Page 255 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 255
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
A square low table was put in the middle of the room. In the centre of it was a dish of green edible
weeds picked off the hillside and chopped up fine with small chillies and salt. We were each given a
huge bowl, as big as one of our steamed pudding basins, filled with a mixture of sticky rice and corn,
into which some young pumpkins had been sliced. I found it quite tasty and enjoyed it, but the girls
were rather staggered by the size of the bowls and found the rice rather too stodgy for their taste. All
the time we were eating, the lady of the house was protesting about what small appetites we had and
how little we ate. We left for home again soon after the meal. It was quite an experience for new
workers who had not been long in China.
At the end of July the Church Union invited a Pastor Guo from Shanxi to come and work in South
Shaanxi. Percy and Arnold Strange and Fred Smith and some of the Church leaders, all went up to
Hanzhong to meet him and to discuss with him his ideas for the work. He suggested a preaching
band consisting of Percy and himself with Kathleen Heath and Mrs. Liu, the Biblewoman from the
north, to visit all the Churches in turn for a Bible teaching ministry. This was to commence as soon as
the hot weather was over and, as they made out the programme, we realised that Percy would be
away most of October and November with only a short break between. The other three in the Team
had no family responsibilities, but Percy had, and we felt we must pray about this to be sure of the
mind of the Lord on the whole matter. I knew of course that Percy was better fitted than anybody else
in the district to that type of work, and by that time I would have both Ina and Esther Freeman with me,
but neither of us relished the thought of such long separations. We committed it to the Lord and
waited to see what the outcome would be.
END OF THE LANGUAGE SCHOOL
Early in August we heard that Bishop Bevan from Sichuan was to be in Hanzhong during the first
week in September, and he would be prepared to escort our girls back with him when he went. They
were to meet him in Hanzhong. Winnie Strange suggested that, if Percy was going to escort them to
Hanzhong on his bike, he could take Alan as far as Chenggu to stay with them till he was on his way
back. This sounded very exciting for Alan, but in the end it did not eventuate because we were able to
get seats on a ‘bus’ going through to Hanzhong, and they all, Percy included, went on that. What we
called a bus was really an open truck, usually a charcoal burner. The luggage was all piled on first
and, when that was on, the passengers climbed up over the wheels and made themselves as
comfortable as they could on top of the boxes and bags.
We all felt sad when the day of parting actually came. Some of them, Ruth and Elizabeth, Ilma and
Ina had been with us right from Australia, and the others for almost nine months, so we had grown into
a ‘family’. We were going to miss our ‘maidens’. Alan badly wanted to go with them but was
somewhat comforted when he knew that Ina was going to stay, and we told him he could help her
move her things from the school up to the house. We had some hilarious moments as we watched
Elizabeth, who was a big girl, struggling to climb up over the wheels with much pushing and pulling
from the others. Jessie’s ‘do or die’ expression and the determined look on her face as she tackled
the climb was too funny for words, but it was Frankie who nearly upset us all by bursting into a loud
howl as the bus began to move and he realised they were all leaving us.
Before they left, the girls gave me a surprise birthday party before the actual day as they thought they
might be gone by 4 September. It really was a complete surprise. When Ruth came up the path and
asked me to go down to the school, she had such a worried expression on her face that I wondered
whatever had gone wrong. When I got there they had the school room all decorated with greenery
and beautiful birthday cake in the centre of the table. They had managed to make it in my kitchen
without my ever knowing, though they said I had nearly caught them several times, but I had
255
Amy Moore
A square low table was put in the middle of the room. In the centre of it was a dish of green edible
weeds picked off the hillside and chopped up fine with small chillies and salt. We were each given a
huge bowl, as big as one of our steamed pudding basins, filled with a mixture of sticky rice and corn,
into which some young pumpkins had been sliced. I found it quite tasty and enjoyed it, but the girls
were rather staggered by the size of the bowls and found the rice rather too stodgy for their taste. All
the time we were eating, the lady of the house was protesting about what small appetites we had and
how little we ate. We left for home again soon after the meal. It was quite an experience for new
workers who had not been long in China.
At the end of July the Church Union invited a Pastor Guo from Shanxi to come and work in South
Shaanxi. Percy and Arnold Strange and Fred Smith and some of the Church leaders, all went up to
Hanzhong to meet him and to discuss with him his ideas for the work. He suggested a preaching
band consisting of Percy and himself with Kathleen Heath and Mrs. Liu, the Biblewoman from the
north, to visit all the Churches in turn for a Bible teaching ministry. This was to commence as soon as
the hot weather was over and, as they made out the programme, we realised that Percy would be
away most of October and November with only a short break between. The other three in the Team
had no family responsibilities, but Percy had, and we felt we must pray about this to be sure of the
mind of the Lord on the whole matter. I knew of course that Percy was better fitted than anybody else
in the district to that type of work, and by that time I would have both Ina and Esther Freeman with me,
but neither of us relished the thought of such long separations. We committed it to the Lord and
waited to see what the outcome would be.
END OF THE LANGUAGE SCHOOL
Early in August we heard that Bishop Bevan from Sichuan was to be in Hanzhong during the first
week in September, and he would be prepared to escort our girls back with him when he went. They
were to meet him in Hanzhong. Winnie Strange suggested that, if Percy was going to escort them to
Hanzhong on his bike, he could take Alan as far as Chenggu to stay with them till he was on his way
back. This sounded very exciting for Alan, but in the end it did not eventuate because we were able to
get seats on a ‘bus’ going through to Hanzhong, and they all, Percy included, went on that. What we
called a bus was really an open truck, usually a charcoal burner. The luggage was all piled on first
and, when that was on, the passengers climbed up over the wheels and made themselves as
comfortable as they could on top of the boxes and bags.
We all felt sad when the day of parting actually came. Some of them, Ruth and Elizabeth, Ilma and
Ina had been with us right from Australia, and the others for almost nine months, so we had grown into
a ‘family’. We were going to miss our ‘maidens’. Alan badly wanted to go with them but was
somewhat comforted when he knew that Ina was going to stay, and we told him he could help her
move her things from the school up to the house. We had some hilarious moments as we watched
Elizabeth, who was a big girl, struggling to climb up over the wheels with much pushing and pulling
from the others. Jessie’s ‘do or die’ expression and the determined look on her face as she tackled
the climb was too funny for words, but it was Frankie who nearly upset us all by bursting into a loud
howl as the bus began to move and he realised they were all leaving us.
Before they left, the girls gave me a surprise birthday party before the actual day as they thought they
might be gone by 4 September. It really was a complete surprise. When Ruth came up the path and
asked me to go down to the school, she had such a worried expression on her face that I wondered
whatever had gone wrong. When I got there they had the school room all decorated with greenery
and beautiful birthday cake in the centre of the table. They had managed to make it in my kitchen
without my ever knowing, though they said I had nearly caught them several times, but I had
255
