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AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN MISSION.
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Report of the Chefoo Station for the Year ending June 30, 1939.
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Personnel.
Dr. Herman Bryan (1902)--Medicine, X-ray and Laboratory.
Mrs. Herman Bryan (1920)--Teaching, Nurses' Training School.
Mr. William C. Booth (1903Y--Teaching, Yih Wen Commercial College.
Mrs. William C. Booth (1905)--Teaching, Yih Wen Commercial College.
Miss Anita E. Carter (1906) -- Principal. School for the Deaf.
Mrs. Grace F. Dilley (1907)--Evangelism and Music Training.
Dr. William L. Berst (1907) Medicine and Hospital Superintendence.
Mrs. William L. Berst (1907)--Industrial Work and Teaching.
Miss Susan F. Eames (1909)--Kindergarten and Normal Training.
Rev. George F. Browne (1913)--Museum, Hospital, City Evangelism.
Mrs. George F. Browne (1913)--Principal, Women's Bible Institute.
Mr. Roy A. Lanning (1914)--Teaching, Yih Wen Commercial College.
Mrs. Roy A. Lanning (1914)--Teaching, Yih Wen Commercial College.
Miss Caroline D. Beegle (1917)--Superinten-dence of Nurses.
Rev. Donald A. Irwin (1920)--Student Evangelism and Teaching.
Mrs. Donald A. Irwin (1920)--Teaching, Yih Wen Commercial College.
Rev. J. Edward Kidder (1920)--Rural Evangelism and Treasurer.
Mrs. J. Edward Kidder (1920)--Supervision Out-Patient Department.
Miss Marguerite H. Luce (1932)--Supervision and Nurses' Training.
Miss T. Melvia Westling (1936)--Teaching, School for the Deaf.
Dr. James L. R. Young (1938)--Surgery; Language Study, Peking.

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"Here and There"
The undeclared war in China which has been carried on for two years so ruthlessly and has reached such gigantic proportions is still continuing. Our missionaries in Chefoo have suffered no physical injuries because of the war, though fighting and bombings have taken place in villages only a few miles away. Several times we have heard rumors that it might become impossible to secure meat and vegetables, yet all the while the Lord has wonderfully provided for every need.

Dr. James L. R. Young, appointed to Chefoo to head the Department of Surgery in Temple Hill Hospital, arrived the first part of last December on his way to Peking for language study at the College of Chinese Studies. A reception given for Dr. Young by the Advisory Board and Staff of the hospital was a very happy occasion. Never has there been a more representative gathering of the Chefoo community including many of the prominent business and professional men and women, Chinese and foreigners, than those who responded to the invitation to meet Dr. Young. It is needless to say that he is much desired and much needed in Chefoo.

At the beginning of the year Mrs. Dilley, Miss Luce, Mr. and Mrs. Lanning, Mrs. Berst, Mrs. Bryan and Mr. and Mrs. Browne were in the homeland. Mrs. Berst returned in July, Miss Luce in August, Mr. and Mrs. Lanning in September, Mr. and Mrs. Browne in February and Mrs. Dilley in March. Dr. Bryan left for furlough in October. Miss Eames and Miss Beegle left in January, their furloughs being antedated in order that they might accompany Miss Speake of Tengchow whose illness necessitated her having an escort to America.

" In the Beginning of the Year"
Good weather, brighter rooms because of glass doors recently installed, exhibits of moving wild animals through the use of new projector and films--all contributed to bring large New Year crowds to the Museum. About 700 a day was just about the right number to handle efficiently with nearly a half hour's preaching to each group before they entered the Museum for sightseeing. The people were very attentive and the tracts were treated with unusual respect. The zeal of the group of volunteer workers who came day after day was gratifying, as well as the return of several listeners to hear more of the Gospel. Especially impressive was the clear and forceful preaching of a man 91 years of age and the reading and preaching of a blind man.

The three days set apart for women near the 15th of the first moon registered around 1500 visitors daily. Conditions cf travel at the time being what they were, this is an encouraging figure. Faithful witnessing to interested women and children was done in the preaching hall, in the courtyards and in the reception hall at the rear. The day of bound feet and bound minds is swiftly passing as evidenced by a more intelligent interest being shown in the exhibits, especially those of an educational type. Into such opening minds the Gospel can, and does, find ready entrance. Before the special days for women closed, at least one woman, who said she had heard the Gospel at the Museum, enrolled as a catechumen in one of the local churches.

" They Went Throughout the Villages"
Last autumn a missionary, accompanied by a Chinese evangelist, spent a month in a little village high in the mountains 30 miles south of Chefoo. To reach the village from the north one has to climb a zigzag mule road paved with rough stones up the almost perpendicular face of the mountain. To push, pull, and lift a bicycle up this trail is a physical feat of which any missionary might be proud. But the spiritual rewards make the effort quite worthwhile. Here for the last three years two young women evangelists have been teaching an enthusiastic group of young men and women to read, to sing, to pray, and to witness for Christ. In this out-of-the-way community there are now around thirty communicants, whereas a few years ago not a Christian was to be found.

Several very earnest young women of this group have had to endure considerable persecution from their parents who are ignorant of the true meaning of the Gospel. One girl who attended the classes was married to a non-christian, and seeing no hope of being allowed to carry out her Christian principles in the home, she chose to end her life in the way so common to Chinese women, hanging on the beams which support the roof so low overhead. Three of the young women wanted to come to Bible School in Chefoo to pursue their study of the Gospel. Surreptitiously they left home early one Sunday morning, ostensibly to attend the nearest church service about 8 miles away. That night with the money they had saved up from making lace, they hired two mules and started out before midnight for Chefoo, about 33 miles distant. By taking turns riding and walking they arrived, tousled and weary-eyed, about noon the next day. The missionary was quite dumbfounded at this sudden appearance and was more at a loss when all the details leaked out. Before they could be received into the school, negotiations had to be carried out with their parents by messenger, lest this escapade should bring disgrace upon the mission and make further preaching in that district impossible. The girls being determined not to return to their homes, the parents finally submitted to the fait accompli, and sent in their clothes and , bedding. Another girl, from the same village joined them a few days later and another is coming next term. All are eager, energetic workers and earnest Christians.

Following the Chinese New Year when all Chinese have leisure, a Leaders' Training Class was held in the southwest corner of our field. For two weeks fourteen young men and women studied Old Testament Introduction, the Life of Paul, How to Reach Young People, and How to Lead Worship Services. Each student received practice in leading a church service, in storytelling and in giving testimony. Every evening the Gospel message was given to a packed house of interested listeners. All the students eagerly hope to attend other classes like this in the future.

Several years ago a man claiming to be an atheist was a patient in the Temple Hill Hospital. He accused the hospital evangelist of being insincere and a mere employee of foreigners. Later in Harbin he opened a laundry and a liquor shop and from there transferred his business to Moscow. Money was made, but also lost in riotous living. Returning to Peking in the condition of the Prodigal of the parable, with his last fifty cents he bought opium with the intent of committing suicide. Instead, however, he entered a Salvation Army Hall where he gave himself whole-heartedly to the Lord. On returning to his old home, thirty miles west of Chefoo, happy and praising God, he talked so earnestly to his two brothers about his new-found faith, that they thought him crazy, but later found him genuine and now they, too, have become ardent believers. His house has been loaned as a place of worship, and regular services are held every Sunday and Wednesday. Each morning also a Bible woman teaches a class of grown girls the Thousand Characters and goes out preaching in the afternoons. In this village where there was not a single Christian a few years ago, at Chinese New Year season the people packed the streets and stood in deep snow for two hours listening intently to a local volunteer band preaching the Gospel of salvation. Such are the marvellous and mysterious workings of God's Holy Spirit!

" Preaching and Healing Everywhere"
Open doors and open minds make preaching a joy, and zealous co-workers lighten the burden and increase effectiveness. One is ever surprised at the number of volunteer workers who give a goodly portion of their time to witnessing. In the hospital the whole personnel is so interested in advancing the cause of Christ that the work in the wards and rooms needs less outside assistance than formerly. Several persons have been baptized in the hospital this year. Regular Sunday services for patients are conducted by groups from the church and sometimes children from the Temple Hill Sunday School come over to sing at these services.

It is in the Out-Patient Department that the main effort is made by the evangelistic workers. And what an opportunity it is! Personal witnessing to individuals is the aim, but sometimes the crowds are so large that preaching to the group is the only possible way to reach all. In connection with the showing of the movies, which takes the attention of the suffering away from themselves and holds the people in the waitingroom rather than in the crowded halls, personal work is done by the evangelists and a public health nurse. Many patients have declared their acceptance of Christ as their Saviour, and people have been known to come to the hospital waiting-room, not as patients, but just to hear the gospel story.

" Go Into the City"
The Museum still functions as such and attracts a fair number of visitors each day, but the place is gradually becoming an evangelistic center. In the morning over one hundred small pupils gather to study under our Christian teachers. A Kindergarten Normal graduate has been added to the staff. In the afternoon one of the teachers visits in the homes and in the evening she conducts a night-school for young women.

Several Bible Classes in Chinese and one in English are being held in the Museum. The Sunday School has an enrollment of about one hundred. At the morning worship service the attendance is good and steadily increasing. On Monday evenings a lecture for adults is linked up with a gospel message. Friday evening is given over to children, often as many as three hundred crowding in to enjoy the singing of choruses and Psalms (set to Chinese tunes), to listen to Bible stories and to see the pictures thrown on the screen. Saturday afternoon is set apart for women. After the pictures, the children are taken into another courtyard under the supervision of pupils from our Bible Institute and there they hear stories and have a good time playing, while the mothers enjoy the program prepared for them. Once a month a more formal Mothers' Meeting is held.

"Let Us Go Into the Next Towns"
Conditions at Fu Shan last year necessitated closing the chapel inside the city, but recently quarters have been rented just outside where the work is being resumed. The Christian group of this district shows the effect of the changes and the intermittent shepherding, but chastened by the experiences of the past months they should be in position to make a spiritual advance.

" Young Men Shall See Visions"
A "Youth for Christ" campaign was started in the summer of 1938, a united effort on the part of a number of our Presbyterian missionaries and Chinese leaders, along with leaders from other denominations, to win as many as possible of the young people of this city to Christ. Between twenty and thirty leaders have been helping with this work. Last summer thirteen Bible classes were opened in different parts of the city, the enrollments ranging from four to twelve. After the summer some of these closed, as students joined regular classes in their schools. Other classes have been opened during the year for business men and servants.

A fine opening, in answer to prayer, has been in the Chefoo Middle School, a non-christian, co-educational, Junior-Senior Middle School, where between forty and fifty students have been enrolled in Bible classes since last fall and where more than twenty during the year have made decisions for Christ. In a catholic middle school eight boys from Protestant and non-christian homes have been meeting for Bible study each Sunday in a missionary's home. For two months now a private, non-christian boys' primary school has gladly welcomed a Christian message delivered each week to their students. Attendance is voluntary and between seventy and eighty boys and teachers have attended, the interest and order being splendid.

During the year there have been two paid Chinese workers or secretaries for this campaign. One young man, Mr. Men, largely did secretarial work; the second, Mr. Lan, has been spending considerable time each day visiting stores, talking to managers and clerks, distributing gospel tracts and selling New Testaments. He also gives Christian instruction in two higher primary schools for boys, as well as doing visitation and personal work in many parts of the city. Since last summer about 2,000 firms have received 9,000 gospel tracts given out by Mr. Lan. About 130 New Testaments have been sold to managers and clerks, and more will be sold as soon as a long awaited supply arrives. In these stores about 150 persons have shown interest and have become inquirers, while some are eager to join the church. About thirty are exceptionally earnest.

" I have Called You Friends"
The Christian work that goes on in the Yih Wen Commercial College cannot be limited to formal instruction, chapel services, or religious program. The lives and testimony of Christian teachers and pupils often speak louder. Deep interest has been taken this year by some of these in conducting Bible classes and in leading students and others to Christ. Christian students and teachers in Yih Wen are organized into a "Friends of Christ" group, with definite aims and program. One of their most interesting and helpful activities has been the posting of a weekly bulletin. Attractive pictures, articles on religious themes, poems, etc., collected by students and teachers, have helped instill Christian . thoughts into student minds. Attendance at chapel three times a week has been the best for many years. Our new memorial chapel built last Fall seats about 120 persons and this is often nearly full. This term we have about sixty Christians out of 208 students enrolled. This June special evangelistic meetings were led by the Rev. Ding Li-chieh, brother of the late Rev. Ding Li-mei, many non-christians attending. During the year twenty-seven Yih Wen students united with the church.

Between thirty and forty boys and girls attended popular education classes taught by Yih Wen students after school hours. A Christian Endeavor society has been started, the students taking part quite well. At Christmas the Christian student leaders distributed grain to the poor people as an expression of the Christmas spirit.

A goodly number of Bibles have been sold to students this year. Aside from voluntary Bible study all Yih Wen students are now required to attend one religious instruction class each week, but are not required to take examinations.

" He Called to Him A Little Child"
Last Fall only about forty pupils enrolled in the Temple Hill Kindergarten since the city was still unsettled, and attendance at all schools was very low. In the spring it rose to sixty-two, less than twenty being girls. A Sunday School conducted by the kindergarten has between forty and fifty pupils.

Religion is emphasized as usual, and sometimes non-christian pupils give thanks in their own homes before meals and pray before going to sleep. They also put into practice, the lessons learned to "Love one another" and "Help one another".

The health of the children has been good, no epidemics having occurred. Miss Eames has been on furlough since January. Two Chinese teachers, Mrs. Lien, who has been in kindergarten work for thirty years, together with Miss Liu, have carried on faithfully. Twelve girls are graduating from the Kindergarten Normal Department this year.

The Southwest Village Primary School is sometimes spoken of as "The Poor School," because the children are from such poor homes that sometimes they must be absent because of lack of clothes. They pay twenty cents a term for tuition, plus cost of books, probably another ten cents. At the present rate of exchange this is less than three cents U.S. money.

There were forty students the first term and classes were held only in the morning. The second term ninety-two students were taken in, the rest being turned away for lack of room. At present there are seventyeight, as some of them have had to leave to help their parents in the wheat-fields or in other ways. Three girls from the Kindergarten Normal Department assist Miss Sen in the mornings while she carries the entire program in the afternoons. These girls are exchanged for three others each month.

Daily prayers are conducted at the school and some of the older students take part. There is a Sunday School of between fifty and sixty. At first there was some swearing but now it is seldom heard. All the children except two are from non-christian homes. One boy upon being given an old pair of shoes, closed his eyes and said, "Thank you, Heavenly Father, for these shoes."

"He Maketh Even the Deaf to Hear and the Dumb to Speak"
Twenty-eight former pupils of the School for the Deaf were not able to return after having been at home for six months in 1937 when war conditions prevented the school from opening. A few of the older boys have found work. Some of the boys and most of the girls who live in the country have been prevented from returning because of the conditions which still exist in districts through which they would have to travel. During the spring term of 1938, twenty- four girls and boys were able to come to school. By the end of the autumn term thirty pupils were enrolled. The spring term of 1939 ends with thirty-six pupils in attendance--twenty-eight boys and eight girls--ten of these being new admissions during the year.

Fortunately seven of the eight native teachers on the staff remained here during the months when the school could not open, and the other teacher was able to return in the early summer, although it meant a trek of two hundred and fifty miles, mostly through fields, for her and the members of her family who accompanied her.

The beginners class is made up of four little girls and one boy. The latter was brought to school by his grandmother who came to Chefoo to be with her eldest son who is an officer with the Manchurian soldiers stationed here. The child had been spoiled, but a few weeks of association with four little girls has taught him that he cannot have his own way in everything.

One little girl was brought to school by her grandfather who stated that he could not bear to see the child's mother punish her when she did not know what was being said to her. This child is very affectionate and on two occasions she has suddenly placed her hands on each side of the foreign principal's face in a manner which indicates that she loves those who are kind to her. Another little girl broke our record by crying every day, and often during the night, wish, ing to return home. When the teachers and supervisor were almost worn out it was decided that the principal should deal with the child. A little sternness proved to be effective and that same evening the girl ate her supper without having to be fed. Within a few weeks she was friendly with everyone and willing to take part in class-room work.

At the present time nineteen of the pupils in school and twelve former pupils live in Chefoo. Twenty-eight homes are represented, and twenty-two of them have recently been visited by the principal and the supervisor. An evangelistic message was given in each home and to the neighbors who gathered around.

" We Have Seen and Bear Witness"
Late August found the girls of the Ai Dao Bible School coming from east, west and south, riding in mule-litters, on donkeys, in rickshas, or walking. Two of them walked thirty miles to reach school. By that time people had become more accustomed to unsettled conditions, so more girls ventured from home, and we found we had fifty-four pupils for the Fall semester. Travel being so difficult because of cold weather and torn-up roads, the winter vacation was shortened to two weeks. Although the students rested from studies, they worked hard all day making cut-outs to earn money for the coming term. During the second semester numbers increased to sixty-six, fifty-two of these being Christians.

Each Wednesday afternoon the teachers and the girls who know the Way go out for evangelistic work. They go two by two into the homes of Christians who cannot read and teach them to read the Bible, and into the homes of those who do not know the Lord, but who are willing to receive them. Others teach classes of women or children. Those unprepared for this work go to the women's meeting.

On Wednesday evening a precious hour is enjoyed discussing and praying for the people among whom we have worked. This is a most interesting meeting, and we are often moved to laughter or tears as we hear about the incidents encountered during the afternoon. For instance, one girl told of being where there is an old hollow tree, with top broken out by some violent storm. This tree, which has stood for perhaps a century, and is still vigorous, has taken on a strange meaning for the people. Some one started the story that an old man -- the spirit of the tree,-- was seen by a few people and spoke strange words to them. Word was circulated that this was a sacred tree and people began to believe that it could heal disease, and so it has become a shrine. All over the tree hang red banners of cotton or silk, and even nicely lacquered sign-boards. All bear the same characters meaning, "If one asks, he receives." The student who visited two old women living beside the tree told how one of them insisted that the tree could protect her. But when the visitor asked her about the life to come, she replied that she had no belief in such a life, and preferred to trust in the tree. But the second woman listened gladly and asked the girl to come again.

One team of workers goes to the penitentiary to work among women. Other Christians work among these prisoners, too, but our girls teach them to read their Bibles. When one sees the changed faces and compares them with those which seem brutal, dull and unhappy, one rejoices that our girls can bring the light to such as these. Out of fifty women prisoners twenty-six are now Christians, and eight can read their Bibles and pray. Work among children is important, so a number of our girls are working in the various Sunday Schools, while some go to the Evangelistic Center to help with the Saturday Mothers' Meeting.

Our industrial work enables the girls who otherwise could not secure an education to have a happy, busy life for five years, to get a knowledge of the Bible, and later to go into the villages as Bible Women or teachers of primary schools. We are anticipating the use this Fall of two new classrooms made possible by the industrial work. Whether in building buildings, in building character, or in building a small part of the Kingdom, we ask your interest and your prayers.

" Heal the Sick"
Temple Hill Hospital has weathered the storm of war and the change of municipal administration. We know not what lies ahead, but we are going forward in faith, refusing to stand still, since we feel that would be leaning backwards.

Through our open doors the sick have come in ever-increasing numbers. In the outpatient department it has caused us considerable anxiety to know how to care for so many in such a limited time. No sick person cares to wait long and yet each person must be given the proper attention. Many are referred from one department to another for special treatments while others go to the laboratory for tests and those for admission are conducted to the registrar of the hospital. Five departments run simultaneously. To keep the machinery running smoothly requires real supervision and credit is due to the supervisor and the staff of nurses allocated to the dispensary by the department of nursing. A growing number of these outpatients linger in the waiting room to see the moving pictures and hear the gospel talks and educational lectures.

In May the daily census of in-patients showed our highest number since the hospital was opened, numbering 88 patients. Our bed capacity is 85 but we have extra beds and space in our large wards and enclosed verandas. Very few gunshot wounded patients come to us. They are afraid to do so; the fear is not of us! In April and May we had two patients very ill with pellagra, the only two patients we had seen with this distressing and often fatal disease. Both were cured. One had the typical acute raving mania. The nurses willingly took the extra-needed care of this poor fellow when they were told that he probably could be cured if we could obtain the necessary drug. A radio message, through the courtesy of the American Consul, was sent to Shanghai for a supply of Nicotinic Acid. When it arrived and was administered, the patient's mental condition cleared within a day and in a short time he was entirely cured. It seemed like a miracle to the patients in the ward who showed much sympathy for this man and were much pleased at his recovery. These two patients were under the care of Dr. Liu Hsiao-liang. We are keeping a supply of this drug which gives us the Vitamin B complex, as we feel that we shall have more patients suffering from this vitamin deficiency. The lack of proper food due to the wartime marked rise in prices is a sorrowful factor in adding to the terrible distress among the poorer classes.

Two important factors contribute to the hospital's strength. One is the increasing amount of responsibility the Chinese staff is taking. They make practical, feasible suggestions which we are carrying out as far as possible. This is particularly true of the head nurses who carry important responsibilities in the school of nursing, anesthesia, special diets, ward management, public health and housekeeping. The carrying of these responsibilities by the head nurses, allows the foreign nurses much more time and strength to devote to teaching and supervision.

The other contributing factor is the fine co-operative spirit shown by all members of the hospital personnel. Behind this there is a strong spiritual force at work. The national members under their own evangelistic committee, hold two meetings a week for Bible study and devotion. This group has been collecting money among themselves for German-Jewish refugees in Shanghai. At our monthly staff meeting in March, the suggestion was adopted to unite our two devotional periods into one active 15-minute devotional period each morning. One doctor who had been a nominal Christian only, having seldom attended any devotional services for many years, has attended every one of these services and has taken his turn in leading along with the other doctors, nurses, and technicians. The attendance of the hospital personnel and ambulatory patients has been large. A very helpful service was led by a senior student nurse who built the worship and meditation around the 91st Psalm. This morning service has become so vital to each one of us that we wonder how we ever did without it.

We have been very fortunate this year in securing the services of Dr. and Mrs. Liang Chi-min, Miss Chen Wen-ch'en and Miss Wang Wen-yu. Dr. Liang came as Dr. Wang's colleague in general surgery and his wife, Dr. Florence Liu, took over the department of gynecology and obstetrics. Miss Chen is a skilled obstetrical nurse and midwife, and Miss Wang, one of the graduates of our School of Nursing, returned from Peking after a full course in public health nursing and now has charge of this new department. We are happy to see how the foreign community of Chefoo appreciates the splendid services of our entire staff of Chinese doctors and nurses. Every member is an active Christian.

We offer praise to God that all the patients have had an opportunity to hear His Word of Love and Salvation and that not a few have confessed their need of Jesus Christ as their Saviour. By doing our work as unto the Lord we glorify the Father and fulfill the purpose for which He sent us.

" Finally, My Brethren"
The past year has not been without its annoyances, and what we may have to face is not yet disclosed. The faith and fortitude of our faithful native co-workers is such as to give us courage and cheer.

[The above Report is reproduced from a copy located at the PCA Historical Center, in Box 454, File 22,
the Emily Russel Collection]