The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-05-08
BOARD OF
MISSIONS
The Everyday Life
Amid Poorest
Chinese.
MISSION WORK
IN CHINA
Interesting Paper by Mrs. Thwing
Work and Reports of the
Mission Board.

! The Women's Board of Missions for the
Pacific Islands held an interesting and
well-attended meeting in the parlors of
the Central Union Church yesterday aft
ernoon.
| The occasion was the special Thanks
giving offering meeting, the sum of 1913
being contributed to the fund The ordi-
nary collections amounted to s17.45, three
new life members also subscribing and
bringing another $50 into the treasury.
| The Reverend and Mrs. W. E. Thwing
being on visit to Maui, Mrs. Thwing' s
paper on Phases of Our Everyday Life
! in China" was read by Miss Whiteman.
| We have had but little experience
with the rich Chinese, my sister and my
self; our work has been with the poor
and it is of them that viii talk to you,'
wrote Mrs Thwing, then giving some ev-
| ery-day experiences of life in the field.
| The field means in this instance the
! country surrounding the larger towns.
MIR. Thwing speaks the Cantonese dia-
| lect and the work pursued by Mrs.
Thwing and her sister has been in the
district Immediately outside of Canton.
The poor folk, as described by the wri-
ter are divided into two classes, the
land folk living in little groups of
houses, which they call villages, cluster
ed closely for protection at frequent in
teryals along the river banks; and the
water folk, the extremely poor, living on
| five to ten cents a day, huddled up in
small boats on which they stay through
out their whole lives. In one instance
| the boat carried two tiny rooms in which
dwelt three generations, grandparents,
parents and four children
The boats travel close to the banks of
the rivers, progress being made by means
of polling long poles being thrust into
the river bed on first one and then the
other side of the boat, each push being
accompanied with loud shout. Some
times when the character of the banks
permit, the occupants will harness them
selves to ropes and tow the boat along.
| Always on board is an image and a
shrine. With these people Mrs. Thwing
and her sister often travelled slowly from
point to point, where sedan chairs would
| take them to the nearest village.
| In one place the two ladies were the
| first white women to visit the commu-
nifty, and Chinese curiosity, always rife,
| seemed to find no satiation. Day after
day the same wondering folk would
| come to the house and finger everything,
never interfered with by the missionar-
| les. Return visits were made to the Chi
nese huts, often to find them locked up
and the women folk out knee deep in
water, cultivating the crops. In the vii
1age streets, women, children on backs,
would sell vegetables. Everybody work
| ed hard and lived scantily.
! Even in the poorest homes, when the
| occupants were found to be in, tea was
| passed around and an invitation given
to come back. Commencing with the
| home lives, the children's ailments. the
| food and little, simple, everyday mat
tiers of the Chinese, the ladies led gently
up to asking if they had ever heard of
Jesus and would like to hear US read of
| Him in the Bible.
| Always attention was given and ques-
| tons apparently in a serious mood, ask
ed about the white mans religion. Then
| the listeners were asked to attend the
meetings and always responded. The Gu
riosity never slackened passing from one
village to another word would be car
ried that the white women were coming
and men leaving their tools, women and
children, the whole community down to
| the week-old babies, carried on the chill
dren's backs. would await the arrival.
| One matter, that of simple faith with
out outward and visible signs was, wrote
Mrs. Thwing. the hardest TO instil. In
| one pathetic case young Chinese won-
an attending our meetings came again
and again with more and more Of inter-
est until her husband and mother-in-law
| compelled her to stop coming to see US,
as they were afraid of persecution If she
continued to visit the Christian women"
The poor girl asked Mrs. Thwing most
| earnestly if she could pray at home to
| God without coming to church and still
be a Christian. The explanation that
/ faith was sufficient was hard to teach
her and she asked again and again II
Mrs Thwing was sure, sure, that COO
would hear her.
Lady missionaries from Samoa and
Kioto, Japan, also spoke briefly, compar-
| ing the similitude of their experiences
to those narrated by Mrs. Thwing.
Portions of a journal By Miss Wilson
of Kusai town of the Caroline Islands,
were read and closely attended to. as the
last report likely to be heard from Mi
cronesia, as the three groups, the Gil
bert Carolines and Marshall Islands
comprising Micronesia, were now domi-
mated by European powers and conse-
ouently outside the scope OF the Board.
The extracts from the journal dweit on
the great grief the workers in that field
felt on account of there not being sum-
cient schools for the numbers of chill
dren whose parents, equally with them
selves, wished them to attend Such
schools as were instituted were reported
fourishing and making great progress in
| a Christian and educational way.
The next general Evangelical Mission
| is to be held in Hiio instead of Honolulu
| as formerly.
| The period covered by Mrs. w. E..
Thwing's paper Is that of Christianity In
China under the most peaceful condi-
lions. Mr. and Mrs. Thwing left China
| lust before the late outbreak and the
picture presented is one of missionary
life when everything runs at Its smooth
est.
An Arkansas planter is to start a