Page:Village life in Korea (1911).djvu/250

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Village Life in Korea.

women cannot meet at the same time, separate services being held for them every Sunday, notwithstanding the buildings will accommodate from twelve to fifteen hundred people. To see these churches crowded at the midweek prayer meeting, when the mercury is playing hide and seek around the zero point, is to answer for all time this oft-repeated question.

It must not be forgotten that these churches are not built by money received from the mission boards, but as a rule are built by the congregations without any outside help. In centers where very large churches are needed for the accommodation of Conferences, Bible study classes, etc., some help from the boards has been asked; but it must be understood that the rule is, each congregation provides its own church building. In this respect, as well as in other matters of self-support, Korea furnishes one of the best examples among all the mission fields in the world. It is no unusual thing for the missionary, on his first visit to a group of new believers, to find that they have already provided themselves with a church building which meets all their needs. It is true that the cost of these buildings is not much, if measured by the United States currency; but in many cases the sacrifice made to build them is much greater than it is for the building of a hundred-thousand-dollar church in the United States. The churches are often the best buildings in the village and always compare favorably with the dwelling houses of the people.

Our village Church is a mission Church. In the matter of giving the gospel to their neighbors our