Disaster, disease and faith : Canadian presbyterian mission in modern north Henan = Zai huo, ji bing yu xin yang : Jianada chang lao hui yu jin dai Yu bei she hui

Abstract

This study will examine the history of Canadian Presbyterian Church in North Henan, China, from 1888 to 1947, a period of socio-political upheaval in that region. There has been scant research done on this region of China and little research has been conducted on United Church of Canada missionaries anywhere in China. This research will help historians to construct a more complete picture of what is a fragmented understanding of missions in China during the above period. This study attempts to offer an in-depth look at three key issues in which Canadian missionaries, local society, and Chinese Christians all made joint efforts to shape the unique development of Christianity in North Henan.

Research has been conducted mainly at the United Church of Canada Archives (UCCA). Furthermore, gazetteers and folk literature have been examined from Henan archive and Anyang Archive which are both in Henan, China. In order to understand how Chinese Christians view the history of Christianity in North Henan, interviews were conducted with local Christians in Anyang, who are the third or fourth generation of Christian converts.

This dissertation will demonstrate that as early as 1916 missionaries in North Henan were combining foreign Christian practices with local traditions to create an effective mission. This mission, while perhaps not the only effective mission in China, reinforces what effective missions looked like. Canadian Presbyterian missionaries were successful because they were able to use a three-pronged approach. First, they developed a flexible response to outreach, employing literacy and other self-improvement classes, as well as traditional evangelistic outreach. Second, they conducted disaster and famine relief programs which, consequently, led to increased political and social influences, and in turn, more converts were won. Finally, in what figures as a significant concern in this study, Presbyterian missionaries integrated medical work into their rural reconstruction efforts.

The results of this research suggest that deeper research is needed and provide a clearer picture of one region of Chinese missions among mission groups that were notoriously territorial and, at times, exclusive. Furthermore, the number of Christian in Henan increased dramatically in the last few decades of 20thcentury,for which reason their activities become more evident and important. Hence, exploring the history of Christianity in Henan could provide a deep understanding for its current development.