The Mt. Sterling advocate., 1893-09-05
THE WORLDS FAIR
AS a Field For Foreign Mission.
airy Work.


tlemen to the Christian faith. DIR.
Black, pastor of tie Central Christian
church, Chicago, is well-known and
greatly beloved by many of the people
in this section. The Commercial Ga.
cial says:
''Two sons Of japan, who were sent
to Chicago to represent Japanese Gov
ernment at the Worlds Columbian
Exposition, have been converted to
Christianity. G They are /. Yoshi-
kawa, of Toxic, and s. Minano, Of
Osaka. Rev. w. f. Black, pastor OF
the Central Church of Christ, Thirty
eventh street and Indiana avenue,
converted them. Mr. Yoshikswa Is
one Of the Interpreters for his Govern
ment at the Fair, while Mr.. Minano
is Commissioner. Both are very In
telligent men. They have been bap-
tized in the faith of the Christian
Church, and upon their return to
Japan they intend to- establish miss
sions In all the large cities of their ma
tive land. DIR. Black thinks their
conversion will have n wonderful in
fiuence upon Christianizing the land
of the Mikado.
On one Of his visits to the Worlds
Fair, about two months ago, DR.. Black
was introduced to Mr.. Yoshikswa.
He found him = remarkably intelli-
gent, person, with thorough knowl-
edge of the English language. Mr..
Yoshikawa~ a~wasFeducated~in in London,
and his family is one Of the best in the
Japanese Empire. For several years
he taught the English language in his
native city of Toxic. He was at one
time military interpreter for his Gov
ernment. When the Mikado's repre-
sentative was looking for the best
men In that country to be sent to the
Worlds Fair, Mr.. Yoshikawa was
one OF the first to be selected. He had
been in the United States on a pleas
ure tour some years ago, and had
visited all the large cities from the
Atlantic to the Pacific Being close
observer of things, he gained a wide
knowledge of the American people,
and had put into practice some "f the
ideas he had learned here.
Mr.. Minano, of Osaka, is one of the
most prominent men of that city. He
speaks English fairly well, and is an
excellent French scholar. In speaking
of the conversion of Mr.. Yoshikawa
and Mr.. Minano, Rev. DR.. Black
said:
~ was out at the Fair one day with
o friend of mine, who introduced me
to Mr.. Yoshikswa, I found him such
a bright conversationalist that sat
down aud talked with him for more
than an hour. At our first meeting /
never dreamed that he would become
convert to Christianity. In fact, we
did not have much to say upon the
subject Of religion. When / left, i
COVE him my card and invited him to
come. to my Y,,house, when he. .hsd,
IN opportunity. A few days after
that went to the door one evening
after dinner In response to ring, aud
agreeAbly surprised to be confronted
by my japanese freud. We spent .
pleasant evening together. and upon
his departure / invited him to come
to my church the next Sunday night.
"He came, and seemed to be greatly
interested in the services. Wedues-
day evening prsyer-meeting found
him at the church again, and he has
been coming regularly ever since. On
his third or fourth visit he brought his
sister with him. She is an accom-
plished young woman, and, like all the
females Of Japan who, belong. to the
higher class, she Is q very modest
person.
"I visit the the Fair two or three
times each week, and whenever
went there after this always called
at the Japanese Building to see Mr..
Yoshikawa. A warm friendship
sprang up between us, and after got
to know him well I asked him If he
would like to embrace the Christian
religion. He said he had been think
ing of it since his first visit to my
church, 1t was not very hard task
to teach him the truth of the gospel,
and he professed his faith two weeks
ago Saturday. The next night he
came to the church and was baptized
"The church was crowded that
than a thousand ner.