Gladys Aylward - a brief biography by Michelle Buckman

Gladys Aylward (24 February 1902 – 3 January 1970) was a British-born Christian missionary to China. 

From her early teens, Gladys worked as a housemaid but following a calling to go overseas she tried to become a missionary.  However, due to her lack of progress in learning Chinese she was not accepted by any mission.

On 15 October 1932, Aylward spent her life savings on a train passage to Yangcheng, Shanxi Province, China. The perilous trip took her across Siberia on the Trans-Siberian Railway.  She was detained by the Russians, but managed to evade them with local help and a lift from a Japanese ship.  She then travelled across Japan and took another ship to China. 

On her arrival in China, Aylward worked with an older missionary, Jeannie Lawson, to found "The Inn of the Eight Happinesses".   She and Mrs. Lawson not only provided hospitality for travellers, but would also share stories about Jesus.  For a time she served as a "foot inspector", touring the countryside to enforce the new law against foot-binding young Chinese girls.

Gladys Aylward was a revered figure among the Chinese people, taking in orphans and adopting several herself, intervening in a volatile prison riot, risking her life many times to help those in need.  In 1938, during the Japanese invasion she led more than 100 orphans to safety over the mountains, despite being wounded, personally caring for them all.

She did not return to Britain until 1949 and finally settled in Taiwan in 1958 where she worked until her death in 1970.

Recorded August 26, 2018