A REVIEW

By Dr. J. Edwin Orr

D. Phil. (Oxford) Ed.  D. (U.C.L.A.)

       I REMEMBER JOHN SUNG by the veteran missionary, William E. Schubert, gives the reader an intimate glimpse into the life of one of the most remarkable evangelists in the Far East.  The author is well qualified to write upon such a significant character, for he himself shared in meetings of a truly amazing nature, recorded in the annals of evangelism in China.

       It is not commonly known that there occurred a revival of Evangelical Christianity in China in the years between 1927 and 1939.  There were missionary leaders in the movement, especially Marie Monson and Anna Christiansen.  But the far greater instruments of awakening were Chinese themselves, chiefly the Bethel Bands directed by Andrew Gih and the lone figure of John Sung.

       John Sung was one of the most colorful characters of all time, an evangelist of striking spiritual power as well as a prophet whose eccentricities matched some of those known through the Old Testament.  John Sung was converted during the Hinghwa Pentecost, a local movement in Fukien Province that was part of the nationwide revival in China in the years following the Welsh Revival of 1905.  He had a brilliant academic career in the United States, but gradually lost his own faith while studying in seminary in New York.  His recovery was so spectacular that the seminary authorities thought him mentally deranged.

       Dr. Sung returned to China and was caught up in a revival in Fukien Province, becoming an ardent evangelist.  He joined forces with Andrew Gih and the Bethel Bands for a number of years, then continued in itinerant ministry alone.  Converts by the tens of thousands resulted from his China Ministry, a trail of blessing his journeys overseas wherever Chinese people were dispersed.

       William Schubert, as an actual collaborator, has given an invaluable insight into the character of the man as well as a well-taken assessment of the work of the Spirit of God in the movement.  His paragraphs are well worth reading.