Page 42 - GFA – A Different Drumbeat
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GFA – A Different Drumbeat 42
THE LONG JOURNEY TO DESTINY IN GANSU 1921
General Director of the CIM, DE Hoste walking with friend
in the grounds of the Wusong Rd., Mission Headquarters
Shanghai was the China Inland Mission headquarters,14 so for two weeks they were able to
savour the busy atmosphere at the hub of the Mission’s work. While there GFA had some
long talks with the General Director, Mr. Hoste. He and Fanny caught up with friends and
contacts who happened to be in Shanghai at that time. Frederick Baller was there and it is
very likely that GFA took the opportunity to talk about Chinese linguistics with him. They
were both fluent in the Chinese language, and Baller had written a number of dictionaries.
They had left Leslie and Aileen at the boarding school in Chefoo, and as they hadn’t seen
them for over twelve months, they wanted to spend some quality time with them, so Chefoo
was their next destination. The preferred mode of transport between Shanghai and Chefoo
was by boat. Chefoo was between 500 and 600 miles to the north and, in this case, took
four or five days. They took with them two teenagers, Maybeth and Kathie Judd. The Judds
were early pioneers of the CIM and these two were the third generation in China, and the
second generation to attend the Chefoo School. Maybeth went on to be a missionary with
the same Mission when she was about 23.15
14 From 1873 CIM HQ was in Shanghai in a series of rented properties. By the 1880s serious consideration
was being given to acquiring a permanent site as “there were now so many more missionaries to provide with
accommodation in Shanghai and so much coming and going between China and Europe, the coast and the
interior”. With the aid of a timely donation from Archibald Orr-Ewing, a wealthy young Scot who subsequently
joined the mission, “about 2 acres of building and garden grounds” were purchased for a price of £2486.9s.2d.
in Wusong Road. Extensive buildings were erected on the site and it became the Mission’s headquarters from
1891 until 1931, (The China Inland Mission: an Archivist’s view By Rosemary Seton)
15 “GOODNESS AND MERCY” by Esther Davison - Copyright 2009 by Esther Davison. All rights reserved.
THE LONG JOURNEY TO DESTINY IN GANSU 1921
General Director of the CIM, DE Hoste walking with friend
in the grounds of the Wusong Rd., Mission Headquarters
Shanghai was the China Inland Mission headquarters,14 so for two weeks they were able to
savour the busy atmosphere at the hub of the Mission’s work. While there GFA had some
long talks with the General Director, Mr. Hoste. He and Fanny caught up with friends and
contacts who happened to be in Shanghai at that time. Frederick Baller was there and it is
very likely that GFA took the opportunity to talk about Chinese linguistics with him. They
were both fluent in the Chinese language, and Baller had written a number of dictionaries.
They had left Leslie and Aileen at the boarding school in Chefoo, and as they hadn’t seen
them for over twelve months, they wanted to spend some quality time with them, so Chefoo
was their next destination. The preferred mode of transport between Shanghai and Chefoo
was by boat. Chefoo was between 500 and 600 miles to the north and, in this case, took
four or five days. They took with them two teenagers, Maybeth and Kathie Judd. The Judds
were early pioneers of the CIM and these two were the third generation in China, and the
second generation to attend the Chefoo School. Maybeth went on to be a missionary with
the same Mission when she was about 23.15
14 From 1873 CIM HQ was in Shanghai in a series of rented properties. By the 1880s serious consideration
was being given to acquiring a permanent site as “there were now so many more missionaries to provide with
accommodation in Shanghai and so much coming and going between China and Europe, the coast and the
interior”. With the aid of a timely donation from Archibald Orr-Ewing, a wealthy young Scot who subsequently
joined the mission, “about 2 acres of building and garden grounds” were purchased for a price of £2486.9s.2d.
in Wusong Road. Extensive buildings were erected on the site and it became the Mission’s headquarters from
1891 until 1931, (The China Inland Mission: an Archivist’s view By Rosemary Seton)
15 “GOODNESS AND MERCY” by Esther Davison - Copyright 2009 by Esther Davison. All rights reserved.
