An Incredible Journey From Housemaid To Heroine

An Incredible Journey From Housemaid To Heroine

What happens when God captures the heart of an uneducated British parlor maid?

GLADYS AYLWARD was a mailman’s daughter born near London in 1902. While working as a housemaid, she was converted to Christ at the age of eighteen. Immediately she set her heart on being a missionary to China. After being rejected by the China Inland Mission because she did not meet their educational standards, Gladys determined that she would go to China on her own and started saving almost all of her modest wages. Then in 1930 she heard of a seventy-three-year-old missionary in China, Jeannie Lawson, who was looking for an assistant. Immediately Gladys wrote, offering Miss Lawson her services. Finally the reply came that if Gladys could reach Tientsin (present-day Tianjin) on the coast of China, the missionary would take care of her from that point on.

On October 15, 1932, a small group of friends gathered in the Liverpool Street Station to see Gladys Aylward off to China. She traveled by train and boat to the Hague. From there she took the trans-Siberian train in spite of the danger as Russia and China were at war. At one point she was nearly detained in Russia, but she was eventually able to get to Tientsin. From there she finally joined Jeannie Lawson in the city of Yangcheng in the remote Shansi Province of northwest China. There the two women opened an inn. After Jeannie Lawson died, Gladys continued to operate it herself, entertaining her guests in the evenings by telling them Bible stories.

Gladys gained the trust of the mandarin of her city, who appointed her as the foot inspector to enforce Chiang Kai-shek’s edict against binding the feet of young girls. She asked for permission to share her faith as she traveled doing her inspections, and it was granted. As a result, she had an open door to share the gospel with Chinese women. In 1936 Gladys became a citizen of China in order to identify herself even more with the people.

The late 1930s in China were chaotic as the Nationalist government fought the Communists and the Japanese. In the midst of the chaos Gladys was touched by the plight of the orphans and unwanted children and took in five of them.

In 1938 Japanese bombing raids began, the first one damaging Gladys’s inn. With the Japanese army approaching, she set out for a remote mountain village with her five children, accompanied by forty of her converts. She had been to that village previously as the foot inspector and so was well received. There they took up residence in a large cave.

By 1940 Gladys had taken responsibility for nearly one hundred children—the majority of them war orphans. Realizing that she must lead them to safety, Gladys embarked on a 240-mile journey to Xi’an, the capital of the neighboring province, with her children. The trip was a harrowing experience as the Japanese soldiers were never far behind. Moving undetected with nearly one hundred children in tow placed an incredible strain on Gladys. When at last they reached their destination, Gladys collapsed both mentally and physically, suffering hallucinations and mental confusion. Fortunately, with time she fully recovered.

After being away nearly twenty years, Gladys was finally persuaded to visit England in 1949. There she won the hearts of the English people with her story of heroism and sacrifice, even dining with Queen Elizabeth. From her incredible adventures, Hollywood made the movie The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, starring Ingrid Bergman.

And it all began with a young English housemaid’s putting her trust in Jesus.

Reflection

The story of Gladys Aylward should encourage all of us. Her main character qualities were that she desperately wanted God to use her and that she was determined not to let any obstacle stand in her way. How do you think God wants to use you? How can you overcome the obstacles in your life?

Jesus prayed this prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding the truth from those who think themselves so wise and clever, and for revealing it to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way!”

Matthew 11:25-26