Ching Le and Ching Jung laughed gleefully one March morning when they spied a flock of wild geese flying toward the South. The great birds looked so pretty with the sun shining on their white feathers, and their melodious honking could be heard for a long time after they had drifted on into the blue sky.
"That means that winter has really gone," cried Ching Le.
"Yes, and we'll have to hurry and get our kites ready to fly in the spring winds," said Ching Jung excitedly, and they ran home quickly to tell their mother the good news.
"Mother," called the little girls together, "we have just seen wild geese going South, so the winter is over."
Mrs. Chang smiled, "You know we'll still have two months before the weather warms up."
"Oh, yes," answered Ching Le who was seven years old and quite grown up, "I know it will still be cold, but the spring kite-flying winds are starting-"
"Yes, and we can fly our kites," chimed in Ching Jung breathlessly. She was a year younger than Ching Le and always tried to talk at the same time as her sister did.
"This year I want a dragon kite," said Ching Jung.
"Don't be silly," laughed her sister, "you know you're too small! Why, it would carry you away with it, and probably drop you over on the hilltops!"
"Well, then, I want a butterfly kite," she retorted, "and it'll fly higher than yours!"
"And I'm going to have a graceful swallow kite," put in Ching Le, "it will be-"
"Hush, girls! if you keep arguing, you won't have any kites at all, and anyway you will have to wait until your father returns. I can't buy them for you."
The little girls were silent at the mention of their father. He was an army captain and had been away many months. Each day Mrs. Chang burned incense to the little clay idol, knocked her head on the floor before it, and asked for protection for Captain Chang.
All of North China was in a state of unrest for it was the time of the Chinese Revolution. Men, women, and children were fleeing in terror before the invading armies. Many fled to the mountains and hid in the rock gullies and ravines for days. They would return to their villages and homes after the army had left, only to find their possessions stolen or spoiled. Many of the villages were burned to the ground. But they were grateful to be alive and started to rebuild their homes.
So far, the small town of Sing Min had not been disturbed, and apart from wild stories and rumors of war, it was quiet and peaceful. But only last night Mrs. Chang had heard it whispered that the invading army had suddenly descended on Min Tuan, a large city to the southeast. That was getting dangerously near.
During the next two days Ching Le and Ching Jung were glad to stay indoors and help their mother prepare material for shoe soles, because outside the wind was blustering and howling. It had started just as it always does in the spring: first, just a little breeze came drifting over the hills. It made the dried grasses nod and bow to each other gracefully. But two hours later it was blustering and blowing. The air was filled with fine yellow dust, leaves, and twigs, and the elm and willow trees groaned and creaked as the wind tore through their bare branches.
The girls had such fun helping mother. She had mixed a large bowl of paste and given each little girl a pile of rags which were torn into strips. They covered a large board with a layer of paste and put on a layer of rags, then more paste and more rags, until it was about six or eight layers thick. After it was finished it had to dry outside, and then it would peel off the board and look like cardboard and would be ready to be cut into shoe soles.
On the third day the wind was even stronger and the air was yellow with dust which had been whipped up from the northern desert. That night Mrs. Chang could not sleep for the wind rattled the tiles on the roof, plucked at the paper windows, and whistled through the branches of the old willow tree in the courtyard.
It was about midnight when she heard a muffled knocking on the front gate. At first she thought it was the wind; then she caught the words "K'ai men, K'ai men," (open the door, open the door.)
Mrs. Chang was afraid to go out, for it might be soldiers; but if so, they wouldn't bother to knock on the door, they'd just break it open. A few moments later she went out and opened the gate immediately when she heard the familiar voice of Captain Chang.
"I thought I'd never get you to hear," he said, wiping the dust and dirt from his face, "I have only a short time before I must join my company tomorrow at Kung Ying Village." His voice dropped to a whisper, "The invading army will be here by noon tomorrow. You must get the children up, gather a few things together, and we will leave in a half hour. There is not time to lose!"
Mrs. Chang could hardly believe her ears, "You mean we have to flee and leave our home?" she wailed.
"Don't stop to ask questions," said the captain, "or it may be too late."
Ching Le and Ching Jung could not understand why they were awakened and dressed at that time of night. They sat huddled sleepily on the end of the brick bed watching their daddy pack food and clothing into sacks.
Mother was collecting some valuable vases and other things which she prized. These she took out and hid in a vegetable pit, first covering them with earth and leaves, then throwing cabbages on top.
The spring less cart, drawn by two glossy brown mules, was at the gate right on time. Hurriedly Captain Chang carried out the sacks of food and clothes. Mrs. Chang brought the quilts which were put around the sides and bottom of the cart, making it snug and warm.
The two little girls were bundled up in their quilts and daddy carried them out to the cart. They were quite excited, for they thought it fun to go on a long journey.
At last they were on the way. The night was so dark and windy that the driver had to walk by the front mule to lead the way by the dim light of his paper lantern.
Morning dawned bright and clear. The wind had gone to the mountain caves to rest awhile before blustering back again.
The weary travelers, having reached the main highway found it crowded with other refugees. Many were traveling in open carts. They sat huddled there trying to keep warm and looked enviously at the Chang family as they came up in their cart which was protected with a felt canopy. Others rode mules, horses, donkeys and oxen, and some even had bicycles. But most of them had to walk, and the very small children were carried in baskets tied to each end of a bamboo carrying-pole which swayed back and forth with each step.
Ching Le and Ching Jung were quite excited. It was really fun to see all these people and they were looking forward to arriving in the big city. They felt sorry for the poor little children and old women who didn't have comfortable carts to ride in.
By noon everyone was tired and hungry. Mrs. Chang had a hard time trying to keep the little girls from quarreling and she was glad when they stopped in Kung Ying Village for lunch. But it was here that they would have to say good-by to Captain Chang.
The mules were eager for a meal, too, and they clattered over the cobble stones, and through the archway of the Travelers Rest Inn in a real hurry.
The inn was crowded with soldiers, but they soon found room for Captain Chang and his family. After a good meal of noodles, fried onions and cabbage, Captain Chang said, "You must go on alone from here. The cart driver is a good man and he will see you safely to the Fu Yin T'ang (Good News Hall) compound in the city of Ling."
"The Gospel Hall compound?" cried Mrs. Chang in alarm, "do you mean we have to go there? Why, I've heard terrible stories about the foreigners there; they cast spells on people, and they don't believe in our gods-" She stopped suddenly and groaned. "Oh, that reminds me, in our haste to leave home, I forgot to place food before our idol, and never even burned incense nor said a prayer to it! Now what will happen to us?"
Captain Chang waved his hand impatiently. "Don't be foolish! Those stone gods are no use anyway, and you and the girls will be well cared for by the missionaries. I know that they are good people, for only last week I met some in Chao Yang city."
It was about midnight that night when Mrs. Chang and the girls arrived in the city of Ling and stopped outside the Fu Yin T'ang. Already there were many women and girls in there, and others waited outside with the Changs.
Mrs. Chang and the little girls were frightened when they first saw the foreign missionaries. Their noses and feet were so large, their skin was white like rice paper and their hair looked so strange.
There was a great deal of talking and arguing in subdued tones as the missionaries insisted on searching the sacks, packages, and quilts. For in one bundle they had found a gun, and in another a small stone idol. Those things could never be allowed in the Good News compound.
Mrs. Chang and the little girls had been at the Fu Yin T'ang for over a week. Mrs. Chang had not only become used to the foreign missionaries, but she was really enjoying it there. Each day two good meals were served, and it was nice to sit around the charcoal brazier (an iron basket in which the charcoal glowed warmly) and chat with the other women or listen to the missionary and the Bible woman teach about the Lord Jesus.
Of course, there were so many refugees that they couldn't all sleep on the warm brick beds, and the Changs, with about fifteen other women and girls, occupied the small Gospel Hall. The benches were stacked at one end, grass mats put on the brick floor, then each person spread out her quilt on the mats. During the day there was a blazing fire in the small stove, and at night the glowing charcoal shed its warmth.
Mrs. Chang would often lie awake at night thinking about the missionaries and the Christian Chinese. "Yes," she would say to herself, "they are good and kind, and those awful stories I heard about them are all lies. This God they worship, although He can't be seen, really seems to help them, which is more than our stone idol ever does."
Ching Le and Ching Jung just loved being at the Fu Yin T'ang, and they had already come to know and love the Lord Jesus. At first they had sat open-mouthed when the missionary lady had told them about God so loving the world, and all the men, women and children, that He sent His only beloved Son down to die on the cruel cross. By His death and the shedding of His precious blood, all who came to Him, believing in Him and confessing they are sinners would be saved, and would go to.be with Him in heaven when they died.
"Do you mean that God can love us," asked Ching Le, "when we are so often naughty and get cross?"
"And when we don't do the things Mother asks us to?" chimed in Ching Jung.
"Yes, He loves you," answered the missionary, "but God wants you to tell Him you have been naughty and to ask Him to forgive you. Then He will help you to be good. If you really love Him you will always try to be good and do the things that please Him, then, too, you will be pleasing your Mother and everyone else."
The missionary opened her Bible, and after a moment said, "When you are God's children, He takes care of you and you never have to worry about the future because He has it all planned and tells us so in His Word." Turning the pages, she read in Psalm 32:8: "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee."
It was three weeks since the Changs had come to the Fu Yin Tang. There was no news of Captain Chang; Mrs. Chang was so worried and sometimes she couldn't help crying. Ching Le and Ching Jung tried to comfort her. "Don't worry, Mother, God is taking care of Daddy. Why don't you trust in God? He will give you peace if you do."
"Peace," murmured Mrs. Chang, "how can I have peace when I hear the boom of guns in the distance, when the bullets whiz overhead and hit the roof top? How can I stop worrying when airplanes drone overhead and all around is the sound of war?"
Sunday morning dawned clear and bright. There was the scent of spring in the air, and birds knew it too, for they chirped and sang so gaily. But although the day was so bright, yet, the news of the fighting was worse and the sound of guns was much closer. All the refugees were very frightened and at first didn't want to come out of their rooms to go to the Gospel Hall. But once they were inside, singing choruses and hymns, they were glad, for it drowned out the sound of the guns.
Ching Le and Ching Jung just loved to sing about the Lord Jesus, and their mother couldn't help wishing that she might trust God and be as happy as they were.
Mrs. Chang listened closely as Mr. Ta the missionary read from the Bible: "Peace I leave with you: my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid"-John 14:2727Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27). "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength"-•Isaiah 26:3, 43Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. 4Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength: (Isaiah 26:3‑4). "Casting all your care upon him for he careth for you"-II Peter 5:7. "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed"-Isaiah 53:55But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5).
Suddenly tears began to stream down Mrs. Chang's cheeks, and as Mrs. Ta put her arm about her, Mrs. Chang cried, "Just to think that Jesus suffered all that for me, and I've been rejecting Him for so long. I want to trust Him, just like you, and Mr. Ta, and my little girls have told me to do."
"Why don't you tell Him so now?" whispered Mrs. Ta. "Just talk to God like you would to a friend," said Ching Le.
"Yes, because He is our friend, too," Ching Jung added.
Mrs. Chang's voice shook as she prayed, "True God, I believe in You now. Please forgive my sins and come into my heart and let me be able to trust You just as Ching Le and Ching Jung have done. Amen."
From that day on, Mrs. Chang was a changed person; there was joy and peace in her heart, and she did not worry about the war anymore. Instead, she spent time praying for Captain Chang, asking God to protect him and bring him safely to them. She longed to be able to tell the captain about the Lord Jesus, so he, too, might have the joy and peace that she and the little girls had.
Three days later there was much rejoicing in the city of Ling, for the enemy had been driven back and was hastily retreating to the safety of the western mountains, while the victorious army marched proudly in. With it came Captain Chang. There was the sound of running feet and excited voices"Pa Pa lai Haar (Daddy has come) cried Ching Le.
"And he's driven the enemy into the hills!" Ching Jung's shrill little voice could be heard all the way into the next courtyard.
Mrs. Chang hurried out to meet them, and everyone seemed to be talking at once.
"We are all Jesus' believers now, and we're not afraid of anything because God protects us," said Ching Le in one breath.
Mrs. Chang smiled happily. "God truly has brought us joy and peace, and the girls obey me now and don't argue or quarrel."
Little Ching Jung was tugging at the captain's sleeve. "We prayed to God to protect you and He did, didn't He?"
Handing a taffy-apple to each of the little girls, Captain Chang said, "This is wonderful news! Tomorrow we shall return home, and you must teach me all about God, for I, too, want to know Him."
"We can teach you to sing about Him, too," said Ching Le, and Ching Jung just nodded; for once she couldn't talk, her mouth was full of taffy-apple.