Page 296 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 296
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
Finally Raymond was home, making friends with Captain Moss and other
GI’s (left) and after Alan also came home safely from Kalimpong, India
the RAF (Raymond, Alan, Frank) was complete!
I started the two boys on lessons as the correspondence lessons for Frank were coming fairly
regularly from Australia. With Raymond I had to keep a jump ahead of him as I had forgotten some of
the things he was supposed to be learning at this stage, but I had brought quite a few books back from
Australia which was helpful, and they were both happier to be occupied. Raymond was doing quite
well because he had been used to discipline and school life, but Master Frank was quite another
proposition. If he was in a studying mood, he was fine, but if he was not, he could be the most
frustrating small boy one could ever meet.
Example: He knew the alphabet quite well, but this was an example of a test . . .
Amy: (pointing at letter he knew well) What’s that letter?
Frank: (looking blank) I don’t know.
Amy (patiently) You do know, Frankie. It’s A. What is it?
Frank: A
Amy: (pointing to another letter) What’s this letter?
Frank: I don’t know.
Amy: Yes you do. That’s B. What is it?
Frank: B
Amy: (going back to A) What’s this one?
Frank: I don’t know.
Amy: (exasperated) Yes you do! That’s A!
And so it went on until I began to wonder sometimes why I bothered. Then on another day he would
surprise me by reciting off perfectly everything I had taught him for the past week. What a boy!
Commenting on some of my problems with him in letters home, I said,
“The worst of it is that when I am most fed up with him and feel like
scolding him thoroughly, he has such a funny little face that just the
expression on his face will upset my equilibrium and I will have to
296
Amy Moore
Finally Raymond was home, making friends with Captain Moss and other
GI’s (left) and after Alan also came home safely from Kalimpong, India
the RAF (Raymond, Alan, Frank) was complete!
I started the two boys on lessons as the correspondence lessons for Frank were coming fairly
regularly from Australia. With Raymond I had to keep a jump ahead of him as I had forgotten some of
the things he was supposed to be learning at this stage, but I had brought quite a few books back from
Australia which was helpful, and they were both happier to be occupied. Raymond was doing quite
well because he had been used to discipline and school life, but Master Frank was quite another
proposition. If he was in a studying mood, he was fine, but if he was not, he could be the most
frustrating small boy one could ever meet.
Example: He knew the alphabet quite well, but this was an example of a test . . .
Amy: (pointing at letter he knew well) What’s that letter?
Frank: (looking blank) I don’t know.
Amy (patiently) You do know, Frankie. It’s A. What is it?
Frank: A
Amy: (pointing to another letter) What’s this letter?
Frank: I don’t know.
Amy: Yes you do. That’s B. What is it?
Frank: B
Amy: (going back to A) What’s this one?
Frank: I don’t know.
Amy: (exasperated) Yes you do! That’s A!
And so it went on until I began to wonder sometimes why I bothered. Then on another day he would
surprise me by reciting off perfectly everything I had taught him for the past week. What a boy!
Commenting on some of my problems with him in letters home, I said,
“The worst of it is that when I am most fed up with him and feel like
scolding him thoroughly, he has such a funny little face that just the
expression on his face will upset my equilibrium and I will have to
296
