13. Furlough
Chapter 13
Furlough
After several weeks of crossing the Pacific Ocean, the SS President McKinley docked in Seattle. The Kuhn family disembarked ship and transferred to a ferry to take them to Vancouver, where Belle’s father, her brother Murray, and a large group of Corner Club girls were waiting at the pier for them to arrive. It was quite a reunion for Belle and an introduction for John and Kathryn, who had not yet met any of Belle’s family.
Now that they were back on the North American continent, John and Belle had to adjust to many new things. It was May 1936, and the United States and Canada were quite different from the places they had left in the mid-1920s. For one, North America was in the grip of an economic depression, which meant that many people, including some of their friends, were out of work. Fashions had also changed, as had musical tastes. There were new roads with many more cars on them, and there were many more electrical appliances in the homes. Belle could also see that some things had not changed. During this tumultuous time, Belle’s father had tried his hand at some stock deals and was now five hundred dollars in debt as a result. Belle worried about the effects that amount of debt might have on her father’s health.
After three weeks in Vancouver, the Kuhn family headed south to Bellingham, Washington, where they attended the Bible and Missionary Conference held at The Firs. How wonderful it was to see Otis and Julia Whipple again. Belle spent many hours telling Julia all about her adventures in China. She also spent time walking the wooded paths of the conference grounds, where she reflected on how her life had been forever changed as a result of past visits to The Firs. All too soon the conference was over, and John and Belle transferred to nearby Orcas Island, where they had been offered the use of a small cottage. Belle’s father came along as well.
The Orcas Island cottage was just what Belle needed. In the mornings she could sleep in as long as she wanted while her father took Kathryn fishing or on some other little adventure around the island.
After a month of rest and recuperation at the cottage, Belle felt ready to tackle the long train trip east to Pennsylvania, where John had been raised. Apart from meeting John’s sister, Belle had not been introduced to other members of his family. John was eager for Belle to meet his many relatives who still lived in and around Manheim in Lancaster County. Belle and Kathryn also were eager to meet them, though John’s father had died several years earlier while John was in China, and his mother had died when John was three years old.
Belle was enchanted with Manheim, located in eastern Pennsylvania. It was deep in Amish country, and many of the local people still spoke a form of German. The houses reminded her of pictures she’d seen of European villages, with the homes all grouped together and their front doors opening right out onto the street. John proudly drove his family around, pointing out the local sights and the places where he and his sister had preached at open-air meetings when they visited home from Moody Bible Institute.
The family also visited John’s father’s grave and gave thanks for the financial inheritance John’s father had left them. It was a substantial amount of money and would have made a nice backup financial plan for them, except for one thing. On the voyage home from China they had both read the story of another missionary, C. T. Studd, who had started his missionary service in China before moving on to Africa. What had impressed John and Belle the most about C. T. Studd’s story was the way he had given away his own, much larger inheritance.
As they studied the documents relating to their inheritance, John and Belle decided to follow C. T. Studd’s example and give away the money. The first check they wrote was for five hundred dollars, which they sent to Belle’s father to cover his debt. Other checks were written to support missionaries in Russia, South America, and Africa. They also helped with the tuition of students at Moody Bible Institute. One of these students would take the money only on condition that she repay it when she could. “Don’t worry about it,” Belle countered. “It is a gift, not a loan.”
By the time they left Manheim for the trip west, the Kuhns had given away the entire amount of the inheritance, except for two thousand dollars in shares. A Christian friend who was on the board of the particular company urged them to keep their shares of the company’s stock, and John and Belle decided to do so as a personal favor to him.
As the Kuhn family made their way back to the West Coast, they stopped at various churches along the way to speak to the congregations about their missionary work among the Lisu. Belle was continually delighted to meet strangers who had read the prayer letters she had written which her father and others had duplicated and sent out. Many of these people said they prayed regularly for the family and their mission. They also told Belle that in her letters she painted such vivid pictures with her words that they felt they were right there among the Lisu. Their response to the prayer letters excited Belle, especially when the people asked about local Lisu Christians by name and wanted updates on them.
One person they often asked about was Homay. When they did inquire, Belle would ask them to pray especially hard for Homay. Since departing on furlough, Belle had learned that Homay had suffered a terrible loss when her fiancé Joseph drowned on the way back from a mission trip to Goo-moo in Burma. Leila had written to say that Homay had taken the news like a valiant Christian, but Belle knew how much Homay had loved Joseph, and she was very sad for her.
Before Belle knew it, a year and a half had passed, and it was time to return to China. Belle had spent much of the last month at home buying supplies and packing. This time Kathryn had to have her own bags because it was time for her to go to school. It was not an easy decision for Belle to come to, but she knew it was one that had to be made. Kathryn was a bright little girl who had blossomed among her new friends in Canada and the United States. Belle knew that she would be very lonely living back with the Lisu and also needed to be intellectually stimulated. Although Kathryn spoke Chinese and Lisu as well as English, she was ready for new learning challenges.
Thankfully, the parting would not be too sad, as John’s sister and brother-in-law, Kathryn and David Harrison, had been assigned to work at Kunming, where there was a small CIM school that young Kathryn could attend. And since it was a boarding school, Kathryn could regularly visit her Aunt Kathryn and Uncle David and stay with them for long weekends. Belle felt sure that either she or John would be able to go down to Kunming once a year and bring Kathryn back to vacation with them in Lisuland.
On Friday, August 30, 1937, the Kuhn family, along with Belle’s father and brother, attended a farewell service held for them at the China Inland Mission house in Vancouver. They were set to sail for China the next day. It was a wonderful service, and Belle hoped that she would remember the faces and prayers of all her friends during tough times in China.
No sooner had Belle tucked Kathryn into bed after the farewell service than the telephone rang. That will be one of our friends wishing us well, she thought as she strained to hear John, who had answered the phone. If she were to listen for a couple of sentences, she might be able to figure out which friend it was calling. But John didn’t say much. He listened to the voice on the other end of the line for what seemed an eternity to Belle, and then she heard him say, “So we won’t be going tomorrow?” Belle could hear the disappointment in John’s voice. The person on the other end of the line spoke some more, and John listened before saying, “Thank you for calling, Dr. Wilcox.”
Belle’s heart skipped a beat. Dr. Wilcox was the head of the CIM home missions board. Belle turned to John, a look of surprise on her face.
“Well, Belle, dear, we are not going to China tomorrow,” John said.
“Why not?” she asked.
“Because war has broken out between Japan and China in the north around Manchuria. The mission has canceled all passages to China. Even Miss Mait-land, who embarked in Seattle today, will have to disembark here tomorrow.”
Belle felt her face growing red with frustration as she stared at the trunks stacked neatly beside the front door. “But the fighting is in Manchuria in the north, and we are about as far south in China as we could be. Doesn’t the home missions board know its geography? We will be safe. There’s no need to hold us up from returning!” Belle hated the desperation that had crept into her voice.
In contrast, John’s reply was calm and soothing. “Now, Belle, don’t try to run the mission. They are sending us, and they can delay us if they see fit. We need to submit to them, and submit happily.”
Belle stared at her husband. She could see he was not going to challenge Dr. Wilcox and the decision of the home missions board. She was sure that someone higher up in CIM had totally overlooked the fact that they were going to the far south of China and would not be in danger from the fighting. Yet she decided to keep quiet and not push the point. More discussion on the matter would only make John more stubborn.
A short while later Belle sat down with John for their nightly devotions. John turned to Psalm 91 and read verse one: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”
There, Belle thought, we will be safer in China under the shadow of the Almighty than we would be anywhere else in the world.
She heard John sigh beside her after reading the verse, and she was sure that he was thinking the same thing. They prayed together, and then John got up. “I have to agree with you, Belle,” he said. “I will call Dr. Wilcox. I think it would be a good idea to bring the fact that we are in the south of China to his attention. Perhaps he can talk to the higher-ups, and they might consider reassessing our situation.”
Belle could hardly keep the smile off her lips. She was sure things would work out and that the family would be on their way to China aboard the Hikawa Maru the following day. And they were. At 9:00 AM the following morning Dr. Wilcox called to say that Dr. Glover, his superior, had sent a telegram approving their departure for China. Belle could barely contain her excitement at the news.
Twenty days later, after a smooth trip across the Pacific, the Hikawa Maru docked in Hong Kong. From Hong Kong the Kuhns would have to book passage on a ship to take them down the coast to Haiphong in French Indo-China (Vietnam), and from there they would travel overland by train to Kunming in Yunnan Province.
While John investigated the options for their onward travel, Belle imagined herself having time to relax in Hong Kong. But it was not to be. A telegram awaited her at the CIM house in Hong Kong that read, “Send Kathryn to Chefoo with Grace Liddell.”
Belle’s hand touched her face as she read the telegram and felt the sting of tears in her eyes. How could it be? Everything was arranged for Kathryn to go to school in Kunming, where the Harrisons were waiting for her. It seemed impossible to think of parting with her bright, happy six-year-old daughter and sending her north to CIM’s main school for missionary children in Chefoo. And wasn’t north where the fighting was?
Grace Liddell was also staying at the CIM guesthouse. Belle had not yet met her, but she had heard from others that Grace was a very effective worker in Yunnan Province. Despite Grace’s effectiveness in Yunnan Province, China Inland Mission was short of teachers at the school in Chefoo, and Grace had been asked to take up a teaching position there.
Belle liked Grace immediately, but she still did not want to entrust her daughter to her. Throughout the rest of that day and the next, Belle wrestled with the situation. She agonized over every part of Kathryn’s life that she would miss out on with her being so far away in Chefoo. She would not be there to read her bedtime stories, comb her hair, help her dress, answer her questions, or watch her learn to read and draw and play music. Everything Belle had hoped to do with Kathryn was all about to be ripped from her.
John tried to reason with her. He pointed out to Belle that Chefoo had a wonderful school, much larger and with more opportunities than the little school at Kunming. Kathryn would be with loving adults, all of them missionaries themselves, who would care for her like their own, and she would be surrounded with other children who were in the same situation.
Belle knew that John spoke the truth, but it did not make the situation any easier. Still, as she prayed about the matter, Belle felt that it was God’s direction, and so she allowed Grace to take Kathryn’s hand and lead her onto another boat that would take them north to Chefoo.
As soon as Kathryn was out of sight, Belle burst into uncontrollable tears. John walked the streets of Hong Kong with her all night, as she could not sleep. By the time they set sail from Hong Kong for Haiphong the next day, Belle was exhausted. And once they arrived in Haiphong and boarded the train for Kunming, she continued to weep silently. As the train wound its way toward Yunnan Province, it was taking Belle farther away from Kathryn. Dark thoughts ran through her mind. What if Kathryn forgot her altogether and preferred to be with Grace Liddell or one of the other teachers? Or what if Kathryn got ill and died and Belle never saw her again?
About halfway through the train trip, the fog in Belle’s mind began to lift. Belle took a good look at what she was doing. Yes, she was grieving for all the things that she would never experience with Kathryn. But what good had all that grief done? Was she any better off for all her weeping? Was Kathryn any better off? Had her marriage to John been strengthened by her wallowing in self-pity? The answer to all of these questions was no, and with that realization Belle dried her tears. There would be more good-byes to come—it was part of being a missionary—and it was best not to dwell too long on them. If such partings was part of God’s will, He would have to bear the burden. It was not one that Belle could carry. She prayed and asked God to forgive her for indulging her grief. Now it was time for her to look ahead.
As the train rolled along, snow-capped mountains began to appear in the background through the window. John and Belle were already in Yunnan Province and would soon be arriving in Kunming. Belle refused to think about how Kathryn was supposed to be going to school in Kunming and instead focused on how wonderful it would be to see John’s sister and brother-in-law and fill them in on all the news from home.
Another blow awaited Belle in Kunming, however. Belle had been so focused on returning to the Lisu that she never considered the possibility that James Fraser would not reassign them there. But he did not. Instead he posted John and Belle temporarily to Paoshan, from where, he told them, they could make trips into Lisuland. As far as their future in China went, James asked John to consider becoming the assistant superintendent of CIM for the western part of Yunnan Province.
Belle was speechless when she learned of their new posting. First Kathryn had been taken from her, and now the Lisu people. But this time Belle did not wallow in grief. Instead she set aside a day to pray about the situation. At the end of the day, she was certain that God had promised her she would return and live permanently among the Lisu. A huge grin spread across her face at this realization, but she kept it in check. Belle decided not to tell anyone—not even John—about what she had felt from God. It was a special secret God had shared with her, and now Belle was eager to see how it would work itself out.
Belle sang as she packed her bags for the trip to Paoshan. After all, she told herself, it was just a steppingstone to Lisuland. She noticed John giving her a couple of strange looks as she packed, but she resisted the urge to tell him that she knew they would be returning to Lisuland soon.
And they did. A month after arriving in Paoshan, a desperate letter came from James, asking John and Belle if they would go up to Oak Flat Village and help settle a problem that had arisen in the church. At the same time they could escort Victor Christianson, the new missionary going to work among the Lisu, and help get him settled and on his way to learning the Lisu language. The letter ended with the words, “Remember, this is not a permanent designation. You do not need to move all your things. But you will need to set up housekeeping for a few months. It would be good for Victor to have the comfort of experienced seniors for a little while.”
Belle nodded politely as John read the letter to her, but in her heart she was dancing! John and James might think she was going back for only a few months, but Belle was certain that she would be back among her Lisu people for good. She could hardly wait to see what would happen next.