Page 318 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 318
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
happy to attend the Methodist Church with him if he would prefer to go there. So they did, and when
he died the Methodist Church felt they had lost one of their most faithful members.
The memorial notice which was printed in the ‘Western Methodist’ spoke of him as ‘one of the most
gracious and faithful of Christian men.’ They spoke of his regular attendance at church services on
Sunday mornings and evenings and at the week night ‘fellowship meeting’, his thoughtful attention to
small necessary jobs like mending fences or repairs to church windows. He had been a Sunday
School teacher, church steward, trustee, secretary, circuit steward and representative to the
Conference and, at the time of his death, was still Home Mission Secretary. They spoke of the
memory of his life bringing to those who remain both a song of thankfulness and a challenge to be
faithful in our witness, as the keyword in his life could easily be ‘faithfulness’.
My father was a quiet man who loved reading and encouraged us children to read good books. He
was also a man of strong convictions who on principle never smoked or drank, and on one occasion
we thought it hilarious when his name was displayed prominently in the window of the local grocers
shop as being the winner in a raffle for which the prize was a case of beer!! He never took raffle
tickets, preferring to give a direct donation without wanting anything in return, so the grocer must have
taken out a raffle ticket in his name when he had bought a large order of groceries. Father was ‘not
amused’!
When he left home in Ballarat as a young man, his mother had given him a copy of The Golden
Treasury book of daily readings in which she wrote, ‘Acknowledge God in all thy ways, and He shall
direct thy paths’. He kept it with him always.
At the end of June one of the students coming down from University in Xi’an for the holidays, brought
Isobel Contento down to stay with us. Her parents had moved to Xi’an with the University, but Paul
was now in the States doing a degree and Maida was coming down to us with Isobel for a time. Maida
would attend and take part in a Students’ Conference being planned in Hanzhong during August, and
would then probably go on to Chenggu and possibly encourage students there to have a conference
too. Before that she was to attend the big IVF Conference in Nanjing, so Isobel would be with us
during that time and until her mother returned. She had always been great friends with Frank and
Dorothy as she came between them both in age. I was pleased to see what a nice little girl she had
grown to be since I last saw her, and Dorothy was delighted to see her again and to share her room
with her. By the end of the month the boys would be home too, so I was going to have the house full
of children.
The church in Chenggu had been very encouraged by a letter they had received from a Mr. Chen who
was studying at the Jiangwan Bible College. He said he was a Chenggu man who had left China and
gone to Singapore where he had become a Christian. He was now training to be able to work for the
Lord and sent a gift of $200,000 to the Chenggu Church. The Pastor there, Mr. Li Gongsong, had
been preaching to them about living by faith, so the gift was an encouragement. Percy was intrigued
about who this man could be, as we knew most of the local people, so he wrote to Jiang Wan to find
out more about him. When his letter came back, he said that it was through Percy he had first heard
the Gospel. He enclosed two pictures of himself and I was much amused to recognise a man who
some years before had been teaching in one of the Hanzhong schools. When we lived in the other
house he came in and out quite frequently, often bringing a lady friend with him. I went to speak in his
school quite often at his request, but eventually he and his friend both went off to Chongqing and were
supposed to be going to America. That was the last we had heard of him till now and we had thought
of him as just one of the many who wanted to improve their English, but God’s seed is living, and
though it may be dormant for many years it may grow and bear fruit later. This experience certainly
taught us not to despise any opportunity however small.
318
Amy Moore
happy to attend the Methodist Church with him if he would prefer to go there. So they did, and when
he died the Methodist Church felt they had lost one of their most faithful members.
The memorial notice which was printed in the ‘Western Methodist’ spoke of him as ‘one of the most
gracious and faithful of Christian men.’ They spoke of his regular attendance at church services on
Sunday mornings and evenings and at the week night ‘fellowship meeting’, his thoughtful attention to
small necessary jobs like mending fences or repairs to church windows. He had been a Sunday
School teacher, church steward, trustee, secretary, circuit steward and representative to the
Conference and, at the time of his death, was still Home Mission Secretary. They spoke of the
memory of his life bringing to those who remain both a song of thankfulness and a challenge to be
faithful in our witness, as the keyword in his life could easily be ‘faithfulness’.
My father was a quiet man who loved reading and encouraged us children to read good books. He
was also a man of strong convictions who on principle never smoked or drank, and on one occasion
we thought it hilarious when his name was displayed prominently in the window of the local grocers
shop as being the winner in a raffle for which the prize was a case of beer!! He never took raffle
tickets, preferring to give a direct donation without wanting anything in return, so the grocer must have
taken out a raffle ticket in his name when he had bought a large order of groceries. Father was ‘not
amused’!
When he left home in Ballarat as a young man, his mother had given him a copy of The Golden
Treasury book of daily readings in which she wrote, ‘Acknowledge God in all thy ways, and He shall
direct thy paths’. He kept it with him always.
At the end of June one of the students coming down from University in Xi’an for the holidays, brought
Isobel Contento down to stay with us. Her parents had moved to Xi’an with the University, but Paul
was now in the States doing a degree and Maida was coming down to us with Isobel for a time. Maida
would attend and take part in a Students’ Conference being planned in Hanzhong during August, and
would then probably go on to Chenggu and possibly encourage students there to have a conference
too. Before that she was to attend the big IVF Conference in Nanjing, so Isobel would be with us
during that time and until her mother returned. She had always been great friends with Frank and
Dorothy as she came between them both in age. I was pleased to see what a nice little girl she had
grown to be since I last saw her, and Dorothy was delighted to see her again and to share her room
with her. By the end of the month the boys would be home too, so I was going to have the house full
of children.
The church in Chenggu had been very encouraged by a letter they had received from a Mr. Chen who
was studying at the Jiangwan Bible College. He said he was a Chenggu man who had left China and
gone to Singapore where he had become a Christian. He was now training to be able to work for the
Lord and sent a gift of $200,000 to the Chenggu Church. The Pastor there, Mr. Li Gongsong, had
been preaching to them about living by faith, so the gift was an encouragement. Percy was intrigued
about who this man could be, as we knew most of the local people, so he wrote to Jiang Wan to find
out more about him. When his letter came back, he said that it was through Percy he had first heard
the Gospel. He enclosed two pictures of himself and I was much amused to recognise a man who
some years before had been teaching in one of the Hanzhong schools. When we lived in the other
house he came in and out quite frequently, often bringing a lady friend with him. I went to speak in his
school quite often at his request, but eventually he and his friend both went off to Chongqing and were
supposed to be going to America. That was the last we had heard of him till now and we had thought
of him as just one of the many who wanted to improve their English, but God’s seed is living, and
though it may be dormant for many years it may grow and bear fruit later. This experience certainly
taught us not to despise any opportunity however small.
318
