to whom we went." This means, of course, that different missionaries
will live according to different standards. For example, my sister
Frances and I are both members of the China Inland Mission. During the
past few years I have been living in the modern and wealthy city of
Singapore. I lived according to an ordinary middle-class
standard--which meant running water, electricity, gas, and modern
plumbing. I was conforming to the social standards and living
conditions of the people to whom I went. During the same time my
sister was in the Philippines, living in a palm-leaf hut in a clearing
in the jungle, carrying her own water and sleeping on the floor. She
was conforming to the social standards and living conditions of the
people to whom she went. Paul says: "I am become all things to all
men, that I may by all means save some" (I Cor. 9:22). He found what
the present-day missionary finds, that to some extent he must adopt
the way of life and the standard of living of the people to whom he
was sent.

* * * * *

Now, in what measure will it be desirable to adopt the local way of
life? What principles will guide us? Well, in the first place we will
certainly want to become familiar enough with it so that we feel at
home in their homes. If we find their way of sitting uncomfortable,
and their food unpleasant, they are not going to enjoy having us as
guests. I may think it disgusting to eat my rice off a banana leaf
with my fingers, but if I show that disgust, I probably will not be
invited again. And my hostess may decide that I am merely an
unmannerly foreigner, and that there is no profit in pursuing my
acquaintance, or in listening to the strange stories of Someone called
Jesus that I am so fond of telling. It is also in their homes that we
may become really acquainted with them, and learn to know their needs.
When we have become familiar with how they eat, how they sleep, how
they work, how they play, what they like, what they dislike, what they
hope, what they fear, how they think, how they feel--when we really
understand them, then, and only then, will we be able to present the
Gospel to them in an adequate way.

In the second place, we will want to live in our own homes on the
mission field in such a way as to make our neighbors feel at home when
they come to call on us. The fundamental attraction will not be
externalities and material things. Even though I live in a little hut
tha