On October 15, 1932, a poor, short, dark haired parlour maid boarded a train in London with a one-way ticket to China. Her name was Gladys Aylward. Gladys Aylward was born in Edmonton, London on February 24, 1902. She was the daughter of a mailman and the oldest of two sisters and a brother. As a child, she was disappointed in two things: one, that she had black hair, while her school-mates had light coloured hair; two, that she was short�only four feet ten inches. Gladys was not a good student, and she didn�t like school; so she dropped out at fourteen, not really qualified for any job. Her parents helped her find a place in a Penny Bazaar�the �two dollar store� of that day. Then she went to work in a grocery store. After that she went into service, working as a nanny and then a parlour maid in wealthy households. Obviously, these jobs didn�t pay well, but Gladys was enjoying life in the city. In the evenings she attended drama classes, because what she really wanted to be was an actress. Her Calling But little did she know that God was getting her ready for something else. In her autobiography she wrote: �One night, for some reason I can never explain, I went to a religious meeting [a worship service]. There, for the first time, I realized that God had a claim on my life, and I accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour [So she became a Christian]. I joined the Young Life Campaign, and in one of their magazines I read an article about China that made a terrific impression on me. To realize that millions of Chinese had never heard of Jesus Christ was to me a staggering thought, and I felt we ought to do something about it.� Bear in mind that Gladys wasn�t a nurse or a teacher, so she wasn�t sure whether there was a place for her on the mission field. But she knew she could talk. Maybe God could use that. So she applied to the China Inland Mission. But you could say that the lady seemed to be the most unlikely person God could call into the ministry. In fact that was what most people said about her, and Gladys did not think that she was worthy or qualified to be serving as a missionary too! This is what Gladys said, \"I wasn\'t God\'s first choice for what I\'ve done for China�I don\'t know who it was�It must have been a man�a well-educated man. I don\'t know what happened. Perhaps he died. Perhaps he wasn\'t willing�and God looked down�and saw Gladys Aylward�And God said - \"Well, she\'s willing.\" I wonder how many of us are willing to serve the LORD? What God is looking for is not talented people (that may be a plus) or brilliant people who know everything, but a willing heart! Are you willing to serve Christ? Her Preparation On December 12, 1929, the Candidates� Committee of a missionary body took note of her conversion to Christianity and her manifest strength of character. Although there is no direct mention of her inadequate schooling and mediocre educational skills, those limitations are implied in the conditional recommendation of one term�s testing at the Women�s Training Home to see if she was able to settle down to regular study. The Women�s Training Home was a training school for those the committee recommended for the mission board who might not be qualified as missionaries. At the Women�s Training Home, the three-month term was filled with classroom work, Bible study, personal devotions, Sunday school teaching in rough neighbourhoods, and hearing reports about China and the difficulties of getting there and living there. Gladys did well in the practical, active settings, but she couldn�t seem to understand and learn from the lectures and books. Her Determination At the end of the appointed time, the committee judged that she was not qualified and that her educational background was too limited. They were also concerned that the Chinese language would be too difficult for her, especially at her age�her late twenties. By the way, it was the mission board which deemed her to be unfit for the mission field based on her academic performance and educational background, not God. Nothing could stop Gladys from going to China because she had a heart for China. Eventually, she still went to China as a missionary without the support of a sending missionary body! Why? This is what Gladys said: �If God has called you to China or any other place and you are sure in your own heart, let nothing deter you�.Remember, it is God who has called you and it is the same as when He called Moses or Samuel.� Gladys was not being proud and arrogant thinking that she was above the people, but her action was simply driven by her burden for the millions of lost souls in China. Do you have a burden for the lost or an area of ministry? You should if you are a child of God. And if you have the burden, your burden should be transformed into actions. Gladys decided to go on despite the fact that people said that she was not qualified for the job. Having worked as a parlour maid for two years, she was only able to save up enough money for a train ticket to China, and left on October 15, 1932 with one suitcase and 2 pounds, equivalent to about 4 US dollars. After a harrowing journey through snow, bitter cold, and gunfire from the Russo-Chinese war, she reached Tiensin. In China, she praised God for her different looks, because every person around her was also short and dark haired. It was definitely a scary experience for a young lady to be travelling from England to China through Siberia Russia for days in a strange land with strange people. Considering that she was only thirty year of age, she was very brave! To be continued...

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