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BY REV. J. HUDSON TAYLOR.
' Is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able . . . ?
"- HN every age unbelief "with a lamentable voice " asks, as did Darius, this question, and in every age it has been the privilege of God's witnesses to give triumphant reply. As at the threshold of a new
year we look back on the way
by which the Lord has led
us, we find a new occasion to
raise our Ebenezer and afresh
to build upon it our JehovahJireh. The very existence of the China Inland Mission is a standing testimony, more forc- ible than words, to God's faith- fulness in answer to prayer. The Mission was born of prayer, nourished by prayer, and is still sustained from month to month
only in answer to earnest prayer. It has grown from very small beginnings to its present dimensions ; but this means that in- stead of a few subjects for prayer, there are now many needs, many dangers, many difficulties, all of which cast us daily on Him whom we love and serve, and who never fails us. In the formation of the Mission, more than thirty years ago, it was seen that the Divine plan to obtain labourers was to pray
the Lord of the harvest to thrust them forth. As we have
needed workers, we have done this, with the result that at the end of May, 1896, there were in connection with the Mission 672 Missionaries drawn from many places into which we had
never been—not merely from England, Scotland, Ireland and
Wales, but also from Norway, Sweden and Finland, from Den- mark and Germany, Switzerland and Italy, from the United
States and Canada, and from the Australasian Colonies—South
Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales and Queensland, as well as from both the North and South Islands of New
Zealand. As to Funds : We saw thirty years ago that we had the Divine warrant to go forward in the Lord's work resting on His words, " Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His
righteousness ; and all these things shall be added unto you " : that we had the Divine assurance, " Your Father knoweth
that ye have need of these things." And to-day we rest upon
these promises and are not disappointed. We do not publish
donors' names, we make no collections, we have no reserve
funds, we never go into debt ; our path now is as much walking January, 1897.
on the waters as it was thirty years ago—month after month,itis quite a frequent experience not to see how the pecuniary needwill be met until close upon the time when it is necessarytoremit to China ; and yet
" In some way or other, The Lord does provide." Have we not great cause to praise God that, while thusde-pending wholly upon His bounty, we have never had to declineone suitable candidate, or to abandon any work begun in HisName merely from lack of pecuniary support ? On the otherhand, we have from time to time taken the limitation of suppliesas Divine guidance not to commence certain new works in theway or at the time they were first proposed. Not only is the number of Missionaries continually ontheincrease, but all other needs grow proportionately. Besidethenative helpers supported by native funds, there are severalhundreds who, together with their families, are providedforthrough the Mission. Then (not to speak of boarding anddayschools for native children) we have over 200 children of ourown Missionaries to maintain—and the number is increasingfrom year to year—who are old enough to need education also.These benefit by the excellent training and tuition given in ourChe-foo schools. And as to Open Doors : When the Mission was commencedit was generally believed that it was not practicable to resideinInland China ; but we went forward prayerfully, trustinginHis Word, " All power is given unto me ; go ye therefore. . . . And, lo, I am with you alway ! " We have not been disap-pointed in this expectation either : He who holds the keyofDavid, who opens and no man shuts, has set before us hundredsof open doors in all but two of the inland provinces of China,and in inland stations of coastal provinces, so that now in some250 inland stations and out-stations there are resident Missionaries or native Evangelists day by day proclaiming the GladTidings of great joy. But the best remains to be told. All the foregoing continu-ous answers to prayers are but a means to the great end
thesalvation of souls and the furtherance of Christ's kingdom.We may safely estimate that not less than 15,000 to 20,000souls have accepted Christ through God's working withusduring the last thirty years. Many of these were over sixtyorseventy or eighty years of age when converted, and after short,faithful service were taken to that everlasting home whichissuch a glorious contrast to the comfortless abodes in whichtheir earthly lives were spent. Many have entered the heavenly