The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1910-03-25
Missionary Work in Korea By Mrs. Olive Hardy
lawton, Forme|y Of mankato

j, ers-this was special mark of kind
ness to us, and we accepted it in The
spirit in which it was given The dee
orations in general as well as the trim
ming of the two Christmas trees wer,
as delightful as they were novel; as Mr.
Lawt0n remarked, 1T was home
made Christmas" and the native com.
mittee did most of it themselves. As
| looked out over that happy, eager
crowd and contrasted this with the sin
and dependency out of which they
have been lifted, the well known words
What hath God wrought" surgcd
within me.
The next morning the Christmas SER
vice proper was held, after which rice
was given to the poor; about peck
each was given to ninety families
That evening the concluding part OF
the Sunday School program was given
have said that it was packed the
evening before, SO now | have no words
left TO describe this-l200 or more were
present. \ continual rafting of doors
knocking, banging, shouting and Other
annoyances were kept up by those
without who wanted to get in but
could not for the doors were locked
An occasional necessary opening of d
door resulted in Il lively struggle tC
get it closed, and usually few would
succeed in getting in. The program
went Off well and contained many gooC
features. AS good as any was the fol
lowing elaborated: First Confusion
list entered, then Buddhist priest
After a few moments discus
sion Il Shinto priest entered, the dis
cussion continued. then Il Christian
Joined them and the discussion became
lively, interesting and convincing. To
@ether they briefly studied the Scrip
lures, and then yielded to their power
The Christian now gave out song books
and they stood up together praised Goo
in song.
Two weeks ago we had our first in
PRODUCTION to Korean homes. We spent
Il forenoon in company with the nativ,
pastor and two other native Christian
workers in visiting the homes of some
of our church members. Our first cal
was at the home of Mr. Kim and fam
lily. We were cordially greeted and
ushered into the best room which was
SO small that when the five OF us, Mr.
Kim. his mother. and his wife were
no space left. We had hymn, chap
ter from the Bible was read, and
then Mr.. Lawton led in prayer. one Of
the party acting as interpreter. Hi:
prayer was Immediately followed by
one from the host: we could understand
1 but little, but enough to know thai
he was breathing forth words of graf
itude because we had come to Korea
and asking largely for rich blessing,
upon us. 1t touched my heart deeply
After the dcvotions, the women left
the room and soon returned with two
small tables; the women did not re
enter and so there was room for thu
tables. The host generously sweeten
ed our tea and we partook Lightly Of
the things set before Ms. The last
home that we visited was different
from the others in that the womel
were not Christians and so did not APP
pear to receive gentlemen guests. j
was soon spirited away to the wOmen'
quarters where l Immediately became
the center of attraction. We had bcel
told that four generations lived in this
house; | have never doubted it for
was surrounded by seven womcnA Evi
IDENTIFY they had never had a foreigner
at such close range and they meant
to make the most of their opportunity
One woman, much older than the other,
seemed to be taking Il nap, but my en-
trance was sufficient to awaken her
She took the initiatives; found out thai
| couldn't talk and wouldn't smoke
examined my shoes. skirts, muff, hat
gloves and hair. and them, evidently
deciding that the curiosity was moi
worth her while, she returned to hel
nap, and the others knew that theil
turn had come which they were moi
slow in taking. Until you have had 1
similar experience, you will never know
how utterly helpless, unless and foolisl
one can feel. | made several attempts
to graciously make my escape to thu
rest of the party: but was prevented
a little later | understood why when +;
small table, loaded with things to ca
(thc likes of which you never ate), wa'
brought i'll and placed before me
Honestly now, it was not easy, but j
was the thing to do, so with an inwart
''for Thy sake dear Lord | sat OH thu
floor by the table and did my best
There was little chance to make belicv,
for | had undivided attention of every
one in the room, and the little tori
places in the paper windows acconlodat
ed us many eyes as possible. Ate
it was over, one of the men game AM
escorted me back to the others.
didn't mention the children, perhap
because they were too numerous t
mention.
And now it is barely possible tina
you will be wanting to know somethin!
of our own home and lives. Our hOus
10 a ouostorv hrirk The side an