University of Nanking - Linguist Yearbook (Nanking, China)

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THE GLAD EV.-XNGEL 25 CHINESE EVANGELISTIC MEETINGS The time of special evangelistic endeavor thruout China is during the Chinese New Year holiday season. Every church has its campaign with revival services and the use of other evangelistic agencies such as posters, tracts and prayermeetings. This is an opportune time because all work has ceased, all stores are closed and the people who work long hours the rest of the year have a complete holiday. It is not only an opportune time but a very necessary time for the Christian forces to show their utmost activity. With millions of peopleihaving nothing to do' but ainuse themselves and the only forms of amusement they know being connected with some form of gfambling, the appeal to the church is tremendous. The weaker Christians must be looked after and kept from falling back, while the Crowds of people must be reached. v-. .. , - ' -e.t.....i, ...--- - V -- Two men paste up large gospel posters and then turn round and preach to the crowd that invariably gathers. This is part of the work of the Biola Evangelistic Bands in I-Ionan. The ten bands with twelve men CChinese3 in each band have in one year visited 200,000 homes and established 33 self-supporting churches. They have held bible-classes and conducted evangelistic services in scores of places. Thus evangelism goes on apace,.but huge areas are still untouched and await those from Christian lands who will say, Here am I, send me.

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24 THE LINGUIST desirable place in which. to live. W'e are all somewhat like the man in the Arkansas mountains who, when he heard ol New York said, How can people bear to live so far away. So people as they consider missionary work, think that life in the mission field, a place so far away, cannot be quite normal. The first year at Nanking quite disillusions one. Here we have electric lights, a large daily newspaper, from Shanghai with as up-to-the- minute news as the' average American paper. We turn to Mut and Jef and Bringing up Father before perusing the news columns just as do the folks at home. There are three or four deliveries of mail a day. One may have the tradesman call, including the barber and tailor if he wants them. We have regular train and boat service several times daily, automobiles and even radio broadcasting. You may have your library and typewriter and almost anything else you have at home. The fact is China is no further away than London or New York or Berlin or San Francisco or Melbourne, in fact one rapidly comes to feel that the Chinese were partly right when they called China the Middle Kingdom. When we go to our stations we do not have so many conveniences, but we have something worth more than all of them put togetherg we have the most fascinating work that ever falls to the lot of man to do, the building of a great people in the knowledge of Christ. we-TTR-Iliff -N W ' is This building constructed of bamboos and matting is the type of building used for evangelistic meetings in Nanking

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26 THE LINGUIST In Nanking an amusement district exists which has many of the' same forms of amusements that go with street carnivals includingg sideshows, games of chance, street fakirs, and even the Punch and- judy shows. Here the people gather in such crowds that it is with dihiculty that one can make his way. Here it is that the clinches of Nanking have united in holding union evangelistic meetings. The mat shed shown in the above picture was built for the services. The building will seat about three hundred. The services last for several hours and the people come and go much as they do at a cou- tinuous performance moving picture show. A general invitation to become Christians can hardly be given for the polite Chinese would probably accept in a body. The Chinese may give ready assent to what the preacher is saying, for it is obviously good doctrine. His: ready acceptance of the doctrine, however, may carry no determination' to live a changed life nor to relinquish pagan practices. The greatest calamity that could befall a church would be to have a large member- ship of such people. If interested the people are invited to sign cards and they are then followed up by the mission working in their locality.. About 400 people signed cards during the progress of this meeting,. and many of these are now receiving regular instruction in the- Christian message. COME ON IN, THE WATER'S FINE After our first plunge into the depth of work in the Flowery- Land we say to all who stand on the bank anticipating the adventure, Come on in, China's fine. T By the way, that is not a bad illustration of the way one feels when he once gets into missionarygwork. Before going in swimming a boy stands on the bank contemplating the cold water and shivering at the thought of the shock when the plunge shall be taken. After the first plunge, how delightfully refreshing the water is, what ex- hileration as you swing your arm in long vigorous strokes. So people often stand afar off and look upon the mission field as a place of deprivation and a place quite undesirable for real guys like them. lt is somewhat of a surprize to experience an all-round vigor, a physical, mental and spiritual exhileratiou during the first year in' China. The physical vigor is perhaps due to the climate for there's some snap to a Nanking winter, and you'd better prepare for it by bringing a few extra warm clothes along. There is some vigor too, in the eager mind of young China asyou find when you get into a bible class with a few dozen keenly alert individuals. You find when you meet the evangelistic, medical, and educational missionaries on the- field that you come in contact with a group of people with as vigorous mentality and energetic personalities as you have ever met. Still greater, tho, is the spiritual exhileration which comes to the missionary who sees the hungry multitude around him while he knows that he has the bread of life for which those millions wait. We glory in the' inestimable and boundless privilege of being, ambassaeliorsof God to. the largest race in this wide world..