b; f‘AM. CHiftA The Beginnings of Harvest on the China-Tibetan Border REV. WILLIAM CHRISTIE Christian and Missionary Alliance 690 Eighth Avenue New York 1918 w . I i The Beginnings of Harvest on the China-Tibetan Border Rev. William Christie Kansu Kansu is one of the provinces of China proper. It lies in thhe northwest corner of tliat country and adjoins the province of Am- do in northeast Tibet. The area of Kansu is 125,450 scjuare miles. It is more than two and one half times the size of New’ York State. Its inhabitants are said to number 10,385,386. This gives a population of only 82 to the square mile. Its people occupy 78 walled cit- ies (all of which are county seats), several hundred market towns and tens of thousands of villages. Probably not more than twenty per cent, of the people are found in the cities, the rest being scattered all over the country in villages and market towns. Races and Religions There are at least three distinct races in the province. They are the Chinese, Mongo- 3 lia;i and Turkish. The Turks (locally called Sala) are found in the basin of the Yellow River, chiefly in the country of Hsuin-hua in the western part of the province. The)- num- ber about 100,000, and are followers of Mo- hammed. The Mongols (locally called Tong-hs ang huei-liiiei) are found mostly between the T’ao and the Ta rivers in the counties of Titao and Hochow. There are, at the least estima,te, 200,000 of them. They also are Moslems. Other Mongols, few in number, live in scat- tered villages and are Buddhists in religion. They are locally known as the t’u-reti. Among these two races no missionaiy’ work IS being done. Of Chinese there are in this province up- wards of 10,000,000. But two millions of them adhere fanatically to Mohammed and his re- ligion. The others are followers of Confucius, Buddha and Lao-tsi. Amdo, Tibet The whole of northeast Tibet adjoining Kansu province is known generally as Ching- hai or Ku-ku-nor. (The first name is Chinese, the second, Mongolian, both meaning blue lake.) This great religion includes the Tsai- 4 dom, Kukuno' proper and Upper Amdo. The former two are peopled with Mongolians, the latter with Tibetans. These three districts ap- proximate 750,000 in population. In these re- gions no missionarj- work ha3 been done. The above named districts are ruled over by a Chi- nese general, btit his rule is nominal only. Lower or Eastern Amdo is ruled by the Gov- ernor of Kansu. Its people are purely Tibetan, and they number approximately 250,000. The vast majority of the people in these dis- tricts are devotees of Lamaism while a smajl number still adhere to the Bon faith, which is the ancient religion of Tibet. First Work in Kansu The first Protestant missionaries to enter the province were two C. I. M. pioneers. In the year 1876 they made a trip lasting several months daring which they reached Lanchow, the capital. The next year, 1877, the first sta- tion was opened at Tsinchow, in the east of the province. In 1894 some brethren of the Scandinavian Alliance began work in Ping-liang, a large city in the east of Kansu. From these beginnings the work of these societies extended to various places in the province and continues to the present time under the blessing of God. Beginning of Alliance Work In April, 1895. the Alliance missionaries reached Taochow, Old City, on the Tibetan border. Every year thereafter more mission- aries followed. Extensive itinerating was car- ried on by them for five years. During this period three stations were opened, viz., Tao- chow Old City, Minchow and Paongan. The latter, in the heart of the .Tibetan tribe of kekong, after being held for 18 months, was destroyed by a Tibetan mob, the missionaries barely escaping with theiV lives. Several at- tempts were made at two other points in Low- er Amdo — La-brang and Hehts’o, — but per- sistent and violent opposition compelled us to retire to Taochow Old City', the ba3e of all our Tibetan work. In 1900 all missionaries were recalled on account of the Boxer outbreak. When the missionaries started for the coa^t they bade farewell to a weeping and sorrowful handful of the first-fruits from that comer of the great harvest field. Thus ended the first stage of missionary wtork on the Kansu-Tibetan border. 6 Extension In the Slimmer of 1902 work was resumed. Other stations were opened from time to time, among the more important of which are the walled cities of Taochow New Cit}', Titao, Chone, Hochow and Kongchang. Besides these there are other six points occupied. Thus we hold at present thirteen stations and out- stations. At eleven of them either mission- aries or evangelists are permanently located, the remaining two places being visited periodi- cally. Ten of these stations are situated among the Chinese, and three — Chone, Le La- cheur Memorial and Hsien-ti — on the border line among the Tibetans. The Missionary Force From the beginning to the present time there have been sent out to this field thirty-eight missionaries. Of these, five have gone “to be with Christ,” six have resigned from our So- ciety, one was retired, three were transferred to Central China, while twenty-three remain in connection with this field. Character of Work The work of our missionaries is chiefly evangelistic and pastoral. They lead and 7 I supervise the work of native evangelists on our stations and outstations. This involves a good deal of traveling. They have also to plan and often lead preaching campaigns at fairs and among the villages. They set the evangelist an example in the street chapels and at market towns. They plan tours for the selling of Scriptures, oversee the work and keep the accounts of the colporteurs. They are called upon to deal with difficulties arising in the work, to arbitrate between the heathen and Christians and to settle knotty problems of church discipline and Christian practice. Besides preaching at the regular Sunday services, they hold special evangelistic meetings on their stations for the unsaved and conventions for the instruction and edifica- tion of believers. They conduct Sunday Schools for the systematic study of the Word, and superintend day schools for the education of the children of our Christian community. And, besides all this, they have the general oversight and care of a mission station with its many and varied calls upon their time, strength and patience. In short, the mission- ary’s life is a life lived in a very practical way for “others.” Our lady missionaries give much of their 8 time to the day and Sunday Schools above mentioned. ' They also do all the work there is done among women. This distinctive work consists in visiting the women in their homes, receiving them when they call at the mission station, touring in the villages to preach to the women, and holding special “women’s meet- ings” and reading classes for their salvation and instruction. Incidentally, our ladies look after the sick, both among Christian a,nd hea- then friends, advise the women when in diffi- culty, cheer them when discouraged, comfort them when in sorrow and in all things show them an example of Christian womanhood. Thank God for the noble Christian women by whose lives Christ is being magnified and glorified among the heathen. Results to end of 1917. From the beginning, 616 converts have been baptized. Of these, nearly thirty have gone to be with the Lord, a few have been transferred to other Missions, about eighty have been ex- communicated and 475 remain in church fel- lowship. These Christians are organized in eight congregations, the largest of which has a membership of 105, the smallest, of fifteen. Besides these members, there are enrolled in 9 I incjuircrs’ classes 296 converts under instruc- tion preparatorj' to baptism. V\’e never baptize infants, and only those who have publicly con- fessed Christ as their Saviour are enrolled as inquirers. Five day schools and one boarding school have sprung up to take care of the children of native Christians. They have an enrollment of eighty-four. A Bible Training School came into existence to meet the need of more thorough Bible in- struction for those whom, vve believe, God is calling to preach the gospel. Its full course covers three years and its modified course two years. From among its graduates there now assist us in the Lord's service fifteen c\’angel- ists. At present, eleven men are enrolled as students, all of whom expect to be either evangelists or pastors. Our six school teachers are also from among the converts of our own Mission and are men of sterling Christian character and good in- fluence for Christ. As a result, more than half of the scholars are Christians. About a dozen Christian native women are in course of preparation for Biblewomen’s work. Within two years %ve hope to have several Biblewomen fulb’ employed. JO In the matter of self-support, the churches are making headway, and vve are hoping that in a few years all local congregations will have become entirely self-supporting. How- ever, in this as in self-propagation there re- mains much to be desired. Present Needs We need young men for purely Tibetan work. They must be strong, able to put up with any circumstances, eat any kind of food and endure hardness as good soldiers of Je- sus Christ. Our field needs money for a Bible School building for women, two modest dwelling houses for missionaries, the rebuilding of a chapel, and for the extension of the old Tibe- tan station equipment at Taochow Old Citj'. We need a great increase in our staff of native workers, that the market towns and villages may be thoroughly evangelized. The whole field needs a fresh influx of di- vine life through the Holy Spirit, that the Word of the Lord may spread more rapidly, more simply and more effectively throughout that whole region. Outlook and Opportunities Of that portion of Kansu allotted to our Society for evangelization there are still seven walled cities and forty market towns without any witness for Christ. VVe are hoping and pra>'ing for missionaries to be sent to each of the walled cities and for native evangelists to be placed in these market towns. Here are further opportunities for our people to help in this last great campaign before the Lord comes. May His Spirit stir Mr to further ef- forts to tell of Jesus and His salvation until the last city, the last town, the last village shall have had a witness given. And then shall the end (of the age) come. Just a word more. Let us not forget Amdo and its many tribes and clans who have never seen, never heard, a missionary. W’e cannot give up the hope of fully evangelizing this last corner of our Kansu-Tibetan field. Let us continue to pray and believe for it. And when its doors are fully open, it will not take long to tell the story to its people. How one’s heart bums with the desire to see all the last tribes and peoples of earth evangelized ! Let those who have received the fulness of the Spirit tmderstcuid that they are responsible for the sending of the gospel to all the neg- lected spots of earth. If your fulness of bless- ing ends in yourself, your Mission, or Church, 12 or in anything short of sending salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth you have failed to understand your Lord's commission. If we are to please the Lord Jesus, we must send or carr>' His name to those who never heard it, until all shall have heard. When He comes, may He find us doing His will in this respect, faithfully and whole- heartedly. Amen ! 13 ^•A ■■ f A.-. • ■ * • i. f /..f . _ .'•uii'r^ tw Fi'i’t i 'pt ti f <>f{? T>ili V ♦^tS' ^ 'Vi* ' tfa' ' jtitf ^ft't' 41/ ?li •/’(*/ V *'Kf''**‘‘^^ 'B.‘ -’Ui ■ Hi^ 0' *"11" '- ' ’ '•» .1*^ -.A" .1 ,- .m' k.' i? .V! ifc. '•’•'^di'VV'!^^ ■'•*'' Copies of thi\ trad, as well as of others dealing with the various foreign fields of the Christian and Missionary Alliance and the missionary enterprise in general, may be se- cured FREE by addressing Free Literature Department, Christian Alliance Pub. Co., 318 WEST 3gTH STREET, NEW' YORK CITY. The Christian and Missionary Alliance is an unsectarian Society carrying on missionary zcork in nearly all the great heathen lands of the world. Its work has included much pio- neering in new fields and is strongly e angel- istic in character. Its 300 missionaries and 600 native workers arc supported at a very moderate rate by the freewill offerings of Christian people. Inquiries may be made of the Foreign Secre- tary and contributions sent to the Treasurer, at 690 Eighth Avenue, Neiv York, N. Y.