Bombing out or becoming resilient?

What missionaries know about surviving (and eventually thriving) during hard times…

This is a reflection on the book “The Fulfilment of a Dream of Pastor Hsi's The Story of the Work in Hwochow” by Mildred Cable, our All Nations Book Club selection of the month! The book is available as a free Kindle Edition here (paper copies are also available): https://smile.amazon.com/Fulfilment-Dream-Pastor-Story-Hwochow-ebook/dp/B0082VI78G/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1KZNK904KXYFG&dchild=1&keywords=pastor+hsi&qid=1611757821&s=digital-text&sprefix=Pastor+Hsi%2Caps%2C165&sr=1-3

Pastor Hsi (pronounced like “she” in English) had a prophetic dream:

“In the darkest days the Hwochow* church has known, when many forsook their faith, he [Pastor Hsi] was strengthened by a dream, in which he saw a tree cut down to the ground, only to sprout again, and throw out branches stronger than before.” (p. 5)

*(Hwochow is pronounced like “Hoar Joe” and spelled in pinyin as Huozhou.)

It took 30 years for Pastor Hsi’s dream to come to come to full fruition in a thriving local church. Unfortunately, he had already passed away (in 1896). What did it take to get from those dark days to the fulfillment of the dream? Three generations of missionaries working alongside local Chinese believers, working day after day and not giving up. Every one of God’s promises came true.

Pastor Hsi’s Life and Story

Pastor Hsi’s story is remarkable and is told in a book Pastor Hsi's Conversion by Mrs. Howard Taylor. It's chapters 12-19 of One of China's Scholars (https://smile.amazon.com/Pastor-Hsi-Confucian-Scholar-Conqueror/dp/1937428540/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Pastor+Hsi&qid=1611759304&sr=8-1).

During the late 1870s, there was a terrible 3-4 year long famine in Shanxi (Shansi). In some places almost everyone died. People were so hungry that they resorted to cannibalism and kidnapping people for the purpose of eating them in some cases. Two foreign missionaries (unmarried men) began to do relief work during this time.

They moved into the town of Pingyang (P'ing-yang) in 1878, while the famine was at its height. In those days, the Mandarin decided where you would live, so they lived in the local Buddhist Temple. One man was older and had been in China longer but both knew Chinese well, dressed like Chinese men, and went by the Chinese names of Li (Mr. Hill) and Teh (Mr. Turner).

Hill and Turner realized that they didn't have nearly enough missionaries to spread the gospel to all the towns that needed it, so they decided to offer a sizable prize for writing essays on topics that the missionaries chose. They went to the next examinations for the MA level Confucian scholars, stood outside, and passed out information on the essay contest. They also passed out materials that would need to be read and understood to be able to win the contest, all Christian materials.

Mr. Hsi had not gone to the exams as he was tired of studying and addicted to opium, however his younger brother did. His younger brother brought the materials back and told Mr. Hsi that he should write several essays for all of them, as he was a very good essay writer. He ultimately wrote four essays that he submitted under four different names and won 3 out of 4 available prizes.

Mr. Hsi had to go to town to receive the money in person, which scared him, as he thought the foreigners might bewitch him. He ultimately went to town and got the money, whereupon he met Hill. A few days later Hill invited Mr. Hsi to come and be his teacher. Mr. Hsi and his family were reluctant as they were still worried about bewitching, but they also needed money, so they agreed.

One night, while reading the Bible left in his room (and that he used to help Hill study), Mr. Hsi encountered the Holy Spirit and became a believer. He realized that he needed to get off of drugs and tried to break his addiction to opium. It was very hard, but Holy Spirit showed him that the battle was a spiritual one - not just physical. This realization gave him the strength to persist. The revelation also gave him a strong sense of spiritual warfare for the rest of his life. In fact, the Christian name he adopted was "Sheng-Mo" or "Demon Overcomer." He sought a definite second work of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and received it one night. During that same encounter with Holy Spirit, he felt a calling to be in full time service.

In due time, his wife also became a believer. Two months after Mr. Hsi became a believer, Mr. Hill left forever (he was there just for temporary relief work related to the famine and that work was now over). Mr. Hsi and Mr. Hill cried at their parting, and they never saw each other again. Mr. Hsi began to work with opium addicts and gave them both medicine and Good News, but felt that Good News had to be the leader in this (due to Mr. Hsi's revelation during his own struggle to get free from opium).

Building on Pastor Hsi’s Work

Many years after these remarkable early experiences, when Pastor Hsi had died, a new generation of missionaries came along and began to build on his remarkable work. The work was slow and difficult. Missionaries came and left but eventually three single British ladies who came to be known as “The Trio” settled in this place, for what they assumed would be a lifetime of work. They began to travel from town to town sharing Good News and eventually opened a school for girls.

This was still the time period (the early 1900s) when girls’ feet were being unbound in China. Schools for girls were rare to non-existent in most parts of China. Parents willing to invest in a girl’s education were rare. Still, something about following Jesus innately whispers, “Girls are valuable.” So, over time, believing families from near and far entrusted their girls to this school and these missionaries to love, teach, and train these young women for life and service in The Kingdom.

To do this work was not easy. Missionaries and locals alike were all in danger during unstable political situations. However, choosing to live in danger was not the biggest sacrifice these missionaries made. The biggest sacrifices were the ones made day in and day out, where the missionaries simply made themselves available to the locals for all things big and small. Mildred Cable said, “…the missionary must be ready, however heavy the claim upon his time, to receive all who come.” (p. 149)

The Trio kept a reception room in which they kept culturally relevant pictures from the Bible on the wall for those who could not read. Whenever people came, night or day, that room was open. Sometimes people just wanted to gawk at them like zoo animals, but even that became an opportunity to share Jesus stories with people. It didn’t matter whether people responded or not, their job was simply to be available to share at every opportunity.

Fulfilling Pastor Hsi’s Dream

So, how did they know when Pastor Hsi’s dream had been fulfilled? When the local church was able to carry out all of the work on their own without foreign help, then the dream was fulfilled.

In the 30 years of work that had gone on in that place, they spent fifteen years breaking up new ground, sowing gospel seed widely. Then, they spent another fifteen years of reaping and rapidly expanding. By the time they left, there were local churches, Christian schools, local leaders, and local teachers. Indeed, this area that had begun as a receiver of missionaries had already begun sending financial gifts to other missions work in South America, India, and Egypt. Not only were they taking the gospel to the rest of their own people, they were being generous towards other missionaries and people groups that they would never meet in person. Truly the church had fulfilled the dream of Pastor Hsi.

How to Survive (and Eventually Thrive) in Hard Times

Mildred Cable identified the key to being a successful missionary.

However, I humbly submit that this quote ought to say: “A word to the intending follower of Jesus….” Good advice for the missionary is always good advice for believers in general.

God’s ways are so big and so complex that we cannot conceive His plans in advance. Rarely does He meet our expectations or our preconceived ideas. I’m one of the few that actually spent some time thinking about what might happen if there ever was a global pandemic someday (more because of my love of science fiction than my prophetic gifting!). However, I never really predicted where history would head in my lifetime. And, sometimes it’s not big history that changes our plan. Sometimes the things that crush all of our preconceived ideas are much more personal and local, like a personal health crisis, loss of income, or an accident. When those things happen, will be bomb out or become resilient?

Despite all of our preconceived ideas having been thrown in the trash, we know we can go back to the basics of sharing Jesus, putting our hand to what’s available to do, and waiting for Him to bring the increase. Can you trust Him today to put your hand to something that brings increase in His kingdom? Why not ask Him to do that for you? Maybe you simply need to ask for the strength to not give up, to go get up and take one step and then another then another.

The Rest of the Story

So, what happened next? The Trio began to move on to other fields where Jesus had never been known. They walked across the Gobi desert multiple times, sharing Jesus wherever they went and even learned another new language. They knew that the direction of the church’s influence had to be outward, so they moved on to the unreached. They began anew to “plod” ahead, sow Jesus seeds widely, and wait for the increase. This is what it takes to survive (and eventually thrive) in hard times, doing our part to trust God, spread His Good News and wait for Him to bring the increase.

Learning More

If I ever get a chance to meet Mildred Cable, Evangeline French, or Francesca French (The Trio), I am sure I will absolutely embarrass myself. I will likely get all giddy and shy and say something really stupid about how wonderful they are. That’s how enthralled I am with them. Now, I know they are not Jesus and are likely deeply flawed human beings, but they have captured my heart and mind. I want to be like them when I grow up!

Here are the books I have accumulated by them over the years. I hope you’d like to learn more about them.

And, if you don’t have time to read 21 more books😉, I made a 5 minute video you can watch here 🤓:

https://youtu.be/vkQ8BZR9g_0

*All Nations kindly gives me the chance to indulge myself in several of my passions in the All Nations Book Club. Some of my indulged passions include: the spread of the worship of Jesus, books, history, and fellowship based around meaty discussion. We read a different missionary biography each month, and then we meet to discuss it. It has turned into a real community for the small group of us who meet monthly. If you think you’d like to join our All Nations Book Club, let us know.

Call to action: Can you trust Him today to put your hand to something that brings increase in His kingdom? Why not ask Him to do that for you? Maybe you simply need to ask for the strength to not give up, to go get up and take one step and then another then another.

About the author:
Dr. Pam Arlund is a Member of the All Nations International Leadership Team, providing leadership in the areas of training, research, and security. She began serving in missions more than twenty years ago as a church planter and Bible translator among an unreached people group of Central Asia. She currently lives in Kansas City with her mom, a cat, and a really great house mate.

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