1927 (4 of 4)

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SUSAN TOY ENSIGN MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
Nanchang, Kiangsi, China
Shanghai, China.
March 8th, 1927
Dear Friends of the Hospital:
The Reds, no Sir. They did not send us to this town. Blame the
Bishop, and the Consul. In a few days I hope to be going back to a
peaceful place, Nanchang.
From the newspaper reports many of you, I imagine, have gained
the impression that mission work in China has gone to the dogs. In gen~
eral, that is not true, however. In many places it is true the mission~
ary himself has found it expedient in the face of radical expressions
of patriotism to withdraw for awhile. This may in many instances not be
a disadvantage to the work of Christ in that place. It is doing in a
brief time what all missionaries have aimed to do eventually; that is,
it is forcing the Chinese Christians to prove themselves, to take re~
sponsibility, and to make the Church and its service more indigenous,
It will put the missionary more and more in a place of an advisor and
a c o-wo r-ke r, and it may mean that the methods of development may not
be those that we with our western minds would use.
Faithfully yours,
Geo~ T. Blvdenburgh.
A cable received in New York April 7th sates: "Blydenburgh:!
in Nagasaki, Japan."
Both the Nanc.hang Academy for boys, and the Ba Ldw i,n School for
girls are running on a full schedule. The only significant change has
been the appointment of a Chinese as Principal of the AC8demy. Tlle Hos~
pital is still maintaining its active service. The staff is loyal and
busy. The place the hospital has won for itself in the community is
still held. The good fortune of our Nanchang work is in large part due
to the moderate attitude of General Chiang Kai Shek, the young mili~
tary leader of the Revolution whose headouarters R.re in Nanchang and
who has controlled the situation there. If he sl.1<cceeds in gettinG con~
trol of t he whole mev eme nt., foreign interests and the Christian cause
in China will have eontinued opportunity. If he does not succeed the
pendulum of extreme nationalism will hesitate a little before it in~
evitably swings ba ck to co-operation with those Lrrt er-e s t s which have
so much to rive to hina's real welfare. Our Methodist work is having
less difficulty than many other missions, because our method of organ~
ization has been giving more and more responsibility to the Chinese in
the direction and administration of the work, so that now 'when a na~
tion-wide demand is being made for Chinese control, our organization
finds itself a Lr-e ady practically in the hands of' the Chinese.
We have been greatly distressed over the continued illness of
Mis s e,.)okson, our head nurse on furlough in America, which has kept
her at home at thisltime when we so badly need her. But due to the
help of some of you we have been able to find temporary substitutes.
Miss Mo Wright, a n rse tourist was with us for several months and now,
Miss Po Paul, an En~lish nurse has joined our staff and has given in~
valuable s e r-v Lc e in the care of our wounded. If t.ho s e poor fellows
could meet you who have made it possible to get these nurses you would
realize what your h@lp has meant to them.