L il ia n c h o k e d d o w n t h e l u m p in h e r t h r o a t , but she knew she couldn’t hide the tears in her eyes. Her hopes had been smashed again, and this time she had been so sure! She pleaded once more with the kind looking women at the table, “ But I’ve been training for years to go to China as a missionary. I know it is God’s will for my life. I know it is !” The members of the China Inland Mission Women’s Council looked sadly at Lilian and shook their heads. “We’re sorry,” said the Chairman. “We wish we could accept you, but we dare not send any new missionaries out during this war. It’s not safe — especially for a woman. God must have another plan for you.” Minutes later Lilian knelt beside her bed and tried to pray—but all she could do was remember the years— almost ten of them—since she had known God wanted her in China. Why had she been disappointed so many times? Why? As her sobbing quieted, Lilian seemed to hear God asking her, “Which is your first love, Lilian, China or Me?” Immediately the curly-haired girl understood the les son God had for her. “ Forgive me,” she prayed. “ I have not always put you first, but I give myself again com pletely to you. I will pay any price—even my life—to serve you as you wish.” Lilan got up from her knees wth a new peace and determination in her heart. Little did she realize, as she dried her eyes, that some day she would pay the ulti mate price—her life—as she served God. Lilian Hamer was really not a very out-of-the-ordi- nary girl. If you had seen her in a crowd, you might have noted the mop of curly hair and the twinkle in her eye, but you would not have guessed the courage and determination that were so much a part of her character. Her background was pretty ordinary, too . . . at least until she was 19. Born in 1910 and raised in the Lan cashire district of England, Lilian did what the major ity of the young girls in her home town did—finished school at 14 and went to work in the textile mills. It is hard for us to imagine a fun-loving teen-ager working ten hours a day six days a week in a factory, but when all your friends are doing it, you can get used to it. Lilian must have enjoyed her job, for in less than five years she had worked her way up to a weaver’s position. Lilian was, of course, a “ Christian” . . . and all her friends were “ Christians” . . . for wasn’t England a Christian nation? She went to church—well, almost every Sunday. Then one Sunday she attended a Meth odist Church and for the first time in her life heard the message of Christ’s salvation. When the invitation was given, Lilian walked down the aisle to become a real Christian.
The routine of Lilian’s life was now interrupted. She had something to live for and to work for. She didn’t know what God wanted her to do in life, so she began to develop every gift she had. She went to night school and studied elocution, dressmaking and first aid. Then one night, at a China Inland Mission meeting, Lilian felt that God was calling her to missionary work in China. Life now had a new direction. After studying midwifery for a year, she applied again and was rejected again. It was 1941 and the war was on This second “ No” stunned Lilian. Had she mis- taken God’s voice? When she prayed, her convictions about China became stronger. She swallowed her dis appointment and enrolled in the Radcliffe Missionary Training College for a two-year course. After gradua tion, she applied for the third time and received the heartbreaking answer from the Women’s Council as previously related. Lilian felt that God could best use her as a nurse on the mission field, so she began nurses’ training at Bolton District Hospital. Here her gay spirits were a delight to her fellow workers and her patients. She had a merry sense of humor that could cheer up the gloomi- est patient. Near the end of her training she applied to the C.I.M. To her great surprise and disappointment she was rejected. At this point, you or I might have given up—but not Lilian Hamer. She heard that the Red Cross was looking for nurses to care for the Chinese wounded, and she jumped at the chance to reach the land she loved. After a semester of studying the Chinese language, Lilian boarded the ship that would carry her to China. It may have been bleak cold weather that February day in 1944, but Lilian’s heart was full of joy. This wasn’t the way she would have planned things. She had pictured herself leaving England with a band of other missionaries—not Red Cross doctors and nurses. But God’s ways were higher than her ways, and she was happy. The scenes which greeted Lilian in Southwest China were not very pleasant. Beside the roadside and in filthy huts she cared for the wounded Chinese soldiers. The Japanese were gaining ground rapidly, pushing the Chinese back until the little Red Cross Band was forced to evacuate, losing all their supplies. After just a few weeks in China, Lilian was faced with the possibility of being sent back to England. She sent another application to the C.I.M., praying more earnestly than ever before. Perhaps the fact that she was in China now, that she could speak a little of the language, would make a difference. It did and after more than ten years of training, waiting and praying,
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THE K IN G 'S BUSINESS
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