The following resources might be useful or interesting for readers curious about the China Inland Mission (CIM) in Xinjiang from 1932-1938.
- Otto F. Schoerner, “Serving Christ,” 1997. (See especially chapters 4 through 7).
- Otto F. Schoerner, interviewed by Robert Shuster, December 13, 1978, and January 31, 1979, Tape 1.
Transcript available: http://www.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/trans/055t01.htm. - Otto F. Schoerner, interviewed by Robert Shuster, December 13, 1978, and January 31, 1979, Tape 2.
Transcript available: http://www.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/trans/055t02.htm. - A “table of contents” for the oral history can be found in the description for the Papers of Otto Frederick Schoerner at Wheaton College.
The CIM in Xinjiang included:
- Otto F. Schoerner
- George Fox Holmes [何仁志]
- Dr. Emil Fischbacher [巴醫生]
- Aubrey Parsons
- Raymond Joyce [趙立德]
- Will Drew
I knew Otto and immensely enjoyed his stories of his days in the CIM. He was a remarkable man doing remarkable work in a remarkable place.
Did you know Will Drew ?
I did not know Will Drew and met Otto when he was in his nineties. You can read much about his story at schoerner.org
I have a distant relative, William Drew, from Sheerness, Kent, who I know was in Hong Kong from around 1908 with his wife Alftruda (nee Grout). There are hints around that he might have been involved in missionary work. For example, this cryptic piece of info:
WILLIAM DREW – SON OF MRS.F, INVIC.RD.m ALFTRUDA LOUISE GROUT 4TH DAU OF THOMAS. (RULE) SEE 7TH, TO GO HONG KONG, 1909 AUG 4TH MINSTER CONG.
Could this be the Will Drew referred to here?
Geoff
No Will Drew was the son of Grace Mehetebel Drew
Thanks. I’d later discovered that “my” Will Drew worked at the Naval Dockyard in Hong Kong. His father-in-law was a reverend gent in the Methodist ministry, so you can see why I perked up at the name of Will Drew.
from my dad’s (late rev. david schmidt), memours/late dec 1948 or early 1949 in Lanchow:
Mr. Li the finance minister whom we had met at a feast in Nanking asked us to their home. He and his wife both spoke English very well and for a long time he had asked us to come to Lanchow and now we had some happy time together. One day …. I received a red piece of paper from the government headquarters inviting me to a feast in the honor of Mr. Fox who was the British Consulate general up in Tihua, Sinkjiang and was flying through on a special plane. Here at the feast were a whole string of celebrities, the French military attaché from Peking, the minister of transportation, minister of finance of all China who had come from Nanking, some officials from Shensi province…. if you know any of these persons i’d appreciate a response or photo
Tom,
In response to this comment as well as your other comment, the missionary with the CIM and the Consul-General in Urumqi (Tihwa or Dihua) were most certainly the same George Fox-Holmes. I wrote a bit about Fox-Holmes previously.
Thanks for posting an excerpt from your father’s memoirs. I have been researching Fox-Holmes sporadically for the past year, collecting bits and pieces of information about him from various sources. I believe he arrived in Urumqi to take up the position of Consul General in summer 1948 (have to double check on a specific date). Prior to his arrival, he did make a pit stop in Lanzhou (Lanchow)–although I have no details of who he met there. I also have no record of him returning to Lanzhou before he was expelled from Xinjiang by the Chinese Communist Party in early 1950.
although they were seperated at the time of the meeting, my mother (who is still alive), may know more about this. i need to nail those dates thanks for the info. anything u want to ask her she may know something about, although at the time they were on their way to inner mongolia, she still has a keen memory.
Hi folks!
My dad, brother and grandparents flew out of Lanchow August 13th, 1949, just ahead of Mao’s troops; my grandmother (Esther Shigley) had been working to establish a clinic in Sinkiang (Xinjiang). They were with the Seventh-Day Adventist church.
There is quite a bit of info on Adventist missionary activity available in Adventist historical documents online: http://www.adventistarchives.org/DocArchives.asp
Most of it is about Adventists, as mentioned, but also provides interesting details about China, Sinkiang and Tibet in the early days.
Best wishes,
Sheila Shigley
Dear Sheila, thanks very much for commenting. What you have linked to is a great resource–much appreciated.