Disapproval by Leaders

        In 1937 he held meetings in the Guilan Methodist Church in Nanking.  The city-wide evangelistic committee of Chinese churches invited him.  But the Chinese pastor of the Guilan Church did not approve of Dr. Sung's coming to his church because his missionary co-worker disapproved.  The bishop also did not favor Dr. Sung's meetings.  But the local Methodist church board voted to let the interdenominational committee have the meeting in the Guilan church anyway, and Dr. Edward James, Methodist professor in Nanking Theological Seminary, and Mrs. James, entertained John Sung.  I was holding meetings in Chinkiang at that time, but I closed my meetings to go to Nanking to pray and otherwise assist Dr. Sung if I could.

       When Dr. Sung heard of the opposition of the pastor., missionary and the bishop, he said, “I won't stay here; I'll leave.”  I knew he meant it, because he had left Kiukiang in 1931 when some opposition developed, and they asked me to go to take his place and preach the last seven sermons.  He also refused to stay in Wuhu for the same reason.  So I said to him in Nanking: "You can't do this to us, John Sung!  I have closed my own meetings in Chinkiang to come here to help you, and Dr. and Mrs. James have ‘stuck out their necks’ to entertain you.  So you must stay through this week."  We often talked to each other like "Dutch uncles." So finally he very unwillingly consented to stay as we had insisted.