Isobel Miller Kuhn - Legacy

Legacy

Fifty years after the death of Isobel Kuhn, Christianity has been thriving in the Salween River valley where the Lisu live in China. Of the 18,000 Lisu who lived in Fugong, Yunnan, in 1950, 3,400 professed faith in Christ. As of 2007, it is estimated that 80-90 per cent of the 70,000 population make the same profession. In Yunnan, it is estimated that there are between 100,000-200,000 Lisu Christians in total. More than 75,000 Lisu Bibles have been legally printed in China following this explosive growth.

Today, this strong Christian presence in the Lisu communities of China and beyond can be attributed at least in part to Isobel Kuhn and her idea to start what she called the "Rainy Season Bible School." This was a school borne of the fact that, in the heavily agricultural area where the Kuhns ministered, the rainy season disrupted all normal life. Isobel Kuhn formed a plan to hold classes during this agricultural down time, not only to preach the historic Christian Gospel but also to teach the Lisu the basics of the Christian faith. These classes were taught by Kuhn and others. From these classes, countless men who became evangelists and pastors took the Christian message to untold numbers of nationals and travelers throughout China.

Kuhn's autobiographical and biographical missionary writings are still in print over fifty years after they were first published.