Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1895-02-28
Letter from Siam.

Letter from Siam.
Written By Howard Campbell, formally
Of Cherry tp., 70 the Christian EndesTor
Socisty Of P. V. Church, at Aonitesu.)
Laos. Siam, Nov. 10, 1894.
DzAR FRIENDS:
Three months and twenty
three days have elapsed since We LETT
Grove City, Pa. for our chosen field OF Ia
Dor and we have still 8 journey OF al lesst
A week before,reaching Chieng Mai We
write ron while travelling rather than az
ter our arrival, because we fear that IN
the midst Of the work of unpscking boxes,
arranging our new home snd entertaining
delegates for two weeks during the an
nuA Mission and Presbytery meetings
which ara to be held this year 81 C1ie1g
Mai, beginning Dec 10Th, there may De
but little time for letter Enhng-
since leaving Bangkok Oct g. our home
bss beeu boat. 50 feet long and or 8 r.
wide. About 25 feet Of the middle part
has an arched covering. In this is stored
our goods In the rear end OF this middle
nzrt ia also our kitchen, sbsut ieet sQaaTe
and 1 feet high The froPt end OF the boat
IA without cover and on this the men TsiE
when using the poles 70 propel the boat
Under a separate cover in the stern o. the
boat il a room 10 #. long, 3 f. wide and
5 or fl. high. This serves as oar parl0r,
sitting room, dining room, sleeping room,
and also as q gymnasium during the nr=t
part Of our journey, when ior seVefsd u4y
az o time we were unable TO lsno Decause
the adjoining rice fields were oTerno1ed' @
owing 10 the kindness Of Rev. and Mrs:
" 81 Dodd. we have the use of a splendid
folding table and folding chairs Our oth
ar eouiouents are such a. might be used
on any touring expedition OF two months
The Journey has been foll OF interest ana
Of pleasure from the very beginning. w
the first Sabbath, DR.. AcGilvary preached
to the bostmen at 10 A. N. Our place OF
Worship was the bank Of canal, tnrO1gh
vhicb we were passing in order TO AVOID
alarge bend in the river The minister oc-
cupied a chair; the cCngregauoa sal on Tue
ground. In plain sight, scores OF large,
black buffalo were feeding On botn slnes 0i
The canal, each herd attended Dy one or
more herdsmen whose shouting We coola
hear at any time during the service. ihese
surroundings may have detrscVed some
what from our own attention TO tne sef-
vices but were apparently unnoticed BY
the boatmen. OF the A who were with us
only 3 we're Christian aud very few of the
remainder had any knowledge Of the Gos-
mel. 40 TO them il was all new and i1l OF
Interesf. Just before the close OF the
sermon, an old herdsman came and took
bis seat with the rest, listening with eyes,
sars- and even mouth wide open. About
the middle OF th closing prayer, ne inter
ruuted our devotions by shoutlng 10 some
friends On the other side Of the canal 70
come over and listen, a. we were nearing
something good. They responded al once
and at the close Of the service quite a
number had assembled. Dr. Acuii'sty
gathered them into a group and spoke I"
sb.rn few moments in Siamese, and then
set them at reading copies OF the SCRIP
tnres Of which he had procured good
xuuuIy before leaving Bangkok. In the
meantime DIR. McGilysry talked with the
old berdsman and arranged for q meeting
in the afternoon, the Siamese themselves
sending out boys in all directions 10 notily
the people. when afternoon came, tne
nsonie came TOO. Those on the opposite
side OF the canal crossed over by standing
nnon the back Of a baffalo while the but
ialo forded or swan. How we wished
that you a. home VITO are giving your
money and prayers for the sending oI lhe
Gospel to your brothers and Ssters IN olah'
and elsewhere, could have seen tnese pso-
pie come and hear it for the hrst tims.
The next 5abbsth witnessed scene no
lssa encouraging. A number OF 5iamese
were present ut both morning and evening
seryices, 90 that il was thought osst 10
conduct the services in the SiamsSe Ian
1na1e. which the bostmen understood al
mot a vall a. their native language
During the day O number OF the people
bought copies Of the Scripture, Aftef
the evening meeting several persons ron
the opposite side OF the river renamed anu
pur4 chased books, borrowing from each
other until all the money they had brought
with them was expended, then sending 10
q hosse nearby and borrowing rom .
friend. They expressed much regret Ina1
they had not been aware Of our presence
sooner, 10 a. u spend the day with us IN
learning Of tie new religion. Iney IN
ouiyed very earnestly whether II were
really necessary for IA to 20 tdChieng Ma
| instsad Of remaining 10 teach them;
whether we could not spare one or two oil
our number 70 be their permanent teacher
For an hour or more alter retiring, We
could hear them readin gstheir new books.
We left At day break next morning and oi
course have heard nothing OF them since.
There IA much need Oi missionary 10 Ia
bor among the Villages which line this
branch Of the river. Perhaps some one Of
you may be the happy person - undertake
this work.
But while our interest has been thus
awakened in the 6iamese, We have also be'
come much attached 10 our Laos bOatmen
We find them sociable. industrious ana
ready to help us whenever opportunity
| presents. They seem 10 enjoy doing ns a
| fayor. They are always go0d-natarsd
when working togetber-never Jangllng
IA vet we can speak but little OF their
LANGUAGE. bat we have been able to in
| anenes s0ms. who would not otherwise
have done 40, TO attend evening prayers
which are held each day in DR.. McGilvary's
boaf. Onits number Of the men attend
very regularly. notwithstanding the TACT
| that the room's very warm and crowded
and the mosqnitos very plenty and the
men tired after working from daylight tiil
dark. We can also lend Christian books
| To those who can read and the reading 0f
our books means a great deal To people
who have never read anything bat Budd-
hism wrtings
we have been especially interested In
MOI Pc aud Eoi Pogk, the cook and steers-
man OF our-own boat, the term "SoP 10
their name indicates that, like many others
OF our boatmen. they spent at least
months In the priesthood during their boy
| hood but did not remain IN IL until thsy
reached the age Of II yrs We are better
| acanainted with these two than with any
| OF The Others because their work makes II
necessary for them " occupy the same
part Of the boat az ourselves during the
entire day. Their ages are respectively II
and % years. At first they attended eve.
ming prayers more because they knew We
wished them ~ do 30 than because of any
desire on their own part to be present.
| But they soon became Interested IN the
| Scripture reading and DIR. NcGilVary's ex-
plantation. They read with eagerDess,
not only the Scriptures, bot also the short
or catechism, 5assLa Song Fai, which u
a comparison Of Christianity and Buddh-
ism, and 5watsadee, which IL brief state
| rnent Of the nature Of IN Christian relig-
ion. At present they are reading book
| which they obtained fr''fn DIR. McOilvary
| DO not know the name 1f IL bat u IRE
quently repeats such words as God, Jesus
\ Chris, Holy Spirit, All men, etc, AZ We
know by hearing them read. We sreyery
desirous that they learn enough OF the
Christian religion during this voyage 10
lead them 10 accept 1t az their guide for
life. We trust you will pray that tbie
may bs the case not only with them but
| with many other of our bOatmen alsO.