Pastoral Letter
Dear Friends,
It seems rather strange having to write my new-year message to you right at the beginning of December, when we are still getting ready for Christmas. We all look forward to Christmas. We look forward to the merry-making, the presents, the tinsel, Christmas trees and lights; not to mention the Turkey and Christmas pudding. Yet when it is all over, the hangover is subsiding, the gaudy decorations have been put away for another year, and the presents put away in the their cupboards, many will be asking - what was achieved? Apart from an inch or two on the waist, a much smaller bank balance and some disgruntled relatives - not much I may hear you say.
That is why people often find themselves asking some down-to-earth questions of their lives when the dust of Christmas has settled. What is my life really about? Surely there must be more to it than this?
It was a question Gladys Aylward asked of herself in the 1920s. She had grown up in very humble circumstances, had a very poor education, and all she seemed able to aspire to was the role of a very humble parlour maid. On top of all that, she was a woman in an age when women were seen but not heard. But one thing she did have was a sure and unshakeable faith in God, and one day she attended a revival meeting at which the preacher spoke of dedicating one's life to the service of God in the mission field overseas. For Gladys the message seemed to be a personal call to her to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ in China - but how could a poor parlour maid ever be able to aspire to such a demanding position?
At the age of 26, against all the odds, she became a probationer at the China Inland Mission Centre in London, but her poor educational background wreaked its toll when she failed to pass the examinations. Undeterred, she took on other parttime jobs, saved her money, and kept looking out for an opportunity. Finally it came, when she heard of a 73-year-old missionary in China, Mrs. Jeannie Lawson, who was looking for a younger woman to carry on her work. Gladys wrote to Mrs. Lawson, and was accepted if she could get herself to China. She had not saved enough money for the ship fare, but did have enough for the train fare, and so in October of 1930 she set out from London with her passport, her Bible, her tickets, and two pounds ninepence, to travel to China by the Trans-Siberian Railway, despite the fact that China and the Soviet Union were engaged in an undeclared war. She arrived in Vladivostok and sailed from there to Japan and from Japan to Tientsin, and thence by train, then bus, then mule, to the inland city of Yangchen, in the mountainous province of Shansi, a little south of Beijing.
The Chinese distrusted them as foreigners, and were not inclined to listen to them. But Yangchen was an overnight stop for mule caravans that carried essential goods on six-week or three-month journeys, and it occurred to the two women that their most effective way of reaching out would be to set up an inn. The building in which they lived had once been an inn, and so they repaired it, and laid in a supply of food for mules and men, and when the next caravan came past, Gladys dashed out, grabbed the rein of the lead mule, and turned it into their courtyard. It went willingly, knowing by experience that turning into a courtyard meant food and water and rest for the night. The other mules followed, and the muleteers had no choice. They were given good food and warm beds at the standard price, and their mules were well cared for. There was also free entertainment in the evening - the innkeepers told stories about a man named Jesus. After the first few weeks, Gladys did not need to kidnap customers - they turned in at the inn by preference. Some became Christians, and many of them (both Christians and non-Christians) remembered the stories, and retold them more or less accurately to other muleteers at other stops along the caravan trails. Gladys practiced her Chinese for hours each day, and was becoming fluent and comfortable with it.
Gladys' story was immortalised in the film that portrayed her life and that inn - 'The Inn of Sixth Happiness', in which she was played by Ingrid Bergman. One could write pages on her achievements in China, especially the moment when she saved about 100 orphans from the guns of the invading Japanese by walking them to safety through hostile and dangerous country for 12 solid days.
Gladys Aylward discovered something so important and significant - that in God's eyes each one of us is precious, regardless of background, education or gender. She discovered that, if we respond to Him with openness and honesty, He will be true to us. God wants us all to achieve our true potential, and we can truly do that if we learn to really trust in Him. With prayer and dedication anything is possible. So don't despair in those gloomy day after Christmas. God loves you. God is with you. God values you so much - and he knows your true potential.
Pauline and I wish you a very happy and blessed new year.