But the most interesting thing to us of all the things we saw was the
Chinese Home Mission—a Society formed in 1919, by which the Chinese
take up the evangelization of China as their own special duty. This is
as it should be. The time has come when the burden of responsibility
should begin to be taken up by the Chinese Christians, because it is
of paramount importance that Christian mission work should cease to be
looked on as a foreign institution. The Chinese Church of the future
is beginning to take shape, and must grow in accordance with national
needs. It is to be the outcome of the honest hard spiritual work of
many sections of the Christian Church, but the copy of none. It is of
happy augury that in this particular section seven members of the party
represented the Presbyterians, Methodists, and American Board; while
twelve different societies are represented on their advisory board.
They have not so far formulated any creed, but have gone out rather as
pioneers to learn the needs of the people and the way in which they
can best work. They will then report to those who sent them. Not only
are Christians of all churches supporting the movement financially,
but also non-Christians show a great interest in it. The chief of the
Governor’s staff in Yünnan wrote most cordially, welcoming their coming
and promising to help them in any way he could. The missionaries have
all done the same, and they are now working most happily alongside one
another. We went to call on the two ladies of the C.H.M. settled in the
city, the others of the party being unfortunately some distance away in
robber-ridden areas of the country. Miss Li Ching Chien and Miss Chen
Yu Ling have a girls’ school in a charming old temple building, and we
found about thirty girls there, some having a lesson in the classics,
others doing needlework. They are drawn from the exclusive upper-class
families, whose doors are rigorously closed against the foreigner. They
are glad to have their daughters instructed in Western knowledge, even if
it does include Christian doctrine. The teachers told them in the opening
ceremony that the main object of the school was to promote Christianity.
They did not speak much English, but we took our interpreter, who was
pleased to find he knew one of them in Peking, when she was working
in the North China Union College for Women. They told us how they now
visit in more than a hundred houses, owing to their school work, and
are allowed to talk freely of the message, which is their chief aim. On
Sundays they hold a service in their house and a Chinese pastor preaches:
to this service men come as well as women and girls.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account