Chapter 17.
“Those were days of heaven upon earth: nothing seemed difficult.” It was a great deal to say. But who that has known the real fullness of the Holy Spirit, overflowing heart and life with a peace and power not of this world, will doubt the reality of the experience? This joyous testimony from a missionary who had just left the province, might well have described that winter also at Hung-tung for those who remained behind.
There was much in outward circumstances to encourage. Everything opened brightly. Full of hope and enthusiasm, Mr. Stanley Smith and Mr. Hoste threw themselves into the work of their new station, ably reinforced by the native Christians. It was no question of “employment”; so much work for so much pay. There were no salaries. People who loved the Lord preached the Gospel just because they could not help it. And the earnestness and devotion of the young missionaries did much to encourage this spirit.
The sphere in which they found themselves was of unusual interest. Years of seed sowing had prepared the way. Over a range of country more than fifty miles in length, from Hoh-chau in the north to some distance south of the Western Chang village, Hsi’s Refuges were scattered — all of them more or less centers of spiritual blessing. The first journey round the district was sufficient to reveal great possibilities, if only the inquirers could be given help and teaching. At Chao-ch’eng, for example, Mr. Stanley Smith found more than fifty professing Christians, only seventeen of whom had been baptized; and in a busy town farther south there was a nice little chapel with twenty or thirty regular worshippers, but no one to lead the meetings except the local Christians. The young converts in these and other places were doing the best they could, and the Holy Spirit was blessing their efforts. But most of them were country people with little or no education. The majority could not read. And even the leaders were not far enough advanced to deepen the spiritual life of those whom they had been used to gather in.
Someone was needed to take up the work and carry it forward; to follow the Spirit’s leading, seeking to strengthen and develop the workers He was using and deepen in all the life He had begun to impart. Hsi had keenly felt this need, and rejoiced in the coming of missionary colleagues able to supply his lack of service. And the people most cordially joined in the welcome.
“Oh, foreign shepherds, do come and live with us,” was everywhere the cry. “Stay in our village and teach us. We need you more than they do in the city.”
But the district was large: they could not stay everywhere. So, in consultation with Hsi, a double plan was decided on. They would gather all who could come to the city for a Bible school or conference to open the winter’s work, and follow that by regular, frequent visitation of a number of centers during the next six months. Mr. Bagnall, the new missionary superintendent of the province, was coming to live at P’ing-yang and would be present. And as his bride was with him, he was sure of an extra welcome, for no foreign lady had ever yet visited Hung-tung.
They came in the end of October. And for the first few days it was a problem how to satisfy the curiosity of the city people, who flocked to the mission house in crowds to see the English lady. Preparations for the conference also were in progress, so that it was indeed a busy scene. But many hands make light work. Three kitchens and nine stoves kept going for a week, managed to supply enough bread and other provisions for a couple of hundred guests. And Mrs. Bagnall’s courage and patience were equal to the occasion.
It was the largest church gathering ever held up to that time in South Shansi, and gave the missionaries the opportunity they needed for coming into touch with every part of their wide field. Among the inquirers not a few seemed ready for baptism, and their cases were carefully considered, with Mr. Bagnall’s and Pastor Hsi’s help. Meanwhile Mrs. Bagnall was making friends with the women, who implored her to stay in the district, and could only be comforted, when they found she must go on to P’ing-yang, by the promise of a visit shortly from Mrs. Hsi. The meetings were full of power, and fired all hearts with the expectation of greater things to come. A large new baptistery had been built into the chapel courtyard, and was used for the first time when, at the close of the conference, fifty-four men and two women were received into the Church.
Then came the winter’s work. Dividing the district into sections, Messrs. Stanley Smith and Hoste arranged to visit fifteen or twenty centers regularly, at which the Christians from surrounding villages could meet them. Little intervals between these journeys they gave to rest and study. Not much progress could be made, however, with classical Chinese during those busy months, though they got on famously with the spoken language. Of course it was strenuous work, entailing constant hardship on cold, rough journeys and in the simple homes of the people. But they accustomed themselves to such conditions by living entirely in Chinese style in the city. They always ate with chopsticks, slept on heated brick beds like their neighbors, and wore the dress of the ordinary Shansi scholar. So that when they started out month by month on their long circuits the necessary inconveniences were not unbearable.
Dressed in wadded cotton garments, with fur lined caps and wadded shoes, they were proof against the inclemency of the northern winter; and not being accustomed to stoves at home, they were ready to fight the cold with a Chinaman’s methods. Their rounds were made on foot, through winter sunshine, over snow covered mountain roads, or across the frozen valley and ice bound river, where towns and villages lay thickest under their veil of white. Accompanied by willing helpers, they spent many an hour singing and talking as they tramped, making good use of opportunities by the way, as well as at various stopping places, where so warm a welcome met them.
The Christians of the district were intensely fond of singing, a happy proclivity that the young missionaries turned to good account. In their own quarters at Hung-tung, on their journeys in all directions, and in homes wherever they went, they kept the people singing. Hsi had done a good deal on these lines already, and his hymns were deservedly popular. To the best of these Mr. Stanley Smith added others from various sources, with songs and choruses of his own. The collection grew into a nice little volume, and met a long felt need. So much was it appreciated that fully a thousand copies were purchased that winter, and the hymns were sung everywhere with enthusiasm, until outside heathen people began to pick them up.
So the life of the Hung-tung Christians was set to song. The outcome was not always musical, but it was full of blessing. A good hymn is a reservoir of truth, and through constant use much sweetness is extracted by even the dullest saint. Singing was thus found to be a most important means of grace, as well as practically helpful in other ways. Nothing cheered the patients in the Refuges so much or was so speedy a cure for anxious care. Often in the coldest weather, the missionaries would be amused to see the Christians with whom they were staving or the more vigorous of the opium patients, drive away chilliness of soul and body by singing over their work, or as they walked up and down for exercise, until the ardour of their efforts was attested by the perspiration that ran down their faces. By that time despondency and depression were pretty sure to have taken flight.
The tunes were in many cases as original as the hymns. Pastor Hsi was himself always singing. Many of the airs he adopted were of native origin; and others, European by extraction, “had their heads shaved like the missionaries and were put in Chinese dress.” These naturalized melodies took wonderfully with the people. Hsi had also his own way of leading. He loved to pitch the tunes as high as possible, and keep them up to a good, swinging pace. There was nothing dull or drowsy about the Hung-tung services when he was present. And the same tone of cheerfulness pervaded the meetings in the Refuges and elsewhere.
It was a wonderful winter. The Word of God was widely disseminated; backsliders were restored; and young converts filled with love and fire. Sometimes when Mr. Stanley Smith was preaching at Hung-tung, the place seemed filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. And Hsi was no less used, there and throughout the district.
Some mistakes, of course, were made, and friction caused by difference of opinion. The young missionaries had much to learn, and Hsi was far from perfect. Full of enterprise, they went ahead a good deal in their devoted way. And he, not always approving, rather grimly looked on. But he loved them far too well to misunderstand. And by prayer and patience on both sides, anything like serious difficulty was avoided.
And even when most conscious of his failings, they could not but see how manifestly he was blessed and used of God. All that winter he was so under the power of the Spirit, that he seemed even to impart the Divine Presence to others. When he found among his helpers faithful brethren tried by special temptation, he would give himself to prayer and fasting and then lay his hands upon them; with the result that repeatedly such men were filled with the Holy Spirit. This had always been his practice to a certain extent; but now he found increasing blessing to result from it. And not only in these cases were his prayers answered. Frequently in the Refuges and among the Christians he was asked to lay his hands on people and pray for them, that they might receive comfort and uplifting: a result that often followed, but only when he himself was in close touch with God.
Hsi’s work at this time was constant and varied. In addition to the pastoral care of the district, he had all his Refuges to visit, in several of which enlarged accommodation had to be provided. He went down also during the winter to a conference at P’ing-yang, and helped Mr. Bagnall in the baptism of new members and the appointment of additional church officers. And at Hung-tung special building operations had to be put through, for the Refuge was popular, and often fifty men at a time were under treatment. All this involved frequent absences from home, and would have been impossible but for the help of Elder Si, who was married during the winter to Mrs. Hsi’s younger sister, and was able to take charge of affairs at the Western Chang village.
Saved from the depths himself, Si had the keenest sympathy with all the work that Hsi was carrying on. His experience in the Chao-ch’eng Refuge and elsewhere fitted him to be helpful in training others; and his gracious, humble spirit endeared him to his fellow workers. With a great heart and unbounded sympathies, he was filled with a solicitude for the sinful and suffering that amounted to a passion for souls. And yet this man only a few years before had been so hopelessly sunk in sin that for months he had been refused admission to the Fan-ts’uen Refuge. His story is interesting as showing the kind of men with whom Hsi had to deal and the secret of his influence over them.
It was in Fan’s village, near Hung-tung, that young Si had grown up. His father, a well-to-do man, was a confirmed opium smoker, day and night under the influence of the drug. With such an example before him, the lad early began to go astray. At sixteen he commenced the fatal habit, and ten years later was well known as an “opium fiend.” Health and character suffered, until morally and physically he was little better than a wreck.
Friends who at one time were earnest in exhorting him to reform, abandoned the useless effort, and young Si rapidly drifted from bad to worse.
Still, he was not particularly concerned. He was well provided for, and cared little about his reputation as long as he had money to spend and plenty of opium. Fan, who was a religious man though not at that time a Christian, repeatedly did his best to rouse young ST to a sense of his danger. But he was only laughed at for his pains, and finally desisted.
Then came the drought and famine — three long, dreadful years. Riches took flight; the comforts of life quickly disappeared; and ere long actual want, if not starvation, stared the family in the face. How they came through that terrible time, and managed still to secure enough opium to satisfy father and son, was a mystery. But it left them financially ruined, and the younger man eager, at last, to get rid of his vicious habits. But for long years he struggled in vain.
At length a change came in the village. Fan the Buddhist had become a Christian, and was full of a new joy and hope. His house became a center to which numbers of people were attracted to hear the “glad tidings,” as he called his new religion. Finally, moved with pity for his opium smoking neighbors, Fan persuaded the foreign teacher to come over from P’ing-yang and undertake the cure of any who were willing to give up the habit. The attempt was remarkably successful, and led to the establishment of a permanent Refuge, by means of which numbers of men from all the countryside were finding their way back to life and health.
But for poor Si the opportunity seemed to have come too late. Strange to say, he was so bad a case that Fan would not receive him. “No,” he said, “our hands are full with men who can be cured. You are hopeless.” But at the same time he invited him to attend the services.
This Si continued to do. But all he heard at the meetings only deepened his concern. At length a sermon preached by Mr. Drake roused him to such an extent that he applied again to be taken into the Refuge. But still Fan was unwilling.
His only hope now lay in Hsi, and taking advantage of his next visit to the Refuge, Sr made a final appeal. Hsi was deeply moved, and pleaded his cause with Fan. “Why did the Lord Jesus come into the world at all?” he said. “Was it not to save sinners? Do not let us consider whether his life is good or bad. It may be the Lord will have mercy, and save him.” And so, in the end, he was admitted.
With special care the principles of the Refuge were explained to the new patient, and he was made to understand that nothing but prayer and the power of God could save him. That night, in his earnestness to be brought through, the poor fellow spent hours in trying to pray. He supposed that in such matters one could only be heard for much speaking; and on and on until early morning he repeated the same cry for help, hoping to move the heart of the Christians’ God. And heard he assuredly was, for the rapidity with which his cure was affected was remarkable.
Within a week he was well enough to begin to hope even for his poor old father. Obtaining leave of absence from the Refuge, he sought him out, and pleaded long and earnestly that he would break off his evil habits before it was too late. But no; it seemed impossible. The old man was glad enough to see his son reform, but he himself had been an opium smoker for over forty years. There could be no changing now.
The son had to go back disappointed. But not for long. Sickness came; and in terror of death the old man determined to break off his opium as a last chance. It was a risky business; but much prayer was made on his behalf, and “God helped him also,” as his son so simply said.
It was very touching, when both were cured, to see them start out together on a new life. While still in the Refuge they had agreed to take down all their idols; and the first thing on reaching home was to carry this mutual resolve into effect. The father had been a zealous idolater, but now he was eager to burn every vestige of their former gods. The change in that home was so great that many a heart began to long for the same blessing; and the old man soon had the joy of taking his brother, also a confirmed opium smoker, to the Refuge, where he too found deliverance.
After this the younger Si went down to the Western Chang village. Deeply interested in his welfare, Hsi did all he could to establish him in the faith. Gradually Si came out into full light and blessing. He and his father were baptized together, and under Hsi’s influence the younger man became a successful soul winner, and later on one of the leaders of the Refuge work.
Hsi had such a way of inspiring and developing these men. He knew how to bring out the best that was in them. No wonder his influence over them was almost unbounded. And yet his manner tried them too, at times. He had not fully learned the secret of ruling by love, and leading without appearing to lead.
It was evident, even during that first winter, that the prominent position to which he had been appointed might become a source of danger, if any of his fellow workers drifted away in heart from the Lord. Fan, for example, had declined somewhat in spiritual life; and his work no longer prospering, he had been glad to accept a position in one of Hsi’s newer Refuges. But though outwardly friendly, he was envious and dissatisfied, and even then was beginning to prejudice others. If Hsi had been more humble in his dealings with these men, and more watchful against the temptations of his new position, much trouble might have been avoided. But he had to learn by sad experience, and meanwhile roots of bitterness were springing up, in spite of all the blessing of that wonderful time.
Perhaps no better idea can be gained of his character during these months, than from Mr. Stanley Smith’s own recollections, embodied in a recent letter: “Socially,” he writes, “Hsi was a thorough gentleman, and a most interesting companion. Intellectually he had mental gifts of a high order. His powers of imagination, organization, oratory, memory, and judgment were uncommon. In temperament he was enthusiastic, bold, and decided. In his spiritual character, when I first knew him, amid much that was loveable and attractive, there were some points in which he was decidedly weak. Since first believing in the Lord, he had not had the advantage of any spiritually minded man, taught in the Word, who could be a help to him in this respect, consequently his exegesis of Scripture was often at fault and fanciful. In those days, too, there was a want of subjection to the Word of God, and a tendency to exalt ideas Chinese, as well as not a little under estimation of the foreign missionary. His prayer life, however, was full and intensely real. All matters were with him subjects for prayer, and as time went on he became a powerful exponent of the Bible, giving addresses marked by great originality and much spiritual insight.
“He had strong temptations, which were sometimes yielded to, in a direction which was a weak spot in his character — the love of power; though it would be very unfair to put this down as ambitious pride, pure and simple. He believed that God had given him a position like Moses, that of leader; and in expecting the subjection of others to his authority, he thought he was carrying out the Divine Will. He had, however, some humbling experiences, and in the two years I was with him his progress in humility was marked, and afterward deepened as time went on. His love for the Master and for souls was characterized by constant labor and self-denial.
“He was a true member of the church militant, and with him fighting the adversary by prayer, or by prayer and fasting, was a frequent exercise. And the name he chose when he became a Christian was no vain boast — for he would only wish it to be understood in the sense of his receiving divine enablement — Hsi Sheng-mo, Demon Overcomer.”
Thus the spring of 1887 drew on. Six months of steady work and prayer had told upon the district. As the snow melted from the mountains, and all grew green again with coming harvests, evidences were not wanting of a spiritual quickening that promised large ingathering’s. Among the inquirers, as the young missionaries went their rounds, numbers were asking for baptism. Family worship was regularly established in many homes. And even the houses of the Christians had taken on a brighter look, and could often be distinguished from those around them by favorite hymns and passages from Scripture written on sheets of colored paper and pasted up outside the doors. A missionary spirit also was gaining ground in the church. Mr. Stanley Smith hardly ever gave an address without dwelling upon the duty and privilege of soul winning. This led to more definite prayer and effort on behalf of others, and brought to decision many who might have long remained indifferent.
Meanwhile up at Hoh-chau a new influence for good was at work. The ladies who had arrived during the winter were already much beloved, and the blessing of their prayerful, devoted lives was felt in many a place they had not yet visited. Living simply in native style, wearing the local dress, and conforming to the manners of the people, they had disarmed prejudice, and were finding hearts and homes open to them in all directions.
The work of the winter had deepened love and confidence, also, between Hsi and his missionary colleagues in both stations. So much was this the case that, at Hung-tung, Mr. Stanley Smith felt it would be a great strength to the work if the pastor and his wife would both make their home in the city, and assume direct oversight of all that was going on.
“I am thinking of putting myself under Mr. Hsi,” he wrote at this time. “He has been much used of God, and the work is directly or indirectly chiefly his. I am far from believing in the divine right’ of missionaries; that simply because one has come out as a missionary, the native Christians ought all to bow to one’s opinion and accept one as a guide. There is one Guide for the Church. Oh, that we all may increasingly look to Him.”
These elements, and many others, combined to bring about the “great gathering” of April 1887, which came as a climax to the winter’s work and prayer.
That conference was to all present an occasion never to be forgotten. There had been not a few assemblies of the same nature before, but never one so full of power and promise. Both in numbers and enthusiasm it exceeded even the meetings of the previous year, when the “Venerable Chief Pastor” had visited the province. Then scores of Christians gathered. Now, with the inquirers, they numbered hundreds. Then, there were but few women present. Now, a woman’s courtyard had been added to the premises; and Mrs. Hsi, with her newly married sister, were busy caring for country and city women from all parts of the district, over fifty of whom were about to be baptized. Then, the Hung-tung church was inaugurated; and seventy believers, transferred from the mother station, broke bread together at the first communion service. Now, over three times that number were to be received by baptism in a single day.
The facts tell but little. One has to live through all the previous years, and know what it is for such a work to grow up slowly in the love and prayers of one’s deepest life, to understand what such an occasion means. One soul is precious, hardly won from heathen darkness. What shall be said of hundreds?
Outside the chapel, in the open courtyard, most of the services were held. The organization was admirable, from the preparations for entertaining so large a company, down to a simple method for introducing new hymns and choruses. Two prominent pillars, supporting the eaves in front of the chapel, were made use of, and large sheets of calico on which the verses were written in clear characters, were raised or lowered as occasion required. The singing itself was an inspiration. Never before had such a volume of praise ascended to God from the far interior of China.
A whole day had to be set apart for the baptisms, for two hundred and fourteen inquirers were about
to be received, of whom fifty-two were women, Pastor Hsi, who had been fasting for two days previously, spoke with great power on the Atonement, imparting a most impressive earnestness to the occasion. Early in the morning the services had to begin, and all the missionaries present took part. But it was not until the sun was going down that Hsi, still fasting, came up out of the water, having baptized the last group of fifty men.
The Communion that followed was a fitting close to a day, long to be remembered, when nearly four hundred believers in that heathen city united in commemorating the love that gave Jesus to die: “One of the most moving scenes I ever witnessed,” wrote Mr. Stanley Smith.
Little though he realized it then, Mr. Smith’s work in Hung-tung was almost finished. Summer was beginning, when regular itinerations would have to be suspended on account of the harvest season. And sudden, unexpected changes were at hand — a crisis that was to shake to its very foundations the Church he loved so well.
Was it in view of this he was led to plead in the last meeting for whole hearted surrender to the Lord Jesus; and to press home the marvelous possibilities, for each one, of a life in the Holy Ghost? Some were, then and there, filled with the Spirit as never before. And the closing moments of the conference were memorable, as, “literally aglow with prayer,” Hsi led in thanksgiving for coming blessing.