Page 305 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 305
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
as the representative of the Church Union in the south, and while they were so near Xi’an he gave him
a letter of introduction to Dr. Stockley at the Baptist Hospital, hoping he would be able to help clear up
some of the physical problems that had plagued him for so long.
Fred Smith had taken Clifford back to the hospital in Xi’an and Dr. Tait had now given him a clean bill
of health much to the relief of all of us.
At the request of the Church Union, Bertha and Ruth had moved to Chenggu about the end of May.
With the exodus of so many refugee workers like the Nius and Mrs. Ma and so many of our
missionaries at home, we were really very short of workers in Shaanxi, either foreign or Chinese.
Fred, as Assistant Super, was in Mei Xian and apart from them, the only other workers in the north
were Kathleen Heath in the Bible School and Mrs. Li at Fengxiang. In the south, beside ourselves,
there were the Becks in Xixiang and the two girls at Chenggu. Wu Xiang Wen had refused the
invitation to Pastor the Hanzhong Church so an invitation had been given to a Mr. Chen and he
accepted.
Most of the Air Force boys had left, but Captain Moss was left to clear up all the things they had left
behind, and he became a very good friend. He was a Christian, a Methodist from Arkansas, and we
enjoyed having him in and out. When he finally left for home, Frank was very indignant because he
had not given me one of the left behind frigidaires that the GIs used. I think he tried to sell all he
could, but he did give the boys a rubber dinghy from one of the planes, and they had great fun with it
on the river.
Another good friend who came into our lives at this time was a Chinese doctor who was working with
the Chinese Youth Army. Dr. Gao was a keen Christian and had done his training in the Beijing
Medical School. At Easter that year I had some records loaned us by Maida Contento, and one day,
when I had them on and was listening to Handel’s ‘Messiah’, Dr. Gao came in and sat down with tears
in his eyes. He said he had not heard that beautiful music since he has been in College in Beijing and
he loved it. It was through Dr. Gao that we began the Sunday night English service for English
speaking people. When the GIs left we did not continue it, but Dr. Gao felt there were enough
business men and others in the city who would appreciate it. So we were contacting business and
professionals and students and for those who wanted more, we started a Bible class on Thursdays for
them.
Bertha and Ruth settled in at Chenggu and, as Percy felt he should go and make sure they were
comfortably settled, he decided at my suggestion to go on Bertha’s birthday and take Dorothy with him
on his bike. It is over 20 miles to Chenggu so quite an undertaking, but he had a little seat for her on
the front of his bicycle and she went off with him in high spirits and wildly excited. I had made her a
new dress for the occasion, not new material, but I had cut the legs off a pair of Percys pyjamas to
make short ones for him for the hot weather. They were blue and white stripes, so I made them into a
blue and white striped dress for Dorothy with blue collar and cuffs, and she looked very nice in it. I cut
down a straw summer hat of my own for her and trimmed it with blue ribbon to match the dress, and
she went off very proudly to see ‘Auntie Berfa’. It would have been a long day for her, but the girls
would see that she had a rest when she got there and they would be delighted to have her to
themselves for the day. Percy was going to try and find a suitable gatekeeper for them while he was
there.
In mid June we received a telegram from Xi’an saying that Alan had arrived there by plane from
Shanghai. Ridley and Andrew Smith were there too so, as Fred had been with us for the Co-workers’
Conference, he and Percy set off by the first available bus for Baoji. They found that Kathleen Heath
305
Amy Moore
as the representative of the Church Union in the south, and while they were so near Xi’an he gave him
a letter of introduction to Dr. Stockley at the Baptist Hospital, hoping he would be able to help clear up
some of the physical problems that had plagued him for so long.
Fred Smith had taken Clifford back to the hospital in Xi’an and Dr. Tait had now given him a clean bill
of health much to the relief of all of us.
At the request of the Church Union, Bertha and Ruth had moved to Chenggu about the end of May.
With the exodus of so many refugee workers like the Nius and Mrs. Ma and so many of our
missionaries at home, we were really very short of workers in Shaanxi, either foreign or Chinese.
Fred, as Assistant Super, was in Mei Xian and apart from them, the only other workers in the north
were Kathleen Heath in the Bible School and Mrs. Li at Fengxiang. In the south, beside ourselves,
there were the Becks in Xixiang and the two girls at Chenggu. Wu Xiang Wen had refused the
invitation to Pastor the Hanzhong Church so an invitation had been given to a Mr. Chen and he
accepted.
Most of the Air Force boys had left, but Captain Moss was left to clear up all the things they had left
behind, and he became a very good friend. He was a Christian, a Methodist from Arkansas, and we
enjoyed having him in and out. When he finally left for home, Frank was very indignant because he
had not given me one of the left behind frigidaires that the GIs used. I think he tried to sell all he
could, but he did give the boys a rubber dinghy from one of the planes, and they had great fun with it
on the river.
Another good friend who came into our lives at this time was a Chinese doctor who was working with
the Chinese Youth Army. Dr. Gao was a keen Christian and had done his training in the Beijing
Medical School. At Easter that year I had some records loaned us by Maida Contento, and one day,
when I had them on and was listening to Handel’s ‘Messiah’, Dr. Gao came in and sat down with tears
in his eyes. He said he had not heard that beautiful music since he has been in College in Beijing and
he loved it. It was through Dr. Gao that we began the Sunday night English service for English
speaking people. When the GIs left we did not continue it, but Dr. Gao felt there were enough
business men and others in the city who would appreciate it. So we were contacting business and
professionals and students and for those who wanted more, we started a Bible class on Thursdays for
them.
Bertha and Ruth settled in at Chenggu and, as Percy felt he should go and make sure they were
comfortably settled, he decided at my suggestion to go on Bertha’s birthday and take Dorothy with him
on his bike. It is over 20 miles to Chenggu so quite an undertaking, but he had a little seat for her on
the front of his bicycle and she went off with him in high spirits and wildly excited. I had made her a
new dress for the occasion, not new material, but I had cut the legs off a pair of Percys pyjamas to
make short ones for him for the hot weather. They were blue and white stripes, so I made them into a
blue and white striped dress for Dorothy with blue collar and cuffs, and she looked very nice in it. I cut
down a straw summer hat of my own for her and trimmed it with blue ribbon to match the dress, and
she went off very proudly to see ‘Auntie Berfa’. It would have been a long day for her, but the girls
would see that she had a rest when she got there and they would be delighted to have her to
themselves for the day. Percy was going to try and find a suitable gatekeeper for them while he was
there.
In mid June we received a telegram from Xi’an saying that Alan had arrived there by plane from
Shanghai. Ridley and Andrew Smith were there too so, as Fred had been with us for the Co-workers’
Conference, he and Percy set off by the first available bus for Baoji. They found that Kathleen Heath
305
