THE WATER PERIOD
 

1928-1930

According to a Chinese proverb, "Any start in life is difficult." To launch out as a part-time teacher and preacher with backing from neither Church nor Mission against a rising tide of nationalism, with anti-Christian agitation also from Communist machinations, was fraught with many difficulties to say the least.

No sooner had John Sung begun to preach than he ran foul of Government authorities. This happened at Sienyu where he was conducting a Bible class in the wake of a revival kindled by the Bethel Worldwide Evangelistic Band under Rev Andrew Gih, May, 1928. A preacher of right­eousness and a prophet against sin, he was not afraid to denounce evil in high places. A touchy issue was the practice of thrice-bowing to the portrait of Sun Yat Sen, Father of the Chinese Republic (1867-1925). In this nationwide prac­tice, Church leaders had acquiesced and lay Christians would comply under a subtle pressure for conformity. This was extenuated by the age-old Chinese custom of bowing to one another as a polite form of social greeting. Nevertheless, the prophet against sin maintained that bowing to Sun Yat Sen's portrait would come under the prohibition of the Second Commandment which plainly says, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of any­thing ... Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them....” (Ex 20:5). To bow to the portrait, to the likeness of Sun Yat Sen now dead, was tantamount to breaking the Second Commandment. This was like ancestor worship. This was idolatry. In this connection he had the concurrence of Rev Timothy Pietsch, who knew John Sung when he was in China, but is now veteran missionary to Japan. Rev Pietsch humorously put it this way - if the idol or image could bow back to you, then you could bow to him.

When the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) heard of this "subversive" or "counter-revolutionary" doctrine, they set about to arrest Sung. In order to do this they first took action with the school board under which John Sung was part-employed. A plot was hatched whereby the very stu­dents he had so diligently taught both Chemistry and Bible were stirred against him. Just as these misguided young people had him cornered in a classroom and were about to beat him up, suddenly a thunderstorm broke loose over their heads which so struck fear into their hearts that they melted away. Thanking God for this marvelous deliverance, he also perceived that he should no more serve God, "one foot in evangelism and the other foot in Chemistry." He resigned forthwith to become a fulltime preacher.

Under the Kuomintang's surveillance John could no long­er preach freely in his home town. Like the early disciples fleeing Jerusalem under persecution, "and went everywhere preaching the Word" (Acts 8:4) he went out to every remote countryside, to the fishing villages by the sea coast, and even to some offshore islands. As he went he gathered a band of young men and young women whom he trained as lay preachers. In the steps of the Savior coming apart to some secluded place from the hubbub of city life, John led fifty of his disciples to the Heavenly Horse Mountains for eight days of concentrated Bible study. After this they branched out to the villages below in small groups, visiting a hundred country churches as they went. Incidentally some of these young people were the fruits of the Bethel Worldwide Evangelistic Band whom he first met at Sienyu. Indeed, when he was at Sienyu he had observed how the Band worked and had since adapted to some of their methods. "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man the countenance of his friend" (Prov 27:17).

During his itinerant preaching, John would speak as many as eight or nine times a day. Once he preached so hard that his voice was reduced to a whisper. Any other preacher would have gladly called it a day, but not the intrepid herald of God. "A voice crying in the wilderness," he must let it be heard, now that they were come on such a long journey. To do this he had a member of his team stand with him on the platform. As he whispered the words of the message, this fellow would rehearse in a loud voice --- an ingenious improvised human P.A. system that worked with wonderful effect. After the meeting, the rest of the team took over the counseling to further relieve their voiceless leader.

By summer of 1928, John Sung was feeling the strain of several months of concentrated preaching and teaching. Remembering once again the places of retreat our Lord had frequented, he said to himself, "I must get away to some quiet spot for solitary meditation." Just then it was reported that a Christian Summer Conference was going to be held at Kuling. Kuling is one of China's famous mountain resorts overlooking the Yangtze River at Kiukiang, Kiangsi Pro­vince. Kuling was a meeting place of many of China's Church leaders of hallowed memories. Here would be gathered in conclave the Nation's highest leaders, even Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek. So to Kuling he went, now not to speak but to listen. His name beginning to be heard outside of Fukien Province, he was asked to give a testi­mony. This he willingly did, and this was the first time he was introduced to the Chinese Church at large.

Coming down from the mountain resort to the plain, to Hinghwa his hometown, he happily noted that the Holy Spirit was kindling a revival fire again. His joy was multi­plied as scenes of the Hinghwa Pentecost of 1909, two decades ago, flashed back across his mind. One of his younger brothers, waxing zealous for the Lord, organized a Christian Boy Scouts Troop. This he led to nearby villages where the boys. advanced the Gospel by drama in their own way. Playing Chinese tunes on both wind and string instru­ments they attracted crowds to hear the Gospel. Many of the Gospel choruses sung were from John's growing collection, not a few of these composed by himself.

"The zeal of Thy house has eaten me up" (Jn 2:17) is quoted from Ps 69:9 and has direct reference to our Lord's cleansing of the Temple. By application His servant's con­cern for the revival of the Church was growing in intensity. Let John Sung speak for himself according to his Auto­biography, paragraph 88:

"In late autumn of 1928 I formed an itinerant preaching band of three persons consisting of myself, a western missionary and a brother. As we went, we preached, and wherever our feet had trod we sowed the good seed in the fields of men's hearts. We did two things in every Church: 1) revived the hearts of believers to love the Lord; 2) in­vestigated their particular needs. As there were more Churches than we could visit we stayed at each place at most two or three days. The Lord being with us, we were wel­comed wherever we went. Revival came after our visit. But, alas, we lacked good workers for the follow-up, so that the reviving could not be sustained for long.

"Nevertheless we learned many lessons in our 'circuit riding'. We saw the difference between weak and strong churches and noted the reasons behind them. One conclu­sion was this: We hoped that many of the graduates of our Seminaries and Bible Colleges might not be stereotyped products relying on their certificates to procure their rice­-howl. We hoped that every theological school would train every student a spiritual man. In Christ, I submit to every seminary president this word: The best is that no certificate be awarded merely on academic qualifications (if so, what difference is there from the secular?) Certificates and de­grees should be given to those who qualify academically, who also have the abundant life of Jesus Christ. For the `recession' in the Chinese Church today is due not to a lack of theological graduates, but rather to a lack of Spirit-filled men with the new life to do a holy work. These observations are gathered after our going through a dozen villages from Pinshan to Chengchuan.

"Since my preaching has now extended to all parts of China, I am more than ever convinced from more things I have seen that preaching does not depend on man-made scholarship, intellectualism, or talents, but rather on whether one has the new life or not. The results of a preacher with the new life and of one without it are like the `gold, silver and precious stones' versus the `wood, hay and stubble' mentioned by the Apostle Paul (1 Cor 3:12).

"An evangelist might light up the fire of the Spirit, but to maintain the fire depends on the follow-up of the resident pastor or preacher. Thus we evangelists, when we see the fire burn on after we leave, have nothing to boast of. We must thank God for His faithful ones who stay on the job, who keep the fire burning."

As John Sung"s voice in the wilderness began to echo in his native province, Churches in the south that heard of his good work were the first to invite him. January 1929 saw John Sung taking a boat to Changchow. Here the people who came to hear him, many out of curiosity, numbered seven to eight hundred a day. After one week he advanced to Amoy, the stronghold of Presbyterians, whose founder was William Chalmers Burns (1815-1868). From Amoy he moved on to Chuanchow where God wrought a mighty work in turning many in repentance. The victories he had won in this southern Fukien crusade gave him abounding joy. This made the budding evangelist to aspire farther afield, yea, to advance now to Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1: 8). But God's time had not yet come. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord" (Isa 55: 8). He was obliged to return to Hinghwa.

Following the ideals of theological training he had earlier enunciated, Dr Sung now formed an itinerant theological school. Five students were enrolled who lived a peripatetic life with their teacher, learning as they went preaching, preaching as they went learning.

One practical lesson the itinerant theological school learned at the outset was from three young ladies teaching on an off-shore island. Why did they forsake the comforts of city life to live among the fisher folk? Why were they willing to teach after school -hours illiterate women to read, and street urchins to be good? "When I saw their sacrificial service, I felt deeply ashamed of myself," said John Sung. "We learned from them the lessons of faith, sacrifice, love for souls, perseverance in sufferings. That they were able to maintain such good works stemmed from a new power from within." As for the visiting Gospel team they played the equally needed role of reapers. Not a few heathen families who received Christ as a result of their preaching turned in their idols for burning. "One soweth and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor. .. " (Jn 4:37, 38).

In the course of their itineration they came to Hong Chek village, John Sung's birthplace. It was a season of busy planting in the paddy fields so that when they knocked on the doors the houses were deserted. Both teacher and students, like our Lord and His disciples, were now found in the fields among farming hands, after they had so soon left the fisher-folk. By going down to the paddy fields in the morning hours, they had gathered a full audience in the evening. As they preached from the Parable of the Sower, and the Seed sown had fallen on good ground, they experienced there and then a hundredfold reaping! For it pleased the Holy Spirit to work a mighty work in his own village. The whole church turned to the Lord in repentance as it did years ago. This encouraged the Lord's servants not a little.

In another village, the theological school visited a Church that was practically deserted. It was a hot summer day and seasonal sickness had kept the people indoors. This did not discourage the Gospellers. They literally practiced what the Lord in the Parable of the Great Supper told to the servant, "Go out quickly into the street and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt and the blind. ... Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled." (Luke 14: 16-24). As a result of going out into the streets to "compel them to come in" they were able to haul in between one and two hundred hearers of the Word each night. Not a few of those brought in were undertakers and grave diggers, funeral pipers and professional mourners. These now found a way out of the pit. By receiving Christ as their Savior, death was no more the dark chamber they dug, but a tunnel --- an escape route to a brighter life on the other end.

While the itinerant theological school was learning as they went preaching, they observed that the Church already had an improvement program for the people. This was mainly educational in emphasis. Literacy was the word! While the literacy movement was beneficial, what was lacking was its spiritual counterpart. To comply with the order of the Bishop, the poor village pastors had to work doubly hard in the literacy drive in order to turn in a good report. This the village pastors did for the sake of retaining their rice bowl. Thus, wherever the evangelists met with such a situation they would hardly get any support from the local church. This spurred the Team to redouble their efforts to revive the Church.

Dividing one hundred churches of a certain district into ten training groups, John held Bible classes with each of them by rotation. He presented to these groups materials such as new songs and choruses and pictorial aids for teaching. Moreover he gave much time to start a family worship movement that involved a thousand homes.

Every training session registered forty to fifty candidates. These were made up of church leaders mostly. There was also a junior training scheme for the youth fellowships on how to assist their pastor. In view of the fact that Methodist ministers were often transferred from one church to another, the training of the laity had a definite stabilizing effect on the local scene. In personal contacts with the people the teacher of the itinerant theological school learnt many valuable practical lessons himself, particularly from the live testimonies of the people. "Truth is stranger than fiction."

For one whole year John was involved in this training of Christian workers on the spot. This work was evidently blessed of God because requests for help were received from many outlying churches in the south, from as far as Yung Chun and Teck Hua.

In the hour of success, there came, however, the Tempter to dislodge John from his commitment. One day during Passion Week of 1930 when he should have looked upon the Savior with deeper contrition, he turned instead to look at self in a comparison with others. If he had taken a chemistry professor's appointment, he would now be drawing five to six hundred dollars a month. In his present predicament, being a free-lancer, he could hardly make ends meet. By this time, the couple had a girl and a boy. On top of the economic pressures he was heaped with criticism and ingrati­tude. Wherever he went all these long months he was his own baggage bearer, trudging uphill and down-dale bare­footed and bareheaded. It was a work that involved blood, sweat and tears. Like Simon the conscripted Cyrenian, John found himself no more bearing the cross with joy. Just then came the Word of the Lord to him, "Can you not obey Me to the very end? Can you not give your all to Me? I know your works. Your failures today are a forerunner to the success to come." "All things work together for good to them that love God ...." In the solemnity of these words John held his peace.

Soon after this he received invitations to hold revival meetings in Nanchang and Nanking. Thinking that the time had come for him to leave his native province, he sought the Lord again. To this came the reply: "My son, don't be hasty. Your time has not yet come."

Instead of sitting still, he bolted away like an unbridled horse. John was determined to go north at all costs. Though boils had erupted on his body, he nevertheless packed his suitcase to head for Kiangsi Province, hoping these would subside on the way. But God had His way to deal with a wayward child. On the morning of setting out, he began to vomit violently. He was overwhelmed by cholera! A cholera epidemic had suddenly invaded Hinghwa and John was one of the first to succumb to it. When he began to pray for forgiveness, willing now to submit to His will, to stay forever in Fukien as a country evangelist, the sickness left him almost immediately!

Now, when God's appointed hour for His servant to depart drew near, He confirmed this also by immediate circumstances inasmuch as He had worked through such circumstances to prevent him from leaving. A few months after his recovery from boils and cholera, Hinghwa suddenly came under a spate of murder and arson. These disturbances were further aggravated by an invasion of rebel-soldiers, for this was a period of warlords striving against the Central Government established by Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek. The Methodist missionaries working in remote areas quickly regrouped in the cities. John Sung's co-workers had to leave him because the opportunities for evangelism were gone.

Under these sudden changes of fortune when "no man can work" the Methodist Bishop of Foochow who had oversight of John decided to send him to North China on a study tour --- to learn from their Literacy and Mass Education Move­ment. Though his interest was evangelism and not educa­tion, but realizing this was God's appointed hour for him, John took leave of his family as abruptly as before, sickness in the family notwithstanding.

On the eve of departure for North China Mrs. Sung and Exodus the baby boy of three months (also called Tien Cheng = Heavenly Journey) were both heavily stricken. The baby boy died after a brief illness, adding sorrow to sorrow. The parents sought comfort in the analogy of Baby Moses being cast upon the waters at three months old, which led to his salvation. They believed their beloved little son had got out of this sea of sin below to the land of glory above. Three days after the burial of their son John Sung left his wife behind, still lying on her sick bed. He sailed for Shanghai from where he would proceed north to Peking. And it was winter.