A Missionary Childhood in war-torn China
By Faith Cook
Banner of Truth. 118 pages. £5.95
0 85151 878 8
'Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me' (Matthew 10.37). What did Jesus mean?
Does this teaching justify parents being separated from their children, sometimes for many years, for the sake of world evangelisation? E.g. in 1870 Hudson and Maria Taylor of the China Inland Mission sent their young children back to England (aged three, eight and nine; they kept just the youngest, aged 18 months). Maria died the following year. Hudson returned to Britain, remarried, and Jennie bore him two children. In 1876, Hudson left Jennie and the six children in Britain and returned to China. He was away for 15 months. When he returned to his family, Jennie in her turn left for China. It would be two-and-a-half years before she saw her own toddlers or her four step children again. Such 'sacrifices' have often been viewed as heroic. But what did such 'sacrifice' mean for the children involved? We rarely hear their side of the story.
In this book, Faith Cook gives a first-hand account of what it was like to have parents who were utterly devoted to mission. Stanley and Norah Rowe served with the China Inland Mission. Faith spent much of her childhood and youth in boarding schools. Moreover, the war between China and Japan, and then the Communist takeover of China, meant a terrifying series of escapes and dramatic journeys. Some of the staff at the missionary boarding schools were unsympathetic and cruel. When tragedy struck, all too often there was a simplistic and triumphalistic attitude that disallowed proper grieving. But the story is wonderfully free of bitterness, and the warm and human side of Faith's childhood and youth is also given.
So what did Jesus mean when he said 'anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me'? Surely, in the context of impending persecution, he was urging his followers not to allow family ties to stop them becoming disciples. Elsewhere the Bible teaches that we are to be faithful to our family responsibilities (1 Timothy 5.8). This book is strongly recommended as a salutary reminder that we should not uncritically accept everything in the early modern mission movement. But it is also written in a truly Christian spirit. While there was much in her childhood to cause deep damage and great hurt, the author shows that 'in Christ' there can be healing. It can therefore be recommended to others who have suffered as children, and who have struggled to come to terms with their experience.
