Anna V. Blough letter to home folks, Jan. 30, 1921

              Pingtingchou, Shansi, China
Jan. 30, 1921

Dear Home Folks,
For several weeks we did not get any foreign mail at all, but this week we got some about every day. I think the heavy Xmas mails at home had something to do in detaining it. Got Father�s and Mother�s letters, telling about the offering at home for the famine, $2000. Yes, that makes me think my own folks are standing back of me here and I appreciate it. I�ve been reading accounts in the Messenger of other places, a church giving perhaps $20 or not much more. I believe Waterloo enjoys helping those in need.

For three weeks now I have been home except for several days last week when I went out to a village ten miles away for several days to do my regular evangelistic work. But now it is so near the Chinese New Year when everyone cleans house and has special work on hand that they do not like us to bother them. When they get a notion to do any cleaning we do not like to hinder them for it is badly needed. So for another week, till that is over I will be at home. 

This last week I took advantage of the time to study language. One teacher who was teaching four of the folks in all four hours, was only teaching one of them this week so I took his other three hours and read in the old classics. This man is the truest type of what Confucius can do for a person that I have seen yet. He is a good teacher, but he certainly will not move an inch out of the way to accommodate anyone. He tried for several days to convince me I ought to use only two hours, for he did not want to work so much. But I insisted on using him for the time he was getting pay till he stopped protesting and came. I am very glad for this opportunity to study language for I have had no opportunity since back and I need it very much. With these several weeks at home I feel well rested and ready to go out again on more extended tours. 

The last of this week we expect the Liao and Shou Yang folks here to consider how best to apply the famine funds. We think we can employ a lot of starving folks by having them make bricks that will do for building in the future. This work is mostly labor. Then we can employ some in building some walls for us and others by quarrying rock that will be needed later in building. Now we are having a lot of them carry coal. They get it at the mines for one half cash for land 1/3 lb. ( 1 cash is 1/20 of cent). Then we pay the men one half cash for same amount for carrying it in to us. In this way the schools and hospitals are laying up a lot of coal, at a cheaper rate than usual and the wages paid out of famine fund. All these things will save the Board money in the future. 

We have helped only the fourth and fifth classes of people in the past. The third class who have some land, but nothing extra laid up are now in terrible straits. So we are hoping this meeting will pass on lending money to the farmers on their land, as much as it will take from now till harvest. That will not be much for each family these few months now. It will not give them more than we give to the poorer one outright and this will come back to us when the crops are good again. In this way your famine money will save the people now and later the money will come back to the Board again, or most of it at least. You might let A.P. Blough read this so he can know what we are thinking of and hope to execute in a short time. 

We are hearing of wives and children being sold in many places now. Bro. Oberholzter saw a half dozen cupboards go down the road one day and that is going on constantly. There are tragedies on