Evangelism has been the keynote of the mission program throughout the China Division during the past year and a half. Seeing the tremendous need of multi-tildes of peoples in thousands of cities and towns, to say nothing of the rural villages, we feel that every capable worker should be putting forth special effort each year in an endeavor to win souls for the kingdom of heaven.
Milton Lee, division evangelist, and his two co-workers, Charles Cooper and Geng Yung-ling, began an evangelistic campaign in the city of Kunming on March 6. In connection with the meeting Pastor Lee is conducting an evangelistic methods class for the workers of the Southwest China Mission who are assisting in the work. Many, especially our tribal workers, have very meager education, and this ;training will give them a foundation which they have not had opportunity to get. before.
The evangelistic meetings are being conducted in the auditorium of the government party—Kuo Min-tang. It is centrally located, and in a place where all classes are free to attend. The seating capacity, including gallery, is about eight hundred. The building was packed the opening night, and attendance has been good throughout. There are many influential and well-educated people attending, as well as the middle and lower classes.
After the subjects on the law of God and the Sabbath the attendance has slackened some, but we seem to have lost mostly the curious group and noisier element. From night to night a very serious, interested group returns. During recent weeks opposition has been very strong from other mission church bodies in the city, but we pray that truth may triumph, and that the power of God will move the hearts of the listeners to accept this last-day warning message.
FIRST SABBATH SERVICE.—Many times OUT ministers find the first Sabbath service a difficult hurdle during an evangelistic campaign. It is the first step in Sabbathkeeping for those who hear and heed the gospel messages. In a sense it marks them. It may mean the beginning of opposition and ridicule from friends and society. However, once the individual has attended and the barrier is broken, it is not so difficult to return. Thus the first Sabbath service is of utmost importance.
In planning for this service in conjunction with our Kunming evangelistic effort, Pastors Milton Lee and Charles Cooper and their assistants gave much consideration to this question. Announcement of Sabbath school and church preaching service would, they felt, have no special appeal to those already attending Sunday school and preaching service. Why not a special revival service ? But it was felt that this, too, would have no special appeal, for nearly all the churches are having revival services at the present time. It was decided to announce a special Pei Ling Da Huei. Pei means "to nourish, to strengthen" ; Ling is the word for spirit or spiritual force ; and the Da Huei is a large meeting, or gathering.
This Pei Ling Da Huei was announced through the week from the platform, A large, colorful sign was painted and tacked to the screen just inside the entrance, where it would catch the eyes of all who entered the auditorium during the week. Then a special invitation was sent out to all names in the evangelistic file. This invitation very briefly referred to the music and special attractions for the afternoon service.
Our regular Sabbath attendance here in Kunming had been around sixty. Attendance at the evangelistic meetings on week-day evenings had been averaging around three hundred after the messages on the law and true Sabbathkeeping had been presented.
Plans were made for about two hundred guests on this first Sabbath. Sabbath afternoon at two o'clock, when the meeting began, four hundred people were seated in the large auditorium and children's Sabbath school room. Each was handed a printed bookmark with the program for the day on one side and the fourth commandment on the other. The platform was decorated with a large cross and a world map, with suitable texts.
Geng Yung-ling, music director of the evangelistic company, was Sabbath school superintendent. Between special musical numbers and other parts on the program he presented items of interest about the scope and work of Seventh-day Adventists around the world, telling the number of countries entered, the number of schools, sanitariums, publishing houses, and the like. Neither the secretary's report nor the review was given. After a well-presented mission story and explanation of how missions are financed, an offering was taken.
Pastor Lee had the Sabbath school lesson, which was presented in sermon form instead of the usual class study. Because of a longer and special program there was no separate service for the regular worship hour. The Sabbath school lesson-sermon took the place of the preaching service. No appeal was made for church membership, or to enter a baptismal class.
At the conclusion of the Sabbath school lesson-sermon signature cards were passed to all who desired membership in the regular Sabbath school. The response was very large. The two hundred mimeographed Sabbath school outlines which had been prepared for the following Sabbath's lesson were not nearly enough, and additional copies had to be made to distribute Sunday night.
All our workers have felt that this was a most successful meeting. It was something different and colorful which caught the attention. The program stimulated visitors to return to another Sabbath service. The attendance far surpassed the average nightly attendance of the preceding two weeks. We feel that the effort and expense which went into this special Pei Ling Da Huei were well rewarded. We pray that the Holy Spirit will continue striving with these individuals who have taken the first step, and give a rich harvest in baptisms.