Year: December 1900
Jonathan Goforth-41 years old
Jonathan Goforth's Journal
The wagon wheels creaked as oxen pulled our belongings on the road away from our home. Only the weak and young children road. The rest in our team walked.
Hot sun beat down on us. We rationed the water and food.
Angry groups of Chinese flocked to the road as we road by villages, yelling at us. "You have no right to be on the road." They turned to each other and raised their fists. "Kill the foreigners!"
Six long days of travel passed. We were tired and thirsty. Several desperately needed a break from the journey. We couldn't, though. We just couldn't. The danger was too great.
I prayed night and day as we walked. On the seventh day God encouraged me. We met a group of businessmen who were also running from the rebellion. They were engineers. Their caravan was much larger and better equipped. They had large wagons and armed men to protect them on the trip.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"To Fencheng. We plan to sail down the river to Hankow then on to Shanghai."
That was our plan as well. We traveled together for a while. The company was nice, not to mention the armed guards for protection made us feel safer. We arrived together in the next big village called Hsintien. By that time we found an inn, though, heat, lack of water, and weariness had deeply affect some of the missionaries from our group.
"Jonathan, please. We must rest. The animals need rest as well."
The rest they needed would take a few days. The engineers, though, didn't need the rest. They had better supplies, hadn't travelled as far, and their wagons were more comfortable. They said, "We can't wait. We must keep going."
They had become our friends in the short time we traveled. They felt sorry for the missionaries who struggled with the heat. "We will leave one of our guards with you."
"Thank you."
The engineers continued their journey, leaving us behind. As they walked away, an angry crowd from the city came to the inn where we stayed. They saw we only had one guard.
While rocks hit the windows of our rooms and angry shouts hurled through the air, I held Rosalind close. Her heart beat so fast. Mr. Griffith said, "I don't think it is safe to stay here. We need to leave here before the crowd breaks though."
We wouldn't be safe outside either.
The owner of the oxen shook his head. "No, I won't go. I can't harness the oxen out there. They'll kill me."
The owner of the cart said, "You can't ask me to leave. That cart is all I own. I can't let that mob ruin it."
Without their help there was no way we would be able to leave. We were trapped!
Jonathan has many stories to share. Come back each Monday to find out what happened next.
Resources Used for This Series
Being, Janet, and Geoff Benge. Jonathan Goforth: An Open Door in China. Seattle. WA: YWAM Pub., 2001.Print
Doyle, G. Wright. Builders of the Chinese Church: Pioneer Protestant Missionaries and Chinese Church Leaders. Eugene Oregon: Pickwick Pub, 2015. Print.
Goforth, Jonathan, and Rosaline Goforth, Miracle Lives of China, London" Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1931, Print.
Goforth, Jonathan. "By My Spirit" Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1942. Print
Goforth, Rosalind. Climbing; Memories of a Missionary's Wife. Chicago: Moody Pub, n.d. Print
Goforth, Rosalind, How I Know God Answers Prayers; The Personal Testimony of One Life-time, New York: Harper & Brothers, 1921. Print
Goforth, Rosalind. Jonathan Goforth. Minneapolis, MN: Bethan House, 1986. Print
Goforth, Rosalind, How God Answers Prayer: The Mighty Miracles of God from the Mission Field of Jonathan Goforth. USA: Revival, 2016. Print Original copyright not stated.
Jackson, Dave, and Neta Jackson. Mask of the Wolf Boy: Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 1999. Print.
McCleary, Walter. An Hour with Jonathan Goforth: A Biography. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1938. Print.
Meloche, Renee Taft., and Bryan Pollard. Jonathan Goforth: Never Give up. Seattle, WA: YWAM, 2004. Print.
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