Gladys takes the piece of paper, unfolds it, and starts to read. “Reward,” it says, “Any person who gives information that leads to the capture (dead or alive) of the below-mentioned people will receive a one hundred dollar reward from the Japanese High Command.”
Then there are three names. The first two are Chinese leaders in the area. Gladys knows them well. The third name on the list is hers. Gladys is wanted by the Japanese. They are offering a reward to anyone who will turn her in. The soldier who gave Gladys the wanted poster tells her that these posters are all over the nearby town of Tsechow. Gladys needs to leave, and she needs to leave soon.
But what will she do with all the children?
It seems a long time ago now that Yangcheng was bombed and Gladys and the other inhabitants of the town were forced to flee from the oncoming Japanese forces.
At the time of the evacuation, Gladys is given responsibility for a group of forty people. She takes them to a small village far up in the mountains, where she is convinced they’ll be safe from the invading Japanese army.
Word of Gladys’s whereabouts quickly spreads among the Chinese community and people begin to flock to her, knowing that she will show them genuine love and care. Before the war began, Gladys developed a reputation. The people of Yangcheng gave her a nickname—Ai-weh-deh—or “the virtuous one”—and it stuck.
Now Ai-weh-deh shows kindness to everyone, especially children who have been orphaned or abandoned by their families. She goes from caring for the five children she has adopted to providing care for almost 200 children. It becomes more and more difficult to keep them safe, fed, and clothed. And it’s a dark time. Gladys is surrounded by want, suffering, and death.
But in the midst of the darkness of war, Gladys experiences an unexpected blessing.
The Mandarin—the Chinese ruler of Gladys’s area and the man who appointed her as the foot inspector—summons her to a feast. At the feast, he honors her for all the contributions she has made to the community, then he makes a proclamation that shocks everyone in attendance.
The Mandarin publicly announces his intention to become a Christian.
Gladys is overwhelmed. It has been slow work—sharing the gospel with people who have never even heard of Jesus—but this pronouncement from the Mandarin is just another testament to the fact that God’s truth is slowly doing its work. There is a growing group of Chinese believers, in large part because of Gladys’s faithful ministry.
When Gladys learns that there are orphanages in the next province that will house and feed the children under her care, she knows she needs to find a way to get them there.
One of the Christian men in Yangcheng offers to transport the children to the next province. He will take the children one hundred at a time. The first trip is not easy, but it is successful. He and the children make it safely to the orphanage and he begins his return trip alone. Tragically, on his way back, he is attacked and killed by Japanese soldiers.
Gladys still has ninety-four children in Yangcheng as Japanese forces continue to close in. Then bad news gets worse when Gladys learns that the Japanese military commanders are offering a ransom for her capture. For her own safety and the good of the children, she knows she can wait no longer.
Early one morning, Gladys wakes the children and tells them it’s time to leave. They travel light. There is a bedroll for each child and enough food for two days. That’s all they have.
The trip will surely take at least two weeks, but Gladys hopes and prays that they will find food and shelter in friendly villages along the way. It’s a hard trip for all of them. The children are hungry and tired and their shoes wear out quickly on the rocky paths. Gladys herself feels deeply exhausted and she can tell it’s more than just normal hunger and fatigue. She is ill, and as the journey drags on, it gets worse. Gladys also fears for their safety. There is always the danger of running into Japanese soldiers and Gladys knows that they would probably kill her and all the children without a second thought.
Finally, after almost two weeks of walking, Gladys and the children reach the Yellow River. Gladys knows that once they cross the river, they should be able to quickly make it to a town where they can board a train and soon be safe from attack by the Japanese.
Gladys and the children are excited as they approach a village right on the bank of the Yellow River. There they can get a hot meal and a ferry ride across the river.
But… no.
When Gladys and the children arrive in the village, they find it completely deserted… well, almost completely deserted. Gladys finds an old man sitting under a tree. He looks exhausted. It’s clear that he has given up.
“Where has everyone gone?” Gladys asks.
“To the other side of the river.” The old man tells her.
“Where are the boats to take people across?”
“They are all gone.”
Has Gladys brought these children all this way just to be killed by Japanese forces because they can’t find a way to cross the river?
Not knowing what to do, Gladys has the children set up camp by the river. They find a little food in the town, but as the days drag by, the food is quickly gone. At first, the children enjoy the break from walking, but they start to become impatient, and they pepper Gladys with questions, asking why God isn’t doing some kind of miracle to get them across the river.
All Gladys knows to do is pray. She encourages the children to do the same. She is exhausted, famished, weak. It’s hard not to give in to utter hopelessness. But still, she prays.
And God answers. On the fourth day Gladys and the children spend by the riverbank, a group of Chinese soldiers approaches them. The soldiers are shocked by the sight of this single woman and her crowd of children, but when Gladys shares their story, they reluctantly agree to help her and the children get across the river.
The soldiers only have a single boat and the commander warns Gladys that the crossing will be dangerous. He explains that Japanese pilots like to fly over this stretch of river every day and gun down innocent civilians. But he also tells her that, strangely, he hasn’t seen a single Japanese plane fly over in the past few days.
It takes three trips, but Gladys and the children finally make it safely to the other side. Two days more and the whole group is out of reach of the Japanese army. Gladys and the children get a bath and a good meal and they climb aboard a train, headed towards the orphanage. Gladys feels light-headed and at times it’s hard for her to stand. She’s sick—very sick—but the children keep her going.
The trip to the orphanage involves three train rides and an exhausting trek through the mountains, but finally, they make it. Gladys finds the orphanage, drops off the children, and finally, her body gives out. Two days after arriving, she falls into a coma. It’s months later before she is able to leave the hospital. She is far from back to full health, but almost immediately she gets busy again with missions work.
Gladys is only forty years old, but she feels like a much older woman. For years now, she has been pushing her body to the limit as she focuses on serving others. Now, in her weakened state, she has occasional blackouts. But she doesn’t stop. She begins working with lepers, caring for them, and sharing with them the good news of Jesus.
As Allied Forces beat back the armies of Japan, the people of China breathe a sigh of relief, but soon another threat looms on the horizon. As the Communist Party rises to power, it soon becomes evident that life in a Communist China will not be friendly to Christians. For her own health and safety, Gladys’s companions urge her to leave China and return home to England. She doesn’t want to leave, but she knows they’re right.
After seventeen years in China, Gladys is returning to a home that no longer feels like home. Readjusting to life in England is challenging. She longs to be back in China and wonders often about all her friends and Christian brothers and sisters. Are they safe? Are they still alive? What about the children? What will happen to all the children?
Gladys is deeply discouraged to learn that she will be unable to return to mainland China. The new government won’t allow it. She has been barred from returning home.
But despite the discouragement Gladys faces, she also finds a purpose in England. Gladys becomes a missionary celebrity of sorts. People love to hear about her exploits and she soon finds herself invited to speak at events all over. Gladys isn’t interested in fame, but she is eager to use the attention for a good purpose. She uses her speaking opportunities to challenge people to pray for China and to invite them to consider whether they, too, are being led by God into missions work.
And she doesn’t hold back. This is Gladys:
“Mothers, if God asks for your son or your daughter, would you be willing? Young man, young woman, if God asks you to go, would you go?”
Still, Gladys longs to return to China. Finally, after ten years in England, she goes to the island we now know as Taiwan. There, she helps run an orphanage. She continues to push herself to the limit for the good of the children under her care and in January of 1970, she falls ill. Her body is still weak after all that she has suffered. She passes away in her sleep.
Gladys’s grave in Taipei bears an inscription that ends with the words of John 16:24: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
Gladys gave all her passion, all her strength, all her life for China, and by God’s grace, her life bore much fruit for His name’s sake.
There are many ways Gladys’s life could be framed. Hers is a story of hardship. It’s a story of sorrow and loss. It’s a story of obstacles overcome. It’s a story of miracles.
Gladys’s life reminds me of the psalms. David, who wrote many of the most heartfelt psalms, knew what it was like to face hardship and loss.
But in Psalm 34, he tells of God’s goodness in the midst of his pain,
“This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.” (Psalm 34:6)
“The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.” (Psalm 34:17-19)
“The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.” (Psalm 34:22)
What is the key to understanding the life of Gladys Aylward?
It is certainly a story of sacrifice and perseverance, but Gladys’s perseverance would have meant nothing without God’s protection and guidance. Her commitment to share the gospel would have meant nothing without God giving her opportunities to share that good news. Her willingness to risk her life for the good of others and give up her own health and safety to help them would have meant nothing without God’s strength to continue when her strength ran out.
Gladys’s story is a story about grit, determination, and a fierce commitment to do the right thing no matter the consequences. It is a story about a life given away, a woman who believed that her life meant nothing at all apart from how it was used by God in the lives of others. But more than all that, Gladys Aylward’s story is a story about God’s grace.
Over and over, Gladys emphasized that she was just a “little parlor maid”. But God’s grace met her and used her to affect a country for Christ. If God’s grace can do all that through her, what can He do through you?
I think I’ll let Gladys have the last word:
“In the name of Jesus Christ I challenge you every one: what are you doing for Jesus Christ? What are you doing for Jesus Christ?”
Learn More
Read Gladys Aylward: The Adventure of a Lifetime by Janet & Geoff Benge
or Gladys Aylward: Missionary to China by Sam Wellman
Listen to Gladys tell her own story (sermonindex.net)
Exempla 