Old Mrs. Hsin and Old Mrs. Liu (1928)

Back at work with the women in Siuyen after her fundraising furlough, in October, 1928, Anna Bøg wrote these touching stories about two older Chinese Christian women whose lives were closely connected to stone -- one to the brick bed-stove (kang) to which she was confined by paralysis and the other to the river rocks on which she laundered for a living. But, these women had found their "stone of help". (I Sam. 7:12.) One had been baptized four years previously. The other was preparing for baptism. The Danish Missionary Society published these stories about the work in Manchuria in its missionary newspaper.

Mrs. Hsin

“Every Saturday morning we take turns visiting the elderly Mrs. Hsin, who lives out in North-town. The family consists of only four members, Mr. and Mrs. Hsin and their son and daughter-in-law. The old Mrs. Hsin has only been a Christian for four years. Both father and son are businessmen. Regrettably, the young woman has no children, which is the home’s great sorrow. After she has been married for fifteen years, there is no other way than that the son takes himself another wife. The father forces him to do so. The young woman is unhappy, and the Christian mother is very worried . . .

“Two years ago the old Mrs. Hsin became paralyzed on the left side, and is thus tied to her kang. It is no wonder that she looks forward to the Saturday morning visits. When we enter her room, she is radiant, exclaiming, ‘No, it's you coming today. I had hoped you would come.’ Then she spreads a small blanket on the kang, and we sit besides her, telling her news from the congregation and our work. Often, she says, ‘How I yearn to go to church. When I close my eyes I can see all of you sitting in church for the Sunday service.’

“We do not sit there long before the old woman takes out her big New Testament and reading glasses so that we can read God's word together. Yesterday, she said, ‘The other day, I read a verse that made me so happy but now I cannot find it again.’ I helped her to find the location, it was 1 Cor. 10:13:

“'No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.'

“After we had had read it, she said, 'Daughter in law! Listen, this is for you. He will provide a way of escape for you, standing right here, for God is faithful. We will read it again when they are gone.’ Often, she says, ‘How I yearn to go home to heaven, but I am sorry that I have not borne any fruit, and when I go away, who will strengthen the small, newborn faith in my son's wife.’

“[This] old Mother . . . was 60 years old when she was baptized. Before that time she could not read. Her preparation for baptism took three years. At home, there is sickness and affliction. She is tied to the kang and sits and reads the holy Book. The Holy Ghost sheds light on the words so she understands what she reads. She reflects and gets food for her hungry soul, and strength to help someone who is weaker than she.

"Another day she said, ‘When I read everything Paul has had to suffer for the Gospel, I become afraid.’ She is a struggling child of God, surrounded by paganism. But this she has found out -- that God is faithful."

Mrs. Liu

"On a very cold windy winter day . . . I met the old washerwoman Mrs. Liu in the street. She has an enlarged thyroid gland on her neck as big as a person's head. It bothers her a great deal and that day it was exposed to the powerful cold. When I saw her, it was as if I heard a still, small voice say to me: ‘You see the old washerwoman. She has had hardships her entire life but you can help her to obtain eternal riches.’ She began to read the Catechism, and it emerged that she was a very quick learner. When it happened that she forgot some of the characters, she would run to her neighbor woman. There was also a schoolgirl who could help her. Sunday mornings she wraps up her catechism in a square piece of white cloth, puts on a clean, starched, blue linen coat and comes to church. She has memorized the Ten Commandments, the Creed and the Our Father. Every Tuesday when she comes to baptism preparation, I hear them. Now she has attained a large part of Bible history. Of those who are being prepared, she is the one I am most pleased to work with, because she is receptive.

"She does not use the washing rooms of the wealthy, where the water comes to the washer, where there is abundant soap and soda and there will be a cup of good hot morning coffee and a well-cooked lunch. Rather, she first rubs on a coat of ash lye, then bears her laundry down to the river where the great boulders are her washing board, and where she has clear, running water. No wonder that during the busy summer she often has holes in her fingers. Her pleasant face and loving smile have often gladdened me. Although she has not yet been baptized, she testifies about her Savior to the long line of women who throughout the summer spend the entire day by the riverside, washing on the unforgiving stones."

Source:
Bøg Madsen, Anna; “Fra en Kvindemissionærs Oplevelser i en afsides chinesisk Bjergdal”; Dansk Missionsblad; Vol. 95, No. 47; Nov. 21, 1928; pp. 734-735.

Image:
Granite baptismal font at Siuyen church after the reconstruction in 1938, from D.M.S., Guds Kirke Bygges (Copenhagen, 1941), pp. 52-53.

All D.M.S. items used with permission.