"I wasn't God's first choice for what I've done for China. There was somebody else...I don't know who it was - God's first choice. It must have been a man - a wonderful man. A well-educated man. I don't know what happened. Perhaps he died. Perhaps he wasn't willing...And God looked down...and saw Gladys Aylward."There is a school of thought in the church that goes something like this: "When God cannot find a man to do His work, He will raise up a woman." Many believers think this is the reason women are stepping into leadership in the church – God just can’t motivate men to His service. Women are His second choice.
This lie is destructive to both men and women. It’s destructive to men because it implies that most men are spiritually slothful and disobedient. It’s destructive to women because it calls into question the validity of their ministries. I feel sad when women struggle to believe in their God-given destiny. Yet this doubt is common to women in Christian leadership. Even the most noted single woman missionary in modern history, Gladys Aylward, struggled to believe she was God’s first choice for ministry. The above quote was something she wrote to a friend near the end of her life.
Gladys Aylward was born in 1902 into a working-class British family and became a parlor maid at the age of 14. Upon her conversion in her late twenties, she became fascinated with China and felt a longing to be a missionary. But when she applied to China Inland Mission her application was refused. Her age (28) and her poor academic showing were against her. But Gladys was persistent. She began reading and inquiring about China at every opportunity. This brought her into contact with Jeannie Lawson, an elderly widowed missionary who invited Gladys to join her in China. Rail passage through Europe, Russia and Siberia was the cheapest transportation available, so Gladys began to save every penny towards a train ticket to China. Her eventual journey in October 1932 in the midst of a Russian border war with China is the stuff of action movies! Numerous times her life was miraculously spared. She eventually arrived in the Shansi province in northwest China, but her mentor, Jeannie Lawson, died in Gladys’ first year.
Despite this set-back, Gladys quickly adopted Chinese dress and soon mastered the language. Initially she ran an Inn for mule teams that traveled the rural roads. Every evening she told stories from the Bible to the muleteers. Soon God opened other doors of ministry for her that would never have been opened to a man. For instance, she became the “Official Foot Inspector to the Mandarin”, travelling from village to village seeking out women and enforcing a new law which forebade foot binding. She was given wages and provisions, and the Mandarin did not care if she also preached the gospel! Everywhere Gladys travelled, ministry blossomed. She started a school for all the children in the area. She eventually adopted six abandoned children as her own. In 1940 she walked 100 orphans to safety in Sian without food or money, escaping Japanese soldiers. After WWII China was closed to missionaries, so she settled in Hong Kong and founded the famous Hope Mission, and later the Gladys Aylward Orphanage in Taiwan.
This lie is destructive to both men and women. It’s destructive to men because it implies that most men are spiritually slothful and disobedient. It’s destructive to women because it calls into question the validity of their ministries. I feel sad when women struggle to believe in their God-given destiny. Yet this doubt is common to women in Christian leadership. Even the most noted single woman missionary in modern history, Gladys Aylward, struggled to believe she was God’s first choice for ministry. The above quote was something she wrote to a friend near the end of her life.
Gladys Aylward was born in 1902 into a working-class British family and became a parlor maid at the age of 14. Upon her conversion in her late twenties, she became fascinated with China and felt a longing to be a missionary. But when she applied to China Inland Mission her application was refused. Her age (28) and her poor academic showing were against her. But Gladys was persistent. She began reading and inquiring about China at every opportunity. This brought her into contact with Jeannie Lawson, an elderly widowed missionary who invited Gladys to join her in China. Rail passage through Europe, Russia and Siberia was the cheapest transportation available, so Gladys began to save every penny towards a train ticket to China. Her eventual journey in October 1932 in the midst of a Russian border war with China is the stuff of action movies! Numerous times her life was miraculously spared. She eventually arrived in the Shansi province in northwest China, but her mentor, Jeannie Lawson, died in Gladys’ first year.
Despite this set-back, Gladys quickly adopted Chinese dress and soon mastered the language. Initially she ran an Inn for mule teams that traveled the rural roads. Every evening she told stories from the Bible to the muleteers. Soon God opened other doors of ministry for her that would never have been opened to a man. For instance, she became the “Official Foot Inspector to the Mandarin”, travelling from village to village seeking out women and enforcing a new law which forebade foot binding. She was given wages and provisions, and the Mandarin did not care if she also preached the gospel! Everywhere Gladys travelled, ministry blossomed. She started a school for all the children in the area. She eventually adopted six abandoned children as her own. In 1940 she walked 100 orphans to safety in Sian without food or money, escaping Japanese soldiers. After WWII China was closed to missionaries, so she settled in Hong Kong and founded the famous Hope Mission, and later the Gladys Aylward Orphanage in Taiwan.
Yet despite all that God did through her in China, Gladys was doubtful that God really wanted to entrust a woman with the responsibilities He had given her. How tragic that she didn't feel validated in this world. Gladys is now with the Lord and she knows that He fashioned her for His purpose and called her as His first choice, not a substitute.
The story of Gladys Aylward is gripping but too long for this small blog. If you google her name you can read about her adventures.
The story of Gladys Aylward is gripping but too long for this small blog. If you google her name you can read about her adventures.
that is an amazing story. great thoughts about the message we send to both men and women when we believe that God calls men first and women second. It doesn't do either gender any good.
ReplyDeleteAmazing woman - looking forward to meeting her in heaven :)