Collection 471
[February 28, 2003]
Saunders, William Arthur; 1905-1993
Interviews; 1992; n.d.
2 folders (.1 cubic feet), Audio Tapes
Restrictions:
There are no restrictions on the use of this collection.
Transcripts to T1, T2 & T3 are available.
Biography
Full name: Saunders, William Arthur. Generally known as Arthur
Birth date: November 11, 1905, in Watford, England
Family:
Parents: William Raymond and Mary Isabel Debon Saunders
Siblings: Molly and Joe
Marital Status: Married to Elizabeth McNaught Bain May 11, 1934, in Shanghai, China
Children: David Arthur (born September 6, 1940, in Chengtu, Szechwan)
Conversion: August 1925 in rural Methodist Church in New Zealand
Education:
1927-1929 New Zealand Bible Training Institute
1930 China Inland Mission training school in England, language school in Anking, China
1952-1958 Studied Linguistics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. M.A. in Linguistics Science
Career:
1924-1927 Emigrated to New Zealand in 1924. Worked in farms in South Island, New Zealand
1930 Joined China Inland Mission (CIM) in response to the call for the two hundred missionaries. Was assigned to southern Gansu province
1930-1946 Tsingshui, Gansu Province. Evangelism and church planting
1938-1940 Furlough to United States and England
1946-1951 Tienshui, Gansu Province. Evangelism and church planting
1946-1947 Furlough to United States
1951 Departed China
1952 Arrived in Halifax, Canada, on February 15
1952 Home staff of the North America office of OMF. Resigned from the
mission
1958 Readmitted to Overseas Missionary Fellowship (formerly the China Inland
Mission)
1958-1968 Worked in Singapore as Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF)
missionary. Taught in Nanyang University, had ministry with Nanyang
Christian Fellowship and Singapore churches. For a brief time was in
charge of OMF language training program.
1963 Furlough in United States
1968 Furlough to the United States as of June 1968. Retired from mission,
December 31
1968 Retired to Ann Arbor, Michigan. Part-time English teacher in Spring
Arbor College for two years. Taught English for overseas engineers in University of Michigan part-time for four years. Invited onto pastoral staff of Huron Hills Baptist Church in 1975. Served on the
Missionary Committee of Huron Hills Baptist Church, and Chinese
Christian Fellowship. Preached occasionally.
1987 Retired to the OMF retirement home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
1993 Died November 27
1994 Elizabeth Saunders died April 20
Scope and Content Description
[Note: In the Scope and Content description, the notation "folder 2-5" means box 2, folder 5.]
Series: Paper Records
Volume: 2 folders (.1 cubic feet)
Geographic coverage: Tienshui City, Gansu Province, China
Type of documents: Two items: a book containing Chinese nursery rhymes in English and
Chinese; a typed nineteen-page translation to English from Chinese of a history by the elder Chao
of the Christian church in Tienshui from 1874 until 1900.
Subjects: Boxers, G. F. Eaton, Henry W. Hunt, Indigenous church administrationChina,
MissionsChina, Overseas Missionary Fellowship, George Parker, Minnie Shao Parker,
PersecutionChina
Notes: The nineteen-page manuscript is particularly interesting because it is a history of a local
congregation written by a Chinese lay leader in that congregation. It describes the founding of
the church in Tienshui and the activities of the missionaries, and, to a lesser extent, the Chinese
leaders over the first quarter century of the church up to the time of the Boxer Rebellion.
Series: Audio tapes
Volume: 3 reels of tape (.06 cubic feet)
Date Range: The events described in the interview cover the time period 1920s-1992.
Geographic coverage: England; New Zealand; Gansu province, China
Type of documents: Oral history interview on three reels
Subjects: China--History--Civil War--1945-1949; China--History--1912-1937; China--History--1937-1945; Christian education--China; Communism--China; Evangelistic work--China; Gansu
Province, China; Language in missionary work; Missions--China; Missions--Singapore; New
Zealand Bible Training Institute; Overseas Missionary Fellowship; Rural churches--China; John
Oswald Sanders; W. Arthur Saunders; Singapore; Sino-Japanese Conflict, 1937-1945; Tsingshui,
China
Notes: W. Arthur Saunders was interviewed by Robert Shuster on December 9, 1992, in
Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
T1 (60 minutes). Saunders' family and childhood in England, his school and spiritual life; migration to New Zealand in 1924; impressions of New Zealand, working on a cattle farm south of Auckland, converted to Christ at Bombay Methodist Church on August 1925; hearing missionaries such as Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor of China Inland Mission; attendance at New Zealand Bible Training Institute; description of the lectures, ministers, and teachers, such as C. J. Rolls and Evans Harrys; fellow students Gottlay Nagel and Jack Muir; open air preaching in Auckland; the Plymouth Brethren Assembly prayer meeting; Harry Yalland; Saunders' response to CIM's call for two hundred new missionaries; J. Oswald Sanders; going to Shanghai in 1930 as CIM missionary; learning Chinese; working with Edward Taylor; evangelistic work and preaching in Tsingshui; significant Chinese evangelists.
T2 (68 minutes). Significant Chinese evangelists; Yeng Song Tu and Li Seng Fu; the starting of the Tienshui church; aptness of the story of the Prodical Son for China; relevance of the Second Coming to China; the story of Elder Chao of the Tienshui church of Gansu province; would not marry a woman with unbound feet; the influence of the charismatic Jesus Family and their conflict with missionaries over the Holy Spirit; the encouragement of Chinese pentatonic hymns and group prayers; decline of the Jesus Family; Chinese control of the church in Tsingshui; preaching at the Muslim market with preaching poster prepared by George Harris; the technique of using preaching posters in street preaching; Howard Knight and federation of churches in northwest China; reason for not writing to Christians in Gansu after he left; sufferings of the pastor in Lanchow; meeting his future wife in Gansu; experience of living in a small Chinese city; contacts with the Kuomintang; the importance of educated foreign missionaries in the churches of Gansu; lack of effect of the Sino-Japanese war on northwest China; CIM, Christian and Missionary Alliance, Scandinavian Alliance (TEAM) and Pentecostal missionaries in Gansu; CMA missionaries dressing like Tibetans; different approaches of mission boards in mission work, Pentecostal missions; raising a son in China; churches and missionary work under communist rule; pressure on Chinese Christians to break with foreign missionaries; comments on the Three Self Movement; departure from China in January 1951; study of linguistics at the University of Michigan; Kenneth Pike; J. Oswald Sanders' invitation to work in Singapore 1956-1968, teaching at Nangyang University; organization of work among students; conversion of Mr. Ling.
T3 (16 minutes). Organization of work among students; conversion of Mr. Ling; revising OMF's language program; influence of Wycliffe Bible Translators on the language program; leaving Singapore in 1968 to come to the United States; changes in the missionary enterprise between 1930 and 1968; increase in the bureaucracy of missions; tentmaking missionaries; activities in Michigan after retirement: teaching linguistics and English, involvement with Chinese students and Chinese churches; move to the OMF retirement home Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1987.
Related Collections: Collection 215, Records of the United States branch of the Overseas Missionary Fellowship (Folder 4-98)
Provenance
The materials in this collection were given to the Archives of the Billy Graham Center by W. Arthur Saunders in December 1992.
Accession: 92-155
May 25, 1999
Irene Wong
R. Shuster
LOCATION RECORD
Accession: 92-155
Types of material: Audio Tapes
The following items are located in the AUDIO TAPE FILE:
T1 - Reel-to-reel, 60 minutes. Recorded on one side at 3-3/4 ips. Interview with W. Arthur Saunders by Robert Shuster on December 9, 1992. Originally recorded on a cassette and transferred to reel tape for preservation purposes.
T2 - Reel-to-reel, 68 minutes. Recorded on one side at 3-3/4 ips. Interview with W. Arthur Saunders by Robert Shuster on December 9, 1992. Originally recorded on a cassette and transferred to reel tape for preservation purposes.
T3 - Reel-to-reel, 16 minutes. Recorded on one side at 3-3/4 ips. Interview with W. Arthur Saunders by Robert Shuster on December 9, 1992. Originally recorded on a cassette and transferred to reel tape for preservation purposes.
CONTAINER LIST
| Box | Folder | Description |
| 1 | 1 | Manuscript: "History of the Tienshui church in Gansu Province" by Elder Chao; translated by W. Arthur Saunders; n.d. |
| 1 | 2 | Book: "Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes"; 1900 |