Page 295 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 295
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
they chatted and questions and answers passed back and forth between them, Percy discovered the
convoy was going south. The army travels quicker than local buses, so Percy begged Major White to
wait for him till he could get back next morning from Xi’an with Raymond and take them to Hanzhong.
He was happy to do that as they would be spending the night in Baoji anyway, but he warned Percy
he could not wait for a later train if they were not on the early one.
So with a lift in his spirits, Percy caught the evening train to Xi’an and hoped to be back in Baoji on the
early train next morning. When he reached Xi’an, he found that one of our friends in the Baptist
Mission had seen Raymond wandering round the airfield, asked him who he was, and then found he
was our son and took him home to stay with them till we came to get him.
Raymond was in bed when Percy got to the home where he was staying, and overcome by a fit of
shyness when confronted by his father whom he had not seen for five years, he hid under the bed
clothes. But before they settled down for the night, they had made friends and were ‘family’ again.
Up early next morning, they caught the train back to Baoji and arrived before breakfast ready to join
the convoy going to Hanzhong. Raymond had very little luggage after years in a concentration camp,
and everything he possessed was in one small trunk, but it had been put into the luggage van and
took a little time to get off. When they finally left the station to look for the convoy and Major White,
they were told he had waited till all the passengers seemed to have left the station and then, fearing
they had missed the train, he had given orders for the convoy to start the journey south. Bitterly
disappointed, Percy and Raymond turned away to look for a place where they could buy something for
breakfast. They turned a corner and could hardly believe their eyes when they say a Union Jack flying
gaily on the front of a British Army jeep. Quickly Percy spoke to the driver asking who he was. Was
he part of Major White’s convoy? Was he going south?
The answers came just as quickly. He was part of the Major’s convoy, and he was going south. He
had taken a wrong turning and found himself on the road leading north west. By the time he had
discovered his mistake and returned to the place he had started from, he arrived there just as our two
had turned the corner. It was only a matter of minutes before they collected the luggage left with the
innkeeper, and the three of them settled into the front seat to catch up with the rest of the convoy. “No
breakfast?” Army rations were opened up and shared. “Cold?” Army gloves and scarves were
pulled out and used, and as the young driver learned that Raymond had been a prisoner of the
Japanese for the war years, he could not do enough for him or his father. They caught up with the
convoy half way through the mountains where they were held up by a landslide across the road. The
British Army soon dug a way through and they were on their way again.
In the meantime in Hanzhong I was still waiting and not really expecting them till Tuesday at the
earliest if they had been able to get a bus on Monday morning and there were no hold ups on the
road. On Monday afternoon I was busy in the house when I heard Bertha calling me as if she was in a
hurry. :Amy, Amy, come quickly!” I rushed to where she seemed to be at the back door, and she said
“Look!” and pointed out to the path leading to the door. There was Raymond, a big 11 year old,
walking up the path with his father not far behind. What a reunion after five long years. Where was
my little six year old who I knew so well and understood every thought, every desire, every reaction? I
felt as if I had two boys, one whom I knew and understood and one whom I hardly knew at all.
The two younger ones loved having a big brother, and I think he probably found them a bit of a
nuisance at times, but he soon settled in to home life again. The American Air Force men who were
still in Hanzhong were quite intrigued by his experiences in the concentration camp and often took him
off with them in their jeeps or even out riding horses at times, and sometimes we all got on our
bicycles and cycled down through the fields to the river.
295
Amy Moore
they chatted and questions and answers passed back and forth between them, Percy discovered the
convoy was going south. The army travels quicker than local buses, so Percy begged Major White to
wait for him till he could get back next morning from Xi’an with Raymond and take them to Hanzhong.
He was happy to do that as they would be spending the night in Baoji anyway, but he warned Percy
he could not wait for a later train if they were not on the early one.
So with a lift in his spirits, Percy caught the evening train to Xi’an and hoped to be back in Baoji on the
early train next morning. When he reached Xi’an, he found that one of our friends in the Baptist
Mission had seen Raymond wandering round the airfield, asked him who he was, and then found he
was our son and took him home to stay with them till we came to get him.
Raymond was in bed when Percy got to the home where he was staying, and overcome by a fit of
shyness when confronted by his father whom he had not seen for five years, he hid under the bed
clothes. But before they settled down for the night, they had made friends and were ‘family’ again.
Up early next morning, they caught the train back to Baoji and arrived before breakfast ready to join
the convoy going to Hanzhong. Raymond had very little luggage after years in a concentration camp,
and everything he possessed was in one small trunk, but it had been put into the luggage van and
took a little time to get off. When they finally left the station to look for the convoy and Major White,
they were told he had waited till all the passengers seemed to have left the station and then, fearing
they had missed the train, he had given orders for the convoy to start the journey south. Bitterly
disappointed, Percy and Raymond turned away to look for a place where they could buy something for
breakfast. They turned a corner and could hardly believe their eyes when they say a Union Jack flying
gaily on the front of a British Army jeep. Quickly Percy spoke to the driver asking who he was. Was
he part of Major White’s convoy? Was he going south?
The answers came just as quickly. He was part of the Major’s convoy, and he was going south. He
had taken a wrong turning and found himself on the road leading north west. By the time he had
discovered his mistake and returned to the place he had started from, he arrived there just as our two
had turned the corner. It was only a matter of minutes before they collected the luggage left with the
innkeeper, and the three of them settled into the front seat to catch up with the rest of the convoy. “No
breakfast?” Army rations were opened up and shared. “Cold?” Army gloves and scarves were
pulled out and used, and as the young driver learned that Raymond had been a prisoner of the
Japanese for the war years, he could not do enough for him or his father. They caught up with the
convoy half way through the mountains where they were held up by a landslide across the road. The
British Army soon dug a way through and they were on their way again.
In the meantime in Hanzhong I was still waiting and not really expecting them till Tuesday at the
earliest if they had been able to get a bus on Monday morning and there were no hold ups on the
road. On Monday afternoon I was busy in the house when I heard Bertha calling me as if she was in a
hurry. :Amy, Amy, come quickly!” I rushed to where she seemed to be at the back door, and she said
“Look!” and pointed out to the path leading to the door. There was Raymond, a big 11 year old,
walking up the path with his father not far behind. What a reunion after five long years. Where was
my little six year old who I knew so well and understood every thought, every desire, every reaction? I
felt as if I had two boys, one whom I knew and understood and one whom I hardly knew at all.
The two younger ones loved having a big brother, and I think he probably found them a bit of a
nuisance at times, but he soon settled in to home life again. The American Air Force men who were
still in Hanzhong were quite intrigued by his experiences in the concentration camp and often took him
off with them in their jeeps or even out riding horses at times, and sometimes we all got on our
bicycles and cycled down through the fields to the river.
295
