The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1912-05-10

CHARACTERIZATION OF the women Of tha
world must be done by women VIA
have accepted Christ is because thew
a be reached by women only. II 4
a common saying that men do not m.
derstand women. Evidences Of ri,
have been presented in the thousand,
of divorce cases and oft repeated fam.
lily troubles which are commonly "a
ported in these days. If this be trns
In civilized countries, where the graz,
of God modities the ~harshness Of bp
man life, how much more must It b.
true among the heather, who have no /
spiritual or moral standards such AZ
we have, and no divine power to a.
sist them in living righteous lives.
There are no women in foreign
lands who will open their hearts 10
men. Being very shy and suspicious
they are often reluctant to do this
even to the missionary women who
visit them. In fact, such a network
of suspicious fears has been woven
around the lives of women in mol,
Christian lands that they shrink from
every foreigner who would pry into
the secrets of their inner life.
1t would be entirely improper for
mar to visit the home of any native
woman In any non-C Christian land, even
should she be a member of the church
So rigid are the customs that often ii
case of illness, the male doctor Is not
permitted to see the female patient
A missionary doctor In China vas
once asked to visit a Chinese homeo
prescribe for a sick wife. When he
insisted on seeing the patient, the bus
band demonstrated. However, when
he found that no relief could be given
without examination, such as The FEEL
ing of the pulse, he hastened to Der
room, tied a twined string around her
wrist and passed the end out Of The
window to the doctor, telling him 10
take hold Of 1t and see INV had
fever. There are thousands Sv&
en- in Asia who would rather die han
let a man see their faces.
Over most of the territory from ia
pan through Korea. China, Siam Bur
nah, India and on to Palestine and
Turkey, women are shut apart ID
places called the "woman's apart
ment." In poor Indian homes, ibis
secluded portion of the house is made
by hanging a sari of coarse piece d
cloth across one part Of the room, thus
forming a retreat for the women When
men come to visit their kusbandS
The women of the Orient are guard
ed as though they were untrustworthy
and as though they were unworthy q
human privileges, or were in capable
of exercising proper management q
the family affairs.
Under such conditions as these
can be easily seen to be Impossible
for the men of the mission stations .
preach the gospel to the quarter o.
billion women living in the Orient Y
must be done by women.
In the first place, the women
these non-Christian lands need TO-
gospel for their own sake. The SOU
Of a Hindoo or Chinese woman is y
precious in the sight Of COD Y
hat Of any other woman, for he doi
not look on the outward appearance
whether the person be black or VlHt
or whether she be dressed in a caNS
sari or a sealskin cloak, whether as
eats rice with her fingers of
lana leaf or dainty delicacies hp
,ut-glass ware.
Another reason why the women =
he Orient must be reached IS
they support and MAINTAIN Y
'eligious systems Of the countries
which they live.
1t must be readily seen that Y
hundreds of millions of women
Asia must perish without the go'ps
( the women Of Christian lands
lUL ISSpUlu W luc Cali vi X&H
AIRY his message into their homp
The response which these Wous
i've to the missionary lady VINO ".
or admission to their homes y
,uarantee for untold usefulness y
ny Christian woman who can h%
n her heart to take them the WIZ
t life. In the non-Christlan %
are often SO anxious 70 y,
he message concerning the
ray" that they will listen WIN
ense eagerness for a longer ptJ
han the missionary Is able to sps',
With such an open door OF bleSsIs
to the women of Anerlca
ave come to know Christ can
any trade or profession
,ould prevent one from enterins
COR with the true message Oh