Page 58 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 58
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
Ganzhou was not unfamiliar to Arthur Moore as he had been there before his marriage to Esther. He
wrote to Mr. Hoste that whereas on his previous visit he and his Chinese companions had been
cursed when they appeared on the street, this time they were treated with respect and people seemed
prepared to listen to their message. "It was quite an inspiration to us to see so many standing round
while we preached, and one could not help but feel that these larger places should not be left without
a witness for Christ." Ganzhou had a population of about twelve thousand, with another one
thousand in the suburbs.
From Ganzhou, the next six stages took them to Suzhou, a distance of some one hundred and fifty
seven miles. At one place they passed through they went on the street to preach and Percy Mather
produced his violin and began to play. In a few minutes hundreds of people began running from all
directions. They were perfectly quiet, listening while he played, and when he stopped, called out
"Fine! Fine! Play again!" It was a good introduction and their message was listened to with
attention. In that same town they heard that there was a Belgian Roman Catholic priest living, so the
two men went to call on him. He welcomed them warmly, gave them all a good meal, and so
appreciated Percy Mather's playing that they spent the evening together singing hymns.
This part of their journey from Ganzhou to Suzhou was by no means uneventful. One of their carts
got stuck in the mud and it was two hours before they could get it out and, because of the dearth of
inns or any accommodation for travellers, at one stage it took them twelve hours to reach an inn
because of a heavy sand storm. They were lost in the storm twice before they found the inn at last.
On the following day, they travelled for almost a mile between rows and rows of grave stones, said to
be the graves of soldiers who had died in a fierce battle some fifty years before, between Chinese and
Mohammedans. They had been warned that there were many wild animals in the district, but they
saw nothing but deer and a few foxes.
The last part of their trip into Suzhou was in a snow storm, with the consciousness that their food
supplies were badly in need of replenishing. Arthur's letter to Mr. Hoste tells the story. "We had
nearly run out of bread and what we had was dry and hard. Our butter too was almost finished
except for s small supply we were keeping for the Gobi Desert trip. A young Tibetan came to us and
asked if we were interested in buying any butter. He then brought in a small skin containing about
nine pounds of reasonably clean, fresh butter which we took. Later the innkeeper offered to make us
some bread, and made enough to carry us through the rest of our journey to Suzhou. We had some
rice with us which he made into "xi fan" (rice gruel) but this is not very satisfying to hungry men after a
hard day's trip, specially us northerners who are used to a good solid meal of "qiao mian" (fried
noodles). I am mentioning this to show that even in these desert places God can and does supply
our needs."
In Suzhou they found many opportunities for sharing their message both with crowds on the street,
and in private homes to which they were invited for that purpose. Arthur wrote again to Mr. Hoste,
begging him to urge people to pray that missionaries of the Gospel might be sent to these far off
places where even the nearest mission station at Liangzhou was too far away for them to be able to
do much.
Suzhou to Anxi was an eight stage journey, and at the end of the first seventy li stage, they reached
the Great Wall at a small place called Jiayuguan. The wall of the eastern suburb of this place is
actually part of the Great Wall, and it is here that they reached the border between China and Xinjiang.
The town itself could only boast about thirty families, some two hundred people, but because it was a
border town there were about the same number of soldiers stationed there as well, and also customs
58
Amy Moore
Ganzhou was not unfamiliar to Arthur Moore as he had been there before his marriage to Esther. He
wrote to Mr. Hoste that whereas on his previous visit he and his Chinese companions had been
cursed when they appeared on the street, this time they were treated with respect and people seemed
prepared to listen to their message. "It was quite an inspiration to us to see so many standing round
while we preached, and one could not help but feel that these larger places should not be left without
a witness for Christ." Ganzhou had a population of about twelve thousand, with another one
thousand in the suburbs.
From Ganzhou, the next six stages took them to Suzhou, a distance of some one hundred and fifty
seven miles. At one place they passed through they went on the street to preach and Percy Mather
produced his violin and began to play. In a few minutes hundreds of people began running from all
directions. They were perfectly quiet, listening while he played, and when he stopped, called out
"Fine! Fine! Play again!" It was a good introduction and their message was listened to with
attention. In that same town they heard that there was a Belgian Roman Catholic priest living, so the
two men went to call on him. He welcomed them warmly, gave them all a good meal, and so
appreciated Percy Mather's playing that they spent the evening together singing hymns.
This part of their journey from Ganzhou to Suzhou was by no means uneventful. One of their carts
got stuck in the mud and it was two hours before they could get it out and, because of the dearth of
inns or any accommodation for travellers, at one stage it took them twelve hours to reach an inn
because of a heavy sand storm. They were lost in the storm twice before they found the inn at last.
On the following day, they travelled for almost a mile between rows and rows of grave stones, said to
be the graves of soldiers who had died in a fierce battle some fifty years before, between Chinese and
Mohammedans. They had been warned that there were many wild animals in the district, but they
saw nothing but deer and a few foxes.
The last part of their trip into Suzhou was in a snow storm, with the consciousness that their food
supplies were badly in need of replenishing. Arthur's letter to Mr. Hoste tells the story. "We had
nearly run out of bread and what we had was dry and hard. Our butter too was almost finished
except for s small supply we were keeping for the Gobi Desert trip. A young Tibetan came to us and
asked if we were interested in buying any butter. He then brought in a small skin containing about
nine pounds of reasonably clean, fresh butter which we took. Later the innkeeper offered to make us
some bread, and made enough to carry us through the rest of our journey to Suzhou. We had some
rice with us which he made into "xi fan" (rice gruel) but this is not very satisfying to hungry men after a
hard day's trip, specially us northerners who are used to a good solid meal of "qiao mian" (fried
noodles). I am mentioning this to show that even in these desert places God can and does supply
our needs."
In Suzhou they found many opportunities for sharing their message both with crowds on the street,
and in private homes to which they were invited for that purpose. Arthur wrote again to Mr. Hoste,
begging him to urge people to pray that missionaries of the Gospel might be sent to these far off
places where even the nearest mission station at Liangzhou was too far away for them to be able to
do much.
Suzhou to Anxi was an eight stage journey, and at the end of the first seventy li stage, they reached
the Great Wall at a small place called Jiayuguan. The wall of the eastern suburb of this place is
actually part of the Great Wall, and it is here that they reached the border between China and Xinjiang.
The town itself could only boast about thirty families, some two hundred people, but because it was a
border town there were about the same number of soldiers stationed there as well, and also customs
58
