Page 298 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 298
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
and I do the minor wash, but others relieve us for the last basket, and
the sheets are done by the team I mentioned above. Mending and
finding clothes and bug fighting fill the rest of the time. Now we look
forward to beds, clean beds, and a meal set at a table.
To get back to August 17th. After the American plane had flown back
and forth over us for about 10 minutes, it suddenly rose to about 600
feet and to our surprise, seven men parachuted down, followed by 25
loads of supplies. What a sight! It was nearly more than we could
bear. Men dashed to the West Wall and over they went. Then we all
broke bounds, men, women and children ran past the Japanese
guard and out through the gate while the guard stood helpless. After
the men had parachuted down, they said they flew low because they
thought they might be fired on, and also they had to be sure it was the
right place as nobody was quite sure where the camp was. The first
thing the Major told us was that we must go back inside again as
peace had not yet been signed, and it was still dangerous. We are all
quiet again now and do not expect to move yet. The sick will leave by
plane first, possibly this week, including one of our CIM boys.
We had a Victory supper yesterday outside on the playing field,
where each had a tomato and an apple - a real feast as we had all
been longing for some fresh fruit. The Chinese have been sending in
food too, so we are almost overwhelmed. When we ran outside the
gates on the day the Americans arrived, the Chinese were shocked at
all the bare feet, and some of them picked up the children to carry
them to the camp. The men and the boys were all shirtless too, so
gifts of vests have been coming in from Chinese outside. I think the
dear souls thought we had no clothes at all. Chinese Christians keep
coming to the gate to bring us food, but after the lean fare of the past
years, we find we cannot eat so much now that we have it. I was sick
on Victory Day after eating an apple, but we will get used to it.
This is a sample of the menu we have been used to:
Breakfast - bread and water
Lunch - stew and tea
Dinner - Soup and water.
Two slices of bread and clear tea once a day, no milk at all, a small
amount of sugar till May of this year and since then none at all. The
little children and babies had a little milk. We have had one Red
Cross parcel since coming here, though the airmen tell us America
sent one every month.”
This letter from Mrs. Lack was the first real news we had of the conditions Raymond had lived under
for the past three years at least, and we marvelled that he looked as well as he did. Unpacking his
trunk, I was amused and moved to find one pair of pyjamas - one of the pairs I had sent him to school
with five years before. They had been added to a number of times as he grew, and the material was
very thin and well patched. A note from one of the staff apologised that the colour of the pyjamas and
298
Amy Moore
and I do the minor wash, but others relieve us for the last basket, and
the sheets are done by the team I mentioned above. Mending and
finding clothes and bug fighting fill the rest of the time. Now we look
forward to beds, clean beds, and a meal set at a table.
To get back to August 17th. After the American plane had flown back
and forth over us for about 10 minutes, it suddenly rose to about 600
feet and to our surprise, seven men parachuted down, followed by 25
loads of supplies. What a sight! It was nearly more than we could
bear. Men dashed to the West Wall and over they went. Then we all
broke bounds, men, women and children ran past the Japanese
guard and out through the gate while the guard stood helpless. After
the men had parachuted down, they said they flew low because they
thought they might be fired on, and also they had to be sure it was the
right place as nobody was quite sure where the camp was. The first
thing the Major told us was that we must go back inside again as
peace had not yet been signed, and it was still dangerous. We are all
quiet again now and do not expect to move yet. The sick will leave by
plane first, possibly this week, including one of our CIM boys.
We had a Victory supper yesterday outside on the playing field,
where each had a tomato and an apple - a real feast as we had all
been longing for some fresh fruit. The Chinese have been sending in
food too, so we are almost overwhelmed. When we ran outside the
gates on the day the Americans arrived, the Chinese were shocked at
all the bare feet, and some of them picked up the children to carry
them to the camp. The men and the boys were all shirtless too, so
gifts of vests have been coming in from Chinese outside. I think the
dear souls thought we had no clothes at all. Chinese Christians keep
coming to the gate to bring us food, but after the lean fare of the past
years, we find we cannot eat so much now that we have it. I was sick
on Victory Day after eating an apple, but we will get used to it.
This is a sample of the menu we have been used to:
Breakfast - bread and water
Lunch - stew and tea
Dinner - Soup and water.
Two slices of bread and clear tea once a day, no milk at all, a small
amount of sugar till May of this year and since then none at all. The
little children and babies had a little milk. We have had one Red
Cross parcel since coming here, though the airmen tell us America
sent one every month.”
This letter from Mrs. Lack was the first real news we had of the conditions Raymond had lived under
for the past three years at least, and we marvelled that he looked as well as he did. Unpacking his
trunk, I was amused and moved to find one pair of pyjamas - one of the pairs I had sent him to school
with five years before. They had been added to a number of times as he grew, and the material was
very thin and well patched. A note from one of the staff apologised that the colour of the pyjamas and
298
