Heritage Column for December 8, 2005
By Fred Anderson
Ellis W.I. Yau came calling all the way from Hong Kong. It was a chance encounter. He telephoned the day before, introduced himself and said that he would be in the area for only three days. Thankfully, I had a clear day on my calendar. As an administrator for the Baptist Convention of Hong Kong, he sought ideas and information related to establishing a Baptist heritage collection.
For the better part of a day, the earnest scholar visited the Virginia Baptist Historical Society and the Center for Baptist Heritage & Studies. He marveled at the collection and the way in which Baptist heritage is preserved, shared and showcased.
In my office, he sat directly beneath the portraits of Henrietta Hall Shuck and J. Lewis Shuck, pioneer missionaries from Virginia to China in the 1830s. He told me about his own church, Kowloon City Baptist, with its 10,000 members and added that today there are 140 Baptist churches in Hong Kong. He reflected: “I think it is the heritage of the Shucks.”
Some years ago the late William R. Estep, a renowned professor of Baptist history at Southwestern Seminary, visited Hong Kong; and when he asked if anyone was interested in missions history, Ellis Yau came forward. He made the long journey to Texas and earned his Doctor of Ministry degree at Southwestern in 2001. He considers Estep his mentor.
Ellis Yau aspires to develop a Baptist heritage center for his people. He says, “I want to use the latter half of my life working on China missions history to honor those missionaries because they already have given their lives;” and he adds: “I want to train our younger pastors and missionaries that they may learn.”
As the sun set on our day together, I had an idea. I asked him if on the next day he would like to meet “a real live missionary” who once had served in China and Malaya. He was quick to say “yes.” We examined a city map to determine at what landmark we might meet before going to visit the former missionary. The best place seemed to be Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond which is located not far from the missionary’s home.
The next morning we both arrived at BTSR with some time to spare. The Chinese visitor was eager to see the Baptist seminary. We found Ellen Temple Gwathmey, registrar, in her office; and after exchanging pleasantries, Yau noticed an announcement on BTSR’s missions immersion program. Ellen Gwathmey immediately introduced the Chinese visitor to Caleb Oladipo, who heads the program. In a matter of seconds another chance encounter had led to the possibility of BTSR students adding Hong Kong to their list of missions experiences.
It was 9 a.m. and time to visit the missionary. The day before I had telephoned my missionary friend, Louise Hill, and asked if it would be alright to visit so early in the morning. She laughed and revealed that, as a former farm girl from Oklahoma, she would be up and going at 6:30 a.m.; but she also wondered aloud why anyone would want to spend time with “a 92-and-one-half-year-old lady.” Yet, if we did, she reckoned that we could come ahead.
Stepping into Louise Hill’s home on one of the pleasant tree-lined streets of the Bellevue section of North Richmond must be the same experience as stepping into the residence which she and her late husband, Eugene, maintained so long ago in China. In the 1930s the Hills lived in Canton and many Chinese visited in their home. “We spoke Chinese all the time so they thought of us as one of them,” says Louise Hill.
As soon as we stepped over the threshold into her home, Louise Hill and Ellis Yau began speaking to each other in Chinese. The third person in the room listened politely but was relieved when they soon switched to English. We sat in the spacious living room which is decorated with Chinese artwork.
In a moment Ellis Yau pulled out his video recorder to capture Louise Hill’s memories. When I asked if we could come to visit, I had not thought that my Chinese visitor would want to conduct an interview. I thought it would be a time to greet and meet. Louise Hill had no warning to frame her thoughts. At first, she mildly protested: “That’s so long ago.” And indeed it is. Louise and Eugene Hill were appointed in 1935, 70 years ago.
But the video camera began and questions were asked and the white-haired lady responded in a flowing dialogue which might never have happened if it had been planned. Ellis Yau had several chance encounters and they all proved to be blessings. Next week this columnist will share some of Louise Hill’s memories of China.