![]() ![]() With that challenge to her faith, she walked into the courtyard and shouted: “Quiet! I cannot hear when everyone is shouting at once.” The men quieted and stopped rioting. The warden of the prison said to Gladys, “Go into the yard and stop the rioting.” She said, “How can I do that?” The warden said, “You have been preaching that those who trust in Christ have nothing to fear.” When she arrived, the convicts were rampaging in the prison courtyard, and several of them had been killed. A riot had broken out in the men’s prison. Throughout this time, the locals began to gain respect for the foreigner among them.ĭuring her second year in Yangchen, Gladys was summoned by the Mandarin. As foot inspector, she convinced local villages to stop the practice of binding young girls’ feet and had opportunities to share her faith. When Jeannie died, Gladys took a job as a foot inspector with the Chinese officials to keep the inn running and make ends meet. This gave them the opportunity to share entertaining Bible stories with the locals and gave Gladys an opportunity to learn to speak Chinese. They opened an inn for mule drivers called the Inn of the Sixth Happiness as a way of serving the Chinese. When she arrived, Gladys met up with Jeannie Lawson. When she arrived in the city, she barely escaped being forced to become a Soviet military machine operator. She had almost no food and nearly froze to death. The train left, and she had to walk 30 miles back to the nearest city on a cold, snowy night. Russian solders boarded and Gladys was forced off. She set off on a perilous, overland journey to the inland city of Yangchen, in the mountainous province of Shansi, a little south of Peking where few Europeans visited and the people didn’t trust foreigners.ĭuring the trip through Russia, a Russian conductor started yelling at everyone to get off the train because of a fierce battle ahead. In October 1930, she purchased a ticket on the Trans Siberian Railroad with a passport, Bible and a little over two pounds even though China and Russia were at war. Even with years of saving, Gladys didn’t have enough for ship fare to China, but she did have enough for train fare. Lawson and was accepted if she could get to China. Gladys continued to work and save for four more years when she heard of a 73-year-old missionary, Jeannie Lawson, who was looking for a younger woman to carry on her work. ![]() She saved what money she could from working as a maid and at age 26 to the China Inland Mission Center in London, but was rejected when she failed the examinations. Shortly after that, she read a magazine about how most of China had never heard the Gospel and decided that was where God would have her go. She responded to the altar call and felt called to serve in the mission field. The minister preached about dedicating ours lives to God through service. When Gladys was 18, she attended a revival that changed her life. At age 14, she left school and became a parlor maid. She loved play acting but wasn’t really interested in the things of God. In her early life, there was nothing that showed her future calling. She was the daughter of a mailman and had two younger sister and one younger brother. Gladys was born in Edmonton, London on February 24, 1902. Her faith, tenacity and bold trust in Christ should inspire us all. When the Japanese Imperial Army invaded China and put a bounty on her head, she walked a hundred children to safety over a hundred miles away. When orphans landed on her doorstep, she took them in with no resources to care for them. She went on her own using her life savings to get there. When God called her to China, the missionary society rejected her. Gladys Aylward was humble woman who gave her entire life to serving Jesus Christ in a bold way. ![]()
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