The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1914, Page 27

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

27.

with a cheerful “Hello, Wong!” Though working
hard as a night-waiter in a restaurant, he insisted
upon helping in Rev. Harders’ household wherever
he could. THe would sweep, scrub, cook, and do up
the Jaundry whenever he found the opportunity.
‘lo replace the oil lamps in the mission buildings,
he gathered money among his fellow-pupils to fur-
nish the chapel, school, and parsonage with electric
lights.

On Sunday, December 18, 1910, he was bap-

tized. Wong Fong was inexpressibly happy that
day. Again and again he would say to others that

were present: “Me so happy to-night, so happy!”

Before his baptism he one day told his teacher,
“T used to belong to the Free Masons; but I have
left them, because I want to be baptized.” “Who
told you to do that?” “Nobody; they all told me
not to do it, and they were very angry when I told
them to take off my name. But I know that I can’t
belong to the lodge if I want to be a Christian.”
“Why not, Wong?” “That you know better than
Ido. But Vl tell you what I think. In the lodge
they always tell us that if we are good, all will be
well with us. But the Bible tells us that we and
all our deeds are evil; however, it also tells us that
we do not have to do anything to earn heaven, since
Christ has done all that for us already. A person
can’t stay in the lodge if he wants to be a Christian.”
‘The missionary was surprised to find the boy show
such good Christian knowledge, and well he might,
for many a person reared under Christian influence
has far less insight into spiritual things than this
poor Chinese boy had. It was plain to Wong that
the lodge with its teaching of salvation by works
was directly opposed to the teaching of the Christian
Church of an atonement alone through the blood
of Christ Jesus.

And now comes the sad news that Wong Fong
is dead. Concerning the sad taking away of this
young Christian, Missionary Harders writes: Soon
after his baptism, Wong Fong left Globe for Phoe-
nix, the capital of Arizona. Here he attended our
Lutheran church, whose pastor at the time was Rev.
G. Luetke, but which for the past few months has
been served by Rev. T. Frey.

A year ago Wong Fong went to live with his
uncle, Wong Fei, who had just married a young
wife. On Tuesday, February 10, his uncle’s wife
received a letter from China giving her maiden
name. Wong Fong saw this letter. As soon as he
saw the name, the thought came to him: “That-is
the name of the girl to whom I was married when

I was a child.” He went to his trunk, and after a
brief search brought out a small package. It con-
tained half of a Chinese coin and half of a written
promise of marriage. Wong showed this to his
uncle’s wife and asked her whether she had not some-
thing like it. She told him that she had, and then
went to get it. ‘The two pieces of coin and the
two pieces of paper belonged together. Wong Fong
and Mrs. Wong Fei, his aunt by marriage to his
uncle, had been married since childhood according
to Chinese law!
But what was now to be done?

Wong Fong and Li Ling.

Wong went to his pastor the next day. After
telling what had happened, he added: “And now
we must die. Hither the woman and I must die
voluntarily, or Wong Fei must die, or I will be
killed.’ This seemed incredible to the pastor, but
Wong Fong insisted upon it that such would be the
case.

Pastor T. Frey did all he could for the young
man. During the next few days the two were much
together. Wong Fong fearing assassination at the
hands of his countrymen, at once closed his newly
opened barber-shop. Pastor Frey asked the police
for protection and also wrote to the immigration
authorities. Neither the police nor*the immigra-