The Gladys Aylwood Story

Gladys Aylwood was a servant girl. She lived in war times and had to flee from her own country. She knew that God wanted her to go to China even if it meant leaving her family. She trusted God and left.

I think… 

I think it was good of Gladys to obey God. It shows us that Jesus’s sacrifice was so big that sometimes we need to give up all we own and follow him. He made a sacrifice for us so we should trust that he loves us a lot and he knows what’s best.

Gladys arrived in China. There, she found a woman. The woman had barely any money and had prayed for help. Gladys was sent by God to help the woman and God trusted her to help the the lady. 

I think...

I think that no matter what, God will send help if we pray and even if he doesn’t give it to us the way we thought he would give it to us or the way we wanted him to give it to us, he will provide it. In the Bible, a great example of prayer is this: “Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your Name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us today our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Even if you don’t pray like this, the Bible tells us that praying should be private time with God. It also tells us that prayers should be thanking, asking, apologising and telling God how great he is. That prayer I wrote from the Bible includes all of those things. That’s why the Bible is amazing. 

The woman opened an inn with Gladys later on in time. They told their guests stories from the Bible and the guests were pleased with them. They were still low on money but God provided for them. One day, after the woman had died of old age, a foot inspector came to Gladys. I’m not sure why she was chosen to be new foot inspector but it happened just after she prayed. Now that she had a new job, she could start to get money.

I think… 

I think that cancelling woman’s feet from being tightly wrapped was a good thing. In ancient China, people used to force women to wrap their feet up very tightly to make them slimmer. It was very cruel and Gladys, being the foot inspector, made sure all girls and women were happily living joyous lives with free feet. The people that forced women to do this were selfish and didn’t think about how they would feel if it was them. For it says in the Bible: “For it is written in the law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” That would be selfish, as the ox would be helping you for free. If you muzzled it, its job would become harder. Wrapping women’s feet would have made their lives harder, especially if they wanted to help someone. They simply wouldn’t be able to enjoy their lives just because of a law that made them have sore feet. God had again sent Gladys to help people.

Later on in life, the Japanese soldiers invaded China. Many children of China were sent to safety. They were all homeless and hopeless. Gladys found this out and knew that God would want her to help them no matter how hard it was. Gladys was not selfish and lead the children to a safer place in China. The children were tired and they had only been travelling for one day and were not nearly close to their destination. Gladys and the children were growing more and more anxious every day.

I think…

I think if I was struggling with anxiety like Gladys would have been, I would have remembered some of these words from the Bible: Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praise worthy, think about such things.

After four more days, the children wanted to rest. At night, Gladys told them stories about her life. The children always wanted to hear more stories and God made things well for them.

I think…

I think God was leading the people across China safely just like he helped the Israelites cross the desert. All went well for the Israelites and God was making them happy. All went well for everyone that walked with Gladys too. But even so, some children still needed to find hope. It says from the Bible in Luke 5:1-2 that: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” And later on in Luke 5:8-9 it says: But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The children and Gladys kept on walking, day after day. And each day, Gladys carried on with the children, trusting in God to guide them. Finally, after around ten days of non-stop walking, Gladys and the sixty five children she had with her, came to a house in the mountains where they would be safe from the soldiers. There, Gladys met a couple of people that accepted them. The man and woman that provided for them looked after them with great care.

I think…

I think, after being away from her parents and friends, Gladys grew lonely. If I were her, I would have trusted in this verse from the Bible to comfort me: it says in Mathew 26:39-40: “Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” This verse talks about the time when Jesus was going to be resurrected. As he was up on the mountain, he asked God to let there be another way. But there wasn’t. Jesus was lonely in this time and all his disciples fell asleep, for it was night. Later, Jesus still died on the cross, in between two criminals. One said to him: “Jesus. I am sorry. Please forgive me.” The other man then said something rude to Jesus, which was meant to deny him as the son of God. But Jesus ignored him and said to the good man: “You will be with me in Heaven soon.” Then Jesus no longer had to be lonely alone. Jesus had strength. And when I feel pain I remember this: If God will let me be in pain, he will give me the strength to get through it.

A short while after, Gladys left the children and went to the city that the Japanese soldiers had last invaded. She helped the wounded, bandaging their cuts and tending to their sores. But as she was helping one, the Japanese soldiers invaded again. Gladys ran into an open field, running for her life to get back to the children. But as she hid behind a large rock, thinking the soldiers were gone, she ran some more. But the men saw her and shot her. The bullet came wizzing past her shoulder and luckily, only the top of the bullet grazed it. There was some blood but not much and Gladys was knocked out in the pain.

I think…

I think that most people, maybe even me, would back down from God in a time like what Gladys was in. She was injured, trying to get back to the children, stressed, and probably didn’t know whether God would help her come out through the dark times she was in and if she would make it to the brighter side. But this verse from Micah 7:18-19 says: “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.” God will not be angry at us for long even if we back away from him. In fact, he delights (loves) to show mercy to us. He forgets all sin (pardons it) and forgives us for our bad actions and words. No matter what, he will never leave us alone or without hope of a Saviour.

Finally, when Gladys awoke, she ran back to the kindly couple’s home. There she found that there were now one hundred or more children that she needed to look after and take to the city that would provide them safety. She and the children marched on but most of the children were growing impatient and lazy. I wouldn’t blame them, for it had been almost twenty days by then of walking.

I think…

I think that this verse would have helped those who were growing lazy and impatient, or at least taught them a lesson: “And as for you brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.” If they knew this verse, I know it would encourage them to keep going. But even so, they pressed on and didn’t tire of doing what was good - getting to the place that God was leading them to.

Finally, after twenty days of walking, Gladys and the children arrived at a river. They ran to the river and tried to figure out a way to cross it. For if they crossed it, they would reach the plentiful city. They were sad that it was the last step to get to the city but they couldn’t figure out how to cross it. They were all very upset and disappointed.

I think…

I think I know what you’re thinking! “I would have swam across the river.” But the river was raging and they had young children among them. This made them all very sad. But it says in 2 Corinthians 1:3-5: "Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so we can comfort those in any troubles with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” I think this verse would have comforted them.

The children gathered around Gladys as she prayed. As one child looked around, he screamed. Two soldiers stood behind them, armed with guns. But the people pleaded for them not to hurt them. The soldiers did not hurt them, but told them they could have boats to cross the river with. They accepted the offer and crossed the river. Then they departed from the soldiers after thanking them. Then they reached the city. The gates were open but as soon as the guards saw the newcomers they closed the gates. They didn’t have room for more people. Gladys fell to the the floor and cried. I can imagine many judging thoughts swirling in her head.

I think…

I think Gladys may have wondered why God was “letting her down” or why these people were so “selfish.” But this verse may have told her why she shouldn’t judge people, and we never should either: it says in Numbers 12:1-8: “Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them stepped forward, he said, “Listen to my words: When there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord reveal myself in visions, I speak to them in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses, he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face-to-face, clearly and not in riddles. He sees the form of the Lord. Why then are you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” Aaron and Miriam had discussed why their little brother Moses should be in charge of them. But when Moses was in troubles, he was still faithful to God. That was why God chose Moses to lead the Israelites safely through the desert and to protect them. And he wanted to make Moses’s siblings understand this.

Eventually, a guard came to the crying Gladys. He told her she and her children were welcome in their city. Gladys gladly accepted the offer and she and the children lived in that city with everyone else under the protection of God.

I think...

I think that the overall message of this true story is to trust in God with all your heart. Do not judge others, do not lose hope in the Lord, do not think God will leave you, do not doubt the Lord and do not allow yourself to stay sad and lonely before the sun goes down. At the end of the day, all that matters is God. But remember this: If God allows you to have pain, he will help you push through it. If there are hard times, God will take you to the other side. If you are lonely, remember that Jesus was lonely too but he prayed for help. 

These verses and prayers that I used from the Bible and put in this story have helped me a lot:

“Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your Name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us today our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

“For it is written in the law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.”Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praise worthy, think about such things.

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

“Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.”

“And as for you brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.”

"Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so we can comfort those in any troubles with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”

“Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them stepped forward, he said, “Listen to my words: When there is a profit among you, I, the Lord reveal myself in visions, I speak to them in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses, he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face-to-face, clearly and not in riddles. He sees the form of the Lord. Why then are you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”

The Gladys Aylwood story is true. And in conclusion: God is amazing!

Thank you to my teacher who let me know about the Gladys Aylwood Story!

By Jeremy R