16. Windwords
Chapter 16
Windwords
Belle read the powerful words in her Bible: “There will be wars and rumors of wars.” How right that is, she thought. The Lisu had a word for rumors—windwords. Belle could see firsthand just how destructive these words—carried on the wind by no one in particular—were. Even the Lisu Christians, who were glad to have John and Belle back with them after six months, seemed paralyzed by rumors of war. One day they heard that some soldiers in unfamiliar uniforms had been spotted just beyond the northern village of Cow’s Hump. Many of the Lisu, assuming that they were Japanese soldiers, fled into the mountains, only to discover that they were actually Chinese soldiers dressed in unfamiliar uniforms. Belle sighed when she saw the people’s reaction. If they jumped like that at every windword, they would all go mad!
Since John was away so much after their return to Oak Flat advising Colonel Hsie and visiting outlying churches, Belle decided that it was up to her to set an example of Christian strength. She determined that things at the church at Oak Flat should proceed as usual. The Christmas and Easter festivals would be celebrated and the Rainy Season Bible School would continue, though starting in January rather than with the onset of the rainy season. The change in start date for the RSBS allowed Belle to embark on a new project—a Bible school for teenage boys. She wrote the curriculum for the school and some new songs, which she thought would appeal to the young students.
During the RSBS, Japanese fighter planes began flying over the mountains of Lisuland. The Lisu, who had never seen airplanes before, were puzzled by them and referred to the airplanes as a thousand purring tigers with wings that did not flap. When Belle told them that they actually had people inside them, they started calling them flying houses.
On the day that the Bible school for teenagers opened, March 6, 1943, new windwords swirled throughout the community: the Japanese were nearby at Six Treasures, just a day’s journey away, and had destroyed the boats that ferried travelers across the Salween River. To Belle the reports were just rumors, and she refused to call off the school. Despite the windwords, seventy-six boys arrived for the Bible school. Belle could scarcely believe the number of boys who had shown up, and the thought of overseeing so many boys exhausted her. And she knew why. At the age of forty-one, she was shocked to learn that she was pregnant and expecting a baby in the summer.
Despite the pregnancy, and with the able help of her new assistant Eva, Belle gave herself wholeheartedly to teaching the boys. She knew that it might be their last chance to receive solid Christian teaching. If the Japanese continued to advance into Lisu territory, many of the boys would most likely be captured or killed in the ensuing fighting.
The school ran for a month, and at the end of it many of the boys had committed their lives to spreading the gospel throughout Lisuland, no matter what the cost. One of these boys was Chi-lee, the lone Christian from a remote area called the Heathen Patch. Belle took a special interest in him, and she was excited to see how seriously he studied. Chi-Lee did not know how to read or write at the beginning of the school, and he still had a long way to go at the end of it. Sensing that Chi-lee had a sincere heart, Belle invited him to return in August, when she planned to hold another Bible school for the boys.
The spring passed quickly, and Belle was glad when a missionary nurse from Tali agreed to come and stay with her at Oak Flat until the baby was born. On August 1, 1943, Daniel Kuhn entered the world. His head was covered with downy red hair, and his skin was pearly white. The Lisu stared in wonder at the newborn; they had never seen anything like him before. Both John and Belle were delighted with their new son, though Belle could not help wondering what the future held for him. And she wished with all her heart that she had some way of telling Kathryn that she had a little brother.
August rolled on, and a new Bible school for boys began. To Belle’s surprise, however, Chi-lee did not arrive for it. She had been sure that he would come back. Then she learned the terrible truth of what had happened to Chi-lee. He had gone home to the Heathen Patch as planned at the end of the first school and began preaching the gospel. At first his neighbors just jeered at him. Then they beat him. Then they burned down his house and drove him out into the mountains, where Chi-lee built himself a shelter from pine branches in which to live. Soon afterward he contracted malaria and died from the disease. It was a bitter blow for Belle, but she consoled herself with the thought that Chi-lee was now in heaven with Me-do-me-pa and Homay and so many other faithful Lisu Christians.
The strain of living under the constant threat of Japanese invasion continued, and hundreds of Chinese troops were deployed into the area. This carried with it its own set of problems, as the Lisu were ordered to feed and house the Chinese troops. And because the Christians in the villages were the most reliable members of the community, the burden of doing this fell unfairly on them. Yet their joyfulness, even under pressure, heartened Belle.
The Chinese also stopped much of the travel in the area. The Lisu now needed a special permit to cross the Salween River, making it a time-consuming task to get everyone to the various programs being held at Oak Flat. Still, Belle pressed on. John was gone much of the time fulfilling his duties as an adviser to Colonel Hsie and overseeing the work of CIM in western Yunnan Province. In his absence, Belle decided to hold a Bible school for girls in February 1944 and followed it with another school for the boys.
Given the tense situation in the Salween River Valley, no supplies had made it to Oak Flat in months. As a result, the students attending the Bible schools had no pencils or paper to use. Belle prayed about the situation, and the answer to her prayer dropped from the sky—literally. Five American soldiers parachuted into the Salween River Valley and found their way to Oak Flat. The soldiers were on a secret mission, which they said they could tell Belle nothing about. Nonetheless, Belle took them in and gave them all a hearty meal. When they left Oak Flat, the five Americans inquired whether there was anything they could do for her. Belle asked if they might be able to find some stationery for the students, and within days a special delivery of paper, pencils, pens, and ink arrived at Oak Flat.
In the fall, Belle received the best news possible. Kathryn was in the United States! The Japanese had repatriated her and many of the other CIM children to their home countries. With the news, Belle felt a great weight lift off her, and she thanked God that it was only a few months now before she, John, and baby Danny would be headed home on furlough themselves. By Christmas, God willing, the Kuhn family would once again all be together.
The thought of soon being reunited with Kathryn spurred Belle on. Since China was now closed to new and returning missionaries, Belle was unsure whether she would ever get back to Lisu territory after furlough. She used every ounce of her effort to make sure that she taught and reached out to as many people as possible before she left Oak Flat.
In October 1944 it was time for the family to leave. The trip home with a one-year-old was more grueling than Belle could have imagined. The family traveled out of the mountains to Kunming and then boarded an airplane that flew them over the Himalayas to India, where they boarded a troop ship carrying refugees to the United States. The trip across the Indian Ocean and then the Pacific took thirty-six days. Unlike the relaxed voyages Belle had previously made to and from China, this voyage was harrowing. The troop ship was crammed with people, the captain forbade anyone to go above deck, Danny cried from colic most of the way, and the men were separated from the women and children. Belle saw John for only two hours a day. By the time the ship docked in Southern California, Belle and John were completely exhausted. But Belle’s spirits were soon revived when she got to speak to Kathryn by telephone. Kathryn was staying with friends in Pennsylvania, and Belle started counting down the days until they were reunited once again.
Danny’s colic was no better on the train trip across the United States, but Belle’s thoughts were not on her son’s constant crying but on seeing her now thirteen-year-old daughter again. When Belle finally got into Pennsylvania, mother and daughter wrapped their arms around each other in a long embrace. Belle was impressed with the lovely young woman Kathryn was becoming. Kathryn loved her new brother Danny and was a great help to Belle in entertaining him. Still, staying in other people’s homes with a toddler was exhausting for Belle, who longed for a home of her own with a fenced yard where Danny could explore to his heart’s content.
And that is what she got. The two thousand dollars’ worth of shares that she and John had decided not to sell from John’s inheritance from his father had grown in value to six thousand dollars. John and Belle cashed in the shares and used the money to buy a small house in Dallas, where John had been studying at Dallas Theological Seminary between itinerating trips for CIM around the United States.
Of course, Belle, being who she was, had to do something to help the Lisu people, even if she was thousands of miles away. While Danny took naps during the day, she got out her typewriter and began writing another book, which she entitled Nests Above the Abyss. The book told the stories of many of the brave Lisu Christians whom she had known. As she wrote, tears streamed down her cheeks, and memories of Homay, Me-do-me-pa, and Chi-lee flooded back to her. Belle tried hard to capture on paper the courageous spirits of these special people.
On August 6, 1945, John and Belle learned on the radio that the United States had dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later they learned that a second atomic bomb had been dropped, this time on Nagasaki. They waited to see how Japan would respond to the bombing and were relieved when, on August 15, Japan announced its surrender to the Allies. World War II had finally come to an end. Belle breathed a sigh of relief; she would get to see Lisuland once again.
With the surrender of Japan, things moved swiftly for John and Belle. China was once again open to missionaries, and China Inland Mission asked its area superintendents, including John, to return to China immediately, a year ahead of the rest of their families. In January 1946, John kissed Belle and his children good-bye and set sail for China.
Belle and the children stayed on in Dallas for a year after John left, with Belle finishing the manuscript for Nests Above the Abyss and arranging for it to be published. Then it was time for the family to head back to China as well. Belle sold the house to the first person who came to look at the place, for more money than she and John had paid for it, and then she packed up the family’s belongings.
Belle and Danny were due to set sail for China from Houston. First the family had to travel to Pennsylvania, where Kathryn would stay behind with friends to finish high school in the United States. Belle hated having to say good-bye to her daughter yet again, but she had learned by now that part of being a missionary meant saying good-bye to those you loved in order for some greater good to be accomplished.
From Pennsylvania, Belle and three-year-old Danny caught the train to Houston, where they boarded the Joseph Lee, a decrepit old freighter, but the only ship available for the trip to China. Forty-six days after setting sail from Houston, the Joseph Lee docked in Shanghai. Belle and Danny were glad to get off the ship and be back in China.
In Shanghai John and Isobel were reunited. John described the chaotic state of affairs in the countryside. “Bridges everywhere are blown up, roads are gone, villages are burned, robbers are everywhere, and the people generally are living in a state of fear.” Because conditions were too dangerous for Belle and Danny to navigate by road, they would fly to Yunnan Province while John and a friend would drive to Yunnan in a truck loaded with their belongings and supplies for the Lisu people.
The Kuhn family were soon safely together again in Tali, where Belle was delighted to find Eva enrolled in a nursing school. As soon as Eva saw Belle, she begged to be allowed to quit nursing school and return to the Lisu with the Kuhns. Belle was tempted to give in to Eva’s request, as Eva was a hard worker and a good friend, but she resisted. She told Eva she needed to stay and finish the school and then she could join them once again at Oak Flat.
John had superintendent business to take care of in western Yunnan Province and could not leave right away to return to the Lisu. However, since Belle was eager to get back to the Lisu as quickly as possible, John secured a guide to escort Belle and Danny home to Oak Flat.
At the end of the trek, as Belle and her son neared Oak Flat, a group of Christians rushed out to meet them. They led Danny along the final leg of the journey on a white horse with silver bells on its bridle. Belle smiled as Danny waved like a little prince from atop the horse. She knew that he would surely enjoy his new home.
On Sunday, three hundred Lisu from all over the valley came to greet Belle and bring her gifts. Since corn and vegetables were in scarce supply because of a long drought, most people gave eggs instead—over one hundred in all.
Once the official welcome was over, it was straight back to work for Belle. John finally made it back to Oak Flat, and together he and Belle ran the biggest Rainy Season Bible School ever. During the school Belle was able to demonstrate some new ways of evangelizing children that she had learned while on furlough in the United States. The RSBS was a huge success, but as soon as it was finished, John was again on his way to take care of more CIM business.
No sooner had John left than Belle began to feel more alone than she had ever felt before. She and Danny were the only Europeans for miles around, and Danny had contracted typhoid fever. More often than not the disease was a killer, and Belle prayed fervently that it would not take the life of her young son. Night after night she sat with Danny, wiping his brow with cold water and moistening his dry lips with ointment.
Belle had no time to send for help. All she could do was pray for strength for Danny to fight the disease in his body. And that is what happened. Slowly, over many days, Danny’s condition began to improve.
Danny had not fully recovered when Belle had to handle another crisis on her own. While the Kuhns had been away on furlough, some of the Christians in the church had chosen to go after positions of power in the village, even if it meant leaving their Christian principles behind. One of those who had done this was a man named Keh-deh-seh-pa, who had decided that his son deserved to be a teacher at the new Christian school that had been set up, even though no one else thought the son was fit for the job. The resident missionary had to give his or her approval of the appointment, and Belle refused to do so.
Instead of going along with the decision of Belle and the church elders, Keh-deh-seh-pa used force and craftiness to try to get his own way. First he tried to frighten Belle into recommending his son for the job. One night Belle heard men outside under her window communicating with each other using birdcalls. The hairs on her neck rose as she crept over to Danny’s bed and crawled in beside him. She hugged Danny and prayed that the men would not come inside and harm them. The night passed without their being harmed. The next day Keh-deh-seh-pa tried a new tactic. He talked the local magistrate into detaining two prisoners right in Belle’s kitchen. The prisoners were tied to the door jambs, and Belle was told that if they went missing from her kitchen, she would be charged with interfering with the course of justice.
“Justice!” Belle snorted, angry at how a man who had been a Christian could stoop to doing this to secure a teaching job for his son. Still, she decided it was wise not to touch the prisoners, who stayed tied up in her kitchen for several days until John returned, cut the prisoners free, and dealt with the situation.
Belle was relieved to have her hut to herself again, but deep down she could see that the winds of change were blowing up the Salween River Valley. The chaos in China after the defeat of the Japanese had now turned into civil war between the Nationalist Chinese and the Communists. As time went on and snippets of news drifted back to Oak Flat, it seemed that the Communists were gaining the upper hand in the fighting and now controlled more and more of the Chinese countryside. Slowly reports came that the Communists were operating in the mountains and valleys of western Yunnan.
Some of the reports were nothing more than windwords, but others were real. It seemed that the Communists had a strategy for taking over villages. First they would let bands of thugs terrorize villages, killing people and stealing their belongings. Their brutality would shock the local population so much that when Communist soldiers came to liberate their village from the bands of thugs, the villagers would be so grateful that they would give allegiance to the Communists. Even a number of Christians were doing so, much to Belle’s chagrin. And now the Communists were starting to use this tactic along the Salween River Valley.
Just before Christmas 1948, Belle had to agree with the Christian men of the village. It was no longer safe for her and Danny to stay alone at Oak Flat. The men told her that she would be safer on the western side of the valley at Village of the Olives. Lucius, a church elder, built a house for Belle right next to his own house on the track that led to the center of town.
Belle was relieved that she had moved when she learned that on Christmas Eve a band of thugs had come looking for her at Oak Flat. When they did not find her, they had turned their attention to nearby Place-of-Action Village. In the dead of night they dropped hand grenades on sleeping villagers, killing thirteen men and wounding many more.
After this incident, many people began urging Belle to leave the Salween River Valley altogether before more violence erupted. Belle was well aware that CIM missionaries throughout China were being persecuted and some even killed by the Communists. In fact, it seemed to Belle that it was only a matter of time before the Communists would eventually gain control over all of China. But until that time, she wanted to use every minute available to reach as many of the Lisu as possible with the gospel.