WOMEN IN PRESBYTERIAN MISSION FIELD

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2936, 23 November 1916, Page 7

WOMEN IN PRESBYTERIAN MISSION FIELD

'. 1 — AN INTERESTING REVIEW. .'•'At .yesterday's, moetiug of the Presbyterian General Assembly,' Miss E. E. AVriglit, who has for six years, been stationed at Canton, gave an interesting review of the work of the Presbyterian Mission. In that city, she said, hero .was half a million heathen women, about as many as wcro in the whole of the Dominion of New Zealand. The women were born in tho fear of evil spirits, they lived in the constant fear of these spirits, and when they passed to tho Great Beyond they feared that they would bo haunted of evil spirits tliroughout eternity. She had known a woman who had -becomo a Christian to havo to beg 011 tho streets of Canton for a living—that Wis ITcr sacrifice. She paid a tribute to the courage of such womon, and said her admiration • of tho Chinese women was unbounded. (Applause.) She often wondered what wo would do if anyone 'came to New Zealand and asked us to mako the drastic changes wo asked them to do in China. In many villages they were not welcome; they were not wanted. We wore from Britain, and Britain had sent them opium, and no good could como out of Britain.

Ae often as not they wore regarded as Government spies, and 011 one occasion sho had bee asked bow much the Govornment paid them for information. Tho women wore uneducated. ,It was said that only ono Chinese woman in a thousand could read—in tho villages where sho had worked.only ono woman could read in ten thousand. They wero horn for one thing only—marriage. Thore wero 110 unmarried Chinese women. Tlioy wero mado tho wives and slaves of heathen men, and marriage consist--0 dof merely walking across the doorstep. They had to stand by quite helpless and see the- children of Christian Chineso married 111 that, way to heathen Chinese. To savo these girls they needed an up-to-date hoardingschool, well equipped, staffed by Chineso teachers, ami administered by a competent man from Now Zealand. Tvlcdical work was almost essential —it opened moro ways to tbo people's understanding than anything elso, and medical training for every missionary was well worth while. They needed tlireo moro women workers, 0110 an evangelical worker; 0110 for educational work (tlio best to ho got in New Zealajm) lot tbo model school tlioy wore coing to build in tlio central village. TiTey were floing to teach the Chineso to help tliemselvcs. Another nurse was badly needed. Their hospital was always full, and tbo out-patients wero always increasing. Tlio recital was listened to with tbo greatest interest.