James Gilmour of Mongolia: His diaries, letters, and reportsGilmour, James
Religion
James Gilmour of Mongolia: His diaries, letters, and reports
Gilmour, James
Gilmour, James, 1843-1891; Missions -- Mongolia
when we were to have another union meeting at our place. And could
you have seen his rising and answering my questions, give assent to
creed and covenant, and then see him remove his cap and bow his
head reverently and receive the water of baptism, your heart would
overflow with gratitude and praise to God for this first fruit
from Mongolia. After prayer we sang "From Greenland's icy
mountains," changed to "From Mongolia, &c," and we felt it as never
before.
'Though God has thus given us great pleasure in gathering this
first fruit, still I feel, and we all feel, that the honour of the
work belongs to God, and the reward to you and others.'
During 1884 and 1885 the regular work of the Peking mission occupied
almost the whole of his time, the Rev. S. E. Meech being in England on
furlough, and most of his duties therefore falling upon Mr. Gilmour.
During his stay in England he had attended many of the Salvation Army
meetings, and had caught much of their spirit. He had also come to the
conviction that men needed to be dealt with individually rather than in
the mass. Hence he gave much time to conversation, to teaching single
persons the Christian catechism and the New Testament, and endeavouring,
by talking and praying with them, to lead them to a knowledge of the
truth. From six in the morning until ten at night he was at the service
of all comers. In the afternoon he attended one or both of the Peking
chapels, preaching if there were the opportunity, but always eagerly on
the alert for any individuals showing signs of interest in the Gospel.
It had been the custom of the missionaries to reserve the Sunday evening
for an English service, devoted to their own spiritual refreshment.
This, which was held in the mission compound, he ceased to attend, even
although his absence sometimes made it impossible to hold the service,
in order that he might find time to read and talk and pray with his
Chinese servants. Frequently the meal-time would find him thus engaged,
but the meal had to wait until his visitor had left, or until the
interview came to its natural close. He ceased to read all newspapers
except those distinctively Christian. He found no time for books, as he
felt that direct work for the Chinese should fill the hours he might
otherwise devote to reading. He became more wholly than ever the man of
one book--the Bible--and so absorbed did he grow in this close dealing
with souls that in the earlier stages of his wife's illness he felt
constrained to place it before even her wish that he would remain by her
at periods of severe suffering and weakness.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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