Page 315 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 315
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
daughter and his wife had just had another baby, another little girl, whom Dorothy went down to visit
every day.
Percy was going to be in Shanghai while the boys were still on holiday and I was glad about that as
they would be thrilled to have their Dad there. School rules meant we got letters from them every
week and after the difficulty of getting letters through in the past, especially from Raymond, this was
wonderful. They wrote happily, but Alan seemed to be the scribe of the family. He had recently
written a letter of 1,000 words (he counted them!) in which he gave a detailed account of everything
they did on a Sunday at school. It was most interesting, but I did not try and write as long a letter
back!
Percy told me later about an incident soon after his arrival. He was with the boys when the mail
arrived, and there were letters from me to him and Raymond and Alan (I wrote to each individually
always) but there was none for Frank. Percy felt sorry for him to be feeling left out, specially as this
was his first time away from home, so he said, “Come and share mine, Frank.” To his surprise Frank
seemed quite unconcerned and said, “It’s OK Dad, mine will come.” Percy, knowing how dozens of
things could have hindered me from writing, hoped Frank’s faith would be justified, and it was. His
letter did come. When I heard the story, I felt it was a wonderful lesson in faith. Frank, having
watched me write to the other two weekly when they were away at school, felt I could not help but
write to him too. I thought of my Heavenly Father and knew that I could trust Him because it would be
quite contrary to His character to act in any other but the way He promised.
Joel Xiao seemed to be quite well again, though thinner than he had been before he was ill. I found
him a great help with the children in the Sunday School and his artistic gifts were a great help too. It
was good to see the doctor back with us at the Fellow Workers’ Meetings and he seemed quite his old
self again. He was such a leader amongst the other church leaders that we all missed him if he was
not there. Wu Shangwen from Xixiang was at the meetings too, but I felt he had lost out spiritually
since he had put his business before serving the Lord full time, which I knew he had felt called to do.
Zhang from Ningqiang, whose mind had been so badly affected by his confrontation with soldiers
there, suddenly disappeared for three days during Christmas week, and everybody feared the worst,
but he turned up late one night tired out and with badly frozen feet, but very much clearer in his mind.
When I saw him next day I felt he was clearer than I had seen him since he came from Ningqiang, and
I felt the Lord was going to heal him. His little wife had been so brave and bright through it all, a real
testimony to the grace of God. I always felt that their three children were some of the nicest children I
knew.
Bertha had been holding reading and Bible classes at Baocheng where the Weis had gone to start
work, and was surprised to find dear old Mrs. Ma living with them. She had not been happy in Shanxi
with her unsaved relatives and so come back to stay with the Weis, who looked on her as a mother,
until the way to Beijing was open again. She seemed very happy there.
Bertha and Ruth were getting ready to move from Chenggu, Bertha for furlough in Canada and Ruth
to help with some of the housekeeping in the school in Shanghai. At the beginning of May, Helen
arrived unexpectedly with all their luggage. She had gone to see them in Chenggu to say goodbye,
but when she found them trying to find coolies to take their luggage through to Hanzhong, she had
offered to do it for them. That was Saturday, so she was here for the weekend, leaving Sadie, I
suppose, to cope with the weekend classes in Yang Xian. Bertha and Ruth arrived on Monday
morning and we spent quite a lot of time helping them on Tuesday and Wednesday, but by Thursday
they were ready for the bus to Baoji. I was a bit worried about how they would manage in Baoji getting
315
Amy Moore
daughter and his wife had just had another baby, another little girl, whom Dorothy went down to visit
every day.
Percy was going to be in Shanghai while the boys were still on holiday and I was glad about that as
they would be thrilled to have their Dad there. School rules meant we got letters from them every
week and after the difficulty of getting letters through in the past, especially from Raymond, this was
wonderful. They wrote happily, but Alan seemed to be the scribe of the family. He had recently
written a letter of 1,000 words (he counted them!) in which he gave a detailed account of everything
they did on a Sunday at school. It was most interesting, but I did not try and write as long a letter
back!
Percy told me later about an incident soon after his arrival. He was with the boys when the mail
arrived, and there were letters from me to him and Raymond and Alan (I wrote to each individually
always) but there was none for Frank. Percy felt sorry for him to be feeling left out, specially as this
was his first time away from home, so he said, “Come and share mine, Frank.” To his surprise Frank
seemed quite unconcerned and said, “It’s OK Dad, mine will come.” Percy, knowing how dozens of
things could have hindered me from writing, hoped Frank’s faith would be justified, and it was. His
letter did come. When I heard the story, I felt it was a wonderful lesson in faith. Frank, having
watched me write to the other two weekly when they were away at school, felt I could not help but
write to him too. I thought of my Heavenly Father and knew that I could trust Him because it would be
quite contrary to His character to act in any other but the way He promised.
Joel Xiao seemed to be quite well again, though thinner than he had been before he was ill. I found
him a great help with the children in the Sunday School and his artistic gifts were a great help too. It
was good to see the doctor back with us at the Fellow Workers’ Meetings and he seemed quite his old
self again. He was such a leader amongst the other church leaders that we all missed him if he was
not there. Wu Shangwen from Xixiang was at the meetings too, but I felt he had lost out spiritually
since he had put his business before serving the Lord full time, which I knew he had felt called to do.
Zhang from Ningqiang, whose mind had been so badly affected by his confrontation with soldiers
there, suddenly disappeared for three days during Christmas week, and everybody feared the worst,
but he turned up late one night tired out and with badly frozen feet, but very much clearer in his mind.
When I saw him next day I felt he was clearer than I had seen him since he came from Ningqiang, and
I felt the Lord was going to heal him. His little wife had been so brave and bright through it all, a real
testimony to the grace of God. I always felt that their three children were some of the nicest children I
knew.
Bertha had been holding reading and Bible classes at Baocheng where the Weis had gone to start
work, and was surprised to find dear old Mrs. Ma living with them. She had not been happy in Shanxi
with her unsaved relatives and so come back to stay with the Weis, who looked on her as a mother,
until the way to Beijing was open again. She seemed very happy there.
Bertha and Ruth were getting ready to move from Chenggu, Bertha for furlough in Canada and Ruth
to help with some of the housekeeping in the school in Shanghai. At the beginning of May, Helen
arrived unexpectedly with all their luggage. She had gone to see them in Chenggu to say goodbye,
but when she found them trying to find coolies to take their luggage through to Hanzhong, she had
offered to do it for them. That was Saturday, so she was here for the weekend, leaving Sadie, I
suppose, to cope with the weekend classes in Yang Xian. Bertha and Ruth arrived on Monday
morning and we spent quite a lot of time helping them on Tuesday and Wednesday, but by Thursday
they were ready for the bus to Baoji. I was a bit worried about how they would manage in Baoji getting
315
