Jessie McDonald continued Kaifeng was a proud city and definitely anti-foreign. The people had driven out the Catholic priests in the early part of the 19th cen tury and boasted that neither the foreigner nor his religion could ob tain a footing within its wall.
the town, I have tried them first but they haven’t helped the boy. If you can, I will be grateful and if not, I will still be grateful.” The hospital was full so the boy was brought to Dr. McDonald’s home with two grandmothers, mother, relatives and servants. Wearing a long fur gown and black hat, the boy was propped in bed. A telephone was installed so the governor could have word day or night about his son. The fresh air in the room and uncovering the child to listen to his heart shocked the Chinese. But gradually the boy improved. When the five-year-old left the hospital, he bravely prom ised Dr. McDonald two things: “ You have added two to your church, myself and my younger brother, and you need have no con cern for your old age. I will look after you.” Dr. McDonald knew China as a peace-loving country that was usu ally at war. She served during a five-year period of almost civil war. A republic had been set up but war of one sort or another continued. On four or five different occasions the wards had to be closed to civil ians and every possible comer of the hospital, even tents, used to ac commodate the wounded. In 1927 the CIM ordered the hospital closed. After her furlough the Kaifeng hospital was reopened. But in July 1939, the property was confiscated by the Japanese and Dr. McDonald was asked to leave. She was 50. She could have said, “Well, that’s enough,” and retired. Instead, she looked around for an other needy field. In 1940 Dr. Mc Donald went to Tali, Hunnan, in south China. There the hospital work was carried on under primi tive conditions with the added dis comfort of a nearby war. Thou sands of American and Chinese sol diers and refugees passed through Tali. Epidemic after epidemic of malignant malaria, typhus, relaps ing fever and cholera followed in their trail.
She cared for the sick with both skill and heart. She wrote, “ There are crowds of patients, every one of whom takes a bit of heart and head, and by the end of the day I feel limp as a rag. And quite often the evenings bring a class with one or other group of our budding nurses, or an interview with some disgrun tled or discouraged soul.” In 1948 she started the Holy Light Clinic in Paoshan, 158 miles from the hospital in Tali. It was in a district where in 1942 dread cholera had carried off 10,000 of the population. There the clinic was held in a temple between 300 and 500 years old where the huge idols and the ringing of the spirit bells gave one an eerie feeling. In December 1949, the Commu nists took over the entire province. Dr. McDonald caught her breath, breathed a prayer and kept on working. For a year and a half she and her staff carried on under the Communists, then in 1951 she was ordered out, after 38 years of min istering to the sick of China in His name. Her eyes light with a smile as she says, “ It is such a long story! And full of pitiful patients and precious helpers, and in the end we had to leave it all to the Com munists. We might have said, ‘Was it all worthwhile?’ had it not been for our last three months there when we saw the growth in the Christian staff and their fearless testimony. By the grapevine we have heard that there are beacon lights still burning in Tali and Pao shan where we had our work!” The life of Dr. Jessie McDonald is a life poured out in fragrance and love to the Lord and the Chi nese He loved. She lives these days quietly in Pasadena, Calif., teach ing at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, content in her heart that having lost her life for Him, she has found it for time and eternity. (From the forthcoming book, “Medical Missionaries You Would Like To Know,” published by Zon- dervan.) END.
A Chinese colporteur had gotten into the city, only to be attacked and have his books scattered all over the streets. He was driven out of the city and the books gathered to burn but a Mr. Chu, in helping pick them up, had managed to se crete a number in his long, loose sleeves. He read these in secret and was converted. Some 16 years later, Chu welcomed a CIM mis sionary to Kaifeng and because Kaifeng was so violently opposed to the gospel, it was decided that a hospital would be the best wedge. In 1902 Dr. Whitfield Guiness went to Kaifeng. Under his super vision a hospital was built but there was need for a women’s hos pital and a lady doctor. Without these there was comparatively lit tle that could be done for the piti ful suffering of the Chinese women. To fill this need came Dr. Jessie McDonald and her co-workers said, “ She proved to be well worth wait ing for.” The women’s hospital was pleas ant with a large court of its own. There was ward space for 40 pa tients (later 80), as well as a small number of private rooms, well- appointed operating room and at night, electric lights. Days were full for Dr. McDon ald. She treated from 25 to 100 out-patients each day, operated twice a week, helped in teaching the nurses and often led a devo tional meeting, either in Chinese or English. Her great love and interest were the patients. One interesting case was that of No. 4 Shaved Head, as the son of the governor was called. The little boy was taken ill and when he had had a fever for a month, the governor came to Dr. McDonald and explained, “ As there are 200 Chinese doctors in
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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