Page 97 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 97
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
Legations who immediately seconded Lieutenant Kanaga and Captain Stables to assist him. That
same night he was the guest of Sven Hedin, the great Swedish explorer of Central Asia, who at once
produced fur mittens, sleeping bag and ground sheet for this unexpected return to Baotou in the
middle of winter. Two days later the three men were in Baotou and by 3 December the rescue
operation they mounted had not only plucked the ladies out of danger but enabled 1,000 Chinese
travellers to escape as well. “The Lord wrought wonderfully on our behalf and it is with a deep sense
of gratitude to Him that we lay down that night.”
The dangers and tensions of the affair added to the dreadful cold in the trains, proved so exacting that
both Lieutenant Kanaga and captain Stables had to be taken to hospital on arrival in Beijing, but not
GFA who rejoined his family for Christmas at Chefoo.
Both Legations were delighted, as was the leadership of the CIM. “I thank God for you, dear friend”
wrote Mr. George Gibb, who was second to Mr. Hoste as General Director of the CIM. “ When I heard
you were still in Beijing a great weight was taken from my heart, for I knew you would exert all your
influence on behalf of our friends.” At home the Times carried his photograph and published two
articles about his relief work in Gansu. GFA’s own book, published by the CIM, “Perils in the
Wilderness” is his own account of the rescue of the two ladies.
After the hardships of 1929 and 1930 he was looking towards home, but not to England. When Percy
Moore (Esther and Arthurs eldest son) finished at Chefoo, and his parents naturally were looking for
a future for him in England, friends and relations strongly advised sending him to Canada where the
recession and unemployment was not as severe as it was in England, and he might more easily find
employment. So he was sent to the CIM home in Toronto under the care of Mr. and Mrs. Brownlee
who were in charge there at the time. They found a position for him in the Bank of Nova Scotia on the
corner of Bloor and Spadina Streets. The result was that in time he was joined by his sister Jesse
and his cousin Leslie (GFAs eldest son) with whom later, he and other Chefoo friends shared a flat.
The rest of the children of both families followed in due course and so commenced the connection with
Canada which continues to this day.
In twenty two years GFA had had only one furlough, so in 1931 he and Fanny with Aileen left Mervyn
at Chefoo and sailed for North America where his name was already well known. After an extended
lecture tour in the United States they returned to Shanghai at the end of 1931, leaving Aileen, who
was seventeen, in Toronto with Leslie.
FLOOD RELIEF 1932
On 9 February 1932 GFA paid a brief visit to Gansu to check on the famine position there, and then
was summoned to Central China where there was severe flooding in the Yangtse valley. Although still
a member of the CIM, he became assistant to Sir John Hope Simpson who had been appointed by the
League of Nations as Director of the Flood Relief Commission (at that time engaged in building
dykes). By 8 March he was in Hankou and this city became his base for most of 1932.
It was during that time that he was asked to look after an important visitor to China; no less a person
than the Rev. Hewlett Johnson, the ‘Red Dean’ of Canterbury, whose report in the North China Daily
News stated that
“in Hubei and Henan I was very fortunate to be under the expert
guidance of George Findlay Andrew of the China International Relief
Commission. He is alive to every aspect of the problems and is
97
Amy Moore
Legations who immediately seconded Lieutenant Kanaga and Captain Stables to assist him. That
same night he was the guest of Sven Hedin, the great Swedish explorer of Central Asia, who at once
produced fur mittens, sleeping bag and ground sheet for this unexpected return to Baotou in the
middle of winter. Two days later the three men were in Baotou and by 3 December the rescue
operation they mounted had not only plucked the ladies out of danger but enabled 1,000 Chinese
travellers to escape as well. “The Lord wrought wonderfully on our behalf and it is with a deep sense
of gratitude to Him that we lay down that night.”
The dangers and tensions of the affair added to the dreadful cold in the trains, proved so exacting that
both Lieutenant Kanaga and captain Stables had to be taken to hospital on arrival in Beijing, but not
GFA who rejoined his family for Christmas at Chefoo.
Both Legations were delighted, as was the leadership of the CIM. “I thank God for you, dear friend”
wrote Mr. George Gibb, who was second to Mr. Hoste as General Director of the CIM. “ When I heard
you were still in Beijing a great weight was taken from my heart, for I knew you would exert all your
influence on behalf of our friends.” At home the Times carried his photograph and published two
articles about his relief work in Gansu. GFA’s own book, published by the CIM, “Perils in the
Wilderness” is his own account of the rescue of the two ladies.
After the hardships of 1929 and 1930 he was looking towards home, but not to England. When Percy
Moore (Esther and Arthurs eldest son) finished at Chefoo, and his parents naturally were looking for
a future for him in England, friends and relations strongly advised sending him to Canada where the
recession and unemployment was not as severe as it was in England, and he might more easily find
employment. So he was sent to the CIM home in Toronto under the care of Mr. and Mrs. Brownlee
who were in charge there at the time. They found a position for him in the Bank of Nova Scotia on the
corner of Bloor and Spadina Streets. The result was that in time he was joined by his sister Jesse
and his cousin Leslie (GFAs eldest son) with whom later, he and other Chefoo friends shared a flat.
The rest of the children of both families followed in due course and so commenced the connection with
Canada which continues to this day.
In twenty two years GFA had had only one furlough, so in 1931 he and Fanny with Aileen left Mervyn
at Chefoo and sailed for North America where his name was already well known. After an extended
lecture tour in the United States they returned to Shanghai at the end of 1931, leaving Aileen, who
was seventeen, in Toronto with Leslie.
FLOOD RELIEF 1932
On 9 February 1932 GFA paid a brief visit to Gansu to check on the famine position there, and then
was summoned to Central China where there was severe flooding in the Yangtse valley. Although still
a member of the CIM, he became assistant to Sir John Hope Simpson who had been appointed by the
League of Nations as Director of the Flood Relief Commission (at that time engaged in building
dykes). By 8 March he was in Hankou and this city became his base for most of 1932.
It was during that time that he was asked to look after an important visitor to China; no less a person
than the Rev. Hewlett Johnson, the ‘Red Dean’ of Canterbury, whose report in the North China Daily
News stated that
“in Hubei and Henan I was very fortunate to be under the expert
guidance of George Findlay Andrew of the China International Relief
Commission. He is alive to every aspect of the problems and is
97
