Gladys Aylward

Gladys May Aylward was born on February 24, 1902, in Edmonton, North London. Her father was a postman, and her family was poor. She left school at fourteen and went to work as a parlourmaid in the homes of the wealthy. She was a small woman with dark hair and a determined spirit. She was a regular churchgoer, but she did not have a strong faith until she was converted at about the age of eighteen. At that time she heard a missionary speak about China and felt a call to go there.

She applied to the China Inland Mission and was accepted for a short period of training. After three months, the mission told her that she was not suitable. She was not educated enough to learn the Chinese language, and they felt that she was too old at twenty-six. She was disappointed but not discouraged. She went back to her work as a parlourmaid and saved every penny. She bought a one-way train ticket to China, and in 1930 she set out alone, traveling across Europe and Russia on the Trans-Siberian Railway. The journey took many weeks and was full of danger. She was stranded in Siberia and nearly captured by soldiers, but she arrived in China.

She made her way to Yangcheng, a remote town in the province of Shanxi, where an elderly missionary named Jeannie Lawson was working. The two women opened an inn for mule drivers who traveled along the trade routes. They called it the Inn of Eight Happinesses. At night, the muleteers were told stories of Jesus, and Gladys told them the gospel. The inn became a successful way of reaching people who would not enter a church. After Mrs. Lawson died, Gladys carried on alone.

She learned the language and became known to the local people. She was appointed a foot inspector by the local mandarin, a position in which she traveled to the villages to enforce the new law against the binding of women's feet. She also adopted a number of orphans and abandoned children. In 1936, she became a Chinese citizen. She was known to the people as Ai-weh-deh, which means the virtuous one.

In 1938, the Japanese invaded the region, and the town was bombed. She was ordered by the Chinese authorities to evacuate the children. With about a hundred orphans, she set out on foot over the mountains, heading for the safety of the town of Sian, some hundred miles away. They walked for twelve days, with little food, sleeping in the open. Many were weak and sick. Some were so small that they had to be carried. When they came to the Yellow River, there was no boat to cross. She prayed, and a Chinese officer found a way to get them across. They arrived at Sian, exhausted, and she collapsed with typhus and other illnesses.

She remained in China until 1947 and then returned to England. In 1949 she went to Hong Kong and then to Taiwan, where she started an orphanage and worked among children until her death. In 1957 a book, The Small Woman, was written about her life by Alan Burgess, and in 1958 it was made into a film, The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, starring Ingrid Bergman. She was unhappy with the film, which differed from the facts and took liberties with her story. She also felt that it gave a wrong picture of her own character.

She had her faults. She was strong-willed, stubborn and sometimes quick to take offense. She did not get on well with some of the missionary societies, who regarded her as headstrong. She was also fiercely devoted to the children and cared little for her own comfort. She died on January 3, 1970, in Taiwan. Her life shows what can be done by a person of little education and few resources who is determined to obey the call of God.