WITH CHRIST IN INDOCHINA - IndoChina1911

TOURANE 41
Jesus' day. The Gospels tell us how they came to
Jesus asking questions, to tempt Him; that is, hoping
to humiliate Him by asking something that He could
not answer. The Oriental calls such humiliation
"Losing face," which to them is the worst thing that
can happen to a public man. But our Lord has made
provision for such contingencies. He said that at
such times "it shall be given you in that same hour
what ye shall speak." God did just that for both
missionary and Annamese preacher with the result
that "Fools who came to scoff remained to pray."
At the end of three months of this strange type of
preaching, the Lord had drawn to Himself eighteen
converts, and the church at Tourane had been born.
Among the members of that first little church
were four from the Annamese royal family, three
Annamese customs officials, and three secretaries
employed in the head office of the French Government
railway. I do not mention this because we put
any stock in class distinction, but because it had a
bearing on the rapid growth of the church that fol¬
lowed. It was the Lord who chose these key men
and women who commanded respect in the community,
to form the nucleus of His church in Indo-
China.
The first church of Christ in Annam grew rapidly.
Its membership doubled every year for a number of
years until there were over a thousand members in
the Tourane church and its outstations.
The Chris-