Page 185 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 185
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
pastors or teachers. When they decided to have a few days Conference together to study the Bible, it
was often Percy to whom they looked for teaching. So I got used to him going off for a few days or
even a week at a time, and since there was little local means of communication except by courier, I
was always pleasantly surprised if I had any word from him during that time. For myself, I was happy
to get to know the Chinese women, and I went out many times into the country on the far side of the
river, visiting homes with some of the Christian women who lived close to us. The fresh air and the
green crops and the beauty of the plain with the southern mountains rising up ahead of us, never
ceased to thrill me, though, as I began to see more of the life around me, the seamy side became all
too evident as well. Young wives who jumped into wells to commit suicide because they were
unhappy in their marriage, were all too common, as were the girl babies who were drowned or killed in
some other way at birth.
On one visit to the home of a Christian woman in the country, we found she was away at her mother’s
because word had come that one of the young girls in the family had cut her throat the night before.
Yet, in spite of miserable lives and deep poverty, as I got to know the Christian women better, I
marvelled at the difference their faith in Jesus made in their lives, and the quality of their devotion to
Him often made me ashamed.
I was much amused at comments in letters from home, that they thought Percy must be very serious.
I wrote back,
“He can be when necessary, and I always tease him that I am almost afraid to breath when he
is preparing an address, but when he and Jack Beck and Rob Ament get together, you could
never for one moment accuse them of being serious! They are just as mad as March hares.
He is very affectionate and very fond of children, and they all love him.”
When he joined the Mission, Percy felt he would like to work among children, but as we began work in
Xixiang, it became more and more obvious that his gift lay in Bible teaching.
Before the heat of the summer began, we managed to write our 4th section exams. I didn’t need to
write any more unless I wished, but Percy still had two more to do to satisfy Mission requirements.
BABY PREPARATIONS
In the meantime, to our great joy, I found I was pregnant. We could expect our first baby soon after
Christmas. Doug would be finishing at Chefoo at the end of the year and his parents wanted him to
come to Shaanxi to have some time with them before going on to Canada to join Jess and Marj. So
we planned that they would all come to us in Xixiang for Christmas. The Mission was expecting a
nurse to arrive from England before then, and she would be appointed as District Nurse for Shaanxi.
She would take care of me and the baby, and Mother Moore would stay on with us for some weeks
after Christmas to look after the housekeeping while I was getting over Baby’s birth.
I kept very well, though no prenatal clinics or medical exams of any kind were available. Doug and his
parents all came for Christmas and we had a lovely family time together.
It was just before Christmas that word came from Shanghai that the English party had been delayed,
and the expected nurse and midwife could not arrive until March or so, far too late for my baby’s
arrival. What was I to do? We had other midwives in the district, Miss Begbie, Ruth Frencham and
also Miss Parr who, although not legally qualified, had actually had more experience than any of the
others. It was not fair to ask Ruth, whose own baby was expected only a few months later than mine,
and I didn’t want to ask the other two. Before I was married and while I lived with Miss Parr, I had
185
Amy Moore
pastors or teachers. When they decided to have a few days Conference together to study the Bible, it
was often Percy to whom they looked for teaching. So I got used to him going off for a few days or
even a week at a time, and since there was little local means of communication except by courier, I
was always pleasantly surprised if I had any word from him during that time. For myself, I was happy
to get to know the Chinese women, and I went out many times into the country on the far side of the
river, visiting homes with some of the Christian women who lived close to us. The fresh air and the
green crops and the beauty of the plain with the southern mountains rising up ahead of us, never
ceased to thrill me, though, as I began to see more of the life around me, the seamy side became all
too evident as well. Young wives who jumped into wells to commit suicide because they were
unhappy in their marriage, were all too common, as were the girl babies who were drowned or killed in
some other way at birth.
On one visit to the home of a Christian woman in the country, we found she was away at her mother’s
because word had come that one of the young girls in the family had cut her throat the night before.
Yet, in spite of miserable lives and deep poverty, as I got to know the Christian women better, I
marvelled at the difference their faith in Jesus made in their lives, and the quality of their devotion to
Him often made me ashamed.
I was much amused at comments in letters from home, that they thought Percy must be very serious.
I wrote back,
“He can be when necessary, and I always tease him that I am almost afraid to breath when he
is preparing an address, but when he and Jack Beck and Rob Ament get together, you could
never for one moment accuse them of being serious! They are just as mad as March hares.
He is very affectionate and very fond of children, and they all love him.”
When he joined the Mission, Percy felt he would like to work among children, but as we began work in
Xixiang, it became more and more obvious that his gift lay in Bible teaching.
Before the heat of the summer began, we managed to write our 4th section exams. I didn’t need to
write any more unless I wished, but Percy still had two more to do to satisfy Mission requirements.
BABY PREPARATIONS
In the meantime, to our great joy, I found I was pregnant. We could expect our first baby soon after
Christmas. Doug would be finishing at Chefoo at the end of the year and his parents wanted him to
come to Shaanxi to have some time with them before going on to Canada to join Jess and Marj. So
we planned that they would all come to us in Xixiang for Christmas. The Mission was expecting a
nurse to arrive from England before then, and she would be appointed as District Nurse for Shaanxi.
She would take care of me and the baby, and Mother Moore would stay on with us for some weeks
after Christmas to look after the housekeeping while I was getting over Baby’s birth.
I kept very well, though no prenatal clinics or medical exams of any kind were available. Doug and his
parents all came for Christmas and we had a lovely family time together.
It was just before Christmas that word came from Shanghai that the English party had been delayed,
and the expected nurse and midwife could not arrive until March or so, far too late for my baby’s
arrival. What was I to do? We had other midwives in the district, Miss Begbie, Ruth Frencham and
also Miss Parr who, although not legally qualified, had actually had more experience than any of the
others. It was not fair to ask Ruth, whose own baby was expected only a few months later than mine,
and I didn’t want to ask the other two. Before I was married and while I lived with Miss Parr, I had
185
