Page 306 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 306
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
had heard of their arrival, so being a good ‘Auntie’, had gone straight to Xi’an to welcome them ‘home’
and take charge of them for us.
Percy and Fred met her at Guozhen next morning, packing them all on to a cart to start the trip south.
Percy was there to see Fred and Marj reunited with their boys again after two years in India and with
their six children all under the one roof again. They were able to get plenty of milk and Percy thought
Marj was looking better than she had since furlough. He said Ridley was a real little school boy and
very much the son of his father! Within minutes of arrival he was asking his dad the exact height of
the mountains they could see, and Fred being Fred, could of course give him the exact answer. Ridley
then proceeded to tell him the height of the mountains at Kalimpong in India. He was musical like his
dad too and, according to Alan, could sit down and play anything by ear.
So at last we too had all our family together under one roof and my heart was at peace. Percy said to
me, “You really come alive when the children are all home, don’t you?” I thought I did, for separations
from my children were the things which hurt me most all through my missionary life.
Alan had grown a lot since we had last seen him, and he and Raymond were almost the same height
though Raymond was broader in the shoulders. To watch them walking down the path together they
could almost be taken for twins. When Alan arrived, Raymond had gone off for the day with some of
the GIs who were still there. Alan’s first words as he came in the back door and looked round the
room were “Where’s Raymond?” I think in all the years since he had seen Raymond last he had never
ceased looking forward to the day when they would be together again. I had to laugh at their different
accents. Raymond had been under the care of English teachers with their English pronunciation, so
he talked of having a ‘baath’ (with a long ‘a’) while Alan who had some American teachers would talk
about having a ‘bath’ (with a short ‘a’). They both began to speak Chinese well again very soon and
could communicate with the Xiao boys and others quite easily.
It was only about a month after Alan came home that we were again ‘weeping with those who weep’. I
was shocked one morning when the servant from the Xiaos came in to tell us that ‘No.5’ had died. I
thought he had made a mistake as it was Joel (No.3) who had been taken ill a few weeks before and it
seemed to be something similar to what Joseph had died of. I said, “You mean No. 3 don’t you?” But
he insisted it was Jonah who had been playing in our garden with our boys the previous day.
When I got the whole story it appears he had gone home from here, apparently quite well, but later
complained to his mother of a sore throat and he thought he had a temperature. She was still very
busy looking after Joel but she felt Jonah’s head and it seemed cool, so she told him if he did not feel
well to go and lie down, which he did. Soon after they all went to bed, but about midnight Job got up
and called his Granny to say Jonah was not well. She immediately called the doctor and he found the
boy’s throat so swollen he could hardly breathe. They did all they could and also tried to get another
doctor who, however, was away from home, and within two hours Jonah was with the Lord.
I went round there before breakfast and found them numb with shock and sorrow, hardly able to
believe it was true that they had lost another son and might lose Joel too as he was very ill. Dr. Gao,
when we told him about it thought it could have been diphtheria for the throat to close up so suddenly
and take him off so quickly.
Mrs. Xiao just wept, and I did not know how to comfort her as words seemed so inadequate. She
begged me to ask everybody to pray for them in this time of testing they were going through. She
knew the Lord was with them and they were taking it all from him, but as she said, “The flesh finds it
hard to endure.”
306
Amy Moore
had heard of their arrival, so being a good ‘Auntie’, had gone straight to Xi’an to welcome them ‘home’
and take charge of them for us.
Percy and Fred met her at Guozhen next morning, packing them all on to a cart to start the trip south.
Percy was there to see Fred and Marj reunited with their boys again after two years in India and with
their six children all under the one roof again. They were able to get plenty of milk and Percy thought
Marj was looking better than she had since furlough. He said Ridley was a real little school boy and
very much the son of his father! Within minutes of arrival he was asking his dad the exact height of
the mountains they could see, and Fred being Fred, could of course give him the exact answer. Ridley
then proceeded to tell him the height of the mountains at Kalimpong in India. He was musical like his
dad too and, according to Alan, could sit down and play anything by ear.
So at last we too had all our family together under one roof and my heart was at peace. Percy said to
me, “You really come alive when the children are all home, don’t you?” I thought I did, for separations
from my children were the things which hurt me most all through my missionary life.
Alan had grown a lot since we had last seen him, and he and Raymond were almost the same height
though Raymond was broader in the shoulders. To watch them walking down the path together they
could almost be taken for twins. When Alan arrived, Raymond had gone off for the day with some of
the GIs who were still there. Alan’s first words as he came in the back door and looked round the
room were “Where’s Raymond?” I think in all the years since he had seen Raymond last he had never
ceased looking forward to the day when they would be together again. I had to laugh at their different
accents. Raymond had been under the care of English teachers with their English pronunciation, so
he talked of having a ‘baath’ (with a long ‘a’) while Alan who had some American teachers would talk
about having a ‘bath’ (with a short ‘a’). They both began to speak Chinese well again very soon and
could communicate with the Xiao boys and others quite easily.
It was only about a month after Alan came home that we were again ‘weeping with those who weep’. I
was shocked one morning when the servant from the Xiaos came in to tell us that ‘No.5’ had died. I
thought he had made a mistake as it was Joel (No.3) who had been taken ill a few weeks before and it
seemed to be something similar to what Joseph had died of. I said, “You mean No. 3 don’t you?” But
he insisted it was Jonah who had been playing in our garden with our boys the previous day.
When I got the whole story it appears he had gone home from here, apparently quite well, but later
complained to his mother of a sore throat and he thought he had a temperature. She was still very
busy looking after Joel but she felt Jonah’s head and it seemed cool, so she told him if he did not feel
well to go and lie down, which he did. Soon after they all went to bed, but about midnight Job got up
and called his Granny to say Jonah was not well. She immediately called the doctor and he found the
boy’s throat so swollen he could hardly breathe. They did all they could and also tried to get another
doctor who, however, was away from home, and within two hours Jonah was with the Lord.
I went round there before breakfast and found them numb with shock and sorrow, hardly able to
believe it was true that they had lost another son and might lose Joel too as he was very ill. Dr. Gao,
when we told him about it thought it could have been diphtheria for the throat to close up so suddenly
and take him off so quickly.
Mrs. Xiao just wept, and I did not know how to comfort her as words seemed so inadequate. She
begged me to ask everybody to pray for them in this time of testing they were going through. She
knew the Lord was with them and they were taking it all from him, but as she said, “The flesh finds it
hard to endure.”
306
