Pioneering in - Far Eastern Bible College

But the peculiar condition surrounding the mountain tribeswere such that the women went about naked day and night as acustom. To them this was quite natural and there was no such(Confucian) etiquette as “no hand-contact between man andwoman even in the delivery of anything from one to the other”.This state of affairs caused temptations to abound.When I first went to preach to the Dyaks I was a youngster,while my wife remained in Hong Kong. Once a Dyak observed Ihad lived a single life for several years, so he asked if I wasmarried. I said yes and that my wife was in Hong Kong.Surprised, he queried, “Has she remarried?” I replied that wouldbe impossible with Christians. He felt more intrigued. To him thiswas news. For, to the Dyaks husbands and wives could not beseparated for a moment. Sometimes, a wife would find anotherhusband in one night.When I first arrived in Dyakland, I often saw them in pairs onthe road and in the field. I admired their love for each other whichtranscended that of the civilised. Later I found out the secret. Allthe young girls of marriageable age who met a new comer,whether they knew him well or not, would unshamefacedly seeklove from the dauntless visitor. From this description you can seethat we missionaries to the Dyaks came under constanttemptation. We are all made of flesh and blood and circumventedwith all human weakness. To keep ourselves was no easy matter. Ihad lived for fifteen years in such circumstances. That I am ableto stand before God without a guilty conscience, and that I saywithout any boast, is gratefully due entirely to God’s protectionand preservation.A preacher’s pay is small. This is an open secret. Thepreacher’s wife as manageress of the household has a limitedincome to meet every item of expenditure. She has to rack herbrains and heart to cope with such a situation.53