Mr. C. T. Studd, a missionary to China, tells the following:
A white-haired old Chinaman, over fifty years of age, an old
opium-smoker, came to us, and having learned of Jesus Christ,
was converted, went home and took down his idols. The elders
of the village came to him for a subscription to their heathen
temples. “I now worship the true God and can not henceforth pay
any money for idol worship,” said the old man. When his reply
was known, his village and a neighboring village took counsel
and decided that they would kill him. One day, as the old man
sat in his chair, a mob surrounded his home yelling and cursing.
He sat quietly praying. One of the six men who stood at the door
ready to kill him shouted, “Now, old man, you come out.”
“No,” he replied quietly, “if you want me out, you must come and
pull me out.”
A dispute arose among the representatives of the villages as
to which should have precedence in this act of religious zeal,
and the contention waged so high that neither one dared to kill
the gray-haired old man. They dispersed to their homes, and
after living peacefully a while longer, the old Christian passed
quietly to his heavenly home in 1895.
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