AP

The 19^th century evangelical bishop J. C. Ryle wrote once that “The last day will prove that some of the holiest men that ever lived are hardly known”. This is very true. While there were 16 heroes in the Bible explicitly mentioned by name in Hebrews 11, the overwhelming number of believers in the Bible, who contributed to the Kingdom of God, have been lesser-known saints.

Some gave a mite, others a glass of water. They may look insignificant to us, but Jesus takes deep notice of any act, large or small, done in His name. Their seemingly insignificant actions are recorded in the annals of Heaven. They will not be overlooked on the Last Day.

In the Bible we meet many saints who are recorded in only a few verses and who yet did important work for God. Exodus 1:15-21 records the courage of Israel’s midwives Shiphrah and Puah, who defied Pharaoh in order to save infant life. Bazalel and Oholiab’s contributions are hardly known by many in the church today (Exodus 31:1-6). How crucial was Barzillai to David’s survival in Absalom’s rebellion (2 Samuel 19:31-39)?

And no doubt there have been many in the Bible whose names were never recorded. We will only learn  about their great contribution on the Last Day.

In the history of the church since apostolic times, there has been a continuing great cloud of witnesses. Christians read often of the exploits of 19^th century missionaries like Hudson Taylor who went to China, and William Carey who took the Gospel to India.

But for every great missionary we know there are hundreds whose names and work for the Kingdom of Heaven will never be known this side of eternity. These unrecognised missionaries are known to God but not readily to the church. For many of them, their bones lie in a nameless grave.

Some lived very short lives on the mission field. Harriet Newell, who travelled alongsideAdoniram Judson to India died enroute. She was just 19 years old. She never reached the mission field – but her intent to bring honour to Jesus is well-known in heaven.

In the 19^th century the average lifespan of a typical missionary to Africa was just four years. Many missionaries knew that when they embarked on the sailing ship and farewelled their home country, they were probably never returning. Tropical diseases, fevers, climate, travelling, hygiene, and persecution took a heavy toil.

Like St Brendan, the 5^th century Irish Christian who burnt his boat when he arrived in pagan England, these missionaries burnt out their own lives in the dark continent of Africa to share the Gospel. For every Livingstone, Moffat and Slessor, there have been dozens if not hundreds of Christian workers who finished their journey nearly as soon as they started.

For most missionaries, their lives were obscure and plodding. They saw little fruit; there were few conversions. James Gilmour, a 19^th century missionary to Mongolia records that in 21 years he saw just one convert.   

Most were not great evangelists, nor great teachers or great translators. They taught simple peasant folk and worked in off the beaten track mission fields.

One such missionary was Frances Edith Nathan.  She felt called to go to Africa, but the Lord was to use her in China. And so, she left the comfort of England for Qing Dynasty China in the 1890s. At that period, China was quickly falling apart due to external wars and internal decline. Mission work was fraught with danger.

In 1894, Frances applied to the China Inland Mission. One year later she sailed 17000 km to China and after studying in Yangzhou made a difficult and dangerous voyage to a small mission site in Daning , Shanxi province. This was a very isolated area for a foreigner to work in at that time. Why did she risk going there?

Frances risked her life for one reason: she wanted to tell the Chinese about Jesus and to show them the way of salvation. She worked tirelessly with the native women telling them as best she could the Gospel and conducting Bible classes for inquirers.

In 1899, her younger sister, May Rose Nathan, came to join her in Shanxi.  Born in 1870 she had come to the Lord when 20 and, like her sister, heard the Lord’s call to tell the Chinese the Gospel. In one of her letters, she wrote: “I am sure I’ll be glad ‘someday’ that I had something worth giving up for His sake”.

Since May was not yet fluent in Mandarin, she assisted Frances who often taught the native women the way of salvation late into the night.

1900 was a very dangerous year to be a Christian in China. This was the time of the Boxer Rebellion when foreigners – especially Christian missionaries – were threatened with immediate death. At first, Frances and May (who seem to have often used their second names, Edith and Rose) believed that the Boxers would not approach their city and that they would be spared.

However, the Boxers fanned out across the province, moving ever closer to their compound. In July 1900 as the Boxers approached the outskirts of the city, Frances and May fled for their lives into the surrounding countryside. They hid in ravines and in mountain villages, often fed and protected by local Chinese Christians.

In a diary entry that survived the Rebellion (July 17, 1900) and was brought back to her mother, Frances May records: “The Christians are all bringing us presents. Today we have three fowls, heaps of eggs, and some sugar-candy; on Sunday some wheat, a fowl, and eggs. Truly our people are good to us. It does gladden our hearts when we see their love. Our labour is not in vain, and those whom I have especially helped are now giving it back tenfold” (Matthew 25:35-36).

In one of her last diary entries (July 22, 1900) to her mother May wrote: “Day by day we are without knowledge of what news may come! Darling Mother, don’t be anxious, whatever news you may hear of me. It will seem useless in the eyes of the world to come out here for a year, to be just getting on with the language, then to be cut off. Many will say, “Why did she go ? — wasted life.” Darling, No. Trust — God … never makes mistakes.”

In the end they hid within a cave, but were discovered by the Boxers and brought back to Daning. Here they were murdered, alongside another female missionary – an Australian – on August 13, 1900, near the West gate outside the city.

What happened to their bodies afterwards remains unknown. Their bodies await the resurrection at the end of their age.

In her last letter to her mother, May comforted her mother with these powerful words:

“We often endure mental and spiritual, and now we are called to endure, perhaps, extreme bodily suffering. But … death is … the gate of life, we shall see His face, and, darling Mother, I’ll wait and long for you there! Our dear friends and relatives, God alone can comfort them.” (July 22, 1900)

The China Inland Mission lost 58 missionaries and 21 children in the Boxer Rebellion. Up to 200 foreign missionaries lost their lives and tens of thousands of native Christians were killed. The sheer scope of the tragedy was initially kept from Hudson Taylor who was already old and frail at this time, but the news could not remain hidden. He wept: “I cannot read. I cannot think. I cannot even pray. But I can trust”.

And what of the small church where Frances and May ministered? In 1894 the fellowship had 300 believers. By 1949, that had grown to 3700. By 2018, over 100 pastoral staff met together to pay their respects in a small cemetery in Daning to Frances and May Nathan who had laid down their own lives to share the good news to them. (https://chinachristiandaily.com/news/church-ministries/2018-04-26/shanxi-church-pays-respect-to-xi-shengmo-and-foreign-martyrs–7033)

Recommended Reading:

1. Martyred Missionaries of the China Inland Mission by Marshall Broomhall (Available online)
2. Last Letters and further Records of Martyred Missionaries of the China Inland Mission by Marshall Broomhall (available online)

– Troy Appleton