CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOK
(THREE
MISSIONARY PICTURES)
My
Dear Children,
Here
are three missionary pictures all from
a book* by Mrs.
Howard Taylor, daughter‑in‑law of Hudson
Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission. The first is a
memory‑picture of her own: the central figures are those of Hudson
Taylor himself, and of a bright, Chinese lad who “at one of the stations in Honan
‑ had been set free to accompany and help the veteran missionary and his
family as they travelled in
China
a few Weeks before Hudson Taylor's death. More keenly than they realized had
their family life been watched. After some weeks, the time for parting came.
“The Lord be with you,” said Hudson Taylor, looking into the lad’s eager
face. “I shall be waiting for you in heaven.”
[*
"The
Call of
China
's
Great
North West
, or
“Kansu and Beyond,” by Mrs.
Howard Taylor,
China
Inland
Mission
.]
“
‘Waiting for you in heaven’ ‑ the words would not leave him. Within a
fortnight the speaker had passed in to see the King, and the Honan lad, who had
given his heart afresh to the Lord after that parting, longed as never before to
live for eternity. It was the first step in the making of a missionary.”
The
scene shifts. The
Honan
lad is now a popular young doctor; flattering offers are being pressed upon him
which promise wealth and influence. With children of his own to provide for, he
is being insensibly drawn away from the missionary work in far‑oft needy Kansu to which he had heard God's call. “One night he was hurrying
over a brief prayer, giving thanks for help and guidance through the day, when,
all unexpectedly, a voice spoke in his heart. ‘Do not thank Me
. . . Your way has not been of
Me.
’ Startled, he realized that God was speaking. ‘All these years, what have
you lacked? Has any good thing failed of all I promised? This going into
official life ‑ is it what I called you for? Was it for wealth I called
you, or to preach the Gospel?’ Deeply convicted, he remembered the
consecration of early years, and realised how near he had come to missing
God’s best. With contrition of heart he came back to the LORD, asking only to
know His will, and before he rose from his knees the decision was made for
Kansu
.”
Our
last picture shows us another incident in the life of Dr. Rao, the former
Honan
lad, now a missionary Indeed. Travelling the road one day, “he noticed an
elderly man in front of him who looked like a Buddist devotee. Quickening his
pace, he dismounted and asked whether ‘the Venerable Grandfather’ would
not like to ride.” ‘Friendly
intercourse followed; Kao enquired the traveller's occupation, and was informed
that he was" ‘a preacher of the luminous doctrine of the great Lord
Buddha.’ ‘Will you not preach to me?’ ‘Delighted,’ said the old man,
‘I am never more happy than when someone will listen to my doctrine.’
Earnestly he held forth about vegetarianism and worship of Buddha, while Dr. Kao
walked beside him.” Then came the noonday halt and the wayside inn. “ ‘I
have been very discourteous,’ remarked the stranger as they finished their
rice. ‘I have not yet enquired as to your occupation.’ ‘Well,’ replied
Dr. Kao pleasantly, ‘I am ‑ I am a preacher.’ ‘A preacher! Why did
you not tell me? Do you also propagate the great Fu‑tao?’ "Then, on
Dr. Kao admitting that his teaching was
different:-“ ‘Let us make a bargain,’ said the old man. ‘If your
teaching is better than mine, I will be your disciple; and if mine is better
than yours, then you will be my disciple.’ ‘Good,’ said Dr. Kao, ‘Let us
at once set out.’ Hour after hour they walked together, leading the horse, for
the old man would not ride, and the more he heard the more his interest
deepened. Finding that he could read, Dr. Kao got out his Bible, and in the inn
that night they turned to many passages which made the saying message plain.
They prayed together ‑ the first prayer Mr. Ho had ever beard in the name
of Jesus. Awakening Kao at daybreak:‑ ‘Brother,’ he said, ‘I am not
going on to the
temple
to‑day
. I am going home. No, I am not ill, but my heart has found the peace it longed
for. Your teaching is better far than mine. Henceforth, I am a believer in
Jesus.”
“Taking
off his long rosary, he handed it to Dr. Kao, with other objects used in worship
and much valued. ‘I do not want them any more,’ he said. ‘But there is one
thing ‑ the Book! Could you let me have it to take home to my people?’
It was Dr. Kao's own Bible, the only copy he had with him, but he did not
hesitate. ‘Take it gladly,’ he said. ‘It is God's own Word, and He will
give you His Holy Spirit that you may understand it.’ So they parted ‑
the new believer going back to his people with the message they had never heard,
and Dr. Kao promising to visit him later if the way opened.”
“The
Gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation to
everyone that believeth; to the
Jew first, and also to the Greek”(Rom. 1: 16) ‑ to the
Gospel‑hardened in this land of Bible light and privilege, who awakes to
righteousness and is pricked in his heart so that he cries "What
shall I do to be saved?" and also to the heathen who, bearing for
the first time of the Saviour Who loved and died for him, repents, believes, and
like the Eunuch of old ‑ goes on his way rejoicing, even though the
earthly teacher‑friend be withdrawn from his sight (Acts
8, 26‑39).
Your affectionate friend,
HELEN RAMSAY.