“From Far-Away Japan.” from the September 22, 1900 Advocate
FROM FAR-AWAY JAPAN.
Mr. and Mrs. B. L. Anderson, of Detroit Harbor, recently received the following letter from Rev. Edward James, who was one of the missionaries to China, but who was forced to fly the country and betake himself to Japan. The epistle, which was kindly loaned the editor, is dated at Nagasaki, July 26th, and reads as follows:
“Your gift of $20 for a scholarship is received. You can scarcely realize how it strengthens our hands to know that so many people really have a living, personal interest in the Chinese, and in the work we are endeavoring to do to bring about the regeneration of China. You doubtless have received the pictures I sent of the group of five boys and young men. Such young men, trained in the Christian schools, are the only hopes of China. Not politics, not war, not commerce, can save China. Her only hope must be in young men grounded in the faith of Christ, and these can come only from such schools. Such young men, in sympathy with all good and reforms will go out among the millions of the people and show them the way of life in Jesus. Such work we are trying to do now, “but the laborers are few.” Oh, for an army of 100,000 trained young men to go forth armed with “the sword of the spirit,” and “shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace.”
“You doubtless know of the present trouble in China. That is why we are in Japan. In this one little town there are nearly 1,000 people who have fled from China. One can scarcely think of a proper figure of comparison. China seems like some huge giant turning over roughly on being awakened from his sleep; or like a great whale in the last throes of death agony. It certainly is wonderful to contemplate a nation of 400,000,000, the largest nation on the earth, waking from sleep of thousands of years. China, no doubt, would prefer to sleep on. The mandarins prefer their present system of government to all others; the priests prefer their religious symbols to all others; the gentry and scholars think themselves wise and sagacious, and all desire to everlastingly continue. But the dreams of ages must be dispelled. China is too large a portion of the earth to be allowed to sleep and stagnate and die when all the rest of the globe is throbbing under the quickened impulse of the dawn of the twentieth century.
“After staying by our posts to the very last hour, all of our missions finally yielded to the repeated commands of our consuls and advice of our missionary boards, have left the valley. Some are in Japan, and some are in Shanghai. How much of our property will be left, or how many of the native Christians will stand, or when we shall be able to return and reorganize the work are problems known only to God. What with so much sickness and excitement and worry I am afraid Mrs. James may be obliged to return to the United States. She often expresses the hope that during her visit home she may be able to go to the island.”
Rev. Mr. James, it may be of interest to note, was at one time pastor of the M. E. church on Washington Island, and as such became known to a large number of its people. His letter will therefore be read with pleasure and satisfaction by all.
Courtesy of the Door County Library Newspaper Archive
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