ople's customs, other people's
standards--do we _want_ to like them? Or do we cling tenaciously to
our own, insisting that they are the only good and right ones? It is
the attitude of mind and heart that matters. If we are willing to give
up our own standard of living, willing to live as far as possible
according to someone else's standards, then surely it is the business
of our Master to make that possible in such degree as He sees is
needed and best. Before we go to the field then, let us give up all
right to our own standard of living, and be ready contentedly to
embrace, as far as He makes possible, that of the people to whom He
sends us.

CHAPTER 3

_The Right to the Ordinary Safeguards of Good Health_

"They must count the cost, and be prepared to live lives of
privation, of toil, and perhaps of loneliness and danger.
They will need to trust God to meet their need in sickness
as well as in health, since it may sometimes be impossible
to secure expert medical aid. But, if they are faithful
servants, they will find in Christ and in His Word a
fulness, a meetness, a preciousness, a joy and strength,
that will far outweigh any sacrifice they may be called upon
to make for Him."

_--The Overseas Manual of the
China Inland Mission
Overseas Missionary Fellowship_
(1955), p. 4.

I carefully spread a large handkerchief on the desk to keep my arm
from sticking, took up my pen, and began painstakingly to practice
writing the intricate Chinese characters before me. Every few minutes
I stopped to wipe the perspiration from my face.

"How about going out to Uncle Wong's with me?" My sister had come into
the room. "The pastor's wife intended to go with me, but now she has
company and can't go. It will give you a good chance to practice
talking Chinese, so the time won't be wasted--as far as your study
goes, I mean."

We got our umbrellas, palm-leaf fans, and tract bags, and started off.
The sun was beating down, and the temperature certainly was higher
outdoors, but the breeze gave an illusion of coolness, and the
pleasant country road upon which we soon entered was enough to make up
for a little extra heat. The two miles were quickly covered, and we
found ourselves greeted effusively by Mrs. Wong and her daughter.

"Imagine you two teachers coming out here