Part 1.
AS I daresay you know, China is a very large country, and has a great many men, women and children living in it. They do not all live in houses, as we do, but a large number live on boats. There are many rivers in China, and near the towns these rivers are crowded with boats. On parts of the river near Canton, you can hardly force a passage between them. They are of all sizes, but as a rule are pretty small.
One can hardly understand how a whole family can live in such a small space. There are often, besides a father and mother and three or four children, the old grandparents, and the boat is not much larger, though perhaps wider, than an ordinary rowing boat.
You see, they have not many possessions; one or two “pais”, or quilts, to keep them warm on cold nights; a mat to sleep on, and two or three little stools to sit on; a small crockery stove, aid a couple of pots to boil rice and vegetables in. These and a few bowls and chopsticks are about all they need, besides the clothes on their backs, which, in the warm weather, are very few.
There is one other thing I must not forget to mention—that is, the idol in its shrine, at one end of the boat. Perhaps this idol is cut from a piece of wood with a knife, but it occupies an honored place, and every day an incense stick is burned before it, evening and morning, and rice or fish is offered to it.
The word of God tells us that things sacrificed to idols are really sacrificed to devils (1 Cor. 10:2020But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. (1 Corinthians 10:20)). These poor, ignorant people know nothing about God and His great love to man, and they live all their lives in fear of some evil spirit doing them harm, so they feel that if they offer food to the evil spirit, and worship him, he will not be so likely to do them evil. And these poor creatures live on in ignorance in their boats. Little children are born on the boats, and old people die, and there is no knowledge of God amongst them. They very seldom come on shore, and hardly any of them can read, so how are they to learn?
Well, there are some missionaries, but only a few, who give up their lives to teaching them. They live on a boat somewhat larger than the ones around them, and spend their time going about in a small boat or “sampan”, and teaching these poor river folk about God and. His great love to them. They are hard people to reach; they are so dark and so ignorant. They have to be told the “Sweet Story of Old” over and over again before they can understand it, and it is difficult to collect even a few for a preaching or Bible meeting, and then just when one thinks they are beginning to learn something, off goes their boat to another part of the river, and you may never see them again. Yet the Good Shepherd loves these poor lost sheep, and goes on seeking for them, and now and then there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents. It takes a great deal of courage to go on living amongst these dirty ignorant people, and only those whose hearts are filled with the love of God, and a longing after the souls of men, can stand it. Shall we not pray that God may bless these brave men and women, and save many souls through their means?
ML 01/04/1925