THE outbreak of hostilities was announced to Fraser, the only missionary then in southwest Yunnan, by the following surprising letter:
To Mr. Fu, Pastor of the Mission Church at Tengyueh.
October 27, 1911.
We respectfully inform you that we have chosen this day as propitious for the overthrow of the present dynasty and the setting up of an independent China.
We are at the same time apprising all your fellow-nationals in Tengyueh of the fact, and beseech you not to be alarmed. We will without fail protect you and your property. There is no need for you to send telegrams to any place, either in China or abroad. Please rest assured that you will be quite safe where you are. You will not be molested by anybody.
(Signed by) The Upholders of China as an Independent Country.
Fraser’s only fellow-countrymen in Tengyueh were the British Consul and the Head of the Customs Service with their staffs, so with them he proceeded to take counsel. The situation proved to be far more serious than ‘the Upholders of an Independent China’ had indicated. The whole country was seething with rebellion against the Manchu Dynasty, and foreigners as well as Chinese were soon to be overwhelmed by the brief but successful Revolution, which made the cities of the Yangtse run with blood.
At the Consulate, Fraser was urged to go down to Burma for a time, and it was well that he did so, for Tengyueh became a storm center. Finally the Government troops got out of hand, sided with the rebels and murdered their own leader. But there had been a reign of terror meanwhile. Fraser had done all he could before leaving to provide for his Chinese teacher and the cook who remained in charge of the mission premises. It would be easy for them, in case of need, to escape the attention which would have been focused upon himself; so supplying them, with all the money he could spare, he relieved them of the anxiety if not the danger of his presence.
And now began for the young missionary an experience which, though trying at the time, resulted in an enrichment of faith that made it well worthwhile. Arriving in Bhamo after a trying journey of eight days, Fraser went straight to the C.I.M. mission house, counting upon a welcome from Mr. and Mrs. Selkirk, whose hospitality he and Mr. McCarthy had enjoyed some time previously. But the place was silent and deserted. The Selkirks had been obliged through ill-health to go home on furlough, leaving only the caretaker in charge. In Fraser’s position this was serious, but he found instructions in writing that any visitor who needed them should make use of the few stores left in the cupboards. These, with the little money he had in hand would, he hoped, tide him over until his next remittance, already overdue, could arrive from Shanghai. But would it arrive at all? With communications disorganized all over the country, was it likely that a letter containing a money order would reach so remote a place as Tengyueh and be forwarded safely over the turbulent borderland to Bhamo? No, it was anything but likely―but Fraser committed the whole matter to God in quiet and expectant faith. No one else knew his position; and it was against his principles to borrow money or go into debt of any kind.
Setting to work at once among the Chinese resident in Bhamo, Fraser found plenty to occupy his time. He was still wearing Chinese dress and the distinctive queue, which was not generally discarded until the final success of the Revolution. In the Chinese quarter of the city there were the usual teashops, in which Fraser could mingle freely with other guests.
Yesterday I went into one of them [he wrote] and purposely refrained from any attempt at preaching. I just sat down on a bench with others, paid a halfpenny for a cup of tea and started cracking pine seeds like the rest. If only you could see a teashop of this class you would think an East End lodging-house clean and comfortable in comparison, Presently I offered tracts to all in the place, and went on drinking tea and cracking pine seeds. Soon the guests were chatting with me, asking lots of questions. As many of these were about the Gospel, I had my opportunity quite informally.
Exiled and lonely as he was, Fraser greatly appreciated a kindness showed him by a Burmese Christian woman the first Sunday he was in Bhamo. Coming out of church with her husband, she greeted the young stranger whom she had heard, and put a little packet into his hand. It proved to be five silver coins―rupees, worth between one and two shillings each. These she asked Fraser to accept, as she had heard of the troubles in China and feared he might be in need.
My first thought was to decline it [he wrote, telling his mother of the gift] but she was so evidently sincere about that I ended up by taking one rupee, not to hurt her feelings, and returning the rest.... Only a little incident; but it cheered me ever so much to think of such kindness from a Burmese Christian.
It was not long before the supplies he had in hand began to give out. Visits to the Post Office proved only disappointing. No mail had come from China, nor was any expected under the then conditions. Registered letters especially would be unlikely to reach their destination. This, to the Post Office officials, seemed the last word, but not so to Fraser. Never before had he been faced with such a test, completely cut off from anyone who knew of his position. Yet he was kept from anxiety as to the issue. Psa. 37:3-53Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. 4Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 5Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. (Psalm 37:3‑5) took on new meaning.
‘Trust in the Lord and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.’
Matters reached a crisis when payment became due to a coolie who had worked for Fraser in necessary ways for a full month. Now, he realized, the Lord’s deliverance must be near―for had He not said, ‘Owe no man anything, but to love one another.’ He was subsisting himself on very little save the stores left in the house, but his coolie must be paid at the right time if debt were not to be incurred.
Needless to say, Fraser was much in prayer about the matter. On the day in question he felt guided to go to the Post Office again, for the burden was sore upon his heart. To his relief the official seemed pleased to see him. Yes, a mail had just come in from Tengyueh bringing one letter, one only. There it was―a registered letter addressed to himself, which had come safely all the way from Shanghai to the far west of China, and over the borderland to Bhamo―just in time!
It was a further remarkable answer to prayer that Fraser was enabled to get one of the enclosed drafts cashed that very day, through a Chinese friend in the Custom’s Service. So the coolie was paid, and the young missionary, alone in a strange land, went back to his empty house to pour out his heart in thanksgiving.
I have since heard [he wrote to his mother] that the money was paid in full in Tengyueh, to the firm here which advanced it to me. I have told you all this because it is the most direct interposition of God in providence which I have yet experienced; and has done not a little to strengthen my faith. No one here knew my situation. You can understand how very careful I am as to speaking of such matters... The Lord, I believe, permitted the trial just to show me how He could deliver me out of it, Shortly after this, another letter arrived which, to Fraser’s surprise, also contained money. It was from his mother in England, now a widow and in comparatively straitened circumstances. With a grateful, loving reply, Fraser at once returned the draft, saying:
It is literally true that you need it, Mother, more than I do; for the Lord has not forgotten me but has abundantly supplied all my need―even though affairs out here are so upset at present.
Another happy experience which made this absence from China memorable was a visit to a station of the American Baptist Mission among Shan and Kachin tribespeople. Setting out on New Year’s Day through jungle country in unaccustomed heat, Fraser arrived to find the missionary absent on a preaching tour, but the local Christians all the more ready to show him hospitality. From the second day of his tramp with the letter carrier, who could speak Chinese, the jungle had given place to mountain ranges dividing Burma from his own province of Yunnan.
Here the views [as he wrote] were really magnificent. In open spaces one could look out over great sweeps of the Irrawaddy valley, a vast area of jungle... The winding road was full of interest. For the first time I saw monkeys, good big ones, jumping about among the trees. A green parrot found here can be taught to speak ... and there are gorgeous pheasants―exquisitely beautiful birds.
But it was the welcome of the Namkham church leaders and the reality of fellowship with them in spiritual things that made the visit one long pleasure. On the hills above the plain were Christian villages, both Shan and Kachin, which Fraser was able to visit, and in the station itself he found evangelists, schoolteachers and others eager for quiet talks over the Word. Young as he was and hampered by having to speak through interpretation, they felt and responded to the sincerity of his prayer-life, faith and devotion, while he was greatly cheered by their love and prayers. Mr. Sam Bwa, Head of the High School, and his wife cared for him more like a son than a foreign guest, and the whole experience was a happy foretaste of the fellowship yet to be his among his, own tribespeople in not distant years.
Before leaving I spoke a few words [Fraser wrote] to my host’s family and household and had prayer with them. I really did feel sorry to leave them.... When I had finished, Mrs. Sam Bwa and others were nearly crying.
You can hardly understand until you come into touch with them what simple, warm-hearted people these Shans and other Christians are. Sam Bwa told me that I could be of help to them even if I could say nothing.... The mere fact of your coming to see them, showing yourself genuinely pleased to sit with them in their houses, attend their services, share their food and generally make yourself one with them is enough to endear you to them. If I sing or pray in Chinese, they cannot understand a word―but that makes no difference! They like me to do it. They do not judge you by the learning or eloquence of your ‘discourse’, but by what they see of you personally. If they see that you love them and like to be with them, they love you in return.
And it was love that showed itself in practical ways as Fraser long remembered. For when his load was being packed for the return journey a shower of good things began, including twenty eggs, a roast chicken, two pieces of cooked beef, a packet of tea and one of sugar, as well as biscuits and a drinking mug―most of which Mrs. Sam Bwa herself provided. She had not failed to notice how little the missionary had with him and, knowing well the hardships of the road, she planned to improve matters for his return. So a little pillow found its way in with other gifts, and an embroidered shoulder bag to hold things for handy use. More than this, the letter carrier was charged with the loan of enameled plates, a knife, fork and spoons, to supplement Fraser’s chopsticks. And it was all done with a simplicity that called no attention to the givers.
I think I can see her now [Fraser wrote to his mother] carefully packing all these things into the courier’s baskets, just as you would have done it yourself. I almost felt like sinking through the ground at such kindness!... After this, they all trooped out to see me off, including the boys and girls from the school. At the brow of the hill leading down to the Namkham plain we shook hands once more. Some of the old folk from the Shan village said to me several times, ‘We will pray for you.’ When I tried to tell Mrs. Sam Bwa how grateful I felt for all her kindness, she made no reply but turned her head away to hide her tears. Dear old soul! Of all the people who have been good to me out here, none has been so like my own mother. Mr. Sam Bwa then struck up: ‘God be with you till we meet again.’ We all joined in the first verse, and they stood and watched us for a while as we set out for the plain.
On the way back to Bhamo, Fraser stayed a night among Kachin Christians and spoke through interpretation in their little chapel.
Afterwards, we all sat round the log fire. Talk about your ‘Grand Hotel’! I had rather sleep in a simple, homely place like that, among such people, than in the grandest of hotels at home. But our Kachin friends did not stay on indefinitely. They said I had walked a long way and must be wanting rest, which was thoughtful. So they went away and left us in silence, with the fire dying down. I turned in, and soon fell into a sound sleep beside the dull red logs.