Page 27 - Three Score Years & Ten
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“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
By the end of 1892 Jessie and George, with possibly George Junior and Arthur, had settled in the
Mission home in Yangzhou. George was quite well again but Jessie, who was expecting another
baby, was not very well until her baby was born on 13 December. He was another little boy whom
they named James Findlay.
By this time George, being Acting Field Superintendent for the Grand Canal area, was a member of
the China Council which was made up of Directors and Field Superintendents of the Mission.
By 1893 Yangzhou had become the language centre for lady missionaries and Anqing was used
exclusively for the men or married couples, who were not so numerous as they became in later years.
Prayer for the "Seventy" had resulted in many more applicants to the CIM for service in China, so it
was felt wise, especially in the light of Chinese customs, to have separate training centres for the men
and women.
Besides this there was a boarding school for Chinese girls opened in the city and run by CIM lady
missionaries, and the church work was carried on by married couples. George and Jessie spent a lot
of time visiting other stations on the Canal. They not only listened to the problems which may have
arisen in the work, but they brought spiritual uplift and renewal to their brothers and sisters in the Lord
through prayer and Bible study with fellow missionaries and Church leaders.
Jessie was tied up with the children but found plenty to do in assisting with the work among women in
Yangzhou itself. In early 1895 one of the children was so seriously ill that he was not expected to
live. Hudson Taylor, always closely in touch and vitally interested in everything that touched the lives
of the missionaries in the CIM, wrote to them: "We are hoping and praying that the Lord may have
answered prayer and spared to you the dear treasure He seemed to be calling to Himself." He did,
and the child was restored and in May Jessie left earlier than usual for Chefoo with the children so as
to escape the intense heat of the Yangtze Valley during the summer.
WEST CHINA AGAIN
In March of 1896 George was asked to return to West China for the purpose of visiting mission
stations in Guizhou, Yunnan and Sichuan to encourage fellow missionaries in some of these isolated
places. By this time George Junior and Arthur were at school, so with only Jim at home they set off
as escorts to ten men who had just completed their period of language study at Anqing. Five of them
had been designated to Sichuan province, three to Guizhou and two to Yunnan.
George was again plagued by illness when he reached Guiyang but it did not delay him too long, and
by the end of 1896 he was well enough to set off on the trip he had been planning. Jessie was
pregnant again so was quite happy to stay on in Guiyang which, after all, had been their first home in
China, and was where she had many friends.
George was away for many months. In all he walked 2432 miles, rode a pony 20 miles, travelled by
wheelbarrow 10 miles, by sedan chair 8 miles, by raft 23 miles and by boat 577 miles. He travelled as
far west as Chengdu in Sichuan province and as far south as Gujing in Yunnan province, encouraging
Chinese Christians and missionaries alike as he shared with them the Word of God.
By May 1897 he was back in Guiyang with Jessie for the birth of their fourth son, Alfred Isaac, on 18
May By the end of that year they were back in Shanghai preparing to return to the work at Yangzhou
early in 1898.
27
Amy Moore
By the end of 1892 Jessie and George, with possibly George Junior and Arthur, had settled in the
Mission home in Yangzhou. George was quite well again but Jessie, who was expecting another
baby, was not very well until her baby was born on 13 December. He was another little boy whom
they named James Findlay.
By this time George, being Acting Field Superintendent for the Grand Canal area, was a member of
the China Council which was made up of Directors and Field Superintendents of the Mission.
By 1893 Yangzhou had become the language centre for lady missionaries and Anqing was used
exclusively for the men or married couples, who were not so numerous as they became in later years.
Prayer for the "Seventy" had resulted in many more applicants to the CIM for service in China, so it
was felt wise, especially in the light of Chinese customs, to have separate training centres for the men
and women.
Besides this there was a boarding school for Chinese girls opened in the city and run by CIM lady
missionaries, and the church work was carried on by married couples. George and Jessie spent a lot
of time visiting other stations on the Canal. They not only listened to the problems which may have
arisen in the work, but they brought spiritual uplift and renewal to their brothers and sisters in the Lord
through prayer and Bible study with fellow missionaries and Church leaders.
Jessie was tied up with the children but found plenty to do in assisting with the work among women in
Yangzhou itself. In early 1895 one of the children was so seriously ill that he was not expected to
live. Hudson Taylor, always closely in touch and vitally interested in everything that touched the lives
of the missionaries in the CIM, wrote to them: "We are hoping and praying that the Lord may have
answered prayer and spared to you the dear treasure He seemed to be calling to Himself." He did,
and the child was restored and in May Jessie left earlier than usual for Chefoo with the children so as
to escape the intense heat of the Yangtze Valley during the summer.
WEST CHINA AGAIN
In March of 1896 George was asked to return to West China for the purpose of visiting mission
stations in Guizhou, Yunnan and Sichuan to encourage fellow missionaries in some of these isolated
places. By this time George Junior and Arthur were at school, so with only Jim at home they set off
as escorts to ten men who had just completed their period of language study at Anqing. Five of them
had been designated to Sichuan province, three to Guizhou and two to Yunnan.
George was again plagued by illness when he reached Guiyang but it did not delay him too long, and
by the end of 1896 he was well enough to set off on the trip he had been planning. Jessie was
pregnant again so was quite happy to stay on in Guiyang which, after all, had been their first home in
China, and was where she had many friends.
George was away for many months. In all he walked 2432 miles, rode a pony 20 miles, travelled by
wheelbarrow 10 miles, by sedan chair 8 miles, by raft 23 miles and by boat 577 miles. He travelled as
far west as Chengdu in Sichuan province and as far south as Gujing in Yunnan province, encouraging
Chinese Christians and missionaries alike as he shared with them the Word of God.
By May 1897 he was back in Guiyang with Jessie for the birth of their fourth son, Alfred Isaac, on 18
May By the end of that year they were back in Shanghai preparing to return to the work at Yangzhou
early in 1898.
27
