Page 326 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 326
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
all be together for Christmas, our boys were happy and being well catered for. I do not think they
minded too much not coming home for Christmas as so many exciting things were happening at
school. I wrote to Bertha who was on furlough in Canada,
“The only way for them to get home here now is by plane and the fare
is now over four million dollars one way, so with both elder boys now
paying full fare, I will leave you to work out how much we need to get
the three of them home and back again! We are getting used to
paying for everything in millions now. Inflation is sky high! Even so
accounts are a headache. We hardly use even one thousand dollar
bills now. $10,000 is the commonest and, when I tell you that 1lb of
pork costs $20,000 and one egg is $2,000, you will get some idea of
the giddy heights we ascend to. I just marvel at the Lord’s provision
for our every need.”
A parcel sent by Mother from Frankston while she was with Muriel came in time for Christmas which
was a lovely surprise. It contained mainly haberdashery, but all things I needed such as toilet soap (I
was on my last cake), elastic and needles, warm underwear for me, a pretty dress and hair ribbons for
Dorothy. After so long without parcels and doing without things it was wonderful to get a parcel of
useful and pretty things.
1948
Our last year in China, but had we known it would prove to be the last year we would ever see the
land we loved so much and had made our home, our feelings in preparing for our furlough would have
been very different. The year commenced with a visit from a Youth for Christ group who held a public
meeting on the Drill Ground. They were equipped with something new to us in those days, a
broadcasting system. In my home letter I said,
“It has made me most enthusiastic about the loud speaking system.
All the American workers seem to be coming back with them and I am
really hoping the Lord will provide one for us here in South Shaanxi.
It is a wonderful way for reaching the millions of China, and is so clear
that everybody can hear distinctly.”
The two girls and I and Dorothy listened on the Drill Ground until we got tired of standing, and then
wandered back home. As we walked through the front gate we heard a voice that seemed to come
from Heaven addressing us. When we looked up, the gatekeeper was sitting up in a tree listening to
the broadcast. It was as clear there as if we were right down beside it, and I felt that everybody in
Hanzhong must have heard the Gospel message that night. At the end of January, Mr. Griffin, the
Director from USA came to stay with us and we enjoyed his visit. Percy of course had to escort him
on the bus to the north and hand him over to the responsible person in the next Province. Chinese
New Year, early in February that year, found him still there in Baoji and unable to get back as buses
were not running. I was glad of a holiday in Hanzhong to let Betty Worth get her written exam done
while I wrote letters and supervised (i.e. kept her from interruptions)
Politically things still seemed unsettled. Mao had made his centre at Yan’an in the north of our
Province and in Henan there seemed to be a lot of unrest as well. There were soldiers everywhere in
Hanzhong and the military seemed to be expecting trouble, though from what direction we could not
tell. Percy was keeping his eyes on Xi’an and knew that the Scandinavian or the English Baptist
326
Amy Moore
all be together for Christmas, our boys were happy and being well catered for. I do not think they
minded too much not coming home for Christmas as so many exciting things were happening at
school. I wrote to Bertha who was on furlough in Canada,
“The only way for them to get home here now is by plane and the fare
is now over four million dollars one way, so with both elder boys now
paying full fare, I will leave you to work out how much we need to get
the three of them home and back again! We are getting used to
paying for everything in millions now. Inflation is sky high! Even so
accounts are a headache. We hardly use even one thousand dollar
bills now. $10,000 is the commonest and, when I tell you that 1lb of
pork costs $20,000 and one egg is $2,000, you will get some idea of
the giddy heights we ascend to. I just marvel at the Lord’s provision
for our every need.”
A parcel sent by Mother from Frankston while she was with Muriel came in time for Christmas which
was a lovely surprise. It contained mainly haberdashery, but all things I needed such as toilet soap (I
was on my last cake), elastic and needles, warm underwear for me, a pretty dress and hair ribbons for
Dorothy. After so long without parcels and doing without things it was wonderful to get a parcel of
useful and pretty things.
1948
Our last year in China, but had we known it would prove to be the last year we would ever see the
land we loved so much and had made our home, our feelings in preparing for our furlough would have
been very different. The year commenced with a visit from a Youth for Christ group who held a public
meeting on the Drill Ground. They were equipped with something new to us in those days, a
broadcasting system. In my home letter I said,
“It has made me most enthusiastic about the loud speaking system.
All the American workers seem to be coming back with them and I am
really hoping the Lord will provide one for us here in South Shaanxi.
It is a wonderful way for reaching the millions of China, and is so clear
that everybody can hear distinctly.”
The two girls and I and Dorothy listened on the Drill Ground until we got tired of standing, and then
wandered back home. As we walked through the front gate we heard a voice that seemed to come
from Heaven addressing us. When we looked up, the gatekeeper was sitting up in a tree listening to
the broadcast. It was as clear there as if we were right down beside it, and I felt that everybody in
Hanzhong must have heard the Gospel message that night. At the end of January, Mr. Griffin, the
Director from USA came to stay with us and we enjoyed his visit. Percy of course had to escort him
on the bus to the north and hand him over to the responsible person in the next Province. Chinese
New Year, early in February that year, found him still there in Baoji and unable to get back as buses
were not running. I was glad of a holiday in Hanzhong to let Betty Worth get her written exam done
while I wrote letters and supervised (i.e. kept her from interruptions)
Politically things still seemed unsettled. Mao had made his centre at Yan’an in the north of our
Province and in Henan there seemed to be a lot of unrest as well. There were soldiers everywhere in
Hanzhong and the military seemed to be expecting trouble, though from what direction we could not
tell. Percy was keeping his eyes on Xi’an and knew that the Scandinavian or the English Baptist
326
