By 1865 when Taylor's China Inland Mission began, 30 different Protestant groups were working in China.[7]
Protestant Christians in China established the first clinics and hospitals,[11] provided the first training for nurses, opened the first modern schools, worked to abolish practices such as foot binding,[12] and improve treatment of maids. They launched charitable work and distributed food to the poor. They also opposed the opium trade[13] and brought treatment to many who were addicted. Some of the early leaders of the Chinese Republic, such as Sun Yat-sen, were converts to Christianity and were influenced by its teachings.[14]
Protestant Christianity did not arrive in China until Robert Morrison of the London Missionary Society began work in 1807 at Macau.
Under the "fundamental laws" of China, one section is titled "Wizards, Witches, and all Superstitions, prohibited." The Jiaqing Emperor in 1814 A.D. added a sixth clause in this section with reference to Christianity. It was modified in 1821 and printed in 1826 by the Daoguang Emperor. It sentenced Europeans to death for spreading Christianity among Han Chinese and Manchus. Christians who would not repent their conversion were sent to Muslim cities in Xinjiang, to be given as slaves to Muslim leaders and beys.[5]
In 1860 Protestant missions were confined to five coastal cities. By the end of the century, Western powers had forced the government to allow missionaries into the interior. During the second half of the century, increased numbers of missionaries entered the country. Scores of new missionary societies had been organized in the United States after the American Civil War and participation increased from Great Britain as well. Several thousand missionaries were working in all parts of China. The 1859 Awakening in Britain and the example of J. Hudson Taylor (1832–1905) were influential.
By 1865 when Taylor's China Inland Mission began, 30 different Protestant groups were working in China.[7] The diversity of denominations represented did not equate to more missionaries on the field. In the seven provinces in which Protestant missionaries had already been working, there were an estimated 204 million people with only 91 workers, while there were eleven other provinces in inland China with a population estimated at 197 million, for whom absolutely nothing had been attempted.[8] Besides the London Missionary Society, and the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, there were missionaries affiliated with Baptists, Southern Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, Episcopalians, and Wesleyans. Most missionaries came from England, the United States, Sweden, France, Germany, Switzerland, or the Netherlands.[7]
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Finally, in 1895, the Goforths were given permission to move to Changte, in Henan.
Before they left Chuwang, a flood devastated the area and ruined almost all their belongings. From the first, their mission compound in Changte was thronged by people eager to hear the gospel, so that both of them were constantly employed in preaching to crowds of listeners.
http://bdcconline.net/en/stories/jonathan-goforth
In the fall of 1897, the Goforths moved out of their Chinese dwelling into a new foreign-style house.
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Cross Culture and Faith: The Life and Work of James Mellon Menzies
