12. Providential Guidance.
IN the course of my missionary travels in China, I have had many instances of God’s providential dealings, some of which are sufficiently striking, I think, to justify my putting them on record, with an apology for referring so often to myself. In one of our missionary tours, in the province of Shan-si, I became separated from the rest of my party, ―two men and two mules, carrying scriptures and tracts―in a somewhat unusual manner. We had spent most of the day in preaching in a city called Hsiang-ning, and finding the city full of country people, eager to listen to the gospel, I felt slow to continue the journey to the next stage, as previously arranged. Late in the afternoon I sent off my party, giving them special instructions to go on to a village called Fan-ti, where I proposed we should spend the night, while I continued an hour or two later in the city, preaching to the people.
About two hours before night came on, I rode away, following, as well as I could learn it, the course of my companions. As I proceeded, however, I was informed by occasional passers-by that there were no less than three villages called Fan-ti, and not knowing which of them my party had decided upon, I found myself in a difficulty. The road was exceedingly difficult, being, except in a few places, the bed of a mountain stream, which occasionally became so narrow as to render a passage between the rocks almost impossible. I found myself in a gorge at sunset, at a time when other travelers had reached their various destinations. Being unable to inquire the way, I followed a small path up the side of a hill, and reaching the summit, found a few caves, occupied by nine families of coal miners.
I now learned that I was five miles from Fan-ti, and three miles from the main road to that village. To proceed further that night along dangerous paths, was impossible. After clearly stating my difficulty to two or three of the men, I asked if there was not someone in the place willing to give me a night’s lodging. They inquired what was my “excellent” name, and where I had come from. I replied in true Chinese phraseology and sentiment, “My vile name is Pa, and I come from the city of Taiyuen Fu, the capital.” After due deliberations, held at a little distance from me, one of them came forward and offered me a share of his cave. He would send his wife away to a neighbor’s, and allow me to sleep with him and his children. My kind host led me round to the other side of the hill, and after finding a place and fodder for my horse, took me into his cave, and requested his wife to prepare me some food, which she quickly did.
Supper being over, all the neighbors came round to hear what news the stranger might have to communicate.
They all supposed I was a Chinaman, and I did not think the time had come to undeceive them. Our conversation soon turned upon the recent famine, and, taking advantage of this, I introduced the subject of the work of the missionaries in the distribution of famine relief, of which they had heard. They knew, however, nothing of the gospel, which the missionaries taught, nor had they ever met one of these foreigners. I told them that I had met many of them, and could tell them all about them, and about the wonderful doctrines of salvation which they preached. This greatly interested the simple people, who for more than an hour sat around me listening intently. Now and again they would ask intelligent questions, which showed that they took in most of what I said, as I related to them the good news of salvation through the merits of Christ.
A more pleasing picture could not very easily be imagined. Not a gleam of the light of God’s revelation had ever reached these poor men— they were in total darkness as to the way of salvation, although they knew their need of it, when suddenly a stranger appears in their midst, bringing to them the tidings of a free salvation, offered without money and without price.
As we thus sat in that dismal cave, with barely sufficient light from the oil lamp to enable us to distinguish each other, I could but feel it the greatest possible privilege, and honor, to be the medium, by God’s grace to convey to these willing hearts the glad tidings of God’s love. They appeared to believe the message and rejoiced in it. “But,” said one of them, “can it be possible that this salvation was wrought for us eighteen hundred years ago, and we only now hear of it for the first time? Why is this?” Here is a question for the churches at home to answer. Fortunately I had some Scriptures with me in the Chinese language, and these they gladly accepted, and promised to study for further light.
It was with the greatest difficulty I convinced them that I was myself actually one of the dreadful barbarians from across the seas, of whom they had heard such horrible stories. They brought the dirty little oil lamp close to my eyes at my own invitation, and examined them, and then cried out, “His eyes are blue! his eyes are blue!” A Chinaman with other than brown eyes and black hair is scarcely to be found in the whole empire. My hair was then examined, which, being fair, somewhat puzzled them, but I was pronounced an old man, and my hair was said to have turned gray! Gradually it began to dawn upon them that perhaps, after all, I was a foreigner. But how I could possibly speak the Chinese language, and yet be a native of another country, where the language spoken is totally different from their own, was a problem too difficult for them to solve. They had never imagined a man speaking any other than his native tongue.
I left next morning, with the best wishes of these simple-hearted people, and received a warm invitation to come back again and see them, and tell them more about the “Heavenly Doctrine.” Before mid-day, I reached the village of Fan-ti, and finally joined my party, who were fearing lest I had been devoured by wolves.
It was surely no mere accident which led me to those caves. So far as I know no missionary has since visited these people, and nothing is known to us of their present condition; I cannot, however, but hope that seed was sown upon good ground that night, which sprang up and is bearing fruit to the glory of God. A. G. P.