“I cannot say, only put yourself at the Lord’s disposal, and He will guide you.”
While she stayed in the CIM guest house in Shanghai, Florence learned news of what was happening in the world. In June 1894 Chinese and Japanese troops had both landed in Korea. The Chinese had dominated the Korean peninsula since the seventeenth century, and now the Japanese wanted to take it over. The Japanese seemed to have the upper hand, and antiforeign hostilities were building again in China. Over her time in China, Florence had grown attached to the Chinese people, and she hated to think of leaving the country at such a needy time, but Hudson Taylor had told her he felt it was right that she should go.
It was not until Florence was aboard the SS Airlie, the same vessel that had brought her to China, that she realized just how exhausted she was. Florence enjoyed quiet talks with Captain Ellis, who was once again in command of the ship, and Bible studies with Anne Bavin, who was returning to Australia on the same vessel. Florence celebrated her thirty-eighth birthday quietly as the Airlie steamed down the east coast of Australia.
In Brisbane, Florence disembarked and was greeted by her sister Emily and various nieces and nephews. She marveled at how much the younger children had grown in the three years she had been away. From Brisbane Florence went straight back to Fairymead to see her brothers and their growing families.
When she had caught up with all of her family members, Florence turned her attention to the Queensland Kanaka Mission. Now that there was no end in sight to the flow of Kanaka workers coming into Australia, Florence paid more attention to the way the mission was organized. She appointed a Council of Advice to help run the organization and worked hard at attracting more missionaries to come and work in Queensland.
Although it was a difficult task, Florence was determined to see the mission flourish, and in January 1895 a middle-aged couple and another single woman came to join the work. This freed Florence up for the one thing she needed more than anything else—rest.
Emily arranged for her, Florence, Anne Bavin, and Horace to visit New Zealand. Their first port of call was Stewart Island, the southernmost island of New Zealand. Emily’s son Samuel and his wife had set up a farm there, and it was just the place Florence needed to be.
It was a glorious summer, and Samuel took the party out on his yacht. As they explored the wild, deserted coves and bays of the island, Florence began to relax for the first time in years. She wandered along paths through the dense forest, stopping to admire the native tree ferns, or pungas, as the Maoris called them. The damp, quiet forests and memories of her childhood at Erme Dale soothed Florence’s nerves.
One week went by, and then another, until a whole month had passed before Florence and Anne felt ready to continue their travels, accompanied by Emily and Horace. Their plan was to hold missionary meetings in various towns at the southern end of South Island. It was a discouraging task, as minister after minister told them that there was no interest in missions at the moment. Florence went right ahead with the meetings anyway.
Their first stop was Invercargill, where a small hall was available. The hall seated three hundred people, which the local minister told them was many more people than they could realistically expect to attract. Emily, though, had other ideas. She asked if something bigger was available and was told about the town theater, which seated fifteen hundred people and cost four guineas a night to hire.
“Engage the theater,” Emily instructed. “Advertise free seats and no collection, and then we’ll start praying.”
And pray they did. On the night of the meeting, Florence and Anne walked to the theater. As they entered it, they were shocked. The place was packed to the doors. There wasn’t even any more standing room.
Florence gasped. “There must be two thousand people packed in here. What are we going to do, Anne? How are we supposed to talk to all these people? I have never talked to this many people in my life. I don’t think I can do it.”
“Nor do I,” Anne replied shakily. “I had no idea it would be like this.”
Just then Emily walked up behind them. “Come on,” she encouraged them. “We prayed that God would create an interest in missions in Invercargill, and He has. We need to be grateful, not afraid that so many people have turned up. When you open your mouth, God will give you the words to speak. Come on, let’s get you both dressed in your Chinese attire.”
Florence nodded. Of course this was a wonderful opportunity, and her sister was right. It would be a sin not to use it to its fullest advantage.
Anne spoke first, telling about the life of a missionary in China, the obstacles of daily living, including the complex language, and the antiforeign sentiments. Then it was Florence’s turn to speak. She spoke on the history of the China Inland Mission and the life of Hudson Taylor. When the meeting was over, the audience clapped for the two women and rose to their feet. Florence was delighted to hear that there were many new faces at Invercargill churches on Sunday and that many people wanted to learn more about how to support missionaries.
Their next meeting was at Winton. The Presbyterian minister there had helped to arrange things for the duo, including providing the hall for the meeting. When Florence and Anne arrived in town, the minister’s wife tried to prepare them for the small audiences she expected would turn up.
“I hate to say this,” she said, “but our people never come out to missionary meetings, and it has been very short notice. The country people don’t even know it’s on.”
That afternoon Florence, Horace, and Emily walked around to look at the hall. The janitor let them in. The hall had a platform with a row of ten chairs facing it.
“Where are the rest of the seats?” Emily asked.
“Oh,” the janitor replied, “there’s plenty here. But you won’t want any more.”
“But where are they?” Emily persisted.
“Under the platform,” the janitor said.
“Well, get them out,” Florence heard her sister say. “Every one of them.”
The janitor muttered something about silly women, but he got down on his hands and knees and started pulling folding chairs out from under the platform. Dust flew everywhere.
“Make sure they are all cleaned and set out,” Emily said. “We’ve paid for the hall already, and that includes seating.”
“All right,” the man said. “Everything will be done by tonight. Though I don’t know what for.”
That night Florence and the others walked back to the hall. The Presbyterian minister’s wife came with them. Florence saw two women entering the hall and heard the minister’s wife give a sigh of relief. “At least someone will be there,” she said.
But a surprise awaited them inside. For a second time in a week, a hall was filled to overflowing with people wanting to hear Florence and Anne speak. The crowd sat in silence as Anne and then Florence talked about their lives as missionaries in China.
These two meetings set the tone for the rest of the missionary tour, in which the two women spoke to over seventy meetings during the next three months.
Despite the heavy schedule, Florence returned to Fairymead feeling rested and ready to help with the work of the Queensland Kanaka Mission. By now the mission had five workers. Florence’s niece Kathleen worked at Fairymead, Arthur Eustace and his wife were at the Kalkie plantation, and James McKenzie and his wife worked in North Bundaberg.
The work was helped along by the visit of William Lindsay in 1896. William was the editor of the China Inland Missions newsletter, and he stopped in to see how Florence’s work was going. While he was there, he helped her to write a newsletter for the Queensland Kanaka Mission. Florence did not know what to call the newsletter until she attended a funeral for one of the Kanaka men.
The man’s name was David, and he came from the island of Aoba. While Florence had been in New Zealand, David had become so ill that the overseer recommended he be sent home to die. He was put on a ship at Bundaberg, but the vessel sailed into a hurricane. As ill as he was, David gathered the other Kanaka passengers on board and prayed for everyone’s safety. The hurricane passed, but the ship was damaged and had to return to Bundaberg. By now, David had changed his mind about going back to the islands. “Me like to be planted along Fairymead,” he said. So Kathleen Deck had taken him in and nursed him until he died.
At the funeral Kathleen told how David looked forward to being with Jesus. He often said, “By-and-by me see Jesus, me thank Him plenty.”
Then as Florence and the small group gathered around the open grave, James McKenzie read the verse, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58).
The words “not in vain” echoed in Florence’s mind. She decided the phrase should be the name of the mission’s new newsletter.
Later in the year, Florence gathered in the North Bundaberg Hall with two hundred Kanaka men. The service was like any other Sunday morning service. The worshipers sang several hymns, and some of the men prayed aloud before the preacher stood to deliver the morning message. After the message, they all ate lunch together, and then the service reconvened on the bank of a nearby river. Florence’s heart throbbed with delight. One hundred fifteen Kanaka men were about to be baptized. As the last bars of the hymn “I’m Not Ashamed to Own My Lord” died away, one man after the other filed into the clear water of the river to be baptized. It was a joyous day for all involved in the Queensland Kanaka Mission.
Following the baptismal service, Florence marveled at how things were going. The mission was functioning well, and they were seeing results. Florence had accomplished what she had set out to do, and she began to wonder what she should do next.
Chapter 9
An-ren
By 1897 Florence felt the now familiar pull in two directions. To the sadness of Florence and the whole Queensland Kanaka Mission, James McKenzie had drowned, and though still committed to the mission, Kathleen Deck had endured a physical breakdown. Still, the work among the Kanakas was going well, and Walter Fricke, a new worker, was appointed superintendent under the direction of Florence’s brother Ernest and the Council of Advice. At the same time, Florence kept in touch with many of the China Inland Mission missionaries and learned that the need for workers in China was greater than ever.
After much soul searching, Florence decided that she should return to China. She left Sydney just after her forty-first birthday in October 1897. When Florence arrived in China, she was appointed to lead the eight-year-old mission station at An-ren, the first in a chain of mission stations on the Kuang-sin River. The mission station consisted of forty-eight church members and two outstations.
Two other single women missionaries, Christine Muldoon and Emma Forsberg, greeted Florence when she finally arrived at An-ren. At first Florence felt very out of place. She had been away from China for three years and in that time had forgotten much of her Mandarin. Not that it mattered, she realized. The local people spoke such a strange variation of Mandarin that she barely understood a word of what they said. Even the Chinese evangelist, Iao, who came from another district, was often misunderstood, and he had been living in An-ren for the entire eight years the mission station had been there. All of this was discouraging to Florence, but she tried as hard as she could and prayed that God would help the people to understand her.
Once in An-ren Florence seldom had a quiet moment. A busy street edged right up to the mission house, and shouting and bartering took place outside from dawn to dusk.
Soon after her arrival, Florence received a letter from Mr. Orr-Ewing authorizing the mission to buy an adjoining plot of land and build a large house on it. One of the church members, Mr. Wang, was put in charge of building a large stone wall around the new property, and Florence was given the money to pay the various workmen that would be required.
