Page 329 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 329
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
the Mennonite missionaries from Shuangshipu. At the same time we were being inundated by the folk
from the south - Miss Kreik from Xixiang with the folk from Ankang and the Andersons from Chenggu,
so by Monday night we had 43 people in Hanzhong. Ilma’s baby boy had come into the world just a
few days before, and Betty was looking after her and the baby, but I had people sleeping everywhere
and provided meals for them all in two sittings as I could not seat 43 all at once and we were also
preparing trays to send upstairs to Ilma. Everybody helped of course but things were quite hectic for a
few days.
The communists seemed to be advancing towards us from both the north where their centre was in
Yan’an, north of Xi’an, and from the south east near Ankang. Percy decided that, as prices of
everything including transport were going up rapidly and it might be difficult to get transport at all if
things got worse, he would try to hire a truck immediately and send a couple of cases for each of us
with personal possessions as far as Chengdu. If we had to leave in a hurry, he could probably
manage personnel with his jeep, but not luggage. So we set to work to pack a few of our most valued
things and he was able to get a truck going right to Chengdu fairly quickly. In the meantime Percy set
everybody to work, some back to their own work if it was not too far away, and others to nearby
villages where the local church would welcome their help, but not too far away that they could not
come in quickly if necessary. The whole province was in a very unsettled state and nobody knew
what might happen, so we were trying to be prepared without panicking.
Letters were beginning to come through
about Percy’s father’s death. It was quite
unexpected. In fact David Bentley-Taylor,
who had been in Toronto in September
1947 and stayed with the Moores, said that
Arthur and Esther and Marjory and Ron had
all seen him off at Union Station, Toronto.
His comment was that “Arthur seemed older
but strong and fine as though he had walked
with the Lord all the way, as he had.”
Arthur turned 70 on 6 April 1948 and
seemed fit and well. He was up very early
as usual to read the Bible and pray. He
Arthur was buried in the CIM plot in Toronto took Esther a cup of tea and after breakfast
went out to the garage to prepare paint for
freshening up parts of the house ‘before Amy and Percy come from China.’ Esther was doing the
laundry and he insisted on hanging it out for her. The postman brought a letter from Jess in England,
so he got a stool for her to sit on and read it to him while he continued with his painting. She then
went in to dry the dishes but at 11:15 he came in and went to lie down in the bedroom saying, “I’ll be
alright in a few minutes.” She closed the door but soon after she heard a heavy thud as he fell
unconscious off the bed onto the floor. Before the doctor got there Arthur had ‘gone Home’ as Esther
always put it. It was 21 April 1948. Their nephew, Les Andrew, Uncle George’s son, was staying with
them at that time, so was able to help Esther, and of course Doug and Marj were not far away. Arthur
was buried in the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery with so many other CIM missionaries.
In Hanzhong the church people mourned the loss of the ‘old Pastor’ too and expressed their sympathy
in many ways to Percy and me. He had had such a gift of friendship and both he and Esther had
made themselves very much loved in the whole district during the twelve years in which they had been
in charge in South Shaanxi. They remembered his friendliness, his willingness to help them whenever
329
Amy Moore
the Mennonite missionaries from Shuangshipu. At the same time we were being inundated by the folk
from the south - Miss Kreik from Xixiang with the folk from Ankang and the Andersons from Chenggu,
so by Monday night we had 43 people in Hanzhong. Ilma’s baby boy had come into the world just a
few days before, and Betty was looking after her and the baby, but I had people sleeping everywhere
and provided meals for them all in two sittings as I could not seat 43 all at once and we were also
preparing trays to send upstairs to Ilma. Everybody helped of course but things were quite hectic for a
few days.
The communists seemed to be advancing towards us from both the north where their centre was in
Yan’an, north of Xi’an, and from the south east near Ankang. Percy decided that, as prices of
everything including transport were going up rapidly and it might be difficult to get transport at all if
things got worse, he would try to hire a truck immediately and send a couple of cases for each of us
with personal possessions as far as Chengdu. If we had to leave in a hurry, he could probably
manage personnel with his jeep, but not luggage. So we set to work to pack a few of our most valued
things and he was able to get a truck going right to Chengdu fairly quickly. In the meantime Percy set
everybody to work, some back to their own work if it was not too far away, and others to nearby
villages where the local church would welcome their help, but not too far away that they could not
come in quickly if necessary. The whole province was in a very unsettled state and nobody knew
what might happen, so we were trying to be prepared without panicking.
Letters were beginning to come through
about Percy’s father’s death. It was quite
unexpected. In fact David Bentley-Taylor,
who had been in Toronto in September
1947 and stayed with the Moores, said that
Arthur and Esther and Marjory and Ron had
all seen him off at Union Station, Toronto.
His comment was that “Arthur seemed older
but strong and fine as though he had walked
with the Lord all the way, as he had.”
Arthur turned 70 on 6 April 1948 and
seemed fit and well. He was up very early
as usual to read the Bible and pray. He
Arthur was buried in the CIM plot in Toronto took Esther a cup of tea and after breakfast
went out to the garage to prepare paint for
freshening up parts of the house ‘before Amy and Percy come from China.’ Esther was doing the
laundry and he insisted on hanging it out for her. The postman brought a letter from Jess in England,
so he got a stool for her to sit on and read it to him while he continued with his painting. She then
went in to dry the dishes but at 11:15 he came in and went to lie down in the bedroom saying, “I’ll be
alright in a few minutes.” She closed the door but soon after she heard a heavy thud as he fell
unconscious off the bed onto the floor. Before the doctor got there Arthur had ‘gone Home’ as Esther
always put it. It was 21 April 1948. Their nephew, Les Andrew, Uncle George’s son, was staying with
them at that time, so was able to help Esther, and of course Doug and Marj were not far away. Arthur
was buried in the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery with so many other CIM missionaries.
In Hanzhong the church people mourned the loss of the ‘old Pastor’ too and expressed their sympathy
in many ways to Percy and me. He had had such a gift of friendship and both he and Esther had
made themselves very much loved in the whole district during the twelve years in which they had been
in charge in South Shaanxi. They remembered his friendliness, his willingness to help them whenever
329
