"There they dwelt with the King for His work".
"That the Christ may make His home in your hearts".
The house was shabby, and old, and poor:
Damp were the walls, and broken the floor:
Windows askew, glass broken or cracked,
And paint or varnish it sadly lacked.
The floors were bare, and the rooms were cold,
The furniture all was worn and old,-
Worn and old and shabby and scratched,-
Everything seemed to be broken or patched.
The garden, too, was a piteous sight;
Where roses grew, or ramblers bright,
Now piles of rubbish and broken bricks,
Where trees and shrubs, now old dry sticks.
But there they dwelt with the King of kings,
Dwelt under the shadow of His wings,
Dwelt with the King, His work to do,
And the King dwelt there, with His feeble few.
The King, Who was in a stable born,
This poor old house will never scorn.
My King, my Lord, where Thou wilt be,
'Twill be my joy to dwell with Thee.
C.W.
I think the old house deserves a chapter to itself. It is a large brick house with two stories, and an unfinished attic, standing in a long compound. When my brother moved there in 1930 it was almost an island, with pools and marshy ground around it. But the city not only filled in the ground around, but raised it higher than our garden. The water ran down into our garden, and after a heavy rain the garden was flooded, and often the house also, sometimes more than a foot deep. The foundations remained good; but the floor and walls downstairs were discolored and rotting away with damp. After the war, when no one had taken proper care of it during our internment by the Japanese, the ground floor was almost unusable. So the upstairs was made into a comfortable flat. Downstairs the huge living room was used for children's meetings. Outside were the servants' quarters, and a little gatehouse.
In the middle of the Compound was a bungalow built of sheet steel brought out from Scotland. This was rented. At the North end was the godown (warehouse) for the Christian Book Room. Besides ample storage space on the ground floor there was a fair-sized Gospel Hall facing the gate; upstairs were living quarters for the workers in the Book Room. At this north gate there was also a gatehouse. A short distance along the lane at either end was the busy street West of us. Along the East border of the garden was the matched village. Refugees had come here during the war, and almost overnight a village of about 4,000 souls had sprung up on the ashdump, an area, I should think, of less than two acres. My brother and his wife had visited among them, distributing tracts; their son had opened a Clinic for them for a short time; again and again Gospel meetings had been held for them, and Sunday schools started. But they seemed hard and bad and unresponsive. Perhaps at the bottom of it was jealousy of our comfortable houses and big garden, when they were so crowded.
And they were always trying to encroach on us.
Sometimes I felt the house was a burden greater than I could bear-the complaints and quarrels of the tenants; their refusal to pay rent; the constant fret of the neighbors in the matshed village; the difficulty of getting repairs done; the reports to be made to the Government; the taxes to be paid. I suppose it was ungrateful to chafe so under it. The house had been given us by the Lord. My ownership of it probably contributed to my being allowed to remain so long. The money sometimes received in rent was very useful.
The tenants were the greatest trial. In the South gatehouse a family had squeezed themselves in, in that first confused May, 1949, just before the Communists entered the city. When they came they claimed to be refugees who had lost everything escaping from the Communists. But very soon they were converted to Communism, dropped all appearance of Christianity, and were ardently progressive. They paid no rent, and made prodigal use of light and water. They expected my housekeeper to wait on them, and spied on all who came. After about two years they suddenly moved out. This was certainly the good hand of the Lord, for there was everything to induce them to stay, and it was impossible for me to turn them out. In their place a young Christian couple moved in, and set up a little chewing gum factory. They were desirable in every way. They stayed until a few months before I left, when they were forced to unite their little factory to the Government-owned candy factories.
The steel house in the middle of the compound was always a trial. The tenants would not keep to their agreements, would not pay their rent, or their share of the taxes, and were always demanding repairs. But they also had their troubles. One young man was imprisoned in connection with the factory where he worked; his old mother and his wife were obliged to attend the court, and applaud the sentence-which was almost certainly unjust. Another was accused of being a rightist and had to work for months as coolie, and without wages, in the bank where he had been employed. The tenants were all supposed to be Christians, but I am afraid it was little more than a name.
During the confusion of the city being taken over by the Communists, a Christian woman and her non-Christian husband managed to get into some of the rooms over the godown. This was on the distinct understanding that they should move out when I needed the place. But of course they would not go. The woman was always very pleasant but the husband was often very unpleasant. I once received a very definite message from the Lord on account of this man, which often strengthened my heart, and was both encouragement and rebuke. One Sunday morning I had a very disagreeable and threatening letter from him. It was delivered to me, and I had foolishly read it, just before going over to remember our Lord in His death. I could not get it out of my mind. Then I recalled that there had been a comforting verse that morning on the calendar, and I thought I would look it up. The reference is Isaiah 51:12,12I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; (Isaiah 51:12) I said to myself. As a matter of fact it was not that at all, but that was the word the Lord had for me. "I, even, I, am He that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die? and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; and forgettest the Lord thy Maker that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundation of the earth; and halt feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor? But I am the Lord thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: the Lord of Hosts is His Name. And I have put My words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of My hand.”
We gathered regularly in the Gospel Hall at the north end of the godown to remember our Lord in His death. We were only about a dozen, but the Lord was certainly with us. One great sorrow was that a very dear brother withdrew. He was employed in a Government institution and had constant indoctrination classes, and they so shook him that he said he could not believe there was a God. This is the special• point of attack by the Communists. It is impossible for those in Christian lands to realize the crushing effect of living in an atmosphere of atheism, and being forced to listen constantly to false teaching. Prayer won the day for this brother. After about five years he was restored and in his prayer of thanksgiving he acknowledged, God never failed me, though I often failed Him.
The garden was another trial. It was a large garden and had once been a tennis court, with trees and flowers. But since the war it was a wilderness of weeds. When the Communists took control no land was allowed to go waste, so I had it dug and planted, to avoid its being managed by "Assistants" from the Lane. Various things were planted in it at various times-yams, peanuts, corn, wheat. But the soil was bad, very little grew, and what little did grow was often stolen or trampled down by the neighbors. I sometimes thought it was a parable of man's heart, and of much Christian work. Between the bad soil of our own hearts, and the snares and temptations of our neighbors the world and the devil, the fruit is very poor. Yet our Lord patiently continues seeking fruit, digging and cultivating. The little south garden was quite different. Things grew well in it, and my housekeeper kept it bright with flowers. One side was the well, and beside it a magnificent rosebush and a palm tree. What I liked best was the figtree: not that it bore fruit, I do not think it ever brought more than a dozen figs to perfection. But each spring when it put forth its leaves it came with the message of encouragement, "Look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." Luke 21:28-3128And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. 29And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; 30When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. 31So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. (Luke 21:28‑31). There are hearts like that garden too, if they keep facing south in the sunshine of the love of God. "Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ". Jude 2020But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, (Jude 20).
I would not have minded the labor and the poor crops. It was the constant interference was such a trial. This was of two kinds. The houses of the village which overlooked the garden used it as a garbage dump; also they broke down the fence, and were always coming in. At long last permission was obtained from the headman of the village to put up a new fence; but it was put up with almost as much difficulty as Nehemiah had in building the wall of Jerusalem; it would never have been completed if the workmen had not been Christians, very brave and faithful. The second thing was that everything was inspected, and the Lane Committee was always finding fault. They pointed out that as Christians our place should be tidier than our neighbors', and to this we quite agreed; but it was difficult to keep tidy with such neighbors. Then they said the vegetation in our garden encouraged flies and mosquitoes. Our nice trees had to be cut down. A year or two later everyone had to plant trees, and they demanded that we should plant a great many. Most trying was the hunting for mosquitoes: at dawn and dusk a flock of women and children crowded in with washbasins smeared with soap which they waved round to catch mosquitoes. They did catch a few but the destruction of our garden, and the annoyance to our tempers was very great. But that happened only in the last year, when all freedom of private possession was gone.
I would have been thankful to have the old house to myself, with no worry of tenants. But there was great housing shortage in Shanghai, and the house looked so large that I knew it would have to be shared. Again and again deputations came asking for the use of our big empty room downstairs, but they always accepted my refusal, for God "Made an hedge about (me) and about (my) house". Job 1:1010Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. (Job 1:10). The house had been so definitely given to us by the Lord, I felt responsible to use it for Him. It was a privilege to receive those who were homeless because of their stand for Christ. Several such occupied the downstairs Gunroom at different times.
As I have said, the upstairs had been turned into a flat. There was a little kitchen at the north end of the big hall, partitioned off by a big china cupboard. Off this opened two rooms facing north. I always said the house was built upside down. The entrance was through the downstairs kitchen; and the whole south wall was taken up by the staircase and bathroom. Now the south in China is the one desirable aspect, warmed by the sun in winter, and cooled by the prevailing south winds in summer. One room at the head of the stairs had a south window, and off it was a bright little sunroom, facing south and east. This sunroom was really the end of a verandah running along the whole east of the house.
The first people who shared the upstairs flat with me were two ladies from the C.I.M. Very soon after the Communist occupation, work in, most country parts became impossible, and a good many missionaries moved into Shanghai, where Christians were long better off than anywhere else in China. The population of Shanghai was then about seven million, nearly half as many people as in all Canada. So it seemed there might be work for every one there. Among other places it was suggested they might work in the matshed village beside us. I was only too delighted, and offered them rooms in the house, and the use of the Gospel Hall. A young man moved into the north gatehouse; an older worker, and a young Swiss girl just finishing language study lived in the big house. The only reasonable arrangement was to let them have the south room, with the sunroom and the little room opening off it. I felt very loath to let go all the sunny south rooms. But at the time I was reading the end of Ezekiel, and I was given the verse, "The chamber whose prospect is towards the north is for... these... which come near to the Lord". Ez. 40:46. The northern regions of our life, those barren, bitter stretches from which we shrink, are generally where we draw near to God. When we get to Heaven I think we shall be more thankful for them than for the sunny days. Both are necessary: "Awake, 0 North wind; and come, thou South, blow upon my garden, that the spice thereof may flow out. S. of S. 4:1616Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits. (Song of Solomon 4:16).
It was delightful having these ladies in the house; they were so cheerful and wholesome. They worked hard in the village, visiting, starting children's classes and Gospel preaching. But that village seemed utterly bad, the children, incorrigible. The difficulties, were increased by the antiforeign feeling being preached everywhere, so finally it was decided that the foreigners had better not appear at all, but leave it to the Chinese to carry on the work. Most effective was the work of a Chinese sister who visited in the village. She was teaching at the far end of the city, perhaps twelve miles away, and very busy. But whenever she had a free day, she would come over and visit in the homes. The work went on till a few months before I left, and there was fruit; I think about twenty professed to believe.
In less than a year the C.I.M. workers all left the country, and my rooms were vacant again. I was able to keep them for some months; my Swiss friend sometimes stayed in them; and some missionaries used them as they passed through Shanghai on their way out of the country. But by 1952 all the missionaries who could leave had left. A Chinese Christian family asked to rent them, and they lived there until the exodus from Shanghai to the Northwest moved them out in 1957. And I was not sorry to see them leave. A Christian woman who was suffering for her Lord then came in, and brought with her a true blessing. She had enough "northern" regions in her life; and she sanctified that South room with her presence and her prayers.
The Sunday School was perhaps the most profitable use that was made of the house. After the war there had been a Sunday school in the Gospel hall and some of the boys were so bad that they were turned out. My brother could not bear to think that they were refused an opportunity to hear the Gospel, so he started a class for the "bad boys": they fully lived up to their name, but the class continued, even after the original one in the Gospel hall had ceased. Then his daughter started a class Saturday afternoons for the Christian children, especially to teach them to sing the hymns. But the neighboring children wanted to come too, and soon the Saturday class was as big as the one on Sunday. At that time the lane to our gate was fenced off, so it could not be used by the village, and the children who came were a shade better than those at the north end. When my brother left I had to carry on these classes. My knowledge of the northern dialect was very small, and I spent all Friday and Saturday evenings reading over the lessons in my phonetic Bible, and in Bible primers, and in preparing pictures. Various Chinese lads came at times to help, and a Canadian missionary friend from the Door of Hope opposite generally came on Saturday to play the hymns on the ramshackle little organ. She then often spent the evening with me, and this was a great pleasure. The children were very wild and unruly but sometimes some of them listened, and they learned many Gospel verses and choruses. Sometimes as many as 100 came, sometimes almost none. They seemed eager to come. An hour or more before the time they would gather outside the gate shouting "Ting Ye Su" -"Hear about Jesus", or "Hear Jesus". In spite of all our efforts against it, they insisted on identifying us with our Lord. Our house was known as "The Jesus House", and as I went down the lane the children shouted "Ye Su, Ye Su" after me. When their S.S. teacher was arrested, they said sadly "They are taking Jesus away". One understood how the disciples gained their name in Antioch, Acts 11:2626And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. (Acts 11:26). I have no doubt the children began it, running after them, shouting "Christos, Christos". We are accustomed to being called Christians, and perhaps do not realize the responsibility of "that worthy Name by which ye are called". Ja. 2:7. But when one is called "Jesus", one is startled into thinking "What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness". 2 Pe. 3:1111Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, (2 Peter 3:11).
In the autumn of 1950 the lane was put through to the village, and a much rougher group of children came. The Saturday class was dropped, but we struggled on with the Sunday class. Some of the young men undertook the responsibility of it, and after a time I felt it was best for me not to appear: there was too much anti-foreign feeling. The class continued, and the Lord sent a helper through whom there was real blessing on it.
I was asked to lend the downstairs sunroom to a young man who had been turned out of his Bible school because he persisted in holding himself separate from the evil of the Three-self movement. He belonged to a wealthy Chinese family overseas. He had had a good position, but gave it up to devote himself to the Lord's service. He had been accustomed to comfort, and it was not easy for him to come down to our little sunroom; but he not only accepted it, he shared it with another young Christian in even worse plight than himself. His heart echoed Pastor Hsi:
"For the Lord's sake my home is poor
And I might well be sad.
But remembering Christ in manger laid
I cannot but be glad.”
The room was shabby and broken, but he set about to beautify it with prayer and praise. I could not say how many hours a day he spent in prayer: I know it was enough to put most of us to shame. He not only prayed: he worked hard. With bricks from an old wall he laid a new floor to the big room. He mended up the walls; he made more benches; he put up Gospel posters. He made friends with the children, so they would sometimes stay all afternoon talking to him, and asking questions about Christianity. He worked in the garden, training vines up the walls, planting flowers, bringing order and beauty wherever he could. He told me that he had not felt called to labor among children; but the Sunday School seemed to be the work the Lord had for him, so he laid hold upon it. On it he concentrated his prayers, and very soon there was a change. Those noisy troublesome children that had baffled all our efforts were subdued by prayer. They came in quietly, and sat quietly, and listened; and more and more came, sometimes over 200. I do not suggest that they became angels at once; I could not say definitely that any were converted. The soil was much like our garden, bad soil and much to hinder. But I believe some of the good seed will bring forth fruit unto everlasting life.
Every Sunday they used to sing the chorus
"Jesus loves the little children,
all the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
They are precious in His sight,
Jesus loves the little children of the world.”
The last Christmas the young people made up about 300 calendars with a picture of the Lord blessing the little children, and a pad with a Scripture verse for each month. These were given out, and I am sure were hung up in many heathen homes. In the spring of 1958 the class had to stop. I felt very sad, as I heard the children outside shouting "Ting Ye Su, Ting Ye Su!", and the door could not be opened. The time is very near when every door of mercy will be shut. Be sure that you and those dear to you are inside before that happens. Do not forget to pray for the children of China, growing up in the darkness. "It is not the will of your Father that is in Heaven that one of these little ones should perish" Matt. 18:1414Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish. (Matthew 18:14).
At one time this young man had served the Republic. But later he had worked under the Communists, and they knew all about him. He was called up for questioning, and we were very thankful when he came back safe. But in 1958, in the great drive against independent Church workers, he was again taken. After several months he was brought to trial, and it was pronounced that there was no charge proved against him. But he would not stop praying. So they said his way of thinking was not right; his confidence was not in the Communist government, and he was sentenced to three years in prison.
Each summer for the first few years after the Communist occupation, a student conference was held at Nanyang road. These lasted perhaps three days or a week, with all day meetings. Hundreds of students attended, and so many wished to go that admission had to be by ticket. One summer after the Conference, meetings were held daily, beginning at 6 A.M., at one of the churches, to prepare the students for what they would have to encounter. About 80 attended. As things got more difficult these meetings had to stop. Some of the students asked if they might use our big room, and two summers there was a week of meetings of about 20 young people. They bought and cooked their own meals, and there was a wonderful spirit of love, faith, and joy. All knew that testing times were ahead, but they were preparing to meet them in the strength of the Lord.
Just south of our house was the large property of the Door of Hope. Here in the "Love School" several ladies and their Chinese helpers for many years had cared for several hundred cast off children, whom they trained up in the fear of the Lord. These ladies had always been among our best friends, and it was a privilege to have anything to do with their devoted Christian work. For a time soon after the Communist occupation I went once a week to speak to the girls on Bible history, as shown on our big dispensational chart. I had supper first with the ladies, and heard something of their problems-the endless inspections and reports to the Government; the search for new kinds of work to take the place of the fine knitting the girls used to do for the foreign community; the efforts to find suitable work, or suitable husbands for the grown girls. They would often telephone me in the morning, as I was sometimes able to do messages in town for them. Then we would "swap verses", tell each other the verses that had brought us encouragement, on David's principle: "0 magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His Name together" Ps. 34:3. One of their special sources of strength was "There is nothing too hard for thee" Jer. 32:1717Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee: (Jeremiah 32:17). They prepared a lovely chorus from it, which they used to sing in times of difficulty, with the refrain "There is nothing too hard for Thee, dear Lord, There is nothing too hard for Thee".
A year or two later the time came when it seemed best for the foreigners to withdraw, and there was the heartbreaking business of handing over their charge to others. The Lord gave me the end of Isaiah 54, and the 13th verse seemed prepared for them: "All thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children" Shall we turn this into a prayer for the many hundreds of children brought up in Christian orphanages? Ultimately all were taken over by the Government, and the children scattered: those who had relatives were sent to them. Others were sent to the far west where the Government was eager to populate the desolate districts near the Gobi desert. Some still had their Christian teachers with them, but it was only by stealth that they could speak to them of the things of the Lord. I heard that objection was raised to the girls from the "Love School" reading their Bibles. For the time it was decided they might keep and read them themselves, but they must not try to influence others.
There was one Girls' Home managed by a Chinese lady. She received no support from abroad, and many in Shanghai who had helped her were now leaving. But her confidence was in the Lord, and I heard through the girl who went daily for mail to the Post Office that every day sufficient came in for the support of the large family. None of the charges brought against other orphanages-foreign support, inefficiency, ill-treatment of children, etc.-could possibly be maintained against the much loved Principal. So two Communist cadres were quartered on her, who did their best to indoctrinate the girls, and to induce them to accuse her. That too failed. At last they trumped up charges, and the Principal was arrested. She was held for over a year, I think without having been tried, and then was so ill from the bad conditions in which she was kept, that she was released. The girls were all scattered.
"Arise, cry out in the night; in the beginning of the night watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands toward Him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street". Lam. 2:1919Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street. (Lamentations 2:19). Especially remember the children of Christian parents -compelled to attend schools where all the teaching is against God; where the fool not only says in his heart, but shouts aloud, "There is no God". Ps. 14:1.
I know one Mother. She was brought up in a Christian home, and she and her husband are true Christians. When all wages were cut in the Communist regime she had to leave home to find work in a big city. The five children remained with the Father, under the care of an old woman who had been with them from the time they were babies. The Mother developed T.B., but still she struggled on, very lonely, far from her family, years after she was able to pay a short visit home and another baby was born, the Mother's special comfort and joy in her loneliness. Then came the "Rectification" campaign. The husband was pronounced a "rightist" and sent to the mines. He had been an accountant, and he found the work heavy, and the conditions terrible-working in lime in his bare feet, very little food, very long hours, and of course no pay. The Mother sent for her older children, and the old woman brought them out to her. For a time they were happy together, and she was especially thankful that now they had an opportunity to attend Sunday school. Then the edict came: it is imperialistic to keep a servant. So the old woman had to go back, to her great sorrow. The baby could not be left alone at home, so the Mother had to put him into a state nursery, where Communism is taught as soon as they can speak. The Mother was heartbroken, and the baby cried day and night. The Mother was working in a store. But everyone must do some manual work, so she was sent to the country to work on the roads. Then she had to put all her children into the State schools to be taught "There is no God"; "Love the State; it is your Father and Mother". Once for five happy days the Father was allowed home, and the Mother gathered the children together; but the parents had to go back to their work, and the children to their schools. This is one Christian family. Think of all the others!
Now to come back to my life in the old house! I was very comfortable in my North-east corner. The Lord kept me in wonderfully good health. All those ten years there was only one day that I was not well enough to go down to the Book Room. It is true that for several years each spring I had a month or more of fever, and just dragged through the days. But the last two or three years, after a doctor friend began specially to pray for my health, that fever entirely disappeared. N.B. He did not give me any medicine. The Lord fulfilled His promise, "As thy days, so shall thy strength be. Deut. 33:2525Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be. (Deuteronomy 33:25); and if I was not well, it was generally on a holiday. So, if you want more strength, fill your days fuller; or perhaps it must be that the Lord fills them. I slept on, the verandah, looking East. Many mornings I awoke to see the morning star shining upon me. It seemed to be especially bright those years, sometimes still shining into the pink glory of dawn. Always it brought a message of encouragement and warning: "Behold I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. "Rev. 3:1111Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. (Revelation 3:11). "Abide in Him; that, when He shall come, we may not be ashamed before Him at His coming. 1 John 2:2828And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. (1 John 2:28).
The rooms were comparatively cool in summer; in winter they were very cold. My brother had left a supply of coal and of coal oil which lasted two or three years. After 1951 all electric power must be reserved for industry, and its use for cooking or heating was forbidden except with a special permit. I was given a permit for the shop, to heat my lunch, but it was not allowed at the house and the power wires had to be removed. Then we cooked on coal ball "eggs", formed of a mixture of clay and coaldust, slow and rather difficult to light, but which gave a very hot smokeless fire. We burnt the coal ball in a little chatty, a Chinese stove the size of a five-gallon coal oil tin. In the winter evenings I kept it beside me, with a kettle of hot water, a hot drink, and a hot water bottle on my knee, my "hot water system". The one pleasant thing in a Shanghai winter is getting into bed with a hot water bottle. The only thing nicer is to get into bed with two hot water bottles. I always cooked my own breakfast on a coal oil stove. When the coal oil was almost done, I felt much worried. Coal oil was not to be bought, and Chinese stoves are hard to light, could not have been lighted in my upstairs room, and all my household arrangements would be thrown out of gear. The coal oil came to an end on Monday. Tuesday a friend said to me, "Would you like to buy a five-gallon tin of coal oil? I know someone who wants to sell." I was never without coal oil up to the end. It was evidently a need, and "My God shall supply all your need". Phil. 4:1919But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19).
The most detestable part of the cold was when it froze the pipes. Night after night I would turn off the water, but still the taps would be frozen in the morning. Upstairs there were tanks that could not be turned off, and they froze, all the plumbing froze, and was unusable for days on end. Then it would melt, and of course pipes had burst; and there were leaks. As more and more shops were brought under Government control it became more and more difficult to get any private work done. Floods at the Book Room in the summer and frozen pipes at the house in the winter were the bane of my life. There was one winter when the pipe burst which brought in our water from the main. Of course, it happened just at the new year holiday, and for weeks we were without water. We were thankful then for our well, but of course we could not use it for drinking. Drinking water had to be bought from the street.
There was a special Northwest wind which brought the cold, and it seemed specially to blow on Sundays. How cold one was, at the end of the morning meeting, after sitting two hours or more on a board bench, in an unheated room with a cement floor, and the temperature below freezing. And yet, it is "His cold" and "His wind". Ps. 147:17, 18. And that terrible north wind that swept up the flood waters in the summer was a "stormy wind, fulfilling His Word". Ps. 148:8. These verses all come in the special praise Psalms at the end, and that is probably a hint that we should praise for them, not grumble; and praise too for the cold, windy stretches of life which we call tribulation.
For a long time there was no difficulty about food. At first the shops were trying to get rid of foreign food, and I bought sugar and tinned milk very cheaply and laid in a good supply. On the street and in the market you could still buy American army rations very cheaply, and I got good supplies of them too. I had a good housekeeper, a dear sister in the Lord. She did some shopping for me and prepared my meals, and kept the house beautifully clean and tidy. Once a week I went to the big market, and laid in meat and foreign vegetables. And I could get foreign groceries at the compradores near the Book Room. Meat and vegetables and fruit were cheap and abundant: I have bought mutton at twenty cents a pound, beef just a little more, tomatoes at five cents a pound, strawberries fifteen or twenty cents a pound, all Chinese currency, which is about half the value of ours. And in the winter the streets would be golden with the oranges piled in the stalls. All gone now!
Restrictions came in gradually. First was on sugar. Only those belonging to a guild could buy sugar, and then only one pound. Mercifully, I had a good supply on hand. Before it was done the regulations had changed. A quota was issued to certain shops, and one person might buy a quarter pound. The quota was small and was soon exhausted, so to buy sugar people went at four or five in the morning, and waited in line till the shop opened at eight; and if you were at the end of the line probably you did not get any. I never attempted it. But my dear Chinese friends sometimes did it for me. I remember one day a Pastor brought me a whole pound of sugar. He and three of his children had waited three or four hours in the dark and cold of a winter morning to get it for me. Sometimes we could get butter, sometimes not, and it was very expensive, over four dollars gold a pound. Sometimes we could get honey or peanut butter. I made marmalade with honey. Meat became difficult to get, especially pork, the meat that the Chinese depend on.
A large departmental store, the Sun Company, had been turned into a food shop, where foods from all over China could be bought. It was very interesting to see them, and the smell extended far beyond the doors. Unfortunately I did not know what to buy, or how to cook them, as of course all descriptions and instructions were in Chinese; and knowledge of Chinese character gleaned from reading the Bible does not prepare one to decipher food advertisements or recipes.
By the end of 1957 there was definite food shortage. It was a struggle to get anything. Morning after morning my housekeeper would be out by five o'clock to stand in line, but often returned empty-handed. Rice and oil were already rationed. There was great heart-searching over the rice, and many meetings. At last the ration was settled at 28 catties a month per person. The small catty used in Shanghai was 1.1 pounds. This was really enough, though none too much for a working man. A few had more. In the country the ration was much less, and it is much less everywhere now than it was then. In some parts they lived almost entirely on sweet potatoes. Peanut oil is a staple in the Chinese diet, it largely takes the place of meat. Vegetables are cooked with it. There was much grumbling when it was rationed at 14 ounces per person, later reduced to 12; but in the country they had only two ounces. Eggs and peanuts and soya beans had all disappeared. Food became so difficult to get, that we were almost relieved when the definite ration was appointed: 4 ounces of sugar a month, 4 ounces of meat once in ten days, and half a catty of fish; mutton and beef were sold only to Moslems who do not eat pork. Bread was not rationed, though flour and macaroni were included in the rice ration. But bread was very difficult to get, only certain shops sold it, and they were always changing, and if you were not on hand when the supply came, you would miss out. The bread became more and more dry and unpleasant, mixed with various dark meals, probably sweet potato flour.
Cotton cloth was also rationed, varying amounts each year, and varying according to places. In Peking, where a good impression must be made on foreign visitors, more was alloyed than in Shanghai, and more in Shanghai than in the country. The last year it was down to about eight yards for the year. Silk and wool were not rationed, but they were very expensive. Wool was about $25.00 or $30.00 a yard. All Chinese wear cotton winter and summer, in winter with cotton wool interlining. They wear many knitted garments, and knitting wool was also very expensive, and sometimes not to be bought. Shops sprang up all over the city where you could take any kind of old woolen yarn and have it carded and re-spun into yarn.
Once the Communists were installed, all the foreigners had to apply for residence permits. There was a long form to fill in, then a period of questioning from the police, then a long wait. Some were granted promptly, for periods of 6 months, a year, or two years. For those of us who waited week after week, extending into months, there was considerable anxiety, especially when stories were circulated of people who, instead of being given a permit, were told to prepare to leave.
I was waiting anxiously for my permit in June 1952 when I received a letter from a friend at home. She knew nothing of my anxiety, but she sent me the reference Prov. 2:2121For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. (Proverbs 2:21) "The upright shall dwell in the land". I am sure the Lord inspired her to send that unusual reference. Soon after, the permit was granted. My permit each time was only for six months, so there was a constantly recurring anxiety. In 1955 there was a most searching examination. Everyone had to fill in two copies of several sheets in English, as well as Chinese, and an enormous card in English. There had to be a detailed personal biography from the age of 12, schools, subjects studied, work done, places of residence, etc., especially everywhere one had been in China. There must also be given the names of ancestors and descendants, and twenty or thirty names, addresses, and occupations of relatives and friends. They were annoyed that I had no living ancestors or descendants, but I pointed out to them that this was hardly possible for an unmarried woman over sixty. Another time it was nine and a half months before the permit was issued, and as it was given that time for a year, and one must begin to apply a month beforehand, not much time was left.
In November 1956 I had the wonderful pleasure of a visit from my brother. He was preparing to leave for Canada, and was very anxious to see me before going. I got forms from the Bureau of Foreign Affairs early in the summer, and sent in an application for two weeks visit. Then we waited, and I could get no information, could never get further than the door boy of the office. At last he gave up hope of a visit, but hoped he would be allowed a stopover on a steamer. He went up to Japan on a boat due to call at Shanghai on the return trip. The very courteous representative in Shanghai promised to do all he could. The boat came in, but was anchored in mid-stream. The agent sent an application for my brother to land. No answer. There seemed very little hope. He warned me the only way might be to go out in a sampan, and drop down past the boat, and so perhaps get a glimpse of him. Next day I waited on with less and less hope. The agent went up to the foreign office. No, we do not think the application can be granted.-Oh well, that is a matter of no importance; my passenger really does hot care.-Well, perhaps he might land for a short visit.-Do not trouble, I really do not want the permit. -You might as well have it; there is the permission; but he must be on board again by 10 P.M.
So at one o'clock my brother appeared in the Book Room and we had nine golden hours together. My niece had stripped herself of shoes and warm clothing for him to bring, as new clothing was not admitted. And my brother left his big woolen pullover, which was an unspeakable comfort the next two winters. There were sweets, and other good things from my sister, a huge package, and no objection to its coming in. We saw a little of the city as we went up to tea with an old friend. The dear Chinese brothers and sisters were gathered at the house, and there was a little time of prayer. But they would not stay, We know you two want to be together, they said. What memories the old house must have brought back to my brother: the friends scattered, the children in homes of their own, the wife, who had been the light and center of all, in Heaven. And that is where his treasure and his heart is, so perhaps the sorrow for the changes in the old home was not too great.
As I have said, there was a certain measure of liberty in 1957. I had a number of visitors, missionaries passing through on their way to or from Japan. I was especially thankful for opportunities to send out messages, some true information about the Church's sufferings, about old friends. In August I had a delightful three day visit from two of our fellow workers in Hong Kong. I was even allowed to go on board the ship with them and have dinner, a marvelous taste of liberty, and a marvelous taste of foreign food. In November my sister and her husband came. Already restrictions were tightening. The boat did not stay so long, and I was not allowed aboard. We had a very happy visit, perhaps happiest of all was the last morning. We had said goodbye, and they were to leave at daylight. But there was delay, and they turned up again at the Book Room, and we had a delightful walk through the People's Park, the former Racecourse.
The following summer they and other friends suggested coming again. But conditions had changed, and everyone warned against it. By the following November I was practically under house arrest. But before that, the Lord gave me a very special message. It was a dream. I thought I was walking along the road, and caught sight of the top of the old house, the red tiled roof and the chimneys just as I often saw it from the lane. But all around it was a glowing silver light. In the light I could distinguish the great shining wings of angels moving unceasingly round the house, and words came to me: They are contending for the privilege of protecting it.
"The Angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them". Ps. 34:7.