The influence of Dora Yu on the revival of the Chinese church in the early 20th century was profound. “I was saved by a female believer who was Dora Yu,” said Watchman Nee, one of the most famous local church leaders of his time in China.
Dora Yu (1873-1931) was a famous Chinese Pentecostal evangelist in the early 20th century. Born in the Hangzhou American Presbyterian Church compound in Zhejiang province in 1873, she was the daughter of Christian parents. Having a pastor father, Yu began attending a Presbyterian school at the age of five. When she was 20, her family sent her to the U.K. to study medicine. On the boat, she was allegedly called by Jesus Christ. While the ship was in Marseilles, she suddenly decided to give up her medical career and disembark to return to China as a missionary without any regular income.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Christianity spread to the Korean Peninsula and developed rapidly in a very short time. She took medical courses in China and qualified as a doctor. In 1896, a member of the American Southern Methodist Episcopal Mission who was preaching in Shanghai, moved to Seoul with his family, becoming the first missionary of the mission in Korea. Mrs. Josephine P. Campbell, dispatched from the mission, also went to North Korea to liberate women. Campbell invited Dora Yu to serve with her in Korea. This is the first Chinese cross-country and cross-culture missionary that had gone global.
She was originally a stutterer, but God used an inarticulate speaker like her to be the bearer of the Gospel.
Yu often preaches messages concerning “ceaseless prayer”, “coping with sin”, “life more important than gifts”, and “obedience to the guidance of the Holy Spirit”.
When she returned to China in September 1903, she gave up practicing medicine, beginning to serve the Lord full time by faith. She was one of the first missionaries of the Chinese church to escape the financial supply of the Western mission and live entirely by faith.
This was what she asked God for in prayer: “To make me always possessed by God and always considerate of the needs of others.” She asked God to “saturate me with his love so that I can love as God do”; She prayed that God “can make me look at the things of this world from God’s point of view and keep me on the watch for the glory of the Lord’s return”.
In 1909, she raised money to found the Shanghai Bible Study and Prayer House, which was actually a Bible school. It was built focusing on the Bible and prayer. In addition, she continued to be invited to hold revival meetings.
From 1911 to 1912, Yu worked in Suzhou and Ningbo. In 1925, Yu and Leland Wang, known as the "Moody of China", worked together in a revival meeting in Shanghai, with more than 50 young believers devoting their lives to ministry.
In 1919, Yu and Ruth Paxon, a renowned missionary, joined the China Domestic Mission.
In 1920, she was invited to preach at the Methodist Episcopal Church in Fuzhou. Moved by her preaching, the evangelist Watchman Nee, and his mother, Peace Lin, both repented and went to study at Yu's Bible school. It wasn’t long before Nee launched the Little Flock Movement that affected the world.
In 1923, to meet the needs of church worship, the Bethlehem Hall was built on the campus, and the celebrated revivalist John Jonathan Goforth delivered an address. Besides, Yu ran the Bible study classes in the summer and winter.
Bibliography:
1. Dora Yu -- Pioneer of the Revival of the Church in China in the 20th Century
2. Wu Xiulang, Professor of History, Boston College
3. Bisson River Press, ISBN: 9780970341204
4. Wu Xiulang, Professor of History, Boston College. Jiuzhou Press, ISBN: 9787510814495
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
谈起对中国教会20世纪初期的复兴，余慈度的影响也是深远的。其中当时代最著名的本土教会领袖之一的倪柝声说的一句话：“我是因一个姊妹得救的。”——这个姊妹就是余慈度。
余慈度(Dora Yu，1873年－1931年)，是中国20世纪初期著名的华人女基督教奋兴（Pentecostal）布道家。1873年，出生于浙江杭州美国长老会大院。父母是基督徒，其中父亲是牧师，余慈度5岁进入到了长老会办的日校接受教育。她20岁时，家人送她到英国去读医科。在海船上据称她受到耶稣基督的呼召。当船靠马赛时，她突然决定放弃医生职业，并且下船，然后返回中国，去作一个没有任何固定收入的传道人。
19至20世纪初，基督教传到朝鲜半岛，在很短时间内快速发展。她在中国读了医学课程，得到了医生的资格。1896年，在上海传道的美国监理会的瑞德带家眷迁到汉城，成为监理会在朝鲜的第一个传教士。从上海监理会差派的甘博师母（Mrs. Josephine P. Campbell）也去朝鲜做开放妇女的工作。甘博师母邀请余慈度与她同去朝鲜服事。这是中国走出去的第一位跨国家、跨文化的宣教士
余慈度她本来是一个讲话结巴的人，但是上帝却使用了她这样讲话结巴口才不流畅的人，让她成为了福音的传达者。
神赐给余慈度的信息是什么呢？“不住的祷告”“对付罪”“生命比恩赐更重要” “顺服圣灵的引导”，
直到1903年9月，她返回中国，开始放弃行医，开始凭着信心全时间事奉主。她是中国教会最早脱离西方差会金钱供应，而完全凭信心生活的传道人。
她在祷告中向神如此祈求：求神“使我常常被神占有，常常考虑到别人的需要”；求神“用他的爱浸透我，好使她能够像神一样去爱人”；求神“使我以神的观点去看今世的事物，一直儆醒等候主荣耀的再来”。
1909年，自己筹款创办了上海查经祈祷处，实际上是一所圣经学校，它的特点是建立在圣经和祷告的基础上。除此之外，她继续应邀在各地做奋兴布道会。
1911-1912年，余慈度在苏州、宁波工作。在1925年的上海，余慈度与王载搭配同工做复兴会，有50多位青年信徒决定终身奉献布道工作。
1919年，余慈度和知名女宣教士安汝慈（Ruth Paxon）一起加入了“中华国内布道团”。
1920年，她被邀请到美以美会福州天安堂讲道，后来布道人倪柝声及其母亲倪林和平都是在她的布道会上受感动，悔改认罪，并随即到余慈度的圣经学校学习。不久之后倪柝声发起了影响全球的地方教会运动。
1923年，为满足聚会崇拜的需要，伯利恒会堂在校园内落成，著名奋兴布道家古约翰（Jonathan Goforth）亲临献堂礼并致词。此外，余慈度还在冬、夏两季开办查经培灵会。
注释：
1.《余慈度－－二十世纪中国教会复兴的先驱》
2.吴秀良（波士顿学院历史系教授）
3.美国比逊河出版社 ISBN：9780970341204 繁体横排
4.《余慈度传》吴秀良（波士顿学院历史系教授）九州出版社 ISBN：9787510814495 简体横排
女性传道人余慈度：20世纪初期最具有影响力的中国教会复兴的先驱
The influence of Dora Yu on the revival of the Chinese church in the early 20th century was profound. “I was saved by a female believer who was Dora Yu,” said Watchman Nee, one of the most famous local church leaders of his time in China.
Dora Yu (1873-1931) was a famous Chinese Pentecostal evangelist in the early 20th century. Born in the Hangzhou American Presbyterian Church compound in Zhejiang province in 1873, she was the daughter of Christian parents. Having a pastor father, Yu began attending a Presbyterian school at the age of five. When she was 20, her family sent her to the U.K. to study medicine. On the boat, she was allegedly called by Jesus Christ. While the ship was in Marseilles, she suddenly decided to give up her medical career and disembark to return to China as a missionary without any regular income.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Christianity spread to the Korean Peninsula and developed rapidly in a very short time. She took medical courses in China and qualified as a doctor. In 1896, a member of the American Southern Methodist Episcopal Mission who was preaching in Shanghai, moved to Seoul with his family, becoming the first missionary of the mission in Korea. Mrs. Josephine P. Campbell, dispatched from the mission, also went to North Korea to liberate women. Campbell invited Dora Yu to serve with her in Korea. This is the first Chinese cross-country and cross-culture missionary that had gone global.
She was originally a stutterer, but God used an inarticulate speaker like her to be the bearer of the Gospel.
Yu often preaches messages concerning “ceaseless prayer”, “coping with sin”, “life more important than gifts”, and “obedience to the guidance of the Holy Spirit”.
When she returned to China in September 1903, she gave up practicing medicine, beginning to serve the Lord full time by faith. She was one of the first missionaries of the Chinese church to escape the financial supply of the Western mission and live entirely by faith.
This was what she asked God for in prayer: “To make me always possessed by God and always considerate of the needs of others.” She asked God to “saturate me with his love so that I can love as God do”; She prayed that God “can make me look at the things of this world from God’s point of view and keep me on the watch for the glory of the Lord’s return”.
In 1909, she raised money to found the Shanghai Bible Study and Prayer House, which was actually a Bible school. It was built focusing on the Bible and prayer. In addition, she continued to be invited to hold revival meetings.
From 1911 to 1912, Yu worked in Suzhou and Ningbo. In 1925, Yu and Leland Wang, known as the "Moody of China", worked together in a revival meeting in Shanghai, with more than 50 young believers devoting their lives to ministry.
In 1919, Yu and Ruth Paxon, a renowned missionary, joined the China Domestic Mission.
In 1920, she was invited to preach at the Methodist Episcopal Church in Fuzhou. Moved by her preaching, the evangelist Watchman Nee, and his mother, Peace Lin, both repented and went to study at Yu's Bible school. It wasn’t long before Nee launched the Little Flock Movement that affected the world.
In 1923, to meet the needs of church worship, the Bethlehem Hall was built on the campus, and the celebrated revivalist John Jonathan Goforth delivered an address. Besides, Yu ran the Bible study classes in the summer and winter.
Bibliography:
1. Dora Yu -- Pioneer of the Revival of the Church in China in the 20th Century
2. Wu Xiulang, Professor of History, Boston College
3. Bisson River Press, ISBN: 9780970341204
4. Wu Xiulang, Professor of History, Boston College. Jiuzhou Press, ISBN: 9787510814495
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
Dora Yu: The Most Influential Evangelist Pioneer of Chinese Church Revival in Early 20th Century
