The American Missionary — Volume 43, No. 06, June, 1889 — John Shaqi
The American Missionary — Volume 43, No. 06, June, 1889Various
Religion
The American Missionary — Volume 43, No. 06, June, 1889
Various
Congregational churches -- Missions -- Periodicals; Home missions -- Periodicals
frightening the pupil away by too abrupt a "setting forth of strange
gods." And, finally, this one Reader well studied will place the pupil
where you can safely commend to him the New Testament as the cheapest
and the best book to take next.
5. Instead of opening exercises have _closing ones_, as extended and as
interesting as possible. Have pictures selected from the Sunday-school
rolls, and, at each session, make one of these the subject of a little
gospel-talk. Ask the pupil best versed in English to be your
interpreter, and use such English as he can understand. And, even though
you have no interpreter, five minutes given to a Bible story will not be
lost, if you have a picture that is apt and suggestive.
Then _sing_ the gospel to them, asking them to _read_ the verse after
you, word by word, and then sing it with you. I will gladly supply, at
bare cost, Song Rolls in Chinese, containing familiar gospel hymns
translated into Chinese and so conformed in metre to the English
original that the time remains unchanged, and the teachers can sing the
English words, if desirable, while the Chinese use their own. There is
no more effective preaching of the gospel than that in song.
6. The Sunday-school, at its best, needs to be supplemented by some sort
of week-day work. The Chinese Sunday-schools of California, though
started _with great eclat_, would long ago have perished utterly, but
for the mission schools whose work knows no cessation. Our Christian
Chinese are now so widely scattered that it seems as though there could
scarcely be anywhere Eastward a city of considerable size without at
least one of them. If there is one, he will hear of your Sunday-school
and will be there. Utilize him to the utmost. Make a missionary out of
him. And it seems to me that the _evangelistic work_ which we have been
doing--imperfectly as yet--in California, ought to be extended to the
Eastern cities, and that among our Christian Chinese some ought to be
appointed to this work, spending (say) a month in each city where any
considerable number of Chinese are found, endeavoring to reap the
harvests that are ready, and to organize for Christian work whatever
converted Chinese he may find. Already, without any such special agency,
our "Congregational Association of Christian Chinese" reports one
"branch" with sixteen members, in Brooklyn. I am sure it would be well,
if the same thing, or something similar, were organized elsewhere.
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