Page 171 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 171
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
At long last, in September we met our Superintendent for the first time, and I met the man who was to
become my father-in-law. With the worst of the heat over, Mr. Moore wanted to get round and visit
each station for himself before he met all the workers in the Conference which he had called for
November.
At that time in South Shaanxi there were five centres occupied by CIM missionaries, though there
were hundreds and hundreds of villages and walled cities on the plain and in the surrounding
mountains where the Gospel had never been heard. In Hanzhong there were two houses, one of
which was looked on as the Superintendent’s home, and at that time Miss Haslam lived in the other.
Until the Moore party arrived, Charlie Frencham, who came from Australia two years before I did, was
occupying the Super’s house. After their arrival, he moved down to Yang Xian to take care of things
there until Miss Parr got back from Shanghai. He was engaged to Ruth Wheatley, an English girl
living with Walter and Reba Michell in Xixiang, three days’ journey south of Hanzhong on a tributary of
the Han River. The fifth station was at Shiquan in the south east corner of Shaanxi and a day’s
journey further on from Xixiang. Here Miss Begbie was in charge with Joy Betteridge as her junior
worker.
The general feeling among the older workers in South Shaanxi seemed to be that they did not need a
Superintendent. They were experienced workers who had got on very well for many years without
one, so why send them one now? Headquarters felt that, with such a large group of young workers
being appointed to try and open up new areas of work, it was advisable to have somebody in charge
to direct the work and the workers. Also they wanted the Churches to become independent of
Western workers and Western funds, and the Superintendent was to implement this policy while trying
at the same time to open up the untouched areas in the plain and in the surrounding mountains.
My first impression of Arthur Moore was entirely good. He was friendly, easy to talk to, and obviously
wanted to hear what we younger ones had to say, while still giving attention to Miss Cooke’s ideas and
opinions. After months of listening to sermons in Chinese which we only half understood, it was food
for our souls to have Mr. Moore lead us in a Bible Study each day, and my impression grew that here
was a man of God who loved God and loved His Word and would be a leader we could trust. We
found no reason to change that opinion as we got to know him better. The first seeds of love for the
man who later became a father to me were sown during those days in Chenggu.
He talked with each of us about our future, and to my surprise,, asked me if I would be willing to move
over to Yang Xian with Miss Parr when she returned. I made no objections, though I felt I would miss
Myrie and Bertha. It was decided I should be ready to go with her when she got back from Shanghai.
But when she reached Xi’an, brigand activity on the road through the mountains, made her change her
route and she reached Yang Xian without passing through Chenggu.
YANG XIAN October 1932 - October 1933
By the middle of October, the beginning of my second year in China, the move to YangXian was made
by boat with Miss Cooke and the Chinese boy to escort me. I was delighted, on arriving in Yang Xian,
to find that the house there was a typically Chinese one, very little different from the others round us.
There were two bedrooms divided by a living room where we also had a dining table for our meals.
The kitchen was a small Chinese style one outside, and separated from the rest of the house by a
covered way. At the back of our living quarters was the Church building, again a typical Chinese
structure. People coming to services came in from the street through the main compound entrance,
inside of which was the gatekeeper’s rooms, then went round the side of our rooms to the Church at
the back. The gatekeeper was Mr. Hu, a leader in the Church who lived there with his wife and two
171
Amy Moore
At long last, in September we met our Superintendent for the first time, and I met the man who was to
become my father-in-law. With the worst of the heat over, Mr. Moore wanted to get round and visit
each station for himself before he met all the workers in the Conference which he had called for
November.
At that time in South Shaanxi there were five centres occupied by CIM missionaries, though there
were hundreds and hundreds of villages and walled cities on the plain and in the surrounding
mountains where the Gospel had never been heard. In Hanzhong there were two houses, one of
which was looked on as the Superintendent’s home, and at that time Miss Haslam lived in the other.
Until the Moore party arrived, Charlie Frencham, who came from Australia two years before I did, was
occupying the Super’s house. After their arrival, he moved down to Yang Xian to take care of things
there until Miss Parr got back from Shanghai. He was engaged to Ruth Wheatley, an English girl
living with Walter and Reba Michell in Xixiang, three days’ journey south of Hanzhong on a tributary of
the Han River. The fifth station was at Shiquan in the south east corner of Shaanxi and a day’s
journey further on from Xixiang. Here Miss Begbie was in charge with Joy Betteridge as her junior
worker.
The general feeling among the older workers in South Shaanxi seemed to be that they did not need a
Superintendent. They were experienced workers who had got on very well for many years without
one, so why send them one now? Headquarters felt that, with such a large group of young workers
being appointed to try and open up new areas of work, it was advisable to have somebody in charge
to direct the work and the workers. Also they wanted the Churches to become independent of
Western workers and Western funds, and the Superintendent was to implement this policy while trying
at the same time to open up the untouched areas in the plain and in the surrounding mountains.
My first impression of Arthur Moore was entirely good. He was friendly, easy to talk to, and obviously
wanted to hear what we younger ones had to say, while still giving attention to Miss Cooke’s ideas and
opinions. After months of listening to sermons in Chinese which we only half understood, it was food
for our souls to have Mr. Moore lead us in a Bible Study each day, and my impression grew that here
was a man of God who loved God and loved His Word and would be a leader we could trust. We
found no reason to change that opinion as we got to know him better. The first seeds of love for the
man who later became a father to me were sown during those days in Chenggu.
He talked with each of us about our future, and to my surprise,, asked me if I would be willing to move
over to Yang Xian with Miss Parr when she returned. I made no objections, though I felt I would miss
Myrie and Bertha. It was decided I should be ready to go with her when she got back from Shanghai.
But when she reached Xi’an, brigand activity on the road through the mountains, made her change her
route and she reached Yang Xian without passing through Chenggu.
YANG XIAN October 1932 - October 1933
By the middle of October, the beginning of my second year in China, the move to YangXian was made
by boat with Miss Cooke and the Chinese boy to escort me. I was delighted, on arriving in Yang Xian,
to find that the house there was a typically Chinese one, very little different from the others round us.
There were two bedrooms divided by a living room where we also had a dining table for our meals.
The kitchen was a small Chinese style one outside, and separated from the rest of the house by a
covered way. At the back of our living quarters was the Church building, again a typical Chinese
structure. People coming to services came in from the street through the main compound entrance,
inside of which was the gatekeeper’s rooms, then went round the side of our rooms to the Church at
the back. The gatekeeper was Mr. Hu, a leader in the Church who lived there with his wife and two
171
