She went to that place of death and banishment, to live out the rest
of her days in ministry for others. In her case the days lingered
into years, and the disease took a severe form, but her devotion
and courage never failed. When death came to her as a friend, and
her work was done, the memory of the "superior girl," who had lived
among the afflicted people as a missionary rather than a patient,
remained. Perhaps her fellowship in suffering gave her the final
qualification to be a missionary to lepers.
India is the land which above all others cries out for lady medical
missionaries; but other Eastern countries have also a claim.
Wherever Islam has planted its iron heel, women are jealously
guarded in harems, and it is very unusual for a man to be allowed
entrance on any pretext. In China, also, women of superior class are
hidden within the high walls that surround their houses. Those free
to go out gain little but suffering from the barbarous attentions of
native surgeons. In the East the knowledge which brings relief from
pain is a power to overcome obstacles to Christianity that resist
every other force.
The Church of England Zenana Missionary Society has sent out a
qualified lady doctor to Foochow, and in 1894 the Church Missionary
Society opened a hospital for women in Hangchow with one large
and six smaller wards. One patient who was brought into this
building--of which two views are given--suffering from diseased
bones, has gone out to devote her recovered health and new knowledge
to the service of God and her own countrywomen.
[Illustration: (_Photo supplied by the Church Missionary Society._)
INTERIOR OF NEW WOMEN'S HOSPITAL, HANGCHOW]
There is scarcely a mission hospital or dispensary that cannot
tell of similar results of the double ministry to body and soul.
Each year justifies the increased number of women with medical
qualifications sent into the mission field. Some, like Mrs.
Russell Watson, of the Baptist Mission at Chefu, are the wives of
missionaries, others have been sent out by various missions, such
as the Zenana Bible and Medical Mission, or by the women's branches
(added during the close of the present century), to the more
venerable societies.
Dr. Henry Martyn Clark, of Amritsar, once asked a friendly Hindu
what department of foreign missions his people considered most
dangerous.
"Why should I reveal our secrets to the enemy?" the Hindu responded.
But he yielded to persuasion. "We do not very much fear your
preaching," he said, "for we need not listen; nor your schools, for
we need not send our children; nor your books, for we need not read
them. But we do fear your women, for they are gaining our homes; and
we very much fear your medical missions, for they are gaining our
hearts. Hearts and homes gone, what shall we have left?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account