An Oriental Land of the Free; Or, Life and Mission Work Among the Laos of Siam, Burma, China and Indo-China

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1910 Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XV OPPORTUNITIES, OUTLOOK, NEEDS, The question is often asked, why have An Open... TM.. ' '.-QQOr the Laos people proved more open to the gospel than others on whom Buddhism has laid its hand? The answer seems to be somewhat as follows: First. Scratch the Laos Buddhist, and you find a spirit-worshiper, Spirit worship, not Buddhism, was the original, is the actual, religion of the Laos people. Their sense of spiritual realities makes it easier to present to them a spiritual religion. Second. Another fact closely related to this, is that the Laos are a more religious people than the Siamese or the Burmese. This is probably because the deadening, atheistic tendencies of Buddhism have had less influence upon them. Third. To men and women who, from their earliest recollection, have lived in fear of the demons, the gospel of a loving Saviour who can and will drive out the evil spirit, comes with a message of deliverance. Once understood, it appeals to them in a way that we in Christian America hardly understand. Fourth. The Messianic hope of Buddhism, scarcely known in Burma, less emphasized among the Siamese, gives to the gospel a point of approach to the heart of every thoughtful Laos man or woman. He for whose coming you long has already come. Fifth. The comparatively high moral standards of the Laos, not derived from Buddhism, but a part of their national inheritance and character, have prepared the way for the coming of the gospel. _, . Had the missionaries gone to Circumstances if T . T-. r, TT, the Laos in 1835, when Dr. That Have Helped, OD. Bradley began work among the Siamese, they would have found political conditions so confused, and life and property so insecure, that perhaps little could have been accomplished. British rule in Bur...