headman. Lilian rarely complained, but the conditions took a toll of her health. She ate and slept on the floor and usually had a backache because her roof was not high enough to allow her to stand erect. During the day she treated scores of patients and taught the people about the true God who was more powerful than demons. Gradually the Lisu began to respond to the message of Christ. The village headman, Khun Ba, became a Christian and refused to worship demons any longer. The people waited fearfully for him to die in some sud den manner, but when nothing happened, others of them began to take courage and leave demon worship. Lilian was jubilant. The months of physical weariness and spiritual loneliness had been worth it! The Lisu had finally promised to build her a larger house, so Lilian went back to the Yao village to get her furniture and spend a few days with her friends there. Imagine her dismay when she found, upon returning to the Lisu village, that her house was not finished. In fact, tribesmen were actually tearing down what they had just built. It seems that her new house had been started on “ Demon Hill” and the people had become too frightened to work there any longer. Lilian wrote home, “ As I write, I can hear men pull ing down the house. It would seem as if the spirits on the hill are laughing triumphantly. But the missionary at the foot of demon hill stands at the door of her shack and laughs too, for a great victory shall be the end result of this seeming failure.” And the victory was great—not in terms of numbers, but God does not count numbers as we do. Lilian always wanted to go higher. She could never forget the tribes “ beyond.” She began to make trips to other villages, giving medical help and telling about Jesus. In 1958, Lilian moved into a shack in the vil lage of Banlaung. Although she never complained, her letters revealed some of the constant physical weariness she endured. During the day she treated scores of patients. At night the wild demon dances kept her awake. Loneliness had never become easier to bear. Lilian had been alone now for ten years, except for a brief furlough and occasional visits from fellow-mis sionaries. She was just as human as you or I, so we know she became discouraged. But she was a faithful soldier o f Jesus Christ and was never defeated! One Saturday in April, Lilian decided to go down to the valley—an all-day hike. It would be good for her to have a quiet, peaceful Sunday. Besides, she was almost out of medical supplies. She started the long trek through the jungles. We will never know what her thoughts were that morning, but we do know that she often sang hymns as she walked. Perhaps she was doing just that when suddenly a man stepped from be tween two large trees and shot Lilian with a sawed-off shotgun. She died instantly. The murderer was never captured. Who was he? What did he want? We will probably never know. But Lilian Hamer’s life is more important to us than how she died. Was it all worth it . . . the years of training and disappointments followed by only a handful of con verts and a violent death? If we could talk to Lilian, she would have but one answer, I think she would remind us of the one picture in her tiny hut—a picture of Christ walking into the future, looking back over His shoulder to see who was following Him. Lilian Hamer was . . . and He was worth it all._________________________________ (Much of the material for this story has been takén from the book, "FIERC E THE C O N FLIC T ." This bok is a China Inland Mission publication and the material was used by permisión.)
Lilian Hamer became a full-fledged missionary! Her first appointment was to a pioneer hospital in the mountainous Tali area. She was in charge of the maternity wards and how she loved her work! Every day she brought black-eyed noisy babies into the world and every day she talked to their mothers about Jesus. Her quick sense of humor once again endeared her to staff and patients alike—not that she was perfect— occasionally her temper was as quick as her sense of humor! One day (probably a busy 14-hour day as usual) Lilian noticed some unfamiliar women in the waiting room. They did not dress like the Chinese and their dia lect was strange. She learned that they were from a mountain tribe known as the Miao. They told her of the thousands of tribespeople in the high mountains to the south and west There were no missionaries among these people—no nurses. Lilian went about her daily duties at the hospital, but more and more her heart was occupied with the tribespeople. When she stood at her window at dusk and watched the sun setting on the mountain ranges, she prayed fervently that God would send her to tell the tribespeople before it was too late. It was now 1948 and there was trouble at the hospi tal. The Communists were slowly conquering China and spreading resentment toward the missionaries. Even tually, even the hospital grounds were taken over and Lilian and her co-workers were forced to flee. At once Lilian’s thoughts flew to the mountains. She asked the mission to send her to the Lisu in Thailand. There was hesitation on the part of the mission lead ers. Was it safe to allow a single woman to live in the hills? They thought not, but when Tao Lu, a Christian headman of the Yao Tribe sent a plea for medical help, Lilian was sent into the mountains. This was the first of Lilian’s many mountain treks, but no woman could ever become used to the hours of arduous hiking. Lilian never complained during these all-day treks. She could even joke about her bleeding feet or the times she would slip off the narrow trail and fall into the flooded rice paddies or the fact that she was always the farthest behind in any group of hikers. The Yao built Lilian a tiny shack with split bamboo walls and a mud floor. In it there was room only for a cot and a crate that was used as a table. From sunup until sundown Lilian treated patients on a small porch. The majority of these patients were opium smokers who wanted to break the habit. They knew opium was ruining their lives— it made them weak and sick so they could not work their tiny farms, and they had heard Lilian had medicine to cure them. For two years Lilian lived among the Yao, teaching their children, delivering their babies, and healing their sick. It was discouraging work, for very few of them ever became Christians. It would be several years later before the harvest would be reaped among the Yao. Higher up in the mountains lived the Lisu. Some times they came down to Lilian’s small clinic for treat ment and before they left, Lilian would always promise, “ If you will build me a hut, I will come to your village.” She prayed every day that soon the Lisu would really want her. And then one day she received word that a hut had been built for her and she was to come as soon as possible. How great was her anticipation as she began the two-and-a-half-hour hike to the Lisu vil lage and how great was her disappointment when she saw her new “home”—a tiny shack even smaller than the one at the Yao village. “We thought that this little shack would be big enough for you, as you are only one,” explained the
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DECEMBER, 1964
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