Day 31 : A Contemplative Activist | Gladys Aylward

"Here was I worrying about my journey, while God was helping me all the way. It made me realize that I am very weak; my courage is only borrowed from Him, but, oh, the peace that flooded my soul; and although I know that I may be held up at the border , I am at peace within, because I know that He never faileth."

– Gladys Aylward

What is a contemplative activist?

As Christ-followers, mirroring His incarnational work in the world, we have been given a rich legacy in the lives of the saints and other heroes of the faith, those men and women who modeled for us the lives of contemplative activism. When answers are few and far between, we look to them who have drawn near to the poor in their distress, giving us an example to follow.

We define “contemplative activists” as those walking the Jesus rhythm. Jesus went up the mountain to be with His Father and pray and then returned to his life of service, engagement, and action, walking in the places of the world that needed mending. As Anglicans loving “the least of these,” we believe that our lives of prayer form the source of our work among the vulnerable. In turn, our closeness to suffering shapes our prayer lives and understanding of Christ as the Ultimate Healer and Savior.

Gladys Aylward was a woman short of stature, but not of spunk. She is remembered for her work in Yangcheng, China, where she lovingly served the abandoned, orphaned, injured, refugee, and displaced people of her community.

She was born in 1902 in Edmonton, England, to a working-class family. Gladys didn’t get far in her formal education, having left school to work as a maid. In her mid-twenties, she attended a captivating revival meeting and became a Christian that night.

Not long after, she heard of the need for missionaries to China and felt called to respond. As Gladys worked to save enough money to travel to China, an innkeeper named Jeannie Lawson, who lived in the Yangcheng province of northern China, contacted her church to ask for someone to come and help her at the inn.

(public official).

At one point, the mandarin also asked her to stop a prison riot. At only 4 feet 10 inches, Gladys helped the prisoners mediate their disagreements, and she even asked the mandarin to improve their conditions. Christians have always been involved in prison reform: "I was in prison and you came to visit me," says Jesus in Matthew 25:36.

Gladys was also the first foreign missionary to China to become a Chinese citizen, solidifying her love and dedication to the people. She chose to follow as Christ did in incarnational living out the gospel. Their story became her story. Their pain and joy became her pain and joy. This is God's invitation to his church, and to not be distant but come near and walk alongside those who are vulnerable or lost on the journey of life.

The journey to Yangcheng was dangerous, but Gladys finally made it to Jeannie with help from some kind strangers. At the inn, Jeannie was able to provide hospitality while also sharing about her faith. Gladys and Jeannie worked together for a little while, but Jeannie soon fell ill and died. Now in charge of the inn, Gladys invested in the community by providing a space to rest, communal settlement, and a place for people to be cared for.

She learned the local dialect, spoke constantly of the love of Jesus, and gained the respect of the "mandarin"

Oh God, here's my Bible, Here's my money. Here's me. Use me, God."

– Gladys Aylward

Life is pitiful, death so familiar, suffering and pain so common, yet I would not be anywhere else. Do not wish me out of this or in any way seek to get me out, for I will not be got out while this trial is on. These are my people, God has given them to me, and I will live or die with them, for Him and His glory."

– Gladys Aylward

Gladys was a refugee of war herself, having been in China when the country went to war with Japan in 1937. She collected information about Japanese troop movements to send to government forces.

As the fighting moved closer to Yangcheng, Gladys cared for the wounded and homeless refugees in caves nearby – as well as the 94 abandoned children she had taken in.

Having witnessed the Japanese soldiers' indiscriminate violence towards women and children, Gladys decided to flee with the children. Gladys led the 94 children on a 12-day journey through the mountains, because the Japanese troops had blocked the roads around Yangcheng. Through many challenges, they made it to safety and the kids were placed in safe homes.

Gladys continued to care for refugees and provide hospitality to children for the rest of her life. She founded a refugee aid organization in Hong Kong, as well as an orphanage in Taiwan. Gladys died in 1970 at the age of 67.

We might be tempted to think of Gladys as a "special person" because she was in the category of a "foreign missionary." But, in fact, she just chose each next step to care for those in need around her. She made the effort to see. Then to draw near. And then to act and be inconvenienced and to take risks over and over. But it was just each next step of responding to being the presence of Christ. This is the same invitation we are offered to respond to fragile neighborhoods in our cities and communities. Who else will go but us, his people? Here are we, send us, Lord.

This song, "Here I Am, Lord," is a beautiful imagining of a conversation between God and each of us. Listen and meditate on the lyrics. The last verse is especially poignant, and captures the tension between God's work and our actions:

"I, the Lord of wind and flame
I will tend the poor and lame
I will set a feast for them
My hand will save
Finest bread I will provide
'Til their hearts be satisfied
I will give my life to them
Whom shall I send?"

He will do it – but whom will he send?