Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

pages."Another Year of BlessingBy the Rev. Charles H. Chao, Kobe, Japanin Sixth Annual Report of the ReformationTranslation Fellowship"Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who onlydoeth wondrous things." Psalm 72:18.Probably there is nothing more suitable for usto say than to quote the above words of the Psalmistin order to describe the work of the ReformationTranslation Fellowship which has been carried onby the wonderful grace of God through the past yearof 1954. It is my deep conviction that, although weare weak in every respect, God's grace is sufficient.We cannot carry on our work even one single daywithout the guidance of mercy and the present helpof our sovereign Father who is the only source ofpower.The main publication work of the RTF for thisyear has been the translation of Miss Cameron's"God's Plan and Man's Destiny," which from Augustwe began to circulate to our readers in the differentparts of the world, and the four issues of our regularmagazine, "The Reformed Faith and Life."We received a lot of letters during the past yearfrom our readers, expressing their good wishes andthanks for our publications. Most of the letters camefrom the Free World area. From these letters wehave seen the urgent need for orthodox literary workand the spiritual hunger throughout the Christianchurches owing to the lack of reading materialswhich are based on the Biblical doctrines. Thereforeit is not small encouragement for those who havebeen concerned with the development of the RTFwork to note the voices of our readers.Dr. Hollington K. Tong, the Nationalist Chineseambassador to Tokyo, wrote to the writer of this report as follows : ". . . It is a great comfort to me, andmy admiration goes to you as I learned about yourtranslation and publication work. A copy of God'sPlan and Man's Destiny has come to my hand. Iwould like to say that my faith has been strengthened a great deal after reading it. Allow me to extend my thanks and appreciation to you. . The ambassador and his wife are fine Christians. They attend the Overseas Chinese Christian Church servicevery faithfully in Tokyo which was started by Mr.Donald Hunter in 1950. It is a great privilege for thiswriter to witness among the Chinese Christiansthere sometimes.We appreciate very much the kindness of aChristian worker in the China Sunday School Association of Tiapeh, Taiwan, who has introduced ourmagazine to their subscribers widely throughout thepast year. He wrote to us that he had been greatlybenefited himself by reading our magazine "The Reformed Faith and Life" and is willing to introduce itto the Christian workers.Many theological students and ministers inand Formosa wrote to us and asked forHong Kongour publications and also expressed the benefit theyhad received through reading them. The readers ofour magazine even included some Nationalist soldiersin the camps and a representative of the Chinese Nationalist Assembly in Taiwan. It is very interestingto note that there are five South Korean pastors ofthe Presbyterian Church who wrote to us and askedfor our publication. An old scholar who escaped from154Chungking and finally came to Taiwan got a copy ofour magazine from one of his friends, a universityprofessor in Taipeh. He wrote to us thus : ". . . The'Reformed Faith and Life' magazine has been a greathelp to my faith since I touched its A HongKong pastor wrote to us that he found somethinghelpful in our magazine in regard to the criticism onBarth and his viewpoint in theology. He also introduced the magazine to two other pastors."I never had a chance to study the Reformed' Doctrine of predestination before I got the book by Dr.Boettner which was published by your Fellowship. Iwould like your Fellowship to help me along this linehereafter."A Formosan Christian worker made theabove remark.No letter has been received from the mainlandreaders of our magazine during the past year. Inview of the present grave situation behind the IronCurtain, that is to be expected. However, the unseenweapon of God's Word can still penetrate throughthe Bamboo Curtain with its saving and refreshingpower. So long as the door is open we have no reasonto quit sending our publications to our readers inthat area who are starving spiritually under Redcontrol. We should give our hearty thanks to Godfor His marvelous guidance in helping our brethrenon the mainland in such a way. God has preparedsuch an able Christian young man for dealing withthis work of significance in Hong Kong.We recognize it as our honorable duty to takecharge of printing the late Rev. F. C. H. Dreyer'slast manuscript on the "Errors of Romanism" atthe special request of Mrs. Dreyer of Philadelphia,Pa. It is a timely publication of Dreyer's work, meeting the urgent need of such literature from theProtestant Church while the Catholic influence hasbeen so powerful in the Orient. Many Christianworkers have met such problems as what is the difference in character between Catholic and Protestantchurches. I have had firsthand opportunity to readDreyer's proof and I have come to the conclusionthat it is really a "must-read" volume for each Chinese Christian worker. This book will come off thepress very soon, and many will be richly blessedthrough reading it.We are glad to mention that Dr. EdwardYoung's booklet entitled "Do You Believe ?" and Dr.Machen's "The Importance of Christian Scholarship"are on the press in Hong Kong. The supply of Dr.J. G. Machen's well known work on "Liberalism andChristianity,"which was translated into Chinese byRev. Samuel E. Boyle, has been exhausted for sometime. We published this book in two editions in 1950-51,and a lot of copies were sent into the mainlandduring the past years. Even now we receive lettersfrom the theological students and pastors requestingDr. Machen's message. It it our plan that "Liberalism and Christianity" should be reprinted in its thirdedition in the near future. We hope sincerely that ourfriends who are interested in this project will remember this matter in their prayers.The wonderful grace of God has sustained thework in the Reformation Translation Fellowship aswell as my personal life during the past year. TheLord has dealt with me so graciously that He has enabled me to carry on my various burdens in such away that I cannot describe it with my mortal pen."Come and hear all ye that fear God and I willsoul."declare what he hath done for myCOVENANTER WITNESS