Page 218 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 218
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
bringing in some oats in a saucepan to show me and ask if that was what I wanted. Vigorous nods of
the head and a hearty ‘Oui, oui’ from me, a broad smile from the cook, and the crisis was over.
At Hong Kong we had been booked into a Christian Guest House known as Phillip’s House. Here we
found many missionaries from other missions as well as our own, and we were made very welcome.
Again we had to wait for our ship which we found to be our old friend the Nellore, the same one on
which I had travelled to China eight years before. By the time it arrived we were quite a large party all
going to Australia. Arthur and Bessie Kennedy from Henan with Pat and Marguerite, John and Muriel
Adamson with their little Maelynne, and Jean Anderson who later married Cyril Edwards and had been
with me in Language School, were all to travel with us. We said goodbye to Bertha and Alma in Hong
Kong as they were taking ship to North America.
The only incident I remember of that stay in Hong Kong was one morning after breakfast when I was
chatting in the dining room and there was a heavy shower of rain. Bertha came in and called me
saying, “Do you know where your son is?” I jumped up in a hurry to see what Alan was up to, and
Bertha led me to the big front entrance opening out on to the main street. There in the middle of the
road, stark naked, was my small son, thoroughly enjoying the lovely cool shower he was getting from
Heaven. He looked so blissfully happy that it almost seemed a shame to bring him in, but I was afraid
of the traffic which so far he had mercifully escaped.
Alan at this time was not yet two and a half and not talking much, though Raymond at the same age
had been quite fluent. When Alan did talk, it was Chinese. On board he attached himself to Jeanie
and liked to order her around and have her meekly obey. When he wanted her, he would stand there
and say, “Auntie lai, Auntie lai” (Auntie come, Auntie come) and Jeanie would come.
SYDNEY
We reached Sydney and found Mr. Gardiner there to meet us and to take those of us whose homes
were in other states to the familiar Mission Home in Stanmore. It was a surprise and joy to me to find
that my sister Dora was in New South Wales at that time and was actually on the wharf when we
arrived. What a thrill to have one of my own family there, and she was the first to meet Percy and the
children. She came to the Mission Home with us and Mr. Gardiner seemed to know her pretty well
already, and gave her a warm welcome too. I found out later that Dora worked for somebody as a
cook when she first came to Sydney. I can’t remember what the trouble was (something not her fault I
think) but her employer gave her the sack without any notice. She found herself with nowhere to go
and very little money in a strange city.
She suddenly remembered that the China Inland Mission of which I was a member, had a home
somewhere in Sydney, so she turned up there and poured her troubles into Mr. Gardiner’s kindly ears.
He helped and advised her until she was able to find another job.
From Sydney we went on to Melbourne where we stayed again at the CIM Home in Coppins Grove.
Miss Blanche Rowe had now taken Miss Batterham’s place as housekeeper and she made us feel at
home immediately. While Percy got to know Melbourne a bit and went in to the city and to the CIM
office in Elizabeth Street, I was thankful to relax after all our travelling. From Melbourne we moved on
to Adelaide and spent a couple of nights with my Uncle Ken, Mother’s younger brother. That gave
Percy a chance to meet him and Linda, his wife and their two children Basil and Nancy. After that it
was across the Nullabor and non stop to Perth and home.
218
Amy Moore
bringing in some oats in a saucepan to show me and ask if that was what I wanted. Vigorous nods of
the head and a hearty ‘Oui, oui’ from me, a broad smile from the cook, and the crisis was over.
At Hong Kong we had been booked into a Christian Guest House known as Phillip’s House. Here we
found many missionaries from other missions as well as our own, and we were made very welcome.
Again we had to wait for our ship which we found to be our old friend the Nellore, the same one on
which I had travelled to China eight years before. By the time it arrived we were quite a large party all
going to Australia. Arthur and Bessie Kennedy from Henan with Pat and Marguerite, John and Muriel
Adamson with their little Maelynne, and Jean Anderson who later married Cyril Edwards and had been
with me in Language School, were all to travel with us. We said goodbye to Bertha and Alma in Hong
Kong as they were taking ship to North America.
The only incident I remember of that stay in Hong Kong was one morning after breakfast when I was
chatting in the dining room and there was a heavy shower of rain. Bertha came in and called me
saying, “Do you know where your son is?” I jumped up in a hurry to see what Alan was up to, and
Bertha led me to the big front entrance opening out on to the main street. There in the middle of the
road, stark naked, was my small son, thoroughly enjoying the lovely cool shower he was getting from
Heaven. He looked so blissfully happy that it almost seemed a shame to bring him in, but I was afraid
of the traffic which so far he had mercifully escaped.
Alan at this time was not yet two and a half and not talking much, though Raymond at the same age
had been quite fluent. When Alan did talk, it was Chinese. On board he attached himself to Jeanie
and liked to order her around and have her meekly obey. When he wanted her, he would stand there
and say, “Auntie lai, Auntie lai” (Auntie come, Auntie come) and Jeanie would come.
SYDNEY
We reached Sydney and found Mr. Gardiner there to meet us and to take those of us whose homes
were in other states to the familiar Mission Home in Stanmore. It was a surprise and joy to me to find
that my sister Dora was in New South Wales at that time and was actually on the wharf when we
arrived. What a thrill to have one of my own family there, and she was the first to meet Percy and the
children. She came to the Mission Home with us and Mr. Gardiner seemed to know her pretty well
already, and gave her a warm welcome too. I found out later that Dora worked for somebody as a
cook when she first came to Sydney. I can’t remember what the trouble was (something not her fault I
think) but her employer gave her the sack without any notice. She found herself with nowhere to go
and very little money in a strange city.
She suddenly remembered that the China Inland Mission of which I was a member, had a home
somewhere in Sydney, so she turned up there and poured her troubles into Mr. Gardiner’s kindly ears.
He helped and advised her until she was able to find another job.
From Sydney we went on to Melbourne where we stayed again at the CIM Home in Coppins Grove.
Miss Blanche Rowe had now taken Miss Batterham’s place as housekeeper and she made us feel at
home immediately. While Percy got to know Melbourne a bit and went in to the city and to the CIM
office in Elizabeth Street, I was thankful to relax after all our travelling. From Melbourne we moved on
to Adelaide and spent a couple of nights with my Uncle Ken, Mother’s younger brother. That gave
Percy a chance to meet him and Linda, his wife and their two children Basil and Nancy. After that it
was across the Nullabor and non stop to Perth and home.
218
