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654
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IS YOUR HOME HAPPY??WHY?
Thn l.rAA * x
jl nv; tm tC UIUIUCIO, IVltZilg V iVltJIUJlUS)
at Chen-chia-lou, are all Christians. Mr.
Two was the first to join the church,
some years ago. He is now an elder in
our church, and is a very active, earnest
Christian. He receives no pay from the
mission or the local church, but he acts
as pastor and preaches nearly every Sunday.
His wife and children are earnest
Christians, and the home is a very happy
one.
Mr. One was the second to join the
church. His wife still refuses to believe,
and none of his children believe. He
himself is not the earnest, working
Christian his second brother is. He can
not or does not control his own family.
The Sabbath is lint kent there nrnt It is
very much like the heathen homes
around. They are not happy.
The third brother (Mr. yhree) did not
join the church till a little more than a
year ago. He held off a long time, and
refused to even go to hear the Gospel,
but was at last forced to believe
by the earnestness and changed lives of
his second brother, and of his oldest
son. The latter, under the influence of
his uncle, gave himself to Christ some
years ago, and is now at Nanking preparing
himself for the ministry. The
second son of Mr. Three has also become
a Christian and is very changed
from what lie was and seems so happy.
The wife and mother still refuses to beL
lieve. She says she wants to be able to
curse her second daughter-in-law, who
is not filial! But the father controls the
familv. and lip dnpR not allow anv Vioafli.
en practices, and lie does not allow Sunday
work.
To one who knows these three families,
the power of the Gospel is very
evident. The home of Mr. One is very
unhappy. There is always quarreling.
There are three grown, married sons.
One of them is constantly gambling and
has thus wasted much of his father's
property. The daughters-in-law are ever
fussing with the mother-in-law.
The home of Mr. Three is a happier
home, much happier than the ordinary
Chinese home, because the men of the
family are Christians.
It does the heart good to be In the
home of Mr. Two. Christ reigns there.
It is a happy, Christian home.
Mr. Two used to be the leader in wickedness.
He and his wife were like cat
and dog, always quarreling. He used to
beat her. He was one of the leading
gamblers of the village. Now his influence
as a Christian is felt in all the
country around. I would not exchange
him for a ten thousand?nay, a hundred
thousand?dollar church!
Mrs. Junken and I have just returned
from a two weeks' visit to Chen-chlalou,
Kuanhu, and Llntse. The other Sunday
morning, I left Mrs. Jenkln at Chenchia-lou
and went up to Kuanhu,
three miles away, to conduct services
PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SOU!
there. As I passed by Mr. One's home, I
noticed that the oldest son was out in
the road overseeing the unroofing of a
thatch house. He is about forty years
old. I said: "Ah! von teariner rlnwn n
house on Sunday; it ought not to be
done!" He made some remark about the
work being given out by contract and
he not able to control the affair.
I thought within myself: "What if
some calamity should come upon this
home to show them that God is displeased
at such conduct! What if the rebuilt
house should burn down!"
When I returned in the afternoon,
I noticed no one was at work on the
house ajid wondered why. When opposite,
a man in the road told me that the
wife of this oldest son had suddenly died
that morning! Only a few minutes before
I had been speaking to him she
had taken poison and had died just a
little while later.
A ~ ^ V.. *- - ?
auu nu/ : i es, wny ;
He had been beating her very severely.
But the kindred all said that he
had been beating her oft and on for
twenty years, and had often beaten her
much more severely than he did this
time; they thought she was used to it
and had no idea of her killing herself!
But this time he had told her that as
soon as the house was rebuilt he was
going to tie her up to a rafter and beat
her with a sword! She had stood enough
and would stand no more!
Poor, poor, woman! And poor, cruel,
godless man! They found her dying
with an infant son nursing at her breast.
What a memory for the husband the rest
of his life!
The second son of Mr. One has broken
his wife's arm twice while beating
her! They say he is worse than the
oldest son.
Even the heathen neighbors said: "Ah!
you can see the difference in these
homes! If Mr. One's home had been
Christian like Mr. Two's, this thing
could never have happened."
Wm. F. Junkin.
Suchien, North Kiangsu, China, April
' 16th, 1910.
A LETTER FROM CHINA.
(For the encouragement of Christian
workers, this letter, to a faithful teacher
in New Orleans, is given the wide circulation
it deserves.)
Kongmoon, China, Dec. 20, 1909.
My Dear Miss R.: You will probably
be at a loss to know who your correspondent
is, and the signature will give
you little help in the matter, so probably
it would be well to begin by making
some explanations. Some Sundays ago,
A Chinaman came up in our boat after
the city service, to the afternoon one at
the Customs Station where we live. Af
ter a little conversation, I discovered
that he could speak English, and came
from New Orleans. He turned out to be
Mr. Chin (I don't know what you call
him in English), who is associated with
you in Sabbath School work in one of
the Presbyterian churches in your city.
I found out from our senior missionaries
?H. May 25, 1910.
that he is a most regular attendant at
the city service, and apparently a most
earnest Christian. Last week he came
to the school for me and took me to his
home to see his wife. She seems to be
a gentle, refined woman, and has a lovely
baby boy a few months old. His father
is very proud of him. noodiooo
say. They had a nice lunch prepared for
me, after which he showed me his
church letters, and asked me to talk to
several women who came in. We enjoyed
the visit so much; my Biblewoman
and myself. Several of his letters were
addressed to your missionaries in Soochow.
It is some distance up the coast
by the large steamers, and I doubt if he
will see them. I thought you would like
to hear that he is true to his profession
at home. So many of the men who re
turn, go back to the old life of heathenism.
I remember one day talking to a
woman who had several Christian relatives,
A number of them had joined the
church in America. She said to me: "I
know 1 have Christian relatives, but
their lives and practices are just the
same as our heathen ones, so why should
I change. It grieved me deeply. Oh! if
those men could only be made to realize
what a responsibility rests upon them!
So often in reply to inquiries when men
have been back for some years we get
the answer, "No, my wife, father and
mother are not Christians." Sometimes
I wonder if it is that their knowledge of
the truth is so small that they can not
impart it to others; yet there are most
encouraging instances of the opposite
kind. Mr. Chin seems to be of this .sort.
He shares the home with a brother. That
will make it difficult for him and for hia
wife also. They do not worship idols,
of course, but the idols and tablets of
the brother's family are in the house,
and they will meet with very little sympathy.
I hope to go to his home again,
If it were his own I should try to plan
for regular meetings for women there
He asked me to enclose a picture of his
baby in this letter. It is not good, for he
is a lovely child. There, I must stop.
Please accept the season's warmest
greetings. I am sure you will be glad to
remember our work here, and the men
who are among you, and coming home
trom time to time to be His witnesses.
Very sincerely yours,
Agnes I. Dickson.
WHAT IS WANTED AND WHY.
Haichow is what may be called a typical,
modern, up-to-date Chinese city;
modern in the sense that it is only about
a thousand years old, having been founded
during the Sung Dynasty or about the
time when William the Conqueror was
making history in England. It is situated
in the northeastern part of Kiang Su
Province some three hundred miles y
northwest of Shanghai. The city itself
has a population of only about forty
thousand, but the field that we are supposed
to cover has a population of perhaps
a million and a half. Haichow is