Page 264 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 264
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
RAYMOND
Before we left Xixiang we received two letters which had been posted before Pearl Harbour and which
gave us news of Raymond earlier in the year. One was from Mrs. George Young, Baptist missionary
in Xi’an whose children were at Chefoo School also. She wrote,
“We are just back from a
wonderful holiday at Chefoo
where we saw Raymond and
took his picture for you. Mrs.
Englund gave us some
money for a picnic for all the
Shaanxi children. There
were 17 in all and we had a
very good time. We went
along to Third Beach and
bathed and then had supper finishing with a big pail of ice cream.
Your Raymond is such a sturdy little boy and so cheerful and bright.
The beach was rocky and we all walked very carefully and were
inclined to grumble at the sharp stones, but Raymond was so cheerful
and said, “It’s nice once you get into the water”. Afterwards I helped
him get dressed and he said, “I want to help you get the picnic ready”,
and he did too, carrying quite a heavy case for me. He was such a
darling we all fell in love with him. He has done so well at school too,
you must feel very proud of him. He certainly looks very fit and well.”
The other letter was from Mrs. Dorothy Houghton, the wife of Stanley Houghton, one of the masters at
Chefoo. She wrote,
“One day last week, I was asked by Dorothy Andrews to chair an
impromptu concert they were having at the Prep that afternoon. As I
sat there in the classroom, I wished I could write and tell everybody
how well and happy their children looked. I looked especially at the
‘babies’ and felt we must have a picnic for them. So today we invited
Audrey Nordmo, Dorothy Knight, Elizabeth Hoyte, Raymond Moore,
Philip Paulson and Paul Grant at 4 o’clock. After singing a few
nursery rhymes, my husband and I plus our three (Stephen 9, Felicity
7, and Josephine 4) all set off for the Old Prep. We played a number
of games on arrival because it has been a cool day with a north wind
blowing. Their first suggestion was ‘Prisoners Base’ which they said
they play every evening in the Quad after supper. Then we played
‘Red Light’ and ‘Catchers’ and ‘I Sent a Letter To My Love’ and ‘Wolf
and Sheep’. Then we went and played in the sand in the north east
corner of the grounds. The children made castles and boats of
various kinds till at 5:10pm our man arrived with the food. We all
gathered together under the north wall where we were out of the
strong wind and, after singing grace - ‘The Birdies in the Tree Tops’ -
we all tucked in. We had minced meat sandwiches and every ounce
of three pounds of bread disappeared. Then they had a freshly
264
Amy Moore
RAYMOND
Before we left Xixiang we received two letters which had been posted before Pearl Harbour and which
gave us news of Raymond earlier in the year. One was from Mrs. George Young, Baptist missionary
in Xi’an whose children were at Chefoo School also. She wrote,
“We are just back from a
wonderful holiday at Chefoo
where we saw Raymond and
took his picture for you. Mrs.
Englund gave us some
money for a picnic for all the
Shaanxi children. There
were 17 in all and we had a
very good time. We went
along to Third Beach and
bathed and then had supper finishing with a big pail of ice cream.
Your Raymond is such a sturdy little boy and so cheerful and bright.
The beach was rocky and we all walked very carefully and were
inclined to grumble at the sharp stones, but Raymond was so cheerful
and said, “It’s nice once you get into the water”. Afterwards I helped
him get dressed and he said, “I want to help you get the picnic ready”,
and he did too, carrying quite a heavy case for me. He was such a
darling we all fell in love with him. He has done so well at school too,
you must feel very proud of him. He certainly looks very fit and well.”
The other letter was from Mrs. Dorothy Houghton, the wife of Stanley Houghton, one of the masters at
Chefoo. She wrote,
“One day last week, I was asked by Dorothy Andrews to chair an
impromptu concert they were having at the Prep that afternoon. As I
sat there in the classroom, I wished I could write and tell everybody
how well and happy their children looked. I looked especially at the
‘babies’ and felt we must have a picnic for them. So today we invited
Audrey Nordmo, Dorothy Knight, Elizabeth Hoyte, Raymond Moore,
Philip Paulson and Paul Grant at 4 o’clock. After singing a few
nursery rhymes, my husband and I plus our three (Stephen 9, Felicity
7, and Josephine 4) all set off for the Old Prep. We played a number
of games on arrival because it has been a cool day with a north wind
blowing. Their first suggestion was ‘Prisoners Base’ which they said
they play every evening in the Quad after supper. Then we played
‘Red Light’ and ‘Catchers’ and ‘I Sent a Letter To My Love’ and ‘Wolf
and Sheep’. Then we went and played in the sand in the north east
corner of the grounds. The children made castles and boats of
various kinds till at 5:10pm our man arrived with the food. We all
gathered together under the north wall where we were out of the
strong wind and, after singing grace - ‘The Birdies in the Tree Tops’ -
we all tucked in. We had minced meat sandwiches and every ounce
of three pounds of bread disappeared. Then they had a freshly
264
