt in schools, collegiates,
universities and the professions. He has always loved
music in the sanctuary and the home, and it is not to
be wondered at that he holds a prominent place in
the world of music and in the theatre. This has ex
tended to almost complete control of the movies. He
is willing to acquire our language, obey our laws, use
the franchise, and enter into community life, and
social service.
Canadian law recognizes two religions Roman
Catholic and Protestant which includes all non-
Catholics. This affects public education and makes
it difficult to secure Christian teaching in Protestant
schools. The Jew has proclaimed to every nation the
message from the thunders of Mount Sinai, "The Lord
our God is one Lord," "Thou shalt not make unto
thee any graven image or the likeness of anything."
For that reason while the Roman Catholic religion
with images and crucifixes repels him, the Jew is at
once a problem and an opportunity to the Protestant
people. He knows, morever, that only in lands of the
Reformed Churches has he been free from persecution.
In the contact between Jew and Protestant Chris-
326 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
tians, a great change has come over the Jewish people.
The orthodox Jewish religion, taught in an ancient
tongue, and giving no religious instruction to women,
is not holding its own. Many are leaving the
synagogue, falling into indifference or atheism.
Others accept the social teachings of Jesus, and we
discover a modern movement in which women have
a place with men in the synagogue and religion
is taught in the language in which the people speak
and think, but the divinity of Christ and his sacrifice
for sin is denied. Is this a stage in their develop
ment or a danger to Chritianity?
The contact has had its effect also on the Chris
tian, and there is a danger that the fundamentals of
our religion may be forgotten. The question is con
stantly presenting itself to the Jew, "Whom say ye
that I the Son of man am?" May the answer soon be,
"Thou art the Christ the Son of the living GOD !"
In the meantime, in a desire for fair play for a small
minority, the Canadian people, out of courtesy to the
Jew, are in danger of sacrificing the very things which
make for the ultimate good of the people and the
safety of the nation.
Having control of wearing apparel through the cloth
ing industry, with its effect upon character; with a
large responsibility as landlords, a strong hand
in labor, great influence in the world of amuse
ment, a secularizing influence upon our whole
educational system and community life, the Jew has
become an important factor to be dealt with in the
training of the youth of our country. To educate our
IMMIGRATION
327
MISS CRONKHITE S CHINESE MISSION BAND, VICTORIA, B. C.
IMMIGRATION 329
children and to seek the welfare of the community
without a reference to Jesus Christ as the world s Re
deemer and its only salvation, would be to have John s
vision of the Holy City shrouded in darkness with no
Lamb as the Light thereof. Under these conditions
the obligation of the Protestant Churches with their
message of a Risen Christ and His transforming
power, is manifest.
Our Church has three centres for Christian teaching
among the Jews Winnipeg, Montreal and Toronto,
to which the W. M. S. contributes six workers, chiefly
to teach women and children and offer free medical
care. In this contact with the problem, the Society
recognizes its obligations to Jews everywhere.
The greatest service can be rendered by personal
influence in helping to break down the barriers be
tween Jews and Gentiles. This can be brought about
by greater kindness and readiness, as opportunity
arises, to tell what we have in common and what the
Christian has which the Jew has not. To know how
to do this requires knowledge of the background of
religion in his thoughts. Leaders at the centres who
have sympathetically studied the question, stand ready
to give this assistance. The greatest opportunity is
away from the centres, wherever a Jew is to be found.
Asiatic Races.
Asiatic immigration to Canada includes Hindus,
Japanese and Chinese. In the native countries of all
of these the Presbyterian W. M. S. has missionaries,
but in Canada, four only, among Chinese, at Victoria,
Vancouver and Toronto, to visit women and children
330 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
in their homes and conduct clubs and classes. The
Church has a larger staff and has recently appointed
three superintendents, one for British Columbia, one
for the Prairies, and one for Ontario and Quebec.
The need for unskilled labor in the early days on
the Pacific Coast led to the first coming of the China
man. He came from the coolie class, a home loving
people of the Province of Canton, to make money and
return to China. Even the bones of their dead were
taken home. But China has changed and many super
stitions have disappeared. The Chinaman is not so
sure that he will return. He has adopted western
methods. He has made money. He owns land. He
has become an employer of labor. He has big interests
in this country. Already they number 55,000 and can
be found in every province, quietly and inoffensively
working, chiefly in restaurants and in laundries. But
in British Columbia they are also engaged in lumber
ing, fishing, fruit farming and truck gardening, and
are close competitors, keeping in daily touch with
the markets by telegraph and telephone and not in
frequently underbidding in prices. With a view to re
stricting immigration a head tax of $500 was imposed
which has had little of the desired effect, but, on the
other hand, has produced a serious difficulty, the
trafficking in labor by the richer Chinese among the
poorer, producing conditions closely verging on
slavery.
The law permits the wives of Chinese merchants
to enter, and where formerly few came they now num
ber hundreds and their children are commonly seen
331
MR. LOUIE. VICTORIA. B.C.. A CHINESE CHRISTIAN, HIS BRIDE,
Miss Tarn of Hong Kong, also a Christian, and
their brides maids, Miss Edith Koo and Miss
Florence Lee.
IMMIGRATION 333
in the public schools. These children will have no
desire to live in China. The Chinaman is here and
with him have come the customs, amusements and
vices of his own land, where the standards of morality
and life are heathen. He lives crudely, spends little
and violates the recognized standards of labor,
hours of occupation, wages, sanitation and housing
conditions.
One of their amusements is gambling, and many
have acquired drug habits. In their contact with the
white people these vices have greatly increased. They
are keen politicians, nearly all belonging to one or
other of the political parties of their home land, and
subscribing to their home papers.
They are supposed to have, secret societies which
are widespread and keep in close touch with the entire
Chinese population. There are few Chinese temples
in Canada, and the Chinese have shown little or no ob
jection to attempts to teach them the Christian re
ligion. This has been done by Christians who have
undertaken to teach them the English language. For
these services they have been grateful. But not infre
quently Canadian employers have so assigned duties
to them that it has been almost impossible to carry
out the precepts of the Christian religion as for
instance, in the observance of Sunday. The Chinese
see the difference between nominal and real Christians
and this affects their appreciation of the Christian
religion.
The Chinese in Canada present an obligation and
an opportunity to the church. Believing in the spirit-
334 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
ual unity of every race, Christians approach them with
the gospel message, but not in our day at least will
there likely be any union of the white and yellow
races. There are different ideas as to the best method
to pursue, both equally sincere. One favors an
Oriental Church in Canada, re-acting on their own
land. The other would unite both Canadian and Asi
atic in one congregation. Local conditions are the
determining factor. It is, however, through the
message of the gospel to them, as representatives of
an immense empire, that the church sees her oppor
tunity.
The population of China is variously estimated,
but is in the neighborhood of four hundred millions.
It is supposed that the increase during the last ten
years, is equal to seven times the entire population of
Canada. The first All China Christian Conference,
led by Chinese, but including foreigners, will be held
in April of 1922. Surveys are being made of every
Province now, for the Conference, and the reports
will be ready in October of 1921. These will probably
be the first comprehensive and authoritative source
of information of that country. The Christian popu
lation is estimated at a million, with 350,000 communi
cants. There is now an open door to China in nearly
every village and town in Canada. Will the Church
enter? It is to direct this enterprise that super
intendents have been appointed by the Church.
Christians can render great assistance by discover
ing Chinese in their localities and bringing them under
the influence of Christian teaching. In many villages
IMMIGRATION 335
and towns advantage has been taken of this oppor
tunity and the hearts of many lonely Chinese men and
women have been gladdened by the interest taken in
them by the ministers and women of our church, and,
as a result, Chinese have returned to their homes
Christians. Chinese publications from the pen of Mrs.
MacGillivray of Shanghai : "Happy Childhood,"
"Jesus My Saviour," and "The Happy Childhood Story
Books," will be of great assistance.
The Challenge
Canadians with the exception of native Indians
and the French, are themselves recent arrivals to
Canada, or are but one, two, or three generations
removed from the immigrant train or ship, whether
in the cabin or the steerage below matters little.
A great nation is in the making. Every immigrant
is a challenge to every Christian patriot. True pa
triotism must see, behind the present and the seen,
spiritualities which abide. Nation builders must have
the vision of service to mankind "of every clime and
coast," if the nation itself is to continue to exist for,
no man lives to himself, nor does a nation.
Canada can present no greater contribution to the
great world state that is to come, than to offer to it
a nation aflame with idealism and aglow with the
passion of Jesus Christ, a nation whose treasures on
earth are but symbols of its treasures in heaven and
whose power for good is therefore mighty in the
earth.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE FIELD.
Vachel Lindsay recently published a poem im
mortalizing "Johnny Apple seed," who a century
ago roamed westward through the wilderness, plant
ing appleseeds wherever he went, which, years after he
had passed, brought forth fruit for the traveller and
the pioneer. In much the same unselfish but sporadic
way, in the early days of Canadian settlement, the
seeds of the Christian Church were planted here and
there by individual effort of early missionaries and
men and women of Christian faith.
The time came when men realized the need and
opportunity of organized effort, and just as seed com
panies and nurseries replaced and multiplied the efforts
of "Johnnie Appleseed," so the Church, as it grew in
strength in the new Dominion, made an effort to reach
to earth s remotest end with the gospel message, send
ing forth such men as Geddie to Aneityum and James
Nisbet to the then lone West land, the first of a great
band of men and women.
As the work developed, the women of the Church
were appealed to for assistance, and four Women s
Societies in time came into existence. First, the
Woman s Missionary Society ;>f Montreal was organ
ized for French work in 1864, later expanding into
336
THE FIELD 337
larger work ; the Woman s Foreign Missionary Society
in 1876; the Women s Home Missionary Society in
1903 (which began as the Atlin Nurse s Committee
in 1898) ; these three Societies amalgamated in 1914
as The Women s Missionary Society, Western
Division, embracing the territory from Eastern Que
bec to the Pacific Ocean. It consists of a General
Council, six Provincial Societies, sixty-three Presby-
terial Societies, made up of about twenty-seven hun
dred branches Auxiliaries, Young Women s Auxil
iaries, Mission Bands, Associated Societies, Affiliated
Bible Classes and Canadian Girls in Training Groups.
The Women s Missionary Society, Eastern Division,
organized in 1876, embraces ten Presbyterials, and
about seven hundred and fifty branches similar to
those of the Western Division, all in the Maritime
Provinces, and at the present time has just published
its 45th Annual Report.
Both Women s Missionary Societies, East and West,
are auxiliary to the Home and Foreign Mission Boards
of the Church, though the method of administration
differs. Each of these Societies publishes its own
magazine, the Eastern Division, "The Message," the
Western Division, "The Missionary Messenger," which
has the largest circulation of any similar publication
issued by any of the Women s Mission Boards in the
world.
Membership. In the Presbyterian Church in Can
ada are listed about 200,000 families. In the two
Societies we have over 100,000 women and children,
linked in prayer and service for the advancement of
22 -
338 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
the kingdom of Christ, four-fifths of these being in
the Western Division, which means that we have an
average of only one member from every second
family ! What a call to increased activity !
Promotion Work. Christ s kingdom has no fron
tiers, but an ever-extending and widening horizon,
towards which the Christian nation builder must ever
reach out with faith and vision. To enlist workers
in this great enterprise, every man, woman and child
must have his or her thought directed to the oppor
tunities and duties to which God has called. Conse
crated missionaries, home for a few precious months
of rest and recuperation, go up and down the land
telling of little beacons gleaming here and there in the
darkness of heathenism, and with voice and pen set
souls on fire with the thrilling story of the accomplish
ment of even the few messengers of the Cross.
Members of the Executive Board of the General Coun
cil, of Provincial, Presbyterial or Auxiliary, and,
above all, the Field Secretaries, herald the call to large
and small groups, in the busy city church, in the rural
centres, in the isolated prairie school-house, in the
lonely settler s shack, or in the drawing-room of
some wealthy town woman, who gathers friends to
hear of new avenues of service for others.
Individual Responsibility. This work to be effective
must be faithfully followed up by the work of individ
ual members; for may it not be, that because we
have failed to pass on the message to the one next
us, scores of Auxiliaries have let a year or years go
by without adding one name to the roll of those
THE FIELD 339
"thoroughly interested in and converted to the mis
sionary cause." To double and treble our member
ship, to double and treble our consecration, prayer
and givings, is under God s blessing, to multiply many
fold the harvest reaped, for God s arithmetic mounts
infinitely.
Recruits Needed. Our Student Secretary is con
stantly meeting young women in university and train
ing school, eager to make the most of their lives ; and,
when opportunity affords, her story is equally wel
comed by the younger students in public and high
school. And what a glorious story she has to tell
of the youth and womanhood of our church organized
and in action; at work in Asia, curing the sick and
teaching the child ; bringing new freedom to women in
zenana, harem and compound; shaping the literature
of a nation ; inspiring the Oriental student to new
thoughts of unselfish service ; saving lives from super
stition and misery. In our own land, meeting the
bewildered newcomer at dock or train, saving with
medical care and kindness the lonely settler, speaking
our own, or another tongue ; teaching him English
and the gospel story ; giving the Indian, the French
and the bright New Canadian boy and girl a chance
through Christian education in school and School
Home.
What opportunities for service present themselves
in the pages of this very book ! The call is to students
in university and college, in nurses training and
domestic science schools, conservatory of music, and in
Missionary and Deaconess Training Home, to serve,
and to be used by Him to sway whole peoples in future
generations, by helping in this one to live a large,
rich and full life ; by giving them a new outlook, and
above all, the news of Christ and His power to over
come.
Methods of Recruiting. Discussing the methods
of securing Christian leadership, the Council of Women
for Home Missions says, "Recruiting does not stand
apart by itself. Recruiting is the climax of a process.
Our great interest ought to be in providing vocational
guidance, that every Christian student may there
fore have the background necessary to adequate and
worthy decision." This should make us pause and
ponder, and make sure that our building process be
gins early and is continuous, thereby ensuring whole
hearted understanding response to the appeal.
Work While You Wait. Enlisting these eager
young lives should mean more than future personal
service on mission fields ; the thrill of that hope should
impel them to take a part in the organized effort
which sends and supports those already doing the
work. The best training for future work is none too
good; but part of the preparation, which will prove
its worth in the years of future responsibility, will
be the hours spent in the home church, actively en
gaged in some part of its work, helping or leading a
Mission Band, or a group of girls in Bible or mission
ary study, or doing her "bit" in an Auxiliary s work
with warm interest and imagination, till that day
come, when she goes forth to her life task.
Both those who hope to go and the many women
THE FIELD 341
and girls who can never experience the joy of going
forth into active service, can uphold and share the
work of those who have go ne, by doing their part
in the organized effort of our various branches. "For
as his share is that goes down to the battle, so shall
his share be that tarrieth by the stuff." They shall
share alike. This thought gives strength to the one
on the field and inspiration to the one at home.
Finances. To carry the work undertaken by the
women and to provide for a band of over two hundred
and thirty missionaries at home and abroad, and to
meet necessary expansion, requires a large and ever-
increasing income. The women of the Church must
face these financial needs thoughtfully and sacrifi-
cially. Either the present membership must give more,
or enlist others to give along with them. Last year
there passed through the Treasurer s hands from all
sources over half a million dollars. In a year there
are over half a million minutes. Does it not give a
thrill to realize that the whole work of the Society
means the expenditure of a dollar a minute. That to
give one dollar means for one whole glorious minute
of sixty seconds to be actual owner of every de
partment of work carried on by the whole Society,
field secretaries, management, missionaries, schools
and hospitals at home and abroad, everything! Last
year each Auxiliary member owned that work for
nearly six minutes, and each Mission Band member
for about one minute and a half. If each could in
crease by two minutes a year, expansion would be
342 THE PLANTING OF THE FAITH
possible. For how many minutes will this joy be yours
this very year?
The Task. One thousand million, two thirds of the
world s population, do not yet know Christ. Our
Church is responsible for work at home, and for fifteen
million people abroad. Our Society has assumed a
large share of this, yet only one from every second
family is so far enlisted in our ranks.
How can we face the task ? Not by adding to our
membership, though they come to us in thousands,
not by prayerless gifts, however large they be, but
by prayer. Prayer gets new members and more funds.
Have we made prayer lists of those we are trying to
interest in the work? Have we asked guidance as
to whom to approach ? Prayer gets recruits.
Dr. MacGillivray of Shanghai tells of an old man
with snowy hair, who prayed behind an old stump, near
where he and his two brothers were working. The
answer to these prayers was the offering of all three,
one to be a missionary and the other two to be
ministers in our church.
Nothing limits success so much as lack of prayer.
Nothing accomplishes so much. "When the church
sets itself to pray with the same seriousness and
strength of purpose that it has devoted to other forms
of Christian effort, it will see the kingdom of God
come with power."
Lord Salisbury said in the House of Commons,
"Study large maps." More women are undertaking
the full programme of Christ at the present time than
ever before, notwithstanding its immensity, its com-
THE FIELD 343
plexity, its well nigh baffling difficulty. Only a
complete life can satisfy the thinking mind, and in
unsentimental, serious service, the woman of to-day
finds self-expression, self-development and real use
fulness. The range of vision is broad, forward and
upward. National problems assume new character
istics, for true understanding compels study of the
past history, achievements, religions and character
of each of our fifty-three conglomerate races. In
investigating and comprehending world problems, the
needs of the non-Christian nations are found to touch
all others and to effect health, labor, trade, the con
tinuance of peace and every great question. The
imagination and brain tingle with the immensity of
the splendid and eternal possibilities.
"Now in the dawn of a Nation s glory, now in the
passionate youth of Time,
Wide-thrown portals, infinite visions, splendors of
knowledge dreams from afar,
heights sublime,
Mock us, and dare us, to do and inherit, to mount
up as eagles and grasp at the star."
Canon F. G. Scott.
Great and glorious, then is our task, the sowing of
the seed, the planting of the faith, the nurturing in
prayer, that it may grow for eternity. The Lord
will give the increase.
Warwick Bros. & Rutter, Limited
Printers and Bookbinders, Toronto, Canada
CAVEN LIBRARY
KNOX COLLEGE
