One of our Santa Barbara brethren rents quite a tract of land, much of which he devotes to the culture of small fruits. On a visit to his place a year or two ago, friends saw strawberry plants heavily laden with luscious looking fruit so arranged in front of our brother's door as to spell out this sentence, "God loves the earth."
"It seems," said Jee Gam once, "as though I could recall his very words, and hear the tones of his voice as he prayed for the conversion of his countrymen." It was the closing prayer of a gospel service among the Chinese in Oakland. The brother who offered it was a Chinese merchant of that city. Two days afterwards he was shot in his own store by a Chinaman because he refused to submit to blackmail. A policeman hastened to the spot and saw him die, and testified in court that his last words were those of prayer to our true God; this testimony, though given probably by an ungodly man, being such as to draw tears from many who listened. Yet some say there are no real Christian Chinamen; that you can't convert a Chinaman; that they are throughout a race of hypocrites.
It may not be safe to say _every_ month without exception, though that is the impression made upon me, but it is certainly safe to say _almost_ every month brings some report to me of pupils beginning to believe in Jesus and professing their faith in him. This extract from a letter will serve as an example: "I have some very good news for you concerning my scholars. Two of them have promised to join the Association [i.e. of Christian Chinese] next week. One of them I have been praying for especially, for nearly a year.... There are three more who, I trust, are born of God, but are not yet brave enough to take a stand for him. One says his brother will kill him if he joins in Christ's name." And here is a word from another teacher: "Five of the brethren unite with the church at the coming communion. I do not feel that this is through my effort, as I have not known how to work individually. It is the Lord that 'giveth the increase.' Two of them have been ready to come into the church for a long time. The others show their conversion by face and manner as well as by testimony and prayer."