Tsingchow, China, in the Shandong Province
Jonathan Goforth (1887)
Introduction
The initiator, or spark for the revival, was Jonathan Goforth (1859-1936), a Canadian Presbyterian missionary. Having arrived in China in March of 1888 to pioneer a mission in the Honan Province (now Henan), Goforth went on to become the foremost missionary revivalist in early 20th century China. Goforth and his wife, Rosalind, served in China 46 years. Their success in ministry came at a cost, for they lost 5 of their 11 children to sickness, and Goforth was even a survivor of an attack with a sword during the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901).
Extraordinary Prayer
Beginning in 1900, a significant prayer movement had developed. Many Chinese Christians (32,000) involved in that prayer movement lost their lives during the Boxer Rebellion, along with 188 foreign missionaries and their children. During the years of 1906-1907, the prayers and blood of the saints began to produce fruit, as many Chinese began responding to the Gospel.
After having finished powerful revival meetings throughout Manchuria, Goforth travelled to 6 other provinces, conducting 30 evangelistic events in a two-year time period. Here are a few of those accounts:
► 1908 Manchurian Revival
► 1908 Shansi China Revival
► 1908-1909 China Revivals (6 of them)
Prayer for Tsingchowfu
The Tsingchowfu (now Qingzhou) series of meetings conducted by Jonathan Goforth began on February 14, 1914, and lasted 9 days. These meetings had been planned two previous times, but both had to be postponed.
These repeated postponements made the believers in Tsingchowfu long for God to move in their midst, as they had heard of him working through Goforth in other locations. This deep longing led them to commit to “earnest prayer” for several months.
Some of the male Chinese students of the Gotch-Robinson College
When the Tsingchowfu meetings did start, they were attended by approximately 1,000 people. Making up this assembly were:
► 500 believers who traveled from the surrounding countryside.
► 140 from the Gotch-Robinson Union Theological College and Normal School.
► 60 boys and 40 girls from the two mission boarding schools.
► The believers from the city made up the rest of those who assembled.
Gotch-Robinson Union Theological College
The Meetings
The missionary reporting on this series of meetings indicated that words could not do justice as to what they felt and experienced. The main thing communicated was:
God was in our midst.
The prayers during the meetings began with a typical tone, but as more and more people prayed, they became more spiritual.
Sometimes united prayer broke out and continued some moments spontaneously… Anyone coming in would have been vividly reminded of what we read of in Acts of the first descent of the Spirit and the sound of a rushing wind, or rather it was a rising and falling wave of murmured prayer.
The Presence of God Increased
As the days continued, so did the awareness of the presence of God. At times Goforth wasn’t able to deliver the sermon he had prepared, because as soon as the opening hymn and prayer were concluded, person after person would rise, either at their seat, or by walking to the platform, and would publicly confess sin and asked for prayer so they could live a better Christian life.
Those making public confession included those from all groups assembled:
► Male and female
► Pastors, evangelists, missionaries, deacons, college professors
► Boys and girls from their early teens and older
Sins Confessed
There were sins confessed which the writer who documented this account felt they shouldn’t repeat. But most of the confessions were of sins related to spiritual apathy:
► Not praying
► Not reading the Bible or studying it
► Not faithful in witnessing to family members and friends
► Not having family devotional times (family altar)
► Neglect of church attendance
► Not wholly yielding to the Holy Spirit’s control in their lives
Typical ferry for crossing rivers
Last Day of the Meetings
On the last day of the series of meetings the believers were in the church for over 10 hours. The last meeting on that day, which stretched from 7 p.m. – 12:30 a.m., consisted of prayer and confessions, with no sermon being presented.
The college students, who had resisted the Holy Spirit during previous meetings, were now totally broken down before the Lord, and for three successive days after the meetings officially concluded, during the ordinary evening prayers, confessions continued.
Results of the Revival
► Enhanced generosity, with many promising to give a tenth of their income to the support of pastors and evangelistic work.
► College students organized themselves into evangelistic teams and began engaging in this work every Sunday.
► There was a renewed desire for the Word of God.
Sources
► By My Spirit by Jonathan Goforth
► Mr. Goforth’s Meetings at Tsingchowfu, Shantung by The Chinese Recorder (April 1914)
► Editorial by The Chinese Recorder (February 1909)
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