All Alone

By Mary Vee

Glady's Thoughts

photo courtesy of visualbiblealive.com

Our inn had taken care of guests for several months now.  I actually learned some Chinese and memorized a few Bible stories in the language. One night I offered to tell the Bible story for the guests. Jeannie sat back in her chair and listened.  I guess I did pretty well because she let me tell stories from time to time.


One time Jeannie let Yang, our cook, tell the Bible story.  We quickly learned his favorite Bible person was Noah.  Yang told our guest that the Ark sailed to Bethlehem where Jesus was born. Jeannie and I realized he needed more training.

I loved being a missionary at the inn. Jeannie, Yang, and I had found a plan for each day. 

Not long after eight months had passed. Jeannie suggested I take a holiday. I didn't want to leave, but I could learn new ideas for the inn. Maybe it would be a good idea. It would only be a two day mule ride.

I packed the next morning and left for Tsehchow. Mrs. Smith welcomed me to the Tsehchow mission. She let me help with the work and practice Chinese. Three days later a messenger brought a message. He said Jeannie had an accident at a different inn and was dying. He didn't know what had happened.

I grabbed my things and headed back to the inn. I asked everyone along the way if they knew where Jeannie was. I traveled to the villages around Yangcheng searching for her.  On the fourth night a man told me Jeannie was very ill, maybe dead. I could find her in Chin Shui.

I hurried to the inn and found Jeannie laying on a pile of coal. She had walked out to the balcony  from her room and didn't realize there wasn't a rail. She fell twenty feet onto the coal pile. I didn't know how many days she had laid there. I had villagers help me take her to her room.

I stayed with her at the Chin Shui inn feeding and taking care of her. The wounds healed, but she seemed to be dying. I needed to get her to a doctor, but the nearest hospital was a six day journey.  I didn't think she could survive a long journey like that.  What should I do?  She would die if I didn't take her to the hospital.

Villagers from Chin Shui made a bed for Jeannie on top of two mules. We arrived at our inn two days later. Jeannie rested in her own bed while I listened to Yang's mixed up Bible story.  The next morning we put Jeannie in the bed on top of the mules to go to the hospital. 

Four days later I checked her into the hospital. I stayed with her for several weeks watching the doctors do their best to help her. One day the English doctor came to me. "I can't help Jeannie. She is seventy-four years old. I think the fall  was too much for her."  

That night Jeannie asked to go home. We gently put her on the bed between two mules and traveled back to our inn. Many friends gathered in Yangcheng to greet us. A few days later Jeannie went to live with Jesus.


I didn't know what God wanted me to do next.  I kinda felt alone. Come back next week and read what God did for me.


Gladys


(since photos of Glady's life are difficult to find, photos of China's countryside will be used. These free photos are available at http://www.visualbiblealive.com/ )

Mules in the Inn

By Mary Vee

Glady's Thoughts

photo courtesy of seriousfun morgueFile.com

Some people might have considered Jeannie Lawson a rough person. 

After thirty days of traveling, I stood at the gate of her inn rather dirty, tired, and I probably had a grumpy look on my face. She squinted. "Who are you?"

That might have seemed a normal question in most cases, but Mrs. Lawson and I were the only non Chinese people in Yengchen at the moment. Probably the only non Chinese for many miles!

She gave me the exact medicine I needed after that long trip: laughter.

She tapped her foot, waiting for me to answer her question. I bowed as the Chinese people did. "I am the missionary from London, Gladys Aylward."

She nodded and took a few steps toward the inn.  "Are you coming?"

That's it?  That was my greeting after riding a train across Russian, ship to Japan, and a mule through Chinese mountains?  I started to laugh but fortunately stopped myself before she heard me. This lady had work to do and it didn't include lollygaggling with newcomers. 

We walked into a large courtyard covered with scraggly grass. What a mess. Broken pieces from the inn's walls and other garbage coated the yard.  She led me to the kitchen. "I suppose you're hungry."

I wanted to be polite, but I needed sleep. She brought a bowl of strange looking glop. It looked and smelled nasty. 

I held my breath and forced myself to eat half of the food.  As I ate, Jeannie told me about the building that would be our mission. "This inn hasn't been used for a long time. I need someone young to help me fix it up. The Chinese didn't want this place because they believed it was haunted."  She laughed.  "I told them I would drive the evil spirits away. I suppose they think I'm crazy."

Her eyes sparkled. I knew I would learn how to be a great missionary from her.

Jeannie sipped some tea then told me her plan. "I want to turn this place into a real inn."

I hadn't seen many cities as small as Yangchen. I didn't think many people lived here. "Who'd come?"

She laughed again. "Mule trains, my dear. They'll stop by Yangchen to rest then continue their journey. We'll give them food, a warm place to sleep, and something no other inn does: we'll tell them stories for entertainment.  Bible Stories."

"How will they know to come to our inn?"

Jeannie took my bowl to the kitchen. "You'll pull the first mule of the train into our courtyard the rest of the train will follow."

"Me? I have to pull a mule into here?"

She raised her eyebrows. "Thats right."

Well, I'll have to tell you about the visiting mule trains next time.
Gladys

Photo credit:
src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/13/19108358_211c11c44a.jpg">

Meeting Jeannie Lawson

By Mary Vee

Glady's Thoughts

photo courtesy SamHakes morguefile.com

I thought Jenni Lawson would be in Tientsin, where my boat docked. She wasn't. I search for the mission society in the city. The person at the front desk gave me a message from her. 

I won't be able to meet you in Tientsin. Mr. Lu will bring you to Yangcheng

I looked at the other side of the paper hoping to find more instructions, but it was blank. 

Mr. Lu came through the back door. He bowed. "Miss Aylward, so nice to meet you.  I will take you to Yangcheng. Are you ready?"

Actually, I felt exhausted and wanted a bath, some fresh clothes, maybe a few hours sleep. "Um, yes. I'm ready."

We boarded a crowded train. I knew I shouldn't be picky, but the compartment had lumpy seats and the train bounced up, down the whole trip.  I felt more seasick on the train than on the ship I just left.  

When the train stopped in Peking, Mr. Lu arranged for rooms at an inn for the night. I grew exicted to take a bath and change my clothes. I stepped into my room and found no bath, or sink to clean myself. The room smelled aweful. I barely slept that night.

The next morning Mr. Lu rushed me to our bus. We traveled on paths too narrow and bumpy for the bus. Huge rocks poked through the ground which threw the bus around. I grabbed onto the seat in front of me to keep my balance.At times I could look straight down the mountainside.  I didn't know if we'd tumble over the edge or not.

The bus spashed through rivers and creeks. I think he thought the road went underwater!

Once we arrived in Teschchow, Mr. Lu took me to a mission station to rest. The next morning he helped me climb on a mule.  "This mule litter will take us to Yangchen, Miss Aylward."  I smiled on the outside and trembled on the inside. I'd never ridden a mule before.  I didn't know if I could stay on one.


I can't believe I thought the bus rocked too much.  My mule wobbled much more.  My back hurt, my legs hurt, my everything hurt.  I felt bruises on top of bruises.  I rode that mule for two days through mountain ranges and many rivers. My clothes held the cold river water freezing my bones. I asked poor Mr. Lu, "How much longer?" at least a hundred times. He always smiled and answered, "Not much further, Miss Aylward."

Late on the second mule day, Mr. Lu stopped in front of a gate. "This is Yangcheng." 

The next minute, an older woman came to the gate.  She had to be Mrs. Lawson!

Next week, I'll tell you what we did.

Gladys Aylward