Emma Whittemore

Used to the glitz and glamour of the social scene in late 19^th century New York City, Emma Whittemore had it all.  With her husband Sidney, she enjoyed all that wealth had to offer.

One day, a friend persuaded her to attend a meeting to hear an evangelist at the local YMCA.  Unbeknownst to her, a separate friend had persuaded her husband to attend the same meeting.  Both were deeply convicted by the message, and both went forward to, in her words, make “firm resolutions to live a different life.”  They then returned home to pray and determine what that commitment meant.

Emma’s friend called on her again to see if she would be willing to accompany her to hear a man named Jerry McAuley.  Jerry, an ex-con and reformed alcoholic, had opened the nation’s first mission to the homeless, Water Street Mission.  They first resisted, but then agreed to go, “just this once.”  Emma spoke often of that first evening at the mission.  They heard cursing, saw fighting in the open, and saw clawing women dragged away to the police station.  The sights, sounds, and smells were something her refined self had never experienced. 

Walking into the meeting, Emma and Sidney whispered condescending words to each other about the people they were gathered with.  Their haughty attitude changed, however, when Jerry finished preaching and opened the floor for testimonies.  One after another, slum tenants stood up and praised God for deliverance from addiction, strength amidst temptation, and daily deliverance from sin. 

Astonished, both Emma and Sidney’s hearts sank in shame at the thought of their own pride.  They noticed a genuineness among the people – truly transformed lives – and not the veneer they knew they possessed.  Emma later wrote of her life prior to this meeting as a “useless life.”  Sidney stood weeping, covering his face with his hands in shame, and asked for prayer.  Jerry called him up to the front, and Emma followed.  Spontaneously, a group surrounded them, as Emma later wrote, “a drunkard, a thief, and a tramp on my husband’s side, and on my side one or two poor women…” and the drunkard led them in prayer for the couple.

Emma wrote of that night, “From that night I date the giving up of a worldly life.”  Their “just this once” trip to the mission turned into the first of many visits.  Jerry’s wife Maria mentored Emma, showing her how to minister to poor women and how to give her testimony.  Emma’s heart broke for the horrors she saw among the street women but she continually prayed, asking God for strength to continue.  He provided it.

Emma opened her first home for fallen girls on October 25^th, 1890.  She gave it the name “Door of Hope.”  Emma felt God was leading her to trust in Him alone for provision, so she never held a fund-raiser and never voiced a need.  Day by day, sometimes hour by hour, God provided.  Funds came in, just in time, time after time to meet the needs of Door of Hope.

Within four years, Door of Hope had helped 325 girls.  Emma’s primary concern was always that they would know the power of Christ in their lives.  As she put it, she could take them out of the dens of vice, “but only Jesus can get the vice out of the girls.”  Her second goal was to turn these women into evangelists, active in their efforts to share with others.

Door of Hope went international.  When Emma died in 1931, there were at least 97 homes around the world, in the US, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, Africa, Japan, and China.  The great evangelist Wilbur Chapman said of her, “She has probably been instrumental in saving more fallen women than any other one person.”

https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/emma-whittemore-and-door-of-hope-11630627.html

Gladys Aylward

Gladys Aylward

Born north of London in 1902, Gladys Aylward left school at the age of fourteen, working as a parlor maid in the homes of London’s wealthy class.  Raised in a Christian home, she nevertheless allowed herself to be taken in by the seduction of wealth via her work.

In her mid-twenties, she went to a revival meeting and recommitted her life to Christ.  She became very active in sharing her faith.  Learning about missions work in China, she felt very convicted to go.  Gladys was accepted to training with China Inland Mission in 1929, despite her lack of education.  She excelled in the practical work, but failed the classroom work – having a very tough time with the Chinese language.  Her classroom failures resulted in her being dropped from consideration for the organization.

Undeterred, she went back to work as a maid, planning to get all the expenses to pay for herself to go to China within three years and secured the patronage of a lady missionary already on the field.  Her frugality and prayers resulted in earning all she needed in less than a year.  Traveling by train through Siberian Russia into China, at a time of war between the two countries, the trip itself was fraught with adventure and danger, including being detained by Russian authorities and having to covertly enlist the aid of the British Consulate to smuggle her into China.

Her initial job was taking care of mules.  Her mentor had set up an inn and a mule stop for travelers.  The provided a place to sleep, food to eat, and care for the animals.  In this context, Gladys became very fluent in Chinese and used the opportunity to witness to many travelers, and won many to Faith.

After her mentor passed away, Gladys was offered a job by the Chinese government as a foot inspector.  The government of China had recently outlawed the practice of “foot-binding” – tightly binding the feet of young girls to change the size and shape of their feet as they grew.  Gladys had the authority of the government to go into homes and check on the feet of these girls.  This opened many doors to many families who otherwise would have never in their lives met a Christian, let alone an evangelist.  The Gospel was shared hundreds of times in this context, and many more were won to faith.

In her time there, at one point the local leader instructed her to intervene in a prison riot.  At 4’ 10” tall she was hardly an imposing figure, but the leader had heard her speak that a Christian had nothing to fear and directed her to walk into the prison and stop the riot.  Stepping in the midst of the angry mob she shouted, “I cannot hear when everyone is shouting at once!  Choose someone to be your spokesman and send him to me!”  The designated person told her of overcrowding, lack of food, and a hopelessness among the inmates.  Gladys promised to advocate for reforms and oversaw changes that brought in regular food.  She arranged for looms and a grindstone for grain so that the prisoners could be productive and useful in their incarceration.

In 1936, she saw a woman and a young girl begging by the road.  The young girl had sores and was obviously malnourished.  Speaking to them, she became certain that the child did not belong to the woman but was there as a ‘prop’ to aid in begging.  Gladys purchased the child for a small amount of money – this child becoming the first of over 100 children rescued by Gladys in the next two years.

In the Spring of 1938, Japanese bombs began to fall on the city.  She initially tried to stay but as the fighting got closer to the city, Gladys knew she had to leave with her children.  The Japanese had blocked the main roads leading into and out of the city, so she had to take her over 100 children over treacherous mountain paths.  Their food ran out, but that 12-day journey was rife with God’s blessings.  One night, a Buddhist priest hid them in his temple while they slept.  Another night, a group of Chinese soldiers came across them – providing them with food and guarding them while they slept the night.

Gladys had hoped to find boats waiting to help them cross the Yellow River, but when they arrived all the boats were gone.  Broken, Gladys broke down and wept until some of the children approached her and asked why they couldn’t ask God to part the sea for them as He did for the Israelites.  Admonished, Gladys called the children to her and they prayed and sang hymns.  Hearing the music, a Chinese officer found his way to them and was able to arrange for some military boats to transport them across the river to safety.  When the children had reached the safe haven, Gladys collapsed.  Taken into medical care, it was discovered she had Typhus. 

Gladys Aylward took many months to recover.  Greatly weakened, she was flown back to London where she took many opportunities to speak about the need for the Gospel in China.  After the war, she returned to China.

When the Communists took over and expelled Christian missionaries, Gladys moved to Taiwan and established in orphanage, taking in abandoned children.  She died in 1970 and is buried in Taipei.

The story of Gladys Aylward is captivating, and it was while she was still alive.  In 1957, a biography about her was published, entitled The Small Woman.  The book became the impetus for a 1958 movie called The Inn of the Sixth Happiness starring Ingrid Bergman in Gladys’ role.  When Newsweek magazine reviewed the movie and summarized the plot a reader wrote in, believing the story to be fiction, to say, “In order for a movie to be good, the story should be believable!”

Gladys Aylward appeared to be an unlikely candidate for mission work, but God chose her and gave her great determination to do the work.

 

https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/missionary-gladys-aylward

http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/73.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladys_Aylward