Page 148 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 148
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
The fact that God had a plan for my life if I would only hand over the controls of that life to Him and let
Him direct me into His ways, was something which had never hit me before. It hit me very forcibly that
night because I was very conscious that I had been trying to direct my own life but, with all my
independence and strong will, was getting nowhere, except to be more and more dissatisfied with
everything.
At the end, when an invitation was given to come and kneel at the front seat if we would like to
surrender our lives to God’s control, I felt I must if I was going to have any peace in my heart. I
glanced at Win sitting beside me, and wondered what she would think. But somehow I didnt really
care what anybody thought. I felt only the urge to go forward and surrender myself to God and, as I
got up to go out to the front, to my surprise Win was getting up too, and we went and knelt together as
we had done so many things together in our lives. I knelt there and followed Frank Rogers in a prayer
of dedication to God. It was a very solemn moment when I felt God very close, and as Win and I
walked home together later, I felt that something tremendous had taken place, something almost too
serious to talk about, and I just wanted to get alone and think about it. Win, on the other hand, was on
a high of joy and excitement, and talked most of the way home. Before I got into bed, I knelt beside it
and said, “Lord, I really meant what I did tonight. I want you to take control of my life and show me
what You want me to do, and I promise to obey You.” It was a covenant between God and me which
was the turning point in my life, and which, as I look back, I have never regretted.
During the months that followed, I found new interest in reading what the Bible says, somehow it
seemed more relevant to me and I found a new love for the Lord which brought joy and peace to my
troubled heart. I began to attend a regular weekly meeting which the Methodist laymen held in the
city. I was spiritually hungry, and those regular Bible Studies gave me the food I needed which Mr.
Strickson’s simple sermons never did. It was not long after that however, that the Stricksons moved
down to Narrogin, and Mr. and Mrs. Hogg came from the Shetland Islands in the far north of Scotland
to be our Pastor. He was a gifted Bible teacher, and he came to us at a time when I needed just such
teaching. I soaked in every sermon, and often had long discussions with him about them. He started
a monthly Keswick type of meeting in Perth for the deepening of the spiritual life, which became very
popular, and which I attended regularly.
By this time I was teaching Sunday School at the little Mission Hall on Mt. Panorama where my
grandparents were still very active. At Easter in 1926, we spent some time there thinking about the
Cross and the Resurrection and what Easter really means. The greatness of God’s love and what He
did for us, became more real to me. Soon after that, while these thoughts were still very much in my
mind, I had a very vivid dream, so vivid that I have thought of it as more of a vision than a dream. It
has remained clear in my mind ever since, and has probably affected my life more than any other
thing.
THE VISION
It was dark, that kind of darkness which we experience during an eclipse of the sun,
when for a few moments, the suns light fades, and everything hushes into stillness
in the half light. I was kneeling alone on the slope of a hill among some low
bushes, but I soon became aware that I was not alone, for somewhere down in the
darkness below me, I could hear the faint murmur of voices.
All this was in the background of my subconscious mind, for my eyes were
centred on another hill slope across to my right, where the figure of a Man hung
bleeding and dying on a wooden cross. His agony was so great that my own
heart was filled with a deeper pain than I had ever known before, the pain of
148
Amy Moore
The fact that God had a plan for my life if I would only hand over the controls of that life to Him and let
Him direct me into His ways, was something which had never hit me before. It hit me very forcibly that
night because I was very conscious that I had been trying to direct my own life but, with all my
independence and strong will, was getting nowhere, except to be more and more dissatisfied with
everything.
At the end, when an invitation was given to come and kneel at the front seat if we would like to
surrender our lives to God’s control, I felt I must if I was going to have any peace in my heart. I
glanced at Win sitting beside me, and wondered what she would think. But somehow I didnt really
care what anybody thought. I felt only the urge to go forward and surrender myself to God and, as I
got up to go out to the front, to my surprise Win was getting up too, and we went and knelt together as
we had done so many things together in our lives. I knelt there and followed Frank Rogers in a prayer
of dedication to God. It was a very solemn moment when I felt God very close, and as Win and I
walked home together later, I felt that something tremendous had taken place, something almost too
serious to talk about, and I just wanted to get alone and think about it. Win, on the other hand, was on
a high of joy and excitement, and talked most of the way home. Before I got into bed, I knelt beside it
and said, “Lord, I really meant what I did tonight. I want you to take control of my life and show me
what You want me to do, and I promise to obey You.” It was a covenant between God and me which
was the turning point in my life, and which, as I look back, I have never regretted.
During the months that followed, I found new interest in reading what the Bible says, somehow it
seemed more relevant to me and I found a new love for the Lord which brought joy and peace to my
troubled heart. I began to attend a regular weekly meeting which the Methodist laymen held in the
city. I was spiritually hungry, and those regular Bible Studies gave me the food I needed which Mr.
Strickson’s simple sermons never did. It was not long after that however, that the Stricksons moved
down to Narrogin, and Mr. and Mrs. Hogg came from the Shetland Islands in the far north of Scotland
to be our Pastor. He was a gifted Bible teacher, and he came to us at a time when I needed just such
teaching. I soaked in every sermon, and often had long discussions with him about them. He started
a monthly Keswick type of meeting in Perth for the deepening of the spiritual life, which became very
popular, and which I attended regularly.
By this time I was teaching Sunday School at the little Mission Hall on Mt. Panorama where my
grandparents were still very active. At Easter in 1926, we spent some time there thinking about the
Cross and the Resurrection and what Easter really means. The greatness of God’s love and what He
did for us, became more real to me. Soon after that, while these thoughts were still very much in my
mind, I had a very vivid dream, so vivid that I have thought of it as more of a vision than a dream. It
has remained clear in my mind ever since, and has probably affected my life more than any other
thing.
THE VISION
It was dark, that kind of darkness which we experience during an eclipse of the sun,
when for a few moments, the suns light fades, and everything hushes into stillness
in the half light. I was kneeling alone on the slope of a hill among some low
bushes, but I soon became aware that I was not alone, for somewhere down in the
darkness below me, I could hear the faint murmur of voices.
All this was in the background of my subconscious mind, for my eyes were
centred on another hill slope across to my right, where the figure of a Man hung
bleeding and dying on a wooden cross. His agony was so great that my own
heart was filled with a deeper pain than I had ever known before, the pain of
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