Jonathan Goforth: An Open Door in China by Janet Benge & Geoff Benge

Author:Janet Benge & Geoff Benge [Benge, Janet & Benge, Geoff]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography, History
ISBN: 9781576581742
Google: bMoDAAAACAAJ
Amazon: 1576581748
Barnesnoble: 1576581748
Goodreads: 447033
Publisher: YWAM Publishing
Published: 2000-01-01T11:45:27+00:00

Chapter 9

Ku-Mu-shih

Outside the village the others were waiting on several carts that had been stripped bare of the missionaries’ belongings. On one cart sat Ruth and Mrs. Cheng. And while they all had a joyful reunion, they knew many dangers still lay ahead.

Jonathan lay in the bottom of a cart beside Dr. Leslie, who was groaning with pain. “They took everything,” he whispered hoarsely to Jonathan, “including my doctor’s bag and my bottle of antiseptic. We have to get more from somewhere, or our wounds will become poisoned and gangrene will set in.”

Jonathan lay back, too exhausted to reply.

As the oxcarts moved slowly away, the residents of the village yelled after them. “Good-bye. May God take you safely to your destination.”

The road wound through a few millet fields and onto the next town, Nanyangfu. As soon as they were within a mile of the gate to this town, another huge crowd surged out to meet them. All of China seemed to be in an uproar, and the people were anxious to blame foreigners for all of their troubles. “Kill! Kill! Kill the foreign dogs!” came the cry from the crowd.

By the time the missionaries reached the town gate, the crowd had become very agitated, hurling bricks and rocks at them.

“Quickly, we must find refuge in an inn,” said Mr. McKenzie. “This crowd wants blood.”

He guided the oxen to the left, into the courtyard of the nearest inn. Over a thousand people surged in behind them, making it impossible to shut the gates. Without speaking, the missionaries quickly helped one another inside and bolted the door.

“Come out and show your faces, you dogs!” chanted the mass of people outside the door. The yelling kept up for over an hour, until Jonathan decided that if they did not go out, it would be only a matter of time before the crowd came in to get them.

“If we open the door, perhaps it will give one of the cart owners a chance to leave by the back way with a message for the town official pleading for him to give us safe passage through his town,” said Dr. Leslie.

Everyone agreed this was a good plan, and so one of the cart owners was chosen to slip out the back door while the missionaries unbolted the front door and confronted the crowd. One by one the missionaries stepped outside and inched along the veranda with their backs to the wall. A fresh volley of insults rose from the crowd, but no one moved to attack. Jonathan and his family, along with the others, stood shoulder to shoulder facing the crowd until nightfall. It was a strange experience. It seemed that everyone wanted them dead, but no one wanted to take the first step towards killing them. Once darkness had fallen, the crowd drifted away, and the missionaries were able to go back inside. Jonathan flopped down on the k’ang; standing for such a long time had tested his physical endurance to the limit.

About an hour later, the cart owner knocked quietly on the back door and was let inside.

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