![]() ![]() ![]() The words of Matthew 19 verse 6 sum this up: “Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”Īs we all know, China is still a hostile country towards followers of Jesus. How many times has God called us to do something for him and we have said “No, it is too hard!” or “What about the practicalities?”? God will provide as he did for Gladys. She was just like one of us and yet God chose her for his work, the very fact that she recognised this calling and did not ignore it. I think that the reason I love Gladys’ Story is that she is relatable. I am amazed at this woman’s courage and love for these children, they saw it too as many of them developed a faith in Christ. A decision had to be made, they could not stay in Yangcheng so Gladys took it upon herself to lead over 100 orphans to safety over the mountains. Gladys helped as much as she could in binding the wounds and splinting broken bones. YangCheng was bombed, and the place destroyed. The most striking thing that I love about Gladys’ story happens in 1938 when the Japanese had invaded China. God worked through Gladys as she helped orphan children find homes and even adopted a few herself and she risked her life many times to help those in need spiritually and physically. ![]() God’s providence was even shown! She had been praying for some sort of income for herself, so she toured the countryside enforcing the new laws made by the government but faced much resistance. Soon an official came to visit her and offered her a job to prevent this horrible act and she would be paid. ![]() Gladys became familiar with the act of foot-binding in China, girl’s feet were bound when they were young to prevent growth so that they were ‘beautiful’. She stood no nonsense and soon had Gladys up cleaning floors, tidying rooms and readying for local visitors. The people of the village were less welcoming, calling her a “foreign devil” but Mrs Lawson was well used to this, having been in China for seventy years. It was to become The Inn of the Eight Happinesses based on eight virtues: Love, Virtue, Gentleness, Tolerance, Loyalty, Truth, Beauty, and Devotion. When she eventually got there, the old worn buildings of her new home welcomed her with open doors. When she arrived in Tsechow, the woman she was supposed to meet, Jeannie Lawson, wasn’t there so she had to travel to Yangcheng on a donkey, without knowing a word of Chinese! Even in the tiredness from her journey, she was determined to reach Mrs Lawson thinking, if Jesus could travel on a donkey to Jerusalem then she could travel to Yangcheng. I find this an amazing act of selflessness that shows how much God can do in us. She spent her life savings on a train to Tsechow, think of all the things she could have done with this money, but she chose to spend them on God’s work. Gladys was just a normal woman, a parlour maid in fact, and yet God chose her as a leader of some of his people and an ambassador for Christ. I have found great inspiration from her amazing story which has been told through several books and a movie called The Inn of the Sixth Happiness. Let me take you back in time and across the world to China, in the 1930’s where Gladys Aylward was sent by God to do the magnificent. ![]()
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