Page 280 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 280
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
for confirmation from India and not to make any arrangements to leave Hanzhong. It was all so
indefinite and it seemed there was no real need for him as he had been led to believe at first. It was
all very unsettling for us all and we prayed about it constantly, specially in the light of all the work in
South Shaanxi which Percy had been engaged in. Finally he went off by himself to pray and seek the
Lord to know whether He wanted him to continue with his plans to go to Chongqing or not. He told the
Lord that if the next telegram was another delaying one, he would take it that the Lord wanted him to
stay in Hanzhong and the CIM. That afternoon another delaying telegram arrived, so he wired back
that he could wait no longer and he was breaking off all negotiations. He also wired the CIM to ask
for reacceptance. They welcomed him back as did all, but they had been a very difficult four months
as we awaited the issue.
ALAN
The other big move occupying our minds was Alan going to Jiading to school. His outfit was complete
at last, and one afternoon I had an exhibition just for fun. So many had contributed things I could
make up for him that I felt they ought to see the end result. I had a tweed overcoat made from the
lining of Grandad Moore’s prayer mat; woollen socks made from some of Percy’s, unpulled and
reknitted; a winter suit cut down from one of Percy’s; summer suits were made from the skirts of some
of Miss Haslam’s voluminous dresses and from a linen sheet bequeathed by his Grannie; shirts were
made from a dress of Esther’s and from a pair of pyjamas; short pants were made from the legs of a
pair of Grandad’s and summer pyjamas from some unbleached calico which was originally one side of
a mattress; summer vests were cut from a nightgown left by Alma Smail and winter pullovers were
from various ones donated by other missionaries and unpulled and reknitted.
It was certainly a miscellaneous collection, but I was so thankful to have had the materials to do it with
and also that I had brought bedding, blankets and sheets for him from home, for we could never have
afforded to buy them in China. Fred Smith was going down to Jiading where Ridley was already at
school and he agreed to take Alan with him. They left at the end of September, Alan wildly excited at
the prospect of going to school, and Fred wrote back to say he had been very happy all the way and
no trouble at all to look after.
Frank didn’t seem to miss Alan as much as Alan had missed Raymond. As his Grandad was away in
Chongqing at Council meetings, he spent a lot of time with his Grannie next door, often inviting himself
to meals which she didn’t seem to mind. She was looking very thin and tired and had not had a break
since she had come back from Lanzhou. Two babies in the house was getting a bit much for her, so
Jess and David came over to stay with us and I was very thankful to have Jess in the house when
Frank went down with dysentery. I wrote,
“I need eyes in the back of my head to keep him out of trouble. His
tummy upset may have come from eating apricots picked up off the
ground under the tree, or could have been from drinking unboiled
water. I never actually saw him doing that, but Alan said he did.”
Jess gave him the treatment Dr. Howie used on the children at Chefoo and it was wonderful to see the
improvement after she gave him a course of yatren and daily enemas. (Yatren is a combination of
iodine with oxyquinoline-sulphonic acid with the addition of 20% sodium bicarbonate.This drug was
first introduced for the treatment of amoebic dysentery In 1921. ed.)
My part was to tell him stories, the favourite being about three little boys called Arthur Raymond, Alan
George and Frank Robert who all went to stay with their Grandma in Bayswater. While Frank Robert
Return to Table of 280
Contents
Amy Moore
for confirmation from India and not to make any arrangements to leave Hanzhong. It was all so
indefinite and it seemed there was no real need for him as he had been led to believe at first. It was
all very unsettling for us all and we prayed about it constantly, specially in the light of all the work in
South Shaanxi which Percy had been engaged in. Finally he went off by himself to pray and seek the
Lord to know whether He wanted him to continue with his plans to go to Chongqing or not. He told the
Lord that if the next telegram was another delaying one, he would take it that the Lord wanted him to
stay in Hanzhong and the CIM. That afternoon another delaying telegram arrived, so he wired back
that he could wait no longer and he was breaking off all negotiations. He also wired the CIM to ask
for reacceptance. They welcomed him back as did all, but they had been a very difficult four months
as we awaited the issue.
ALAN
The other big move occupying our minds was Alan going to Jiading to school. His outfit was complete
at last, and one afternoon I had an exhibition just for fun. So many had contributed things I could
make up for him that I felt they ought to see the end result. I had a tweed overcoat made from the
lining of Grandad Moore’s prayer mat; woollen socks made from some of Percy’s, unpulled and
reknitted; a winter suit cut down from one of Percy’s; summer suits were made from the skirts of some
of Miss Haslam’s voluminous dresses and from a linen sheet bequeathed by his Grannie; shirts were
made from a dress of Esther’s and from a pair of pyjamas; short pants were made from the legs of a
pair of Grandad’s and summer pyjamas from some unbleached calico which was originally one side of
a mattress; summer vests were cut from a nightgown left by Alma Smail and winter pullovers were
from various ones donated by other missionaries and unpulled and reknitted.
It was certainly a miscellaneous collection, but I was so thankful to have had the materials to do it with
and also that I had brought bedding, blankets and sheets for him from home, for we could never have
afforded to buy them in China. Fred Smith was going down to Jiading where Ridley was already at
school and he agreed to take Alan with him. They left at the end of September, Alan wildly excited at
the prospect of going to school, and Fred wrote back to say he had been very happy all the way and
no trouble at all to look after.
Frank didn’t seem to miss Alan as much as Alan had missed Raymond. As his Grandad was away in
Chongqing at Council meetings, he spent a lot of time with his Grannie next door, often inviting himself
to meals which she didn’t seem to mind. She was looking very thin and tired and had not had a break
since she had come back from Lanzhou. Two babies in the house was getting a bit much for her, so
Jess and David came over to stay with us and I was very thankful to have Jess in the house when
Frank went down with dysentery. I wrote,
“I need eyes in the back of my head to keep him out of trouble. His
tummy upset may have come from eating apricots picked up off the
ground under the tree, or could have been from drinking unboiled
water. I never actually saw him doing that, but Alan said he did.”
Jess gave him the treatment Dr. Howie used on the children at Chefoo and it was wonderful to see the
improvement after she gave him a course of yatren and daily enemas. (Yatren is a combination of
iodine with oxyquinoline-sulphonic acid with the addition of 20% sodium bicarbonate.This drug was
first introduced for the treatment of amoebic dysentery In 1921. ed.)
My part was to tell him stories, the favourite being about three little boys called Arthur Raymond, Alan
George and Frank Robert who all went to stay with their Grandma in Bayswater. While Frank Robert
Return to Table of 280
Contents
