John And Betty Stam

Missionary Martyrs

Vance Christie

• Publisher: Christian Focus Publication
• Year: 2008
• eBook ISBN: 9781781915905

1

Captured!

The fateful day began with deceptive normalcy at John and Betty Stam’s missionary residence in Tsingteh, China. Both the wood-burning stoves had been lit and were starting to heat up nicely, helping to lessen the chill that gripped the large old house that cold, early December morning. The Stams, along with the six Chinese who lived with them in the house, had already eaten breakfast.

John hoped to study and get some correspondence done that morning. Betty was preparing to give their three-month old baby, Helen Priscilla, a bath, with some assistance from the amah Mei Tsong-fuh. The cook, Li Ming-chin, busied himself in the kitchen. His wife, mother, and two children similarly had begun their various daily activities.

John and Betty had been in Tsingteh for just two weeks. They had come there under the auspices of the China Inland Mission (CIM) to oversee the infant Christian work that had been established in the southern portion of Anhwei Province. There were very few Christians in the area, but the Stams were thrilled at the prospect of carrying out pioneer evangelistic work to help bring the Gospel to that needy part of China.

For John and Betty this was a longtime dream come true. Several years earlier they had both dedicated their lives to vocational Christian service. While students at Moody Bible Institute, they separately concluded that the Lord would have them serve Him in China. God had not only brought them to China (Betty first, then John a year later), but also had allowed them to be joined as husband and wife there.

They had thoroughly enjoyed their first year of marriage and serving the Lord together, the birth of their beautiful daughter having been the crowning joy of that year. While they realized there would sometimes be difficult challenges, they looked forward, God willing, to having many more years of happy missionary service together as a family.

Just after eight that morning a messenger sent by the town magistrate arrived at the Stams’ home. ‘The magistrate told me to call at your house,’ he explained to John, ‘to notify you and your wife that Communist soldiers were at Yang Chi, fifty or sixty li away, last night. You must be on your guard, and if the rumors become alarming, you must leave.’¹

John, knowing that a li equaled about one-third of a mile, sought to reassure the man. He reached out a hand and patted the messenger’s shoulder, saying, ‘Don’t be alarmed, they won’t come to this small place. But thank you for coming to tell me.’

Just weeks earlier John and a fellow missionary had conducted a careful investigation of the region to determine the advisability of bringing his family to Tsingteh to begin mission work there. ‘Due to the drought and shortage of food, there has been an increase of bandit activity in the area,’ local magistrates candidly informed the missionaries. ‘But you need not fear a Communist offensive. Many government troops have been brought into the southern half of our province to discourage a Communist incursion here. Government forces are only a short distance away if such a threat develops. And if any trouble does arise, we will be personally responsible for your family’s protection.’

Having received these assurances, and knowing that conditions in many parts of China were never totally safe for missionaries, John and the CIM officials concluded that it would be appropriate for him and his family to settle in Tsingteh. During the two weeks they had lived in the town, he had heard some talk about the threat of a Communist attack, but that was generally thought to be little more than worrisome gossip.

After the messenger left, John was approached by Li. Deep concern registered on the cook’s face and in his voice. ‘Since the magistrate has sent this man to warn you and since the Reds are not so far away, you and your family should go,’ Li said. When he saw that John looked unconvinced, he continued. ‘The Reds are not like local bandits. Their number is large and they are not afraid of a local garrison. Besides, their movements are very uncertain. They’re here today and there tomorrow.’

‘We’ll wait awhile and see,’ John responded calmly. ‘This afternoon a pastor is coming from the neighboring province, and we shall see what news he brings.’

About an hour later Li’s mother left the Stams’ house and went out on the street to have a pair of shoes mended. Suddenly a man who had been sent out as a scout into the countryside by the magistrate came running down the street. Covered with sweat, the man shouted to people as he passed, ‘It’s bad! Quick! The Reds will soon be here! They’re only a little over ten li away.’

He went directly to the magistrate’s office at the local yamen. Upon hearing the news, Magistrate Peng ordered the city gates to be closed at once. Seeing all this, Li’s mother hastened back to the Stam home and reported the happenings to her son. He went to the door and saw people running in all directions.

With fear welling in his heart, Li said to John, ‘The Red soldiers are certainly near or the people wouldn’t be running like this.’

‘Surely they wouldn’t travel so fast – nearly twenty miles in one night. But I’ll go out and see what I can learn for myself.’

Mei began to tremble with fright. She went into the room where Betty was still caring for Helen. ‘You must finish with the baby quickly,’ she said. ‘We must leave. It is very bad outside.’

Betty smiled at her and said quietly, ‘Don’t be afraid, Mei. We trust in God. There is nothing to fear.’

A short while later John returned and Li urgently inquired, ‘How about it, Mr. Stam? Shouldn’t we go?’

‘I spoke to a man down the street just now,’ the missionary reported, ‘and he says that the Red soldiers are at Chiki, seventy li south of here.’

‘At Chiki?!’ Li exclaimed incredulously, hardly able to restrain his anxiety any longer. ‘When they’re actually within ten li of us! Please, Mr. Stam, let me go and order chairs.’

John consented and Li hastened away to the chair hong, or warehouse, to hire a pair of chairs and two baggage carriers. After the servant left, John said to Betty, ‘Why don’t you gather a few essential items from our trunks into a bundle just in case we do need to leave here for a few days. I’ll get some canned milk and other food items from the kitchen.’

Just then a uniformed soldier from the magistrate’s yamen came to the house and told John, ‘You must go. The Red soldiers will soon be in the city.’

‘We’re preparing our things now to go,’ he responded. It was by then after 10:00 a.m.

Li returned with the chair men who stated that they wanted thirty-two dollars to transport the Stams and their belongings. John immediately agreed to their price.

‘The big west gate is still open,’ the carriers said. ‘We can go out that way. The Red soldiers are coming from the east.’

Presently one of the magistrate’s personal bodyguards arrived at the Stams’ home. ‘They are already almost here,’ the bodyguard announced. ‘You must leave at once.’

‘But we will have to go look for chairs,’ the carriers then revealed. ‘All the chairs at the hong were already hired.’

‘Then go at once to find chairs!’ Li commanded with obvious agitation in his voice. ‘Come back here and wait outside.’

At that moment, however, rifle shots rang out from the city wall and were promptly answered by reporting fire from outside the town. That could only mean the local militia was exchanging fire with Communist troops. Immediately all but one of the carriers fled.

The militia, numbering less than one hundred men, was no match for the Communist force of over two thousand soldiers. Militia members tore off their uniforms and deserted their posts. Magistrate Peng, who had been out in the streets directing the feeble resistance effort, quickly disguised himself as a farmer and was able to slip out of the city undetected.

The Communists used four ladders to scale the city’s accessible eastern wall, then the first soldiers into Tsingteh threw open the east gate to provide the bulk of the force easy entrance into the city. Within minutes Red soldiers had the town completely surrounded on both the outside and inside of its walls, cutting off all possible escape routes.

The missionary residence was located not far from the city’s east gate. When the firing first started, knowing that an attempted escape would be too perilous, John and Li closed and barred the doors of the house. Gathering their families as well as Mei and the carrier together, they all bowed in prayer, imploring God to protect them.

The Stams’ house and courtyard were surrounded by four windowless brick walls. Before long a group of Communist soldiers began to batter against the door at the back of the courtyard, breaking through it after a half-dozen violent blows. They next proceeded to the door of the house and started thundering against it to similarly break it down.

Inside the house John asked, ‘What shall we do? Shall we let them in or not?’

‘If we don’t let them in it’s all over, and if we do it’s the same,’ Li answered in despair.

‘I’ll open the door and welcome them,’ John decided. ‘We can entertain them.’

‘Whether we entertain them or not, it’s all over,’ Li reiterated hopelessly.

Together John and Betty opened the door and greeted the soldiers. Four soldiers armed with rifles entered the house. They were dressed in gray uniforms, with straw sandals on their feet. Their caps had visors and a red star-shaped badge. One of them, an officer, wore a gray overcoat. They were all young men who looked to be in their early twenties.

Bowing, John said, ‘You have gone through much hardship. What are your names?’

Disarmed by this unexpected reception, the soldiers politely shared their names and in turn asked John his. ‘You are a foreigner, aren’t you?’ the officer queried.

‘I am an American.’

‘Do you have any medicine?’ asked the officer.

‘We have a bottle of ointment,’ John answered. ‘Here, let me get it for you.’ Retrieving the bottle, he gave it to the officer.

Beginning to look around the room at the Stams’ possessions, the lead soldier further inquired, ‘Have you any especially good things you can give us?’

‘Certainly,’ came John’s ready reply. ‘Whatever you like I’ll give you.’ He then handed several choice items to them, including a clock, watch, camera, and flashlight.

As he did so, Betty stepped forward and said politely, ‘All of you must be thirsty. Allow me to get you some tea and cake.’ She excused herself into the kitchen and, a few minutes later, returned with a cup of steaming tea and a piece of cake for each of the soldiers.

‘Do you have any money?’ the officer plied.

‘I’ve just come here to Tsingteh. I haven’t much money. We are serving God. My money comes from Shanghai a month at a time, so I only have forty or fifty dollars. But you’re welcome to take it and divide it among yourselves.’

Taking the currency, the officer asked, ‘Do you have any more?’

‘No, I don’t,’ John responded truthfully.

The officer’s face suddenly hardened. Turning to one of the other soldiers, he commanded, ‘Search him!’ The rough frisking that followed produced no further money.

‘Now you can come with me to the yamen to talk to my leader,’ said the officer. ‘You needn’t be afraid,’ he added with a tinge of sarcasm in his voice. ‘You’ll have a nice time, and then you can come back to your home again.’

John and Betty were able to stand together and pray in front of the small gathering before he was led away by the quadrant of soldiers. ‘Mr. Li, look after Mrs. Stam,’ John instructed as he left.

Other soldiers entered the house. They tied together in bundles any items they thought would be of use to their cause and carried them off to their commanders. Communist soldiers were searched by their superiors each night to make sure that they were not withholding valuable goods for themselves.

Betty had gone into her bedroom with Helen. The soldiers asked Li and Mei, ‘Where is the foreign woman?’

Li responded courageously, ‘We’re all born of one father and mother. Have a little virtue. This is a woman and she has just given birth to a baby three months ago. You’ve taken her husband, so why take her?’

The soldiers pointed their rifles at the cook and maid and snarled, ‘Who are you to tell us what to do? And how does this concern you? You’re Chinese, they’re foreigners.’

The soldiers then called Betty out of her room. She came to the door with Helen in her arms. Sitting down on the steps that led to the room, she said, ‘You’ve taken my husband. Why do you want me?’

‘If you have money we don’t take you. Otherwise you must come with us.’

Handing the baby to Mei, Betty retrieved some bills from inside her clothing and gave them to the soldiers. ‘We want American bank notes,’ they demanded.

‘I don’t have any,’ Betty asserted.

‘Yes, you do. Now hand them over.’

‘Mrs. Stam speaks the truth,’ Li intervened. ‘American notes are of no use in an inland city like this one. So the Stams use only our native currency.’

‘Then you will now come with us,’ the soldiers responded.

‘But you just promised not to take me if I gave you money.’

‘Never mind that!’ the soldiers snapped. Raising their guns at Betty, they commanded, ‘Now walk!’

At the risk of further raising the soldiers’ ire, Li requested, ‘Please don’t separate Mrs. Stam from her husband.’

Mei, overwrought with grief, pleaded to be allowed to go with her mistress. She was deterred only when the impatient soldiers leveled their rifles at her and threatened, ‘If you try to follow us, we will shoot you down.’

‘It’s all right,’ Betty whispered to her. ‘I know that you would come with me if you could. It’s really better that you stay here. That way, if any trouble comes to us, you can look after the baby.’ Then, taking Helen with her, she left with the soldiers.

At the end of the afternoon, John was permitted to return to their home, once again being guarded by a group of four soldiers. Asking Mei to collect a bundle of diapers for the baby, he went into the storeroom to get some milk. The maid, on the verge of tears, divulged, ‘The stores have all been taken by the soldiers.’

‘It doesn’t matter,’ the missionary replied. ‘God is high above all in heaven. Our Father knows. These little things are immaterial. Don’t be afraid, Mrs. Mei. You sleep with old Mrs. Li tonight.’

John and Betty, along with baby Helen, were held as prisoners at the magistrate’s yamen. That evening, John penned a letter to China Inland Mission officials in Shanghai to inform them that they had been captured and were being held for ransom.

Tsingteh, Anhwei

December 6, 1934

China Inland Mission,

Shanghai

Dear Brethren,

My wife, baby, and myself are today in the hands of the Communists, in the city of Tsingteh. Their demand is twenty thousand dollars for our release.

All our possessions and stores are in their hands, but we praise God for peace in our hearts and a meal tonight. God grant you wisdom in what you do, and us fortitude, courage, and peace of heart. He is able and a wonderful Friend in such a time.

Things happened so quickly this a.m. They were in the city just a few hours after the ever-persistent rumors really became alarming, so that we could not prepare to leave in time. We were just too late.

The Lord bless and guide you, and as for us, may God be glorified whether by life or by death.

In Him,

John C. Stam²

---

1 The dialogue and chain of events described in this chapter are based on the depositions that Mei Tsong-fuh and Li Ming-chin made before George Atcheson Jr., Consul of the United States of America, in and for the consular district of Nanking, China, on January 1, 1935, as found in Collection 449: Ephemera of John Cornelius and Elisabeth Alden (Scott) Stam, 1923–1940; n.d., Archives of the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, Illinois (hereafter cited as Stam Documents). Used by permission.

2 John Stam to CIM officials, December 6, 1934, Stam Documents.

2

A Devout Heritage

John Stam’s spirit of complete consecration to the work of Christ, regardless of the personal cost involved, was forged through the upbringing he received from his dedicated Christian parents. Their deep personal piety and untiring efforts in bringing others to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ had an enormous impact on all of their children, leading each of them into active Christian service.

Surprisingly, Peter Stam, John’s father, had been reared in an environment that was far from Christian. He grew up in the village of ’t Zand in the province of North Holland, The Netherlands. There for three generations his family had operated the village tavern, a place where drinking, gambling, and other worldly activities took place.

Quick-witted and lively, Peter often entertained the young people of the town at the tavern. He discovered, however, that such a godless environment and lifestyle provided him with no lasting joy or peace. He suffered many restless nights because he feared death and eternity.

In the spring of 1890, Peter, then a young man, sailed from Holland to the United States where he hoped to make his fortune. The voyage was a stormy one, and through it he was impressed with the power of God as seen in both the forces of nature and the preserving of life. This had a sobering effect on the young immigrant, turning him away, early on, from a life of wickedness.

Shortly after his arrival in America he met a zealous Christian woman named Margaret Neighmond. After learning that he was from Holland, she gave him a New Testament printed in both Dutch and English. ‘Here, Peter,’ she encouraged him, ‘take and study this Bible. It will help you to learn English.’

‘Oh, thank you, ma’am!’ he responded sincerely. He was eager to learn to read and speak English to assist him in getting along in America.

‘Lord God,’ the woman murmured as they parted company that day, ‘please help Peter to learn more than English through the reading of Your Word. Help him come to know the Savior, too.’

Peter immediately began an intensive study of English from the book. As he read in the weeks that followed, his interest did switch more to spiritual concerns as he was confronted with the Bible’s teaching that he was lost in sin. At first his proud nature strongly objected, but gradually he had to admit that it was true.

Eventually he read and reflected on John 3:16: ‘It says that “God so loved the world,” and that surely includes me. It also says that “He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” That, too, means me.’

Then and there his heart was opened, and he bowed in prayer: ‘O God, I believe Your Word and I receive Christ as my Savior. Please forgive my sin and give me Your gift of eternal life. I surrender my life to Him Who died for me. From now on I will seek to serve You and others with my life.’

In time Peter moved to Paterson, New Jersey, where he met a committed young Christian woman named Amelia Williams. She, along with her family, had immigrated to America from Holland. A friendship developed between them, and they were wed in January of 1892.

Not long into their married life the couple faced a test of their shared faith. One Saturday evening, shortly after their first child had been born, Peter was building a cradle. Totally unexpectedly he received a visit from his employer, a carpenter with whom he had worked for some time.

The man, who was not the easiest to work for, announced, ‘I need you to come to work tomorrow morning. I’ve got a rush job to get finished up.’

The young husband and father paused thoughtfully. The additional income would be very helpful. He certainly needed a job right now and did not want to risk his by offending his employer. Still, he knew the clear teaching of Scripture about reserving the Sabbath – for worship and rest. He swallowed hard, and then said calmly but firmly, ‘I’m sorry, but I cannot work tomorrow. You see, I’m a Christian, and I must ...

Table of contents

• Title
• Indicia
• Contents
• Dedication
• 1 Captured
• 2 A Devout Heritage
• 3 Boyhood Training
• 4 Girlhood in China
• 5 Fuller Surrender
• 6 Growth in Faith
• 7 Blossoming of Love
• 8 “Go Forward!”
• 9 Voyage to China
• 10 A surprise Reunion
• 11 Language School
• 12 Fruitful Ministry Opportunities
• 13 Ministering Amidst Danger
• 14 Further Disciplined Training
• 15 New Assignments
• 16 A Short Itineration
• 17 Alone in Ministry
• 18 Encouraging Language Progress
• 19 Beginning Life Together
• 20 First Service Together
• 21 Further Itinerations
• 22 Becoming Parents
• 23 Final Days
• 24 The Miracle Baby
• 25 A Worldwide Impact
• Further Reading
• Christian Focus