Page 230 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 230
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
new workers inland at once. Small centres for language study would be opened in some of the bigger
Mission stations and Percy and I were chosen to be one of the couples to have six or seven new
workers with us for six month’s study of the language and culture of China. Our first job was to get
them out of Shanghai and into ‘free China’ as soon as possible.
It was felt there was no need for us to go to Chefoo at all as Ailsa Carr, the Headmistress of the Prep
School, was going there in the next few days and could take Raymond with her. Doris Williams who
had travelled with us from Australia would also be on the same ship and Raymond knew her well. I
dreaded the whole thing especially as I knew it would be two years or more before we could bring Alan
out to join him at school and in all that time we would not see him again. Being busy and having to
complete his outfit sooner than I expected, and having to sew on name tags, kept me from having too
much time to think. Ailsa was very good in getting to know him and making friends. In fact he was
soon talking about her as ‘my teacher’ and one day when we were talking about Bayswater he said,
“Mum, I would love to go back to Bayswater and see Grandma again,” then he added, “but I don’t want
to miss Chefoo”. So I knew he was ready for it and would settle down fairly easily, especially with
Jess there to help him over the difficult moments.
October 26 came at last and we all went down to the wharf to see the party off to Chefoo. I think
Raymond was too excited about going to school to feel the parting much, but as we looked up at our
little son standing between Ailsa and Doris on the deck of the ship and waving cheerfully to us, I
thought my heart would break. I wept all the way back to the Mission home and felt I missed him at
every turn. Alan was missing him too and, as I went up and down those long corridors taking armfuls
of things to the ‘go-down’ in the basement for packing, he trailed up and down behind me saying
disconsolately, “Mum-pums, where’s Raymond? Mum-pums, where’s Raymond?” While Raymond
was there the two of them played outside in the big garden all day and were no trouble at all, but now
he clung to me as if I were going to disappear too.
Bishop Houghton was inducted as our new General Director while we were still in Shanghai and we
were able to meet him. He came to us from the Anglican part of our Mission work in Sichuan
Province. Mr. Hoste, the retiring GD was still living in Shanghai and, during the meeting he crept
quietly in to one of the seats at the back of the Prayer Hall. There he would have stayed unobserved
but somebody on the platform saw him and called him to join them. I was impressed by his humility.
JOURNEY ACROSS CHINA
With that over, all the parties for the interior began to move. Stanley and Norah Rowe were to take a
party of seven new lady workers across Jap occupied territory into ‘free China’, and they left first.
Then Mr. Ernie Weller, the Superintendent of Henan Province left with another seven, and with them a
Mr. and Mrs. Terry of the Christian Literature Crusade and their two teenage children.
Finally our turn came, and with Alan and Frank and our party of new workers (all girls) we set out third
class on a Japanese steamer going up the coast of China from Shanghai to Tianjin. What a journey!
I think it was about the worst I have ever taken. Third class on a Japanese steamer meant we had no
cabins, but were all down in one big hold. At the far end of the available space were the toilets and
washrooms. From there to the other end where the stairs by which we descended were placed, the
space was all given up for the passengers. It was divided into three sections by two narrow corridors,
and each of the three sections was again divided into four parts partitioned off from each other by a
wooden wall about three feet high. This was our living and eating and sleeping area with no privacy
whatsoever as we not only could see what was going on at the other side of the wooden partition, but
half of our area was given over to an equal number of Chinese.
Return to Table of 230
Contents
Amy Moore
new workers inland at once. Small centres for language study would be opened in some of the bigger
Mission stations and Percy and I were chosen to be one of the couples to have six or seven new
workers with us for six month’s study of the language and culture of China. Our first job was to get
them out of Shanghai and into ‘free China’ as soon as possible.
It was felt there was no need for us to go to Chefoo at all as Ailsa Carr, the Headmistress of the Prep
School, was going there in the next few days and could take Raymond with her. Doris Williams who
had travelled with us from Australia would also be on the same ship and Raymond knew her well. I
dreaded the whole thing especially as I knew it would be two years or more before we could bring Alan
out to join him at school and in all that time we would not see him again. Being busy and having to
complete his outfit sooner than I expected, and having to sew on name tags, kept me from having too
much time to think. Ailsa was very good in getting to know him and making friends. In fact he was
soon talking about her as ‘my teacher’ and one day when we were talking about Bayswater he said,
“Mum, I would love to go back to Bayswater and see Grandma again,” then he added, “but I don’t want
to miss Chefoo”. So I knew he was ready for it and would settle down fairly easily, especially with
Jess there to help him over the difficult moments.
October 26 came at last and we all went down to the wharf to see the party off to Chefoo. I think
Raymond was too excited about going to school to feel the parting much, but as we looked up at our
little son standing between Ailsa and Doris on the deck of the ship and waving cheerfully to us, I
thought my heart would break. I wept all the way back to the Mission home and felt I missed him at
every turn. Alan was missing him too and, as I went up and down those long corridors taking armfuls
of things to the ‘go-down’ in the basement for packing, he trailed up and down behind me saying
disconsolately, “Mum-pums, where’s Raymond? Mum-pums, where’s Raymond?” While Raymond
was there the two of them played outside in the big garden all day and were no trouble at all, but now
he clung to me as if I were going to disappear too.
Bishop Houghton was inducted as our new General Director while we were still in Shanghai and we
were able to meet him. He came to us from the Anglican part of our Mission work in Sichuan
Province. Mr. Hoste, the retiring GD was still living in Shanghai and, during the meeting he crept
quietly in to one of the seats at the back of the Prayer Hall. There he would have stayed unobserved
but somebody on the platform saw him and called him to join them. I was impressed by his humility.
JOURNEY ACROSS CHINA
With that over, all the parties for the interior began to move. Stanley and Norah Rowe were to take a
party of seven new lady workers across Jap occupied territory into ‘free China’, and they left first.
Then Mr. Ernie Weller, the Superintendent of Henan Province left with another seven, and with them a
Mr. and Mrs. Terry of the Christian Literature Crusade and their two teenage children.
Finally our turn came, and with Alan and Frank and our party of new workers (all girls) we set out third
class on a Japanese steamer going up the coast of China from Shanghai to Tianjin. What a journey!
I think it was about the worst I have ever taken. Third class on a Japanese steamer meant we had no
cabins, but were all down in one big hold. At the far end of the available space were the toilets and
washrooms. From there to the other end where the stairs by which we descended were placed, the
space was all given up for the passengers. It was divided into three sections by two narrow corridors,
and each of the three sections was again divided into four parts partitioned off from each other by a
wooden wall about three feet high. This was our living and eating and sleeping area with no privacy
whatsoever as we not only could see what was going on at the other side of the wooden partition, but
half of our area was given over to an equal number of Chinese.
Return to Table of 230
Contents
