Hudson didn’t have the answers to all her questions, but somehow he knew he would find a way to meet this man who had firsthand experience of China.
Not long after, huge posters began appearing all over Hull and in every other city in England. “Come to the Great Exhibition of Industry of All Nations,” the posters read. But it was the line of text under this that got Hudson’s heart racing with excitement. “The Opportunity of a Lifetime—Special Excursion Fares to London Available.” What was so exciting was that the opening of the Great Exhibit was at the same time as Lobscheid’s talk in London. The special train fares might be cheap enough for him to get to London after all.
It turned out that the fares were even cheaper than Hudson had hoped. Queen Victoria wanted as many of her subjects as possible to see the amazing show. This “Great Exhibition” was the first of its kind and was the brainchild of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband. The prince had imagined a great gathering of people, where exhibitors from all over the world could bring the latest technology from their countries to display. Prince Albert ordered a huge glass and iron-framed building to be built for the exhibition. When the building was completed, it was named the Crystal Palace.
Over 13,000 exhibitors had set up displays in the huge building, and now it was time for as many people as possible to see the exhibits. To help get people to London for the Great Exhibition, cheap train fares—cheap enough that Hudson could buy two of them—were being offered. Hudson intended to use one train fare to get himself to London, and the other he was going to give to Amelia as a sixteenth birthday present.
Hudson arranged with Dr. Hardey for some time off and set out on his first trip to London. His mind whirled with all the possibilities that lay ahead in London. He would get to talk to a real missionary from China; meet Mr. Pearse, the secretary of the Chinese Evangelization Society, whom he had begun keeping in touch with by letter; and see the most fascinating plants, animals, and inventions from all over the world. He would also get to spend time with Amelia, who was thrilled to be able to go with him on the trip. Any one of these things would have made him happy; getting to do all of them together was almost too good to be true.
Villages, wooded glades, and fields rolled by outside the train, but Hudson’s mind was elsewhere. He was imagining himself meeting Wilhelm Lobscheid. He was going to tell Lobscheid all about his preparations for China. Hudson hoped Mr. Lobscheid would return the favor by giving him some special insights, especially pointing out the next step for him to take in preparing for China.
The first few days in London were thrilling for Hudson and Amelia. Huge crowds were everywhere. The streets were jammed with wagons, carts, and stagecoaches. One of their favorite things to do was ride the horse-drawn omnibus. On many of the omnibuses, passengers were allowed to sit in seats on the roof. And that’s where Amelia and Hudson loved to sit and enjoy the bird’s-eye view of all the activity of London.
And if the sights of London were not enough, the Great Exhibition truly amazed them. It had been billed as the most unforgettable event of the nineteenth century, and the billing was not wrong! Hudson and Amelia walked up and down all eight miles of aisles looking at the exhibits. It was an amazing display of the practical and the improbable. There were many technological “firsts”: the first rotary digger, the first baby carriage, the first revolver. It was also the first time English people got to see a new product from India called rubber. An American company demonstrated a machine that made ice, while another company demonstrated an alarm clock that woke the sleeper by turning the bed over! Even the Crystal Palace itself was unlike anything people had seen before. It was a huge, rectangular building that covered twenty-five acres of Hyde Park, right in the middle of London. It was made entirely of glass and iron and had room enough within it for twenty-foot fountains, potted palm trees, and elephants to roam around. It was said that the whole building had been designed in such a way that it could be dismantled and put together again on another site once the exhibit was over. Amelia and Hudson were amazed by all the new things they saw.
Yet despite the amazing sights of London and the Great Exhibition, Sunday was what they had come for, and finally Sunday arrived. Mr. Pearse met them and took them to a church in Tottenham to hear Wilhelm Lobscheid speak. During the gathering, Hudson had time to study Lobscheid, a tall, bony man with olive skin and a slight red tinge to his thick, dark hair. When Lobscheid spoke of China, his face lit up.
Finally the gathering drew to a close, and Hudson eagerly waited for the moment when he would meet Wilhelm Lobscheid face to face. The moment soon arrived. Mr. Pearse introduced Hudson, who shook hands with Lobscheid. Hudson immediately began telling all about how God had called him to China and the preparations he was making. Wilhelm Lobscheid smiled as he listened, and then he began to laugh out loud. Surprised, Hudson stopped what he was saying mid-sentence. “Why, you will never do for China,” Lobscheid said, staring hard at Hudson’s fair hair and blue eyes. “They call me ‘red-headed devil,’” he laughed. “They would run from you and your blonde hair in terror! You could never get the Chinese to listen to you.”
Hudson was speechless. He had spent so much time wondering and planning how he would adjust to the Chinese that he had never given any thought to how the Chinese would adjust to him! Yet he knew God had called him, and no matter how much this veteran missionary laughed, that was the promise he was going to cling to. So he looked into Lobscheid’s eyes and, trying to hide his disappointment, said, “It is God who has called me to China, and He knows the color of my hair and eyes.” Lobscheid just laughed louder.
Despite his obvious disappointment, the day turned out to be a good one for Hudson. He’d had a wonderful time getting to know Mr. Pearse better, and he had also been introduced to a number of members from the Chinese Evangelization Society. Both he and Amelia were wholeheartedly welcomed into this group of people whose desire was to see the gospel preached throughout China. And from that meeting, many friendships were begun—friendships that would last throughout Hudson’s lifetime.
Hudson returned to Hull, where soon after, Dr. Hardey announced that his bedroom was needed for a family member. He was sorry, but Hudson would have to find somewhere else to live. So Hudson moved in with Aunt Hannah and Uncle Richard.
After the move, Hudson found life even easier for him than it had been with Dr. Hardey. His aunt and uncle had no children of their own, so they spoiled him. Aunt Hannah was a portrait painter, and Uncle Richard, Doctor Hardey’s brother, was a photographer. Between them, they had a lively group of friends. The house was constantly filled with witty conversation and serious discussions about far-off places. Hudson enjoyed it all.
Everything was working out perfectly, or was it? Even though Hudson tried to push the thought to the back of his mind, one aspect of living with his aunt and uncle bothered him. A year earlier, Hudson had become convinced that the Bible instructed Christians to set aside one tenth of their income and give it to God’s work, a practice the Bible calls tithing. So Hudson had begun giving one tenth of his income. Sometimes this had meant making sacrifices, but they were usually small, and he had always managed to get by. Now, though, he was beginning to think that his boarding allowance should also be included as part of his income and should be tithed. But there was one problem with doing this: If he gave one tenth of his boarding allowance to God’s work, he would not have enough money left to live on.
A struggle raged within Hudson over the matter. Hadn’t God provided him with a wonderful home to live in? Surely God didn’t mean for him to tell his aunt and uncle they charged too much and he would have to leave and live somewhere else? In fact, the amount he paid his aunt and uncle was more than fair, especially when he took into account Aunt Hannah’s wonderful cooking and the large size of his bedroom. How ungrateful he would seem if he left. And where would he go, anyway? The pressure from all these nagging questions built up within him, making it difficult to pray.
Finally, after wrestling with the matter for many weeks, Hudson made a decision. He decided that God did want him to tithe his boarding allowance, so he would have to find a cheaper place to live. He did some calculations to find out just how much rent he could afford to pay for a room after he’d paid his tithe.
Hudson found his options had narrowed right down to renting a room in Drainside, a not so glamorous place with a not so glamorous name. Sometimes we can read a place name, Station Street or Church Lane, for instance, and wonder how it got its name, since it has no station or church on it, at least not any longer. But this was not the case with Drainside. In Drainside, there was a real drain, and it was well used. People on both sides of the drain used it as their toilet, garbage disposal, and place to throw old furniture and broken household items. On hot days, the smell that rose from the drain was almost unbearable!
Now the drain happened to run right alongside the cottage of a Mrs. Finch, who had her front room for rent. Mrs. Finch was a Christian woman, raising several children on her own while her husband was at sea. Her husband sent her money when he could, but it was never quite enough, so she rented out her front room to help make ends meet. And it was to Mrs. Finch’s front room that Hudson moved. The room was simply furnished with a bed, table and chair, and a fireplace. No meals were provided, yet as Hudson arranged his books on the window sill, he was sure it was God’s direction for him. Since there would be little socializing in the Finch cottage, he felt he would be able to spend more hours praying, studying for medical exams, and writing letters to Amelia and his parents and, of course, to Marianne, whom he still deeply loved.
Despite the change in living quarters, life felt good to Hudson. He could feel God drawing him closer to China and his destiny.
Each morning and evening, Hudson read his Bible. He read the great stories of faith contained in its pages, about David and Goliath, Daniel in the lion’s den, and the disciples’ healing the sick. As he read these stories, he was convinced that the Congregational minister back home in Barnsley had not been right. God was as much alive and active in 1852 as he had been in Bible days. But, Hudson wondered, how does a person really learn to trust God and hear his voice in 1852, as those in the Bible did? He knew he needed to learn to trust God in a new way and see Him answer his prayers before he ever dared to go to China.
Chapter 5
Waiting for Payday
Dr. Hardey paid Hudson his wages and boarding allowance every four months. Now, four months is a long time between paydays, and sometimes Hudson would run low on money, but he never ran completely out before the next payday arrived. It was a cold February day, two weeks before his next payday, and one of those times when Hudson was running low on money. Still, with some careful planning he knew he could make it through until Dr. Hardey paid him again. Payday was on Dr. Hardey’s mind, too. As he left that evening, he said, “Hudson, you know how forgetful I am sometimes! Don’t let me forget to pay you your wages when they are due.”
Hudson was not against reminding people of things, but when Dr. Hardey said this, a strange thought came into his mind. Could this be one of the faith tests he’d been wanting? Was God asking him to stretch his faith? Instead of reminding Dr. Hardey when it was payday, did God want Hudson to trust Him to supply the money he needed? After spending some time praying about it, Hudson finally decided that indeed God was asking him to stretch his faith and trust Him for his needs. So he made an agreement with God: He would not ask Dr. Hardey for his money; he would trust God to supply his needs, no matter what happened.
