The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1931, Page 155

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

155

the procession. We did not wait for the procession,
but went ahead and parked the Ford car near
Devidas’s house. We had been there only a few
‘minutes when, much to our surprise, the bridegroom
stepped out of a crowded bus that had stopped along-
side of us. We asked him why he had not brought
his wife in the bus with him, to which he replied
that, had he done that, he would have had to take
all his friends with him in the bus, and that would
have been very expensive, and he concluded his
remarks by saying that it wouldn’t hurt her to walk.
We couldn’t help thinking of what the average Ameri-
ean bride might have done in a similar case. An act
of this kind, however, did not seem to be improper
in any way in this country.

After about an hour and a half the members of
the wedding party came straggling to the house,
where a pandal had been erected for the occasion.
When finally all had come, the bride and groom
seated themselves near the table which served as an
altar, and the guests seated themselves on the floor.
The parents of the bride were not present, for ac-
cording to the custom of these people the bride’s
parents cannot come to the house of the groom on
the wedding day. I then stood up and announced
the hymn; but we had no sooner started singing
than one man rose from the audience, spoke a few
sharp words, made several gestures, and in a moment
one half of the assembly rose and walked off the
premises. This man also called the bridesmaid away
from the bride.

Although we were somewhat surprised and per-
plexed, we continued with the service, and after
a short sermon, on Ps. 37, 5, I proceeded to marry
the couple. Whereas most of our missionaries have
a great deal of trouble in having even our best
Christian girls mumble “Ade,” that is, “Yes,” to the
marriage vow, this heathen girl repeated emphat-
ically and distinctly every word in the vow. Her
attitude and behavior under the conditions won our
admiration and respect. She very plainly indicated
that she was indeed very willing to study the Word
of God and by his grace become a Christian.

After congratulating the bridal pair and par-
taking of the fruits and delicacies they offered us,
we returned, being very much impressed with the
events of the day.

Alleppey, India.

oo

Danie S. CHUVALA.

“Tse first duty of every church is to bring a
knowledge of the Gospel to those who are without
it — near and far.”

‘‘Where Is He?”’

It was in the fall of the year 1919 that our China
missionary conference decided to enter the more or
less virgin mission-field of Southwestern Hupeh.
Accordingly, this territory was occupied by three
missionaries in the early spring of 1920. At the
time this mountain country, which comprises several
large counties, was held by a general of the Southern,
or revolutionary, forces. This general was governing
these parts independently of the Northern, or Pekin,
government. When this general and his 20,000 or
more soldiers entered this mountain haven, they
were, as is usually the case, respected as the powers
that be by the people of city and countryside. How-
ever, the wastefulness of the soldiers did not escape
the eyes of the people. The former simply led their
horses and mules to feed in the huge rice stores of
the city of Shinan, causing much of the valuable
supply of unhulled rice, which is annually laid up
for a possible shortage, to be wasted. The stored
rice soon disappeared. Yet the people did not mur-
mur; for Chinese soldiery is always in the right and
never at a loss how to obtain food and valuables.
The people were taxed years in advance. Opium
was again ordered to be grown, so that a tax of two
to three cash (one cash, the ancient coin with the
square hole, worth at its best 7» of a cent of Ameri-
can money) per pod of the growing poppy could be
collected. But present-day Chinese military men of
all ranks are insatiable. When money and rice was
no longer forthcoming, owing to the fact that much
had been paid the government in advance, the mili-
tary authorities sent men out to obtain the same by
force. The one-time rich Chinese peasants were
hanged by the hands and beaten in order to force
them to promise further support. The Chinese
peasant may be said to be patient and forbearing
at the hands of his superiors; but when the im-
possible is expected of him, he rises up against his
oppressors. In this case a peasant uprising against
all military government was started, which has not
been entirely quelled in some districts to this very
day. All able-bodied peasants were organized into .
an army of “Sen-Pin,” that is, Spirit, or God,
soldiers. Certain well-built men and some alert
women were chosen as gods, whose duty it was to
lead the ranks of peasants to battle with the hated
soldiers and to be the chief commanders in all
matters. As living idols, they were also to receive
divine honors and hold divine councils. The weapons
with which these thousands of “Sen Pin” were
armed were in part old-model rifles, while most of

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