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CARL SMITH
In the meantime the minister, the Rev. J. L. Poore, was concerned about the Chinese who had flocked to Australia in search of gold. What disturbed the Rev. Mr. Poore was the isolation of these people. He could communicate with them only through an interpreter or the strict limitations of pidgin English, neither very effective methods for introducing them to the Christian religion.
His evangelistic interest had already prompted him to send for copies of the New Testament from Hongkong.
Having received 2,000, he was in a quandary as to how they should be distributed. If he gave them out to the immigrants as they landed from the ships, they would not likely add them to the heavy packs they had to carry to the goldfields. As he pondered the best way to dispose of the Testaments, Poore chanced upon a shipping notice that two Chinese evangelists had arrived carrying letters of introduction addressed to him.
After locating them, he found them of “undoubted piety, possessed of considerable literary attainments". Ho A-low, particularly, was a scholar in his own language, able to translate from English to Chinese and vice versa, and a fluent and correct English speaker.
Having found them, he then did not know what to do with them. The problem was financial; that of knowing how to support two Chinese evangelistic workers. The Congregationalists were building a church and were already in debt. He decided upon a bold move. He wrote a statement of the needs of the Chinese, the opportunity suddenly presented to meet the needs and the duty of the Christian in this regard. He then sent his appeal to all Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Wesleyan, Congregational and Baptist ministers in the area inviting them to meet and discuss the problem. There was a unanimous response.
The spirit of the meeting was exhilarating. “All were cordial and welcomed the young men with joy; all agreed that something must be done.” A provisional committee was named to arrange for a public meeting. Circulars were issued. The Mechanic's Institute, where the meeting was held, was packed to capacity with