Even though Anna Bøg raised a goodly sum towards the construction of the new women's station during her 1926-1927 fundraising furlough in America, and even though missionary architect Elise Bahnson had been transferred to Siuyen in 1929, by 1930 work on the new buildings had not yet begun. This was due to the impact of the economic depression in Denmark on the Danish Missionary Society's funding. Instead, Anna Bøg still had a full house in the buildings where she and Elise Bahnson lived in community with some of the Bible Women.
In March 1930, Anna Bøg wrote in the missionary newspaper that because there were new workers coming in and not enough room, on March 1, after 26 years of faithful service, one of the elderly Bible Women, Mrs. Fu, had moved to the home of her son, who was the principal evangelist in Siuyen.
Anna Bøg then referred the reader to a long biographical profile of Mrs. Fu published in a book called China Mission. It is quite a remarkable story, which we present here:
"Fu Tsung Mei was born in Dec. 1863 in Shantung. Before she had attained five years of age, she had lost all three of her sisters.Source:
"Her mother took this so hard that she became an opium smoker, and once when she was alone at home and needed money for opium, she sold the little girl for about ten Kroner [Danish monetary unit] to a very bad home where she was compelled to remain. She was around 11 years old at the time. The occupants of this home both stole and robbed, and subjected Fu to hunger, beatings, insults, and heavy labor that exceeded her strength. Every evening she went out in the yard, looked up to heaven and said, "Are you up there, Celestial Grandfather? If so, please take pity on me." Or else she sighed with resignation and even begged to be allowed to die. Once, in despair, she threw herself in a well, but there was not enough water to drown, and she became afraid of death, so she gave up the idea.
"Finally, her father grasped her situation and had compassion for her, took her and one night fled with the child and her mother to Manchuria, where they wandered for a long time. By then Fu was fourteen years of age and suffered frequent illnesses. Her mother taught her to smoke opium to alleviate the pain. Also, her mother sold her to a bad person for the second time. Sometime thereafter her mother even attempted to sell her again, but this was prevented. . . .
"The third instance came in the form of a situation with a man who was employed at the yamen, Djang. He too was an opium smoker, 40 years old, and he already had a wife. Fu was only 18 years old, and on her wedding day she saw her husband for the first time. Such are the circumstances that paganism bestows on the young women of China!
"She became the No. 2 wife and the No. 1 wife was very harsh toward her. Little by little Fu became very hard. She believed it was not her own fault, and as a result of her sufferings, she entered into a fervent idolatry. But, as she later testified, it did not bring her peace. Her heart was not pure, but haughty and self-righteous. And, while she was always troubled by the fear of the future, her efforts to break her opium habit were unsuccessful. She lived this way until she was 36 years old, a poor slave of idolatry and opium and an outlaw in her home and in her heart.
"But then it was rumored that a teacher had come to China who preached that the Celestial Grandfather had a son, and that anyone who believed in him would go to heaven when he died.
"It was a strange tale, one that both drew and repelled them. But little by little both Fu and her husband became acquainted with a Christian in the town, Medicine Dealer "Y". He gave them Christian books, which Fu laboriously and rather imperfectly tried to inquire into. The two things she found out were that you could be granted what you prayed for, and that a Christian was not to smoke opium. Then she sought to learn to read, and became very disappointed when she could not find the various characters relating to opium, which she thought were a necessity for her.
"But gradually they realized with increasing clarity that they wished to become Christians, and that they had to put away their idols. So, one day, after having prayed for help, Fu destroyed all the idols that they had worshiped for years, and felt that now everything had been put in order. But "Y" told them that the opium too had to be put away, and so began a desperate struggle for both. She had tried so many times in vain, but now God might help her. It said in all the books that he was omnipotent, so if she sought his help, it might work.
"She obtained some pills to take, destroyed their opium pipes, and prayed that God would give them the strength to never smoke opium again. And then they stopped. But twice they borrowed a pipe to smoke just 'this one time'. The third time she went to borrow a pipe, her husband said, 'Now we need to become clear about what we want. If we believe in Jesus and want go to heaven when we die, we must refrain from opium, and we must give up smoking. We cannot go and borrow a pipe every other day.'
"So Fu realized that it was now time to pray in earnest, and for a month they remained in prayer and in dreadful pain, many times feeling as if their insides had been torn out. Not only that, but they were also under a lot of spiritual struggle against Satan, who does not willingly let go of his prey. However, they persevered.
"Following the month of suffering and struggle, they were so exhausted that they had to wait another two months before they were able to travel from the town where they lived, Sutzegow, to the mission station in Siuyen where Fu for the first time spoke with Rev. Olesen and his wife, and they attended a Sunday service. That this was something beyond the ordinary was, of course, immediately quite clear to Rev. Olesen: idols destroyed and opium use abolished. But then it emerged that Fu was the No. 2 wife so it was impossible to baptize them. And how could she leave the man who had fathered her children?
"They went home, but Fu took these words home with her: 'You can do without your husband, but Jesus, you cannot do without.'
"Again and again she asked her husband for her freedom. She said she would go from house to house begging her food if he would just give her freedom, and that if he did not, it would be his fault that they both were lost. But he did not think he could let her face so perilous a life. She then believed there was no hope for her, that she must be lost, and in desperation threw herself passionately on the opium pipe again for several days in succession. But then she got help through a dream, and once again laid down her pipe, which brought her more peace of heart, and began to think that the Lord perhaps would open a way for her.
"This happened in the year 1900, and by then the Boxer Rebellion had reached this region. The Olesens had to flee, and they were left alone with one big question: when they come back, can we be baptized?
"When the Olesens did come back and meet again with Fu and her husband, the desire for baptism was still burning. There was not a day when Fu did not in tears beg God for help, and so it happened at last that her husband one day gave Fu her freedom. He would give her a separate little dwelling there in their yard and give her provisions. She would be quite free and could even decide how much she wanted to help them with their work. Thus an opening was made for baptism.
"On the 10th of November, 1902, Djang was baptized first, and on the 23rd Fu went home to her own little room after three years of strife. It was Rev. Olesen's great joy not only to talk to her but also to see her New Testament, which clearly bore witness to how frequently it was used.
"It then happened that the No. 1 wife saw that while she had been recognized as Djang's proper wife, Fu, who shared the faith with her husband and probably held first place in his heart, had nevertheless left their home. This melted all her resistance to Christianity and she even became fond of Fu. In March 1904 she too was baptized. This is how obedience to God's commandments heals wounds.
"Little by little, Fu's connection with the mission station became ever closer. First, she begged to be allowed to stay a month to delve more deeply into the doctrine. Then, once there, she was so great a help in talking to the women who came to visit at the mission station that she settled there. In the beginning she was supported by her former husband, but since 1908 she has been a Bible Woman, paid in part by the congregation in Siuyen, and in part by the Friends in Hanherred. The latter brings her deep joy. 'I don't deserve it, but how great it is that these friends who have never seen me, think of me and pray for me!"
"Fu is far from strong. It is no wonder that the past has worn on her. But when Fu sits and talks with the Chinese women about their souls, and especially when she talks about her own story, she is something to behold.
"At the end of 1927, the women wrote about their Bible lessons and about Mrs. Fu:
"'Even I myself have often been enriched by these lessons which have given me much good learning, especially from old Mrs. Fu.
"'It has often confounded me how she really has an understanding of God's word. She is old and perhaps a little lackluster and tired after the use of opium in her earlier days and the many years of work, but she is a living Christian who really has something to give. Her experiences during her years of work are many, especially from the period when she was the only Bible Woman and had to go around trying to gain entrance into homes and often had to remain outside closed doors. No one had need of her message. But she stood faithfully by, and many are the hearts here in Siuyen that carry old Mrs. Fu's faithful work locked up inside.'
"These women also related that during a bible lesson when they were told how, at the time of the offertory during the church service at home, there is organ music and quiet devotion while the members of the congregation go up and lay their gifts on the altar, and how deeply this touches everyone, old Mrs. Fu sighed: 'When will we have it that way here?'
"O think of all those in the entire assembly of the congregation of the saved, together in heavenly glory!"
Danish Missionary Society, China Mission, pp. 338-342.
Image:
Photograph of Fu Tsung Mei, from China Mission, p. 339.
All D.M.S. materials used with permission.
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