Page 74 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 74
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
God prospered him and by the time the Moores arrived, he was well known as a leader in the
Christian Church and a skilled doctor who practised his Christianity by helping the poor and using his
medical skills to benefit rich and poor alike. He had built himself a two storey house and clinic not far
from the Mission compound. He and his family lived upstairs and down stairs was used for consulting
rooms and dispensary as well as kitchen, general living room and servants' quarters.
LIFE AS A `SUPER'
One of Arthur's first jobs as soon as he had put his own house in order, was to visit each station on his
field to make himself familiar with the work and the workers, some of whom he already knew, but
others he had never met.
I remember his visit to Chenggu where we three new girls were living with Miss Cooke, and how
impressed we were with our new Super. His friendliness and interest in each of us personally was
encouraging, but what meant more to me than anything else was his obvious love for the Word of
God. There were few Christians in Chenggu and nobody but ourselves to teach the Word, and I
found myself soaking in the deep teaching that Arthur gave us as he lead us in prayers each morning.
I think that since leaving Bible College and at the same time, leaving the years of teaching from Mr.
Hogg in my own Church, the dearth of such teaching had made me spiritually hungry, and I soaked in
all that Arthur gave us. I also admired the way in which he quietly fitted into each household and
listened to what the older workers who were his peers had to say. He was happy to accept their
judgment in many things, but could be quite firm if a matter of Mission policy was at stake. With
Church leaders he had instant rapport, and I think most of them were glad to have a man at the helm
again. In Hanzhong, Dr. Xiao was a leader in Church affairs, and Arthur soon learned to trust his
judgment and to turn to him for advice.
In November 1932 Arthur called a Field Conference and made it clear he expected all workers in
Shaanxi to attend. This caused the first ripples of discontent. The opposition came from a group of
older ladies who were all contemporaries of the Moores. They felt they knew the people and the work
and the needs of Shaanxi far better than the newcomers to the field, and were not convinced that they
needed a superintendent anyway. Had they not carried the workload for many years withour
interference from a Superintendent? What was going to happen to their work if they were going to be
called away to attend conferences every few months? So they grumbled, but on Arthur's insistence
all turned up at the Conference, and all had their say in the discussions that took place. The eight
new workers were too young and inexperienced to take much part, but we enjoyed being together,
and were grateful for the strong leadership which was being given us. We were content to sit and
listen and soak in impressions.
That Conference on November 1932 was a very eventful one in my life and that of Percy Moore. We
met there for the first time and fell in love! Esther claimed she saw it all happen, and was not at all
surprised when mail began to pass to and fro between Hanzhong and Yangxian where I was
transferred after Conference to work with Miss Elsie Parr, one of the older workers. Percy and I were
getting to know each other and wanted to keep it quiet for the time being.
Arthur began to send the young men out to some of the villages, and Percy and John Fee were sent
out to one of the mountain villages north west of Hanzhong. They had only been there three weeks
when John began to feel ill and Percy decided he ought to be back in Hanzhong where Dr. Xiao could
treat him. By the time they reached Hanzhong, John was in a lot of pain. Dr. Xiao diagnosed it as
appendicitis, but because he was not a surgeon and hesitated to operate on a Westerner, Arthur sent
a telegram to the nearest Mission Hospital for both a surgeon and a nurse. In the meantime John's
appendix ruptured, but instead of rupturing into the abdominal cavity causing peritonitis, it ruptured
into the intestine and the poison passed away naturally through the bowel.
74
Amy Moore
God prospered him and by the time the Moores arrived, he was well known as a leader in the
Christian Church and a skilled doctor who practised his Christianity by helping the poor and using his
medical skills to benefit rich and poor alike. He had built himself a two storey house and clinic not far
from the Mission compound. He and his family lived upstairs and down stairs was used for consulting
rooms and dispensary as well as kitchen, general living room and servants' quarters.
LIFE AS A `SUPER'
One of Arthur's first jobs as soon as he had put his own house in order, was to visit each station on his
field to make himself familiar with the work and the workers, some of whom he already knew, but
others he had never met.
I remember his visit to Chenggu where we three new girls were living with Miss Cooke, and how
impressed we were with our new Super. His friendliness and interest in each of us personally was
encouraging, but what meant more to me than anything else was his obvious love for the Word of
God. There were few Christians in Chenggu and nobody but ourselves to teach the Word, and I
found myself soaking in the deep teaching that Arthur gave us as he lead us in prayers each morning.
I think that since leaving Bible College and at the same time, leaving the years of teaching from Mr.
Hogg in my own Church, the dearth of such teaching had made me spiritually hungry, and I soaked in
all that Arthur gave us. I also admired the way in which he quietly fitted into each household and
listened to what the older workers who were his peers had to say. He was happy to accept their
judgment in many things, but could be quite firm if a matter of Mission policy was at stake. With
Church leaders he had instant rapport, and I think most of them were glad to have a man at the helm
again. In Hanzhong, Dr. Xiao was a leader in Church affairs, and Arthur soon learned to trust his
judgment and to turn to him for advice.
In November 1932 Arthur called a Field Conference and made it clear he expected all workers in
Shaanxi to attend. This caused the first ripples of discontent. The opposition came from a group of
older ladies who were all contemporaries of the Moores. They felt they knew the people and the work
and the needs of Shaanxi far better than the newcomers to the field, and were not convinced that they
needed a superintendent anyway. Had they not carried the workload for many years withour
interference from a Superintendent? What was going to happen to their work if they were going to be
called away to attend conferences every few months? So they grumbled, but on Arthur's insistence
all turned up at the Conference, and all had their say in the discussions that took place. The eight
new workers were too young and inexperienced to take much part, but we enjoyed being together,
and were grateful for the strong leadership which was being given us. We were content to sit and
listen and soak in impressions.
That Conference on November 1932 was a very eventful one in my life and that of Percy Moore. We
met there for the first time and fell in love! Esther claimed she saw it all happen, and was not at all
surprised when mail began to pass to and fro between Hanzhong and Yangxian where I was
transferred after Conference to work with Miss Elsie Parr, one of the older workers. Percy and I were
getting to know each other and wanted to keep it quiet for the time being.
Arthur began to send the young men out to some of the villages, and Percy and John Fee were sent
out to one of the mountain villages north west of Hanzhong. They had only been there three weeks
when John began to feel ill and Percy decided he ought to be back in Hanzhong where Dr. Xiao could
treat him. By the time they reached Hanzhong, John was in a lot of pain. Dr. Xiao diagnosed it as
appendicitis, but because he was not a surgeon and hesitated to operate on a Westerner, Arthur sent
a telegram to the nearest Mission Hospital for both a surgeon and a nurse. In the meantime John's
appendix ruptured, but instead of rupturing into the abdominal cavity causing peritonitis, it ruptured
into the intestine and the poison passed away naturally through the bowel.
74
