MR. SMITH'S ENTRY ON MISSION WORK. MR. SMITH has sent the following very interesting account of his first missionary tour. Mr. Mackenzie had to visit KiehYang, and Mr. Smith accompanied him. We left Swatow, he says, in the Gospelboat on Friday afternoon, and sailed forty miles up the river to Kieh-Yang. Next morning we breakfasted in the small room connected with the so-called chapel. It is a Chinese house, altered as far as it was possible for preaching in. They are sorely in need of a proper building. Several places are fitted up for lodging the native Christians, who come from distant villages, for a night or two. Mr. Mackenzie preached to those who had already arrived on Saturday night, and examined several anxious ones who were seeking admission into the church. I was exceedingly struck with the cheerfulness of the Chinese Christians-they were so thoroughly happy. Early on Lord's-day morning Mr. Mackenzie preached again. It was very touching to see the worshippers coming in all forenoon and saluting one another with "Pêng au," that is, "Peace be with you," the old Jewish salutation. It almost made me weep to see a mother coming with a child on her back, and two others by her side, carrying the rice for their day's food, and the bedding mat for the night, and to hear that they came from a far-off village, and from a husband who maltreated them. As I beheld them these words came stealing into my mind: "Of such the world is not worthy." By eleven o'clock the place was about full of members and heathen onlookers and, as Mr. Mackenzie preached, the heathen kept coming in till it was packed full-indeed, many went away who could not get in. It was an intensely impressive scene, even though I was unable to understand the service. With one or two exceptions they seemed to be devouring greedily, the incorruptible seed of the Word, as the sower scattered it broad-cast among them: just as when you feed a brood of hungry chickens, or throw sweets into a crowd of children. It was a sight worth going round the world to see. I am sure if young men at home entering on the Lord's work saw but one such sight here, they would never once dream of dragging the oft-fished pool of Home-missions, when these Chinese seas yield such shoals of living fishes for the gospel net. After the address eighty-seven of us partook of the Lord's Supper together, and I had the privilege of acting as an elder. I got an untold blessing while thus having fellowship with my Chinese fellow-believers and with the Father and His Son Jesus. I had the great privilege of saying a few words to these dear souls, Mr. Mackenzie, acting as my interpreter. All the stations are not so lively as Kieh-Yang. There is, indeed, what I may call a revival here at present. The eager, anxious throng reminded me on a miniature scale of the throngs which assembled to hear Mr. Moody at home. This work began through a man who got healing at Dr. Gauld's hospital, and went and told his native villagers how the Lord in His mercy had healed both his body and soul. greater part of the applicants for admission into the kingdom of heaven by baptism are from his village. It is the old story over again-" Andrew first findeth his own brother, Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is being interpreted, the Christ; and he brought him to Jesus." A REQUEST. The I was only a few hours in Amoy when I began my lessons in the language of China. My teacher is the same man that gave W. C. Burns his first lesson in the Amoy dialect. He is still a heathen and an opium smoker. I want you all to pray for him that God may save his soul:-pray in great faith. Rev. David Smith. GOD IS READY. Ready to forgive.-PSALM lxxxvi. 5. Ready to save.-ISAIAH XXXviii. 20. Ready to judge.-1 PETER iv. 5. SCENES IN BIBLE LANDS. BY THE REV. R. GRANT BROWN, BIRMINGHAM. I. BETHLEHEM. WOULD you not like to see all the places you read of in the Bible, such as Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Jerusalem? If any one had told me when I was a boy that I was not only to see those countries, but live in them for years, I would have leaped for joy. I wish I could take all the young readers of the Children's Messenger to see those places with their own eyes; but since I cannot do that I will try to tell them exactly how they look. We will begin with Bethlehem, because Jesus was born there. How shall we colour this picture? In that country there are some bright beautiful days in February "with the smell of the summer in them," as the Arabs say, so you may paint the sky a deep blue, and imagine a flood of golden sunshine lighting up all the landscape, and the air so clear that you can see every line of the most distant hills. The earth and stones are light brown inclining to orange yellow, and the rocks and walls have a cheerful light yellowish grey. There is no green turf as in England, because there is no rain in summer; but in February there is a good deal of grass springing among the loose stones. In the valleys and on the slopes of the hills, which you see in the picture, there are vineyards with wine-presses cut in the rocks, and towers to guard the fruit, and fields of barley and wheat just as in the days of Boaz, the rich man of Bethlehem, of whom you read in the book of Ruth. On the rugged parts of the hills you may see shepherds with their white sheep, with wide and fat tails, and glossy black goats. I wonder whether David, when he was a shepherd boy, wore the same kind of queer, stiff, felt cloak. Afterwards when he was a man, and had many enemies, and often did not know where to rest in safety, or to get food for himself and his men, he remembered how carefully he used to take his flock to grassy places on the hills, and lead them at noon day to rest beside a little stream in the valley, and he sung the sweet psalm you know, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." The palm tree on the right shows you how warm the climate is, its feather-like leaves are light green, the tall cypress tree is very dark green, and there is a prickly pear cactus at its foot. This cactus, though now so common in Palestine, was unknown in the days of the Saviour. It is an American plant, and has been brought over to the Old World since the discovery of the New. This view of Bethlehem is taken from ground higher than the village, but as you approach it from Jerusalem it stands above you on two or three hills. As you climb the rugged road, a little way before you enter the village you pass groups of women drawing water from a well-perhaps the very well from which David longed to drink, when his native Bethlehem was in the hands of the Philistines (2 Samuel xxiii. 15). Do you think Ruth, the great grandmother of David, was dressed in a long white sheet like those women? The ground about the village is very fertile, so it was called Ephratah, or the fruitful, and afterwards Bethlehem, which means the House of Bread, or Food. God arranged that the very name should be a prophecy of Christ who was to be born there, and who is the Bread of Life. If you do not eat your body dies; if you do not take Christ you perish-soul and body. There is something very cheerful about the white, flat-roofed houses of Bethlehem. The women are counted the fairest in Syria, and the men are tall and strong-apt to rebel sometimes against their Turkish governors. Yet, you see, it is but a small place; you could easily count all the houses in it. A few years ago there were only 300 inhabitants. And so the prophet Micah said hundreds of years before Jesus was born, "Thou Bethlehem-Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth that is to be ruler in Israel." (Micah v. 2.) The Lord of heaven and earth did not come to be born in a great city, like Jerusalem, or Athens, or Rome, but chose to honour this little village as his birth place. Will He despise you, dear young reader, because you are little, or poor, or ignorant? When He sent an army of bright angels to say that He had come, it was not to kings or emperors, but to humble shepherds near Bethlehem. Those little hills echoed the music of the heavenly hymn, "Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, goodwill towards man. Now we will enter some of the white houses of the village. The men seem nearly all busy with mother-of-pearl shells, which, they say, come from the Red Sea. They cut them not into buttons, as they do in Birmingham-but into pretty ornaments, and crosses, and ugly images of saints. They call themselves Christians, but I am afraid most of them are very ignorant of the Lord Jesus. But you will be very glad to hear that there is a large Protestant school, which I found full of bright boys, learning to read the New Testament in Arabic-their own language. In the If you ask the people of Bethlehem where Jesus was born, they will show you the large building which stands on the precipice at the left hand of the picture. The walls, you see, are so high and strong that it looks like a fortress. You enter a very small door, and find inside a splendid church, with forty pillars of white marble, built, they say, by Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great, who was born at York, A.D. 274. Under a great altar a stair takes you down to a cave. rocky floor of it is a silver star, with a Latin inscription, "Here Jesus Christ was born of a virgin." Over the star hang a great many gold and silver lamps, each the gift of a king. As I looked at the silver star I said, "Let us thank God that He was born for us; if not here, somewhere not far away," which made the priest who was my guide very angry, for he said it was the very place. You know better than to believe that He was born in a cave; for you read in Matt. ii. 11, that when the wise men came into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother," and worshipped. Next month I may tell you in what kind of place I think Jesus Christ was born. But before you read anything else, let me ask you a question— Do you really trust in and love Him, who left all the glory of heaven, to be born in the little village of Bethlehem, that He might save His people from their sins, and make them children of God? LOOKING. Look within, and be miserable; Look around and be distracted; Look above, and be happy. Where do you look? REMEMBER THE HEATHEN. Many little ones there are Who knew not of the Saviour's love; From Christian friends this blessed Word- And bids them always come and pray Ch. Miss. Juv. Instructor. REMEMBER. Young disciple, remember you were called out of darkness, and are now in His marvellous light, then walk as children of light. CHINA. GIRLS' SCHOOL AT AMOY. LITTLE is done for the education of girls in China. Schools are everywhere provided for boys. The life of every boy in China depends upon the position he takes at school, and the success with which he passes his examinations. On the other hand, few efforts are made to train the minds of girls. They grow up in ignorance, and occupy an unworthy position in the Chinese home. This affects even the girls in the families of Christian converts. They cannot go to school or even to the church, as their brothers do. They depend entirely on home education, and this is often very defective. At Swatow, a school has been established for girls; and now the girls at Amoy are to have a school also. The wives of our missionaries take these schools under their special care. A building has been bought for £180, the money being all given by friends of the mission in China. The missionaries look to home for help in the annual expenses. We would like to see our girl readers interested and helping their neglected sisters in China. BEARING THE CROSS. at In one of her voyages on her mission work, Hang Sim (the Bible woman Swatow) met with a woman on board to whom she told the story of the living and true God, and of Jesus Christ whom He had sent. Since that time the woman and her daughter and son, a boy of fourteen, have been worshippers of God, and on a recent occasion they were all admitted as members of the Church by our missionaries after giving a clear testimony to their faith in Jesus Christ. An older son had been, and still is, bitterly opposed to his mother becoming a Christian. Once, when she was starting for the chapel on a Sabbath morning, he passionately knelt before her, holding out to her a knife, saying, "If you are to become a worshipper of God, and thus disgrace us all, first kill me." But divine grace helped her, and stayed the wild rage of her son. At the same time a young man was baptised who has for years been an earnest inquirer, and has now been led publicly to decide for Christ. He also has had severe trials in his home. His wife and little daughter, only eleven years of age, were bitterly opposed to his uniting with the church, but he, through grace, has overcome. Such cases as his, writes Mr. Mackenzie, encourage us to sow in hope, and wait upon our covenant keeping God for fruit from the seed sown, even if we have to wait for years. OLD BUN. The Rev. W. Campbell writes that he recently paid a very interesting visit to old Bun, who is now living with his family at Chang-chow-foo. He found him much stronger since he left Formosa. He is able to be very useful to the little flock at Chang-chow-foo, of which his son is a respected elder. Let us pray that God may yet spare and greatly honour in the work of the gospel His aged servant, whom He has in the past so much blessed in bringing the gospel of His Son to many of his countrymen in China and in Formosa. GOD COUNTS. A PLATE of sweet cakes was brought in and laid upon the table. Two children played on the hearth-rug before the fire. Oh, I want one of those cakes!" cried the little boy, jumping up as soon as his mother went out, and going on tiptoe towards the table. "No, no," said his sister, pulling him back, "No, no; you know you must not touch them." "Mother wont know it; she didn't count them," he cried, shaking her off, and stretching forth his hand. "If she didn't, perhaps God counted," answered the sister. This thought stayed the little boy's hand. Yes, dear reader, be sure that God counts. ST. JOHN xiv. 6. I am the Way-Follow Me.-MARK ii. 14. I am the Truth-Learn of Me.-MATT. xi. 29. I am the Life-Abide in Me.-JOHN xiv. 4. |