Early Missionary Experiences
On landing in Shanghai on March 1, 1854, I found myself circled with completely unexpected difficulties. A group of rebels, known as the “Red Turbans,” had taken possession of the city. A government army of forty to fifty thousand men had come to fight. This army gave more trouble to the small European population than the rebels did.
The dollar which was worth about three shillings, had risen to a value of eight and ninepence.
The outlook was very dark for one with only a small income of English money. However, I had three letters from friends in England to bring to their friends in Shanghai asking them to help me. I was depending on these for help and advice, especially from one whose friends I knew well and highly valued. I looked for this friend at once, only to learn that he had recently died.
Saddened by this news, I searched for a missionary to whom another of my letters was written. But to my sorrow, I found that he had left for America. The third letter had been given to me by a person I did not know well. I had expected less from it than from the other two. Yet, it proved to be God’s way to help.
The letter was written to Rev. Dr. Medhurst, of the London Mission. He took me to meet Dr. Lockhart who kindly allowed me to live with him for six months. Dr. Medhurst helped me find my first Chinese teacher who with Dr. Edkins and the late Mr. Alexander Wylie gave me considerable help with the language.
Those were truly trouble-filled and dangerous times. One day I was coming out of the city with Mr. Wylie when he began talking to two carriers. We had been waiting for a friend at the East Gate.
An attack was made on the city by groups of soldiers on the opposite side ofthe river, causing us to hurry away to a place of less danger. We could hear the sound of the cannonballs that came flying over our heads.
The carriers stayed too long and were wounded. On settling, we went at once to the London Mission compound. At the door ofthe hospital, we found the two carriers with their feet smashed by a cannonball. They refused to allow their feet to be removed and both soon died. We felt how close our escape had been.
Early one morning, I had joined a missionary on his veranda to watch a fierce battle at a distance of two kilometers. All at once, a spent cannonball passed between us and buried itself in the veranda wall.
Another day, Mr. Wylie was sitting on a chair. He left for a few minutes and upon returning, found the arm of the chair broken off completely by a cannonball. But in the middle of such dangers, God protected us.
After my stay of six months with Dr. Lockhart, I rented a house outside the settlement and began missionary work among my Chinese neighbors as long as the war allowed. When the French joined the government army in attacking the city, the position of my house became very dangerous. During the last few weeks, the fighting prevented me from sleeping, except in the daytime.
One night, a fire appeared very near. I climbed up to a little place on the top ofthe house to see if it was necessary to escape. A cannonball hit the top edge of the roof of the next house, throwing pieces of broken rooftile6 all around me. The ball rolled down into the court below. It was heavy and could easily have hit me. I sent it to my mother who kept it for many years.
Before long, I had to return to the European settlement. I left just in time because, not long after, the house was burned to the ground. It is not possible to show any true picture of the frightfulness of this war. A gentle person would find the terrors, wrongs, and sorrow to be terrible things.
I was also very ashamed because of the lack of money. My income was eighty pounds a year. The need to pay one hundred twenty for the house forced me to rent out half of it. After Dr. Parker came, the Committee of the Chinese Evangelisation Society learned more about ofthe situation and increased my income. But many painful times had been passed through. Few realize.
How troubling these difficulties were to an inexperienced worker or the great loneliness of starting such new work. It was not a matter one could tell friends at home without appearing to be shamefully asking for help.
The great enemy was always to believe that “Everything is against me!” (Genesis 42:36) But, how false the word! The cold, the hunger, the watching, and the sleepless nights added to feelings of complete aloneness and helplessness.
All of this was wisely chosen by God and gently and lovingly measured out to me. What situations could have made the Word of God sweeter, the nearness of God so real and the help of God so priceless? They were truly times of pouring out self and I saw the smallness ofour true value. Yet that did not make me feel ashamed (Romans 5:5).
It strengthened my purpose to go forward as God might direct, with His proven promise, “I will be with you. I will never leave you or give up on you. ” (Joshua 1:5) One can see, even now, that “as for God, his way is perfect, ” (Psalms 18:30). Yet, we can be thankful that the missionary path of today is a much smoother and easier one.
The agreement between the Chinese and British governments did not include foreigners traveling inland. This was done with much difficulty, especially for some time after the Battle of Muddy Flat.
An American group of about three hundred soldiers, with fewer than a hundred men from the settlement, attacked and drove off an army of thirty to fifty thousand government soldiers. Their guns would shoot much farther than those of the Chinese. Still, in the autumn of 1854, 1 safely made a week-long trip with Dr. Edkins. He did the speaking and preaching while I passed out the Gospel books and tracts.