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By the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Christian
missionaries had been in China for several hundred years, which
meant that many Chinese immigrants had encountered Christianity
before they ever set foot on American soil.
The women and children (known as “easy believers”
by missionaries) at the center of "Word of God" devote
their attention to the preacher. The men stand near the edges
of the crowd, distrustful and unwelcoming of the stranger in
their midst and perhaps envisioning a future surrounded by such
strangers. |