This week I read a biography of Gladys Aylward, missionary
from England to China from 1930 to 1970. I thought you might be interested in
and encouraged by my reflections on her story.
She was too small. Only five feet tall, she was later called
"the small woman" and "the little woman."
She was too uneducated. She left school at age 14 to begin
working. When she later started missionary training school, she was quickly
dismissed because she was failing her classes.
She was too untrained. Her preparation for mission work was
brief, mostly unstructured and unsupervised. She had very little formal
training. She worked for a short time with girls living on the streets and did
some street preaching, but her primary experience was as a housekeeper.
She was too old. She was not called to be a missionary until
she was 25. She was particularly considered too old to be able to learn the
difficult Chinese language. She was 28 when she left for China.
She was too single. She had no husband to guide her, to
direct her missionary activity, to share in the labors, or to carry out the
preaching and leadership roles. The book I read didn't reveal any marital
prospects or even hints of a relationship.
She was too poor. She left for China with only 9 pennies and
2 pounds (British money). She had absolutely no means of income or support. Her
only real "resource" was her train ticket. She had no money to keep
the mission going after her coworker died.
She was too unprepared and naive. Until 3 months before she
left, she didn't even know what part of China she would travel to. She did not
have good travel plans. Against warnings, she chose a travel route that took her into a war zone where travel was
suspended. She took basically no possessions and little clothing. Her complete
baggage consisted of two suitcases. She did not have enough language skills to allow
her to travel well or get to her destination safely.
She was too unconnected. She had no mission board or
supporting agency. No one gave her any guidance on how to get to the field or
how to minister. Her only link to China was a letter from a missionary lady she
had never met, and when Gladys arrived, that lady was far removed from where she
had said she would be.
She was too un-received. On her first day at the mission
station, she took a walk, and the villagers threw mud at her and laughed. She
and her coworker couldn't get anyone to listen to the Bible or even talk to
them. They struggled to find any way to share the gospel with the Chinese
people who were so afraid of foreigners.
She was too alone. Her coworker died not too long after
Gladys's arrival, and there were no other missionaries and very few Christians
- maybe only one at the time. She had huge responsibilities and various areas
of ministry, including caring for eventually almost 200 orphans.
She was too risky. On her journey to China, she could have
died walking 30 miles in a snowstorm. Because of her poor planning, resources,
and language skills, she was briefly jailed in a train station. She was trapped
in a hotel in Russia, closely guarded, and nearly impressed into war-time service
in a factory. She later risked offending a very important man by failing to
make an expected visit to him, and she dangerously served as a spy for a Chinese
general.
She was too sickly. After a head injury and a long, grueling
trip to rescue a group of orphans, her health was seriously compromised. With
four simultaneous serious conditions, she spent two weeks in a coma and never
fully recovered her health.
She was too unsafe. She lived in a remote area, which later
became part of a war zone. The Japanese army put a price on her head, making
even association with her potentially dangerous. She went on a lengthy and treacherous
journey over mountain trails with 94 children and no adult helpers, with the
constant threat of the Japanese army who would have killed her and probably the
children.
In spite of all those liabilities, Gladys had one very
important qualification. She was willing. When she was trying to earn money to
get to China, she placed her limited assets before God and prayed, "Here
is my Bible. Here is all the money I have. Here is me. Find some way to use me,
God."
Gladys did what needed to be done. For a while her primary
"missionary" job was scraping mud from the legs of mules. She served
as a foot inspector (when a law was passed against foot binding). She helped
prisoners. She traveled frequently to surrounding villages. She cared for many
orphans. She served refugees and lepers. Always she used these various facets
of responsibility to share the gospel. Gladys suffered much hardship and
deprivation through poverty and through war conditions. She served alone for
many years, but she was faithful, even at the point of physical collapse.
God did not consider Gladys unworthy of His work. He did
great things through her. As a result of her ministry, many mule drivers
carried Bible stories into the surrounding area. Churches were started in most
of the villages around her. Orphans were cared for, taught about God, and ultimately
rescued from the war dangers through Gladys's efforts. Prisoners were saved;
Gladys worked to improve their physical conditions, but had a more important
impact on their spiritual conditions.
After 10 years of Gladys's ministry, the most important man
in the area honored her at a feast, and said, "I have seen all that you
are and all that you do, and I would like to become a Christian like you."
A group of 500 Tibetan monks had received a tract that included John 3:16. They
waited 3 years for someone to tell them about God, and Gladys was that person. She
worked with university students, many of whom were saved. During the Communist
takeover, 40% of the total student population was martyred because of their
faith. As Gladys watched the mass execution, she prayed for them what she had
previously prayed for herself, "If they must die, let them not be afraid
of death, but let there be a meaning, O God, in their dying."
Without doubt, Gladys arrived in heaven to hear these words:
"Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a
few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of
thy lord" (Matthew 25:21).
Just as with Gladys, what you do today matters for eternity.
Keep doing it faithfully, and God will give the increase.
Love in Christ,
Peggy Holtmember at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA
www.pressingontohigherground.blogspot.com
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