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Kung Fu

The Amoy Mission--1840-1951
Copyright 2001-7 by Sue Brown & Dr. Bill Order Books Xiamenguide Forum
Main Page    E-mail  This page contents copyright 2007 by Walter deVelder Family
A Missionary Journey Over Nine Decades
By Walter deVelder
.... This fascinating memoir was provided by Joann Hill. Enjoy!

Part 1: 1900-1910 Part 2: 1910-1920  Part 3: 1920-1930 
Part 4: 1930-1940  Part 5: 1940-1950 Part 6: 1950-1960 
Part 7: 1960-1970  Part 8: 1970-1980 
Return to The Amoy Mission  I Remember "Wally"

Part 5: 1940-1950

The Amoy Mission met in annual session in February, 1940, during the Chinese New Year holiday season. It was recommended and passed that I take my furlough one year early, going to the US in June 1940 rather than in 1941. Reason s given were that I should not miss the 1942 ¨C one hundred year anniversary celebration, and also, that Margaret's mother in the States was eighty years old. She had wanted to come out with us in 1936, but we had said "come in 1940, and return with us in 1941".

I continued my trips into the North River District, making my home with the Holleman's and Baby Phil. During one such three week trip in April, Dr. Hofstra and Harriet Boat, of the Changchow Union Hospital staff accompanied me to Lengna to give encouragement to the Fagg Memorial staff, while I visited Churches and Chapels. We were fortunate not to meet any bandits and returned safely to Chang Chow.

In June 1940 Henry Poppen, Nelson and Stella Veenschoten, Jessie Peatz, Baby Phil and myself boarded the M/S President Jefferson in Shanghai and sailed to San Francisco via Kobe, Yokohama and Honolulu. In Japan we had a good visit with several RCA missionaries and in Honululu we were delighted to have a good day with Bernard and Astrid Hormann. We had a very good journey. Henry Poppen shared the cabin with Phil and myself. Jessie Platz helped us a lot in loving care of Phil. she was a wonderful nurse. All the missionaries loved this baby. It was hard for Ruth Holleman to part with him after giving him loving care for six months.

Baby Phil and I stayed in Iowa with my folks for three weeks and then proceeded to East Northfield, Mass., where Uncle Phil Phelps, Margaret's bachelor uncle owned a small cabin cottage on the Third Ridge of the Seven Ridges on a small mountain. We had a stay of three weeks in this very pretty area of the country. Baby Phil was baptized in beautiful Sage Chapel where eight years earlier Margaret and I were married. It was very touching as I looked in the left alcove of the Chapel to see Margaret's name on a beautiful plaque honoring Northfield girls who had died in service overseas. Among the other women so honored are Dr. Ida Schudder and Miss Charlotte Wycoff. I was pleased to meet Dr. Walter Judd and to play tennis with him. Dr. Judd had resigned from his missionary post in North China to come home to protest the US shipping scrap iron to Japan. We had a very good summer in beautiful East Northfield, and it was good that Grandma Otte could see her youngest grandson for a time.

We all went to Neshanic, New Jersey in early September to live with margaret's older sister Adriana and family. Adriana was eleven years older than Margaret and was the wife of the Rev. George Scholten, Pastor of the Neshanic Reformed Church. They had three young daughters, Frances, Elaino, Rosalind, whom I loved very much. Adriana took loving care of Phil. I was busy doing Deputation work and I enrolled for two courses at Princeton Seminary, twelve miles from Neshanic. These courses were very interesting. One was with Henry Luce's father, former missionary in China on "Problems in the Far East", and the other course was on "Early Christian Councils" by Joseph Hromadke, a refugee from Europe. I was invited to speak on China at the New Jersey College for Women in New Brunswick, NJ. I spoke at several Rotary Club meetings and dinners of "Orange Men", groups of laymen in the RCA, but I was lonely.

The New Year 1941 started with activity and excitement. On January 3 I had a call from Dr. Lumen Shafer our RCA Secretary for Asia asking me if I could possibly come into New York City on the 4th. He said, the Board had received a long cable from the Amoy Mission about my considering a shorter furlough. I went into New York City on the 4th and Dr. Shafer was very helpful in every way. The Amoy Mission asked for me because I was urgently needed in the North River District, the program for the 1942 Synod celebrations were in high gear and they wished me to set up some regional youth conferences in the summer. I agreed to have an eight month furlough rather than twelve months and said, I would try to be on the Field in March.

Many relatives and friends had asked me if I planned to marry again. In fact, well-intentioned match-makers and interested "go-betweens" had actually given me seven offers in Chinese style. There was an impressive list of good candidates. They ranged from a devoted Chinese lady preacher in the North River District to persons in US, Hong Kong, and the Netherlands. The dear Preacher friend and colleague was a lower middle school graduate with three years of Bible School. Another was a beautiful Chinese lady with Ph.D. in English from Oxford. She was on the faculty of Hong Kong University, a third the Head Mistress of the best known High School in the Hague, Nederlands. There were three wonderful ladies in the US, a College Professor, and two High School teachers. I was honored and blessed with good friends, but these ladies had not touched my heart.

Plans to return to China went into action. There was the problem as to where Phil should be placed, as the State Department would not give permission for his return with me. Grandma Otte had hoped Phil and I would live with her, and care for her, taking a pastorate in the States, instead of returning to the Mission Field in Fukien. To leave the work my life was joyously dedicated to was impossible for me. My mother and Adriana both lovingly and generously offered to care for him and I would supply a child-care helper. It was decided Grandpa and Grandma deVelder would take Phil. I booked passage on the M/S President Cleveland, leaving San Francisco for Hong Kong on March 3. I sold my care in Orange City, Iowa and made many decisions.

Intelligence concerning possible confrontation with Japan was extremely naive in the US. this was verified by the reaction of the Postal Clerk in San Francisco. On the morning of March 3rd I mailed at least three large envelopes to China on the now famous Pan American Clipper, huge sea plane flying from San Francisco to Hong Kong. I had to use a lot of stamps and the clerk was very inquisitive about the whole operation. I told him I was sailing on the M/S President Cleveland that very afternoon to Hong Kong via Japan. I shall never forget his comment, he said, "If these little dwarfs start anything we will finish them off in a month". Little did he, or any of us, realize it would take four dreadful years.

The big ocean liner left San Francisco with only twenty-seven passengers and no cargo for the Far East ¨C lightly loaded indeed. Harriet had agreed to meet the ship in Hong Kong. I was missing Phil very much. It was a great disappointment that we could not have him with us right away. Harriet had been in the operating room, the unscrubbed Nurse to receive the baby, to care for him and bring him to me waiting in the Chapel across from the OR for me to welcome him into my heart and arms and into the wide and beautiful world.

The ship stopped in Honolulu after a calm trip that far, and I had the pleasure of seeing the Hormann family again. From Honolulu to Yokohama the sea was very rough and I was dreadfully seasick. Even the ship's Doctor was seasick. I was at the point where one "thinks he will die and then is afraid he will not die". But three days before reaching Japan I was on deck again. I found in Japan that many women and children were planning to return to the US and the same was true in Hong Kong.

The ship entered Hong Kong Harbor the early morning of March 25, and it was wonderful to see the Outer and Inner harbors again. The Outer harbor had a big US Aircraft Carrier in it's waters and the Inner Harbor was filled with ships of all sizes from every country in the world, it seemed. I had written Harriet I would come from the ship to the lobby of the Penninsula Hotel about 10:30 am, after checking in at the YMCA next door. I entered the Hotel from the side door and Harriet was sitting in an armchair facing the front entrance. e had a long embrace and people sitting near by realized this was a special occasion.

Harriet was given a transit visa in Amoy for Hong Kong, and police were looking for her. The mistake had been made putting her application for a visa in at the British Consulate in Amoy with those of the group of women and children leaving China for the US on the same Coast Steamer she took down to Hong Kong. When this was rectified we went to the American Consulate at 2 p.m. and were very warmly welcomed by John H. Bruins, Consul General. He helped us in having the Governor of Hong Kong lift the three week posting of marriage banns, and arranging the time of our marriage at the Supreme Court. Mrs. Bruins had already gone to the States and he was a lonely man.

At the Phillips House, a Missionary Home on Carnarvon Road in Kowloon we met the contingent of Amoy Mission family going to the US on the President Cleveland scheduled to sail on March 27. The evening of the 25th we ate supper with our Amoy Mission family in the Phillips House. We talked of the year gone by and had many experiences to share. We were Leona Vander Linden, Jean Neinhuis, Tena Holkebour, Ruth Holleman, Elizabeth and Edwin Koeppe, and Ted and Helen Ottman and Harriet and myself. Edwin Koeppe and Ted Altman were returning to Amoy after the M/S President Cleveland sailed. We planned the next day's events, and some tears were shed, both sad and happy.

March 26 was a beautiful day, the temperature 60 degrees. this was Harriet's and my big day. At 10 a.m. we were at the Supreme Court on Hong Kong Island, accompanied by Ruth Holleman, John H. Bruins was there in the waiting room expecting us. We were called in and met Sir James Selwyn Clarke, Chief Judge of the Court. He was a very kind man and put us at ease. The wedding ceremony took less than five minutes, and we were pronounced man and wife by the authority of the British Government in Hong Kong. Ruth Holleman and John H. Bruins signed the accordian¨Clike document in which I was called a "clergyman" and Harriet a "spinster". It cost us $6. HK or about $2 US money. We left the Supreme Court married in a Civil Ceremony and now awaited the religious wedding ceremony. The Amoy Mission contingent arranged for a simple but beautiful ceremony at 2:30 p.m. that afternoon. The Rev. Edwin Koeppe performed the ceremony. Ruth Holleman stood up with Harriet and Dr. Ted Oltsman was my best man. Little Katherine (Ka-Ka) Altman was our flower girl. Mrs. Schoep of the United Brethren Church played the organ. Leona, Jean, and Tena arranged some beautiful flower baskets. Our party had some interesting guests, John H. Bruins, Consul General of the US Embassy in Hong Kong, A. R. Kepler, Presbyterian Missionary and one of the architects of the formation of the Church of Christ in China, Mr. Toh Bien Seng, lay Christian from Amoy and Chairman of the Board of Talmage College, and other dear friends from the Chinese community.

The Amoy speaking Churches in Hong Kong and Kowloon had not yet been organized and there were no Chinese Pastors who spoke the Amoy language in Hong Kong. After the ceremony we had a simple but gracious reception. We now felt fully married, both in the Civil and Christian ceremonies. We spent our honeymoon in the Penninsula Hotel. It cost us $14.00 HK ($3.00 US) a night. Now, the same room would cost more than $200 US. It was wonderful sitting on the balcony of that beautiful hotel overlooking the harbor of Hong Kong. I felt myself falling deeply in love once more. Like Captain Christopher Plummer in the "Sound of Music". I had felt severe setbacks, but he realized as I did, too, that "one can sing once more".

On March 27 our Amoy Mission group sailed for the US on the President Cleveland. Little Ka-Ka Oltman was very excited. the adults realized the severity of the parting, some not seeing loved ones for several years and some never to return to their beloved China. We did not see our Phil until he was five years old. When Mother died, Sister Delia took good care of Phil until our return to the States in 1945.

Harriet and I stayed on at the Phillips House. We hoped to board a Coastal Steamer to Amoy in a few days, but that was not to be. We were delayed for three weeks before we could book passage on the M/S Foochow of the Butterfield and Swire Shipping Co. Line.

Harriet and I roamed the streets of Hong Kong and Kowloon, went up the Peak on the spectacular tram car and walked the forty-five minute fantastic around the top of the Hong Kong Peak on two occasions, took trips into the New Territories, took Ferry boats to Cheng Chou and Lan-Tou Islands. In fact, we did a lot of sight seeing and hunted for bargains in the shops. We were amazed to see so few Western women and children on the Star Ferry from Hong Kong to Kowloon. We could sometimes detect people thinking, "How come that happy looking woman, looking at Harriet, is still here in Hong Kong?" For us four, Edwin, Ted and ourselves the twentieth day of April was a good day to board the ship for Amoy. We stopped in Swatou for a day. We sat at the Captain's table for meals and his officers did too. The Chief Engineer showed us a picture of his pretty wife and little daughter back in London. How sad we were a year later, when the M/S Foochow was sunk by the Japanese Navy in the Straits of Taiwan. War is horrible.

Harriet and I stayed with Edwin Koeppe for two weeks in Kolongsu and then went to Chang Chou to carry on our work. Harriet to nursing in the Union Hospital and I resumed work with trips to the North River District. Drs. Holleman and Oltman were in Medical work in Hope and Wilhelmina Hospital and Edwin Koeppe in work with the churches in the Tong An area.

I was happy that Harriet could go with me for trips into the District. We were able to go to Eng-Hak some thirty miles from Lengna where the South Fukien Theological Seminary had moved to in 1939 because of the bombing in Chang Chou. there in the beautiful mountain setting we could visit Henry and Kate De Pree, L. Gordon and Ma Phillips, and Lu Chin-Tiong and his dear little wife Louisa. These devoted teachers were living in primitive conditions. In spite of very trying conditions, the Seminary carried on its work.

In Hoa-An, about thirty miles south of Eng-Hok, on the banks of the North River, Talmage College had relocated in 1939 in temporary ancestral homes. Bill VanderMeer was carrying on valiantly, keeping the School together with the aid of devoted Chinese Colleagues. All over China, Schools had moved away from bombing.

In the Summer of 1941 I was able to arrange for three Regional Youth Conferences. Great help was provided by Chinese colleagues and Bill Angus and Ruth Broekema. Work on the intended Thank Offering to God at the 100th Anniversary of the coming of the first missionary to Fukien in 1842 was going well in spite of the fact that the strong Churches on Amoy Island could not participate because of Japanese occupation. Scores of lay Evangelistic teams were going out into the countryside with the message of the Gospel.

I took my regular monthly turn in taking the Red Cross launch into Amoy Harbor across Japanese lines in order to obtain the medical supplies, etc., for up country needs. I noticed that in late September that the German Roman Catholic Sisters in the large R. C. Church near Chioh-Be had an enormous supply of canned goods, etc., on the launch on the return trip from Amoy. The only explanation they gave was that the Bishop had suggested laying in supplies. In late October it was my turn again to take the launch to Amoy. However, an emergency call from Lengna came for me and a fellow Missionary, Harry Voskuil offered to take my place with the launch. He took only a toothbrush and his pajamas and never returned to Chang Chou because the Japanese closed the Harbor October 31st. How strange but I believe Providential, that I was not caught in Amoy. Harriet would have been left alone. She was pregnant. I would have been repatriated, as was Harry Voskuil, to the US via Africa on the M/S Gripsholm. "Our ways are not God's ways" at times, we learned again.

As we all know, the US involvement in the World War II began in early December, 1941 when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. On that day, I was walking from Eng Hok to Hua-An. It was a beautiful sunny day. On the highest point of the journey about noon, I asked for a drink of hot ginger tea and a snack at a Tea Rest Stop. I noticed a Chinese gentleman reading a Confucian booklet. He had a red button on his skullcap which indicated that he was a Siu-chai (scholar). I gave him a Gospel of John booklet and he thanked me graciously. He began to read. "In the beginning was the Word" and as he read on his eyes beamed. When he came to "The Word became flesh", he became really excited and from then on we had an interesting conversation. The Chinese put a lot of emphasis on "the Word" and to realize it became flesh in the Person of Jesus was new to this scholar. When we parted he thanked me, and said, "why was I not told this before?" Only God knows this answer but I am very glad He sent me to China.

When I reached Hua-An at 5p.m., I found Bill VanderMeer in tears. He said, "Wally, we are at war". He, of course was thinking of his wife and two sons in the US, whom he would not see again for years. It was for almost four years. I was thinking of Harriet and thanked God I was not in Amoy. The news that came to us from the outside world in December was awful to hear. Japan bombed the Pan American Clippers in Hong Kong and then, we realized no more mail would come.

In Chang Chou we had a quiet Christmas, but Hong Kong fell to the Japanese and we felt this very personally because of dear memories of the place, and also, because a dear young friend from Canada, who had studied the Amoy language in Kolongsu as a cadet, Frank B. Thomas, was killed defending the Colony. Japan was moving into Indo-China and Malaysia. Our hearts sank as we heard the dreadful news.

As for Harriet and myself we entered the year on a very happy note. On January 2 we welcomed our first child, a beautiful daughter. Dr. Hofstra and Jessie Platz helped us in this happy event. Margaret Jessie was born in the Upper Talmage house on the West wall of the City of Chang Chou. The military barracks were nearby, unfortunately and it was necessary to have a bomb shelter cave dug into the side of the hill. We had been bombed since May, 1938, but there had never been serious damage. Now, things changed. When Margaret was two weeks old, and the siren sounded one morning, we went into the shelter. A bomb fell thirty yards from the house, which was intended for the barracks. Every window in the house was broken, and baby's crib was filled with plaster from the ceiling. How fortunate that our baby had not been in her crib.

In 1938 Japan had pulled a tremendous hoax on the US and our government had fallen into their trap. Japan suggested we mark our property because Japan said, "We are not at war with you". We painted American flags on the tennis courts and on the flat roof tops of the houses. After Pearl Harbor we were easy targets, on the other hand, I must say that Japanese pilots did not indiscriminately bomb us, at least in Fukien Province.

With the internment of Western nationals in Amoy and Kolongsu, our Mission personnel was in a way interestingly cut in half ¨C eleven persons in Japanese hands, and eleven with little baby Margaret, up-country in Free China. Bessie Bruce, our loyal colleague in Chang Chou, was very conscious of British American competition, and was set back by the fact that London Missionary Society had a baby Jon born to Gladys and Douglas Harman in October of 1941, but now that baby Margaret had come to join the RCA Amoy Mission, went everywhere proclaiming proudly, "We, the RCA have a baby too".

In the Chinese New Year vacation in February, the South Fukien Synod celebrated the 100th anniversary of the coming of the first Missionary, David Abeel, to China. The meeting was held in Tong-An. In spite of the war, and difficulties in travel the week of celebration and Synod meetings was a great time of Thanksgiving. We missed the strong churches from Amoy Island and Kolongsu. In the five years, hundreds of baptisms had been recorded and these names were read with praise and thanksgiving.

General Synod elected me Youth Secretary and with the help of many devoted Chinese colleagues and Missionaries managed to hold three conferences in the Summer of 1942. We rejoiced that in spite of slow mails and hardships, my counterpart in the RCA, James Nettings gave us much encouragement. Jim and I discussed the possibility, which was rare at that time of youth exchange. This proposal was thought to be preposterous by the Board. What a change in years later when youngsters fly all over the world in student exchange, and the cost is seldom mentioned. Synod delegates went home from the meetings in Tong-An with joy and thanksgiving in their hearts.

Japan over ran Singapore and Malaysia in the Spring of 1942, much to the consternation of our British friends who thought that this would be impossible. Some slight hope came from the Battle of Midway that the Japanese were not invincible after all. Personally our lives were enhanced by having a powerful Zenith battery radio which picked up news from New York, London, The Netherlands, and Moscow. We also received news from Kweilin in south west China, where Major Frank Otte had joined the 14th US Air Force Intelligence. Frank, Margaret's older brother by thirteen years had served in the First World War in the Rainbow Division under General John J. Pershing. Frank sent us Pony Editions of Time magazine and a quarterly magazine called "This is the Army". These magazines were a great bonus, although they did not come often. The magazine "This is the Army" gave news from the South Pacific mostly and often had very profound and good messages in them. One of them, I recall, lifted our spirits. There was a scene from an awfully lonely spot in the South Pacific where an American GI stood guard at a lean-to and a big Islander, a Fuzzy Wussy", was boiling water in a huge cauldron.

With one hand he kept adding wood to the fire, and in the other hand he held a Bible from which he was reading aloud. It was raining hard and the GI looked bored stiff. He could no longer bear the quiet, and blurted out, "You don't believe what you are reading, do you?" The Fuzzy Wussy looked up and smiled in the next scene and said, "If I didn't believe what is in this book, you would be in my big pot." Frank Otte reminded us that the State Department had already sent us two warnings to leave China.

In the Spring of 1943 we moved to Sio-Khe, thirty miles inland from Chang Chou, because the Japanese were bombing the military barracks in Chang Chou more often. We and the Harman family lived together in a vacant mission house. the Chin Tek gGrls High School had moved from Chang Chou to Sio Khe in 1939.

At a meeting of the Classis in Chang Chou in March, 1943, we had communication that the tide of the war might be turning in favor of the Allies. We were alerted by a siren which told us friendly aircraft were approaching ¨C this had not happened in five years. The streets were filled with excited people and, sure enough, in a few minutes we could hear the heavy rumble of plane noise coming from the West. Then, we spied three B-12 bombers of the 14th Airforce escorted by six fighter planes. What a change in superiority. the US planes were on their way to bomb Japanese shipping in the harbor.

In June we had the sad news that Mother deVelder passed away. The news came via the State Department. Brother Mert had managed this unusual approach. Mother died quietly in her sleep on June 23. We did not know until mid September that Harriet's brother, Raymond, Ensign in the Navy had died on June 26. Mail was very infrequent and often took moths to reach us. Our son Philip, now went to be with my Sister Del and family on the farm north of Orange City, Iowa.

In the Spring of 1943 I had an unusual experience in dealing with people of strong wills. In Chuan Chu the British had a High School of great reputation, called Poe-Guan, Westerminister. Unfortunately, the progress was hampered by two members of the School Board, one a Missionary, and one Chinese, both strong minded individuals with personality clashes. Kho Sek-an was the son of Kho Seng-Giam. He was a Primary School Principal, while his father was the Senior pastor of the Kim-Chin (Golden Well) Church, which had given birth to seven daughter Churches. These men were a force in the Church of Christ in China. William Rogers was a brilliant missionary who was a learned scholar in the Chinese classics, and could go to the blackboard and easily write in Chinese characters. Both men were fine Community leaders, but were not help to the Westminster School B9oard. The Westminster Board asked the General Synod for help and the Synod appointed me and a highly respected Chinese Elder in the Church in Chang Chou to find out what the problem was and to make a recommendation. The journey from Sw-Khe to Chuan Chou was five days of hard walking. We sought out the Chairman of the Board, the individuals involved, some in the Chinese Community and in the Missionary group, and then Mr. Chan and I sat down to discuss the whole matter. The Chinese wanted Mr. Rogers to resign, the Missionary Community wished Mr. Kho off the Board, and Mr. Chan and I had a problem on our hands. Should one man lose face and not the other? I finally said to Mr. Chan "My feeling is that both men should resign" ¨C after a long hesitation on his part Mr. Chan agreed and this is what we recommended to the Synod and to the School Board. Both parties agreed and peace was restored. Both men lost, yet both men won. Elder Chan and I were called the Chinese-American Solomon. It was worth walking one hundred miles.

In September on the 9th day we welcomed our second child, Dirck Arthur. Again, Dr. Hofstra and Jessie Platz did for us wonderful loving service as when Margaret Jessie was born. The birth was easy, but when Dirck's head appeared the umbilical cord was around his neck. Dr. Hofstra with a very deft finger flipped the cord from his little neck and strangulation was averted. What would mankind do without good doctors? We named Dirck after Harriet's grandfather, Dirk Meengs, and my father Dirk. Little Margaret welcomed her brother and Bess Bruce could say that we, the RCA were "one-up" on the British London Mission.

The year 1943 came to an end after four more months of horrible war in many parts of the world and comparative peace in our place in Free China, so close to the Japanese lines. Our Amoy Mission personnel interned in Kolongsu, and then, taken to camps in Shanghai, were repatriated to the US on the M/S Conte Verde to Lourenzo Marques, and from there on the M/S Gripsholm around South Africa to New York in the US.

1944 dawned with another warning from the State Department to leave China and strong suggestions from Major Otte that we do so in spite of the fact that the war was now tilting in the Allies favor. But the Japanese were to make one last effort in China. Their ships were non-effective in the East Coast area because of the constant bombing by the 14th Air Force accompanied by the Flying Tigers. Japanese were in control of major cities in China, but were more or less marooned in them. However, Chinese Intelligence and Frank Otte warned that the Japanese Army would make a final thrust from Hankow to Canton trying to cut China in two. This would put Fukien, if successful, into a "pocket". To be sure, it would be a huge pocket, but there would be no escape ¨C to the East the huge Pacific Ocean, Hong Kong to the South, and Japan to the North. The only exit was still to the West.

In April, 1944 after the fourth warning from the State Department to leave China and the same urging from Major Otte in the 14th Air Force Intelligence, we decided to evacuate our beloved North River District in China. Our good friend Tan Tou-Hong, Elder in the Church in Leng-na, and Chair Mau of the Chiang-Ling Bus Company whose buses ran between Chiang Chui and Leng-na, and whose trucks ran from Leng-na to Canton via Ting-Chiu, Sui-Kim, Kan-Hsien and Ku-Kong, made it possible for us to do part of the journey to Kan-Hsien in far away West China. He gave us $1,500 US for all the things we left behind. He was a kind and generous friend.

Kate and Henry DePree, Ruth Broekema, and Bill Angus stayed on in Fukien all during the war. We travelled by bus from Lengna to Kau-Hsien. Our first stop was Ting Chou, 110 miles to the West on the border of Kiang-Si Province. The Mission personnel of the London Mission, Kate Hutley of Australia and Nan Lindsay of England had already left and the Chinese Pastor Tin Lun was away, so we stayed in a small Chinese Inn. While in Ting Chou, I was able to help an American GI whose Flying Tiger plane had to come down in a rice field because of lack of fuel. The poor fellow lost his way after a raid on Amoy from the base in Kwei-lin. Fortunately he came down in Free China.

From Ting Chou we went on to Sui-Kim, another one hundred miles. It had been in this small town where in 1925 the Chinese Soviet Republic was born, and it was from here in 1929 that Mao Tse Tung, Chou En Lai, Chu-Teh, and Lin Piou invaded Leng-na and held the city for five years. It was from Sui-Kim that the 18th Route Army of Chiang Kai-Shek's troops drove out the Communists and the Grand March had begun in 1934, so ably described by Edgar Snow in his book called the "Great Trek" to Sian in North West China.
Nine Personal Decades in the 20th Century, by Walter deVelder

On the third day we reached Kan Hsien where the 14th Air Force had a strong air base. Hundreds of Missionaries came to this City to fly into Western China. A Committee was formed headed by Father Cronin of the RC Mission and it was our work to organize the priority lists for the flights to Kun-min via Kwei-Lin. It was not an easy task because of daily air alerts and alarms. The Committee decided families with children were to go first. We were working against time because the Japanese Army was coming South from Han Kau. We managed to fly to Kwai Lin on the seventh day. The huge base in Kwai Lin was headquarters of the 14th Air Force. There were air strips everywhere. We saw many planes as we landed and were immediately put into bunker from where we could see a "dog fight" between a Japanese plane (Zero plane) and a Flying Tiger.

In a few moments to our horror, we saw the Zero on fire falling to the earth, but the pilot, fortunately, coming down slowly with his parachute. In a few minutes Army Jeeps came roaring in, and one of them was driven by Frank Otte. We were driven to the Southern Baptist Mission compound ¨C from where all the Missionaries had already left for the States.

Kwai-Lin, the biggest Air Force base next to Kun-Ming was seething with tense apprehension because of the Japanese Army coming South, and would not have many days before it would fall to the men of the Rising Sun. Frank Otte had been told by the Southern Baptist Mission to use the "burnt earth" policy on the compound and he sadly had to carry out this order before the City fell. Frank Otte was a very busy man but he gave us as much time as he could in our 36 hour stay in Kwai-Kin. He gave us our first real butter and first real coffee in almost three years. What a treat that was! But we were very sad because the Southern Baptists would destroy their own houses and buildings. We were very sad for the Chinese people as they were escaping the City before the Japanese onslaught. We were sad that hundreds of Western Missionaries had to leave beloved China.

The flight from Kwai-Lin was smooth in contrast to the wild journey from Kan-Hsien to Kwai-Lin. Fortunately it had been stormy and rainy because, in fact we had to cross Japanese lines. We arrived in Kung Ming about 2 p.m. in bright sunshine. The Air Base was huge with hundreds of planes on the tarmac and runways. the Japanese could not touch Kun Min any more so powerful was the American Air Force. General Chennault and his Flying Tigers had come to China in 1939 with a few fighter planes and now, the Base had planes that could bomb Eastern Coastal cities with ease. But China was cut in two from Han Kow to Canton and that would be a problem for another year. We were taken to the China Inland Mission Hostel which was crammed to the gills. We were able to get reservations on the China Airlines to fly "the Hump" into India on the fourth day. I spent parts of two days at the American Consulate. Frank Otte in addition to his busy life as an Intelligence officer, also helped many Western individuals in need. He gave me a commission to help one such person he had already befriended in Kwai-Lin. She was an American lady of sixty, partially blind who was the widow of an independent Faith Missionary, who was left stranded without any funds. Frank had paid her way to Kun Ming and suggested I go to the American Consulate for further help for her. The American Consulate people said they could possibly help but it would take some paper work and I would have to find a guarantor. But the American Consul General asked, "Does she have anything to sell?" Inflation was running rampant and almost anything was selling for astronomical prices. She did have a big bottle of Dagonen pills (for pneumonia) and one old used portable typewriter, and a nice woolen blanket which she could dispose of. I managed to sell these three items for the incredible sum of $800 US. She needed $700 to reach the States.

We had to buy drinking water on the street. We cut down our meager belongings to the minimum. Little Dirck's passage over the "Hump" would depend on his weight. If he weighed more than ten Kilo at the time of checking in he would have to pay 8000 yuan, about $40.00 US.

On the night before our flight I was asked to lead prayers at the Hostel, and this was a solemn event each evening. Dirck weighed 9-1/2 Hilo and I had all this Chinese money in hand. It was no use taking these bills to India as the yan outside of China had no value. Fortunately, there was a German lady at the airport who was a Missionary Dentist in Kun Ming, working for the Lutheran Foundation of German Sisters. I thrust my bills into her hands, and we boarded the plane, a C-47 with bucket seats, and our luggage in the aisle. Later, in 1951, I was to meet Sister Kuni in Taipei, Taiwan.

We stopped in Assam to refuel. The Air Base there was Myichina. It was a very beautiful spot, to the South lay Burma and the famous Burma Road, to the East China, to the North far away Mongolia, and to the West the formidable high Himalayas. It was in this huge Air Base, a stop on the Burma Road, that we recalled how Army Engineers from several allied lands had carried out their spectacular road building under tremendous difficulties which allowed Army supplies to come into China from Rangoon, and also, finally brought General Stillwell (Vinegar Joe) into China to reshape the Chinese Army after seven long years of fighting the Japanese. We remembered friends who worked on the Burma Road, among whom were Ted Altman and Z.Z. Long. Later, we met a friend here at Embury Apts. who had been captured by the Japanese and had lost a leg in their horrid War Camps. It was at the Mytchina Air Base that Little Margaret saw a black man for the first time, a big soldier, driving a bulldozer. Her eyes became as big as saucers. He smiled at her, and she gave him a sweet smile in return. We wondered if he might not have a little daughter at home in the States?

The C-47 was completely filled, all the bucket seats, of course, and mounds of luggage in the aisles. Soon we were in the foothills of the Himalayas, and then even sooner in the great and glorious mountains. The pilots were very skillful. We seemed to fly through the valleys, and often felt that the mountains could be touched on either side. We rose to 20,000 feet and in our non-pressurized cabin it was not too comfortable. We felt a bit apprehensive about Baby Dirck, who was having a bit of trouble breathing and turned blue, however, a big Australian Army Doctor reassured us several times that he was all right, and gave us further assurance there was something on board that could be used if there was a real emergency. We shall never forget that wonderful Aussie from "Down under". It was as if suddenly we were over the "Hump", and were coming down into India. We thanked God for the masterful job the China National Airline Pilots did as we flew along. We knew a friend, Leon Dykstra, in Wisconsin, who flew more than 150 missions over these formidable, majestic mountains, God bless these brave, skillful men.

As we came down to 5,000 feet, it became very hot in the plane and we witnessed a very interesting scene. An attractive middle-aged woman in the front area of the plane took off a dress, then dress number two came off, and then number three. With her small luggage allowance, she apparently figured that her "dress-up" act would help a bit. When she stopped at number four, the passengers gave her a round of applause. Another incident was that an elderly man began to scream, holding his head and saying "my ears! my ears!" There was no stewardess to tell us to chew gum.

We landed at the DumDum Airport in Calcutta at 4 p.m. We had strange feelings as we entered a new land, and in the confusion of going through Immigration and Customs I heard my name called. It was Tena Hoekeboer, whom we had last seen in Hong Kong at our wedding, March 26, 1941. Tena had come to India from the States to the Arcot Mission of the RCA in South India, hoping to fly back into China to her beloved Amoy Girls' High School (Iok-Tek) which would not be liberated for another fourteen months. Tena was delayed getting into China for several months.

The India Red Cross took us to the Lee Memorial Hostel of the Methodist Mission. This place was filled, but the Methodists kindly made provision for three families to stay in their newly built school nearby. The next night we were invited by a dear Mission couple, the VanEvera"s to bed down on their verandah in the Lee Memorial. This dear couple's daughter had been a schoolmate of Harriet's at the Shanghai American School thirteen years earlier. We thanked God for His provision at every turn.

On the third day we boarded the Bombay-Calcutta Express Train to go to Bombay with the assurance that the M/S General Butner was sailing to the US from Bombay in a few days. We had a comfortable compartment on the train. Our fellow companions were Jessie Platz and Esther Salzman. Esther was a Northern Baptist Missionary Nurse from Nigpo, China, and had been Harriet's teacher in the Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing in Chicago. We had sandwiches and fruit for our thirty six hour journey and three big carafes of drinking water. When the train stopped at stations we saw emaciated children begging alongside our train carriages. It was tragically humorous as they stroked their hungry stomachs, saying what British GI's had taught them, "no papa, no mama, no whiskey-soda". It was sad not to give them something.

Our hopes were dashed in Bombay by the news that all the Hotels and Mission Homes were filled, but again God provided in a most remarkable way. At the Associated Mission Treasure's office, one of the secretaries picked up the phone and called the Rev. Jack Finch of the Bowen Memorial Church. That same morning, Mrs. Finch and their two small children had gone to the country, and there was room for us with him.

But our hopes to board the troop ship going to the US in a few days was another "dash", when the ship would not take us. Harriet was in her third pregnancy. Hindsight now, makes it apparent that a half century ago we knew little of family planning, but we are still happy that our children are close in age. I come from a family of five, where the spread in age is more than fifteen years. Harriet and her six siblings are all very close in age. Clarence Holleman told us that when he was born, his brother, Peter, had already graduated from Medical School. When people asked him, "are you related to Dr. Peter Holleman?", he would reply with a smile, "yes, distantly".

Our dismay was lifted by a cable from the Arcot Mission in South India. It came from Jack DeValois. jack and I came from the same village in Northwest Iowa. His wife, Henrietta Hofland, had been my teacher when I was in the sixth and seventh grades in the Boyden Christian School. Jack was in charge of the Agricultural School and Farm at Kad Pads, some miles from the Mission Center in Vellore. What a God send this invitation was! Jack and I needed each other at this time in our lives. We did not know that Henrietta had died in April. Jack needed companionship and I needed a home for my family.

In Bombay Margaret and Dirck contracted the dreadful disease, dysentery, but we were blessed by the help of a Jewish refugee Doctor, who came twice in the night to see the children. They recovered remarkably soon. We thought of all the little graves in the Three Missions Cemetery in Amoy and of Dr. and Mrs. Sam Zwemer in Arabia, who had lost little twin daughters in twelve hours with dysentery.

The overnight train ride to Kad Padi from Bombay was uneventful except that oompartment had two extra passengers. The two men obliged by sleeping in the baggage racks, since we had very little luggage. The children loved the Farm. The goats were tame and the chickens laid big brown eggs. Jack had a good cook, Amas, who made delicious currys and curds every day. Jack let me use his old car and I was able to visit all the Arcot Stations, Chitoor, Ramipit, and Madnipelle. Harriet was interested to see the wonderful Medical facility in Vellore, especially the Nursing School. I was invited to speak to the Nurses at the convocation in September, 1944. Dr. Ida Scudder and her niece, Ida B., also a Doctor were very gracious to us. Dr. Ida and I recalled how we had been on deputation together in the States in 1940. Jack took me to a wonderful Gooty Assembly of the Church of South India. Here I was invited to bring greetings from the Church of Christ in China. It was a great experience to sit on the same platform with Bishop Aseriah who was the Chief Architect for the formation of the Church of South India. My thoughts went back to ten years before when as a student in the New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Jersey, I had written about this great man and won the Van Dorn Essay prize given by Rutgers University. Casey Weirenga of the Arcot Mission along with Jack DeValois were the official delegates from the Diocese of Madras. Casey was a very forward looking Christian, seeing that although there were fears that the Anglican Church of England would be the dominant one in the Church of South India that this did not deter the foundation of the indigenous Church. We are glad that God formed both the Arcot and the Amoy Missions which did so much in the formation of the indigenous churches of South India and the Church of Christ in China. Casey, Jack and I were housed in a big tent for six on the soccer field at Gooty High School. The other occupants were British Missionaries one of whom was a young man by the name of Leslie Newbiggen. The Rev. Newbiggen later became a well known Bishop of the Church of South India, and a prominent theologian with incisive Asian insights. The food was very simple but very tasty and adequate, with steaming hot soft rice, different curries and beautiful fruit, good yellow bananas, juicy pomelo, caribou mangoes and other delicious fruits. In the midst of war and the rumors of war, the Gooty experience was a high point in our stay in Madras, India.

On October 17 our son John Raymond was born in Vellore Hospital. He was late in coming. He had been turned because of breech position by a famous lady doctor on the staff at Vellore Hospital, Dr. Manuel, from Burma. He had a big crop of black hair and was a dear little fellow. Margaret and Dirck welcomed John with open arms, and so did his parents. I took Margaret and Dirck to see John the early morning of the 17th. the twenty bed ward in the maternity wing was an interesting sight to behold, but the other ladies and their babies were all on mats under the beds. India people fifty four years ago did not use much furniture in their homes, lying and sitting on mats on the floor. Dirck celebrated John's birthday by walking for the first time, at the age of thirteen months and eight days.

When John was eleven days old word came from the Associated Mission Treasurers in Bombay that the M/S General Butner would be sailing again in a few days after her return from
the States. So we packed up our belongings and with our family, now of three children took the train back to the big city on the over night journey on the Bombay-Madras Express. Jack and others of the Mission had been very kind to us and we had gifts of children's clothes, and a carry crib to add to our meager possessions.

This time, our second trip into Bombay, Jack Finch made arrangements for us to stay in a small Hostel run by one of his Parish members, John and Elisa Singh. They were a lovely elderly couple who loved children and their own children and grandchildren living in the Provinces. Our place was not far from the Taj Mahal Hotel on the waterfront, not far from the Royal Bombay Pier. We could take nice walks in the vicinity. We could have very good teas on the balcony of the Taj Mahal Hotel at very inexpensive prices. At our Hostel we had to watch out that big black crows did not fly in the windows at breakfast time to steal our scones or toast. Every day we watched for the General Butner and then one morning, twelve days after we had come to Bombay, we saw the huge ship anchored at the Royal Pier.

We were given a briefing on what to take and what we could do on board ship and told the very strict rules about safety, and so on. The ship would carry 150 civilians and several thousand troops. It took three days to board and load, but we finally left India, the land we had learned to love in our almost four month stay. The Arcot Mission, especially Jack DeValois, and Vellor Hospital was a wonderful memory. It was in Bombay that a Jewish refugee Doctor had helped us so much when Margaret and Dirck were so desperately ill. It was in this land of India that our refugee son, little John was born. India was a wonderful interlude between China and the United States.

When the big ship left the dock on November 20th, we had no idea when we might reach San Pedro. Three British warships escorted us out of the harbor and we were in convoy for three days. Life on board was very strict. Passengers had to go indoors a half hour before sunset, and could not go on deck until a half hour after sunrise. We carried life jackets with us at all times. Harriet and the children had two bunks in a cabin for eighteen, most of them Chinese girls of wealthy government officials going to the US for study.

There was only one other baby in the cabin, whose mother was an American and father British. I took care of Dirck during daylight hours. I was in a cabin of six. The second night out at 9 p.m. "Tokyo Rose", the famous commentator for Radio Japan came on the air to say that the Japanese Navy had sunk the M/S General Meigs and that the M/S General Butner would be next. Naturally, I was startled but a British Army co-passenger comforted me by saying "she says that at least four times a week". Six days out we picked up ten survivors from a German ship that had been sunk by an Allied submarine.

The Roman Catholic Captain on board asked me to take any Protestant service I could arrange. This I did and we had three services every Sunday morning. We were helped greatly by a chorus of forty voices from Irving Berlin's "This is the Army" show. These magnificent singers were being rotated home after a tour of duty in China. Harriet was extremely busy taking care of the children and to complicate matters she suffered from a huge carbuncle on her forehead, which fortunately subsided after some long days.

The 150 civilian passengers had a deck to walk on and the soldiers were off-bounds to our area. One day I had to take Dirck to Sick Bay when he cut his forehead on the high iron door sill of the open door to the deck. It required stitches from a very competent and caring young doctor. I saw something in Sick Bay which haunts me today. I saw three "basket cases" where strong young men lay, having no arms or legs left to them. What a dreadful thing war is !

We sailed for days zig-zagging toward Tasmania and Australia. We stopped in Sidney and Melbourne for a day each place to take on some forty war brides and babies of GIs. The husbands were scattered all over the world. No one could leave the ship except the ship's officers. We traveled on to New Zealand and had a day in the capital, Auckland.

On Christmas day we reached Noumea in New Caledonia. Jack DeValois' son, Jack Jr. was stationed in New Caledonia but we could not make contact. We celebrated a very strange Christmas, but the chorus sang their heart out and we had a wonderful day in spite of circumstances.

From December 26 onward, the big ship had very hazardous journey to the States. We had to zig-zag past hundreds of Islands, including Figi and Tahiti. Passengers who had nothing to do became exceedingly bored. Margaret and Dirck had a good time and little John just slept and grew. Women without children loved to carry him on deck. We could talk to the soldiers across barriers and learned a lot. Ten days from New Caledonia we were told that milk powder was running out of supply but a waiter said to Harriet, "when you need milk, let me know". a Japanese war spy picked up in Australia seemed to be the happiest man on board. Handcuffed and with a guard at his side 24 hours a day, he never stopped smiling. The ten German prisoners in the hold of the ship were sullen and would not talk. A Chinese airman jumped overboard but was rescued from drowning. Rumors were going around that we would reach San Pedro at the end of January. Ten days from shore people began to relax and then came a strong warning from the Captain that we were going into most dangerous days of the trip, because German and Japanese subs were lurking in our coastal waters. All the journey we had had our lifejackets at our sides constantly, even when going to the bathroom.

Finally, on January 29, 1945, early in the morning we saw San Pedro. What a tremendous relief. After docking, it did not seem long for the several thousand soldiers to disembark. The children loved the bands playing on the shore and flags flying everywhere. For the civilians there was delay because of immigration and FBI clearance. Going through FBI clearance I had a nasty experience, for I lost all the little money I had and $600 in Travellers checks. How this happened I shall never know. The FBI had a big dossier on my which seemed impossible to interpret, but I was finally cleared for landing. Why Harriet and the children were left alone by the FBI no one knows, either ¨C penniless, I took my family ashore. Red Cross met us and we were driven to the Mark Clark Hotel in Los Angeles. Our meager belongings were carried by Italian prisoners of war. They were happy in their freedom from war and were singing arias from operas. We reached the Hotel at 8 p.m. It had been a long day, I send a long night letter cable to our Treasurer, Frank Potter, of the Board of World Mission in New York City. I had to send the cable collect and the Manager of the Hotel gave us credit for our meals. We had a wonderful sleep and were aroused by the telephone ringing at 8:30 a.m. the next morning. The Manager said, that Dr. Potter in New York had cabled money and added that we should come down for a good breakfast. After breakfast I took Margaret with me to the American Express office to report the missing Traveller's checks, fortunately I had the numbers of the checks. The Manager said it might take months before we had any return because of the war. We telephoned our families and rejoiced together that we were back in the USA safely and would soon see each other. We then went to the railroad station. The huge lobby was crowded with people coming and going. We stood in line for ages it seemed, and finally came to a booth managed by a nice gray haired man. He asked our destination, Omaha, Nebraska, and said to us that reservations were tight and it might be two weeks before any were open. I had set little Margaret on the ticket seller's window sill and she gave the gray haired man a big smile and told him, "we came on a big boat from India". He had evidently read about the arrival of the M/S General Butner. He had sensed my disappointment over the reservation situation, and said "wait a minute", and went back to a room nearby, soon he came out with a big smile for charming little Margaret, and said to me, "can you go tomorrow at 4 p.m.?" We had an upper and lower bunk on the big train. I took Dirck into the upper bunk with me, if I thought this was a bit cramped, how about the big GI and wife in the upper bunk across the aisle? We reached Omaha in 10 degree weather. We were met by sister Tena and brother-in-law Bill Bombaars, who came from Sioux City, Iowa, ninety miles to the North to meet us. After a few days with Tena, and ten days with family in Orange City, Iowa, we went on to our well known Mission House on 15th Street in Holland, Michigan. In Orange City some of us stayed with dad deVelder and some on the farm with sister Delia. Delia was very distraught and apprehensive because her youngest son, Donald (Bud) at the age of nineteen was in Europe fighting in the Battle of the Bulge. The children saw and met their older brother, Phil for the first time. I had not seen Phil in three and a half years and Harriet had not since he was six months old. We missed my dear mother and I was sorry Harriet had never met this caring, loving woman.

In Holland, Michigan we settled down in a familiar place. The children loved the 15th Street house. I had many invitations to speak and referred all the requests to the Board at the 475 Riverside office in New York City. I traveled from Holland to the West Coast, to Florida and the Midwest. During the Summer I was asked to speak at several Mission Fests. In August at Pella, Iowa I was given a long cable from Amsterdam in the Netherlands. It came via the 475 office. It was from the Consistory of the English Reformed Church and our old friend Mr. deJong Schouwenburg. They asked if our Board would send me to Amsterdam to reopen the English Reformed Church. The Church had been taken over by the German Navy in 1939 when Germany invaded Holland. After the long trip to the US from China via India I was not too anxious to travel again so soon and I was reluctant to leave the family if only for three or four months, but the Board felt my going was good public relations with Holland and I did have a deep love for the English Reformed Church. I sent in my passport to Washington D.C. for a Visa. I did not hear anything from the Passport Office for three weeks and Dr. Shafer suggested I make a personal call on Mrs. Shipley, Director of the office in D. C. I was on Deputation in the East and made a side trip to our National Capital. When I went into Mrs. Shipley's office I realized I was one of fifty others wishing a Visa. I was given number 27 and told to wait. Suddenly, an idea came into my head. I gave up my number and went over to Senator Arthur Vandenburg's office. He was in and welcomed me by saying, "you were the young man on the ship going to Europe in 1936 and helped change me from an extreme isolationist to an open internationalist. What can I do for you?" I handed him a copy of the cable from Amsterdam, he said, "sit down and I will call Mrs. Shipley". I heard him say, "Mrs. Shipley, I have a young friend in my office who has an invitation to go to Amsterdam to reopen a church. This is a good public relations matter, see what you can do about his Visa." The Senator said to me, "I must go to a committee meeting just wait for Mrs. Shipley's call to my Secretary". In about twenty minutes the Secretary said to me, "you can pick up your passport and Visa". It is not what one knows, but whom he knows.

I left New York City for England on the S/S Mauritania of the Cunard ¨C White Star Line four days later. On board in the list of passengers was Catherine Blakeney, who had been a short term English teacher in the Amoy Girls High School in the 1930s. Her husband, a cadet from England was captured by the Japanese along the Butma Road, and she was going to meet him in London, now released.

In London I was fortunate to obtain air passage on a Dutch Army plane going to the Netherlands. We could not land at Schiphol because it was still in shambles, but went to a small strip near the Hague, called Valkenburg. I was delighted to see my old friend, Mr. DeJong Schauwenburg and his driver, and amazed that they came in their old trusted Opel from the 1930 days. the Opel had been dismantled into several parts in 1938, and hidden in several quarters.

In Amsterdam I again stayed in the cozy flat on the Jan Luyken straat near the famous Concert Gebouw. The City had been badly bombed, but not like Rotterdam, which was in shambles. Sckphol Airport was a mess of destruction. The Mennonite Central Committee was bringing in tons of relief supplies and the Director, Peter Dyke asked me to help. the office of the Canadian Army, helping the Netherlands in its nine months of occupancy asked me to be an interpreter, especially in the area where the Canadian Chaplain had to interview Canadian GIs and Dutch girls on proposed marriage plans.

Mr. DeJong Schouwenberg and I went by train to Nijmegen in the South and it required twelve hours of frequent changes because many bridges were destroyed. The US and other countries were sending in tons of food and clothing. Everyone was trying to help in a situation where there was desperate need.

I was delightfully surprised that the English Reformed Church building was not badly damaged. The Consistory, now only five instead of the usual ten was bravely trying to put matters in order. There were very few expatriates left in the City, but some were returning. As one entered the Church it was immediately apparent that the Church was changed. Instead of the wonderful verse from the Bible, "Create in me a clean heart, Oh God", another with beautiful clarity had been written above the chancel. The German Navy had erased and written "Das Koningrijk Gadts steth nicht im Worden zondern in Kraft". This was a beautiful verse from the Bible, too, but it seemed to insinuate that the Kingdom of God would come in the wake of Hitler's Armies and Navy taking over the world. We erased this from the chancel and put back the verse of prayer "Create in me a clean heart, Oh God", which had been there since the Church had been given to the Protestants in 1603. Holland was in massive desolation and needed so much help. The people were brave and resolute. Walking through Vondel Park in Amsterdam with Elder Jan Krlyenbroek one day, as we had done in 1935 on my first Sunday in the Netherlands, we came upon some wreaths and flowers and a list of names on a board. It was the place where several guerrillas, or underground fighters, had been executed by the German Army. There were these unfortunate places all over the Netherlands. I went to Kampen where I had known a family where the wife was the daughter of the famous theologian, Herman Bovink. Her husband and three sons had joined the underground and had been summarily shot. I had known the family when the boys, in 1935 were nine, eleven and twelve. All I could do was to hold her hand and cry with her.

Finally, the Consistory of the English Reformed Church was able to set the third Sunday in November as the reopening day for the Church. It was a beautiful sunny day and the Church was filled with even an overflow sitting in the chancel. The Rev. Dr. Renns, Moderator of the Classis of Amsterdam of the Hervormde Keck -¨CReformed Church of the Netherlands, sat on the left of the pulpit. He read the official articles of the reopening of the Church. this was a very moving moment. Representatives of the American Consul General and the British Government were in the audience, as was my friend, Wim Schokking, Acting Mayor of the City of Amsterdam. We had a very simple service of thanksgiving, a soprano soloist from the Concert Gebruw sang, "Oh Rest in the Lord". And there was not a dry eye in the wonderful congregation. I spoke briefly on the power of the resurrection. We all knew that this was a very special day. The Church of Scotland promised that a Pastor for the Church would be diligently sought, although it was known that because of the war, the ranks of the clergy had been greatly depleted. I stayed with them several more Sundays.

The next day I saw in Amsterdam a scene that I shall never forget. In the Central Park of the City, the Dam, there were hundreds of excited children with parents. The first boat load of bananas in six years had come from Italy. The children did not know what a banana was. Their joyous excitement still rings in my ears. My dear friend, Mr. DeJohn Schouwenburg was with me. He arranged for my return to the US by air. I flew Gravenhague, London, Glasgow, Shannon, Iceland, Halifax, Boston and New York. It took me thirty hours. It was wonderful to be back with the family. We had a happy Thanksgiving. We thanked God the war was ended. We, in America tend to forget that for Europe it had been six years and for China eight years.

In the beginning of 1946, it was still uncertain about when we could return to China. The Board of World Mission gave me a semester of language study at Yale University in the School of Languages. The Chinese Department was, perhaps, the best in the land. Because of severe housing shortage the BWM helped us purchase a 28' cozy coach trailer. We parked the trailer in Milford, a few miles from New Haven. Another RCA couple at New Haven was Gordon and Birdie VanWyk who were assigned to go to Fukien Christian University in Foo Chow. Their oldest child, Susan was born in New Haven. The intensive course in Chinese was deeply appreciated.

In April we all went to LaGuardia Airport in New York City to meet Wim Schokking. He came as official representative of the Netherlands on the first flight of the KLM Airlines after Schiphol Airport had been opened. Our time at Yale was well spent. We sold the Cozy Coach in May for the same amount it had cost.

At the end of May Dr. Shafer of the Board of World Mission wrote us that the American President Lines expected one of their ships would sail for China, Hong Kong, and the Philippines in the Summer. Back in our familiar Mission house on 15th Street in Holland, Michigan, we prepared to return to our beloved China. Three our supporting churches proposed doing something special for us and so purchased a Ford station wagon from R. E. Barber in Holland at cost price. Mr. Barber was extremely generous in other ways as well.

In June we were told the S/S Marine Lynx would sail from San Francisco on August 15. We travelled to the West Coast via Iowa, South Dakota, the Yellowstone National Park and other scenic spots. We arrived at the Golden Gate on the 11th and checked in at a small Hotel on Geary Street where we had stayed before. On the 13th we got the bad news that because of a sudden strike of Longshore men the sailing of the Marine Lynx would be postponed. Now what to do? The B. W. M. suggested we get in touch with the Rev. John Kenning in Ripon. John Kenning, a Board member was a great help. He suggested we come to Ripon where he would arrange transportation and accommodation. We stayed in a house where the occupants had gone on holiday. The children loved it. We were not far from the Keuning Parsonage. We felt sorry for the families in San Francisco, crammed into small Hotel rooms and with no transportation except expensive taxis. We were in the beautiful San Juaquin Valley for six weeks. I spent my time preaching in several churches. We fit in visits to several canning factories, parks, swimming pools, too.

In mid-September we had word that the M/S Marino Lynx would definitely sail on the 29th of the month. We returned to our small hotel on Gerry Street in San Francisco on September 25th. I had to make arrangements to ship the station wagon on a freighter. The M/S Marine Lynx was not accepting much cargo.

On the evening of the 26th the Mayor of San Francisco gave the departing Missionaries a reception in the City Hall. The principle speaker was Henry Luce of Time magazine. His father had been my teacher in Princeton in 1940. Mr. Luce was born in China.

Several hundred Missionaries boarded the ship, relieved that the long wait was finally over. I still have the "most welcome" card which read "The American President Lines welcomes you aboard our M/S Marine Lynx and assigns you to Hatch No. 6". Son Dirck and I had bunks in No. 6 and Harriet, Phil, Margaret and John were in Hatch No. 4 with passengers going to Hong Kong and the Philippines. Everything was crowded and everyone was happy to return to Asia. The highlight of the voyage was to take part in World Wide Communion Worship on the first Sunday in October. Len Hogenboom and his son were next to our bunks. Len had been a classmate of mine at Hope. He was left guard on the football team and I was left half, so we had much in common. We off-loaded most of the passengers in Shanghai. Our family disembarked in Hong Kong and found that great city looking very said indeed. The docks had been hit hard by bombing, but it was the great houses on the Peak which proved a very sorry sight. Those one time symbols of wealth were now in shambles. The Japanese had allowed these great homes to be looted because of the lack of firewood. Most of them had no doors or windows or any woodwork left in them. Our family was able to find rooms in the small Chatham Road Hotel just recently restored to its owner, having been used first by the Japanese Army and then, by the British Army of reoccupation. It was badly damaged and had no hot water It had many mice and rats and the children were frightened by them. There were also cats in the Hotel. The Mission Rest Homes had not yet been reopened.

After ten days we were fortunate to board a Cost steamer for Amoy. Harriet and I thought of the fine brand new ship, the M/S Foochow in 1941 which had been sunk in March, 1942. We remembered the brave young British Engineer, who had shown us pictures of his wife and child he so longed to see and never saw again.

The small Mission staff welcomed us in Amoy with open arms, and we were happy to be at "home" again, especially Harriet, who loved her birthplace. We spent two days in Amoy, and then went to Lengna which in 1946 took us three days. In 1955 we could go by comfortable minibus in six hours.

It was great to be in Lengna again, and to be welcomed by the Church, the Hospital, the Primary School, and Miss Katherine Green, veteran Amoy Missionary of almost forty years. She had gone up in the Summer of 1946 to open the Middle House on the hill and to start putting our house in order. It was a hard task because the houses had been badly treated by the Chinese Army. Many window sills and doors had been torn out but Chinese carpenters were at work and we could at least live in our house. Dr. Han Tek-Seng had kept the Hospital open all through the war years. The local Primary School, under Principal Tan Lun-chi was doing well. The Church had a new pastor, Cahi Tat-To and a preparatory class of thirty girls was being formed to start the new Pol-Tek Girls' High School. There was much to do. We had a happy Christmas celebration. On December 26 I got word that the Ford station wagon would be arriving by freighter on January 6, 1947. I made the trip to Hong Kong via truck. Ting Chow, Sui-Kim, Kan Haun, and Ku-Kong. From there I went by train to Kowloon. It took me two days to process the car's entry into Canton. I was helped tremendously by a young man who worked for CNRA (Chinese National Relief Association) ¨C Mr. Chai-Be Lee helped me all the way back to Lengna. We spent night number one in Canton. I stayed in Hackett Hospital (American Presbyterian) with Business Manager, Paul Snyder. He and Rena Westra, RN, were the only Western staff who had returned since the War ended. From Canton we drove to Ku-Kong, 150 miles North. Frank Lockwood of the Canton UMCA had moved the Y to Ku-Kong in 1939, and established a strong facility there.

Our next stop was Kan Hsien from which place we had flown out of China in 1944. I looked up Father Cronin, who had been a great help in that evacuation when the Japanese were closing in on the airbase. From Kan Hsien we had to go in armed convoy to Siu Kim. I wrote earlier that from 1925-34, Mao TseTung, Chou En-Lai, Chu-Teh, and Lin Peau had set up the Chinese Soviet Republic in an area in Kiang-Si Province which was about the size of half the State of Vermont. From here they had come to Leng-na in 1929, and to Chang-Chow in Fukien in 1932, driving us Westerners to Amoy. In 1934 the 18th Route Army had driven the Communists out of Sian which is described in Edgar Snow's classic, "The Long March". But there was a small enclave of rebels in the area which preyed on passing trucks. On our trip there were eighteen trucks, a carload of Army officials, and our station wagon. We had a very impressive convoy with three trucks loaded with three machine guns on flatbeds. We were nervous, but we did see four burned out trucks, which had been looted two days before.

We breathed a sigh of relief when we reached Sui-Kim the little town which for nine years had been so much in the news when the world was watching the fate of the Chinese Soviet Republic. This little place had touched my life fifteen years earlier when its red faces had captured Chang Chow and held the City for three weeks. Had I not escaped to Amoy, I would not be here today. We forget that between 1925 and 1934 more than thirty Westerners were captured and killed by the Communists. The most well known being John and Betty Stamen, perhaps, our fifth night was spent in Ting Chow across the border in Fukien Province and one hundred miles from home. Here we were overjoyed to find that the Rev. Kate Hutley of Australia and Miss Nan Lindsay of UK had returned three days earlier. Ting Chow had been their Mission Station until 1943. Miss Lindsay was a bonny lass from Scotland and had come to the Chin-Tek School for Girls in Chang Chow in 1929, the same year I came to teach in Talmage. Mrs. Hutley's husband had lived in China in the 1920s. The ride from Ting Chow to Leng-na on the sixth day was the last of the journey. When we came over the last mountain range and saw our houses on the hill I sang a few bars of that wonderful song "The Hills of Home".

The station wagon entry into Leng-na was quite an event. Children came laughing and shouting into the streets. Older people looked in amazement at this foreign vehicle. The only other private car in the City was the Mayor's German Opel sedan. I had Hoat-Chai (carpenter) put an annex lean-to onto the Hospital which could be locked. The family and I were especially happy that the "car" was in the garage after my round trip of almost 1400 miles, to Hong Kong and return.

In early February, our little son, John, stepped on a rusty nail and had a severe case of blood poisoning. Our cook, Tan Ban-Hoat rode his bicycle all the way to Chang Chow, 200 miles round trip to get the necessary medicine (Tetanus Toxin-Antitoxin). Like the time in Bombay when we thought we would lose Margaret and Dirck to dysentery, we feared for John's life, but God was merciful and spared these dear children to us.

On February 20 our fourth son, David William was born. Again Dr. Hofstra and Jessie Platz came up from Chang Chow to deliver our child. It was one of the coldest winters in memory and all the windows in the house were not yet fitted with the necessary panes. I helped where I could as I had done at the births of Margaret and Dirck. Dr. Hofstra had to use high forceps, and I did not expect to see the baby alive. But God was merciful and baby David was a bonny child of ten pounds.

In March Dr. Holleman came up to Leng-na and we welcomed him with open arms. The whole City did. He was remembered as the starter of the first Hospital in the area in 1919, and for his capture by the Communists in 1929. Dr. Holleman was able to go with me to the Classis meeting of the North River District in Chiang-Peng, thirty miles from Leng-na, and he was pleased to see the workings of the Church. Dr. Holleman gave a great boost to Dr. Han Tek-Seng, Head of the Hospital going in all kinds of circumstances for the past thirteen years.

In the Summer of 1947 the station wagon came in handy when I drove five colleagues to Ting Chow and vicinity on an extended fact finding mission. The London Mission had proposed to the South Fukien Synod that there be an exploratory commission set up concerning the future of work in the Ting Chow area. The London Mission felt it could no longer give adequate support in this area. Three members of the London Mission and three from the RCA were asked to make a preliminary report. The whole project had to be called off in the next two years because of the coming of the Reds.

On September 1 the Poe-Tek Girls' High School was officially opened. this was a very significant event in our area, the size of the Capital District, an enclave of six counties. The Principal, Mr. Sim Sing-Gu, graduate of Fukien Christian University in Foochow, and his able wife, Sio Gim-Siu, graduate of Gin-Ling University in Janking, gave the Church and community a great dynamic leadership. The Church was doing well under the leadership of the Rev. Chhi Tat-To. He had given up a lucrative job with Standard Oil to go to Seminary. His wife also, was very capable and was the sister of Chang Fu-An, my teacher colleague in Talmage in 1929-32.

In the Fall we were overjoyed when Dr. and Mrs. Oltman and the Rev. and Mrs. Wm. Angus joined our forces in Leng-Na. Johnny Mac and Sister KaKa ¨C our flower girl at our wedding in Hong Kong and John Angus were a great addition to our children ¨C eight children on the compound were a great delight. An interesting situation developed among our children. There was Johnny Mac, John Angus and John deVelder ¨C our John tried to campaign that he be called Peter, but it did not work, and so we had Johnny Mac and Big John and Little John.

Thanksgiving day was a big event in Leng-Na, everything was going well and yet there were disturbing things happening in North China. There was friction between the Nationalists and the Communists. There was wide spread corruption in the Nationalist group and the Communists promised "agrarian reform". In 1948, the biggest problem was inflation. Paper money was worthless and we turned to rice rations to pay workers. However, the countryside was quiet and Bill Angus and I were free to go anywhere and not fear the bandits.

In March Bill and I attended the Synod meeting in Amoy and the 100th Anniversary of the Sin-Kho Church, the oldest Protestant Church building as it was so claimed, in all of China.

Thanksgiving day in 1948 was even more eventful than in 1947. I was able to drive the station wagon to Chang Chow, the road had finally been completed to fetch Clarence and Ruth Holleman, and Edwin and Elizabeth Koeppe. The Koeppe's had not been to Leng-na and Ruth Holleman had not been in the city since 1929, when two days before Clarence was captured by the Communists, she had dramatically escaped the City in disguise. We had eighteen people around the table on this Thanksgiving day. What a wonderful day it was, children celebrated with gusto although they had few and simple toys. The programs at the School, Hospital and Church were wonderful experiences of joy and happiness.

Here in Fukien Provence, and especially in our area, the political situation was still quiet, but news from the North where city after city was falling to the Communists the news was alarming. 1949 opened with the disturbing thought that Missionaries would be advised to prepare to leave China. In fact, this was already true that many were leaving the North and West. Major Frank Otte wrote advising that if I were inclined to stay in china that at least Harriet and the children should go. Many of us fell for the Red propaganda that they were "true agrarian reformers", and we needed this reform.

On August 1, with two thirds of China in the hands of the Communists, our family very reluctantly decided that Harriet and the children should go to the US. Several of our Mission staff had already left. We bid our Chinese friends in Leng-na a sad farewell. One Chinese colleague said Westerners could all return in a short time. I took the family down to Hong Kong from Amoy on the M/S Tjijalenka of the Japan-China-Java Line on August 30. This was the fine ship which Margaret and I had sailed on to Tsing-Tao in 1939. The Esther family was leaving China and they flew from Hong Kong on September 1. I was able to transfer the family right from the M/S Tjijalenka to the S/S President Cleveland. This was a very traumatic experience. Was I doing the right thing? As a Missionary, when does one leave his work? The S/S President Cleveland sailed for San Francisco September 1st and I returned to Amoy on the last flight of the Chinese National Airlines. The situation was crumbling fast. I stopped in briefly at Hope Hospital where Frank Eckerson was ill, and then took a bus to Chang Chow. I stayed in Chang Chow two nights with Edwin and Elizabeth Koeppe who were living temporarily in the upper house on the Talmage College campus. On the second day the battle for Chang Chow began and we sat on the stairs all night long. By the third day it was all over, and we were under the Red flag. In a most miraculous way I was able to catch a ride to Leng-na on a truck which had not yet fallen to the Reds. On September 5, Leng-na was turned over without a shot being fired.

I saw the brand new Chevrolet Army trucks which had been taken from the retreating Nationalists. Helen Oltman with her two children had already left Leng-na. Bill and Joyce Angus. John had gone to the US with other Missionaries. Ted Oltman and I were put under
Nine Personal Decades in the 20th Century, by Walter deVelder

Compound Detention. I moved in with Ted. We were promised all kinds of freedom but had none. Bill Angus and I wanted to go down to Amoy in mid September to attend Frank Eckerson's funeral but wee denied permission. We were not harmed in any physical way but there was harassment on every side. The promise of agrarian reform was a myth. The common people were very good to us. Chinese friends came to see us even though it was dangerous to do so. In fact, they came to fix my Zenith radio, when the big battery died, by rigging up small flash light batteries. Dr. Oltman was able to work in the Hospital a bit. Bill Angus and I were not allowed out of the City. One day Dr. Oltman asked me to help him in an operation by holding the patients' head firmly. This man was a Singing Master for the Reds. He had long hair which fell to his shoulders, when his hair fell back from his head I saw a horrible example of man's inhumanity to man. The Nationalists had cut off his ears.

I had promised Harriet and the family I would try to stay in China for a year to see how things would go. On September one I applied for an exit permit. This did not come for almost four months of tedious waiting. All my belongings were packed into one room and I was given a document with a lit of contents and a great red seal was placed on it saying I could reclaim these things when I returned. It amazes me still that I was able to sell the station wagon to the Reds. After all, it had led the Parade on October 1, 1949 and again in 1950 with a huge picture of Chairman Mao Tse-Tong on it's roof. I had a chit, a document that allowed a money shop in Hong Kong to give me $600 US.

The trip to Hong Kong took me seven days via Chang-pu on the coast to Swatow, then we took a bus to Canton. In Canton I stayed in the Railroad Hotel and spent two days at the Police Station Hotel and spent two days at the Police Station writing out my life history. I often wonder now, just what I wrote and where this document is? It evidently satisfied the Police and I was given permission to go to Hong Kong by train to the Chinese border with the Crown Colony. On the train were two other Westerners, the Rev. and Mrs. Fred Brandauer, Sr. They came from Hunan and had experienced far worse things than I had.

Please Help the "The Amoy Mission Project!" Please share any relevant biographical material and photos for the website and upcoming book, or consider helping with the costs of the site and research materials.   All text and photos will remain your property, and photos will be imprinted to prevent unauthorized use.  Thanks!  

Dr. Bill   Xiamen University MBA Center
E-mail: amoybill@gmail.com  
Snail Mail: Dr. William Brown 
Box 1288  Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian  PRC   361005

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