A scholar shared the contributions made by foreign women missionaries to Chinese women nearly 200 years ago on International Women's Day.
On March 8th, 2022, a scholar named Li Yi gave an online lecture with the theme of "On the Transformation Path of Chinese Churches from the Perspective of Caring Ministry Made by Foreign Missionaries to China".
Li stated that women missionaries who came to China have made outstanding contributions in the care for women, including opposing foot binding, advocating modern maternity delivery, and resisting feudal bad habits such as infanticide, polygamy, male superiority, and female inferiority. At that time, the vast majority of Chinese women had no education and could not read. It was also these women missionaries who came to China to set up schools and teach the Chinese women.
The lecture talked about the far-reaching contributions made by those women missionaries to Chinese women nearly 200 years ago, and also discussed the inspiration to Chinese churches today.
The following are the main takeaways from the lecture:
Three women missionaries: Alice Mildred Cable, Evangeline French and Francesca French.
You may know the "Cambridge Seven" and "Yale Three" with the China Inland Mission, but have you ever heard of "Women Missionary Three"? They were three female missionaries of the China Inland Mission, namely Alice Mildred Cable, Evangeline French, and Francesca French. In the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, they went to Huozhou, Shanxi Province, to preach the gospel and run a women's Bible school for 21 years. Later, they were moved to go to more remote places where no one had ever heard of the gospel. The women set out from Huozhou, going through Hexi corridor to Xinjiang to preach. There was a large-scale rebellion in Shaanxi and Gansu Muslim Rebellion in the late Qing Dynasty. Moreover, Xinjiang is a multi-ethnic region, where missionary work is needed to overcome many obstacles such as language, culture, beliefs, and customs. All the three women missionaries were unmarried throughout their lives, devoting themselves to China.
In addition, Alma Dodds (1881-1978) came to Dengzhou, Shandong Province, in 1910 as a women missionary sent by the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America.
In 1912, Alma Dodds came to Tengxian County, Shandong Province, where she stayed for 30 years, unmarried all her life.
The Qing government was very brutal in the prevention and treatment of leprosy. For those who were unfortunately suffering from leprosy, they would be trapped until their death and even buried alive. In 1915, Tengxian County Mission Station recorded the local leprosy situation in this way: "There are so many lepers in Tengxian County, and countless individuals or relatives of lepers ask for help. We must help those who are desperate and helpless with our hearts. In March, there was one leper for every 33 people." As leprosy is highly contagious, once someone was found to have leprosy, they would be rejected by their relatives, isolated from society, and left to fend for themselves.
In 1918, with the support of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America and the then Tengxian County Chamber of Commerce, she initiated to establish the earliest and largest leprosy hospital in Shandong Province. After the hospital construction was completed, Alma Dodds often took lepers in the wilderness there in person, wiping their wounds (which looked terrible) and using western advanced prevention and treatment methods to treat them. From 1918 to 1951, Tengxian County Leprosy Hospital has successfully treated more than 1,000 lepers. The Hospital had influenced Tengxian County, while she also started the prevention and control of leprosy in the southwest of Shandong and the north of Jiangsu.
In addition, Alma Dodds also opened an orphanage for women in Tengxian County, helping set up the Gospel Hospital. Tengxian County was the hardest hit area where baby girls were abandoned and killed.
By 1935, the orphanage adopted as many as 80 orphan girls, educating them until they grew up, got married or found work. Some of them went to college to receive higher education.
For a long time, Chinese churches have been basically fundamentalist, holding the truth well. However, it also led to the church's lack of care for society and the pursuit of social justice, which led to the church marginalization and almost complete disconnection from society. Many churches and believers had a narrow understanding of the great mission, only attaching importance to the gospel mission but not to the cultural and social mission.
Through the women's caring ministry made by these missionaries in China, we can see its importance. For the church, it is very important to preach the gospel directly to save the soul, but at the same time, many ministries are also indispensable. By serving and caring for people, we can guide social progress, then spread the gospel to more people.
- Translated by Oliver Zuo
2022年3月8日，时值三八妇女节，学者李义通过网络做了一场讲座，讲座主题为“从来华宣教士女性关怀事工看中国教会的转型路径”。
从反对缠足裹小脚，到现代的妇产接生，以及反对溺杀女婴、一夫多妻、男尊女卑等封建陋习，来华的女宣教士们都作出了卓越的贡献。那时候的绝大多数中国女性都没有读过书，不认识字。也是这些来华宣教士们，开设学校，教导中国女性文化。
当天主讲人的讲座讲到近200年前那些女传教士为中国女性做的深远的贡献，也谈到对今天中国教会的启发。
以下是当天主讲人主要的一些分享摘要：
宣教三姝：盖群英、冯贵珠、冯贵石
我们可能知道内地会的“剑桥七杰”“耶鲁三杰”，可是有没有听说过“宣教三姝”呢？她们是三位内地会的女传教士，盖群英、冯贵珠、冯贵石。她们在清末民初的时候到山西霍州传教、开设女子圣经学校，时间长达21年。后来她们就有感动，要继续前往更加偏远，没有听闻过福音的地方去。于是，她们就从霍州出发，通过河西楼廊，前往新疆传教。晚清时候这里曾经爆发过大规模的陕甘回乱。而且新疆又是多民族聚居地区，在这里传教，需要跨越语言、文化、信仰、习俗等许多的障碍。这三位女传教士全都终生未婚，把她们的一生完全献给了中国。
另外还有一位道德贞（Alma Dodds，1881—1978），1910年，来到了山东登州，当她来到中国的时候的身份是一名美北长老会差派的女传教士。
1912年，道德贞来到了山东藤县，一呆就是30年的时间，同样终生未婚。
清政府在麻风病防治方面非常野蛮，对于不幸患上麻风病的人，采取的居然是诱杀甚至活埋的方式。1915年，藤县宣教站如此记录了当地的麻风病情情形：“藤县有着如此多的麻风病人，来自个人或者麻风病患者亲人的求助络绎不绝。我们必须用心帮助那些绝望无助的人。3月份，在每33个人中，就有一位麻风病人。”麻风病有着很强的传染性。因此，一旦发现有人得了麻风病以后，被亲人弃绝，与社会隔绝，流落街头，任其自生自灭。
1918年，在北长老会和时任滕县商会的支持下，她发起兴办了山东省最早也是最大的一所麻风病院。医院建成以后，道德贞经常亲自把流落荒野的麻风病人接到那里，给他们擦拭伤口（麻风病人的伤口看着非常恐怖），并且利用西方先进的防治方法予以诊疗。最终，在1918年—1951年期间，藤县麻风病院先后共收治1000多名麻风病人。藤县麻风病院不仅仅影响到藤县，山东鲁西南还有江苏北部一带的麻风病防治工作都是由她开始，。
另外，道德贞也在藤县开设了女孤儿院，并且协助创办了福音医院。藤县是弃女婴、杀女婴的重灾区。
到1935年时，女孤儿院收养的孤女有80名之多，孤儿院收养她们，教育她们，让她们长大成人，成家立业，其中也有人读了大学，受到高等教育。
中国教会很长时间以来基本都的是基要主义路线，很好的持守住了真理。但是与此同时，也因此导致了教会缺失了对于社会的关怀和社会公义的追求，造成教会被边缘化，与社会几乎完全脱节，很多教会和信徒对于大使命的理解也有一些狭窄，只重视福音使命而不重视文化使命和社会使命。
通过这些来华宣教士所作的女性关怀事工，我们可以看到教会开展事工的重要性。对于教会来说，直接性的传福音拯救灵魂固然非常重要，然而同时，很多的事工也是不可缺少的。通过服侍社会、关怀社会，可以引导社会的进步，进而把福音传播给很多的人。
讲座| 从百多年前来华宣教士女性关怀事工看中国教会的转型路径
A scholar shared the contributions made by foreign women missionaries to Chinese women nearly 200 years ago on International Women's Day.
On March 8th, 2022, a scholar named Li Yi gave an online lecture with the theme of "On the Transformation Path of Chinese Churches from the Perspective of Caring Ministry Made by Foreign Missionaries to China".
Li stated that women missionaries who came to China have made outstanding contributions in the care for women, including opposing foot binding, advocating modern maternity delivery, and resisting feudal bad habits such as infanticide, polygamy, male superiority, and female inferiority. At that time, the vast majority of Chinese women had no education and could not read. It was also these women missionaries who came to China to set up schools and teach the Chinese women.
The lecture talked about the far-reaching contributions made by those women missionaries to Chinese women nearly 200 years ago, and also discussed the inspiration to Chinese churches today.
The following are the main takeaways from the lecture:
Three women missionaries: Alice Mildred Cable, Evangeline French and Francesca French.
You may know the "Cambridge Seven" and "Yale Three" with the China Inland Mission, but have you ever heard of "Women Missionary Three"? They were three female missionaries of the China Inland Mission, namely Alice Mildred Cable, Evangeline French, and Francesca French. In the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, they went to Huozhou, Shanxi Province, to preach the gospel and run a women's Bible school for 21 years. Later, they were moved to go to more remote places where no one had ever heard of the gospel. The women set out from Huozhou, going through Hexi corridor to Xinjiang to preach. There was a large-scale rebellion in Shaanxi and Gansu Muslim Rebellion in the late Qing Dynasty. Moreover, Xinjiang is a multi-ethnic region, where missionary work is needed to overcome many obstacles such as language, culture, beliefs, and customs. All the three women missionaries were unmarried throughout their lives, devoting themselves to China.
In addition, Alma Dodds (1881-1978) came to Dengzhou, Shandong Province, in 1910 as a women missionary sent by the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America.
In 1912, Alma Dodds came to Tengxian County, Shandong Province, where she stayed for 30 years, unmarried all her life.
The Qing government was very brutal in the prevention and treatment of leprosy. For those who were unfortunately suffering from leprosy, they would be trapped until their death and even buried alive. In 1915, Tengxian County Mission Station recorded the local leprosy situation in this way: "There are so many lepers in Tengxian County, and countless individuals or relatives of lepers ask for help. We must help those who are desperate and helpless with our hearts. In March, there was one leper for every 33 people." As leprosy is highly contagious, once someone was found to have leprosy, they would be rejected by their relatives, isolated from society, and left to fend for themselves.
In 1918, with the support of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America and the then Tengxian County Chamber of Commerce, she initiated to establish the earliest and largest leprosy hospital in Shandong Province. After the hospital construction was completed, Alma Dodds often took lepers in the wilderness there in person, wiping their wounds (which looked terrible) and using western advanced prevention and treatment methods to treat them. From 1918 to 1951, Tengxian County Leprosy Hospital has successfully treated more than 1,000 lepers. The Hospital had influenced Tengxian County, while she also started the prevention and control of leprosy in the southwest of Shandong and the north of Jiangsu.
In addition, Alma Dodds also opened an orphanage for women in Tengxian County, helping set up the Gospel Hospital. Tengxian County was the hardest hit area where baby girls were abandoned and killed.
By 1935, the orphanage adopted as many as 80 orphan girls, educating them until they grew up, got married or found work. Some of them went to college to receive higher education.
For a long time, Chinese churches have been basically fundamentalist, holding the truth well. However, it also led to the church's lack of care for society and the pursuit of social justice, which led to the church marginalization and almost complete disconnection from society. Many churches and believers had a narrow understanding of the great mission, only attaching importance to the gospel mission but not to the cultural and social mission.
Through the women's caring ministry made by these missionaries in China, we can see its importance. For the church, it is very important to preach the gospel directly to save the soul, but at the same time, many ministries are also indispensable. By serving and caring for people, we can guide social progress, then spread the gospel to more people.
- Translated by Oliver Zuo
Lecture: Aspirations from Female Missionaries' Caring Ministry for Women Transformation of Today's Church Transformation
