And Then There was One (Late 1939)

At the end of 1939, architect Elise Bahnson was once again due to return to Denmark on home leave (furlough) as she had done in December, 1932. Meanwhile, although the articles from Siuyen did not speak of it, during the intervening years, Japan had engaged in considerable aggression in the Far East, including attacks on Peking, Shanghai, and Nanking in 1937.

In 1939, the Japanese aggression continued. There were significant border hostilities between Japan/ Manchukuo and the Soviets in Siberia that resulted in a cease-fire signed September 15. Because of the Soviet superiority in this conflict, some war analysts believe the outcome made a significant difference in how World War II developed. That is, the strength of the Soviets made it clear to Japan and Germany that they would not be able to link up their geographic areas of control via Russia. This might have made a difference in the Japanese decision to attack the United States at Pearl Harbor.

There were oblique references to the Japanese-Russian conflicts in the D.M.S. newspaper as it reported on whether Elise Bahnson would be able to make the trip home. In the October 20, 1939, D.M.S. wrote that it was doubtful whether Elise Bahnson and another woman missionary, Katherine Thomsen (who was based in the Manchurian capital city of Hsinking/ Changchun), would be able to travel via Siberia and Russia in early November as planned.

In the issue of November 17, 1939, the D.M.S. reported that it had been arranged for Bahnson, Thomsen, and also woman missionary Petra Nielsen to travel from Harbin on November 1. There was concern about the trip, however, and the article noted, "We will keep this return in our prayers."

Then on November 24, 1939, the D.M.S. reported, "We have received a telegram that the three women missionaries, Misses E. Bahnson, K. Thomsen, and P. Nielsen, can be expected in twelve days. They have departed from Harbin. We can now hope to have them here around November 26." The women must have traveled via the Trans-Siberian Railway, to which there was a connection from Harbin.

The parting between the close friends and collaborators, Anna Bøg and Elise Bahnson, must have been a sad one. And, it would have been even sadder if the two had known that -- except for a very brief time in late 1946 -- they would not see one another again until they retired from the D.M.S. nearly twelve years later. Moreover, as far as we can determine, Rev. and Mrs. Bjergaarde had already left Siuyen by the time Elise Bahnson departed, so at that point Anna Bøg was the only missionary left at the mission station. She would remain so throughout World War II.

Elise Bahnson, Katherine Thomsen, and Petra Nielsen did reach Denmark safely. In an article published in the D.M.S. newspaper on April 19, 1940 -- just 10 days after the German invasion and occupation of Denmark -- Elise Bahnson referred to the trip before giving an account of the work with the women in Siuyen that had gone on after her departure, based on letters she had received from Anna Bøg:

"Three female missionaries sat in Harbin for 11 days, waiting for passports for transit through Russia and Finland. Authorization came, so we departed November 12 from Harbin and arrived by God's will and your intercession safely home just a week before the disturbances began.*

"It was hyggeligt and homey to come in to D.M.S. where everything had been arranged for us so beautifully and conveniently. For this, we owe a big debt of gratitude to the many who so kindly thought of us.

"In the work [in Siuyen] it is good for there to be two working together. When one is on home leave, the other feels the solitude more deeply but it also has the great advantage that there is no discontinuity in the development of the work out there.

"Miss Budtz Christensen from the Danish school in Antung spent 14 days in Siuyen during the Christmas holidays. She flew in,** helped Miss Bøg Madsen, and experienced Christmas at an inland station.

"At the Sunday School Christmas festivities in the church, there were approximately 1,100 to 1,200 children. The Sunday School workers prepared a Christmas cantata for the celebration. There was a fine Christmas snowfall.

"On the morning of the 24th, 34 were baptized, as can be seen in the accompanying picture, and 20 in Sao-tzu-ho.

"Mrs. Shun, who stands holding the Bible, was baptized shortly before I had to leave. She is from a village between Sao-tzu-ho and Chien-shan-yao. During the difficult years, the entire family sought shelter with some relatives in the village of Hung Ch'i 3-4 miles north of Siuyen on the north side of the River Yang. A group of women there received regular instruction once a week for a year.

"Now Mrs. Shun had to go back. During the final days before baptism, she came in to live at the mission station in order to study in peace and be well prepared. In a letter, Miss Bøg Madsen wrote about her, 'Mrs. Shun departed one of the first days. She can now read the first four chapters of St. Mark's Gospel. She says, "When I cannot sleep, I read." She starts at 5:00 in the morning and reads all day until bedtime. She does not see or hear what is going on around her.' It will open up new opportunities for us in her village, when we can work from such a home.

"In the large picture, there are also some rural residents. Mrs. Ch'en, third from the left with the child in her arms, is from Lohr Ch'uän Kou. Her husband has been a Christian for many years.

"Mrs. Chou (No. 1 seated) is the mother of Ch'en Pou En (far right) who is bringing her son to be baptized. Mrs. Li (No. 3 seated) is the mother of Li SSii Ch'üan who is a farmer (No. 3 from the right). All are from Pei-Wa-Kou, 30 kilometers to the northwest.

"Lawyer Chao (in front of the right window), whose wife is a member of the church council and whose daughter is our Bible Woman, Chao Chu Lin, has been a particular pleasure to see among the baptized. His daughter and wife have fought for him in prayer.

"Old Mrs. Feng (second from the right, seated), Reverend Shun's mother-in-law, is a sweet old woman. She spent 1 - 1/2 years in the minister's home, did not advance much, but was always punctual for instruction, could not learn to read but was not difficult to engage in conversation, and walked slowly but willingly forward until she came to baptism. Now she has left her son-in-law to return to kinsmen somewhat north of Peking where none of the others are Christians. -- Reverend Shun will now have his final year at the seminary in Pitsaikou while his wife and children stay in Siuyen.

"It would take too long to tell about them all. Each has his history with his difficulties and his way to the Savior. Newly baptized persons need special intercession so that now after finishing instruction they do not stand still but remain awakened and continue to move forward. They must really take charge of their lives and renew them daily.

"Thank you to any of you who will remember them before the Throne of Grace."

Sources:
Bahnson, Elise; "Vær stille for Herren og vent paa ham!", Dansk Missionsblad; Vol. 107, Nr. 16, April 19, 1940; pp. 206-208.
Christoffersen, Ragnhild; "Noter", Dansk Missionsblad; Vol. 106, Nr. 46, November 17, 1939; p. 689.
Holt, Axel; "Fra Markerne meldes," Dansk Missionsblad, Vol. 106, Nr. 42, October 20, 1939; p. 627.
R., J.; "Noter", Dansk Missionsblad; Vol. 106, Nr. 47, November 24, 1939; p. 704.

Images:
Top: Mrs. Shun from Hung Ch'i. Photograph from the article by Elise Bahnson cited above.
Bottom: New Christians baptized in Siuyen during Christmas 1939, from the same article. We do not know for sure, but we think the man in the back row on the far left might be the Rev. Shun referred to in Elise Bahnson's article and that he performed the baptisms during Christmas, 1939.
All D.M.S. items used with permission.
------------------
*We do not know to which disturbances Elise Bahnson is referring, since she was home a few months before the German invasion and supposedly the Japanese-Russian conflict had ended.
**The Danish phrase used is "kom flyvende derind" ("came flying in there"). We do not know if this was meant literally (i.e. by airplane) or as a figure of speech. Given the limited transportation facilities, it seems rather unlikely -- although not impossible -- that Miss Christensen traveled to Siuyen by airplane.

The Round Mountain Village and the Fox Goddess Cult (Early 1939)

By the 1930s, the city of Siuyen had a population of about 20,000, although there were fluctuations during the famine and the bandit attacks when people came into town by the thousands. The entire Siuyen mission district was comprised of about 3,500 square kilometers of land and had about 180,000 inhabitants.

The travel restrictions referred to in our earlier posts such as Landlocked (Early 1936) were not self-imposed or imposed by the D.M.S. Rather, the Manchukuo government imposed them and the police enforced them. Although by mid-1936 the new motor coach line had made it possible to travel via bus to other towns and to reach the passenger railroad line, the kind of missionary journey to outlying villages described in our post Invited Everywhere (1932) had not been possible for many years.

In early 1939, however, Elise Bahnson, Anna Bøg's collaborator in the work with the women in Suiyen, received governmental permission to make just such a trip in the company of two Bible Women.

Here is Elise Bahnson's account:

"There came the first authorization for foreigners to travel in the country in Siuyen District. None of us had thought it would come so quickly.

"In the month of January there was a big hunt for the bandits to get them rooted out. The result was that the two remaining bandit chieftains along with their some twenty cohorts were either captured or surrendered. It was said in town that there were no more bandits in the District.

"When we held the co-workers' meeting on February 27, the Christian Mrs. Chao came from the 'Round Mountain Village' to invite us out there. The last beating of the bushes to find the bandits had been a very difficult passage. Everyone in the village made offerings to the fox goddess to obtain help. The fox goddess is very much worshipped in Siuyen and its environs. But Mrs. Chao stood firm and would not.

"When the push [for the bandits] was over, and there had been a good outcome, the village people said, 'That woman has something to hold onto'. They came and wanted to hear. Before they had not wanted to listen.

"Since that place was also the native village of the Bible Woman, Miss Chao, we thought there was every reason to go there right away. Our minister, who handles most of the police matters, thought I would receive permission. I too had high hopes. The Bible Woman and I went in and came back beaming, with authorization for a 16-day tour in the country. It was as if a new page had been turned, that we really had permission to move freely in the country.

"Cycling Tour

"The first of March, two Bible Women and I left on our bicycles by way of the Takushan Road. Our things came after us on a little pushcart. They may be driven on the highway, as they have motorbike wheels, so these days there are many of them.

"[We traveled] approximately one and a half Danish miles out along the main road over two [mountain] passes. Below the last was a side road that went alongside a little stream into a valley. This road was not as good as the main highway, with only bridges over the streams in a few places.

"I felt almost as if I had not been in this country all these years because we have not been able to go outside of town. It was almost like being released from prison -- wonderfully glorious.

"In four and a half hours' time, we reached the village. During the last stretch, the road ran out. There were only paths, as usual everywhere before in the old days. There we had to walk our bicycles.

"The Round Mountain Village

"South of a bend in the River Yang is 'The Round Mountain'. The valley goes completely around it on all sides in a circle, and the mountain is quite low. South of the mountain, the village lies midway between a collection of villages.

"This time we did not visit all the villages. Some nine years ago, the Bible Woman Miss Chao's family moved into town, and during those nine years the daughter had not been home. Now she came with light and ardor to give her kinsmen the Gospel and the Savior she herself had come to love and serve.

"It was a joy to follow her on her first country visit in the district to her own native place. Her aunt and uncle were our hosts. They inhabit a 5-room house with side houses. The grounds are divided in two by an invisible center line. The eastern part belongs to her uncle. The west was her old home, now rented to a relative. Her aunts and uncles had also lived in town, had heard the Gospel, and had been baptized. They were now out to invite people to our meeting.

"From the first evening, the kangs were full of women and children, the chests and tables of boys, and the benches of men. So it was every evening during the five evenings we were there. Many heard the Gospel proclaimed for the first time.

"The first day we were out on house visits, an old woman, a zealous Buddhist, was visited. She did not come [to the meetings] the first few days but the last two evenings she came. She wanted to hear her young relative speak. She was not unaffected. She had otherwise said to her sons that those who wanted to be Christians would be disinherited. One of her sons had decided he wanted to be a Christian, he and his house.

"The next day we went on a visit to the 'Mountain Village Behind', a larger village. We went to the home of the Shih family. The 70-year-old woman was born a Chao. The [home had] two wide kangs and two large rooms. The rooms were soon full. There were several who had never heard the Gospel.

"In the audience was a man who made his living as a soothsayer and with continual satanic power misled the local people. That sort is called 'Ta Shen', which is directly translated as 'the great God'. He is gone for and questioned when there is illness, death, or other difficulties.

"He said right out, while the others heard it, 'I know mine is fake -- that is true. I will wait until after the 15th [in the Chinese calendar]. (That day is an important day of offering to the idols.) 'If you believe, then we will follow,' said several. Poor thing! He was trapped. Soon thereafter one of his assistants came and got him as there was no one at his home who sought him.

"A small cluster of houses stood alone. We went in. A schoolteacher came along with the children, and in a moment there was again a great assembly to speak to.

"The evening before the 15th, the Bible Women talked about how at Ephesus they had burned the costly sorcery books.

"That evening, some boys said to their father that they wanted to be Christian. 'Shall we take the idols down?' That evening they did not come down, but neither was there a sacrifice to them in the morning.

"We heard about a second home where the man had taken down the idols. As we talked about it, the woman went over and tore down the god of wealth. He had been glued to the wall right behind me. The man took down the threshold god, and to get [the home] entirely clean, the Bible Woman took down the kitchen god. 'It gives me particular pleasure,' she said, 'to help clean out the rooms where we lived, my old home.

"There was a bundle of joss stocks that the man had recently purchased. It was a little hard to get them under the pot, but they got them there and they were also burned.

"On Sunday (the 15th), the Bible Woman came and said, 'May I go over to my old teacher in the village near here? I have been repeatedly reminded of my old Teacher Wang, now 89 years old. I must go over and see him.' Then she went with a relative and came back radiant. 'As soon as I told him about the true God and Jesus, he was ready to believe. He has now decided that he wants to be a Christian.'

"The next day when we left, I went there to greet him. He was quite clear of mind, could still read, and did so wonderfully. We left a few books and promised him a Bible. He is very poor and alone. His family has relocated to other districts."

There will be more about this trip in next week's post.

Source:
Bahnson, Elise; "Endelig paa Landtur igen"; Dansk Missionsblad; Vol. 106, Nr. 17, April 26, 1939; pp. 249-252. Translation by Marie-Jacqueline.

Image:
Chao home in Round Mountain Village, from the article cited above.
All D.M.S. items used with permission.