nineteen hundred and forty-six - Amazon Web Services

240 SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION
of the doors, windows and floors are gone, though the buildings' walls are
unharmed.
Tsinan. The residences are in not too bad shape. The west half of the
compound is filled with refugees. The church is being used by our local church
and Pastor Wang is living in the Woman's Bible School, I believe—at least he
lives in a building south of the church. The church inside the city under Mr.
T'ong has functioned without interruption and I think the Kwan I Chiai church
has also functioned.
Tsining. The railroad between Tsingtao and Tsinan is broken but reports
say it will soon reopen. . . . Communist-bandit armies seem to be in charge of
all that section of the country. German Catholic priests have arrived from
central Shantung (I Chow), forced out by the Communists. . . . People are
suffering terribly because of the demands of these bandit hordes. Harvests
were good and under normal conditions they would have had enough to eat,
but the bandits take all the people have. . . . Money is in bad shape. One
U. S. dollar brings from $2,700 to $4,500 of this local money. American
sailors and marines spend money like water and hundreds of thousands of
American dollars have gone into Chinese hands. We paid $600 for a short
rickshaw ride.
Tsingtao. We feel very strongly that there is a golden opportunity for
our missionaries at the present time here in Tsingtao and would urge that men
and women both come. Even though at this writing it would be impossible
to enter our Interior stations, that opportunity may open sooner than we might
expect. Even if it doesn't, Tsingtao presents a great opportunity for Christian
missionaries. We have safety, food, and hordes of unsaved people. With this
as a bridgehead, we will be ready to go interior whenever opportunity offers.
In the meantime, our interior Christians can contact us and with our presence
here, their hearts will be encouraged and the Chinese Christian church will
rise up for a new day. The local churches will carry on as usual. None of
them ever ceased functioning. Our Baptist people remained true.
FRANK H. CONNELY
H. H. MCMILLAN
D. F. STAMPS
Dear Friends:
We left Nanning on a little cargo boat, piled into the bottom of it all the
things Dr. Wallace and his staff had been able to take with them last year
They had left Wuchow just three days before the Japanese got into it last year'
We put bed-springs and wooden planks on top of our baggage to make a sort
of floor for the boat, spread out our straw mats and settled our little colony
sardine fashion on the floor. We each one had room to stretch our full length
and improvised the best we could for our mutual comforts. The West River
is quite a broad and winding river. There were few rapids since the river was
fuller than usual. We were towed down river by a motor boat. There was
a string of five boats, I believe, attached to the motor boat. A little boat about
the size of a row boat was used for our kitchen. As we passed one place
where the rapids were considered dangerous the boat manager fired off fire
crackers to appeal to the gods to help. Incense was burned and one day a very
fine bit of a feast laid out m thanksgiving. But since it was not eaten bv the
gods it was taken back to the family dining room for consumption
We were four days coming down the river. On the morning of the 4th of
September we got off the boat in Wuchow Such a sight as this city in its
wreckage! Hardly a whole house left standing along the water front Our
hospital suffered some, but very little in comparison with all the other 'maces
round about us. Our roof is about off and that is a little inconvenient when It
rains so much, but we can get along for a time since the floors are all reinforced
concrete. There were far more things left here than we had expected to see
though we are sadly lacking in most everything. Our operating room is about
ready for use. We have tables, stool, sterilizers, etc., that Dr Wallace and
the nurses saved. There is a little cloth to make sheets, etc. We have SOTOP
soiled gauze that has been refugeeing for a year. We need screening heroin
this malarial country. Flies are very bad and rats are awful. It is hard rn
know what to do for these various pests and then not be able to get the very