Remember Your Leaders

“Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.” Hebrews 13:7

James Hudson Taylor lll, great-grandson of the founder of the China Inland Mission, died on the 20th of March 2009, in Hong Kong. Jim Taylor was born in 1929 in China’s ancient city of Kaifeng, on the Yellow River where his parents served as missionaries (photo above). As a 12-year-old boy, he was interned in Weihsien Concentration Camp for three years, during the Sino-Japanese War. Eric Liddell, the Olympian gold medalist, was also in this camp and taught the boys games. Camp life was very tough but Jim saw how faith stood under trial, for in Weihsien his grandfather and Eric Liddell, along with the Chefoo school staff, modelled the life of faith. He wrote, ‘I saw in Grandpa how the patterns of life had been set. Every day began with praise.’ The camp was liberated in August 1945, and Jim reunited with his parents after five years of separation.

After university, Jim Taylor served in Taiwan with his wife Leone for 25 years. They then moved to Singapore to become General Director of OMF. Under James Taylor’s leadership, OMF was encouraged to continue in their concerns for China & the Chinese people. In 1991 Jim & Leone relocated to Hong Kong & formed Medical Services International (MSI), to serve in Sichuan province. In 2007, in a ceremony attended by 300 people, a county of the Sichuan province conferred on him honorary citizenship as a sign of affection and respect. He was a warm man, and a master storyteller; his love for history enriched his sharp grasp of mission trends. We are grateful for Dr Taylor’s talent and energy, his love of Jesus and quiet humility.

Joshua just took his first public exam – an IGCSE Mandarin oral exam a week ago. He went off to a rugby camp for the weekend and had a great time – returning exhausted and even browner than usual. His school also has a successful girls touch rugby team and they went too. No wonder he had such fun. At the formal rugby dinner on Saturday night, Josh was asked to say grace. We asked why the coach asked him. We prised it out of him that he leads the team in prayer before each game and so has the reputation of being the “Holy Joe” - which he doesn't seem to mind. He's so big that the others probably think twice before teasing him.

We were saddened to hear about the death of Morgan Tsvangirai's wife in Zimbabwe. We continually wonder how much more the country can take. Aimee lay on our bed and sobbed when we told her - then went off to get a pen and paper and wrote to Barack Obama asking him to help bring justice and freedom back to Zimbabwe. More importantly, we continue to pray for these things to the Lord of all the earth.

The Phase Two of renovation work at 2 Cluny Road continues – demolition is almost complete and new structures are beginning to spring up. In addition, the electronic candidate processing system will go live on the 23rd of March.

Next weekend, on 29th of March, we travel to Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand for a week to run a TCK Forum, a gathering of those involved in delivering care to OMF’s children – while our own children stay behind with a courageous child-sitter, Bev! Please pray for preparation time in our currently hectic days and that those that meet with us would be encouraged in the work. Over Easter we plan to have a few days break in Indonesia after a very demanding first three months of 2009. From the 15th to the 19th April, we are looking forward to welcoming Philip & Coral, Anna’s parents, passing through on their way to Australia. Thank you for your prayers.

Steve, Anna, Joshua & Aimée