Canton, (China,) Dec. 19, 1831.

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,--You know the goodness and mercy of our
God, you know how he has given his dear Son to die for us poor
rebellious sinners, and has promised to give to Christ the heathen
for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his
possession.

It is our heavenly Father, that Being who cannot lie, who has told
us that his word shall not return unto him void, but shall prosper,
and accomplish all his holy will. If all good people would only
do their duty, the heathen I think would very soon become converted.
When the children of God pray and labor as they ought, he always
blesses them.

I have told you about one person who came to Dr. Morrison's house,
and heard him talk of Jesus and of the way of salvation by the
blood of the Lamb, and that man believed and was baptized. I have
now to tell you of another, who has become a disciple of Jesus,
and is devoting all his time and strength to the service of his
divine Master, Christ the Lord. I am going to tell of the evangelist
Leang Afa.

When Dr. Milne left Canton and went to Malacca, in 1815, Afa went
with him as printer--this was his trade. Soon after this, it was
observed that the truth had taken a strong hold upon his mind,
he was convicted by the holy law of God, saw himself to be a sinner,
poor and miserable, blind and naked, and in need of all things.
And thus he was brought to declare his determination to take up
his cross and follow Christ. What care was taken to instruct him
will be seen by the following extract from Dr. Milne's Journal.

November 3, 1816. At twelve o'clock this day, I baptized, in the
name of the adorable Trinity, Leang Afa. This service was performed
privately in a room of the mission-house. Care had been taken by
private conversation, instruction and prayer, to prepare him for
this sacred ordinance. This had been continued for a considerable
time. Finding him still steadfast in his desire to become a
Christian, I baptized him. The change
produced in his sentiments and conduct, is, I hope, the effect
of Christian truth, and of that alone: yet who of mortals can
know the heart? Several searching questions were proposed to him
in private, and an exercise suited to a heathen candidate for
baptism, composed and given to him to read and to meditate upon.

With respect to his former life, he says, I was never much given
to idolatry. I seldom went to the temples. I sometimes prayed towards
heaven, but lived in careless indifference. Although I rarely went
to excess in sin, yet I have been occasionally guilty of drunkenness,
and other kindred vices. Before I came hither (to Malacca) I knew
not God--now I desire to serve him.

The following are the questions proposed, and the answers given
at the time of baptism:

1. "Have you truly turned from idols, to serve and worship the
living and true God, the Creator of heaven and earth, and all things?"
This is my heart's desire.

2. "Do you know and feel that you are a sinful creature, totally
unable to save yourself?" I know it.

3. "Do you really, from your heart, believe that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God, the salvation of the world; and do you trust alone
in him for salvation?" This is my heart's desire.

4. "Do you expect any worldly advantage, profit or gain whatever,
by your becoming a Christian?" None. I receive baptism, because
it is my duty.

5. "Do you resolve from this day to the day of your death, to live
in obedience to the commandments and ordinances of God, and in
justice and seriousness of life before men?" This is my
determination, but I fear my strength is not equal to it.

On my part, says Dr. Milne, the ordinance was dispensed with
affection, joy, hope, and fear. May he be made faithful unto death,
and as he is the first fruits of this branch of the mission, may
an abundant harvest follow to the joy of the church, and to the
honor of Christ. Such is Dr. Milne's account of Leang Afa, and
O, with what delight must the sainted spirit look down from heaven
upon the disciple of Jesus, as he labors, and toils, and faints
not!

April 7, 1819. After prayers and many tears, the two
brothers in Christ parted. Afa returned to China, and not long
after, was married. His wife has become a believer in Christ, and
has received baptism. He has now living, two children--a little
daughter of four, and a son of eleven years. The son's name is
Leang Atih. He was baptized in infancy. He now lives with me, and
I will tell you more about him in another letter. Atih had a little
brother a few months old, but last summer he died. His parents
grieved very much for him, because they loved him very much, and
he was a tender child.

Afa has promised to give me a written account of himself, by and
by. I think it will be very interesting, and when I receive it,
I can tell you more about him. He has received a great deal of
ill treatment from his friends, neighbors, and countrymen. His
home is about seventy-five miles west from Canton. He has an aged
father, whom he supports. Though old, and feeble, and grey headed,
and oft times tenderly instructed by his son; yet, poor man, he
resists the truth, loves his idols, and says there is no God. And
so when the son Leang Afa, and his wife and young Atih, kneel down
together around the family altar, to worship the living and true
God, the father, the grandfather, the old, feeble, dying man, goes
away and worships.--O how dreadful, how pitiable, he goes away
and bows down and worships, as he himself declares, the DEVIL,
and then comes and rails at his son, because he has forsaken the
gods of his country! This is a great trial to Afa, but he bears
it as he does all his trials, with meekness and fortitude. Afflicted
and persecuted as this family have been, they feel almost as if
they had no home on this earth. They are poor in the things of
this world, but doubtless they have treasures in heaven. They live
sometimes in one place, sometimes in another. During the last summer
and fall, they have lived in a hired house in this city. Afa has
been here to see me to-day, and Atih has gone with him, this evening,
to see the family. In the morning, if the Lord will, he will come
back to me, then he will go about twenty miles to the east of Canton,
to a retired place, where he, with another Christian, is printing
the Scripture Lessons; and his grandfather, and his mother and
little sister, will leave the city and go to the West, to their
own village. But the true God will protect them, says Afa, and
keep them all in safety.

Afa is now forty-four years old. More than fifteen years he has
borne the Christian name, and toiled and suffered hardships and
persecutions in his Master's service, and his faith and his zeal
increase as he holds on his way: so may it be to the end. Dear
children, remember, I entreat you, Afa and his family in your daily
prayers, and remember also, your true friend,

E.C.B.

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