Worship, and thanks, and blessing,
And strength ascribe to Jesus!
The Lord alone defends His own,
When earth or hell oppresses.
Omnipotent Redeemer!
Our ransomed souls adore Thee;
Our Savior Thou, we own it now,
And give to Thee the glory.
Thine arm hath safely brought us
A way no more expected
Than when Thy sheep pass'd through the deep
By crystal walls protected.
We sing Thine arm unshortened,
Brought through each sore temptation;
With heart and voice, in Thee rejoice,
Thou God of our salvation.
Thy glory is our rearward,
Thy hand our lives doth cover;
And we, e'en we, have passed the sea,
And marched triumphant over:
We own Thy great deliverance,
And triumph in Thy favor;
And for the love which now we prove,
Shall praise Thy Name forever.
C. Wesley.
In 1948 I was preparing to return to China. The nearer the time drew for sailing, the more gloomy were the reports of Communist advance in China. You will never get back to Shanghai, said the friends who knew anything about the situation. You will never need that warm clothing you are preparing against Shanghai winters. I went on preparing, though my own heart was saying much the same thing. I had arranged to visit our Book Room in Singapore on the way back, and if I could not reach Shanghai I knew I could find plenty to do there. But I still felt that I was going to Shanghai. And the Lord gave me two Scriptures which confirmed me in this conviction. The first was not very encouraging you will say: "Bonds and imprisonment await you". I knew something about that after five years under the Japanese, two and a half of them in an internment camp. But it is fairly easy to be brave when one is safely in Canada, and troubled China is the other side of the globe. And my Lord knew how all my own strength would fail me, so He gave me another verse: "Leaning upon her Beloved". There was a Rock Which would never fail.
About this time Christians in California wrote how much they would like to see me on the way back to China. I had a feeling that was the way I should travel; but it was not so convenient, and I was anxious to see New York, so I took passage on a Dutch boat sailing from New York in December. Yet I did want to do the Lord's will, and go His way, and prayed that even if I had missed the guidance of His eye, He would control me as the mule with bit and bridle. (Ps. 32:8, 9) And that is just what He did, and I was very grateful, though ashamed that I was too far from Him to catch the guidance of His eye. There was trouble, a dock-strike I think, on the east coast, and sailings were canceled. Sailings were also very difficult to obtain from San Francisco, and many were held up there, but the Steamship company offered me passage on a small Dutch freighter sailing from San Francisco December 28, 1948. The fare was nearly two hundred dollars less than the boat on which I had booked, so the refund more than paid my journey to San Francisco, and I was able to travel by way of Los Angeles to see the friends who had written me. There was to be a three day Bible Conference in Los Angeles at the new year; what a pity the boat was due to sail just before!
What a happy visit I had in Pasadena; how kind and interested the dear friends were! Then, as it was coming time to leave, word came that the ship was delayed. Perhaps I could be at some of the Conference. It was again delayed. I need not leave till the closing night. I have very happy memories of the dear sisters I met at that Conference, and their loving gift. On new years day we sang the hymn at the head of this chapter. I marked it with the date in my hymn book, Jan. 1: 1949. It was a true forecast of the ten years ahead. When I reached San Francisco the boat had again been delayed, and there was a happy, restful visit with the good friends in Berkeley.
Friday, January 7, I sailed on the Dutch Freighter Tosari. The calendar for that day read: "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee... help thee.. uphold thee". Is. 41:10.
"Lord, in the desert place, The dry, parched land where faith is sorely tried, Uphold us that we faint not; let Thy grace Sustain us, lest we fail and turn aside.”
The Tosari was a small, old ship, I think on its last trip. It did not have all the luxuries considered essential on modern ships; but that was perhaps the happiest and most restful of the many happy trips we have had across the Pacific. The Lord knew there was a strenuous time ahead, and, as often before, He prepared me for it with a time of special peace. We were only ten passengers, two missionary couples, their four children and myself, and one non-missionary. It was a bit hard on her, for she wanted to spend her time drinking and playing bridge. We were about three weeks out of sight of land. The first few days were rough, and the Captain was anxious, for we had a cargo of tractors and motors, and the cases of some of the cars piled on the deck were broken by the waves.
So we moved onto the southern course, and one golden day of shining seas succeeded another. I studied Chinese, read, talked, sewed; I mended all the Captain's socks, eighteen pair, I think. Another three or four weeks we were calling at ports in the Philippines and Java, so it was the end of February before I reached Singapore.
I expected to spend about two months at our Book Room in Singapore so our worker there might get away for a holiday. She had been having an anxious time, for her Mother was ill, and she felt she was needed at home; but it did not seem possible for her to leave the work she had so faithfully built up in Singapore since the war. She went on a round trip to Borneo, and was due back the afternoon of April 12. After she had gone I felt I must not wait till the end of April as we had planned. The only boat I could find sailed the morning of April 12. I knew how disappointed my friend would be to miss me; and how awkward to leave the Book Room that way. But I had to take that ship. If I had not taken it, I would probably never have entered Shanghai. I went to the Immigration office to report my departure: You are going to Shanghai, are you? Well, you certainly will not be able to stay long. I will not take out your registration card, for you are sure to be back within six weeks, said the friendly clerk there. My Lord knew that I was to go to Shanghai, and He again "managed" the boats. My friend's boat arrived early, 8 A.M. of the twelfth. Mine was delayed until noon. We had a happy morning together, and I was able to hand over all I had been doing in the Book Room during the three weeks she was away.
Again I had a comfortable peaceful trip. At Hong Bong my sister and her husband met me and we had three days together. It poured with rain, so we could not go out, and we had long happy talks of old friends in Canada, and the work they were carrying on in Yeung Kong. There did not seem much immediate fear of Communism there. Then came the last step of the journey. April 22 we were due in Shanghai.
The morning of April 22 we were in the muddy waters of the entrance to the Yangtze River. News came over the wireless: H.M.S. "London" had been shelled by the Communists, and was lying damaged at Shanghai; and H.M.S. Amethyst was being shelled up river. We sailed up the Yangtze, turned in at Woosung, and along the Whangpoo. We passed the "London", scarred with shells and gunfire. Soon we were tied up. There was my brother, and Dorothy, our helper in the Book Room. Customs was passed. I had wanted to leave my trunk in Singapore, under the pressure of so many friendly warnings. But Dorothy's sister had sent her a box of homemade jam, and I did not know how to carry it, except in the trunk, so I brought it, and left the dunnage bag in Singapore. It was a pity I had not the faith to bring them all, for those things would have been useful those long years in Shanghai. I was grateful afterward that my Lord restrained the "mule" so that I had a trunkful of warm clothes with me. And though Dorothy never tasted that jam, I enjoyed it very much.