Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1920-06-30
CHINA LETTER.
Beloved Edgefeld Missionary,
Rev. John jackson, Writes
Interesting Letter From
Far-Off Shanghai.

179 North Szezhuen Road,
Shanghai, China,
June 8, 1920.
Dear Advertiser:
Although it has been nine months.
since l saw copy of your paper,
very often think of you Edgefeld
folks and long to see all of you. But
I have six years more to wait in
China before I can see old Edgefeld.
But even so, / shall be so busy that;
those years will seem very short to,
me in some respects, but long in
other ways. Not long after reached.
China John Lake sent me copy of
The Advertiser; it is needless to say
that 1 enjoyed it very much.
On last Sunday l was reminded Of
the time when 1 used to walk the
streets of Edgefeld as cadet of the.
S. c. C. l. We observed Memorial
Day by holding service this morning
at the Bubbling Well Cemetery. /,
with about five hundred Americans.
listened to a great address recalling
the great ideals and principles for
which our nation stands and for
which our noble heroes gave their
lifeblood. A large body of sailors
were present, besides the American
company of the Shanghai Volunteer
Corps and the Boy Scouts of the
American School. After the address
we listened to "America" and then
the American company fired three.
vollies over the decorated graves OF
our dead.
But among the soldiers who were,
there, l saw soldiers of another
army-nurses, doctors, teachers and
preachers, who are still fighting for
the same principles that our nation
has always stood. To our sorrow,
these kind of soldiers are all too few,
the ranks too thin. We need thou
sands of such to live here in this land
of darkness and night and give to
the people the true light.
There is still another class ofssol-a
diers that want to mention, it is the
native Christians. There is in our
church man who saved $1,000 out
of his years salary of $4,000 and
gave it to the new building fund for
a new church. He is faithful mem
ber and is the sexton, too. Another
case will give you an idea of the real
greatness of the Chinese when they
have a chance to reach their best. A
missionary bought a small boy from
a boatman/s.nd taught him of Christ
and trained him in His way. This
boy was of the commonest clay, but
he made college president. l heard
DR.. Judson tell of a man who had be-
come interested in Christianity and
told his folks about it, so while his
brothers and mother held him, his
father put out his eyes SO that ne
could not see how to go to church
any more. But he remained true to-
the Christ he had learned to love-
The missionaries took him to the hos
pital for treatment, but his sight is
gone, still within his soul there IS
the Light of the World.
One other instance will give you
some idea of how they can change
things. In small, dirty house lived
father, his seven wives, their thir-
teen sons with their wives and chill
dren. Through the Y. M. c. A. one OF
the sons became converted and told
his folks about Jesus, but they we're
not very anxious to accept this new
religion. This man went out to do
what he could for the Master and be-
gan teaching in free night schooi.
In his home he also influenced one
brother very strongly toward Chris
tianity. Of course very often the new
converts suffer untold prosecutions.
in many ways and are often driven
from home. But in almost every IN
stance they remain faithful to Christ
You at home know nothing of the:
agonies that they suffer for the:
Kingdom. Still with all this it seems
that the work goes on very slowly
Of a population of more than AGO.
100000 there are less than 1,ooa-
600 Christians in China, leaving
3s9 100000 in the darkness of heath
enism.
In social and educational way the