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Page 14
* * * * *
THE CHINESE.
JOTTINGS.
BY REV. W.C. POND, D.D.
If I were to attempt to place before the readers of the MISSIONARY, in
such setting as would be needed for a comprehension of them, all the
interesting minor facts and scenes that pass under my observation in
our work, there would be no room on its pages for anything else. Let me
give a few examples of these.
A young Chinaman is being examined with reference to baptism, and is
asked why he decided to turn from the worship of idols. "God is
_true_" is the reply, a very simple reason,--a trite one possibly;
but there was something in the tone and emphasis of it which thrilled
me. I saw the emptyness of heathen worship at a point from which I had
never looked at it before. A God that is _true_, that can be
absolutely trusted! Where will you find one in any heathen Pantheon?
Conceive now a thoughtful, honest man passing from the timorous worship
of such gods to the rest and comfort and courage which come from
knowing and trusting Him who is true, and you will begin to realize
what that simple answer meant.
"What are your people making such a noise for?" was asked of a Chinese
brother at Ventura, during the Chinese New Year's Festival. "To scare
away the evil spirits," was the reply. "And why don't _you_ scare
them away?" was the next question, for all was quiet at our little
mission house, "Evil spirits stay away when Holy Spirit comes," was the
reply. I am not confident that I recall the exact words, but I have
certainly given the idea, and it meant emancipation for the man that
uttered it, an entrance into the liberty wherewith Christ makes us
free.
"When I get discouraged, as I often do," writes a teacher, "I think of
the five who are studying the Testament, and of a remark one of them
made to me, 'I love Jesus more all the time when I read about him.'"
This brother took his religion with him to China, and brought it back
unharmed.
One of the brethren worked in a hotel where to specially toilsome
service was added a treatment far from kind. He said to his teacher
that he remembered how much Jesus had to bear and so he "had patient."
The wages received he spoke of as the "hardest money" he had earned
since coming to California, and _so_ he took part of it to buy a
nice Bible. An American said scoffingly to him: "Are you one of the
Christian Chinamen?" "Yes," he replied. "I love Jesus; I am not ashamed
that I love Jesus."
One of our Santa Barbara brethren rents quite a tract of land, much of
which he devotes to the culture of small fruits. On a visit to his
place a year or two ago, friends saw strawberry plants heavily laden
with luscious looking fruit so arranged in front of our brother's door
as to spell out this sentence, "God loves the earth."
"It seems," said Jee Gam once, "as though I could recall his very
words, and hear the tones of his voice as he prayed for the conversion
of his countrymen." It was the closing prayer of a gospel service among
the Chinese in Oakland. The brother who offered it was a Chinese
merchant of that city. Two days afterwards he was shot in his own store
by a Chinaman because he refused to submit to blackmail. A policeman
hastened to the spot and saw him die, and testified in court that his
last words were those of prayer to our true God; this testimony, though
given probably by an ungodly man, being such as to draw tears from many
who listened. Yet some say there are no real Christian Chinamen; that
you can't convert a Chinaman; that they are throughout a race of
hypocrites.
It may not be safe to say _every_ month without exception, though
that is the impression made upon me, but it is certainly safe to say
_almost_ every month brings some report to me of pupils beginning
to believe in Jesus and professing their faith in him. This extract
from a letter will serve as an example: "I have some very good news for
you concerning my scholars. Two of them have promised to join the
Association [i.e. of Christian Chinese] next week. One of them I have
been praying for especially, for nearly a year.... There are three
more who, I trust, are born of God, but are not yet brave enough to
take a stand for him. One says his brother will kill him if he joins in
Christ's name." And here is a word from another teacher: "Five of the
brethren unite with the church at the coming communion. I do not feel
that this is through my effort, as I have not known how to work
individually. It is the Lord that 'giveth the increase.' Two of them
have been ready to come into the church for a long time. The others
show their conversion by face and manner as well as by testimony and
prayer."
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