A Story Worth Hearing
In 1949, a woman named Gladys Aylward returned to England after nearly 20 years as a missionary in China. At first, no one paid much attention. She was small, humble, and didn’t think much of her story. But when a BBC writer named Alan Burgess visited her, he discovered something remarkable. She had led nearly 100 children across mountains during wartime, without money, and while being hunted by enemies.
Her courage and faith inspired him to write her story in a book called The Small Woman, which later became the movie The Inn of the Sixth Happiness. Even though the film made her famous, Gladys was never interested in being a star. She only wanted to tell people about Jesus. She saw her life as ordinary—but to the rest of us, it’s a story that challenges, encourages, and inspires.
“When she read about the millions in China who had never heard the gospel, she felt deeply moved.”
Gladys Aylward was born in 1902 in north London. At first, she wasn’t interested in faith, but one night as a teenager she went to a Christian meeting and discovered that God loved her and had a purpose for her life. That moment changed everything. She gave her life to Jesus and began to pray about how she could serve Him.
When she read about the millions in China who had never heard the gospel, she felt deeply moved. She applied to China Inland Mission for training, but they eventually turned her away. They believed she wasn’t smart enough to learn the Chinese language. It was a crushing disappointment. However, instead of giving up, Gladys started saving money from her housemaid job so she could go to China by herself.
In 1932, she took a long and dangerous journey across Europe and Russia by train. Along the way, she faced cold, hunger, gunfire, and even had her passport taken from her in Russia. At one point, she escaped capture by jumping onto a moving boat using only a one-pound note to bribe the guards. After nearly a month, she arrived in China with nothing but her suitcase and her faith.
She had travelled there to meet Jeannie Lawson, an elderly missionary, and together they turned a broken-down inn into a safe place for travellers to stop for the night. There, they shared stories from the Bible every night. Gladys slowly learned the local language—despite what her former trainers had thought—and became known by the Chinese name Ai-weh-de, meaning “The Virtuous One.”
Serving the Least and the Lost
When Jeannie Lawson passed away, Gladys carried on the work alone. She also accepted a surprising job from a local official: inspecting women’s feet. Foot-binding, a painful and harmful practice, had been banned, and they needed someone with unbound feet to check if girls were still being hurt by it. Gladys agreed, but on one condition. She told the official she would use the opportunity to teach people about Jesus. Amazingly, the local official agreed.
“Her ability to connect with people grew, and soon she was known as ‘The Storyteller.’”
This opened up an incredible gospel opportunity. Village by village, Gladys taught, shared stories from the Bible, and helped women and children understand their value. Her ability to connect with people grew, and soon she was known as “The Storyteller.”
During this time, Gladys met a young girl left to die. She paid a few coins to rescue her and named her Ninepence. More children followed, some rescued from slavery and others left behind during wartime. At one point, she had more than 100 children in her care. She loved them, taught them, and led them in worship.
Then war came to her village. The Japanese army invaded, and Gladys, who had been giving information to Chinese officials to help protect civilians, suddenly had a price on her head. With danger closing in, she gathered the children and began a dangerous journey through the mountains to find safety.
The Long Walk to Freedom
The journey across the mountains to the safety of Shanxi took almost a month. Gladys led over 100 children on foot, with very little food and no warm clothing. At night, they slept huddled together under the stars or in abandoned buildings. Shoes wore out. Bodies ached. Still, they kept going.
At one point, they came to the wide Yellow River, but there was no way to cross. The children began to pray. Then, out of nowhere, a boat arrived. They climbed aboard and crossed safely. One of the children later said, “We prayed to walk across like the Israelites at the Red Sea, but God knew we were tired—so He sent a boat instead!”
“One of the children later said, ‘We prayed to walk across like the Israelites at the Red Sea, but God knew we were tired—so He sent a boat instead!’”
The journey wasn’t over. They climbed mountains, rode coal trains, and were turned away from cities. Gladys fell dangerously ill and collapsed soon after reaching the final orphanage. She spent weeks in hospital, suffering from typhus, exhaustion, pneumonia, and malnutrition. Doctors thought she might die, but slowly she recovered and continued her work in China.
When the Communist Revolution swept across China in 1949, missionaries were forced to leave. Gladys returned to England, and later moved to Taiwan, where she continued working with orphans until her death in 1970. She was buried on a hillside, her grave facing the country she had loved and served for so many years.
