Chapter 8 · 2 min read · 2 min listen
Sowing in Tears
“They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.” — from Psalm 126
After their wedding, Charlie and Priscilla went to live in a city called Lungan, in the province of Shanxi. The people there did not want foreigners. Some shouted insults, and sometimes there were threats. Many Chinese people had good reason to be suspicious, because foreign countries had won wars against China and forced it to let in their traders and opium, a harmful drug.
Charlie and Priscilla stayed. They lived as simply as their neighbours. Priscilla made friends with the women of the city, whom Charlie could hardly meet at all. Little by little, the anger turned into patience, and then, with some people, into friendship.
In that part of China, Chinese Christians ran special homes where people trapped by opium could come to get better, with medicine, care and prayer. The best known of these Christians was Pastor Xi, who had once been trapped by opium himself. The church there was being built by Chinese believers, and some people in Lungan came to know Jesus too. Nobody wrote down the names of the Chinese Christians who worked beside the Studds, but God knows every one of them.
Four daughters were born to Charlie and Priscilla in China: Grace, Dorothy, Edith and Pauline. Two baby boys were born too, but they lived only a very short time. It was a deep sorrow for their parents.
Charlie had asthma, which made it hard for him to breathe, and both he and Priscilla were often ill. In 1894 they had to go home to England. Before they left, they gave their house in Lungan to the mission so that the work could go on.
Sometimes we work hard for God and see only a little happen. The Bible promises that seeds planted with tears will one day bring a harvest of joy. That church lived on through hard times, because Chinese Christians kept going. God is close to us when we are sad, and nothing we do for him is wasted.
Dear God, when I am sad or tired, please stay close to me. Help me to keep doing what is right, even when I cannot see what will come of it. Amen.
Talk about it together
Ask the questions first — then tap one for a note for grown-ups.
How did the people of Lungan feel about Charlie and Priscilla at first?
They did not want foreigners there. Some shouted insults and made threats, but slowly some of them became friends.
Who ran the homes where people trapped by opium could get better?
Chinese Christians, like Pastor Xi, who had once been trapped by opium himself.
Have you ever kept going when something was hard and slow?
Any honest answer is good here. The chapter’s point is that God is close to us when we are sad, and what we do for him is never wasted.
Chapter 8 complete
Sowing in Tears