The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1907-09-19

coat. tied under the arms with laven-
der ribbon: 4 pale green sweater pep
ing above Il az the neck. and a brown
plush scarf about his throat sOmewhat
Ike the hangings Of an old fashioned
pullman car His headcear vas a lap
aoese military cap Korean children.
Ike their elders. sit on the floor dur
ing service with the foot OF one leg
crossed over the thigh Of the other:
and. Ike their elders. they are quiet
and attentive
Putting Converts Through the Mil.
After the service was over. the cid
eTs gathered around the missionary
and proffered formal request that he
come as soon as possible and spend a
few days in teaching them the Bible.
Mr. Han had to put them OF with
vague promise. as his field Is too
large for him 20 do more than look
over it was interested 10 note that.
while elsewhere missionaries have TO
adopt various devices to attract hear
ers. such as English classes. cooking
classes, etc, in Korea the people seem
20 want simply the Bible: and the
missionaries are unable to meet the
demand for the teaching of il.
Early the next morning. after a
night which in the interest Of deli
cacy would better be passed over with
out comment, the missionary began
the work Of examining the 40 appli-
cants for baptism. The three lead
ers" OF the local church, and a visit
ing elder from Seoul, sat on the floor
Of our sleeping room, and the candi-
dates were brought in one by one
The first was a man Of 40 who had
learned to read in order to read the
Bible. a common experience among
the Korean converts. The next was
boy Of u, son Of Christian parents
Then cane young man of IS, then
an old irlan. A bright boy Of u, with
his hair up in top-knot, in token OF
being "a man." had been married a
year to a girl of Is, also a believer
Although married, these children re-
side with their own parents; the mis-
sionary instructed them to do so until
they have reached the marriageable
age fixed by the church, which is IS
years for girl and Is for a man.
Many such practical problems as
these arise among people fresh from
rank heathenism.
After watching the examinations for
several hours, and having the ques-
tions translated to me. must say that
the fitness Of the candidates for
church membership Is very rigidly
guarded. The examination is much
more rigid than a person has to under
go in order to become a member Of
a church in America. / told the mis-
sionary that / wouId not risk IL my
self; he requires almost a theological
education on the part of converts.
This strictness is necessary, however,
TO keep the people from joining the
church from un-Christian motives: it
would be easy otherwise TO turn Chris
tianity to political uses in Korea.
was pleased TO note that the strict
ness OF the examination was abated
in the case of some ignorant peasant
women. One had been a believer nine
years, and the leaders testified TO her
piety; so, although she could not read
nor answer many OF the questions, she
was taken into the church.
All day long the missionary worked
over these examinations. and at five
o'clock he had only got through 26
persons; the others would have to
wait until his next visit. Fourteen Of
the candidates were passed for bap-
tism and IL retained in the eateef1u-
men class for while longer Just
before dusk a leader went out and
blew whistle to summon the village
TO church, and the people LAID aside
their labors and assembled for the
baptismai service. This was simple,
brief and impressive. l think shall
remember the sight of the procession
of white-robed villagers with Bibles
and hymn books under their arms.
filing down the hill from the church at
sunset.
When we hastened away from the
village, the people gathered with
many good wishes. The simplicity,
| en-heartedness and affection OF
these ehild-like Christians is reztly af-
/ fecting. Because | was with Mr.. Hall
/ they considered me a missionary-in-
1 law, l suppose, and they sent me on
with such demonstrations of interest
and such repeated benedictions as do
not often fall to the lot OF a journalist.
/ II was a new sensation. / really liked
II so that when on the day following.
a boy carrying on his back two Is
foot timbers of telegraph-pOle thick
ness Ga Koreap coolie viii carry four
times his weight and six times his
bulk) stopped me with beaming face
and squeezed my arm, took 1t for
granted that he had seen me at
church and responded with the salu-
tation of Peace" which / had
learned.
AS We went on our way from each
village some OF the elders would ac-
company us, as the Ephesian elders