Page 47 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 47
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
PREPARATION TO BE A MISSIONARY
Arthur returned to England where his parents were still living in the Wirral and, in September 1904 he
entered the Glasgow Bible Training Institute (GBTI) as a student. He was there for two years and as
he began to realise for the first time what a wonderful book the Bible is, he read and studied it avidly.
His whole GBTI experience was a time of spiritual growth and, from that time he became a "man of the
Book", basing all he said and did on what he felt God was saying to him through the Scriptures and
the Holy Spirit. Thirty years later, when I first met him, I felt from that first occasion that he was a man
to whom God was a reality, and who lived in obedience to Him and His Word.
By July 1906 Arthur was coming to the end of his time at the Glasgow Bible Training Institute. By this
time he was convinced that it was not only his personal desire to return to China, but that God was
actually calling him to do so. He applied to the China Inland Mission and was accepted to sail later in
that same year. In September a valedictory meeting was held in Exeter Hall, London, to farewell
nineteen new workers who were going out to China with the China Inland Mission. Eight of these
were men, among them Arthur Moore, and among the eleven women was Esther Andrew.
Men and women were carefully segregated in those days. They sailed on different ships and arrived
in Shanghai on different dates. Arthur and the other young men reached Shanghai on 23 October and
were quickly sent off to the Men's Language Centre at Anjing so as to be well away before the ladies
arrived on 28 October.
Esther Andrew and the others with her were sent to Yangzhou on the Grand Canal to spend six
months studying the Chinese language and customs, so there was absolutely no opportunity until well
into 1907 for her and Arthur to meet each other. Whether they had any interest in each other at that
time I do not know, but they must have had some contact at the many farewell meetings they all had
to attend before leaving England.
GANSU
24 May 1907 was an exciting day, both at Anjing and at Yangzhou as Mr Hoste visited both Language
Schools to meet and pray with each new worker and to tell them the decisions they had been coming
to in Shanghai about their future sphere of service. Ever since their acceptance by the CIM, the
leaders had been giving much time and prayer to these designations, and of course the young people
themselves had been doing the same.
Now, as they met Mr. Hoste, they were prepared to believe that the decisions made in Shanghai were
the "mind of the Lord" for them.
Esther Andrew was delighted to know that she was to join her parents in Gansu to work for a time at
least under their guidance and leadership. Arthur Moore was equally delighted to find he had been
appointed to the farthest outpost of Christian work in China.
Far away in the north west of Sinjiang Province beyond Gansu, Mr. George Hunter had been working
alone since March 1906, and Arthur was the one who had been chosen to join him there. He was
overjoyed at the opportunity to penetrate parts of China where few missionaries or other Westerners
had ever been, and to preach the Gospel in as yet untouched areas of that vast country. Before he
47
Amy Moore
PREPARATION TO BE A MISSIONARY
Arthur returned to England where his parents were still living in the Wirral and, in September 1904 he
entered the Glasgow Bible Training Institute (GBTI) as a student. He was there for two years and as
he began to realise for the first time what a wonderful book the Bible is, he read and studied it avidly.
His whole GBTI experience was a time of spiritual growth and, from that time he became a "man of the
Book", basing all he said and did on what he felt God was saying to him through the Scriptures and
the Holy Spirit. Thirty years later, when I first met him, I felt from that first occasion that he was a man
to whom God was a reality, and who lived in obedience to Him and His Word.
By July 1906 Arthur was coming to the end of his time at the Glasgow Bible Training Institute. By this
time he was convinced that it was not only his personal desire to return to China, but that God was
actually calling him to do so. He applied to the China Inland Mission and was accepted to sail later in
that same year. In September a valedictory meeting was held in Exeter Hall, London, to farewell
nineteen new workers who were going out to China with the China Inland Mission. Eight of these
were men, among them Arthur Moore, and among the eleven women was Esther Andrew.
Men and women were carefully segregated in those days. They sailed on different ships and arrived
in Shanghai on different dates. Arthur and the other young men reached Shanghai on 23 October and
were quickly sent off to the Men's Language Centre at Anjing so as to be well away before the ladies
arrived on 28 October.
Esther Andrew and the others with her were sent to Yangzhou on the Grand Canal to spend six
months studying the Chinese language and customs, so there was absolutely no opportunity until well
into 1907 for her and Arthur to meet each other. Whether they had any interest in each other at that
time I do not know, but they must have had some contact at the many farewell meetings they all had
to attend before leaving England.
GANSU
24 May 1907 was an exciting day, both at Anjing and at Yangzhou as Mr Hoste visited both Language
Schools to meet and pray with each new worker and to tell them the decisions they had been coming
to in Shanghai about their future sphere of service. Ever since their acceptance by the CIM, the
leaders had been giving much time and prayer to these designations, and of course the young people
themselves had been doing the same.
Now, as they met Mr. Hoste, they were prepared to believe that the decisions made in Shanghai were
the "mind of the Lord" for them.
Esther Andrew was delighted to know that she was to join her parents in Gansu to work for a time at
least under their guidance and leadership. Arthur Moore was equally delighted to find he had been
appointed to the farthest outpost of Christian work in China.
Far away in the north west of Sinjiang Province beyond Gansu, Mr. George Hunter had been working
alone since March 1906, and Arthur was the one who had been chosen to join him there. He was
overjoyed at the opportunity to penetrate parts of China where few missionaries or other Westerners
had ever been, and to preach the Gospel in as yet untouched areas of that vast country. Before he
47
