8 Stones Op Fire
STONES OP
FIRE About half-past four that afternoon the deep, mellow voice of a gong began to boom out over the hillside.
It proclaimed that the travellers now sighted on the trail that circles such a long time before it enters the village would soon be at the welcome arch, where everyone must now gather. Down the mountain side and across the village trails they came running, and by the time Thomas' party had reached the arch, all the Christians were assembled on the other side of it. Manoah pitched the note, the four-part singers fell into harmony, and they all began to sing:
"There's a Teacher at the door, Let him in.
He will teach us God's road, Let him in.
That we might have salvation, That we might get to heaven God has given him to us, Let him in."
When the song was finished, the guests passed under the arch and shook hands with the singers. Then all turned together to escort the little family up the hill to their new home.
Chapel was full that night. How everybody enjoyed it ! That new tune to Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah was so winsome, it tied itself to your heartstrings and pulled a little.
Gare and doubting, gloom and sorrow, Fear and shame are mine no more; Faith knows naught of dark tomorrow, For my Saviour goes before .
. and the Lisu version repeats it softly, "For my Saviour goes before."
Village of the Olives having sent four boys to study at Rainy Season Bible School this time, each must give a testimony Thomas, Enoch, Jonah and Lu-seng. One of them mentioned that a world war had begun, and that Ma-ma had said that all should pray about it every week in the Saturday night prayer
A STONE
IS QUARRIED
meetings. A country called France had fallen and another country called Japan was fighting China. "What queer names," thought little Third Sister. "How could one remember such names, let alone pronounce them?" War? In the canyon that had been shooting with cross-bows and poisoned arrows mainly, but really Third Sister could not picture it very clearly. "Perhaps that France-place did not have poison for their arrow-tips and that is why they were beaten so quickly. Well, it is too bad but —what a good time we had tonight!"
And now study began in earnest. As Homay was ill and getting worse, Teacher Thomas could not visit the neighbouring villages as he had at first planned. But that meant that he would be free to teach in Olives every night ! He had decided to begin teaching the four parts to "All hail, Emmanuel." Third Sister found it hard to watch the words, the notes of her particular part, and the time-beat all at the same time. But when after many efforts the four parts were sung together the harmony delighted everyone. And then the boys were so jolly. Sosthenes was a bit too daring. Third Sister was glad she was little so that she could hide behind the others.
Sarah, Lydia and Rhoda—they were the popular ones and the ones most teased; but they always knew what to answer back, whereas neither Third Sister nor Second
Sister was quick at repartee. But they were both working hard at the catechism now, for Thomas was planning a baptismal service and knowledge of the catechism was considered essential in those days.
Now listen to her own account, given in her testimony some years later and written down even as she spoke: "My mother had died, and during this time my father, a heathen, was opposed to my being a Christian. My older sister wanted to be catechized also, so we studied secretly, not letting father know until we both had passed and were accepted for baptism. But after that event something happened to me inside, a transformation.
Before that I was careless and often wrong in my speech but after my baptism I knew that I was different.
I dearly love the words in Hebrews 11 : 1.
I have proved that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
It is a substance—it produces things tangible and real. And decision is
STONES OP
FIRE another very powerful thing. I have been impressed anew with The Hstlners did not know all that het heart meant by that ; last sentence, until years later. Now let us see how this child of a primitive remote mountain canyon discovered that taitn is a substance.
Stones in His Pocket "Any valuable gem must first be trimmed, cleared, or sawed into suitable shape and size, then cut into the desired form and finally polished/'
Dr. Kanz, gem expert to Tiffany & Co.
AND so the great Quarrier, finding this little stone of fire JP\ willing to leave her earthen bed, begins to trim and clear for lapidary work.
It is a thrill to turn up the pages of encyclopaedias and look at the photographs of some o£ the world's most famous gems as they were first found in their rock or native condition. Only the Master lapidary's eye could detect value in them. So with these tribespeople, only looking with Christ's eyes upon them can one see possibilities upon which He may work. In the pages ahead He is going to trim offsome ignorance, wash off the mud of heathen customs so long accepted as part of life, clear off a bit of superstition and place them under the running water of constant danger so that spiritual slovenliness may be removed. He has finer work yet to do, but we must patiently go with Him through all His preparations.
All that autumn, each evening, the small group at Olives met in their chapel. At first Homay tried to come also. She, so gifted and intelligent, could teach any part of any hymn, and not only knew as much Bible as her husband, but was also as good a writer. To find a Lisu girl equal in scholarship to any man in the church astonished Third Sister. The Lisu heathen always sneeringly said that women could not learn anything. Looking at Homay, Third Sister realized now that obviously this was not true. So gradually all her spare time was given up to reading her
New Testament, memorizing Bible verses and going over her soprano part in the anthem they were attempting to learn
STONES OF FIRE Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and the King of Glory shall come in They meant to sing this at Christmas, but before that day arrived, something else—terrifying, thrilling, ominous—took place. Thomas had been teaching them i Thess.
4:13-19:
"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout .
. we shall be caught up ... to meet the Lord in the air."
Even the heathen heard of this wonderful expectation which Christians had.
It was a cloudy day and Third Sister was out on the mountains herding the family cows. Suddenly out of the sky came a great purring noise. She looked up but could see nothing—yet the noise continued.
It seemed to be moving west.
It was not thunder, it was a sort of purr, but no cat on earth could purr so loud—and how could a cat get up there? A few minutes and it was gone—silence. "The last trump." Could it be? Had the Lord come .
. and left her? Terrified she began to run hither and yon to collect the cows and drive them home. On the way she met another Christian carrying firewood—oh, what a relief it was ! Then it was not the Lord's coming, for this Christian was still here.
"Did you hear a great noise out of the sky?" she called out.
"Yes," was the answer.
"What was it?"
"Don't know. Let's go home and ask."
So the two frightened little girls sped over the long, winding trail into Olives. Everywhere people were talking about it, but no one knew what it was.
That evening the little group in chapel anxiously inquired of Teacher Thomas. But even he did not know.
"I thought maybe the Lord had come," he said simply.
"So did we!" sounded from many.
"So did Ju-shwey!" laughed Enoch. "He came running up to me and threw his arms round my neck and held on and yelled,
'If He takes you, He's got to take me too!' Say, I could hardly push him off, he hung on so. But when the noise went away he disappeared too."
How everybody laughed, for Ju-shwey was a backslider.
STONES IN
HIS POCKET
There were some more laughs and sly looks, for other backsliders had decided to repent that afternoon and were now in chapel—the first time for months.
The next afternoon about the same time the purr from the sky came again.
"It's a tiger-demon !" declared the heathen, but this day there were no clouds and they saw it. It was moving across the sky.
It had wings like a bird, only they did not go up and down, and a tail like a fish, and it purred like a tiger. Whatever could it be? Everyone in Lisuland had dropped his work and stood with open mouths gazing into the skies.
Only Teacher Thomas guessed aright. "I guess it's the Flying House that Ma-pa told us of !" he said with shining eyes. "People are inside it, but I don't know much about it. Wish I'd asked him more now!" Those were the first two planes to fly over the Hump ; but from then on, as long as the war with Japan lasted,
Flying Houses were of daily occurrence.
Christmas was near and everyone wanted to go to Oak Flat village so they could ask and hear about the Flying House.
How did it get up there? Could it come down again? How did it find its way?—there are no trails in the sky. Could it go at night? Later they saw planes flying at night with green and red lights on their wings. "Really these white men are wonderful, there is nothing they cannot think up and do," they confided to one another.
That Christmas was Third Sister's first long trip away from home. She and Second Sister each had a new navy-blue homespun dress, woven and sewn by themselves, and a new bookbag with dainty embroidery at the edges, and cloth sandals embroidered with white. They had to carry their sleeping blanket and their food. Each must bring a quart of rice or corn, a pound of pork and a few ounces of salt for the feast.
Lu-seng had gone on ahead a day early, but Lu-seng-ma was going and Third Sister could stay close to her. Lu-seng-ma was very popular with the girls that year, and wise mother that she was, she knew why, but never let it be known that she did.
She was anxious for a daughter-in-law because a daughter-inlaw would give free labour on the farm and in weaving. Luseng was an only child now, since her two older ones had
STONBS OP
FIRE died, and no nice girl would come near their shanty for fear of gossip, since two eligible young men were there. Now that Luseng had taken to Bible study and preaching, they had to hire his cousin Timothy to herd the cows, gather firewood and help with the farm chores. Life is hard in the mountains.
Arrival at the river brink drove off all but happy thoughts.
They had to wait their turn until the ferry boat arrived. At Olives they had a raft for crossing the Salween, and one sank to one's ankles in water. This plank rowboat was a veritable
Queen Mary in Third Sister's eyes. While waiting for the current to swing the boat down to them, those who had brought lunches of cold boiled rice, ate them, and the boys showed their skill in stone-throwing. To be able to throw a stone across the Salween was an accomplishment. Lu-seng had done it, his mother declared proudly, which put the fellows on their mettle, and Sosthenes and one or two others made their stones "tang" on the rocks of the opposite shore to prove they were not far behind him.
Then with yells and shouts the ferrymen threw out their long hook and moored the boat up to the shore. Even so the crossing was formidable. When that swift mid-stream current caught the ferry it trembled from bow to stern like a frightened little bird, and was about as helpless. Third Sister having heard of the times this ferry had capsized and all on board were drowned, she and the girls cowered down, while Sosthenes grabbed hold of the oar and threw his powerful weight on it till it shot down on the eastern bank and, with shouts and cries, was safely hooked to the shore. Then did not he tease and pretend by terrified grimaces that "this was how Third Sister had looked", until the whole merry party was in fits of laughter
Once over on the east bank, the little group took the small trail up to the road a thousand feet above their heads. That path is very steep, quite comparable to an attic staircase, but the only alternative would be the horse trail which hair-pins back and forth in a long detour of at least an hour's travelling. There was not even debate in their minds which to take, the steep thousand feet would not be as wearying as the long detour; so up, up through wild brush, and a cornfield here and there, digging
STONBS IN
HIS POCKET
their bare toes into the soil for a firmer foothold, they ascended.
It was like a fly climbing a monstrous pail, for all above their heads towered mountain peaks, snow-crested, with just a bit of blue sky showing at the top. A thousand-foot hill is a mere bump in that country.
Up at the roadside they all threw themselves down for a delicious stretch and relaxation. The canyon opened up more fully from here, and they could see Sandalwood Flat village clinging to slopes higher than they on the mountains of the opposite bank.
Turning their heads, they could see Golden Bamboo village like a platter on end, sprawling over the mountain to their right and at least five hundred feet higher than they.
Sosthenes narrowed his eyes to gaze at the dipping, disappearing trail in an effort to discern if any of the Golden Bamboo Christians were in sight—a group must certainly be coming for Christmas. But not perceiving any, he turned to his lazy comrades and cried, "Up with you ! The sun is already high and we do not want to be the last to arrive!" With good-natured talk and laughter, the others arose and were soon speeding along the trail south to Oak Flat.
Arriving at the last ascent, up on the rocks above their heads was perched the lookout man, and soon "bang-bang" went a gun. Third Sister winced. She had heard of those white-man weapons, but did not enjoy being so close. This time, however, she was careful to keep her fears from Sosthenes' sharp eyes.
But here was Lu-seng, running down the trail to meet them, shaking hands with each, talking to everyone as he did so.
"I've arranged for you girls to sleep in Ma-ma's own house," he said. "You follow me as soon as we are through the welcome arch and f11 show you where to leave your things. We fellows will sleep in the servants' quarters." So saying, they arrived at the arch and lined up to be welcomed by song.
As Third Sister went down the reception committee line, shaking hands, she noted a new form. There was a new white
Ma-pa ! Oh yes, she remembered now, Lu-seng had said a new missionary had come 1—Brother Five, they were to call him.
How big he was—like Ma-pa himself. Of course he did not 1 Orville Carlson. t
STONES OF
PIRE know how to speak Lisu yet. Oh, here was Brother Three 1 —always so kind, especially to women and children.
So this little village was Oak Flat! But ah beh, ah beh, look how many Lisu were here, hundreds of them, running up and down, chatting, staring, playing.
Third Sister felt shy and afraid for just one moment, then a tall strong form was at her side and Lu-seng's comforting voice calmed her. "This way, Olive villagers, as I told you!" And so, huddling up close to the familiar figures of her own home-town folk, the little girl found herself in House of Grace, in a side room away from the multitude.
"At Christmas time everyone sleeps on the floor here," said Lu-seng.
"It's clean. Ma-ma washes it every few days." She washes her floor \ The girls looked at one another. How fussy these white people were. Lisu floors were generations old and had never been washed since they were laid.
. Oh, what a lovely sound!
It must be the noise-box—let's go and listen.
And so the fun went on.
But something happened which nearly spoiled it all. Villagers of Olives were all together in a side room, on the third evening, singing their anthem together, when Lu-seng entered looking hot and worried. He came close and spoke in a whisper that stilled everyone immediately. "You girls go right away to bed in Ma-ma's house, and all keep close together to-morrow morning as you leave for home. This afternoon, while the open-air service was on, some heathen fellows were up on the ridge watching.
Second son of the Tea family saw Second Sister here and liked her. He has offered fifty dollars to each of his crowd if they will help kidnap her tc-morrow on the way home. He says he is going to marry her by force."
Second Sister's lovely dark eyes dilated with fear even while a flush of pleasure mounted to her forehead. To be selected from eight hundred Lisu as the prettiest one—that was a compliment to make anyone blush. But a forced marriage to a heathen
Oh, the Lord deliver her! The next moment her face was so scarlet she had to hide it behind tall Sarah, for the young men from Olives were storming with wrath. "Steal one of our girls
1 Charles Peterson.