They set up the building to be an inn, and laid in a supply of food for mules and men. Their building had once been an inn, and with a bit of repair work could be used as one again. It occurred to the two women that their most effective way of spreading the gospel would be to set up an inn. Yangchen was an overnight stop for mule caravans that carried coal, raw cotton, pots, and iron goods on six-week or three-month journeys. Wild and mountainous, the area was filled with bandits, immense stretches of lonely roads, and primitive people who thought all foreigners were devils. The country, she was warned, was un-penetrated by Christianity. When they arrived at the mission, they were told that Lawson was in Yangchen, a walled town two days away, along an ancient mule trail. Lawson was in a mission at Tsechow in Shaanxi province, north of the Yellow River in northwest China, many weeks away by train, bus, and mule. In Kobe, Japan, Aylward was able to stay at the Mission Hall before turning in her unused vouchers for a steamer to Tientsin.Īrriving in Tientsin, Gladys was told that Mrs. The woman arranged for Aylward's escape and travel by the first ship out. While in her hotel, she was approached by an English-speaking woman who warned her that if she did not get out of the country immediately she might be sent to a remote part of Russia and never be heard from again. She was also nearly penniless, and the Soviet commissars, desperate for skilled factory workers, wanted to keep her in Russia (unbeknownst to Aylward, an official had changed the occupation listed on her passport from “missionary” to “machinist”). Though she had paid her fare from London to Tientsin, it soon became apparent that her ticket was useless. With no choice other than to make the long walk back down the tracks to Chita, she carried her baggage through the freezing snow, trusting in God to protect her.įrom Chita, Aylward managed to find her way to Vladivostok, where she was to make another connection. Aylward was now alone, and at the front line of a war. Hours later, the train halted, the lights went out, and the soldiers got off. At the town of Chita, a railway official tried to persuade her to disembark, but Aylward could not understand what he was saying, and insisted on staying aboard. As the train progressed, soldiers got on and civilians got off at each stop. After ten days of rail travel, Aylward crossed into Siberia. Aylward did not have enough money for an ocean liner, but was able to raise enough for 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.Īt the time, Russia was under the control of Soviet communists and was in an undeclared war with China. Lawson, who replied that if Gladys could get to China on her own, she would be welcome. Jeannie Lawson, who was looking for a younger woman to carry on her work. Gladys heard about a 73-year-old missionary in Yangchen, China, Mrs. The younger girls thanked her the older ones began treating her with "tolerant amusement." There, the five-foot, 110-pound Aylward witnessed to the homeless, penniless women and girls, and led them back to a hostel run by the mission. CIM recommended her as a housekeeper for a retired missionary couple who had just returned from China she learned a great deal from their stories of their experiences, and their deep faith in God.Īylward next went to work as a “Rescue Sister” of prostitutes near the docks of Swansea in South Wales. Nevertheless, she felt strongly that she was called to China as Christian missionary. She was also too old, he felt, to learn the Chinese language. She has a call to serve God-she is sincere and courageous-but we cannot take the responsibility of sending a woman of 26, with such limited Christian experience and education, to China." "It is with great regret that I have to recommend to you that we do not accept Miss Aylward. She did not pass muster with CIM and, despite her pleas, they would not sponsor her. She had little formal education, however, and was bewildered by the biblical languages they wanted her to learn. She associated with the China Inland Mission Center in London, and studied to be a missionary. She became convinced that she was called to preach the Gospel in China. The article changed the direction of her life. But in her 20s she attended a revival meeting in which the preacher spoke of dedicating one's life to the service of Jesus Christ.Īylward read a newspaper article about China and the millions of people who had never heard the Gospel of Christ. From her early teenage years, she worked as a domestic servant, or parlor maid. On February 24, 1902, Gladys Aylward was born into a working-class family in north London.
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