By Mary Vee
Year: February, 1867
Hudson Taylor: age 35
From J. Hudson Taylor's Notes
The missionaries serving in our compound in inland China adjusted to a great daily routine. The work was not easy. We moved fast to complete the day's task. In the evenings we rejoiced in another day to serve the Lord.
Several months passed since we moved into this huge facility God gave us. We had a lot of repairs to make to damage caused by the war then moved on to remodeling needs for a hospital and chapel.
Word spread throughout the community announcing the opening of the hospital doors. The people became quite excited since the nearest hospital was many miles away.
On the morning of our first hospital day, we opened the doors and found two hundred people waiting to be seen. Some had been carried in liters. What a joy to help these people.
Right away, I prescribed medications, cleaned infected sores, and performed eye surgeries. If only you could have seen the patients faces when they opened their eyes after having cataracts removed. It was as the Scriptures says, once they were blind, but now they see.
I didn't stand silent while working. Oh, no. I shared God's love with every person, answered their questions, and explained meanings. While I worked with the patients, the other missionaries in our group mingled with those waiting and shared the good news of Christ's gift. One of the benefits: a crash course in learning to speak Chinese for the new missionaries.
I must interrupt this joyous report with other good news. During this month, specifically February 3, 1867, my daughter was born. What a blessings she brought to the whole compound. Every woman gladly took time to hold the little treasure.
About this time John McCarthy and his wife arrived to join our staff. What an instant blessing he became. Using his medical skills, he joined me in the hospital room and saw one hundred and sixty patients by himself in a single day.
I find it difficult to express the complete joy and exhaustion we felt at the end of each day.
But...
As we know, the evil one goes about his work like a roaring lion.
Do you remember Mr. Nicol? The man I mentioned the last time? The one who refused to wear Chinese clothes or eat a Chinese diet? Yes. Well, it seems he had more trouble to cause.
He wrote letters to the board in England, accusing me of allowing the lady missionaries to associate with the men. He knew they had their own separate quarters and were not allowed in any setting where the men were unless escorted by my wife. Still he chose to send several letters with accusations.
The women wept when they heard the news. Mr. Nicol not only worked to hurt the mission and my ministry, he also hurt the reputation of the female missionaries. Fortunately, those in China chose not to listen to the troublesome rumors.
The evil one was not satisfied.
Rumors sent around the Chinese people in Ningbo, where I first started the mission, stating Chinese people had been kidnapped off of boats at night by foreigners and taken to foreign shores and forced to do labor.
In Hangzhou, the city of our new mission, stories moved from one person to another saying Chinese people had been drowned in wells, and that I had poisoned patients during surgery.
Sadly, as a result, the number of people coming to the hospital greatly decreased. The local people threw stones at the building and fights broke out in the streets.
Several months passed since we moved into this huge facility God gave us. We had a lot of repairs to make to damage caused by the war then moved on to remodeling needs for a hospital and chapel.
Word spread throughout the community announcing the opening of the hospital doors. The people became quite excited since the nearest hospital was many miles away.
On the morning of our first hospital day, we opened the doors and found two hundred people waiting to be seen. Some had been carried in liters. What a joy to help these people.
Right away, I prescribed medications, cleaned infected sores, and performed eye surgeries. If only you could have seen the patients faces when they opened their eyes after having cataracts removed. It was as the Scriptures says, once they were blind, but now they see.
I didn't stand silent while working. Oh, no. I shared God's love with every person, answered their questions, and explained meanings. While I worked with the patients, the other missionaries in our group mingled with those waiting and shared the good news of Christ's gift. One of the benefits: a crash course in learning to speak Chinese for the new missionaries.
I must interrupt this joyous report with other good news. During this month, specifically February 3, 1867, my daughter was born. What a blessings she brought to the whole compound. Every woman gladly took time to hold the little treasure.
About this time John McCarthy and his wife arrived to join our staff. What an instant blessing he became. Using his medical skills, he joined me in the hospital room and saw one hundred and sixty patients by himself in a single day.
I find it difficult to express the complete joy and exhaustion we felt at the end of each day.
But...
As we know, the evil one goes about his work like a roaring lion.
Do you remember Mr. Nicol? The man I mentioned the last time? The one who refused to wear Chinese clothes or eat a Chinese diet? Yes. Well, it seems he had more trouble to cause.
He wrote letters to the board in England, accusing me of allowing the lady missionaries to associate with the men. He knew they had their own separate quarters and were not allowed in any setting where the men were unless escorted by my wife. Still he chose to send several letters with accusations.
The women wept when they heard the news. Mr. Nicol not only worked to hurt the mission and my ministry, he also hurt the reputation of the female missionaries. Fortunately, those in China chose not to listen to the troublesome rumors.
The evil one was not satisfied.
Rumors sent around the Chinese people in Ningbo, where I first started the mission, stating Chinese people had been kidnapped off of boats at night by foreigners and taken to foreign shores and forced to do labor.
In Hangzhou, the city of our new mission, stories moved from one person to another saying Chinese people had been drowned in wells, and that I had poisoned patients during surgery.
Sadly, as a result, the number of people coming to the hospital greatly decreased. The local people threw stones at the building and fights broke out in the streets.
Please pray for us to endure this great trial and that the work of sharing the love of God among the Chinese people can go forward.
It would be really easy for us to give up. We could pack all our things and return to England. But I and the other missionaries with me have committed to fulfill the calling of Jesus Christ our Lord. We will stay.
It would be really easy for us to give up. We could pack all our things and return to England. But I and the other missionaries with me have committed to fulfill the calling of Jesus Christ our Lord. We will stay.
J. Hudson Taylor
Missionary to China--Inland China!
Blessed by God even in time of trial
Photo courtesy of visualbiblealive.com
Research resources: J. Hudson Taylor, An Autobiography by J. Hudson Taylor; It is Not Death to Die, a new biography of Hudson Taylor by Jim Cromarty; Hudson Taylor Founder, China Inland Mission by Vance Christie; J. Hudson Taylor, A Man in Christ, by Roger Steer, and Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret by Dr. &and Mrs. Howard Taylor.
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