Page 205 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 205
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
came from New Zealand so had much in common and we were all delighted. Arthur and Esther were
always glad when they could have their little first grandchild with them, so we were glad when there
was a good reason for us to take that three day trip from Xixiang to Hanzhong.
In June again we had another instance of God’s care over us. We were to have Miss Begbie and Joy
Betteridge staying with us over the weekend, and as I looked through my stores which were running
low, I realised that we were right out of butter which we bought in tins from the coast and used pretty
sparingly for ourselves, but liked to have for guests. Stores were on order from Shanghai, but when
they would arrive was very doubtful and, as Percy had to go to Hanzhong he said he would have a
look in the shops there for the odd tin. Even if he did see one, there was no knowing how long it had
been on the shelves, and it could be rancid, so I didn’t have much hope from that, but we prayed
about it and left it to the Lord to show us what to do. When Percy got back a few days later, he said,
“Mother has sent you a tin of butter.” I said, “Did you tell her we needed it?” He said he hadn’t
because we had decided before he left that we would tell nobody except the Lord, but when he was
getting ready to come home, his mother was looking for something not too big for him to carry on the
back of his bike for him to bring back as a little gift for me. She had just decided to send a small bottle
of scent, when she suddenly changed her mind and said, “No, I won’t. I will give a small tin of butter
as we are getting plenty now from our own goats for ourselves.” That meant I had enough for the
weekend, while the others were here, and on the Monday morning, when the mail came in, we
received a notice that our stores had arrived. They got there in less than a month from Shanghai, the
first time since we had been in Xixiang that such a thing had happened.
SECOND EVACUATION - November 1936
In August, Percy’s father wrote that the military officials had given him warning that we might all have
to leave again. The Reds, who had been in South Gansu, had been turned back by the military there
and were making their way towards the Hanzhong Plain. That scare passed off and we settled down
again, but in the middle of September, we found ourselves on the move again. My letter of 1 October
gives the details,
“Raymond had diarrhoea pretty badly, and I was feeling rather
worried about him. It went on all the week and he was eating
practically nothing and beginning to pass blood, so that by the Friday
when Percy had to leave for a Bible School at Yang Xian he felt so
concerned that he decided to go through to Hanzhong first and ask
Dr. Xiao to advise us. He had hardly left when I began to wish I had
gone with him and taken Raymond to the doctor, so when Percy rang
through from Hanzhong that night, I asked him what he thought about
me leaving next morning with Raymond. He thought it a good idea,
so I arranged straight away for a huagan to come next morning and
take me through to Hanzhong in two days. By this time Raymond
was so ill that he just lay in my arms and seemed to have no energy
or strength at all I left next morning and we did 40 miles that day,
arriving at Wutiaomen that night. Percy had said he would try to
come and meet me, but there was no sign of him and I just went to an
inn and booked in for the night. Next morning we started very early
as I hoped to get to Hanzhong as early in the afternoon as possible to
take Raymond straight away to Dr. Xiao. I felt by this time that he
probably had dysentery, and dysentery was not a thing we could play
205
Amy Moore
came from New Zealand so had much in common and we were all delighted. Arthur and Esther were
always glad when they could have their little first grandchild with them, so we were glad when there
was a good reason for us to take that three day trip from Xixiang to Hanzhong.
In June again we had another instance of God’s care over us. We were to have Miss Begbie and Joy
Betteridge staying with us over the weekend, and as I looked through my stores which were running
low, I realised that we were right out of butter which we bought in tins from the coast and used pretty
sparingly for ourselves, but liked to have for guests. Stores were on order from Shanghai, but when
they would arrive was very doubtful and, as Percy had to go to Hanzhong he said he would have a
look in the shops there for the odd tin. Even if he did see one, there was no knowing how long it had
been on the shelves, and it could be rancid, so I didn’t have much hope from that, but we prayed
about it and left it to the Lord to show us what to do. When Percy got back a few days later, he said,
“Mother has sent you a tin of butter.” I said, “Did you tell her we needed it?” He said he hadn’t
because we had decided before he left that we would tell nobody except the Lord, but when he was
getting ready to come home, his mother was looking for something not too big for him to carry on the
back of his bike for him to bring back as a little gift for me. She had just decided to send a small bottle
of scent, when she suddenly changed her mind and said, “No, I won’t. I will give a small tin of butter
as we are getting plenty now from our own goats for ourselves.” That meant I had enough for the
weekend, while the others were here, and on the Monday morning, when the mail came in, we
received a notice that our stores had arrived. They got there in less than a month from Shanghai, the
first time since we had been in Xixiang that such a thing had happened.
SECOND EVACUATION - November 1936
In August, Percy’s father wrote that the military officials had given him warning that we might all have
to leave again. The Reds, who had been in South Gansu, had been turned back by the military there
and were making their way towards the Hanzhong Plain. That scare passed off and we settled down
again, but in the middle of September, we found ourselves on the move again. My letter of 1 October
gives the details,
“Raymond had diarrhoea pretty badly, and I was feeling rather
worried about him. It went on all the week and he was eating
practically nothing and beginning to pass blood, so that by the Friday
when Percy had to leave for a Bible School at Yang Xian he felt so
concerned that he decided to go through to Hanzhong first and ask
Dr. Xiao to advise us. He had hardly left when I began to wish I had
gone with him and taken Raymond to the doctor, so when Percy rang
through from Hanzhong that night, I asked him what he thought about
me leaving next morning with Raymond. He thought it a good idea,
so I arranged straight away for a huagan to come next morning and
take me through to Hanzhong in two days. By this time Raymond
was so ill that he just lay in my arms and seemed to have no energy
or strength at all I left next morning and we did 40 miles that day,
arriving at Wutiaomen that night. Percy had said he would try to
come and meet me, but there was no sign of him and I just went to an
inn and booked in for the night. Next morning we started very early
as I hoped to get to Hanzhong as early in the afternoon as possible to
take Raymond straight away to Dr. Xiao. I felt by this time that he
probably had dysentery, and dysentery was not a thing we could play
205
