Called To Swatow
Leaving the village of Black Town was a real disappointment to us. We had wanted to spend some time there sharing the Gospel. Yet, these trying happenings were a necessary step leading to greater things. God does not permit trials to come without a sure reason. He was leading us in a way that we did not know, but it was His way.
Oh Lord, how happy should we be
If we would throw our care on You,
If we from self would rest;
And feel at heart that One above,
In perfect understanding, perfect love,
Is working for the best!
He explained to us what was happening there. British people were living on Double Island, doing business in drugs and working in the slave trade. Yet, there was no British missionary to preach the Gospel.
The Spirit of God gave me the urge that this was His call. But for days, I felt that I could not obey it. I had never been blessed with such a spiritual father as Mr. Bums and had never known such holy, happy times. I said to myself that it could not be God’s will that we should separate.
One evening, I was very troubled and went with Mr. Bums to take tea at the house of the minister, R. Lowrie of the American Presbyterian Mission. He lived at the South Gate of Shanghai. After tea, his wife let us hear “The Missionary Call.” Having never heard it before, it had a great effect on me.
My heart was almost broken before it was finished. In the words they sang, I said to the Lord:
And I will go.
I may no longer care to give up friends
And my plans,
And every earthly desire that fastens my heart to you,
my country.
From now on I care not
Ifstorm or sun be my earthly place, bitter or sweet my cup,
I only pray,
God make me holy and my spirit strong for the hard
hour of trouble.
When we left, I asked Mr. Bums to come home with me to the little house that was still headquarters in the city. With much crying, I told him how the Lord had been leading me and that I had been a rebel in not being willing to leave him for this new place.
He listened with surprise and happiness and answered that he had, that very night, decided to tell me that he had heard the Lord’s call to Swatow. He said that his only sorrow was the thought of leaving me. We went together and began missionary work in that part of China, which in later years has been greatly blessed.
Long before this time, the city of Swatow and the nearby area had been served by the minister, R. Lechler of the Basel Missionary Society. Chased from place to place, he did work that we did not forget and finally retired in Hong Kong.
For more than forty years, this minister of God has continued in “great labor.” Recently, he has left Hong Kong with his wife, to return inland and spend the rest of his years among the people he has so long and truly loved.
Captain Bowers was our Christian friend whom God had used to bring the needs of Swatow to Mr. Bums and me. He was full of joy when he heard our decision to give ourselves to preach to this busy, important center of the population. About to sail on his return trip, he offered us free passage on his ship, the Geelong. We accepted and left Shanghai early in March 1856.
A nice trip of six days brought us to Double Island where we found ourselves with a small but very bad group of foreign people. They took part in businesses that included the trade in illegal drugs.
We were not willing to be a part of such a group and wanted to live within the city on a part of the mainland seven kilometers away at the mouth of the Han River. We had great difficulty in our attempt to get a place among the people. It seemed as if we should fail and we knew we had to come to the Lord in prayer.
Our God soon did undertake for us. One day, we met with a Cantonese1 man, a family member ofthe high official in the town. Mr. Bums spoke to him in the Cantonese language, making him very pleased at being spoken to by a foreign person in his language.
He soon became our friend and rented us a little room in which to stay. We were thankful because it was impossible to find a better place. Our travels took us around the country. The difficulty and danger were so great that our former work in the North began to appear safe and easy by comparison.
The hate and anger of the Cantonese was very painful. We were called “foreign evil spirits,” “foreign dog,” or “foreign pigs.” But this led us to walk more closely than ever before with “Him who was not accepted of men.”
In our visits to the country, we were in danger of being taken at any time and held for ransom.2 The people often said that the whole area was “without a king and law.” Certainly, strength was the miler in those days.
At one time, we were visiting a small town and found that the people had captured a wealthy man from another tribe. A large price was asked for his release. Because he refused to pay, they used a stick to cruelly smash the bones just above his feet, one by one. Finally, they received the promise they wanted.
There was nothing but God’s protection to keep us from being hurt in the same way. Every town had a wall and would contain ten or twenty thousand people ofthe same tribe who were often at war with the people living in the next town. To be kindly received in one place was usually a reason for danger in the next. In these times, God’s power was often shown.
After a time, the local mandarin became sick and the doctor was unable to help him. Hearing ofour medical ministry, he wanted our help. God gave a blessing on the medicine given. Thankful for our help, he said we should rent a house for a hospital and a place for people to receive medical treatment.
And so, we were able to rent the whole house, one room ofwhich we had lived in before. I had left my medicine and surgery instruments with a friend, the late Mr. Wylie in Shanghai and went back at once to get them.
Mr. Bums came down to see me off from a town called Ampow that we had visited together several times. On my departure, he returned with two national evangelists sent up from Hong Kong by a minister, J. Johnson, of the American Baptist Missionary Union.
The people were willing to listen to their message and accept their books as a gift, but they would not buy them. One night, someone broke in and stole everything they had except their books which were thought to have no value.
Early the next morning, people came to buy books. By breakfast, they not only had enough money to buy food, but they also had enough money to pay for one ofthe men to take a trip to Double Island below Swatow, carrying a letter to Mr. Bums’s friend, requesting him to send some of Mr. Bums’s money.
People came to buy all day and the next day our friends needed nothing. But on the third day, they could not sell any books. Then, when the money was gone, the messenger returned with more food and things they needed.
Early in July, after about four months’ stay in Swatow, I left for Shanghai. I had planned to return in a few weeks with my medical equipment for more work with William Bums. A new field of promise seemed to be opening before us. With much hope, we looked forward to the future. A great blessing was in store for the city and area of Swatow.
But it was not the purpose of God that either of us should remain to experience the result. Soon after I left, Mr. Bums was arrested, put in prison, and sent to Canton. On his return to Swatow after the war had broken out, he was called away for another service, preventing his future return. On the other hand, my trip to Shanghai proved to be the first step leading to other areas ofwork.
The Missionary Call
1. My soul is not at rest.
There comes a different and quiet voice to my spirit
Like a dream at night,
That tells me I am on holy ground.
The voice of my risen Lord, Go teach all nations Comes on the night air and awakes my ear.
2. Why do I live here?
The command of God is on me and I may not stop to play with useless things
Or gather earthly flowers,
Until my work is done and my report is given.
3. And I will go.
I may no longer care to give up friends
And my plans,
And every earthly desire that fastens my heart to you, my country.
4. From now on I care not
Ifstorm or sun be my earthly place, bitter or sweet my cup,
I only pray,
God make me holy and my spirit strong for the hard hour of trouble.
5. And when one for whom
Satan has tried, as he has for me, and has received at last
That blessed place
Oh, how this heart will shine with thankfulness and love.
Through all the years of forever, my spirit never shall repent.
That work and pain once were mine below.