Page 212 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 212
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
During those years when my babies were young and the war with Japan or the Reds was continually
causing a break in the mail coming through from Shanghai, one of my greatest problems was how to
provide milk for them. Cows, if we could have bought them, were a source of TB and, until Madame
Jiang introduced a good strain into China, few of us would buy cows or their milk even if we could.
Goats were fairly plentiful in Shaanxi but the amount we got from each goat was so small that we
needed to keep a huge herd to get anywhere near enough for our household. I always had a big
supply of powdered milk on order from Shanghai, but never had any guarantee when it would arrive if
ever! In August 1937 I wrote,
“We have been having a kind of ‘cruse of oil - barrel of meal’
experience with milk since we came home after Alan’s birth. I had
several big tins of powdered milk here when we got home, but with
Raymond needing quite a lot and myself drinking it to keep up Alan’s
supply as well as what we use ourselves and all the visitors who
come and go, it didn’t last long. Every day I expected the stores to
turn up from Shanghai, but when my milk was used up and still no
stores, Marj Smith sold me a big tin of milk as she had plenty. When
that was gone, my cook managed to find a shop on the street selling
quite a good brand of condensed milk. It was awfully expensive, but I
simply had to have it so bought a tin at a time hoping that the stores
would come.
Then Miss Begbie came through on her way to furlough. I knew she
would feel like a good cup of tea, so I had saved enough powdered
milk to last for the two days she would be here. When she came, our
conversation turned quite naturally to the hold up in stores. She had
been waiting months for hers too. Then she said she had a few tins
of condensed milk with her and some powdered, which she did not
need to take any further, and she gave it to me then and there. When
that was almost gone, Percy’s parents came through from Hanzhong
and brought some from there. And so it went on. Each time we
seemed to have come to the end, some would turn up from
somewhere, and we went on again. The ‘cruse of oil’ never failed”
In the middle of January 1938 my stores were running out again. Alan’s Lactogen was getting pretty
low and I was giving him powdered milk to help out at times, but that too was getting low. I got up one
Saturday morning with all this on my mind and prayed very earnestly that God would not forget the
needs of the children and would provide them with what they should have. I sent one of the servants
out to look at shops on the street and see if there might be an odd tin of Lactogen on some shelf, but
he came back saying he had not found any. I found when I gave Alan his 5 pm feed that I had to use
the very last of the powdered milk, so as I put him and Raymond to bed, I decided to go on the street
and look for myself. As I went downstairs I glanced into the dining room and there on the table were
four big tins of Lactogen. I rushed out to Percy to see what had happened. He said the parcel slip
came with the mail while I was upstairs, so he went straight round to see what it was and opened it as
a surprise for me. He didn’t know that I had not only finished Alan’s Lactogen, but that I finished up
the powdered milk as well, nor that I had prayed specifically about the food for the children that very
morning. We both rejoiced, and it was such a confirmation to us that God does care, not only for us,
but for our little ones, and He is well able to supply all our needs. The life of faith is not always easy
but it is always rewarding. It was months before any other stores came through.
212
Amy Moore
During those years when my babies were young and the war with Japan or the Reds was continually
causing a break in the mail coming through from Shanghai, one of my greatest problems was how to
provide milk for them. Cows, if we could have bought them, were a source of TB and, until Madame
Jiang introduced a good strain into China, few of us would buy cows or their milk even if we could.
Goats were fairly plentiful in Shaanxi but the amount we got from each goat was so small that we
needed to keep a huge herd to get anywhere near enough for our household. I always had a big
supply of powdered milk on order from Shanghai, but never had any guarantee when it would arrive if
ever! In August 1937 I wrote,
“We have been having a kind of ‘cruse of oil - barrel of meal’
experience with milk since we came home after Alan’s birth. I had
several big tins of powdered milk here when we got home, but with
Raymond needing quite a lot and myself drinking it to keep up Alan’s
supply as well as what we use ourselves and all the visitors who
come and go, it didn’t last long. Every day I expected the stores to
turn up from Shanghai, but when my milk was used up and still no
stores, Marj Smith sold me a big tin of milk as she had plenty. When
that was gone, my cook managed to find a shop on the street selling
quite a good brand of condensed milk. It was awfully expensive, but I
simply had to have it so bought a tin at a time hoping that the stores
would come.
Then Miss Begbie came through on her way to furlough. I knew she
would feel like a good cup of tea, so I had saved enough powdered
milk to last for the two days she would be here. When she came, our
conversation turned quite naturally to the hold up in stores. She had
been waiting months for hers too. Then she said she had a few tins
of condensed milk with her and some powdered, which she did not
need to take any further, and she gave it to me then and there. When
that was almost gone, Percy’s parents came through from Hanzhong
and brought some from there. And so it went on. Each time we
seemed to have come to the end, some would turn up from
somewhere, and we went on again. The ‘cruse of oil’ never failed”
In the middle of January 1938 my stores were running out again. Alan’s Lactogen was getting pretty
low and I was giving him powdered milk to help out at times, but that too was getting low. I got up one
Saturday morning with all this on my mind and prayed very earnestly that God would not forget the
needs of the children and would provide them with what they should have. I sent one of the servants
out to look at shops on the street and see if there might be an odd tin of Lactogen on some shelf, but
he came back saying he had not found any. I found when I gave Alan his 5 pm feed that I had to use
the very last of the powdered milk, so as I put him and Raymond to bed, I decided to go on the street
and look for myself. As I went downstairs I glanced into the dining room and there on the table were
four big tins of Lactogen. I rushed out to Percy to see what had happened. He said the parcel slip
came with the mail while I was upstairs, so he went straight round to see what it was and opened it as
a surprise for me. He didn’t know that I had not only finished Alan’s Lactogen, but that I finished up
the powdered milk as well, nor that I had prayed specifically about the food for the children that very
morning. We both rejoiced, and it was such a confirmation to us that God does care, not only for us,
but for our little ones, and He is well able to supply all our needs. The life of faith is not always easy
but it is always rewarding. It was months before any other stores came through.
212
