Hudson Taylor-Danger at the Door

By Mary Vee

From J. Hudson Taylor's Notes



photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

I had returned to my residence, feeling refreshed and filled with joy.

Two missionaries and I went on an adventure up the river to give New Testaments to Chinese men and women, on our trip back, God rescued us from the imperial army. It gave my heart more than a boost. I couldn't wait to go on another adventure and tell others about the love of God.

My residence, as you recall from an earlier post, brought me great concern. I didn't know why the large home hadn't been rented until after I paid. It's location outsideof the city wall made it unprotected from the imperial army's daily shellings. In truth, as I stood on the upper balcony at night, I trembled with fright.

One day a cannonball fired at my home, struck the roof and landed a few feet from a child. I had started a school for local children in my home with the help of a local man. The child belonged to the teacher. Had the cannonball landed a foot further, it would have killed the child. 

The next night I smelled smoke. I ran to the upper balcony and found a house only four doors down drenched in flames. The houses had been built close together and made of wood. A stirring wind fed the flames and threatened the other homes nearby, including mine.

I fell to my knees. Only God could save us. I didn't know how he'd solve the problem, but I knew He could. Lord, we need your help to spare these homes from the blaze. Please, Lord, help us.

I stood and looked to the sky. I smelled rain in the air. Shortly after, a cloud burst released the needed rain.

The trouble continued. Bullets flew against the homes on my street, cannonballs crashed into the homes spitting fragments on me and anyone standing close.

I hid inside, not sure what to do. The new doctor from Scotland and his family would land in Shangahi any day. I couldn't make them stay in an unsafe home. Time to make other arrangements.

About the same time, Dr. Burden, the surgeon who let me stay in his home when I first arrived, decided to abandon his residence and flee the city. He offered his home for me to rent. This may sound like a foolish idea, moving from one unsafe place to another, but my home was outside the city, unprotected. His home was inside the city wall.

I didn't have enough money to pay the rent. An American missionary family asked to live in part of the home. Their rent money provided what I needed. I felt sad about leaving the school at my residence outside the city, but safety for everyone became my main concern.

I packed my belongs and transported some to my new home in the city. I walked back toward my former home to get the rest of my things and stopped at the city gates. My former home had been set on fire. The flames filled the building and reached out the windows.

I couldn't get the rest of my belongings, but I was safe.

The Scottish doctor and his family landed in Shanghai two days later. If they had come three days earlier, they would have been caughtg in the fire.

Bullets, cannonballs, soldiers, and fire had threatened my home outside the city from the first day I stepped on the property. I had never felt the need to leave until moments before the rebels set my house of fire.

Who helped me escape? God, of course. How loving and kind God is to stir our hearts when danger stands at our door.

Thank you. Thank you, God for protecting me and the Scottish family who didn't even know about the possible danger.


J. Hudson Taylor

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