Page 290 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 290
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
journey. All told of the tremendous need, and tried to stir up Christians in the Western countries to
pray for God’s messengers to go to these far distant places.
On that Easter Sunday morning, as the sun was rising in the East, the challenge was given to these
Chinese students, ‘If you feel God is calling you to go to any particular part of China to serve Him, then
go and stand on that province on the map.’ There was a quiet move towards the map, and when all to
whom God had been speaking had taken their places, eight were standing on the province of Xinjiang.
When Pastor Ma and Grace Cheng returned, they found that God was confirming the vision He had
given them already. They began at once to start a prayer meeting and a regular offering towards
carrying out what they felt they must do, and also to ask God to give them a name by which they could
call this new movement of God’s Spirit.
Once again it was to Pastor Mark Ma that the vision came as he fasted and prayed. He was reminded
by God of the Great Commission given to the early Church to take the Gospel from Jerusalem to the
whole world. He was reminded that it had travelled from Jerusalem across Europe, from Europe to
America and to China, and now God was giving to the Chinese Church not only the responsibility of
taking the Gospel to Xinjiang, but on further to the west until they took it right back to Jerusalem from
where it had started. It seemed to Pastor Ma that God had reserved this special privilege for the
Chinese Church so that they would have something to offer Him when He returns.
He went back to the prayer group, told them the vision God had given him and told them he believed
God was calling them, not only to Xinjiang, but to Tibet, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey and
Jerusalem. They began to call themselves the ‘Back to Jerusalem Band’ and began to make plans to
go forwards towards the far west. Other young people began to hear the call of God for their lives,
some closed lands like Tibet and Afghanistan, and one young man had a burden for Mecca laid upon
him before he even knew where Mecca was. We came to know him as ‘Mecca Chao’, and in Shaanxi
and other parts of China as well as in Western countries people were burdened to pray for the ‘Back to
Jerusalem Band’ and God’s fulfilment of the vision God had given them.
By the middle of 1945 we were rejoicing that the War in Europe really was over, and we hoped it
would soon be over in China too. We had written to Mr. Sinton who was Acting General Director in
Chongqing, asking for advice about Frank’s schooling. He advised keeping him home for the rest of
the year as he would not be six till October, and the future of our schools might be clearer by then.
We were definitely not going to open another Primary School in West China, so it looked as if the
children would stay in Kalimpong until Chefoo could open again. I was weary at times of longing for
the War to end and my boys be able to come home again. Frank was weeping one day because Alan
could not come home for the summer holidays. “I haven’t even got a big brother now,” he said. I felt a
bit that way myself sometimes and just had to hold on to Romans 8:28 and believe that in all this God
had some purpose of blessing for us even though we could not see it yet.
As things seemed to be more settled in Shaanxi again, Percy took a trip north to visit our workers
there. Bertha went south to Shiquan, even though she had nobody to go with her. Mrs. Chang would
be company for her when she got there and they would work together trying to encourage and build up
the Church. I commented in my home letter, “We could do with a lot more faithful workers like her.”
No news as yet of my brother being on his way home from Germany, but I was excited over news of
Beth’s wedding to Wilf Douglas. She so much wanted Father to be able to give her away, and when
she arrived from Gnowangerup by train and it was Dora and not Father who met her to help with her
luggage as he always did, she was very anxious about him. She asked the doctor if he was going to
be able to lead her down the aisle, and he assured her he would, so it really made her day to have him
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Contents
Amy Moore
journey. All told of the tremendous need, and tried to stir up Christians in the Western countries to
pray for God’s messengers to go to these far distant places.
On that Easter Sunday morning, as the sun was rising in the East, the challenge was given to these
Chinese students, ‘If you feel God is calling you to go to any particular part of China to serve Him, then
go and stand on that province on the map.’ There was a quiet move towards the map, and when all to
whom God had been speaking had taken their places, eight were standing on the province of Xinjiang.
When Pastor Ma and Grace Cheng returned, they found that God was confirming the vision He had
given them already. They began at once to start a prayer meeting and a regular offering towards
carrying out what they felt they must do, and also to ask God to give them a name by which they could
call this new movement of God’s Spirit.
Once again it was to Pastor Mark Ma that the vision came as he fasted and prayed. He was reminded
by God of the Great Commission given to the early Church to take the Gospel from Jerusalem to the
whole world. He was reminded that it had travelled from Jerusalem across Europe, from Europe to
America and to China, and now God was giving to the Chinese Church not only the responsibility of
taking the Gospel to Xinjiang, but on further to the west until they took it right back to Jerusalem from
where it had started. It seemed to Pastor Ma that God had reserved this special privilege for the
Chinese Church so that they would have something to offer Him when He returns.
He went back to the prayer group, told them the vision God had given him and told them he believed
God was calling them, not only to Xinjiang, but to Tibet, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey and
Jerusalem. They began to call themselves the ‘Back to Jerusalem Band’ and began to make plans to
go forwards towards the far west. Other young people began to hear the call of God for their lives,
some closed lands like Tibet and Afghanistan, and one young man had a burden for Mecca laid upon
him before he even knew where Mecca was. We came to know him as ‘Mecca Chao’, and in Shaanxi
and other parts of China as well as in Western countries people were burdened to pray for the ‘Back to
Jerusalem Band’ and God’s fulfilment of the vision God had given them.
By the middle of 1945 we were rejoicing that the War in Europe really was over, and we hoped it
would soon be over in China too. We had written to Mr. Sinton who was Acting General Director in
Chongqing, asking for advice about Frank’s schooling. He advised keeping him home for the rest of
the year as he would not be six till October, and the future of our schools might be clearer by then.
We were definitely not going to open another Primary School in West China, so it looked as if the
children would stay in Kalimpong until Chefoo could open again. I was weary at times of longing for
the War to end and my boys be able to come home again. Frank was weeping one day because Alan
could not come home for the summer holidays. “I haven’t even got a big brother now,” he said. I felt a
bit that way myself sometimes and just had to hold on to Romans 8:28 and believe that in all this God
had some purpose of blessing for us even though we could not see it yet.
As things seemed to be more settled in Shaanxi again, Percy took a trip north to visit our workers
there. Bertha went south to Shiquan, even though she had nobody to go with her. Mrs. Chang would
be company for her when she got there and they would work together trying to encourage and build up
the Church. I commented in my home letter, “We could do with a lot more faithful workers like her.”
No news as yet of my brother being on his way home from Germany, but I was excited over news of
Beth’s wedding to Wilf Douglas. She so much wanted Father to be able to give her away, and when
she arrived from Gnowangerup by train and it was Dora and not Father who met her to help with her
luggage as he always did, she was very anxious about him. She asked the doctor if he was going to
be able to lead her down the aisle, and he assured her he would, so it really made her day to have him
Return to Table of 290
Contents
