A week later Donald McGillivray returned from one of his preaching tours around the province. Among the stories he told of his exploits was one that caught Jonathan’s attention. It was about the Cheng family. Cheng Ming-san was a very poor farmer who lived with his wife, three children, and his widowed mother. Both mother and son were devote Buddhists, going on long pilgrimages and giving much of their meager food to a Buddhist hermit who lived in a cave nearby. They were both active teachers of their religion.
Cheng Ming-san had a friend, also a devout Buddhist, who had become a Christian through Donald McGillivray’s preaching. This man had begged Donald to go with him to the Chengs’ house to share the gospel message there as well. Donald agreed, and when he got to the tiny hovel on the side of a hill where the family lived, he had found that both Cheng Ming-san and his mother were eager to hear what he had to say. Moreover, at the urging of the friend, the two of them decided to become Christians.
“And what about Cheng Ming-san’s wife?” asked Jonathan.
“Well, that’s another story,” replied Donald sadly. “She was furious with her husband when she found out what he had done. She ran outside screaming that he would bring down judgment on them all by rejecting Buddhist ways. Although she was impossible to calm down, her husband’s and mother-in-law’s faith never wavered. They told me not to worry about her, that they would pray for her until she found her way to the one true God as well.”
As Jonathan listened to the story, an idea began to form. “Do you think Mrs. Cheng understood what she was doing?” he asked.
“I am sure she did,” Donald replied. “As soon as I prayed with them, Mrs. Cheng gathered up all of the family’s idols and took them outside. She threw them into a nearby ravine, where they were smashed to pieces at the bottom. From then on she could talk of nothing else but Jesus Christ.”
Jonathan became more excited. “Do you think she might agree to come here and help Rosalind?” he asked. “She has been praying for a Bible woman to help her.”
Donald nodded. “Your wife should write to Mrs. Cheng at once and invite her to come. She has been a Buddhist teacher for many years, so I am sure she would jump at the opportunity to share her new faith in Jesus with others.”
Later that evening, Jonathan told Rosalind of his conversation with Donald, and Rosalind sat down after dinner and wrote to Mrs. Cheng. She did not get a letter in reply. Instead, Mrs. Cheng came in person, ready to assume her new duties.
About this time, Jonathan and Rosalind also decided they needed to build a larger house. Since they were expecting another baby, the Chinese-style mission house they were living in was just too small to hold them all comfortably. Plans for a new house were drawn up. It would be Chinese-looking on the outside, but it would be filled with all sorts of Western amenities.
Chapter 7
An Open Door
Oh, Jonathan, it’s wonderful!” exclaimed Rosalind as she walked through their new house for the first time. She was carrying one-year-old Grace in her arms while the three older children trailed along behind her. Jonathan chuckled at Florence and Helen, who were both clicking their shoes loudly on the wooden floor.
“I don’t suppose they remember ever walking on anything but a dirt floor before,” commented Rosalind as she watched her two daughters. “I think this house is going to take a bit of getting used to.”
“It sure is,” interrupted six-year-old Paul. “The windows in my room have glass in them. I can see out without having to open them like I did with the shutters in the other house.” Jonathan and Rosalind smiled at each other.
It took a little while for the Goforth family to explore their new home. It looked like any other Chinese house from the outside, but inside it was a treasure trove of Western ideas and gadgets. It had bedrooms with beds in them, a cooking stove, and cupboards instead of exposed shelves.
“I just hope this house is used to spread the gospel,” said Jonathan, hoisting Helen up onto his shoulders to keep her out of mischief.
“I’m sure it will be,” replied Rosalind. “Think of the number of people who came to visit us in the old house before we had this to show them. You know how curious the Chinese are.”
Jonathan’s hope was fulfilled even more than he could have imagined! News quickly spread that the Goforths had a new house filled with all manner of strange and wonderful things, which amazingly, they were willing to show to anyone who asked. It wasn’t long before a crowd of men started to form outside the house at daybreak and did not disperse until long after dark. Jonathan soon developed a system that allowed the men to all see the house as well as have the gospel presented to them.
After breakfast Jonathan would stand on the veranda of the house and yell to the crowd. “Men, I have something to tell you. Stand still and listen, and then I will show you through my house.”
The men would quickly settle down and listen as Jonathan preached a short sermon. When he was done he would divide the men into groups of twenty and escort them through the house.
Just as the Goforth children had done when they first saw the house, the Chinese men would stomp their feet on the wooden floor. They marveled at the chimney on the stove that let the smoke go up through the roof of the house. It was something they had never seen before. The smoke from the stoves in their houses became trapped inside. The men also opened every drawer, pulled the pillows out of the pillowcases, and turned over the mattresses to see under them. The children’s toys, Grace’s baby carriage, and a large tricycle made the men shake their heads in wonder.
One day, just as Jonathan was about to show a group of men down the stairs to the cellar, a group of twenty women stampeded past him, shrieking and screaming at the top of their lungs. Following behind them was Rosalind.
“What is it?” asked Jonathan.
“You wouldn’t believe it,” replied his wife. “The women saw a couple of china dolls in the children’s room, and someone said they were tiny corpses. Next thing I knew this was happening.”
Jonathan was too busy herding the men through the house to help Rosalind, who had finally caught up to the women and was trying to explain to them what they had seen. He prayed silently that she would succeed. The last thing they needed was another rumor like the one that had surfaced the year before. At that time, several local people had seen Jonathan and Rosalind drinking sweetened red vinegar with their meal and had raced around the city telling everyone that the missionaries drank the blood of children with their lunch. It had taken several weeks for the commotion this rumor had caused to die down.
When one tour was over, Jonathan would lead another one, and another one after that, until night fell. This would go on for six days a week as a seemingly never-ending tide of Chinese people came to check out the house. Of course, the tours provided lots of opportunities to present the gospel. For most of the people it was the first time they had ever heard of a loving God who cared about them and their daily lives.
While the thousands of people touring the house each week offered wonderful opportunities for Jonathan to share the gospel, they in turn had lots of opportunities to collect “souvenirs.” There was no way the Goforths could watch over every person they invited in to view their house. Anything that wasn’t nailed down or wasn’t very large disappeared up the wide sleeves of the Chinese visitors’ clothing. Cutlery, pictures, and hair combs were particular favorites for people to take. And no matter where Rosalind hid her sewing scissors, she could not keep a pair in the house. On one tour, someone took not only her scissors but also her pins, pincushion, and several half-sewn dresses she was making for the girls. As well, all of baby Ruth’s bonnets and booties disappeared, and Rosalind gave up knitting new ones.
It was not easy living like this, especially for the children, but Jonathan knew it was worth the sacrifice the moment he traveled out into the surrounding countryside. Wherever he stopped, someone would come up to him and say, “It is you! I have been an honored guest in your house. You must come now and see my house.” As a result, Jonathan once again had the opportunity to present the gospel to them, this time in their home.
Amid all the success Jonathan was having in his evangelistic endeavors, he also had the ongoing tragedies of missionary life to deal with. Two-year-old Grace became sick with malaria, and Jonathan and Rosalind became very worried for their daughter, especially when they noticed her stomach was beginning to swell, a sure sign of an infected spleen. Everyone at the mission station did all they could to help her, but on October 3, 1899, Grace Goforth died in her father’s arms. For the third time, Jonathan and Rosalind buried one of their children in Chinese soil. This time, though, their child’s body was buried under a beautiful tree in a corner of their backyard.
Soon after Grace’s death, Paul, the oldest son, became ill, and it seemed likely that he too would die. Then Jonathan noticed that his own skin was turning yellow. This could mean only one thing—Jonathan had contracted hepatitis, an often deadly disease. All this occurred while Rosalind herself was in the final stages of a very difficult pregnancy—so difficult, in fact, that Jonathan wondered whether she and the child would make it through.
While it was a harrowing year for the family, thankfully Paul and Jonathan began to recover, and Rosalind safely delivered the baby on November 25, 1899. This time it was another boy, whom they named Wallace.
While all this was going on, one day in October 1899 they had the most guests ever traipse through their house. Two big events were going on in Changte at the same time. The first was the day of the semiannual fair where the city god was taken in a huge procession to a temple not far from the mission station. The second event was the administering of a government-run test. Thousands of students flooded into town to take the test. As a result, a large crowd of people began to assemble outside the Goforths’ gate before dawn. By ten o’clock, five hundred men were yelling outside. Jonathan divided them into groups of one hundred fifty and first shared with them the gospel before guiding them through the house. He noticed with dismay that each time he passed through the kitchen, something else was missing, “souvenired” by the throng.
Normally when Jonathan showed a group the living room he would have Rosalind come in and play a hymn on the organ, since the Chinese were fascinated by this instrument. This day, however, everyone, including Donald McGillivray, Wang Fulin, and Mrs. Cheng, were so busy that Rosalind could not be spared, not even for the two minutes it usually took to play a hymn. Not wanting to disappoint the crowd, Jonathan sat down at the organ himself. He had no idea how to play a note on it. Still, he pulled out all the stops, pumped the pedals with his feet, and thumped his hands down on the keyboard. A dreadful booming noise erupted from the organ.
A cheer went up from the group, and Jonathan nearly fell off the organ stool when he overheard one of the men giggle with glee and say, “See, he plays better than his wife!”
At the end of the day, Jonathan was too exhausted to eat, so he drank several cups of warm milk. When the numbers were finally tallied for the day, it was easy to see why everyone at the mission was tired and a little hoarse. Eighteen hundred men and five hundred women had visited the house that day.
While this was the most people ever to tour the house in a single day, there were many days when they were nearly as busy. One particular group who came to visit often frustrated Jonathan. They were the students who had come to Changte to take the government exam. The exam would qualify them for jobs in public offices, and those whose marks were high enough might even go on to become mandarins with authority to rule over a specified area. Having enough education to take the test meant the students were usually from privileged homes, which in turn meant they were often arrogant and rude, especially towards foreigners. The students would come in groups to see the Goforths’ home. However, when Jonathan tried to preach to them, they would talk loudly among themselves and tell jokes. Eventually Jonathan decided enough was enough and came up with a plan to deal with the situation. For his plan to work, he sent to Shanghai for some specific items. When the package arrived, Jonathan unpacked a large globe along with several maps and astronomical charts. Now he was ready. He waited for the next government exam to begin.
