Shantou--Mission history and restored church

The building that held the girl's school established by the mission. Locals allowed girls to go to mission schools because they were less concerned about them.

The inside of the church looks like a typical Presbyterian church of the era, but the restored church has incorporated Chinese elements.

When western Christian missions wanted to come into Shantou, they, like the western government offices, were given a location by the Chinese that was on an island in the river near the ocean. Like Hong Kong Island, it is just a rock--not good land.

I visited the island and a church that has now been restored and is active with local Chinese pastorate, etc. The cemetery was destroyed during the cultural revolution and the church used for various purposes. Much of the money to restore the church came from previous members who now live abroad. When it was restored, the headstones of some of the early missionaries were placed in the church yard.

This church would not have been easy to find--it was back windy streets on the island.

I found information about the missions efforts in Shantou:

The Presbyterian Church of England established a mission in China in 1847. It became became one of the most extensive and prosperous Christian missions in the Chinese Empire. One of its principal centers was Shantou. It had several establishments, combining churches, mission houses, hospitals, and schools. The senior missionaries in the field were Rev. H. L. Mackenzie, M.A., of Shantou, and Rev. W. McGregor, M.A., of Amoy. This Society was greatly aided by a women s association, by which female agents were sent out from England. In 1890 it had one hundred and six stations in China and Singapore, and employed fifteen ordained missionaries and medical workers. It had nine lady agents, five ordained native pastors, and ninety-three un-ordained native helpers. It numbered nearly three thousand six hundred members, and had four hundred scholars in its training schools.

• American Presbyterian Mission (1867). Memorials of Protestant Missionaries to the Chinese. Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press.
• Townsend, William (1890). Robert Morrison : the pioneer of Chinese missions. London: S.W. Partridge.